[This post is only to express my recent experience. Please check the links and read thoroughly before doing any upgrades. I will not be responsible for any damage to your phone or if you brick it. Please also check your device for 32A or 32B; You should also know your radio version and recovery version etc.]
I had HTC Magic 32A for a long time (Basically Rogers HTC Magic). I rooted it so no more warranty, no upgrades from rogers and no support. This one had an old hero ROM with HTC Sense and Android 1.5 and i wanted to upgrade it to at least 2.1 as this has become minimum requirement for several apps. I tried several ROMs available, but they did not work. Then i tried the most famous and reliable CyanogenMod 6.1.0 stable. The process was fairly simple with one major problem described at the end. So i thought i better share my experience. Their website described the process in detail.
Cyanogen Mod 6 a.k.a. CM6 bring you Android 2.2.1. Here are the links i followed:
Page-1: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Magic_%2832A%29:_Rooting_%283.22.x_radio%29
Page-2: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Upgrading_from_CyanogenMod_4.2_to_CyanogenMod_5/6
Just a quick note, if you have the same phone from rogers, after upgrading the radio and recovery, (and optionally wiping everything), you need three updates:
1) update-cm-6.1.0-DS-signed.zip
2) bc-6.1.0-ebi1-signed.zip
3) gapps-mdpi-tiny-20101020-signed.zip (optional, but i guess you have to)
This upgrade process went so unexpectedly smooth, couldn’t believe i have Android 2.2.1. However, there were a couple of problems with the new CM6.
Problem-1: The phone became too slow after a couple of days i.e., after installing all the apps i had before. icons would disappear for a couple of minutes; at times will become totally non-responsive and i have to takeout battery to restart etc.
Solution: “Home Switcher for Froyo”, “Launcher Pro” with some tuning. Sorry i do not have a link to the original post right now. Will try posting it later.
Problem-2: Auto Rotate did not work 🙁 This was a big mess, no leveling games (teeter, speedcar etc). And above all Google Sky Map doesn’t work anymore.
Solution:
a) replace akmd from an older version and reboot. The link i followed was:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4456785&postcount=23
b) Use app “GPS Status & Toolbox” and recalibrate.
It seems pretty simple, but searching for right solutions took me really a long long time. I just hope it helps someone else.
I love using https://play.google.com/apps. If you have Android 2.1 or above, you can easily install all the apps from a computer. No phone connections needed. Your phone has to be connected on WiFi though and using a google account.