Caveat(Edit)

Note: This is currently a total scratchpad area at this time.

It is my first install, and I am doing everything exactly by the book. Hopefully on my second time I can write this better. For now, I can only provide vague ideas.

HTC Inspire(Edit)

This is what I started with: http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-root-att-inspire-4g-20535/

Basically:

1. Download a ton of little bits.
2. Create a "goldcard", which as far as I can tell is a bootable SD card. - http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Howto:_Create_a_Goldcard
1. This link is Windows-only. My suspicion is that you could accomplish this with dd if=goldcard.img of=/dev/sda1 #...but it needs to be tested. TODO
3. Install psneuter and misc_version, then reboot the phone.
4. "Root, S-OFF, ClockworkMod Recovery, and Engineering HBoot"
5. Flash Cyanogenmod (or whatever other ROM you choose)