how to debrand a san francisco?

[crazyadi]

as its says in the title guys, i want to debrand a san francisco, ive looked at a couple of guides but they are more concernd with sticking custom update roms on it?? and from what i can figure any os other than the original is a bit buggy? so i dont want to mess putting updated non official firmware on it as its going to my daughter and i dont want her bugging me with problems not least because i wont have a clue. soooooooooooo can i just debrand?? or am i being thick??

[Ashley]

Use the Modaco custom rom it debrands and isn't very buggy I actually find it quick.

[tronads]

EDIT - The best guide I have found is here http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...the-zte-blade/

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE GEN1/GEN2 BIT AS YOU CAN BRICK YOUR PHONE IF YOU HAVE A GEN2. I flashed a brand new one today (26/03/2011) and it wasnt a Gen2...I dont think they have reached the UK yet, but please check beforehand.



Old instructions now continue

As you have already discovered, the phone is extremely heavily "orangefied" when you get it, but the removal of Orange taint is carried out by installing custom rom, which are based on a number of sources...some of which the original Orange rom, and others based on other operators brand of the same phone. The best rom available is based on the ZTE Froyo rom, ZTE being the manufacturer of the phone before the regional operators get hold of it and proceed to ruin it.

To flash the rom, you first need to install a boot OS called Clockwork Recovery. Instructions here :
http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...kmod-recovery/

Once you have Clockwork on the phone, it will behave as it was before until you flash a debranded custom rom on it. the best at the moment being the Alpha 4 Modaco rom (don't let the alpha status put you off). You simply put the bin file on the memory card and power up with the vol- button held in, then simply select the rom to flash, and thats it done.

http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...-chinese-leak/

It really is a doddle to do, and Clockwork will allow you to take a full system backup (before you flash Froyo), so you can restore the phone to its (horrible) Orangefied state if you require (for example a warranty return).

[GTI]

As you have already discovered, the phone is extremely heavily "orangefied" when you get it, but the removal of Orange taint is carried out by installing custom rom, which are based on a number of sources...some of which the original Orange rom, and others based on other operators brand of the same phone. The best rom available is based on the ZTE Froyo rom, ZTE being the manufacturer of the phone before the regional operators get hold of it and proceed to ruin it.

To flash the rom, you first need to install a boot OS called Clockwork Recovery. Instructions here :
http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...kmod-recovery/

Once you have Clockwork on the phone, it will behave as it was before until you flash a debranded custom rom on it. the best at the moment being the Alpha 4 Modaco rom (don't let the alpha status put you off). You simply put the bin file on the memory card and power up with the vol- button held in, then simply select the rom to flash, and thats it done.

http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...-chinese-leak/

It really is a doddle to do, and Clockwork will allow you to take a full system backup (before you flash Froyo), so you can restore the phone to its (horrible) Orangefied state if you require (for example a warranty return).

Probaby the best guide I've read so far.. thanks mate

[crazyadi]

thanks tronads.

one thing though is it right that if i put the froyo based rom on it will remove the operator lock or should i do an unlock first/aswell?

[tronads]

I would do the unlock first...
http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...and-zte-blade/

[tronads]

Also note that the Moaco Froyo rom is (currenly) only availble in Alpha 3, Alpha 4 is for subscribers only. Alpha 4 highly recommended as course location is fixed on it.
If Alpha 4 is required (along with other files such as xp/w7 drivers, fastboot+clockwork, fancy widget1.3 etc), grab it from my FTP server , ftp: tronads.dyndns.org u: san , p: fran

[crazyadi]

oooh i was going to be doing so well then :-(

fastboot? fancy widget? do i NEED those things? i assume the drivers are for the phone to be seen by the pc so i guess ill need those.....

[tronads]

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
EDIT - AND STUCK AT THE TOP INCASE ANYONE PANICS -
If you have a pin lock set on your SIM, disable this before you update your rom, or it may go in an endless reboot cycle (which isnt terminal by the way)
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

I'll try and do more of a guide than my summary above, but bear in mind this is from my aging memory.......from my FTP :
1, Grab the driver zip file and unzip. with the phone on, hook it up to the pc. it may find the drivers straight away, if not, point it in the general vacinity of the zip file you unzipped. This sorts the phone out for normal USB connectivity.
2. Switch off the phone and press and hold the volume + button....this puts the phone into recovery mode (I think also called ADB mode). This uses different drivers, so you will again be prompted by the pc for them if they arent on there already. Similar to (1), point it in the right direction if needs be. At this point I would powercycle the phone (battery out and back in) and reboot the pc. Im not sure thats 100% essential, but it doesnt hurt to do so.
3. Grab the Fastboot zip file. In this zip, ive got the fastboot files, along with the clockwork recovery img file.
Unzip this to a fastboot folder, power up the phone with volume up held in...wait about 15 seconds and open up a dos command prompt and navigate to the fastboot folder...type in
fastboot-windows flash recovery recovery-clockwork-2.5.0.9-modaco-r2-blade.img
press enter and you should see two "okay" messages.
Then, still in the command prompt, type fastboot-windows reboot
Your phone will reboot after a couple of minutes....and wont look any different.
4. Now you should let your phone boot up and connect back to the pc under normal usb mode, grab the froyo alpha 4 rom and copy it over to the phones memory card.
5. Power off the phone, and power it back on with the volume down button held in for about 15 seconds (you will see some white text flash up then dissapear - you can let go there)....the phone will boot to clockwork recovery menu, which is for some reason upside down. You now navigate using the phones volume up/down buttons, the home button selects, the back button is erm... back.
6. First thing to do in clockwork is take a current backup. Navigate to backup and restore, press home, then select Backup, and leave it to do its thing.....once done, you can press the back button to get you back to the main menu...then you should do a "wipe cache partition" and a "wipe data/factory reset" (always do this before changing to a different rom).
7. Next you want to choose "install zip from sdcard", then "choose zip from sd card", then navigate to where you put it in step 4. Select the confirmation "yes" and let it install for a minute or two until it says completed.. after that point you should return to the main menu using the back button and select reset phone.

Thats pretty much it. Hopefuly Ive not missed anything out.

Points to note :
1. Ive stuck Fancy Widget 1.3 in my rom file because I like it....its the rip off of the HTC desire digital clock....the default zte clock widget that appears when you first switch on doesnt work too well and should be dragged into the recycle bin and replaced with fancy widget. I would advise you never allow Fancy Widget to update from the marketplace, as HTC have slapped the developers wrist for it looking exactly like the HTC clock, so if you update it, you get a new version that doesnt look half as good.
2. Whenever you wipe data and clear cache, you will lose all your text messages....so anything you want to keep thats important, write them down or something !
3. Similarly, your contacts....if they are on the phone rather than the sim card, do an export to sd card before you wipe, then you can re-import them afterwards with no loss.

[crazyadi]

wow cheers tronads. I think even someone as dense as me can do that now, will have a go later and see how i get on

[Agent47]

I put a chinese rom on which was 2.2 and the icons/text ended up very small. Any apps I downloaded would not install. ended up putting 2.1 back on and it resolved the problem.

[Teajunkie]

Great guide even im gonna have a go at my sanfran later!
Thanks Tronads.

[Erad]

Awesome guide, trying it now

[tronads]

I put a chinese rom on which was 2.2 and the icons/text ended up very small. Any apps I downloaded would not install. ended up putting 2.1 back on and it resolved the problem.

Yeah, that was the first Froyo release, and required a lot of fixing and messing around...Ive tried them all, and the Alpha4 is the one Ive stuck with....until this rom, there have been issues with them that were too great for me to want to live with.

[tronads]

Just to add.....Ive just looked at my FTP log, and apart from a dissapointing increase in people trying other username/password combinations, I notice some people have been grabbing older 2.1 rom's. I'm not bothered about this, but just incase this is unintentional, here are the filenames required for the latest rom :

fastboot.rar (in the root folder)
091210-0646-alpha4-update-zte launcher.zip (in the froyo folder)
usb_driver.zip (in the root folder)

[crazyadi]

thanks tronads... all debranded now... just a couple of things which you may know a little about of you dont mind me asking..

the task manager doesent load it says it busy everytime i try to get it up, is this a known issue?

the drivers kind of work i have 3 ticks out of 4 but the ztehsusb says drivers not installed, not a major issue but when i plug the phone in it tries to install software everytime and then says unsuccessful a pain more than anything i guess.

and lastly flash player 10.1 i was under the impression it was available for the android phones but nothing showing up on market place any ideas where i can get it?

thanks again for your time and trouble doing the guide it was as simple as you said but only because you put it simply in the guide

[Tim.Lad]

As you have already discovered, the phone is extremely heavily "orangefied" when you get it, but the removal of Orange taint is carried out by installing custom rom, which are based on a number of sources...some of which the original Orange rom, and others based on other operators brand of the same phone. The best rom available is based on the ZTE Froyo rom, ZTE being the manufacturer of the phone before the regional operators get hold of it and proceed to ruin it.

To flash the rom, you first need to install a boot OS called Clockwork Recovery. Instructions here :
http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...kmod-recovery/

Once you have Clockwork on the phone, it will behave as it was before until you flash a debranded custom rom on it. the best at the moment being the Alpha 4 Modaco rom (don't let the alpha status put you off). You simply put the bin file on the memory card and power up with the vol- button held in, then simply select the rom to flash, and thats it done.

http://android.modaco.com/content/zt...-chinese-leak/

It really is a doddle to do, and Clockwork will allow you to take a full system backup (before you flash Froyo), so you can restore the phone to its (horrible) Orangefied state if you require (for example a warranty return).

Thanks for the n00b answer

[tronads]

1. Task Manager...interesting this...its not an issue i've heard of, and I know mine definitely worked, so was going to reply to you along those lines, except I just tried it and mine is saying the same. Ive used it on a number of occasions and never seen this message. However I just rebooted mine and its now working fine. Something to keep an eye on I guess.

2. Drivers, erm maybe check the zte site, maybe there are new ones...I don't have this issue, and havent on other machines ive used to flash on.

3. Flash is currently a no no...contrary to popular belief, Froyo isnt all that required for Flash. Unfortunately its also CPU dependant. Currently they have not released Flash for the ARM6 cpu, so even if you install from an APK, it wont work.

thanks tronads... all debranded now... just a couple of things which you may know a little about of you dont mind me asking..

the task manager doesent load it says it busy everytime i try to get it up, is this a known issue?

the drivers kind of work i have 3 ticks out of 4 but the ztehsusb says drivers not installed, not a major issue but when i plug the phone in it tries to install software everytime and then says unsuccessful a pain more than anything i guess.

and lastly flash player 10.1 i was under the impression it was available for the android phones but nothing showing up on market place any ideas where i can get it?

thanks again for your time and trouble doing the guide it was as simple as you said but only because you put it simply in the guide

[crazyadi]

thanks for the answers m8!
ill take a look at the zte site for drivers, but i do have a feeling it might be my macine tbh!!

[lloydi]

hi mate im struggling to connect to the FTP is it still up? cheers