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OrangeSanFrancisco.co.uk - UPDATED June 2013


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sanfranciscoandroid.co.uk

Hey guys, I've had the Orange San Francisco for about 2 months now and I love the phone and the community here. When I first started my journey to Custom ROMs, rooting, customization and so on, I was left puzzled and confused, especially since this was my first Android phone. The fact that the biggest site dedicated to the phone was a forum didn't help either, with information scattered all over the place. Finding information I wanted to know was a struggle in itself.

So a few weeks I decided to create my own website in order to help those who are new to Android or the Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade. Not a forum, simply a website with tutorials, guides and tips presented in an organised fashion. I spent many hours creating the content for my site, and plan to put many more hours in.

Here is a complete, noob and beginner friendly guide on how to install Custom ROMs from scratch.

There are plenty of other guides and tutorials, including a list of ROMs organised by the last release date.

I will be adding more guides, tutorials, tips and articles throughout the following weeks. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute, just give me a message wink.gif

sanfranciscoandroid.co.uk

Edited by Guest
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Guest Arr Too

I noticed an issue: your method of detecting TFT or OLED is based on an old confusion. If the build number on a UK SanFran ends with "05" and the display works fine then it is OLED. If it ends with "08" then it is more likely to be TFT, but it could still be OLED. And if it's also a white SanFran then it's even more likely to be TFT [actually, have we seen any white ones with OLED?].

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Nice effort. Seems to be a good source for beginners.

However, you could have also put your energy into the ZTE Blade Wiki.

I will be sure to contribute to the wiki.

I noticed an issue: your method of detecting TFT or OLED is based on an old confusion. If the build number on a UK SanFran ends with "05" and the display works fine then it is OLED. If it ends with "08" then it is more likely to be TFT, but it could still be OLED. And if it's also a white SanFran then it's even more likely to be TFT [actually, have we seen any white ones with OLED?].

Thanks, will update!

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Guest StevenHarperUK

It may be a very good Idea to mention that there is a forum here - and link to it here - you could get feedback and users could then find other information they want.

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It may be a very good Idea to mention that there is a forum here - and link to it here - you could get feedback and users could then find other information they want.

Yep, that's my plan. As soon as I complete my help articles I will create a link to this forum in the navigation.

a backup and restore guide may be useful for beginners,too

In progress. Hope to have all the articles completed by next week.

Edited by Guest
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Also, as I was told in a thread last week, that a lot of the ROMS come pre rooted and flash the boot partition with root privileges so the 'superboot' method is not necessary. Of course if the user is using a stock ROM and wants root access maybe that's the way forward.

I'm not sure on the effect of Flashing a custom ROM already with root and then re-flashing the boot with 'superboot' - could there be any adverse effects - maybe someone else can answer that.

nice site tho - I like what you have done ;)

Edited by Fi5h
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Guest DarkFlux

It is not possible not root an TFT phone? :OOOO!

Wow thanks, I would have screwed up my phone if I had not read it on the website.

Thanks alot + awesome website!

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It is not possible not root an TFT phone? :OOOO!

Wow thanks, I would have screwed up my phone if I had not read it on the website.

Thanks alot + awesome website!

Hey there

It is not possible to root using the method on my website, but you can still root using an alternative method. I will add this to my site soon.

Follow the root guide here: http://www.chrislowthian.co.uk/how-to-unlo...francisco/1824/

You do not have to root a phone to install a custom ROM. A lot of ROMs come pre-rooted, so you may not need to root manually anyway.

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Good luck with the site, that's a lot of work (reading and updating) you gotta do, just be careful not to propagate old /outdated stuff like a lot of places do, e.g.

SuperBoot - outdated method.

ClockWorkMod v2.5.1.3 - has caused quite a few problems.

OLED/TFT Detection - using build # is unreliable.

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Guest StevenHarperUK
SuperBoot - outdated method.

Yes this is the one that brings the most new users to the doors of MoDaCo

One of the MODS keeps stickying the old Superboot thread - I keep unstickying it -

it's very out of date and works only on a fraction of the devices out there - making a mess of the rest.

I imagine it is other sites (and Magazines I have heard) with instructions of rooting your device using superboot.

What users need to understand is that rooting doesn't give you all that much - AND is not needed to install a new ROM.

I am not dis-ing Paul for his great work on superboot - and TBH a up to date one that is based on a TFT kernel would be nice.

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Guest Rotmann

+1, the .13 ClockWorkMod is rubbish, always wondered why it's stickied and the .18 is not.

On the other hand, good site, light fresh design, although not impartial. When choosing a ROM there is always a personal note to it, you should diversify to let the user choose the ROM for his own taste. Like you write on the home site "There are various custom ROMs available for your phone. In this guide you will learn all about the types of ROMs available and how to choose the right one for you.". But in the guide you just point to one ROM, the JJ, without even pointing out it's advantages (overclocking, TPT) and it's disadvantages (may result in high battery consumption). You should also mention the other Froyos too which are very good, like Sebastian's Froyo (for users who want a clean and stable ROM so close as possible to the stock one, also very good battery life), Flibblesan's Froyo (stock launcher, very good battery life) and Paul's Froyo too.

Also I find it a bit unfair to not give credits to the creators of these wonderful ROMs and mods.

All in all hats off for the initiative, if you would list more options it would be pretty good.

P.S.: You could make an article about themes too.

Edited by Rotmann
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Guest HCFC Clark

Hey mate,

I'm a bit stuck. I was following your guide on how to install a custom rom and got to step 11 where i install drivers for any other devices. However, there is 4 devices in all (Android, Base System Device x2 and Biometric Processor) but i cant find the drivers to update them. Can you help me please?

thanks.

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Hey mate,

I'm a bit stuck. I was following your guide on how to install a custom rom and got to step 11 where i install drivers for any other devices. However, there is 4 devices in all (Android, Base System Device x2 and Biometric Processor) but i cant find the drivers to update them. Can you help me please?

thanks.

Hey there

Can you close device manager, unplug your phone, re-open device manager and see if there are still any yellow exclamation marks? If you still see some yellow exclamation marks, they are unrelated to your phone and you do not need to worry about them.

After, plug your phone in again and see if there are any new/different yellow exclamation marks. Then try updating these new/different yellow exclamation marks with the correct drivers for your operating - http://orangesanfrancisco.co.uk/android/ho...isco-zte-blade/

If you still can't install the drivers for the new/different yellow exclamation marks, just continue from step 12 and eventually to the next page. See if you can install ClockworkMod Recovery (don't worry, you can't brick your phone. If the correct drivers haven't installed, you will simply see "Waiting for device" during this step)

If you do see "Waiting for device", then for some reason your PC won't install the drivers. Have a look at this thread for any solutions.

What Operating System are you using btw?

Edited by Guest
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Guest DJ PIGG

Hi beggin,

Thanks for making such a simple to follow guide to ridding my OSF of all that Orange nonsense and updating the ROM to FroYo.

Until 48 hours ago I'd not heard of the OSF and was going to buy a HTC Wildfire but, thanks to this website and various online reviews, I was convinced that this phone would do everything I wanted it to for £80 less! So far, I've not been disappointed.

Keep up the good work.

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Hi Beggin,

I was following your instructions for installing the drivers (windows xp 32-bit). I got down to about step 11. There was a yellow exclaimation mark beside the name android. But it was coming up saying "the hardware was not installed because the wizard cannot find the necessary software." I continued anyway to point 14 but ended up with the green logo froze on screen. So I took the battery out and went to try from the start again. Now when I put the usb cable in it's saying it has malfunctioned and windows doesn't recognise it. I'm not sure what to do next and would be greatful of any help! Thanks!

I've since tried again on windows vista but same problem. I can install the first two drivers. Then when I power the phone up having held the volume button, It recognises a new driver "Android" but I can't get this installed. I've tried to go onto the next steps but can't get past "waiting for device" as I can't get the "Android" driver installed.

Really thankful for the site you have created it's organised, clear and concise.

Edited by James7
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