HELP - I just need something that works properly!!

[Guest The Sorcerer]

Bought a brand new Orange San Francisco from Argos yesterday (it's firmware version OUK_P729BV1.0.0B08 so a TFT screen I believe) to replace my old and intermittently faulty Nokia 6136. I'd heard a bit about "Debranding" and, after seeing all the crap that Orange puts on there, I decided it would be a good idea to do it. First of all, I successfully unlocked it (because I'm on Asda PAYG) and then set about debranding - which is where it all started to go wrong ;)

I downloaded and successfully installed Clockwork 2.5.1.8, put the file 2.1-debrand.zip on the SD card and let it do its thing. Everything seemed to go well but today I switched the phone on and put it in my pocket as I went out. Half an hour later I get a call, take the phone out of my pocket and the screen is black - no icons, no light, nothing. Phone's ringing but I can't answer it - pressing the three 'physical' buttons at the bottom did nothing. When phone stops ringing I decide to take out the battery and power up again. It seems that I have the same problem as others have, ie, only way to get things going again is to remove and replace battery.

This is my only mobile phone. I don't have a spare one and I don't have the time, patience, where-with-all, or knowledge to mess about with it all the time. I just need a phone that works first time, every time and is 100% reliable but is not cluttered up with loads of unwanted crap. Do ANY of these modded/custom ROMs/images (or whatever they're called) actually work properly and produce a reliable, working phone with the minimum of fuss? Or do I need to go back to the Orange Stock ROM that it left the factory with?

I don't mean to offend anyone but, even when I thought I'd found the basic thing I was looking for, it turns out that the topic runs to 34 pages or even more because something isn't working properly or there are problems with this, that or the other. If a 100% solid, reliable, working ROM exists, that will allow me to make and receive calls, SMS, internet access for Facebook and other stuff, and GPS, I would be very grateful if someone would post a link to it - PLEASE???

Cheers guys :(

[Guest goonerzak]

First of all I would recommend you reinstall a stock rom? You can find that here: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...online-kitchen/

and the way I debranded it was as follows:

I went to http://dailyandroidapps.blogspot.com/2010/...-installed.html and followed all of the steps, except when it's at the section where you get "SystemApp remover" for 69p, get Titanium Backup free instead, go into that, and you can uninstall all the orange system apps that clutters the phone!

YOU CAN GET RID OF....

-Orange Homescreen

-Orange Homescreen Selector

-Orange App Shop

-Orange Photos

-Orange Wednesdays

-Orange Maps

-Orange Headlines

-Orange Email

-Orange TV

-Orange Backup

-Your Orange

-Touch Pal and the Spanish and French packs

-Sim Toolkit

-DocsToGo Demo

-Weather

-The game demos, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Guitar Hero.

YOU CANT GET RID OF...

-Internet (Even if it does have the Orange logo!)

hope this helps..

Edited January 4, 2011 by goonerzak

[Guest The Sorcerer]

Thank you very much goonerzak, I'll give it a go :(

[Guest goonerzak]

Thank you very much goonerzak, I'll give it a go :(

Report back ;) Also - Use a app such as "LauncherPro" to rid yourself of the stock slow Orange homescreen..

[Guest Ricksy75]

hi,i used the 12dec/r7 deorangated light/full rom on mine and it has worked great, i followed instructions here

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...rkmod-recovery/

but i used the clockworkmod recovery 2509 version, i have tried some of the other roms but came back to this one because it does what i want - send receive calls,messages and added a few apps for gps and wireless, try and start again not forgetting the correct usb drivers which are on here and i am sure you will get to where you want to be, you still have your backup from when you started so as a temp measure you could also go back to that one until you are ready to start again, if you havnt got a backup you can use a default rom also available on here, happy new year.

[Guest The Sorcerer]

Thanks Ricksy75, I may just be tempted to dip my toe in the water again when I've got more time to mess about. Unfortunately, all things phone-wise are on hold at the moment due to a crisis with a blocked drain here. Got up this morning to discover that as anyone is using any water upstairs, ie, having a shower or flushing the loo, it is flooding into the kitchen downstairs - quite bizarre to hear the toilet flush and see a gush of water erupt from the dishwasher!!

A great start to the new year :unsure:

Ah well, such is life - Happy New Year everyone B)