22/May [GUIDE] How to Install a Custom ROM on the ZTE Blade [GEN1]

[Guest different bob]

Steven, I've just registered here to say thanks for this guide. Worked like a charm, and I've been able to get a clean Froyo install. Two thumbs up!

[Guest Evanb78]

If the backup was done in clockwork (and was a nandroid backup) then a restore will put the SYSTEM / USERDATA / BOOT/ CACHE back to how they originally were.

Thanks Steven but perhaps I wasn't clear. There isn't any backup in the SD Card.

The seller flashed a custom ROM over the original stock ROM without making any backup of the stock ROM first. When I asked him why he didn't make a backup he answered: "the original ROM is not on the SD card, because you can't flash back the dumped files, as they need some editing".

So is he correct that you can't make a complete backup and restore of your phone because the "dumped files need some editing"? I'm afraid that it's not correct because every guide I see, it says that with Clockwork, not only you can make a full backup but also a complete restore without any king of "editing".

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Thanks Steven but perhaps I wasn't clear. There isn't any backup in the SD Card.

The seller flashed a custom ROM over the original stock ROM without making any backup of the stock ROM first. When I asked him why he didn't make a backup he answered: "the original ROM is not on the SD card, because you can't flash back the dumped files, as they need some editing".

So is he correct that you can't make a complete backup and restore of your phone because the "dumped files need some editing"? I'm afraid that it's not correct because every guide I see, it says that with Clockwork, not only you can make a full backup but also a complete restore without any king of "editing".

Yes dumped files are very different from ones made when doing a backup in clockwork (nandroid)

You can however download the STOCK from for you country - flash that in clockwork - Wipe (factory reset in clockwork) - then use fastboot to replace the recovery partition with a Stock one (the recovery.img from the Hungarian update for instance)

That would do it.

[Guest umster]

Hi Steven,

Please can you help me to get the menu button to work again to get into settings.

Now it doesn't do any thing

thx

[Guest Evanb78]

Yes dumped files are very different from ones made when doing a backup in clockwork (nandroid)

You can however download the STOCK from for you country - flash that in clockwork - Wipe (factory reset in clockwork) - then use fastboot to replace the recovery partition with a Stock one (the recovery.img from the Hungarian update for instance)

Thanks for your quick answer. Unfortunately the site that hosts the stock ROMs is currently down, so I have to wait when (or if) it comes back again. But even when/if the site comes up, I was told that the particular stock ROM for my Blade that it was hosted there, is only the dumped ROM, not the flashable one. :lol:

And my noob question is: If the seller hadn't omitted to backup the stock ROM with the Clockworkmod, could I have restored it immediately and fast, avoiding all this mess? Or I would have needed the dumped files as well?

[Guest the_electrician]

Im having some trouble installing any rom using the clockwork via recovery manager.

When installing firmware recovery manager gives me 2 choices

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/system/ect/security/otacerts.zip

and

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/system/usr/srec/config/en.us/dictonary/cmu6plus.ok.zip

I choose the first option and phone restarts almost immediatly looks like it is installing something then the android comes up the clockwork recovery options

# From the clockwork menu choose: wipe cache partition.

# From the clockwork menu choose: wipe data/factory reset.

# From the main menu choose: Reboot

firmware still showing 2.1-update 1 in phone settings

Ive tried different roms all giving the same result

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Guest umster]

Im having some trouble installing any rom using the clockwork via recovery manager.

When installing firmware recovery manager gives me 2 choices

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/system/ect/security/otacerts.zip

and

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/system/usr/srec/config/en.us/dictonary/cmu6plus.ok.zip

I choose the first option and phone restarts almost immediatly looks like it is installing something then the android comes up the clockwork recovery options

# From the clockwork menu choose: wipe cache partition.

# From the clockwork menu choose: wipe data/factory reset.

# From the main menu choose: Reboot

firmware still showing 2.1-update 1 in phone settings

Ive tried different roms all giving the same result

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I'll try and help you.

you should be looking in this directory only then it will work

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed.zip

[Guest the_electrician]

I'll try and help you.

you should be looking in this directory only then it will work

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed.zip

That directory isnt present the only 2 directorys are the ones i have already quoted.

However when is when i carry out the follwing

# Hit the Recovery tab - Choose Install Recovery

# If you have more than one IMG file on the sdcard you will be presented with a list - choose recovery-clockwork-blade-2.5.1.8.img

that file is present

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/boot.img.zip

[Guest Mug UK]

Many thanks for the tutorial and accompanying video - made it so much easier as a backup for a complete newbie to this.

However the time it seems to be taking to initialise after installing the R7 in the post seems to be taking more than the '5 or 6 minutes'. The MoDaCo logo seems to appear, then disappear every few minutes.

I've rebooted the phone and each time I get to the same stage - just the MoDaCo logo appearing and then disappearing and reappearing. Left it a good 15 minutes on the second reboot.

*edit 2* Phew - that was scary. Now all working after reading through the problems others have had. Had to wipe the data & the cache via Clockwork. And, most importantly, all that Orange cr*p has been removed :lol:

Edited January 23, 2011 by Mug UK

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Many thanks for the tutorial and accompanying video - made it so much easier as a backup for a complete newbie to this.

However the time it seems to be taking to initialise after installing the R7 in the post seems to be taking more than the '5 or 6 minutes'. The MoDaCo logo seems to appear, then disappear every few minutes.

I've rebooted the phone and each time I get to the same stage - just the MoDaCo logo appearing and then disappearing and reappearing. Left it a good 15 minutes on the second reboot.

*edit 2* Phew - that was scary. Now all working after reading through the problems others have had. Had to wipe the data & the cache via Clockwork. And, most importantly, all that Orange cr*p has been removed :lol:

Good - Would you have found it better if there had been a second Video showing you how to do the WIPE in clockwork?

The video's take a while to make - upload etc - plus I don't want to make too many - it may get confusing.

[Guest wadgel]

That directory isnt present the only 2 directorys are the ones i have already quoted.

However when is when i carry out the follwing

# Hit the Recovery tab - Choose Install Recovery

# If you have more than one IMG file on the sdcard you will be presented with a list - choose recovery-clockwork-blade-2.5.1.8.img

that file is present

/sdcard/r0.3_update_de-softened_blade-signed/boot.img.zip

Firstly, you are trying to install a ROM/firmware through Install Recovery screen, instead of using Firmware tab - Install Firmware.

Secondly, it looks like you unzipped the ROM file you downloaded instead of just copying onto the SDcard.

[Guest umster]

Thanks

Edited January 23, 2011 by umster

[Guest doddy954]

Hi, I managed to get it back up by using my friends sd card in my phone. Now I have the R10 version of the custom rom. The one I was trying to put on was the jap jelly with gingerbread keyboard. I will try it again now that i know i can recover.

Thanks for your help.

[Guest womble_sanfran]

This is a great guide, it will be very helpful to me.

I have been investigating putting the MCR r11 Custom Rom/Firmware on my phone, I want to know as much about it before I start. I have a few queries which I believe are different to the normal queries we see here many times each day, they relate more to the phone file structure to aid my understanding, they arent in the FAQ or in this thread….

Am I right in thinking that most of the apps that are packaged with the ROM end up in /system/app?

Am I right in thinking that apps added from the market end up in /data/app?

If that is the case then I have some questions about how to go about baking the best possible ROM in the kitchen. I don’t have a need for a number of the apps so will not tick those options, this will save me space in /system/app. If any new apps I add from the market end up in /data/app then what is the point in saving space in /system by baking a 'lite' ROM?

I hear some people have repartitioned /system to be smaller, I would rather not do that, would it not achieve the same thing if I just stick the apk files for any extra apps I want in /system/app within the ROM zip file before flashing? This would mean those apps took up space in /system/app rather than /data/app (which I want to keep as empty as possible to accommodate any apps I want in the future).

Also ROMs tend to contain some apps like Google Maps, when this is installed from the market I get notified when it has been updated, do I still get those notifications if an app comes with the rom in /system/app?

Thanks,

Womble

OK I have done a lot more reading over the weekend so now have a better understanding of all things Android. Of all my questions above just one remains now:

If I install say Google maps to /system/app in the rom prior to flashing and a new version comes out will the market magically notify me that an update is available? (I think not!)

How would I go about updating Google maps? Presumably going through the market would just mean the old version in /system/app would become dormant and the new one would be in /data/app.

Thanks

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

How would I go about updating Google maps? Presumably going through the market would just mean the old version in /system/app would become dormant and the new one would be in /data/app.

Thanks

yes and yes - well done on working that out by yourself though - its not obvious.

[Guest womble_sanfran]

yes and yes - well done on working that out by yourself though - its not obvious.

Thanks.

After all my recent learnings the idea of changing partition sizes to reduce /system and increase /data is growing on me, is there any chance you can do us all a basic how-to on how to make this change?

This post on the partition size thread suggests that there is a way to change partition sizes and not have to do a wipe, is there any chance you could explain that in the easy to follow way you have done the rest of the guides in the first post?

http://android.modaco.com/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1543910

Cheers

[Guest the_electrician]

Firstly, you are trying to install a ROM/firmware through Install Recovery screen, instead of using Firmware tab - Install Firmware.

Secondly, it looks like you unzipped the ROM file you downloaded instead of just copying onto the SDcard.

Cheers

You are right

cant belive i made that school boy error. Wasted hours trying to sort it.

JJrls9 loaded on.

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Thanks.

After all my recent learnings the idea of changing partition sizes to reduce /system and increase /data is growing on me, is there any chance you can do us all a basic how-to on how to make this change?

This post on the partition size thread suggests that there is a way to change partition sizes and not have to do a wipe, is there any chance you could explain that in the easy to follow way you have done the rest of the guides in the first post?

http://android.modaco.com/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1543910

Cheers

The only way to change the partitions is to do a TPT with the sizes you want.

This will wipe the phone.

[Guest womble_sanfran]

The only way to change the partitions is to do a TPT with the sizes you want.

This will wipe the phone.

However currently I have 121MB on /system so if I first do a Clockwork backup (nandroid) and then do the TPT to resize /system to 128MB and then somehow restore my clockwork backup wouldnt I be in the same situation as now but with a 128mb system partition? Is it even possible to do a clockwork restore to partitions that have a size different to the original?

Edited January 24, 2011 by womble_sanfran

[Guest Giuliano69]

Hi Steven!

I dare some other suggestions....

I noticed that

• # UniversalAndroot v1.6.1
  
• # ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager 0.23
  
• # Clockwork 2.5.1.8 (recovery-clockwork-blade-2.5.1.8.img)
  

has upgraded their versions.

Could be useful to underline if using the newer version is forbidden or work the same.

For Clockwork it seems also to be a "signed" version.

Could be also usefull to specify what "signed" means ...

Thank in advance

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Hi Steven!

I dare some other suggestions....

I noticed that

• # UniversalAndroot v1.6.1
  
• # ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager 0.23
  
• # Clockwork 2.5.1.8 (recovery-clockwork-blade-2.5.1.8.img)
  

has upgraded their versions.

Could be useful to underline if using the newer version is forbidden or work the same.

For Clockwork it seems also to be a "signed" version.

Could be also usefull to specify what "signed" means ...

Thank in advance

Thanks good spot - I'm on it now

BTW : UniversalAndroot v1.6.1 is the newest the newer is BETA - so not suggesting it yet

Clockwork 2.5.1.8 is the most recent - the signed zip if ONLY for updating in clockwork manually. - the IMG one is still the most current

[Guest Giuliano69]

I did install UniversalAndroot-1.6.2-beta5.apk, when I ran ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager, it asked me for superuser access which I granted.

I did check the img md5 checksum using astrofile manager and it was correct.

How long typically does the img take to install?

Just redownloaded everything, verified checksums all correct. Same thing stuck at Recovery Install Dialog :lol:

I tried with my brand new ZTE and have the same problem... is it necessary to modify the procedure ?

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Latest Update

24th January - Updated Recovery Manager to 0.26b - now does a WIPE during install - saves a lot of instructions - also improved what to do if it doesn't boot

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

I tried with my brand new ZTE and have the same problem... is it necessary to modify the procedure ?

Please try the Suggested NON BETA

UniversalAndroot v1.6.1

I have just upgraded to Recovery Manager 0.26b and will re-install clockwork myself to test it.

Be Right Back.

EDIT : works for me - make sure you have the IMG file not the ZIP file.

Just to confirm

I have

UniversalAndroot v1.6.1

Recovery Manager 0.26b

recovery-clockwork-blade-2.5.1.8.img

[Guest StevenHarperUK]

Latest Update

25th January - Updated Recovery Manager to 0.29b, Added notice about Clockwork 3.0.0.5 - people can choose to use it, but still suggestion 2.5.1.8 as it supports older ROMs