firmware choice & debrading

[Guest mickr]

Have just got orange san francisco and have unlocked and installed the following apps

Universalandroot

ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager

clockwork-3.0.2.8-blade-gen1.img

all seems to have gone O\K, and i now want to update firmware but not shaw which one to choose, which one would you recommend. When you install the new firmware will it remove the orange branding and apps, or do I need to do this first, if so what do i need to do. Any help would be appresiated as I am new to this.

With thanks

Mickr

[Guest KACE_231]

Have just got orange san francisco and have unlocked and installed the following apps

Universalandroot

ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager

clockwork-3.0.2.8-blade-gen1.img

all seems to have gone O\K, and i now want to update firmware but not shaw which one to choose, which one would you recommend. When you install the new firmware will it remove the orange branding and apps, or do I need to do this first, if so what do i need to do. Any help would be appresiated as I am new to this.

With thanks

Mickr

There are two, Swedish Springs (android 2.2) most stable, based on an official ROM. --> I suggest this

CM7 is the other one, android 2.3, stable for day to day use, but there are still a few bugs, check the main thread for details as it might affect you.

[Guest Mushroom_Lord]

Erm:

1) There are more than two. There are LOADS. However those above two are "reccommended"

However I prefer FLB as a 2.2 ROM, its all preference, see.

and

2) Hes just about to install via recovery, it seems, so suggesting Cm7 may not be the best idea, as you have to have a gen2 device and he has a gen1.

Basically mate, you don't need to do anything before installing firmware (just install recovery and flash that zip)

Before flashing firmware (except sometimes when coming from a previous version) you should wipe data - meaning you loose all of your apps and contacts, but nothing stored on the SD card.

However, the MUCH faster method would be installing a ROM via a TPT - simply place a folder on your SD card and boot with volume up and menu held and you get new firmware :D

Read more about Tpt's in the ROMs and Rom customization sub forum

Sorry if this has confused you more :D

[Guest Tony Sidaway]

Installing the new firmware will remove all branding and all installed apps, but you can back up your apps and personal data using any of several backup applications available from the Market, such as Titanium backup. The backed up information typically goes to the SD card in a single folder and for extra security you can copy it all to your computer over the data cable.

If you ever need the branding back so it looks like the phone was never rooted (for instance, if the phone needs to be returned to Orange) there is a way to do that. Check out the FAQ thread.

[Guest mickr]

Yes there are a lot to choose from all a bit confusing. I have listed 4 below. Can you please tell me if there are any big differences between them and will everything still work on the phone as it does with orange rom apart from apps of coarse. I aslo note that the cm 7.0.2 version will update phone to gen2.

MoDaCo Custom Froyo ROM R12

FLB-Froyo G2 for ZTE Blade (r11b)

CM 7.0.2 Stable or latest Nightly TPT Image

Swedish Spring RLS5

With thanks

Mickr

[Guest shadowninty]

MoDaCo ROM is outdated - forget it

CM 7.0.2 is buggy - forget it

FLB has been discontinued but some users stick with it for battery life

SS is based on the Swedish networks Comviq's official release - considered most stable ROM

CM7 is a community distribution of Android - it has the most features, and few OS bugs

However some hardware related bugs remain which may be a nuisance

I have been using CM7 for a few months

Absolutely love it

I've watched the bugs slowly but steadily disappeare (ok castling disappear really :D)

[Guest Hanks6]

FLB Froyo!

[Guest Tony Sidaway]

I'm running Cyanogenmod 7.0.3 stable installed directly via TPT. It's pretty solid but lacks support for the FM tuner (that's an issue for some users obviously). I can also recommend Swedish Spring very highly. I've hit both of these pretty hard because I'm the kind of heavy user who recharges his phone two or three times a day every day.

I have a few niggles about Cyanogenmod but overall the experience of running Android 2.3 on very inexpensive but highly capable hardware is really fun. Cyanogenmod is also a very worthwhile project, bringing the open source principle behind Android to many different hardware platforms including ZTE Blade/Orange San Francisco. You can download the source code, edit it, compile it and, pretty much, have a working operating system incorporating your changes.

You can't do that with the Microsoft and Apple code, you know. Even if you managed to get your hands on the code you'd end up so comprehensively sued that you'd happily agree to saw your own right hand off with a rusty blade just to get your life back.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Tony Sidaway

[Guest mickr]

Thanks for your comments, have decided to give this one a try to start FLB Froyo r11b. Have downloaded this and the patch flb-froyo-notification.zip . Do i just copy these into the sd card and then proceed as stated below, also do I need to wipe before installing. Do I run the patch the same way but without wipe.

Actions

Open Astro File Manager from the App Drawer - browse to the Rom Zip file you choose (r12-update-modacocustomrom-blade-kitchen-unsigned.zip)

Hold your finger on the file and choose Details - check the the MD5 Sum is the same as the one shown on the thread you go the ROM from - if not re-download the file. (cb1718841318a63775b020e6c544edfa)

Launch ZTE-Blade Recovery Manager from the App Drawer

Hit the Firmware tab

Hit the MENU button on your device and choose Update Database

If you want to make a complete backup of your entire phone : use the option Backup Current Firmware - this will put a FULL backup of your device onto the SDCard (in a directory called clockwork)

Choose Install Firmware - Not the firmware update

If you have more than one ZIP file on the sdcard you will see a list, pick the ROM file you downloaded (Large zip file) - Choose OK (r12-update-modacocustomrom-blade-kitchen-unsigned.zip)

With Thanks

Mickr