How can I root/flash my Orange San Francisco?

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Hello,

Apologies if I am using the incorrect terminology, I am a newbie to this sort of thing (apart from doing an iPod Touch Jailbreak). I bought a San Francisco off of eBay with Android 2.2 preloaded (at least that's what they said it had) and it's really slow at times. Can anyone shed some light on what I should put onto my phone to make it run faster e.g. Android 2.3, a ROM (whatever that is)

Obviously, it has been rooted before, so I don't know what I need to do to flash it with different firmware...

If it helps, here are a few bits of information about the phone...

Model Number: ZTE-U V880

Android Version: 2.2

Baseband Version: Unknown

Kernel Version: 2.6.32.9-perf

zte-kernel@Zdroid-SMT

Build Number: UNI_CN_V880 1.0(MCR alpha4)

Would appreciate if anyone could help me or point me in the right direction...

Many thanks ;)

Tom

[Guest flshg]

This appears to be a china unicom v880, rather than a 'proper' san francisco, so perhaps it only has 256mb of ram as opposed to the 512mb that san franciscos have. If that is the case it would account for the slowness that you report. Other people might be able to suggest roms etc if they are available, but if not, I would suggest that you try to uninstall any apps that you dont use, just to reduce the load on the available ram in case they automatically get loaded into memory. I think titanium backup would be good for this, to backup those apps, then uninstall them.

[Guest jeddy1]

Hello,

Apologies if I am using the incorrect terminology, I am a newbie to this sort of thing (apart from doing an iPod Touch Jailbreak). I bought a San Francisco off of eBay with Android 2.2 preloaded (at least that's what they said it had) and it's really slow at times. Can anyone shed some light on what I should put onto my phone to make it run faster e.g. Android 2.3, a ROM (whatever that is)

Obviously, it has been rooted before, so I don't know what I need to do to flash it with different firmware...

If it helps, here are a few bits of information about the phone...

Model Number: ZTE-U V880

Android Version: 2.2

Baseband Version: Unknown

Kernel Version: 2.6.32.9-perf

zte-kernel@Zdroid-SMT

Build Number: UNI_CN_V880 1.0(MCR alpha4)

Would appreciate if anyone could help me or point me in the right direction...

Many thanks ;)

Tom

MCR alpha 4?? is that the custom rom then its to old ! try ss rls5 or cm7 !

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

This appears to be a china unicom v880, rather than a 'proper' san francisco, so perhaps it only has 256mb of ram as opposed to the 512mb that san franciscos have. If that is the case it would account for the slowness that you report. Other people might be able to suggest roms etc if they are available, but if not, I would suggest that you try to uninstall any apps that you dont use, just to reduce the load on the available ram in case they automatically get loaded into memory. I think titanium backup would be good for this, to backup those apps, then uninstall them.

Hmmm, how likely is this? It seems to be the real deal, has an amazing LED screen and looks exactly the same as the proper phone B)

Thanks for your help :)

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

MCR alpha 4?? is that the custom rom then its to old ! try ss rls5 or cm7 !

Oh right, how can I do that?

I'm sorry if I'm a pain in the butt, I haven't a clue what to do :S

I would be eternally grateful if you could write a little guide or something :)

Thanks B)

[Guest flshg]

Hmmm, how likely is this? It seems to be the real deal, has an amazing LED screen and looks exactly the same as the proper phone B)

Thanks for your help :)

Yep, holding my hands up, saw the build info and stupidly assumed it might have been a china unicom phone.

[Guest flshg]

Theres a guide to flashing a better rom here: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...zte-blade-gen1/

At the moment you are spoilt for choice when it comes to roms. For android 2.2, you should go with swedish spring (alternatively FLB and other older roms)

For android 2.3 you have CyanogenMod 7, or a vanilla 2.3.4 based on a recent leak (both are WIP so perhaps not as stable as the 2.2 roms)

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Yep, holding my hands up, saw the build info and stupidly assumed it might have been a china unicom phone.

Well you might be right B)

I have no idea, but I never had any doubts that it was the real thing :D

Thanks either way :)

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Theres a guide to flashing a better rom here: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...zte-blade-gen1/

At the moment you are spoilt for choice when it comes to roms. For android 2.2, you should go with swedish spring (alternatively FLB and other older roms)

For android 2.3 you have CyanogenMod 7, or a vanilla 2.3.4 based on a recent leak (both are WIP so perhaps not as stable as the 2.2 roms)

Thanks buddy

What would you recommend, the CyanogenMod 7 or Sweedish Spring? Not hugely bothered about version of android, just would like to install the fastest ROM :)

Also, what stages do I need to skip out if my phone has already been loaded with the existing custom firmware?

(Sorry for being a dumbarse :D)

Thanks again B)

Edited June 20, 2011 by OakleyBoy93

[Guest flshg]

I'm personally using swedish spring and finding it fast and stable. Cyanogenmod 7 (CM7) was still quite buggy and unstable when I last used it a few months ago, but I've heard its more stable now, (probably still not 'perfect' yet). The android 2.3 roms like CM7 are likely to be faster for games so its up to you whether you prefer stability or speed.

I would imagine that the software (and therefore the recovery image which is important for flashing roms) is going to be old so would suggest you start from the beginning (minus the rooting bit).

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

I'm personally using swedish spring and finding it fast and stable. Cyanogenmod 7 (CM7) was still quite buggy and unstable when I last used it a few months ago, but I've heard its more stable now, (probably still not 'perfect' yet). The android 2.3 roms like CM7 are likely to be faster for games so its up to you whether you prefer stability or speed.

I would imagine that the software (and therefore the recovery image which is important for flashing roms) is going to be old so would suggest you start from the beginning (minus the rooting bit).

Ah right I see, awesome :)

Thank you very much for your help, I shall post something in here if I break my phone or whatever B)

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Ah right I see, awesome :)

Thank you very much for your help, I shall post something in here if I break my phone or whatever B)

In addition to this...

Is it safe to 'Fastboot' my device? Or would something bad happen if I did?

[Guest flshg]

In addition to this...

Is it safe to 'Fastboot' my device? Or would something bad happen if I did?

You shouldnt need to use fastboot. If you are just wanting to put on a new rom, you should use an app like recovery manager to put clockworkmod on, followed by the rom. Which guide are you following at the moment, and which rom have you decided on?

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

You shouldnt need to use fastboot. If you are just wanting to put on a new rom, you should use an app like recovery manager to put clockworkmod on, followed by the rom. Which guide are you following at the moment, and which rom have you decided on?

Oh right, well I have decided to go with your recommendation, Sweedish Spring. I did a little bit of reading and found out that if you hold VOLUME DOWN whilst turning on it should take you to Clockwork Recovery, so I did that to see whether I had it and I do. So I guess that fine. I did a little bit more reading and now think I know how to do it...

Do I make a backup of everything on my phone using Clockwork? Then, load the '.zip' of Sweedish Spring onto an SD Card. Put that in the phone...

Then, do a wipe of the phone and cache (using Clockwork) and then use Clockwork to open that '.zip'? That sound about right?

Thanks

[Guest flshg]

Oh right, well I have decided to go with your recommendation, Sweedish Spring. I did a little bit of reading and found out that if you hold VOLUME DOWN whilst turning on it should take you to Clockwork Recovery, so I did that to see whether I had it and I do. So I guess that fine. I did a little bit more reading and now think I know how to do it...

Do I make a backup of everything on my phone using Clockwork? Then, load the '.zip' of Sweedish Spring onto an SD Card. Put that in the phone...

Then, do a wipe of the phone and cache (using Clockwork) and then use Clockwork to open that '.zip'? That sound about right?

Thanks

Yep that sounds perfect. I think you should have swedish spring up and running very soon.

Just to be on the safe side, what version of clockwork do you have? I'm wondering if an old version might have problems with newer roms. If its less than version 3.xxx, it might be best to flash something like version 3.0.1.4 before trying to flash your rom.

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Yep that sounds perfect. I think you should have swedish spring up and running very soon.

Just to be on the safe side, what version of clockwork do you have? I'm wondering if an old version might have problems with newer roms. If its less than version 3.xxx, it might be best to flash something like version 3.0.1.4 before trying to flash your rom.

Good shout sir, it seems I have v2.5.1.3, which would probably cause me problems B)

There is an option to "apply sdcard:update.zip", is that what I need to do in order to update ClockworkMod Recovery?

So anyways, after this, do I "wipe data/factory reset" followed by "wipe cache partition", then "install zip from sdcard" to apply the ROM?

Thanks again, I appreciate it :)

[Guest flshg]

Good shout sir, it seems I have v2.5.1.3, which would probably cause me problems B)

There is an option to "apply sdcard:update.zip", is that what I need to do in order to update ClockworkMod Recovery?

So anyways, after this, do I "wipe data/factory reset" followed by "wipe cache partition", then "install zip from sdcard" to apply the ROM?

Thanks again, I appreciate it :)

OK, here's a link to clockworkmod 3.0.1.4 which you can download onto your sdcard. In your old version of clockworkmod, use the "install zip from sdcard" and select this newer version to overwrite it. Once it completes, reboot back into recovery, wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, then "install zip from sd card" and select your swedish spring rom.

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

OK, here's a link to clockworkmod 3.0.1.4 which you can download onto your sdcard. In your old version of clockworkmod, use the "install zip from sdcard" and select this newer version to overwrite it. Once it completes, reboot back into recovery, wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, then "install zip from sd card" and select your swedish spring rom.

Thanks dude, you are truly a nice guy :)

I shall try what you say B)

I shall let you know how I get on :D

[Guest OakleyBoy93]

Thanks dude, you are truly a nice guy :)

I shall try what you say B)

I shall let you know how I get on :D

Yay! All done ;)

Updated ClockworkMod to that version you gave me, wiped everything and then installed Sweedish Spring ;)

It's a nice and fast :D

Thanks again dude, you have been awesome :D

[Guest flshg]

Fantastic, you're welcome. Enjoy.