The new Orange Android phone (San Francisco) £99...but a Question??

Tiggerlator said:
For the price it is the best.


I'm using the new MDC froyo rom, its quick guys, or it seems quick.
Click to expand...

Speed has never really been the issue for me with Paul's ROMs, weirdly it's been stability and bugs that have plagued me. Random restarts etc.. The most annoying of which was the phone crashing and restarting when I unlocked the screen after turning the alarm off each morning.

Can't wait to see if the recent 2.2 kernel dump and this leaked ROM can be turned into a near vanilla release for the SF, that'll be the jump point for me. Until then I'll muddle on with Flib's 2.2 ROM, it's OK but that too has it's fair share of quirks - most annoying is the new manifestation of the old wifi bug. Wifi no longer says it's disabled, it's enabled but no apps can use it! Stays like that until you restart the wifi manually. :(
 
Really want to install 2.2 on my phone but being a complete phone noob i,m worried of bricking it. Is it easy to do..? Tbh whatever it came with seems to work well for me but i have never had a smart phone before so its probarbly just wow factor of something new..
 
randal24 said:
Speed has never really been the issue for me with Paul's ROMs, weirdly it's been stability and bugs that have plagued me. Random restarts etc.. The most annoying of which was the phone crashing and restarting when I unlocked the screen after turning the alarm off each morning.
Click to expand...

I had a bunch of random reboot problems as well. Wierdly it was some kind of soft boot that didn't reset the uptime counter. That's why I jumped so quickly to the villainrom 1.01. I can't bring myself to use the 1.1 without any dev support, though there is someone on Modaco who wants to pick it up and clean it a little.

However I'd be really interested in a working 2.2 from Modaco. I'm just going to wait for another iteration or two before trying it. Also waiting for term to finish so I have the time to play.
 
Is it worth ditching my Hero for this phone?

Are the ROMs now up to snuff and bug free?

Anyone overclock there SF and what clocks are you getting?

I really wanted a nexus one but that would be about £150 plus whatever I get for my Hero, which is out of the question financially at the mo.

I'm thinking I could probably sell my Hero for a ton and get this.
 
Do people bother reading threads any more, or do they just turn up and ask the same question time and time again scanning for their answer in the thread?

Reckon the OP needs to edit the first post to include some n00b friendly information:

- Spec
- Benefits V other smartphones
- Cost
- How to unlock
- How to Clockwork
- How to apply custom ROM
- How to backup/restore

Etc...

That or just stick the link to the Modaco subforum in the OP and be done with it. :)
 
In fact...

Could a mod or the OP stick this in the first post please?

Cheers


--

Disclaimer - All information lifted from the Modaco ZTE Subforum, kudos and thanks to the original contributors in the linked threads. All I've done is collate their findings, insights and useful information in this post. Everything links to Modaco threads as files are updated often, so deep linking is pointless.

:: Orange San Francisco Android Smartphone ::

sfmainshot.png


First stop for anyone wanting to know more beyond the below is the Modaco ZTE Blade subforum.

Spec

  • Android 2.1 Eclair
  • Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor
  • 512MB RAM
  • UMTS 900/2100 MHz
  • GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
  • HSDPA (3G+)
  • 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
  • 3.5" WVGA (800x480) OLED capacative touchscreen
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g
  • Bluetooth
  • FM radio
  • GPS
  • Accelerometer
  • Digital compass
  • Light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • 116mm / 56.5 mm / 11.8mm
  • 130g
  • 4 hours talktime (lol - agreed!)
  • 9 days standby (lol - agreed!)
Full review here.


Unlocking

Everything you need in the link below, didn't want to cross link on this site as I'm not sure if it breaks the rules or not.

Full details found here.

Process:

  1. Use the dialler and enter this to see your IMEI: *#06# (don't press Call!).
  2. Get your unlock code from the site above.
  3. Double-check you used the correct IMEI number -- it's free to retry!
  4. Turn off your phone.
  5. Open the back.
  6. Remove the battery.
  7. Remove the (Orange?) SIM card.
  8. Insert a SIM card from a different operator.
  9. Replace battery.
  10. Replace back.
  11. Turn on phone.
  12. (If prompted, enter any PIN number that you may have set on the new SIM.)
  13. Now you should be prompted to enter the unlock code. Do it carefully!


Superboot/root

Rooting is the process to gain full control over the phone, and allows you to install applications that require root access and those not signed or approved by Google. This is similar to the iPhone jailbreak in a way. Other things you can do once rooted include Apps2SD, tethering, backups, custom ROMS... blah blah.

More information here explaining why you should root, and here.

How to full details here.


  • Download r3 Superboot for ZTE Blade - DOWNLOAD (ROMraid Load Balancing) - MD5: 03105bbbf5120535c8921075822a1b67
  • Download fastboot if you do not have it already.
  • Turn off your phone and take out the battery. Unplug the phone from the PC / charger.
  • Replace the battery and turn the phone back on with 'volume up' held. The device will stay at the 'green android' screen.
  • Plug the phone into the PC.
  • Extract the fastboot zip file.
  • From a command prompt (at the directory containing these new files!) run 'fastboot-windows flash boot boot.blade.superboot.mcri.r3.img' (subsituting 'fastboot-mac' or 'sudo fastboot-linux' as required)
  • When this finishes, from the command prompt run 'fastboot-windows reboot' (again substituting 'fastboot-mac' or 'sudo fastboot-linux' as required)
  • Done!

Clockwork Mod Howto

Clockwork Mod is a means to backup and restore your phone to/from SD. It's also a very good mechanism for apply ROMs, updates and patches. It is heavily used in deployment of custom ROMs on Modaco.

Full details and guide here.

Custom ROMS and Installation

Master thread of custom ROMS and Guides - Great thread!

Direct links to ROM threads, highly recommend reading the above thread through as it links to them all. The choice of what you go for is entirely up to you, so people have more luck with some ROMs than others. The Modaco ROMs seem to be most popular, but development appears to have slowed a little (until the 2.2 release yesterday 01/12/10).

Direct links to ROM threads.

2.2
Modaco 2.2 Alpha r2 (warning, alpha!)
FLB's 2.2 Beta
Frankish 2.2

2.1
r4 Modaco 2.1 ROM
BladeVillain ROM
Hungarian Hedgehog 2.1 ROM
Stock ROMS

Other Stuff

USB Drivers
Cases + Screen Protectors
HTC IME Keyboard Repack
 
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Ok guys please be patient with me. I know the more I ask the more you guys are getting :mad:

Everything before the clockwork mod thing makes sense.

However the clockworkmod section its self, is that the actual process of puting version 2.2 of the Os on the phone?

Using these instructions;

(Step by step install instructions:

* Download 2.5.1.3 ClockworkMod Recovery for ZTE Blade - DOWNLOAD (ROMraid Load Balancing) - MD5: 0733acd513717f2dc7ee08809bd7ea20
* Download fastboot if you do not have it already.
* Turn off your phone and take out the battery. Unplug the phone from the PC / charger.
* Replace the battery and turn the phone back on with 'volume up' held. The device will stay at the 'green android' screen.
* Plug the phone into the PC.
* Extract the fastboot zip file.
* From a command prompt (at the directory containing these new files!) run 'fastboot-windows flash recovery recovery-clockwork-2.5.1.3-blade.img' (subsituting 'fastboot-mac' or 'sudo fastboot-linux' as required)
* When this finishes, from the command prompt run 'fastboot-windows reboot' (again substituting 'fastboot-mac' or 'sudo fastboot-linux' as required)
* Done!)

Also is this the latest software?

Are these unofficial rom's stable? Im reading on Modaco forum, that some have instability......


What benefit does the 2.2 version have over 2.1?
 
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Does anyone know if Play.com have ran out of stock for the standard grey version? The white version only appears when you do a search :(
Anyone know anywhere else selling it for £99? As Orange still want £120 for it :rolleyes:
 
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