The Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade is an amazing phone for the money which is why it has been one of ZTE’s most popular devices.
For an entry level phone it has allot of potential and can be easily Rooted and modified to allow Custom ROMs and Recovery Partitions.
This guide gives full instructions on how to get CyanogenMod 7 (Android 2.3) running on your Blade in just a few simple steps. Cyanogen should make the phone perform smoother, give you better compatibility with the latest Android Apps and will offer more features than the Stock Firmware.
Requirements:
Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade (Gen1 or Gen2)MicroSD Card (2gb or Higher)Pre-Rooted Device, follow This Guide if not already Rooted.Before going any further make sure you have backed up anything you want to keep, including Contacts, Photos and anything else you can’t live without.
Step 1 – Find out if your Blade is Gen1 or Gen2
The first step is to find out which Generation of ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco you have, it will either be Gen1 or Gen2. The phones look the same but have a slight difference in Hardware and parts of the Firmware.
To find out if your Blade is Gen1 or Gen2 Download Ask Mr Pigfish from the Android Market. Once Installed simply run the app and it will tell you if you have a Gen1 or Gen2 Device.
Now you know if your device is Gen1 or Gen2 you can follow the correct guide below to Install CyanogenMod (Android 2.3) on your Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade.
Gen1 Blade / San Francisco – Install CyanogenMod (Android 2.3)
Download CyanogenMod for the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco, I use Nightly 126 as I find it most stable – Download Here. (MD5:23A87CBFA053C2E5C4BF3594EAF47092)Copy the CyanogenMod .zip file to the ROOT of your SD Card.Download the Gen1 to Gen2 Upgrade Pack – Download Here. (MD5:35581040F3AF0387AF502E80CDCAF364)Extract the “image” folder from the Upgrade Pack (keeping the files inside the folder) to the ROOT of your SD Card.Power on your phone while holding the [Menu] and [VOL+] buttons until green text appears.Let the phone do its thing, after a while it should boot into ClockworkMod.Once in ClockworkMod Select “Wipe Data / Factory Reset”.When the wipe is complete Select “Install zip from SD Card” and Navigate to the Cyanogen .zip file you placed on the SD Card.The .zip file should take a couple of Minutes to install, once complete exit from ClockworkMod and Cyanogen should now boot (may take up to 10 minutes the first time).Congratulations you now have CyanogenMod 7 on your Gen1 Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade.You can now remove the “image” folder from the SD Card using File Manager.Gen2 Blade / San Francisco – Install CyanogenMod (Android 2.3)
Download ROM Manager from the Android Market (free).Once installed run ROM Manager and select “Flash ClockworkMod Recovery” you will be presented with a list of devices, make sure you select “ZTE Blade” then let it install then exit ROM Manager.Download the version of CyanogenMod 7 you want to install and copy the .zip file to the ROOT of the SD Card. I am using CyanogenMod 7 Nightly 126 (Android 2.3.4) as I find it the most stable – Download Here. (MD5:23A87CBFA053C2E5C4BF3594EAF47092)Load ROM Manager and select “Install ROM from SD Card” and select the Cyanogen .zip file you copied to the SD Card. You will get a Popup with 3 tick boxes, make sure they are ALL ticked.That is it your phone will reboot into ClockworkMod, Backup Current Firmware, Factory Reset your Phone and Install CyanogenMod 7.Once complete your phone will restart and CyanogenMod 7 should start loading (may take up to 10 minutes the first time).Congratulations you now have CyanogenMod 7 on your Gen2 Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade.
Installing Google Apps on CyanogenMod 7
So I guess you would like the Android Market and other Google Apps including GMail, Youtube and Maps? Don’t worry its a very easy fix. Just follow the instructions below:
If you have any questions, problems or suggestions regarding this post please post below and I will do my best to help.
Related posts:
How to Unlock and Root the Orange San Francisco / ZTE BladeInstalling ClockworkMod on the Huawei U8800 / Ideos X5Tags: Android, ClockworkMod, CM7, Cyanogen, CyanogenMod, De-Brand Orange San Francisco, De-Brand ZTE Blade, Gen1, Gen2, Orange, Recovery, ROM, ROM Manager, Root Orange San Francisco, Root ZTE Blade, Unlock Orange San Francisco, Unlock ZTE Blade, ZTE, ZTE Blade
