How to Install CyanogenMod (Android 2.3) on the Orange San Francisco / ZTE Blade

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:

Load ROM Manager.Select “Download ROM” and choose “Google Apps” from the list.Choose the Latest Google Apps Pack (usually the top one) and choose Download.Once downloaded a box will appear giving you a selection of tick boxes, make sure ONLY “Wipe Dalvik Cache” is ticked and press ok.Your phone will reboot and Install the Google Apps package.Once complete your phone will reboot and load CyanogenMod as normal but on first boot you will get a list of apps you want to install, simply follow the on-screen instructions.

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

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Installing ClockworkMod Recovery on your ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco

ClockworkMod Recovery is a must for anyone looking to modify their ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco, in fact anyone with an Android Device should have ClockworkMod Recovery installed.

What is ClockworkMod Recovery?

ClockworkMod Recovery replaces the recovery partition of your Android Device and offers loads of features that you do not get as standard.

What does ClockworkMod Recovery allow you to do?

Once you have ClockworkMod Recovery installed you can take advantage of its many features including:

Installing Custom ROMs from .zip files.Wipe Data/Factory Reset.Wipe Cache Partition.Backup and Restore ROMs.Wipe Dalvik Cache.Wipe Battery Stats.Partition SD Card.Fix File Permissions.+ a few other options.

As you can see its a great tool and best of all totally free.

Rooting your ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

Your phone needs to be Rooted to install ClockworkMod Recovery using the method below, if you have already Rooted your ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco please skip this stage and move on to Installing ClockworkMod Recovery.

On your phone go to Settings > Applications > Tick Unknown Sources (if not already ticked).Download Universal Androot - Download.Copy to the SD Card and Install Universal Androot using a File Manager like the “Filer” app.Once installed Run Universal Androot and Click the “Root” Button (and let it do its thing), your phone should now be Rooted.

Installing ClockworkMod Recovery on your ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

Installing ClockworkMod Recovery is pretty straight forward, simply follow the instructions below.

Download and Run “ROM Manager” (free version) from the Android Market.Press the “Flash ClockworkMod Recovery” Button, you should get a Superuser message popup, just click “Allow” and let it do its thing.Press “Reboot into Recovery”, your phone will now reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery.Congratulations you should now have ClockworkMod Recovery installed correctly.The volume keys work as the up and down keys, while the home button acts as forward (or enter) key.You can get to ClockworkMod Recovery at any time by loading ROM Manager and choosing the “Reboot into Recovery” option from the menu.

If you have any questions, comments or problems related to installing ClockworkMod Recovery on your ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco please post below and I will do my best to help.

No related posts.

Chris
Just a blogger in my spare time. I like to share what I know, which some times is not much. If you have any questions about any of my posts just comment under them and I will reply ASAP.

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How to Unlock, De-Brand and Root the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco

I have been looking for a new phone for a few months now and was looking at the new Apple iPhone 4, but due to the cost of buying the phone on Pay as You Go I decided against it.

After looking for an alternative I decided to find a phone running the Google Android platform, this is due to the amazing amount of apps available for the device. I would say there is almost as many apps available for Android devices as there is for the iPhone.

After looking for my perfect Android device I came across the Orange San Francisco which is actually just a ZTE Blade which has been branded under the Orange (phone network) name. What made me go for this device? Well mainly price, it is one of the cheapest Android phones on the market costing me just £98 inc £10 credit on Orange Pay as You Go. The phone is available to buy online from the Orange Store or from most Orange high street stores.

As said above, the phone is available at an amazing price but the downside is it comes branded with the orange colour scheme and is full of the orange crap software, but this can be removed easy as I will explain below.

First here is the main specs for the phone:

Talk Time: 4 hoursStandby Time: 9 daysWeight: 130gDimensions: 116 x 56.5 x 11.83.5 inch touchscreen, 480×800600MHz CPUCamera Features: 3.2 megapixelConnectivity: WiFi / Bluetooth / USB / GPS (SatNav)Music: MP3 / FM RadioNetwork Band: Tri bandVideo: MessagingMemory: 150 MB internal / Up to 32gb Micro SD CardEmail: POP3 / IMAP4Data Speed: 3G +Operating System: Android v2.1 Eclair

Now lets get started with the modifications, just follow the steps below in order and by the end you will have an amazing Android phone for an amazing price.

How to Unlock the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

Once you have purchased the phone you will more than likely want to switch networks, thats not a problem at all. In fact the only reason I purchased the phone on Orange is because it was so cheap. To unlock the phone follow these instructions:

Visit this site here.On the above site put your IMEI (will be on the phones box), select ZTE, leave the default model as ZTE BLUEBELT, pop in the not-a-robot code. In the box above the IMEI you’ll receive your code.Turn off your phone.Open the back.Remove the battery.Remove the (Orange) SIM card.Insert a SIM card from a different operator.Replace battery.Replace back.Turn on phone (If prompted, enter any PIN number that you may have set on the new SIM).Now you should be prompted to enter the unlock code. Do it carefully!You should now get some sort of message saying your phone is unlocked.

How to De-Brand the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

This will remove all of the Orange Themes and Software and Install the Standard Android Software which will free up space and make it look and run so much better, well worth doing.

Download the ClockWork Recovery Mod – Download.Turn off your phone and take out the battery and 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 files once downloaded.From a command prompt (at the directory containing these new files!) run ‘fastboot-windows flash recovery clockwork.img‘ (subsituting ‘fastboot-mac’ or ‘sudo fastboot-linux’ if not running Windows).When this finishes, from the command prompt run ‘fastboot-windows reboot‘ (again substituting ‘fastboot-mac’ or ‘sudo fastboot-linux’ if not running Windows).ClockWork Recovery Mod should now be installed, you can use this to backup your firmware to your SD Card, to get to it you need to hold the bottom volume button while turning on the phone.Download the 2.1 Debranded firmware – Download.Copy the De-Branded firmware to your SD card leaving it in .zip format.Press and hold the bottom volume button and switch the phone on, this will boot it into Recovery Mode (which will be upside down).Navigate the menus to flash the file “2.1 Debranded.zip” (Install Zip From sdcard > Choose zip from SD Card).Wait for the image to flash.Once done just restart your phone and it should be totally de-branded.

How to Install Apps and Games from the SD Card on the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

Sometimes there will be the need to install an App or Game from the SD Card of your phone, the file will be in a .apk format.

Do do this you will need to copy the .apk file onto the SD Card, anywhere you want should be fine.Load up the Android Market on your phone, download and install AppsInstaller made by ModMyMobile.com.Once Apps Installer is installed just run it and select the .apk file from your SD Card to Install.

How to ROOT the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

Rooting an Android Device is the equivalent of Jail breaking an iPhone, it gives you and the apps full access to the phones resources.

Download UniversalAndroot – Download.Extract and copy to the SD Card, you can install the app using AppsInstaller as mentioned above.Once installed just run UniversalAndroot and press the Root Button.Your Android device should now be Rooted.

How to block ads in Apps and Games on the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

You may have noticed that some of the Free Games and Apps come with ads that show up on the screen, this is very annoying but they can be blocked very easy.

Firstly you need to Root your Android first by following the instructions above.Download and Install “AdFree Android by BigTinCan.com” from the Android Market.Load up AdFree and click “Allow” on the Superuser Request Popup.Then click “Download & Install Hosts”.You should now be able to use all your Apps and Games without seeing any ads.

How to Download Apps and Games for Free on the ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco:

With the help of Applanet you can download hundreds of Android Apps and Games for free. Applanet looks just like the Android Market except all the apps and games are free.

Download and Install Applanet – Download.You can use AppsInstaller to install the above file from the SD Card.Once installed just load up and use in exactly the same way as the standard Android Market.

Thats it, you ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco is packet full of features. If you have any questions, comments or items to add to this guide please let me know below and I will update as necessary.

No related posts.

Chris
Just a blogger in my spare time. I like to share what I know, which some times is not much. If you have any questions about any of my posts just comment under them and I will reply ASAP.

View the original article here