Unlocking ZTE Android 2.1 from Orange U.K.?

dohouch

@Mods: couldn't see any unlocking sticky, move if necessary.



SO how do I get a ZTE Blade Android 2.1 unlocked, tied to Orange U.K.?
Thanks

long_b

I don't know the details but XDA developers should sort you..
What do you think of the handset?

dohouch

Haven't got it. Wanted to check about unlocking first. Will have to go to Belfast to buy it, unless u know and easier way. Are there any problems walking into an Orange shop up North, and buying a pay as u go phone?

long_b

[url]Http://www.pscforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=247&sid=2b2fc4e574e6a52f14499cd5414f867f[/url]

emo72

thinking of getting the sf from orange too. is it still possible to buy them in one of the larger CPW in, say, london for example. because last time i bought a PAYG phone over there they said all their PAYG are unlocked anyway as standard. you just have to buy 10 pounds credit also. but the phones are definitely unlocked.

does anyone know if this is still the case?

ronano

How does it compare to the htc g1/dream?

emo72

ronano wrote: »

How does it compare to the htc g1/dream?

dont think anyone has one yet ronano.

Brian

It's all over the MoDaCo Android forum. The ZTE Blade or Orange San Francisco as it's known was popularized by Paul O'Brien, founder of MoDaCo.

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/318802/paul-reviews-the-orange-san-francisco/

I'm very interested in trying one out myself too.

Brian

It can be unlocked with http://www.nckcodes.co.uk/product.php?id_product=37 for about €3 on under ten minutes.

Mezcita

Got one and I love it. First Android though.

Baza's link above is a good place to start.

From memory I did it via this guide.

"Hi am a noob at android myself but after wasting all yesterday trying to root and install ROM here is my noob guide hope it helps somebody
Drivers
XP-ZTE drivers supplied by flibblesan worked on XP.Sorry dont remember which one but in device manager try pointing to each one and one defiantly works as have just installed custom ROM on my XP machine
http://flibblesan.co.uk/android/zte_driver.zip
Windows 7 while switching on hold the volume up button so it remains in the boot loader screen(little green android on phone display should remain) and windows update automatically installs drivers for ADB which are needed for roothing and ROM install
USBHUB drivers still unavailable but you dont need them anyway so dont worry
Command Prompt
* Downloaded both the fastboot file and r2 Superboot / MCRi file,
* Placed the r2 Superboot / MCRi file(image) into the now unzipped fastboot folder.
* Moved this fastboot folder directly onto the C:/ drive on my PC.
* Turned off phone and pulled battery, replaced battery, then powered up phone. (Power+Volume up)
* It stops On the Green Android, plugged in USB cable, left it to do its thing and Windows 7 installed a fastboot driver.
* Opened a command prompt on the PC (type cmd into windows search box) and you should get something similar to C:\users\home>
* Type> cd c:\fastboot this should open the fastboot folder
then type in fastboot-windows flash boot boot.blade.superboot.mcri.r2.img < (you should get a message to say its done)
* Next copy and paste this and hit enter> fastboot-windows reboot <
* Finally leave your phone to do its thing and in about 5 or so minutes it will have rebooted and you should have Root access.
Custom ROM install
Now after doing all this download the custom ROM to your desktop.Change the whole download name to
mcri-system.tar.gz(wasted all night trying to rename the extension of the download instead of the download name itself)
Put this name changed ROM on your SD card(drag and drop/copy after switching on mobile) this should NOT be in a folder but put straight to phone SD card
Restart the phone

DONE
All credit of this guide goes to these guys at MoDaCo
Paul(Obviously)
Flibisan(Drivers)
Mario999(Command Prompt Syntax) "

http://www.hotukdeals.com/misc/orange-sanfrancisco-rooting-and-cus/767872

EDIT: The various files the guy mentions can all be downloaded at:

http://android.modaco.com/category/453/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/

Mezcita

emo72 wrote: »

thinking of getting the sf from orange too. is it still possible to buy them in one of the larger CPW in, say, london for example. because last time i bought a PAYG phone over there they said all their PAYG are unlocked anyway as standard. you just have to buy 10 pounds credit also. but the phones are definitely unlocked.

does anyone know if this is still the case?

Phone was definitely locked to Orange when I got it. It does come supplied with £10 credit which is not much use if you are in Ireland. However, £99 quid for a phone like this is a fantastic deal.

I bought mine via cashback site quidco.com which is supposed to get me £12 back. Has not tracked so far but worth a try.

Brian

The phone also has a bunch of Orange bloatware but there are guids on Modaco about how to flash a custom ROM that are quite simple to follow. In fact I think Paul@MoDaCo has videos on youtube of how to do it.

amby666

Mezcita wrote: »

I bought mine via cashback site quidco.com which is supposed to get me £12 back. Has not tracked so far but worth a try.

How did you manage that? Did you buy collect from store or delivered, and to where?
I looked at it and couldn't get past putting in my postcode for address and credit card validiation.

Stumped at that point.

long_b

Stunning handset, just go get one!

Brian

Froyo on it now, even better!

long_b

Where did you get that??

slowlydownwards

long_b wrote: »

Where did you get that??

+1

edit: Oooh, luckily for us modaco guys have been busy.

long_b

slowlydownwards wrote: »

+1

edit: Oooh, luckily for us modaco guys have been busy.

Or a link?... links are good

slowlydownwards

Apologies

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-blade-modaco-com/321128/zte-blade-san-francisco-unofficial-froyo-build/

Mezcita

amby666 wrote: »

How did you manage that? Did you buy collect from store or delivered, and to where?
I looked at it and couldn't get past putting in my postcode for address and credit card validiation.

Stumped at that point.

Yeah got it delivered to a mate in the UK.

ralphie

I was in Newry on friday,just walked in to Orange shop in Buttercrane shopping centre and asked for San Francisco.No problem,just paid my money-No questions asked.The assistant told me to check out the phone out first to make sure I was happy with it as there is no return to shop with it.
Got it unlocked from www.nckcodes.co.uk in about 15 minutes for around €2.50.
For £99 plus £10 credit its great value.

witnessmenow

Hey Guys,

Got my GF to buy me mine there yesterday, can wait to get it! Im like a kid at christmas im that excited

I bought the unlock code on ebay for £1.50, got the code within about 15 mins. here is the link.

People saying its £99 + £10 credit to me sounds like for £99 you get the phone with £10 credit. This is not the case, to buy the phone you need to pay £109 with £10 credit included. Orange offer a student discount though (10%) so make sure you get that if you or who ever is buying the phone can.

Brian

Apparently if you flash the Froyo ROM it SIM unlocks the device too (don't ask me how). I unlocked mine before I installed Froyo so I can't confirm that, but there are at least two people who have experienced it on MoDaCo.

ballyrhy86

How are ye all finding this phone in terms of build quality? I think I'll pick one up next time I'm up north. Is it solid enough for everyday use?

Might get one of these to cover the orange logo on the back:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Android-Sticker-Pick-Size-and-Colour-Logo-HTC-Case-/140455434420?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item66727e378b

It seems to be building a big following on that modaco site which is great!

witnessmenow

Baza210 wrote: »

Apparently if you flash the Froyo ROM it SIM unlocks the device too (don't ask me how). I unlocked mine before I installed Froyo so I can't confirm that, but there are at least two people who have experienced it on MoDaCo.

Seen that ok.

How are you finidng Froyo, some people there were saying they were having issues with the Andorid market after updating, aslo tehy were saying something about the dialer consuming alot of battery ? I've never really used an andorid for any amount of time so its all fairly alien to me!

I dont mind the orange randing at the back, its the damn gay name the thing has, can just imagine meeting up with a few old mates from college, what phone do you have, iphone 4, desire blah blah then me "san francisco" it just sounds crap!

Mezcita

witnessmenow wrote: »

Seen that ok.

How are you finidng Froyo, some people there were saying they were having issues with the Andorid market after updating, aslo tehy were saying something about the dialer consuming alot of battery ? I've never really used an andorid for any amount of time so its all fairly alien to me!

I dont mind the orange randing at the back, its the damn gay name the thing has, can just imagine meeting up with a few old mates from college, what phone do you have, iphone 4, desire blah blah then me "san francisco" it just sounds crap!

Not bothered about the name at all. It's a phone for feck.s sake, not an expression of which foot you kick with. Overall £100 for a phone this good without any contract is a steal.

Brian

witnessmenow wrote: »

Seen that ok.

How are you finidng Froyo, some people there were saying they were having issues with the Andorid market after updating, aslo tehy were saying something about the dialer consuming alot of battery ? I've never really used an andorid for any amount of time so its all fairly alien to me!

I dont mind the orange randing at the back, its the damn gay name the thing has, can just imagine meeting up with a few old mates from college, what phone do you have, iphone 4, desire blah blah then me "san francisco" it just sounds crap!

The Froyo ROM isn't ready for general consumption right now. It works great for me but I'm willing to make a bunch of sacrifices just to try it out, since the SF isn't my main phone.

As for the name, just call it the ZTE Blade.

witnessmenow

Mezcita wrote: »

Not bothered about the name at all. It's a phone for feck.s sake, not an expression of which foot you kick with. Overall £100 for a phone this good without any contract is a steal.

Im not actually suggesting that owning a San Francisco is a insight to your sexual preference! :pac: Ah the name doesnt bother me that much at all. I was just saying i'd change that before the orange logo.

Its true, I was looking around for a new phone and pretty much the world was my oyster and nothing was really jumping out at me, so when i seen this for £100 i thought it would be great intro to android platform, doesnt tie me down to anything, and also its kinda of nice to have something a bit different.

TakeTheVeil

The Froyo Alpha build seemed to unlock my phone actually. The build is pretty solid so far. I have access to Market Place and most things work fine. I'm having a few problems with Calander and Grooveshark wouldnt work but for the most part it's working fairly well for an Alpha build. Definitely worth the money I paid for it

justsomebloke

heading up near belfast tomorrow any one know the address of any Orange shops stocking this that would be enroute?

Mezcita

This should help:

http://search.orange.co.uk/ouk/portal/storelocator.html

One in the Buttercrane Centre in Newry.

justsomebloke

Mezcita wrote: »

This should help:

http://search.orange.co.uk/ouk/portal/storelocator.html

One in the Buttercrane Centre in Newry.

thanks, not sure what site I was on earlier but it didn't show most of the northern ireland ones

emo72

Joe the Santa wrote: »

thanks, not sure what site I was on earlier but it didn't show most of the northern ireland ones

got mine in the castlecourt centre last thursday. no probs at all.

justsomebloke

got this today for the OH, still waiting for an unlock code.

Very first impression where a bit eek as it seemed quite laggy scrolling from screen to screen, however this seems to be just a problem with the O2 launcher. Downloaded Launcher pro and it is a lot more responsive. Screen is quite impressive for the price.

Yes it isn't as good as my desire, but for the price it is a Fantastic phone and would highly recommend it

emo72

Joe the Santa wrote: »

got this today for the OH, still waiting for an unlock code.

Very first impression where a bit eek as it seemed quite laggy scrolling from screen to screen, however this seems to be just a problem with the O2 launcher. Downloaded Launcher pro and it is a lot more responsive. Screen is quite impressive for the price.

Yes it isn't as good as my desire, but for the price it is a Fantastic phone and would highly recommend it

hi joe, when i bought mine up d'north, i had a quick go of it in the shop and found it perfect. no lag or anything like that. i have the desire myself and this one is for a nipper, from santa. really noice fone.;)

mcbert

Hey, I decided to go for one of these too. Picked it up in Newry on thursday, switched to Three today, and put the de-Oranged ROM onto it. I love it! Been playing with it all day, rarely notice any lag. By the way, it came with a 2GB microSD card. Not put Froyo onto it yet, as there seems to be some bugs, but hopefully they'll be fixed soon enough.

Mezcita

Only gripe I have so far is that the wifi seems to automatically disconnect when the phone goes into sleep mode. Means that you have to manually connect again.

Just tried this app and it seems to be working well so far:

http://www.appbrain.com/app/blade-wifi-fix/com.bladewififix

simonckenyon

you can unlock it for free at http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/

but use it with the orange sim for a while in the north or the uk
when i first tried to do it (without having turned the phone on) it failed
but i then used the phone and the above website started working about an hour later

got a black one and a white one in london yesterday
the white one seems quite nice

Khannie

simonckenyon wrote: »

but use it with the orange sim for a while in the north or the uk
when i first tried to do it (without having turned the phone on) it failed
but i then used the phone and the above website started working about an hour later

Jeez....That's good to know. Thanks.