[Blade General] Faiz Malkani:
Hi :)

An FAQ thread for Blade users.

Credits to StevenHarperUK

This is a guide to cover most of the common problems.

It contains some words like ROM and Build.props and RECOVERY. PM me if u can't understand anything

:D

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--I want to know whet generation of phone I have

[GEN1] or [GEN2]

There are now 2 Generations of the ZTE-BLADE device.Each have a different style memory

layout.[GEN1] BLADES use the baseband of 0x02A00000 and can use all of the ROMS made [GEN2]

BLADES use the baseband of 0x02600000 Trying to install a GEN1 ROM onto a GEN2 device will

brick it. GEN1 devices can be recovered and converted with a TPT

--How to find out what BLADE you have (GEN1 or GEN2)

You need to install this app Ask Mr Pigfish When you run the APP the first line will be

Mr.Pigfish says you have a Gen1 model

--How do i root my phone

ZTE Blades with Android 2.2 or lower can be rooted using z4root mod. If it doesnt work, or you have 2.3

blade there is a How to root thread in the Blade Android Development section

--How do i install a rom

-Download the Rom

-Download GoogleAps (CyanogenMod only)

-Backup your data using software like Titanium Backup

-Install clockworkmod recovery from Rom manager

-Boot into recovery (Power + volume down)

-wipe data/factory reset

-wipe cache

-install zip from sdcard option ---> select your rom

-do the same for GoogleApps

-reboot (first boot takes a while)

--The Custom ROM wont Boot Properly. Gets Stuck at the Animated/non-animated boot

screen.

This can be because of a few things You have installed a new ROM and need to clear you cache

and factory reset You installed a Theme or patch without letting the new Custom ROM boot

first The ROM you flashed was damaged when downloading - check with md4sum - re-download and

re-flash. Your SD card is in a very bad state Your SIM has a pin card (effects some of the

early 2.2)

--I want to change my partition sizes

Doing this will require a TPT. These can be made or downloaded using the App TPT helper from

the Play Store ( as of now, there is NO TPT for Chinese Blades )

--I Want to send my Phone back to the Operator - how do I make it back to stock?

The best way to do this is to run a TPT which has been made for your operator's original

ROM. A TPT that is built to do this restores the phone to exactly as it comes out of the

factory. This includes BOOT, RECOVERY and SYSTEM partitions. The DATA and CACHE are also

wiped.

--I can not get into Recovery (clockworkmod)

Make sure you are pressing (and holding) the Volume Down button (-). If you Just see some

large text of FTM then you have not installed a Custom Recovery Image yet

--Phone cannot READ/Mount SD Card

1)SD Card is Damaged

2)Card is not formatted correctly. Download - MiniTool Partition Wizard

3)Card not Seated correctly in Holder

4)The Card needs cleaning : take it out and carefully clean it with alcohol (and a

cottonbud)

--Fastboot can not Install ClockworkMod

If you get waiting for device Check USB debugging is on.On windows check drivers. On others,

check your running as root and try other USB ports/ cables. Try using ADB Wireless from the

market. If you get "writing 'recovery': FAILED (status read failed (Protocol error))

android" change the usb cable, and try another USB port.

--I want to get rid of the inbuilt apps but don't feel comfortable installing a ROM

This is possible, you gain root on the device,then use tools to remove the apps. Eg: Root Uninstaller or Titanium Backup

--Have I got TFT or OLED?

Well if you have a UK device you may have OLED If you purcashed it in 2011 you almost

certainly have TFT Both are good- but having a TFT device means that you must avoid non-TFT

compatibe ROMS (All new ROMs are TFT friendly)On some ROMS you can use the Dialer to find

out. Dial *983*24474636# in the dialer. On the Stock Orange ROM Devices that have TFT

Screens have the build Number OUK_P729BV1.0.0B08 (OLED can have this buid also - but rarely)

Devices that have OLED Screens have the build Number OUK_P729BV1.0.0B0. The build Number can

be found in - Settings | About Phone | Build Number

--How can I keep my apps and settings when I install a new ROM?

Before installing a new ROM you can use Titanium Backup to backup all apps you have

installed. After the new ROM has been installed you can restore the apps plus their data (to

keep your Angry Birds progress and scores, for example). The paid-for version of Titanium

Backup allows you backup and then restore many/all apps with the batch command to save time

reinstalling each app individually.

In general, system settings should not be restored on a new ROM. Restoring them can undo the

effect of wiping data/restoring to factory settings before you flashed the new ROM and you

run the risk of incompatible settings causing forced closure of system apps or, even worse,

random reboots of the phone. Contacts can be restored automatically (and safely) by syncing

with your gmail account(settings->accounts & sync and turn on both sync options) - you need

to do this in your old ROM so the data is in place before you install the new ROM. Many

people have reported that SMSs can be restored safely between most ROMs with Titanium

Backup, but other system settings, e.g. wireless access points, may cause problems that may

require the ROM to be reflashed. In all cases you should always use Nandroid backup in

Clockwork to save the state and settings of your previous ROM which will easily allow you to

return to a working state of your previous ROM in case things go wrong.

--How do I remove a custom theme I installed on any ROM, without factory reset?

Simply Re-flash the original ROM over the top in Clockwork. You'll get the original theme

back.

--I want to install a ROM, but remove some of the

included APPs

Simply open the ZIP file you downloaded and browse to /system/app Then remove the APPS you

don't want - be careful, you don't want to remove apps like mms.apk (SMS) and Phone.apk

--Orange SIM card will not make calls, other networks SIM cards work

The phone, as delivered by Courier is barred from OrangeUK's own network until "activated"

If you buy your phone from an Orange shop they are activated (unbarred from the Orange

network) and handed to the purchaser.

--Phone won't boot - only vibrates when I press power

When you try to turn the phone on with the power button you just feeling a quick succession

of vibrations. This means there is not enough power in the battery to boot. Make sure your

phone is plugged into the Adapter and is using the supplied USB cable.

--Wifi Keeps dropping

On 2.1 and leaked 2.2 ROMS - wifi is a real problem. There are many different work-rounds;

however now the kernel source for 2.2 is released - new ROMs don't gave it. Alternatively

there's a Blade wifi fix app available

--Phone wont turn on. It just Buzzes and red light is on back button

Try charging with another cable - your phone is out of battery

--The phone is Not connecting to 3G/ Cant get Data/ Cant send MMS, etc.

If you cannot get data over 2g/3g then your APN setting may be wrong You edit the APN's in

Setting / Wireless & Network Settings / Mobile Network settings / GSM/UMTS Options / Access

Point Names / then click the phones MENU button (hard button) then choose Add APN.

Also check your SIM is 3G

--I am trying to unlock the phone, how do I get to the enter code screen

You can only see this screen by putting in a SIM that is not the same as the ROM you have

expects So if you have a Orange TFT device that is on the standard (stock) ROM, you will

need a SIM that is not Orange (Virgin/TMobile) Once you insert a SIM that is not unlocked

you get the ENTER code screen

--The Phone Wont Read Any SIM Cards

Thickening the SIM with layers of tape (on the non useful side) has proven to work

--Cant make outgoing calls when Wifi is ON

The icon on the the top bar shows 4 reception bars gets a small x on it, the red led flashes

and outgoing calls cannot be made. Switched to airplane mode and back returns the signal -

it only ever does it when wifi is on. This is probably because you are running one

of the leaked Chinese beta kernels. Running a ROM that has a new 2.2 source

Kernel will fix this.

--What is an MD5hecksum

MD5 is a way of checking that the file you have downloaded has not been corrupted in any

way. when you run the MD5sum command against a files the response is the files

"fingerprint". If this differs from the expected MD5, then you need to re-download the file.

MD5 can be checked directly on the device by using a file manager like astro - if you look

at the details of a file an MD5 is generated Windows

Get your md5sum utility from:

http://www.md5summer.org/md5sum.zip

Extract this Zip file contents and put them into the folder you want to run the command in.

--I want to change the files in the system partition

To do this you can use ADB to modify files or Root Explorer

--I Used Factory Reset now my Phone wont boot

Custom ROM resets are best done in clockwork. However you may have problems with

Unsigned Themes. If you have a theme Installed, you may need to re-install the Original ROM

over the top to get it to boot.

--I want to change how my phone's screen looks like / Theme my phone

In any ROM you can change your background(click the MENU hard button when in the home

screen). However some custom ROMs have themes

made for them. There is a whole section on themes and Apps for the ZTE Blade - However the

most themes are specifically matched to a single or a few ROM's. Some themes are simply

applied to launchers that support them - i.e. launcher pro.

Other need to be installed via Clockwork just like a normal ROM - for these you should

always boot the ROM before applying the theme. Also you should always do a clockwork

(nandroid) backup before applying a theme.

--I dont like the keyboard I have

Keyboards on Android can be swapped. To change a keyboard - Activate it in Settings >

Language and Keboard Then in ANY app do a long hold in any text areas wich wold normall show

the keybaord - then choose Input Method

--Bluetooth file Transfer doesn't work properly

Plain vanilla Android has seemingly limited general file transfer capabilities. You can

download market APPS that are far superior. Bluetooth File Transfer (free) Astro File

Manager (free) add the Astro Bluetooth module (free)

--I want to use A2SD but what do I do

Firstly you need a ROM that supports A2SD, next you need to know if it support EXT2/3/4. Now

you need to change the way your SDCard is Partitioned. In Ubuntu use GParted - in Windows

get the home version of partition wizard. Now Copy EVERYTHING off the SD Card. Make the

FIRST partition the FAT32 one (primary partition) - leave 512MB or more for the EXT2/3/4

(where apps will be installed) Now Make Another partition (must be the SECOND) as EXT2/3/4 -

also make this primary. Now mount the Card and copy all your data back to the FAT32 Part -

assuming it fits. When you install/next boot you ROM, the EXT2/3/4 partition will be mounted

as DATA / this is where your apps go from now on.

--I have bought a bigger SD Card and want to swap it into my Phone

If your just using FAT32 (no app2sd) this will be easy. Right Simple - mount the current one

over USB on your Computer (you can do this in Android - or in Clockwork) Copy everything off

onto your computer. Unmount and Swap new card into phone. Remount over USB. Copy everything

back on

--I am upgrading my ROM and don't want to lose my contacts

If you sync your contacts via Google (gmail account), then the contact will be re-

downloaded when you re-enter your Google Account after flashing. You can see your accounts

in Menu > Settings > Account & Sync Otherwise you can go into the Contacts App and choose

Menu > Import Export. The Export will made a new large file with all your contacts in. This

will be written to the root of your SD Card. Import will scan your SD Card and look for any

files that are contact backups.

--I set a BAD SSID in the Wifi Hotspot - now I cannot start Tethering

If you set a SSID on your hotspot to be too long (over 32 characters) or with non valid

characters - then you make it impossible to start the Hotspot. You MUST use ADB to edit the

hotspot name manually

: adb -d shell

: sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.provid

If sqlite3 is not installed on your ROM you can download titanium backup from the market

then use the alternate command

:adb -d shell

:/data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBack

--I want to import all my contacts into Gmail - so they can sync with my phone

Google dont tell you anywhere what the Magic format is of their CSV. Copy the first line

from below, then simply add all the contacts you need into the format of the

2nd line Most Spreadsheet programs will let you open the CSV and edit it. Then just import

the file into Google Contacts (selecting a group when you do it) - I suggest a new group.

--How do i get ICS on my phone

There is no official ics for the blade, however, There are several ics roms to choose from. However there is no perfect release and all of them have certain bugs and issues.

--Can I boot more than one rom on a ZTE Blade

Thanks to android@sam, Snap.IT and Jinxxed, this is now possible. Head over to the Blade Android Development subforum to see the threas

September 21st : ZTE BLADE DAY

Guys feel free to reply with corrections and suggestions so that I can add then to the OP

Thanks to yash_p90 and karthiknr for assistance