[UPDATED] Firefox OS 2.1 for ZTE Open (1st gen) modUI

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YemSalat

Member
Aug 9, 2014
49
56
vXXiUV1.png
XBPRJaX.png


Hey everyone!

I ported the latest Firefox OS 2.1 build to ZTE Open (1st gen)
This build also includes my updates (modUI) for the homescreen and browser which are listed below.

This build runs a lot smoother than previous updates that I tried.
You should be able to update if you have FFOS v1.1 (or older) installed and have fastboot available, but make sure you back up your device anyway!
This build is also available for ZTE Open C - FFOS for zte open c

My updates to the build
- Made stock icons more consistent, changed the layout a bit.
- Removed background from the search bar on the top of the screen (I think it is ugly).
- Applied the font fix to get Fira Sans back
- Made the address bar appear when you start scrolling to the top - no more scrolling to the very top of the page to access it!
- Added "Duck Duck Go" to the search engines (you can change them in browser settings)
- Added Google suggestions to the browser address bar 'as-you-type'


[UPDATE]

aBTSZQf.png
RinoCcn.png
5zxrMjO.png


I updated the build, technically its not 2.1 anymore, mozilla moved to 2.2

Here is a list of the changes I made to this build:
- Added a button to lock orientation to the swipe screen
- Changed layout of the swipe screen a bit
- Long tap on shift for capslock
- Added a button to close all applications in the task manager
- Other small updates to styling

(Also added French keyboard)

Mozilla added copy - paste for text fields! also available in this build (probably not stable yet)

This build also includes many updates from mozilla such as the new browser they're building (browser2 on homescreen)

Keyboards in this build
English
Spanish
German
French
Russian (cyrillic)

Download
ZTE-Open-21-modUI.zip on Google Drive (Updated 09.09.2014)

Installation instruction
Make sure to backup your data!
You'll also need adb and fastboot installed.
Download zip and extract to local machine
Open the extracted folder in console and type:

1) adb devices #(should list your device)
2) adb reboot bootloader
3) fastboot erase cache #(if this just reboots your device - try again from step 2)
4) fastboot erase system
5) fastboot erase userdata
6) fastboot flash cache ramdisk.img
7) fastboot flash system system.img
8) fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
9) fastboot flash boot boot.img
10) fastboot reboot

Your phone should reboot at this point (usually takes 1-2minutes) and you can enjoy latest 2.1


GitHub
I also decided to ublish my branch on github: https://github.com/YemSalat/gaia-modui feel free to fork and contribute or port to other phones.
I am currently learning Gaia architecture as I'm making changes, so some of them are a bit 'hacky', but I try to follow the conventions and prefix my stuff (css/functions/etc.) with 'modui'


Let me know what you think!
 
Last edited:

Saijin_Naib

Senior Member
Jun 22, 2014
95
22
Have you gotten around the broken GPS and non-working home light issues I noted in my builds thread?
 

LinuxHolic

Senior Member
Jun 16, 2013
124
23
Support?

Big Thanks!

Question 1: Are you planning to keep this ROM update with patches and some enhancements in the Future?
Question 2: Any fix for Proximity sensor during on-going Call?

Thanks again! :D
 

YemSalat

Member
Aug 9, 2014
49
56
I updated the build.
- I changed the GPS server in the config - will hopefully work for you now if it didn't before.
- Merged mozilla's updates from yesterday.

I'll release the same build for Open C later today as well.

US, phone flashed with ZTE_US update to v1.1 from v1.0. Used your boot.img and my ramdisk/userdata/system img, yielded stably working, but no GPS as always.
Sorry, my previous comment was probably a bit misleading.
I don't think the boot.img has anything to do with the GPS, its mostly the settings inside system.img.
I just updated the build and added US servers for GPS, also changed the main geolocation provider to Nokias.
Could you please flash my build and test it again? Also, make sure you test outdoors, and also download the app called 'gps callibration' from marketplace and see if it can get your lat/long.

Big Thanks!

Question 1: Are you planning to keep this ROM update with patches and some enhancements in the Future?
Question 2: Any fix for Proximity sensor during on-going Call?

Thanks again! :D
You're welcome!

Yes, I'm planning to keep it updated, every week hopefully (btw, just uploaded a new update, nothing new - mostly bug fixes) Plus I also have a list of things that I want to improve myself, let me know if you have any suggestions as well.
I haven't looked into the proximity sensor, but I'll be checking if it does get fixed in later updates.
 
Last edited:

LinuxHolic

Senior Member
Jun 16, 2013
124
23
I updated the build.

You're welcome!

Yes, I'm planning to keep it updated, every week hopefully (btw, just uploaded a new update, nothing new - mostly bug fixes) Plus I also have a list of things that I want to improve myself, let me know if you have any suggestions as well.
I haven't looked into the proximity sensor, but I'll be checking if it does get fixed in later updates.

Messaging is a bit laggy :/
Sometimes you have to tap 3 to 4 time to send message :D

Thanks for keeping this buil up-to-date!
 

YemSalat

Member
Aug 9, 2014
49
56
when i type in another language than English , its change in the middle of the writing to English :(
Hm, never happened to me, I regularly type in a foreign language. Are you sure you're not accidentally pressing the key to the left of 'space' ? When you add a foreign keyboard the comma that is usually there gets replaced by the 'change language' key.
 

trixi3

Member
Aug 28, 2014
17
1
it's not the same hardware, so i don't think this would work.
you have a Open 2, how is it?

So I'm going to wait until there's some rom for the open 2? :(

It's not that bad, I bought it a week ago, when the Firefox OS phones arrived to my country, and I was curious about it. I having some trouble with the brightness (I set it at the lowest, then I turn the screen off and when I turn back on it resets the brightness to the highest) but the performance is good.
 

linr76

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
133
53
Zürich
So I'm going to wait until there's some rom for the open 2? :(

It's not that bad, I bought it a week ago, when the Firefox OS phones arrived to my country, and I was curious about it. I having some trouble with the brightness (I set it at the lowest, then I turn the screen off and when I turn back on it resets the brightness to the highest) but the performance is good.

you can always try and build your own ROM, it's not that hard. look up on the Mozilla developer network on how to set up a build environment and the relevant info for the Open 2.
the Open C is much better supported, as you can see here, but in general the ZTE devices seem to have a very short lifetime, as ZTE doesn't give a damn about supporting them. thats als why i stopped working on FFOS, since there is really no reliable device with future updates (except maybe the Flame which is simply way too expensive for what you get)
 
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YemSalat

Member
Aug 9, 2014
49
56
A small update - I am merging and testing new releases of the 2.1 branch every other day and it seems to become really nice to use.
However mozilla removed the default browser from the build and only kept the new one, I think I will keep it in my build until the new one becomes more usable (tabs!)

As I said in the other topic I have made a few more updates myself:
- added orientation lock to swipe panel
- changed the layout of swipe panel a bit
- restored default browser

Currently testing:
- long tap on shift for capslock

Will release soon, once its a bit more polished.

I also want to release my branch on Github so other people can contribute as well, I'll do that once I clean it up a bit.

Messaging is a bit laggy :/
Sometimes you have to tap 3 to 4 time to send message :D

Thanks for keeping this buil up-to-date!
Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah it was annoying, luckily this has been addressed by mozilla and this issue is fixed in the new build.

Can I use this on the ZTE Open II?
As linr76 pointed out it will probably fail due to different hardware on the devices.
I mean you can always try, but I bear no responsibility if you brick it. Plus you'll need to jailbreak it first and I'm not sure if there are any 'official' ways for open 2.
 
Last edited:

YemSalat

Member
Aug 9, 2014
49
56
the Open C is much better supported, as you can see here, but in general the ZTE devices seem to have a very short lifetime, as ZTE doesn't give a damn about supporting them. thats als why i stopped working on FFOS, since there is really no reliable device with future updates (except maybe the Flame which is simply way too expensive for what you get)
I doubt we'll ever see another update for the C from ZTE :p
And thanks again for your work, at least we'll now have future releases of gaia 2.x guaranteed to work on the open (hopefully)
I was wondering could you by any chance decibe the process of adapting the boot image? What are the main issues with it?
 

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  • 14
    vXXiUV1.png
    XBPRJaX.png


    Hey everyone!

    I ported the latest Firefox OS 2.1 build to ZTE Open (1st gen)
    This build also includes my updates (modUI) for the homescreen and browser which are listed below.

    This build runs a lot smoother than previous updates that I tried.
    You should be able to update if you have FFOS v1.1 (or older) installed and have fastboot available, but make sure you back up your device anyway!
    This build is also available for ZTE Open C - FFOS for zte open c

    My updates to the build
    - Made stock icons more consistent, changed the layout a bit.
    - Removed background from the search bar on the top of the screen (I think it is ugly).
    - Applied the font fix to get Fira Sans back
    - Made the address bar appear when you start scrolling to the top - no more scrolling to the very top of the page to access it!
    - Added "Duck Duck Go" to the search engines (you can change them in browser settings)
    - Added Google suggestions to the browser address bar 'as-you-type'


    [UPDATE]

    aBTSZQf.png
    RinoCcn.png
    5zxrMjO.png


    I updated the build, technically its not 2.1 anymore, mozilla moved to 2.2

    Here is a list of the changes I made to this build:
    - Added a button to lock orientation to the swipe screen
    - Changed layout of the swipe screen a bit
    - Long tap on shift for capslock
    - Added a button to close all applications in the task manager
    - Other small updates to styling

    (Also added French keyboard)

    Mozilla added copy - paste for text fields! also available in this build (probably not stable yet)

    This build also includes many updates from mozilla such as the new browser they're building (browser2 on homescreen)

    Keyboards in this build
    English
    Spanish
    German
    French
    Russian (cyrillic)

    Download
    ZTE-Open-21-modUI.zip on Google Drive (Updated 09.09.2014)

    Installation instruction
    Make sure to backup your data!
    You'll also need adb and fastboot installed.
    Download zip and extract to local machine
    Open the extracted folder in console and type:

    1) adb devices #(should list your device)
    2) adb reboot bootloader
    3) fastboot erase cache #(if this just reboots your device - try again from step 2)
    4) fastboot erase system
    5) fastboot erase userdata
    6) fastboot flash cache ramdisk.img
    7) fastboot flash system system.img
    8) fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
    9) fastboot flash boot boot.img
    10) fastboot reboot

    Your phone should reboot at this point (usually takes 1-2minutes) and you can enjoy latest 2.1


    GitHub
    I also decided to ublish my branch on github: https://github.com/YemSalat/gaia-modui feel free to fork and contribute or port to other phones.
    I am currently learning Gaia architecture as I'm making changes, so some of them are a bit 'hacky', but I try to follow the conventions and prefix my stuff (css/functions/etc.) with 'modui'


    Let me know what you think!
    3
    I updated the build!

    Same changes as for Open C

    aBTSZQf.png
    RinoCcn.png
    5zxrMjO.png


    Technically its not 2.1 anymore, mozilla moved to 2.2

    Here is a list of the changes I made to this build:
    - Added a button to lock orientation to the swipe screen
    - Changed layout of the swipe screen a bit
    - Long tap on shift for capslock
    - Added a button to close all applications in the task manager
    - Other small updates to styling

    (Also added French keyboard)

    Unfortunatelly I didn't have a chance to test the proximity sensor yet, if somebody could do that and report back - that would be great.

    Mozilla added copy - paste for text fields! also available in this build (probably not stable yet)

    Download
    ZTE-Open-21-modUI.zip on Google Drive

    I also decided to ublish my branch on github: https://github.com/YemSalat/gaia-modui feel free to fork and contribute or port to other phones.
    I am currently learning Gaia architecture as I'm making changes, so some of them are a bit 'hacky', but I try to follow the conventions and prefix my stuff (css/functions/etc.) with 'modui'

    i cannot do anything...it dose not boot into anything than the blue screen

    I stated in the first post that you need at least 1.1 to upgrade to this build, you can try flashing it with official 1.0 again.
    2
    I updated the build.
    - I changed the GPS server in the config - will hopefully work for you now if it didn't before.
    - Merged mozilla's updates from yesterday.

    I'll release the same build for Open C later today as well.

    US, phone flashed with ZTE_US update to v1.1 from v1.0. Used your boot.img and my ramdisk/userdata/system img, yielded stably working, but no GPS as always.
    Sorry, my previous comment was probably a bit misleading.
    I don't think the boot.img has anything to do with the GPS, its mostly the settings inside system.img.
    I just updated the build and added US servers for GPS, also changed the main geolocation provider to Nokias.
    Could you please flash my build and test it again? Also, make sure you test outdoors, and also download the app called 'gps callibration' from marketplace and see if it can get your lat/long.

    Big Thanks!

    Question 1: Are you planning to keep this ROM update with patches and some enhancements in the Future?
    Question 2: Any fix for Proximity sensor during on-going Call?

    Thanks again! :D
    You're welcome!

    Yes, I'm planning to keep it updated, every week hopefully (btw, just uploaded a new update, nothing new - mostly bug fixes) Plus I also have a list of things that I want to improve myself, let me know if you have any suggestions as well.
    I haven't looked into the proximity sensor, but I'll be checking if it does get fixed in later updates.
    2
    A small update - I am merging and testing new releases of the 2.1 branch every other day and it seems to become really nice to use.
    However mozilla removed the default browser from the build and only kept the new one, I think I will keep it in my build until the new one becomes more usable (tabs!)

    As I said in the other topic I have made a few more updates myself:
    - added orientation lock to swipe panel
    - changed the layout of swipe panel a bit
    - restored default browser

    Currently testing:
    - long tap on shift for capslock

    Will release soon, once its a bit more polished.

    I also want to release my branch on Github so other people can contribute as well, I'll do that once I clean it up a bit.

    Messaging is a bit laggy :/
    Sometimes you have to tap 3 to 4 time to send message :D

    Thanks for keeping this buil up-to-date!
    Thanks for the feedback!
    Yeah it was annoying, luckily this has been addressed by mozilla and this issue is fixed in the new build.

    Can I use this on the ZTE Open II?
    As linr76 pointed out it will probably fail due to different hardware on the devices.
    I mean you can always try, but I bear no responsibility if you brick it. Plus you'll need to jailbreak it first and I'm not sure if there are any 'official' ways for open 2.
    1
    First the bad news, I erased and flashed the September 9 build but got a boot loop, only the bootloader screen displayed. Repeated the erase / flash process 4 more times with the same result.
    Now for the good news:-

    The CWM Recovery remained undamaged by all that erasing and flashing so I was able to restore FxOS 1.0.0 and resume original "full" function -- nowhere near as good as 2.2 but at least some consolation. :)
    So I'm keen to try again but reckon I may wait for the next build, hoping that it may be better with my particular setup than the September 9 build. And of course I could try to build it myself thanks to YemSalat setting up the branch on GitHub. :)

    Sorry it didn't go that well. I've made some more changes to the build that I haven't pushed to github yet (will do in the next couple days)
    The latest one already feels a lot more stable then this one, hopefully will work for you as well.

    PS Congrats on the Flame! :)