Root FINALLY A WORKING JELLY BEAN ROM!! Public release! Update from ICS!

[bobdole888]

Is there a fix for the connection optimizer yet?
It still forces close when trying to run it.

Could someone with working connection optimizer extract the APK and post ?
I'm assuming that ICS connection optimizer works. So hopefully someone can just exract and post.

Thanks in advance.

 

[speedyi]

The native messaging app is not suppose to work with FreedomPop. I added it back only because Google Now uses it by default. (FreedomPop left it in the ICS version but had it disabled so it would not show up in the apps). I don't believe there is away to change the default messaging app in Google Now so I was afraid leaving out could cause problems. You should login to your FreedomPop account and go to usage details on the "HOME" page. If it did work, it probably deducted from your data limit and not from your text allowance.

Buzbee, I'm sorry, my mistake. I just realized that what I used to send text messages yesterday was through FreedomPop's Messaging App (the one with the blue quote icon). I confused that today with Messaging (the one with the green-quote-with-a-smiley-face-icon. FP's Messaging worked yesterday and my usage details on FP's "HOME" page shows that it deducted from my text allowance. I tested it again just now, and both phone and text message through FreedomPop is working perfect for me! Thanks!

It's nice to have a second option with FP's phone number and text messages in addition to my Google Voice number, which I use as my main number. I use Google Hangouts app for calls and text messages with that Google Voice number.

How did you get the Wi-Fi hotspot to work? The Wi-Fi tether app I included breaks Wi-Fi after 1 use. I have to reboot to get Wi-Fi back. I have been using Netd-ndc (master) with Wi-Fi driver loader (1) settings.

I turned on the "Portable hotspot" under Settings and tested it out throughout the day today. My tablet picked up the Wi-Fi signal right away. Youtube videos pause quite a bit, but it's definitely usable. Since its worked, I never got around to try the Wi-Fi tether app.

I initially signed up with FreedomPop Phone Premier which included Tethering, but I cancelled it the day I got the phone. I also had FP's unlimited talk & text plan, but downgraded it to the free 200 minutes/500 messages. I also downgraded my data plan to the free 500MB one as well. My "HOME" Page shows that I'm on the free plan on everything and don't have any additional "services" like the FP Phone Premier. This probably doesn't affect any of the above, but I mention it just in case.

Thank you so much for all your work!

 

[Buzbee]

Buzbee, I'm sorry, my mistake. I just realized that what I used to send text messages yesterday was through FreedomPop's Messaging App (the one with the blue quote icon). I confused that today with Messaging (the one with the green-quote-with-a-smiley-face-icon. FP's Messaging worked yesterday and my usage details on FP's "HOME" page shows that it deducted from my text allowance. I tested it again just now, and both phone and text message through FreedomPop is working perfect for me! Thanks!

It's nice to have a second option with FP's phone number and text messages in addition to my Google Voice number, which I use as my main number. I use Google Hangouts app for calls and text messages with that Google Voice number.




I turned on the "Portable hotspot" under Settings and tested it out throughout the day today. My tablet picked up the Wi-Fi signal right away. Youtube videos pause quite a bit, but it's definitely usable. Since its worked, I never got around to try the Wi-Fi tether app.

I initially signed up with FreedomPop Phone Premier which included Tethering, but I cancelled it the day I got the phone. I also had FP's unlimited talk & text plan, but downgraded it to the free 200 minutes/500 messages. I also downgraded my data plan to the free 500MB one as well. My "HOME" Page shows that I'm on the free plan on everything and don't have any additional "services" like the FP Phone Premier. This probably doesn't affect any of the above, but I mention it just in case.

Thank you so much for all your work!

It does affect the tethering. I never signed up for premier and when I click on the mobile hotspot it says I'm not subscribed to hotpsot service and shuts off. You should see if you still have it after 30 days.

 

[Dogmarcopolo]

Thank all you for this effort. just updated my FreedomPop ZTE Force to Android 4.1 and immediately noticed a boost in speed, also the battery life seems to improve too. However, I do encounter two issues, don't know if anyone can help:

1. Wifi won't connect to a hidden SSID. my home router's SSID isn't broadcasted. The phone has no problem with with under Android 4.0 but would say it is out range under 4.1 (unless i reboot the router, it would connect briefly but once it comes back from sleep when wifi is turned off it wouldn't connect again).
2. FreedomPop asked me to activate the phone, but when i entered email i got 'user with this email already exists'. i thought everyone went through this process would face the same problem?

any advice would be greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

 

[Buzbee]

Thank all you for this effort. just updated my FreedomPop ZTE Force to Android 4.1 and immediately noticed a boost in speed, also the battery life seems to improve too. However, I do encounter two issues, don't know if anyone can help:

1. Wifi won't connect to a hidden SSID. my home router's SSID isn't broadcasted. The phone has no problem with with under Android 4.0 but would say it is out range under 4.1 (unless i reboot the router, it would connect briefly but once it comes back from sleep when wifi is turned off it wouldn't connect again).
2. FreedomPop asked me to activate the phone, but when i entered email i got 'user with this email already exists'. i thought everyone went through this process would face the same problem?

any advice would be greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

1. SSID are case sensitive. Check the case. Instead of hiding SSID, turn off remote management. Turning off remote management means no one can access the router configuration pages over wifi, only if they are connected via an ethernet cable. I tested this extensively and while you do get a login prompt even entering the password 100% correctly you still can not login to the router's configuration over wi-fi.

2. Your phone is already activated. Try uninstalling the messaging app and reinstalling. You should get a green checkmark in the upper left hand corner where it should list your phone number.

 

[Dogmarcopolo]

1. SSID are case sensitive. Check the case. Instead of hiding SSID, turn off remote management. Turning off remote management means no one can access the router configuration pages over wifi, only if they are connected via an ethernet cable. I tested this extensively and while you do get a login prompt even entering the password 100% correctly you still can not login to the router's configuration over wi-fi.

2. Your phone is already activated. Try uninstalling the messaging app and reinstalling. You should get a green checkmark in the upper left hand corner where it should list your phone number.

Thanks for the quick response. However:

1. my home network was setup with hidden SSID, use mac address filtering to block unwanted access, and no encryption. at that time the environment was isolated, but i moved and it is more crowded. i could turn on broadcast, but people will try to sign-on because the SSID will be visible and open (no encryption). although mac filtering will block unauthorized request, it is still not desirable. to turn on encryption means changing all devices current in use - a big hassle. actually, really don't care much about encryption, if the data is sensitive (like password), it probably encoded already. so is there other solution? hidden SSID does work with ICS, just not JB. it also ok with my Samsung phone running kitkat.

2. uninstalled all freedompop apps (phone and messaging), rebooted the phone, reinstalled. still was asked to activate with a yellow triangle warning icon at the top left cornor, not a green checkmark.

 

[Buzbee]

Thanks for the quick response. However:

1. my home network was setup with hidden SSID, use mac address filtering to block unwanted access, and no encryption. at that time the environment was isolated, but i moved and it is more crowded. i could turn on broadcast, but people will try to sign-on because the SSID will be visible and open (no encryption). although mac filtering will block unauthorized request, it is still not desirable. to turn on encryption means changing all devices current in use - a big hassle. actually, really don't care much about encryption, if the data is sensitive (like password), it probably encoded already. so is there other solution? hidden SSID does work with ICS, just not JB. it also ok with my Samsung phone running kitkat.

2. uninstalled all freedompop apps (phone and messaging), rebooted the phone, reinstalled. still was asked to activate with a yellow triangle warning icon at the top left cornor, not a green checkmark.

1.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2865...hiding-your-wireless-ssid-really-more-secure/

http://security.stackexchange.com/q...ss-filtering-and-ssid-hiding-still-worthwhile

2. First try to refresh activation data. Open messaging and click on the 3 lines in the very upper left by the messaging icon. Should be at the very bottom. You can also scroll up and see log out so you can try to login again.

Otherwise, did you create an ICS backup on your sdcard? If so, download ZTEForceICSPartitions.zip and restore back to ICS and make sure everything works first. Then go back to JB.

 

[Dogmarcopolo]

1.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2865...hiding-your-wireless-ssid-really-more-secure/

http://security.stackexchange.com/q...ss-filtering-and-ssid-hiding-still-worthwhile

2. First try to refresh activation data. Open messaging and click on the 3 lines in the very upper left by the messaging icon. Should be at the very bottom. You can also scroll up and see log out so you can try to login again.

Otherwise, did you create an ICS backup on your sdcard? If so, download ZTEForceICSPartitions.zip and restore back to ICS and make sure everything works first. Then go back to JB.

Thanks again.

1. i am aware of the security issue, but like i said, don't care about security that much. as far as i'm concerned, the private info is already encrypted, hackers can spoof ssid or mac address as they wish. i'm just hesitant to have every device (such as printer, blue ray, smart tv, etc) go through the process again, some of them i forgot the procedure already :-( but if there is no work around i might just bite the bullet.

2. tried boot into ics and still the same error. turned out the problem is on freedompop's end. they have to reset my device. everything is fine now.

glad to have knowledgeable people willing to help on the forum. appreciate!

 

[bobdole888]

Is there a fix for the connection optimizer yet?
It still forces close when trying to run it.

Could someone with working connection optimizer extract the APK and post ?
I'm assuming that ICS connection optimizer works. So hopefully someone can just exract and post.

Thanks in advance.

I solved my own problem.
Found the connection optimizer app from the ZTE support website for Boost.
From the update.zip file in the download section, I extracted the connection optimizer app.
Just install it like a regular app (open with file manager) and that fixed my forced close problem on connection optimizer.

File is posted below.

 

[Buzbee]

I solved my own problem.
Found the connection optimizer app from the ZTE support website for Boost.
From the update.zip file in the download section, I extracted the connection optimizer app.
Just install it like a regular app (open with file manager) and that fixed my forced close problem on connection optimizer.

File is posted below.

The JB version of that apk is less than 1 MB. Not sure why the ICS version is 2.5MB. I suggest you use that one instead. It's in my FreedomPop version.

 

[bobdole888]

The JB version of that apk is less than 1 MB. Not sure why the ICS version is 2.5MB. I suggest you use that one instead. It's in my FreedomPop version.

Your 1MB file is ver 1.4.686. It keeps crashing.
The 2.5 MB file is ver 2.1.0.27 and doesn't crash for me. Although it's from ICS, it appears to work just fine.

Looking at the version numbers, your 1MB file doesn't appear to be proper JB version.

 

[Buzbee]

Your 1MB file is ver 1.4.686. It keeps crashing.
The 2.5 MB file is ver 2.1.0.27 and doesn't crash for me. Although it's from ICS, it appears to work just fine.

Looking at the version numbers, your 1MB file doesn't appear to be proper JB version.

Where are you getting the version number? The AndroidManifest.xml says it is v 2.2.0.14. This is the file that was removed from sawbones rom. It isn't crashing for me. It isn't meant to be installed though but to be in the system directory. Uninstall your version. Try copying mine to your sd card. Then copy and paste it to your system/app directory via ES file explorer (root). Boot to recovery, wipe caches and reboot. It should work fine.

 

[bobdole888]

Where are you getting the version number? The AndroidManifest.xml says it is v 2.2.0.14. This is the file that was removed from sawbones rom. It isn't crashing for me. It isn't meant to be installed though but to be in the system directory. Uninstall your version. Try copying mine to your sd card. Then copy and paste it to your system/app directory via ES file explorer (root). Boot to recovery, wipe caches and reboot. It should work fine.

Under settings apps, if you go to "all" you'll see the connections optimizer app and the version number reads 1.4.686.
I'm using Sawbone's ROM. For whatever reason, that connections optimizer app doesn't work. Since you got it from his ROM it explains why it still doesn't work for me.

Could you please check the version on your end to see what version actually gets reported by app manager under settings?

 

[Buzbee]

Under settings apps, if you go to "all" you'll see the connections optimizer app and the version number reads 1.4.686.
I'm using Sawbone's ROM. For whatever reason, that connections optimizer app doesn't work. Since you got it from his ROM it explains why it still doesn't work for me.

Could you please check the version on your end to see what version actually gets reported by app manager under settings?

It has the same version number 2.2.0.14 under settings. You must have downloaded that version 1.4.686 from somewhere else not my FreedomPop rom.

Sawbones rom is completely missing the Connection Optimizer apk. I have a copy of the one that was removed from his base rom. I put it back in my FreedomPop rom.

 

[rskyzx38]

Just want to say thanks for your work. Very nice ROM.

 

[bobdole888]

It has the same version number 2.2.0.14 under settings. You must have downloaded that version 1.4.686 from somewhere else not my FreedomPop rom.

Sawbones rom is completely missing the Connection Optimizer apk. I have a copy of the one that was removed from his base rom. I put it back in my FreedomPop rom.

I tried what you suggested, but it still keeps crashing. My phone is using sawbone rom and what works is the 2.5Mb file that I posted( ver 2.1.0.27). Your rom is different so we are seeing different behavior.

I did see that your version is 2.2.0.14 after going through the new procedure you suggested. Unfortunately, I doesn't work for me.

 

[RedHaven]

I got this phone from Freedom pop just to play with and use as a spare. I can confirm that this ROM boots and works for me. I had to install the freedompop app to get messaging to work. The GPS works. I had to turn on "set location with GPS" in Google Maps. I think maybe by default, the GPS satellites settings is off in location services.

This phone is an amazing value. I had a ZTE score that I used as a media player for a long time. It is working so well that it seems like a shame that I probably won't use it much.

The one app I can't get to work is Plex. It opens but all videos come up with a message that says "can't play this video." I didn't try it with the stock ICS rom so I'm not sure if it is the hardware or software. It will play video files (even 1080p video) with VLC media player and Netflix works. I don't expect to use it much for Plex so no big deal.

 

[Buzbee]

Can someone test Sawbones rom with Skype? I believe the receivers video is upside down.

I think I fixed that issue with my FreedomPop Rom. Latest version is 3/18/15 at 9:33 P.M. EST. See Page 4 for link. Pretty cool how Dropbox allows you to just upload changes and not the whole rom. It even allows you to revert back to older versions. It uses the same share link too.

Please test this one out and report any bugs. I think I'm basically done except for a few cosmetic issues.

 

[bobdole888]

Root with Kingo root or any other. Copy the file below to your sd card. Hold down volume down key and power key at the same time you start up the phone. When it vibrates it means it is going to go to recovery. Freedompop already has Clockwork Mod 6.0.3.0 touch recovery on it. Go to restore and backup. Backup to external sd then wipe cache, factory reset, and then install this zip from external sd card.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6y2lu3s5qlen812/ZTE_FORCE_JB_Freedompop.zip?dl=0

Known Issues: (updated 3/11/2015)

1. ICCID in "Settings- About Phone - Status" shows as unknown (cosmetic only)

If you feel like it, you may upgrade your recovery image to non touch 6.0.4.4. Everything appears to work in it.

http://androidforums.com/threads/recovery-unofficial-cwm-v6-0-4-4.749083/

If you want to go back to an ICS nandroid CWM backup run this zip first to restore the necessary ICS partitions:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sf82i0c2sdpxxb9/ZTEForceICSPartitions.zip?dl=0

FreedomPop users, Buzbee was very nice to build a special version of JB just for FeedomPop users.
I haven't tried it myself, but if anyone has tried it please report back your experience with it.
This was posted on post #100.

 

[cbjohnson]

FreedomPop users, Buzbee was very nice to build a special version of JB just for FeedomPop users.
I haven't tried it myself, but if anyone has tried it please report back your experience with it.
This was posted on post #100.

I installed the JB rom on my Zte Force and so far it works great. I have confirmed the ICCID unknown but it appears to be cosmetic as LTE still works. Several noted problems with the stock Freedompop 4.0.4 rom appear corrected (GooglePlay error, not charging battery without restart). Any ideas the member have to address the ICCID unknown reporting would be appreciated.

 

[Fred Clown]

Love the ROM guys. Great work. It would be nice to be able to use Exchange email accounts.

 

[Buzbee]

Latest FreedomPop rom has the home screens looking very similar to the out-of-box Freedompop ICS version.

I don't plan on doing anything more with this rom except:

1. If I can figure out how to get the sim serial number (ICCID) to show up on the about screen like in the ICS version. This doesn't affect 3G/4G but appears only cosmetic.

2. If I can find a way to "freeze" the default messaging app so it doesn't show up in the app list or get used by Google Now. Afraid if I remove it that it could cause issues with Google Now when trying to send a message. Any way to change default messaging app or default navigation app in Google Now?

 

[Buzbee]

Love the ROM guys. Great work. It would be nice to be able to use Exchange email accounts.

Fred,

Don't be a Clown. Exchange2.apk is included with the FreedomPop rom!

 

[Fred Clown]

Fred,

Don't be a Clown. Exchange2.apk is included with the FreedomPop rom!

Really! Bummer! I installed (and set up) sawbones ROM. Ok, guess I'll re-flash and do the whole set-up thing again. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Fred Clown]

So, I've flashed both Jellybean ROM's here and it seems to me that the FreedomPop version drains the battery faster than sawbones. Also, I have noticed an issue with the Play Store on the Jellybean FreedomPop ROM that was occurring with the stock FreedomPop ROM as well. Every once in a while the Play Store will stop working and display an error. The only way to fix it is to clear the app cache and then the app starts to work again. Am I the only one seeing this error? I didn't see it happen on sawbones ROM, but the stock FreedomPop ROM and the Jellybean FreedomPop ROM seem to both manifest the issue within an hour or two of use. Here's a screencap of the error.