Run SoftBank 003z with Ordinary SoftBank SIM

I bought ZTE Libero 003z (ZTE Blade) from Japan. The phone is SIM locked with SoftBank. SoftBank have started special SIMs for the smartphones known as “smartphone SIM”. With this SIM you have to get a data plan in your package else the SIM won’t work with your phone. This was very frustrating for me. I have access to WiFi almost throughout the day so didn’t want to pay for the monthly data service. After reading a lot and browsing through the Internet I found a way to run ordinary SIM with 003z.

What we need to do is to replace the original “Phone.apk” that comes with the phone with Phone.apk. All you need for this is root access to your phone and then you can use the adb-shell to replace the file. Please be sure to backup the original “Phone.apk” file before replacing it.

Ok lets go to the fun part …

1. Download latest version of “UniversalAndroot” on your phone.
2. Open it and press “Root” button to get the root access to your phone.
3. Now download and install Android-SDK on your PC.
4. On you phone Goto Menu->Applications->Development and Turn on the USB Debugging remember to turn it off once we are finished.
5. Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable.
6. Open command prompt on your PC and navigate to the Android-SDK->Tools folder
7. Just write “adp devices” to check if everything is fine. You should see the name of your device if everything is working.
8. In order to backup the Phone.apk write “adb pull /system/app/Phone.apk PhoneBkUp.apk”
9. Now write “adb shell” and press Enter.
10. In adb shell give “su” command.
11. You will see a dialog box on your phone asking for root permission. Give the permission.
12. Now give “cd system” and then “cd app” command.
13. Now remove the phone application by “rm Phone.apk” command.
14. Now do “cd ..”
15. Do “chmod 777 app” . This gives root access to app folder
16. Do “exit”
17. Now from windows command prompt do “adb push Phone.apk /system/app/Phone.apk”
18. If you get no error this means that its Done … So Smile 🙂
19. Don’t forget to turn off USB debugging.
20. Open “UniversalAndroot” and Unroot your phone.

That’s all. Enjoy your phone with WhitePlan only SIM 😎 .

Troubleshooting:

Here are some useful troubleshooting tips.

1. If your computer does not detect the ZTE HS USB driver automatically you can download it from here.
2. In case you get ReadOnly File system error during chmod or Push operation do as follows:
   1. Run "adb shell".
   2. Run "mount" command.
   3. Check the name of the partition where “/system” is mounted. The name will be “mtdblock” + a digit.
   4. Then re-mount this partition by the following command.
   5. mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock5 /system
   6. Now you can do "chmod 777 /system" or whatever you like.

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Disclaimer: As mentioned here, unlocking your phone is not illegal in Japan but SoftBank doesn’t encourage it. So only unlock your phone if you know all the pros and cons. It may void the warranty. The author of this article cannot be held responsible for any consequences you may face.