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Hi all,
After spending many hours trawling the internet, and especially this forum I still am having problems getting ANY custom rom I've tried booting on this phone
I know it's old, but it's just a phone I had lying around and want to use it as a small tablet for my 6yo daughter.
I can flash any "stock" rom I've found with odin, but when flashing using an install from an SD card through CWM, it just hangs on the Samsung bootscreen.
CWM installs as the default recovery console, so something is going on the phone, but it won't boot to android.
Oh I'm also using a 5830I rom, but my research has shown this is basically the same phone?
I've used CM7 and tried lots of other custom roms with the same outcome - please can anyone help!?
My daughter is dying to use her new games machine, but the stock rom is sooooo laggy and slow it's no good at all!
Thanks in advance.
@macsbig, "About device" information from settings of your device please < home+power button for screenshots > or kindly state the full details here.
Your original CSC/PDA/MODEM parts of your device <Dial *#1234# >
Your Region /Country/ carrier you are staying please.
Thanks for the reply ehsanotaku!
PDA : S5830iXXLA4
PHONE : S5830iXXLA2
CSC : S5830iOXXLA2
I'm in the uk. This is not the original rom (that got stuck in a bootlock) and the only way to get the 'phone working again was to flash with a stock rom from the internet.
The original rom was from "Three".
During my various attempts at flashing a rom I have ticked the "re-partition" box and tried both "cooperve_0623.pit" and totoro_0623.pit
I've flashed my P5110 tablet, and a Galaxy S1 for my son with no problems - odd!
@macsbig, How come you are ended up with outdated ( 2012 ) s5830i in the first place ? Any particular problems with your s5839i original firmware ( do you know your original CSC/PDA/MODEM parts ) ? Are you absolutely sure this is not re-branded version ( "About Device" info of the original phone would be nice to see though ) Did you take any Nandroid back up of all of the original partitions of your s5839i through temporary CWM zip file ( files will be stored inside your Clockworkmod directory inside the root of the SD card )
Do you still have access to Recovery stock e3 console and Download mode ?
Another important subject in need of clarification are ".pit" files ( partition table info ) and Re-partition option. Playing around with wrong .pit file such as totoro and incorrect usage of Re-partition will lead into hard bricking of your device .
Since you already did modify partition table couple of time partially without success , I would suggest the following process :
1. Download one of the newest non wipe xxx.tar.md5 s5830i firmware from here < It is free, but registration is required > Probably 2013 xxMD1 is the right one for our experiment.
2. Make your wipe flash able zip package through splitfus2 tutorial provided here, my comment @ post 9 or simply you may use European/Russian pre-made package from here , your choice though ( I would advise the first method , but the latter also will work ) .
3.Get the following files:
3.1 - Odin3.v3.07.Cooperve.exe from either places would be fine : 1 , or any sticky post in general/development section will do ( correct cooperVe .pit file will be resided inside the package )
3.2- Get the Temp-CWM 5.0.2.6 or 5.0.2.8 zip file from here or here < put the zip file inside the root of your SD card for flashing later >
3.3- Boot loader <DefaultCalDataWithBoot_S5830iXXLB1_REV00.tar.rar from post#27 , my attachment .
3.4 - SLIM_CM7.2_Cooperve #4 Rom < put it inside the root of SD card >
3.5- This kernel is also goes into Root of SD card for later usage .
3.6- EXT4 Formatter Tool , into the root of SD card again.
4- Now , if you don't have proper drivers installed inside your Windows PC , you can get then form here .
Ok, assuming you have at least access to Download mode , provided the combo keys work (pressing Vol(+) + Vol(-) + Power Keys) Go there according to manual :
-Power off your Phone.
-Get into "Download mode" by pressing Vol(+) + Vol(-) + Power Keys.
-press volume up
-Open Odin3.v3.07.Cooperve.exe
-Connect your phone to PC via USB cable.
-Make sure that your phone is detected in "ID:COM" area.
- Put your wipe PDA/CSC/MODEM/ boot loader/pit files into their proper places , Re-partition is ticked , Factory reset and reboot selected by default >> push the START !
- DO NOT disconnected nor disturb the flashing Nand process , until the process being terminated . Now you must be out of boot loop .
For completing our partition conversion and also put some cm7.2 custom Rom into the test at the same time , do the following :
- Boot into stock e3 recovery >> wipe data and flash your Temp CWM
- CWM > wipe data > wipe cache > wipe Dalvik cache
- Flash the EXT4 Formatter tool, so whole system will be converted to EXT4. (Stock filesystem is RFS).
- Flash kernel_CM7_v4.0_cooperVe .
- When the Kernel is installed, go to the advanced menu --> "reboot recovery" (this will reboot the device, thus you will be directed into your new CWM built-in, which is implanted inside Kernel ).
- Wipe data, cache and Dalvik
- Go to "mounts and storage", and make sure /system partition is mounted (will show -unmounted ; it is like ON/OFF switch)
- Main menu > "Install zip from SD Card" > choose "zip from SD card" and install the ROM, you have already got inside your SD <SLIM_CM7.2_Cooperve #4>
- Reboot
waiting for some good news ............
It's a long story, but here goes!
I had a couple of old phones we no longer use hanging around the house, so I thought it would be good to let my (young) children use them as simple games playing deivices. It doesn't matter too much if the phone is dropped and damaged etc, as I probrably wont use them for anything else as we have new phones.
Within a couple of days - and I'm not sure what happened, my daughters phone was stuck in a boot loop (samsung and "Three" logos repeatedly). Having no experiance of "unbricking" phones I immediately reached for google, and set out on my quest to sort out her phone for her (as we had lots, and lots of tears over her new toy!). The phone has no sim card in and is on wifi for installs etc.
After searching I found a rom that would load on and make the phone good again, this one: S5839iXXLK2_S5839iH3GLC2_S5839iNELK1_HOME.tar.md5
This worked ok, but was very laggy, and irritated me imensely as I was sorting games etc for her, so I decided to to instal a custom rom. After 3 roms refused to load (just stuck on the "Samaung GALAXY Ace GT-S5839i boot screen) I decided to try flashing it to 5380i firmware and Pit file - as nearly all custom roms for the ace seem to be for the 5830i variant - I wondered if this would sort my problem!
It didn't! But now it has become a challenge, and a chance to learn something of Android and how it works - as I said in my last post I have successfully flashed an I9000 with carbon and my P5110 with CM11, I learnt how to do this by what I've learnt from reaserching about this phone, so it has been a worthwhile excercise!
But back to the point. No I don't have any back-ups of the original phone, I neither had the knowlege, or know how of having or needing to do this - it's only now I'm finding my phones/tablets so facinanting!!
Yes I am now back to the stock (e3) recovery, which I can get into.
Many thanks for your help so far - I will try your ideas and repeort back!
@macsbig, Yes do that please and after resolving your initial problems , here is a confirmed list of the games compatible with your GPU/CPU of your child's legacy device . Also you can use chainfire 3d only under stock firmware/rooted phone for the games required plugin(s) and app being activate for proper almost lag free experience . You may read theses links as well for some insight : 1 , 2 .
The ext4 formatter link doesnt work my friend
macsbig said:
The ext4 formatter link doesnt work my friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just cross-linking it ( wasn't my links to begin though ^:^ )
Attached the flash able zip file to the post body .
I will try you solution(s) later. Working late today! But wow this seems quite complicated! ! Hehe.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
macsbig said:
I will try you solution(s) later. Working late today! But wow this seems quite complicated! ! Hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well , researching a new area of knowledge ( in this case customization/rooting/bricking/moding and many more technical things inside XDA) can be a bit overwhelming.I do agree with you that the sheer wealth of material means that it can be overwhelming, but more you read and spend time @ XDA, more you will get the hang of the material presented here .
Nevertheless we are here to share/help all of the possible/working solution mate. Just ask anything you can not understand very well . I will try to depict even more detailed walk-through guidelines.
Regards
Right, I now have a custom rom on the 5839i!
I didn't have too much time last night, so what I did was flashed the phone with Odin, using the bootloader and pit file you specified. I then rebooted into the stock revovery, wiped the Data, Cache and Delvic partitions, then booted into CMW 5.0.2.6 and flashed the EXT4 Formatter tool. I then installed the kernel you specified
After that I rebooted into the CMW recovery from the new kernel and followed your instructions - and Voila! It booted into the slim rom you linked me too
Just to test it wasn't a fluke, I then installed CM9, and that went on fine too - with just the normal steps.
I now have to decide after your other advice, whether I go for a stock rom, and try and get rid of the lag, use chainfire 3D etc or go for a custom mod!
Is there a similar app for modded roms's like chainfire 3D to help game perfomance on this limited hardware? I'd really prefer to use a modded rom and build up from there, but as I stated earlier in the post, this will be used only for games and listening to music from youtube, so i'll maybe have to research some more to find out what would work the best.
Many, many thanks for your help, I've learnt alot during this project!!
Oh as a bit of an aside, got a bit worried when downloading some of the links, some of the "download managers" were causing my anti-virus and anti-malware software to give me warnings!
Thanks again
@macsbig, Glad everything worked out for you mate . To address your concerns I must say that I did not come across any working solution for accelerating your GPU with reduction [email protected] custom Roms unfortunately ( only works on stock fw/rooted device) .
For CM9 beta Rom available @ development sub forum , this is an unstable Rom with some serious problems , because of ICS bugs an other things( Read this troubleshooting session and links provided there ).
For malware's concerns they are mostly false positives . Even virus total wold miss lead you in many cases, due to nature of advertising agent implanted inside some of the app inside system directory of custom Roms . You can simply replace the app in question with another one free of adverts. However they are harmless mostly. Please read this discussion (post #472-475) (post#291-298) between me and moderators team for more information about advertisement policies. Basically we have a very good control over materials presented here , thanks to mod teams .
Hope I did help you with your quest
My apologies, when I said that I was getting anti-virus/malware warnings, that was aimed at when I was trying to download the files on "mediafire(?)" and such like. They want you to install a stupid downloader etc., which then installs some crap on your pc.
Had it when downloading splitfus2 if I recall correctly (it was late 12am!).
That's why in the end I decided to use a pre - split (is that what you mean by wiped?) rom in the end.
I'm gonna have a play with the 'phone again later when I finish work.
Hi all,
to make it plain and short: I messed up.
I have a GT-S5830i which I unrooted according to the Sticky Note in the forum, installed CWM Recovery and then 'installed from ZIP' a CM9_cooperve_Beta_05.zip that I found in one of the posts in the forum. The installation went on without error message but since then the phone does not make it beyond the initial screen "Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830i". I can start recovery mode and Download mode. In reovery mode I can format cache, data, sdcard, sd-ext but *not* system. Error Message: "E: format_volume: make_ext4fs failed on /dev/block/st19"
I have tried already several methods according to the forum, e.g.
1) 'install from ZIP' older Cyanogenmod
2) the tool ext4_formatter.zip
3) re-flash with ODIN with several tar-ROMs, all failed. Odin finds the phone (since I start Odin as Admin now), but after I hit 'start' it tries to establish a connection to the phone and ends after a while with 'Failed'
I'm basically lost now, don't know what else to do. Any advise is appreciated (it's my mom's phone, she is getting impatient )
Thx, cheers!
Xala
Hi @xalarsk , So you can't format your /system partition , which is required for installation of your rom ,, you need to try this method from here mate . Follow my instruction from the line @post#4 :"1. Download one of the newest ,,," to the end of the post and please do not use CM9 beta , because it is unstable and will wreak havoc with your system eventually . ( either cm7 or cm11 is the place you should go for CyanogenMod experience for cooperVe device ).
If you fail at any level please give us your logcat ( error massage ) for better support for your Odin process you mentioned .
Cygwin not working
Hi @ehsanotaku,
thank you for your quick reply, it's appreciated!
Unfortunately I couldn't get cygwin to install all necessary packets. The ZIP-test always failed. I have a Linux system running (Linux Mint 17) though, and hope that might help. In the meantime I tried to download the already split packages as described in another of your forum posts, but the website provides only exe-files instead of zip-files. Is there another location to download them?
#UPDATE: It seems there is a SplitFUS2 version for linux somewhere but couldn't find links to download. Anybody can help? I'll also PM Doky73
Cheers, Holger
xalarsk said:
Hi @ehsanotaku,
thank you for your quick reply, it's appreciated!
Unfortunately I couldn't get cygwin to install all necessary packets. The ZIP-test always failed. I have a Linux system running (Linux Mint 17) though, and hope that might help. In the meantime I tried to download the already split packages as described in another of your forum posts, but the website provides only exe-files instead of zip-files. Is there another location to download them?
#UPDATE: It seems there is a SplitFUS2 version for linux somewhere but couldn't find links to download. Anybody can help? I'll also PM Doky73
Cheers, Holger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cygwin was meant for windows platform to get the native Linux environment/command line you already got there . You can create a virtual instance of the windows 7 inside virtualbox or any kind of apps you are preferring such as Vmware/Parallel etc etc to get the job done .
Splitfus2 only supports windows platform as far as i know mate,,, either vitalization as i said or the pre-made zip package ( which is clearly not .exe file ,, push the download now and get yourself a descent downland manager,, tested and zip packaged delivered ) from here is the feasible approach for your problem .
Ok, had all the files ready, just the Boot loader <DefaultCalDataWithBoot_S5830iXXLB1_REV00.tar.rar seems to be broken. I downloaded the link provided in your post #8 several times with several download managers, also uses 7-zip and several online unrar services..result always the same: The archive is broken. Is that possible? Would you mind to check yourself?
xalarsk said:
Ok, had all the files ready, just the Boot loader <DefaultCalDataWithBoot_S5830iXXLB1_REV00.tar.rar seems to be broken. I downloaded the link provided in your post #8 several times with several download managers, also uses 7-zip and several online unrar services..result always the same: The archive is broken. Is that possible? Would you mind to check yourself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another fellow had similar issue with my attachment that was corrected here @ post#27
Unbricked, SD card not recognized
Update: Phone has been unbricked, many thanks for that!
Currently I have still issues with the external SD card, which also holds the ZIP files. Phone won't recognize it, not even format it properly. Still working on that.
Cheers, Xala
xalarsk said:
Update: Phone has been unbricked, many thanks for that!
Currently I have still issues with the external SD card, which also holds the ZIP files. Phone won't recognize it, not even format it properly. Still working on that.
Cheers, Xala
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly this happened because of the bug inside CM9 beta you used . Study this topic mate i troubleshooted while ago for a sample of the symptoms external SD card would show after unstable ICS usage .
Also as an alternative to the method i instructed there , you can format/Re-partition your SD card by putting it inside card reader and using app such as free MiniTool Partition Wizard "Gparted" tool for Linux users Or "iPartiton" for Mac users etc etc ,, to get the job done . You can find several tutorials inside XDA for this matter mate.
Phone works with CM7.2, can I upgrade to CM9?
Hi again,
first of all, props to @ehsanotaku, I will hit the 'Thanks' buttons.
Now, this is a bit beyond the topic, but I'd like to ask anyway for recommendations of CM9 roms. The one I picked from a post inside this forum bricked my phone and made me start this thread, I don't want to go down this road again. So I'd be glad for any recommendation of a stable ROM that will put my phone beyond Android 4.0.
Cheers again,
Xala
So i have a similar issue. I used to have CM11 installed, but i figured thats too slow for me. Then i went back to stock rom (XXMJ2) which works fine. But now i have a problem.
Everytime i want to flash a stock based or cm7 based rom on my phone, it gets messed up. Today i wanted to flash this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-ace/s5830i-develop/cm-7-2-kitkat-smart-r2-t3075267
i naturally downloaded clockwork mod recovery (5.0.2.6) and tried to flash it. Flashing was done pretty quickly (10 seconds or so) and when i rebooted, i obviously got stuck at sammy logo. Now booting back to the recovery (first e3 then cwm) i got bunch of error about partritions not being able to be mounted (happens the same if i want to manually mout them or format them)...
So, what to do ?
I have a suspicion, that flashing CM11 and the latest cwm recovery for it somehow messed up partritions.
hojnikb said:
So i have a similar issue. I used to have CM11 installed, but i figured thats too slow for me. Then i went back to stock rom (XXMJ2) which works fine. But now i have a problem.
Everytime i want to flash a stock based or cm7 based rom on my phone, it gets messed up. Today i wanted to flash this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-ace/s5830i-develop/cm-7-2-kitkat-smart-r2-t3075267
i naturally downloaded clockwork mod recovery (5.0.2.6) and tried to flash it. Flashing was done pretty quickly (10 seconds or so) and when i rebooted, i obviously got stuck at sammy logo. Now booting back to the recovery (first e3 then cwm) i got bunch of error about partritions not being able to be mounted (happens the same if i want to manually mout them or format them)...
So, what to do ?
I have a suspicion, that flashing CM11 and the latest cwm recovery for it somehow messed up partritions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok not going to excruciating details of symptoms and explaining all of your errors for now just please read my advice @ post2 of this topic and follow the procedures accordingly and finished it with formatter tools and cm7 instructions you will find there ., after that you can install Kitkat Smart R2 like you are coming from another CM7 build instruction . btw some problem regarding super user privileges and play store 492-498 infamous bug was reported for this fairly new development .
Hello! First post here!
Just got a new STF-L09 on the amazon cyber Monday sale (had an iphone before) and in my excitement to start messing with it, I managed to brick it.
I was following this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-9/development/beta-twrp-3-1-1-0-t3654355 and did a full format through TWRP to try and get rid of the encryption in order to root it. Now my device is in a bootloop. I've been looking through older posts here on XDA, boycracked and a few other places but there seems to be quite a bit of contradictory information and I don't want to make anything worse.
What I have:
- An unlocked bootloader
- Working TWRP 3.1.1
- ADB and fastboot (over USB from my laptop running linux)
- A microSD card
- Ability to boot to force update process
What doesn't work:
- my TWRP backup (I didn't realize the one I tried to make failed/got deleted).
- the stock eRecovery tool. Even on stable wifi it cannot retrieve package information from server. I'm assuming this is because Huawei hasn't made the recovery firmware available over this channel for this model.
I'm now trying to do a force update using a stock ROM and my external SD, but I'm having trouble for two reasons:
1. I'm not exactly sure what my initial firmware was, so I'm not sure which ROM to pick.
2. I can't successfully transfer the contents of the update.zip I'm trying to use into a dload folder on the root of my sd. I'm assuming this is because the sd card is formatted to vfat and the UPDATE.APP file is larger than 4GB and therefore not supported on vfat.
Can anybody tell me:
A. How to find out what my initial firmware designation would have been? Phone was recently purchased for UK market, blue colour, 64GB internal memory. Came with EMUI 5.1. I have S/Ns and so on if that helps.
B. How to perform force update with microSD in my situation? Can I format the card to NTFS or another format that supports >4GB filesizes? Am I using the wrong ROM (This is the one I'm trying to use: http://androidhost.ru/v5 )? What files exactly should go into /dload/ at the root of the sd?
C. Is there another procedure I should try in my case? I am able to use fastboot, and I understand it would be possible to flash files onto the device using that, but I'm just getting started with Android and I'm not really sure about the functions of the various images/partitions (eg. data, cust, boot etc.). Is there any hope of the eRecovery tool coming online?
I know some of you have had some success coming from similar situations. I'd really appreciate any help you guys could give. Happy to throw some dosh to anyone who can help put me back in business!
Fixed my own problem 5 minutes later with help from this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-9/help/help-to-restore-l09-bootloop-t3651641
Wrote up my procedure there. But thanks anyways guys!
:victory:
UPDATE: I was able to debrick the phone. Read my later post for details.
----------------------
Hi All,
Thank you all for having amazing community of hackers and developers here. You guys rock.
I started my search for a new rugged rootable phone recently and I settled on Poptel P60. It is a great phone though slightly bigger than what I normally get. Nontheless, the specs are excellent and the price is fair!
I've had a limited success rooting and customizing this phone. The OEM interface is almost bearable but overall the "Customized UI" felt like a downgrade from stock Oreo. It has a very annoying feature of reverting to stock launcher on startup, even when I selected Nova as my default one. The stock launcher is not that great. This, and the lack of ability to use x.flux, Titanium Backup and other root-only apps drove me to try hacking things again.
After emailing the manufacturer they provided the firmware but it is in CPB format. I tried at least 3 different converters for CPB to MTK Scatter and they all either freeze or hang. No luck.
Instead I did a rom readback with SPFlashTool and then cut up the partitions with Wwr. Now I've finally had the recovery partition! I used CarlivImageKitchen to port TWRP from a similar device, Ulefone Armor 5. The chipset and resolution are same. After some trial and error it worked! I had to use USB-OTG for input and external sd card had a weird label, but I was able to install Magisk from the SD card to root, followed by XPosed, full package. It worked! If anyone needs my ported TWRP Recovery for Poptel P60 just ask!
However, the manufacturer UI did complain a lot about the phone being rooted. Eventually, somehow, Magisk stop receiving root requests. They never showed up and timed out! Very strange, because apps that already received root continued working. I tried a lot but could not fix the issue. I was fed up. I wanted to do a manufacturer reset (in hopes of starting from scratch and then attempting to port Lineage or something) but, as I've mentioned, I have not received a firmware compatible with SPFlashTool. I tried to make one from Armor 5. The partitions were almost the same (both are MT6763 devices). One was out of order, and offsets were different and I patched all those. To be clear, I used all the partitions and layout extracted from my rom readback that was cut up by Wwr. I only used the Armor 5 scatter as a reference for file format. I edited the layout to match everythign I saw in Wwr.
This is where the horror begins. I tried flashing (Download Only) with SPFlashTool but got some error saying something changed. "Do you want to do Format & Download instead?". Being an inexperienced idiot that I am, I said yes!
Now, the phone appears bricked. No lights. No screen output. Cannot enter fastboot. Cannot enter recovery. Cannot boot.
I have a feeling the preloader got corrupted. I'm not sure this is the case because I've omitted the preloder from download. At least the first time the phone started acting bricked. The device still shows as Mediatek USB VCOM device and flashing gets initiated but all attempts to flash result in errors. MA checksum mistmatch or something along that order. I've tried a lot of things and I'm stuck! For good or for worse I've tried flashing Ulefone Armor 5 preloader but I'm getting the same error when trying to flash it.
Here is what I have...
- Stock firmware in SPB format. I can't use it and nothing I tried worked for converting it.
- ROM dump made with SPFlashTool
- Wwr was able to extract every partition except preloader. This includes nvram, etc. I'm not sure why it was not able to extract the bootloader.
- TWRP port that worked. Seems not useful if the phone does not start.
- Preloader for Ulefone Armor 5, (same chipset and resolution)
Clearly I am an idiot for using "Format & Download" option. I've found posts later suggesting against it. I am also over my head for trying to tackle a new device by myself, though I have had a marginal success with porting TWRP and installing Magisk.
Now, I feel like idiot and I am stuck! I beg you, XDA developers, if you have any advice (besides not being an idiot in the future), please share!
Try bringing it back to the carrier and just say that you don't know why it is broken. Maybe they could help you out.
Say maybe something like you wanted to do a factory reset and now everything is broken.
SkylinesHD said:
Try bringing it back to the carrier and just say that you don't know why it is broken. Maybe they could help you out.
Say maybe something like you wanted to do a factory reset and now everything is broken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That wouldn't work, heh. I bought this phone on eBay and rights now it's currently sold by a handful of sites. It is on warranty but returning it back to China would be complicated. At any rate, I live on the edge outside of warranty!
I was just about ready to give up and feel like the biggest reckless loser on Earth... Days of tinkering around with nothing but a phone brick to show for it. Poptel tech support wouldn't provide me with MTK scatter. All they gave me was this SPB firmware that nobody uses and it crashes every converter I threw at it. Useless.... No fastboot. No recovery. No functional bootloader.
The amazing GOOD NEWS is I have debricked the phone... I used a bootloader from another phone's firmware: Cubot_Power_MT6763_180607_8.1.0. Unlike Ulefone Armor 5's preloader this one worked! It seems like it's the only thing I was missing because the phone starts up and everything seems to work. I must have done a good job with all other partitions but I'll try to watch for signs of anything else broken. Right now it seems fine.
I'm not sure if the bootloader was completely gone, corrupted, or an incorrect one was used. All I know is I was able to download Cubot Power's working bootloader (also MT6763) with SPFlashTool. Nothing like a feeling of unbricking your phone!
I will post more updates if that's ok... I'm hoping to port Lineage on it (I've never tried that before) or at least find a way around the manufacturer's clunky UI. The hardware is great otherwise. If anybody wants a working ported TWRP image or the scatter I used for debricking just ask! I will make a post later if I have more success with customizing the phone. The phone is debricked and I have a scatter and images to fall back on if anything goes wrong. Woot! Thank you everyone who developed these great tools.
I have the same phone been looking for info. there's a thread on 4pda with poptel p60 that has the scatter file and firmware. Any chance you could post the twrp for this phone? having trouble trying to port myself cant figure out port 6763 from the guides available.
4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=933002
Firemware:
drive.google.com/uc?id=1PXA9s2ZgHoH6ZWP5ZJPckE4KyJBwPKuw&export=download
idaman0 said:
Hey man,
Was wondering if you saw my post on your thread. Looking for TWRP for the Poptel P60.
Thanks,
telegram @drmethyl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man! Sorry for a slow reply. Was traveling for a few days.
Here is what I have. I started with a TWRP for Armor 5 (also MT6763) and I ported it for Poptel P60 using one of the guides on the forums. It works but it's not perfect. The touchscreen doesn't work, so you have to use USB OTG. Also, internal and external SD card mounts work but labels are confusing, so please be extra careful if wiping/formatting those. I advise popping the SD card out of the phone if wiping/formatting, just in case.
My experience with the phone is it is not the most friendly for rooting. Poptel's customizations are pesky and get in the way. The launcher keeps resetting to default on startup, even after you specify a different one. If you uninstall/disable the OEM launcher there will be red a label on top right of the screen, saying "Customization" that I have not found a way to get rid of. There are other things too, like I keep losing ability to add superuser permission to new apps... Can't figure out why, but sometimes reinstalling Magisk helps. Be very careful when using Magisk Hide, this can turn off your ability to use SIM cards, at least temporarily until you disable hide and restart. Other things is superuser apps don't always launch on startup. Anyway, I don't want to discourage you too much... Here is my twrp port.
https://mega.nz/#!MNVGhaYS!63ovQeowwoP1oE3v6-_ZS8gKx_-mxOh4G4qWcKRbuiQ
Another thing I discovered is GSI builds work mostly well on the phone... with all except one thing, which is mobile data, which seems broken.. Sadly, that's a deal breaker. OEM software is so pesky... It would be so nice to run a clean Android.
Let me know how it goes.
zeromemory_wtf said:
Hey man! Sorry for a slow reply. Was traveling for a few days.
Here is what I have. I started with a TWRP for Armor 5 (also MT6763) and I ported it for Poptel P60 using one of the guides on the forums. It works but it's not perfect. The touchscreen doesn't work, so you have to use USB OTG. Also, internal and external SD card mounts work but labels are confusing, so please be extra careful if wiping/formatting those. I advise popping the SD card out of the phone if wiping/formatting, just in case.
My experience with the phone is it is not the most friendly for rooting. Poptel's customizations are pesky and get in the way. The launcher keeps resetting to default on startup, even after you specify a different one. If you uninstall/disable the OEM launcher there will be red a label on top right of the screen, saying "Customization" that I have not found a way to get rid of. There are other things too, like I keep losing ability to add superuser permission to new apps... Can't figure out why, but sometimes reinstalling Magisk helps. Be very careful when using Magisk Hide, this can turn off your ability to use SIM cards, at least temporarily until you disable hide and restart. Other things is superuser apps don't always launch on startup. Anyway, I don't want to discourage you too much... Here is my twrp port.
Another thing I discovered is GSI builds work mostly well on the phone... with all except one thing, which is mobile data, which seems broken.. Sadly, that's a deal breaker. OEM software is so pesky... It would be so nice to run a clean Android.
Let me know how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry man, didn't end up using yours theres a twrp on 4pda now with a mod to flash to keep root. I'll upload for you here if you don;t have an account there.
The patch for the Light-kastomizator v.12 factory firmware.
I decided not to bother with the draining and distribution of modified firmware as a whole, easier to apply the patch, and ... you're done!
If that - the factory firmware v.12 lies with us -HERE, no problem you can return everything back, or (if there is something Kolupaev), first ask her, and then patch.
#
What is done
Будут удалены:
/system/tts
/system/app/QK_LogSystemAbroad_wm_bl
/system/app/QK_Sos
/system/app/QK_PrivacySpace
/system/app/QK_PersonalAssistScreenAbroad_V2
/system/app/BY_3RD_OperaMiniBrowser_OEMBranding
/system/app/BY_3RD_OperaNews_OEMBranding
/system/app/Drive
/system/app/Duo
/system/app/Gmail2
/system/app/GooglePrintRecommendationService
/system/app/LatinImeGoogle
/system/app/Maps
/system/app/Music2
/system/app/PartnerBookmarksProvider
/system/app/Photos
/system/app/YouTube
/system/app/Videos
/system/presetapp/BY_3RD_OperaMiniBrowser
/system/presetapp/BY_3RD_OperaNews
/ system / priv-app / MtkCellBroadcastReceiver
/ system / priv-app / ConfigUpdater
/ system / priv-app / GoogleFeedback
/ system / priv-app / FilesGo
/ system / priv-app / GooglePartnerSetup
/ system / priv-app / QK_MagazineAbroad
/ system / priv-app / Velvet
The system additionally installed:
ES_Provodnik_3.2.5.5 (graphic mode "Panatta-sport")
the SD Maid Pro - system Cleanup (Lite Mod "Breathe of fate" )
Changes:
By default the system is set to Russian language , region and time zone Russia / Moscow. Setupwizard (first assistant settings) is not cut off.
GBoard keyboard replaced by fashion Antonbeard GoogleKeyboard(with a limited access to the Internet is built dictionaries -.. English and Russian)
Google-search is replaced by the latest beta (it is possible to change the style and transparency of the widget)
have been added and changed some default sounds and ringtones, and the default there as a very sadly.
Blocked by advertising the hosts file.
Improved energy efficiency due to shutdown of background update service does not fall asleep GAPPS and downloaders (allowed these services Doze mode).
#
Setting:
1. Throws on micro SD-card this patch.
2. Downloading the last zip-installer " Magisk-v ..... the zip " and also copy it to the SD-card, turn off the phone.
3. Through the SP Flash Tool sewn recovery "TWRP" (the system can not be loaded !!!).
4. Vaypaem userdata (reset to factory settings) through better "factory mode" (volume down inc +) / select "Clear eMMC".
After reset immediately loads in the TWRP (inc + volume up), and from the sd-card in turn apply patches "LiteMod_Poptel_P60_v.12.zip" and "Magisk-v ..... zip". Reboot from the installation refuse twrp-applications.
Done, you have custom firmware!
(If twrp and Ruth is already installed,
After the completion of all the manipulations, it is desirable to flash the stock (factory) rekaveri, then no problem can be used to reset the system from the Android menu and install the firmware update OTA (over the air).
Download: LiteMod_Poptel_P60_v.12.zip
PS. Sberbank + contactless payment working properly, despite the fact that the system has been modified and installed Ruth! :derisive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3.2.3 TWRP by Jemmini for "Poptel P60" ( with the phone port Blackview BV9500): Attached file recovery.img (17,27 MB)
The port used by the kernel to flash Android 8.1.0 version of "POPTEL_V12_20181030"
WARNING !! After installing recovery, subject to permit changes in the system partition, install ROOT is required, otherwise the system will not boot. if not to accept the possibility of changing the system partition and establish the patch-root subsequent restart in overwrite TWRP recovery returned drain-
Attached fileMT6763_Android_scatter.rar(1.28 kb)
#
Getting ROOT
For ROOT set out under TWRP (pre throwing off the memory card), this patch: Attached fileMagisk-v18.0.zip (3,99 MB)
#
Stokovye boot / recovery
from said EEPROM: Attached filestock.rar (22,75 MB)
#
What does not work:
1) Do not see "the internal memory" (can not decipher the "data" section and ask when starting TWRP password).
Solution:
download the patch: Attached filedisable_encryption_P60.zip (133.89 KB)
throw it on the memory card, boot into TWRP, go to the "mount" to put a checkbox on the vendor , then go to the "install" and install the patch.
After installation make data in the "cleaning" cleaning (possibly cleaning does not help but the formatting of data should definitely help)
after data manipulation TWRP be able to work with the data section
2) is not working USB / MTP mode into TWRP
#
Information for those who are "in the tank" :
When TWRP presence in the smartphone in any case and under no circumstances should you do reset through the system.
Resetting takes place only directly through TWRP (standard cleaning sections)
If you run the command via the android in the first place, it can not be executed because it does not understand the TWRP.
and secondly, you get a constant load in TWRP because it has not yet executed the command android you will always be send to recovery /
Solution for "tank": need to install flow-recovery to be completed through a reset command or cancel it.
Another solution I personally do not know
Just do not forget about gratitude : Jemmini,- for the compilation of the TWRP which served as donorUrree,- order TWRP and testing (nothing would have happened without it)Message edited Lomaster_Serg - 6.1.19, 03:02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rapidgator.net/file/84ccd2d612ade0256eb927895d4ed37e/LiteMod_Poptel_P60_v.12.zip.html
rapidgator.net/file/c77fec40e349f8083eda14bf7058425c/recovery.img.html
rapidgator.net/file/6621d517cef9aa10abc78b40bcdc8b26/stock.rar.html
rapidgator.net/file/7a7db29c0d35eee169b76698aac6b50b/MT6763_Android_scatter.txt.html
drive.google.com/uc?id=1PXA9s2ZgHoH6ZWP5ZJPckE4KyJBwPKuw&export=download
WARNING - THESE TOOLS WRITE TO THE DEVICE PARTITIONS DIRECTLY
If you don't know what that means...
THIS CAN REALLY SCREW UP YOUR ---
I HAVE ONLY TESTED THESE ON THE A2020U (NON-5G) - I CANNOT SAY THEY ARE SAFE ON ANY OTHER VERSION OF THE PHONE (YET)(If you want to test it on a specific model you own, send a PM or post and I can tell you to run a few (safe) things from these tools to make them compatible your phone.)
See my next post down for some more "beginner friendly" general tips and tricks for this phone, including some fixes for common problems and a quick guide for installing Magisk!
If you can't afford to brick your phone, these tools aren't made for you.
There aren't really any protections from doing damage. I made them for myself because doing them on a command line constantly is a pain. I'm just sharing them for two reasons:
1) So myself or other people have tools available to make it easier when advising someone on how to fix their phone.
2) For tinkerers who are okay taking the risk that they'll mess something up.
Thanks to @djkuz / @Unjustified Dev for the EDL tool. These scripts really just expand the use of fh_loader commands in that tool. If you are able to read C++ and want to understand fh_loader I suggest searching on google, the source code is available and from that you can better understand what the tool does / what the command line options do. Feel free to ask here too, I'll do my best to share what I know.
Anyway - below I'll go into plenty of detail of what each "tool" does and some helpful information about using them.
I write in a kind of permanent verbose mode, so if you're impatient and need a TL;DR for these... tough. =)
CURRENT VERSION: Version 1.1d
Changelog:
Version 1.1d:
- Fixed reset scripts
Version 1.1c:
- Fixed a typo in backup_GPT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Version 1.1b:
- Fixed errors in GPT_Tools - apparently these existed since v1.0 DO NOT USE PREVIOUS VERSIONS
- Removed the v1.1a download (use 1.1b)
Version 1.1a:
- Added script to find the COM port automatically
- Updated all scripts to use the COM port in the file COMPort (created by the above script)
- Added the missing AB Partition manipulation files (accidentally left out of v1.0)
- Added script to run the phone reset EDL command
- Fixed all the filename inconsistency in the XML files - HOPEFULLY. Please post any errors you find. Unfortunately this will make this version incompatible with v1.0 backups without some work - either rename your backup files to match the new format or use the old XML files included.
-- Especially fixed the XML typo of "uefi_sec.mbn" being backed up from both A and B to the same file (overwriting the A copy with B during an ALL backup).
- Added support for installing firmware packages created for this tool. Put them in the Firmware_Package_Restore directory and use the scripts included with them.
Basic Instructions:
1) Download zip (See attachment at the bottom, or here - Download from AndroidFileHost)
2) Unpack zip
3) Move folder to the root directory, or inside any chain of directories that do NOT have spaces in any of the names
4) Right-click on scripts and select "Run with Powershell" to run
5) If running scripts fails due to permissions, see these instructions: https://superuser.com/questions/106360/how-to-enable-execution-of-powershell-scripts
Make a "Complete Backup" (minus userdata):
1) Run Load Programmer
2) Run "backup_all"
3) Check the backup directory and verify the files were backed up and sizes make sense - a full backup should be 10,387,202,048 bytes / 39 files for the critical files and 1,626,697,728 bytes / 64 files for the non-critical (Don't include the port_trace log file when checking size)
Note: You will see a lot of "warnings" before the files begin to download, the program checking if the files already exist.
How to Use These Tools:
Important:
When the scripts run there will be a lot of information dumped to the console. It's not necessary to read all of that BUT - IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ASCII ART "DONE" AT THE END of running any of these scripts it is likely the script encountered a serious issue. "WARNING" art is normal for some scripts, but "ERROR" means something went wrong.
None of these find the COM port automatically. It is possible (the EDL tool does) but it's just extra work I'm not paid to do =P
You will need to edit each program and change the variable at the top (usually $COMPort = "6") to whatever port number your phone shows up on.
Sorry that's inconvenient, but it should just be once per script - my port number never changes so it wasn't worth implementing automatic port finding.
This is no longer needed after v1.1a.
1. Load Programmer
This is a simple but extremely important tool! You need to run this before running anything else. This script will open a window that runs a command to open a connection to the phone (when it is in EDL / "9008" mode). The window will stay open until you close it. When working on backups I often need to re-connect the programmer, so this makes that easy - just alt-tab to it and hit enter. If you look at the script, it's fairly straightforward - just read the instructions on the screen after running it. The "secret sauce" for this is really the firehose protocol for our chipset that Unjustified Dev provided in the EDL tool.
2. Backup / Restore:
backup_all: This will backup everything on the phone EXCEPT for the huge userdata partition. It will create a backup in two directories, which I'll explain.."critical" / "non-critical": You can see that I have scripts to run these two "types" of backups. Non-critical DOES NOT MEAN NOT IMPORTANT. It means that it is not critical TO ME to back up those files EVERY time I do a backup, because they rarely change. They're EXTREMELY important to have at least one backup of for your phone. The "critical" backup files are files that change often, although some of them are extreme non-critical (cache for example). Use a different name than "critical" if you like, but the point is that only with BOTH backups run (which is what backup_all does) will you have a complete backup.restore_all: This will restore a full (both critical and non-critical) backup set. The backup files have to be in the "restore_critical" and "restore_non-critical" directories respectively. If you didn't make the backup you're trying to restore with this tool CHECK THE FILENAMES, e.g. if you used Unjustified's EDL tool you have to rename the "abl.elf" file his backup generates to "abl_a.elf" for mine. I put _a and _b on every partition that has an a/b version because I got tired of getting them confused. Of course you can always install a backup to either slot.Files moved to the "restore_" directories won't be changed at all by the restore process so you can cut/paste the files from your backup into the directory instead of copying them.
3. A/B Partition Manipulation
These are no more complicated than the backup/restore tools. But they are written to make manipulations of the A/B partitions easier.My main use for these is when I know I have a good, working ROM setup on slot A, I run A2B copy. Then no matter which slot I end up booting I'm sure it will work. (That is, if you have a working, booting slot, copying all the files from that slot to the other slot using this tool will make both slots the same.)Backup/Copy:run_AB-partition-backup: As it says, it will backup both the A/B partition files - WARNING this is NOT a full backup of the phone.run_AB-partition-swap: This will backup all the A/B partition files, then it will write the B files to A and A to B, effectively swapping the partitions and leaving you with a backup in case it screwed up. This backup is ONLY OF THE A/B FILES.. NOT the whole device!run_A2B-partition-copy (and run_B2A-partition-copy): These will do a backup of both A/B partition files, then write the A partition onto the B partition (A2B) or vice versa (B2A), effectively mirroring that partition.
Write/Restore:All the restore scripts try to find their files in the "restore_Partitions" directory - place the files from one of the backups to be restored there.restore_AB-partition-backup: Restore a backup of both the A and B partition files.restore_A-partition-backup (and B): Restore just the backup of one partition to the same partition it was taken from (A to A and B to B).restore_A2B-partition-backup (and B2A): These write from one partition backup to the other partition as the name suggests.
4. GPT Tools
These are some basic tools to directly interact with the partition tables - these are not going to be of any use to 99% of people, so just ignore them if you don't know what they do.run_fixGPT: This issues the --fixgpt command to each of the LUNs. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. As I understand it, this will use the onboard device configuration information from each LUN (e.g. logical size) and try to rebuild the GPTs. It's similar to running patch XMLs, it can clean up flashing messes. It isn't magic and won't fix everything.Rarely will anyone need it unless they've been messing around with the flash tools recklessly... I certainly don't know anyone who would do something that dumb backup_GPT: Backup all of the header and footer (main/backup) GPTs for all the partitions (lun 0-5). I am not aware of whether any other models of the phone have more LUNs, so be careful if you're using this on a non A2020U phone.restore_GPT: Simply write an entire GPT backup set (both main and backup 0-5) onto the phone. The backups must be in the restore_GPT folder. This DOES NOT BACKUP before it runs so make sure you did your backup.
6. Set Bootable Partition:
Alright this one is important for everyone. There are two scripts here - one for slot A and one for slot B. These just run a simple command, but they will fix a common problem I (and probably others) have - when the ROM active-slot information does NOT match the partition (hard drive) bootable flag, the phone will bootloop EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING IS GOOD.So when you flash an EDL backup (depending on which files you flash, I believe this happens because of either the bootloader or the GPT files) there is a chance the backup you're flashing was originally from a different slot than the one you're restoring it to. The config thinks it should be on slot A while the hardware thinks slot B should be booting.This will result in a fast ~3 second bootloop as the two disagree and reset.This tool changes which partition is expecting to boot - "1" for slot A and "2" for slot B.This does NOT change the active slot - the phone will continue to boot the same slot it's trying to boot. You just need to make the partition that it is trying to boot has a bootable flag.AFAIK there is no way to change the active slot (the one XBL (I think) is trying to boot), except through fastboot or when the phone fails to load the OS 8 times in a row (note - if it fail to load the OS - if the phone bootloops before "boot" is called it won't ever switch slots on its own).This was a common cause of fast bootloops for me before I figured this fix out.
It does no harm to try this as you can always switch again. If neither one works for you, then it's something wrong with the files you're flashing. If you know which slot the phone is trying to boot (the one it was on last), run the script that matches that slot.
7. Write "Unlocked" Bootloader and FRP:
Just like the original EDL tool, these very simply overwrite your existing (probably stock) bootloader (abl) files with the fastboot enabled version, and/or your FRP with the "unlocked" flag on (see description below). This will allow you to enter the bootloader menu (Vol+/- on booting) and use fastboot to unlock the bootloader.backup_FRP-and-bootloaders: As it says, this will make backups of both the FRP file and current bootloader files (ABLs).run_all: Literally just runs both of the below scripts *shrug*write_UD-bootloader: This automatically backs up both your existing A/B bootloaders before overwriting them (BOTH) with the unlocked/fastboot bootloader.WARNING - an unfortunate fact is that if you're using the stock ROM and you have this bootloader installed, it borks the USB mode so it's stuck in charge only. There's a way to fix it temporarily, I'll post it in my "tips" thread, but you have to do it every time you boot, very annoying. I can't fix it permanently because I don't know how the bootloader file was built!WARNING 2 - Android 10 will NOT BOOT with this bootloader installed. You can still install it, trying to boot will bootloop, but you can get into the bootloader menu and use fastboot - but there are no recoveries I know of that work with Android 10 right now, so there's very limited use to having fastboot right now. Hopefully we can get a port of TWRP 3.4 going for this phone..write_unlock-frp: This is also in the EDL tool, but maybe poorly explained - the FRP file holds the flag you change in the OS Developer Options to designate "allow bootloader unlock". If you FORGOT to switch that flag on and unlock, as I understand it, you get bootlooped. This can fix that for you without having to go through all the work of undoing that mess.WARNING - I have only tested this with a brand new factory reset OS WITHOUT any fingerprint/code set. It may not work if you set one. I warn against using this if you are not ready to lose your data. It's convenient if you just forgot, but if you set a pattern/fingerprint security and encrypted the filesystem overwriting the FRP might remove your ability to decrypt which would force you to factory reset. Again, I haven't tested it for that so it may work, but be careful.If you already screwed up and ran this to set the flag - the script runs a quick backup of your old FRP just in case. So you can try to restore that FRP and pray lol)
8. Specific Files:
This is just a generic program to backup/write(restore) "specific files".I include a "Reference.XML" which has a full <program> line for every partition you might want to write/read on the phone. To use this, you need to copy the lines from the reference XML into "rawprogram-specific-files.xml" for the files you want to read/write.As an example I already set up "rawprogram-specific-files.xml" with the two lines for "abl_a" and "abl_b" in it. So the script will backup or restore those files (provided you put the abl's you want to restore in the restore_files directory).I personally use this template a lot - I have one for ABLs, one for AOPs, one for BOOTs, and so on. If you are trying to fix a specific file(s) it's convenient.
9. Userdata Backup:
I put this last because, to be honest, I'm not sure how good of an idea including this even is.VERY IMPORTANT - DO NOT USE THIS USERDATA TOOL IF YOUR PHONE IS NOT THE 256GB VERSION!!!!!I will need someone with the 128GB version to send me their GPT files if they want me to make an XML that works for them. Because the userdata size for SURE depends on your phone version.Also, I wrote a script that breaks up the file into download slices (and can be written back to the phone in slices, of course) - one, to see if I could do it and if it would work (it does)... and two, so that in the horrible case that something goes wrong during the... nearly 2hrs of transfer time, for my 256gb image ... that I can at least not have to start all over. If something happens, you should be able to remove the entries in the XML for what you already have and start again.Finally - is it even worth doing? Is backing up the userdata even useful?I don't know yet.For an unecrypted pre-A10 phone I do know it works to fully flash ALL the files on the phone + the userdata all at the same time to return the phone to the exact "state" it was backed up in - all the apps and settings and everything, exactly as they were.But A10 is encryption enabled always, and it uses file encryption which sounds even worse for this idea.. and I don't know if the crypto keys change and when. So flashing an entire encrypted partition might just leave you unable to decrypt all, some, or none and you lose everything.OR it might just work - you throw the whole image on there and the decrypt key is the same, boom, easy backup.If anyone tries it, let me know how it goes (or doesn't). I'll update with any results I find.Update 1: I have confirmed that for the 256gb A2020U backing up the full phone and userdata allows you to restore the phone to that exact state. Doesn't matter if it's encrypted, password set or not, etc. If you backup the entire userdata image and reflash it that is where the phone will be. In most cases you also need all the other partitions too, but if they have not changed they don't have to be reflashed. (I confirmed going from encrypted with password -> encrypted with no password -> back up encrypted with password.. This is on Android 10 with its more complicated encryption).Another nice thing to note - of course the image of the phone will be the size of the partition (ie. 256gb for mine, 128gb for others). But if your phone storage is largely empty, you compress the backup using something like 7z once the image has been backed up. It won't take up so much space then. How much less? My 256gb image compressed is 4.5gb. lol.... it makes sense, the phone is new and there's basically no information on the userdata. Many of the pieces of my userdata backup have the same exacty hashes - meaning they are literally just all 0's... 260gb of zeros. Unfortunately you can't get away with just backing up part of the image as data could be anywhere. And over time as the sectors get written to, it will get more difficult to compress.Anyway, if anyone has a 128GB version they want to donate to science (kidding - I just need backups of the GPT) I can make the XML file to use for backing those up too.
Extra Note: All the programs automatically build a log of the console window, so if something goes by too fast just check the log. The fh_loader also creates a log and dumps it somewhat randomly about... lol.. the filename is port_trace.txt. This tends to get deleted and overwritten easily so if you want to keep it, move it when the script finishes,. it does often contain more information than the console shows - it can be useful understanding what's going on.
Extra Note 2: You'll notice a script "Create Hash List" in practically every directory. That's to strongly hint that using that script is super useful. All the files backed up through these tools, by definition, have the exact same size. If you hash your files though, you can tell if they have changed at all. This is extremely useful in troubleshooting problems.
How to install an EDL firmware package:
Note: This tool is specifically made for the firmware packages I posted. It won't work with any other package (although it can, with a little work).
1. Install the EDL tools
2. Run a backup of your phone! Even if it isn't booting.
3. Download a firmware package from this thread: [ROM][STOCK] Stock Firmware Packages (For Expanded EDL Tools)
4. Unpack the firmware archive into the tool directory "Firmware_Package_Restore"
5. Put phone in EDL mode and run Load Programmer
6. Run whichever "Write Firmware vX to Y.ps1" you want (X = firmware version, Y = A or B partition) (If you don't know which partition is currently booting, just install both.)
7. Wait for the install to finish ("done"), then reset the phone with either the power button or the reset tool
8. You might see a few bootloops and then the phone ask you to do a factory reset / system wipe.
9. Done.
PLEASE POST IN THE FIRMWARE THREAD _NOT HERE_ IF YOU RUN INTO ANY ISSUES!
Enjoy!
Also, while I'm here... some other helpful notes for this phone:
-------------------------------
General Information:
As of right now there are a lot of working options for Android 9 and quickly expanding thanks to work @Unjustified Dev did and work @rafyvitto is continuing to do! Check out some of his sGSI ROMs, lots of options!
Thanks to Unjustified LOS 16 is available for Android 9 also, and is the base install for most ROMs. See his threads for that. I may write up an install guide here that's a little more in depth than his.. not today though.
Upgrading to Android 10 with the bootloader unlocked is possible but requires a workaround:
You must unlock on Android 9 then use recovery to side-load the Android 10 update available from ZTE USA (HERE).
This will remove the fastboot enabled bootloader and requires a complete system wipe.
You will retain bootloader unlock.
Once you have updated to A10 you can run OTA updates to get up to the latest version.
Downsides to A10 include - NO RECOVERY (yet), NO CUSTOM ROMs (yet), and if you flash the fastboot enabled bootloader you CAN use fastboot, but you cannot boot- the phone will be in a bootloop until you restore the stock A10 bootloader.
-------------------------------
Resetting the phone manually:
In EDL Loop - Hold power for 20 seconds
In EDL Not-Looped - Hold power for 5 seconds
In System (booted after ZTE logo) - Hold power for 10 seconds
----------------------------------
Entering Modes:
All of these start by using reset above, THEN the button(s) below - in all except one case (EDL), when the phone resets it will vibrate and then show the blue ZTE logo.
When you feel the vibration you want to immediately release the power button and press the mode buttons.
This can be confusing and tricky - most people say "hold power + button" - that is incorrect. Most cases if you hold any button other than power the phone will not finish resetting until you release that button.
What you want to do is right before or as the phone vibrates, then you hold the button. Once the ZTE screen is up it is probably too late if you missed it. So hold power for your reset and be ready to push the button you want when you feel the vibration.
The one exception - EDL mode. For EDL mode you can (and must) hold the key combo just before/during the restart.
Recovery Mode: Vol+ Button
Factory Test Mode: Vol- Button
Bootloader/Fastboot Mode: Vol+/- Button (both) when phone is NOT plugged into USB (if you are too early pressing the combo, even with the USB unplugged, you will get EDL mode)
Emergency Download Mode: Vol+/- Button (both) when phone IS plugged into USB
--------------------------------
EDL Flash Errors (esp. when EDL looped):
There is NO indication the phone is even ON when you are EDL stuck/looped. Other than when you plug into the computer with the right drivers it shows up as a 9008 device (9008 mode is EDL for Qualcomm).
Even when you can see the phone on your computer, it can often "freeze" in EDL if it is left idle for too long (not connected to and being used by a Sahara programmer).
If you try the EDL tool or another flash tool and they give you errors related to the Sahara programmer not loading or no "hello", do this:
Reset the phone - use a clock to count if you need, has to be accurate since there's no indication of when it resets. Press down Vol+/- and the power button, count to 20sec, then release JUST the power button. Keep holding both of the volumes for another 5 sec, then release them. That will get you back into a fresh EDL. You can watch your Device Manager to see the phone disconnect as an indicator when to let go of the power button. If you mess up the timing, wait a bit before trying again so the phone isn't in the middle of rebooting.
Easiest way to tell if you're in EDL is to watch the Device Manager while you do it. Otherwise there is just a lot of guess work, since there's no logo or vibration when you get it right, phone just appears off.
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USB Mode Stuck After Unlocking:
Something about the fastboot/"unlocked" bootloader causes the USB mode when you boot in the OS to be stuck on "Charge Only" mode.
Luckily I found @meow sir 's comment tucked away in this thread, and he knew a way to fix it (thanks!):
1. Open the phone dialer
2. Dial in "*#*#DEBUG#*#*" (debug = 33284)
(Sometimes takes a little bit to open, but a debugger menu will open)
3. Select the 2nd option for USB
4. Pick the only option - this will unset some strange "testing" mode and you can use MPT again.
Unfortunately this fix doesn't stick, you have to do it every time unless you switch back to the stock ABL. =(
--------------------------------
Installing Magisk, Quick Guide:
- You must have your bootloader unlocked already! This works on both A9 and A10.
1. Use this tool to create a full backup! (backup_all)
2. Go into the "critical" directory created by the backup and find the files for boot_a.img and boot_b.img - rename them to boot_a_bak.img and boot_b_bak.img and keep that window open, need them in a second
2. Boot into the OS. Download the Magisk Manager APK from HERE
3. Copy the APK and both of those boot files to your phone, open a file manager and install the APK
4. Open Magisk Manager and click on "Install" for Magisk (upper right)
5. Select "Patch Boot ROM" (or whatever it says.. something like that..)
6. Navigate to boot_a_bak.img and patch it.
7. Go to your Downloads directory (where Magisk dumps the patched file) and rename it to boot_a_magisk
8. Go back to Magisk and repeat those steps for boot_b
9. Copy the two patched Magisk boot files to your computer, into the folder with your "critical" files backup.
10. Rename the Magisk files to "boot_a.img" and "boot_b.img"
11. Move all the files from the "Backup\backup_all-critical-(...)" directory to the "Restore\restore_critical" directory in my tools
12. Finally, reboot into EDL.. almost there!
13. Run "restore_all-critical" (don't forget to run Load Programmer first..)
14. It will restore all you files, kinda a waste of time - if you know how to use the "Specific Files" tool this is a perfect time to use it to flash JUST the boot files. But anyway - this will get it done.
15. When done flashing, reboot the phone and open Magisk Manager to confirm it is installed!
The Magisk team recommend you DO NOT FLASH your stock boot files back to uninstall it, instead they say you should run their uninstaller.zip. However, I am not sure how to uninstall it if you're on A10 since we don't have a recovery that can flash zips? (Unless the stock recovery works for that, I don't think it would..)
I suspect (but have not tried) that on our phone flashing the boot files back over Magisk will not really be a problem since the recovery and ramdisk are all wrapped up into the boot image. But I don't recommend trying it if you value your data! Fair warning.
---------------------------
Alright that's everything. Good luck!
This will be useful for a lot of folks on here, thanks for taking the time to look for a work around.
rafyvitto said:
This will be useful for a lot of folks on here, thanks for taking the time to look for a work around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to be helpful! Usually I lurk the forums getting information I need to unlock/root/etc lol.. but I saw I actually could contribute something to this forum so hopefully it encourages people to get interested in this phone. It's looking pretty sweet now that I'm not spending days fighting with bootloops!
Indeed,on the note of attracting more users. im going to be releasing something for the pixel lovers very soon ?
Thanks Bob!
I'm on A10 with unlocked bootloader. I made all EDL tool backups when on A9 but these were done before correcting the typos as suggested. So I am not confident of successfully flashing back to A9 (preference).
Therefore I will likely flash the magisk-patched boot files to attempt root and report my experience...
Sent from my ZTE A2020U Pro using Tapatalk
big thx, glad to see some life to this almost dev-dead device
Hey thanks for the post. I'm thinking about buying the phone but have a quick question. Can I update to the latest version of Android 9 before unlocking or will the OTA be Android 10. How would I go about updating to the latest version version of Android 9 and not go to Android 10. Can I download the Android 9 OTA from somewhere and flash that one? Thanks in advance for the help!
Crackass said:
Hey thanks for the post. I'm thinking about buying the phone but have a quick question. Can I update to the latest version of Android 9 before unlocking or will the OTA be Android 10. How would I go about updating to the latest version version of Android 9 and not go to Android 10. Can I download the Android 9 OTA from somewhere and flash that one? Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good: I think your question borderlines on needing its own thread in the Q&A section but I'll answer you anyway...
Currently as long as you are on A9 when you get the phone you can just do OTA updates from firmware version 1.10 to 1.11 to 1.13 (not sure what android security update that is), after 1.13 it goes to A10.
There is an A10 firmware available from ZTE to SD card sideload. Once installed it has to be updated to the latest A10 via a couple OTA updates.
Going directly from A9 to A10 via OTA goes directly to the latest version.
You cannot flash the A9 OTA... because flashing an OTA is an oxymoron... but I guess you mean can you download the A9 firmware and flash them. The answer is... maybe. ZTE does not offer official downloads any A9 firmware for A2002U (USA version), only A10.
They do offer A9 firmware for A2020G (european) and I think other foreign versions (RU, CN). These cannot be interchanged, if you have the US or EU or CN phone you need to use that firmware... from what I have read. I could be wrong, I don't have those phones.
But there is an unofficial stock A9 firmware for the A2020U here on the forums, uploaded by @rafyvitto . That will get you to.. I forget.. 1.11? That can be flashed using the original EDL tool or, with a little modification, the EDL tools in this thread.
Additionally.. if I ever get around to it... I plan to upload all three A9 firmware packages for the US version which can be flashed with the EDL tools in this thread. Not sure if it's really necessary, but I have them.. it's just a matter of figuring out hosting them and spending the time to upload them.
bobthenormal said:
:good: I think your question borderlines on needing its own thread in the Q&A section but I'll answer you anyway...
Currently as long as you are on A9 when you get the phone you can just do OTA updates from firmware version 1.10 to 1.11 to 1.13 (not sure what android security update that is), after 1.13 it goes to A10.
There is an A10 firmware available from ZTE to SD card sideload. Once installed it has to be updated to the latest A10 via a couple OTA updates.
Going directly from A9 to A10 via OTA goes directly to the latest version.
You cannot flash the A9 OTA... because flashing an OTA is an oxymoron... but I guess you mean can you download the A9 firmware and flash them. The answer is... maybe. ZTE does not offer official downloads any A9 firmware for A2002U (USA version), only A10.
They do offer A9 firmware for A2020G (european) and I think other foreign versions (RU, CN). These cannot be interchanged, if you have the US or EU or CN phone you need to use that firmware... from what I have read. I could be wrong, I don't have those phones.
But there is an unofficial stock A9 firmware for the A2020U here on the forums, uploaded by @rafyvitto . That will get you to.. I forget.. 1.11? That can be flashed using the original EDL tool or, with a little modification, the EDL tools in this thread.
Additionally.. if I ever get around to it... I plan to upload all three A9 firmware packages for the US version which can be flashed with the EDL tools in this thread. Not sure if it's really necessary, but I have them.. it's just a matter of figuring out hosting them and spending the time to upload them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to chime in, interchanging firmware between each model is possible, you would only need to reflash your model/nonhos/tz partitions to the ones of your variant to have working ril/fod fp/sensors.
Ok Bob I gave it a go and successfully rooted my A2020U running stock A10 v2.09. This is my experience...
Firstly, my A2020U could not connect so I used the @Unjustified Dev Tool ("original tool") to easily determine my com port (i.e. 3). I edited the your scripts accordingly (using Notepad++) and got connected.
I'd rather not fiddle with the hardware buttons to change modes so I used the CLI to "adb reboot edl" to get into EDL mode.
I executed the backup_all.ps1 script.
It echoed several "warnings" indicating that it could not find files. However, the created backup folders did in fact include those files.
I noted that none of the "A" slot files include the "_a" postfix; the "B" slot files did include "_b".
Now I needed to transfer those boot files to my device by first rebooting my device and connecting via MTP.
I noted that the original tool offered a reboot menu option (but sadly only after executing a successful operation). So, not wanting to fiddle, I used the original tool to backup my boot files, then used the menu option to reboot; On my device I then manually selected it to connect via MTP.
After transferring the "boot.img" and "boot_b.img" files to my device, and installing Magisk Manager. I patched them and transferred them back to my PC.
To "flash" (restore) the patched files I decided to cut 'n' paste the two lines regarding them from your Reference.xml file into your rawprogram-specific-files.xml file, replacing your example lines.
I executed your run_write-files.ps1 script and it completed successfully.
Not wanting to fiddle again with the hardware buttons (just so that I can get the reboot option), I backed up the patched files using the original tool and rebooted. Now my device is successfully rooted.
Thank you!
Additional notes and suggestions:
1. Can you please investigate the "false" warnings? See my (redacted) log file attached;
2. It would be great if you could create/duplicate a script within your expanded tool set (or main program) to determine and set the appropriate COMPort (and teach us non-coders the actual commands);
3. Would you also consider investigating and including a reboot device script? (It looks like the original tool calls reset.xml);
4. Note that, at the time of reporting this, the latest versions for the Manager and Magsk are 8.02 (307) and 21.0 (21000) respectively, and that I had to switch the update channel to "beta" for the patched files to pass SafetyNet;
5. Because rooting is a likely use of your tool I am attaching my modified rawprogram-specific-files.xml file which targets the boot files for convenience.
bobthenormal said:
...
Additionally.. if I ever get around to it... I plan to upload all three A9 firmware packages for the US version which can be flashed with the EDL tools in this thread....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this can help me get my A10 device to a state where I can install a custom recovery and cutom ROMs, I would appreciate it!
eKeith said:
Ok Bob I gave it a go and successfully rooted my A2020U running stock A10 v2.09. This is my experience...
Firstly, my A2020U could not connect so I used the @Unjustified Dev Tool ("original tool") to easily determine my com port (i.e. 3). I edited the your scripts accordingly (using Notepad++) and got connected.
I'd rather not fiddle with the hardware buttons to change modes so I used the CLI to "adb reboot edl" to get into EDL mode.
I executed the backup_all.ps1 script.
It echoed several "warnings" indicating that it could not find files. However, the created backup folders did in fact include those files.
I noted that none of the "A" slot files include the "_a" postfix; the "B" slot files did include "_b".
Now I needed to transfer those boot files to my device by first rebooting my device and connecting via MTP.
I noted that the original tool offered a reboot menu option (but sadly only after executing a successful operation). So, not wanting to fiddle, I used the original tool to backup my boot files, then used the menu option to reboot; On my device I then manually selected it to connect via MTP.
After transferring the "boot.img" and "boot_b.img" files to my device, and installing Magisk Manager. I patched them and transferred them back to my PC.
To "flash" (restore) the patched files I decided to cut 'n' paste the two lines regarding them from your Reference.xml file into your rawprogram-specific-files.xml file, replacing your example lines.
I executed your run_write-files.ps1 script and it completed successfully.
Not wanting to fiddle again with the hardware buttons (just so that I can get the reboot option), I backed up the patched files using the original tool and rebooted. Now my device is successfully rooted.
Thank you!
Additional notes and suggestions:
1. Can you please investigate the "false" warnings? See my (redacted) log file attached;
2. It would be great if you could create/duplicate a script within your expanded tool set (or main program) to determine and set the appropriate COMPort (and teach us non-coders the actual commands);
3. Would you also consider investigating and including a reboot device script? (It looks like the original tool calls reset.xml);
4. Note that, at the time of reporting this, the latest versions for the Manager and Magsk are 8.02 (307) and 21.0 (21000) respectively, and that I had to switch the update channel to "beta" for the patched files to pass SafetyNet;
5. Because rooting is a likely use of your tool I am attaching my modified rawprogram-specific-files.xml file which targets the boot files for convenience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice! :good:
For the questions..
0. Thanks for the heads up on filenames! I completely missed that the _a files don't have the labels... As you probably noticed all the files are backed up correctly still (no missing/overwritten files), but I removed the _a from all the A slot files. That was my original "fix", so I guess I started building this package before I got annoyed by not having the _a/_b consistency. I'll update the correct XML file and upload it as a new version.
1. Don't worry about those! They're part of using the fh_loader interface. Warnings are usually just fine, ERRORS are bad. I'll add a note to the post when I get a chance so people don't get scared by that.
It's only when you do a backup the program is really only designed in the "writing" sense, for backups you literally run an identical XML to writing but you send a flag that reverses the process. So it weirdly checks if the files it is going to copy (which of course don't exist) exist, and it throws the standard warning, but then it just creates them (of course).
I can't turn those off without lowering the verbosity setting for that tool. I decided to leave it set to high because if someone has a problem and they post their log file (like so!) it's very useful to troubleshoot.
2. I'll think about it / try. Not very hard to program but a little time consuming.
I'll throw a copy of lsusb.exe in the next version. Windows port of the linux command. People can simply run that on a command prompt and it will list all the active COM ports/devices. If you're not familiar with it - you can also find out by clicking on the windows start bar or pressing the windows key and typing in "Device Manager". In the hardware list there is a category for COM ports where it lists them.
3. Yeah that's very easy I'll put one in the next version as well.
4. Helpful to know. Interesting that you needed beta to pass... I didn't think to mention I use the canary builds (not really recommended... the current one crashes when I try to hide Magisk Manager lol)
5. Thanks! Maybe I should make a directory specific to boot backup/write... but I do think anyone not comfortable doing the change you did might not want to be flashing their boot files anyway haha.. things to consider I guess.
As for getting you back from A10, definitely. I'll figure out how to upload them to one of those file sharing sites in a week or two.
In the mean time, with a backup from this tool you're safe (as far as bricking goes, you'll have to system wipe) to try rafy's EDL backup to revert to A9. I'll find the actual post... I should have been less lazy and linked it in my post lol... HERE - rafyvitto's EDL.
If flashing his backup doesn't boot right away try the tool I included to fix the bootable partition. If it still doesn't work after that (maybe mention here what happened) then just restore your backup.
Do you have the 128gb phone by chance?
Thanks much, especially for your detailed clarifications and convenient link!
I have the 8/256GB (P855A03_NA) model.
PS
I want to spend more time on ensuring I have a complete device backup before nuking with another EDL; will dedicate some time this week...
Sent from my ZTE A2020U Pro using Tapatalk
eKeith said:
Thanks much, especially for your detailed clarifications and convenient link!
I have the 8/256GB (P855A03_NA) model.
PS
I want to spend more time on ensuring I have a complete device backup before nuking with another EDL; will dedicate some time this week...
Sent from my ZTE A2020U Pro using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh nice, with the 256gb model you're good to use the userdata backup program too. Sounds ideal for you since, like me, you want a really bulletproof backup. If you run a full backup and then run the userdata backup you literally have a "phone state" so you can return your phone back to exactly where it was, not have to wipe system or anything.
Of course I'd hate to be wrong so as usual, do at your own risk! Lol. But I am using that method and it has worked great. The downside being over an hour of waiting for the userdata to download or upload... and having to store 256gb (for long term storage you can compress it down to literally a few gb).
I've been kinda busy, but working on getting some of those things from my last post done hopefully this week.
bobthenormal said:
Oh nice, with the 256gb model you're good to use the userdata backup program too. Sounds ideal for you since, like me, you want a really bulletproof backup. If you run a full backup and then run the userdata backup you literally have a "phone state" so you can return your phone back to exactly where it was, not have to wipe system or anything.
Of course I'd hate to be wrong so as usual, do at your own risk! Lol. But I am using that method and it has worked great. The downside being over an hour of waiting for the userdata to download or upload... and having to store 256gb (for long term storage you can compress it down to literally a few gb).
I've been kinda busy, but working on getting some of those things from my last post done hopefully this week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great to know! Your user data backup option has simplified my life.
I will wait for your next revision to do a full backup plus user data before nuking.
I am looking forward to moving on from ZTE's A10 to one of Ray's ROMs...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Updated to 1.1a - kind of had to rush on some things so keep an eye out for mistakes, especially in the XML files, and let me know if you find any.
Should have an 1.09 (A9) firmware package up "Soon(TM)", just have to make the xml files then upload the file somewhere.
EDIT: Already needed to update to 1.1b - I found that the GPT_Tools had a big error that probably was there since 1.0 and no one noticed! Backups of the GPT should now actually work...
Thank you @bobthenormal !
Looking forward to your A9 EDL backup...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
eKeith said:
Thank you @bobthenormal !
Looking forward to your A9 EDL backup...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's up -- see the new thread.
I didn't have time to test it so make sure you backup but I'm 99,99% sure it will work. I tested it several times in the past, but to make the firmware package I took out all the (I hope) unnecessary files.
There's one thing I'm not sure of - whether you'll need to use the Fix Bootable tool after installing it. IF you need to, then I believe you will have to install it to partition B and then run fix bootable B. (The 1.10 backup was taken originally from the B partition).
If you find that it works without having to do that, let me know... it may not be necessary if wherever that bootable flag is stored didn't get included in the firmware package.
bobthenormal said:
It's up -- see the new thread.
I didn't have time to test it so make sure you backup but I'm 99,99% sure it will work. I tested it several times in the past, but to make the firmware package I took out all the (I hope) unnecessary files.
There's one thing I'm not sure of - whether you'll need to use the Fix Bootable tool after installing it. IF you need to, then I believe you will have to install it to partition B and then run fix bootable B. (The 1.10 backup was taken originally from the B partition).
If you find that it works without having to do that, let me know... it may not be necessary if wherever that bootable flag is stored didn't get included in the firmware package.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you @bobthenormal !
I should be able to give it a go this weekend and inform...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk