[Q]downgrade Lollipop to Kitkat Mediatek - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

hi need inputs from this great community regarding my issue. my mobile device, which is in Android 5.1, but earlier releases of the same model was on Android 4.4. i compared both scatter files from kitkat version and L and scatter on Android L has extra FRP and EBR2 partition. i wanted to downgrade to Kitkat so im wondering if i can flash the stock rom from kitkat to my lollipop device. and since they dont have the same scatterfile or partition, i will maintain my device,which is in Lollipop, use its scatterfile but will use images from the kitkat-rom, assuming both devices have the same hardware and same drivers used, will this method work? will it overwrite or overlap partitions not normally seen when using sp-flash-tool? im excluding the preloader.bin since for some reasons i can't seem to make backup of it.

Nit really sure. Not alot of development for that chip is done here. Most devices here that have developers are using Qualcomm. But no you won't be able to mix the two and with the new partition most likely also came with a new bootloader that will prevent downgrading.
Only one way to find out. Try and find out.

wertzPH said:
hi need inputs from this great community regarding my issue. my mobile device, which is in Android 5.1, but earlier releases of the same model was on Android 4.4. i compared both scatter files from kitkat version and L and scatter on Android L has extra FRP and EBR2 partition. i wanted to downgrade to Kitkat so im wondering if i can flash the stock rom from kitkat to my lollipop device. and since they dont have the same scatterfile or partition, i will maintain my device,which is in Lollipop, use its scatterfile but will use images from the kitkat-rom, assuming both devices have the same hardware and same drivers used, will this method work? will it overwrite or overlap partitions not normally seen when using sp-flash-tool? im excluding the preloader.bin since for some reasons i can't seem to make backup of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you've made a proper backup with sp-flash-tool, you can safely blast out everything starting from MBR (including MBR) and higher (EBR, FAT, Recovery etc.), and overwrite it with Kitkat partitions.
I've done similar stuff to my MT6577 phone - edited MBR, merged and resized some partitions. It feels fine.
However, if Lollipop had replaced your preloader, things get little more complicated, but not too much.

Related

[Q] Can I build AOSP for my device? (Prestigio 5400DUO)

Hello, I am not-exactly-proud owner of PAP5400DUO, it has only 512 MB RAM and Quad-core CPU, so it is sometimes unresponsive and since there is no hope of it getting an update to KitKat. I searched for a custom roms, but I haven't found any (which is little troubling), yet the device can be rooted and MIUI recovery flashed (version unknown, I didn't root my phone yet). On my way when searching what do I need to build AOSP ROM I found out that I need a "device tree" which if I understood right is some specific information about my device (drivers etc) needed to compile a rom properly.
Which is quite an obstacle, because it is nowhere to be found, yet I stumbled upon a post that said that device tree can be created from scratch (yet probably by trial-error method).
All I need is to know if it is really worthy the time and struggle, I used to own HTC Wildfire S and have limited knowledge about ROMs, yet I am willing to study by myself, there are the main questions:
Is it everything possible?
Is the said recovery sufficient to flash KK? (hard to tell, i don't know the version, I know)
Would AOSP KK ROM improve the performance? (I hope so, but still its 512 MB RAM only)
Is it worth it? isn't there another way? (the kernel doesn't support SWAP, so maybe kernel update?)
As far as I know, flashing a ROM cannot brick the device (unless it harasses with Radio, which I really don't intend), so I can Always revert to backup and phone stays functional right?

Symphony H250 development Help.

This is another thread I am opening as per Art Vanderlay's suggestion for help with my phone h250's development.
Hardware:
MTK6735 Quad Core Arm a53 64 bit CPU clocked at 1.3 GHz
2 Gb RAM
16 Gb ROM (11 Gb Usable)
Mali T720MP2 450MHz GPU
Runs Lollipop 5.1
Kernel Version 3.10.65
Looks to be a clone of Colors K3 a nepal company.
I have the stock rom and all the files included. I also have a philz touch recovery that i managed to port from another device.
I also have opened a thread or two about my older device (W128) which runs jb 4.2.2.
What I want to learn is how to port a genuine lollipop rom to my W128 and how to port recoveries and kernels and roms.
At present all I know are the copy paste methods that are available on this site and a few other sites.
For example I managed to port philz to my device by modifying the recovery.fstab file with proper mmcblk locations obtained from phone. The recovery could not detect my partitions with the stock fstab file. I tried twrp as well but it does not detect my partitions even with the modified fstab file. I found a port of twrp for my device that works and decompiled it. In that fstab file however the partitions were using the by-name format [/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/boot]. I want someone to explain this to me. I want to learn how to port beyond the copy paste stuff. I think there are small in depth stuff that can be done to make a port work. For example the person who ported that recovery also ported multiple lollipop and kitkat roms to the W128 set but he locks those zips and sells them so he does not want to help. All port guides say that it will only work for same base rom version. Is it possible to port from different bases?
bump
Gotta love the xda support!

vendor vs. firmware?

hi all!
can somebody explain what the difference between "vendor" (beryllium-8.11.15-9.0-vendor-firmware) and the image of my os (lineage-16.0-20181127-UNOFFICIAL-beryllium) is. i tried googling it but i couldnt find a good "explain like i'm 5" kinda explanation. or maybe less what the difference is but what they are in general?
thanks!
bad1080 said:
hi all!
can somebody explain what the difference between "vendor" (beryllium-8.11.15-9.0-vendor-firmware) and the image of my os (lineage-16.0-20181127-UNOFFICIAL-beryllium) is. i tried googling it but i couldnt find a good "explain like i'm 5" kinda explanation. or maybe less what the difference is but what they are in general?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vendor + Firmware it contains "vendor" and "firmware" ,since android oreo vendor are separated from system image to support project treble. Firmware is basically software for supporting the hardware.
Your Image OS (miui 10) it contains all of them, "vendor firmware and system" so everytime you flashed miui 10 you included the vendor and firmware to, no need to flash another one. Unless you are using custom rom which only contains system image.
arifreggit said:
Vendor + Firmware it contains "vendor" and "firmware" ,since android oreo vendor are separated from system image to support project treble. Firmware is basically software for supporting the hardware.
Your Image OS (miui 10) it contains all of them, "vendor firmware and system" so everytime you flashed miui 10 you included the vendor and firmware to, no need to flashed another one. Unless you are using costom rom which only contains system image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah thats where this is coming from (project treble), thanks for clarifying! (my os is lineage as stated above though)

Lenovo IdeaTab S6000-F upgrade OS -- help

Hi,
I've had this tablet for years and it got to a point where it is just paperweight (even Skype is broken for the version of Android 4.2.2. that is running). I've looked through XDA and internet in general and could not find any information on how to run TWRP or Clockwork Recovery Mod on this device as it is not officially supported. I have also not been able to find a suitable Android ROM. I've been particularly looking for Android 7 Nougat.
I have rooted the tablet using Framaroot (verified with Root Checker).
I have tried to install Clockwork Recovery Mod using ROM Manager.
I have tried to install TWRP recovery using TWRP official app and TWRP Manager.
I am aware of threads like https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44660171&postcount=417 (How to install CWM on most rooted mtk devices) and I have not tried it yet.
Tablet details:
Lenovo IdeaTab S6000-F
OS: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (Kernel 3.4.5)
Build number: S6000_A422_101_025_131017_WW_WiFi
SW version: S6000_130419
HW version: Lepad S6000-F
Chipset: Mediatek MT8125 (ARM Cortex-A7)
I have found some articles on the web describing how to perform the upgrade but they are all out-of-date, i.e. links don't work to ROMs and no information on how to install Clockwork or TWRP. Does anyone know how to go about this? Even getting Android 4.4 KitKat to run on this would be a big step-up.
@qumat
Because phone is powered by a MediaTek chipset, I think SP Flash Tool is the correct tool to flash a new ROM onto the phone, in conjunction with matching USB-driver provided by Lenovo for this phone.
Read also here.
jwoegerbauer said:
@qumat
Because phone is powered by a MediaTek chipset, I think SP Flash Tool is the correct tool to flash a new ROM onto the phone, in conjunction with matching USB-driver provided by Lenovo for this phone.
Read also here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestion. Eventually, I managed to make a full backup of the stock ROM. Hopefully that means I will also be able to flash the tablet with a custom ROM. However, I am unable to find any for this device. Are there any options left other than building a version of Android (LineageOS or OmniROM) for this device myself?
@qumat
I'm not a ROM cook ( developer ) but as far as I know you need the specific source code for that device to compile ROMs. What would require MediaTek / Lenovo has made it public.
Does that mean that there is nothing that can be done in this case?
I have managed to install ClockworkMod Recovery. Also, I found the source code for this tablet on the official Lenovo support website. I have tried to unlock the bootloader but regardless of what I do nothing happens. It seems as if the bootloader was not locked in the first place, there is no status displayed when I fastboot and none of the show version fastboot PC commands work. The PC connects without any issues, I can see the device ID both using adb and fastboot but unlock-related commands do nothing.
I now have the source code and installed ClockworkMod Recovery. Do I have everything I need to build LineageOS or OmniRom for this device? What is the best way I should go about doing it?
@qumat
Look inside Android's system file named build.prop for entry ro.oem_unlock_supported: This entry is set to "0" if flashing unlock is not supported on
the device or "1" if flashing unlock is supported. NOTE: This property is set by Android kernel.
jwoegerbauer said:
@qumat
Look inside Android's system file named build.prop for entry ro.oem_unlock_supported: This entry is set to "0" if flashing unlock is not supported on
the device or "1" if flashing unlock is supported. NOTE: This property is set by Android kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such entry in build.prop. In fact there are no entries that contain the word "oem".
qumat said:
There is no such entry in build.prop. In fact there are no entries that contain the word "oem".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then look in file default.prop.
jwoegerbauer said:
Then look in file default.prop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also no such entries. "default.prop" entries below:
#
# ADDITIONAL_DEFAULT_PROPERTIES
#
ro.secure=1
ro.allow.mock.location=0
persist.mtk.aee.aed=on
ro.debuggable=0
persist.sys.usb.config=mtp
persist.service.acm.enable=0
ro.mount.fs=EXT4
I could not find any other default.prop or build.prop files on the device.
Hi qumat,
Did you get any solution so far? I am very much in the same boat in which you are. I also have Lenovo IdeaTab S6000-F and looking forward to upgrading the same.
My Tablet details are:
Lenovo IdeaTab S6000-F
OS: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (Kernel 3.4.5)
Build number: S6000_A422_101_025_131017_WW_WiFi
SW version: S6000_130419
HW version: Lepad S6000-F
Thanks,
Mohit
@Mohit1110
I have not yet. I have a feeling that the bootloader is not locked in the first place on this device, there simply is no mention of any bootloader lock anywhere on it. I have not tried compiling the source code from the Lenovo support site yet. Mediatek seem to be utterly awful at providing their binaries/source code so it is an infamous platform to do anything with. I (or anyone else) will have to try to compile it and check that everything needed is in fact there. If there are binaries missing then probably nothing can be done.
First I need to figure out how to actually compile that Lenovo source code...
Thanks for the reply qumat. I have always used the proprietary OS comes with the device itself and this is the first time I am looking for Custom OS. All the terms you used are jargon for me.
Request you to please keep posting here so that I and other users can also learn from your experience about the same.
Please share the links where have you downloaded the said software in your previous post about Flash,AWB and Source Code.
Additionally can't we build the latest android source code from the Android website, instead of taking from Lenovo. Is there any benefit of taking code from Lenovo?
In case somehow if I build the latest android code, would that work for the tablet? I have no clue, do you have any idea?
BTW, how can I check the Hardware used on the tablet, like you mentioned it is using Mediatek
Any Progress?
qumat said:
@Mohit1110
I have not yet. I have a feeling that the bootloader is not locked in the first place on this device, there simply is no mention of any bootloader lock anywhere on it. I have not tried compiling the source code from the Lenovo support site yet. Mediatek seem to be utterly awful at providing their binaries/source code so it is an infamous platform to do anything with. I (or anyone else) will have to try to compile it and check that everything needed is in fact there. If there are binaries missing then probably nothing can be done.
First I need to figure out how to actually compile that Lenovo source code...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Qumat,
Were you able to manage to make some progress? Could you please guide me as well on how to install better version of Android on my Lenovo Tab?
Thanks,
Mohit
Lenovo IdeaTab S6000-F
Guys,
I am also wanting to upgrade the OS on mine. No issues with the tablet working, just want to experiment with a new ROM and maybe upgrade the kernel version if possible.
IdeaTab S6000-F
Android version 4.2.2
Kernel version 3.4.5
Build Number
S6000_A422_101_025_131017_WW_WiFi
Software version
S6000_130419
Hardware Version
Lepad S6000-F
Thanks
Mohit1110 said:
Hi Qumat,
Were you able to manage to make some progress? Could you please guide me as well on how to install better version of Android on my Lenovo Tab?
Thanks,
Mohit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also still have this device (using it mainly as a digital photo frame) after I learned that there were no custom roms available for it. I have managed to flash Superuser for root and CWM though, but that was the extent of it.
I am the owner of another one of those paperweights. It would make a nice ebook reader. If there is an update on this tablet, please post here.
Me too... I'ts a shame but I could not find any updates for it... :-(
I also have the same problem, Lenvo S6000-h looking for updated firmware, i am also very new to this. Has anyone found something for this tablet?

I've successfully rooted my Leagoo T5c, now what?

Hi everyone,
After a few hiccups, I successfully rooted my Leagoo T5c, thanks to the excellent tutorial posted here. The phone works fine, thank you, but now, I'd like to know how to proceed to, say, upgrade the phone from its current Android version (7.0) to a more recent version.
Where to start?
Since this phone has a Spreadtrum/Unisoc SC9853i SoC (Intel-based), I suppose the custom ROMs and upgrade possibilities are few and far between, but I'd like to give it a shot.
I'm open to ideas, tips, tricks, voodoo moves and Santeria incantations, but I'm still a noob when it comes to Android, so please, be patient, and methodical... :good:
@UglyStuff
If you can unlock phone's boot-loader then you should be able to flash any Custom Recovery and/or Custom ROM that's suitable to 100% to phone's CPU-architecture. Who is the supplier of phone's SoC isn't of any interest at all.
Hi,
Thing is, as I said, I'm a noob when it comes to Android, so I don't want to brick my phone by trying to make it ingest a ROM that's not suitable for it.
If my phone came with a MediaTek or Qualcomm SoC, I wouldn't worry, because there are plenty of ROMs out there, custom or not, to play with, but this Spreadtrum/Unisoc SoC is a thing of its own.
It's based on Intel's Airmont architecture, and few phones or tablets use it, at least this specific version (SC9853i). Maybe I just don't understand too well how a ROM is built.
UglyStuff said:
Hi,
Thing is, as I said, I'm a noob when it comes to Android, so I don't want to brick my phone by trying to make it ingest a ROM that's not suitable for it.
If my phone came with a MediaTek or Qualcomm SoC, I wouldn't worry, because there are plenty of ROMs out there, custom or not, to play with, but this Spreadtrum/Unisoc SoC is a thing of its own.
It's based on Intel's Airmont architecture, and few phones or tablets use it, at least this specific version (SC9853i). Maybe I just don't understand too well how a ROM is built.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example, I found this article where they explain how to flash LineageOS 17 (based on Android 10) on a Panasonic Eluga Ray 800 that uses the same SoC as my Leagoo T5c.
The thing is, I don't know if this is transposable to my device, though the two share the same SoC. As I said earlier, I don't want to permanently brick my phone...
@UglyStuff
The mentioned Intel Airmount SoC's instruction set architecture is x86_64 , the also mentioned Intel Spreadtrum SC9853i SoC's instruction set architecture is x86_64, too. Hence in order to upgrade yor phone's Android you need a Custom ROM compiled for x86_64 architecture. GIYF ...
OK, but since this Panasonic and my Leagoo share the same SoC, they also share the same x64 instruction set, so do I get it right if I say that the custom ROM built for the Panasonic would fit on my Leagoo, or am I missing something?
In theory it should.
OK, I guess I'll have to chance it, and use recovery in case things so south. My phone isn't compatible with Treble, according to this app. Does it mean anything in terms of installing one of the generic system images found here or not?

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