I recently ordered an Onda obook10 dual booting tablet (Android 5.1 +Win10) from GearBest, and received it a week (and a half) ago. It is the V5 version (9th and 10th digits of S/N). Booted into Android at first, swiped around a little, and then left it alone for when I was free. Day before, I booted into Windows, and seeing that an account was already set up, hit the factory reset option (Options: remove all personal files, normal wipe (not thorough)). It rebooted, said it was resetting, then got stuck at 5% for a half hour. I then did a hard reboot, and it starting resetting again. I repeated this a few times, with different waiting periods, but it always got stuck at 5%. I wanted to see what was going on, so I opened the OS selector menu and tried to boot into Android, but that put the device into a bootloop, and it's stayed that way since. I downloaded the recovery WinPE from their website, and tried running it; all went well until the last step (installing the install.wim file), which succeeded, but when the batch file tried to set the boot options/flags, it threw an error about not being able to access D:, and failed. Tried making the recovery USB and installing multiple times, but it failed every time. I then tried Gandalf's WinPE image, which booted, and tried using imagex to install the .wim file to C: manually, as detailed here. This failed too.
I'm at my wits' end, honestly. I have no idea what else to try. There's another WinPE file available for download, but it's dated only a couple of weeks after the one I already have, so I'm hesitant to download it if there's any other option (I have very low bandwidth, it would take me at least two days). Also, it's hosted on Baidu, and the download times out after about an hour, and cannot resume. If anyone could give me any ideas, or point me towards a guide I haven't found yet (I've read all the relevant ones I could find on the Onda forums, but please post them anyway if you think they would be helpful), that would be great.
What would be perfect is if someone could upload, or point me toward a system dump/partition clone of at least the Windows partition and boot partition; I have the tools needed to flash those.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: I managed to fix this a while ago, and have put the procedure somewhere in this thread, but since people keep popping up every now and then asking for it, I'm going to put this here so it's easier to find. Copied from later in the thread, here, and modified to be more general:
This uses slightly modified commands from the Onda firmware install script, and will result in a COMPLETE WIPE and reinstall of Windows - all the files on the Windows partition will be lost. This SHOULD work for anyone whose Android is working but Windows isn't, but I can't guarantee that. I can't even guarantee that this will work (though I am pretty sure it will) - I have not tested it completely. If you can, you should make a backup of anything files on the internal storage, just in case. As always, read the whole procedure before starting.
NOTE: If your Android isn't working, you need to install that first - get the Android file from the Onda Baidu page (look for the one for OBOOK 10 (not SE), with the appropriate V1, V2, V3, V5, or V7 code - you can find your code by checking the serial no. on the back of your device, the 9th and 10th characters), and follow the instructions in the document included in the zip - they are pretty straightforward, but you'll have to use Google Translate, as they're in Chinese. This MUST be done before the Windows procedure, because the Android installer wipes the entire disk.
If you want, you can make the procedure easier for yourself and save all the commands below to a text file, put it in the root folder of the USB before booting, and open it in Notepad by using:
Code:
notepad D:\textfile.txt
Or whatever name you give it. That way, you can copy paste them all easily.
Boot into the Windows installer, and when the command window appears, press Ctrl-C. After a few seconds, it will ask you if you want to terminate batch job, type 'y' and press enter. You now have a command prompt to work with.
You have to delete your Windows partitions first. The below partition numbers should be correct, but you should make sure first by running "list partition" and checking if it corresponds with the last 3 partitions, which should be your Windows partitions - their sizes are usually 128 MB, 35 GB, and around 800-1024 MB, and their types are Reserved, Primary, and Recovery (DO NOT delete the Primary partition at the beginning of the disk). DO NOT delete the Unknown partitions - those are Android's.
Code:
diskpart
sel disk 0
sel partition 14
delete partition
sel partition 13
delete partition
sel partition 12
delete partition
Your Windows partitions are now completely gone, so you'll have to recreate them first.
Change directory to the images folder.
Code:
cd D:\images
Get filesizes of .wim files to create partitions accordingly:
Code:
for %I in (Install.wim) do set INSTALL_SIZE=%~zI
set /a INSTALL_SIZE_MB=%INSTALL_SIZE:~0,-6%
for %I in (Winre.wim) do set RE_SIZE=%~zI
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE:~0,-6%
if %RE_SIZE_MB% LSS 430 (set /a RE_SIZE_MB=480
) else (
if %RE_SIZE_MB% GEQ 430 (
if %RE_SIZE_MB% LSS 680 (
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE_MB%+320
) else (
set /a RE_SIZE_MB=%RE_SIZE_MB%+1024
)
) )
Make sure to preserve all the spaces and brackets in the above code.
Enter diskpart, run the following:
Code:
sel disk 0
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary
shrink minimum=%RE_SIZE_MB%
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery"
assign letter="R"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
You should now have 14 partitions when you do "list partition".
Exit diskpart.
Now for the actual installation:
Code:
md w:\recycler
md R:\recovery\windowsre
DISM /Apply-Image /ImageFile:"D:\images\Install.wim" /ApplyDir:w: /Index:1 /Compact /ScratchDir:w:\recycler
xcopy D:\images\Winre.wim r:\recovery\windowsre /y
Create boot entry:
Code:
bcdboot w:\WINDOWS
If that doesn't work, then:
w:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\BCDBOOT w:\WINDOWS
Set recovery environment:
Code:
w:\windows\system32\reagentc.exe /SetREImage /Path R:\recovery\windowsre /target w:\windows
And that's it! You should have both OSes operational now.
Update: I've managed to fix this problem. However, since the procedure is lengthy, and there doesn't seem to be anybody who needs a solution, I'm not going to the trouble of typing it out. If anyone does need to know how to save it, post here, and I'd be happy to help out.
EDIT: I've put the guide in the first post.
Flashing Help
SirVer said:
Update: I've managed to fix this problem. However, since the procedure is lengthy, and there doesn't seem to be anybody who needs a solution, I'm not going to the trouble of typing it out. If anyone does need to know how to save it, post here, and I'd be happy to help out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an Onda Obook 10 and have a problem with aandroid side of it. The system UI crashes, all google apps have stopped.
I have the Rom for it but have no clue how to install it.
I have gone into recovery mode and cleared cache and done a factory reset but the errors still happen in Android. The Windows 10 side of things work fine.
Have you any advice or help you can offer,
Regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
I have an Onda Obook 10 and have a problem with aandroid side of it. The system UI crashes, all google apps have stopped.
I have the Rom for it but have no clue how to install it.
I have gone into recovery mode and cleared cache and done a factory reset but the errors still happen in Android. The Windows 10 side of things work fine.
Have you any advice or help you can offer,
Regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inside the ROM zip, there should be a Word document with instructions in Chinese on how to flash the ROM. It should basically say something like this:
1. Extract zip contents, put them in a USB drive.
2. Plug it in, and with a keyboard attached, hold down ESC and power on the device to enter BIOS.
3. Enter the Boot Manager, and select Internal EFI.
4. It should automatically start applying the ROM after a few seconds.
Be warned that this may wipe your Windows partition - this happened to me, but that may be because my partition table was somewhat messed up. Either way, be sure to take a disk image or backup of your MSR, C drive, and recovery partition (probably the last 3 partitions on the disk).
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Widows swith icon
SirVer said:
Inside the ROM zip, there should be a Word document with instructions in Chinese on how to flash the ROM. It should basically say something like this:
1. Extract zip contents, put them in a USB drive.
2. Plug it in, and with a keyboard attached, hold down ESC and power on the device to enter BIOS.
3. Enter the Boot Manager, and select Internal EFI.
4. It should automatically start applying the ROM after a few seconds.
Be warned that this may wipe your Windows partition - this happened to me, but that may be because my partition table was somewhat messed up. Either way, be sure to take a disk image or backup of your MSR, C drive, and recovery partition (probably the last 3 partitions on the disk).
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Reinstalled android thanks for your help. the only thing missing is the icon to switch to windows. I think the partition is still there but there was an icon for switching but don't know where it's gone.
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
Hi Reinstalled android thanks for your help. the only thing missing is the icon to switch to windows. I think the partition is still there but there was an icon for switching but don't know where it's gone.
Any advice would be helpful.
Regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the partition still there, or is that just free space you're seeing? For me, the partition was gone, with unallocated space in its place. If the partition is still there, then your job is relatively simple.
1. Make a WinPE recovery drive from another Windows machine, or just use a custom one (like Gandalf's WinPE, Google it).
2. Boot into it from the BIOS menu.
3. Load a command prompt.
4. Type "diskpart" (no quotes). Wait until you get a prompt like: DISKPART>
5. Enter the following commands:
a. select disk 0
b. list partition
c. select partition xx (where xx is the number of the Windows partition. If it's not labelled, it'll be the one about 36 gigs in size.
d. assign letter=c
e. exit
6. Now just run "bcdboot C:\Windows"
7. Reboot, and you should see Windows in your BIOS menu once more, and the button should pop up on Android as well.
If the Windows partition is not there, and it's just free space, things become more complicated. You'll need to get your hands on the Windows installer image. There is an older version on the Onda website (December 2015) that should do the job - or rather, there's a link to their Baidu account. You can find the more recent version in their account as well. The issue is that Baidu doesn't allow you to download files that large without installing their crapware. I got around it by registering an account and some URL-fu, but it's a PITA, especially if you have a slow connection. There's a Yandex mirror somewhere, but I'm not at home, so I don't have the link right now. I'll post it when I get back. EDIT: Here it is.
After you get the files, DON'T install it; it might wipe your Android install (did for me). There's an issue in their install script that made the command that hides the Android partitions from getting deleted not work. What I did was terminate the automatic install, and selectively apply the relevant portions of the script manually. You could probably do the same, but it could take you a while; took me two days and a bunch of background reading. If you're used to messing with Windows installs though, it'd probably be a cakewalk for you. I'd prepare some instructions for you, or even try and write a script myself using that one as a base, but I have exams right now, and I wouldn't have time for at least a week. If you haven't figured it out by then, just ask, and I'll do it.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
I have resetted my obook 10, it lock on 30% of restore for 2 hours, so i power off tablet. Now when i power on tablet it loop on Onda logo. If i power tablet with Power + Vol- I enter in Q2S menu and select Android that work fine.... I want restore Windows, If I power tablet with Power + down botton I don't enter in bios settings.... How can I fix problem?
Frezza said:
I have resetted my obook 10, it lock on 30% of restore for 2 hours, so i power off tablet. Now when i power on tablet it loop on Onda logo. If i power tablet with Power + Vol- I enter in Q2S menu and select Android that work fine.... I want restore Windows, If I power tablet with Power + down botton I don't enter in bios settings.... How can I fix problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can enter the BIOS menu by connecting a keyboard and holding down ESC while booting up.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Help
Hi
I have the Gandalf ISO file but need to understand from where do I go from the bios..like boot into the file?
regards
Jon
[email protected] said:
Hi
I have the Gandalf ISO file but need to understand from where do I go from the bios..like boot into the file?
regards
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember exactly what it's called, but I think it was the second menu entry - Boot <Something>. In that menu, you should see your USB drive USB EFI device or something like that listed - it might also show the manufacturer name (it showed my USB as a Sandisk). If you don't see it, you may have made a mistake when making the bootable USB - try it again while reading the instructions on Gandalf's site carefully. If you used Rufus to make the bootable, maybe try Unetbootin this time - it worked fine for me.
P.S. In case you meant boot into the file - you can't. You have to write it to a USB drive first. Instructions are on the same site you downloaded it from.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Can I install Windows 7 by Gandalf on this Tablet?
Frezza said:
Can I install Windows 7 by Gandalf on this Tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install? Maybe, but you wouldn't have any of the necessary drivers, so touch and WiFi and stuff wouldn't work. However, you can download the drivers and try installing them, which might work, though it probably won't since they're made for Windows 10.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
If there is this problem i install windows 10, I download img from link in last post, then i make a usb bootable ( with rufus) with img, then how can I start installation without delete android in other partition?
Frezza said:
If there is this problem i install windows 10, I download img from link in last post, then i make a usb bootable ( with rufus) with img, then how can I start installation without delete android in other partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on certain things, you may be able to just run the installer without doing anything extra. Are you able to boot into Android? Open a CMD window, and run the following commands:
1. diskpart
2. sel disk 0
3. list partition
Post the output of these here. A screenshot will also be OK.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Hi Have the same problem i'll follow your instructions
I download part1 and 2 from windows 10 folder.
My android install work perfect !
betsesv said:
Hi Have the same problem i'll follow your instructions
I download part1 and 2 from windows 10 folder.
My android install work perfect !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you extract that, you'll get a bunch of files and a DOC in Chinese explaining the procedure to make the recovery disk. Once you've made that, a WARNING before you boot into it: it will automatically open a CMD and start a delay counter, after which it will start the install automatically. Since this might break the Android side, you'll have to cancel it with Control-C in that delay period, which will give you a normal CMD to work with. You can use this to run the commands from my last post. If you want to be extra safe, also download a different WinPE recovery file (like Gandalf - actually you should download this anyway, it has some useful tools you might need later on), and boot into that instead. Depending on the output of those commands, you may be able to just run the automatic installer without worries.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
obook20 crashed
hello all,
my obook10 is in black screen with word shell>> on it. it crashed from android, how i can restore it ? please help!!!
alexander137 said:
hello all,
my obook10 is in black screen with word shell>> on it. it crashed from android, how i can restore it ? please help!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are probably in the internal EFI shell. Power off, connect a keyboard, and hold Fn+ESC while turning it on. This will get you the BIOS menu. Select Boot Manager. Normally, you'll see Android and Windows entries, and you could select one of them to boot, but in your case, you might only see Internal EFI Shell. If this is the case, follow the instructions from my earlier posts, and post the output of those commands. Depending on the result, it might be an easy fix, or a difficult fix. Hopefully, neither of you needs the difficult one, but if you do, I'll try and make a guide when I get time. In the meantime, post the output of the commands.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
SirVer said:
You are probably in the internal EFI shell. Power off, connect a keyboard, and hold Fn+ESC while turning it on. This will get you the BIOS menu. Select Boot Manager. Normally, you'll see Android and Windows entries, and you could select one of them to boot, but in your case, you might only see Internal EFI Shell. If this is the case, follow the instructions from my earlier posts, and post the output of those commands. Depending on the result, it might be an easy fix, or a difficult fix. Hopefully, neither of you needs the difficult one, but if you do, I'll try and make a guide when I get time. In the meantime, post the output of the commands.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you!! but i can't shutdown it, when i press powerbutton onda make new line with 'shell>>' , and powerbutton with volume down also don't reboot it. may be i do somthing wrong....
alexander137 said:
thank you!! but i can't shutdown it, when i press powerbutton onda make new line with 'shell>>' , and powerbutton with volume down also don't reboot it. may be i do somthing wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just press it down for a long time, at least 10 seconds, that'll do it. For some reason it takes a really long time to force shutdown. If that doesn't work, then there might be an issue with your hardware. Also try typing the "exit" command - it should put you into the BIOS menu directly.
Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
Related
I am attempting to build a compatibility file for my Polaroid PMID1000. Unfortunately this old device uses a special touch screen driver I have never found on other devices, and it is using kernel "3.0.8 #139 PREEMPT". I am using an older rom found here: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/64378-rom-carbonrom-422/ and have success booting on my compatibility file. The issue is the touch screen is not interacting with the OS (there are other issues but I want to tackle this first). The kernel allows me to boot and the android GUI starts up (I can interact with a mouse just fine). Getevent shows me interacting with the screen so touches are being generated, but they are not getting to the GUI. Looking for any help you may want to provide.
Files can all be found here, including a logcat, dmesg, lsmod my compatibility zip as well as the carbon rom and gapps . https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0c1jpaziDZ-S2hoczN0U0FiN3M&usp=sharing
going forward not backward
So I built a new kernel (3.0.101+) and have the gsensor and touch working now. Install the Carbon ROM, the GAPPS and the new compatibility file: PMID1000_carbon.compatibility-v1.zip
The only issue I have is no sound from the speaker, if you plug in a head set the sound is there.... anyone have an idea on this?
Domenic
new script.bin for sound and aokp support
I have updated the file and there is now sound support. I had a typo in my script.bin! I have also included a zip file for aokp_907_unofficial_2013-08-03.
PMID1000_carbon.compatibility-v2.zip
PMID1000_aokp.compatibility-v2.zip
Domenic
the process
domenictroilo said:
I have updated the file and there is now sound support. I had a typo in my script.bin! I have also included a zip file for aokp_907_unofficial_2013-08-03.
PMID1000_carbon.compatibility-v2.zip
PMID1000_aokp.compatibility-v2.zip
Domenic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So...I have the PMID1000, but what exactly is the process for this? I plan on using the CarbonROM(most likely). I have the Livesuite software on my pc, and all. I'm just curious as to what steps I need to take to make this thing work well? haha
I apologize for my ignorance,
Jonathan
jonathanhatch88 said:
So...I have the PMID1000, but what exactly is the process for this? I plan on using the CarbonROM(most likely). I have the Livesuite software on my pc, and all. I'm just curious as to what steps I need to take to make this thing work well? haha
I apologize for my ignorance,
Jonathan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly remember that all data will be wiped from the tablet, and the camera's will not work; also I would not expect a beginner to attempt this so I will not write up a detailed step-by-step, but an overview of the files and when/how they will be used. Of course you will require a computer and a USB connection to the tablet and the drivers required. I am not certain if Windows Update will find them, so you may need to find them as well.
With all the above in mind lets start (note I am doing this from memory as I do not have the tablet handy):
You need to start by installing cwm (cwm6028-a10-9part-v2.zip) on the tablet. For this you will need a copy of adb.exe, which I have provided as the file adb.zip on my Google Drive which includes the files you need. The tablet will need to have USB Debugging enabled.
Enable USB Storage
Unzip all files in cwm6028-a10-9part-v2.zip and transfer them to the tablet.
Turn off USB Storage
From a command prompt (cmd.exe in windows) change to the directory when you have unzipped adb.zip and run the command 'adb shell' you will get another prompt. Note I have 'quoted' the commands but the quotes are not required when you run the commands.
type 'cd /mnt/sdcard'
type 'ls' and verify the file recovery.img is in this directory and if it is
type 'cat recovery.img > /dev/block/nandg'
once this command has finished type 'echo -en "boot-recovery\0" > /dev/block/nandf; sync; reboot'
The tablet will restart in cwm.
To move around in cwm use the home button to move the selection down and the power button to select.
copy the following files (do NOT unzip them) to the same directory as you put adb.exe.
CARBON-JB-UNOFFICIAL-20130619-1010-907.zip
gapps-jb-20130812-signed.zip
PMID1000_carbon.compatibility-v2.zip
On the tablet choose the option "install zip from sideload"
At the windows command prompt type 'adb sideload CARBON-JB-UNOFFICIAL-20130619-1010-907.zip'
Note you may need to run the command again if your computer has not found the tablet device.
Repeat the above two steps for the other two zip files.
Once completed on the tablet choose the option "wipe data/factory reset" then the option "reboot system now" Note the first reboot of the table will take longer than you would expect, don't worry you will get back to a functional tablet in about 5 minutes. Note the "wipe data/factory reset" is extremely important as you will not get a functional tablet if you skip this step.
Domenic
WOW. Far superior to my half-root/play store work around I was using before.
Thank you! This works really well on my PMID1000. Great instructions too!
I've noticed that with the Carbon ROM I don't have on-screen volume keys. Is that normal, or should I try clearing the cache, and doing another wipe data/factory reset?
I'm going to try the AOKP ROM next.
Thanks again, Domenic! It's hard to find anyone doing any development for these. I guess that means I should upgrade sometime haha
Jonathan
P.S. Any chance you know how I could adjust the internal partition to allow more space for apps?
I have not found a way to get the volume on the bottom screen, these builds do not allow for it.... but you could try an app from the play store, look for status bar volume and you should find something. The one other real issue I have besides the camera not working is the speakers do not disable when you plug in a head phone. It is fine until you want to use it on the bus and don't want to distract anyone.
I am not certain that you can make the app size larger, but you could try to install Link2SD from the playstore. It allows you to move (link) applications to you SD card freeing up space.
PS I am not a real developer, just a bit of a hack to cobble this together...
Hi all,
EDIT
Thanks to techdudester on the second page, getting rid of the malware is now even easier!
Just flash the image he found here with the following procedure and you're good to go!
Instruction:
1. Flash the new ROM.
a. Get the ROM here . (Use this ROM only if you have a Venstar V140D tablet!)
b. Follow the linked tutorial to install the flash software and flash the new ROM on your device with: Phoenix Suit.
Voila, ready!
Enjoy your malware free tablet!
Tips and tricks. (or something...)
Get adb working (needed for all the other tricks down below):
1. Download the Google development tools (sdk) here and install them on your computer. I assume you have windows 7 installed during the rest of this tutorial.
2. Connect your device to your computer and make sure it is installed correctly.
a. Connect your device while its powered on via USB to your pc.
b. Go to Start, right click "My Computer" and select "Properties". Click "Device Manager".
c. Right click the Android device with the exclamation mark and select "Update Driver Software...".
d. Select "Browse my computer for driver software".
e. Select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".
f. Keep "Show All Devices" selected and click Next.
g. Click "Have Disk..." and click "Browse..."
h. You can find the drivers in the "SDKInstallLocation"\sdk\extras\google\usb_driver directory and click OK. Replace SDKInstallLocation with the location that you selected during installation of the SDK.
i. Select the "Android ADB Interface" driver from the list and click Next.
j. Confirm installation by clicking on "Yes". Sometimes you also have to click on "Install" if a screen pops up to ask you again if you really want to install the driver...
k. Click "Close".
To use it:
Open a command prompt (in search type "cmd" followed by ENTER) and go to the following directory ""SDKInstallLocation"\sdk\platform-tools".
If you want a backup of your tablets system directory (highly recommended!) use:
"adb pull /system C:\system"
where C:\system is the target location on your local computer where you want the backup of the system directory.
Remove the update package (this doesn't work for updating the tablet, so, useless.)
adb remount
adb shell
cd system/app
rm Update.apk
exit
Remove the unwanted apps (dragonfire.apk etc)
adb remount
adb shell
cd system/preinstall
rm *
exit
If you would like to have your tablet in the correct time zone after factory reset, you will have to adjust the build.prop file.
First you need to get it to your pc so you can edit it:
in the command prompt window and at the same location as in the tutorial above type "adb pull /system/build.prop C:\temp\build.prop".
Just in case, make a copy of the build.prop in Windows Explorer so you always have the original file if something goes wrong.
Now you can edit the build.prop, but DON'T EDIT IT WITH THE WINDOWS NOTEPAD! Use Notepad++ or similar to edit the build.prop.
After you made the changes (and be careful here, you could end up with a tablet that does not want to boot up, solution further down below) you have to upload the file back to your tablet.
in the command prompt type:
adb remount
adb push C:\temp\build.prop /system/build.prop
adb shell chmod 644 /system/build.prop
Don't forget the last line! If you do not chmod the file (set the correct permissions) your tablet will not boot up.
Changes in the build.prop:
Time zone:
Default time zone is "persist.sys.timezone=Europe/London"
you can change this to your locale time zone like "persist.sys.timezone=Europe/Amsterdam" (for the netherlands )
Search the internet for valid time zones.
Change the default language:
The default language is determined by these two values in the build.prop:
persist.sys.language=en
persist.sys.country=US
For dutch change them to:
persist.sys.language=nl
persist.sys.country=NL
and again, search the internet for valid language values.
Higher brightness after factory reset:
Add the following line to the build.prop file (at the top of the file)
ro.ph.def_brightness=225
You pushed the build.prop without changing the permissions:
No problem. Just connect your booting tablet to the PC, install the driver if its not installed correctly like explained in the tutorial, and then change the rights via adb. It's no problem that it's not fully booted!
in a command prompt in the adb directory:
adb remount
adb shell chmod 644 /system/build.prop
adb reboot
If you pushed a wrong non functioning build.prop, just use this method to push the original build.prop (you know, the copy you made ) back to the device (followed by setting the correct permissions of course).
Remove the (in my opinion) irritating boot sound:
adb remount
adb shell
cd system/media
rm boot.wav
exit
rom download
can you provide another way to download the rom file ,i cant seem to get the registration process to work
stevethesignguy865 said:
can you provide another way to download the rom file ,i cant seem to get the registration process to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have dropped it here. Hope this helps
I bought the same tablet for my daughter. She's (and so am I) suffering from a lot of annoying popups and ads.
Thanks for sharing your instructions here, very hard to find them!
Since I'm a complete newbie: one important question. When you flash the ROM, all of the apps (games) will be removed I guess?
Second question: can you put the stock rom on a different location? Both of the links (including Filedropper) don't contain any files...
Thanks!
1ce/ said:
I bought the same tablet for my daughter. She's (and so am I) suffering from a lot of annoying popups and ads.
Thanks for sharing your instructions here, very hard to find them!
Since I'm a complete newbie: one important question. When you flash the ROM, all of the apps (games) will be removed I guess?
Second question: can you put the stock rom on a different location? Both of the links (including Filedropper) don't contain any files...
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, all applications will be removed. As soon as you configure the tablet again with the same gmail account, it will probably start installing the applications and games automatically, but in game progress will be lost for most (not online) games.
I am re-uploading the file. Will update this post with the link as soon as it finishes
edit: upload finished, get it while its there LINK
BlueFlame said:
edit: upload finished, get it while its there LINK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Thanks for the swift response. The file is about 307 MB. Is this correct? I'll start working on it, probably this weekend. I'll keep you posted.
1ce/ said:
Great! Thanks for the swift response. The file is about 307 MB. Is this correct? I'll start working on it, probably this weekend. I'll keep you posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thats correct. Once unpacked it will be around 520 MB.
Good luck!
Hi BlueFlame,
Thanks for the post. Is it possible to get the image uploaded again? Would be much appreciated.
Maylar said:
Hi BlueFlame,
Thanks for the post. Is it possible to get the image uploaded again? Would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On request. You can find it here. (Adjusted link. Stored on Google Drive)
Thanking you. Very much appreciated.
Thank's for a fantastic procedure... Worked very well.
First step doesn't work for me: Phoenixsuit gives an error: 'Open Firmware failed'
with three possible reasons:
- firmware version is too old
- firmware format is broken
- firmware is used by other application.
Version used: 1.0.6
Firmware file: a33_599x_v11_1024x600_gc0308_2035_1015a.img
Any ideas?
1ce/ said:
First step doesn't work for me: Phoenixsuit gives an error: 'Open Firmware failed'
with three possible reasons:
- firmware version is too old
- firmware format is broken
- firmware is used by other application.
Version used: 1.0.6
Firmware file: a33_599x_v11_1024x600_gc0308_2035_1015a.img
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that the firmware that I provided?
If not, try to download it again.
If so, I think that your tablet has a newer firmware than this one. You could contact the seller of your tablet for the current (latest) firmware for this tablet.
If you get a newer firmware, please share
Image file invalid
Hi Blueflame,
I've tried to re-flash, but at some point i'm getting the message at livesuit V1.11 that the image file is invalid.
It's the 3rd time i have downloaded the file, what could be cause of this error?
Greetz Mike
mcwheelz said:
Hi Blueflame,
I've tried to re-flash, but at some point i'm getting the message at livesuit V1.11 that the image file is invalid.
It's the 3rd time i have downloaded the file, what could be cause of this error?
Greetz Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure. Will upload it again this weekend just to be sure that it's not my uploaded image. (I will let you know once I've done that)
You can, on the other hand, contact the supplier (where you bought the tablet) and ask them for the latest version of the ROM. I would also be interested in that
BlueFlame said:
Not sure. Will upload it again this weekend just to be sure that it's not my uploaded image. (I will let you know once I've done that)
You can, on the other hand, contact the supplier (where you bought the tablet) and ask them for the latest version of the ROM. I would also be interested in that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uploaded again! same link (just made it a new version in Google Drive).
Open Firmware failed - possible solution
1ce/ said:
First step doesn't work for me: Phoenixsuit gives an error: 'Open Firmware failed'
with three possible reasons:
- firmware version is too old
- firmware format is broken
- firmware is used by other application.
Version used: 1.0.6
Firmware file: a33_599x_v11_1024x600_gc0308_2035_1015a.img
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to put the image file in a directory without special characters (i.e. c:\temp). Worked for me.
wundabua
Te real FIX is In!
Ok, i have one of these allwinner, Venstar, "whatever", A33 D140v tablets. It had all the usual problems and more, because the first thing I tried, was to use the built in recovery to "restore to factory". This made things even worse, because after the recovery, I couldn't reach the Google authentication servers.
I am pro tech with 25 years in the trenches and I have to admit this thing really threw me for a loop, because I spent an entire day researching the solution, installing Android SDK, drivers, Phoenix Suit, Live Suit, etc. These were all very complicated "solutions" that took me exactly nowhere. I finally found the answer in a rather stupid Youtube video.
The REAL answer is actually very quick and easy compared to all these other recommended methods.
In the first place, model V140d image is only used for these infected tablets. The actual model is V11 and once you use the quick restore method I discovered, you will have a malware free V11 model. The whole secret to this method, is the fact that these units were designed to be quickly, automatically and completely restored in less that 5 minutes through the use of their built in micro SD slot.
Imagine that!
If you check your tablet that came new in the box as something other than V140d, the method I used will most probably not work for you.
Anyway, the quick method I discovered, can be seen on my own tech support site. To find it, Google: Just Call Techdude
Then click on the support link at the top of the page on my site and all will be revealed.
techdudester said:
Ok, i have one of these allwinner, Venstar, "whatever", A33 D140v tablets. It had all the usual problems and more, because the first thing I tried, was to use the built in recovery to "restore to factory". This made things even worse, because after the recovery, I couldn't reach the Google authentication servers.
I am pro tech with 25 years in the trenches and I have to admit this thing really threw me for a loop, because I spent an entire day researching the solution, installing Android SDK, drivers, Phoenix Suit, Live Suit, etc. These were all very complicated "solutions" that took me exactly nowhere. I finally found the answer in a rather stupid Youtube video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi techdudester,
The combination "pro tech with 25 years in the trenches" and "very complicated "solutions"" sounds a bit strange.
But either way, a THANK YOU is in order!
The ROM you found works on my tablet (flashed yesterday) and so far so good. No popups and no unwanted application downloads!
I will adjust my initial post to incorporate this image.
Hello All! I'm sorry, I'm very new to this. Can someone please point me in the direction of instructions that I need to follow in order to root my son's Star Wars Nabi? I'm not sure if it's a nabi 2 or not.. I can't find that anywhere. We just bought it for Christmas. The internal storage is used up and the games won't move to the SD card - so, I figured my only option was to root it. There are so many pages out there with root instructions and I'm not sure which ones to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
MrsPurchase15 said:
Hello All! I'm sorry, I'm very new to this. Can someone please point me in the direction of instructions that I need to follow in order to root my son's Star Wars Nabi? I'm not sure if it's a nabi 2 or not.. I can't find that anywhere. We just bought it for Christmas. The internal storage is used up and the games won't move to the SD card - so, I figured my only option was to root it. There are so many pages out there with root instructions and I'm not sure which ones to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the name of the device in the "about tablet" tab in settings?
It's probably closely related to the nabi2S of i were to guess. You can either try a root method like Kingo root or a TWRP method. Since you are the first person I have seen here with a Star Wars I don't have all the answers.
-If you use Kingo there is no backup to help you if something goes wrong.
-If you use TWRP method there may not even be a version of TWRP that will work, and initially you will not want to install TWRP but run it from ram. So the commands will be a bit different then what you see on the forums. With that method though you will have a backup.
aicjofs said:
What is the name of the device in the "about tablet" tab in settings?
It's probably closely related to the nabi2S of i were to guess. You can either try a root method like Kingo root or a TWRP method. Since you are the first person I have seen here with a Star Wars I don't have all the answers.
-If you use Kingo there is no backup to help you if something goes wrong.
-If you use TWRP method there may not even be a version of TWRP that will work, and initially you will not want to install TWRP but run it from ram. So the commands will be a bit different then what you see on the forums. With that method though you will have a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't have a name :/ It has a model number (SNB02-NV7A), an edition number (SNB02-NV7A-US-SW), android version (4.4.2), a kernel version (3.1.10) and then a build and hard ware number.
I appreciate the advice though. Thank you!
MrsPurchase15 said:
I appreciate the advice though. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SNB02-NV7A is the model number for the NABI2S. It's likely the Nabi2S TWRP will work for the tablet. To use it though you will likely have to unlock the bootloader and that will erase all your personal data on the tablet. It's the safer method since you will have a backup of your tablet, but will require you to get your hands dirty.
You can read through this http://forum.xda-developers.com/nabi-2/general/nabi-information-t3229119 and see if it's something you want to try.
Using the above linked thread as the basic outline, in general you would:
-Setup adb/fastboot and the windows driver.
-Unlock the bootloader(wiping all personal data on tablet)
-"fastboot boot" NOT "fastboot flash" the Nabi2S TWRP recovery to the tablet RAM.
- backup the recovery, boot, system, and addon(preload) partitions. Then you can always recovery the tablet if something goes wrong, and help others that need to recover their tablet.
-Download SuperSU and flash from TWRP to obtain root.
I can help with more detailed instructions but if it's something that seems uncomfortable to try then I don't want to type it all out. Again a kingo root or other root method will likely give you root, I personally like having a clean backup before beginning and there is none in existence yet.
Thank you so much! I am absolutely willing to try it. I can't do much worse to it then the state it's already in.
MrsPurchase15 said:
Thank you so much! I am absolutely willing to try it. I can't do much worse to it then the state it's already in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again the Nabi general information thread is going to be the biggest help in understanding what needs to be done. That information is here http://forum.xda-developers.com/nabi-2/general/nabi-information-t3229119 The procedure below isn't as long as it looks I tried to add some troubleshooting stuff along the way.
Best to have a mircoSD card for this well at least 4GB. Start with the microSD in your computer if possible.
1) First you will need to grab all the files you need:
-Drivers: Refer to drivers section #4 in the General Info Thread. Your choice if you want to try PDAnet, NabiLab, or Universal Naked Drivers. The NabiLab drivers are self installing and work pretty good in a lot of situations but not always. Download which ever one you choose to your computer. I'm going to talk about Nabilab and Universal as first resorts, we will revisit PNAnet if you are having driver issues.
-ADB and Fastboot tools. Here it's best to refer to section #6 in the General Thread. Specifically:
Download and install this package(pay attention to where you install this as you will likely need to put files in there later): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790
From your start menu select "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" this should open a command prompt where you can type commands
If you didn't pay attention or forgot where you installed the files, at the command prompt that opens type "explorer ." The period is important, explorer <space bar> and a period. So type what is between the quotes.
-TWRP for the NABI2S. Get that file here: TWRP for Nabi2S
After this step you should have downloaded 3 files and the ADB/fastboot files you should have installed. That leaves the remaining 2 files. One should be NABI2S_TWRP271.img, copy that file to the folder where you installed ADB/fastboot(remember you can find that folder by selecting Minimal ADb and Fastboot from your start menu and typing "explorer ." as explained above.) The remaining file is the which ever driver package you picked. If it's universal naked extract the zip file to a place you know. If it's Nabilab drivers go ahead and install them. PDAnet we will try later if these 2 don't work.
2) Boot the Nabi to fastboot with the USB cable plugged in to your computer. Also open device manager on your computer so you can see when the interface comes up. I don't have a Nabi2S so this may be not exactly right. Start with the tablet off. Press and hold the power button AND the vol up buttons at the same time. At some point you should boot up and have a small text menu in the top corner of the screen.(If that doesn't work try power and vol down buttons). One of the menu items will be fastboot protocol. You will want to highlight that text using the volume keys, and then select it using the volume keys.(again I an not sure which is which. Vol - might change which is highlighted, and vol + will select that line, or vice versa, remember which does does what as you will need it later on). Keep trying combinations or timings if it's not working. When it's right your computer will acknowledge a new device plugged in and the device manager screen should show a fastboot or unknown interface.
3) Getting the drivers working. If you chose the Nabilab drivers they should automatically install, and in device manager you should see and item called Android device, and when expanding that entry some bootloader or fastboot interface(When you see this you should be done with this step). The tablet will also switch the text on the screen to say something like "continue", "bootlader", blah, blah. If you went with universal naked drivers this is where you would locate the unknown or fastboot device with the yellow exclamation mark and manually install the driver by pointing them to the folder you extracted(There could be driver signing issues depending on which version of windows you are using. You will have to google "disable windows driver signature enforcement", but basically you will reboot the computer disabling driver signature enforcement. Hopefully if you picked the Nabilab drivers and they work on your computer this step will be pretty painless and not as long as it looks.
4) Unlocking the bootloader. If you have the command window open now great, if not from your start menu select "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" this should open a command prompt. REMEMBER this step will erase all you data on the tablet, game saves, pictures, etc.
Get ready to acknowledge some text on the tablet itself as you have to be pretty quick using the volume keys to highlight and select(Same function as what you noted in step 2). At the command prompt type:
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
OR
Code:
fastboot -i 0x0489 oem unlock
On the tablet some text will pop up asking yes or no do you really want to unlock the bootloader? The selection is made with the volume keys. You should see some confirmation of erasing tablet and completed.
If this step isn't working when you type the command i.e. "waiting for device" the drivers probably still aren't installed correctly. If something failed in this step you may be forced to reboot the tablet and get back in fastboot mode(step2)
5) Install TWRP. With tablet in fastboot mode. Type at the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot boot NABI2S_TWRP271.img
or
Code:
fastboot -i 0x0489 boot NABI2S_TWRP271.img
If you are getting file not found errors the NABI2S TWRP file isn't in the folder. If all goes right the tablet will boot to TWRP. This is where we may have problems as I'm not sure if the NABI2S TWRP can boot the Star Wars Nabi. If it's not booting then we are pretty much done at this point...
6) Getting SuperSU(root). If the tablet booted TWRP. Download this UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip. Copy that file to your microSD you have inserted in the computer. When that is done safely eject the card from the computer and put it in the tablet.
7) In TWRP select the "mount" tab and check MicroSD(external storage) and the check box should become checked.
8) Make a backup. Select the "backup" tab in TWRP. You will have the options to backup "recovery" "boot" "system" and "preload(or addon)" select all 4 of those. Then select the backup location as MicroSD(external storage). Swipe to backup.
9) Only if step 8 worked install root. Select the TWRP "install" tab. Back out to the highest level, and find external_storage. The UPDATE SUperSU zip should be there. Select it and swipe to install.
10) Only if the step 8 and 9 worked go to the "reboot" tab and reboot. If they didn't work. Press and hold the power key until the tablet shuts off, and we can troubleshoot. If you rebooted the tablet will take a long time to boot initially since you wiped the tablet and it will have to rebuild data. You can then reset up the tablet.
11) Get superSU from Play Store and verify root.
12) If all this work your backup will likely be a benefit to future users so sharing it might be something to consider.
Well.. I followed everything above and it all appeared to work perfectly - however, I still can't access the microSD card to store games. Any ideas?
MrsPurchase15 said:
Well.. I followed everything above and it all appeared to work perfectly - however, I still can't access the microSD card to store games. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using an app to do this(like link2sd)? Or just hoping root alone would allow you to do this?
I was hoping the root would allow me but I take it that's wrong, lol.
MrsPurchase15 said:
I was hoping the root would allow me but I take it that's wrong, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha. Understood. You do need root to do it, but root is needed for the apps that can make it possible. My kids never had the problem when they had their old Nabi2's so I'm not as much help on the "how to" portion but I understand how the apps work. Read through this thread to gain some understanding of what it takes now that you have root. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2086338
There is another way also where you stop using internal storage altogether and use an external by editing the ramdisk but it has some limitations as well.
This was awesome i have the same star wars edition and everything works well i even made a backup which i can post and i used the 3.0.1.3 kernel backup to restore the tablet and it still worked
I want to dual boot android on my pc. I downloaded the ISO, installed ISO via Rufus. When I boot this flash drive, the live image works fine but when I click on installing it, it just gives me a blank screen. Any suggestions?
xxXPANDER said:
I want to dual boot android on my pc. I downloaded the ISO, installed ISO via Rufus. When I boot this flash drive, the live image works fine but when I click on installing it, it just gives me a blank screen. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GRUB bootloader installed?
Complete guide here.
jwoegerbauer said:
GRUB bootloader installed?
I saw the link. Followed the steps. Stuck after step 5 in the link and cant proceed to step 6. I dont think grub is the issue here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same/similar problem (no choice to install is presented)
Context: I use a USB stick with refind to find and boot an android-x86_64-9.0-r2.iso that I have already imaged onto /dev/sda8 (imaged using the linux dd command).
When I use refind and select to boot /dev/sda8, android-x86 boots to the console shell prompt, and then seconds later starts a live run GUI screen. The boot process never stops to present me with a choice of install versus live run, as it should do. And that is my problem.
I'm looking for a workaround. I can switch between console and live GUI using Ctrl-Alt-F1/F7, so I can do command line stuff as root . Anything I can do to kill the live GUI and start the disk installer mode from the console? Name of installer program? Name of GUI is not Xorg or X or anything usual, it seems .
PS: If I knew which distro is underlying android-x86_64-9.0-r2.iso , maybe I could look up some keyboard salute to select installer mode during the boot?
one workaround found
@xxXPANDER, the following may be of interest to you, and @jwoegerbauer, too:
I managed to get the installer going by booting the iso from refind with one trick applied. Details: From refind gui boot, select the iso partition, and then use the hit-key-F2-twice method to edit the refind command line and append the phrase INSTALL=1 and then hit ENTER to boot.
At that point the installer mode came up, rather than the android live GUI mode, and I selected to install according to my plan, onto the empty partition /dev/sda9 with ext4.
I had a surprise that the installer put the data section of the installation on sda6:/android-9.0-r2/data/ (about 180MB), but the rest of the installation on /dev/sda9. Not sure how the installer figured out that I had tried before to do an alien-rpm-based install onto an existing ub18 on sda6. The image I booted was on sda8, and the destination I set was sda9. But still /data ended up on sda6:/android-9.0-r2/data/ . Weird.
Upshot: you need to shoehorn INSTALL=1 into the boot recipe, one way or another. I think the whole problem we're having should be considered a bug, though. It is almost as if the iso checks whether it is being booted from grub2 or not, and if not, jumps straight into live mode. This certainly caused me at least two full days worth of trouble so far, and I see no documentation of this strange behavior. At the very minimum there ought to be some documented keyboard salute that prevents this behavior during a standalone (non-grub2) boot. Maybe someone will disagree, but AT LEAST there should be prominent documentation, say on page https://www.android-x86.org/installhowto.html
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:
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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.
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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
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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
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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. =(
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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.
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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...
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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
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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...
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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...
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eKeith said:
Thank you @bobthenormal !
Looking forward to your A9 EDL backup...
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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...
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