[Guide] Dual Boot Axon 7 using Dual Boot Patcher - ZTE Axon 7 Guides, News, & Discussion

Hi All,
sharing the guide to install the multiple Rom's in our Axon 7 (as we don't have multi-boot in place).. as the development already kicked with Noughot.. and multiple roms are landing here...
this is for people who can't move out of Stock (due to Audio issues including me) and want to sneak peak the other LOS based roms.
Dual Boot Patcher is an app created by chenxiaolong for S4 initially and it broadly supports more than 150 devices now, whoever used in S4 would be familiar with it.. this app allows you to have multiple ROMs on a single device.
If you loved his work, go to his thread say Thank You
Axon 7 is official supported
I have tried with RR as Secondary and it's working.. so thought of sharing this.
For More details on this Dual Patcher official Thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2447534
Working:
- patch ROM zip files
- patch GAPPS zip files
- patch SuperSu zip files​
Instructions: More details
Keep the Stock Rom as always Primary.
Use the Data slot and create a name for the folder, as the System/Cache space will be small for LOS Rom
If you want to flash the LOS, RR roms remove the below script in the update-script (ROM\META-INF\com\google\android)
Code:
assert(getprop("ro.product.device") == "ailsa_ii" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "ailsa_ii" || getprop("ro.product.device") == "axon7" || getprop("ro.build.product") == "axon7" || abort("E3004: This package is for device: ailsa_ii,axon7; this device is " + getprop("ro.product.device") + "."););
assert(axon7.verify_trustzone("TZ.BF.4.0.1-00315") == "1");
ui_print("Target: ZTE/P996A01_N/ailsa_ii:7.0/NRD90M/20170128.052618:user/release-keys");
Issues:
- Encryption and Boot UI are not supported
- trustzone verification in the Update-script will fail while flashing the TWRP, remove the above code before flashing the zip file.
- Pins, patterns or passwords are wrong in one of the ROMs . Then simply delete the file /data/system/locksettings.db (your saved fingerprints won't be lost) with TWRP.
Warning: for me setting the PIN in one rom works, if i enabled PIN in 2 roms it's not working, everytime you have to delete the locksettings.db and boot into other rom. Fingerprint works in 2 ROMS
- if In-app flashing doesn't work, you have to use TWRP to flash the patched zip files (use the latest TWRP)
- If flashing of a patched zip fails for any reason, you have to choose another install location ("Partition Configuration" in the app) when patching the same zip file again!​Note: If flashing fails, first look up the error at /sdcard/MultiBoot.log and google it before reporting it...​
Download
Download Dual Boot Patcher APP
Download Dual Boot Utilities
Credits to:
@chenxiaolong - for the great app and supporting till date.
@jimbo77 - for making Dual boot Axon 7 official support
@Glove007 - for additional details on workaround for Op3 - applies to Axon7
XDA Community
if i missed any plz let me know.
i can't find anyother thread related to this Dual Patacher, if it's available please merge the thread.

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Do I lose any data/factory reset when I do this? Is it possible to go back to single boot easily without losing anything?

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Nik2424 said:
Do I lose any data/factory reset when I do this? Is it possible to go back to single boot easily without losing anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you won't lose any data when you flash this.. (But take a backup for safety)
Plz follow this steps.
Install the Dual patcher app and set the current Rom as primary
Make sure you patch the second Rom and Gapps (Super SU optional) in the Dual Patcher App before flashing in TWRP (or it will overwrite the Primary ROM)
in the patched rom remove the TrusstZone entries as mentioned in OP
then flash it via TWRP.
the Rom will be added to your Data or Cache based on the selection you made while patching the Zip file in the Dual Patcher (Preferable is data slot, and rom will be saved in Data>multiboot).
once logged in the Second rom, use the patcher to set the Rom as secondary.
when you want to switch rom, select the rom in the Dual Patcher app and reboot. (the app will move the correct boot.img to partion and selected rom will boot. )
if you want to Wipe Primary Rom or Second/Third Rom use the Dual Boot Utilities in the TWRP, this will wipe only the specified rom and you Second/third Rom won't get deleted. (if you wipe data/cache using TWRP menu, it will wiped your Second/third roms)

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Thank you for detailed steps; but i have to ask, what is this trustzone error? Does it have negative impacts?

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Nik2424 said:
Thank you for detailed steps; but i have to ask, what is this trustzone error? Does it have negative impacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
those are added in the Rom to validate you're flashing in the right firmware.. like Noughot roms shouldn't be flashed in MM firmware.
Nothing wrong here in removing in those lines during flashing as secondary Roms..

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I think I'm going to do this on my phone. @`SBR` can you verify my steps?
I'm on LineageOS now. I go back to stock by flashing stock A2017G Nougat via TWRP, since the primary ROM needs to be stock.
(OR is it possible to just install the Dual Boot Patcher app and install stock ROM from LineageOS and then select the stock ROM to be primary?)
I download latest LineageOS, I patch it with the Dual Boot Patcher utilities
I download the Gapps, I patch it with the Dual Boot Patcher utilities
I edit the update-script and remove the quoted lines
I install the dual boot patcher app
I use it to install the patched LineageOS and Gapps zips to a data slot (new folder I created) If this doesn't work, I use TWRP to install the patched zips
I delete file /data/system/locksettings.db to solve the PIN issue. I can only set PIN unlock on one of the two ROMs.
I boot to both ROMS and select stock as primary and LineageOS as secondary
I manually set messenger and other wanted apps as shared so I can use them from both OS'es?
Does this seem about right?
Thanks.

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So glad this got brought to our phone

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I think I'm going to do this on my phone. @`SBR` can you verify my steps?
I'm on LineageOS now. I go back to stock by flashing stock A2017G Nougat via TWRP, since the primary ROM needs to be stock.
(OR is it possible to just install the Dual Boot Patcher app and install stock ROM from LineageOS and then select the stock ROM to be primary?)
STOCK Rom is heavy and may not support all the time as Kernel has limited functionlity so patching may fail sometimes in the Stock rom, but you can try that as well and let us know.
I download latest LineageOS, I patch it with the Dual Boot Patcher utilities
I download the Gapps, I patch it with the Dual Boot Patcher utilities
you should patch with Dual Patcher APK... -- Dual Boot utilities will be flashed in TWRP to install/wipe/update Primary Roms without impact to other Roms.
I edit the update-script and remove the quoted lines - yes
I install the dual boot patcher app - in primary Rom, yes
Open the App, give Root permission - it will prompt you for making the kernel as Primary, set it now - this is required so that App can switch between multiple Roms
1. basically the App will copy the boot.img of primary into storage>multiboot>primary
2. when you install the secondary rom and boot it up, install the app set the rom as secondary.
3. it will copy the secondary rom boot.img in to the same folder
4. whenever you switch rom, the app will copy the switched roms's boot.img to the Boot partiion so that corresponding rom will start on reboot
I use it to install the patched LineageOS and Gapps zips to a data slot (new folder I created) If this doesn't work, I use TWRP to install the patched zips
In-app flashing is failing for me, use TWRP to flash it.
I delete file /data/system/locksettings.db to solve the PIN issue. I can only set PIN unlock on one of the two ROMs. - yes
I boot to both ROMS and select stock as primary and LineageOS as secondary
Set the Primary when you installed the App in primary Rom itself.
and set the secondary when installed the app in secondary rom
I manually set messenger and other wanted apps as shared so I can use them from both OS'es?
I doubt App sharing is working correctly, please try and let me know
hope this helps
Does this seem about right?
Thanks.

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Worked!
Great, this workd for me thanks!

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thank you so much for this post

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Hey OP
God knows how much I have been waiting for this even before I owned 2017U Because I knew devs would struggle a lot on porting multimedia experience between the stock and the custom
Anyways I have some questions but before everything I like to clarify that I got a big upgrade (from S2/s3 mini/grand 2) to my luxurious Axon 7, I have never dealt with fastboot or ARM64 ever before so it'll be kinda hard for me
1. Is this DB method have unified boot.img?? or simply have shared kernel??The main reason is that I need to flash a custom kernel on my secondary ROM, If that will mess up I will just replace RR's (my favorite ROM) boot.img before flashing or any possible way that works.
2. Is there any way to have f2fs on the secondary ROM???
(Like changing to f2fs first then flashing RR then using DB method to flash stock ROM or something as the guy mentioned above?partitioning may work??? Any other way? ) I mean the obvious reason is that we know how OP3's nand performance increased with f2fs.
Long story short I need both f2fs and custom kernel for ultimate performance because sd820 seems good for heavy usage but I want more control for extreme situations.
I'd like a confirming answer instead of a normal one due to the lack of experience with newer devices

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Sebastian Fox said:
Hey OP
God knows how much I have been waiting for this even before I owned 2017U Because I knew devs would struggle a lot on porting multimedia experience between the stock and the custom
Anyways I have some questions but before everything I like to clarify that I got a big upgrade (from S2/s3 mini/grand 2) to my luxurious Axon 7, I have never dealt with fastboot or ARM64 ever before so it'll be kinda hard for me
1. Is this DB method have unified boot.img?? or simply have shared kernel??The main reason is that I need to flash a custom kernel on my secondary ROM, If that will mess up I will just replace RR's (my favorite ROM) boot.img before flashing or any possible way that works.
2. Is there any way to have f2fs on the secondary ROM???
(Like changing to f2fs first then flashing RR then using DB method to flash stock ROM or something as the guy mentioned above?partitioning may work??? Any other way? ) I mean the obvious reason is that we know how OP3's nand performance increased with f2fs.
Long story short I need both f2fs and custom kernel for ultimate performance because sd820 seems good for heavy usage but I want more control for extreme situations.
I'd like a confirming answer instead of a normal one due to the lack of experience with newer devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. it's not a unified Boot.img.. every Rom has it's own kernel and it set it in the DB app. you can install custom kernel in your secondary (make sure it's pacthed) and set the rom as secondary Kernel in DB app.
2. DB doesn't care you have a Ext4 or F2FS, as long as your rom works it should work there as well.

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`SBR` said:
STOCK Rom is heavy and may not support all the time as Kernel has limited functionlity so patching may fail sometimes in the Stock rom, but you can try that as well and let us know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried flashing Ressurection Remix inside of stock A2017G nougat, but after a reboot the phone hung at the unlocked bootloader warning.
So is it advisable to flash the stock system inside of RR and set it as primary?

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mvortex3710 said:
I tried flashing Ressurection Remix inside of stock A2017G nougat, but after a reboot the phone hung at the unlocked bootloader warning.
So is it advisable to flash the stock system inside of RR and set it as primary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no problem in flashing Stock rom, if it works.
did you set the primary kernel in the DB app. for RR which slot you have selected? if there are enough space for ROm it won't boot..
check the log for any issues reported on this.

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`SBR` said:
there is no problem in flashing Stock rom, if it works.
did you set the primary kernel in the DB app. for RR which slot you have selected? if there are enough space for ROm it won't boot..
check the log for any issues reported on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for your fast reply.
When I checked the main thread it seems like this problem may be caused by not flashing a patched kernel as well, so I will try that presently and report back!
Edit: The patched kernel I'm using (AX7Kernel) is returning the error: "unable to find boot block location!", I've tried googling it but haven't found anything. Would you happen to know what might be causing this? Flashing in TWRP seems to have fixed this. Attempting boot now.
Edit 2: Boot didn't succeed, I was faced with 5 vibration then a restart to TWRP, where I used the Dual Boot utilities to change back to my Primary (stock) boot.
I'm going to try the other way round, with RR as primary and Stock as (secondary) data boot.

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`SBR` said:
1. it's not a unified Boot.img.. every Rom has it's own kernel and it set it in the DB app. you can install custom kernel in your secondary (make sure it's pacthed) and set the rom as secondary Kernel in DB app.
2. DB doesn't care you have a Ext4 or F2FS, as long as your rom works it should work there as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for that reply, although I still need some more information
can you provide a quick howto get Resurrection on f2fs alongside the stock?? I only know how to format/change with twrp from ext4-f2fs plus, what I get from this post is, that it'll use the data partition, I didn't see any mention of repartition or whatsoever, so I am afraid that it won't work because stock nougat is ext4 I want the stock as primary and F2fs RR as secondary. Is that not possible?

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Sebastian Fox said:
thanks for that reply, although I still need some more information
can you provide a quick howto get Resurrection on f2fs alongside the stock?? I only know how to format/change with twrp from ext4-f2fs plus, what I get from this post is, that it'll use the data partition, I didn't see any mention of repartition or whatsoever, so I am afraid that it won't work because stock nougat is ext4 I want the stock as primary and F2fs RR as secondary. Is that not possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats not possible...

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`SBR` said:
thats not possible...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh then it seems we reached a blocked road, is there anyway to convert the stock to f2fs??? Partitioning data???
I will try partitioning if possible but it's useless if the dualboot app/utility doesn't support it.

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im facing a 5 vibration reboot to twrp after flashing rr patched. stock is primary, rr is data slot.
tried with lineage too, no luck same problem. help plz guys, this is a really awesome tool, i want this to work

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Nik2424 said:
im facing a 5 vibration reboot to twrp after flashing rr patched. stock is primary, rr is data slot.
tried with lineage too, no luck same problem. help plz guys, this is a really awesome tool, i want this to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me i'm able to ptach RR and it's working in data slot..
did you try to install anything after patched RR and patched Gapps?