Related
Hi all
I am opening up this Q&A thread as extension to my ROM threads, for the simple reason that ever since there is a limitation preventing new users from posting in development threads, I get flooded with PM's. So I intent to move any Q&A, help requests, as well as free and open discussions between users here.
Since the A750 and A789 are so similar, and I put the same stuff in them, I extent both into this one Q&A thread, and in fact, much of it knowledge applies to other Lenovo's like the P700, P700i, S880, A660 which are again very similar and I even use them as basis of my ROM.
Also, I am not intending to be topic police. Like in my other threads, I do not mind if you guys share knowledge about APKHOT or Smileyvvv or Etotalk ROM. As long as it is helpful. Also, I may not always reply myself, so feel free to help each other.
Link to the original threads:
[ROM][2012.xx.xx] Lenovo A750 custom ROM (GB&ICS). <last page>
[ROM][2012.xx.xx] Lenovo A789,P700i,A660 factory&custom ROM (ICS). <last page>
Other related threads (not all mine):
CWM flashing tutorial (update using recovery)
MT6575 flashing tutorial (update using flash utility
Lenovo Original recovery tutorial
[SCRIPTS] Unpack / repack MT65xx boot.img, recovery.img or logo.bin
[REF] Unpacking and repacking stock rom .img files
[UTIL][APP]Lenovo Security / LeSec app (anti-virus/spam/theft/firewall)
[TOOL][TUT]Backup and Restore Mediatek based phone's IMEI
How to DIY : Self root/gapps/playstore/locationfix/clean my ROM
This is a guide on how to root & cleanup your China ROM yourself. It will probably work on all ICS China phones. But it requires & starts with the availability of a recovery image for your phone
There are in fact a few steps:
- Get a proper recovery image for your phone.
- Root it by installing Chainfire's root package
- Install Google GMS ('GAPPS') to get Play Store and Localisation to work
And optionally
- Install Mobile UncleToolset
- Install an extra small fix with location services
- Install an extra small fix with latest APN list
- Install an extra fix to remove well known Chinese system apps
Recovery image
The Recovery Image allows you to boot into an alternative small Linux that you can then use to update the main Android. Updates usually come in "update.zip" scripted files. And the recovery has some other utilities like backup or wipe the entire phone. Getting a working recovery for your phone is step number one, because if you have a recovery, you can do everything else.
To check if you already have a recovery: Well, try to boot into it. The boot sequence may vary with the phone, but on MediaTek phones it is usually to replace the battery and then press&hold both volume buttons while powering up. I have seen it where you need to actually press the power button a split second before pressing both volume buttons. Try a few times, replacing the battery each time.
If you get to a screen that reads CWMR or CWMR Touch (short for ClockWorkModRecovery), you are all set and can continue with rooting. CWMR it is the most common open recovery image. If your recovery is closed, then you need to search the web for a working recovery for your specific model. Each brand and model needs its own recovery, because screen drivers, buttons and partition tables may differ.
Search the web is the best advise. Search wide and search deep. If you cannot find any recovery, then see if you can find a full ROM for your phone. If you have a working ROM image, then there are people on XDA that can make a recovery for you, but typically you need to show/prove that you have really tried to find one yourself.
Flashing a recovery
If you do find a recovery, that you suspect is the correct one for your ROM, then comes the scary part: Flashing the recovery to the phone.
This paragraph is specific to Mediatek based phones. On different hardware you also need a recovery, and once you have a recovery, you can use the other parts of this post, but how to flash other hardware, I do not know, sorry
Flashing using the flash tool is scary to new users. Because new users suspect that if they mess it up, the phone dies. And this is correct! But if you only flash the recovery.img part, you should be fairly safe. Read this manual on flashing. Getting the USB driver installed is sometimes a bit tricky, you may also want to read post #21 and post #25 for help.
I have seen several people asking 'where to find the scatter file'. Well, it comes with the ROM you want to flash. If your ROM file does not come with a scatter file, then is not a ROM file that can be flashed with the flash utility, but with an open recovery.
Rooting
Once you have a working recovery, the rest is simple. For rooting, simply install (from inside the recovery) chainfire's "CMW installable ZIP"
Link to his post: (ignore his big red 'requires root' warning). The file you need is labeled "CWM installable ZIP" at the bottom. Direct link to the file you need to install via recovery update.zip
This usually works by putting the zip file on the SD card (its name can be anything, though for some limited recoveries it sometimes must be named 'update.zip'), booting into recovery, and selecting the zip file to update.
Google GMS (Market/Play Store, Location, etc)
Simply install the latest Google Mobile Services (better known as GAPPS) from CyanogenMod V9. This is their explaining wiki from CyanogenMod
The file you need is called gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip for ICS and gapps-jb-20121212-signed.zip for JB and can be found here. You probably also want to wipe your cache partition after doing this.
Mobile Uncle toolset
Just install this program apk (so not through the recovery, just install it normally). Or search the web for the latest one.
Fix location services
If location services does not work, do apply Google GMS (GAPPS) above. If it still does not work, it may be because the phone is programmed to use Chinese location services. This patch will tell it to use GMS. The patch will apply, and probably even work, on all ICS phones. But was originally made&tested on a Lenovo A750 ICS. Its called V1.3 because many people have downloaded the A750 v1.3 patch and used it on many MT6575 phones. It is still the same patch, except the update.zip is tweaked to work on any ICS phone, not only MT6575 ones.
Sometimes you also need to go into MobileUncle tool, the MTK Engineer mode, and in location settings. Depending on your exact model, somewhere in there is a NetLoc or NetLocation and a GeoCoding setting, with options of MEDIATEK and GOOGLE. Ensure they are set to GOOGLE.
After messing with location settings, it is best to also wipe cache.
Fix APN list (or My 3G does not connect!)
You can always add your own APN (Access Point Names) from the settings menu. Just add your own, and select that over the pre-build one. But this package will update with the latest list as maintained by CyanogenMod 9. The update.zip was made in such a way it should work on all ICS phones, Mediatek or other.
Clean well known Chinese system apps
<patch still coming>
==========================================
List of known recovery images for Mediatek Flash tool:
Lenovo A750 : 592zn : See also this post #607, nandroid backup does not work.
Lenovo A789 : 592zn or APKHOT
Lenovo P700i : My own, based on APKHOT with CWM.
Lenovo P700 : My own, based on CWMT / 592zn. nandroid backup will not work.
Lenovo A660 : My own, based on APKHOT with CWM
Lenovo S560 : My own, based on APKHOT with CWM (as yet untested)
Additional Recovery Images in this post.
If you feel you searched all over the web, and could not find a recovery for your model, and you next feel you should ask me or one of the other people on XDA to make you one (which I am not encouraging), than please be aware we need at least a 'standard ROM' for your phone to start from. Without it, I can do nothing. So go back out there, and find a standard ROM, does not matter what language, as long as it is for your specific phone model and known to work.
Also, as an extra warning : If you are flashing, and you experiment with 'suspicious' ROM sources, *never ever* flash the preloader, mbr, ebr uboot. Only flash those from a trusted source and if they belong to your exact brand and model phone.
One more reserved
lolo250612 said:
Hello from France,
Just a little message to thank you very much for your very useful "Lenovo A789 factory&custom ROM (ICS)" thread. I have just bought a A789 from etotalk, and your posts really help to master the beast.
I can't participate to the thread because I am a new member and consequently can't post message to this development thread. And this very sad, because I have discovered a shortcoming of this phone. Apparently, the ICS entire phone encryption does not work and, according to some information I have gathered around the web, it may be due to the fact that the internal sd partition is not ext4 which seems to be required.
It may be due to the fact that the kernel does not support ext4. If this was the case, I would be very pleased to activate the option, recompile it and share the result with other people at xda. I have done it for two types of Samsung Galaxy phones.
In this case, the two problems I would be faced with are:
1) Getting the kernel sources. For Samsung it is quite easy. For Lenovo, I am not able to find them (I can't read Chinese).
2) The process to package the new compiled kernel to a zip, compatible with cwm.
Anyway, thanks for your help and to share your knowledge.
Sheers,
Laurent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cybermaus said:
well, not sure about encryption, but I can *assure* you that the phone supports ext4, because in fact the root; system; cache; secro and data partitions are all in ext4 . I know that quite certain, because to unpack/repack, I need to recreate an ext4 loop device.
Internal SD is indeed FAT partition. But it is normal for SD to be FAT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible the encryption fails on the FAT of the SD card. It is an internal device, if that encryption utility tries to parse all the internal partitions, it may fail on FAT, but I am guessing here. However, then it would fail on pretty much all recent china phones, they all seem to have this internal SD card. You could try to simply format the internal SD as ext4.
I do not think it would fail on the recovery or boot sections. Those are all nicely wrapped up in the first partition of the emmc chip (emmc0p0 or something) in a proprietary filesystem, as I suspect true for all Androids. So your tool would know to exclude that the first one. However, if you want, you can get the original recovery you asked about from the original A789 ROM in my Dev-Host.
Edit: Encryption issue solved, see post#9 below
I already managed to build a multilang framework-res.apk for the A789 ROM. But now there are all those apps that need to be made multilang also - settings.apk and more... a lot of work.
Is it possible to take a P700 ROM with A750 kernel and flash it to the A750? Or a P700i ROM and A789 kernel for the A789? They seem to be almost identical.
Any plans to integrate the long press home button function in A750_ROW_S114_cybermaus_ICS_V3.1? Would like to test this rom but this missing feature is essentail for me...and onother question: V3.1 is also for A789, right? Same problem with long press home feature?
@oz42
Well, I am a little disappointed about that question. Putting the P700_ROW on the A750 is *exactly* what my V3 series is. Works wonderful. It's the reason I have been updating this thread for the last two weeks. Problem is that the only extra language is Vietnamese. You may want to re-read posts #2 and #585 in the A750 thread.
I suspect the same is true for P700i and A789, but I did not find a P700i_ROW rom yet. I did find a S880_ROW, and when I have time (later this weekend) I will check if that has proper multilanguage (edit: No. It adds ru, vi, id to en and zh. Not quite what I had hoped for)
@metzner
Yes. When I know how. But I do not have a clue at this moment. I am very pleased about the V3.1, but the missing long press is annoying me at times.
No, V3.1 is not for A789 (yet). They have different partitions, different schreen driver. YOU CANNOT flash a A750 on A789 (or any MT6575 on MT7577) without 'porting' the ROM. I do have a Frankenstein ROM, using p700_ROW with kernel/partition/modules/baseband from A789. But it was not tried out yet.
A789: Encryption problem
I have installed aLogcat to determine what could block the encryption service on the different ROMS I have tested on my A789. The interesting part revealed to be:
E/Cryptfs ( 87): Orig filesystem overlaps crypto footer region. Cannot encrypt in place.
Googling for this problem, it appears that there is a strong probability that the culprit is CWMR that I have installed almost right after getting my phone. See: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1792101 or http://rootzwiki.com/topic/25652-fixing-galaxy-tab-2-encryption/.
So if somebody has a package that can be safely used with mt6575-flashing tools, to recover the stock recovery or, much better, to install a "clean" version of CWMR, I would be glad to test it and see if it is actually the origin of the encryption problem.
Edit:
@Cybermaus: I have just noticed that you have already addressed part of this message. I have already tried to format the internal sd as ext4 with Minitool partition Wizard on Windows. This fails also. Moreover, the system reports a failure on this partition and ask to reformat it as vfat. I will try by putting back the original recovery from your 4shared. Thanks a lot.
@lolo250612
If I read that post you found, the problem is not so much CWMR or CWMRT itself, but the fact it wipes and formats /data completely, without leaving 16KB of unused space at the end of the partition.
That means replacing it with factory recovery will not help, unless if you then also wipe using that factory recovery, and that factory recovery does leave 16KB. You could also try wiping it from the settings menu.
After you have tried the factory , let me know. I think I can make an empty /data for you that is 16KB shorter than the partition, but you would have to apply it using the flash-utility method.
Edit: checking, I found that the userdata.img that is inside the original S228 factory flash ROM is already 1024K short of 768M. So 767M. No need to build one with only 16K short, just use the one you already have.
Hi cybermaus
Thanks for your contribution. Please help me if you've free time.
Does this custom ROM support traditional Chinese character?? I'm sure Chinese support would include simplified Chinese.....
@loimlo
The A750 V1 and A789 V2has two forms of Chinese, which I cannot read, but I suspect are traditional and simplified. The A750 V3 has one form of Chinese, which I still cannot read, so I am not sure which of the two, but here is a screenshot of it, let me know which it is.
Amadis223 said:
Hi, I wrote with yuweng on this subject. And it is very strange. He says, that mt6575 has only ext4 filesystem, but I,am sure,that I have mt6575 and yaffs filesystem. What do you think ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, all the MT6575 and MT6577 based ROM's that I have dissected have ext4. This is probably because mediatek provides ext4 in their development kit. So yeah, I think all mt6575 are on ext4, and not yaffs. I think maybe the mt6573 has yaffs.
cybermaus said:
@lolo250612
If I read that post you found, the problem is not so much CWMR or CWMRT itself, but the fact it wipes and formats /data completely, without leaving 16KB of unused space at the end of the partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you.
Edit: checking, I found that the userdata.img that is inside the original S228 factory flash ROM is already 1024K short of 768M. So 767M. No need to build one with only 16K short, just use the one you already have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed userdata.img. That WORKS :victory:. The phone reboots and then encryption starts. Done in less than 5 minutes. Great. Now, just have to tried one of the utility around that allows to have an encryption password different from the lock one. Many thanks for your help :good:.
hi there,
I just got a Lenovo A789 and i just installed A789_S228_cybermaus_V2.1 and it works perfecly...
i'm new to android and i can't get cellular data to work ( i have reason to believe that it worked in original ETOTALK rom, but im not sure ).
1) i do have a data plan
2) cellular data / mobile data is turned on
3) 3G card with cellular data plan is in slot 1
wrong basebands or apn settings (Portugal, Vodafone) ? ( i can see them in mobileuncletools but i cant change them )
help?
note: i cant follow most of android tips that i googled because some of the menus to edit APN settings do not exist on this rom :\
@spinal2k
Well, the simply solution would be to try and apply the A750 V1.4 as listed in post#2. It only applies location fix and new APN list, so its safe on the A789, even if it was originally for A750.
Second option would be to Google for the keyword APN together with your provider and country names.
Last option is to tell us the mcc/mnc that mobile uncle found, as well as your current APN settings, and maybe we can figure it out.
Edit: you can change APN in Settings->Wireless->More->MobileNetworks->AccessPointNames
cybermaus said:
Last option is to tell us the mcc/mnc that mobile uncle found, as well as your current APN settings, and maybe we can figure it out.
Edit: you can change APN in Settings->Wireless->More->MobileNetworks->AccessPointNames
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, thanks for the tip... how can i see mmc/mnc on mobileuncle tools?
According to that wikipedia page, my MMC/MNC is 268/01 and that it uses GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / UMTS 2100.... On mobile uncle engineer mode i can see that on the 1st sim card UMTS 2100 doesn't exist ( only UMTS 2000 )... :\
acoording to the "you can change APN in..." i can't changed them, just see them... they look fine to me, they're not wrong...
:\
@spinal2k
Don't tell me the ones from that Wiki page, but the ones you find in the APN settings. And then also the "market name" of the service you have. You cannot change, but you can add a new APN, and then select that to use.
But simply applying the V1.3 may be easier, it has the APN list maintained by Cyanogenmod, and will probably solve it anyway.
cybermaus said:
@spinal2k
Don't tell me the ones from that Wiki page, but the ones you find in the APN settings. And then also the "market name" of the service you have. You cannot change, but you can add a new APN, and then select that to use.
But simply applying the V1.3 may be easier, it has the APN list maintained by Cyanogenmod, and will probably solve it anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh, i couldn't see that i could add new.... Now i added an optional apn ( even though the one listed was on official carriers page ) ... now its working...
Thank you for the tips... keep them updates coming
note: i did update with A750 v1.3 and i saw no changed in apn list...
A750 V3.1 battery life
I have been using the cybermaus V1.3 ICS for ages, and it works really well. Recently tried the V3.1 ICS.
Also seems to work really well as well, and a definite plus is the 3G signal strength - I see a definite improvement.
There is a dealbreaker problem for me, though - the battery life is noticeably worse than the excellent life on the V1.3 rom. I'm a noob - tried clearing user cache/dalvik, but not reset (I want to keep my apps/data).
Any suggestions before I go back to V1.3 - thanks.
zapzog said:
Any suggestions before I go back to V1.3 - thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, a request more than a suggestion: your battery is now a few months old, so slightly less good then when new, but you got used to it. But now, due to the flashing of a new ROM, you are playing on it more, and it is in your attention very much.
I cannot properly test myself, I have to tether it daily for data access. So please try to get a proper test of it:
Stay with V3.1 a few bit longer, at least 2 battery cycles extra. (you can barely have had one) so you get a better baseline. Charge the same method as before (I find that charger works better than PC-USB) After two more cycles, when you have a proper idea on the life, go back, and get a renewed baseline on V1.3 also. And then report your results
Please excuse asking questions as a first post, but I'm at the stage where I'm stumped and a search isn't helping.
Mlais MX28 fresh from MM pre-rooted. Managed to get the ROM backed up and CWM installed with Rua1's excellent MTK Droid Root & Tools. However, removing the Chinese useless (for me - no offence intended) apks proved not to be happening from the one-click button in that excellent piece of software. No bother, thought I, I'll just use adb and remove the relevant apks manually from /system/app. Famous last words.
Here's where things get really odd. I can mount root fine using the usual procedure but mount -o rw,remount /[email protected] /system works once and once only. Even stranger is that the first time gets you a rw mounted filesystem for about 10 seconds, at which point it gets remounted ro and no amount of faff will get it back to rw without a full power off and restart. All it does is spits out
Code:
mount: Read-only file system
Any ideas, please? I suspect there's some write protection going on but I haven't the first idea where to look.
Edit: Having done a little more searching on this issue, it seems there's a few Acers with the same behaviour, caused by a compiled-in kernel option. Looks like it may well be "wait for a custom ROM" is the answer. Not sure if rolling our own is possible unless anyone knows where to get the Mediatek sources for this device from?
Anyway, :good: to all those who have viewed my question. It's appreciated.
Edit 2: There's an S4UI ROM on needrom<dot>com that is rumoured to have solved this issue. Note that if you have installed CWM using the "magic" MTK Droid Root & Tools method, chances are you can't mount /system rw using ADB in CWM either - I suspect they share the same kernel. I haven't tried the S4UI ROM myself as the recovery needed to install it seems to be in Chinese. Possible solution for anyone with a grasp of that language and script but that someone isn't me
[Q] Mlais MX28 Recovery in Chinese Any help with translation
Hello, bud Any help yet also gut stuck in this.
I'm afraid not at the moment. The S4UI ROM on needrom does indeed enable /system rw but the WiFi and Bluetooth will not activate. Replacing mtk_stp_wmt.ko in /system/lib/modules/ with the version from the stock ROM that should fix this issue, doesn't fix this issue. It's a shame as the S4UI ROM is rather pleasant to use and if I could get that fully operational I expect I would be quite happy with this device. Oddly, the stock ROM came back with a different MAC for the WiFi. As I restored from a backup created with MTKDR&T, this is a little perplexing.
I'll update if I find any more clues.
{Possible solution/nasty hack]
Here's a way to get full /system access on the stock ROM. It requires
Clockwork Mod recovery
ADB
Courage
Install/create Clockwork Mod with MTKDR&T. Now boot into recovery by holding Vol+ and power until the boot selection screen appears and then select recovery with Vol+ and press Vol- to accept.
Do not mount /system in CWM.
On your ADB equipped computer, start
Code:
adb shell
Now issue the following at the root shell prompt:
Code:
tune2fs -e continue /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
Reboot the system and enjoy the power of full root.
This may well be a nasty hack. I was convinced the issue was a protected kernel module but it seems the ext4fs image of the system block is corrupt in some way and the default error action is to mount -o ro. We're disabling that default action and letting the mount remain unchanged.
As always with these things, proceed at your own risk. If you break it, you have the privilege of keeping both bits.
Good way around mate, but risky as no CWM yet installed, seem's the mobile gut some bug problem, should expect an official update rom soon enough, Root method you used for this? i intend flashing Clockwork Mod can seem to understand fully as i'm new to android development and customizing, again problem with battery do you get a full day (few moment on screen) light usage? Feel its no actual 25000mah on board.
codedmax said:
Good way around mate, but risky as no CWM yet installed, seem's the mobile gut some bug problem, should expect an official update rom soon enough, Root method you used for this? i intend flashing Clockwork Mod can seem to understand fully as i'm new to android development and customizing, again problem with battery do you get a full day (few moment on screen) light usage? Feel its no actual 25000mah on board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears there's an fsck implementation in the shell of CWM as well.
Code:
e2fsck -pfv /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
That should fix most of the errors in the filesystem.
The device came with su and SuperSU installed but it was fairly useless without /system access.
CWM can be easily installed using MTK Droid Root & Tools to extract the boot image, auto-patch, build CWM and install the lot. It really is a slick piece of software.
As for the battery, an even bigger issue is the supplied charger which is puny. Of course, looking at the battery and then looking at a proper, honest-to-goodness 2.2Ah Panasonic 18650 cylindrical cell you have to wonder if 2.5Ah isn't awfully optimistic.
Chron0s said:
It appears there's an fsck implementation in the shell of CWM as well.
Code:
e2fsck -pfv /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
That should fix most of the errors in the filesystem.
The device came with su and SuperSU installed but it was fairly useless without /system access.
CWM can be easily installed using MTK Droid Root & Tools to extract the boot image, auto-patch, build CWM and install the lot. It really is a slick piece of software.
As for the battery, an even bigger issue is the supplied charger which is puny. Of course, looking at the battery and then looking at a proper, honest-to-goodness 2.2Ah Panasonic 18650 cylindrical cell you have to wonder if 2.5Ah isn't awfully optimistic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very Well concerned,
once again good job, but how do i go about implementing this,
would you be kind enough to put in some more details on the file system code and CWM flashing with MTK Droid root & Tool did you manage to get a translation on the chinese langauage recovery problem,
(a tutorial is just fine) Thanks alot bud.
Okay, give me a little time to set it all up for screenshots as I don't generally use Windows unless I have to. It's all fairly straightforward. The CWM installation is four clicks and some waiting and repairing the /system block is a couple of commands.
Oscarblue48 has a tutorial on installing CWM on Mediatek devices here or here if your MX28 isn't rooted which is the procedure I followed. Then it's just a case of booting into CWM, connecting your device to USB and using adb's shell to fsck the filesystem on that block.
really nice, okay as you say,
i would look forward to it (some screen shots aid), in the main time with full study & concentration on the CWM tutorial you gave, quite interesting if you ask me.
#back to studying, looking forward to a bug free final optimization of the Mlais MX28 as its a great buy for such a price.
codedmax said:
really nice, okay as you say,
i would look forward to it (some screen shots aid), in the main time with full study & concentration on the CWM tutorial you gave, quite interesting if you ask me.
#back to studying, looking forward to a bug free final optimization of the Mlais MX28 as its a great buy for such a price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay, I ran into a few issues and had to work out what was going on. Basically the e2fsck in CWM cannot write back to the block device so is useless. I extracted the system.ext4.img, added it as a file backed memory disk on my main computer and ran an e2fsck from there, which found and fixed the errors in the FS image. Writing that back after changing a few MD5sums in the file MTKDR&T creates allowed me to flash it back.
However it makes absolutely no difference to the mount behaviour. It still drops back to ro without the tune2fs -e continue set so that is, barring someone else coming up with a more elegant fix, the workaround. In a nutshell, follow the guide for either root or CWM recovery installation that others have posted linked above (no point wasting board space on repetition) and then simply follow my instructions for setting the error behaviour on the mmcblk0p5 slice and you should be good to go.
It's still an awful hack IMHO but, since there's nothing else so far that works, it's the uncomplicated way to get full root. Most of us will install CWM anyway, so it's no big chore just to boot into recovery and type one command "tune2fs -e continue /dev/block/mmcblk0p5" at the ADB shell.
Chron0s said:
Sorry for the delay, I ran into a few issues and had to work out what was going on. Basically the e2fsck in CWM cannot write back to the block device so is useless. I extracted the system.ext4.img, added it as a file backed memory disk on my main computer and ran an e2fsck from there, which found and fixed the errors in the FS image. Writing that back after changing a few MD5sums in the file MTKDR&T creates allowed me to flash it back.
However it makes absolutely no difference to the mount behaviour. It still drops back to ro without the tune2fs -e continue set so that is, barring someone else coming up with a more elegant fix, the workaround. In a nutshell, follow the guide for either root or CWM recovery installation that others have posted linked above (no point wasting board space on repetition) and then simply follow my instructions for setting the error behaviour on the mmcblk0p5 slice and you should be good to go.
It's still an awful hack IMHO but, since there's nothing else so far that works, it's the uncomplicated way to get full root. Most of us will install CWM anyway, so it's no big chore just to boot into recovery and type one command "tune2fs -e continue /dev/block/mmcblk0p5" at the ADB shell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings bud, gut CWM installed, all thanks to you (indeed greatful), have you been lucky with any custom rom as of now that works efficently on your device?
I seem to find a few bug here and there on the manufacturer stock, puny wifi & gps lock in, slight screen maulfuctions a little times.
As with most mtk gps can not finding a lock in hows it with your device.
codedmax said:
Greetings bud, gut CWM installed, all thanks to you (indeed greatful), have you been lucky with any custom rom as of now that works efficently on your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the custom ROMs on needrom work correctly which is a shame. The stock ROM's UI is awful.
codedmax said:
I seem to find a few bug here and there on the manufacturer stock, puny wifi & gps lock in, slight screen maulfuctions a little times. As with most mtk gps can not finding a lock in hows it with your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now you have root you can use FasterGPS from FDroid to intialise the gps.conf file with appropriate settings for your location. My GPS is rock solid now, even in a moving vehicle. Not had any screen malfunctions. What version is your stock ROM? Mine's the 20140221 update.
Chron0s said:
None of the custom ROMs on needrom work correctly which is a shame. The stock ROM's UI is awful.
Now you have root you can use FasterGPS from FDroid to intialise the gps.conf file with appropriate settings for your location. My GPS is rock solid now, even in a moving vehicle. Not had any screen malfunctions. What version is your stock ROM? Mine's the 20140221 update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello great bud,
Sorry for late reply, been up with alot on my plate from work lately, gps has been improved upon using that wonderful app "FasterGPS" now able lock in under a split couple of min not as before were it take like forever *Nice*
gut the same stock version "20140221" gusse its down to my own unit with the screen ish
Did a little searching around found a recent update from a online retailer outlet via their forum "merimobiles"
forum.merimobilesdotcom.previewdnsdotcom/showthread.php?465-Unified-thread -for-Mlais-MX28-stock-ROM-updates
Hope im not infringing on any xda TOS as i just seek some help.
Thanks
Please i need help, i have a mlais mx28 buy in buyincoins, with the refer gordete200, it´s all ok.
i´m very happy with the mlais mx28, but i used a 8 gigas sd card, it´s all ok.
My problem: i have install with flashtools the new rom stock update : mx28_0312_N2.rar from the official mlais mx28 web
When i have install this ultimate ( update ) ROM, it´s was with reebots, and the wifi and blutooth crash 0_0 !!! what happend?
I back to the Rom stock : 0115 but the sd partitions was changed : 1 gb for apps, and 1.75 gb for internal memory, it´s very strange, before install the Update, i had 2,3 gb for apps and 256 gb for internal memory...
I´m very worry, the actual problem is the sd card:
With 8 gb sd card class 10, it´s all ok, all correct, but when i put the 16 gb sd card class 10, it´s don´t mount sd correctly always.
I´m very crazy for all...
codedmax said:
Hello great bud,
Sorry for late reply, been up with alot on my plate from work lately, gps has been improved upon using that wonderful app "FasterGPS" now able lock in under a split couple of min not as before were it take like forever *Nice*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good stuff. Once you have the gps.conf set up, try using Mobileuncle Tools to pull in the EPO (extended prediction orbit, basically a nice big list of keplers for the satellites so it knows which to expect to be in view at a given time without having to scan the sky for what's actually there) data which should stabilise the GPS even further.
codedmax said:
gut the same stock version "20140221" gusse its down to my own unit with the screen ish
Did a little searching around found a recent update from a online retailer outlet via their forum "merimobiles"
forum.merimobilesdotcom.previewdnsdotcom/showthread.php?465-Unified-thread -for-Mlais-MX28-stock-ROM-updates
Hope im not infringing on any xda TOS as i just seek some help.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if it's the bodged Trebuchet they're using? It's a bit of a disaster as they've taken the CM launcher, bodged bits of MIUI into it and given the whole thing a "that'll do" look and feel. I replaced it with the real Trebuchet after a thorough decrapify, along with the AOSP stock keyboard. There's a "modified" apk of Trebuchet (all the dev did was lower the base API level so it would install on 4.1) floating about on the 'net somewhere. The various KitKat-alikes work fairly well but I wanted something open source that I could slam into /system/app without worrying.
It has taken a lot of faff to get to this stage but I now have a very usable and fast device for not a great deal of outlay.
gordo100 said:
Please i need help, i have a mlais mx28 buy in buyincoins, with the refer gordete200, it´s all ok.
i´m very happy with the mlais mx28, but i used a 8 gigas sd card, it´s all ok.
My problem: i have install with flashtools the new rom stock update : mx28_0312_N2.rar from the official mlais mx28 web
When i have install this ultimate ( update ) ROM, it´s was with reebots, and the wifi and blutooth crash 0_0 !!! what happend?
I back to the Rom stock : 0115 but the sd partitions was changed : 1 gb for apps, and 1.75 gb for internal memory, it´s very strange, before install the Update, i had 2,3 gb for apps and 256 gb for internal memory...
I´m very worry, the actual problem is the sd card:
With 8 gb sd card class 10, it´s all ok, all correct, but when i put the 16 gb sd card class 10, it´s don´t mount sd correctly always.
I´m very crazy for all...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a backup of the original ROM and scatter (partition layout) file? You really should (read: MUST) back up these devices before flashing new firmware as there's often bits missing, as you found with the WiFi and Bluetooth issue. MTK Droid Root & Tools will create a useful backup of the partition layout and contents for you without too much difficulty.
Please do not write to the preloader partition with the SP flash tool. Once the preloader is corrupt, your device is a brick which only JTAG will recover. I seriously doubt anyone has a JTAG solution for this device right now. There is no need to rewrite the preloader at all in any case so simply deselect the preloader block in SP Flash tool before downloading.
As for the SD cards, you need to make sure your card is formatted FAT, not NTFS, and the card must be partitioned correctly, i.e. the FAT partition must be the first primary. The MX28 will accept a card of up to 32GB if I recall correctly, which is the limit of SD-HC. Clockwork Mod can format your card for you.
Chron0s said:
Do you have a backup of the original ROM and scatter (partition layout) file? You really should (read: MUST) back up these devices before flashing new firmware as there's often bits missing, as you found with the WiFi and Bluetooth issue. MTK Droid Root & Tools will create a useful backup of the partition layout and contents for you without too much difficulty.
Please do not write to the preloader partition with the SP flash tool. Once the preloader is corrupt, your device is a brick which only JTAG will recover. I seriously doubt anyone has a JTAG solution for this device right now. There is no need to rewrite the preloader at all in any case so simply deselect the preloader block in SP Flash tool before downloading.
As for the SD cards, you need to make sure your card is formatted FAT, not NTFS, and the card must be partitioned correctly, i.e. the FAT partition must be the first primary. The MX28 will accept a card of up to 32GB if I recall correctly, which is the limit of SD-HC. Clockwork Mod can format your card for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for your help. I have a back up of my mlais, i have a back up with mtk droid and tools 2.5.3 ( new version ), but when i put it on the flash tools, the cache and user is missing, and it´s imposible to download it. and then i put a recovery CWM on the mlais with droid and tools ( very easy ), and use a nandroid back up, it´s no problem, but the internal sd partition is always changed : 1 gb for apps and 1.75 for sd internal, i´m very sad because i would like back to the 2,3 gb for apps ( original partition )
Yes... always fat32 sd cards of course, but i have problems with the sd up to 8 gb, the mlais freeze, or sd desmount ( it´s imposible sometimes write in sd external ) i don´t find the problem with this... i have the rom stock : 115.
Other problem, i would like to up the ultimate ROM stock 221. but the wifi and bluetooth crash, and reboot the phone sometimes ( terrible...) , what can i do ? your solution is don´t stick the PRELOADER on the Flashtool when i upload the firmware ? it´s correct? ( i think that if don´t mark the preloader it´s imposible flash... ?¿ )
Many thanks for your help !
gordo100 said:
Other problem, i would like to up the ultimate ROM stock 221. but the wifi and bluetooth crash, and reboot the phone sometimes ( terrible...) , what can i do ? your solution is don´t stick the PRELOADER on the Flashtool when i upload the firmware ? it´s correct? ( i think that if don´t mark the preloader it´s imposible flash... ?¿ )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, what I'm saying is we don't yet know why the WLAN and Bluetooth stop working when a different ROM from the one flashed at the factory is installed. There is clearly some mechanism at work here that is blocking those two devices after an update and it's not the usual shared objects as it is on other devices. It also doesn't seem to be NVRAM related as the MAC and BDaddr remain once the old firmware is re-flashed.
This same problem occurs with all the custom ROMs on needrom.
The reason I say do not needlessly flash the preloader is the danger of a full brick from which you cannot recover. The preloader code very rarely changes - its only purpose is to provide an interface to SP flash tools or boot; think "BIOS" in PC terms - so it is a pointless risk. You most certainly can flash the other blocks with the preloader block deselected.
The bottom line right now is stick with the factory ROM, install CWM, apply the system mount fix and use Xposed and suchlike to customise until we come up with something a little more sensible or at least find out why the WLAN and Bluetooth stop working.
Given that the Wiko Darkmoon is based on the same SoC and has full sources available <EDIT: It isn't. It's just the kernel as usual.>, it may be prudent to wait until someone with more clue than I has a look at what makes these things tick.
Chron0s said:
No, what I'm saying is we don't yet know why the WLAN and Bluetooth stop working when a different ROM from the one flashed at the factory is installed. There is clearly some mechanism at work here that is blocking those two devices after an update and it's not the usual shared objects as it is on other devices. It also doesn't seem to be NVRAM related as the MAC and BDaddr remain once the old firmware is re-flashed.
This same problem occurs with all the custom ROMs on needrom.
The reason I say do not needlessly flash the preloader is the danger of a full brick from which you cannot recover. The preloader code very rarely changes - its only purpose is to provide an interface to SP flash tools or boot; think "BIOS" in PC terms - so it is a pointless risk. You most certainly can flash the other blocks with the preloader block deselected.
The bottom line right now is stick with the factory ROM, install CWM, apply the system mount fix and use Xposed and suchlike to customise until we come up with something a little more sensible or at least find out why the WLAN and Bluetooth stop working.
Given that the Wiko Darkmoon is based on the same SoC and has full sources available <EDIT: It isn't. It's just the kernel as usual.>, it may be prudent to wait until someone with more clue than I has a look at what makes these things tick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks Chronos!, The problem is also with the official ROMS on mlais.com/mlaismx28 i don´t understand it...
Please i need help to back restore the partitions of my sd internal ( ROM ), i would like back to 2,3 gb for apps, actually i have only 0,98 gb and 1,75 gb internal store.
I think that the solution is back up for flash tools and reflash with the rom stock ( the back up of mlais mx28 of my friend, he have other new mx28 )
But my BIG problem with the flash with flash tools is the USER DATA and CACHE is always empty, and then it´s imposible to reflash it it´s always and error : Rom changed PTM ...
Please, what can i do for have USER DATA and CACHE with mtk droid and tools 2.5.3 versión?? ( in this version to click User data and Cache with to do the back it´s imposible, this option is missing in 2.5.3. version )
http://dl.xda-developers.com/attachdl/b2f11c741aab592a8f66616d932af983/533c2dcc/2/6/6/4/5/2/2/Sin_t_tulo.jpg
[ROM] Official Update
Hello guys, there's a new rom update for the mx28
Official Mlais MX28 version: Mlais_MX28_20140312
www.needrom.com/mobile/mlais-mx28-2/
Try it out seems, it works perfect.
Cheers!!
Hi all,
After spending many hours trawling the internet, and especially this forum I still am having problems getting ANY custom rom I've tried booting on this phone
I know it's old, but it's just a phone I had lying around and want to use it as a small tablet for my 6yo daughter.
I can flash any "stock" rom I've found with odin, but when flashing using an install from an SD card through CWM, it just hangs on the Samsung bootscreen.
CWM installs as the default recovery console, so something is going on the phone, but it won't boot to android.
Oh I'm also using a 5830I rom, but my research has shown this is basically the same phone?
I've used CM7 and tried lots of other custom roms with the same outcome - please can anyone help!?
My daughter is dying to use her new games machine, but the stock rom is sooooo laggy and slow it's no good at all!
Thanks in advance.
@macsbig, "About device" information from settings of your device please < home+power button for screenshots > or kindly state the full details here.
Your original CSC/PDA/MODEM parts of your device <Dial *#1234# >
Your Region /Country/ carrier you are staying please.
Thanks for the reply ehsanotaku!
PDA : S5830iXXLA4
PHONE : S5830iXXLA2
CSC : S5830iOXXLA2
I'm in the uk. This is not the original rom (that got stuck in a bootlock) and the only way to get the 'phone working again was to flash with a stock rom from the internet.
The original rom was from "Three".
During my various attempts at flashing a rom I have ticked the "re-partition" box and tried both "cooperve_0623.pit" and totoro_0623.pit
I've flashed my P5110 tablet, and a Galaxy S1 for my son with no problems - odd!
@macsbig, How come you are ended up with outdated ( 2012 ) s5830i in the first place ? Any particular problems with your s5839i original firmware ( do you know your original CSC/PDA/MODEM parts ) ? Are you absolutely sure this is not re-branded version ( "About Device" info of the original phone would be nice to see though ) Did you take any Nandroid back up of all of the original partitions of your s5839i through temporary CWM zip file ( files will be stored inside your Clockworkmod directory inside the root of the SD card )
Do you still have access to Recovery stock e3 console and Download mode ?
Another important subject in need of clarification are ".pit" files ( partition table info ) and Re-partition option. Playing around with wrong .pit file such as totoro and incorrect usage of Re-partition will lead into hard bricking of your device .
Since you already did modify partition table couple of time partially without success , I would suggest the following process :
1. Download one of the newest non wipe xxx.tar.md5 s5830i firmware from here < It is free, but registration is required > Probably 2013 xxMD1 is the right one for our experiment.
2. Make your wipe flash able zip package through splitfus2 tutorial provided here, my comment @ post 9 or simply you may use European/Russian pre-made package from here , your choice though ( I would advise the first method , but the latter also will work ) .
3.Get the following files:
3.1 - Odin3.v3.07.Cooperve.exe from either places would be fine : 1 , or any sticky post in general/development section will do ( correct cooperVe .pit file will be resided inside the package )
3.2- Get the Temp-CWM 5.0.2.6 or 5.0.2.8 zip file from here or here < put the zip file inside the root of your SD card for flashing later >
3.3- Boot loader <DefaultCalDataWithBoot_S5830iXXLB1_REV00.tar.rar from post#27 , my attachment .
3.4 - SLIM_CM7.2_Cooperve #4 Rom < put it inside the root of SD card >
3.5- This kernel is also goes into Root of SD card for later usage .
3.6- EXT4 Formatter Tool , into the root of SD card again.
4- Now , if you don't have proper drivers installed inside your Windows PC , you can get then form here .
Ok, assuming you have at least access to Download mode , provided the combo keys work (pressing Vol(+) + Vol(-) + Power Keys) Go there according to manual :
-Power off your Phone.
-Get into "Download mode" by pressing Vol(+) + Vol(-) + Power Keys.
-press volume up
-Open Odin3.v3.07.Cooperve.exe
-Connect your phone to PC via USB cable.
-Make sure that your phone is detected in "ID:COM" area.
- Put your wipe PDA/CSC/MODEM/ boot loader/pit files into their proper places , Re-partition is ticked , Factory reset and reboot selected by default >> push the START !
- DO NOT disconnected nor disturb the flashing Nand process , until the process being terminated . Now you must be out of boot loop .
For completing our partition conversion and also put some cm7.2 custom Rom into the test at the same time , do the following :
- Boot into stock e3 recovery >> wipe data and flash your Temp CWM
- CWM > wipe data > wipe cache > wipe Dalvik cache
- Flash the EXT4 Formatter tool, so whole system will be converted to EXT4. (Stock filesystem is RFS).
- Flash kernel_CM7_v4.0_cooperVe .
- When the Kernel is installed, go to the advanced menu --> "reboot recovery" (this will reboot the device, thus you will be directed into your new CWM built-in, which is implanted inside Kernel ).
- Wipe data, cache and Dalvik
- Go to "mounts and storage", and make sure /system partition is mounted (will show -unmounted ; it is like ON/OFF switch)
- Main menu > "Install zip from SD Card" > choose "zip from SD card" and install the ROM, you have already got inside your SD <SLIM_CM7.2_Cooperve #4>
- Reboot
waiting for some good news ............
It's a long story, but here goes!
I had a couple of old phones we no longer use hanging around the house, so I thought it would be good to let my (young) children use them as simple games playing deivices. It doesn't matter too much if the phone is dropped and damaged etc, as I probrably wont use them for anything else as we have new phones.
Within a couple of days - and I'm not sure what happened, my daughters phone was stuck in a boot loop (samsung and "Three" logos repeatedly). Having no experiance of "unbricking" phones I immediately reached for google, and set out on my quest to sort out her phone for her (as we had lots, and lots of tears over her new toy!). The phone has no sim card in and is on wifi for installs etc.
After searching I found a rom that would load on and make the phone good again, this one: S5839iXXLK2_S5839iH3GLC2_S5839iNELK1_HOME.tar.md5
This worked ok, but was very laggy, and irritated me imensely as I was sorting games etc for her, so I decided to to instal a custom rom. After 3 roms refused to load (just stuck on the "Samaung GALAXY Ace GT-S5839i boot screen) I decided to try flashing it to 5380i firmware and Pit file - as nearly all custom roms for the ace seem to be for the 5830i variant - I wondered if this would sort my problem!
It didn't! But now it has become a challenge, and a chance to learn something of Android and how it works - as I said in my last post I have successfully flashed an I9000 with carbon and my P5110 with CM11, I learnt how to do this by what I've learnt from reaserching about this phone, so it has been a worthwhile excercise!
But back to the point. No I don't have any back-ups of the original phone, I neither had the knowlege, or know how of having or needing to do this - it's only now I'm finding my phones/tablets so facinanting!!
Yes I am now back to the stock (e3) recovery, which I can get into.
Many thanks for your help so far - I will try your ideas and repeort back!
@macsbig, Yes do that please and after resolving your initial problems , here is a confirmed list of the games compatible with your GPU/CPU of your child's legacy device . Also you can use chainfire 3d only under stock firmware/rooted phone for the games required plugin(s) and app being activate for proper almost lag free experience . You may read theses links as well for some insight : 1 , 2 .
The ext4 formatter link doesnt work my friend
macsbig said:
The ext4 formatter link doesnt work my friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just cross-linking it ( wasn't my links to begin though ^:^ )
Attached the flash able zip file to the post body .
I will try you solution(s) later. Working late today! But wow this seems quite complicated! ! Hehe.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app
macsbig said:
I will try you solution(s) later. Working late today! But wow this seems quite complicated! ! Hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well , researching a new area of knowledge ( in this case customization/rooting/bricking/moding and many more technical things inside XDA) can be a bit overwhelming.I do agree with you that the sheer wealth of material means that it can be overwhelming, but more you read and spend time @ XDA, more you will get the hang of the material presented here .
Nevertheless we are here to share/help all of the possible/working solution mate. Just ask anything you can not understand very well . I will try to depict even more detailed walk-through guidelines.
Regards
Right, I now have a custom rom on the 5839i!
I didn't have too much time last night, so what I did was flashed the phone with Odin, using the bootloader and pit file you specified. I then rebooted into the stock revovery, wiped the Data, Cache and Delvic partitions, then booted into CMW 5.0.2.6 and flashed the EXT4 Formatter tool. I then installed the kernel you specified
After that I rebooted into the CMW recovery from the new kernel and followed your instructions - and Voila! It booted into the slim rom you linked me too
Just to test it wasn't a fluke, I then installed CM9, and that went on fine too - with just the normal steps.
I now have to decide after your other advice, whether I go for a stock rom, and try and get rid of the lag, use chainfire 3D etc or go for a custom mod!
Is there a similar app for modded roms's like chainfire 3D to help game perfomance on this limited hardware? I'd really prefer to use a modded rom and build up from there, but as I stated earlier in the post, this will be used only for games and listening to music from youtube, so i'll maybe have to research some more to find out what would work the best.
Many, many thanks for your help, I've learnt alot during this project!!
Oh as a bit of an aside, got a bit worried when downloading some of the links, some of the "download managers" were causing my anti-virus and anti-malware software to give me warnings!
Thanks again
@macsbig, Glad everything worked out for you mate . To address your concerns I must say that I did not come across any working solution for accelerating your GPU with reduction [email protected] custom Roms unfortunately ( only works on stock fw/rooted device) .
For CM9 beta Rom available @ development sub forum , this is an unstable Rom with some serious problems , because of ICS bugs an other things( Read this troubleshooting session and links provided there ).
For malware's concerns they are mostly false positives . Even virus total wold miss lead you in many cases, due to nature of advertising agent implanted inside some of the app inside system directory of custom Roms . You can simply replace the app in question with another one free of adverts. However they are harmless mostly. Please read this discussion (post #472-475) (post#291-298) between me and moderators team for more information about advertisement policies. Basically we have a very good control over materials presented here , thanks to mod teams .
Hope I did help you with your quest
My apologies, when I said that I was getting anti-virus/malware warnings, that was aimed at when I was trying to download the files on "mediafire(?)" and such like. They want you to install a stupid downloader etc., which then installs some crap on your pc.
Had it when downloading splitfus2 if I recall correctly (it was late 12am!).
That's why in the end I decided to use a pre - split (is that what you mean by wiped?) rom in the end.
I'm gonna have a play with the 'phone again later when I finish work.
I recently purchased an MX10 Android TV Box running Android 7.1.2
It is supposed to be rooted and SuperSU came installed but when you run it, it reports that the SuperSU binary is not installed and SuperSU cannot install it. I've done a full factory reset but the image comes back broken like that.
I downloaded updated firmware for this box and the SuperSU zip file but I cannot get this box into recovery mode. Everything I've found says to stick a toothpick in the AV hole and power up the box. When I do that, the MX10 logo shows but then it pops up with "erasing" and then reboots. All that does is a full factory reset.
If I run Root Checker, it says I don't have root.
Anyone have any experience with this issue and this box? If I can't get into recovery mode then I can't fix SuperSU and/or update the firmware to one where I'm rooted.
The box otherwise seems to work ok with the exception that I cannot set a live wallpaper. I'm just not rooted.
Thanks for any help!
-TimG
TimothyGaray said:
I recently purchased an MX10 Android TV Box running Android 7.1.2
It is supposed to be rooted and SuperSU came installed but when you run it, it reports that the SuperSU binary is not installed and SuperSU cannot install it. I've done a full factory reset but the image comes back broken like that.
I downloaded updated firmware for this box and the SuperSU zip file but I cannot get this box into recovery mode. Everything I've found says to stick a toothpick in the AV hole and power up the box. When I do that, the MX10 logo shows but then it pops up with "erasing" and then reboots. All that does is a full factory reset.
If I run Root Checker, it says I don't have root.
Anyone have any experience with this issue and this box? If I can't get into recovery mode then I can't fix SuperSU and/or update the firmware to one where I'm rooted.
The box otherwise seems to work ok with the exception that I cannot set a live wallpaper. I'm just not rooted.
Thanks for any help!
-TimG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i just got mine yesterday and im having the same issue. I get a Root user account error with Root Checker Pro. Ive tried clearing data in the SU app but nothing. There is an update for SU in the Play Store but i read on Freaktab where someone said not to update SU app or it will give you a bootloop. I havent updated it yet cuz i wanted to do some more investigating but i really dont see the harm in just updating the app itself. I know updating the su binary will result in a bootloop because i updated the binary on my T95Z and got the bootloop. Ive been googling all day trying to find a TWRP.img file for the MX10 but have found nothing yet. Ive also been looking for a root method for this box as well but not sure what i should use. It would be nice if these each box had it own sub forum like the phones have.. would make life so much easier. lol
If you figure anything out i would appreciate if you would pass that info on.. will do likewise.
htxp://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/rockchip-based-tv-players/freaktabs-tools-utility-collection/656634-twrp-recovery-for-rockchip-devices
I'm in the same boat. Recieved my mx10 a week ago. Tried the tooth pick in the av port. Shows on screen 'erasing' and eventually factory defaults. No root
Android 7.01 said:
htxp://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/rockchip-based-tv-players/freaktabs-tools-utility-collection/656634-twrp-recovery-for-rockchip-devices
I'm in the same boat. Recieved my mx10 a week ago. Tried the tooth pick in the av port. Shows on screen 'erasing' and eventually factory defaults. No root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you updated the SU app? Not the su binary but the app from play store itself?
Hi, actually I was looking to root the MX10 but for a simple reason:
all I want to to is to get a shutdown or power off button, but this seems missing on the MX10 .. !!! First time I see a box without the shutdown option.
I looked up for apps providing power off button but they all require root access and so don’t work on the out-of-the-box MX10.
Anyone has same need and a solution?
Hi, I received my MX10, a few days ago and have the same problem (SuperSU issue).
I purchased it from GeekBuying, and posted on their blog, for the latest firmware update I could find: http://blog.geekbuying.com/2017/12/...r4-32gb-emmc-tv-box-firmware-update-20171214/
Really want to root it, so I can edit the keyboard/remote control files to map keys on the H18+ remote I bought at the same time as the MX10.
I haven't tried flashing different firmware (or booting into recovery). If/when I receive a reply to my post on the GeekBuying blog, I'll post here - but no idea if they'll reply.
supergiulio said:
Hi, actually I was looking to root the MX10 but for a simple reason:
all I want to to is to get a shutdown or power off button, but this seems missing on the MX10 .. !!! First time I see a box without the shutdown option.
I looked up for apps providing power off button but they all require root access and so don’t work on the out-of-the-box MX10.
Anyone has same need and a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bud if you hold the power button down on the remote for about 5 seconds and it will bring the reboot menu up.. it has shut down and restart.
Do the same to boot up
Ok.. everyone else that was wondering about root.. looks like this is our answer.. no root.. no TWRP...... for now at least. This box is still fairly new so im
not giving up. It took 4-5 months for them to get root for Snapdragon S8 so who knows.. it may come for the MX10 one day too
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freak69ize said:
Hey bud if you hold the power button down on the remote for about 5 seconds and it will bring the reboot menu up.. it has shut down and restart.
Ok.. everyone else that was wondering about root.. looks like this is our answer.. no root.. no TWRP...... for now at least. This box is still fairly new so im
not giving up. It took 4-5 months for them to get root for Snapdragon S8 so who knows.. it may come for the MX10 one day too
View attachment 4436137
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems really odd that it would come with Super SU installed, and not be rooted. Then again, it also advertises (on GeekBuying.com - in case anyone purchased elsewhere) that it comes with Kodi pre-installed, and mine didn't.
---------- Post added at 12:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 AM ----------
TimothyGaray said:
...I downloaded updated firmware for this box and the SuperSU zip file...-TimG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whereabouts did you get the firmware? Was it this one MX10_RK3328_KODI18.0_20171208.img ? Listed on this GeekBuying blog entry: http://blog.geekbuying.com/2017/12/...r4-32gb-emmc-tv-box-firmware-update-20171214/
RADiuMOz said:
Seems really odd that it would come with Super SU installed, and not be rooted. Then again, it also advertises (on GeekBuying.com - in case anyone purchased elsewhere) that it comes with Kodi pre-installed, and mine didn't.
---------- Post added at 12:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 AM ----------
Whereabouts did you get the firmware? Was it this one MX10_RK3328_KODI18.0_20171208.img ? Listed on this GeekBuying blog entry: http://blog.geekbuying.com/2017/12/...r4-32gb-emmc-tv-box-firmware-update-20171214/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i agree.. odd it ships with su installed but no root. Theres some fw's on this page.... ive downloaded just in case i ever need it... dont see why i would since there is no root though. lol
http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player...3328-4-32gb-tv-box-2-4ghz-wifi-fast-lan/page2
Hi mate,
Try my guide in the Media TV Box Amlogic forum. The recovery image is for TWRP. But you could try Philz or others. Worked on S912 and S905 so far fine.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...mlogic-s905x-s912x-faq-backup-switch-t3752897
No root? I suggest you follow backup instructions, take 3 backups - all paritions, boot only, recovery only.
Then you can extract the boot image from your backup and use that with Magisk to root your system. After Magisk modifies your boot image, reboot, and flash the modified package via TWRP bootable (see topic)
If you have anything you wish to contribute, please feel free to post anything you have learnt that you feel will help others.
Cheers mate!
Thanks for the tip
Thanks Freak69! It was so easy ... but still it would be good to root the MX10
freak69ize said:
Hey bud if you hold the power button down on the remote for about 5 seconds and it will bring the reboot menu up.. it has shut down and restart.
Do the same to boot up
Ok.. everyone else that was wondering about root.. looks like this is our answer.. no root.. no TWRP...... for now at least. This box is still fairly new so im
not giving up. It took 4-5 months for them to get root for Snapdragon S8 so who knows.. it may come for the MX10 one day too
View attachment 4436137
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flipmode_11 said:
Hi mate,
Try my guide in the Media TV Box Amlogic forum. The recovery image is for TWRP. But you could try Philz or others. Worked on S912 and S905 so far fine.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...mlogic-s905x-s912x-faq-backup-switch-t3752897
No root? I suggest you follow backup instructions, take 3 backups - all paritions, boot only, recovery only.
Then you can extract the boot image from your backup and use that with Magisk to root your system. After Magisk modifies your boot image, reboot, and flash the modified package via TWRP bootable (see topic)
If you have anything you wish to contribute, please feel free to post anything you have learnt that you feel will help others.
Cheers mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @flipmode_11 - which TWRP image should we use, please? In your post, you state to, "Download the X96 Media Player TWRP Recovery image...or a different device". As the X96 is S905X (from a quick Google - don't shoot me if I'm wrong!) and the MX10 is RK3328, the TWRP image for the X96 wouldn't work, would it? I took a look at the list of devices and can't find a matching device.
Cheers,
Richard.
---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 PM ----------
Somethng that REALLY annoys me about the MX10, is that I can't get it to write to my external USB drive (NTFS). It worked just fine - out of the box - on my old MXIII-G, but the MX10 just won't write to it (Total Commander and an FTP server app I usually use in order to access it from my LAN). Is this because of some weird driver, or because of root (permissions... I checked under apps and it has access to storage - but of course it does, because it can read the drive)?
I'm probably not too fussed about rooting this thing, if I can just get external drives working with it.
I did read about Android not supporting NTFS, for write - but my old MXIII-G did, so I'm assuming this should, too. The only other thing I can think of, is that the MXIII-G had something in the firmware for writing to NTFS.
I can't see why there would be external USB drive support, but you can't write to it - I mean, it's a TV box, surely there are some other people out there who copy movies, etc. to an external drive on the box, to watch?
G'day mate,
Yeah look just give it a try and see how you go. Booting to this recovery.img will not make any modifications. It is simply loading an interface and relevant dependencies for it to run. I read something about how RockChip devices are limited or something. I forget now, but that made me steer clear of them, despite having more regular updates and new hardware. :/ hmmm
No, you won't find a matching device. It is shocking that these mass-manufacturered generic devices aren't also listed. I recommend you give the recovery.img in my topic a stab.
Where did you source you MX10 from? Have you asked them? Although, every single Chinese seller I have come across has zero working knowledge or which models are better, plus have 101 mistakes in their specs (just got a $50 and $100 refund on Ebay for X96 and a 10.1" tablet! Wrong specs!).
NTFS? So it can READ but not WRITE? Hmm I would wipe everything in FAT32 for Android. Everything is much happier. You could try exFAT which is a superior file system. Have you tried this? Got any other ExFAT + FAT32 devices? Hmm actually I think I've been down that path with exFAT (Paragon tools to solve). Double check exFAT compatibility before proceeding with backup/wipe/re-format. Actually I know the Nexus 6 was able to read NTFS storage as helped a mate with one. But depends on the manufacturer! But the Nexus6 couldn't write to HPFS - never tested exFAT. I think there is an app - USB Media Exporter...? USB Media Explorer..? - I forget!?!
As you mentioned Total Commander, you could try it with the Paragon tool plug-in: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.tcplugins_ntfs_ro -or- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.mounter (not tried this, but images looks interesting - free!). I use Solid Explorer + Smart File Manager - never been a fan of TC... There are other methods out there, but they require Root, which will not help you! e.g. ChainFire's StickMount.
No, I think you should proceed. However, as per my topic, take a full backup of 3+ partitions prior to making changes. I had to revert to a backup on 20th as had 2x SED processes going nuts. Titanium backup'd all important stuff. Then rebooted to Micro SD TWRP and did 3 Partitions (leaving int. storage intact). So Rooting is essential. It really is. Plus using Magisk is even more important, as it does not make modifications to /System which makes life much easier upgrading/troubleshooting/debugging et al.
NOTE: I would infact backup all the data on that ext. drive, delete partitions and create 2 FAT32/EXFAT/NTFS for redundancy. I have had too many past issues with partitions getting corrupt on external drives.
1. Backup Boot partition, 2. Extract the backup and find the boot.img, 3. Install Magisk Manager, click Install and select option 2 and browse for the boot.img, 4. Flash updated /MagiskManager/boot.img via TWRP and you are rooted w/ Systemless SU and BusyBox. There is seriously nothing better than having Root and being Play "Certified". You won't look back! Plus you can always re-flash the stock Boot.img and do OTA manufacturer updates, then open Magisk Manager and repeat.
Mac is like that. You can only read NTFS drives, but read / write to stupid HFS/HPFS drives with Mac, unless you install something like Paragon to read NTFS. The same for Windows, can read HFS+ but read/write NTFS.
Every Android device, regardless of OS, is totally different. Different Kernel's, different builds, ...
Good luck and let me know how you go?
Cheers mate!
RADiuMOz said:
Hey @flipmode_11 - which TWRP image should we use, please? In your post, you state to, "Download the X96 Media Player TWRP Recovery image...or a different device". As the X96 is S905X (from a quick Google - don't shoot me if I'm wrong!) and the MX10 is RK3328, the TWRP image for the X96 wouldn't work, would it? I took a look at the list of devices and can't find a matching device.
Cheers,
Richard.
---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 PM ----------
Somethng that REALLY annoys me about the MX10, is that I can't get it to write to my external USB drive (NTFS). It worked just fine on my old MXIII-G, but the MX10 just won't write to it (Total Commander and an FTP server app I usually use in order to access it from my LAN). Is this because of some weird driver, or because of root (permissions... I checked under apps and it has access to storage - but of course it does, because it can read the drive)?
I'm probably not too fussed about rooting this thing, if I can just get external drives working with it.
I did read about Android not supporting NTFS, for write - but my old MXIII-G did, so I'm assuming this should, too. The only other thing I can think of, is that the MXIII-G had something in the firmware for writing to NTFS.
I can't see why there would be external USB drive support, but you can't write to it - I mean, it's a TV box, surely there are some other people out there who copy movies, etc. to an external drive on the box, to watch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flipmode_11 said:
G'day mate,
Yeah look just give it a try and see how you go. Booting to this recovery.img will not make any modifications. It is simply loading an interface and relevant dependencies for it to run. I read something about how RockChip devices are limited or something. I forget now, but that made me steer clear of them, despite having more regular updates and new hardware. :/ hmmm
No, you won't find a matching device. It is shocking that these mass-manufacturered generic devices aren't also listed. I recommend you give the recovery.img in my topic a stab.
Where did you source you MX10 from? Have you asked them? Although, every single Chinese seller I have come across has zero working knowledge or which models are better, plus have 101 mistakes in their specs (just got a $50 and $100 refund on Ebay for X96 and a 10.1" tablet! Wrong specs!).
NTFS? So it can READ but not WRITE? Hmm I would wipe everything in FAT32 for Android. Everything is much happier. You could try exFAT which is a superior file system. Have you tried this? Got any other ExFAT + FAT32 devices? Hmm actually I think I've been down that path with exFAT (Paragon tools to solve). Double check exFAT compatibility before proceeding with backup/wipe/re-format. Actually I know the Nexus 6 was able to read NTFS storage as helped a mate with one. But depends on the manufacturer! But the Nexus6 couldn't write to HPFS - never tested exFAT. I think there is an app - USB Media Exporter...? USB Media Explorer..? - I forget!?!
As you mentioned Total Commander, you could try it with the Paragon tool plug-in: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.tcplugins_ntfs_ro -or- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.mounter (not tried this, but images looks interesting - free!). I use Solid Explorer + Smart File Manager - never been a fan of TC... There are other methods out there, but they require Root, which will not help you! e.g. ChainFire's StickMount.
No, I think you should proceed. However, as per my topic, take a full backup of 3+ partitions prior to making changes. I had to revert to a backup on 20th as had 2x SED processes going nuts. Titanium backup'd all important stuff. Then rebooted to Micro SD TWRP and did 3 Partitions (leaving int. storage intact). So Rooting is essential. It really is. Plus using Magisk is even more important, as it does not make modifications to /System which makes life much easier upgrading/troubleshooting/debugging et al.
NOTE: I would infact backup all the data on that ext. drive, delete partitions and create 2 FAT32/EXFAT/NTFS for redundancy. I have had too many past issues with partitions getting corrupt on external drives.
1. Backup Boot partition, 2. Extract the backup and find the boot.img, 3. Install Magisk Manager, click Install and select option 2 and browse for the boot.img, 4. Flash updated /MagiskManager/boot.img via TWRP and you are rooted w/ Systemless SU and BusyBox. There is seriously nothing better than having Root and being Play "Certified". You won't look back! Plus you can always re-flash the stock Boot.img and do OTA manufacturer updates, then open Magisk Manager and repeat.
Mac is like that. You can only read NTFS drives, but read / write to stupid HFS/HPFS drives with Mac, unless you install something like Paragon to read NTFS. The same for Windows, can read HFS+ but read/write NTFS.
Every Android device, regardless of OS, is totally different. Different Kernel's, different builds, ...
Good luck and let me know how you go?
Cheers mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so ive been on Samsung for the last 5-6 years and never had to backup things like boot.img, recovery.img cuz we have have odin, so there was never any need to...... so i just did a google search on how to do this but it only brings up ways to do it with root. Can you explain how to do this or link to a tut?
Also could i get a more in depth of using Magisk? I have it on my HTC M7 but i rarely ever play around with it... actually im root with SU on it. So i have to run Magisk on my MX10.. search for boot.img.. patch it.. flash some zip in twrp.. and how do i get twrp on the box.. through adb? I should know this as long as ive been rooting but root on U.S. snapdragon samsung phones is totally different since the bootloader cant be unlocked. Thanks for your info so far bro
Post redundant.
flipmode_11 said:
Did you see my questions?
Where did you source your device from? Ebay? Online? Retail?
What software and steps above did you try?
Did you try the Paragon app with Total Commander?
Did you try downloading the recovery.img linked in the Media TV Box category? https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=75644464
Using Magisk is even more important these days as developers attempt to detect SU/Root, plus Magisk does not make modifications to your /System partition which makes life MUCH easier upgrading / troubleshooting / debugging and allows you to mask Root/SuperUser to then use all apps (Spotify, Play, Netflix, Stan, et al.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my box from Amazon. Ive not tried anything with it yet. I dont use Total Commander.. that was another guy saying something about it and wanting to be able to write to external sd... i could care less for that. I want root for adaway and a few other things. Im using Blockada right now to block ads but i cant use it and Expressvpn at the same time.. so my choices are either block ads or run vpn to be anonymous.. cant do both because you cant run two vpns at the same time in android and blockada's vpn is not the same kind of vpn.
Ok i just read your thread.. i will give it a try sometime this weekend maybe.
Ya know the weird thing is is that DevCheck says i have root and busybox installed. Su app is there but say su binaries arent installed. I dont get why this box is shipped like this. lol
You are funny! I was talking to @RADiuMOz - I had quoted him.
No wonder your reply made no sense. Then my reply made no sense.
Please see my topic on AMLogic devices "AMLogic S905 S912 FAQ ✰ Fix Root, Switch SU, Backup/Restore etc ✩ Media Player TV Box" here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...mlogic-s905x-s912x-faq-backup-switch-t3752897
I would suggest you follow the steps to Backup first as it does not make any changes to your system.
Then follow steps to Root (download 3 files) and proceed with the FAQ I have written on how to root and which of the 3 methods suit you (probably the one similar to Part 1 of the backup, plus flashing the ZIP.
I had similar corrupt Root issue where SU and SUD were present, but didn't appear to have permissions. Some apps reported Root OK, and others No Root.
Anyway, let me know how you go. I have documented how to un-root / clean-up and then to re-root your system (i.e. Corrupt Root). Reply there.
Cheers!
p.s. May I suggest you check out AdGuard instead of AdAway? It lets you subscribe to block lists, plus you can set-up DUAL VPN's with it (read their KB/FAQ's). AdGuard's menu's allows you to accomodate both being able to VPN and run adblocking at the same time - ROOT Free. So you can probably ignore everything I have even said! LOL (AdGuard > Left Menu > Settings > Proxy Settings)
VyprVPN is far better and I suggest you try them when they have a promo. You can enable an option to block malicious servers, etc. But no way of managing this and adding adverts. Anyway, I switched and tried various VPN providers and found VyprVPN far better, plus offer a higher level of OpenVPN encryption which is not blocked or detected by 3rd parties called "Chameleon".
freak69ize said:
I got my box from Amazon. I want root for AdAway and a few other things. Im using Blockada right now to block ads but i cant use it and ExpressVPN at the same time.. so my choices are either block ads or run vpn to be anonymous.. cant do both because you cant run two vpns at the same time in android and blockada's vpn is not the same kind of vpn.
Ok i just read your thread.. i will give it a try sometime this weekend maybe.
Ya know the weird thing is is that DevCheck says i have root and busybox installed. Su app is there but say su binaries arent installed. I dont get why this box is shipped like this. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXPERIMENT: Has anyone tried an OTG adapter in the USB-C slot for a Galaxy S8? Then connect a small USB drive with a recovery.img only, formatted in FAT32? You could even try placing the recovery.img on your Micro SD inside your phone...? Perhaps while holding down menu + up or menu + down, switch on your phone, and it might read the recovery.img on the external memory and boot into that?
*Anyway*, try the same thing in your MX10 and report back add success. Use a compatible S905 TWRP recovery.img (see my type here with download attached and tested with S905x Devices.
Hmm... So many ideas... so many things I have not tried!
freak69ize said:
Hey bud if you hold the power button down on the remote for about 5 seconds and it will bring the reboot menu up.. it has shut down and restart. Do the same to boot up
Ok.. everyone else that was wondering about root.. looks like this is our answer.. no root.. no TWRP...... for now at least. This box is still fairly new so im not giving up. It took 4-5 months for them to get root for Snapdragon S8 so who knows.. it may come for the MX10 one day too
View attachment 4436137
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flipmode_11 said:
G'day mate,
Yeah look just give it a try and see how you go. Booting to this recovery.img will not make any modifications. It is simply loading an interface and relevant dependencies for it to run. I read something about how RockChip devices are limited or something. I forget now, but that made me steer clear of them, despite having more regular updates and new hardware. :/ hmmm
No, you won't find a matching device. It is shocking that these mass-manufacturered generic devices aren't also listed. I recommend you give the recovery.img in my topic a stab.
Where did you source you MX10 from? Have you asked them? Although, every single Chinese seller I have come across has zero working knowledge or which models are better, plus have 101 mistakes in their specs (just got a $50 and $100 refund on Ebay for X96 and a 10.1" tablet! Wrong specs!).
NTFS? So it can READ but not WRITE? Hmm I would wipe everything in FAT32 for Android. Everything is much happier. You could try exFAT which is a superior file system. Have you tried this? Got any other ExFAT + FAT32 devices? Hmm actually I think I've been down that path with exFAT (Paragon tools to solve). Double check exFAT compatibility before proceeding with backup/wipe/re-format. Actually I know the Nexus 6 was able to read NTFS storage as helped a mate with one. But depends on the manufacturer! But the Nexus6 couldn't write to HPFS - never tested exFAT. I think there is an app - USB Media Exporter...? USB Media Explorer..? - I forget!?!
As you mentioned Total Commander, you could try it with the Paragon tool plug-in: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.tcplugins_ntfs_ro -or- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.mounter (not tried this, but images looks interesting - free!). I use Solid Explorer + Smart File Manager - never been a fan of TC... There are other methods out there, but they require Root, which will not help you! e.g. ChainFire's StickMount.
No, I think you should proceed. However, as per my topic, take a full backup of 3+ partitions prior to making changes. I had to revert to a backup on 20th as had 2x SED processes going nuts. Titanium backup'd all important stuff. Then rebooted to Micro SD TWRP and did 3 Partitions (leaving int. storage intact). So Rooting is essential. It really is. Plus using Magisk is even more important, as it does not make modifications to /System which makes life much easier upgrading/troubleshooting/debugging et al.
NOTE: I would infact backup all the data on that ext. drive, delete partitions and create 2 FAT32/EXFAT/NTFS for redundancy. I have had too many past issues with partitions getting corrupt on external drives.
1. Backup Boot partition, 2. Extract the backup and find the boot.img, 3. Install Magisk Manager, click Install and select option 2 and browse for the boot.img, 4. Flash updated /MagiskManager/boot.img via TWRP and you are rooted w/ Systemless SU and BusyBox. There is seriously nothing better than having Root and being Play "Certified". You won't look back! Plus you can always re-flash the stock Boot.img and do OTA manufacturer updates, then open Magisk Manager and repeat.
Mac is like that. You can only read NTFS drives, but read / write to stupid HFS/HPFS drives with Mac, unless you install something like Paragon to read NTFS. The same for Windows, can read HFS+ but read/write NTFS.
Every Android device, regardless of OS, is totally different. Different Kernel's, different builds, ...
Good luck and let me know how you go?
Cheers mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First up - sorry mate - I actually thought I'd replied to your post, but clearly either didn't submit it, or just dreamed the whole thing.
I have to wait for free time at the weekends (I have kids), but I'll go back to your topic and give that a go.
As for NTFS, etc. I ended up buying a Synology DS218J NAS box as I want my daughter to be able to back up her MacBook to it, as well as probably back up some of my stuff to it as well - and of course then use for the MX10. I bought it from GeekBuying, and they're not that particularly helpful. Not intentionally unhelpful, though.
My MXIII-G was great for just working straight out of the box, with the external NTFS drive (exact same drive).
So now, as for rooting, my only reason will be so I can remap some of the keys on my remote - but don't absolutely have to do that. But I'll do backups anyway, so that I'm ready for if/when any firmware updates come out.
I'll certainly know to have a MUCH better look round, before buying my next Android TV box, though - that's for sure. I did a quick search, but didn't find anything on a user level - but also didn't search XDA: just did a regular Google search.
Thanks for your detailed reply, as I know it takes time and thought on your part - it's much appreciated. As soon as I've got something to report, I'll post in the same thread, so other people can perhaps benefit from my findings.
Cheers,
Richard.
---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
flipmode_11 said:
G'day mate,
Yeah look just give it a try and see how you go. Booting to this recovery.img will not make any modifications. It is simply loading an interface and relevant dependencies for it to run. I read something about how RockChip devices are limited or something. I forget now, but that made me steer clear of them, despite having more regular updates and new hardware. :/ hmmm
No, you won't find a matching device. It is shocking that these mass-manufacturered generic devices aren't also listed. I recommend you give the recovery.img in my topic a stab.
Where did you source you MX10 from? Have you asked them? Although, every single Chinese seller I have come across has zero working knowledge or which models are better, plus have 101 mistakes in their specs (just got a $50 and $100 refund on Ebay for X96 and a 10.1" tablet! Wrong specs!).
NTFS? So it can READ but not WRITE? Hmm I would wipe everything in FAT32 for Android. Everything is much happier. You could try exFAT which is a superior file system. Have you tried this? Got any other ExFAT + FAT32 devices? Hmm actually I think I've been down that path with exFAT (Paragon tools to solve). Double check exFAT compatibility before proceeding with backup/wipe/re-format. Actually I know the Nexus 6 was able to read NTFS storage as helped a mate with one. But depends on the manufacturer! But the Nexus6 couldn't write to HPFS - never tested exFAT. I think there is an app - USB Media Exporter...? USB Media Explorer..? - I forget!?!
As you mentioned Total Commander, you could try it with the Paragon tool plug-in: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.tcplugins_ntfs_ro -or- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.mounter (not tried this, but images looks interesting - free!). I use Solid Explorer + Smart File Manager - never been a fan of TC... There are other methods out there, but they require Root, which will not help you! e.g. ChainFire's StickMount.
No, I think you should proceed. However, as per my topic, take a full backup of 3+ partitions prior to making changes. I had to revert to a backup on 20th as had 2x SED processes going nuts. Titanium backup'd all important stuff. Then rebooted to Micro SD TWRP and did 3 Partitions (leaving int. storage intact). So Rooting is essential. It really is. Plus using Magisk is even more important, as it does not make modifications to /System which makes life much easier upgrading/troubleshooting/debugging et al.
NOTE: I would infact backup all the data on that ext. drive, delete partitions and create 2 FAT32/EXFAT/NTFS for redundancy. I have had too many past issues with partitions getting corrupt on external drives.
1. Backup Boot partition, 2. Extract the backup and find the boot.img, 3. Install Magisk Manager, click Install and select option 2 and browse for the boot.img, 4. Flash updated /MagiskManager/boot.img via TWRP and you are rooted w/ Systemless SU and BusyBox. There is seriously nothing better than having Root and being Play "Certified". You won't look back! Plus you can always re-flash the stock Boot.img and do OTA manufacturer updates, then open Magisk Manager and repeat.
Mac is like that. You can only read NTFS drives, but read / write to stupid HFS/HPFS drives with Mac, unless you install something like Paragon to read NTFS. The same for Windows, can read HFS+ but read/write NTFS.
Every Android device, regardless of OS, is totally different. Different Kernel's, different builds, ...
Good luck and let me know how you go?
Cheers mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies! I thought I'd replied, here, but clearly didn't submit it, or just dreamed I had. I've replied to your PM, but also for anyone/everyone else's benefit (and in brief), I bought my MX10 from GeekBuying. I just bought a NAS box, so I'm going to use that instead of trying to get NTFS working, although the people at GeekBuying said, "Our factory tests show that the MX10 can read and write ntfs hard drives. So please try again." I'd be interested to hear whether anyone else is able to write to NTFS.
I'm going to go back to your topic, and give that a go - and will then post back here, to let everyone know (hopefully might benefit someone).
Cheers,
Richard.
i have mx10 and it suddenly stuck in start logo when i open,i dont have any idea please help.
i try to factory reset using toothpick and hit the factory reset no command coming out to delete all files and quick return to booth the system.
whwn i try to reboot again stuck in start logo i'll wait for 30 min but still just rounding the startup logo.Please help me...
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...
Sent from my ZTE A2020U Pro using Tapatalk
eKeith said:
Thanks much, especially for your detailed clarifications and convenient link!
I have the 8/256GB (P855A03_NA) model.
PS
I want to spend more time on ensuring I have a complete device backup before nuking with another EDL; will dedicate some time this week...
Sent from my ZTE A2020U Pro using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh nice, with the 256gb model you're good to use the userdata backup program too. Sounds ideal for you since, like me, you want a really bulletproof backup. If you run a full backup and then run the userdata backup you literally have a "phone state" so you can return your phone back to exactly where it was, not have to wipe system or anything.
Of course I'd hate to be wrong so as usual, do at your own risk! Lol. But I am using that method and it has worked great. The downside being over an hour of waiting for the userdata to download or upload... and having to store 256gb (for long term storage you can compress it down to literally a few gb).
I've been kinda busy, but working on getting some of those things from my last post done hopefully this week.
bobthenormal said:
Oh nice, with the 256gb model you're good to use the userdata backup program too. Sounds ideal for you since, like me, you want a really bulletproof backup. If you run a full backup and then run the userdata backup you literally have a "phone state" so you can return your phone back to exactly where it was, not have to wipe system or anything.
Of course I'd hate to be wrong so as usual, do at your own risk! Lol. But I am using that method and it has worked great. The downside being over an hour of waiting for the userdata to download or upload... and having to store 256gb (for long term storage you can compress it down to literally a few gb).
I've been kinda busy, but working on getting some of those things from my last post done hopefully this week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great to know! Your user data backup option has simplified my life.
I will wait for your next revision to do a full backup plus user data before nuking.
I am looking forward to moving on from ZTE's A10 to one of Ray's ROMs...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Updated to 1.1a - kind of had to rush on some things so keep an eye out for mistakes, especially in the XML files, and let me know if you find any.
Should have an 1.09 (A9) firmware package up "Soon(TM)", just have to make the xml files then upload the file somewhere.
EDIT: Already needed to update to 1.1b - I found that the GPT_Tools had a big error that probably was there since 1.0 and no one noticed! Backups of the GPT should now actually work...
Thank you @bobthenormal !
Looking forward to your A9 EDL backup...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
eKeith said:
Thank you @bobthenormal !
Looking forward to your A9 EDL backup...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's up -- see the new thread.
I didn't have time to test it so make sure you backup but I'm 99,99% sure it will work. I tested it several times in the past, but to make the firmware package I took out all the (I hope) unnecessary files.
There's one thing I'm not sure of - whether you'll need to use the Fix Bootable tool after installing it. IF you need to, then I believe you will have to install it to partition B and then run fix bootable B. (The 1.10 backup was taken originally from the B partition).
If you find that it works without having to do that, let me know... it may not be necessary if wherever that bootable flag is stored didn't get included in the firmware package.
bobthenormal said:
It's up -- see the new thread.
I didn't have time to test it so make sure you backup but I'm 99,99% sure it will work. I tested it several times in the past, but to make the firmware package I took out all the (I hope) unnecessary files.
There's one thing I'm not sure of - whether you'll need to use the Fix Bootable tool after installing it. IF you need to, then I believe you will have to install it to partition B and then run fix bootable B. (The 1.10 backup was taken originally from the B partition).
If you find that it works without having to do that, let me know... it may not be necessary if wherever that bootable flag is stored didn't get included in the firmware package.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you @bobthenormal !
I should be able to give it a go this weekend and inform...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk