[Q] Where do I start? - Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I bought this Xperia ARC LT15a on Friday and have been having LOTS of trouble figuring out what to do with it. I came on here and I can say the tutorials aren't very noob-friendly because you have your own "lingo" that I dont understand whatsoever.
Now, for you guys to understand my frustration, I am coming from IOS, and was told "rooting" an Android phone is a much simpler process then jailbreaking an iPone. Well, that sure as hell has proven to be wrong since I can't even figure out how to UPDATE my phone >_>
First off, what I'm trying to do is update it to ICS. Sony says you can do it using the PC Companion, but it says I'm up to date. Same thing with the SEUS or whatever you call it...says I'm up to date. I am running Android Ver. 2.3.4 so I'm pretty sure I am NOT up to date...my IM number (or whatever) is listed as compatible with ICS so it should just update via seus or pc companion...but no...
So someone linked me to tutorials on how to FLASH ics to it... but all of the tutorials have dead links and are completely useless to me now...
Can someone PLEASE tell me what to do... I just want to update to ICS and root it, but I can't even f***ing update.........!!!! very frustrating

i felt exactly the same mate haha
but this was my first smartphone full stop lol
is it the tutorial links in general that are dead?
but do some searching, i found pretty much everything i needed on here
and now i can change ROMS, kernels, baseband etc in minutes
im sure someone more helpful will be along soon lol

Right - I haven't posted much but having been pretty much under the same level of noob frustration before I'll try to help....
First - Often, during updates you can be driven mad with reboots and reboot cycles..... hopefully, what is outlined below can be a guide to sorting out any problems you might have.
1. Backup everything.
- go to play store and search for "backup" and you'll find what you need. I use Astro File Manager for application backup and sms backup for messages. I'm not bothered about backing up anything else.
2. Unlock the Bootloader.
- download sdk starter package
Code:
://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
- so far as I can figure this will facilitate communications between your pc and phone. CyanogenMod Wiki guides you through this process:
Code:
://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Howto:_Install_the_Android_SDK
- download latest version of fastboot. Now, you'll never double click on this program to run it. Instead you'll run commands from your command tool which will use the program to do the work.
- record your IMEI - in dialer type in *#06# for your IMEI & write it down.
- get your phone attached in fastboot mode. to do this you turn off your phone and hold the menu button while you attach it via USB to your computer.
- see if you're connected properly. Look for command prompt (Windows Key - All Programs - Accessories). Right click on this and run as administrator. Type in the following: fastboot -i 0x0fce getvar version . It will give an obviously positive message if you are correctly connected - if not, ensure you've attached in properly.
- get code to unlock bootloader - go here:
Code:
://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/
and go through the process to get an unlock key. Once you have this, go back to your command prompt and type fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0xUNLOCKKEY (where UNLOCKKEY is the number you have gotten from Sony website. You should get a confirming message.
Now that you've unlocked the bootloader you need to decide what kind of kernel and ROM you want. You can regard the ROM as software whereas the kernel links the software to the hardware. This is my limited understanding anyway.
3. Now, sometimes people make standalone kernels and sometimes they are kept with the ROM.
This leaves a couple of options
- you can flash a stand-alone kernel using flashtool (
Code:
://androxyde.github.com/
). The process is pretty simple.
- Now, if you download a ROM which advises that you need to extract and flash a file called "boot.img" there is a different method. In this case your ROM zip file can be extracted to find the boot.img file.
When you get the boot.img file you can place it in C:\. Now, all advice will be to place it in the platform-tools folder which is created in step 1. It doesn't matter really so long as you point at the right place when flashing.
(I also think that you can use flashtool in flashmode to do this job....)
4. Now you have a kernel on your Xperia and seeing as you've got the bootloader unlocked you can now unplug the phone and turn it on. While the phone is booting up, keep toggling the volume button and it should go into bootloader. This is a text-based interface that allows you several functions.
Somewhere in there is an option to mount the SD card (for which you need to plug into your comp again)
5. You'll see the phone's SD card in Windows explorer and will be able to put your ROM onto it (NOT the extracted stuff from earlier but the original zip file).
6. You can now install this ROM but first clear all data and the dalvik cache. I also always to the battery stats here too. It might take a little bit of exploring to find these.
7. Now you can go to "install zip from SD Card". Step through and you will find where you put the ROM zip file. Select it and install the ROM.
At this point, you may get a bit frustrated - because it's here that you find things like:
The ROM sucks
Bits don't work or
You can't get it to work
For any of the above try again....
Currently I'm on Paranoid Android ICS ROM which I like but if I can't get the Wi-Fi working there's no way I'll be sticking to it. Another that I really liked and will return to is Boost HD RC4
I hope it works out for you.....
Tony

Canned30 said:
Right - I haven't posted much but having been pretty much under the same level of noob frustration before I'll try to help....
First - Often, during updates you can be driven mad with reboots and reboot cycles..... hopefully, what is outlined below can be a guide to sorting out any problems you might have.
1. Backup everything.
- go to play store and search for "backup" and you'll find what you need. I use Astro File Manager for application backup and sms backup for messages. I'm not bothered about backing up anything else.
2. Unlock the Bootloader.
- download sdk starter package
Code:
://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
- so far as I can figure this will facilitate communications between your pc and phone. CyanogenMod Wiki guides you through this process:
Code:
://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Howto:_Install_the_Android_SDK
- download latest version of fastboot. Now, you'll never double click on this program to run it. Instead you'll run commands from your command tool which will use the program to do the work.
- record your IMEI - in dialer type in *#06# for your IMEI & write it down.
- get your phone attached in fastboot mode. to do this you turn off your phone and hold the menu button while you attach it via USB to your computer.
- see if you're connected properly. Look for command prompt (Windows Key - All Programs - Accessories). Right click on this and run as administrator. Type in the following: fastboot -i 0x0fce getvar version . It will give an obviously positive message if you are correctly connected - if not, ensure you've attached in properly.
- get code to unlock bootloader - go here:
Code:
://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/
and go through the process to get an unlock key. Once you have this, go back to your command prompt and type fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0xUNLOCKKEY (where UNLOCKKEY is the number you have gotten from Sony website. You should get a confirming message.
Now that you've unlocked the bootloader you need to decide what kind of kernel and ROM you want. You can regard the ROM as software whereas the kernel links the software to the hardware. This is my limited understanding anyway.
3. Now, sometimes people make standalone kernels and sometimes they are kept with the ROM.
This leaves a couple of options
- you can flash a stand-alone kernel using flashtool (
Code:
://androxyde.github.com/
). The process is pretty simple.
- Now, if you download a ROM which advises that you need to extract and flash a file called "boot.img" there is a different method. In this case your ROM zip file can be extracted to find the boot.img file.
When you get the boot.img file you can place it in C:\. Now, all advice will be to place it in the platform-tools folder which is created in step 1. It doesn't matter really so long as you point at the right place when flashing.
(I also think that you can use flashtool in flashmode to do this job....)
4. Now you have a kernel on your Xperia and seeing as you've got the bootloader unlocked you can now unplug the phone and turn it on. While the phone is booting up, keep toggling the volume button and it should go into bootloader. This is a text-based interface that allows you several functions.
Somewhere in there is an option to mount the SD card (for which you need to plug into your comp again)
5. You'll see the phone's SD card in Windows explorer and will be able to put your ROM onto it (NOT the extracted stuff from earlier but the original zip file).
6. You can now install this ROM but first clear all data and the dalvik cache. I also always to the battery stats here too. It might take a little bit of exploring to find these.
7. Now you can go to "install zip from SD Card". Step through and you will find where you put the ROM zip file. Select it and install the ROM.
At this point, you may get a bit frustrated - because it's here that you find things like:
The ROM sucks
Bits don't work or
You can't get it to work
For any of the above try again....
Currently I'm on Paranoid Android ICS ROM which I like but if I can't get the Wi-Fi working there's no way I'll be sticking to it. Another that I really liked and will return to is Boost HD RC4
I hope it works out for you.....
Tony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have mentioned that the only thing I was successful doing was unlocking the bootloader...but then I was told to re-lock it so I could update using the PC companion.......... very annoying
thanks for the detailed reply..
I'm thinking now I wont bother with ICS and ill just root my current version 2.3.4 but yet again ive run into problems with dead links since most have not been updated since this time last year..
*EDIT*
I've tried DooMLords app thing to root, and all I get is a bunch of errors
trying to post a pic with all the errors but im not allowed...............................frustration after frustration after frustration

Try downloading some custom kernels n Roms from this site to see which version of ICS suits not best
There are threads with very explicit details on how to do so, you just need to look
I used to be a noob, on longer the case now.
Currently running acronium 2.4 with doomkernel v04 with WiFi modules, learned how to do all this from here
I'll figure out a site to upload all that I've downloaded so you have access to them with instructions cause some links don't work in other threads
Sent from my LT15i using xda app-developers app

Related

So close, I could cry.... Begging for my ARC to be Rooted!

Hi Folks
I'm sick of all the bloat-ware on my Sony Arc (Purchased last Aug). I've recently had the phone unlocked and for the life of me, I can't root the damn thing. I've spent the last few days, trawling through all the helpful posts on this site (very informative and top notch stuff), but no matter what I try, the links on the posts are either no longer valid, the exploits have now been patched or my firmware is not listed.
Please, please, please, can someone give me a "Dummie's Guide" on how to root my phone.
My Arc is running Version : 2.3.4, Build Number : 4.0.2.A.0.62
Incidentally, just in case anyone is wondering, if I switch the phone off, hold down the menu key and connect to the USB, my phone displays the little blue led.
The closest I've came to successfully rooting (from my numerous attempts on here) was a simple click systems screen by DoomLord. My phone seemed to take to the program and then rebooted fine, but it still wasn't rooted. I've enabled USB Debugging and enabled unknown sources, etc.
This is driving me crazy. Can anyone help, please?
Dacvolvo said:
Hi Folks
I'm sick of all the bloat-ware on my Sony Arc (Purchased last Aug). I've recently had the phone unlocked and for the life of me, I can't root the damn thing. I've spent the last few days, trawling through all the helpful posts on this site (very informative and top notch stuff), but no matter what I try, the links on the posts are either no longer valid, the exploits have now been patched or my firmware is not listed.
Please, please, please, can someone give me a "Dummie's Guide" on how to root my phone.
My Arc is running Version : 2.3.4, Build Number : 4.0.2.A.0.62
Incidentally, just in case anyone is wondering, if I switch the phone off, hold down the menu key and connect to the USB, my phone displays the little blue led.
The closest I've came to successfully rooting (from my numerous attempts on here) was a simple click systems screen by DoomLord. My phone seemed to take to the program and then rebooted fine, but it still wasn't rooted. I've enabled USB Debugging and enabled unknown sources, etc.
This is driving me crazy. Can anyone help, please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash this kernel
http://icxperia.com/doomlord/arc/ask/ARC-Advanced-Stock-v01-boot.img
and have fun..
HOW TO FLASH
1) Open the fastboot folder (generally android-sdk\platform-tools\) and copy the downloaded file there (and better if you rename it to boot.img)
2) Press SHIFT key and right click on any blank part of the explorer window
3) Click on "Open Command Window Here"
4) On the command window type
Code:
fastboot.exe flash boot <kernel name>.img
Have fun..
Hit Thanks if I helped you
Hi now.i.feel
Problems with that too - when I click on your above link, it downloads as a Zip File to my lap-top's desktop and I then try to unzip it, but all I get is a window popping up which says this file cannot be unzipped or opened as it is not a valid Zip File???
I've tried to simply replace it in the "Fast Boot" folder on my desk top (replacing DoomLord's Zip File in there entitled LT15i_4.0.1.A.0.283_Generic_Global_system.img), but now the Command Window won't open???
What am I doing wrong?
Try to use flashtool.
You can find a download link of flashtool on this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1000012
After this, is just a matter of conect your fone to PC and push Root button.
.62 can't be rooted, you would either have to downgrade like it looks you have or flash a custom kernel like above.
Chances are that zip is actually made from flashtool, download it put the zip in its folder and change the extension to .ftf.
Edit: sorry blonde moment, download any kernel that has cwm, use fastboot boot boot.IMG then use doomlords zergrush script, that will install su and busybox for you.
Sent from my LT18i using XDA
PS. .62 FW CAN BE ROOTED WITH UNLOCKED BOOTLOADER
downgrading, flashing kernel , flashing prerooted roms is a long process and unecessary. You loose your data too.
fastest way (no data loss)
1. Unlock bootloader
2. Download root that supports install via recovery. put it in SD
3. Install CWM
4. Boot into recovery
5. Choose apply update from SD
6. Choose the zip and install it
7. Start up the phone and update the Superuser and SU binary

[GUIDE][All-In-One]LG Optimus Me P350

So, I decided to write this guide here as I couldn't find a complete one and had to jump from thread to thread (and sometimes even the sub-forum) for finding the answer.
First I wrote it in my blog and I decided to post it here. Maybe some steps are vague in details but I'm planning to detail it even more (remember, I wrote it in my personal blog first). So, here it is:
AIO LG Optimus Me P350 Guide​
Some Personal History
My experience with Android. UF! Where to start? So, I got my phone from the United States. You have no idea how wonderful it was to have the phone in my hands. Anxiety and curiosity. For some reason I always read that the first thing anyone does is root the phone and then continue doing everyday activities that do not require root, so I tried to live without rooting the phone, but I couldn’t wait for the week to go by. I had to get the best! Small problems, fixes and updates. And since I have my phone on sale, I publish this step by step guide to modify it and not die trying.
Tech Specs
Let’s start from the beginning, know the phone. Mid/low-range phone created by LG for those in a short budget but want to have a good Android experience. It has a 600 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM and ROM capacity of 512 (140 MB available for applications and data). 2.8 inch capacitive screen, 240 × 320 screen resolution. Wi-Fi b/g wireless connection, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, and USB 2.0 up to 480 Mbit/s. 3.1 MP camera (no flash) and FM Radio. Not bad for a basic device. Complete specifications can be found here. Enough for a casual user. But if you’re not a casual user (hence a XDA member), read on.
First of all, everything you do on the phone number is on your own. You yourself are responsible for what you do, not do, stop doing, fail, fail to read and/or shortcut you may have taken. These steps are the ones that worked for me. I am not responsible if the phone dies in the process, the cat bites the cable in the middle process, the heavens begins to fall, the 3rd world war starts or if the neighbor has a heart attack … You’ll be calling 911 afterwards… You’ve been warned!
USB Debugging
The first thing you have to learn is to turn on USB debugging. Here is a guide how to do it (If you wanna see a pictorial guide). But essentially you have to go to Settings > Application > Development and check where it says USB Debugging. Pretty easy. What is this good for? Well, for starters. modify the phone however we see fit. But most important USB Debugging allows the phone to communicate verbosely with PC with the Android SDK installed. More on this later.
KDZ Updater
KDZ Updater is an application used by LG for flashing official operating systems themselves. How did this application saw daylight outside the company, I don’t know very well, but apparently a leak appeared on LG India, but not sure. In any case, this application is our last line of salvation and the main tool for our little friend.
To install official KDZs must follow these steps:
Install the updated drivers by following the steps listed on this page.
Connect the phone with USB Debugging activated
IMPORTANT: Disable the Virtual USB Modem device from Windows Device Manager. Omit this step and the device may brick in the upgrade process.
Run the application in Administrator mode (only required on Windows Vista / 7).
In the Type drop-down list select 3GQCT and in PhoneMode, DIAG. Where it says Version, will appear the version that is installed on the phone.
Select the KDZ file to install by clicking on the button with the folder icon. Preferably save the file KDZ in the root of the hard drive as there will be little chance for error when reading the file.
Press the button “Launch Software Update”. The phone will reboot into Emergency Mode. This is normal.
Pray all you know and go for a cup of tea. The process takes about 8 to 10 minutes.
If all went well, the phone will turn off and the program displays a line that says = FINISHED =.
To start, first go into recovery mode by pressing the following buttons: Vol- & Power. This will make any old or unnecessary information to be removed. The phone will reboot into the system normally.
Original Thread
Root (Gingerbreak and SuperOneClick)
Ok, what we came here for. Rooting the phone. How do I do? It’s scary! Says who?! Lets start with the choices we have. Ok, we have the phone, but we have not updated anything, How do I get root? Gingerbreak comes on the scene. Pretty simple process: download, Enable USB Debugging, run, press Root, wait for the restart, confirm. Simple, right? Also read the instructions and warning on the link above in case something I overlooked, but that basically is the process. By the way, install Busybox, very important for future processes.
Stop, stop, stop … And if I upgraded the phone? Gingerbreak seems not to work! What do I do?! Mainly, DO NOT PANIC! First things first. Go to “About phone” and see that version it says; something different than 2.2? Cool, no problem. SuperOneClick comes on scene. Download the application, unzip. I assume you already installed the drivers, right? Otherwise, do it and come back when you have done so. Ready? Continue. Turn on USB Debugging and connect the phone to the computer. Execute the application and press the button that says “Root”. Need more information? Here is a video explaining step by step (its in spanish, but graphics needs no language) and if the antivirus gets all paranoid, read the explanation here.
Recovery (Amon-RA and CWM)
Ok, moving on. Just as clarification: From this step on, the phone should already be rooted. Otherwise, you will mourn at the very end because the phone will brick and you’ll end with a very good and expensive paperweight. What is a Recovery? Here the answer.
This is essential before changing the insides of the phone and a step that I believe needs to be forever linked to rooting process. Why? Simple! Installing a Recovery allows full system backup and restore if something goes wrong. That linking to rooting process? Because if you install a root application, modify the system, and damage the system, it can be restored to a previous time and we’re all happy campers. See?
So this is where we get our hands dirty. Initially, I ask again, have you installed the drivers? (From this point on I shouldn’t ask) Have you rooted the phone? Responded twice yes? Perfect. Now, download the Android SDK or only the .zip attached here (unzip preferably in C:\ADB\) to continue this process. Also download the Recovery that you will install, we have Amon-RA and ClockworkMod (CWM) v5, v5 touch, and v6, extract the recovery.img file to the folder where adb.exe is (If you used the SDK installer, should be at C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools\; if you used the .zip, and extracted as recommended, C:\ADB\). Which to choose? My recommendation, CWM v5 (either one). Connect the phone to the computer in with USB Debugging activated. By the way, how do you feel using command line in Windows? Moving on…
Open a command window, go to where adb.exe is and run the following commands:
Code:
adb push recovery.img /sdcard/
adb push flash_image /sdcard/
With this we have copied what we need into the phone’s SD card. Just to clarify: 1) the flash_image file can only be found in the recovery Amon-RA zip (not sure if it is generic or modified exclusively for the P350, then I’d rather play it safe) and 2) CWM recovery v5 and v5 touch files come in zip-installable, but you can open the file and use recovery.img in it. In CWM v6 there is an installable zip and another to follow this same process. Lets continue…
Code:
adb shell
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock1 /system
# cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
# chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
# sync
Up to this we have only prepared the area to install the Recovery. It it recommended to reboot the phone in this step, in case you run out of virtual memory but is not really so necessary (If you see an error message, then reboot). That’s yours decision. Continue…
Code:
adb shell
$ su
# flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img
# sync
To confirm that everything is installed without issues it must happen one thing and do another thing. What must happen is when you execute the flash_image command, no errors should appear, if otherwise reboot and repeat the last block of commands. What must be done is execute the command reboot recovery and if everything is alright, you should go into Recovery menu, if not then all the information has been erased and back to square 1 (it happened to me the first time).
Kernel
Just for safety: are drivers installed? Root acquired? Recovery installed? Already made a backup of the ROM in use at the moment (so far should be the LG ROM)? Do it!!
So, what’s a kernel? Here’s the answer. What choices do we have? Well not too many, it depends. Are we still on the LG Stock ROM or a Froyo-based ROM (oh, getting ahead aren’t we?!)? Well, the truth, with this ROMs there are not many: Team Pecan Kernel would be my recommendation, RoQ Kernel which also works quite well. CM7 ROM or any other Gingerbread-based? Ron's RM CAF Kernel (updated weekly), pax0r kernel (discontinued), Vivek Kernel (also discontinued but higher than pax0r). Read how to use Recovery for the installation of installable zip files from Recovery. This is also applicable for the installation of ROMs.
ROM
Still with me? Still no cardiac arrest? Relax, breathe! As we reach the last modification process of the phone. After surviving this, you will have the full capacity to recover the phone from any eventuality. Dictionary, which is a ROM? Here the answer.
ROM, What options do we have? Well, although it may seems, there are many options to choose from! We have some created from source code, based-on and others that have been “ported” to work with the device. Among those created from the source we have: CyanogenMod 7.2, Pure CM Invasion and CyanogenMod 9 (Work in Progress, not quite stable), based-on: Androm x4.2 (CM7) Arc XP (CM7), Gingerbread Optimus UI (CM7) Gingerblur (CM7) and MIUI v4 (based on CM7, Arc XP with a theme very close to the real MIUI, Japanese ROM). Ports: JoyOS, ICS (Discontinued unstable), BeautySense (Decent and functional).
Further Development/Tweaks
At the moment a new tool has been released called LG P350 Pecan Toolkit, developed by antdking. Its in early development and so far it roots, unroots and installs recovery. Saves some the hassle of the command line but if we haven’t gone through all the problems and commands, what have we learned? Anyways, here’s the original thread where you can follow the development and post ideas or bugs.
If you wanna go all-in into ROM cracking and research, we have also the LGExtract tool, which unpacks the KDZ file into bits and pieces. DZ Extract Tool extracts the files within a DZ package very much into source code. I've used these tools but as my experience with coding and android development is very close to none all I've done is extract the files and read them. Antdking reminded me of a simple yet powerful tool to continue decompiling the LG filesystem called unyaffsmbn. I came across it when we were trying to decompile baseband (amss.mbn) for CM9 without success, just lo later know that the tool just decompiled system.mbn. Oh well. Antdking compiled unyaffsmbn into a nice little tool ready to work, here it is.
The volume on this phone, as many may know, is low. But there is a way to elevate it. Execute the phone app and press: 3845#*350#. This will bring up a Hidden Menu. Go to: Device Test > Sound Test > Audio CAL Tool > Subsystem Calibration. In the Gain Type dropdown list, select Speaker Gain. Set Data textbox gets focus, input the number 90 and press OK button. In Gain Type, select Input1 Gain, and we press Ok button again. Exit the Hidden Menu. This will elevate the speaker volume but just temporary, it will be restored to default values when rebooted. So either don't reboot or repeat this process everytime you reboot.
And that would be all. Happy hacking!
Great kudos to the real developers here:
drapalyuk: For the first ever recovery for P350, Amon-RA
pax0r: Started it all, Kernel, ROM
ron gokhle: ROMs, Kernel and Recovery builds
vivekkalady: Kernel, Touch Recovery, first ICS port, and some other fix work
nikhil4186: For the KDZ Guide (although written originally for LG P500
antdking: For a great-to-be toolkit
great guide good job
Nicely written.Its a really good guide for all those who are new to P-350 and I believe that it will help them to learn some of the basic stuff.Well done!
to go on the end of this guide, how to extract the files out of the system.mbn to get the system files
http://db.tt/7VruqEzr
it returns similar files to what you find in a rom
I did not make unyaffsmbn
I made the tool that uses unyaffsmbn
enjoy
antdking said:
to go on the end of this guide, how to extract the files out of the system.mbn to get the system files
http://db.tt/7VruqEzr
it returns similar files to what you find in a rom
I did not make unyaffsmbn
I made the tool that uses unyaffsmbn
enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
got the PM and you reminded me of that tool (I remembder I came across it when we were trying to crack amss.mbn for CM9)... I'll post the original thread and the tool you just mentioned...
Updated adding unyaffsmbn tool... Thanks antdking!
Added Volume tweak for speaker to sound harder.
Added P350 (and guide) to XDA wiki. http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/LG_Optimus_Me
dbarrera said:
Added P350 (and guide) to XDA wiki. http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/LG_Optimus_Me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man :good::good::good::good::good::good::good::good:
Guys We have got Official Support From XDA Please Move This Thread To Our Device Section
Very good!!!
I placed some problem I am having, just in case you have time an patience for this case.
Tks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2461183
Great Guide Man! Thanks a lot.

Rooting Every Spreadtrum SC6820/SC8810 phones ! (1.5)

Hello,
In this thread I will teach you every method I had to use to root any Spreadtrum devices, Starting with the riskless ones to the reckless ones.
I have to warn you that the last root method (using ResearchDownload to load a modified system.img) may be dangerous ! (because of possible partition table changes)
The others methods are pretty safe, don't be afraid by them if you do exactly what I wrote.
Theses processors are also named SP6820 and SP8810, it's exactly the same processor, it's just some misnaming from Chinese sellers.
Theses methods do work on the newest Spreadtrum CPUs, like the SC7710 (the 3G WCDMA model), and the more powerful SC8825/SC6825 (dual core).
Why buying a Spreadtrum based phone ?
They are really cheap, and they work amazingly well ! They can play some games and emulators very well, that's unexpected for such low end devices (50$ or less)
They usually only have 256MB of RAM but despite that, they still runs well ! (I tested a lot of games and some 3D games are working flawlessly, pretty amazing) - I discovered that they are using zram (or other swap methods) to provide more RAM by compressing it when needed. That's pretty neat and really helps with such a small amount of RAM !
They are very good as a portable multimedia device, to read mails, browsing the web, play some games, mp3, videos.
As a 2G phone they are competent, but the 2G modem is not as good as the one in MTK processors. (It takes longer to load something in the same conditions)
Boot very fast, and have decent battery life. (3-4 hours of video out of a 1200 mAh battery - 5-6 hours out of a 1800 mAh)
Why you should not ?
Not true anymore, but they were extremely difficult to root in some cases.
They don't seem to be well tested ... You can have a microphone so quiet nobody will be able to ear you. But it's easy to fix as you can see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=38731407
They don't have any form of usable 3G support. (except the SC7710 who have WCDMA 850/2100 compatibility)
They usually have only 256MB of RAM again. So that can be a problem when you are, for example, using Opera Mobile Classic with more than 3 tabs. And make the transition between apps longer.
SC6820 and SC8810 model are all using Android 2.x, even if some are marketed as Android 4.0 phone (very big and blatant lie !)
They usually use android 2.3, but some are only Android 2.2 phones ! (The fake Android 4.0.3 for instance is usually only android 2.2)
SC6825 and SC8825 seems to only have a (real this time) Android 4.0.3 firmware. 4.1 are better is often advertised, but it's again ... lies ... Android 4.0 is not really suitable for phones with only 256 MB of RAM, so SC6825/8825 phones are pretty rough on the edges. Using more than one tab on the default web browser is asking for troubles for example.
They all use the MocorDroid Firmware. It's some kind of fork of Android that use NON-Standards and sometime buggy Launchers and they often use alternative keyboards like Go Keyboard which is kind of a bad choice considering the RAM and ROM constraints on theses devices ...
The only difference between the SC6820 and the SC8810 is the support for the Chinese form of 3G.
If you don't live in china, that means this two processors are essentially the same. (Don't trust sellers, the 8810 is NOT WCDMA "3G" compatible)
Some phones with the fake Android 4.0.3 based on 2.3.5 will brick themselves nearly 2 months after you first used it. It's a really weird behavior of this early Spreadtrum firmware. So if you have this firmware, just do whatever it takes to root it, make a backup and install CWM as soon as possible to be able to recover from this possible breakage. It's only a problem with a fraction of Spreadtrum phones, but you will be very happy if you have installed CWM before encountering it ^^ (applicable only if you bought one in 2012)
A lot of fakery in the Spreadtrum scene. For example fake MTK6515/MTK6572 phones that are in fact just SC6820/SC6825 phones with a firmware modified to lie its processor ID to populars android benchmarking tools like Antutu Benchmark.
If you are searching for a 512MB RAM phone, you'd better go for an MTK(6575/6572 or better) Phone. As you will never find a real 512MB Spreadtrum phone in the jungle of lies you are looking at ...
On all model with 2.3.5 based firmware (SC6820 and SC8810 essentially), you can have a lot of problems with the SIM card detection on some sim cards. For example I can't call somebody with mine, but I can answer a call or send/receive SMS ... Very weird bug ...
This bug seems to be related on the type a sim card you have. With some their is no problem at all.
I can confirm that it's working flawlessly on SC6825 and 8825 based phones with the real 4.0.3 based firmware.
Why rooting it ?
Because a lot of them come with a lot of sh*tty softwares, including the bad launcher and keyboard.
Because they can come with a "Virus" that can send SMS messages to china (so you have to pay for unwanted international SMS cost)
I myself have this Virus on one of my phones, as of now, I haven't noticed anything unusual. Just the useless, unkillable com.android.caivs.app process eating 15 MB of RAM doing nothing. (It is a significant waste of ram on such devices)
(As of now I only seen this malware on Feiteng devices - You can share your experience with this thing down bellow)
More about CAIVS here: http://web.archive.org/web/20110812021151/http://www.cseed.cn/chinese/news/portfolio2.htm
That virus was on most of the earliest Spreadtrum phones but don't seem to be a worry nowadays. But I haven't tried any new Feiteng devices. They were so poor in quality that I will never buy feiteng again so find it by yourselves if you feel adventurous xD
How-to do that ?!
If you are lucky you will be able to root your phone by traditional means.
If you are not, you can root them by manually adding the root utilities to the ROM.
I will describe every methods that you should try in order of difficulty and risks.
Before doing any of that, go to the android setting -> applications -> Development -> Check USB Debugging.
Universal Root utilities
Theses methods are safe, and the second one is, as of now, working on every Spreadtrum phones flawlessly !
1.1 - Z4Root
Just try z4root !
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=833953
z4root is a little tool to root Android 2.2 and sometime work on 2.3
It's known to work on devices with the fake Android 4.0.3 based on 2.2 and MocorDroid 2.2.2
It may work on more of them, just try, there is no risks at all.
Make sure you have at least 50 MB of available space on the /data partition before trying this. (not the SDCard, the Applications Space)
Try a temporary root to see if it works, then you can do the permanent root.
You will maybe have to try it 2 or 3 times before it works.
Even if it doesn't work, reboot the phone after this. Because it can eat your battery while running in the backgroung if it fails.
1.2 - vRoot
vRoot is a chinese tool to root many devices !
It's proved to work very well with Spreadtrum (and MTK) devices. I used it successfully on a lot of Spreadtrum devices, even the most recent ones (SC8825).
You only need a Windows Computer (I personally use it on Windows 7 32bits).
Then download it from here: http://www.mgyun.com/en/getvroot
Install it and then open it.
As of now you only need to plug your USB cable to your computer, and then click on the Root button. (you don't need to do anything else, don't touch your phone)
Once it's done and the phone rebooted you will be rooted !
The root app is some kind of custom chinese one, but it's working properly.
Don't try to replace it with SuperSU as SuperSU don't seem to work properly on Spreadtrum devices.
If you want to understand what the root app is saying, try to set the language on your device to English.
2 - Custom Firmware Flash
Please never use any custom firmware available in .pac file format ! Or at least, don't use them before doing a full backup of your current firmware !
Feiteng A7100 (only if you have the mt6515_c910_ht_en_4.0_v01 rom/firmware on it !!! If not, don't touch it, you will end up with a brick ! Or screen reversed, or other strange bugs): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2149396
If you have a Feiteng A7100 I really recommend NOT TO USE this rom ! Why ? Because it only works on a fraction of A7100, newer releases of the same phone don't use the same firmware. With this tutorial here, you can root your A7100 easily and way safer. Please go to "4-" on this tutorial to know how to root your A7100.
If you append to find some others Custom roms for spreadtrum devices, or are making one, please send me a PM, I will link them here.
3 - Fastboot to the rescue !
If every fast, simple and secure methods are not working, then this will be difficult my friend !
3.1 - Find Fasboot
First, let check if we have fastboot in your phone !
Fastboot is a little tool inside the bootloader. It's here to help you flash the firmware.
Not every Spreatrum phones have it, so let's check if you are lucky !
You can access it by powering on the phone up while holding a key.
First power off your phone.
Then hold some button like volume+
while pressing this button, press and hold down the power button.
Keep holding the two buttons until the screen light up.
You should now have something on your screen. Maybe a system diagnostic tool (a menu with a set of system tests, that's totally useless) or maybe the recovery mode (a screen with a warning sign, and now your phone is stuck here until you pull out the battery) or, and that means victory, a screen that says "Fastboot".
If you are not on fastboot, but are on the Recovery or the System Test, turn the phone off again and try another button press at boot time exactly like I said before.
This time, try the Home button if you have one, or the Volume-.
You should also try buttons combinations. Like volume up and down at the same time. Home + vol Up, etc and maybe the 3 at the same time ...
(if you just boot as if nothing was pressed, you maybe have to unplug the battery, wait for a while and put it back before powering the phone on. Theses things are also not working when the usb/charging cable is plugged in - if some keys combinations are not doing anything, it's perfectly fine, it means they don't trigger any hidden boot mode)
If nothing bring fastboot up, you have to use the Spreadtrum Debug tool "ResearchDownload" ...
So Skip to "4-" ! ^^
3.2 - Install the drivers
If you append to find Fastboot, we will have to install the PC part of it !
Like every android phone, you have to install adb and his drivers to access the Android Debug Bridge.
You can find them and learn how they work here: http://dottech.org/21534/how-to-ins...ows-computer-for-use-with-your-android-phone/
On Ubuntu or Debian Linux you just have to install them that way:
Code:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
You also have to install the phone drivers if you are using Windows:
ADB Drivers: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?c5nf3rlhxmxhu4x
Debug Drivers: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2tyg0k2xp3ejgyg
Mirror: http://www.mediafire.com/?o9km8vl287ev24j
Then you will have to tell adb what phone to use. By that I mean adding the PCI ID to a text file to tell adb that this peripheral is compatible.
The Spreadtrum PCI ID is 0x1782
add this line to "Your user directory/.android/adb_usb.ini"
Code:
0x1782
3.3 - Using fastboot to load CWM (Clockwork Mod)
CWM work on some of theses Spreadtrum devices, most of the time, the screen is reversed, but it works !
On some phone, you will be presented with a blank screen, but CWM will work ... That will just be very difficult to navigate ... (don't bother and use another method if you append to be in this boat)
Here are the recovery images available for Spreadtrum device to my knowledge:
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?u6uyignmdcpillt - extracted from a random SC6820 that I don't remember
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bosnfcq9n65mtc5 - i9270+
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xem49dy5dh99ml0 - 5830, S5830, Q5830, Q206 and GT-N9300 (maybe more)
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?adfwq6b5268qb58 - S9300 (SC6820A S3 Clone)
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?y2f7aaan4b00l1m - Feiteng GT-A7100 and probably more Feiteng devices.
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lg7m6v49efzpnjk - 6500-TV or S560
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?6xn977jjsuusjan - N9300 (I9300 Clone)
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?d68wc334qn47tdd - S930 or N8820
If your device is not listed or the one for your device doesn't work, try them all, even if your phone is SC6820 and the recovery was made for SC8810, if none are working, we will have to flash the entire system partition, which is a lot more difficult and dangerous ...
Flashing CWM to the phone:
Linux Only: Initialize ADB:
Code:
sudo adb kill-server
sudo adb start-server
Boot your phone in fastboot mode.
Be sure your device shows up:
Code:
fastboot devices
if your device show up, it's time to flash
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
It's flashed ! Let's reboot now.
Code:
fastboot reboot
Start on CWM, if it works, you can start to root the phone !
Download this patch: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?131nsw87afzwb5v
Put it on the root of your SD Card.
Now you will have to boot on CWM, he is on the same key combination than the old useless recovery was. (Most of the time Volume- and Power)
You can also try this command with adb:
Code:
adb reboot recovery
Now it's the perfect time to do a full backup of your firmware with CWM, so please do so, that can come in handy. (please go to the end of this tutorial after rooting your phone to know how to make a FULL backup. CWM will only make a partial one.)
choose apply update.zip
Choose the file you have put on your sd card before
Apply it then reboot.
This update.zip have pushed everything needed to root your phone in the right place, you should be rooted now !
If you have an error like:"Can't mount /sdcard" you may have to try with another SD Card and be sure your SD Card if formated as Fat32.
3.4 - Using Fastboot to load a modified system partition image
Please follow the instructions down bellow on how to "5 - Create a rooted system partition image"
When you have done your Rooted system partition image, flash it like that:
Code:
sudo fastboot devices
#if your device show up, it's time to flash
Code:
sudo fastboot flash system system.img
#It's flashed ... Now let's reboot with all the apprehension of the world
Code:
sudo fastboot reboot
If it boots (should boot), you will be up and rooting !
4 - Spreadtrum ResearchDownload tool to the rescue !
First, if you have fastboot, use fastboot ! It's simple, more reliable, faster. It's bottomline better !
If you don't have fastboot or can't figure out how to bring him up on your phone despite trying for about an hour. This tool will most likely work.
First, you should use Windows XP 32bits. Even real XP or in virtualbox.
It might work on windows 7 32 bits and 64 bits but you will have to tweak the system to allow installation of non signed devices drivers ...
ResearchDownload work as this:
First you start the Channelserver - This thing is here to make a bridge between the tools and the driver.
Then you start ResearchDownload.
Now you can make a full firmware flash (you should not !! It's a terrible idea !) or flash a single partition. But to do that, unfortunately, you should have a compatible set of fdl files.
Finding them on google is impossible, you have to extract them from your full firmware .pac file.
If you can't find your firmware on the Internet, you will have to try every single one you can find from others firmwares. I gathered all the fdl files I could find in a single package, so it won't be that difficult.
It's highly probable that you will find one that will work with your phone. This thing have to boot the phone and flash the Nand Flash chip. I'm pretty sure there is not a lot of different ways to do this on a single processor.
I really don't know the risks of using a wrong fdl set. But we haven't seen any risks at all yet. Some will work on your phone, others will just do nothing. You will just have to try every single one until one work.
I named the folders with the names of the phones I know working with theses. So it will be easier to find the good one. (A7100, 6500-TV, 5830, Q206 and S930 users will feel very lucky ^^)
4.1 - Learn how ResearchDownload Work
First you have to install the drivers, you can find them here:
ADB Drivers: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?c5nf3rlhxmxhu4x
Debug Drivers: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2tyg0k2xp3ejgyg
Then you have to plug your phone to your computer with your micro usb cable. Your phone have to be powered on.
Be sure every pieces of hardware are detected and installed correctly.
As you can see, this phone is not just detected as an ADB device, or as a mass storage device.
It actually have an internal serial port to usb adapter !
In other words that means this processor provide a way to flash his nand very easily even if it is fully bricked. It's a rare and pretty good feature you don't see that often. In fact, most of the time you have to solder a real serial port yourself on the phone motherboard, then have to use a Serial to USB adapter to have this level of access to the hardware.
So yes, back to tutorial.
Now you will have to unplug your phone and turn it off.
You have to download the debug tools, you can download them here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?rngukh111vqfr8h
First you have to start the channel server, you will have to disable your firewall for this app, it's because this tool use a network protocol to communicate with the other tools.
Then open ResearchDownload.
ResearchDownload is a weird flashing utility, it can open a .pac firmware file and can make a .pac out of .img files. You also can flash .img files and that's what we will do. But unfortunately it can't make a full backup ... So be careful !
The cog logo is here to let you open a .pac file. We don't need that as we probably don't have it.
The "two cogs logo" let you configure the flash utility.
Click on this to bring a new window.
On the download settings window, click on select product then choose your type of phone. (SC8810 or SC6820, it doesn't really matters if you take the wrong one out of those two.)
Then uncheck "Select All Files" as you don't have any of theses.
You can see FDL1 and FDL2 are still checked, and you don't have those files ...
As they are needed to start the Flash utility, we will have to find them.
I came across only 3 different FDL1 files, but for theses FDL1 it seems every phone have his own FDL2.
You will have to find the ones that work for you.
Here is an archive of nearly every FDLs available: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?c6q2gxobccv32oj
Choose one FDL1, and one FDL2 located in the same folder. (you can choose a File with a right click on the FileName blank space in front of FDL1)
Click on OK.
Then click on the "Play button" saying start download.
It may show some warning, it's not a problem.
Now, press Volume Down on your phone, then you have to plug it on the USB Port, still holding the button.
You can release the button when the flash begins.
You may have to press an other button than Volume-. Some phones are reported to use the Home Button instead.
You may also have to remove, wait a while, and reinsert the battery before holding volume- or after the flashing procedure to be able to start the phone.
If ResearchDownload shows you an error or timeout, try another set of FDLs Files. Keep trying until you find one pair that work !
If it works the flashing process should start right away. Just a millisecond after Windows have detected and initialized the device when you plugged it.
When you have the right FDLs, you can go to the next step, flashing something useful ^^ (we haven't flashed anything as of now, just been searching for a compatible flashing bios)
If your working FDLs folder does not have the name of your phone, please tell me what phone you have and what FDLs you used so I can rename them.
4.2 - Using ResearchDownload to load CWM (Clockwork Mod)
Do exactly as said before, but check the "Recovery" checkbox on Download Settings. and choose one of theses CWM images:
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?y2f7aaan4b00l1m - Feiteng GT-A7100 and probably more Feiteng devices.
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lg7m6v49efzpnjk - 6500-TV or S560
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?6xn977jjsuusjan - N9300 (I9300 Clone)
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?d68wc334qn47tdd - S930 or N8820
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xem49dy5dh99ml0 - 5830, S5830, Q5830, Q206 and GT-N9300 (maybe more)
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bdl1qr7orsj4ebr - extracted from a random SC6820 that I don't remember
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?6g1t6057p6c8wpt - i9720+
* http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?adfwq6b5268qb58 - S9300 (SC6820A S3 Clone)
When you flashed one successfully, try to boot on recovery (Usually by holding Volume- while holding the power button until the screen light up).
If your device is not listed or the one for your device doesn't work, try them all, even if your phone is SC6820 and the recovery was made for SC8810, if none are working, we will have to flash the entire system partition, which is a lot more difficult and dangerous ...
Download this patch: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?131nsw87afzwb5v
Put it on the root of your SD Card.
Now you will have to boot on CWM, remember, he is on the same key combination than the old useless recovery was.
You can also try this command with adb:
Code:
adb reboot recovery
Now it's the perfect time to do a full backup of your firmware with CWM, so please do so, that can come in handy. (please go to the end of this tutorial after rooting your phone to know how to make a FULL backup. CWM will only make a partial one.)
choose apply update.zip
Choose the file you have put on your sd card before
Apply it then reboot.
This update.zip have pushed everything needed to root your phone in the right place, you should be rooted now !
If you have an error like:"Can't mount /sdcard" you may have to try with another SD Card and be sure your SD Card if formated as Fat32.
4.3 - Using ResearchDownload to load a modified system partition image
Now we are in deep **** ! This can be tedious ... You will need to drink a lot of coffee, then you will probably pull your hair off, but it's possible to root every single Spreadtrum devices this way !
Please follow the instructions down bellow on how to "5 - Create a rooted system partition image"
When you have done your Rooted system partition image, reboot on Windows, then flash it like that:
Do exactly as said on the paragraph on how ResearchDownload works, but check the "System" checkbox on Download Settings, and choose your modified system.img file to flash it on the device.
As it is still not tested at all, you will have to pray some kind of Spreadtrum God and hope it will be successful ...
The first boot after the flash can be very VERY long. It's perfectly normal.
After the flash is done, please make a full backup (see bellow how you can do that), so I can make a Clockwork recovery partition working with your phone.
You may need to flush your data partition with CWM to avoid some crazy bugs after the flash. You will have theses bugs because of the partitions realignment that might occurs as a result of using a slightly different FDL set as the manufacturer.
Don't even try to do a factory settings reset before installing CWM, as I don't know what monster can lie ahead if you do a factory reset without any working recovery installed
(If your phone doesn't boot after the flash, it is possible to flush the data and cache partition with ResearchDownload. I will explain it, if needed !)
5 - Create a rooted system partition image
Please always try the CWM method first ! There is no risks at all to destroy your phone if the recovery is not working. Here we are making a new system image to flash on the system partition, this partition contain the Android operating system. I will try to explain everything as good as I can, but if you make a mistake, if you don't read my warnings, you can brick your phone very easily !
That will be difficult ... And you will have to use a Linux computer, or Linux in Virtualbox, or in a Live CD, basically you will need Linux somewhere on your computer ^^
Why ? Because we will have to preserve unix permissions on an extracted tar archive ! Trust me, you will probably brick your phone if you do that on windows ...
#Install ADB
Code:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
#Configure ADB
Code:
mkdir ~/.android
Code:
echo 0x1782 > ~/.android/adb_usb.ini
#Start the ADB server
Code:
sudo adb kill-server
sudo adb start-server
#Just let's check just in case if your device is already rooted
Code:
adb shell su -c id
Possible answers:
uid = 0 (root) gid = 0 (root) - your phone is already rooted ! (if you haven't noticed it, it's because superuser.apk is not installed, so just push it and install it via ADB and you are rooted !)
SU: Permission denied - You are not rooted ... Good luck then !
#Now we will backup the system partition !
Code:
adb shell tar -cf /mnt/sdcard/system.tar system
Please pay attention to the errors !
There will be missing files, and we will have to add theses by ourselves after the backup to pretend to have a full backup.
Here is the archive for the known missing files: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?fm1z5ujc75bg268
If you have more than theses:
Code:
tar: can not open 'system/etc/dbus.conf': Permission denied
tar: can not open 'system/etc/bluetooth/audio.conf': Permission denied
tar: can not open 'system/etc/bluetooth/auto_pairing.conf': Permission denied
tar: can not open 'system/etc/bluetooth/input.conf': Permission denied
tar: can not open 'system/etc/bluetooth/main.conf': Permission denied
tar: system/lost+found: Permission denied
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
Then you should just give up, or tell me so I can send you the missing files.
Note: Lost+found is not important, it's just a folder automatically created by Linux to collect any corrupt files.
#Now we will pull this nearly full backup to our computer. Please keep it preciously somewhere secure.
Code:
adb pull /mnt/sdcard/system.tar
#Warning, theses next steps have to be made ONLY on Linux on an ext2/3/4 partition ! Please never attempts to do this on Windows or On Linux on a FAT32 partition.
#untar the archive
Code:
sudo tar -xvpf system.tar
#now we will restore the files we have not been able to backup.
#Download this archive if you haven't done this before: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?fm1z5ujc75bg268
#Then extract it on the same folder as you extracted your system.tar file with this command:
Code:
sudo tar -xvpf btdbus.tar
#Now it's time to add the root utilities, you can download them from here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?v69nm172heos17o
Code:
sudo tar -xvpf root.tar
sudo cp Superuser.apk system/app/Superuser.apk
sudo install -m 06755 su system/xbin/su
#Now we will get rid of this virus ! (the file name can be something else. Like caivs.apk, or some random numbers at the end)
Code:
sudo rm system/app/eyuSales_20121116.apk
#And now you will have to make a flashable system image with this tool, included in the root.tar archive
Code:
sudo ./mkyaffs system system.img
#Now you can reboot your phone in fastboot or use researchdownload to flash your new System image.
6 - Do a full nand backup
Here is how to do a full nand backup of your beloved Spreadtrum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=39270468
7 - Don't forget to remove to caivs Virus
When you are rooted, you can remove the Virus or any preinstalled apps using Link2SD.
I suggest you to remove everything you have preinstalled if it is available on the Google Play Store (except the keyboard or the launcher !!!). For example if you have an old version of ES File Explorer on your phone preventing you from updating it, you can remove it safely, then install the updated version from the the Play Store.
Never try to remove something that you don't know what it is !
For the Launcher or keyboard. You can remove them only if you installed a new one on the System partition and tested it successfully !
-----
I want to thanks every peoples at http://forum.china-iphone.ru and Yekdall for being one of the first to type something in English about spreadtrum firmware modding !
Data missing?
First of all, thanks a lot for tutorial! Unluckily there is missing the data that i should copy back into the tar and then the img-file. Could you upload the btdbus.tar and the root.tar?
Thanks again, have a nice day!
keulepeter said:
First of all, thanks a lot for tutorial! Unluckily there is missing the data that i should copy back into the tar and then the img-file. Could you upload the btdbus.tar and the root.tar?
Thanks again, have a nice day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm uploading them right now ^^
By the way, what phone are you rooting ? I will try to make a "compatibility list", so I need the model number, and the brand name if any.
Good luck !
EDIT: I added the missing links
Are the sc8810 and sp8810 the same processors?
lynnox said:
Are the sc8810 and sp8810 the same processors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes exactly the same, just a different way to name it.
ElectronikHeart said:
3 recovery images are available for Spreadtrum device to my knowledge:
1 http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?u6uyignmdcpillt
2 http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bosnfcq9n65mtc5
3 http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xem49dy5dh99ml0
Try them all, if none are working, we will have to do that the other way ...
Download this patch: """"""Link missing as of now, I have to upload it"""""""
Put it on the root of your SD Card.
Now you will have to boot on CWM, he is on the same key combination than the old useless recovery was.
choose apply a update.zip
Choose the file you have put on your sd card before
Apply it then reboot.
This update.zip have pushed everything needed to root your phone in the right place, you should be rooted now !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
patch pls. (update.zip)
I'll try to load CWM even though at the moment I can only get into recovery. I have the exact same model as H_Bler's which is why I've been focusing more on his thread. From your description on how to access fastboot, I assume that it's the diagnostic mode when UpVol + Pwr is pressed. I never saw anything that said fastboot. The only thing unusual when I was going through the menus was I always got an error when I try the 4th or 5th option. Unfortunately, I can't really try it again because I can't access it anymore. That goes without saying the I can't work with IMG files as well.
5 - Spreadtrum ResearchDownload tool to the rescue !
Now we are in deep **** ! This is not tested as of now ... So come help me ! You will need to drink a lot of coffee, then you will probably pull your hair off, but we will know if it's possible to root every single Spreadtrum devices !
5.1 - Using ResearchDownload to load CWM (Clockwork Mod)
5.2 - Using ResearchDownload to load a modified system partition image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something to look forward too.
I want to thanks every peoples at http://forum.china-iphone.ru and Yekdall for being one of the first to type something in English about spreadtrum firmware modding !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also been going here. I even tried 3 of the ROMs but I always get the verification failed message. I know it might be too much, but exact links for the thread would really be much appreciated (to be honest, I can't even remember exactly where I got the ROMs. All I remember is that the thread had a lot of collapsible trees.
ElectronikHeart said:
I'm uploading them right now ^^
By the way, what phone are you rooting ? I will try to make a "compatibility list", so I need the model number, and the brand name if any.
Good luck !
EDIT: I added the missing links
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If and when I get my phone fixed/replaced. I'll try your method first. =P
jvrey5 said:
[Lot of things ...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the thing you have when you push up and power is the system test menu. It's located on the android system partition. It's not fastboot.
Fastboot should be something that says "Fastboot" in red letter, or something else unusual.
If you have not fastboot you should use Spreadtrum Researchdownload to flash your phone, I will write the tutorial about it soon.
I really can't link you the thread on the russian forum, first because it will probably confuse you, and also because it's spread everywhere on so many threads it's unbelievable ... That's why I'm doing this centralization work for you ^^
I will post a list of ROMS for recovery purpose. Your phone seem to be bricked. I don't know how you've done it (I really want to know what you phone is and how you've bricked it, that will help me to write the warnings necessary to avoid such cases).
I have 14 roms for Spreadtrum devices, maybe one will work for your phone.
I just want to know what your phone is ^^ Please tell the name of your phone on your posts everyone and if you know how to find it, the exact name of your firmware.
PS: I will upload the patch soon, I'm just searching for a file hosting service that will keep it up and not erasing it 2 hours after I uploaded it ^^
EDIT: Link to the update.zip for rooting you device via CWM added.
Tutorial updated: Spreadtrum debug tools method added.
It may now be possible to root even Spreadtrum devices without Fastboot mode available.
Please feel free to tell me if it works !
ElectronikHeart said:
Tutorial updated: Spreadtrum debug tools method added.
It may now be possible to root even Spreadtrum devices without Fastboot mode available.
Please feel free to tell me if it works !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
need help
Question
Dear Spreadtrum Master!
Please, can you help me with this problem:
I have a Star I8160 phone with Spreadtrum 6820 and 256 MB ROM. It seems, that everything is working fine, the ROM and the phone is fast, and cool. But when i try to use the phone as a phone, i talk to the phone, and the others just only hearing pieces of my sentences. Sometimes the phone is very-very silent, i need to shout for the others to hear. I thought, that this is a microphone problem, so i replaced the microphone. But nothing changed. I had 2 phones from this type, and both produces the same fault, so i think maybe the problem will be with the ROM. What do you think, is it possible? If so, can i replace my normal rom, which is DM_BASE_12A_w12.43 (sc6820_modem) 11-02-2012?
question
Hi ElectronikHeart, i need help
I have a feiteng a7100, and i flash a rom with ResearchDownload.exe, in the flash operations tab i choose the option to erase all flash. Now i have a brick phone. Do you have a copy of nv.bin? Do you know how to recover from it? how can i reflash nand?
thanks
gtxphoenix said:
Dear Spreadtrum Master!
But when i try to use the phone as a phone, i talk to the phone, and the others just only hearing pieces of my sentences. Sometimes the phone is very-very silent, i need to shout for the others to hear. I thought, that this is a microphone problem, so i replaced the microphone. But nothing changed. I had 2 phones from this type, and both produces the same fault,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Master hasn't been in the past few days so I'll try to answer your issue as best I can.
Usually, the phones are designed for a specific region/country. It's possible that your ROM was built for a different one. How sure are you that the ROM which you are replacing it with will work for you? (I assume that you have a backup and you know how to load ROMs) Also, you might want to try editing the build.prop it increase/maximize reception.
To be honest, this is actually a complicated approach. From what you said, it seems that you've made other troubleshooting steps on your own. Since you really did not mention all of them I'm basing my response on what you said.
Let's try to stick to the basics first. Why did you replace the microphone in the first place? If the same issue happens with 2 other phones from this type, I don't think the mic is the problem. Also, does this mean that you can hear them fine, but they have a hard time hearing you? Have you tried using the stock sound recorder on your phone? Is it also choppy? Have you tried using Skype? You don't really have to call anyone, you just need to make a test call.
When using the device as a phone (eg. making calls, sending SMS, MMS, or connecting to the internet using EDGE or 3G), you're actually relying mostly on your carrier/service provider. How many signal bars do you get? The easiest way to test signal related issues would be by using a different SIM or using a different phone. (When you try a different phone, I suggest using a GSM one - the ones that can only make calls or do SMS.) It's highly possible that there's already something wrong with your SIM.
---------- Post added at 01:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 AM ----------
jmss said:
Hi ElectronikHeart, i need help
I have a feiteng a7100, and i flash a rom with ResearchDownload.exe, in the flash operations tab i choose the option to erase all flash. Now i have a brick phone. Do you have a copy of nv.bin? Do you know how to recover from it? how can i reflash nand?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ElectronikHeart hasn't checked in the past few days, so I hope you don't mind me butting in.
When you say brick, does it mean that you don't even have recovery mode? If you don't, try to see if you can put CWM. Once successful, you can try to use the A7100 ROM if your original one was a mt6515_c910_ht_en_4.0_v01 rom using the update.zip
jvrey5 said:
The Master hasn't been in the past few days so I'll try to answer your issue as best I can.
Usually, the phones are designed for a specific region/country. It's possible that your ROM was built for a different one. How sure are you that the ROM which you are replacing it with will work for you? (I assume that you have a backup and you know how to load ROMs) Also, you might want to try editing the build.prop it increase/maximize reception.
To be honest, this is actually a complicated approach. From what you said, it seems that you've made other troubleshooting steps on your own. Since you really did not mention all of them I'm basing my response on what you said.
Let's try to stick to the basics first. Why did you replace the microphone in the first place? If the same issue happens with 2 other phones from this type, I don't think the mic is the problem. Also, does this mean that you can hear them fine, but they have a hard time hearing you? Have you tried using the stock sound recorder on your phone? Is it also choppy? Have you tried using Skype? You don't really have to call anyone, you just need to make a test call.
When using the device as a phone (eg. making calls, sending SMS, MMS, or connecting to the internet using EDGE or 3G), you're actually relying mostly on your carrier/service provider. How many signal bars do you get? The easiest way to test signal related issues would be by using a different SIM or using a different phone. (When you try a different phone, I suggest using a GSM one - the ones that can only make calls or do SMS.) It's highly possible that there's already something wrong with your SIM.
---------- Post added at 01:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 AM ----------
ElectronikHeart hasn't checked in the past few days, so I hope you don't mind me butting in.
When you say brick, does it mean that you don't even have recovery mode? If you don't, try to see if you can put CWM. Once successful, you can try to use the A7100 ROM if your original one was a mt6515_c910_ht_en_4.0_v01 rom using the update.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have recovery mode, the phone doesnt turn on. I already try to put CWN but it doesnt work. I need nv.bin file for sc6820a for rewrite nand flash.
jmss said:
I dont have recovery mode, the phone doesnt turn on. I already try to put CWN but it doesnt work. I need nv.bin file for sc6820a for rewrite nand flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now we really need the Master
gtxphoenix said:
Dear Spreadtrum Master!
Please, can you help me with this problem:
I have a Star I8160 phone with Spreadtrum 6820 and 256 MB ROM. It seems, that everything is working fine, the ROM and the phone is fast, and cool. But when i try to use the phone as a phone, i talk to the phone, and the others just only hearing pieces of my sentences. Sometimes the phone is very-very silent, i need to shout for the others to hear. I thought, that this is a microphone problem, so i replaced the microphone. But nothing changed. I had 2 phones from this type, and both produces the same fault, so i think maybe the problem will be with the ROM. What do you think, is it possible? If so, can i replace my normal rom, which is DM_BASE_12A_w12.43 (sc6820_modem) 11-02-2012?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I had the same problem with one of mine. You just have to use a diagnostic tool from Spreadtrum and adjust the microphone amplification level. I will start a thread on that subject and link it there.
It seems to be a very common problem with Spreadtrum phones, but it is, most of the time, very easy to fix.
edit: here is the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=38731407
WARNING: Don't ever flash if you don't have a working copy of the original firmware somewhere (a complete backup that you have tested your ability to flash back) The first step to do a complete backup, if the manufacturer don't want to send you the firmware, is to successfully root your firmware)
Don't flash if you have a microphone problem, nothing good will happen, this problem is not firmware related AT ALL.
jmss said:
Hi ElectronikHeart, i need help
I have a feiteng a7100, and i flash a rom with ResearchDownload.exe, in the flash operations tab i choose the option to erase all flash. Now i have a brick phone. Do you have a copy of nv.bin? Do you know how to recover from it? how can i reflash nand?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh god ! Why have you checked that option ^^
I may be able to dump my nv.bin file from the a7100 I just bought. (If I recall correctly, the nv.bin contain the imei so I will have to edit it to use your imei instead, imei are written in the battery compartment)
Can you try flashing it a second time entirely, It's possible that your uboot partition (what manage the early time boot operations), is not flashed properly.
Even without the nv partition you phone should be able to boot android, you will just not be able to use the phone as a phone. (make a call and everything)
Try with a better micro usb cable, Chinese ones can be very cheap and corrupt data on the way to the phone.
If your phone is still able to flash using ReasearchDownload that is.
Re: 4.5 - Do a full nand backup and help me make you a new CWM recovery
ElectronikHeart said:
4.5 - Do a full nand backup and help me make you a new CWM recovery
Please if you have rooted your phone using this method, and can't use the CWM method, that mean I can do a CWM that work on your device !
Now that you are rooted, you can make a full backup of your phone with ADB !
#open adb shell:
Code:
adb shell
Code:
I still have to explain this if someone needs it
Then send me you boot.img file and I will send you a recovery.img that you can flash to your recovery partition.
That will help new users to root a lot faster the same phone as you, and will make your life easier is you have to restore a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
>>>
I have also the same kind of chinese android phone, having a model # S930 with the same cpu chipset SP8810 (aka. samsung galaxy s3 clone), i've successfully rooted my chinese android phone, and installed some very usable apps like link2sd & titanium backup pro, i want also to have a full backup of my phone using your methods & ideas, can you help me? where can i find my boot.img so that you can make me my recovery image for my phone? my phone don't have any compatible clockworkmod recovery, but it have a native recovery mode option which work on an update.zip or fastboot....i hope you can help me make my phone recovery image with a rooted features... Thanks!
earl22online said:
where can i find my boot.img so that you can make me my recovery image for my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you already have tested every recovery already posted ?
To make a backup of your boot.img, you will have to do a full backup manually using the Android shell. I will make a tutorial about this, and link it here.
It's pretty easy as you already rooted your phone.
When you have your backup I will, post a recovery.img file suitable to your phone.
Please keep an eye to this post. I will post the tutorial very soon.
ElectronikHeart said:
Oh god ! Why have you checked that option ^^
I may be able to dump my nv.bin file from the a7100 I just bought. (If I recall correctly, the nv.bin contain the imei so I will have to edit it to use your imei instead, imei are written in the battery compartment)
Can you try flashing it a second time entirely, It's possible that your uboot partition (what manage the early time boot operations), is not flashed properly.
Even without the nv partition you phone should be able to boot android, you will just not be able to use the phone as a phone. (make a call and everything)
Try with a better micro usb cable, Chinese ones can be very cheap and corrupt data on the way to the phone.
If your phone is still able to flash using ReasearchDownload that is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already try with tree micro usb cables. when i try to flash with researchDownload it failed at nvitem (after FDL2).
can you post a link to your nv.bin to test it ?
jmss said:
I already try with tree micro usb cables. when i try to flash with researchDownload it failed at nvitem (after FDL2).
can you post a link to your nv.bin to test it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought my A7100, so you will need to wait 2 weeks for me to dump it. Maybe you should try asking to the guy who have made the rooted rom for the A7100 ?
I will, none the less, make a full backup of my phone as soon as I receive it.

f*cked up phone

first of all i want to say that I almost know nothing about rooting and stuff.
I rooted my phone with the all-in-one toolkit and actually didn't know what I was doing. I was just clicking next and did what the screen told me to do. Everything went great and i had no problems until know. I downloaded and flashed the venom dotview tweak but it didn't work and the normal dot view which I reinstalled also didnt work so I decided to do a recovery from the settings app. it was really stupid to do that beacause my softkeys and statusbar are gone know and the flashed apps are still there. Is there a way to have my phone like it was when I bought it? I don't need a root anymore, I just want my phone getting to work normal.
Thanks
CrankyPants said:
first of all i want to say that I almost know nothing about rooting and stuff.
I rooted my phone with the all-in-one toolkit and actually didn't know what I was doing. I was just clicking next and did what the screen told me to do. Everything went great and i had no problems until know. I downloaded and flashed the venom dotview tweak but it didn't work and the normal dot view which I reinstalled also didnt work so I decided to do a recovery from the settings app. it was really stupid to do that beacause my softkeys and statusbar are gone know and the flashed apps are still there. Is there a way to have my phone like it was when I bought it? I don't need a root anymore, I just want my phone getting to work normal.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restore you stock ROM nandroid. Look for it in here COLLECTION of Stock backup's seeing as you really didn't bother to provide us with the relevant and more important information such as the CID and Main software version you were on before you decided to mess your phone up and I doubt you made a backup of your device before doing it.
Is your phone still recognized by a pc?
If so, just load another ROM on your sd card.. Wipe everything and flash through recovery. You'll lose all your data, but your phone will be back.
Since you are new to this - CONGRATS! You just learned the most important rule of flashing. Always make a backup first!
Good luck man. It's an easy fix.
I guess I will be the "bad guy" but why are you messing with your phone when you have no clue what you are doing?
Everyone starts somewhere. Im sure we all learned a lot of what we know now by making lots of stupid mistakes. This logic rings true for life... not just phones.
lucas.scott said:
Is your phone still recognized by a pc?
If so, just load another ROM on your sd card.. Wipe everything and flash through recovery. You'll lose all your data, but your phone will be back.
Since you are new to this - CONGRATS! You just learned the most important rule of flashing. Always make a backup first!
Good luck man. It's an easy fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes and no, my pc sees him but the phone folder is empty en htc manager gives an error. any idee how to put a rom on the phone?
CrankyPants said:
yes and no, my pc sees him but the phone folder is empty en htc manager gives an error. any idee how to put a rom on the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock bootloader,install a custom recovery via adb then download a custom rom of your choice then move it to ext/internal sd.you may use otg.Then go to the custom recovery(TWRP/Cwm/philz) wipe then install zip through the location.
Jyotirdeb said:
Unlock bootloader,install a custom recovery via adb then download a custom rom of your choice then move it to ext/internal sd.you may use otg.Then go to the custom recovery(TWRP/Cwm/philz) wipe then install zip through the location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to install a custom recovery via adb and what is adb?
sorry I don't know anything
CrankyPants said:
How to install a custom recovery via adb and what is adb?
sorry I don't know anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why you shouldn't use all in one toolkits, you don't learn anything like that and if you're not willing to learn then you probably shouldn't mess around with these things in the first place, expect others to then fix the problems for you. I'm not trying to be mean here, just stating fact.
Download the Android SDK
After downloading, extract the .zip file. Then go into folder inside the sdk folder you'll find a folder named "platform-tools" right click that folder and copy it on your desktop(Ease of access). Inside that platform-tools folder you'll find the applications adb and fastboot.
Download HTC Sync Manager in order to install the drivers(If you haven't done so already and just to be sure).
Download custom recovery, either Philz CWM Recovery or TWRP Recovery . Place the downloaded .img recovery file inside the platform-tools folder.
Make sure your phone has USB-Debugging enabled, if you don't have developer mode on phone. Go to Settings > About > Software Information > More > Tap 7times on Build Number. This will enable developer options. Go back to Settings and scroll down to Developer Options, open it and enable USB Debugging.
Connect your phone to the PC, make sure to accept any prompts that might appear on the phone then inside the platform-tools folder, hold shift then right click, then select "Open Command prompt here". Type adb devices if adb picks up your device it'll show you your devices serial number. Next type adb reboot bootloader to boot into bootloader mode then type fastboot devices again just to make sure the device is connected and being picked up by the prompt. Type fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery_you_downloaded.img MAKE SURE you type in the correct name for the recovery, exactly the same!!!
When it's done, flash ROM of your choice.
I'm a beginner too, but I learnt loads from watching videos from a channel called Sakitech on YouTube. I watched them over a few times to understand the process before doing anything.
Unlook bootloader:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEVSfwXsx-c&index=3&list=PLRt6ru-Tz2f4tMLvv9wm9yyiW9mTeVIGA
Turn S-Off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Hlms1BuPg&list=PLRt6ru-Tz2f4tMLvv9wm9yyiW9mTeVIGA&index=4
Install a custom recovery and root your phone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuHFcGvUjwA&feature=youtu.be
Install a custom rom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4KeVs5axtM
Remember to backup before you put your phone under serious surgery!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eda67mn-oXc
Hope this helps.
leongwengheng said:
I'm a beginner too, but I learnt loads from watching videos from a channel called Sakitech on YouTube. I watched them over a few times to understand the process before doing anything.
Unlook bootloader:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEVSfwXsx-c&index=3&list=PLRt6ru-Tz2f4tMLvv9wm9yyiW9mTeVIGA
Turn S-Off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Hlms1BuPg&list=PLRt6ru-Tz2f4tMLvv9wm9yyiW9mTeVIGA&index=4
Install a custom recovery and root your phone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuHFcGvUjwA&feature=youtu.be
Install a custom rom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4KeVs5axtM
Remember to backup before you put your phone under serious surgery!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eda67mn-oXc
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good choice on the videos, these days reading is a bit to tedious for most people. Heck, they don't even read "STOP" on the STOP signs anymore, just drive straight past
I have a super short attention span so I need YouTube to learn anything in life lol.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
leongwengheng said:
I have a super short attention span so I need YouTube to learn anything in life lol.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck at school then and later on in your job
Lucky boy having such a commited community here. You could've quite easily ended up with a £600 paper weight. Might want to show some appreciation to everyone holding your hand through a process that you should've read about before doing anything. Must admit, I did like the 'I just kept hitting next without knowing what I was doing', that's probably the best thing I've read lol lol.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
BerndM14 said:
This is why you shouldn't use all in one toolkits, you don't learn anything like that and if you're not willing to learn then you probably shouldn't mess around with these things in the first place, expect others to then fix the problems for you. I'm not trying to be mean here, just stating fact.
Download the Android SDK
After downloading, extract the .zip file. Then go into folder inside the sdk folder you'll find a folder named "platform-tools" right click that folder and copy it on your desktop(Ease of access). Inside that platform-tools folder you'll find the applications adb and fastboot.
Download HTC Sync Manager in order to install the drivers(If you haven't done so already and just to be sure).
Download custom recovery, either Philz CWM Recovery or TWRP Recovery . Place the downloaded .img recovery file inside the platform-tools folder.
Make sure your phone has USB-Debugging enabled, if you don't have developer mode on phone. Go to Settings > About > Software Information > More > Tap 7times on Build Number. This will enable developer options. Go back to Settings and scroll down to Developer Options, open it and enable USB Debugging.
Connect your phone to the PC, make sure to accept any prompts that might appear on the phone then inside the platform-tools folder, hold shift then right click, then select "Open Command prompt here". Type adb devices if adb picks up your device it'll show you your devices serial number. Next type adb reboot bootloader to boot into bootloader mode then type fastboot devices again just to make sure the device is connected and being picked up by the prompt. Type fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery_you_downloaded.img MAKE SURE you type in the correct name for the recovery, exactly the same!!!
When it's done, flash ROM of your choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one problem. Since I don't have the notification bar anymore, the phone doesn't notificate me. How will I get the USB notification to work?
CrankyPants said:
I have one problem. Since I don't have the notification bar anymore, the phone doesn't notificate me. How will I get the USB notification to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there's a pop up it'll show on screen, have you tried the adb devices command to see if your phone gets picked up?
Out of curiousity though, when you used the toolkit didn't you have to enable USB Debugging anyway? I'm not familiar with the toolkit, don't use it myself...? If you already enabled it then it's fine, as long as adb devices picks up your device then you're good to go.
BerndM14 said:
If there's a pop up it'll show on screen, have you tried the adb devices command to see if your phone gets picked up?
Out of curiousity though, when you used the toolkit didn't you have to enable USB Debugging anyway? I'm not familiar with the toolkit, don't use it myself...? If you already enabled it then it's fine, as long as adb devices picks up your device then you're good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My device is already wiped so I have no configurations anymore.
I have no softkeys and no statusbar anymore since I recovered my phone with the settings app. So no statusbar means no pop-ups.
The adb devices command sees my device in the list of devices but next to it, it says 'offline'. when normaly it has to say 'device'.
CrankyPants said:
My device is already wiped so I have no configurations anymore.
I have no softkeys and no statusbar anymore since I recovered my phone with the settings app. So no statusbar means no pop-ups.
The adb devices command sees my device in the list of devices but next to it, it says 'offline'. when normaly it has to say 'device'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You see it's supposed to throw a small pop up on the screen of the phone where it wants you to accept the RSA key to connect it to PC. It doesn't have anything to do with the softkeys or the notification bar on the top, it's supposed to be on the screen. I take it you probably can't even get into app drawer anymore in order to go to settings. Doesn't give any pop up on the screen... I think you really did f*** up your device
Did you use Hasoon2000's all in one toolkit? If so you probably had to have flashed a custom recovery, it's like the very next thing to do after you unlock bootloader?
BerndM14 said:
You see it's supposed to throw a small pop up on the screen of the phone where it wants you to accept the RSA key to connect it to PC. It doesn't have anything to do with the softkeys or the notification bar on the top, it's supposed to be on the screen. I take it you probably can't even get into app drawer anymore in order to go to settings. Doesn't give any pop up on the screen... I think you really did f*** up your device
Did you use Hasoon2000's all in one toolkit? If so you probably had to have flashed a custom recovery, it's like the very next thing to do after you unlock bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
les us assume he is in stock.So he should have a stock recovery.now Boot into fastboot get the details fastboot getvar all.you will find the mid of your choice.download international fw's ruu open the zip there will be an android-info.txt file.edit the file with your mid(change 0P6B10000 to 0P6BXXXXX) where XXXXX represents your mid.then flash the ruu via recovery.Since he connects his device adb will at least detect it (i hope).
Also open toolkit on the right side it is written "next flash a recovery". Connect your phone and simply select twrp and press flash recovery.this should do it.For more details ask hasoon.
Jyotirdeb said:
les us assume he is in stock.So he should have a stock recovery.now Boot into fastboot get the details fastboot getvar all.you will find the mid of your choice.download international fw's ruu open the zip there will be an android-info.txt file.edit the file with your mid(change 0P6B10000 to 0P6BXXXXX) where XXXXX represents your mid.then flash the ruu via recovery.Since he connects his device adb will at least detect it (i hope).
Also open toolkit on the right side it is written "next flash a recovery". Connect your phone and simply select twrp and press flash recovery.this should do it.For more details ask hasoon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get getvar all you'll need fastboot commands, will fastboot commands even work if he MIGHT not have enabled USB Debugging or for that matter haven't accepted the RSA key?
That's why I asked about the recovery as well though. I saw that on hasoon's toolkit the flashing of a custom recovery was like the next step on the process which means that this guy should at least have a custom recovery already installed.

Bricked Phone After Magisk Install

Today, my phone got bricked after I installed Magisk, am i am looking for a way of sorting it out. The phone was running Android 9 DP3 when rooted, and I was following HighOnAndroids root guide on Youtube for reference,
I unlocked my bootloader and successfully installed TWRP. After this, I installed Magisk, which went throuygh perfectly fine. However, after rebooting the phone, I am stuck on the google splash screen, with a small progress bar that stays for the duration of the time on this screen. After about 2 minutes, the phone reboots into TWRP again.
Does anyone know how I could return to stock Android or at least escape this issue?
Many thanks
James
Jameswebb97 said:
Today, my phone got bricked after I installed Magisk, am i am looking for a way of sorting it out. The phone was running Android 9 DP3 when rooted, and I was following HighOnAndroids root guide on Youtube for reference,
I unlocked my bootloader and successfully installed TWRP. After this, I installed Magisk, which went throuygh perfectly fine. However, after rebooting the phone, I am stuck on the google splash screen, with a small progress bar that stays for the duration of the time on this screen. After about 2 minutes, the phone reboots into TWRP again.
Does anyone know how I could return to stock Android or at least escape this issue?
Many thanks
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use duces script to flash June google factory image.
jlokos said:
Use duces script to flash June google factory image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Jameswebb97 said:
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need this information (the stuff I made bold + the hyperlink):
Code:
If you are having issues with this script:
Download the latest fastboot and adb Platform Tools UPDATED Dec. 22, 2017!!! This is the most common problem!!!
Download/Update Google USB Drivers
Video: Force-Installing the Android USB Drivers Fastboot & ADB
[B]Verify you have the [URL="https://wiki.lineageos.org/adb_fastboot_guide.html"]environment variable (path)[/URL] set for adb and fastboot[/B]
Try a different USB port
Try a different cable
Format Userdata in Stock Recovery
Try to boot stock before doing mods like Locking Bootloader / Kernel / TWRP / Magisk
Jameswebb97 said:
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umph....hate to tell you, but you have a long way to go...
so before going on this "journey", I would suggest you booting into TWRP again, and try installing (not adb sideloading, just in case you're doing that) Magisk again. Also, be sure you are using the latest (might be considered "beta") 16.4 for taimen... I'm thinking your boot.img or dtbo.img simply may have gotten glitchy and repatching (by installing Magisk again) might fix it...
Also, if you want to go a step further, you might want to consider using the official Magisk uninstaller. Since Magisk makes a copy of your stock boot and dtbo image, it may put that back so you can get it in working order to get into the system (although without root), and then figure things out and/or reinstall Magisk (through TWRP is best) while all things Magisk was removed...
Good luck and hope this helps....
Make sure you are trying to open from the correct location, and put .\fastboot
EvilDobe said:
You need this information (the stuff I made bold + the hyperlink):
Code:
If you are having issues with this script:
Download the latest fastboot and adb Platform Tools UPDATED Dec. 22, 2017!!! This is the most common problem!!!
Download/Update Google USB Drivers
Video: Force-Installing the Android USB Drivers Fastboot & ADB
[B]Verify you have the [URL="https://wiki.lineageos.org/adb_fastboot_guide.html"]environment variable (path)[/URL] set for adb and fastboot[/B]
Try a different USB port
Try a different cable
Format Userdata in Stock Recovery
Try to boot stock before doing mods like Locking Bootloader / Kernel / TWRP / Magisk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive tried all of this now, i got the script working, but now the phne says it is corrupt and i cannot get into recovery. Is this game over do you think?
simplepinoi177 said:
umph....hate to tell you, but you have a long way to go...
so before going on this "journey", I would suggest you booting into TWRP again, and try installing (not adb sideloading, just in case you're doing that) Magisk again. Also, be sure you are using the latest (might be considered "beta") 16.4 for taimen... I'm thinking your boot.img or dtbo.img simply may have gotten glitchy and repatching (by installing Magisk again) might fix it...
Also, if you want to go a step further, you might want to consider using the official Magisk uninstaller. Since Magisk makes a copy of your stock boot and dtbo image, it may put that back so you can get it in working order to get into the system (although without root), and then figure things out and/or reinstall Magisk (through TWRP is best) while all things Magisk was removed...
Good luck and hope this helps....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good advice, thanks. i have a new problem (ugh), where i got the script working through changing the paths, but now the phone says that it is corrupt and i cannot access TWRP. Game over?
Jameswebb97 said:
Ive tried all of this now, i got the script working, but now the phne says it is corrupt and i cannot get into recovery. Is this game over do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the unlocked bootloader it'll always say the device is corrupt. Manually put the device into the bootloader & flash the DeucesScript. You're basically starting over at this point but it is possible to get up & going again.
Jameswebb97 said:
This is good advice, thanks. i have a new problem (ugh), where i got the script working through changing the paths, but now the phone says that it is corrupt and i cannot access TWRP. Game over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EvilDobe said:
With the unlocked bootloader it'll always say the device is corrupt. Manually put the device into the bootloader & flash the DeucesScript. You're basically starting over at this point but it is possible to get up & going again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EvilDobe might be right...but I have a bit to offer before maybe starting all over...
I doubt you needed to edit the script and "change the paths." Most likely you merely did not have the images (you extracted from the .zip of the Full Factory image you got from the Google Developers site) inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders.
In any case, I suggest you get the TWRP image file [.img] (NOT the installer .zip necessarily), put the .img file "... inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders." (I've seen some users simply cut and paste those 2 .exe files only to the extracted folder -- this is why I state it this way) Then, power down your device. After it's off, hold down the Volume Down button and press & hold the Power button (this is the manual way to get into the Bootloader Mode). Once there, plug your phone into your computer (USB-A to USB-C would be best) and open a command prompt/powershell ("run as administrator" or with administrative priveleges) and direct it to the platform-tools folder (i.e. if I put it on my desktop, it would be "C:\Users\MyName\Desktop\platform-tools"), you can temporarily boot into TWRP via command
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-2-taimen.img
When in TWRP (hopefully), I suggest trying to do what I advised before -- try either Magisk installer to repatch the boot and dtbo image, or Magisk Uninstaller to attempt to replace your boot and dtbo to stock.
*NOTE: Of course, this is assuming you are running Microsoft Windows (if not, you will need to input .\ as @naiku suggested) and also the whole "device is corrupt" is due to "funky" boot image issues. If not, I/we can guide you to flashing the Full Factory back onto the phone (hopefully without losing data and settings)...
Good luck and hope this helps...
simplepinoi177 said:
EvilDobe might be right...but I have a bit to offer before maybe starting all over...
I doubt you needed to edit the script and "change the paths." Most likely you merely did not have the images (you extracted from the .zip of the Full Factory image you got from the Google Developers site) inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders.
In any case, I suggest you get the TWRP image file [.img] (NOT the installer .zip necessarily), put the .img file "... inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders." (I've seen some users simply cut and paste those 2 .exe files only to the extracted folder -- this is why I state it this way) Then, power down your device. After it's off, hold down the Volume Down button and press & hold the Power button (this is the manual way to get into the Bootloader Mode). Once there, plug your phone into your computer (USB-A to USB-C would be best) and open a command prompt/powershell ("run as administrator" or with administrative priveleges) and direct it to the platform-tools folder (i.e. if I put it on my desktop, it would be "C:\Users\MyName\Desktop\platform-tools"), you can temporarily boot into TWRP via command
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-2-taimen.img
When in TWRP (hopefully), I suggest trying to do what I advised before -- try either Magisk installer to repatch the boot and dtbo image, or Magisk Uninstaller to attempt to replace your boot and dtbo to stock.
*NOTE: Of course, this is assuming you are running Microsoft Windows (if not, you will need to input .\ as @naiku suggested) and also the whole "device is corrupt" is due to "funky" boot image issues. If not, I/we can guide you to flashing the Full Factory back onto the phone (hopefully without losing data and settings)...
Good luck and hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!
Jameswebb97 said:
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't go that far with staying away. When I come across people IRL that want to start doing this stuff I always tell them to read the instructions, step through them, read the instructions again, ask questions (as you did here) BEFORE you get started, read the instructions again, and only when you're confident start messing with your device. This is a fun, and at times stressful, hobby. It's great when everything goes according to plan but it's an omg omg omg omg omg omg moment when you mess something up.
Start with baby steps. The straight upgrade to P is fairly simple provided your device is unlocked. Get that working & you'll be set. I have root on my DP3 & the only thing I've done so far is delete some apps from system that I know I don't want/need. If your main goal is to just enjoy your phone, test out Android P, and maybe go back... root isn't needed. Once everything is squared away & you're running for a day or so you can always fastboot to recovery, make a backup, and then try to add root. I hope you don't shy away & get deeper into the hobby. It truly starts to get fun when you begin to understand more of what is going on.
Jameswebb97 said:
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I'm so glad you got it working! Leave me a "Thanks!" would make it up to me ... I'm always happy to help out and get things figured out...yet I don't get the satisfaction of knowing if it does end up helping a lot of the time because a good number don't come back with their experience...so thanks for that! Glad you got it going...
EvilDobe said:
I wouldn't go that far with staying away. When I come across people IRL that want to start doing this stuff I always tell them to read the instructions, step through them, read the instructions again, ask questions (as you did here) BEFORE you get started, read the instructions again, and only when you're confident start messing with your device. This is a fun, and at times stressful, hobby. It's great when everything goes according to plan but it's an omg omg omg omg omg omg moment when you mess something up.
Start with baby steps. The straight upgrade to P is fairly simple provided your device is unlocked. Get that working & you'll be set. I have root on my DP3 & the only thing I've done so far is delete some apps from system that I know I don't want/need. If your main goal is to just enjoy your phone, test out Android P, and maybe go back... root isn't needed. Once everything is squared away & you're running for a day or so you can always fastboot to recovery, make a backup, and then try to add root. I hope you don't shy away & get deeper into the hobby. It truly starts to get fun when you begin to understand more of what is going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it's as @EvilDobe means.....
I remember back in the days of the Motorola Droids (OG Droid1, Droid 3, & Droid 4) where you could really mess things up and come out with a big ol' "brick" "paperweight" as there were many instances where you could not come back from (i.e. updating to a certain point, then attempting to downgrade when Google/Motorola/Verizon put blocks that breaks it). But this isn't the case these days. @Jameswebb97, at least with the Pixel 2's, Oreo and/or P(Android OS 9), it's actually more difficult than easy to get that too far gone. The only reason why I can help so many troubleshooting their issues is because I, myself, have wrecked my current device in some serious ways! So I can relate and have experience in helping in the same situations. I've gotten it to where it says "device is corrupt," (which isn't all that uncommon), BUT with the added desperate troubleshooting where I had to wipe/erase, changing partition types, format several partitions, even go about "resizing" the partition to match the "target extraction size" of the Full Factory flash, and even as far as learning to manually flash the various system partitions and that there are two (system_a & system_b) but, in Google's infinite wisdom(?), one flashes to system_a and the other to system_other!!! And I haven't even started on reading others' issues when going after the Slot A and Slot B complications -- I didn't even attempt to touch this in that troubleshooting story.
My point is: I think I've broken my device farther than most people and got it so close to the brink, and yet I was able to bring it back and am still using that same device today (most people would usually, at that point, go and get a RMA replacement). Honestly, as long as you have access to Bootloader Mode (which Google, in their infinite wisdom, seems to have placed it in the main board memory or separate memory rather than storage as to make it always accessible which makes it hard to "lose"), you have a really good (seemingly perfect) "safety net" in which you can always flash back to a working, stock state -- which is why it's the best policy to just make good backups before experimenting so, if anything, you get back to this state and restore all your data. I'm not trying to convince you to root or to try custom ROMs or anything -- even though there are many great reasons and capabilities of rooting -- I am simply appealingl to your sense of curiosity and reassure you so you aren't held back and you don't restrict and limit yourself if you don't want to, but are to fearful to experiment.
I hope you don't take this post as "lecturing" or anything, just some thoughts I hope you consider...
Glad it worked out in the end for you!

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