Develop Bugs

Making G3 work with nfs and cifs

Dear All,
I´ve been researching this subject, and found a couple of threads pointing me in the right direction. In particular this post about mounting cifs on LG G2 was useful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49291439&postcount=29
I did the following:
I found an Ubuntu 12.04 image and ran it in my vmware, got latest NDK and the Marshmallow Kernel from LG´s website. For the defconfig, there are plenty of configs for G3 so I chose a random and rather small one (1 kb instead of the others that are typically around 20 kb) and followed the steps. When I came to the .config screen I did not find any option to enable cifs or nfs support, so I did the whole thing over again for G2 - just to see if that´d give me the option although I wouldn´t be able to use it for the G3. I found a Jellybean kernel on Lgs website for G2, assuming that´s what was used back in 2013 when that thread was started, and NDK 8d which was the current version back then. I found a small config file there as well for the defconfig, and got into the menu again. Other options it seems, but still none for cifs and nfs. I then tried to add some config lines into the defconfig for nfs, which I found by googling but with the same result.
Should the kernel have some support for nfs in itself, and why would I at least not get it in the menu when trying to do it for G2, like the guy in the other thread managed to do it?
FYI, I love what you can do with ES Explorer and similar apps, but I´m after mounting nfs and cifs - not accessing them via another app.
Hoping for advise - thanks in advance!

Allright, this took me a while but I got it all sorted out!
A brief overview of what I´ve been through:
I found out that I needed a 64-bit Ubuntu, hence got the latest 16.04 and set it up in a VMWare. I tried my best to build my kernel using NDK, but constantly ran into issues with missing files and a whole lot more. I then decided to target cyanogenmod, who has a guide which in detail explains what to do.
The Cyanogen method uses SDK instead of NDK, and requires you to have a branch of Android on your phone already installed, similar to the one you´re building for.
Again I had various issues untill I tried with the 12.1 snapshot (Lollipop), and finally I could build my Rom. I enabled all cifs options under File Systems/Network File systems in the menuconfig, and all with regards to NFS client, except for NFS v4 which also created some problems. You´ll need to have insertion of modules enabled as well from menuconfig.
After that I was able to have mount manager (an old app that you need to google for, market does not have it anymore) do the job. You´ll need to look for dns_resolver.ko and cifs.ko in your android environment under Ubuntu, and put these files on for instance your sdcard on your phone, where you´ll tell Mount Manager that they´re located. They need to be loaded in the same order as they´re mentioned above.
Your mounts are going to show up as files and not folders, if you don´t do the following from a terminal under android:
$ setenforce permissive
NFS I´ve not yet been succesful with, not least because my firewall blocks NFS regardless of whether if I open the right ports, allow all traffic on the hanewin (NFS mounting system) exe files and so on. So at the moment I start looking into getting the job done with NFS, I also need to get another firewall.
Anyway, on this particular Android build, I got a terrible connection speed, but after googling this for a day or two, the fix for me was to change the channel of my 5ghz wifi to 48 on the router. Then it went from 10 mbit to 120 mbit speed!
Still samba(cifs) is slow, which is not what you want with UHD high kbps rate clips, so I´m researching what can be tweaked here.
Anyway, cifs is working, and I thought I´d share this with you so others can learn from it. There´s alot of trial and error I´ve been doing, and if I can save others from having the headaches I had, I´ll be happy
PS: My phone is rooted, but we´re not even at the stage where I´ll be trying it at my phone yet.
PS: Mounting via shell is possible, but I couldn´t get this to work till I installed busybox. Also, for password protected shares, you´ll need to add the unc path.
Example:
busybox mount -o unc=\\\\192.168.178.11\\Movies,user=username,pass=password -t cifs none /storage/sdcard1/cifs/Movies
Doing this in Mount Manager is easy. Do what you would do anyway with setting the remote and local dirs, and add an option with "custom" where for the option name you type "unc" and the value will be "\\\\192.168.178.11\\Movies"
PPS: I figured that you get alot of glitches for VR videos (2880x1440) when using cifs, and I´m on a wifi with 160 Mbps here. I finally made it into getting NFS to work, and that works!
Here´s how:
Make sure you´ve turned root permissions on for adb and apps on the phone and adb into your phone, then:
su
setenforce permissive
insmod sunrpc.ko
insmod lockd.ko
insmod nfs_acl.ko
insmod nfs.ko
For the insmods, you need to point to where they are stored on your phone, obviously.
Now you can (example)
busybox mount -t nfs 192.168.178.11:/VR /storage/sdcard1/mnt/VR -o nfsvers=3,noatime,hard,nolock,rsize=65536,wsize=65536,udp,intr,async,ro
You´ll now have access to VR through /storage/sdcard1/mnt/VR!!
I tried this on both the 5ghz 160 (-200, depending on how close I am to the router) and on a powerline wifi giving me around 35 Mbit speed.
The last one did not work well, so you really need alot of speed.
One thing I struggled with was that I had stuttering after 4-5 minutes getting worse and worse. I found out that in developer options you can switch on awesomeplayer instead of the default one, which solves that problem.
I also found out that D855 (LG G3) is not a 2560x1440 (as it says in the specs) but 3200 x 1600 phone - under the screen settings, you can set the DPI to 640 and it works fine. Yes, this is really true - find a dpi calculator and check it out! I may be mistaken of course, let me know in that case. This gives you almost 39 % more pixel density, so alot more realism!
Have fun, and remember that all the things that are easy to google, setting up ubuntu, finding cyanogenmod stuff, compiling etc is not mentioned here because this is not where you´ll hit your head against the wall. The things I´ve described are those where you really need to be spending time, as the information is rare and device specific since not that many people are dying to connect to an nfs server from android, and even less want to stream UHD clips to the phone
Btw, I´m using the app VRTV since it can be setup to be used with a cheap game pad that I got from aliexpress for EUR 8, so that you don´t need to take off your headset for anything - you can just fast forward, skip to next clip, adjust volume, recalibrate etc. from the game pad.
For headset I´m using one with the highest FOV outthere. It´s the Bobovr Z4, that´s very comfy to wear and even has builtin headphones. I got it for around 25 EUR, also on aliexpress.
If I did not already mention it, I use hanewin under win 10 for nfs server.
One very last thing: Your screen is going to dim after a few minutes, especially when inside a VR headset. This is due to LG´s very ungenerous threshold for when the phone is considered hot, and they´ve decided that the screen should be dimmed to keep it from going too hot. I tried various things.. an app called Lux, another one called Stay Awake, an app solely ment for getting rid of this behavour, and looked for ways to get inside of LG´s own hidden menu where you can get rid of the throttling.
None of it worked - the last two options related to that I´m not using a stockrom here.
Well, I´m happy to use cyanogenmod because the phone is much cooler with that, but since the phone´s so picky with what´s considered hot, it´s still a problem.
I found out that you can edit thermanager.xml in system/etc where you wanna set all values for backlight to 255. Make it look like this:
<control name="backlight">
<mitigation level="off"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="1"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="2"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="3"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="4"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="5"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="6"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="7"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="8"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
<mitigation level="9"><value resource="backlight">255</value></mitigation>
And then reboot. I did a test for 20 mins playing a 180/SBS/2880x1440 video, and brightness is still where it should be - at the max!
In my temp monitor, the system temp is 47 C, so that´s fine. Back when I´d be using Marshmellow stock rom, the phone would shut down itself after 15 mins of doing the above at about 57 C.
Now, I cannot guarantee that this, or anything else suggested in this post will not damage your phone. If you want to be 100 % sure of no damages caused by any of this, simply don´t do any of it. IF you do it, it´s your own responsibility. None of this was tested for 3 months on 100000 phones, so I really can´t tell.
G3 is a great choice for a VR experience, since you can get it for EUR 270 - cheaper than any other phone with that resolution. I got mine for EUR 100 second hand, so as an alternative to GearVR, this is a very cheap way of achieving the same.

CUBOT Cheetah2 - Information & Reviews - 5.5" FHD | MT6753 | 3GB | 32GB | Fingerprint

CUBOT Cheetah2 - Information & Reviews - 5.5" FHD | MT6753 | 3GB | 32GB | Fingerprint
CUBOT Cheetah 2
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Specs:
Dimensions: 153.6 x 75.0 x 8.5 mm
Weight: 188 g
Chassis: Aluminum Alloy
SoC: MediaTek MT6753
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4x1300MHz + 4x1300 MHz, Cores: 4 + 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP4 600MHz, Cores: 4
Network: 4G Cat.4 (150MBps)
RAM: 3 GB
Storage: 32 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.5 in, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 3000 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Back Camera: 4160 x 3120 pixels (13MP), Samsung S5K3L8 Sensor, Dual-Flash, PDAF
Front Camera: 3,264 x 2,448 pixels (8MP), Sony IMX219 Sensor, Wide-Angle Lens
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, dual-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Type-C
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Other Features: Fingerprint Scanner, Notification LED, Gyroscope, Compass
Colors: Blue, Gold
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official Website:
https://www.cubot.net/smartphones/cheetah2/
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/cubot-cheetah2-development-support-t3689094
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: Post #3 & #4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​

Reserved

Review (Part 1)
Introduction
This is the CUBOT Cheetah 2.
Hardware
Just like the previous model, Cheetah (not 2), this successor is powered by a Mediatek MT6753 SOC clocked at 1.3GHz, with the same Samsung 13MP Rear Camera and Sony 8MP Front Camera. Also the Storage Configuration hasn't been changed, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of RAM are still there. Maybe a SOC upgrade (MT6753 to MT6750) would have been appreciated.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Type-C USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Compliance Regulation booklet, 1x TPU Cover and the Smartphone (of course). A screen protector is already applied. Unlike previous CUBOT devices, this doesn't come with a Glass Screen Protector.
Based on the CUBOT website, this is the third MT6753 device launched by the company. Compared to the previous CheetahPhone, this one hasn't been made in collaboration with CheetahMobile (luckily), and doesn't use anymore an Unibody Metal Chassis (this is a downgrade). As you can see below, they kept the Metal Chassis though. It is solid, with Antenna Bands matching the device color.
It is 15.37x7.50x0.93cm, with thin bezels. It weights 194g, slightly heavy but not too much. It is still comfortable to use and the included TPU cover makes the weight even more uniform.
On the front side there is the common 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features the standard set of things: an Huge Front-Facing Camera (Sony IMX219, consider that most low-end devices use this as a Rear Camera sensor, impressive), an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. The Notification LED is here, but supports only two colors. (Red and Green)
I won't talk about the Notification LED in the Software paragraph because it isn't customizable at all. Here you can see some real-life photos.
On the lower front side there is the Touch Keys area, with Menu, and Back touch buttons, together with the Fingerprint Sensor, positioned on the Home Physical Button. No Backlight is here.
On the back side there is the Removable Rear Cover, made of Plastic and similar to those used by Samsung on the Galaxy S3 & S4.
The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a Dual-LED Flashlight (not Dual-Tone) and the CUBOT logo.
On the lower rear side there are some Logos and Words about the Device's Certifications, nothing else. The Speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Something that deserves a medal for this device is the Screen. It is perfect, providing one the best Color Accuracy i have ever seen on a FHD IPS screen while keeping the Brightness super-high. Well Done CUBOT!
Light Sensor supports smooth light changes, this is its maximum brightness. This is the brightest 5.5" FHD IPS screen i have ever tested.
Viewing Angles are as good as you would expect from an IPS screen, even a bit better thanks to the high brightness.
Camera
Featuring a Samsung 3L8 13MP sensor, with PDAF, the Photos Quality is unfortunately average. The amount of noise is too high to get a sharp photo, but there is something positive though. Colors are not washed-out or inaccurate, they are Natural without any over-sharpening.
"HDR off" on the left and "HDR on" on the right. HDR photos seems to be a bit better, but the amount of noise is also higher.
Photos taken on medium light conditions are decent.
Macro Photos are not so great, it seems that there are some focus issues with near objects.
The Dual-LED Flashlight provides enough light to take some nice shots, bright and warm enough to not damage any color.
As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are average, still noisy just like Photos. I hope to see some improvements with upcoming OTA updates.
Front Camera is a Wide-Angle Sony IMX219 (Native 8MP, interpolated to 13MP), something rare to find. Consider that this sensor is used by many devices as a Rear Camera sensor, so expect some high quality photos here. Maybe this is the cheapest Selfie-Camera Device? It might be.
Audio
Speaker's Quality could have been better, at maximum volume the sound gets distorced, maybe this is a bit too much high for the Speaker. No issues with the Earpiece though, perfect while in-call and to play Whatsapp Voice Messages.
As regards the Microphone, it is calibrated for any kind of usage, everyone was able to hear me correctly. There is no Secondary Microphone for Noise Suppression though.
GPS
The MT6753 SOC is pretty known to have good GPS reception, with no issues that are present on newer SOCs such as MT6750/MT6755, and this test confirms its glory. GPS Signal is high, with no accuracy issues. I won't test it indoors this time because it is pretty clear that the Antenna is great enough to get some GPS signal even in difficult conditions.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
CUBOT, like some other brands, provides full european bands support, with 4G Band 20 (some other Chinese Smartphones don’t have it). 4G Signal Reception doesn't seem to have any issue, stable and with decent speed.
3G Signal Reception is excellent, actually I never managed to get connected to the 2G Network of my Mobile Operator because there was always some 3G Signal available. (luckily there are no coverage issues here)
As already said, 4G Network Speed is decent, even though it highly depends on your Mobile Operator and mine isn’t pretty good, the result is equal with other properly working devices i have reviewed. 3G Network Speed is, as always, pretty low even on H+, not a Device Fault though.
WiFi 5GHz is supported here, working sufficiently well with my 802.11n Dual-Band Connection. It isn't able to get full speed (100/20), but it is still a bit higher than 2.4GHz speed. Connected to 150MBps, i might have expected some higher speeds.
Battery Life
I have measured the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity a bit lower than the declared one. (declared 3000mAh, real ~2850mAh).
This is the Geekbench Battery Test, the battery runtime is pretty negative for a 3000mAh battery, i hope to see some improvements here.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/391930
As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger isn't a good choice to handle 3000mAh batteries so expect more than 2 hours of Charging Time. It took, more or less, 2 hours and 45 minutes here.
Software
Unlike the previous CheetahPhone that was full of, let's say, crap from CheetahMobile, this Cheetah 2 is completely clean. Running Android 6.0, with some usual Mediatek Additions, it runs smooth enough to handle basic tasks but due to its Full HD screen, some occasional lags are here. That's why an MT6753 isn't sufficient this time, Mediatek claims that only the MT6753T is made to be used with 1080p screens.
Something different from the other last-gen Mediatek Devices is the software, only the Scheduled Power On/Off feature is present here. Even though the Double-Tap to Wake would have been useful, this is a nice step forward to not use Mediatek Crap.
Almost all Sensors are present, Magnetometer/Compass and Gyroscope, with no Barometer. Well Done CUBOT!
As already said before, even though there is a Notification LED, it isn't customizable at all.
The Fingerprint Scanner is probably the best one i have ever tried, no accuracy issues found. I managed to unlock the screen everytime, perfect. As regards the unlock speed, it is almost instant, not lightning fast.

Review (Part 2)
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – GPU Performance is mediocre, the Full HD doesn't help here.
AndroBench – eMMC Performance is great as regards the Reading Speed, decent for the Writing Speed.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – 3D performance isn't so good, the Mali-720MP3 struggles to handle 1080p Games.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is nearly as good as other CPUs with the same configuration (8x Cortex-A53).
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – There are no chances to see good results here, overkill for the device.
PCMark – Standard MT6753 Performance here, with some decreased scores due to the 1080p screen.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – Nothing to say about it, decent.
Well, even though i am happy to see that CUBOT used a Full HD screen on this device, i would have expected a better SOC because, as you can clearly see, the old MT6753 GPU is just not enough to handle this screen resolution.
Conclusions
I'm happy to see that CUBOT doesn't cooperate anymore with CheetahMobile, providing the best Android Experience even though the Performance isn't great. Except this issue, everything else is just fine. Great Screen, Fantastic Fingerprint Scanner and Solid Build Quality.
I hope to see some improvements with the next OTA updates to improve Battery Life and Camera Quality.
So, do I recommend it? Yes, unless you manage to find something better at the same price.
Pros:
Superb Screen Brightness
Excellent Fingerprint Sensor
Solid Metal Chassis
WiFi 5GHz Support
Notification LED (even though a bit limited)
Gyroscope & Magnetometer Sensors
Cons:
Camera Quality needs to be improved
Low GPU Performance
Slow Charging Times (1A maximum, no Quick Charge)
Insufficient Battery Life
Rating: 8.6
Packaging and Accessories: 9
Design and Materials: 9
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7.5
Screen: 9.5
Camera: 7.5
Sound: 8
Battery Life: 6.5
Software: 10
OEM Support: 9
Price: 9.5
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/XhJcX
Official Website: www.cubot.net/smartphones/cheetah2
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the CUBOT website.​

my 50 cents:
Review Cubot Cheetah 2 5.5 "FHD MT6753 1.3 GHz 3 / 32Gb - Fingerprint- 3000mAh
Packaging, Content, Aesthetics:
The packaging is a classic from a year now for Cubot, on the back there is a label with the model and on the low side of the IMEI numbers.
Box contents: Smartphone incorporated in its transparent silicone cover, further covered with a plastic seat cover with double-sided adhesive, 1 Power Adapter with USB 5V 1A White EU socket, 1 USB cable Type-C, an instruction manual and the "Compliance Certification Regulatory ".
- External dimensions of the smartphone average of 5.5inches ChinaPhone "; it measures 153.6 x 75 x 8.5mm for a little over weight 189g.
- High quality construction, the materials return a good feeling to the touch, the metallic finish of the side frame gives strength and elegance, the back cover plastic still fulfills its purpose well although it is very smooth and slippery (and in blue version retains much fingerprints).
- On the right side we find the volume rocker on the top and the power button slightly lower.
- On the upper side we find the only audio jack; on the underside there is the Type-C USB jack, the microphone in the left grid and the speaker in the right one.
- In the back top center there is the 16-megapixel camera from Samsung S5k3l8 13Mpixel f / 2.2 (16Mpixel interpolated), slightly to the side of the double LED flash (not dual tone).
- On the front we find at the top the capsule headset, 8Mpixel camera Sony IMX219 f / 2.8, the brightness / proximity sensors, the notification LED (colors red and green); down the central physical key features of footprints and the soft outer side touch buttons to the screen reader, but not backlit ..
- Outer pane with pre-applied film; It has a rounded 2.5D machining but the film does not have a good oleophobic treatment and thus holds the fingerprints and is quite reflective.
- Display brightness and excellent viewing angles; LCD FHD IPS OGS screen with good color fidelity, excellent sharpness for the category, good white balance and possibility of adjustment through Miravision menu.
- Touch sensitive and equipped with multi-touch 5-touch, quick writing and with swipe feature that you type with two fingers (used SwiftKey / google keyboard); with film applied to the sensitivity it tends to decrease slightly due to the excessive thickness, so if you use its silicone cover, you can also remove it.
- Fingerprint performs well, always recommend to store many times the same finger in additional memory locations after the first (5 memory locations and you might as well use them all to have a recognition reliability, for example the right thumb, close to 100 %.
- Two sim slots: 2 slot Micro + Nano Sim (dynamic 4G from software menu) and slot for MicroSD tested up to 128Gb.
- Battery is not removable 3000mAh declared, to the test with ammeter we found about 2800mAh, which can cover the average day with about 4 hours of heated screen (more if alternate data sim with wifi)
- Android 6 without any customization and usually launcher with 3 standard now obsolete icons (there are no unwanted apps or as it was for his brother Cheetah of Cheetah Mobile bloatware that slowed down the system unnecessarily and could not be uninstalled)
- Open app and switch between apps quickly .. browser stock enough usable but we recommend Chrome that makes it quick and enjoyable navigation.
- Excellent management of internal rom 32Gb which are available in a 25GB partition for apps and data.
- Good management ram 3Gb by Android .. more than 1.6 GB of RAM left over after loading some apps into memory at startup.
connectivity:
WiFi b / g with no problem, stable coupling, good power, the presence of the 5Ghz band.
BT 4 tested pairing with headsets, car and other smartphones without problems
OTG: Properly functioning.
GPS: very good, the outside is cold fixato in 20 seconds, 13 satellites, with an accuracy of a few meters; Glonass compatibility!
camera:
- Main camera from Samsung 35k3l8 13Mpixel f / 2.2 that produces good confiscated in daylight; pretty fast focus; mediatek camera interface; the good power flash.
In low light conditions, the cove sharpness and focus limps, the iso with the stock app does not rise above 600, the result is slightly moved shots without flash and a tendency to knead.
- Good performance with FullHD video files but with some critical issues in focus
- Second Camera for Selfies 8Mpixel Sony IMX219 with face detection function, and video shots higher than the category average (just think that this sensor is used by many other brands to the main camera)
.
Bench:
Antutu 6 more than 37000 punti..risultato in line with the other MT6753 CPU 1.3Ghz.
Geekbench with 2470 points in the multi-core test and 600 in the single core test.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/v4/cpu/1214302
Audio:
Audio without infamy and without praise, good the speaker volume and earbud (even slightly too low and tend to distort a bit at the most), good microphone, the other party has no problem and feel the voice is free from noise or interference or metallic effect.
Good vibrations and sound in very good quality headphone.
of Fingerprint Reader
The fingerprint has a menu that allows the storage of different fingerprints, up to 5; the memorization stage is driven (although parts of the menus are in English, without translation into our language) and allows you to complete the stage in no time (access the fingerprint of the security menu).
The front print reader position is easy to reach by inches and indexes and makes it definitely more secure smartphone.
conclusions:
PROs:
- Aggressive price from about 140 to about 160 € according to the store; good for a terminal with medium level specs, 3Gb RAM / 32GB ROM and fingerprint reader.
- Screen 5.5 "FULL HD showing good brightness, color and viewing angle of the display; 2.5D glass and the metallic finish of the frame lend elegance and style.
- Led Notification Green / Red.
- Great assembling, the materials used, consistent with the class of the device.
- Good reception and above average audio.
- MicroSD card support with separate slot (support up to 128GB tested).
- Two Sim Slot (Micro and Nano) with the switch via software 4G traffic between a slot one and the other.
- WIFI with 5Ghz band
- Ability to select a different ring tone for the two sim directly from the audio menu.
- 4G supported in 1,3,7,20 bands to the advantage of compatibility with European regions.
- Pretty much stock Android 6 dated October 2016.
- Fast and accurate GPS, fix also inside home where others failed.
- Compass and Gyroscope implemented.
- OTG supported.
- Transparent silicon case in bundle.
- Fingerprint reader which further increases the security of your data if entitled to do so.
- Certification and Declaration of Conformity:
UL + SAR http://www.cubot.net/pdf/ce/CHEETAH2-ce.pdf
Safety: http://www.cubot.net/pdf/doc/CHEETAH_2_DOC_Form.pdf
RoHS: http://www.cubot.net/pdf/rohs/cheetah2-rohs.rar
- Modding (Root) possible via the TWRP compiled by me
CONs:
- Charger Standard 1A with a charging time of about 2h and 50 minutes.
- Soft Touch NOT Backlighted.
- Heavy, 190g for a device with a plastic cover and battery 3000mAh, are objectively too much.
- NON Removable Battery.
- Black frames and even asymmetrical as seen in previous Cubot (fortunately not so visible since the dark blue of my sample)
- Notification LED that although present, has no settings in the menu, no double tap for unlocking (even if we have the middle button which is also physical).
- Main Camera sensor from Samsung, that in the face of a good specs, fails to realize its potential because of the usual mediatek software and drivers poorly optimized (common evil to the vast majority of devices Camera).
Sorry for mistakes due to automatic translation!
For reference, here's stuffs for development thread:
Rom RC_mt6753_n378bh_6143cgms_chuanqi_cc-cubot_256gbitp24d3_m_lte_3m-fdd-cs_mul_20161027-143211_songlixin_PC
https://mega.nz/#!VUc1TIjK!0FK1U5bt0NIL8RNEt-LkV-U5byVBroqV0PU92VzM5iE
Flashtool 6.1644 windows:
https://mega.nz/#!iINRFLAC!VZTD2enLeh5HzkJUWVwvV0nP_8cmvjPRRHt-1BWQoeo
TWRP 3.0.2-1 porting by megthebest:
https://mega.nz/#!TUdXiRyJ!CasPXBbA-CYuKL58w3QES0MYw5VNol8MTbB0L21RqlQ

Here are mirrors and more:
Android 7.0 v14 and up MDSTWRP_3.1.1-1_CubotCheetah2_Nougat.zip
Android 6.0 v08 and low MDSTWRP_3.0.2-7ES_Cubot_Cheetah2.zip 1st start spanish (MTP support)
source: MDS
Cheetah+2+TWRP+3.0.2-1.zip 1st start english mfi.re/?gpzahq5v9j1afz3
I confirm both TWRP work, thanks megathebest!
Root on Nougat (v14) i have to clean next spoiler SORRY SuperSu-forum
1. Download (maybe flase sorry try 2 get & fix soon) this zip and save to phone
2. Update to latest firmware (nougat)
3. Power off phone
4. Press and hold volume up while power up phone
5. Select fastboot
6. Install - flash the downloaded patched boot zip
7. Install Magisk manager and v14.2 magisk (or up)
Excuse maybe not working without flashfire (additional tool /adb)
No data lose, no additional pc tools
For recovery it is good to install flashfire (else) and make full backup.
If you come from rooted API23 you can flash a stock recovery via TWRP to get OTA update
If xposed is present better uninstall installer first.
old tutorial:
Hi Guys i have a Cubot Cheetah 2 Android 7.
Sorry my english sucks realy!
I found only a soulution to Root it with Magisk 14.2 beta!
1 First Step Download only PC Flash Files V14 170719 and unpack it !
http://forum.cubot.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1475
The ROM this FilePC Flash Files V14 170719
https://mega.nz/#F!YIt2UKLL!E2PGw3IJ_KeCuVwXhstdFw
2 Step Download and Install last version!
http://spflashtools.com/windows/sp-flash-tool-v5-1728
Step
Download Magisk v14.2 Beta and Magisk Manager Version: v5.3.0, pu it on your SDCard!
Latest Stable Magisk Version: v14.2
Latest Magisk Manager Version: v5.3.5
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445
4 Step
Download and unzip my Patched boot.img ,then Replace the boot.img in Folder from Step 1 !
url boot.img
5 Step
Flash with SpFlash the Rom from Step 1 in Format +Download Mode.
Make a backup first from all your Stuff and Apps!
6 Step
Start Android and make dev option enabel. Usb debug etc!
Install Latest Magisk Manager Version: v5.3.5 from SdCard!
Start and make under Options update beta kanal!
Install Magisk 14.2 Beta and rebot your Phone!
Wolla you have Root this xxx !
7 Step
Download Maui META ver 9.1724.0.00 to fix The Invalid Imei Problem after flashing!
For me this step was need after flashing root+room!
https://www.needrom.com/download/mauimeta-version-9-1724/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My note:
Do not flash whole firmware just select patched boot.img or flash patched file via adb
instead of
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img use fastboot flash boot boot.img
For recovery use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.mkrtchyan.recoverytools or https://flashfire.chainfire.eu/
Keep in mind getting latest firmware atm v15
Instead of mauimeta tool use mobil uncel apk befor flashing to backup IMEI
Firmware and note about update:
the API24 full Nougat v14 update here http://forum.cubot.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1475
or OTA https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73007684&postcount=11
Some older API23 Marshmallow updates:
V07 Sadly i do not have a propper V08 link. If TWRP is present you have to install a recovery (v07) to get latest firmware via OTA.
CUBOT_6143C_CHEETAH_2_V02_20161027.zip (flash tool inside)
With TWRP you can not install OTA update, so install latest firmware befor flashing TWRP! If you like to update firmware with TWRP installed, make a full backup for example with Titanium backup. Copy backup to a save location (pc^^ do not leave it on a plugged external sd)! Backup any user related floder (DCIM, Bluetooth, Download and any additional floder) copy them manuel to another storage TWRP or Titanium never restored them.
Then you can recover all data, apps and files if update is done.
If you now go to recover apps with Titanium backup, do not restore old system apps just data!
Flashing a orginal stock rom = factory reset
Flashing TWRP = factory reset if you have to unlook bootloader
To recover system apps or sound you maybe use my aroma installer base on V08 Android 6 API23 (see next reply).
With V14 maybe use the nougat aroma i provide
Me unlocked bootloader & flashed TWRP like that MTK6753 tut
Maybe install last Superuser version https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/2014-09-02-supersu-v2-05-t2868133.
Backup all files if you start TWRP!!!
For security you maybe set password to your TWRP with
lockable-twrp-recovery
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/lockable-twrp-recovery-t3150750/
More useful apps - custom notifcation led, etc. :
You can simple install most following apps even more via my aroma installer (see next reply)
Latest Es Explorer support root access now or Fx explorer &root add-on
xposed API23 /sdk arm64
some xposed modul besides firewall:
MTP as Default USB Connection
Android N-ify Led-control but better -->
Led blinker works well for me. To use power led as notification light (red/green) but only if blinker app is not activ
More xposed modul i use: AppsOps, CameraNotify, BootManager, CleanLockscreen, Marshmallow SD fix
Roaming on national network? It can be fixed with https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp... can flash most of thoses apps via recovery
For simple imei r/w i used a mod of Mobileuncle Tools-com.mobileuncle.toolbox but offical final version do not work.
A TWRP flashable bootanimation 1080p - landscape from https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/themes/bootanimation-android-marshmallow-t3180984
A video of stock recovery
https://youtu.be/wqXhLF_WOKI
To start into recovery reboot
Press and hold Volume + (hold befor and till boot!.)
or shut down system
hold Volume +
Press again Power
Now the boot menu pop up :good:
Volume - is "enter/ok" in bootloader
additional note related to positioning / location / gps /
(save last system setting)
This happend as i block some system apps with firewallIf location (gps) is toggled on and you reboot it also seems to save state of Wifi, mobil date, etc. setup as it was set befor toggle location on.
By doing so you can choise if you like to have enabled wifi etc. while boot that may also take effect to sound-volume other system settings! - )
If you set location service (gps) off while boot you maybe get similar network connection issue as me!! Whenever i switched location on, some apps e.g. email or weather did not connect to net, other apps e.g. browser worked.
So my advice to you toggle gps on while boot if you like to use it often

Now my own thread
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/cubot-cheetah-2-nougat-aroma-t3732579
my cubot cheetah 2 web floder:
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/5k0832h9u1cce/Cubot_Cheetah_2
#####################################################
Note about firmware update:
Release date: 2017-1-3 OTA update:
CUBOT_6143C_CHEETAH_2_V0820161230_103516
http://forum.cubot.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1218
Contain some new apps:
Smart Wake, gesture to turn on/off display by tap on it or to start apps etc.
News,
Youtube,
Duo, (google video chat)
TalkBack,
more...
Security improve by update a little if password is used, request is now befor pin of sim.
If you like to install TWRP, run OTA update first or you have to flash stock-rom befor you can upate to V8.
edit:
Direct update from V2 to V8 did not work. First i had to install V7 to get OTA V8 update...
This maybe trigger V8 is not a full stock rom
Since i packed an aroma installer for a Lollipop device i decided to build one for the cubot cheetah:
Cubot+Cheetah+2+toBsucht+aroma+1.1.part1.rar
Cubot+Cheetah+2+toBsucht+aroma+1.1.part2.rar
The new download contain all system app, including the entire priv-app system, sounds (system/media/) < all taken from stock-rom v08
3 bootanimation, launcher / keyboard mod xperia, all applications from the previous publication
.....more
It should be useful for restoring deleted system applications. It should be useful to set up a Cubot cheetah after installing TWRP.
previous publication
You can flash those app:
FileExplorer_v5.1.3.0
FileExplorerRootAddOn_v1.0.2
VLCforAndroid_v2.0.6
321MediaPlayer_v1.3.0
MediaConverter_v0.9.3
PuffinWebBrowser_v6.0.9.15863free
com.UCMobile.intl_v11.3.0.950
Befor install Xposed flash xposed sdk zip
XposedInstaller 3.1.1 -->Have to be installed to use most of following:
AppOps_v1.9.1
com.mohammadag.xposedledcontrol_v5_8add0d
com.semon.cameranotify_v8_bfb03f
gd.sec.cleanlockscreen_v16_9bebee
tk.wasdennnoch.androidn_ify_v5_b94a95
LightningWall-385
dev.ukanth.ufirewall-2.9.1
Greenify.v3.4
MTPasDefaultUSBrayyan.black.fem.ind.runner_v4_ac7499
Marshmallow_SD_Fix_v2.0
ru.freshmobile.networkmodeenabler_v4_a34228
RoamingControl_v1.50.apk
If you don´t want an app you can simple leave it unselected in aroma installer menu.
Yes, aroma installer touch menu works flawless.
Cubot+Cheetah+2+toBsucht+aroma+1.1.part1.rar
Cubot+Cheetah+2+toBsucht+aroma+1.1.part2.rar
Fix since last version:
-bootanimation (standard) selection
-added titanium backup and open camera
-gapps removed simple get a arm64 pack from opengapps.org if needed
If you like to mod the aroma feel free to share :fingers-crossed:

Hi guys, I just got the Cheetah 2 a couple of days ago, updated to Nougat 7 and wanted to root. I followed the Unlock Bootloader (this bit worked) and flash TWRP but the TWRP won't open. When I flashed it the CMD window confirmed it had tranferred and the device confirmed in tiny text also but the device will only boot to stock recovery.
I'm guessing this version of TWRP won't work on Cheetah2 with Nougat 7, so if anyone finds one that does can you please let us know here. I will do the same if I find one. Thanks guys!

RoastPorkDinner i got same and no root permission. ..
However still no xposed for Nougat. Now i swipe to my Marshmallow v08 backup which already seems to have Nougat features by modding as shown.
1. edit:
Guessing it´s our fault. We forgotten to unlock to bootloader twice..kind of tricky. At the moment i´m still on v07 since i do not unlock bootloader (2x) befor flashing TWRP img.
2. edit:
Finally i am back on v08 but lost all files and pictures from internal standard floders: download, DCIM, bluetooth, etc.
I do not know how to recover them with TWRP or Titanium backup. If i use twrp to restore data partion only i am not able to get files back.
So if someone like to recover that i suggest to backup those folders manuel.
Yesterday i liked to replace superSU with Magisk but installation failed on a boot.img error. Maybe someone else got Magisk as superSU replacement?

toBsucht Psp said:
RoastPorkDinner i got same and no root permission. ..
However still no xposed for Nougat. Now i swipe to my Marshmallow v08 backup which already seems to have Nougat features by modding as shown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'll wait, I can't be bothered to roll back to Marshmallow, takes to long to set my damned phone up how I like it!
Something will come along soon to provide root access, I'm sure

Just install TWRP to get root access, should work with Nougat but you have to setup your phone again after unlock bootloader.
You can backup with stock recovery but that only works if you fail on TWRP installation ..stock backups can not loaded with twrp.
If you got TWRP (root) you can restore any app with titanium backup
Yeah wait some days i´m going to build a flashable* rom from the Nougat stock. As i said, i stay on Marshmallow for xposed modules.
*most likely for TWRP
----------------- stock rom Nougat v14 update -----------
http://www.mediafire.com/?ubypzwp75qg59j1/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part1.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/?hzwbo1mqzb12ygx/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/?rhuzovc7sxqe6zg/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part3.rar
Download all 3 parts into one floder then you can extract nougat update.
---------------------------
If someone found an alternative tool to enable root it would be nice to reply. With root you can flash recovery.img via flashify
----------reupload nougat aroma installer
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/zfc9h5x8nfty8/Nougat
Cubot Cheetah 2 Nougat aroma 1.0b
-requires twrp
-download all 3 parts to extract the nougat.zip rom
Guessing can not be used to update from Marshmallow (API23) to Nougat (API24) since i packed whole system but not boot.img
As usual backup befor flash

toBsucht Psp said:
Just install TWRP to get root access, should work with Nougat but you have to setup your phone again after unlock bootloader.
You can backup with stock recovery but that only works if you fail on TWRP installation ..stock backups can not loaded with twrp.
If you got TWRP (root) you can restore any app with titanium backup
Yeah wait some days i´m going to build a flashable* rom from the Nougat stock. As i said, i stay on Marshmallow for xposed modules.
*most likely for TWRP
----------------- stock rom Nougat v14 update -----------
http://www.mediafire.com/?ubypzwp75qg59j1/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part1.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/?hzwbo1mqzb12ygx/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/?rhuzovc7sxqe6zg/ Cubot+Cheetah+2+Nougat+v14.part3.rar
Download all 3 parts into one floder then you can extract nougat update.
---------------------------
If someone found an alternative tool to enable root it would be nice to reply. With root you can flash recovery.img via flashify
----------uploading nougat aroma installer
requires twrp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already mentioned I unlocked bootloader successfully, but TWRP wont flash. Fastboot says it has transferred to phone successfully but only stock recovery will open, no sign of TWRP
I think a new TWRP for Nougat on the Cheetah 2 is required. I even tried to temporary flash the TWRP you provided with "fastboot boot recovery recovery.img" no joy for this either.

That happend to me if i unlock bootloader only once or false. Yes, i also transfered recovery.img and got an success message if i unlocked bootloader just once or flase!
By the way the Nougat aroma rom is fully re-uploaded
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/zfc9h5x8nfty8/Nougat

Ok, I want to try and port TWRP for Cheetah 2 Nougat... any idea how I can get the Stock Recovery.img from Nougat??
I'm new to this kind of procedure and the stuggle is real lol !

Cann´t find a recovery inside Nougat v14 update. I unpacked whole files to get system floder for the aroma. Only the boot.img i did not unpack but boot.img do not contain recovery. Sorry i´m little lazy to reinstall Nougat again for testing.
To enable my device update from V08 Marshmallow to Nougat, i flashed V07 recovery via adb. Maybe not needed anymore if i flash Nougat aroma.
Maybe try a little spanish at MDS twrp thread
You maybe saw MegaTheBest account is disabled so you maybe try contact at needrom.

toBsucht Psp said:
Cann´t find a recovery inside Nougat v14 update. I unpacked whole files to get system floder for the aroma. Only the boot.img i did not unpack but boot.img do not contain recovery. Sorry i´m little lazy to reinstall Nougat again for testing.
To enable my device update from V08 Marshmallow to Nougat, i flashed V07 recovery via adb. Maybe not needed anymore if i flash Nougat aroma.
Maybe try a little spanish at MDS twrp thread
You maybe saw MegaTheBest account is disabled so you maybe try contact at needrom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I did the same. I have your V14 ROM which only contains a Boot image and I have your Aroma nougat ROM which has neither Boot or Stock Recovery image. I did unpack the Boot image and of course, nothing to be found there.
If there's no Stock Recovery image in the Nougat Roms, they must still be using the original one!

RoastPorkDinner said:
Yes, I did the same. I have your V14 ROM which only contains a Boot image and I have your Aroma nougat ROM which has neither Boot or Stock Recovery image. I did unpack the Boot image and of course, nothing to be found there.
If there's no Stock Recovery image in the Nougat Roms, they must still be using the original one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes :good:

I was going to try and port the new Nougat Stock Recovery, but if it's the same Stock Recovery as Marshmallow then theoretically MegTheBest's port should work. As we know, it doesn't, which means I need to use the latest TWRP, 3.1.1 (or whatever it is). I just need to locate the damned Stock Recovery image!! Not so easy without root and I can't root without it... bah!

RoastPorkDinner said:
I was going to try and port the new Nougat Stock Recovery, but if it's the same Stock Recovery as Marshmallow then theoretically MegTheBest's port should work. As we know, it doesn't, which means I need to use the latest TWRP, 3.1.1 (or whatever it is). I just need to locate the damned Stock Recovery image!! Not so easy without root and I can't root without it... bah!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No dude megathebest TWRP and MDS TWRP should work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Again! My suggestion to you retry bootloader unlock!!!
If you have a believe it only work with a MarshMallow firmware downgrade and check how to install TWRP propper. Then you know how to. If you see what you made wrong on installing twrp maybe then you like to retry on Nougat.
But feel free to port a new version of TWRP. Use v02 or v07 recovery to port it if needed.
Again no v14 stock recovery i had the v07 installed as i made a direct upgrade to v14. The kernel is in boot.img

I'm sure Bootloader is unlocked. It says bootloader unlocked=YES and also Warranty=NO.
However, I'm going to take your advice and try unlocking it again. I hate having to set my phone up after a wipe so much though...
Be back soon with a good result i hope!

GRETEL A7 - Information & Reviews - 4.7" HD | MT6580A | 1GB | 16GB | Breathing Light

GRETEL A7
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Specs:
Dimensions: 139.6 * 66.9 * 9.4mm
Weight: 127g
Chassis: Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6580A
CPU: ARM Cortex-A7, 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP1, Cores: 1
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 4.7 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 2000 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Back Camera: 3264 x 2448 pixels (8MP)
Front Camera: 1920 x 1080 pixels (2MP)
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, single-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Breathing Light
Colors: Black and White
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/gretel-a7-development-support-t3666740
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own unboxing: Post #6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​

Reserved

Strong.... malware:
And Can't disable the apps.

sonydp said:
Strong.... malware:
And Can't disable the apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post a screenshot of the system's firmware version together with the name of the app used to scan the device?
I'll make a report for the company.

Scanned with AVG Antivirus.
I'm talking with Gretel and AVG to clarify the situation, I'll post here when I have more information.

Flash Unboxing and Build Quality Review
This is the GRETEL A7.
Hardware
This is the second device released by GRETEL, an entry-level smartphone for thoswe who don't care about a big screen or great specs. With its superb 4.7" HD Screen (ironic of course), this is the one of the most compact devices released in 2017. It is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, so you will have to forget about 4G/LTE, together with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x User Guide, 1x Screen Protector and the Smartphone (of course). A TPU Cover is included, and a plastic screen protector is pre-applied.
Talking about the dimensions, this is the smallest device i have ever reviewed. It is 13.9x6.92x0.94cm, with medium bezels, and weights 128g, pretty lightweight.
Its design is average, with a Plastic Body and a Physical Button (that also hides a Notification LED) on the front. Unfortunately that Physical Button doesn't work as a fingerprint scanner, even though it looks so.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors.
On the lower front side there isn't anything at all except the physical button, on-screen keys are used instead. I don't understand this choice, there is so much space on the sides of the central button...weird.
Here you can see the Notification LED, pretty unique.
On the back side there is the removable back cover. Feels solid enough, but not so resistant to scratches.
The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED Flashlight.
Some Personal Words about the Device
This is just an unboxing with some thoughts about the build quality, i won't review this device because i only had it for some days.
Something i can say is that this is a device meant for a specific target of users, nowadays the majority of smartphones are not so compact anymore, and the lack of 4G/LTE can't make this a daily driver so easily.
I'm impressed to see a company that still releases compact devices though, i know someone that doesn't upgrade his own device because compact ones are rare, and most of the times, expensive.
If you are looking for a cheap and compact device, this is a device that should be considered.
You can find full-res images here, with some extras: http://imgur.com/a/UmHCm
Official Website: http://www.gretel.cc/en/product/a7
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the GRETEL website.​

Hmm unfortunatelly phone drains battery really fast, phone is unresistable when connected to charger

I've ordered this phone on amazon and it's arriving tomorrow.
Do you know if this phone comes rooted by default?

Root
Hi, I also bought this phone and plan to make it my primary device. It's hard today to find a compact phone that fits in your pocket like this one!
Battery drain indeed seems high just after charging but appears to stabilise after a while (in contrast with other phones I have had that showed hardly any battery consumption just after charging but then dropped from 40% to 0 in no time).
Rooting should be easy because Juan Carossero shared TWRP for this device on needrom. I'll try it out soon and keep everyone here posted.
To finish for now, I also have a question for this community: I have not made the OTA update yet, I'm still on the 2016 ROM. Is the 2017 update really an improvement -- what's better about it?

Hi guys,
My A7's battery is behaving pretty bad since a few days. It discharges from 57% to 0% instantly, and charges to 100% too fast to be normal. It sounds like a battery failure but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Is there anyone else facing battery issues with this device?
Thank you!

Alberto96 said:
Hi guys,
My A7's battery is behaving pretty bad since a few days. It discharges from 57% to 0% instantly, and charges to 100% too fast to be normal. It sounds like a battery failure but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Is there anyone else facing battery issues with this device?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a lot of discussion about this also on 4PDA, with Google Translate you'll be able to read most of it. Some people indeed seem to speak of bad battery. And there's also a deep sleep problem :
"Steps:
1) Install 3Ctoolbox application from google play
2) Reboot phone
3) Enable event indicator in options - screen - home key light
4) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see how long the cpu was in deep sleep state.
5) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top) and power off screen for 20-30 seconds
6) Enable screen and unlock device
7) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that the CPU was in deep sleep for about 20-30 seconds. It is good
8) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top)
8) Open sms application and send sms to yourself and power off screen. Event indicator becomes green while screen is off
9) Wait 20-30 seconds while the event indicator is green and screen is off
9) Enable screen and unlock device. Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that cpu was not in deep sleep state anymore. It works at 1GHZ speed most time. Now CPU will not go to deep sleep until reboot." [Source: Tolyy, on 4PDA forum]

bunchofdutch said:
There is a lot of discussion about this also on 4PDA, with Google Translate you'll be able to read most of it. Some people indeed seem to speak of bad battery. And there's also a deep sleep problem :
"Steps:
1) Install 3Ctoolbox application from google play
2) Reboot phone
3) Enable event indicator in options - screen - home key light
4) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see how long the cpu was in deep sleep state.
5) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top) and power off screen for 20-30 seconds
6) Enable screen and unlock device
7) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that the CPU was in deep sleep for about 20-30 seconds. It is good
8) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top)
8) Open sms application and send sms to yourself and power off screen. Event indicator becomes green while screen is off
9) Wait 20-30 seconds while the event indicator is green and screen is off
9) Enable screen and unlock device. Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that cpu was not in deep sleep state anymore. It works at 1GHZ speed most time. Now CPU will not go to deep sleep until reboot." [Source: Tolyy, on 4PDA forum]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is bad, so all batteries are defected then? Damn, i hope not.
About the deep sleep issue, i will check if mine is affected by it too.
If you know someone with this device (or if you can post this thread on 4PDA), let them post a reply here. More feedbacks = more attention from the company about this issue (usually...).

Yes @Alberto96 . My device has the same issue, I sent an email to the seller and they don't want to send me a new battery. Disappointed.

Are you sure it's the battery, not the gauge & calibration of the software? I used to have a Star B943, it would show strange fluctuations in battery %. On that device, I learned that by switching it off not with the hardware button but with Mobile Uncle Tools / Shutdown, I could get a much more stable battery reading. Not sure why, but sure of the result.

hi. i want to root my gretel a7. but i dont know how to root it..

Paulo1707 said:
hi. i want to root my gretel a7. but i dont know how to root it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you have it: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/gretel-a7-development-support-t3666740

bunchofdutch said:
Are you sure it's the battery, not the gauge & calibration of the software? I used to have a Star B943, it would show strange fluctuations in battery %. On that device, I learned that by switching it off not with the hardware button but with Mobile Uncle Tools / Shutdown, I could get a much more stable battery reading. Not sure why, but sure of the result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine battery is very poor too. But as you suggested, I thinks it's software problem. I started using Greenify with Donation package. It allows me to hibernate system apps such as Messages, Google Play Store etc. But battery drains in front of my eyes. It was better till I installed some apps from google store. I think we need a new debugged ROM...

I'm getting an aware issue with, what appears to be a system app. It calls itself shell and is under com.android.internal.
I have managed to uninstall it but it just comes back a day or two later. It serves up full screen ads.
I also had an app claiming to be a file manager, but which didn't appear in the app drawer, which also had adware issues. Malwarebytes didn't find an issue but it did spot the shell app trying to install the file manager again.
Anyone have any ideas?
---------- Post added at 11:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------
appofox said:
Mine battery is very poor too. But as you suggested, I thinks it's software problem. I started using Greenify with Donation package. It allows me to hibernate system apps such as Messages, Google Play Store etc. But battery drains in front of my eyes. It was better till I installed some apps from google store. I think we need a new debugged ROM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found the battery drains and charges very quickly when in use, but the screen on times are actually not bad (around 3 hours). So I assumed this was ok considering the small battery capacity.

I think Google Play Store after scan informed me about com.android.internal that it may be malware and uninstalled it. I do not have it at this moment. I have File Manager though in apps list and in the drawer too, though icons is not the same. I can't nor Force stop it nor Disable it.

appofox said:
I think Google Play Store after scan informed me about com.android.internal that it may be malware and uninstalled it. I do not have it at this moment. I have File Manager though in apps list and in the drawer too, though icons is not the same. I can't nor Force stop it nor Disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I do have a file manager in the app drawer as well. That one appears to be OK. There was another, only found in the settings app list that had a lot of permissions. I uninstalled it and it has stayed away, but I think the shell app tries to reinstall it and only malwarebytes stops it.

CHUWI Hipad Root, TWRP, +Info, etc.

Little review and tablet issues:
I've been waiting for this tablet for 1 month and it has finally arrived. I bought this tablet for two reasons:
1. I was looking for a tablet with a Wifi AC chip for ~$100. None of the tablets around that price tag had this type of chip (best had Wifi N chips). Therefore after researching for a little while I found out that this was the only option available. The only alternative was Huawei Mediapad T5, with a worse battery (5K vs 7K mAh) and also a $100+ increment in price (~$100 for the Chuwi vs ~$200 for the Huawei).
2. The tablet it clearly powerful, fast and way better in terms of power than other tablets I've been using (even Samsung Tabs). But there are some issues that may be a turnoff for some users and most of them won't be easily solvable by the company.
After reading some reviews I can confirm several issues that won't be fully resolved:
Screen issues
1. The touch screen it's not the best (better with the latest ROM, see workarounds).
They have made an overkill in the Tablet specs (decacore,...) with a cheap touch panel. The game experience is very poor despite they are selling it as a "Gaming Tablet".
Chuwi seems to be more focused in selling at all costs than actually providing what people expect from their products. Probably they should have been selling this tablet for $50-100 more with a better screen, but this way they would have found other alternative products that may have provoked most people not buying this... difficult decission for Chuwi, ending obviously on a really bad experience (for most of the powerful games, like PUBG mobile)
Here is a video comparing Pocophone F1 with Chuwi Hipad:
https://vimeo.com/313134711
There are clearly some lag issues (the stroke is behind the finger most of the time) and it's very imprecise, without the possibility of draw a perfect line, but a trail of individual dots recognized.
Screen Issues Workarounds (WIP)
- I'm going to test a capacitive pen to see if this makes the touch screen a lesser issue. When I test it will comment. With the latest November update, the touch screen performs a little bit better, but marginally better.
- With the new kernel 3.18.60 (Rom 11th Jan 2019) it seems that the tablet it's a little bit more responsive.
- It works worse with the capacitive pen than with the finger.
Game Streaming Issues - Solved
2. Personally I was not interested in playing games directly on the tablet, but streaming games from my PC. And also found some hindrances:
- Steam Link Beta is not currently working: sound works, input works (touch controls) but video is not showing. Not sure where is the problem but when we start the app an error message says: Steam Link performance hasn't been verified on this device (Techain Hi9Air), so it may not perform well
Game Streaming Issues Workarounds
- I'm currently testing two apps: Remotr, KinoConsole. I like Steam Link because it's fully integrated and works extremely good. I've found some issues in Remotr (drag-n-drop not working) and in KinoConsole (issues with streaming image distorted). I don't find any value in Parsec atm at least for what I'm looking for (playing on the go without have to pre-setup anything).
- I've solved the Issue with Steam Link Beta. Here is the solution: https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam_Link/comments/akz50n/troubleshooting_android_video_issues/?
Wifi Issues
3. WiFi chip is very poor: I've been testing with iperf2 tests and there is a 50% speed reduction vs a Pocophone F1. It's important to say that in the same spot Chuwi Hipad is getting around -70-75dBm while Poco F1 is around -60dBm
If I find new issues I will comment them.
Wifi Issues Workarounds (WIP)
3. With the wifi thing there is nothing to do, if I could possibly return the tablet, I may do it, but since I bought it overseas I may forget about this.
For me it's important to have a good Wifi signal, because as I said I'm using it for playing streamed games and with a bad signal games are unplayable.
- Currently I've switched my AC router to a D-Link DIR 882 with a modded DD-WRT ROM to DHT80 and it's working fine. The chip seem to be really bad compared to other alternatives (like my Pocophone F1 Wifi chip), but I have to say that for under $150 I've not seen an alternative tablet with AC at all at the current moment (1Q 2019)
Dissasembling Chuwi HIPAD for repairing (screen, battery, ...)
One of the issues I've found is that opening the tablet it's extremely difficult compared to other alternatives. The tablets its extremely sealed without any screws and just left to open with pure pressure:
{
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
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The BIG problem is that it's so hard to open the case that I've ended breaking the touch screen, so be extremely careful when pressuring the thing trying to not bend the tablet too much or press on any point of the screen. I changed the screen of a Chuwi Hi8 Pro 30 minutes before doing this, so I know what I'm talking about: I would say that the risk of breaking with this model is 8/10.
Why I've tried to open the case? Because in the last days I noticed that the tablet touch screen was not working. I expected that the cable was not adequatelly plugged, or maybe the touch screen was faulty (I think that the touch screen was faulty so I don't really care about breaking it).
Here is an image of the PCB:
UPDATE: 30/3/2019
I started changing the screen and here is the result:
Two mistakes:
1. Ordering the new screen before being sure that I was able to extract it.
2. Trying to extract it WITHOUT an adequate heat gun (just with a hair dryer)
The screen is TOO big, and they only sell the screen replacement WITHOUT the touch panel. In the majority of the tablets they don't sell the touch panel with the screen replacement, BUT the difference is that the screen are rarely sticked to the panel with industrial glue. Therefore, if you don't have a really good heat gun, you won't be able to remove the panel from the screen and you will end breaking the panel. I've changed a lot of screens in other tablets without hassle just with my hairdryer, but this screen it's way harder. If you have never changed a screen the probability of breaking everything as I did is 100%. But for the cost of this tablet, I'm not sure that going for a service it's worth so If you cannot repair it yourself, i think this tablet is not worth at all.
Development: Rooting, Recovery, ROMS
I would like to create a comprehensive list of Rooting, recovery, possible ROMS, that may appear for this recent tablet in the future. The tablet is new and not very well known for most people yet, so we might have to wait a bit until other users start to find some value in this budget powerful tablet, depite of the caveats we have already found.
Flashing Process with SP Flash Tool (no unlock needed)
Remember: there is a risk of briking the tablet!
This will do a full wipe to your Tablet so remember to backup your data before doing so
This is the easy method to flash the tablet. All we need are some tools:
1. The SP Flash Tool: (Download v5.1728 here)
2. A ROM: (check in the bottom section for ROMs).
3. Drivers: There are multiple options, but here are some working drivers for Windows:
64bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337087008142
32bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337086745908
How to flash with SP Flash Tool:
1. Extract ROM and SP Flash Tool in the same folder. Try to avoid special characters in the folders like chinese chars to avoid issues during flash
2. Open flash_tool.exe
3. In "Download Agent" select MTK_AllinOne_DA.bin
4. In the "Scatter-loading-File" select MT6797_Android_scatter.txt
5. In the "Download Only" dropdown select Firmware Upgrade
6. Turn off the tablet and disconnect the Tablet from the USB cable
7. Press the button "Download" in the top
8. Connect the Tablet to the USB cable
9. If everything it's right (including driver installation) it may appear a red line in the bottom that goes to 100%. Just wait until the process is complete with a green tick opening in a window.
10. If it gets stuck at some point (for example at 72%) for some minutes, it will end failing the installation and you will have to start over. Remember that there is a risk of bricking the tablet.
Rooting process
Remember: there is a risk of briking the tablet!
This will do a full wipe to your Tablet so remember to backup your data before doing so
Last time I did the process was with: Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20181107
After updating to the new ROM (Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20190111) tested root process again and worked flawlessly.
1. First we need to install the USB drivers
64bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337087008142
32bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337086745908
2. Install ADB like any other device. There are multiple tutorials out there.
3. Activate the USB debugging option and the OEM unlocking option in the developers option menu (unlocking it by pressing 7 times in the Build number just like any other Android vanilla device)
4. If we plug the USB to the computer and we do a "adb devices", we will see it listed after permitting in the device:
So far, everything exactly the same as rooting for any other Android device.
5. Download the latest Magisk Manager APK from the site https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/ and install it
6. Download the latest boot.img file (download your ROM to get the boot.img within) and place it somewhere you can find it in your phone (Downloads folder for example).
7. We open Magisk Manager and press "Install"
8. There we press: "Patch Boot Image File" and in the file explorer we select the boot.img file we have already downloaded and wait until it is patched.
9. After it's patched we will see this message:
Patched image is placed in:
/storage/emulated/0/Download/patched_boot.img (or whatever route we have used for installation)
10. Connect the Hipad with the PC and transfer that "patched_boot.img" file to the computer to a directory (for example C:/CHUWI we will use this for the example)
11. Now it's time to flash
Here goes the most risky moment. Because we have to enter the bootloader, unlock it and then flash the new "patched root boot image"
12. We go into the console and type: adb reboot bootloader
And it will automatically reboot into the Fastboot
13. Now we unlock the bootloader with the command: fastboot oem unlock
IMPORTANT: Remember that after OEM unlocking the system will wipe to factory default. Backup everything if you have anything important installed in the device
We will see a message that says: "Unlock bootloader", press Volume up to unlock and Volume down to cancel: We press the volume up button.
14. After this, we have an extended bootloader menu that permits going into fastboot, recovery and system fromt there. At this point we are ready to flash the rooted boot img.
15. We type: fastboot flash boot patched_boot.img
And we will see something like ths:
$ fastboot flash boot patched_boot.img
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
sending 'boot' (10415 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.348s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 0.141s]
finished. total time: 0.489s
16. Finally it's time to reboot to check results by typing: fastboot reboot
17. After OEM unlocking we will see the orange Chuwi logo meaning that we have "unlocked it" and suggesting we are in an "untrusted state". That's fine.
18. Be aware, that after doing this it will take a little bit more than usual to boot Android. Just wait for it.
19. When device has rebooted Magisk Manager will be already installed but we will have to update because everything has been wiped as I warned before. If everything has gone right (maybe we will have to reboot again after the first boot for some updates to take in place) we will see this in Magisk Manager:
20. And that's all folks! Root installed in our device:
TWRP process
At this moment we don't have a TWRP or any other recovery compatible with this hardware, stay tunned.
Official ROMs
* 11th Jan 2019, Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20190111: Download
- Big improvement in the touch screen, It seems that the touch screen it's a little bit more responsive
- New kernel 3.18.60
* 6th Nov 2018, Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20181107 Download
- Slight improvement in the touch screen
Other ROMS
We don't have any custom ROMS available yet
Let's see if some ROM devs want to test this and make a custom ROM like Resurrection Remix 6 (based on Oreo).
Updates
- This tablet will be updated mid-2019 to Android 9.0 Pie: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78278868&postcount=994

Thank you very much sir!
You were the first brave one to try rooting on this tablet.

Definitely Touch pad is very unresponsive
Sample video with Hipad vs Pocophone F1: https://vimeo.com/313134711

Dupe

I continue with the issues
Today I've been able to troubleshoot the streaming issue with Steam Link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam_Link/comments/akz50n/troubleshooting_android_video_issues/
Still not a great tablet, but a little bit better today

MiSSigNNo said:
Definitely Touch pad is very unresponsive
Sample video with Hipad vs Pocophone F1: https://vimeo.com/313134711
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that really a fair comparison? 6" vs 10" screen. $330 vs $145. I read your critique and ordered a Hipad anyway. But my most demanding app is Nascar Raceview, so touchscreen response isn't a really big deal to me anyway. I'm going to use it to replace my 2016 10" Samsung Tab A which is getting a little outdated.
I do want to thank you, though, for your effort to improve the Hipad's performance.

lewmur said:
Is that really a fair comparison? 6" vs 10" screen. $330 vs $145.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, is not a comparison in fact. It's just a demonstration of the situation. How it performs the finger and the stylus in a Poco F1 and how it performs with a Hipad.
If I saw this comparison, made for example, by you, I would have not bought this tablet probably. This is something that has dissapointed me. Still, I'm currently using to play some card games like Artifact and Magic Arena via Steam Link. It's a little bit frustrating when you try to press a button by touching the screen and it just press anywhere else except for the place you are trying to do it. And I have to recognice that I have to play carefully becuase if I press without extreme precision, I may end playing something that it's not intended.
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.

MiSSigNNo said:
Well, is not a comparison in fact. It's just a demonstration of the situation. How it performs the finger and the stylus in a Poco F1 and how it performs with a Hipad.
If I saw this comparison, made for example, by you, I would have not bought this tablet probably. This is something that has dissapointed me. Still, I'm currently using to play some card games like Artifact and Magic Arena via Steam Link. It's a little bit frustrating when you try to press a button by touching the screen and it just press anywhere else except for the place you are trying to do it. And I have to recognice that I have to play carefully becuase if I press without extreme precision, I may end playing something that it's not intended.
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. You just made my point for me. It was a comparison and, IMO, an unjust one. If you had included the statement "So overall, the tablet is awesome A+", then it would have been more even handed. As it was, I was almost convinced not the buy a Hipad.

No news on an update to address the issue on chuwi forums.
I've read somewhere (not sure where so don't get this for granded) that the hi9 plus also has tricky touch.
I'm starting to feel it is a hardware problem and not a software one.
So bad screen inventory or a flaw on the software side? We'll see.
Which stylus are you using in the video?

MiSSigNNo said:
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i just ordered an alldocube tablet, similar x27 chipset and i've been doing some research before it arrive:
apart from the random touchscreen issue, i think the main problem is with the helios x20 series chipset, is it struggles with responsiveness and "short burst" tasks. i am new user can't post links so just google and run "kraken javascript benchmark" in browser.
the a72 cores in helios x20 should mean you score ~4000 here, but typically i see 9000-10000 in reviews for devices using this chipset. so the problem reported is it is not even utilizing these fast cores in these short bursty tasks. of course this is good for battery saving, but bad for performance/responsiveness.
for longer running benchmarks like geekbench, antutu the cores become active and are OK
so there have been some solutions, for example the meizu 6 got updated firmware that boosts the cores more aggressively, and anandtech review said benchmark results improved 2-2.5x, but they don't say how they do this
some portion of the redmi note 4 phones also use the x20 chipset, it is more laggy than the snapdragon counterpart, and there have been a few tweaks in their forums, this one looks promising to me, google "Redmi note 4 (mtk) better gaming Learn how to get the most out of it (root)"
it seems you first disable the mtk perfservice, so the system uses the default cpu governor. then you make some tweaks
of course you need root and you do this at your own risk etc so make sure you read the miui thread and understand before using the code, also it is a good idea to note down the system default values before you change them, for when you want to revert back.
from the thread here is some recommended code for light gaming and general use to improve response, comments are my interpretation of what it does:
Code:
#background "real time" priority task 0.01ms time allocation
echo 10000 > /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive/cpu.rt_runtime_us
#time between when scheduler reschedules 0.95ms for "real time" priority task
echo 950000 > /dev/cpuctl/cpu.rt_runtime_us
#default time allocated by scheduler for "real time" priority task 1ms
echo 1000000 > /dev/cpuctl/cpu.rt_period_us
#this is feature to take in to account number of cores for allotting time, turn it off to increase response time
echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/sched_tunable_scaling
#dynamic voltage frequency scheduler for gpu on
echo 1 > /proc/mali/dvfs_enable
#ignore thermal for gpu on, since the cpu a72 cores
echo 1 > /proc/gpufreq/gpufreq_limited_thermal_ignore heat up and cause throttling
# apparently this unlocks the a72 cores
echo 0 > /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
i think this or some other code on that thread can help the system utilize the strong a72 cores, increasing performance but at expense of battery, if you can tweak it such that Kraken benchmark gets close to 4000 score with acceptable battery, i think it is big success.

Thanks for the suggestions @xygn
Where is the article you are talking about?

MiSSigNNo said:
Thanks for the suggestions @xygn
Where is the article you are talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't post link because new account, but google "Redmi note 4 (mtk) better gaming Learn how to get the most out of it (root)", there are a few suggestions on that thread

I'm not sure how to interpret the kraken results:
https://mzl.la/2N9PSCZ
I may be testing those parameters to see if there is any improvement.

I've tested your mods and there is no improvement in touchpad responsiveness
Also this policy /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
Was not found.

I've screwed up the recovery trying to create a compatible TWRP. Can anyone send me a working hipad recovery img please?

MiSSigNNo said:
I'm not sure how to interpret the kraken results:
https://mzl.la/2N9PSCZ
I may be testing those parameters to see if there is any improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the benchmark is measured in time so the higher the longer it took to execute, on the x20 i've seen as low as 3000. for example google "redmi note 4 x20 anandtech", which kind of makes sense since the a72 cores are about twice as fast, and people have found they don't get utilized at all in some workloads, and this should be able to be tweaked.
MiSSigNNo said:
I've tested your mods and there is no improvement in touchpad responsiveness
Also this policy /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
Was not found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm that's disappointing, i'll see how my alldocube responds when i get it, still waiting...
MiSSigNNo said:
I've screwed up the recovery trying to create a compatible TWRP. Can anyone send me a working hipad recovery img please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chuwi has stock firmware is that what you need? i just google "chuwi hipad stock firmware" and second result

xygn said:
chuwi has stock firmware is that what you need? i just google "chuwi hipad stock firmware" and second result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I need the stock recovery. Fun fact, MIUI by default restores automatically the recovery if you don't have magisk installed. So you don't have to ever worry to end (like me) with a corrupted recovery. Things went wrong when I was trying to flash a new TWRP and I could not save successfully the original recovery unfortunatelly (my bad)

To get the stock recovery is simple. For those that have already rooted with my method:
1. Install the app Diskinfo
2. Enable all partitions in the settings
3. Theorically there should appear a partition like /dev/block/mmcblk0pXX (XX is two numbers)
4. Download Terminal emualtor
5. Run the command "su"
6. Run the command "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0pXX of=/sdcard/stock-recovery.img" (remember to replace the XX with the number of the partition of the recovery)
Also can be found in the log with Terminal emulator:
1. Command: "cat /cache/recovery/last_log | grep recovery"
And will get a line like:
19 /recovery emmc /dev/block/...
And then with the path (/dev/block/... ) just need to edit the dd if=/path/... of=/sdcard/stock-recovery.img

Why root?
Just received my Hipad and I'm wondering if it is really worth rooting. Normally, that's the first thing I do with a new tablet. But without any custom ROMs available, is it really worth the irritation of the delay in booting?

lewmur said:
Just received my Hipad and I'm wondering if it is really worth rooting. Normally, that's the first thing I do with a new tablet. But without any custom ROMs available, is it really worth the irritation of the delay in booting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I like rooting to have access to Magisk modules. There are some Magisk modules are that are awesome.
By the way, could you checkout my last post, and try to extract your recovery with the method I showed? I was trying to create a TRWP but I "corrupted" my original recovery.
With a new sane recovery I may try to create a functional TWRP and maybe some custom ROM may follow

General GSI runs nicely on the S22

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Some battery life stats is what I'm most interested in. This thing discharges by just looking at it.

Still early, some wifi wakelocks but look promising. The guru of GSI, Phh has an S22 on the way so expect the GSI's to be more or less flawless in the future

NisseGurra said:
View attachment 5563881
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to flash GSI? Steps please

Steps:
1: Patch stock recovery.img to include fastbootd
Use script : https://github.com/phhusson/samsung-galaxy-a51-gsi-boot/blob/master/run.sh
"Put your recovery in the same folder named recovery.img, edit script to fix path to magiskboot, run run.sh as root, flash r.img"
2: Download vbeta.img from google
3: Download an GSI, https://forum.xda-developers.com/f/treble-enabled-device-development-a-ab-roms.7260/
Andriod 12, AB, arm 64
4: Reboot fastboot
5: Open command window, enter
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash system system-xxxx.img ( the name of the gsi you use)
reboot to recovery and do an factory reset
reboot system

NisseGurra said:
Steps:
1: Patch stock recovery.img to include fastbootd
Use script : https://github.com/phhusson/samsung-galaxy-a51-gsi-boot/blob/master/run.sh
"Put your recovery in the same folder named recovery.img, edit script to fix path to magiskboot, run run.sh as root, flash r.img"
2: Download vbeta.img from google
3: Download an GSI, https://forum.xda-developers.com/f/treble-enabled-device-development-a-ab-roms.7260/
Andriod 12, AB, arm 64
4: Reboot fastboot
5: Open command window, enter
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash system system-xxxx.img ( the name of the gsi you use)
reboot to recovery and do an factory reset
reboot system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I am nope
I have to edit the script run.sh?
".... edit script to fix path to magiskboot, run run.sh as root, flash r.img"
So you mean I have to download
GitHub - phhusson/treble_experimentations: Notes about tinkering with Android Project Treble
Notes about tinkering with Android Project Treble. Contribute to phhusson/treble_experimentations development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
and it will download the magiskboot?
as it shows in the run.sh script.
Code:
mkdir d
cd d
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot unpack ../r.img
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot cpio ramdisk.cpio extract
# Reverse fastbootd ENG mode check
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery e10313aaf40300aa6ecc009420010034 e10313aaf40300aa6ecc0094 # 20 01 00 35
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery eec3009420010034 eec3009420010035
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 3ad3009420010034 3ad3009420010035
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 50c0009420010034 50c0009420010035
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 080109aae80000b4 080109aae80000b5
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 20f0a6ef38b1681c 20f0a6ef38b9681c
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 23f03aed38b1681c 23f03aed38b9681c
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot hexpatch system/bin/recovery 20f09eef38b1681c 20f09eef38b9681c
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot cpio ramdisk.cpio 'add 0755 system/bin/recovery system/bin/recovery'
~phh/Downloads/magisk/x86/magiskboot repack ../r.img new-boot.img
cp new-boot.img ../r.img
can you please share your run.sh script so I can have an idea how to edit that.

Here are the recovery with fastbootd included.
ONLY S22 exynos SM-S901B, SM-S901B_AVC6 firmware
recovery.img
MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.
www.mediafire.com

NisseGurra said:
Here are the recovery with fastbootd included.
ONLY S22 exynos SM-S901B, SM-S901B_AVC6 firmware
recovery.img
MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.
www.mediafire.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much. Can you please share your run.sh script too? I will be very thankfull. Did you use 7zip in order to compress the recovery image in to .lz4? I am using ubuntu.

Can someone please tell me how to manually add or include fastbootd in a stock recovery.img? I can't get this script to run properly. Thanks in advance.

Hi can anyone give detailed instructions how to enable fastboot on stock recovery ?

Late reply: join phh group on telegram and request an recovery with fastboot enabled. There are memebers that will help you.
Device name? GSI version? - #phh-treble
https://t.me/phhtreble/283195 <--- Read before any question ^^^
t.me

Still waiting for the battery life screenshots. I'm really curious how much better it is on GSI than on stock.

dragos281993 said:
Still waiting for the battery life screenshots. I'm really curious how much better it is on GSI than on stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As s22 exynos drain 30-40% from wifi bug every night there no way to make an real estimate of battery life.

NisseGurra said:
As s22 exynos drain 30-40% from wifi bug every night there no way to make an real estimate of battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NisseGurra said:
As s22 exynos drain 30-40% from wifi bug every night there no way to make an real estimate of battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I get home tommorow night, I'll link you a few places to read and help you do some cleaning up because these Samsung phones are full of junk and services that the phone can live without. I've been going nuts trying to make this rubbish of a device perform better and I managed to get it to waste less battery while active and inactive by disabling and uninstalling A LOT of stuff I don't need and so on. And I came to the conclusion that for daily usage I didn't need 100% of the 8 Gen 1 chipset. I therefore cut in half the frequency for the 3rd cluster and decreased the ones of the other 2 as well. I basically limited the max freq of the CPU without noticeable effects on the performance. Probably benchmarks would should how much performance I wasted, but as I don't care about numbers on paper, I'm pretty ok with how the phone's running right now after cleaning it up. The battery is very small, the CPUs are very inneficient, both SD and Exynos, despite the marketing claims, the apps are very power hungry and the CPU gives the processing power in an aggressive and inneficient when the transition from a frequency to another should be smoother and not as quick to give it all up when it's actually not necessary. Paired with all the useless processes and services which work like lunatics to do whatever BS they're trying to do, whether it is while you're using the phone or in the background, and you're left with a terrible user experience that makes you contemplate throwing the phone away.
I used an iPhone 13 Pro for 4 months before buying this thing and I forgot to look at the battery level because iOS is that efficient. It was terrible for me overall but when it comes to smoothness and battery life, there's nothing in the Android world that comes even close to that. The best Android device that comes close to Apple's latest amd greatest is probably around 5,6 years behind. That's sad but it is what it is.

dragos281993 said:
When I get home tommorow night, I'll link you a few places to read and help you do some cleaning up because these Samsung phones are full of junk and services that the phone can live without. I've been going nuts trying to make this rubbish of a device perform better and I managed to get it to waste less battery while active and inactive by disabling and uninstalling A LOT of stuff I don't need and so on. And I came to the conclusion that for daily usage I didn't need 100% of the 8 Gen 1 chipset. I therefore cut in half the frequency for the 3rd cluster and decreased the ones of the other 2 as well. I basically limited the max freq of the CPU without noticeable effects on the performance. Probably benchmarks would should how much performance I wasted, but as I don't care about numbers on paper, I'm pretty ok with how the phone's running right now after cleaning it up. The battery is very small, the CPUs are very inneficient, both SD and Exynos, despite the marketing claims, the apps are very power hungry and the CPU gives the processing power in an aggressive and inneficient when the transition from a frequency to another should be smoother and not as quick to give it all up when it's actually not necessary. Paired with all the useless processes and services which work like lunatics to do whatever BS they're trying to do, whether it is while you're using the phone or in the background, and you're left with a terrible user experience that makes you contemplate throwing the phone away.
I used an iPhone 13 Pro for 4 months before buying this thing and I forgot to look at the battery level because iOS is that efficient. It was terrible for me overall but when it comes to smoothness and battery life, there's nothing in the Android world that comes even close to that. The best Android device that comes close to Apple's latest amd greatest is probably around 5,6 years behind. That's sad but it is what it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I swear all the **** Samsung installs on their devices is turning me crazy
No Samsung, I don't want Bixby, I don't want this side taskbar installed by default, I don't want your cloud services by default, no I don't want your "secure folder" thing, I don't want your Samsung Pass thing either
Like come on, the above list is like 25% of all the **** they install
Visually OneUI is awesome and I love it, I love some of the features and options that they provide / provided very early, even before Android sometimes, it's highly customizable and things like Goodlock are awesome, but it would be even better if you could allow us to remove ALL of their apps without having to use ADB or some weird stuff like this
I think Digital Wellbeing is a good example of what should be removable as I don't see everyone using it and it's even more of a shame when you realize that uninstalling it with ADB works perfectly fine and causes no issues...
Something that I love on Windows in the "services" tab where you can see each service, what it does, weither it is ok to disable it or not, what features you lose if you disable it... I think Android should do the same or something similar with system apps

jojos38 said:
I swear all the **** Samsung installs on their devices is turning me crazy
No Samsung, I don't want Bixby, I don't want this side taskbar installed by default, I don't want your cloud services by default, no I don't want your "secure folder" thing, I don't want your Samsung Pass thing either
Like come on, the above list is like 25% of all the **** they install
Visually OneUI is awesome and I love it, I love some of the features and options that they provide / provided very early, even before Android sometimes, it's highly customizable and things like Goodlock are awesome, but it would be even better if you could allow us to remove ALL of their apps without having to use ADB or some weird stuff like this
I think Digital Wellbeing is a good example of what should be removable as I don't see everyone using it and it's even more of a shame when you realize that uninstalling it with ADB works perfectly fine and causes no issues...
Something that I love on Windows in the "services" tab where you can see each service, what it does, weither it is ok to disable it or not, what features you lose if you disable it... I think Android should do the same or something similar with system apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. They like to push down your throat their crap. All the stuff you mentioned I already disabled or uninstalled altogether. Digital Wellbeings was draining my battery in the background at all times without even having it configured. So that was deleted. Bixby is gone too and a bunch of other things. But the main issue for all this is the small battery for the terrible quality 8 Gen 1 or the Exynos 2200. 4nm is pure marketing at this point.

Sorry, @NisseGurra for not getting back here last night, like I said I would.
I also realized afterwards that you were on a GSI build but I intended to help you clean up the stock firmware.
The best advice I can give you right now though is to try doing what I did. Please don't take it personally if I explain or define stuff that you might already know or actually know even better than me. If someone else reads this, they might learn something from it or do some tweaking even if they're on the stock ROM or something custom. You take only what you need from this.
The whole thing starts with the process of opening the Apps section in the Settings, checking/turning on the "system apps" option and opening everything in there one by one. You'll have both apps and services showing up in there and what you wanna look for is the "Battery" section, or whatever it's named on your GSI. You basically need to see how much battery it's wasted since the last charge. High battery usage=no bueno. In that case, you google that app/service, weird name or not and see if it's rudimentary for the proper functioning of your phone. If it's not essential or it's used as a service for some apps that you don't even use but it's there just in case, then you can get rid of it. And obviously, you have to do this for every single app and service in there. It's a pretty time-consuming job but if you want to keep your sanity in the end, then it's a good activity. After that, for the remaining things, you can use "Servicely" from the Play Store and force the stuff you don't need at all times to sleep/Standby when the screen is off or even prevent it from running in the background altogether.
You should also download Naptime and use it to activate Aggressive Doze and disable Motion Detection too so the phone stays in doze mode even when you're moving around, a scenario in which by default the phone comes out of doze whenever it detects motion.
Stuff like "Find my phone" I had to turn off. There was one option for this thing somewhere in the google account section and also in the Samsung provided services in the Settings, on the stock firmware. Talk about a huge mess. I don't really need those. If I lose my phone, which never happened to me so far, it is what it is, but I'd rather have better battery life than have a service running at all times just for the moment I lose this crap if that ever happens.
This whole thing above is mainly meant to improve the standby time when the phone is idling.
And to not forget to mention this, I have Battery Saver active at all times. Normally, everything should be crippled while this thing is on including the refresh rate of the screen which gets stuck at 60Hz. For that, there's Galaxy Max Hz. It offers the ability to activate something called "Keep smoothness on power saving mode" and you won't even know that the thing Is even on. The essential part is that the OS is supposed to be less active, decrease the background BS and also the power of the CPU down to 75%. This part doesn't really matter because I already planned on downclocking it but if there's anything applied by default to make the CPU less aggressive along with the stock decrease to 75%, then downclocking it would make it even better because now you have lower frequencies which now jump up and down at a slower rate. I mean I hope it's done like that. I haven't monitored the difference in the activity of the CPU with Power Saver on/off so I can't tell for sure. It would be logical to happen that way though. Another important little part is that I installed "Universal GMS Doze" which allowed me to put the Google Play Services on "Restricted" in the Battery section. I had to restrict the "play services framework" too cause they liked to molest my battery too when I wasn't looking. But I digress.
On the stock firmware, I also use Battery Tracker made by Samsung. I really like it because I can easily select the period of time of activity/battery drain by dragging 2 sliders from one side to another and see what happened during that time, and you get background activity stats and what percentage of the battery it's wasted.
For the much better and more detailed Screen on/Screen off stats or charge/discharge information which all show in a useful notification, I use Battery Guru. It barely drains any battery so it's very well optimized.
Back to the technical part, the other important thing was to downclock the CPU, and this is essential for the active time which later translates into better SOT.
I'm using Smart-Pack Kernel Manager for the tweaks because it's the most detailed of them all and well rounded in my opinion and it's also the lightest on the battery, while in use, of course. It's got a side panel with all the sections that have the tweaks I'll mention in this post.
The following part is gonna be a bit more detailed. It's just a few tweaks in the end but I'll throw in some basic information here and there to make it a little more informative and nice to read. Keep in mind that even if I tweaked the stock firmware here, the tweaks are essentially the same for the kernel or at least similar. The values and options shown in the kernel manager can differ in terms of naming or the way you can change them, but they should be overall similar.
Note that this is more like a presentation of what I did on my phone, not a tutorial. You can open that kernel manager, look around and see for yourself the range of tweaks that are available of which a few are the ones I changed.
Now to business.
The stock max frequencies for the 8 Gen 1 on my S22 are something like this:
- 1785MHz for the 4 LITTLE Cores, 2496 for the 3 Middle cores, and 2995 for Core 8, which is also the big core (terribly inefficient "fat" bastard).
So we've got: 1785, 2496 and 2995 respectively.
My phone is running smoothly with all these downclocked right above the border between noticing and not noticing a difference in the UX department if you get what I'm saying.
So my current maximum clocks for all 3 clusters are 1363, 1555 and 1401 respectively. They're lowered pretty drastically, I know, but I don't care about benchmarks, in which you'd probably see a difference. In the real world, opening and closing apps among other regular things, are not gonna be noticeable. It's not like you're gonna sit with 2 phones next to you, a stopwatch in your hand and cheer when your phone is half a second faster than mine. It's just not gonna happen. That 30% increase and performance. blah blah, when a new generation of a CPU is announced you're not gonna notice especially when we're talking about CPUs that are only 1 generation apart.
Anyway, these lower frequencies will obviously help with thermals mainly but also with the battery life, although the difference for the latter is not that huge it's still better than before.
The CPU Governor for all 3 clusters is set "walt" by default. I couldn't find any information on how it's supposed to work and behave but because it's the default, I'm sure it's focused on something in between performance and battery savings. So I set it to "conservative" for all 3 clusters. This governor likes to get the frequencies back down as soon as possible after a task is done. So this is also gonna help with thermals.
Now to the CPU Hotplug. In the past when big.Little became mainstream, a whole performance cluster was called in for the heavy tasks and they followed a basic routine: when a certain threshold is crossed, the big cores take charge of the situation and when they cross a second threshold, which is a lower value, those big cores step away and they hand over the steering wheel back to the Little cores for the light tasks until they're needed again. They still pitched in but a bit more lightly. Now just one big core appears to be able to do that on its own, however, this time the job is split between the big core and the middle ones. So there's a bit more control over a situation because you've got those middle cores that are pitching in for the medium intensive tasks.
Anyway, I decided to up that threshold and basically make the CPU ask for the big core's help when the job gets a bit more difficult, heavier, essentially making it contribute less often. I don't want to reboot my phone to see what the default values were but now they're basically higher: "Busy down Threshold = 50", and "Busy up=70". I just explained what this threshold is, so you probably already got how this is supposed to work looking at these numbers.
And the last thing tweaked is the GPU. Sadly, the stock kernel doesn't allow for the downclock to stick. It's missing the parts which allow for this sort of functionality because it's stock and wasn't meant to be tweaked. The only thing I could do was to change the power level. You haven't got anything in there other than an option to let you change a value. The essence of it though is that the lower the number, the better the GPU performs. It's not gonna work outside of the defined parameters though. It only gets more active. Anyway, the default value is 10. I set mine to 12, which is the last level. This way I basically put the GPU in a more "conservative" state, so to speak. While gaming, I haven't noticed any performance loss, so hooray. It is doing its job but it's a bit less aggressive.
To finish this long a$$ post, I gotta say that after doing all this above, my battery life has improved quite drastically.
3, 3.5h SOT was what I consistently got without tweaking anything. Right now I'm at 4h49m SOT for only 64% wasted. I charged the phone only to 85% and the battery is down to 15%. The idle drain is only 0.3%/h.
I'll post a screenshot for the hell of it. Anyway, so far so good. One thing's for sure though. I'll do some research and if I manage to find any battery from another Samsung phone that's bigger but is very close in size to the one in this phone, it doesn't matter if I have to cut some of the lips inside to make it fit, I'll do it. I'll make that a project.
Edit: Everything I mentioned above is getting balanced out by other things somehow and 3.5h is the definitive SOT on average I have been getting since forever now. I therefore stopped trying anything, relocked the bootloader and I haven't done anything to the OS anymore. The SOT stayed the same and there aren't any improvements with any update. So this is pretty much how it is and there's nothing we can do about it. The phone is simply pure trash regarding the battery life.

dragos281993 said:
Sorry, @NisseGurra for not getting back here last night, like I said I would.
I also realized afterwards that you were on a GSI build but I intended to help you clean up the stock firmware.
The best advice I can give you right now though is to try doing what I did. Please don't take it personally if I explain or define stuff that you might already know or actually know even better than me. If someone else reads this, they might learn something from it or do some tweaking even if they're on the stock ROM or something custom. You take only what you need from this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, an excellent post on how to get rid of battery leaks.
Its a pity that this work is needed 2022, should be optimized system from Samsung from start.
The problem now is the wifi bug, very strange that Samsung not noticed this in their testing.

How good does the GSI work on this device? Can you use it as daily driver? I am thinking of buying this phone, but don't want to use One UI.

dragos281993 said:
Some battery life stats is what I'm most interested in. This thing discharges by just looking at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome to check my thread then
[DISCONTINUED] Samsung Galaxy One UI - Optimization Guide
THIS IS A SUGGESTED CONFIGURATION FOR SAMSUNG DEVICES OUT OF SUPPORT/CLOSED I - RECOMMENDED SETTINGS To Start With - Factory Reset before starting optimisations - Factory Reset after every Major update (One UI/Android) - Remove SIM before first...
forum.xda-developers.com