How to flash a Chinese phone into Russian. Firmware for Chinese phones
Dear forum members, I present to your attention the process Chinese phone firmware using the program, in particular the version FlashTool 3.1044.00.
What is needed for this?
Firmware cable (not included in the kit), the firmware program, you can find it, and some of your precious time.
I want to immediately warn the curious, do not touch the MEMORY TEST item!!! The firmware will be erased.
Before firmware save IMEI their phones - they are also erased, in most cases they are written under the battery. You can restore them with the program, as described.
Let's get started.
First, let's decide on the version firmware, enter the code showing the version firmware. The starting characters (of the order of the first five or six) must match the starting characters of the version firmware, which you are going to fill. Because otherwise the phone may not start due to incompatible versions. Sami firmware are . The list is updated periodically.
1. Install the COM port drivers for firmware cable
, the cable is usually supplied with a driver disk.
2. Download, unpack and launch.
3. Look in the device manager to see which port the driver was installed on.
4. Click Options and select the COM port.
5. Click Download Agent and select MTK_AllInOne_DA.bin from the program directory.
6. To download firmware into the program, click Scatter File and from firmware master select the file scat.txt The program will automatically pick up the remaining parts firmware.
7. Go to Options again and click Operation Method, select NFB
8. Select the speed there firmware Baudrate. USB cables on PL2303 support the maximum speed, and for a COM cable no more than 115200. If it doesn’t work, then we gradually reduce the speed.
Before or after firmware phone from one version to another, it is advisable to format the user (user) memory, addresses are usually indicated in the description of the master firmware. My personal opinion is to make a full phone format before flashing the firmware. The screen shows the addresses for phones with an internal flash drive of 128 MB. The phone memory shows 79-81 MB), for phones with a memory of 64 MB (the phone shows 21-29 MB) the address and length are 0x00000000 0x04000000. But the full format (or any other) is unacceptable for phones with GPS. You can say goodbye to navigation, in these phones you need to save the file responsible for navigation using the Maui META Tool ver 6.0932.0 program and also restore this file. Formatting helps avoid glitches after firmware. You also need to check the Validation field, since some phones have Bad Block, which causes the screen calibration to fail and other consequences and troubles.
Now turn off the phone and connect firmware cable
to him. Click in the Download program, then press the phone's power button and hold it until a red bar starts running on the screen. This means that data is being read from the phone, then a blue bar will appear, etc.
We wait until everything firmware won't get into the phone. At the end firmware The program will inform you with an OK window. We disconnect the phone from the computer, remove the battery and turn it on. The first switching on may not happen immediately, but after 10 seconds, or even one minute, hold the button until the phone turns on. We go into the phone settings and do a factory reset, usually code 1122.
Yes, by the way, before firmware I take out SIM cards (just in case), but no flash drive.
Before performing various actions on your device, we recommend reading this article in full.
Chinese phones, most often being fakes, are much cheaper, and in terms of quality they may not even be inferior to the originals. However, their manufacturers care little about the firmware and software. Often, having bought a Chinese model, we are faced with poor operation of the buttons and Russification, too long loading time, etc. All this can be fixed by downloading the necessary firmware and installing it on your phone.
- What do we need
- Instructions
- Worth paying attention
- Adviсe
- What do we need
- Instructions
- Worth paying attention
- Adviсe
Point 1: Technical side of the issue
What do we need
3. Tester.
4. Three wires of different colors.
Instructions
1. First, you need to ensure that your mobile phone is connected to your computer so that you can install the firmware. The signal levels of your computer and the Chinese phone may not match. You will need a special cable with a converter. You can make it yourself.
2. We will need chip PL-2303, you can buy it at a radio store. TO 1, 5 and 7 pins you need to solder three wires of different colors. There should also be a wire with a USB connector coming from the circuit. The three wires will connect to the phone as follows: 1 – Tx (broadcast), 5 – Rx (reception), 7 – GND (Earth).
3. Next, the phone should be disassembled. The main board must contain contact pads, including three necessary ones: Tx, Rx and GND. They may be signed - then you are lucky, if there are no inscriptions - then you need to use a tester to detect them. 
4. The GND pad must be connected to the battery negative. To find the remaining sites, you need to connect the battery and briefly press the power button (not until the phone turns on). Contact Tx will have tension 0.1 – 0.9 V before pressing the button, and when pressed the voltage will rise to 2.7 V. Contact Rx has constant voltage 0.9 – 2 V.
Worth paying attention
The wires are used in different colors to avoid confusion.
Adviсe
During the work being done, you should download the firmware from the Internet. The best option is the one in which the numbers in the name have the most matches with your installed version.
Point 2: Installing the firmware
What do we need
1. Flash Tool program.
2. Firmware file.
Instructions
1. Now you can begin the firmware process itself. This is a dangerous matter; it is quite possible that the phone will not work after the operation. Therefore everything data, (phone IMEI) better save.
2. Launch the Flash Tool program and look in the task manager to which COM port our cable is connected (you may have to install a driver for it). 
3. In the “” tab, select the desired port. If you connected your phone to your computer using a USB port, then you do not need to do this work. 
4. Next, click the “” tab and select MTK_AllInOne_DA.bin in the window that opens. 
5. Then you need to load the firmware into the program: click tab and find the file scat.txt.
6. Launch “” - item “ Operation Method" and select NFB.
7. We also select the firmware speed; in the “Options” tab there is an item “ Baudrate" If you are using a COM port, then the speed should not exceed 115200. USB has no restrictions.
8. Before installing the firmware, it is better to format the phone. 
9. Now press the button in the program “ Download" Then turn on the phone and hold the power button until the loading bar appears on the screen. 
Worth paying attention
It is better to remove the SIM card from the phone before flashing it.
Adviсe
Do not stop the firmware installation process until it is completely uploaded. The first startup with the new firmware can take even a minute, so be patient.
Before performing various actions on your device, we recommend reading this article in full.
The market for multifunctional gadgets that run on the Android OS is filled with relatively cheap Chinese products. Despite their low cost, they are often equipped with the latest hardware. However, owners of these devices have a desire to update their software to more productive ones.
What do we need
— a Chinese-made mobile phone running on the Mediatek MT 6516 platform and using Android OS;
- Personal Computer;
— firmware cable based on the pl2303 controller;
- USB cable;
- Internet;
— required software:
1) drivers for pl2303;
2) SP FlashTools firmware program for the Mediatek MT 6516 platform.
Operating procedure
1. Connect the firmware cable to your personal computer and install the necessary drivers, then in the section COM - ports Device Manager will appear virtual port from Prolific, number whom need to remember(it will be needed when flashing the phone).
2. Launch the firmware program SP FlashTools.
3. Select Android from the list that appears.
4. In the field "Download Agent", which is located below, you need to select the file MTK_AllinOne_DA.bin, which is located in the folder along with the firmware.
5. Select a file MT 6516_Android_Skatter.txt, also located in the firmware folder. It is a description of the firmware and shows the path and addresses of Android OS file systems.
6. Select from the menu COM port number(see paragraph 1 of the instructions) and his speed(it can be set to the maximum value).
7. Before starting the firmware, you need to completely format the phone’s memory, for which:
- press the button "Format";
— in the window that appears, indicate the final address of its memory (as a rule, phone models running on this platform have 512 MB of memory, so the final address will need to be specified as follows: 0x200000000);
- press the button "OK" and connect the firmware cable to the device;
— turn off the phone, for which we remove and replace its battery for a few seconds, and then press it for a few seconds power button, after which they will run sequentially on the screen red and green stripes, and a window will appear saying "Format OK".
8. Click on the button "Download", then turn off the smartphone and turn it on again by holding down the power button for a few seconds, after which the firmware will begin, as indicated by the appearance first red and then purple stripes.
9. After filling the purple bar, disconnect the firmware cable and connect the USB port, after which the system will detect a new device.
10. Install the drivers on the device, after which the firmware process will be indicated running yellow stripe. After several minutes of working in this mode, the firmware will be completed. 
After finishing the firmware and disconnecting the phone from the PC, you need to turn it off by disconnecting the battery, and then turn it on again. The first launch after flashing may take up to 10 minutes.
Firmware for Chinese phones without... a firmware cable!!!
Greetings to all happy owners of Chinese phones. Moreover, note: this time I did not put the word “happy” in quotes! I think we can already say with confidence that Chinese phones have taken off in our country. At first, the quality of these devices was, to put it mildly, not very good; but the price was captivating. Modern “Chinese” ones have noticeably “grown up” in the quality of their assembly, and the prices have remained quite affordable. In general, be that as it may, every fifth owner of a cell phone owns a “Chinese” one! Moreover: even in the official Euroset showrooms they sell the same Fly phones, which are assembled on the same MTK processors, made in China...
Well, okay, that’s not what I’m talking about. Many who have used Chinese-made phones have at least once encountered the problem of updating their device's firmware. A phone software failure can occur accidentally, as a result of various viruses, or (most often) as a result of not very competent actions of the users themselves... the result is still the same: firmware is needed. In previous articles, I described in sufficient detail the process of flashing a phone using a firmware cable (or programmer) and special software; but even such a detailed description causes understandable difficulties for users. You need this same firmware cable! And if a person has never held a soldering iron in his life... In general, a trip to the SC. And there the craftsmen take on the “Chinese” with reluctance, and demand money for the work... But recently, so to speak, through joint efforts, communicating with people on forums, we “discovered” a method with the help of which, in most cases, you can restore the functionality of the phone WITHOUT FIRMWARE CABLE!!! We can restore phones on processors of the MTK family, in which the “High-Speed SIM” mode, the “Wi-Fi Communication” mode were switched on by mistake, all GPRS connection profiles were mistakenly deleted, this way 99% of “classic blinks” are treated ... and probably many more devices. Moreover, the method is completely free! And it’s doubly nice that I collected all the information listed below in one place for the FIRST TIME!!!
We will need:
A computer with Win XP SP 3 or older installed (Vista, Seven...);
Standard USB cord that came with the phone. THE LACE DOES NOT NEED TO BE REDOED!!!
The phone battery must be at least 2/3 charged;
30 minutes of your precious time;
If you have the Win XP operating system installed, you will need more (don’t be alarmed: it weighs a little, there are no viruses).
To begin with, I will describe the process for Win Vista and Win 7 OS (it’s a little easier than for XP).
The whole method is based on the work of the standard Microsoft utility DiskPart .exe. This utility was originally intended for servicing computer hard drives, but starting from version 6.x.xxx it “learned” to see all kinds of flash drives (memory cards, USB flash drives...). How will this help us, you ask? Here's what. Connect your innocently killed phone to your computer using a standard USB cable. Connected? Now, go to the “Computer Management” menu, select “Disk Management” and look carefully. Most likely, there you will see the phone’s flash memory (how many meters do you have? Or gigabyte?) and a separate disk - the memory card installed in the phone. But that is not all! Look carefully!!!
In the list of equipment there will be another disk of 1...2MB (or something like that), divided into 1 or 2 partitions. So: it turns out that this disk contains all the user settings! And it’s enough to delete all its contents - and the phone will become pristinely clean, like on the first day of purchase! But the most important thing is that it will work! True, you will have to say goodbye to your address book, saved SMS messages and favorite photos. And, most likely, the phone will switch to English or Chinese. But don't rush to rejoice. Those interested can try formatting this disk directly from the Disk Management menu. How? Happened? That's it... The computer sees the disks, but cannot do anything with them. At least using the above menu and mouse. And here the good old command line will come to our aid (who else remembers what it is? J).
Click the “Start” button, then “Run” and write the command Cmd (or – Cmd .exe). And a black window of this very command line opens to our eyes. We forget about the mouse for a while (those who are tormented by nostalgia for DOS - they can take a sip of beer J) and type the command diskpart (or diskpart.exe). This same utility will launch. Next we type the command
ListDiskand if everything is done correctly, we will see a list of all the disks that are in the computer (including removable ones).
Pay attention to disk 6 - this is the tricky disk that we could not format in the traditional way. And now let’s try to do the same thing, but in an unconventional way! That's not what you're talking about!!! We type the following command: list partition. If everything is correct, a list of partitions of the selected disk will appear. The partition with the settings we are interested in will have a capacity of 2...3 MB (in my case it was partition 0).
We enter the section we need by typing the command select partitionn, Wheren– the number of the partition we are interested in on the disk.
And finally, the clean all command is a command to reset all information recorded on this section. Attention! This command will take a long time to complete; you may have to wait a few minutes. DO NOT INTERRUPT THE PROCESS!!! You will kill the phone! This is what the whole process looks like, so to speak, in pictures:
That's basically it! We turn on the phone and customize it for ourselves.
But, as I already said, the whole method is based on the work of the standard Small Software utility diskpart. And it was originally intended to work specifically with HARD drives. But only! With all kinds of flash drives, memory cards, etc. – old versions of the program (up to and including the fifth) do not work. And WinXP includes DiskPart 5.1.xxxx (and I don’t know how to update it to the sixth version). In general, on WinXP we see this picture:
For those who are especially observant, this is a different computer, respectively, and the equipment is different from what is in the first picture... well, I was lazy to rearrange the OS for the sake of a couple of print screens! It’s easier to ask your colleagues for a laptop!
As you can see, neither the USB card reader nor the phone's disks are visible. Why is this happening? And in general - what difference does it make for the system, whether there is a hard drive or a removable drive? How are they different (at the software level)? After all, there are USB hard drives in nature, and the program works great with them...
And they differ in the RMB descriptor (more precisely, “R emovable M edia B it”), recorded on any flash drive, memory card, etc. True, you won’t be able to see this descriptor (they say this can be done from the Linux OS... haven’t checked). But there is no such thing on hard drives! And if this same descriptor is somehow removed from the flash drive, then Windows will consider it (the flash drive) to be something like a very small hard drive! And that’s what we need! The DiskPart program will consider the hidden phone drive we are interested in as a regular hard drive and allow us to do all the above manipulations to clean up the partition. But how to remove something that is already not visible? And here the idea occurred to me that I had already done something similar when I tried to make a bootable flash drive with the Win 7 distribution from the Win XP OS. In short, it will be needed for a flash drive (I mentioned it earlier), which we will slightly “adjust” and replace it with the one that the system set as “default” when you first connected the phone.
Download. Finding the file cfadisk.infand open it using any text editor, for example, notepad. We open it and see this picture:
We are especially interested in the part of the line highlighted in blue. We need to replace this unreadable inscription with identification data of the hidden drive in the phone. Where to look for this identification data? Let's open Device Manager(right-click on the “My Computer” icon, then “Properties”, “Hardware”, then “Device Manager”). Found it? Now open the “Disk Devices” tab. We open it and look carefully. Our mysterious hidden phone disk will be visible there:
In my case, there were two such disks (as can be seen from the figure). With the right mouse button, click once on this very hidden disk, then - the “properties” tab, and in it - “information”. And there we see this obscene thing:
If you think that it is still censored, try reading the highlighted line out loud!!! But, nevertheless, it is precisely this that interests us. Clarification: to see this line, you need to log in to the system under an account with administrator rights. In general, this line is what we need disk identification data, or also known as “Device Code”. The mouse doesn’t work here, so select the inscription and press the key combination
This is what you should get:
%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install, USBSTOR\DISK&VEN_MEDIATEK&PROD__FLASH_DISK&REV_6225\317509428611220&0
Please note: the line contains already changed data.
All. Save changes (
And then everything is simple. We need to replace the “default” driver with our “cunning” one. In general, this procedure is no different from regular driver installation. Open "Device Manager". Next, right-click on the hidden drive we need, “Update driver”, “Install from a specified location”, then “Do not search. I’ll choose the right driver myself,” on the next tab, select “Install from disk” and show the path to the modified driver. Smallsoft, naturally, will object, saying that the driver is not signed... She’s out of envy, don’t pay attention. We agree with everything and select “Continue”. After completing the entire procedure, BE SURE to restart your computer!
Just in case, I changed the drivers for both devices this way.
After the reboot, run DiskPart again, then L ist disk and – fantastic!!! - in the list of disk devices we see our hidden phone disk! This is the one that in my case is “Disk 7”:
Please note: the drivers for the card reader have not been changed - it is still not visible, although it is still connected to the USB connector.
And one more small clarification. You will most likely do all this on your computer with your phone?! Then, after restoring the phone's functionality, you may have problems exchanging files between your phone and your computer. Moreover, there should be no problems with other phones and on other computers. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this – it’s just that the drivers for your phone are “wrong”! We just changed them ourselves! To avoid such problems, I would recommend an extremely simple and effective method: before starting any actions with the drivers, simply create a system restore checkpoint (Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore). And after resuscitating the device, use the same program to roll back the system to the created checkpoint.
Out of sporting interest, I tested this method of restoring Chinese devices on three different phones that were in my workshop at the time of writing this article: a Ferrari A 3000 flip phone, a Nokia S 97 and an iPhone 4G P 33. In all cases, the format was made on the Win XP OS (with replacement of drivers described above) and all three cases turned out to be successful! By the way, in none of the three cases did the body switch to Chinese - after formatting, “English by default” became “English by default” everywhere.
//Sergey Iskritsky
However, no. The presence of a TV receiver in the phone is most likely a sign of a Chinese device. The same technologies made it possible to launch inexpensive production facilities for the production of original models of now well-known brands of phones, as well as the production of “counterfeits” that had already gained popularity, or rather imitations of well-known brands. This formulation of the question is more correct, since China does not seek to raise the price of its products due to “promoted” models. Quite the contrary. Compared to the original models, the Chinese version, having the same and sometimes better characteristics, is much cheaper than its branded counterparts.
The growing popularity raises standard questions: where to buy and how to flash a Chinese phone. When it comes to purchasing, things are easier. There are already many sites on the Internet that sell and deliver mobile and other equipment from China. The prices are reasonable, delivery does not take much time, the warranty is available (as a rule, this means replacing a faulty phone with another one). In terms of reliability, there is also no doubt. Competition forces the intermediary company to value its reputation and not stoop to short-term gain. But, as they say, God protects those who are careful. Therefore, it is better not to experiment with different online stores, but to stop at just one. However, most buyers do just that.
You can find out how to flash a Chinese phone on the Internet. This procedure in itself is not complicated, but quite risky. Here, a superficial acquaintance with the firmware technique is not enough and, fortunately, the simple cable that comes with the phone is not enough. In addition, you need precise, competent instructions on how to flash a Chinese phone of your particular model.
We will not be tied to any specific model, but will analyze the algorithm of actions in order to have an idea of the process itself and decide for ourselves whether it is worth doing it at all or whether it is better to contact the nearest repair shop and trust the professionals. They probably know what and how. You can flash a Chinese phone without harming it at home. But you will still have to spend money. At a minimum, you will need to buy or make a special cable for the firmware. Please note right away that there are no universal cables for this purpose. Each model has its own characteristics, and before you start flashing the firmware, make sure everything is done correctly.
So, let's get down to theory and practice.
Before we figure out how to flash a Chinese phone, let's figure out why firmware is needed and what it is in general. Firmware in general is a program, or more precisely a set of programs and drivers written for a specific phone model. Moreover, for the same model, but its different modifications (which, by the way, is very typical for Chinese phones), require their own firmware.
Today, a mobile phone is a small computer. So, by analogy with a computer, a mobile phone also consists of many blocks and systems. There is a radio unit, a screen unit, flash memory, a keyboard, the screen itself, a battery with a charger, an FM receiver, a camera, etc. This entire economy must somehow function, respond to management and interact with each other. In principle, apart from manual commands entered by a person, all blocks can and should be controlled by a processor. But for it to work, it needs an action program, a set of drivers (descriptions and instructions for each block) and an operating algorithm (how to react to a particular action, pressing or even touching).
Firmware is the same set of programs, drivers and instructions written in one file. It is this set (firmware) that determines how the phone will work, what will be displayed on its screen, what sounds it will make, what language will become its “native”, whether it will respond to key presses and how.
It may be necessary to flash a Chinese phone when something from this set does not suit the owner or does not work at all. For example, the phone stopped responding to pressing a button, or its Russification was too crooked, or it simply stopped turning on.
The firmware itself can be edited manually. But for this it is not enough to own a hexadecimal editor. In addition to the alphabet and the set of commands, the firmware contains a lot of various system information, the incorrect change of which can lead to dire consequences.
Moreover, professionals who wrote this or that firmware very often make mistakes that are discovered only over time and corrected in subsequent versions.
In this regard, before starting work on replacing the firmware, you should worry about the safety of the one that you currently have installed. At the very least, it works. So in case of failure, you should always have a backup copy to return everything to the way it was. Be careful.
So, you have found and downloaded the firmware for your phone. The next step in preparing to resuscitate or update your device will be to check whether the found firmware matches your phone model. Just mentioning the user's phone name is not enough. A prerequisite is that the first characters of the new and your old firmware match. The more characters in the file name match, the more likely it is that the new firmware will work. But no one, not even a Chinese engineer, can still give guarantees. Therefore, always be prepared for unsuccessful firmware and the need to restore the old one.
The next step (although it may be the first) will be preparing the firmware cable.
The regular USB cable that comes with your phone will not work.
The fact is that the signal levels in your computer or laptop and in the Chinese (and not only) phone do not match. Therefore, you need a DATA cable with some kind of converter that adapts these levels.
There are ready-made microcircuits that implement this task. For example, the PL-2303 chip. It can be found in the cable for old Siemens C55 or Samsung C100 phones and some others. Linking to a specific model is not important. The main thing is that on the cable of such phones there is a box, inside of which there is a small board with this microcircuit. You need to open the box and make sure that the required chip is inside. Then you will have to do some minor modifications.
To prepare the firmware cable, you will need to solder three wires (preferably different colors) to pins 1, 5 and 7 of the microcircuit (more precisely, to the mounting pads leading to these pins). The old wires leading to the telephone are removed. As a result, we will get a cable, on one side of which there will be a USB connector for the computer, on the other - a box with a microcircuit and three wires for connecting to your phone. The wiring is marked with stickers: 1 – Tx, 5 – Rx and 7 – GND. Accordingly, 1 is transmitting, 5 is receiving, 7 is ground (common bus).
The last preparatory stage is to search for relevant contacts in your phone. Before flashing a Chinese phone, you will have to disassemble it. In this case, you will need to simultaneously gain access to the main board of the phone and provide it with power (connect the battery). To find the necessary contacts, a regular tester will be enough. In principle, we could get by with a regular LED, but we will not consider this option due to the complexity and possible problems.
So, we need to find three contact pads. There may be more, but we are interested in the three Tx, Rx and GND. Let's start with the last one. For convenience, you can use a magnifying glass and good lighting. The pads are small “spots” on the board, not covered with varnish. If you're lucky, they'll already be signed. But this is not at all necessary.
Our GND contact should be directly connected to the battery negative.
This is "earth". Often this area is connected to thickened traces on the board. In any case, there must be a short circuit (short circuit) between this contact and the battery negative, which is checked by the tester.
To find the remaining contacts, you will have to connect the battery. The phone must be turned off! We connect the negative wire to the found GND contact or negative of the battery, and place the positive wire alternately on the tested pads. The tester should be set to measure constant voltage up to 20 volts (In fact, the desired voltage will not exceed 3 volts, so choose the desired range yourself).
The method for finding a contact is simple. We place the positive probe on the next pad and briefly press the phone’s power button (without turning it on). The Tx pin (if it is one) should have a low (0.1-0.9V) voltage before pressing the power button, and a short-term increase in voltage to 2.7V when the button is pressed. At the Rx contact there is a constant voltage of 0.9-2V.
All that remains is to connect the three treasured wiring to the found sites and begin the sacred rite...
To directly flash the firmware, you will need Flash Tool 4.10 (free and available for download on the Internet). We install the program, carefully read the instructions and act in accordance with them. Don't forget to backup your current firmware. We will write the sequence of actions in the Flash Tool in the next article. Good luck.
