Firmware for Chinese Android phones. Correct flashing of 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.
The article describes how to flash Chinese phones.
Many gadget users prefer tablets, smartphones and phones on the platform Android, made in China. In fact, this is not surprising, since it is Chinese gadgets that combine low price and good functionality.
But over time, such devices in any case require flashing, in other words, updating the software from old versions to new ones. In this article, we will briefly discuss how to flash Chinese phones with an operating system Android via computer.
How to flash Chinese Android phones using a computer?
To flash your operating system Android on a gadget in the simplest way, you need to search the Internet for the appropriate firmware (update), for which you need to know exactly the model of your mobile device.
As a rule, this whole process does not create any difficulties, because modern Chinese gadgets have good operational support on par with global brands.
In addition, there are a lot of unofficial high-quality firmware from ordinary programmers. The firmware itself may have various changes - from the user interface to changes in the kernel Android.
But this is all good for modern models, but what to do when we have old Chinese phones (for example, with the operating system Mediatek MT6516), for which it is very difficult to find a firmware manual?
To do this, we will need to stock up on:
- Cable pl2303(with suitable telephone input)
- Driver for pl2303
- USB cable(with suitable telephone input)
- And program for firmware — SP FlashTools
Next, everything is done quite simply. Will need to connect cable pl2303 to the PC, install the driver for its stable operation and program SP FlashTools. Cable pl2303 converts one interface to another, in other words, it can convert a USB port into a COM port, of course, a virtual one (on the same principle as a virtual drive is made using daemon tools).
After connection cable pl2303 and installations for it pl2303 drivers the computer should “see” the new virtual COM port and accept it as a real one. We can find its mapping in " Device Manager» in the appropriate paragraph. You should write down its number for the further process of flashing our mobile device.
COM ports in Device Manager
Open the installed SP FlashTools program and select from the drop-down list at the top right Android. Next, also on the top right we find the button “ Download Agent", allowing you to find the path to the firmware in this case file MTK_AllinOne_DA.bin, which, in turn, is located in the folder of the flasher itself.
The next step is to choose file MT6516_Android_Scatter.txt. It can be found in the flasher folder through the navigation button ““, located just below “ Download Agent«. File MT6516_Android_Scatter.txt provides a description of the firmware (i.e. the firmware version for our mobile device), as well as all the necessary file and folder paths.
We select the COM port number we previously recorded in the menu, and also set its speed to maximum (this firmware speed can be considered safe). Before starting the firmware of our mobile device, you need to completely format its internal memory - click on “ Format«.
In the window that appears, we indicate the final address of the memory of our mobile device (in this case, an old Chinese gadget on the platform MT6516). For a memory capacity of 512 MB, a similar address is 0×200000000, for 256 MB – 0×100000000. Click on “OK” and connect the other end of our cable to the phone. The phone will need to be turned off and on (i.e. restarted)
On the monitor screen in the window that opens, we should see a red stripe accompanying the formatting process, and then a green one and the inscription on the window “ Format OK"(formatting completed).
Next, click on SP FlashTools program on " Download" and reboot our old Chinese phone again. Now the actual firmware process itself begins. A red stripe moving around the circle will again appear in the window on the monitor, and then a purple one. When the latter completely fills the circle, we will need to disconnect from the computer and phone cable pl2303 and connect it instead USB cable.
The computer will “see” the mobile phone connected to it and mistake it for a device on the platform Android(if the program gives an error, click on “ Download"). A yellow bar should appear, signaling that the flashing process has entered its final phase. This stage of firmware for a Chinese gadget will be the longest; it should end with a corresponding notification about the installation of new software on Android.
SP FlashTools program
Thus, we learned how to flash Chinese gadgets on Android. At the end of all our actions, disconnect the phone from the computer and reboot it. The process of turning on the mobile device may take some time, which will confirm that it has new firmware installed.
Video: How to flash a Chinese Android phone mtk6572 via SP FlashTool?
Many buyers are attracted to Chinese-made Android smartphones and tablets, and this is not surprising. It is the creations from the “heavenly Empire” that have a low price, while providing the user with good functionality, and often even the latest hardware. But sooner or later there is a desire to reflash the device, that is, update the software version. In this short review we will briefly consider this issue of interest to many.
Android firmware for Chinese tablet
So, the easiest option, if you need to update the operating system of your Android mobile device, is to look for the required firmware; for this, of course, you need to know the exact model of the device. Often this should not cause much difficulty, since new models of Chinese mobile gadgets have fairly good support, almost at the level of major global brands, in addition, there is a whole army of fans who also create high-quality unofficial firmware. Firmware for Chinese Android phones may contain a variety of changes, ranging from a modified user interface to significant changes to the operating system kernel itself. But what to do if you don’t have the newest device, and it doesn’t matter how you got it - and a competent guide to flashing the very first Chinese Android devices is not so easy to find, since at one time they were not so widespread and did not have such same support. So, to update the firmware of Chinese tablets or smartphones on the Mediatek MT6516 platform, which was the most common at one time, you will need a special firmware cable based on the pl2303 controller, drivers for pl2303 and the SP FlashTools flash tool for MT6516.
Firmware for Chinese Android phones
To begin with, of course, you need to connect the firmware cable to the computer and install the necessary drivers. The pl2303 cable itself is an interface converter, that is, it is capable of converting a USB port into a virtual COM port, matching the voltage levels with the connected device. By the way, the necessary circuits can be removed from data cables from old Samsung or Siemens models. So, after connecting the cable based on the pl2303 controller, an additional virtual port from Prolific will appear in the device manager in the COM ports section. You need to remember its number, as it will be needed during the process of flashing the Android device. A standard USB cable can also be connected to your computer - you will need it later.
Launch the SP FlashTools program. Android should have been selected in the drop-down list at the top right. In the field that is located slightly lower and is called Download Agent, the file MTK_AllinOne_DA.bin must be selected; it is located in the same folder as the flasher. You must manually select Scatter-loading, this file is called MT6516_Android_Scatter.txt, it is located in the folder with the firmware for your Android smartphone or tablet. This file is a description of the firmware and contains the paths and addresses of all Android file systems.
In the menu, select the COM port number - the one that was assigned to the virtual port a little earlier. We select the port speed - it is quite safe to set the maximum. Before flashing, you must completely format the internal memory of the device. Click the Format button. A window will appear in which you need to specify the final address of the memory in the phone. For models on the MT6516 platform, typical volumes are 512 MB - these have an end address of 0x200000000, or 256 MB - then the end address is 0x100000000. Press the “OK” button, connect the firmware cable to the device, juggle its battery to force it to turn off, and press the power button for 1-3 seconds. First a red stripe will run, then a green one, and we can see a window with the inscription “Format OK”. Bad blocks are acceptable, so don't be alarmed if a few are found. Now you need to press the Download button, after which we forcefully turn off the gadget again by juggling the battery and turn it on by pressing the power button for 1-3 seconds. The firmware process has begun - first we see a red stripe, then a purple one. After the purple strip is completely filled, disconnect the firmware cable on the pl2303 and connect a regular USB cable, which most often comes with a smartphone or tablet. The system will detect a new device in the system. We install drivers on it. If the program generates an error because you did not have time to complete this action, do not despair. You need to do the above steps after formatting the phone. After connecting a regular USB cable, a yellow bar will appear. This is the longest phase of flashing a Chinese gadget to Android. The bar will run several times, after which you will see a message about successful installation firmware for Chinese Android phones.
That's it, the flashing process is over, you can disconnect the phone from the computer, it is advisable to turn it off forcibly just in case by juggling the battery, and then turn it on. The first launch may take up to 10 minutes; do not rush and restart your smartphone or tablet. Once launched, you can see the updated Android operating system. Now you can happily continue to use your favorite gadget with the new version of the software.
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
Many owners of low-quality devices are interested in doing it themselves, and even at home. This is easier to do than it seems. So, firmware is divided into two types - modified and official. In addition, there are three methods for performing the operation - using a programmer, via ODIN or Recovery. But first, let's look at the most common situations.
Does your tablet need to be flashed or updated?
Users often confuse definitions such as “flashing” and “updating”. As a result, many people turn for help thinking that the tablet urgently needs to be flashed. But in reality, the device just requires an update. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to update the gadget’s software to the maximum. This advice applies to cases where the device was released a year or two ago. In principle, all official resources cover this point in quite detail. And the update should be dealt with before thinking about tablet firmware.
As for updates, they can be divided into two types - automatic and factory, that is, from the manufacturer. To configure the automatic update type, you need to:
- Go to the “Settings” or “Options” section;
- You need to find the “Device Information” category here;
- Now you should select the “Software Update” option;
- All that remains is to click on the “Update” button.
Firstly, the gadget will show the available update options. And after the user agreement, the device will download updates automatically. Secondly, all you need to do is read the terms, monitor the charging and click on the “Next” button. Before, you need to check the battery charge level, which should be at least 40%. It is recommended to carry out the process at the optimal download speed. If the tablet is running Windows 8, then you will need an installer to work.
At the same time, the installer must be suitable specifically for this model. So, you need to visit the official website of the tablet manufacturer. On the resource you should find the “Support” or “Technical Support” section. Next, you need to find a special installer exactly for this tablet model. You need to download it to your gadget, and then run this file. After launch, all actions will occur according to the same scheme that is described within the automatic update type. But tablet firmware– this is not an update.
How to flash a Chinese tablet- Preparation.
In general, to work you will need firmware, drivers for the tablet and a program that will flash it. Factory firmware and drivers can be downloaded from the manufacturer's official website. The files should be downloaded to your computer (PC, laptop). If “firewood” is not found on the resource, then you can use the search. In general, downloading drivers for a tablet is not a problem. Drivers must be installed on the PC using the context menu.
As for the flash driver program, the ODIN option will be considered here. First, you also need to download it to your PC. The program itself does not require installation. It can be unpacked into almost any folder. But the path to it should consist only of Latin letters (without Cyrillic). It is advisable to unpack the program to the root of your hard drive (to drive C). Next it will be described how to flash tablets correctly.
How to flash a Chinese tablet– step-by-step actions:
- You need to close background programs on your PC - turn off the firewall and monitors;
- Important – to prevent problems, you should disconnect from the Internet;
- Now you need to copy the firmware to the ODIN program folder;
- You need to run ODIN;
- A nuance - the firmware can consist of one or three files;
- If the firmware contains one file, then you need to find the PDA button;
- After pressing, the PDA button will indicate the path to the firmware file;
- If the firmware contains three files, then you need to select a button with a name that matches the PDA;
- The three files are CSC (region), Phone (modem) and PDA (system);
- Next, you need to turn on the device - you should press the volume up button simultaneously with the power button;
- A nuance - if it is difficult to hold them, then first you can press the volume up button, and then the power button;
- These buttons need to be held together;
- In some cases, you may need to hold down the Home button;
- A text menu should appear;
- Now you should press the volume down button to remain in the menu;
- You must connect the tablet to the PC using the original USB cable;
- If the computer has detected the port and everything is ready for the firmware, then a window with the inscription PASS! should appear in the program;
- Next, you need to click on the Start button and wait for the process to complete.
Generally, Chinese tablet firmware doesn't take much time. This may take up to one hour. After the flashing is completed, an indicator will appear in the program window to notify you of the end of the process. Afterwards the tablet will reboot automatically. At this point you can disconnect the cord. Now it is recommended to reset the data.
To carry out this process, you need to turn on the device again. In this case, you should hold down the volume button and select the line Wipe data/factory reset. Then you need to select Reboot system now. As a result of the procedure, the device will reboot again. That's all, now you know How to flash a Chinese tablet.
