So you've got a cheap Chinese phone based on the budget MediaTek MTK MT67xx SoC (system-on-a-chip) chipset and you want to root it.
You've tried lots of tools and failed, and you've been searching the internet and xda for your model and found nothing (or you might have found stock ROMs for your device online but not rooted ones). Read on....
These phones are INSANELY common all across Asia because MediaTek is the cheapest chip manufacturer and so is the top choice for <USD$100 super-cheap (often free subsidized) phones. Here is a partial list of phones that use the MT67xx across many countries:
Sony Xperia E4g | Kingzone N3 Plus | Bluboo X8 4G | Bluboo X6 | Elephone P6000 | Just5 Blaster | Unistar X8 | Ulefone Be Pro | Cubot X16 | Lenovo Vibe P1m | Meizu m2 | Doogee X5Pro | Lenovo A2010 | Acer Liquid Z530 | Micromax Canvas Express 4G Q413 | Huawei Enjoy 5 | Elephone M2 | Doogee Valencia2 Y100 Pro | Gionee Marathon M5 | coolpad note 3 lite | coolpad note 3 | Alcatel One Touch Flash Plus | Gionee Elife S7 | Lenovo Vibe S1 | Lenovo K3 Note | Lenovo P70 | Lenovo A7000[35] | Meizu M1 Note | Sony Xperia C4 / C4 Dual | Sony Xperia C5 Ultra / C5 Ultra Dual | DaKeLe Big Cola 3 (iPhone 6 clone) | HTC One E9s | HTC Desire 820s | Mlais M52 Red Note | Innjoo One [36] | Ulefone Be Touch[37] | Ulefone Be Touch 2 | Kingzone Z1 | Umi eMax | Mstar S700 | Vivo X6/X6 Plus | THL 2015[38] | Huawei Enjoy 5s | Elephone M2 | Lenovo A7010 | Lenovo K4 Note | Acer Liquid Z530S | Meizu m2 note | InnJoo two [39] | Infinix Note 2 X600 | Elephone P6000 Pro | Elephone P8000 | BLU Life One X (2016) | BLUBOO XTOUCH | Coolpad Note 3 | Quantum Go 4G | Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 | Xiaomi Redmi Note 2/ Prime | LeTV Le 1s | Meizu m1 metal | Meizu MX5 | Gionee Elife E8 | Sony Xperia M5 / M5 Dual | BLU Pure XL | Allview X2 Soul Xtreme | HTC One M9+ | HTC One E9+ | Infinix Zero 3 | Lenovo K5 Note | Sony Xperia XA | Meizu MX6 | iNew L4 1 GB | Oukitel U8 Universe Tap | Bluboo C100 | Siswoo A5 price comparison | Gionee Marathon M5 | Zopo Color E ZP350 | Doogee S6000 | Cubot X15 | Meizu m2 2GB 16GB | VK World VK560 | ZTE Blade D6 | Leagoo Elite 4 1GB 16GB | Oukitel U6 | iNew L4 2 GB | VK World Discovery S1 | Wiko Selfy 4G | Acer Liquid Z630 2GB 16GB | THL 2015 A | Blackview BV2000 | UMI Fair 1GB 8GB | NO.1 S6 (4g) | iNew U5 | ZTE Blade V6 | Huawei Enjoy 5 TIT-AL00 | Acer Liquid Z530 | Uhans U100 | Zopo Hero 1 | Ulefone Paris X | Zopo Flash C ZP530+ | ZTE Blade A1 | Uimi U6 | Gionee Marathon M5 Prime | Uimi U6c | HomTom HT7 Pro | ZTE Small Fresh 3 C880S | Zopo Color S5.5 | KingZone N5 MT6735 1.3GHz | MyWigo City 2 | LG K8 K350N | AIS Lava iris 500 | Lava iris 550Q
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am including the list above for two reasons:
so that people searching for their model may find this thread and be helped
so that you can just get a glimpse of the insane variety of companies and models that use the same chip family
For reasons explained below, you will find that most of these devices are resistant to the "easy" one-click rooting methods and most of them do not work with ANY of the "easy" tools that have been developed for other phones, even MediaTek (MTK)-specific tools. Of course tool support will improve over time, but as we will explain, there is something unique about your MediaTek device that will always make it harder to root.
I finally got my MT67xx-based phone rooted, and here is the information that I wished someone had posted on xda as I slogged through my search.
My goal here is NOT to provide the steps for a specific phone model, but rather to help the (literally) millions of you out there who have MT67xx-based phones find a solution by giving you a few basics to understand MediaTek MTK and rooting, and pointing you in the right direction so you know what questions to ask.
There's some bad news, and some worse news...
WHAT ALL THESE PHONES HAVE IN COMMON:
The MT67xx chipset inside your phone uses a relatively new (2014) 64-bit processor architecture, compared to the ubiquitous MediaTek MTK MT65xx, MT83xx, MT81xx processors that use a 32-bit architecture. And around the same time that MT67xx came out, MediaTek also switched devices to a new filesystem/partition format which determines where and how Android and all your data gets stored in your device's flash memory.
What these two technical changes mean is that:
many of the vulnerabilities in Android that the "easy" one-click root tools exploited to do their job (e.g. old standbys like RageAgainstTheCage, framaroot, etc.) no longer work. Updating Android is another thing that often causes these vulnerabilities to cease to work, but changing processor architectures is a biggie too.
many (but not all) of the old tools developed to root and otherwise modify MediaTek devices broke, and have not yet been fixed. Most notable is the MTK Droid Tool, a standard tool for hacking MTK devices that you will still find used in 99% of guides out there on the internet. It doesn't work on your MT67xx (at least no version I could find). Same is true of many other tools, such as some of the tools to reset your phones IMEI when rooting/modding operations disrupt your ability to call, tools to get into "MTK Engineer Mode" etc.
That is why you will find so many pages on the internet that say "Root Any Android Phone" (complete BS: if you see this, the person is either clueless or lying) or even "Root Any MediaTek Phone" and the procedure fails.
So, you would think that the cool ROM hackers and root tool folks would whip up some new tools quickly, right?
This is the point where you need to understand a harsh reality...
WHAT ALL THESE PHONES DON'T HAVE IN COMMON:
This is perhaps Android's greatest strength and weakness: every manufacturer (as well as ROM hacker here on xda) is free to tweak open-source Android in almost any way they see fit, whether to save money, integrate a new feature, customize for local market and culture, try to lock out competition, or whatever. And so they did.
Even though these devices all use MT67xx chips, it seems like every manufacturer felt compelled to make as many tiny changes as possible, and the result is that there is no easy way for kind xda hackers to develop one master ROM image of Android that will run on them all (rooted or otherwise). And it's even hard to make a rooting tool or mod that works on all devices.
Instead, the device-specific differences are significant enough that you actually need a developer to spend hours to days on each model in order to produce a workable Android ROM (rooted or otherwise).
And that is why, all over xda-developers and other sites, you rarely see custom ROMs for your MTK device. Although I'm guessing there are many times more cheap MTK devices in the world than devices with more expensive chipsets, the market of cheap devices is utterly fragmented into hundreds of vendors, so it is generally not worth any ROM hacker's time to develop for a particular device, because the reward (glory or karma, whatever turns them on) is minimal compared to a single device (e.g. most Samsungs) that is used by millions.
Sometimes the cheap MTK software/hardware changes that break both root tools and ROMs seem trivial and pointless. Like a vendor might move a critical system file for no obvious reason, switch the order of SD cards so that old software breaks, leave out key system programs they thought "nobody would need," introduce new and usually-broken encryption methods to lock out modders, etc.
THE SILVER LINING
Seems pretty grim, huh?
This cloud has one major silver lining.
I'm going to tell you about a tool that does work on MT67xx devices. You may or may not end up using this tool as part of your rooting strategy (more below), but it's good to hear some good news sometime
As far as I can tell, all MediaTek devices MT67xx, MT65xx, MT83xx, MT81xx work with the SP Flash Tool, a MediaTek MTK-specific tool that lets you flash (write) new versions of Android and tools that you need to install or modify Android (ROMs, custom recovery images, recovery updates) on to your device.
SP Flash Tool lets you flash "images" to your device, even if your device is totally bricked or has been utterly wiped clean from some earlier messup. An "image" is geek speak for a file that contains the whole contents of a partition of your Android device's storage, such as the partitions that contain the Android operating system (boot and system), the partitions that contain a recovery tool that lets you do less primitive operations like updating Android, installing SuperSU, or backing up your device (recovery), or even the partition with the logo shown on boot (logo).
So that means SP Flash Tool is super-powerful and super-dangerous (in fact, it's suicidal if you use it on a device containing important data you haven't backed up), but on the other hand it also means that at least you always have some tool that can install new images, no matter how messed up you have made your device.
The significance of this cannot be understated. For Android devices with other chipsets, there is of course some way to flash images (various tools referred to as "recovery console," "bootloader/fastboot mode," etc), but the chipset and manufacturers (even on some MediaTek MTK devices) try to ruin your day by:
locking your bootloader or recovery console so it can only flash images cryptographically signed by the manufacturer using secret keys, meaning you can't use them to modify your phone in the way you want,
providing you only with flashing methods that work if the certain partitions stay intact---meaning that if you make a certain kind of mistake, you may much more easily "brick" your phone so that you have no way of ever using it for anything but a doorstop.
MediaTek's SP Flash Tool, on the other hand, does not get in your way with any kind of lock---it always lets you flash images to the device, even if your flash memory has become completely garbled with nonsense. The tool literally works on your phone before your phone has started to boot up (kind of scary actually and a huge design flaw security risk, oh well). It is still up to you of course to flash something that works, but at least you have the option.
A very important principle for SP Flash Tool is: only flash partitions that you need to flash. That will likely be recovery, and maybe boot/system and maybe logo if you are playing around. Even though you may find a ROM with all partitions, only flash the ones the instructions say you need to flash. Otherwise you invite problems that might clear important settings on your device (e.g. mobile radio/carrier settings you need for your calling to work, etc.).
You're probably thinking that using SP Flash Tool, you can first make a backup of your device, so that no matter what you try, you can always restore your backup. Good news: this is kind of true: the SP Flash Tool is capable of this kind of backup, as seen in this thread, this thread, and this thread. But when you look at those threads, you will see there is a catch: the technique relies on being able to extract something called a "scatter file" from your device, and the tool they always use for this? You guessed it, MTK Droid Tool, the tool that doesn't (yet) work on MT67xx devices. This nice thread explains the situation and gives you a way to get the "scatter file" to make your backup, but as you can see it's more technical than many people will be willing to do. So basically we are waiting for better tools to be available to less technical users for backing up MT67xx devices. If you don't mind bricking your device at all or until such a tool comes out, it won't matter. But for most users you will want some kind of backup in your rooting strategy. If anyone knows of a better new tool that works on MT67xx, please reply below.
So consider the application of SP Flash Tool as a backup tool for MT67xx devices to be something that's not ready for everyone yet. If anyone knows an easier tool for making scatter files on MT67xx or even doing backup, let us know.
There are other ways of making backups of your device before you attempt to root your device, though, so you might not need to use SP Flash Tool as your backup. More later...
Also, some reading this thread may have found a stock ROM for your exact device (one that is just like the manufacturer gave you, not rooted) that can serve as your backup in case your rooting attempts fail.
HOW TO ROOT YOUR PHONE
Typically when you want to root any Android device, you google the name of the device with "root" and you will find either:
"easy" one-click rooting tools (e.g. Kingoroot, Kingroot, One Click Root, framaroot) that you install on your device or your PC and click one button to root.
software that you are supposed to flash to your Android device to make it rooted (either complete ROM images containing a complete copy of Android for your device, already rooted and usually with other handy mods, or flashable update images that root your existing copy of Android).
The "easy" one-click tools may be worth trying, because they literally are just one click, but they come with a massive downside: many of them, such as Kingoroot, have been repeatedly accused of, and occasionally caught at, doing extremely shady things on your device after installation, such as sending your device's private IMEI number to servers in China. Kingroot (yes, it's different from Kingoroot) is a one-click tool that is recommended on xda, but which installs extremely invasive "purify" and/or "scanning" software on your device (also frequently connecting with servers in China for unknown reasons which the closed-source makers of these tools will not disclose). I personally find the many creepy clone Kingroot advertising websites and obviously-fake "user" posts about Kingroot that are gushingly positive about Kingroot to be a major, major red flag. If they have to make fake one-sided posts to convince people to install, what are they hiding? Many people use Kingroot simply because they've tried everything else and it's the only one-click tool that can root their device (because the Kingroot developers accomplish root using new exploits that nobody else has found, and devote significant resources to keeping up to date on exploits, perhaps using money they got from.....), then they use other tools that supposedly strip away Kingroot and its bloat/sketchiness and replace it with a more trusted root solution such as SuperSU (SuperSU requires your phone to be already rooted or requires you to flash something to install it). There even seems to be an arms war between Kingroot and these "Kingroot stripping tools" which causes problems on your phone as each party releases updates. You get the picture.
If you're reading this thread, you may have already tried these one-click tools and seen that they don't work on your MT67xx, or you may be too suspicious of them.
So, you moved on to looking for software that you could flash to your device that would root your device.
You searched in xda and Google for your make and model and found.....nothing. Except hopefully this thread.
Now you know why you didn't find anything using your make and model (you didn't skip the sections above, did you?). Fortunately, there is some hope.
Flashable software that can root your device will likely take one of two forms:
ROM: A complete ROM (complete version of Android, with images for boot and system partitions) that is already rooted, and probably contains other nice enhancements you might like as well. To use a ROM image, you flash the boot image and system image your boot and system partitions using SP Flash Tool.
UPDATE: An update file that you apply on top of your existing version of Android to get root, such as the one distributed with SuperSU. To apply this type of update, you don't install an APK file (e.g. from the Play Store). Instead, you download a "recovery flashable ZIP" and boot your device into a special "recovery mode" where you make some choices on a retro 1970s text menu to choose and apply the update---more later.
If you want to use a ROM, the ROM definitely has to be customized for your device. Flashing a ROM meant for another device is a near-guarantee to render your device inoperable, unless the other device literally only differs by the marketing name (extremely unlikely: remember when we said above how each manufacturer loves to make tiny confounding changes?).
So you are unlikely to find a ROM for your device at all (if you did, you probably wouldn't be reading this thread). If you have a lot of spare time on your hands, you could try flashing ROMs from a lot of similar devices (definitely it must be the same chipset and Android version, ideally same country, same mobile carrier or another company that actually uses the same mobile carrier's network). But that's not too likely to succeed. If you do succeed, my god definitely post it to xda so future people can be helped.
So you are left with the option of rooting your device using a "recovery flashable ZIP" update like the one that comes with SuperSU.
You still need to ask two questions:
does SuperSU (or other rooting package) work on my device?
does the "recovery mode" that comes with your device let you flash these ZIPs?
For question 1 you are not likely to find an answer (again because of the insane fragmentation of devices in the MTK market as explained above). So you are going to have to just try it, after making a backup. You can at least feel comforted by the fact that the amazing developer, Chainfire, has done insane amounts of work to make SuperSU's flashable installer ZIP work on as many devices as possible. But it's nearly impossible that he's had time to test on your MTK device, because of the severe low-end market fragmentation problem explained above (and don't ask him to: it's your job to try).
You can find many tutorials on the internet about how to get to your device's recovery mode (it's device-specific but typically involves holding down 2-3 buttons while turning on your device then making further menu choices, then holding down two buttons again when you see an image of an android laying on his back) and how to install the "recovery flashable ZIP" that comes with SuperSU or your root package.
Question 2 really depends on your device. Even though all devices we are talking about here use MT67xx chips, many device makers give you a crippled "recovery mode" that will only install updates cryptographically signed by the manufacturer using a secret key, meaning they are useless for installing SuperSU. You should just give it a try and see if you get an error message during install about the "signature" of the update being wrong (remember, while trying the SuperSU update, if you suddenly see the android lying down again, hit the same sequence of buttons that you used to get into the recovery console in the first place to get back to a screen with actual information).
If the stock recovery mode that comes with your device is not suitable for installing SuperSU, then you need to replace the recovery mode that comes with your phone with a "custom recovery" (Chainfire actually recommends using a custom recovery anyway to avoid problems). Fortunately, you have a tool in your arsenal which can replace the stock recovery with a custom recovery: SP Flash Tool. Whew. The recovery mode on your device is on one of those partitions that you can flash with SP Flash Tool. All you need to do is find a custom recovery "image" from the internet that can do SuperSU. By far the most common custom recovery tools people use are called TWRP and CWM (ClockWorkMod). These custom recovery tools even give you other cool features that the stock recovery didn't, like the ability to make backups in a way that is much easier and less technical than with SP Flash Tool.
So everything's great, right? Just install TWRP/CWM and then install SuperSU.
Well, not quite. It turns out that just like Android versions, recovery images have to be built specifically for your device. There isn't just one file for TWRP/CWM: there's one per device. So you are now faced with the challenge of finding a custom recovery image that works on your device.
So it seems like Catch-22, right? You're stuck.
Well, not exactly. It turns out that while recovery consoles are indeed device-specific, they are less device specific than Android versions. Your chances of finding a recovery image that was designed for another similar MT67xx device but works on your device are much greater than your (near zero) chances of finding a complete Android ROM that does the same.
So search on xda and Google for the chipset of your device, and look for people who have successfully used custom recovery images across similar devices. For example, my device has an MT6735 so I searched on xda and found several threads where people used recovery consoles across devices. Read the threads for your chipset and see if you recognize any similar devices. Or just try some (after making a back-up of course, including a backup of the stock recovery image in case you need to go back to that (though some devices have a nifty feature where they will restore the stock recovery automatically if a custom recovery crashes)). They may work, they may not. If you have success, definitely report it here to help others.
So hopefully, maybe with some trial and error, you can install SuperSU to root your phone, either using your phone's stock recovery or a working custom recovery that you can find on the internet. Whew.
Since you will be looking for rooting solutions on the internet and seeing many guides, I should mention that other than using SP Flash Tool or the recovery mode, there is another way to flash images to your device, usually known as the bootloader or "fastboot mode." Fastboot mode is an alternative to the "recovery mode" (you enter the fastboot mode by pushing a different set of buttons down as you turn on your device). You will find tons of references to fastboot mode as it is a key way to flash on many devices, but for your MediaTek MTK device, fastboot mode is unlikely to be useful to you: as an MTK owner, you have access to SP Flash Tool which is not encumbered by the many restrictions that some device vendors place on fastboot mode and is pretty much better all-around. Fastboot mode involves using adb command line tools, which are intimidating to some users. Many vendors completely lock down fastboot mode so that it cannot flash at all, some vendors require you to find a magic easter egg option to enable fastboot flashing and force you to erase all your data in the process of just turning that switch on, and some vendors make you call them to get a l33t secret code that you have to use to enter to unlock fastboot using an "oem unlock". Fortunately, you can bypass all that idiotic DRM nonsense by just using SP Flash Tool and get the same work done. The only advantage of fastboot mode is on some devices it lets you boot a proposed recovery console to try it one time without actually installing it: but on my device, and many MTK devices, that functionality is simply not implemented.
So what if you have exhausted all the possibilities above, and you are still stuck: None of the one-click tools work on your device. You can't find a ROM for your device. SuperSU can't be installed using your stock recovery mode, and you can't find any custom recovery image that works on your device that you could use to install SuperSU on your device. Well, then you are really in new territory where there are further steps you can take, but it's going to get a lot more technical. Since SP Flash Tool works, you do have the power to modify system files on your device, so you do have the power to root the device. First of all you can become a ROM developer and build a ROM for your device, but that is a massive undertaking and I don't even know if you can find the correct drivers to accomplish this. So instead, to get root, you're going to have to figure out how to extract a partition image (boot or system) from your device, extract all the files from that image (there are "kitchens" on xda that help you do this kind of thing), modify those files in a way that gives you root, flash the partition back, and then boot your system normally, letting the nefarious code you added give you root as the system boots. This is non-trivial but kind of fun if you are into that kind of punishment. I went through that whole process because I thought my device was one of those extreme cases (I had not yet figured out that there was probably some other custom recovery image that would have worked on my device, because there was no thread explaining this fact on xda ). The steps I took are definitely beyond the scope of this post, but if folks are interested I can share some details in a separate post (there is nothing revolutionary: I hacked /init.rc to perform an elaborate series of file copies, chmod, chown, etc. at user boot time to install SuperSU, basically simulating all the many steps that SuperSU would have taken from its install script in the recovery mode, had I been able to use the useless locked recovery mode on my device).
After you root your phone (and depending on how you root your phone) you may run into a situation where you can no longer make/receive calls because you have accidentally cleared out your phone's IMEI setting.
This, again, is a case where there are a ton of tools to fix your IMEI that are designed specially for MTK devices, but most of them do not work on MT67xx series, only the older chips (yes, you guessed it, including our old friend MTK Droid Tool).
So you will probably have to hunt around until you find an IMEI fixer that works. Many guides suggested a super-creepy Chinese app called Mobile Uncle that includes a horrific screen begging me to install all the most privacy-destroying popular Chinese social media apps, but Mobile Uncle failed to work on my MT67xx, so save yourself the viruses and use another tool. After I rooted my phone I tried 3 different apps until I found one called "MTK Engineering" that just worked, and I set my IMEI by following the visual guide in method number 1 on this website (I didn't use Mobile Uncle but the UI is the same), adding in the extra hack of adding a space between the "AT" and the "+" , and surrounding the IMEI number in quotes, as explained on this website. Phew.
Good luck and hope this guide saved you from going down several 12-hour ratholes like I did!!!
MANY MANY THANKS: I have linked to many articles on xda and the internet above. Please explore those links for more information. Thanks to Chainfire for sure for SuperSU and for whoever made SP Flash Tool (MediaTek?). And I really got a lot of helpful info from alexzap's articles. This MTK rooting/flashing guide is also pretty cool but doesn't address the newer MT67xx issues.
(reserved)
lsemprini said:
So you've got a cheap Chinese phone based on the budget MediaTek MTK MT67xx SoC (system-on-a-chip) chipset and you want to root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, thank you very much for such an educational thread. I am also a newbie to MediaTek devices but after owning an MT6752 Desire 820s there are a ton of things I have learned so far with the device and MediaTek in general which I am glad to share.
lsemprini said:
So that means SP Flash Tool is super-powerful and super-dangerous (in fact, it's suicidal if you use it on a device containing important data you haven't backed up), but on the other hand it also means that at least you always have some tool that can install new images, no matter how messed up you have made your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you, SP Flashtool is the best thing to have ever happened to the MediaTek fraternity. I have been using it to test flashing partitions on my phone, corrupting the bootloader and bricking the device but it would always come to my rescue.
It is so powerful such that it can unlock, lock or relock the bootloader on HTC devices without using the official HTC bootloader unlocking method, fastboot or adb and does not require root.
The HTC bootloader somehow restricts a phone to boot into meta mode for flashing but holding volume up while connecting phone to PC tends to force the phone to access meta mode where flashing of any partition can be carried out by SP Flashtool.
I consider this a security risk but still interesting as it is too easy to access the device's userdata partition via a recovery hack since it can unlock the device's bootloader and flash a custom recovery, preserving the userdata partition which would have been wiped if one used official methods unless one encrypted their internal storage.
However newer MediaTek devices seem to have fixed this security hole. The likes of HTC One M9+, E9 and E9+ with an MT6795 processor cannot be flashed by SP Flashtool unless the device is S-off as of now. It could work with an SP Flashtool update maybe?
lsemprini said:
So consider the application of SP Flash Tool as a backup tool for MT67xx devices to be something that's not ready for everyone yet. If anyone knows an easier tool for making scatter files on MT67xx or even doing backup, let us know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it is possible to backup newer MediaTek SOCs (MT67XX) devices using SP Flashtool's Readback feature without root but it requires the exact scatter file of the firmware one is currently on, or at least the Partition start address of a partition you want to back up and its physical size if one cannot get the scatter file.
MTKDroidtools can at least show the partition types on the MT67XX devices but unfortunately the start and physical addresses of the partitions are not exactly as they are supposed to be on the device.
However if you are lucky to find the scatter file you can use it to readback on SP Flashtool, not reading back the entire NAND of the phone but reading back each partition individually as it is depicted on the scatter file and saving the backup file as partion_name.img eg boot.img. This is technically dding an entire partition but without using root.
The start address is depicted on the scatter file and the length is the partition_size on the scatter file.
This can be vital especially for creating a custom recovery for a device which is currently unrooted.
lsemprini said:
So you've got a cheap Chinese phone based on the budget MediaTek MTK MT67xx SoC (system-on-a-chip) chipset and you want to root it.
You've tried lots of tools and failed, and you've been searching the internet and xda for your model and found nothing (or you might have found stock ROMs for your device online but not rooted ones). Read on....
These phones are INSANELY common all across Asia because MediaTek is the cheapest chip manufacturer and so is the top choice for <USD$100 super-cheap (often free subsidized) phones. Here is a partial list of phones that use the MT67xx across many countries:
I am including the list above for two reasons:
so that people searching for their model may find this thread and be helped
so that you can just get a glimpse of the insane variety of companies and models that use the same chip family
For reasons explained below, you will find that most of these devices are resistant to the "easy" one-click rooting methods and most of them do not work with ANY of the "easy" tools that have been developed for other phones, even MediaTek (MTK)-specific tools. Of course tool support will improve over time, but as we will explain, there is something unique about your MediaTek device that will always make it harder to root.
I finally got my MT67xx-based phone rooted, and here is the information that I wished someone had posted on xda as I slogged through my search.
My goal here is NOT to provide the steps for a specific phone model, but rather to help the (literally) millions of you out there who have MT67xx-based phones find a solution by giving you a few basics to understand MediaTek MTK and rooting, and pointing you in the right direction so you know what questions to ask.
There's some bad news, and some worse news...
WHAT ALL THESE PHONES HAVE IN COMMON:
The MT67xx chipset inside your phone uses a relatively new (2014) 64-bit processor architecture, compared to the ubiquitous MediaTek MTK MT65xx, MT83xx, MT81xx processors that use a 32-bit architecture. And around the same time that MT67xx came out, MediaTek also switched devices to a new filesystem/partition format which determines where and how Android and all your data gets stored in your device's flash memory.
What these two technical changes mean is that:
many of the vulnerabilities in Android that the "easy" one-click root tools exploited to do their job (e.g. old standbys like RageAgainstTheCage, framaroot, etc.) no longer work. Updating Android is another thing that often causes these vulnerabilities to cease to work, but changing processor architectures is a biggie too.
many (but not all) of the old tools developed to root and otherwise modify MediaTek devices broke, and have not yet been fixed. Most notable is the MTK Droid Tool, a standard tool for hacking MTK devices that you will still find used in 99% of guides out there on the internet. It doesn't work on your MT67xx (at least no version I could find). Same is true of many other tools, such as some of the tools to reset your phones IMEI when rooting/modding operations disrupt your ability to call, tools to get into "MTK Engineer Mode" etc.
That is why you will find so many pages on the internet that say "Root Any Android Phone" (complete BS: if you see this, the person is either clueless or lying) or even "Root Any MediaTek Phone" and the procedure fails.
So, you would think that the cool ROM hackers and root tool folks would whip up some new tools quickly, right?
This is the point where you need to understand a harsh reality...
WHAT ALL THESE PHONES DON'T HAVE IN COMMON:
This is perhaps Android's greatest strength and weakness: every manufacturer (as well as ROM hacker here on xda) is free to tweak open-source Android in almost any way they see fit, whether to save money, integrate a new feature, customize for local market and culture, try to lock out competition, or whatever. And so they did.
Even though these devices all use MT67xx chips, it seems like every manufacturer felt compelled to make as many tiny changes as possible, and the result is that there is no easy way for kind xda hackers to develop one master ROM image of Android that will run on them all (rooted or otherwise). And it's even hard to make a rooting tool or mod that works on all devices.
Instead, the device-specific differences are significant enough that you actually need a developer to spend hours to days on each model in order to produce a workable Android ROM (rooted or otherwise).
And that is why, all over xda-developers and other sites, you rarely see custom ROMs for your MTK device. Although I'm guessing there are many times more cheap MTK devices in the world than devices with more expensive chipsets, the market of cheap devices is utterly fragmented into hundreds of vendors, so it is generally not worth any ROM hacker's time to develop for a particular device, because the reward (glory or karma, whatever turns them on) is minimal compared to a single device (e.g. most Samsungs) that is used by millions.
Sometimes the cheap MTK software/hardware changes that break both root tools and ROMs seem trivial and pointless. Like a vendor might move a critical system file for no obvious reason, switch the order of SD cards so that old software breaks, leave out key system programs they thought "nobody would need," introduce new and usually-broken encryption methods to lock out modders, etc.
THE SILVER LINING
Seems pretty grim, huh?
This cloud has one major silver lining.
I'm going to tell you about a tool that does work on MT67xx devices. You may or may not end up using this tool as part of your rooting strategy (more below), but it's good to hear some good news sometime
As far as I can tell, all MediaTek devices MT67xx, MT65xx, MT83xx, MT81xx work with the SP Flash Tool, a MediaTek MTK-specific tool that lets you flash (write) new versions of Android and tools that you need to install or modify Android (ROMs, custom recovery images, recovery updates) on to your device.
SP Flash Tool lets you flash "images" to your device, even if your device is totally bricked or has been utterly wiped clean from some earlier messup. An "image" is geek speak for a file that contains the whole contents of a partition of your Android device's storage, such as the partitions that contain the Android operating system (boot and system), the partitions that contain a recovery tool that lets you do less primitive operations like updating Android, installing SuperSU, or backing up your device (recovery), or even the partition with the logo shown on boot (logo).
So that means SP Flash Tool is super-powerful and super-dangerous (in fact, it's suicidal if you use it on a device containing important data you haven't backed up), but on the other hand it also means that at least you always have some tool that can install new images, no matter how messed up you have made your device.
The significance of this cannot be understated. For Android devices with other chipsets, there is of course some way to flash images (various tools referred to as "recovery console," "bootloader/fastboot mode," etc), but the chipset and manufacturers (even on some MediaTek MTK devices) try to ruin your day by:
locking your bootloader or recovery console so it can only flash images cryptographically signed by the manufacturer using secret keys, meaning you can't use them to modify your phone in the way you want,
providing you only with flashing methods that work if the certain partitions stay intact---meaning that if you make a certain kind of mistake, you may much more easily "brick" your phone so that you have no way of ever using it for anything but a doorstop.
MediaTek's SP Flash Tool, on the other hand, does not get in your way with any kind of lock---it always lets you flash images to the device, even if your flash memory has become completely garbled with nonsense. The tool literally works on your phone before your phone has started to boot up (kind of scary actually and a huge design flaw security risk, oh well). It is still up to you of course to flash something that works, but at least you have the option.
A very important principle for SP Flash Tool is: only flash partitions that you need to flash. That will likely be recovery, and maybe boot/system and maybe logo if you are playing around. Even though you may find a ROM with all partitions, only flash the ones the instructions say you need to flash. Otherwise you invite problems that might clear important settings on your device (e.g. mobile radio/carrier settings you need for your calling to work, etc.).
You're probably thinking that using SP Flash Tool, you can first make a backup of your device, so that no matter what you try, you can always restore your backup. Good news: this is kind of true: the SP Flash Tool is capable of this kind of backup, as seen in this thread, this thread, and this thread. But when you look at those threads, you will see there is a catch: the technique relies on being able to extract something called a "scatter file" from your device, and the tool they always use for this? You guessed it, MTK Droid Tool, the tool that doesn't (yet) work on MT67xx devices. This nice thread explains the situation and gives you a way to get the "scatter file" to make your backup, but as you can see it's more technical than many people will be willing to do. So basically we are waiting for better tools to be available to less technical users for backing up MT67xx devices. If you don't mind bricking your device at all or until such a tool comes out, it won't matter. But for most users you will want some kind of backup in your rooting strategy. If anyone knows of a better new tool that works on MT67xx, please reply below.
So consider the application of SP Flash Tool as a backup tool for MT67xx devices to be something that's not ready for everyone yet. If anyone knows an easier tool for making scatter files on MT67xx or even doing backup, let us know.
There are other ways of making backups of your device before you attempt to root your device, though, so you might not need to use SP Flash Tool as your backup. More later...
Also, some reading this thread may have found a stock ROM for your exact device (one that is just like the manufacturer gave you, not rooted) that can serve as your backup in case your rooting attempts fail.
HOW TO ROOT YOUR PHONE
Typically when you want to root any Android device, you google the name of the device with "root" and you will find either:
"easy" one-click rooting tools (e.g. Kingoroot, Kingroot, One Click Root, framaroot) that you install on your device or your PC and click one button to root.
software that you are supposed to flash to your Android device to make it rooted (either complete ROM images containing a complete copy of Android for your device, already rooted and usually with other handy mods, or flashable update images that root your existing copy of Android).
The "easy" one-click tools may be worth trying, because they literally are just one click, but they come with a massive downside: many of them, such as Kingoroot, have been repeatedly accused of, and occasionally caught at, doing extremely shady things on your device after installation, such as sending your device's private IMEI number to servers in China. Kingroot (yes, it's different from Kingoroot) is a one-click tool that is recommended on xda, but which installs extremely invasive "purify" and/or "scanning" software on your device (also frequently connecting with servers in China for unknown reasons which the closed-source makers of these tools will not disclose). I personally find the many creepy clone Kingroot advertising websites and obviously-fake "user" posts about Kingroot that are gushingly positive about Kingroot to be a major, major red flag. If they have to make fake one-sided posts to convince people to install, what are they hiding? Many people use Kingroot simply because they've tried everything else and it's the only one-click tool that can root their device (because the Kingroot developers accomplish root using new exploits that nobody else has found, and devote significant resources to keeping up to date on exploits, perhaps using money they got from.....), then they use other tools that supposedly strip away Kingroot and its bloat/sketchiness and replace it with a more trusted root solution such as SuperSU (SuperSU requires your phone to be already rooted or requires you to flash something to install it). There even seems to be an arms war between Kingroot and these "Kingroot stripping tools" which causes problems on your phone as each party releases updates. You get the picture.
If you're reading this thread, you may have already tried these one-click tools and seen that they don't work on your MT67xx, or you may be too suspicious of them.
So, you moved on to looking for software that you could flash to your device that would root your device.
You searched in xda and Google for your make and model and found.....nothing. Except hopefully this thread.
Now you know why you didn't find anything using your make and model (you didn't skip the sections above, did you?). Fortunately, there is some hope.
Flashable software that can root your device will likely take one of two forms:
ROM: A complete ROM (complete version of Android, with images for boot and system partitions) that is already rooted, and probably contains other nice enhancements you might like as well. To use a ROM image, you flash the boot image and system image your boot and system partitions using SP Flash Tool.
UPDATE: An update file that you apply on top of your existing version of Android to get root, such as the one distributed with SuperSU. To apply this type of update, you don't install an APK file (e.g. from the Play Store). Instead, you download a "recovery flashable ZIP" and boot your device into a special "recovery mode" where you make some choices on a retro 1970s text menu to choose and apply the update---more later.
If you want to use a ROM, the ROM definitely has to be customized for your device. Flashing a ROM meant for another device is a near-guarantee to render your device inoperable, unless the other device literally only differs by the marketing name (extremely unlikely: remember when we said above how each manufacturer loves to make tiny confounding changes?).
So you are unlikely to find a ROM for your device at all (if you did, you probably wouldn't be reading this thread). If you have a lot of spare time on your hands, you could try flashing ROMs from a lot of similar devices (definitely it must be the same chipset and Android version, ideally same country, same mobile carrier or another company that actually uses the same mobile carrier's network). But that's not too likely to succeed. If you do succeed, my god definitely post it to xda so future people can be helped.
So you are left with the option of rooting your device using a "recovery flashable ZIP" update like the one that comes with SuperSU.
You still need to ask two questions:
does SuperSU (or other rooting package) work on my device?
does the "recovery mode" that comes with your device let you flash these ZIPs?
For question 1 you are not likely to find an answer (again because of the insane fragmentation of devices in the MTK market as explained above). So you are going to have to just try it, after making a backup. You can at least feel comforted by the fact that the amazing developer, Chainfire, has done insane amounts of work to make SuperSU's flashable installer ZIP work on as many devices as possible. But it's nearly impossible that he's had time to test on your MTK device, because of the severe low-end market fragmentation problem explained above (and don't ask him to: it's your job to try).
You can find many tutorials on the internet about how to get to your device's recovery mode (it's device-specific but typically involves holding down 2-3 buttons while turning on your device then making further menu choices, then holding down two buttons again when you see an image of an android laying on his back) and how to install the "recovery flashable ZIP" that comes with SuperSU or your root package.
Question 2 really depends on your device. Even though all devices we are talking about here use MT67xx chips, many device makers give you a crippled "recovery mode" that will only install updates cryptographically signed by the manufacturer using a secret key, meaning they are useless for installing SuperSU. You should just give it a try and see if you get an error message during install about the "signature" of the update being wrong (remember, while trying the SuperSU update, if you suddenly see the android lying down again, hit the same sequence of buttons that you used to get into the recovery console in the first place to get back to a screen with actual information).
If the stock recovery mode that comes with your device is not suitable for installing SuperSU, then you need to replace the recovery mode that comes with your phone with a "custom recovery" (Chainfire actually recommends using a custom recovery anyway to avoid problems). Fortunately, you have a tool in your arsenal which can replace the stock recovery with a custom recovery: SP Flash Tool. Whew. The recovery mode on your device is on one of those partitions that you can flash with SP Flash Tool. All you need to do is find a custom recovery "image" from the internet that can do SuperSU. By far the most common custom recovery tools people use are called TWRP and CWM (ClockWorkMod). These custom recovery tools even give you other cool features that the stock recovery didn't, like the ability to make backups in a way that is much easier and less technical than with SP Flash Tool.
So everything's great, right? Just install TWRP/CWM and then install SuperSU.
Well, not quite. It turns out that just like Android versions, recovery images have to be built specifically for your device. There isn't just one file for TWRP/CWM: there's one per device. So you are now faced with the challenge of finding a custom recovery image that works on your device.
So it seems like Catch-22, right? You're stuck.
Well, not exactly. It turns out that while recovery consoles are indeed device-specific, they are less device specific than Android versions. Your chances of finding a recovery image that was designed for another similar MT67xx device but works on your device are much greater than your (near zero) chances of finding a complete Android ROM that does the same.
So search on xda and Google for the chipset of your device, and look for people who have successfully used custom recovery images across similar devices. For example, my device has an MT6735 so I searched on xda and found several threads where people used recovery consoles across devices. Read the threads for your chipset and see if you recognize any similar devices. Or just try some (after making a back-up of course, including a backup of the stock recovery image in case you need to go back to that (though some devices have a nifty feature where they will restore the stock recovery automatically if a custom recovery crashes)). They may work, they may not. If you have success, definitely report it here to help others.
So hopefully, maybe with some trial and error, you can install SuperSU to root your phone, either using your phone's stock recovery or a working custom recovery that you can find on the internet. Whew.
Since you will be looking for rooting solutions on the internet and seeing many guides, I should mention that other than using SP Flash Tool or the recovery mode, there is another way to flash images to your device, usually known as the bootloader or "fastboot mode." Fastboot mode is an alternative to the "recovery mode" (you enter the fastboot mode by pushing a different set of buttons down as you turn on your device). You will find tons of references to fastboot mode as it is a key way to flash on many devices, but for your MediaTek MTK device, fastboot mode is unlikely to be useful to you: as an MTK owner, you have access to SP Flash Tool which is not encumbered by the many restrictions that some device vendors place on fastboot mode and is pretty much better all-around. Fastboot mode involves using adb command line tools, which are intimidating to some users. Many vendors completely lock down fastboot mode so that it cannot flash at all, some vendors require you to find a magic easter egg option to enable fastboot flashing and force you to erase all your data in the process of just turning that switch on, and some vendors make you call them to get a l33t secret code that you have to use to enter to unlock fastboot using an "oem unlock". Fortunately, you can bypass all that idiotic DRM nonsense by just using SP Flash Tool and get the same work done. The only advantage of fastboot mode is on some devices it lets you boot a proposed recovery console to try it one time without actually installing it: but on my device, and many MTK devices, that functionality is simply not implemented.
So what if you have exhausted all the possibilities above, and you are still stuck: None of the one-click tools work on your device. You can't find a ROM for your device. SuperSU can't be installed using your stock recovery mode, and you can't find any custom recovery image that works on your device that you could use to install SuperSU on your device. Well, then you are really in new territory where there are further steps you can take, but it's going to get a lot more technical. Since SP Flash Tool works, you do have the power to modify system files on your device, so you do have the power to root the device. First of all you can become a ROM developer and build a ROM for your device, but that is a massive undertaking and I don't even know if you can find the correct drivers to accomplish this. So instead, to get root, you're going to have to figure out how to extract a partition image (boot or system) from your device, extract all the files from that image (there are "kitchens" on xda that help you do this kind of thing), modify those files in a way that gives you root, flash the partition back, and then boot your system normally, letting the nefarious code you added give you root as the system boots. This is non-trivial but kind of fun if you are into that kind of punishment. I went through that whole process because I thought my device was one of those extreme cases (I had not yet figured out that there was probably some other custom recovery image that would have worked on my device, because there was no thread explaining this fact on xda ). The steps I took are definitely beyond the scope of this post, but if folks are interested I can share some details in a separate post (there is nothing revolutionary: I hacked /init.rc to perform an elaborate series of file copies, chmod, chown, etc. at user boot time to install SuperSU, basically simulating all the many steps that SuperSU would have taken from its install script in the recovery mode, had I been able to use the useless locked recovery mode on my device).
After you root your phone (and depending on how you root your phone) you may run into a situation where you can no longer make/receive calls because you have accidentally cleared out your phone's IMEI setting.
This, again, is a case where there are a ton of tools to fix your IMEI that are designed specially for MTK devices, but most of them do not work on MT67xx series, only the older chips (yes, you guessed it, including our old friend MTK Droid Tool).
So you will probably have to hunt around until you find an IMEI fixer that works. Many guides suggested a super-creepy Chinese app called Mobile Uncle that includes a horrific screen begging me to install all the most privacy-destroying popular Chinese social media apps, but Mobile Uncle failed to work on my MT67xx, so save yourself the viruses and use another tool. After I rooted my phone I tried 3 different apps until I found one called "MTK Engineering" that just worked, and I set my IMEI by following the visual guide in method number 1 on this website (I didn't use Mobile Uncle but the UI is the same), adding in the extra hack of adding a space between the "AT" and the "+" , and surrounding the IMEI number in quotes, as explained on this website. Phew.
Good luck and hope this guide saved you from going down several 12-hour ratholes like I did!!!
MANY MANY THANKS: I have linked to many articles on xda and the internet above. Please explore those links for more information. Thanks to Chainfire for sure for SuperSU and for whoever made SP Flash Tool (MediaTek?). And I really got a lot of helpful info from alexzap's articles. This MTK rooting/flashing guide is also pretty cool but doesn't address the newer MT67xx issues.
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My device MT6735 I want IMEI restore tool
I tried mobileuncle tool not working for imei backup restore
Wow, a lot to read there, but this has been the most helpful thing I have found so far related to rooting my phone model. Not sure why this thread hadn't appeared in my earlier Google searches even though this thread has already been around for three months. Anyway...
You said your device has an MT6735 SoC, can I ask which phone model you have? as that's the exact same SoC that mine has (LG K8), and you've managed to root yours.
Apparently trying to root an LG K8 with a one-click root tool has bricked a few people's phones, so I don't even want to give that option a try.
It seems the best method for me to try would be getting a working custom recovery onto my phone, then installing SuperSU, all after making a backup of course. Hopefully I won't need to resort to modifying files myself like you had done, I dunno if I'd be confident enough to either.
Thank you for such a thorough guide and explanation. Time to go look up custom recoveries~
lsemprini said:
The significance of this cannot be understated. For Android devices with other chipsets, there is of course some way to flash images (various tools referred to as "recovery console," "bootloader/fastboot mode," etc), but the chipset and manufacturers (even on some MediaTek MTK devices) try to ruin your day by:
locking your bootloader or recovery console so it can only flash images cryptographically signed by the manufacturer using secret keys, meaning you can't use them to modify your phone in the way you want,
providing you only with flashing methods that work if the certain partitions stay intact---meaning that if you make a certain kind of mistake, you may much more easily "brick" your phone so that you have no way of ever using it for anything but a doorstop.
.
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I have an iBaby888 i6S+ Clone, mt6735, very good chip, hampered by bad design in the way the device's main storage is. Of course, I can fix this with a tool called "Reziser" which will open up that 2gb upper limit, BUT, I need to apply the zip from a Custom Recovery. But I can't INSTALL any Custom Recovery, Why? Because the bootloader is not only LOCKED: it is NON-UNLOCKABLE. /fastboot oem unlock = FAILS every time. I don't comprehend this idiocy of design, in a device that comes with a fake IMEI in the first place. Not to mention the device has issues with Google App updates which cause play store to stop working within 5 minutes of unboxing.
What do I do to unlock this? Or, better yet, is there a pre-made, unlocked Recovery ROM I can flash with SPflash, that is 8.4mb or less? One of the reasons why TWRP fails is that it tells me that my Boot.img or Recovery.img are too big and will cause "overlap" - When I know that I they are *not* too large. But I am thinking this failure is occurring because of the LOCKED state of my boot loader and stock recovery. And the Stock recovery is practically worthless.
Is there some kind of secret code or fastboot command I can apply to bust the crud out of this junk? This device COULD run as well as the device it is mimicking, if not for the 2gb main storage limit and locked bootloader that prevents all useful tools from being loaded. I can't even install xPosed, because the main binary has to be installed via Recovery, and it is also why SuperSU Me bricks the device, Kingroot is the only method of rooting it, and there is no working method of replacing Kingroot with SuperSU, all because of the locked issue.
I have a similar my6582 device, I rooted it and installed CWM recovery, no sweat, using MTK Droid tools. But Oh Yes! Guess what! There is NO Version of the tool for 67xx's! and that device actually has a 4gb storage area, in that respect it's a better device, save for the very low-res screen (160dpi, my iBaby version is 320dpi).
So, you got anything I can try, I am only just learning now to work with Androids, I have been an Apple Jailbreaker for 5 years (which is why I love these clones). I had a similar issue with running out of system storage space on Apple devices too, but we use system folder stashing (symlinking to the larger user partition) to prevent our system storage from being stuffed full. I have noticed on my Samsung and other higher end androids, I am always given 8 to 16 gb of system storage. But these MediaTek devices, why in blazes are they only given 2 to 4gb of space. when the chip can handle so much more? I can only move so many apps to my card with Apps2SD, and if you move too many, the system does not run well.
Sorry for the rant, I have been up against brick wall city over and over today, I have tried a dozen tools that all failed to unlock my bootloader, all for the same reason, the default unlock method just doesn't work.
Aerieana said:
Wow, a lot to read there, but this has been the most helpful thing I have found so far related to rooting my phone model. Not sure why this thread hadn't appeared in my earlier Google searches even though this thread has already been around for three months. Anyway...
You said your device has an MT6735 SoC, can I ask which phone model you have? as that's the exact same SoC that mine has (LG K8), and you've managed to root yours.
Apparently trying to root an LG K8 with a one-click root tool has bricked a few people's phones, so I don't even want to give that option a try.
It seems the best method for me to try would be getting a working custom recovery onto my phone, then installing SuperSU, all after making a backup of course. Hopefully I won't need to resort to modifying files myself like you had done, I dunno if I'd be confident enough to either.
Thank you for such a thorough guide and explanation. Time to go look up custom recoveries~
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Have you managed to root your LG K8?
LG K8
I see I'm not the only one wondering about rooting his/her LG K8 Let me know if u figure out sth about it
Would be good to see some tracking on which phones have had success before we buy the phone.... what do I best search for in choosing a cheap phone?
Alcatel Onetouch POP Astro 5042T MT6732
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some interesting information regarding flashing and rooting some MT67xx phones
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X-weApon-X said:
I have an iBaby888 i6S+ Clone, mt6735, very good chip, hampered by bad design in the way the device's main storage is. Of course, I can fix this with a tool called "Reziser" which will open up that 2gb upper limit, BUT, I need to apply the zip from a Custom Recovery. But I can't INSTALL any Custom Recovery, Why? Because the bootloader is not only LOCKED: it is NON-UNLOCKABLE. /fastboot oem unlock = FAILS every time. I don't comprehend this idiocy of design, in a device that comes with a fake IMEI in the first place. Not to mention the device has issues with Google App updates which cause play store to stop working within 5 minutes of unboxing.
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I have the same device as you. I managed to get it rooted by using Kingroot & Kinguser APK here on XDA. Once that was done, I backed up the chinese bloatware to the sd card and removed them. I now have about 500gb free space on system as I moved most of my must have apps to the system/apps folder.
Google Play for me does not crash because I changed the space available. This I believe is the key, Google Play crashing was always because of low space. Mine has updated and I can still use it.
The only isue I have is that the 6735 is slow. I don't know if it's the cheap sd/emmc or lack of RAM, but the phone can get pretty slow. Now that I have root I can make changes here and there. I plan on opening it up and replacing the SD card with a faster one.
I've tried unlocking the bootloader and it failed for mine too. I may try one of these services that unlocks MTK bootloaders.
Still working on performance on mine but thus far I have removed 90% of the iPhone esque apps and have all Android appsnow, no more Apple looks...only lock screen and settings.
Chaos Storm said:
I have the same device as you. I managed to get it rooted by using Kingroot & Kinguser APK here on XDA. Once that was done, I backed up the chinese bloatware to the sd card and removed them. I now have about 500gb free space on system as I moved most of my must have apps to the system/apps folder.
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When you removed those, did they leave an ugly icon on the springboard? What did you use to remove them, I used Apps2SD. I really want to know how to access the icons on the "Springboard", I don't know where they are in the Filesystem.
I created a TWRP recovery for mine, it's totally upside down, really difficult to manage, but the first thing I did when I booted, was to go into recovery and close it right away to install SuperSU. From there, it's easy. I can share the recovery.img I made. It's larger than the allotted 6544kb, I'm not sure if it is causing me any problems, it might be because of the larger size.
Google Play for me does not crash because I changed the space available. This I believe is the key, Google Play crashing was always because of low space. Mine has updated and I can still use it.
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Did you use "Resize"? - I used that, and it increases UserData from 2gb to 4gb, that's as big as it gets. My Samsung GTAB3 has 12gb of UserData, that's adequate, I can install ALL of my apps to internal. But you can't install Resizer from anywhere than Recovery. Same with the Lollipop version of xPosed.
The only issue I have is that the 6735 is slow. I don't know if it's the cheap sd/emmc or lack of RAM, but the phone can get pretty slow. Now that I have root I can make changes here and there. I plan on opening it up and replacing the SD card with a faster one.
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6735 is much faster than an MT6582, but any speed is cancelled out by the inordinate partitioning system. Just not enough ROOM. My GTAB3 seems much faster, but only because I have so much more free space even after installing 100 apps.
Replacing the SDcard Should be easy, I did it to my other clone, installed my Patriot card, which is the best card I've had. Be really careful, take the SIM slot out, unscrew the two bottom screws, then use one of the Apple Suction Cup tools to pull up from the Home/Touch ring. The entire assembly should pop right out. Be very careful! Flip it over, and unscrew all of the little screws. Take the audio assembly out from the bottom, and then you can probably see where the Card goes in if you pull up on the Motherboard, on mine it is right under the Front Camera. There is a little battery taped in there, untape that and you'll see a little Ribbon Cable, carefully take that off. The Card slot is right underneath, you can reach in with Tweezers and pull it out, then reverse the process putting the new card in. Of course, on the iBaby clone, it may be more like the Sophone, once you start pulling up on the Display, you will see if it's a full assembly or if the Display comes off. If that's the case, it's much easier to get to the Card slot, but you have to carefully remove the display.
One thing I noticed, without GAPPs it hauls arse. I was running it after flashing with Format+Download, after reboot, it has a *****in Android black logo on white, with a little "Bite mark" cut out of the side. I love that. here are the codes to add the Apple logo and GAPPs:
1. *#35741#*
2.*#15963#*
Choose the leftmost button on the first row.
Choose the rightmost button on the second row.
Tap on Reboot.
- That process will do a "factory reset" while Installing GAPPs, so don't install any apps before you do that.
I've tried unlocking the bootloader and it failed for mine too. I may try one of these services that unlocks MTK bootloaders.
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There is no need to do it, if you install a Recovery, I can give you my image. Once you have TWRP installed, you can do everything.
Still working on performance on mine but thus far I have removed 90% of the iPhone esque apps and have all Android appsnow, no more Apple looks...only lock screen and settings.
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I left the Camera, Calculator, "Facetime" = Skype, but I hate Skype so I removed the fook out of THAT. That damned "UC Browser" has to go, and the "Tips", "Watch" and "Stocks" are placeholders that do nothing. "Health" is Runtastic, but the Chinese version has SLife which is a better app. I backed all of the cloneapps with Titanium, but they are system apps, so I don't know if they can be restored, I'm trying to restore SLife now. Didn't go in. I'll try again later. But I, wondering if when you uninstalled the crappapps, if it left icons on your springboard.
Crap! I just tried to install Xposed, and FAILED because my 2GB System area is TOTALLY full, probably because of the GAPPS + the Crappapps. Now I have to get in there and delete the crap out of some serious stuff. The GAPPS apps are HUGE. I don't want them all, just Market/Google. Google Music was installed, I hate that and don't use it.
Oh Yah, if you find you want to block Google App updates, read down in this thread. This was about 2 months of research before I came up with this method, which worked until I flashed my device a month ago:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=4064
I just followed my own instructions, so we'll see how effective this is.
---------- Post added at 01:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 AM ----------
When I removed the apps I also removed the Home Launcher and replaced it with Google Home. However, after a few system edits it has started to crash, most likely because some of the system functions are tied to the home launcher, so I've reverted it back to semi stock.
I removed the apps by using Root Explorer and going to:
/system/apps , /system/priv-app, /system/vendor/operator/app, /system/app_ch, /system/app_en and cut & paste to the sd card. There is at least 600MB of space just in useless chinese apps.
If you have a TWRP to share that would be awesome.
Is there a way to backup the stock recovery just in case? To flash the new recovery do you do that via fastboot?
Thanks in advance!
So I spent some time today porting TWRP and got that working.
From what I've read from the TWRP thread, I would need to compile TWRP from sources to fix the rotation bug. I might do that if I have time.
Since CyanogenMod was released for another MTK6735 device, I am doing a quick and dirty port to see how well if at allit plays with the goophone, as CM would be awesome to have.
Chaos Storm said:
Since CyanogenMod was released for another MTK6735 device, I am doing a quick and dirty port to see how well if at allit plays with the goophone, as CM would be awesome to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, quick and dirty it was. Even though I double checked the META-INF and made sure everything was OK, the second attempt at porting resulted in a bootloop and no more recovery.
Anyways, I found the required firmware files on needrom and have gotten the phone back running.What's interesting is that on the previous build the dialer code would not work, but now they do. Anyways, now that I have a rom for this phone, I can hack to my hearts content.
META Mode MT6753
Hi guys,
I spend a few hours to recover my bricket ulefone paris via SP Flash Tool & going into META mode.
Problem is: device isnt recognized any more after a flash with a wrong preloader (ok, it was an offical rom, but anyway..). But how does the META mode for the MT6753 chipset works?
I´ve tried several combinations (Volume +, Volume + and Power, Volume -, etc.) when connecting it via USB to my PC running SP Flash with the correct image - but the device manager show no new device.
Before the false flash it worked perfect....
So is there another possibility to flash this device via META mode or is the another key combination for META mode?
Thanks!
Thanks!
A huge thank you for being the only one out there to clearly articulate the issue that is specific to the MTK chipset and SP Tools version that needs to be used. I waded through so many forums to find this very useful info. Appreciated.
Estupenda y muy trabajada explicación de lsemprini :good:
Para los profanos se deduce entonces que hay que confiar de las app´s como kingoroot, etc. que te prometen con 1 click brickear tu phone, tienes muchas posibilidades de conseguirlo.
Me uno al equipo entonces de los que tenemos un MediaTek MT6750 comprado barato, pero eso sí, con 3 Gb de RAM y 32 Gb de ROM + slot card.
Pero soy de los que me gusta to have root in my phone y veo que tendré que esperar.
He visto for developers este sitio con esta información que me ha parecido interesante: http://www.ayudaroot.com/general/conseguir-archivo-scatter-cualquier-dispositivo-mtk/
Please, up any information about news news.
Cheeeeeers!
Root to alls Meizu
Hi guys!
Good news para los poseedores de terminales Meizu.
No se necesita aplicaciones de terceros ni correr el riesgo de dejar hecho un ladrillo nuestro juguete, ya que la firma Meizu contempla el derecho de superusuario desde nuestro propio terminal. Puede variar según que modelo, en concreto desde el que yo tengo el Meizu M5 se hace de forma tan sencilla como ir a:
Ajustes > huellas y seguridad > permisos de superusuario. Además puedes escoger qué tipo de aplicaciones tendrán derechos de superuser y cuáles no lo tendrán.
En otros modelos se hace desde la cuenta "My flame" que es la ROM que usa Meizu en Android.
click en My Flame > para acceder a más ajustes del registro > en Personal Settings, en la parte inferior verás que hay la opción con otro click de > abrir > system privileges
Y eso es todo amigos! sencillo y sin complicaciones, como debe de ser !
Una vez tenemos root privileges sobre nuestro Meizu, me gustaría si alguien sabe cómo hacer un downgrade de smarshmallow a kitkat, ya que no me gusta nada la 6, para mí, la mejor es la 4.4.4.
Bye!
Related
I love Android, but rooting your phone can give you the opportunity to do so much more than your phone can do out of the box—whether its wireless tethering, speeding it up with overclocking, or customizing the look of your phone with themes. Here's how to root some of the most popular phones with minimal effort.
First, for the newbies, let me clarify what rooting is. Getting root or rooting your phone is the process of modifying the operating system that shipped with your device to grant you complete control over it.
This means you can overcome limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on your phone, extend system functionality, and even upgrade it to a custom flavor of Android.
The name root comes from the Linux operating system world, where the most privileged user on the system (otherwise known as Administrator on Windows) is called root.
Now, I'd like to take a moment to dispel a common misconception and clarify one thing: rooting does *not* mean installing a custom ROM (a ROM is a modified, "aftermarket" OS).
Installing a ROM may require rooting first, but just rooting can be usually done in only a few minutes, keeping your stock OS otherwise completely intact.
Usually rooting is fairly simple - in most cases you can find several videos and articles on the web that explain how to do it on your specific phone model - just Google "YOURPHONEMODEL root".
Rooting is not something manufacturers or carriers approve of but they can't really prevent it from happening because the rooting process usually exploits a vulnerability in the operating system code or device drivers and allows the "hacker" to upload a special program called su to the phone. This program is the one that provides root access to programs that request it.
Contrary to popular belief, su stands for "switch user" and not "superuser."
Another program called Superuser Permissions is usually bundled with all root methods. It gives you a chance to approve or deny requests from any application that wants to utilize root. Superuser Permissions essentially replaces the conventional root password with a simple Approve/Deny prompt, which isn't as secure as having a password, but is far more convenient on a mobile device.
Now an obligatory warning: rooting your phone does run the risk of potentially bricking it (i.e. your phone could become nonfunctional) – so do your homework before attempting anything, unless you're a fan of $500 paper weights.
Benefits Of Rooting
Let’s check out some of the benefits of rooting your Android phone.
Full Control Over Android
You have access to alter any system files, use themes, change boot images, delete annoying stock apps, such as Sprint's NFL Mobile live and Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, and other various native applications that might drive you crazy (Footprints, Voice Dialer, etc).
There is plenty of information on the web on how to accomplish this, but our favorite way is by using Titanium Backup and freezing/deleting the apps from there (root required, of course).
Titanium Backup
Download Titanium Backup from Google Play
QR code for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup
Titanium Backup ★ root
UPDATED
by Titanium Track
>250,000 downloads, 129635 ratings (4.7 avg)
Free
Install
Back Up And Restore The Whole System
On most rooted Android devices, you can back up your entire system to an SD card, much in the same way you can image a hard drive. This is great if you’d like to try a new ROM, as you can back up your phone, wipe it completely, flash the new ROM, and if you don’t like it, just restore from your backup to get your device back to exactly how it was before you wiped it.
The easiest way to do this at the moment is by using ROM Manager, developed by famed Android developer Koush.
ROM Manager allows you to easily flash a custom recovery image which is what you will need in order to backup and restore your phone. The recovery image is a special program that can be booted into outside of the phone's main operating system, sort of like an OS recovery console on a PC. By default, the recovery image on most Android phones only gives you a few options, mainly related to wiping the phone. Custom recovery images expand upon these options and usually include scripts that can do things like backup and restore your system, fix file permissions, or allow you to flash custom ROMs that the normal recovery image would otherwise reject.
Normally, flashing a custom recovery image requires some command line work, either on your PC, or on a terminal emulator directly on the phone, but Koush's ROM Manager should automatically flash his custom recovery image (known as ClockworkMod Recovery) for you, provided you're on one of the supported phones ( Applications > Development.
Connect your phone to the PC in charge-only mode.
Launch a Command Prompt window and browse to the location of the downloaded GingerBreak-v1.10.apk file.
Finally, enter this command:adb install GingerBreak-v1.10.apk
Having done this, you should be able to launch the app on your phone and root it using the above instructions.
Unlock root
The main function of this software is to obtain the highest system privileges, thus you can remove, install or update any softwares on your mobile phone freely. Also you can delete all the softwares added by operators and give you a clean system since you use UnlockRoot.
UnlockRoot is one of the most famous ROOT softwares on Android platform. It has powerful functions and strong compatibility, and also it is very simple to operate. Nothing to worry whether your mobile phone would turn to a brick, because this software is stable enough. It supports many brands and mpdels, such as Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony, Motorola, HUAWEI, ZTE, etc.
SuperOneClick
Download Super One Click, make sure you have the Android debugger (SDK developer kit) running, expand the Super One Click zip file and click the SuperOneClick icon to run it. When SuperOneClick launches, you’ll see several large buttons at the top of the screen. Make sure your phone is connected to the computer via USB and that the debugger can “see” it (activity will start logging). Make sure your SD card is not mounted, and go ahead and click “Root” in SuperOneClick.
android root access
You’ll see the scrolling activity as SuperOneClick does it’s job, with “OK” appearing after each task. You may see warnings, but so long as it doesn’t “hang” on waiting for device, things should keep scrolling until it finally returns the “Success!” message.
android root access
At this point, check out the installed apps on your phone and you should see a “Superuser” icon that looks like a Droid skull and crossbones. If you see it, you’re rooted. If you don’t see it, reboot the Droid. In fact, I’d suggest rebooting even if you do see it, as I had some issues getting rooted apps to work until I actually rebooted my own device.
how to root android
When you open up SuperUser, you’ll see that you can configure notifications so that no app can actually run with root access unless you give it permission. Also, according to the folks at Nexus One Forum, SuperOneClick doesn’t actually unlock the Bootloader, so you still retain your warranty. I haven’t confirmed if that’s true or not, but if true it’s a pretty good plus to using SuperOneClick with the SDK approach.
how to root android
Whenever you run an app that requires root (superuser), you’ll see a notification requesting permission. I like this because it also means that if an app gets installed and tries to utilize superuser access without your knowledge, it can’t.
how to root android
If you check off “Remember”, the program gets added to the list of “approved” apps with superuser access. You can see the ones on your list when you click on the “Apps” tab.
how to root your android phone
As you can see, once you have SDK installed and connected to your phone, the process is as simple as installing and running SuperOneClick. The program takes care of rooting your phone from the PC. Finally, you can enjoy a rooted Android phone, and all of the fun and excitement that offers!
Did you give any of the one-click Android root apps a try? How was your experience? Share your rooting adventures in the comments section below.
UniversalAndRoot
Universal Androot is the popular one-click rooting solution that used to be able to root almost any device. Now that it’s in the Android Market it will still root many devices just not all of them.
The handsets that it will work on include the following:
Google Nexus One (2.2)
Google G1 (1.6)
HTC Hero (2.1)
HTC Magic (1.5) (Select Do not install Superuser)
HTC Tattoo (1.6)
Dell Streak (2.1)
Motorola Milestone (2.1)
Motorola XT701
Motorola XT800 (2.1)
Motorola ME511
Motorola Droid (2.01/2.1/2.2 with FRG01B)
Sony Ericsson X10 (1.6)
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini (1.6)
Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro (1.6)
Acer Liquid (2.1)
Acer beTouch E400 (2.1)
Samsung Galaxy Beam
Vibo A688 (1.6)
Lenovo Lephone (1.6)
LG GT540 (1.6)
Gigabyte GSmart G1305
The handset list that it doesn’t cover is much shorter than the one above. The reason it will not work on the following devices because they are equipped with the FRG22D version of Froyo. However, we may see one-click root coming to them in the near future.
Samsung i9000 / i6500U / i7500 / i5700
Motorola ME600 / ME501 / MB300 / CLIQ XT
Motorola 2.2 FRG22D
Archos 5
HuaWei U8220
HTC Desire / Legend / Wildfire (/system 無法寫入, 不過可以靠 Soft Root)
HTC EVO 4G / Aria
SonyEricsson X10i R2BA020
myTouch Slide
Universal Androot is available now on the Android Market.
Sources:androidpolice.com
various other articles
If you are going to steal articles the least you could do is provide credits to the original writers or source links. Example is this: http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/0...top-5-benefits-of-rooting-your-android-phone/
You clearly copied most of this from there and again you're acting like you did all the job just like you do on the Galaxy Y boards, I wonder why you haven't been banned yet. Why does an internet thanks meter matter to you so much?
Hello, first of all this is my first post, so im gonna introduce myself first,
I am a freelance web designer/developer and understands logical programming. Anyways i am basically new to android, and i want to learn how to edit/modify/customize stock roms. so first i want to learn extract these stock roms. I am currently on the starting phase and i only have some ideas about the terms / programs that is used in this forums. Basically, i am running a windows machine, OS is windows 7.
I find it hard to fix some bugs i encounter in my android which lead me to the goal of learning.
So for the device that i will use as a scapegoat for my learning venture, i am using a Skyworth x7010 tablet which have no more support, i think and not a very well known model, infact i cant seem to find any forums dedicated to the tablet itself.
I am technically knowledgable in computer hardware and windows OS, also i am able to write different type of websites in php, (forums, E-Commerce, social networking/networking website, company web based panels, etc.). As of now I am currently working alone in every web aspect of bagongpleion.com and bagongpleion.net.
So far this is what i have done, and done to the tablet. I have no backup as of now.
1. I have already bricked one, just made it perma bricked then returned for warranty, the staffs decided to mark it as defective motherboard (No response from anything including recovery mode and bootloader mode) ~ Bricked it while trying to flash cwm for rk30 device.
2. device is running a JB 4.1.1 for the android version, and kernel 3.0.36+ ([email protected] #48)
3. I have already started learning adb, well for the most part, i had used it in the past for unlocking devices that got locked out screen patterns, and rooting.
4. The Device has a rk3188 1.6ghz max quad (Box says 1.8 though), mali400mp(Quad), 2GB ddr3 ram, 8gb internal storage, partitioned in 2, nand and internal.
5. I have the usb drivers for adb and rktool, android sdk, currently downloading and installing cygwin but the download is so long, i am forced to close/pause it.
6. I have already rooted the device, and modified the applications, and removed some apps that is not required. I deleted the files in the /system/app thru adb. I also had edited the Build.prop already, Changed the heapsize to the best performance (I am comparing the performance with CPU Identifier and Passmark. ) Stability is tested with simultaenous apps (High end games, browser, root apps, benchmark). I also edited the pixel density and reduced it by 1 to make the resolution exactly 1280 x 800.
7, One bug i found is that it cant play NBA 2k13, I had almost tried every solution i can find in the internet, Used different version, i even copied the data and apk from a device that can play it. The game force closes automatically after the Black screen (Original apk) or muzhiwan or apkmania.com loading screen at the start. This is also one of the reasons why i wanted to edit/modify the device.
What i wanted to do.
-Backup Original Firmware/rom/img (i dont know which and what is the correct term)...
-upgrade jellybean to 4.2 if possible, or 4.3
-Tweak more the device to bring out the full potential of it,
-remove and clean the apps and everything, leaving only the necessary files and apps.
-learn more how much i can modify it.
NOTE: I am not asking for the people in this forum to spoonfeed me, i just wanted to know how and where to start, what to do, some keywords for searching, and the limitations that i have in my venture.
-i am a gambler and will take the risk to learn android much more )
Thank you
First of all, congrats that you are more of a researcher. That's a good thing because in the internet, answers to every questions are available. You just need to do the right search in the right way. :good:
Games not working on a device maybe because of various reasons such as the developer has made it limited to work on certain devices or processor architecture etc. If Play Store link shows not supported, then it needs more research and modifications to make it work, which is like 50-50.
And, as a learner you are good to start with XDA-University. It has countless tutorials in that section.
Good Luck and welcome to XDA!
thank you for the link and reply, i am actually suited best in researching, i learned every bit and pieces i know in building websites, programming web apps and system with php, even overclocking and advanced troubleshooting in researching the internet, anyways i have another question to ask,
what is nandroid?
is it an android device with nand storage? (I.E. Nand - internet - external - usb storage)
thank you again
th3f33 said:
what is nandroid?
is it an android device with nand storage? (I.E. Nand - internet - external - usb storage)
thank you again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid is referred to as Nandroid Backup (Backup being taken of ROMs) in ClockWorkMod recovery (Custom Recovery) for the most part.
coolsandie said:
Nandroid is referred to as Nandroid Backup (Backup being taken of ROMs) in ClockWorkMod recovery (Custom Recovery) for the most part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i see, thank you again, as of now, i am still downloading cygwin packages, do you have an idea how big is the total file size of it?
and another thing, I have used romdump, and got the following..
boot.img (13mb+)
checksum.md5(265b)
config.gz
recovery.img(32mb)
systeminfo.gz(1.76kb)
system.tar(385MB)
how can these files help me and can i use them for backup?
th3f33 said:
i see, thank you again, as of now, i am still downloading cygwin packages, do you have an idea how big is the total file size of it?
and another thing, I have used romdump, and got the following..
boot.img (13mb+)
checksum.md5(265b)
config.gz
recovery.img(32mb)
systeminfo.gz(1.76kb)
system.tar(385MB)
how can these files help me and can i use them for backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, no idea about Cygwin.
boot.img is your Kernel, and its needed for modifying the kernel. config.gz is the configuration of your device, and its also used for kernel building. recovery.img is your recovery. system.tar is your system partition which contains all files related to ROM. Yes, you can use these as a backup, as actually you'll get these when you take a nandroid backup in CWM recovery.
coolsandie said:
Sorry, no idea about Cygwin.
boot.img is your Kernel, and its needed for modifying the kernel. config.gz is the configuration of your device, and its also used for kernel building. recovery.img is your recovery. system.tar is your system partition which contains all files related to ROM. Yes, you can use these as a backup, as actually you'll get these when you take a nandroid backup in CWM recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
basically, the system.img is the one that is mounted on /system right? and it contains all files related to rom, does it mean that the ROM is like the OS? if i am not mistaken, i had already edited the apps and build.prop in the /system before i had made the system.img. But i have pulled the whole /system folder before i deleted the apps thru adb.
now the recovery.img is the one that have the android with red triangle exclamation point on vol+ power (android system recovery 3e, this is stock right) ? this is what i need to use if i fail on flashing a custom recovery? is that right?
how important is the config.gz?
boot.img is the kernel, should i stay away from the kernel for the time being? or is it better to check the boot.img first?
am i lacking any file for backup or is this enough for backup?
i have installed rom manager but it says it unsupported device. does it mean that i cannot install CWM?
i think i can flash custom rom with rkbatchtool, i had tried it before (custom rom for a different type) and it ended up bricking the device
as of now, i have tried flashing the generic cwm for rockchip which ended in a black screen recovery,
i also tried flashing my recovery.img but it doesnt work, it get flash but nothing works
it is still working fine as of now except that it doesnt have a recovery!
i think i had corrupted the recovery partition, cause i used a 1.35 rk flash tool and the memory address was set for rk3066 which is 0x0010000 (i think) and mine was 0x0020000.....
GUIDE SGS4 GSM vs CDMA, Unlocking, Rooting,Info on XDA, Flashing,4 noobs & beginners
First off: if you find this useful, please hit the THANKS button, instead of posting thank you in the comments
Over the course of the past three months (and more specifically, over the past week), I'd like to think I've gone from complete noob to proficient android ROM flasher/ phone dude. However, it took many, many hours of searching for info scattered across this site and others, so I figured I'd give compiling all I've learned a shot, into one comprehensive thread that really covers all the stuff you need to learn from the ground up.
Will do so in the next couple 10 posts, topics being:
*Step (-1): What type of network/ phone technology does your phone use?
*Step (0): is your phone networked locked?
*Step (0.5): DECIDING YOU WANT TO ROOT YOUR DEVICE!/ Put a custom operating system on that thaaaang
*Step1: figure out what your device is- specific phone and model
*Step2: figure out how to root (gain root access to) your device looking at XDA forums
*Step3: Follow instructions, root device
*Step4: backup all your apps and app data
*Step5: Install a custom recovery either ClockWorkRecovery (CWR) or Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP), and do a nandroid backup!
*Step6: Choose which ROM or multiple ROMS you want to try out, and download the zipfile to your phone's internal memory or
*Step7: Step 7: flash the ROM and restore your apps!
NOTE: YOU TWEEK YOUR PHONE/ FOLLOW MY ADVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK
I just learned this stuff myself, so I thought now would be a good time to explain it, while I can still remember what if feels like to have no idea what I'm doing haha.
Before I go further, there are similar intro threads to this...for example, this one does a decent job of explaining that by modding your phone, you may void the warranty (although there are ways to restore your device to a state such that you can't tell you ever modded, it, like triangle away, etc.) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1118120
I posted this here because a couple of these steps use the Galaxy S4 i9500 as an example...so if you have that phone this thread should be particularly helpful.
Step(-1): What type of network/ phone technology does your phone use?
If you are OUTSIDE the USA, 99% chance the answer to this question is GSM, meaning your phone number is attached to a little plastic sim card that you can put into/ out of your phone...you should check anyways though to be sure.
If you are in the US, you may have a phone which uses CDMA, a technology that does not use Sim cards (true if your carrier is Verizon or Sprint). Phones that JUST use CDMA are sort of "Hardwired" to their networks, making it much more of a hassle to switch carriers; plus, basically everywhere else in the world uses GSM, so if you plan on traveling outside the USA, you probably won't be able to use your phone abroad. If you have a fancy new smart phone, it may have the hardware to use both CDMA and GSM networks, (for example, all Iphones models 4s and above), so check your phone specs.
In the US, the major carriers that use GSM are ATT and Tmobile. I prefer getting phones from these guys, because I know I'll be able to relatively easily use my phone anywhere in the world, and easily switch between cheap, prepaid, contract free plans (like straight talk or ultramobile), which rent out the networks of major carriers like ATT and Tmobile.
Step(0): is your phone networked locked?
ans: This is mostly a non-issue to folks outside the US, or if you don't plan on switching your carrier, but if you plan on travelling abroad or switching your carrier, and have a CDMA phone, you have a tough road ahead that I cannot advise you on . I would suggest checking out this site and buying a slightly used android gsm phone (att or tmobile branded) http://swappa.com/ .
However, if you have a GSM phone you got in the US, your phone may be configured so that putting sim cards from different carriers in it won't give you any service (aka "locked" or "network locked"). Check by taking a friend's Sim card using a different network than you and popping it into your phone; if you have service/ can make and receive calls, the phone is NOT locked. There are probably more sophisticated ways of checking if your phone is network locked, but above is probably the most straightforward.
There are some methods of unlocking your phone for free, but if you have a newer phone it may not work. Plenty of online sites that sell you unlock codes for between $7-$25, and send the code over email either instantly or a day at most after you buy it. Definitely worth it in my opinion; one site I've used a bunch is http://www.cellunlocker.net/
NOTE: if you have your phone on a contract, you are still obligated to pay your carrier throughout the time of your contract, else you pay some cancellation fee. So be aware of that.
Step 0.5 DECIDING YOU WANT TO ROOT YOUR DEVICE!/ Put a custom operating system (ROM)
SO, now let's say you've network unlocked your awesome GSM android smartphone, and you want to travel with it to another country, like for example, India. Because you unlocked it, you can buy a cheap local Sim card and use it in your phone, fully enjoying mobile 4g data (well, more like 3.5G, using HSPA+, not so much 4G LTE in India yet, but I digress). OR, you can use a $45 a month prepaid plan where you get unlimted everything and have no contract, instead of paying $80 a month or some garbage. AWESOME!
However, let's say you got a Tmobile phone and want to use the phone's capability of being a portable wifi hotspot, broadcasting the mobile data it's getting to your computer...turns out you can't do that in India (or on cheap prepaid plans in US, for that matter). I discovered that since I was using a Tmobile branded phone, the Tmobile "stock" operating system of the phone won't let you use the wifi hotspot unless you have Tmobile's special "hotspot plan"...it also hard codes a bunch of shi**y bloatware apps on your phone that suck. Some BULLS**T, eh?
Luckily, there are plenty of free and easy ways to "root" (gain root acccess) to your phone (and plenty of resources telling you how to do so!), and install custom android operating systems on your phone, which
1.) don't have any stupid bloatware apps
2.) let you use all the hardware features of your phone regardless of carrier
The result is a more powerful phone that runs faster, uses less battery life, and is generally just way more badass. Probably the best resource for how to do all of this is the xda-developers forums (http://forum.xda-developers.com/ ) Very vibrant community, and lots of people will help...just follow the rules though, explained tongue and cheeck in the following video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA ). The main site for xda-developers is www.xda-developers.com, they also do cool vides and stuff on what's up with phone stuff. HOWEVER, if you are not careful you can mess up your phone, so that it's about as good as a paperweight (called "bricking" your phone). So just read all the instructions before you do stuff, yeah?
The following is more or less the beginning steps I did to root and install a custom ROM on a friend's Galaxy S4, which is an international model and so not network locked. The same general process could be applied to your phone as well, but again--this is only a general guide--your phone can (and probably will) have it's own exceptions to the general process. LOOK THEM UP!
Steps 1,2,3: find device model, research how to gain root, ROOT!
Step1: figure out what your device is- specific phone and model
ans: for example, my friend's phone I am setting up for him is the Samsung Galaxy S4 model i9500
**************************************************
Step2: figure out how to root (gain root access to) your device
ans: Off all the devices on xda forums (http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php?tab=top), found my device ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4) , found the proper forum (http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/help) , then searched in that specific forum to find the proper thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2419762 , see Q4
**************************************************
Step3: Follow instructions, root device
ans: Instructions are at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292615
NOTE: You must have the proper USB drivers installed, meaning either installing the sdk (software developer kit) from google and getting adb (android debugging bridge) set up (this is the best way to do it, really, especially if you want to mess around with phones more...tutorial on how to setup adb here http://androidcentral.us/2013/08/how-to-install-android-adb-and-fastboot-on-windows/ ) . If you can already transfer music and stuff from your computer, it may work without adb. Be sure your USB cable is not too beat up, and if possible, is the one that came with the device.
adb is very useful for communicating between pretty much any android phone and your computer. You can use it to push files on the computer through the terminal interface, even if the phone's file system doesn't show up for whatever reason on the computer when you connect it via USB ( more on that here http://log.amitshah.net/2012/05/using-adb-to-copy-files-to-from-your-android-device/ ), and a cool little program to send files from your computer to the device in a slightly more straightforward way, if you already have adb installed (http://www.xda-developers.com/android/push-files-to-your-device-with-quick-adb-pusher/)
Also, make sure you have USB debugging enabled. It should be in the Develpors options, which you may have to "activate" to see...see here http://gs4.wonderhowto.com/how-to/enable-hidden-developer-options-your-samsung-galaxy-s4-0146687/
If you are rooting a samsung device, you will probably have to use a program called ODIN. Other android devices allow you to do root through a method called flashboot. In general there are tons of ways to root devices, just make sure the one you are using has been tested and you follow the instructions exactly.
CONGRATS! you are rooted. That's half the battle. Rooting the phone will add a "Super User" app of some kind, which will basically controll which apps have access to the internal files of the phone (located on the "root" of the phone's flash drive). Some apps that are very useful for flashing custom ROMS (like ROM manager) and backing up your apps and their associated data (like Titanium backup) require root access, so you'll need to have rooted your phone first, and then when you open those apps for the first time, tap "allow" when it asks about granting root access.
some cool apps can only be downloaded if your phone has Root, like this gameboy emulator: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.codlab.src.game&hl=en
and here are some good Root apps to have, apparently
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX4ir9r84YA
Step4: backup all your apps and app data
When you do eventually install a custom ROM on onto your phone, it will start out with little to no apps. The best way to get up and running again as quick as possible is to back up all your apps and data with Titanium Backup (mentioned above), which requires root access. Here's a great video on How to use the free version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQWoWfTA88k ....the video makes a good point in that if you are backing up your apps for a new ROM you are about to flash, you should only backup the User apps. Backing up and restoring the system data as well might cause some problems in the new ROM
While you don't need to to buy the pro version, I would recommend it--7 bucks, but it allows you to restore all the apps you've backed up much faster by letting you back them up into a zip file that you'll later be able to flash on your phone. Very useful, more on that in a bit...video talking about that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRR5FONGJUA
Step5: Install a custom recovery either ClockWorkRecovery (CWR) or Team Win Recovery
By "custom recovery", i mean a custom version of the boot/ recovery interface, which lets you do a lot more with your device besides just restore it to factory settings. These custom recoveries will let you do a full backup of your device (often called a "nandroid backup"--this should be the first thing you do after you root your device!), as well as flash custom phone operating systems (ROMS) onto your phone; useful if you want to fully use all the hardware features of your phone, and not have the bloatware apps from the manufacurers hard-coded into your phone.
It's worth noting here that it's VERY important to install the correct version of CWR or TWRP. Usually to download CWR for your device, you can just download an app called ROM manager (again, after you've rooted your phone), which will recognize your device and then install the proper CWR version on it.
NOTE: If you have a more esoteric model of phone (like I do--the Samsung Galaxy S3 T999L, an LTE version of the S3 that came out in 2013, a while after the initial S3 launch), you may have to flash a custom recovery of a similar and more popular phone model to flash some custom ROMS (in my case, I had to flash the the Galaxy S3 model T999 version of CWR). For weird esoteric cases like this, it may be worth it to buy a useful app, ROMToolbox pro, which will let you flash a custom recovery for a userdefined device onto your phone in the paid version (it's like $5). Most times you shouldn't have to worry about this stuff, but just make sure you read any instrutions on XDA forums carefully before doing stuff.
As mentioned before, before messing around with your phone anymore, do a nandroid backup--super easy and essential if you make a mistake installing the wrong ROM or Recovery. Doing a nandroid backup will create a .zip file that contains a full "image" of your phone--all your data, apps, settings, a snapshot of your phone exactly the way it was when you took it. In creating this backup you can save it to your phone's micro SD card, or the phones internal memory. Regardless, always a good idea to save a copy on your computer too when you are done.
For the Samsung galaxy S4 i9500, looks like TWRP is the recovery to flash: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2361122
Step6: Choose which ROM or multiple ROMS you want to try out, and dl zipfile to phone
Now comes the fun part. Do some research on what custom ROM you'll want to try out. Some basic principles about ROMS:
Roms based on the Stock OS: These ROMS are based on the manufacturer firmware/ OS that the phone shipped with. So for Samsung devices, for example, these types of ROMS are Touchwiz based (because "TouchWiz" is the name Samsung has given to it's proprietary software that is responsible for a lot of the bell and whistle tricks you see in Galaxy S4 commercials, for example) These Roms are usually about 700 MB in size, and may still have some of the samsung apps installed if you do like to use them.
AOSP or AOKP ROMS:
AOSP (Android Open Source Project) ROMS are those that ship with "vanilla" android, meaning they don't have any manufacturer bloatware--they come with more or less the bare bones apps required to run the system. These ROMS will be much smaller, around 100-150 MB in size. The most popular of these is CyanogenMod, which is often referred to as just CM (for example, CM11.0.1 stands for CyanogenMod version 11.0.1). The guy who made clockworkrecovery, Koush (a legendary android developer of sorts, it seems), now works for the CyanogenMod development team ( think)
AOKP is the name of another popular AOSP based ROM. AOKP stands for Android Open Kang Project, Kanging being some jargon for stealing code and messing with it or something. Apparently it was used as a joke and then stuck, in the same sense that their mascot being a unicorn stuck (which I think is awesome haha).
IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT AOSP ROMS:
If you flash an AOSP Rom, the google play store will NOT be installed by default. In order to fix that, you'll need to flash another zip file containing the play store app as well as other basic google apps (gapps for short) as soon as you flash the Rom itself. You can find the proper gapps zips that go with the proper AOSP roms here: http://goo.im/gapps
There are couple apps that will let you download the ROM files directly to your interal storage from the app itself, like Rom Manager. However, to make sure you have the most up to date version of the ROM, you should visit the ROM's website directly.
Custom ROMS will often have a most recent stable build, and a most recent "nightly" build. The nightly builds may have some new experimental features, but may be a little buggy.
Step 7: flash the ROM and restore your apps!
So here's a pretty good short video walking through how to flash a ROM, although uses a different recovery interface besides CWR or TWRP : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxTwGwtUBbk ....this does a good job of explaining the basic idea, however--
A.)you get the zip file of the ROM you want to flash on your internal or removable SD card
B.) reboot into recovery mode (often by holding down the volume down key and power button at the same time when your power is off, but you should look up what it is for your specific device)
C.) do a Wipe or Factory Reset. THis should not wipe the data on your SD card or phone's Internal SD card
D.) Wipe the Cache or the Dalvik Cache, whatever it is called (though on TWRP, the wipe feature does both a factory reset and cache wipe at once)
E.) install from SD card the zip file containing the ROM you are going to flash
F.) If the Rom is an AOSP based ROM, install the zip file containing the proper package of google apps
G.) reboot system
Again, the above are just general steps. If you want to see someone flashing a ROM with the recovery you are using (and I would recommend CWR or TWRP), just search for it on Youtube.
Now, if you plan on restoring your apps by flashing a Titanium Backup zip file, you first want to reboot into the new ROM, and skip the part when it asks you if you want to restore your phone using your google account (you can do that later). Then reboot into recovery and flash the Titanium backup zip file. got this info here: http://www.s3forums.com/forum/galax...backup-pros-update-zip-restore-your-apps.html
And that's about it! let me know if I got anything wrong. If you do have questions, I'll try my best to answer them, but again, I've just learned all this stuff as well, so I may not know.
Hi to all,
After years using several Android devices, with different architectures, custom recoveries, ROM mods, etc. I have this conclusion: More and more, new devices have good firmwares, but you need ROOT access (for use Xposed framework, for example), and obtaining root access is more difficult. With the evolution of the Android platform, each time the rooting of the device is more complex. Mainly, at time, the use of exploits has low success in new releases. Moreover, the locked bootloader is another added trouble. So the only solution for rooting is going in the way for a custom recovery. However, the development of a custom recovery isn't easy. In some platforms (mainly Mediatek) it's possible to generate a "port" using a recovery from another device using the same platform, but this is not universal for all platforms. Tipically, for a custom recovery you need the source code from the manufacturer of the device, and a experienced developer for porting and compile the recovery. So, for several devices this is a long way!
So, here is my proporsal: Why not create minimal custom recoveries only for rooting? The idea of these recoveries are:
- Not for flashing, only runnable using "fastboot boot recovery.img". So they are safe for test them!
- Without irrelevant drivers: screen, touch, etc... only USB and ADB access. You connect the device to a computer over USB and you have the pure shell to execute anything that you need.
- With scripts for autodetection of internal partitions, because not all devices has identical partitions. This includes save checks before mount partitions in r/w mode.
- Each recovery is for a generic "platform", not for a "device". Example: MT6582, MSM8916, RK3066, Exynos5422, etc.
What you thing about this idea?
Hi,
The idea is very similar to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096
But with the target of other platforms: MTK, Qualcomm,etc.
Some developers interested on this?
Hi,
No one thinks that this can be a good idea? No comments?
When more and more devices will come with kernels not exploitable, and no sources are available for compile the kernel, this will be the only solution for rooting. I hope some experienced developers will consider this idea... without it, in the next months several devices will can't be rootable.
:crying::crying::crying:
This was an awsome idea, and too bad this hasn't happened so far. I'm here trying to root a local brand (SPC Spain) tablet and it seems no one here wants to help or knows how to. I can't believe the Android rooting/modding community is completely disregarding the millions and millions of people who purchase local brand or generic tablets. If you can please do this project, there are millions of such devices out there and increasingly more and more.
androidferret said:
This was an awsome idea, and too bad this hasn't happened so far.
I can't believe the Android rooting/modding community is completely disregarding the millions and millions of people who purchase local brand or generic tablets. If you can please do this project, there are millions of such devices out there and increasingly more and more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes,
We need to go in the direction of generic custom recoveries for rooting. Futhermore, generic tools for unlocking the bootloader (or custom signed kernels) is the only way for next generation of Android devices.
Fellow Pro10 6203 users:
Welcome! As we do not yet have a forum dedicated to this device, I am creating this thread to serve as a means to share everything that I've come to discover about the usage of this inexpensive yet capable Android tablet. This thread will include varying topics such as rooting, custom recovery, accessories, customization apps, custom ROM's, and anything else I might come across that may enhance our experience with the product. I have found no real one-stop source for information concerning this device, so I am beginning this one that I hope everyone that owns one will find useful. Please feel free to ask questions and add constructive commentary
Tech Specs:
Model Number: RCT6203W46KB
Operating System: Android 4.4.2
CPU Chip: Quad Core
CPU Chipset Model Number: MTK MT8127 1.5GHz
GPU: Mali-450 MP
Resolution: 1024x600
Density: 160dpi
Screen Features: 10.1 Thin-film Transistor
RAM: 1GB
RAM Type: DDR3
Storage Capacity: 16GB
Camera: Yes (Front & Back)
Camera Specifications: Front Facing 0.3M pixel webcam (640x480), Rear 2M pixel webcam (1600x1200)
Battery Life: 6 hours
Battery Life Details: Playback downloaded video with WiFi turn off
Connectivity/Audio: Headphone jack, Micro USB, DC jack, Micro HDMI
Dimensions: 262(W)x165(H)x11.5(D)
Weight: 921g
Software: Walmart, Sam's Club, Vudu, eMusic, Kingsoft Office
Included Accessories: Power adapter, Keyboard Folio
If you happen to find something here worth your while, please hit the thanks button!
Rooting
Always remember, you root your device AT YOUR OWN RISK. Rooting will void your warranty and you may brick your device in attempting this. Its a choice and you're the only one who can make it.
Rooting instructions (tested up to RCA firmware 1.9.50):
(Beginning with a tablet never before rooted, or has been completely unrooted prior)
1. On your tablet, go to Settings > About tablet > Build number and tap the build number 7 times. This will unhide the Developer options menu.
2. Tap the Developer options menu. Enable it by sliding the slider to the right in top bar. Select "USB debugging" by placing a check mark in the box next to it.
3. Go to Settings > Security. Select "Unknown sources" by placing a check mark in the box next to it. Deselect "Verify apps" by removing the check mark in the box (you can enable it again afterwards if you wish).
4. Connect your tablet to PC via USB.
5. Download the Windows iRoot rooting application here.
6. Install the app.
7. Start iRoot and follow instructions to root. Remember to enable USB permissions on tablet when prompted.
8. Once successfully completed, download and install SuperSU from here to replace the Chinese root manager called Superuser 1.0.4.
9. Start SuperSU and you will be asked for permission, choose to allow.
10. SuperSU will prompt to install SU binary, go ahead with OK and install normally (not TWRP). IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO INSTALL THE BINARY.
11. Once SuperSU is installed and the binary updated, you can uninstall Superuser 1.0.4 and the second app it installs, something like "Clean Master" (unless you want it).
Happiness is now achieved with having a rooted device
* For further details regarding root, please see "Rooting considerations" in the Misc. section below.
Custom Recovery
Always remember, you install a custom recovery on your device AT YOUR OWN RISK. Installing a custom recovery will void your warranty and you may brick your device in attempting this. Its a choice and you're the only one who can make it.
99% of the credit for this section goes to johnemc2, PatF and mexicandroid for creating and contributing to this thread. Although it was created for a different but similar RCA tablet model, they provided everything I am going to reiterate here. Also the original thread for TWRP on MediaTek devices (which is the chipset for these RCA tablets) is here, and all credit goes to yuweng for this. Make sure to hit the thanks button in the respective threads for these guys!
TWRP installation instructions (tested up to RCA firmware 1.9.50):
1. Device must be rooted. See rooting section above or use another method of your choice.
2. Download the TWRP recovery image for the 6203 from here. Rename it by deleting "[RCA 6203 TWRP - Remove this tag]" so that the file name reads only "recovery.img" (with no quotes of course).
3. Place this file on your external sdcard.
4. Download and install [ROOT] Rashr Flash Tool from here. If the app suggests updates, go ahead and install them.
5. Rashr will ask you to make a backup. If you try, it will fail. Not to worry too much though, a stock recovery image is available below.
6. Start Rashr. From the menu, tap Recovery from Storage. From the "Pick a file" menu select /storage/emulated. Select /storage/, then select sdcard1/. From there select the recovery.img file you saved in step 3.
7. It will give you a warning prompt asking if you are sure. If so, select "Yes please" to install TWRP.
8. Upon successful flashing of TWRP you will have the choice to boot into the custom recovery, go check it out!
9. One procedural maintenance item to perform after: I have noticed that the rashr app holds on to a large amount of data for some reason and haven't found the need. Once you reboot, you can go into Settings > Apps > All and find Rashr and clear data to reclaim the space.
Good guide for using TWRP can be found here.
How to manually get into recovery (TWRP or stock):
From a powered off state, simultaneously depress the power and volume up buttons until the white RCA boot screen appears. Once this screen appears, release the power button but REMAIN DEPRESSING THE VOLUME UP BUTTON until you are in recovery.
Stock recovery installation:
It is the exact same procedure as was with TWRP, with the exception of step 2. Instead download the stock recovery image from here, rename it by deleting "[RCA 6203 Stock Repacked - Remove this tag]" so that the file name reads only "recovery.img" (with no quotes of course). Continue on using step 3 above. Check out why you might need the stock recovery image in the "Firmware updating considerations" area of the Misc. section below.
Ultimate happiness and assurance is now achieved with having a custom recovery installed on your device to back it up!
Accessories
Here are some of the accessories I am currently using for the 6203:
Cases:
The keyboard case is good, but I found it cumbersome in most cases and unnecessary. So I purchased this case from Ebay. Here are some photos of mine. I have had it for 5+ months with no issue upon daily use.
Screen Protectors:
I purchased this anti-glare and anti-fingerprint screen protector from Amazon. Although they now have it for the 6203, at the time they only had them for the 6103 and I had to modify it. But 5 months later it is still great. Being anti-glare means there is a slight matte to them, but overall I found it hardly effected the clarity of the screen. It really kept having to wipe off the screen due to fingerprints to a minimum!
I am just sharing what I have found to work for our devices and hope it helps you too in some way!
Customization Apps
Customization apps that require root (seeing rooting section above):
Xposed Framework. Man is this awesome. Here is the description from the site: Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. That's great because it means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too much). It's also easy to undo. As all changes are done in the memory, you just need to deactivate the module and reboot to get your original system back. There are many other advantages, but here is just one more: Multiple modules can do changes to the same part of the system or app. With modified APKs, you to decide for one. No way to combine them, unless the author builds multiple APKs with different combinations. You can find version 2.6.1 for our tablet here (select "show older versions" at the bottom of the page).
GravityBox [KK]. TONS of customization for our device. Find it here.
Customization apps that do not require root:
Blacked out or inverted apps. I love darkened apps. I prefer a black or dark background to most apps. It looks good and is easier on the eyes! You can download the Team Blacked Out updater apk from here. You can download many popular apps that have been "blacked out" by this team.
I am just sharing these apps for fellow fans of customization. Enjoy!
Custom ROM's
[reserved]
Misc.
Rooting considerations:
Although there is a risk of bricking the device in doing so, to date I have rolled through both the 1.3.51 and 1.9.50 RCA updates without the update being hindered by having my device rooted prior (never unrooted), and I have not lost root once the update completes. Although I have not tried this without, I believe this may be because I use SuperSU Pro OTA survival. This app is not necessary, but the free version does not have the "OTA survival mode" that the pro version possesses. I recommend spending the $3.75 for purchase.
Firmware updating considerations:
If you delete any of the bloatware apps that comes preloaded (VUDU, Walmart, Sam's Club, Opera, etc.) and try to update the device, it will soft brick your tablet. This is because the update performs a core app comparison check to test validity prior to completing installation. You will only be able to get into stock recovery once this happens. Therefore my recommendation is not to delete any of these apps but instead use Titanium or MyBackup Pro to freeze them, and prior to attempting any firmware update remember to UNFREEZE THEM FIRST. This will save you any headache with the firmware updates.
I do not think you can install an official firmware update via TWRP, so you may need to reinstall the stock recovery to do this. See the "Custom Recovery" section above.
Misc. #2
[reserved]
One frustrating thing about our device is that some apps will not install from the Play store. It will state "this item is not compatible with your device". Well I have tried many methods to circumvent this, including changing prop files and using apps that fake screen densities. I don't recommend that . Instead I sideload. I use a Google Chrome extension called APK Downloader. You can get it here. To set up it will ask for devide ID info. I plug in the number for my S4. Once downloaded, I just copy the apk over to my tablet and install from there. The only caveat to this is that it does not work for purchased apps.
There are other ways to procure the app and sideload, but this is the method I use most often for the 6203.
I have a support request in to RCA for these concerns (here is the text as I sent):
Hello,
I have 3 questions. The first is that by reading the specs for this tablet the CPU is supposed to be set for 1.5Ghz. But when you use the tablet, it is only set for 1300Mhz (1.3Ghz) (I can provide screenshots). Which is wrong and why?
My second question is do we have any access to a complete firmware ROM that can be used via recovery? This would be nice to have in case the tablet is soft bricked for any reason. Update ROMs do not provide this.
Lastly, is there anywhere to download USB drivers for this tablet?
Thanks in advance for your help.
From RCA:
Glen (RCA Support)
Apr 27, 3:18 PM
1) The max threshold is 1.5Ghz. The reason it is running at 1.3 is probably because your not using its absolute full capacity
2) We dont have the ROM
3) Is this for the USB stick or memory stick?
Glen
Technical Support
#Madeforyourlifestyle
My response:
Glen,
Here are my responses:
1. I have attached 3 screenshots from independent apps that all report the CPU set for 1.3Ghz and not 1.5Ghz. In fact they show the governor as having the range for the CPU set to 598-1300mhz. I believe this happened in the firmware 1.9.50 update and was not the case prior. Can you check to see why this was done? We purchased tablets that were intending on having a 1.5Ghz processor.
2. You will see many returns then from tablets that were soft bricked due to the most recent update corrupting the system file, and then only allowing people to boot into recovery and not into Android.
3. No, USB drivers as in this explanation: http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/oem-usb.html
Thanks. I really appreciate your assistance with these questions. Please let me know if there is any other information I can offer.
From RCA 5/4/15:
Glen (RCA Support)
May 4, 3:43 PM
The tablet will use the 1.5Ghz only when it will take big update like firmware updates.
#Madeforyourlifestyle
My response:
Glen,
There is no way for the Android kernel to know only to use full CPU capability during an upgrade procedure. Its there for all operations or it is not.
Can I have my concern escalated to your engineering team? As I said previous, the system showed 1.5Ghz was available in processing speed before the last upgrade.
Thanks
From RCA 5-7-15:
Hello,
We'd love to hear what you think of our customer service. Please take a moment to answer one simple question by clicking either link below:
How would you rate the support you received?
Good, I'm satisfied
Bad, I'm unsatisfied
Conclusion:
So apparently RCA doesn't intend to do anything about the most recent update failures outside of performing RMA's for people, and also doesn't care to answer why these tabs are advertised as 1.5Ghz and are being throttled to 1.3.
Rct6203w46-android4.4.2-3101-v50-v1.3.71
What can I do with this or this - no ROM Backups, and an annoying 'brick' on my table?
I successfully rooted with KingRoot and tried to manually switch to SuperSU with a script I found.
The script seemed workable. I found all of the targets and: # root.sh ... oh *hi*
The transition failed and after trying to 'clean up' remnants the script seemed to have missed, the screen froze: RESET BUTTON - nothing, nothing, nothing.
I wish I hadn't believed it would work without a 'dd ... system.img'. The tablet had about 12hrs mileage and is now a very new [Black Friday] $49 item about to be smashed on the driveway.
I read somewhere that RCA will not be distributing winusb drivers.
*uc* it - i b-roke i-t! :victory:
It's Alive! After the battery drained, 2 weeks later, it booted!
removed supersu
probeafargavin said:
What can I do with this or this - no ROM Backups, and an annoying 'brick' on my table?
I successfully rooted with KingRoot and tried to manually switch to SuperSU with a script I found.
The script seemed workable. I found all of the targets and: # root.sh ... oh *hi*
The transition failed and after trying to 'clean up' remnants the script seemed to have missed, the screen froze: RESET BUTTON - nothing, nothing, nothing.
I wish I hadn't believed it would work without a 'dd ... system.img'. The tablet had about 12hrs mileage and is now a very new [Black Friday] $49 item about to be smashed on the driveway.
I read somewhere that RCA will not be distributing winusb drivers.
*uc* it - i b-roke i-t! :victory:
It's Alive! After the battery drained, 2 weeks later, it booted!
removed supersu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probeafargavin,
Sorry for slow reply. Been a busy month! I recommend sending the unit back to RCA for an RMA. I had to do this once and although it took a month, I received back a working tablet. It doesn't matter that you did this, they will not check. They will end up sending you back a refurbed tablet. Mine works fine.
-droidify
Needing Help
I rooted my device (same exact make/ model you have listed). Well it just so happens that now I am not able to open the Google App store. I have clicked the app logo so many times now and all what I see is what looks like the app is about to open but it just disappears about a half second later.
Looks like I am no longer able to use the back button also. I have tried factory resetting the device yet problem remains. Clearing cache of the Google Play app, no results. Please help!!!!! I would surely appreciate it, I'm sure you can imagine how devastated I am over this.
C_Cee said:
I rooted my device (same exact make/ model you have listed). Well it just so happens that now I am not able to open the Google App store. I have clicked the app logo so many times now and all what I see is what looks like the app is about to open but it just disappears about a half second later.
Looks like I am no longer able to use the back button also. I have tried factory resetting the device yet problem remains. Clearing cache of the Google Play app, no results. Please help!!!!! I would surely appreciate it, I'm sure you can imagine how devastated I am over this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
C_Cee unless you have TWRP installed and had a back up, there is not much you can do. I would RMA the tablet through RCA. I had to do this once and it was a pretty quick turn around.
-Droidify
RCT203W46L Questions
Hi,
I have just purchased the above and rooted it with Kingroot. This is the lollipop 5.0 version.
a) a stagefright detector from lookout reports this device is vulnerable to this hack. Any thoughts?
b) are the twrp and stock recovery images pointed to by droidify post #2 and #3 still usable? even though its lollipop5.0?
Any help appreciated before I mod this thing!!
Thanks
kwmike said:
Hi,
I have just purchased the above and rooted it with Kingroot. This is the lollipop 5.0 version.
a) a stagefright detector from lookout reports this device is vulnerable to this hack. Any thoughts?
b) are the twrp and stock recovery images pointed to by droidify post #2 and #3 still usable? even though its lollipop5.0?
Any help appreciated before I mod this thing!!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lollipop is going to have a different recovery, so what I posted likely will not work and may cause serious problems if attempted. Not sure about stagefright vulnerabilities.
Any advance?
No more advance in this device?
drakedalfa said:
No more advance in this device?
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My tablet is still going. Although not my daily driver device, I use it to watch videos on break at work and to read on. There hasn't been any development for this device that I am aware of and unlikely to be considering it is not that popular.
Flashing recovery from build Build: RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V63-V1.12.20-B
kwmike said:
Hi,
I have just purchased the above and rooted it with Kingroot. This is the lollipop 5.0 version.
a) a stagefright detector from lookout reports this device is vulnerable to this hack. Any thoughts?
b) are the twrp and stock recovery images pointed to by droidify post #2 and #3 still usable? even though its lollipop5.0?
Any help appreciated before I mod this thing!!
Thanks
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Aloha -
I just received one of these today:
Model: RCT6303W87DK (32GB)
Android version: Lollipop 5.0.
Kernel: 3.10.54
Build: RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V63-V1.12.20-B
I installed NewKingrootV4.62_C133_B233_en_release_2015_11_24_105203.apk downloaded from www\.kingroot\.net
On the first attempt, Kingroot rebooted at 22%, and failed to root. I repeated the procedure without rebooting, and achieved root on the second attempt.
I am curious to know if you flashed TWRP and, if so, what results you had.
Also: does anyone know if, in fact, the 5.0 loader actually is different from the 4.4.2 loader.
Thanks in advance.
I'm confused, is this thread on the RCA Pro 10 RCT6203W46KB or for it's successor (I assume) the RCA 10 Viking Pro RCT6303W87DK. I ask because I have the RCT6303W87DK and am looking to see if there are any ROMs for it, as I would prefer to be running Android 5.1.2 or 6.0 over 5.0.