[META] Stock to LineageOS - tips and advice - Kindle Fire HDX 7" & 8.9" General

Preface: I guess this turned into a little bit of a walkthrough, but it was meant to be a chronology of my mistakes in pwning this device on Windows.
During my experience converting this device (thor) from a friend's paperweight (that spent the past year on a shelf) into a fantastic teleprompter display, I ran into a few sticking points. Here is what I remember and how I got around it:
1) The Amazon Fire Device Android ADB Composite driver sometimes needs to be re-specified in the Device Manager, usually before a fastboot operation. Eventually, my system got the picture, but it took at least a half dozen times before it did so.
2) The fastboot command in the default Android developer tools, for whatever reason, does not support the -i <vendor id> argument, so many scripts fail. The Minimalist ADB toolset is what you want in these situations.
3) Kingroot seems to work... eventually. I had no luck with the older scripts. Once I had root, it was just a matter of using adb shell (use "su" to go from $ to #) and using "dd" to write the twrp_cubed.img and aboot_vuln.mbn files to the proper places (thanks to some fine instructions in EVERYTHING.ZIP). Finally, I ran get_code and unlock, and the bootloader popped right open.
4) With the bootloader unlocked, my device was "stuck" in fastboot. This is where I banged my head against the Amazon Fire Device driver because I wasn't following the instructions and actually overriding Windows yelling at me that what I'm doing might be !Potentially! !Unsafe! and doing it anyway. Don't be like me.
5) Flash TWRP like icing on a cake.
6) Flash a ROM to eat that cake.
7) If, like me, your device gets stuck booting into recovery, perhaps take a look here (no, wait, here). It's a quick fix (which freaked me out because it spent 17 seconds zeroing out God knows what), but it did the trick, so no complaints here.
Thanks to everyone who put work into making this device not suck, and cheers to YOU future time traveler who stumbled upon this in search of good information about scavenging a working cyberdeck in post-apocalyptic conditions! Stay safe out there against the giant dragon raptors that are always trying to eat your family even in your dreams...

Related

[Q] Odd Boot Loop 6.3? *Solved*

So here is an odd question and the answer may not present itself for a few days until we fully know what is going on with 6.3 but figured I would throw it out there for the pros.
So 6.3 is out and over the air updates are slowly rolling out.
I figured I would get brave seeing as jcase using pokey9000's initial work already has a root for us and decided to do a manual update using the link from the 6.3 thread.
I fired up the kindle, connected it to the computer, put the update.bin in the kindleupdates folder, went to device and clicked on update kindle in the settings.
Kindle powers off and....
Here's where it gets weird... It reboots into TWRP recovery and stays flagged as 5000 (recovery mode). Using adb I fiddled with it and found that this command
Code:
adb shell idme bootmode 4000
reboots perfectly fine.. I am using kinfauns 1.3 FFF.
*Edit* When it reboots from clicking "update kindle" checking TWRP's "cmd prompt" it says finding update package then unknown volume for "the path to where I saved the update.bin" can't mount aborting...
Ideas?
*Edit 2* Ok after scouring XDA I found the answer that for some reason the manual method only works if you rename the update.bin to update.zip and run it through twrp. This gave me the idea that once I learn more you could possibly recreate the official updates with twrp and fff built in. Just a thought and I could be wrong.
I don't too much with the stock software, but I noticed a few things.
I think the file needs to be renamed update.zip and not update.bin
If you are using one of the later versions of FFF, you can drop the "-i 0x1949" part of the fastboot command. That part is only necessary for the stock bootloader and can be omitted. I think it might even choke some of the earlier FFF versions if you give it that VID.
Setting the bootmode does not reboot it. You'll have to issue a 'fastboot reboot' to get it to reboot.
The bootmode for recovery is 5001, not 5000. I'm not sure what 5000 would do... although it might still work.
FFF 1.3 is no different than FFF 1.2 in functionality. The only difference is the bootlogo and the fastboot countdown has been reduced by 1/2. Everything else will be the same in 1.2 or 1.3.
Updating the KF software (I think) drops it into recovery and it might have just choked on the incorrect filename. The rest of the bootmodes behaved as expected and getting back to normal would just bring up 6.2.2 since nothing was updated... that's just my guess.
kinfauns said:
I don't too much with the stock software, but I noticed a few things.
I think the file needs to be renamed update.zip and not update.bin
If you are using one of the later versions of FFF, you can drop the "-i 0x1949" part of the fastboot command. That part is only necessary for the stock bootloader and can be omitted. I think it might even choke some of the earlier FFF versions if you give it that VID.
Setting the bootmode does not reboot it. You'll have to issue a 'fastboot reboot' to get it to reboot.
The bootmode for recovery is 5001, not 5000. I'm not sure what 5000 would do... although it might still work.
FFF 1.3 is no different than FFF 1.2 in functionality. The only difference is the bootlogo and the fastboot countdown has been reduced by 1/2. Everything else will be the same in 1.2 or 1.3.
Updating the KF software (I think) drops it into recovery and it might have just choked on the incorrect filename. The rest of the bootmodes behaved as expected and getting back to normal would just bring up 6.2.2 since nothing was updated... that's just my guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading a good amount you are indeed correct on ALL points. I typed 5000 too quickly it is indeed 5001. You are correct on all fronts though and that is what happened it choked twrp. It did however teach me a great deal on how recovery works and how updates work. As my edit upstairs states if I am reading all this right and going through all the files it would not be that difficult to re-create the stock update but add in FFF and TWRP so those of us that prefer to stay that route could have an easy means of updating.
Thank you for taking the time to answer though. I am just now learning the droid system (I know late to the party but never had a device that was mine I could "get my hands dirty" with.) but I learn pretty fast.
Laquox said:
After reading a good amount you are indeed correct on ALL points. I typed 5000 too quickly it is indeed 5001. You are correct on all fronts though and that is what happened it choked twrp. It did however teach me a great deal on how recovery works and how updates work. As my edit upstairs states if I am reading all this right and going through all the files it would not be that difficult to re-create the stock update but add in FFF and TWRP so those of us that prefer to stay that route could have an easy means of updating.
Thank you for taking the time to answer though. I am just now learning the droid system (I know late to the party but never had a device that was mine I could "get my hands dirty" with.) but I learn pretty fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear you got it working. I think it's a good plan to keep FFF and TWRP installed with the stock software, especially if you plan on rooting it. There are plenty of users to have tried tinkering with a rooted filesystem and pooched it in the process. If you only have the stock bootloader/recovery installed when that happens, you'll need a factory cable to fix it. With FFF and the temporary fastboot mode, you always have a way to get into fastboot mode and a way to get yourself into recovery.
that is what the prerooted images do
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1451747
or the nfx updates:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1452082
allready asked to redo for 6.3 ...
b63 said:
that is what the prerooted images do
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1451747
or the nfx updates:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1452082
allready asked to redo for 6.3 ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the dev section in an hour or two. I've got one in the works.
eldarerathis said:
Check the dev section in an hour or two. I've got one in the works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great !!! - much thanks again !
Okay, well I have pre-rooted versions packaged, but my upload speed seems to be really atrocious today. So it's getting there, just...very slowly.
Edit: Yeah, SpeeedTest.net is claiming I'm getting 0.4 Mbps up. MediaFire says about an hour for each archive
Excellent work. Good to know we already have dedicated devs working on pre-rooted images. Just to be sure though the 6.3 pre-rooted will have the "check for root" turned off/backed up? I know it seems silly, but with the new check it might get overlooked. Again Excellent work.
it has - as written on the op:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1569298

[Q] Fastboot/ADB/sideloading issues

I flashed a 4.4 stock rom on my 2012 32g N7, and unfortunately, didn't notice until too late that it was also overwriting my custom recovery with the stock. Also, in the flashing process I received an error while flashing GAPPS. When I first booted the tablet, everything was fine except for no GAPPS, but I figured it would be simple to just download an APK or two and load them - well, when I tried that with several play store APKs I got "cannot open file" error.
I have now resorted to ADB to "sideload" the apks (and a custom recovery) to the tablet. At first I had trouble with the drivers, but I have followed numerous tutorials and have a solid grasp of how ADB works now. (more on that later)
I also tried WUG's toolkit, but no matter what I tried (or how many drivers I un/installed) I could never get past the "no fastboot device" error.
I used a second version of the ADB from another XDA thread, and was finally able to get my PC at the command prompt to communicate with the N7, and recognize it with "ADB devices" - the result was "<serial> sideload". This is of course when I have the tablet in the stock recovery "adb sideload" mode.
I about yelled for joy, when after six hours of rebooting and tutorials, I was able to get "adb sideload update.zip" to load, but the joy was short lived - as it consistently hangs at "sending: 'sideload' 53%"
I have tried several different zips, of varying names. and even some APK's (which hang at 78%)
Any assistance which can be offered to get this N7 functional again would be greatly appreciated!
SOLVED
I was using a company computer, for which I did not have administrator rights......
I just face palmed so hard I gave myself a well deserved concussion.
Notable said:
I was using a company computer, for which I did not have administrator rights......
I just face palmed so hard I gave myself a well deserved concussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're flashing the stock KitKat, you shouldn't need to flash a separate gapps package. Aside from making sure you have UAC control, make sure you update boot to 4.23, if you haven't already done so. Flashing 4.4 is easy, as long as you don't make the mistake of ever owning another An droid device and plugging it in to your pc... Dealing with missing/conflicting Windows drivers might require a vacation day and a fist-full of xanax,
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[help] My Chinese Nokia X6 either is or appears to be rooted out of the box.

I bought a Nokia X6 from China and the phone appears to be rooted. The play store app System info says that I have all the correct specs but also tells me the phone is rooted. Additionally, when booting my phone gives me a message that says: Your device has loaded a different operating system. I have pretty much no idea what to do and honestly just would want a normal stock phone so any help would be very much appreciated.
Same here, except I have no issues with it saying its rooted
just the boot message
If you want a normal stock phone then don't buy Chinese oem devices. They have to add tons of tracking and spying software that is required by the Chinese government. You can research it. Many are even banned in many countries due to their back ally tactics
Darth_revan_returns said:
Same here, except I have no issues with it saying its rooted
just the boot message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to solve the problem. If you don't have a lot of experience with Android, you'll have to do a bunch of research, but you should manage. Very roughly, I pretty much flashed a new operating system on the phone. I found the correct os rom from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6/help/nokia-x6-nokia-6-1-plus-global-rom-t3822657. I'm definitely a novice in doing weird **** with androids so don't consider me an expert or anything, but I did get my phone to work.
If you don't know what to do here's a rough guide.
1. Get adb to work
Adb is basically a way for your computer to tell crude instructions to your phone and all kinds of random ****. The very very first thing you should do is unlock developer options and turn on developer options by going to settings->system->about phone and click on build number something like 7 times and then go back to system, where developer options have appeared and turn on OEM unlocking and usb debugging. You should be able to find some type of adb installer installer simply by googling how to install adb or something, I can't remember at all where i found mine from, but there are certainly a lot of guides online. It really doesn't matter that much if it's from a few years back, as long as adb works. Your phone should install all correct drivers from your phone simply by connecting it, but you may need to download qualcomm drivers online, I don't really know because I downloaded every random driver online until finally it worked. All I can say that to finally get it to work I connected my phone to my computer via cable with usb debugging enabled and clicked the windows message so that the phone agreed to the final necessary drivers and amazingly it worked. To make sure that everything you need is in working order type the following commands into adb:
First "adb devices" if it says something like device found, DRG...., everything's good so far
Then "adb reboot bootloader" and "fastboot devices", if it says the same thing again, adb is completely installed.
I found this to be by far the hardest part in the whole operation, because the Nokia X6 is such a new phone that there are no real guides or official drivers online. Don't be discouraged if it takes some time to get through this part!
2. Unlock your bootloader
Nokia is pretty cool and all, but that they are pretty restrictive with their phones so that you actually have to pay to a third party to be able to unlock your bootloader. You need to buy a bootloader unlock key from this place: https://www.techmesto.com/buy-nokia-bootloader-unlock-key/. I know it seems super shady, but it at least worked for me so there's that. I wouldn't really buy the unlock key before getting adb to work, though. After that, you'll probably be best off following this guide to unlock the bootloader: https://www.techmesto.com/guide-unlock-bootloader-nokia-android-phones/
3. Install the nokia online service tool and nb0 unpacker
The Nokia OST you can find here: https://www.theandroidsoul.com/download-nokia-online-service-tool-ost/, and I think the guide there is pretty self-explanatory, so just follow that. The nb0 unpacker you can find here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/nb0-unpacker-packer-tool-t3699464. This one should be very simple to install.
4. Download the Nokia X6 operating system and unpack it so you can flash it with the online service tool.
The nokia X6 operating system can be found from the google drive link in this post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6/help/nokia-x6-nokia-6-1-plus-global-rom-t3822657, and be sure to pick the on mentioned in the post, the one labeled "DRG-229E-0-00CN-B01". After downloading it, you should be able to find a .nb0 file in the zip. Extract it somewhere nice and then use the nb0 unpacker you installed to unpack it. After this, open the mlf-file in the unpacked nb0 folder and follow the following instruction found on the download post i linked before:
"Modify *.mlf file, line 7 ~ 9;
INITOPTION = 0x20000
INITDLTYPE = 0x60
SECURITY_VER = 0x0001" @Xkernels
5. Flash the os on your phone
Make sure to delete everything from your phone before doing this, because every guide I've seen instructs to do this. This may not even be necessary as the OST setting you'll check later indicate that everything will be erased anyways, but idk what could happen so better safe than sorry. You can do this probably in many ways but one way i found is to go to recovery (type "adb reboot recovery" on your pc and then press the power and vol up button at the same time), and factory reset. Then go to the bootloader from there and type "fastboot erase system". A bunch of text should appear and you should be set to flash. Now with your phone connected to your pc, open the Nokia OST and "Select *.mlf files and tick "Normal Download", "Erase user data", "Erase error data", begin to flash." @Xkernels.
6. Your phone should be ready to use, though it will probably need some configuring
The first things you'll probably want to do is use the browser to download a google play apk online after which you can use the play store and download all necessary apps from online. I couldn't find netflix from the appstore but I simply downloaded the apk online and it works too. I had problems with the stock keyboard so I installed Gboard, but all apps should be in working order and my phone works without a hitch now!
For the record if you manage to brick your phone during the process, don't hold me liable. If you followed this guide, you probably bought a chinese random phone and it didn't work like you wanted it to and wanted to fix the problems by installing an operating system from online, using a guide from a person you didn't know at all. All I can say is that what I did worked for me and I simply wanted to help strangers on the internet and this worked for me. So if, because of this guide, everything is ****ed with your phone and your computer is full of viruses, I will most likely be glad to help and you can blame me by yourself, but I definitely would appreciate if you would simply be civil and not tell me how I'm an awful person, because once again, I'm just a Finnish guy, who himself bought a Nokia for 200€ from eBay and had to spend hours upon hours of my own time trying various methods of getting my phone to work and learning how to use adb and how to flash roms on my phone. Honestly the experience was pretty fun for me, because I like to do random **** like this and learning new things, but I did have other things to do with my time like study physics and even now I wrote this, in my own biased opinion pretty good, guide using my own time, simply because knowing I did something good brings joy to my heart.
vostok_amphibia said:
I managed to solve the problem. If you don't have a lot of experience with Android, you'll have to do a bunch of research, but you should manage. Very roughly, I pretty much flashed a new operating system on the phone. I found the correct os rom from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6/help/nokia-x6-nokia-6-1-plus-global-rom-t3822657. I'm definitely a novice in doing weird **** with androids so don't consider me an expert or anything, but I did get my phone to work.
If you don't know what to do here's a rough guide.
1. Get adb to work
Adb is basically a way for your computer to tell crude instructions to your phone and all kinds of random ****. The very very first thing you should do is unlock developer options and turn on developer options by going to settings->system->about phone and click on build number something like 7 times and then go back to system, where developer options have appeared and turn on OEM unlocking and usb debugging. You should be able to find some type of adb installer installer simply by googling how to install adb or something, I can't remember at all where i found mine from, but there are certainly a lot of guides online. It really doesn't matter that much if it's from a few years back, as long as adb works. Your phone should install all correct drivers from your phone simply by connecting it, but you may need to download qualcomm drivers online, I don't really know because I downloaded every random driver online until finally it worked. All I can say that to finally get it to work I connected my phone to my computer via cable with usb debugging enabled and clicked the windows message so that the phone agreed to the final necessary drivers and amazingly it worked. To make sure that everything you need is in working order type the following commands into adb:
First "adb devices" if it says something like device found, DRG...., everything's good so far
Then "adb reboot bootloader" and "fastboot devices", if it says the same thing again, adb is completely installed.
I found this to be by far the hardest part in the whole operation, because the Nokia X6 is such a new phone that there are no real guides or official drivers online. Don't be discouraged if it takes some time to get through this part!
2. Unlock your bootloader
Nokia is pretty cool and all, but that they are pretty restrictive with their phones so that you actually have to pay to a third party to be able to unlock your bootloader. You need to buy a bootloader unlock key from this place: https://www.techmesto.com/buy-nokia-bootloader-unlock-key/. I know it seems super shady, but it at least worked for me so there's that. I wouldn't really buy the unlock key before getting adb to work, though. After that, you'll probably be best off following this guide to unlock the bootloader: https://www.techmesto.com/guide-unlock-bootloader-nokia-android-phones/
3. Install the nokia online service tool and nb0 unpacker
The Nokia OST you can find here: https://www.theandroidsoul.com/download-nokia-online-service-tool-ost/, and I think the guide there is pretty self-explanatory, so just follow that. The nb0 unpacker you can find here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/nb0-unpacker-packer-tool-t3699464. This one should be very simple to install.
4. Download the Nokia X6 operating system and unpack it so you can flash it with the online service tool.
The nokia X6 operating system can be found from the google drive link in this post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6/help/nokia-x6-nokia-6-1-plus-global-rom-t3822657, and be sure to pick the on mentioned in the post, the one labeled "DRG-229E-0-00CN-B01". After downloading it, you should be able to find a .nb0 file in the zip. Extract it somewhere nice and then use the nb0 unpacker you installed to unpack it. After this, open the mlf-file in the unpacked nb0 folder and follow the following instruction found on the download post i linked before:
"Modify *.mlf file, line 7 ~ 9;
INITOPTION = 0x20000
INITDLTYPE = 0x60
SECURITY_VER = 0x0001" @Xkernels
5. Flash the os on your phone
Make sure to delete everything from your phone before doing this, because every guide I've seen instructs to do this. This may not even be necessary as the OST setting you'll check later indicate that everything will be erased anyways, but idk what could happen so better safe than sorry. You can do this probably in many ways but one way i found is to go to recovery (type "adb reboot recovery" on your pc and then press the power and vol up button at the same time), and factory reset. Then go to the bootloader from there and type "fastboot erase system". A bunch of text should appear and you should be set to flash. Now with your phone connected to your pc, open the Nokia OST and "Select *.mlf files and tick "Normal Download", "Erase user data", "Erase error data", begin to flash." @Xkernels.
6. Your phone should be ready to use, though it will probably need some configuring
The first things you'll probably want to do is use the browser to download a google play apk online after which you can use the play store and download all necessary apps from online. I couldn't find netflix from the appstore but I simply downloaded the apk online and it works too. I had problems with the stock keyboard so I installed Gboard, but all apps should be in working order and my phone works without a hitch now!
For the record if you manage to brick your phone during the process, don't hold me liable. If you followed this guide, you probably bought a chinese random phone and it didn't work like you wanted it to and wanted to fix the problems by installing an operating system from online, using a guide from a person you didn't know at all. All I can say is that what I did worked for me and I simply wanted to help strangers on the internet and this worked for me. So if, because of this guide, everything is ****ed with your phone and your computer is full of viruses, I will most likely be glad to help and you can blame me by yourself, but I definitely would appreciate if you would simply be civil and not tell me how I'm an awful person, because once again, I'm just a Finnish guy, who himself bought a Nokia for 200€ from eBay and had to spend hours upon hours of my own time trying various methods of getting my phone to work and learning how to use adb and how to flash roms on my phone. Honestly the experience was pretty fun for me, because I like to do random **** like this and learning new things, but I did have other things to do with my time like study physics and even now I wrote this, in my own biased opinion pretty good, guide using my own time, simply because knowing I did something good brings joy to my heart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man, now that the 6.1 plus is coming soon I think we'll be able to put it on using this guide!
vostok_amphibia said:
I bought a Nokia X6 from China and the phone appears to be rooted. The play store app System info says that I have all the correct specs but also tells me the phone is rooted. Additionally, when booting my phone gives me a message that says: Your device has loaded a different operating system. I have pretty much no idea what to do and honestly just would want a normal stock phone so any help would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, so anyone help us to solve this problem?

Onn 7" SURF Model 100005206

I have since returned this tablet. The go edition was just too much, or way too little for me to deal with.
The 7" variant shouldn't be considered a variant as it is only similar in shape and color. It is however still rootable. I am assuming you have adb and fastboot set up and know how to use them. Also if on windoze you know how to adjust if needed and to connect device with usb and the other little details I've overlooked. If not then I am also assuming you don't need to try this yet.
The root process is not difficult but tricky in that it is different. Before doing this you need to go to Magisk release thread and check out link for running Recovery Mode and read it all. You must have unlocked bootloader. The process goes something like this:
Edit: You will need the latest platform tools for fastboot to work properly. This link https://www.xda-developers.com/what-is-adb/ provides instructions for windows and Linux. Yes, you may need to update the tools in some Linux installations as not all repositories are kept up to date with regards to android-sdk.
1) Download mtk-su by @diplomatic to your pc.
2) Open a terminal in window where you have mtk-su. You can cd to it but this seems easier. Type the following "adb push mtk-su /data/local/tmp/"
3)Type "adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/mtk-su
4)Type "adb shell" you will enter a shell with no need to cd to anywhere. If you cd /data/local/tmp then you need to cd back out of it when root shell is achieved. If you run it this way your ready to go without changing directories
5) Type "./data/local/tmp/mtk-su -v" you now have a root shell. If for some reason you do not have root access, run mtk-su again, it will work.
6)Now the confusing part. You need to copy your recovery to patch with Magisk. You use "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 of=/sdcard/recovery.img your recovery should be in internal storage when you open your file manager.
7)Install Magisk Manager and open it to select install. Before install you tick advanced settings and tick Recovery Mode. You then select install. A toast will pop up and you select the bottom one which is to patch your boot.img file. Wherever you see boot you use your recovery instead.
8)Magisk will put your patched recovery labeled magisk_patched.img in your download folder. Transfer it to your PC.
9)In terminal on PC open window where you have your magisk_patched.img. Then use adb reboot bootloader.
10) Flash your patched img with "fastboot flash recovery magisk_patched.img" and you're done flashing.
11) Now the fun part, you hold power and volume+ until you first get a glimpse of the boot selection screen. AS SOON AS IT LIGHTS UP LET GO for a second,just a second, then scroll to recovery and hit volume- . If its already on recovery just use volume down, do not scroll around to it. Your tablet will boot into a Magisk rooted system and not recovery.
It can be tricky but however you boot your tablet determines if you're rooted or not. When Magisk Manager reboots after installing a module it know what it's doing and you don't have to do anything but wait on it. Whenever booting your system you need to make your first priority going to magisk to check if it's installed before trying anthing. You need to do this every time you boot until you have your timing right and confidence way up. Then you should probably still check.
From what I can see when not booted to Magisk rooted system, installed modules and changes made are obviously not working. It should stand to reason if Magisk is not installed that magisk modules won't work. Like I said, its not hard it's just odd to me. Don't know how porting recovery is going to go. Wondering if we will need to patch the ported img or port the patched img. It's is treble compatible, I've read a-only but don't know about gsi's yet. Keeping expectations low though.
When I had Magisk installed I was left with no recovery or I didn't keep it long enough to figure it out. When booting with hardware buttons and holding for recovery/unrooted system the tablet booted to an unrooted system bypassing recovery all together. Don't know if it was procedural error on my part or if that is the compromise that has to be made to have perm root for the time being. Flashing stock recovery via fastboot proposed no issues.
Good information, thanks!
What prevented the usual patched boot image method from working?
NFSP G35 said:
Good information, thanks!
What prevented the usual patched boot image method from working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ramdisk in boot.img. It works but just feels weird. Also from what I've gathered it can't be installed/upgraded via custom recovery. Not that there is one but down the road that's a bummer.
My apologies I withdraw my question.... I see that the 7 is different from the 8 & 10 where the recovery.img is being patched instead of the boot.img I will make note of that when I start my video tutorial series for the onn line of tablets.
The 7" definitely does not belong to the same family as the x003 and x002. The items partition (items.ini) only has hardware configuration for 10" and 8" tablets. I don't own the x007 keyboard variant, but I would not doubt the the 10" x003 dump would probably run on it. (speculation; not conclusive)
CaffeinePizza said:
The 7" definitely does not belong to the same family as the x003 and x002. The items partition (items.ini) only has hardware configuration for 10" and 8" tablets. I don't own the x007 keyboard variant, but I would not doubt the the 10" x003 dump would probably run on it. (speculation; not conclusive)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's Android (go edition) and it appeared as if everything were different. Even its google apps are different. I don't think they show up in play store unless you are on a go edition device. I have an account but only have google services on one device so don't use playstore enough to be sure. But the names all have go on them as in maps go, youtube go and chrome go. Go is slow, no ? I don't believe I seen a /vbmeta partition either. I was going to install a gsi to get rid of go but it was a no go. Not aware of any documentation for installing gsi's on go edition devices although it is supposed to be compatible, what's the point? Modified should mean some type of performance gain, somewhere at least. Coming in with just over 900MiB of RAM (not 1G) it's only close but still roughly 10% down from advertised. I had referred to it as the runt at one point, and it is that in every sense of the word. Smaller, weaker and slower was more than I cared to deal with. You can polish a pile of crap all day long, and at the end of the day, the best you can hope for is just a shiny turd. Too many other options and way better things to waste 50 bucks on. I returned it after a couple of days. The 8" and 10" tablets could stand a little better build quality. But over all I believe they knocked it out of the park with them. The 7", well... foul ball!
tek3195 said:
It's Android (go edition) and it appeared as if everything were different. Even its google apps are different. I don't think they show up in play store unless you are on a go edition device. I have an account but only have google services on one device so don't use playstore enough to be sure. But the names all have go on them as in maps go, youtube go and chrome go. Go is slow, no ? I don't believe I seen a /vbmeta partition either. I was going to install a gsi to get rid of go but it was a no go. Not aware of any documentation for installing gsi's on go edition devices although it is supposed to be compatible, what's the point? Modified should mean some type of performance gain, somewhere at least. Coming in with just over 900MiB of RAM (not 1G) it's only close but still roughly 10% down from advertised. I had referred to it as the runt at one point, and it is that in every sense of the word. Smaller, weaker and slower was more than I cared to deal with. You can polish a pile of crap all day long, and at the end of the day, the best you can hope for is just a shiny turd. Too many other options and way better things to waste 50 bucks on. I returned it after a couple of days. The 8" and 10" tablets could stand a little better build quality. But over all I believe they knocked it out of the park with them. The 7", well... foul ball!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's probably 1GB or 953MiB of RAM. Powers of ten rather than powers of two.
CaffeinePizza said:
It's probably 1GB or 953MiB of RAM. Powers of ten rather than powers of two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May have been 953 can't remember now thankfully can't check either. But less than a G which is more like 1024 i believe. That would still be in the ballpark with what I called roughly 10 percent. I only put that because 10 percent could be huge considering a lot of times we tweak and modify for gains much smaller. It wasn't meant to be a technical review. When you get one, get as technical as you want with it. It will still be a piece of sh*t.
tek3195 said:
May have been 953 can't remember now thankfully can't check either. But less than a G which is more like 1024 i believe. That would still be in the ballpark with what I called roughly 10 percent. I only put that because 10 percent could be huge considering a lot of times we tweak and modify for gains much smaller. It wasn't meant to be a technical review. When you get one, get as technical as you want with it. It will still be a piece of sh*t.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not plan on supporting the 7" tablet. Probably just burst some bubbles.
tek3195 said:
No ramdisk in boot.img. It works but just feels weird. Also from what I've gathered it can't be installed/upgraded via custom recovery. Not that there is one but down the road that's a bummer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about modifying the boot.img to create the ram disk?
callihn said:
What about modifying the boot.img to create the ram disk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I follow. The ramdisk it uses is in the recovery.img not sure what you would be trying to create or use it for. You lost me.
I've managed to unlock the bootloader, but the system boots up normally... Stock recovery if I choose recovery. Where did I go wrong?
i think your crazy also, I patched the recovery, and it doesn't work, it goes to a blank screen, if you had screen shots it might be more convincing, what does majick do taking over recovery, means using root from a p.c ???
https://gist.github.com/varhub/7b9555cdd1e5ad785ffde2300fcfd0bd
---------- Post added at 06:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------
if goes to majick recovery see if it's rooted with adb
---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------
when you say building, found an interesting article where you might build or free ramdisk, even boot to majick root recovery, I'm just researching the idea
https://source.android.com/devices/bootloader/partitions/ramdisk-partitions
have you tried flashing with a gsi ROM, this sounds great
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pr...hVM2htbVVRNGhnUzU5ZktDUUNSZjlzdGE2bkk4TjhZY3M.
flashing gsi rom on surf 7, changed vbmeta to dtbo.img, got a black screen with no way to fix, no recovery ? does anyone know the proper way to flash one

Hot Pepper Serrano HPP-L55B

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place or wrong format. I want to share with others that I got treble_experimentations running on this phone.
I though this phone was the same as the Logic L55B which has a Unisoc SC9832E, but that seems to be wrong as it contains an MT6739 chipset. It took me a very long time to figure this out, and I didn't find any precise instructions online, despite the final steps not being complicated.
I got this phone very cheaply with the USA Lifeline Affordable Connectivity Program. It came stocked with advertisements and was very unresponsive and glitchy. So, it is gratifying to unlock it and install a community-maintained ROM, as it's possible many people are stuck with it.
I performed these steps. I do not know if they are all necessary
1. i enabled developer mode and OEM unlocking
2. on a system with mtkclient, i ran mtk e metadata,userdata,md_udc and mtk da seccfg unlock as documented at https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-40300.html . i did not need to install any kernel patches or anything. note: mtkclient can also be used to take factory images from the phone, or backup the super partition before flashing.
3. booted phone and ran adb reboot fastboot to get into user-space fastbootd mode. normal fastboot won't flash the logical system partition.
4. downloaded an arm32_binder64-ab image from https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases and extract with xz. i used v415 vanilla. edit: i recommend v414 as v415 was never stabilized. newer images are at https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki/Generic-System-Image-(GSI)-List
4b. Optional: If the image was larger than the vanilla image, then space needed to be freed. fastboot delete-logical-partition product accomplished this.
5. wiped old system image with fastboot erase system and flashed new with fastboot flash system imagename.img as documented at https://www.xda-developers.com/flash-generic-system-image-project-treble-device/ . I did not need to touch the secure boot partition nor do anything extra.
6. performed mtk e userdata again to resolve occasional conflicts from booting the phone to reboot into fastbootd
The phone is now super snappy, no ads, very responsive, but of course with the vanilla image one must manually install any apps of interest.
It looks like flashing could also be done via the boot rom by working with the super partition.
It seems really helpful to try connecting phones to tools like mtkclient just in case they happen to speak the same protocol. Additionally there is a lot of information in adb shell getprop and a little in fastboot getvar all, but basically I spent the whole day persistently websearching, looking for similarities and possibilities, and trying things, until I found an avenue that worked.
With the some work contacting Hot Pepper, gpl kernel sources and such could be acquired.
fuzzyTew said:
Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place or wrong format. I want to share with others that I got treble_experimentations running on this phone.
I though this phone was the same as the Logic L55B which has a Unisoc SC9832E, but that seems to be wrong as it contains an MT6739 chipset. It took me a very long time to figure this out, and I didn't find any precise instructions online, despite the final steps not being complicated.
I got this phone very cheaply with the USA Lifeline Affordable Connectivity Program. It came stocked with advertisements and was very unresponsive and glitchy. So, it is gratifying to unlock it and install a community-maintained ROM, as it's possible many people are stuck with it.
I performed these steps. I do not know if they are all necessary
1. i enabled developer mode and OEM unlocking
2. on a system with mtkclient, i ran mtk e metadata,userdata,md_udc and mtk da seccfg unlock as documented at https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-40300.html . i did not need to install any kernel patches or anything. note: mtkclient can also be used to take factory images from the phone, or backup the super partition before flashing.
3. booted phone and ran adb reboot fastboot to get into user-space fastbootd mode. normal fastboot won't flash the logical system partition.
4. downloaded an arm32_binder64-ab image from https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases and extract with xz. i used v415 vanilla.
4b. Optional: If the image was larger than the vanilla image, then space needed to be freed. fastboot delete-logical-partition product accomplished this.
5. wiped old system image with fastboot erase system and flashed new with fastboot flash system imagename.img as documented at https://www.xda-developers.com/flash-generic-system-image-project-treble-device/ . I did not need to touch the secure boot partition nor do anything extra.
6. performed mtk e userdata again to resolve occasional conflicts from booting the phone to reboot into fastbootd
The phone is now super snappy, no ads, very responsive, but of course with the vanilla image one must manually install any apps of interest.
It looks like flashing could also be done via the boot rom by working with the super partition.
It seems really helpful to try connecting phones to tools like mtkclient just in case they happen to speak the same protocol. Additionally there is a lot of information in adb shell getprop and a little in fastboot getvar all, but basically I spent the whole day persistently websearching, looking for similarities and possibilities, and trying things, until I found avenue that worked.
With the some work contacting Hot Pepper, gpl kernel sources and such could be acquired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, please continue this work, And if there are any other links Please let me know. Looking for info on the Scepter 8 tablet as well, That would be Awesome. Thank you for your time & efforts.
did you use either magisk or TWRP to flash? Do you know if any other system images are compatible or if uploading a UI theme is necessary? Is it still functional for you now? thnx
I searched for the Scepter 8 and found there is an existing thread covering that device, which also has information on working with Hot Pepper the corporation.
Zalg said:
did you use either magisk or TWRP to flash? Do you know if any other system images are compatible or if uploading a UI theme is necessary? Is it still functional for you now? thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I mentioned in the first post, I used just mtkclient and fastboot to flash. I suspect TWRP could be made to work. I don't know much about magisk yet. mtkclient is at https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient . In my opinion the mtkclient code does not sufficiently respect a principle called DRY to maintain it effectively, but at least it is open source and a normative project to communicate with mediatek firmware. mtkclient can be used to extract factory images or flash new partitions, among many other things.
mtkclient speaks a protocol that could possibly work from a phone as well as a desktop. the same is likely true of fastboot. i imagine people have not implemented that yet.
I suspect any treble-based image should work, but I don't really know as I'm new to these things. Making a non-treble image work could mean getting the GPL kernel sources from Hot Pepper which they are legally obligated to provide in their action of distributing a linux-based android phone in the USA.
I don't know what uploading a UI theme is; do other flashing processes require this? I didn't need to do this.
The phone is still working for me but has gotten much slower and glitchier after use; still not as bad as with the factory image, though. I haven't poked at its innards since I made the original post. I suspect it needs a treble_experimentations upgrade by now, or soon, as the revision I am running was a prerelease at the time.
@fuzzyTew, I'm following the same instructions, but mtkclient is giving me this output repeatedly:
I also don't know how to enter BROM mode. I looked at the guide you attached with no avail as the key combos don't work.
```
Port - Hint:
Power off the phone before connecting.
For brom mode, press and hold vol up, vol dwn, or all hw buttons and connect usb.
For preloader mode, don't press any hw button and connect usb.
If it is already connected and on, hold power for 10 seconds to reset.
```
Any fixes?
Try the things in the output you pasted please. Thank you for trying the device setup.
fuzzyTew said:
Try the things in the output you pasted please. Thank you for trying the device setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, but it still isn't working. I'm also using a Chromebook that is using Crostini (linux) and the device doesn't get recognized at all. Probably a Chromebook issue tbh
The phone briefly offers a serial port when it is powered, which mtkclient looks for (the brief serial port should show up in dmesg kernel logs). You could also try running it as root.
You can also see if your device is recognised by an official Mediatek flasher if you find a version your system can run, or ask the communities around mtkclient.
It looks like Crostini doesn’t provide direct access to devices. You would need a system that does, or to poke a hole in the crostini container somehow, or to flash the phone a different way. As mentioned in the first post I found that way to enable fastboot from https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-40300.html after a lot of searching from my non-containerized linux system.
Ok. Yea, I probably would. Dang it that sucks. Ehh, I'm sure I'll get access to an actual PC or something that would actually work.
fuzzyTew said:
Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place or wrong format. I want to share with others that I got treble_experimentations running on this phone.
I though this phone was the same as the Logic L55B which has a Unisoc SC9832E, but that seems to be wrong as it contains an MT6739 chipset. It took me a very long time to figure this out, and I didn't find any precise instructions online, despite the final steps not being complicated.
I got this phone very cheaply with the USA Lifeline Affordable Connectivity Program. It came stocked with advertisements and was very unresponsive and glitchy. So, it is gratifying to unlock it and install a community-maintained ROM, as it's possible many people are stuck with it.
I performed these steps. I do not know if they are all necessary
1. i enabled developer mode and OEM unlocking
2. on a system with mtkclient, i ran mtk e metadata,userdata,md_udc and mtk da seccfg unlock as documented at https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-40300.html . i did not need to install any kernel patches or anything. note: mtkclient can also be used to take factory images from the phone, or backup the super partition before flashing.
3. booted phone and ran adb reboot fastboot to get into user-space fastbootd mode. normal fastboot won't flash the logical system partition.
4. downloaded an arm32_binder64-ab image from https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases and extract with xz. i used v415 vanilla. edit: i recommend v414 as v415 was never stabilized. newer images are at https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki/Generic-System-Image-(GSI)-List
4b. Optional: If the image was larger than the vanilla image, then space needed to be freed. fastboot delete-logical-partition product accomplished this.
5. wiped old system image with fastboot erase system and flashed new with fastboot flash system imagename.img as documented at https://www.xda-developers.com/flash-generic-system-image-project-treble-device/ . I did not need to touch the secure boot partition nor do anything extra.
6. performed mtk e userdata again to resolve occasional conflicts from booting the phone to reboot into fastbootd
The phone is now super snappy, no ads, very responsive, but of course with the vanilla image one must manually install any apps of interest.
It looks like flashing could also be done via the boot rom by working with the super partition.
It seems really helpful to try connecting phones to tools like mtkclient just in case they happen to speak the same protocol. Additionally there is a lot of information in adb shell getprop and a little in fastboot getvar all, but basically I spent the whole day persistently websearching, looking for similarities and possibilities, and trying things, until I found an avenue that worked.
With the some work contacting Hot Pepper, gpl kernel sources and such could be acquired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the followed the steps and everything seems like it went as described. But phone only boots to fastboot. For a brief second you see a screen popup but then goes black and to fastboot. Any ideas thanks in advance
Hello new to the forum I'm interested in flashing a custom ROM to my HP serrano pepper, looking for help getting started just now ran into this site look forward to learning more about the procedure

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