yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] yannrandri:
Advice on files for the ROMS

Hi

Sorry I am a newbie in android, and even if the procedure looks quite simple for quite everyone, I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing… First rooting… so a bit scary.

I guess first thing first: The phone:

I just got a Lenovo A789:

the version of android 4.0.4

the baseband version: A789, V13, 2012/07/26 15.14

Build number: A789_S228_120913

So far I have read the tutorials for the flashing multiple times as well as the procedure explained at the beginning of the thread.

I am now preparing everything to ensure I am not forgetting anything.

I tried to boot in recovery: press the volume buttons while starting the phone… Nothing happened. I had to replace the battery again to start the phone – so I guess recovery image is not ready.

Get a proper recovery image for your phone:

So I guess I need the original recovery image A789_S228_120913 in case something wrong happen, I can still reverse back to it. From your share folder, in the folder called Original Firmware, I could only see the A789_S227_120828. is that the correct original ROM?

Now I need to get the custom ROM. From the original post, there was quite a few upgrades as the post was advancing. I was looking at A789_S228_cybermaus_V2.1 which as you said is no longer current and I will need to use the V3 instead – just wanted to check if this was actually: A789_ROW_S105_Cybermaus_ICS_V3? Is that correct?

I downloaded and installed the USB_VCOM_Driver.rar

I installed the flash tool A789 Flash Tool V3.1222.00.rar

When flashing using the tool, my understanding is that I should only flash the recovery. I am a bit anxious about flashing the entire ROM

I guess flashing will be a first great step for me. Looks like the rooting and completing the Google play and location are quite simplier.

Also I may take screengrabs for other Newbie like me who might need more info?

Thank you very much for any advice/help
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
@yannrandri;

To get into recovery, you need to press power slightly earlier than both volume buttons. But as you have a stock ROM, you need to flash a custom recovery first. This you do with the flash tool and driver.

And then flash the V3.11 ROM using that recovery. The newest custom A789 ROM from my hands is actually V3.11, not V3. Also wipe data while in recovery, as there are some incompatibilities between Chinese and ROW data

Yes, its scary when you do it for the first time, but while there is always a small risk, most of this is pretty safe. Go ahead.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pskrbec2012:
Hi Cybermaus.

I am reading your Threads, just got P700i from Etotalk, but can’t make a decision whether to apply your custom P700i ROM http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1874403&page=8 by (i) using etotalks open recovery – I believe it is mentioned that recovery has to be compatible with new ROM or (ii) by using your recovery – needs to be flashed.; If (ii) my question is whether Preloader from original P700i_ROW_S105_120920 is ok to be used wheb flashing custom recovery or Preloader must be yours - which? Big Thank you, Primoz
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
The recovery needs to be compatible with the phone's hardware and memory layout, but usually it does not matter which ROM is on the phone. So it does not matter too much which recovery you use with which ROM.

The preloader also needs to be compatible with the hardware, just like recovery, but because it is the of software that takes care of the flashing itself, if you mess that up, the phone cannot be flashed anymore, so it is more dangerous.

In other words, you can try ROM's as much as you like. Recoveries you can try too, mix and match them to the ROM's. But preloader's should only come from the correct brand/model/spec.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bad Joker:
Hey cybermaus,

first of all, thank you very much for your great ROM. I'm using it on a A789 and it's just fine execpt it does not has multilanguage support like the ROM from andrea has.

But I have a questions about the themes. Though it's running the Idea Desktop does it mean that themes has to be compatible to the Idea Desktop application to work?

Or is there a "generic" themes format that I can use?

And where do I put the themes?

Thank you very much, keep up the good work!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
I honestly do not know. I never played with themes.

I do know that I once thought to remove the livewallpaper.apk, as it was large and I thought I could save some space, and the phone refused to start. So I suspect the themes are integrated into the ideadesktop, but I am not sure.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] yannrandri:
Installing ROM from inside the recovery mode

@cybermaus

so I have installed the VCom driver and start flash the recovery with a789_s22x_recovery_cybermaus.rar

Quick question, how do I install the A789_ROW_S106_cybermaus_ICS_v3.11.zip from the recovery? Do I need to rename the zip file to update.zip? Will that affect the preloader?

Many thanks
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
No rename is needed. And a recovery based update cannot really touch the preloader, so is very safe. There is a link to a proper recovery explanation in first post.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
A660 reboots every 5 seconds

Hi guys,

This is my first Android phone so please go easy on me...

Yesterday I received my A660 from etotalk (with their ROM). One thing lead to another and I decided I want to wipe out everything I did to it, so went to Settings and clicked Restore factory settings. That didn't go down too well. Now the phone boots up, shows the Lenovo logo for a second, then the Android green robot with upset stomach for about 4 seconds and reboots again.

I contacted etotalk and they sent me an update.zip file with instructions how to use it. Basically it says to copy the file to the roof of my SD card, stick it in, then press the power button for 3 seconds, release it and immediatelly press volume up.

This makes absolutely no change to the phone behaviour. If I boot up the phone holding volume down it goes to factory mode alright, but volume up does nothing. I also tried holding power and vol up for booting and all sorts of delays, also played with home and back combinations but no luck so far.

I would like to reflash with their ROM but it's not publicly available. Is there a way to make the update.zip working? Any tips on the key sequence to press during boot? Is it possible to flash with the factory ROM and use the update.zip to switch to the etotalk ROM? As I understand, the update.zip file may not contain absolutely everything I need.

Would other files being present on the SD card prevent update.zip from working? The instructions didn't say to clear the card first, just a thought though.

If anybody can help I'd much appreciate it.

Cheers.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
esiu;34393466

Yes, factory reset is not compatible with custom recovery, probably for Etotalk as much as for the rest of us. Anyway, you should go into CMW recovery and apply the update from there: Read help linked in first post,

As far as I know, on A660 it is indeed volume-up+power to go into recovery. Factory mode is not good. Start with battery removed and replaced, press volume-up then power, or power then volume-up. I do no think you should wait 3 seconds though, more like 1/3rd second, then hold both for 3 seconds.

Maybe the recovery is broken, in which chase you need to update *only* the recovery from 2nd post, and then you can again apply Etotalk update.zip. No problem combining my recovery with their update.zip.

No name to rename update.zip or clear SD. It should work always.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
At this stage I think there are no more combinations or time intervals for me to try with these two buttons so I think it's safe to say the recovery is broken... Unless somebody can confirm the exact sequence and time intervals they use to get there on A660 and I give it another go?

Do you mind if I reiterate the steps I have to take? I need a little hand holding as I don't want to make the things worse. Plus it might just help someone else in the future to do the same thing...

1. Download & install Mediatek Flash Tool from here

2. Download your recovery image from here

3. Download & install Mediatech USB VCOM drivers from here

4. Follow the Flashing only part of the ROM section from here - I take it that the Download Agent and Scatter-loading File (as per the pic) are included in your recovery image - can't verify that now as I'm at work and can't access 4shared

5. Follow directions sent by etotalk (or their variations) to install the update.zip they sent me

If that's correct I'll give it a go first thing after work and will see what happens. This way or another I appreciate your assistance. Another "Thanks" well deserved. I might be back with more questions... :D
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bad Joker:
torstocm what

All these steps are correct! You just have to flash the recovery.

Also the drivers and the MTK Flash Tool is also available in cybermaus 4shared directory, under "Tools & Drivers"...

After you flashed the new recovery (=CWM instead of the stock e3 recovery) you should be able to enter the recovery mode which does not work now.

From there you can do what ever you want, install the update.zip from etotalk or install a different ROM, maybe cybermaus ROM or any other which is meant to work with your phone. Please read instructions if you have to wipe data partition as well, which is advised if you want to start with a clean, bugfree system!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
Thanks for that, will give it a go this evening. Is cybermaus better than etotalk? Will I be able to go back to etotalk having only the update.zip file if I wanted to? What I'm not grasping really is the difference between update.zip and the full ROM file. Maybe there isn't any - I don't know. I have been using HTC HD2 ever since it came out and I flashed all sorts of Windows ROMs on it but Android is completely new to me.

On a separate note, if "Restore factory settings" is not compatible with custom ROMs, can it not be removed from the ROM? So idiots like myself don't attempt to use it and annoy you with dumb questions...
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bad Joker:
There is no difference between the update.zip from etotalk and the ROM from cybermaus, just the files have different names, that's it, both are customs ROMs for you phone. Etotalk just named it update.zip because some recovery images just watch out for an update.zip on the sdcard, CWM can handle all file names... you can select it yourself there.

Yes you can of course go back, just do the step again, boot into recovery (CMW) and reflash your device with a different ROM, just how you like.

About the "Factory reset", that's what I wrote. It is recommended to not use the factory reset inside of the ROM, but to use the the wipe cache and data function inside of the recovery (CWM), there is a separate function which will delete all the cache and data on the data partition to restart with a "clean" ROM.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
Right, so there is no binary file as such for Android images, it's only ZIP files with stuff inside? This is different to Windows flashing. The reason I used the Factory reset function is that it works fine with Windows custom ROMs.

What I meant was whether it would be possible to remove the function from the ROM all together by the Chef so a user can't break the phone by attempting to use it. Just disable the button in UI or something, not sure if it's doable...
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bad Joker:
Inside the .zip there are also several .img files, but because all Android phones are Linux based there is a partition table and for each partition you need a seperate .img file. Windows just uses one partition, so you just need the .img file itself, that's why ROM's for Android come in .zip files, they also contain scripts to do the flashing process and to put each image in the right partition!

The factory reset function may also work inside the ROM, but that depends on the ROM you are using. If the ROM is based for example on the stock ROM and the changes are not that big, it will work, but in most cases the ROMs are based on the stock ROM but was changed so much that not all parts of the data/cache will get wiped correctly and that will lead to "dead" data that may cause problems.

But that your phone will not boot anymore is not always the case after a factory reset inside the ROM, it should be an execption! But anyway, you are now always safe when you got the CWM recovery installed, form that you can reflash your phone even if your ROM does not start anymore. Just be sure that the new ROM you are going to flash does not contain a recovery partition, then CWM maybe will be gone and you end up like now!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pingu2000:
Hi cybermaus,

I've been running your P700i_ROW_S106_cybermaus_ICS_V3.01 ROM now for about 3 weeks and tethering works fine - as does everything else actually!

Thanks,

pingu.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
OK, so here are my results. In general, it did not work. Well, the tool says it flashed but I'm still unable to enter recovery mode.

The Flashing Tool 3.2.00 tells me that the scatter file is in a wrong format. So I downloaded Flashing Tool 3.12.24.01, selected the agent MTK_AllInOne_DA.bin, pointed to the cybermaus scatter file and off it went, just like in the pictures from the manual: red bar (instant), yellow bar (about 2 seconds) and green circle saying OK. Tried that twice already and still no luck. Any ideas anyone?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
Its unlikely both recoveries are broken. Back to button combinations.

I do not have a A660, so I cannot personally guarantee, but Pierrotlcf claims it is simply volume up while starting.

One more thing you can try. But its deeper: It is actually not the recovery that determines how you go into the recovery, its the preloader/uboot combination that scans the startup button, and then loads accordingly. Flash the entire factory A660 ROM, preloader and all. Then reflash the recovery.

If the Etotalk ZIP you got is large (> 200 MB) then it is the full Etotalk ROM, so you can update that on top of it. If it is small (< 100 MB) it is a small update, and you are stuck to either factory, or my A660 ROM.

However, it is also possible your volume button is simply broken. And if the phone is broken, then flashing it may make it worse. Though, you said it was not working anyway, correct?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
hi cybermaus, thanks again for your time here. anyway, i definitely tried all combinations and no luck. the file i got from etotalk is 180.1mb - what do you think? :D

just in case, if you don't mind, is your rom any good? would you recommend it over etotalk? do you have a post where you describe the differences that i could look at?

the volume button works. i can tell because when i boot with holding the vol down button i get to a different menu. in this menu, vol down works like TAB and vol up works like ENTER.

yes, correct, the phone doesn't work. it reboots every 5 seconds so can't really make a call ;)

please reconfirm, based on the new info, that the best option for me is to flash with factory as the next step and i'll do that now.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pskrbec2012:
Hi Cybermaus!

It worked perfectly - applying your ROM to Etotalk's recovery! Thank you. For others - I bought P700i from Etotalk and got superb device with Etotalk's CWM-based recovery v6.0.1.1 (compiled by Dean Etotalk) and Etotalk's custom S103 ROM that is built for single sim P700 I believe as video codec was not working, only one IMEI visible, camera button dead... Application of Cybermaus's custom ROM masterpiece for P700i went impeccable via Etotalk's recovery/'install zip from sdcard'. Big Thank you, Primoz
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
@esiu;

If you want a local language, use Etotalk. If you want a no-nonsense English ROM, use mine.

But with 180MB, I would say it is a full ROM anyway, so you can go back and forth between the two. Once you get the recovery solved.... And yes, I think the next thing to try is a full factory A660 flash. Followed by another recovery flash, and then update with either Etotalk's or my ROM

@pskrbec2012

So Dean's P700i is based on single core P700? Why do you think that? What is the Android version, 4.0.3 or 4.0.4?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] esiu:
cool dude, you convinced me, i'm getting yours :)

still waiting for the factory one to download - connected via 3g as in business travel. 57 mins left...

i better start downloading your then. thanks for your help, no doubt i will be back with more problems... ;)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pskrbec2012:
@cybermaus

Not an expert in this field...I said single sim (not core) as only 1 IMEI was visible - from your question it makes me think P700(i) have always been dual sims only...makes me feel.... For Android version - not sure - scrolling back my memory I would bet on 4.0.3. Can somebody confirm? Thanks, Primoz
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bvukas:
Hi all!

I have installed A660_ROW_S106_cybermaus_ICS_v3.1, and phone is working pretty well (except the recent app button). a few days ago cybermous asked about tethering, and I can say that it is working on my A660.

Now, I'd like to go back to original ROM (post #172). My question is: Should I perform a full flash from SP Flash Tool (all images checked, including preloader, mbr, etc), or should I check just some (which?) images from that ROM?

Thanks
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
You have to flash, but you only need the parts bootimg, system, secro, userdata.

After you flash factory S019, you may also want to update to factory S023. If you search, there is a link somewhere in this thread.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bvukas:
Thanks for the reply.

And, thank you for the great work you're doing here :good:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SpeedersPeugeot:
Internal storage, USB storage, SD storage...

Yes thx for all the good work! I bought me a A789 at dx, live in the Netherlands and I don't wanted to go to the local Chinese Restaurant every time for some explanaition. So I used your rom and flashed the phone. Now it's a wonderfull thing to use! :good:

It works for one week now, it's very stable and usable.

One thing I don't get, my internal SD is quite full now, I installed a few apps. I putted an external SD card (Class 10) 16gb card in, but if I go to systemsettings, storage, I say that my default write disk is USB storage. If I say the SD Storage is standard all my apps are gone after the reboot. But in Titanium Backup the move to external SD card is not an option. What to do to free some space on my internal USB storage?

With regards,

Peter :cool:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
1) backup and uninstall all apps, while default SD is still internal.

2) set default SD to external. It may even be needed to do a full data wipe from recovery as well.

3) reinstall and restore all apps after default SD is set to external.

Sorry, that the way it is, the internal SD/USB storage will not be used after this. But then again, who cares nowadays about a lost 1.8GB, you probably have 8GB external anyway.

PS: The restaurant called: They asked if you still drop by for food, even though you do not need the translation services.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bad Joker:
How to do that step?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SpeedersPeugeot:
lol :laugh: Thx for your reply. So it's not possible to backup this disk (or move data) and put it back to the external SD card... the other more easy way is to install all the missing apps after you put on the external SD card and rebooted, though?

If I go to your 4shared folder, which files do I need (maybe it's better to rename the files to step1_<namefile>, step2_<namefile>)? I couldn't find the recovery A789, I found it somewhere else (Russian). It works. But I do not have the ability to overclock or make a swap partition....

Thx man :silly:

Peter
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mmarek15:
Hello,

I have cybermaus ROM v3.11 istalled on my Lenovo A789. Everything's fine, but I've noticed two minor problems so far.

1. I sometimes switch through profiles General and Meeting. And, unfortunately, when I change into Meeting, vibrate on touch option turns on itself. So I turn it off, but again it turns on itself (not immediately, it is ok for a few days). I know it may sound stupid, but it's really not a joke.

2. Also sometimes a ringer volume becomes silencer itself. Don't get me wrong, please, the slider stays in the same position all the time, but the ringer is clearly silencer. Restart helps, after that the level of sound is normal.

Has anybody have that kind of problems?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cybermaus:
When the phone has had its battery removed, then USB inserted, it will show the VCOM-USB device for only a second. Windows has to grab it in that second, otherwise it will change identity, and display the normal storage USB.

This means I very much doubt you can get it properly into VirtualBox, not even when 'auto-grab-usb' is active. Or at least, I have never been able to do it from VMware. And WINE is out of the question completely.

So, find yourself a real Windows PC, or dual boot one. But not Virtual. The drivers work on XP and both 32 and 64 versions of Win7

However, to flash V3.1, you do not need the flash utility. It is a update.zip flash. Place it on the SD card, boot into recovery, and update it. Only if you do not yet have a custom recovery do you need to flash, and most sellers who sell the phone do put a custom recovery on it.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zapzog:
Thanks for the reply - I will report back in a couple of days. I rarely get more than a day between charges.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hwonggc:
Overclock possible?

I've seen ppl saying that the mtk6577 can be overclock from 1.2 to 1,5 Ghz. Does anyone know how to do this?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] loimlo:
Hi cybermaus

Now I can see the screenshot in the link you provided.....Unfortunately it doesn't specify simplified or traditional, just chinese in the screenshot. That said, I may have to purchase A789 based on your info. Thanks!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lolo250612:
@BasRoufs.

There is also another alternative that may help Windows to catch the phone when in the "stealth mediatek mode". That is what I have done (sorry in advance for approximate translations, my PC is in French):

1) Go to Windows Device Driver

2) Action Menu -> Add legacy hardware -> Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced) -> Choose Ports (COM and LPT) -> Provided floppy -> Select usb2ser_Win764.inf (on Win7x64) -> Select Mediatek DA USB VCOM Port and Validate.

The driver is now in the Windows Driver Database, though it is indicated as non properly functionning (Code 10). It is normal since nothing is connected to the PC for now.

3) Prepare Flash_tool.exe as explained in other posts (don't forget to press the download button in advance)

4) Remove/insert battery

5) Plug device. Windows detects that a new Vcom port has appeared, installs almost immediately the VCom driver that it has now in its database, and one second later, Flash_tool.exe does its job.

Voilà. At least, it works fine for me (but on a real Windows 7 system).

Edit:

To answer some private requests, I have made some screenshots that show the installation. I attached them to this message so that it helps other people.