[Miscellaneous Android Development] DjGeNeSiS:
Hello to whoever is reading this thread.

First of all, I would like to point out that I may be posting on the wrong forum because I couldn't find an appropriate forum for this phone but I hope the mods will help me to redirect this thread where it belongs.

I am a simple user myself and to my experience, it has been a nightmare trying to root my phone and install a simple mod to fix one of the most annoying issues on 4.2.1 with the phone not recognising international numbers.

All the information is scattered across the internet and buried under huge amounts of threads, off topic user requests and so on.

So I thought that if it benefits even a single user, I will compile all the knowledge I have gained during the past few days, and compile everything into a single thread.

I will NOT be held accountable in case you brick your phone. If you need support, please read and post on the relevant threads provided for each step. Seriously.

So, here it goes.

In order to be able to know what I am talking about, you must know the basics:

1) What is rooting and why you need it:

In order to make changes to your phone's system (install mods, tweak special settings e.t.c) you need SuperUser rights. Rooting gives you these rights.

http://xdaforums.com/wiki/Glossary#Root

2) What is Recovery and why you need it.

The changes you might be doing to your system may not always be successful and you might end up "bricking" your phone. i.e. corrupting the system and rendering it unbootable. Therefore you need some kind of emergency plan. Having a full system backup which you took before the changes, will enable you to overwrite the broken copy of your operating system with the healthy one in case things go tits up.

Beautiful post here:

http://xdaforums.com/wiki/Recovery

3) What is ClockWorkMod and why do I need it?

The original recovery system of your phone which resides on a completely separate partition from your operating system, is usually referred to as "Stock Recovery". It does not provide you with the necessary rights to replace the complete device's primary Android operating system so you need a "Custom Recovery" which will allow you to do it. ClockworkMod will help you do just that, and it is also the BEST way to keep a complete system backup in case your tingling fails.

Amazing explanation here.

http://xdaforums.com/wiki/ClockworkMod_Recovery

4) What is a custom ROM and what do I need it?

The operating system that your phone came with is called a "Stock ROM" and a modified version of it is called a "Custom ROM". In our case we are trying to install GravityBox, a custom ROM for our THL W8 that has quite a few nice fixes and improvements from our stock ROM including the Caller ID FIX I mentioned earlier. Our target in this tutorial is to install it and fix our OS bugs.

I read this article from Androidpolice and I found it very eye opening.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/05/01/custom-roms-for-android-explained-and-why-you-want-them/

5) What is Xposed and why do I need it?

Xposed is a platform, which will enable you to install parts of a ROM without having to flash your phone and lose your current operating system.

The techNinja has a very simple explanation of what it is right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRR0Flqx9M8

OK so let's get started.

1) Backup your data

Rule #1 before starting any process and I can not stress this enough is <<BACKUP YOUR PHONE!>>

Having an unrooted phone has it's limitations on how much you can backup but I used "Ultimate Backup Tool" to backup whatever I could.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1844032

2) ROOT your THL W8 Beyond

There are THOUSANDS of threads out there with complex technical instructions, but I have some good news. THL W8 Beyond can be rooted without ODIN, USB cables and the rest, only by using Framaroot.

Marc has saved me literally hours of pain with this guide here.

http://playfuldroid.com/how-to-root-the-thl-w8-beyond-using-framaroot/

3) Install ClockworkMod and perform a nandroid backup of your system

C3C076 has the BEST guide on how to do this for our phone and the instructions are easy and crystal clear.

Follow the 9 simple steps on the Installation Instructions section

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2237779

When you install ClockworkMod, boot into recovery (as explained in the tutorial above) and follow the menus to fully backup your system

4) Install XPOSED and reboot your phone.

Follow the instructions on this tutorial below at the installation section (steps 1-7) or just watch the video on my Basics section above:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2316070

5) Install GravityBox module from the tutorial below:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1574401

Download the apk file at the bottom of the first post and load it onto XPOSED (as also seen on the video). Reboot your phone.

Once everything is nicely installed and phone boots, open Gravitybox app and go to:

General Fixes -> Fix Called ID for Phone

Reboot your phone, remove your google accounts and reimport them. Reboot your phone once more and enjoy.

Even if one of the steps above is proven useful for someone with the same problem as me, this thread will be worth it.

Peace :angel:

[EDIT1]: For the GPS fix click this link

http://www.thlmobilestore.com/news/gps-fix/

[EDIT2]: For waking up the phone with the Home button click this link

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=45632410&postcount=1515