[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] Jarmezrocks:
Hey everyone

This mostly applies to those of us that have a bricked MediaTek device. Yes the ones amongst us that are the most desperate I am sorry to say. Some of you laugh at that cause your Flashing experience has worked perfectly from the get go and you have flashed successfully with functioning device. Well that's great. Good for you! You're awesome. Sooner or later you are going to make a mistake and panic is going to set in and you will be where I have been. I am sorry to say that is not a very nice place.

For me it was not my device which makes matters worse. I was translating a device for an older gentleman who purchased it from Alibaba; it's an MTK6589 device to be precise.

Anyway I am sure a lot of you out there are frustrated with why your device is doesn't work with SPFlashTool even though you have been following the most of the tutorials to a T? Why your device disconnects from device manager 2 seconds after you plug the thing in and it disappears out of the device list? Like WTF right? Well would you look at me strangely if I said that this is actually by design? That yup your MediaTek device is actually meant to do that?!

If you have experienced this, then I have answers for you and I have an explanation as to why your MediaTek device is doing this, and why your device has not been able to be flashed by SPFlashTool.

Really we are our own worst enemy when it comes to this MediaTek woes; Why? Cause we are impatient and we go off looking for answers in the wrong direction when in fact they are right in front of us all along. Here I will hopefully expand your understanding about these devices and why/how things work so that you can apply it in the future.

I will explain my situation and what I discovered in the process. Hopefully it sheds some light on disconnect device driver situations and lays some thing to rest....hey maybe even some of you who had given up and tossed your cheapo China phone in the bedside draw cause nothing worked and it wasn't worth the price to send back, maybe you guys might want to give this a go and revive your MediaTek device?

Follow this guide step by step BUT READ EVERY STEP EVER SO CAREFULLY.... also take note of the points below that I am going to emphasise that AREN'T emphasised anywhere in this tutorial nor any other tutorials I have followed, so pay attention.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1982587

The part that is not emphasised is this

In both cases the word 'and' should be replaced with the word 'THEN' so that people will understand.

What isn't really mentioned on any tutorials is that the MTK6589 is different to how you flash other mediatek devices with SPFlashTool; why? Because you MUST put the battery back in before you flash unlike other MTK devices where they explicitly say DO NOT put it in and/or that you should flash without the battery in place. THIS IS INCORRECT!

Next thing to emphasise is this: You must have the phone disconnected when you click on the download button inside SPFlashTool. You press download then you put the battery back in your phone with the USB connected to the phone., wait and when the download part finishes (only a few seconds) THEN you plug the phone in to the computer (yes with the battery still in place) but do not switch the phone on.

When the phone is detected by Windows and starts to load the drivers like it usually does and then disconnects...well what happens now is that when it loads drivers for a second SPFLashTool engages the phone and holds open the connection. It will pause for a couple of seconds (but you will notice it doesn't disconnect) and then SPFlashTool will show a red/orange progress bar that goes quickly....then it will write the firmware when you see the yellow progress bar.

Something to note here (I downloaded literally hundreds of drivers by the way) that you only need 1 driver and that is the one mentioned in the tutorial.

You don't need to do all the bullsh!t with device manager and removing drivers etc with USBDview....this should only be if the phone doesn't read

initially

as MTK65xx preloader OR doesn't end up registering as MediaTek DA USB VCOM.

So I will explain...when you plug it in on a clean WIndows 7 PC for he first time it will appear as MTK65xx preloader under device manager under unknown device and Windows will attempt to download the correct drivers and then fail. This is normal.

DO NOT GO AND INSTALL PDANET DRIVERS!!! This doesn't work.

Yes the drivers ARE more stable and don't disconnect nearly as much as the other MediTek drivers, however what this does is register the devices as an Android ADB device, and allows you to use ADB. We want to use SPFlashTool, not ADB at the moment.

Installing other MediaTek drivers after PDANet for some reason causes a conflict and interferes with communication with the device?? I suspect that this is what was causing much of the issues I was experiencing? You may use the PDANet drivers after you have flashed via SPFlashTool if you cannot get an ADB connection, however in my case once the new firmware was written to the device and it was restored and fully functional; when I plugged it in the ADB drivers loaded automatically anyway;)

Ok next points to make. Unplug your device. Install the drivers (I have attached the ones that worked for me). NOTE: You may need to log in allowing unsigned drivers as mentioned in other tutorials. To do this you can use EasyBCD, go into advanced settings for the Windows 7 bootmenu entry and allow the use of unsigned drivers and put a wait of say 10seconds on the menu count down (in stock form Windows has assigned 30 seconds but standard it bypasses the boot menu - this makes it harder to press the F8 key during boot up). After finishing in EasyBCD reboot and when you come to the Windows boot menu press F8 anyway and choose allow use of unsigned drivers. This is a just in case thing.

Get EasyBCD from HERE

Once in Windows, plug in your device WITH THE BATTERY IN and device switched off. Open Windows device manager (a quick way is type devmgmt.msc in Start menu or Run menu from the start menu - if you search for the management console by full file name you can right click the devmgmt.msc and pin it to the Start menu ;) this is what I have done).

In device manager you NEED to see the device registered as MediaTek DA USB VCOM. If it is not appearing push the volume up button + but keep the phone OFF. When it appears for just a second make sure it is MediaTek DA USB VCOM. *This is important* It must NOT be registered as Preloader or any other MediaTek driver ie. Preloader USB VCOM port OR MediaTek USB VCOM (Android) etc. IT MUST BE MediaTek DA USB VCOM Just look for the one that has DA in the name and is a VCOM driver. This is the driver we want:good:

Ok here is where I will mention that USBDview removal of drivers is not necessary and does absolutely nothing anyway because Windows 7 remembers every single driver you have installed regardless of the fact that you have removed/uninstalled and even checked the box delete drivers or what ever. It doesn't matter...every driver you have ever tried will be in the device driver list. USBDview is only good for unregistering the device association with a registered driver. It doesn't remove drivers.

So now where was I? Ahh right, yep. When you plug in your device (switched off and the battery in place) and it appears momentarily in device manager it must be MediaTek DA USB VCOM, If not Or if it disappeared too fast; just push the volume up button again and this time as it appears quickly, click to expand the (PORTS COM &LPT) listing, then quickly right click the MediaTek listing and go to Update Driver Software. You may need to do this several times to get it. Unplugging the USB from the PC and plugging it back in again may help.

Resist the urge to search for new drivers as the device IS actually detected but not as a PORTS COM &LPT, and doing so will be fruitless as you will only assign the incorrect drivers to the incorrect function. So unplug and replug it in again pressing volume up.

Note: It does not matter if the device disconnects and disappears out of Device Manager when you are in the Upgrade Device Driver software menu....this is normal. The most important point here is that the correct driver is being registered to the correct device protocol (pressing the volume up button to get COM&LPT).

The device needs to appear as MediaTek DA USB VCOM and this must be registered specifically to the (PORTS COM &LPT) in device manager. If it lists elsewhere as a USB device and has the MediaTek DA USB VCOM driver assigned to it, then you need to uninstall the driver from the device listing and start again. Don't go looking for more drivers PLEASE!

Click for explanation

Ok I will digress again for a moment to explain why all this is so important and what many of us are not realising especially with all the tutorials around; the important point here is that MediaTek devices may be listed many numerous devices in device manager and this is normal. They could be an ADB android device, a MediaTek USB Port version etc and these are not the functions we want to use for flashing with SPFlashTool are they? I know when I plug in my Galaxy S3 it loads at least 5 different drivers! Same with these devices.

We need to have the (PORTS COM &LPT) registered as MediaTek DA USB VCOM and this ONLY achieved when we press the volume up button!! If the device disappears from the list after plugging it in and appears as something else and then we register the MediaTek DA USB VCOM driver to this function we are likely trying to use the MediaTek DA USB VCOM driver to load the MediaTek USB Port function and this is obviously NOT the protocol that SPFlashTool is using to communicate with the device to write new firmware.

Ok I will continue now, once you have got into the Upgrade Driver Software menu,

Go to 'Browse my computer for device software',

Then select the second option 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer', just choose the 'show all' at the top of the list

Next you *should* see MediaTek DA USB VCOM listed in amongst various MediaTek drivers., select this one.

* However if you do not see MediaTek DA USB VCOM listed in the list there then uncheck the box next to 'Show compatible drivers' and it should now show a few more drivers.

You may need to scroll in the right menu bar down to MediaTek.

You will be hit with an overwhelming list of MediaTek drivers! :eek: See Pic for reference

Select the required MediaTek DA USB VCOM driver from the list. If its not there (then and only then) you should try install another set of drivers and restart the process again. Try the drivers I have attached below first though.

At this point please resist the urge to click 'Have disk' then 'Browse' to and go scouting for a specific driver in the hopes that this will be the one; THIS IS WRONG! and should not be recommended like it is in just about every tutorial I have seen so far.

It's funny how even the drivers you previously removed are included in that list eh? You know...the ones that everyone told you, you need to delete bla bla bla...THEY ARE STILL THERE DAMN IT!

Once you have selected the driver as MediaTek DA USB VCOM and closed out of the menu you will notice that it has actually gone from the list in device manager? This is normal. The driver is only meant to appear when we do a specific thing and that is pressing the volume up button to write firmware using SPFlashTool and nothing else.

As I mentioned earlier, this is by design. You will note that MediaTek devices, have these protocols USB Mass Storage, MTP, PTP, ADB and COM &LPT.

Now unplug your device. I would at this point do a reboot of Windows (again ensuring unsigned drivers by pressing F8 - just incase)

Once you're back inside Windows, open device manager again.

Keep the device off and have the battery in.

Plug the MicroUSB end into the device first (it's easier - trust me you will understand when I explain).

Now keeping it switched off but press and hold the the volume up button and then plug the cable into the PC USB port; watch as it registers inside device manager as MediaTek DA USB VCOM.

When it does, disconnect the cable from the USB port. - You are now good to go :)

Now Open SPFlashTool.

Select the scatter file.

Uncheck the following from the list (Preloader, MBR1, EBR1, Uboot, Sec_Ro, Logo, EBR2 and FAT - note fat is for the internal sdcard). We want to write to system, recovery and boot pretty much. If you have ruined your device with the incorrect preloader,

Keep the device UNplugged. Click the download button. You will see the purple progress bar but for only a very brief moment. This is ok and is normal.

IF you have completely obliterated your device by flashing an incorrect preloader click below

I have been advised that you may need to first flash the Preloader, MB1, EBR1,Uboot and EBR2) to setup the partitioning again. The preloader I assume is similar to a PIT file for Samsung devices?

Now we do as we did before. Plug the MicroUSB end in first to your device. Have it switched off but with the battery in place. Press and hold the volume up + button and then plug the cable in to the PC USB port again.

At this point you will hear the device register with Windows as you normally would however you should notice that it doesn't disconnect straight away like it normally does?

This is because the MediaTek DA USB VCOM is registered to the PORTS COM &LPT and SPFlashTool is listening on this port.

Then shortly after progress with a Red/Orange bar.

It will pause for a what seems like a long time..... but please leave the device plugged in! [shouldn't be longer than 10min - if it is you've done something wrong, disconnect and do the process again and read making sure you understand every one of the points I have made in this post]

Once you see the yellow progress bar you can breath with relief.

Congratulations you have just revived your bricked device! :good:

Additional Info: After a reboot when you plug the device into the PC USB port again you should start to see Windows identify the extra protocols associated with your MediaTek device. I noted than this one I was working on appeared back as an MTP Portable device, also as an ADB Android device further up the list and as an MTK USB Port when the volume up button is pressed (I guess now Windows knows what it is it is assigning it a different driver?)