yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] freeusername:
I got this tablet as a present and i'm on latest firmware (A10-70F_S000121_151222), just got root ( kingroot, kingoroot,

whatever, didnt work ) but instead of using the flash tool i used fastboot :

I booted into bootloader, flashed recovery ( fastboot flash recovery recovery.img ), unplugged usb cable, turned off

the tablet ( if you boot it you lose the new recovery that allows you to install unsigned packages ), then volume + and

power, selected recovery from the menu, the new recovery appeared, plugged the usb cable, and then flashed BETA-SuperSU-v2.52.zip using adb sideload feature from the new recovery.

No problems.

Hope this helps those with problems with the flashtool.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Great tip and excellent explanation for the use of Fastboot mode! I presume you had your device in USB Debug mode for it to work successfully, what version of adb did you use?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
Fastboot and ADB (=USB Debug mode) are independent, you don't need one for the other.

In case somebody doesn't visit the other thread:

Auto-brightness (AAL) sucks and slows down your tablet, here's how you disable it.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] freeusername:
Ya i had usb debug mode on, but you wouldn't actually need to use adb at all, just fastboot since you can install SuperSu from storage through the new flashed recovery instead of using adb sideload like i did, and in that case, you wouldnt even need usb debug mode on nor adb anyways since you're either in the bootloader or recovery, and you can enter those modes with volume keys + power button, no need to boot on the tablet at all, except for copying the supersu zip to storage in advance if you choose that way.

adb version is the one from latest eclipse package.

If you have problems with drivers lenovo smart assistant app will install somes that might be needed.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Thanks, I wasn't sure about it. I guess I need to read a bit more about fastboot ;)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
Thanks I found it
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cg.voabc:
Is there a proven method to install the OTA updates when rooted with TWRP installed?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
no, the update does a root check and will fail.

you have to restore "stock" system and recovery with SPFT or TWRP if you have an untouched backup of those
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cg.voabc:
SuperSU has the ability to unroot the device but I don't think I kept a backup of stock recovery. I'll have to check on that.

Thanks!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
Maybe you could give me a hint?

how did you manage to flash recovery via fastboot?

I only get an error: ”sending ‘recovery’ (8106 KB)...

OKAY [ 0.269s]

writing 'recovery'...

FAILED (remote:

partition ‘recovery’ not support flash)”

how to unblock recovery partition?

using Mac OS El Capitan
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
[MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION] Is your tablet on Android 4.4 or Android 5? I did flash the recovery on mine with fastboot as described, and it worked without problems (using the Android 5 bootloader).
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION] I just got OTA update A10-70F_S000121_151222_ROW, Android 5.0.1.

installed adb and fastboot, pressed the power button with volume up, waited till menu appeared, chose “fastboot mode”, run “fastboot flash recovery recovery.img”. And got this error.

So there’s no need to use MTK preloader? (as sp flash tool flashes devices on windows)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
[MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION]

The preloader is the thing that runs first, before the bootloader, and that is used by the SPFT.

The bootloader, i.e. "LK" (little kernel), is the thing that runs second, provides that little menu if you keep volume up pressed, and also provides fastboot.

The boot or recovery image is the thing that runs third, after being loaded and executed by the bootloader.

I searched the bootloader for the error message you got, and only found it in the old one...

The thing is, the bootloader for this tablet has been updated between Android 4.4.4 and Android 5.0.1 (the preloader as well, but that's not relevant here). The problem is that you do not get the new loader by installing Lenovo's official OTA firmware update. It's just not included. You have to update it manually, from my or someone else's release.

So, it looks like your tablet originally came with Android 4 preinstalled. You used the OTA updates to upgrade to Android 5, and thus are still running the old LK bootloader, which apparently does not support fastboot flashing of the recovery.

You need to either root your tablet somehow, which would allow you to flash both bootloader and recovery from within Android, or you need to find a way to run SPFT (there's no Mac version, AFAIK, only Windows and Linux... maybe the latter would work, no idea).
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION] As far as I understand, I just need to find a way to proper get root on the tablet , flash latest preloader and bootloader using “dd” utility, and then I’ll be able to use fastboot functionality?

So there is only one way to root my device - to use preloader functionality with SPFT and flash custom recovery (TWRP)?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
[MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION] Yes, it is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. If you cannot use SPFT or fastboot to install a custom recovery, then you need root. But to get root, it's best to use a custom recovery...

You can use a one-click-tool like Kingroot to try and root your tablet. See the other thread for details.

Once you have root, you can backup and flash via "dd", yes. But be very careful with that, especially about the preloader. It doesn't have a direct link in /dev like some other partitions do (e.g. /dev/recovery). So you'd have to use /dev/block/mmcblk0boot0 with the "seek" option to skip the first 2048 bytes of the output (as discussed on some of the previous pages, the preloader is in the BOOT0 area, but that starts with a special 2KB header which must not be touched). Something like this might work:

su
dd if=/sdcard/preloader_hq8752_tb_b2b_l.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0boot0 bs=512 seek=4
# with a standard blocksize of 512 bytes, we need to skip 4 blocks to skip 2048 bytes
# not tested, use with care, or better not at all

The LK bootloader is /dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/lk.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION] I’ve tried all available methods and combinations to get root: fastboot, KingaRoot exe, KingaRoot apk, VirtualBox + win7(SPFT), Parallels+WinXP(SPFT), etc. And have read all information I was able to find on this forum (and other threads) and on russian pda forum regarding getting root rights.

SPFT gives me 1013 error (smth wrong with vcom), I was trying to enable virtual com ports as well, reinstalled drivers, os in vboxes, swaping usb cables, ports…

Maybe you can come up with some other ideas how to proceed?

Thank you.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
[MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION] Did you install the "SP_Drivers" from this thread? They are the USB VCOM drivers required by the SPFT. I have another version here which includes an installer. This VCOM driver should work in WinXP and it definitely works in Windows 7 and 8. For a 64 bit Windows, you first need to disable Driver Signature Enforcement (you can easily find guides how to do that).

Use the latest version of the SPFT.

Don't you know someone with a real Windows system rather than a VM? You could also try the Linux version of the SPFT, there are some Live-CD/DVD versions of Linux around that you can just boot and don't have to install.

Sorry, that's all I can do to help you.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] freeusername:
As explained below, its a different version of the bootloader. Can you try "fastboot boot recovery.img" instead ?, that would attempt to boot into recovery.img witout writing on the partition then you have a chance to install su from it, this doesn't work on newer bootloader thought and don't know if it will work on the old one but worth a try maybe. I had that situation on a Amazon Fire tablet.

Good Luck.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION] [MENTION=5888517]freeusername[/MENTION] I’ve tried all options you suggested, all in vain. Thank you anyway.

So I chose the other way, went back to the store, returned the tablet, ang got the new one with Android 4.4

Used KingRoot app and gained root permissions, installed TWRP ported by Tzul!

What is my next step in order to flash Android 5.0?

Assuming I can only use dd/TWRP/OTA.

I downloaded archive “A10-70F_S000121_151222_ROW”, and it has “system.new.dat” 2.08gb.

But I have my doubts that this is right firmware for dd or TWRP.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] freeusername:
Not sure, but be carefull, I belive if you use that update you will be back at where you been before because it wouldnt update the bootloader as Tzul said, but correct me if im wrong, my tablet came with 5.0 already and then updated it to A10-70F_S000121_151222 using settings->information->check update. But your case is different.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Sparkrite:
Good move ! :D

Download and flash ( using SPFT ) the following ROM, thanks to ClsA, ..........................................

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24352994023710089

Then flash the latest TWRP from Tzul and root from that and Voila, you're sorted. (or at least you should be). :)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
Now I’m on 150501 4.4 Android, I “forgot” to update to the latest 4.4 before getting root, so I’m trying to get the latest 4.4 at least (eventually I hope I’ll figure out how to update to 5.0).

The thing is that I tampered all system files already (shame on me) = root, core, new odex files, etc. and can’t install OTA 4.4 because of that. All these functions (apply_patch, apply_patch_check in updater_script) they check sha1. I was trying to update manually lenoota script (disabled recovery reflash, change sha1 checks), but this is hell a lot of work.

Does anybody have latest 4.4 update.zip which can be installed via TWRP? Not SFPT image, can’t use that.

---------- Post added at 01:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:02 AM ----------

The only one move I had, due to lack of windows machine =)

Options I have now - dd and TWRP, if I get the proper files to flash and offsets for dd, I would give it a try.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
The TWRP I have for Android 5 will flash an .img to what ever location i choose. Unfortunately this does not seem to work with the .bin file you need to flash.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lion567:
If you rename lk.bin to lk.img or uboot.img, it should work. TWRP simply masking filenames in install image menu and shows only *.img files.

[MENTION=5919159] Tzul[/MENTION], can you pay attention to your TWRP for Android 4 build issue, I've post in another thread?

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=64947887&postcount=112
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
Thanks again for your excellent reply, I for one have no use to flash the .bin file in TWRP but I thought it might work for [MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION].

Then I realized he needed both preloader.bin and LK.bin and the preload partition is not accessible from TWRP (or fastboot it seems). So at some point he still needs SPFT to get the full firmware update.

[MENTION=5073805]Megaco[/MENTION] I did upload a Stock rooted Twrp backup here >> https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24385658843824693

it includes the lk.bin that should get fastboot working for you
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
Thank you. I’m downloading it now.
[MENTION=2895182]clsA[/MENTION] Is that all I need in order to get Android 5.0?

[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION] Is that correct?

dd if=/sdcard/boot.img of= /dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/lk bs=512

Also you mentioned about preloader, do I still need to flash it

(dd if=/sdcard/preloader_hq8752_tb_b2b_l.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0boot0 bs=512 seek=4)

or can just leave my old one?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
Preloader can't be flashed by fastboot. Even if I could make it work in TWRP, it's not worth the risk.

No, should be "dd if=/sdcard/lk.bin of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/lk". No need to specify a blocksize there.

lk.bin is the bootloader (Little Kernel), boot.img is the Android boot image (Linux kernel + rootfs).

I just tried to flash the preloader this way, but it didn't work, dd reported "operation not permitted" for /dev/block/mmcblk0boot0, even though the device is flagged as writeable.

Since it looks like you don't have a choice anyway, you can keep your old preloader.

Edit: oh, and fastboot might have a limit on the file sizes it can transfer! That limit could be as low as 128 MB... meaning you can't really use it to flash system and userdata, because they are much larger than that. Not sure about this, let me know what happens if you try.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
Yes and it also contains the LK.bin backup
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Megaco:
I just had really an awkward experience )

Flashed new lk via dd, that allowed me to flash TWRP. I failed flashing system partition in fastboot mode (as Tzul sugested 128 mb limitation). So far so good. Then I restored TWRP backup (deselected lk, just in case, and data partitions) and everything went wrong. After successful restore I got almost dead tablet, only preloader kept working.

Why did it happen? I was hoping to have working lk at least.

Perhaps corrupted backup? How could TWRP ruin lk partition…

Anyway, I decided to begin from the beginning, installed VM box + Arch Linux + SPFT, and everything flashed flawlessly from the very first attempt.

I really appreciate all your help and suggestions!
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
I'm glad you got it all sorted out.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] loner.:
[emoji2]

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
lollipop update and carlivtouchrecovery

hello guys i patched my lenovo tab with carlivtouchrecovery mod to root my lollipop android. today i have an update confirmation from lenovo. it downloads and after reboot very fast i see a recovery debug messages and immediately the system boots back to android. the update was failed. what have i to do?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
Install/flash the matching stock recovery and system.img of your current version

My collection of files is here >> https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=46340
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
nice link idont know how to do it but ll try. where csn i find the system. img file?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] clsA:
in the firmware in the list... their just zip files

find you current version in settings / about / current version

download the corresponding firmware, extract it and flash just the system.img and recovery.img and now OTA will work

Also we no longer use the Carliv recovery, we have TWRP now use it instead
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
TWRP????
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] loner.:
Just Google it, its easier than asking.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
check the sister thread here it's got all the answers you seek :)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
thank you my babies. i ll be back soon

---------- Post added at 01:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------

this is great
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
hello guys . i moved back to stock recovery from carlivtouchrecovery to apply ota updates. i flashed with stock recovery.img but after system reboots to flash the update i get this error :

update.zip is not correct correct installation aborted
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
everything messed up with recovery patch. nothing str8 rootting this device. i patched kitkat firmware from the begging and upgrade to lollipop again. everything messed up. no ime, no signal, nv ram errors, no wifi . i have to root this device again and every time i ll do factory reset or firware upgrades i have to root and modify ime codes and mac addresses with the best complicated way, from the begging. i hate android.

best guide ever, http://thefirmwarehub.com/how-to-fix-invalid-imei-and-nvram-error/

mind the gap between AT and +EGMR
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Doing a factory reset won't do diddley squat if your system partition is already messed up, your only recourse is to flash the original ROM. You DO have a backup, don't you?

If you messed with with the nvram (that can happen if you flash with formatting - NEVER DO THAT) you're in trouble unless you have a backup of it, because you may not be able to get online afterwards, as the nvram stores your device's unique identifiers. Perhaps you could retrieve them from Lenovo using the serial number?

In any case I sure hope you get your problem sorted out.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
i didnt have a backup because i am totally new to android and i didnt know about ime codes, nvram data etc.

my tablet works fine now, but every time i have to do a factory reset i have to configure all this things from the begining, even with random hardware numbers.

i only have the ime code refers to the back side of the tablet. nothing else. i dont know how to retreive the original product numbers and codes from lenovo with my tablet serial number. totally thank u
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
I'm sorry you feel sore for finding out the hard way that formatting in SP Flash erases your device data. Have you tried getting the information from Lenovo customer support based on your device serial number?

Whatever you do when you flash NEVER select "Format" in SP Flash UNLESS you have a BACKUP OF NVRAM! THIS is the cause of your problem, and it has been documented extensively.

That being said, having a random MAC address is not the end of the world, but may cause validation problems with some sites.

If you use TWRP custom recovery, there is an option to back up the NVRAM partition. There are other tools that can do it as well but you'd have to dig around on xda-developers. This way you could simply restore the data should you require it later on.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dennmtr:
i ll never use recoveries in the future because i have problem with android updates. i formated the tablet because of this. kingroot now have strategy for a10-lollipop. i ll send an email support in lenovo site hope some day, month, year :) i ll have an answer . thank u. i think sp flash has option for backing up tablet/partitions . i havent check this

edit: why is my nvram settings returned back to null if i do factory reset ?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] defishinsea:
(Solved) Not able to flash stock firmware

Hi all,

I have a Lenovo TAB2 A10-70F and unfortunately I cannot flash the stock firmware using SP Flash Tools. Here you have the long story in a short version.

My tablet updated to Lollipop 5.0.1. I rooted the tablet using Kingroot, which was successful then I replaced the the Kingroot with SuperSu using the SuperSU Me app from the Google Play. After the installation the tablet required a reboot. And then my tablet wouldn't boot anymore. It stays at the logo screen forever. I've managed to go into recovery, did a data and cache wipe, but nothing happened. Fast boot is not working as well.

After reading a lot of tutorials I proceeded to flash a KitKat Rom. Downloaded the stock rom, SP Flash Tools, USB drivers and followed the steps as described in tutorials.

SP Flash Tools seems to work OK, but the flashing process stops after the red progress bar reaches 100%. After that nothing happens. I use Windows 8.1 and the latest USB drivers.

If you guys have any idea about what is going on please let me know. I love this tablet and I don't wanna see it thrown away in the garbage.

Thanks for your time and sorry if this is a double post or it's been answered somewhere else.

The problem was the version of SP Flash Tools I was using.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Hey, I just noticed this could help you updating if you're already rooted with a custom recovery: Go to the sister thread and check Tzul's solution to your dilemma that doesn't require a full flash here and there.

Or get over here and ask him directly ;)

---------- Post added at 00:21 ---------- Previous post was at 00:16 ----------

What version of SP Flash are you using? And what VCOM drivers? Could be as simple as an incompatible version of these two things.

Head on to the sister thread and follow instructions there. If you need further help, it's best to hang out there instead. This thread here has basically become stale ;)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] defishinsea:
I use this version of SP Flash: SP Flash Tool v5.1516

As regarding the drivers I cannot tell you what version I am using. I know that I downloaded them from one thread on XDA.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Yeah, you should update SPFT to the latest version, IIRC it's 5.1548 now. The sister thread has links to all the files you need.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] defishinsea:
Solved. It was the version of SP Flash Tools I was using. Thank you all for your kindness.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Hey, glad it helped :)
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] :
Is there any way to unlock bootloader of this device with fastboot? I don't have access to a computer running windows, so SP Flash Tools are off the limits for me.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
Yes you can, once rooted (I recommend SuperSU, but you can use Kingroot, but do try to replace it with SuperSU ASAP). Check the first post of the sister thread here, paragraph 3, item 10
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
The bootloader is unlocked. But if you have the old version, then it won't allow to flash most partitions via Fastboot. The new bootloader version, introduced with tablets that had Lollipop preinstalled, has better Fastboot support.

There's also a Linux version of the SPFT, by the way. To flash the new bootloader, you need SPFT, a custom recovery, or root.
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Old faithful:
I stand corrected - [MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]'s answer is the most technically accurate.

Beautifully said, Tzul! Wie meine Mutter immer sagt, "Man wird so alt wie eine Kuh und lernt immer noch dazu" :D
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] :
Which scatter file should I use then? The tablet is fully updated to some Android 5 version, but when I received it, it was 4.4. I've just tried to flash recovery with the fishy SPFT tool, but it didn't download any data to the device. I didn't install the usb drivers as I assume they are for Windows only. Are the steps for installing custom recovery from linux-based host any different to the ones linked by [MENTION=1454767]Old faithful[/MENTION]?
[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tzul:
[MENTION=1454767]Old faithful[/MENTION] Nice saying!

[MENTION=3704090]thejan2009[/MENTION] You can use any scatter file for the Tab 2 A10-70. There's one in the TWRP downloads, for example. Nothing of significance has changed in the scatter file between Kitkat and Lollipop, only project name and filename of the preloader.

Unfortunately I've never used the Linux version of SPFT myself, therefore I cannot help you with it.