yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=1454767]Old faithful[/MENTION]

Yes, I tried a different usb port, didn't help. I just rebooted after deleting the inf files, I will try reinstalling the driver shortly. Also could be an issue with the antivirus, disabling it usually doesn't stop it well enough, you have to uninstall.

Quite a few inf files though:

[IMG="Mediatek Driver Inf Files"]https://db.tt/KJ8m1rfb[/IMG]

---------- Post added 7th March 2016 at 12:09 AM ---------- Previous post was 6th March 2016 at 11:40 PM ----------

Well, I just tried reinstalling the vcom preloader driver and it does not work, SPFT does not recognize the device.

I do have other computers to try, but this ticks me off somewhat. This is an older Win 7 32 bit system that I double boot with Win 7 64 bit.
[Android General] Tzul:
(deleted)
[Android General] EZ-Poop:
That'd be awesome! :fingers-crossed:
[Android General] nannycrick:
Thanks for the Intel on the "driver cleaning" issues. Since SP Flash tool isn't really working to unbrick my old RCA Pro II 10" tablet, I'm going to try some of this info to get Win10 to run the Flash Tool. The rct6203w46l was new and quit after less than two months service. I sent it back. Got a new one, and that one quit after it loaded the update. They sent me a rooted tablet with no "visible" superuser installed. Taking their update bricked it. It's out of warranty, and I bought the Tab2 to replace it. I'm still trying to unbrick it! You guys have given me new hope!
[Android General] EZ-Poop:
Many thanks for those pics + info, but I'm still unsure how to get it right...

For readback, by default, the path is like this "D:\...\ROM3" and you changed it to e.g. "D:\...\proinfo.bin".

Please explain why and what difference it makes.
[Android General] charlestek:
Can't get Vcom Preloader working with SPFT

I've tried two Win 7 Systems, one 32 bit, one 64 bit, on a dual boot of an older Asus Maximus Formula system I have. Deleted all the com drivers, used UsbOblivion to delete all the usb preloads, used usbdeview.

Used different Usb ports, different cables, unistalled the antivirus, and stood on my head and screamed.

Any other diagnostic I can use?

Vcom Preloader installed successfully, but says device not connected. Even if I disconnect and reconnect the usb cable, it will get redetected, then show not connected and I've tried two versions of SPFT, 5.1548 and 5.1552

I will have to try my Win 10 laptop next, but I'm not holding my breath.

[IMG="Device Manager with ghost drivers"]https://db.tt/oc298IDy[/IMG]
[Android General] Tzul:
[MENTION=7313452]EZ-Poop[/MENTION] It's a better, more descriptive file name.

If you use a digital camera to take a photo of a cat, for example, the camera will store the file with a name like "IMG_7120.jpg", but wouldn't you agree that something like "Cat01.jpg" might be better? It's nice when the file name tells you what the file actually contains...

That's why backing up the PROINFO partition to "proinfo.bin" is better than "ROM_3". Note that in my example image, I've only selected two partitions for readback, therefore I've set the file names only for them. If you select more partitions, you should set their output file names, too, of course.

[MENTION=7184758]charlestek[/MENTION] What exactly happens when you connect the tablet to the PC (tablet being turned off)?

Do you get the "USB device connected" sound effect in Windows, followed shortly by the "USB device disconnected" sound effect?

In your screenshot, the COM devices are translucent (=disconnected). Does one of them turn briefly solid when you connect the tablet?

On my machines, I don't have this "MTK USB Port" entry, by the way. Only "MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM Port".

Just recently I installed "my" driver on my Win 8.1 notebook, and had zero problems. Well, first it didn't work, because I forgot to disable driver signature enforcement. So, I disabled it, installed the driver again, rebooted, and it worked.
[Android General] fearlorhack:
Yea

V7A cihazımdan Tapatalk kullanılarak gönderildi
[Android General] charlestek:
?Connect usb with Volume Down held down?

Even more interesting is this:

http://mattboyer.github.io/PYaffs/2014/07/31/Hacklog%233.html

(Apparently this guy is using Linux)

Connectivity with the phone

When the phone is up and running Android, it reports itself as a HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.) Android Phone with the USB Vendor/Product ID pair 0bb4:0c03. This is the USB device that the Android SDK tools talk to.

Getting the dumps is done through a different process that involves a good deal of messing around with USB devices.

If the phone is connected while it is powered off, then a USB device with the VID/PID pair 0e8d:2000 and the description string MediaTek Inc. MT65xx Preloader appears on the USB root hub. This device is transient and is seen for a period time shorter than 3 seconds. It's a blink-and-you-miss-it deal:

If, on the other hand, the phone is connected while it is powered off and the Volume Down key is held down, then a device with VID/PID 0e8d:0003 (MediaTek Inc. MT6227 phone) is seen on the USB root hub and remains active as long as the phone is plugged in and therefore can actually be used to get something to/from the phone:

---------- Post added at 11:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

I just tried connecting to usb while the volume down key is held down, the tablet boots into "Factory Kit Test",

which has a menu listing:

"Full Test"

"PCBA Test"

"Item Test"

I have no idea what these do, nor am I going to try, you can just hit the power button and shut the tab down.

Connecting while holding the volume down for less time, may or may not do something else...??
[Android General] Tzul:
No, most likely not.

And yes, one shouldn't play around with those factory modes.

Sorry to see you having so much trouble with this.

I happen to have an old desktop PC around, with Windows 7 (64 bit) installed, and it never had the MediaTek driver installed.

I just switched on that PC, hammered F8 to bring up the boot menu, and disabled driver signature enforcement.

After Windows had booted, I downloaded and extracted my zip file, ran "install_driver.exe" from it, and confirmed Windows' unsigned driver dialog (install anyway).

Then I connected the tablet (turned off). Windows recognized the new device and searched the driver for it. Took quite a while - the PC is old and slow. Windows reported an error at the end, because the preloader had long disconnected again. So I removed the USB cable, plugged it in again (same USB port), then the driver was found.

Started the SPFT, made a readback of the NVRAM partition for testing, worked flawlessly.

No messing around with test mode, inf files, etc. required...
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

Interesting, sometimes when I would run install_driver.exe it would say it installed the XP driver instead of Win 7, then sometimes Win 7.

It could very well be the intel usb chips in this machine are weird. Or the Tab 2 has bad hardware/firmware. I tried two different usb ports, but did not try a 3rd.

I will next try on my Win 10 64 bit laptop, using drivers from here : http://laurentiumihet.ro/technology/windows-10-mtk-vcom-usb-drivers-for-32-64-bit-drivers-installation-tutorial/

I may be able to use Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider on Win 10 instead of having to go through all the stuff to get to test mode:

http://www.ngohq.com/?page=dseo

I have tried both test mode of Windows using bcdedit set TESTSIGNING ON, and used the F8 boot menu to disable driver signature enforcement. Neither made any difference on the Win 7 32 and 64 bit OS's on this Asus motherboard:

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/loading-unsigned-drivers-in-windows-7-and-vista-64-bit-x64/2/
[Android General] charlestek:
Can't get SPFT to run on Win10 either

[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

I installed Win 10 Vcom preloader drivers, plugged in the powered off Tab 2, and tried SPFT and again, nothing happens.

The only thing I can conclude is that ?perhaps the preloader in the tablet is damaged?

The tablet runs fine otherwise, though I never did update to the first KitKat patch.

Is there a program I can run in the tablet to verify the integrity of the preloader code?

Since I can't get SPFT to work, there is no way I can reflash the tablet at all.

I could try to do a recovery, can you remind me if the recovery has any dependency on the preloader code?

---------- Post added at 06:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 AM ----------

Ok,

I guess I should get pointy dumb cap and sit in the corner for awhile.

The key to doing a Readback (Mind you I never have done a Flash, nor needed or wanted to yet_)

is to have the usb cable to the Tab 2 disconnected first. Click the green Readback arrow, THEN PLUG THE USB CABLE IN.

Then the preloader connects for the initial 2 seconds and handshakes with SPFT and does the readback.

Even though I have read the instructions for doing a flash many times, it is counter-intuitive that the Usb Cable must be disconnected first, THEN you click the DOWNLOAD OR THE READBACK ARROW with SPFT , and THEN AND ONLY THEN CONNECT THE USB CABLE.

You would think that the SPFT devs might have a mechanism for toggling the Usb connection instead of this sequence, but it is what it is.
[Android General] Old faithful:
I can't believe it... Or rather, yes, I do. Sometimes the most obvious things are the things we totally ignore and can't seem to see no matter what we do. Reminds me of the time I looked for my glasses for over an hour until I realized I was wearing them ;)

Oh, and the very first post specifically states to click download and only then plug the device in ;). Easy to say with hindsight, right? We're just as guilty for never having thought about it ;)

Happy Flashing!
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=1454767]Old faithful[/MENTION]

Thank you.

You mean Happy Readbacking! :)

Since I never intended to do a flash or want to accidently overwrite or write anything yet, the instructions weren't exactly something to follow as they are meant for downloading(flashing). And no matter what anyone says, the process is very counterintuitive, as one who uses any other software, would not be having commonly the train of thought with the SPFT GUI, as it is presented in front of you.

The scatter file had at least 10 sections if not more, and I had individually named each section in the start/end hex dialog, then individually clicked Readback and connected and disconnect the usb cable for each section. I did realize after 4 sections, that apparently (I think) you can specify the saved filename for each section going down the list to the bottom, then check all the sections, then do just one connect of the usb cable, but I didn't fool with that.

Per Tzul, I could readback the entire rom as one file, but I first would have to open his scatter file text and add the lengths of each hex memory section (the preloader and pgpt sections overlap) in hex to get the overall length of the whole memory, so I could then readback it as one entire block only.

When you are doing a download(flash) then you just check off all the sections you want loaded, with readback, you have to enumerate the filename of each section first.
[Android General] Shawn2shine:
skimmed through but didn't find solid confirmation. Anyone running Xposed on Lollipop?
[Android General] Tzul:
[MENTION=4543755]Shawn2shine[/MENTION] Yes, several people here, including me, run Xposed on Lollipop. Read the first post of this thread.
[Android General] charlestek:
A few other questions

[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

So I noticed that the listed memory blocks in SPFT that are loaded by the scatter file are different

in the table for theDownload function vs the Readback function, as the Readback function has many more memory blocks.

You wrote elsewhere, (I don't remember where) that in Download/Flash that only certain blocks are allowed to be flashed, I think in Kitkat, but they

changed that in ? Lollipop? --- Could you comment?

Also, from reading other posts in various forums from people trying to flash their tablet back to KitKat, they keep mentioning problems loosing the ? IMEI or perhaps ??Mac Address of the wireless, that was built into the machine if they use stock recoveries. Could you address that. Since I don't have the "L" model, I wouldn't have to worry about IMEI, but I want to make sure there aren't any other landmines.

I am at the point that I now can consider upgrading to the latest Lollipop base, then the ?3 Incremementals, but would do so only if I am certain I can flash back to KitKat without other issues.
[Android General] cheryanne:
I rooted and installed on lollipop.
[Android General] Tzul:
Let's call the memory blocks partitions. Yes, the download page lists only those partitions that are marked with "is_download: true" in the scatter file.

You can easily change that by editing the scatter file (e.g. the NVRAM is normally "is_download: false", so if you want to restore a backup of this partition, you need to change this flag to "true" first). Just make sure that you don't set "is_download: true" for a partition that has "is_reserved: true".

I don't know what you mean. If you mean the partitioning: the partitioning of this device didn't change from Kitkat to Lollipop. The only difference in the "Android4" and "Android5" scatter files is the project name (a "_l" was appended to it), and the preloader's filename (because it contains the project name). That's insignificant.

Theoretically, you can flash all partitions you like (maybe even the "is_reserved" ones, if you change the scatter file accordingly). But practically, you don't need to flash partitions that aren't marked as "is_download" by default, and of course you should flash as little as necessary.

Some people made the big mistake of using the SPFT in "Format All + Download" mode. One guide in the official Lenovo forums even explicitly instructed people to use that mode to downgrade to Kitkat (I've taken care of that and informed the moderators). "Format All" does exactly what it says and wipes the entire EMMC, and afterwards only flashes those partitions that are "is_download: true". Since the NVRAM partition is not, people lost their WLAN and Bluetooth MAC addresses (and in case of the A10-70L, also the IMEI), because all that is in there.

Well, if you've "read back" all your current partitions to your PC, then you should be good to go.

You don't need to bother with incremental updates. There's a full "type 1" update for the latest A10-70F firmware, A10-70F_S000121_151222_ROW (the upgrade app on your tablet should find and install this one). I've also made an SPFT package for that version. In my German thread, you can find all official firmware links (even if you don't know German, the link list shouldn't be hard to decipher).

The main difference between the official update and my SPFT package is that the latter includes more partitions, like the new preloader and bootloader, which you won't get otherwise.
[Android General] Old faithful:
It will never be repeated enough and you really deserve all the kudos of this community for alerting the community to this very important fact when people started playing with it when it came out about a year ago. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

As usual, an excellent post again. I tip my hat to you, sir and drink to your good health. Prosit! :beer::beer::beer::beer:
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

Thank you again for the detailed explanation and your valuable time in writing it out.

With regard to the full type 1 update downloads listed, I will have to search my tablet to find out where they download the updates. It must be in a specific directory, and I remember also reading somewhere that you can access a downloaded update loaded on a microSD card.

Otherwise, as long as your package doesn't have the Lollipop GUI with German text characters (I presume not, but I would think in Germany they would want that anyway??)

I can use SPFT to flash that.

Thanks again.
[Android General] Tzul:
[MENTION=1454767]Old faithful[/MENTION] Thanks! :)

[MENTION=7184758]charlestek[/MENTION] I don't remember where the official upgrade app stores the downloaded updates. You can always download them manually, store them anywhere on the tablet, then boot into the stock recovery and install the update yourself. The upgrade app simply automates that.

No, the SPFT package is not German. It contains the exact same system partition as the official update, and empty cache and userdata partitions. If you flash those, you're basically doing a "factory reset", deleting all your user-installed apps, all settings, and all user files in the internal storage. Meaning the tablet will boot up "unconfigured" like the first time, set to the default language (English). You can choose to not overwrite the userdata partition, to keep all your settings and user apps & files. But in this case, stepping from one major Android version to another, I'd recommend to start with a clean slate, just to avoid potential problems.

Another reminder (forgot to mention it last post): the scatter file for this tablet intentionally contains a wrong, small size for the userdata partition ("partition_size: 0x49c00000"), because that way, the same scatter file can be used for both the 16 GB and 32 GB editions of the tablet. That means your readback of the userdata partition will be incomplete. So, to create a complete backup of this partition, you can either adjust your scatter file, or the "length" value of this partition's readback section in the SPFT; the full size is 0x313580000 for the 16 GB edition, 0x6b7380000 for the 32 GB edition. Or you can use other means to backup the data of this partition - the user files in the internal storage can be copied via a normal USB data connection, and apps and their settings can be backed up with Titanium Backup (root), for example. TWRP can also be used.
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

Per your instructions on userdata, I was just looking at the partition tables in SPFT. I corrected the scatter file.

However, userdata only appears in the alternating green and white table under "Download", it does not appear in the "Readback" tab.

Is_download: true, but apparently that maybe doesn't apply to "Readback"??? cache is the last entry in the "Readback" partition table.

option.ini does have

[ ReadBack]

ShowByScatter=true

as you instructed with the newer edition of SPFT

So therefore I did not manually enter each partition in the readback table. Why it skips userdata is strange.

partition_index: SYS21

partition_name: userdata

file_name: userdata.img

is_download: true

type: EXT4_IMG

linear_start_addr: 0x8f800000

physical_start_addr: 0x8f800000

partition_size: 0x313580000

region: EMMC_USER

storage: HW_STORAGE_EMMC

boundary_check: true

is_reserved: false

operation_type: UPDATE

reserve: 0x00

[IMG="Readback Partition Table"]https://db.tt/zrunfuU0[/IMG]
[Android General] Tzul:
"is_download" only controls what appears on the download page.

You're right, the userdata partition is not listed automatically on the readback page by the new "ShowByScatter" feature. I haven't noticed that before.

You'll have to add it manually on the readback page: "Add" button, double-click new entry, set output filename, set start address to 0x8f800000, set length to 0x313580000 (or 0x6b7380000 for 32 GB).

Since the userdata partition is at least 14 GB in size, this kind of backup will become quite bloated, which is why I prefer to save the userdata in other ways, as described before.
[Android General] nannycrick:
On a different note...I'm finally done tweaking this tablet. I have Apex Launcher Pro installed, DCIkons from XDA or Google Play installed, and my wallpaper collection from Windows Themes. I use DCIkonz.zip from the XDA forum. Download into my pc, unzip, choose what I need, move the icons into an ICONS folder I made on my sd card, and I get all the glorious icons I need without the unused icons eating up memory space. DCIkons offers downloadable icon templates to make any custom icons for your own use! I have only nine out forty two icons that are stock. I custom made/altered the rest! My wallpapers are Garden Glimpses2 by Ragan Das of DeviantArt courtesy of Windows Themes @ microsoft.com. My 10" tablet looks just as beautiful as my 27" HP AIO! Great stuff! I'm sticking to Kitkat for now. I don't want to have to retweak! Whew!
[Android General] charlestek:
[MENTION=5919159]Tzul[/MENTION]

I tried what you suggested above in Red. It took probably at least an hour to dump the memory into a file on the Windows PC. Xfer rate is pretty slow.

However, if I wanted to reload/flash that file back onto the Tab 2, I'd have to create my own scatter file. So I tried something like the below, but SPFT refused to load it saying there is an error (of course it doesn't say what the error is.

In any case, per your most recent post, it probably is better off using readback with the original scatter file that has the many individual partitions, except adding and correcting the userdata partition. Creating a scatterfile is obviously undocumented.

############
#
# General Setting
#
############################################################################################################
- general: MTK_PLATFORM_CFG
info:
- config_version: V1.1.2
platform: MT6752
project: huaqin8752_tb_b2d_kk
storage: EMMC
boot_channel: MSDC_0
block_size: 0x20000
############################################################################################################
#
# Layout Setting
#
############################################################################################################

partition_index: SYS0
partition_name: entirerom
file_name: afterkitkat_incremental.img
is_download: true
type: NORMAL_ROM
linear_start_addr: 0x0
physical_start_addr: 0x0
partition_size: 0x313580000
region: EMMC_USER
storage: HW_STORAGE_EMMC
boundary_check: true
is_reserved: false
operation_type: UPDATE
reserve: 0x00
[Android General] Tzul:
[MENTION=7184758]charlestek[/MENTION] Trying to flash back that monolithic file is a bad idea for several reasons. First, you should minimize writes to flash memory because of its limited write endurance. Second, you might overwrite partitions that should be left alone (e.g. the "flashinfo" partition - if it is what I think it is). Third, the SPFT won't allow it, as you've discovered.

Your "fake" scatter file is rejected for some unknown reason (perhaps the SPFT requires the presence of certain standard partitions). But even if you could circumvent that, there'd be a second roadblock later. Each time before you download/flash something, the SPFT checks the partition table on the device against the info from the scatter file, and if there's a significant mismatch, it shows an error and refuses to proceed. That's what the "Firmware Upgrade" mode is for: it takes the partitioning from the scatter file and writes the new partition table to the device. But you definitely don't want that to happen in your case.

Long story short: if you do a "monolithic" readback, you need a means to split that single file into individual partitions. If you don't have that, you're better off using the "scattered" readback that saves each partition to its own file.