yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
I'm hoping someone can offer some guidance as to how to troubleshoot my almost-bricked phone. I couldn't create a scatter file, so was never able to back it up before trying to flash the stock firmware (which wasn't successful). I have TWRP installed but I've been unsuccessful in installing any custom or stock ROMs. The phone is a Vodafone Smart Mini 7 (code name VFD 300), which I believe is practically the same as a Pixi 4(4). The output of "cat /proc/cpuinfo" shows:

Hardware : MT6580M
Revision : 0000

I think the voltage might be a little low or something like that, because when I connect to USB, the VCOM port comes and goes repeatedly once every two seconds or so, which is too quick for most tools (eg MTKDroidTools) to work. Not even the Mobile Upgrade tool works on it, instead giving a message saying "read terminal information failed" and suggests I remove the battery and try again. I've tried two different computers, and different USB ports on each computer, with the same disappointing results.

The only two tools that work for me are SP Flash Tool and adb. I've tried to flash a copy of the Vodafone VFD 300 firmware containing the scatter file and a bunch of IMG files. That got me the Vodafone boot animation, but after 6 hours of a turning circle, I suspect it's not going to finish booting. I found another Alcatel 4034D firmware for use in SPFT but that wouldn't even start to boot.

I downloaded zip files for Omni, RR, CM13, LineageOS 13, and Pix4-4 Stock, to install in TWRP. In many cases the ROMs wouldn't even install. For some ROMs, I was able to check the recovery log and the tombstone files and sort out some problems (eg making symlinks to missing dirs), with only partial success.

With CM13, I did once manage to have it booting to the setup screen, but as soon as the boot anim was finished, the screen went very dark, except for a white light shining from just behind the bottom right corner. (During this, "adb logcat" showed plenty of output.) That is, until I took out the USB cable, at which point the screen went even darker, and probably black because I couldn't see anything. I've since flashed other ROMs to see if they fared better, and now that I've one back to CM13, it no longer goes past the boot animation.

It seems that installing ROMs from ZIP files (in TWRP) causes the recovery to be replaced by something that's broken, at which point, I have to use SPFT to re-flash just the recovery partition with TWRP.

What works for me? SPFT seems to work fairly reliably. Also adb works to get a shell in TWRP. And I can also get the phone into fastboot mode and use the fastboot tool to do some things.

Interestingly (but not sure that it's relevant), I cannot do oem unlock, and I get a "not allowed" type message on the phone. I never enabled unlocking in the OS when it was working so I might not be able to get around that problem. I hope I don't need to.

What I'm hoping for is a way to diagnose the boot process to see why the ROMs are not booting beyond the boot anim. I can't seem to find any log files for CM13 that might shed some light on why it's never finishing its boot sequence.
[Android General] kirito9:
Restore your backup, reboot then boot to recovery again and flash the SuperSU zip.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i falshed it it made my phone stuck on alcatel word and doesnt want to open
[Android General] kirito9:
After flashing the Vodafone SPFT files, boot to recovery and perform a factory reset, then reboot.
[Android General] kirito9:
Restore the system and boot partitions only and reboot recovery then flash this SuperSU https://mega.nz/#!CJZX1aYY!OVHuwBa-hCmpRsG4FtqQh0_4usbgcwFnYeZjeAThC7k.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i restored the entire backup i dont konw how to restore boot partions only ?
[Android General] kirito9:
Ok, no problem. Flash the SuperSU I sent.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
when i try to make bakeup again it say failed and this happen the entire backup is failed and the system space size dercreased it was 2 giga it is now 3 mega
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i didnt flash it yet i want to make a backup first
[Android General] kirito9:
This is because you made a backup before, delete ONLY the ones that are not working! Restore only the proper one. You do not need to create a backup every time simply restore.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
its finally done BRO i have succesfully rooted my phone i cant epress how you helped me thank uuu:fingers-crossed::laugh::laugh::laugh:

but when i want to enter the recovery mode what will i do when i enter the recovery again manulally it says no command
[Android General] kirito9:
You can express it by hitting the thanks button ;). Use a root explorer and go to the system partition and rename this file recovery-from-boot.p.bak. Go back and reboot recovery to see if TWRP remains.
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
Thanks for helping. :good:

OK, I've done that just now. It's now showing the turning circle boot anim. How long should I wait before trying something else?
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i found the file rename it with what ?

---------- Post added at 10:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

i renamed this file with ( recovery-from-boot.p)

and restart the phone still no recovery

should i try to flash it with a flasher such as flashify

the recovery that u gave me early
[Android General] kirito9:
You can either delete or rename. Hold on it until options show up and choose to rename. Then add a .bak extension to it.
[Android General] kirito9:
Give it 10 mins.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i renamed it then restarted the mobile to recovery still no command the i gone to this file again it is back to its orginal text and name
[Android General] kirito9:
Flash the recovery with flashify and see if it stays there, if not, remove the file completely.
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
It's now been 20 minutes, but it's still on the boot animation. What can I try now?
[Android General] kirito9:
You can try searching another firmware, this should boot. Only how it wouldn't boot is because something in the /system partition, because it went as far as the boot animation.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i flashed it with flashify it stayed thank u bro

my brother got the same phone can i made him root with the same steps ?
[Android General] kirito9:
Yup. I updated the guide from the original post so you can just use that. Read carefully as you'll see specific steps for the Pixi Plus Power (5023).
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
OK. Just in case, I've re-flashed and I'm trying again with the same firmware, but so far it's been about 30 minutes and the wheel is still spinning.

Also, I found another firmware on needrom.com that I'm downloading now, and I'm hoping it will work.

I should be able to flash a custom ROM for any MT6580? Like RR? These would have a different /system and so they should work?
[Android General] kirito9:
You should be able to flash those but you will have to port the kernel as it wasn't exactly meant for your device.
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
Can I copy/flash a kernel from the stock ROM? I'm guessing that's the "lk" partition that shows in SPFT?

I'm flashing a different ROM now - the system file is a different size which is good. All the others are too, so possibly an older version of the firmware. I recall an OTA update came out recently. Anyhow, hoping this flash works...

Also, I'm unticking "preloader" when I flash with SPFT, because if the preloader breaks, I'm screwed. Is this the right thing to do?
[Android General] kirito9:
That is indeed the right thing to do. Never flash the preloader if you don't have to. The "lk" is the littlekernel, the kernel is usually in the boot.img along with the ramdisk folder that's necessary to load all the files for your device to boot. If you have the stock ROM that boots, then you have the kernel that can be used for porting when porting another ROM for MT6580.
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
Didn't work. I got the same turning circle for more than an hour.

Those were the only two stock ROMs I could find on the interwebs. I'm beginning to think it's a problem on my phone (although it's weird that the CM13 ROM worked OK for me). What else can I try?

I seem to recall, on one of my first attempts to flash a stock or Pixi 4(4) ROM with SPFT that it gave a message maybe about the partitions or something (I don't recall exactly), but I felt compelled to tick the "Format All + Download" option in SPFT. Should I be doing this when re-flashing these stock ROMs?

Is it possible that I've stuffed up the partition table by doing this, and need to repair it? I could flash TWRP and use adb to investigate further, but I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.

---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 AM ----------

Well I tried this, re-flashing with the same ROM that I downloaded this morning but had failed earlier. This time it's got to the point where it's optimising packages. This'll take a while, but it's a really good sign. Very happy! Might be an older firmware that could do with an upgrade, so I'm hoping an OTA works OK.

I plan to flash TWRP recovery and do a nandroid backup.

Before I repeat this mistake in the future, I'd like to know how I can backup the phone if I can't make a scatter file?

It seems I did bad when I flashed the CM13 ROM. How can I do it the right way? Or perhaps it would have gone all good had I not used "format all + download" when flashing the stock ROM.

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

and it did!

This flashed OK, and I was able to go into the new recovery, but after booting the OS, the recovery had been reverted. That's fine, I can always use SPFT to temporarily flash TWRP whenever I need to.
[Android General] kirito9:
So as it stands, you have back your original vodafone ROM? Make a nandroid backup like you said, to fix the TWRP being replaced upon reboot, delete this file (recovery-from-boot.p) from /system while in TWRP using the File Manager found in Advanced.

To make a backup without a scatter file, you can use Miracle Box tool located here along with a guide : here
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i want to install xposed can u help me how or send me the link thanks
[Android General] kirito9:
Here you go, read everything carefully. Xposed for Marshmallow is 23. https://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
Yes, thankyou very much!

I'll do this, thanks.

I tried using Miracle Box in the very beginning, but it would never connect to the phone quickly enough before the preload disconnected. I suppose I can use the scatter file that came with the stock ROM I've installed?

So what's next? I'd like to get a better ROM on the phone. Is it just a matter of unpacking the boot.img from the ROM, and replacing the kernel file?
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i tried to falsh this yesterday it failed

---------- Post added at 01:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------

when i try to falsh any thing any zip error mounting system and it isnt installed
[Android General] kirito9:
Can I see a screenshot.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
also when i try to back the system error mounting system
[Android General] kirito9:
Connect the device to a PC and open the command window or terminal and type adb pull /tmp/recovery.log. Upload the recovery.log to me.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
like this ?
[Android General] kirito9:
This isn't the adb log but yes attach it like that.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
what u want me to type to get the recovery log ?
[Android General] kirito9:
I already posted what to type.... but here again.

adb pull /tmp/recovery.log
[Android General] kirito9:
No. Leave the device in TWRP and connect the device to the PC then use the adb commands.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
sorry for not understanding i got it
[Android General] kirito9:
System says 3mb used..how? Does the device boot?
[Android General] ziadmz99:
the device work normally i dont know how but when try to flash or even male a backup it says cant mount system but the old back up that i made it before the root it was fine it was 2 giga
[Android General] kirito9:
System seems corrupted then, you'll have to format but before doing that, make sure you have the old backup of the system partition. Do not format the system partition unless you have a backup and triple check!
[Android General] ziadmz99:
the old backup have everything do u need me to wipe every thing or restore the old back up
[Android General] kirito9:
If you wipe everything, you'll have to re-root. So it's up to you.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
hey i format the wiped and factory reset my mobile from the twrp recovery my phone got unrooted then i rooted it anyway the same proplem i had didnt solved the system is 3 mega and i cant flash anything .system cant be mounted error please help
[Android General] kirito9:
Restore everything back to stock and see if you have the same problem in TWRP.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i restored it to stock in the first time

the twrp image were gone and the root was gone every thing was gone i told u i have factory reset every thing like a new phone
[Android General] kirito9:
And you still had the error in the TWRP about mounting the system?
[Android General] ziadmz99:
yes and it still 3 mega

look in the attachment of the previous comment
[Android General] kirito9:
Try the mobile upgrade tool from Alcatel.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
this ????
[Android General] kirito9:
This http://www.alcatel-mobile.com/global-en/support/softwareUpgrade/list. Search for your device or get any for the Pixi 4 and download then look for your device in the drop down list.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
it is not in the list
[Android General] kirito9:
Rename the system.bin that you backed up with miracle box and rename to system.img, copy it to the SD Card. Boot to TWRP recovery, go to install then choose install image, locate the system.img.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
i delete the backup from the mircale box by mistake

anyway can i backup it from my brother phone it is the same phone tgen i falsh ut to my mobile ?
[Android General] kirito9:
Yes, never delete your backups.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
ok i will try and tell u the result thanks for helping

should i backup all of them again ?
[Android General] kirito9:
Yep.
[Android General] ziadmz99:
it work bro the system is back to its original size thanks bro but when i try to flash it work but when i get into exposed it say install the framework

---------- Post added at 10:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 PM ----------

it was my fault and i have installed xposed:) i have done it bro thanks for helping nice to chat with u bro :o:o:D
[Android General] kirito9:
You're welcome, are you gonna ask about custom ROMs next? lol. Nice chat with you too +1 experience for me :silly:.
[Android General] kirito9:
[MENTION=2145275]jezzaaaa[/MENTION] Thanks for the ad-free, much appreciated :).
[Android General] jezzaaaa:
It's the least I can do. Before I first posted in this thread, I noticed that you have a reputation for being very helpful and kind. I concur!

If I manage to make a working ROM for my "VFD 300", is it useful to share it somewhere? There's no thread on XDA or community for such things, which is why I ended up in this thread.

Last question: How can I learn about all this stuff (repartitioning, compiling kernels, making ROMs, etc, etc) without hijacking a thread like this and taking it off-topic? Is there a thread for asking questions of knowledgeable developers such as yourself?
[Android General] kirito9:
Thanks, I like helping others :). This thread is where I started off then went on my own then came back. I read from the start of the thread to get a general idea, most of the stuff is old like for ICS/JB and KK kernels. I have a device with stock JB which got an unofficial update to KK with the 3.4.67 kernel. I started out porting ROMs (they failed to boot everytime lol) then tried compiling recoveries (failed) took a break from all that, came back and mastered it somewhat. Most important thing is patience when doing this stuff. I don't have this device lol and it's the 2nd thread I created and maintain and I don't have the device lol. I just use my knowledge of previous devices and also my MT6572 device to make things work :silly:. Googling helped also.

You can ask here as well as I'm sure others would like to know, or I can maybe create a separate Q&A thread and users can post there.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Well I was flashing TWRP, but the thing is that I saw it wasn't working so I tried CTR with and ended up with the same message.
[Android General] kirito9:
Figured out a few days ago, use fastboot boot ctr.img or twrp.img and then take your nandroid backup. Root your device by flashing superSU then go to advanced in TWRP menu then file manager. Go to system and remove this file (recovery-from-boot.p). Reboot system and enjoy TWRP and root access!
[Android General] LowTension:
Modded SuperSU(No more bootloops :v)

Finally i can root with SuperSU my Pixi 4(5) without doing many things, just you need flash it in a custom recovery and enjoy :p

Note: If you already rooted your Pixi4(5) with phh's superuser, you need to flash unSU zip before to flash this modded SuperSU

I tested only my Pixi4(5) 5010G, if you have another pixi 4 model can you test but at your own risk

Thanks to Doogee x5 users for this SuperSU.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Uhmm... correct me if I'm wrong I'm new at this stuff but I thought that you need to have root access to have nandroid backup?
[Android General] LowTension:
Before to rooting your device can you make a nandroid backup in custom recovery mode.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Yeah but the point is that I can't go to my custom recovery, because it just switches me to my stock recovery.
[Android General] kirito9:
I said before to use the command fastboot boot twrp.img. Which would take you to the TWRP recovery. Please read before replying.
[Android General] kirito9:
Thanks, added to the 2nd post.
[Android General] stephencc20:
Assistance

Hey kirito9, I see that in the Pixi 4 ROMs, there is CyanogenMod 13. There is a link for Pixi 4 (5) 3G, but not 4G. If I installed the 3G version, would it run properly?
[Android General] carcinus:
1 sim

---------- Post added at 09:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 AM ----------

Alcatel OneTouch Pixi 4 (4) Stock Rom - SP Flash Tool

https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B6R3UoULhg3cMmpUZVc4c0ZmbXM&export=download
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
I'm sorry for not paying attention on your last post, but I still have this problem when I use fastboot twrp.img, it brings me all sorts of commands If you can please help me that would be great because like I said I'm still new to this stuff.

Picture: http: // imgur .com/a /TCV9a (remove the spaces)

[IMG="What should I choose?"]http://imgur.com/a/TCV9a[/IMG]
[Android General] kirito9:
Unfortunately it wouldn't run at all. The 4G version had a completely different SoC.
[Android General] kirito9:
I'm sorry for making it so difficult for you, let's try the copy and paste method.

Steps

1. Download the zip file in the attachment.

2. Extract it using winrar or 7zip.

3. Install the adb drivers from here if you already have them ignore this step.

4. Go to the folder where you extracted the attachment and go to where you see recovery.img

5. Open the command window in this folder.

6. Copy and paste what you see below.

fastboot boot recovery.img

7. After you're in TWRP, go to backup, select all the partitions, swipe to backup.

8. Go back to the home of TWRP, go to install, select the SuperSU zip file, wait until it is finished.

9. Go back to the home of TWRP again, go to advanced, go to file manager, go to system, locate the file

recovery-from-boot.p

and delete it.

10. Reboot system.

11. Profit

If you don't get these steps, I can't make it any simpler than this :rolleyes:.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
I understood the steps perfectly but now we have another problem when I select all the partitions it says that I don't have enough space, so I tried to free up some but even when I delete all my apps along with my personal files (music,photos, videos, ect) I'm still missing space.
[Android General] kirito9:
You need a SD Card to do this, preferably 8GB and up.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Oh alright, well is there a way I can backup everything except the data partition, because then I will have room. Or is there a way you can put the backups on your PC?

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 PM ----------

I tried backuping everything exept the data partition on my own risk ofcourse but no luck its like nothing happend I did make a backup but I found more problems.

At this point I'm more interested on fixing my problem because theres probably more people with this problem.

Alright the first thing I did is I flashed phh's SuperUser as stated in the tutorial, installing wasnt that long it was about a minute or less, after it said that it was done I switched back trying to find recovery-from-boot.p in my system folder but with no luck. So I figured that I'm not going to be interested in custom roms at least not for now so this might not be a problem and I just rebooted my phone. After the reboot the phone works normaly but supersu is nowhere to be found I even downloaded a root cheaker tool and it confirmed that I have no root access.
[Android General] kirito9:
Flash this https://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4042823&d=1487198856
[Android General] LowTension:
[MENTION=8066719]NovaTheGreat[/MENTION] Which Pixi 4 do you have?
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
I flashed it but its not working, its like nothing happend even though it said done at the end, I just reboot the phone and nothing no icon and no root access.:(

---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 PM ----------

Pixi 4 (5) 5010X
[Android General] kirito9:
Reboot to TWRP.

Flash the zip file again.

Do not reboot the phone.

Connect the device to the PC via USB.

Navigate to the desktop.

Open the command window there.

Type

adb pull /tmp/recovery.log

.

Paste the log to a service like pastebin or upload it for me.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Hope this will help.

http://pastebin.com/pAiUeUeL
[Android General] kirito9:
Saw nothing unusual, try this superSU https://mega.nz/#!rIcHQYzS!OVHuwBa-hCmpRsG4FtqQh0_4usbgcwFnYeZjeAThC7k.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Nope still the same

http://pastebin.com/DMDT0EMX (if needed)
[Android General] kirito9:
Download ctr-6.6- https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=312978532265371055.

Go to the folder where you downloaded the ctr-6.6-5010.img.

Open the command window there.

Boot up the device to the system.

Type

adb reboot bootloader

Type

fastboot boot ctr-6.6-5010.img

Flash the superSU using ctr.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Okay so I booted in ctr and i flashed supersu from my sd card, nothing really changed except when I tried to reboot ctr asked me that my stock recovery will overtake ctr so it asked me if I would like it to be fixed, I didn't click on anything (I didn't know if I should), but anyways no root access, no superso app the only thing changed here is that ctr asked me to be my default recovery.
[Android General] kirito9:
Then I don't know what else to tell you or what else can be done. Probably flashing a new ROM such as CM13 to get root access.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
Hmm.. any links that you can provide and is it much more risky to get bricked when flashing that custom rom?
[Android General] kirito9:
You have your backup if anything goes wrong. Everything is on the 2nd post of this thread.
[Android General] NovaTheGreat:
It says that:

Requirements:

You must be rooted.

and also on the features it says that the rom dosen't have root access.
[Android General] kirito9:
There's no need to root if you already have custom recovery. Root requirement was just for custom recovery flashing. You can test the same superSU files with this ROM. All systems are different.