yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
Some hopes restored

Anyone working on this method??
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Sounds like a great idea, mate. I will try this out today and let you guys know whether it works!

EDIT: We aren't really flashing the DIGEST.MD5 file onto the phone through the flash tool and I can't find it in the system or boot images. It is probably only there for the SP Flash Tool to verify (just like the Checksum.ini file). I don't think editing that would solve the issue.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
We can modify and flash system.img without altering the digest file....

Tge image verification mechanism is for other img files...
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
No brother, that is not true. I had flashed a modified system.img with required SuperSU binaries and permissions and it still gave the "TOOL DL IMAGE FAIL!" error. I am 100% certain that I had only modified the system.img and flashed only that.

So, the verification is there for the system.img as well though it only flags it if all the required root-related files are present with the correct permissions.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
bro...

The error "tool dl image...." means image is damaged or not compatible with the device

But still it is flashable.

But if u alter other img files then the sp flash tool will give a type mismatch error.... (the image verification mechanism)

What i'm trying to state is that if u want to change the system.img than there is no need to modify digest

And the digest file is not there in other versions of firmware..

But ya u can try

Plz keep us updated...

And if anyone got a new idea plz share

---------- Post added at 05:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:31 AM ----------

I will definitely try it after 15
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Are you sure about that? Weren't we getting the same error when we flashed the custom recovery that Romeotamizh made for this device?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Απουσιολόγος:
Good morning,

A friend of mine owns a Lenovo device (sorry but I do not remember which model) and he rooted it using iRoot. However you can try both Kingroot and Kingoroot (yeah, they are eventually different ?). Please, let me know about the results!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Hadn't tried out iRoot. Tried it out now, it ends up saying "Root Failed" on the PC version. I have tried out both Kingroot and Kingoroot before, both of them get stuck at 99% for me.

Thank you for the suggestion, though.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Απουσιολόγος:
Your welcome?!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
Someone please root this crap

:crying:
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Work is in progress, mate. Only time will tell whether we'll succeed though.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
Keep working guys good luck

Glad someone is working I thought thread is dead
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] shamim.mohd5:
can anyone tell ? how to downgrad lenovo A7020a48 ( k5 note) from marshmallow to lollipop. And which one exact row for lollipop 5.1.1.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] atf2m4:
Exchanged this crap happily for RN4
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] solidsample:
Enjoy.

Im thinking about the same. This was my first Lenovo and this would be my last too.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Proplemlist:
Is there any news about the root ??
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
I've tried decompiling the kernel and preloader files but since my understanding of the assembly language is still very basic, I cannot find what exactly needs to be changed. I will try to PM the guys who managed to root the K4 Note. I'm also going to learn more of the ARM assembly language to understand the decompiled files better. Don't worry guys... We will get root for this device!! :) :)

EDIT: Is someone willing to try the Downgrade to Lollipop > Root > Flash Marshmallow with Flashfire method? If not, I can give it a shot but it will take me a while to backup everything on my phone.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Proplemlist:
Oh it 'll take along time

God with?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Thanks for those words ☺
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
Is there any way to get navigation bar??? Without rooting?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Any update friends?

Other lenovo k series mobiles are getting android 7 update/root, but not our K5 NOTE.

Before purchasing this mobile I thought that it's gonna be a sturdy mobile, but now I think it's too 'sturdy' to be rooted also. ?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Hehe... Good one.

I've almost finished the backups. WhatsApp is the only thing left. It is taking way too long. Once it's done, I will try out the Lollipop > Root > Flash Marshmallow with Flashfire method to see if that gets us what we need.

On the other hand, the PM to the K4 Note guys has not received any response. If this doesn't work, perhaps I will try contacting them again. Let's see.

Hopefully, this will work out and we'll get the root access we so desperately desire. :fingers-crossed:
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Guys!! I need help flashing the Lollipop firmware!!

[MENTION=8002203]anujmankotia[/MENTION] (and anyone who has successfully flashed Lollipop on this phone before) I tried what you had said in the beginning of this thread, to Format All+Download, then it would say "STATUS_SEC_PL_VFY_FAIL"

That was alright. It said that.

Then, you said to repeat the steps. I tried repeating the steps, and also tried the different modes, but it gets stuck at the end of the red bar (Download DA 100%) and at the end it says: "STATUS_EXT_RAM_EXCEPTION" and I can't flash anything after that. [EDIT: [MENTION=4951021]Gibz97[/MENTION] Any idea what this error is and how to fix it? Thanks.]

With the same error, I can flash Marshmallow using Format All+Download and then once it fails, I use Download Only. This flashes Marshmallow successfully, but with Lollipop, it gets stuck. I have gotten back Marshmallow for now.

Since the flashing Lollipop process works for you, could you please try out the downgrade, root and upgrade with Flashfire method? Also, please tell me which version of Lollipop ROM do you flash? (I used S 125, tell me if you use a different one.)

Thanks. Help from anyone else would also be appreciated!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Gibz97:
Sorry unfortunately I have not seen that error before.

It could be a drivers issue
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
No worries, mate. It's fine. Thing is, it can't possibly be a driver issue. I have used these same set of drivers to flash ROMs multiple times on this phone.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
If root is possible...custom roms are ready...

I have lenovo k5 note and Nubia N1..........i have ported 10 roms for nubia N1....since k5 note and nubia n1 have same kernel and same chipset...we shall have custom roms ready.........
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
That's great news! Actually, we don't even need root access to get a custom ROM. We just need to bypass the verification in the preloader and the lk.bin files.

Once we've done that, we can just dump the stock ROM and flash your ported custom ROM. Just make sure it has SuperSU/Some form of Superuser application in-built.

Of course, the verification bypass is easier said than done. I'm working on it. There's still no reply to the PM sent to the K4 Note guys.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] sudroidtech:
Kingroot

Have you tried kingroot android or pc version?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
are u kidding or what did u read previous post?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
Great

All my roms are preinstalled supersu.........
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Proplemlist:
God with you guys ,?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Guys , Is that true and confirmed that lenovo VIBE k5 NOTE is not getting any update after 6.0 marshmallow? Some reports says it will get and some says no!!!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Hii people

sorry for my late response..(was busy)

today i will try and downgrade to lollipop and try that flashify idea..

hope that work. [MENTION=5858740]comprocks[/MENTION]
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
not able to downgrade

Same error..

I think there's something wrong with the firmware

Will try with other firmware NXT time
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] GovindK7:
I downgraded to lollipop but find difficulties in flashing the marshmallow upgrade using flashfire.I use flash firmware upgrade option to flash marshmallow but the device got bricked
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
which firmware version do you use ..

Is it a7020a48 ll s125 160419 ROW
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] GovindK7:
Yes the same one
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
OK OK

---------- Post added at 03:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:28 PM ----------

Not working for me though ...

But i thinks it's the same firmware which got flashed successfully previously for me
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
[MENTION=8227446]GovindK7[/MENTION] Is the phone OK? I hope you managed to fix it! If not, maybe we can help you out...?
[MENTION=8002203]anujmankotia[/MENTION] We all have busy schedules, mate. Don't worry about it.

Thanks for trying out the flashing procedure, both of you. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Now, there's only the preloader/lk modification method left. I'm still working on it, but I have a feeling I might be on the right track. Let's see what happens. I'll keep updating the status of the situation here.

Thanks.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] GovindK7:
Yes the phone is ok.I flashed it back to marshmallow firmware.But it is showing nvram error.

If you are ready to help me I am here to experiment the process again
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
This can be fixed by flashing the WiFi MAC Address using SN Writer Tool. If you did write that down or have it somewhere, this can be fixed. Otherwise, you will have to live with it. It does not affect WiFi functionality in any way.

Mate, the Lollipop flashing process didn't work out for me or anujmankotia, so I'm guessing they somehow patched out the Lollipop flashing.

You say the Flashfire method didn't work for you and bricked the phone. I don't really know what else we could try, so don't go risking your phone unless you (or someone else) have an idea in mind. Sorry.

Anyway, thanks for the experimentation. I will let you know if I need to flash something risky.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
brother can u give me the link of the firmware...

just waana be sure that our copy of ll firmware is corrupted

---------- Post added at 01:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 AM ----------

don't know why we are not able to downgrade...

but i think that there's something wrong with the firmware...

i think i have downloaded the ll firmware from a youtube video link which redirect it to a chinese or japanese website
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] GovindK7:
Here's​ the link https://yadi.sk/d/AxEP_CSXu7niP

Hey I was able to downgrade it to lollipop and I rooted it but when trying to upgrade to marshmallow using the firmware upgrade option the phone bricked

I want to know whether I wait for the OTA update to detect in flashfire
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
How do you bypass the bootloader unlock confirmation. Who r the k4 note and what are the files they modded
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
preloader and uboot files

..

they modded preloader.bin file
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] datt.gohil:
First we need recovery and then we root this device.so contact any Dev and make recovery.without recovery not rooting I tried everything.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Right now? I've decompiled the .bin files and am looking for code references that point to the message "TOOL DL IMG FAIL!" (The one that appears when image verification fails).

Assembly language is complicated to understand (I have little knowledge of the entire language). A simple loop can look really twisted. So, if you know anything about ARM's assembly language, your help would be appreciated. Just grab a decompiler and take a look if you do know.

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 03:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:04 PM ----------

I see this is your first post. Welcome to the forum! I will catch you up on the situation.

Romeotamizh has already ported a recovery for this phone. Unfortunately, when you flash it through advanced mode of SP Flash Tool, it flashes successfully, but the phone gets stuck in a loop with the message "TOOL DL IMAGE FAIL!" at the bottom of the screen.

This message basically means that the image verification has failed and the device doesn't boot at all after that. I myself have tried flashing a custom system image through the flash tool, which had the SuperSU binaries and app with the required permissions (according to SuperSU's documentation) and that turned up with the same error.

The image verification happens in the LK and preloader files, same as in the K4 Note. They (or someone on the Russian Lenovo forum) modified them and they have all the custom firmware that they could possibly want. These are the files which I'm also trying to modify for this phone.

Since you are new, I would recommend that you read the previous pages to catch up on the situation before you post in any thread. It helps keep your post relevant to the current situation.

Have fun on XDA!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] datt.gohil:
Can you give me recovery.img file
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Here you go, but from next time, please use the search box and search in the thread.

Also, I would not recommend flashing it. It won't work. It has already been tried. You'd only end up losing your data, IMEIs and WiFi MAC Address. It will just be a waste of time. If you still want to continue though, make sure you back up at least your IMEIs as you won't be able to make calls/send SMS/use mobile data without those numbers.

(Quote from Romeotamizh) https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz8BnZ7YvtbONWJYZldkWUJ5RmM

heres the twrp informif din work
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
Why can't we flash it thorough SP flash tool
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
I just posted the answer to your question as a reply to datt.gohil
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
we can flash ot using sp tool

But it will always give u an error..

"Img type mismatch error"

Before flashing plz make a backup of nvram...(highly recommended)
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
What is the actual reason for the mismatch error. Why can't we flash it using rashr or flashify apps. They don't need an unlocked bootloader I guess.

And is there a way to flash the recovery using flashfire or xposed.

I have. Another doubt..is there a way to skip the bootloader unlock confirmation where the volume up button won't work
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Well flashify and xposed need root
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
Lol u can root lollipop and I have xposed installed now in my k5 note dude
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Pluto_Kombi:
How?

Then tell us how man :D
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
Thats simple. Flash lollipop stock ROM. Root using kingoroot. Install super su. Uninstall kinguser app.

Install flashfire. Flashed xposed installer zip using flashfire. Install the xposed apk. That's it
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ananthuthilakan:
XDA senior member SANDEEP SETHI can help us getting root

He creates kernals for k3 note

also he made prerooted ported roms from other phones to k3

Contact him

He will help us
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Done
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
what done?

rooted android 6.0 or flashed 5.1?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Not able to root

But trying to contact developer sandeep
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
sandeep is my frnd

i already asked him 6 months before..........he is out for vacation now
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
Guys be careful of ransomware virus
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] archer queen:
What's that
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Yupp..

Don't try to install any kind of batch file which looks like a file to install fonts

"Got hit" on saturday...

Sage ransomware
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
U don't need to install anything just connect internet and boom you're in dangerous btw Microsoft says windows 10 is not affected by it
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Any update friends???
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Yes, actually. I'm going to try flashing a modified lk.bin tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Hopefully it will not brick my phone as this is the first time I'm modifying something this crucial to the phone.

EDIT: Also, sorry for the late reply, guys...
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Bro plz readback preloader.bin and other files first
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Ankur.D521:
Best of luck brother ! Let's hope you succeed !
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Good suggestion. I will do the readback for all ROM files.

Thanks.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Bad news.... I tried flashing the modified lk.bin and the device just didn't start up at all. For now, I have restored the stock marshmallow ROM and I will try modifying different parts of the lk.bin file and reflashing it over the coming days.

Right now, no luck.... :(
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] kinngarjun:
How come this phone is so developer unfriendly
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ananthuthilakan:
Bcz it has bug in bootlaoder, so as some other phones also.

Lenovo k4 note can be unlocked,

Lenovo p2 can be unlocked

But for k5 note volume up not working while unlocking bootlaoder. If it had some purticular key then also while pressing volume up it should show some error . Here its not the case

As normal users dont need to unlock it ,..........the bug still not corrected by lenovo.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Moaely:
Update

Hello, does anyone have an update of root status and recovery. I have read the thread and am up to date, but there was no news in the last week.

Also I have been googling around and found a video on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJHLLUsViLE

Is it legit? I have my doubts because of the issues we are aware off and also the like/dislake was disabled ...

Cheers!
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Pluto_Kombi:
You can tell its fake because he have buttons at the bottom of the screen that are hardware on K5 ;)
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Moaely:
thought so, but the situation is frustrating especially as an older model is unlocked (k4), so grasping at straws :(
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] newhaw:
Lenovo k5 note in the market more than a year, but no one can root or install twrp / rom on this device. I don't believe it.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] kathanpatel1001:
So yesterday i mailed lenovo online support for the issue of not able to unlock Bootloader the replyed today saying that if i take my phone to their service center they'll unlock the Bootloader and also stated the usual risks of unlocking like losing imei, loosing data, voiding warranty usual stuff. So i ask all of you if you have any friend of aquintecis working in lenovo service center to ask them about it. I am not able to go to service center as my exams are ongoing so any of you want to unlock they can i suppos go to service center and also i request them to share their experience to us all.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Does anyone know of a text editor that can compare two files and show me the differences? I'm trying to compare the stock and modified uboot files of the K4 note to get an idea of what I'm supposed to change but the files are gigantic. Finding the changes made is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack (nearly impossible). There are thousands of lines of code.

If anyone knows of such a software, it would be of great help.

Thanks.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] Moaely:
i use word. you can see here how to compare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3WF0Y0wI0
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Also full version of Adobe acrobat can compare two pdf files word by word, but don't sure about txt files.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] syndromtr:
i mostly use this for hex compare but it has all kinds of compare, in a friendly gui

beyond compare 4.x (scooter software)
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] kathanpatel1001:
I tried "fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability"

and got result as in screenshot below.

Can any one try below codes i have extracted them from lk.bin

Don't know what they do. Try at your own risk.. :cowboy:

fastboot <below code one at a time>

oem p2u

oem reboot-recovery

oem append-cmdline

oem off-mode-charge

oem unlock

oem lock

oem key

oem lks.flashing unlock

flashing lock

flashing get_unlock_ability

oem usb2jtag
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] comprocks:
Found this from a post on XDA: (We don't want to use any of these commands based on their descriptions)

I tried the rest of the commands and here is what happened:

oem usb2jtag converts USB port to JTAG port. I have no idea what that means, but trying the command says: "FAILED (remote: not support on security)"

oem lock and flashing lock are supposed to be used for locking the bootloader but in our case it is already locked and we want to unlock it.

oem unlock does not work. It says "Unlock not allowed" on the phone and "(bootloader) Unsupportive project for unlock FAILED (remote: unknown command)" on the PC.

oem key says: "FAILED (remote: argument size is wrong)"

My assumption is that lks stands for lock state, which is shown as '1' (one) for me, even after trying the command oem lks.flashing unlock. For an unlocked bootloader, it should be '0' (zero).

flashing get_unlock_ability command does not work for me. It just shows me the fastboot command usage information.

On the page where I found the quoted post, the users have mentioned (for another Lenovo device) that patching the lk.bin is the only way to acquire root access or flash custom ROMs. I guess that's the only way for our device as well... (I'm still working on this)

Thanks for the suggestion though.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] baburocks:
Ported 21 roms for my nubia n1 mt6755..so far

if we got success in unlocking bootloader and rooting............i will just port from my nubia n1 to k5 note.....simple things oly...so hurry up guyzzzz
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ranganitesh:
Any sunday update friends. :)
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] kathanpatel1001:
Does anyone know how to edit arm assembly code??

I have disassembled lk.bin to asm in IDA but dont know how to edit it.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] OmegaSkiller:
Try with Notepad++
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] kathanpatel1001:
I mean i can edit the values but don't know which values to edit.
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] ananthuthilakan:
Srry to ask here

But is there any way to install an app to system without root. I am fed up waiting for root?
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
Yup ,but u need to modify system.img and flash it
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
https://xdaforums.com/android/general/mtk-rooting-device-manually-t2976926

The tutorial is too lengthy...

can someone plz create a patched boot.img from this tutorial

I will flash it...m
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] anujmankotia:
meanwhile i will try to modify system.img(manually placing magisk binaries)...
[Lenovo K5 Note Questions & Answers] romsurfer:
We need chainfire himself to root this **** phone lol