[Blade General] BigCountry907:
Well my theory about fastboot is correct.

I guess its obvious that versions of the axon 7 fastboot would be different.

The unlocked and the locked fastboot.

I'm going to hexdump and diff all the fastboot images i can find but so far it looks like this.

It seems that ZTE has used the same fastboot partition for a while.

If you boot into recovery on the blade x max and view the recovery log. Last log

You will find a list of all the parttion names on our device.

system

cache

persist

data

sdcard

boot

recovery

misc

aboot

apdp

bluetooth

carrier

cdt

cmnlib

cmnlib64

cryptkey

DDR

devcfg

devcfgbak

devinfo

dip

dpo

dsp

echarge

fastboot

fbop

fingerid

fsc

fsg

hyp

keymaster

keystore

lksecapp

mdtp

modem

msadp

persistent

pmic

reserve

rpm

sbl1

sec

splash

ssd

sti

tz

xbl

xblbak

ztecfg

tmp

Yep you can see we have the fastboot partition.

But the fbop partition is an important important one.

If we look at the updater scripts of the firmware upgrade packages we see.

FROM Partition.xml

<data><program SECTOR_SIZE_IN_BYTES="4096" file_sector_offset="0" filename="fastboot.img" label="fbop" num_partition_sectors="32" partofsingleimage="false" physical_partition_number="0" readbackverify="false" size_in_KB="128.0" sparse="false" start_byte_hex="0x321a8000" start_sector="205224"/></data>

FROM Update Zip

getprop("ro.product.device") == "ailsa_ii" || abort("E3004: This package is for "ailsa_ii" devices; this is a "" + getprop("ro.product.device") + "".");

assert(getprop("ro.product.name") == "P996A01_N");

ui_print("Target: ZTE/P996A01_N/ailsa_ii:7.1.1/NMF26F/20170301.161705:user/release-keys");

show_progress(0.650000, 0);

ui_print("Patching system image unconditionally...");

block_image_update("/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/system", package_extract_file("system.transfer.list"), "system.new.dat", "system.patch.dat") ||

abort("E1001: Failed to update system image.");

show_progress(0.050000, 5);

package_extract_file("boot.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/boot");

package_extract_file("ddr.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/ddr");

package_extract_file("keymaster.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/xblbak");

package_extract_file("lksecapp.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/lksecapp");

package_extract_file("rpm.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/rpm");

package_extract_file("tz.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/tz");

package_extract_file("echarge.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/echarge");

package_extract_file("mdtp.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/mdtp");

package_extract_file("xbl.elf", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/xbl");

package_extract_file("cmnlib64.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cmnlib64");

package_extract_file("adspso.bin", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/dsp");

package_extract_file("recovery.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/recovery");

package_extract_file("sec.dat", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/sec");

package_extract_file("NON-HLOS.bin", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/modem");

package_extract_file("pmic.elf", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/pmic");

package_extract_file("devcfg.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/devcfg");

package_extract_file("emmc_appsboot.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/aboot");

package_extract_file("fastboot.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/fbop");

package_extract_file("splash.img", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/splash");

package_extract_file("hyp.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/hyp");

package_extract_file("BTFM.bin", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/bluetooth");

package_extract_file("cmnlib.mbn", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/cmnlib");

show_progress(0.200000, 10);

show_progress(0.100000, 10);

format("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata", "0", "/data");

set_progress(1.000000);

Here we can conclude that the fastboot.img is flashed to the fob partition which is where the flags to enable the full fastboot commands. It's basically a security partition.

Is the Whole Partition different??

Is it just a few bytes difference??

Its actually not much and seeing that this identical partition has been used for several years

We can hope our fastboot image is the same or very similar. But remember it is the fob partition.

Here is the difference.

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ hexdump -C -v /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/A2017U_FASTBOOT_UNLOCK_EDL/fastboot.img > /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ diff home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/stock/fbstock.txt

diff: home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt: No such file or directory

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ hexdump -C -v /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/A2017U_FASTBOOT_UNLOCK_EDL/fastboot.img > /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ diff /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/stock/fbstock.txt

257c257

< 00001000 01 00 00 00 78 56 34 12 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 |....xV4.........|

---

> 00001000 00 00 00 00 78 56 34 12 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....xV4.........|

579,595c579,595

< 00002420 62 6f 6f 74 02 02 20 00 04 82 01 00 04 e0 4f a3 |boot.. .......O.|

< 00002430 b8 c0 79 df 98 9a ce 8b 47 ed f6 23 61 e8 3e 4d |..y.....G..#a.>M|

< 00002440 7a 43 fc 4b d4 39 60 c5 5a a6 96 ea c0 4d e2 52 |zC.K.9`.Z....M.R|

< 00002450 27 3e b6 d0 21 72 72 c8 59 03 44 90 ff 4a 86 3b |'>..!rr.Y.D..J.;|

< 00002460 29 2c 16 7a 04 2b 36 07 6f 8f 04 8e 35 7c f2 9f |),.z.+6.o...5|..|

< 00002470 cc 29 e5 0b 74 30 e9 0c ec cd 23 4b 19 84 c7 d1 |.)..t0....#K....|

< 00002480 f7 46 9b 7d dc 8b 6b bb 01 d3 f0 0a ab 96 ca 7e |.F.}..k........~|

< 00002490 a2 6e 91 6b d9 38 d6 d6 2e 4f 50 3e 2d 17 55 e3 |.n.k.8...OP>-.U.|

< 000024a0 e5 50 e4 1f dc 03 26 9e e9 22 19 dc 60 e1 0b a0 |.P....&.."..`...|

< 000024b0 b5 06 25 bd e4 08 24 4f 7b dd 42 29 82 55 06 84 |..%...$O{.B).U..|

< 000024c0 a1 5f d7 c1 99 3f 83 30 5d 10 59 5e 9d 2a 31 3f |._...?.0].Y^.*1?|

< 000024d0 f9 87 54 55 1e 82 40 68 5b c8 e4 18 98 80 d1 ec |..TU..@h[.......|

< 000024e0 df d7 01 d1 ec a5 a2 e4 c1 86 76 63 e0 82 13 35 |..........vc...5|

< 000024f0 61 30 63 d7 cd e8 21 33 73 e9 c4 93 ad 65 68 77 |a0c...!3s....ehw|

< 00002500 3e eb 3e 90 8a bb 8b 07 1b 26 ff d5 0d 37 a4 6c |>.>......&...7.l|

< 00002510 ec c6 69 30 dd 22 1b 9f 69 79 47 69 22 ba 9e c8 |..i0."..iyGi"...|

< 00002520 0c 23 96 f8 cf 66 74 74 11 98 d6 e4 |.#...ftt....|

---

> 00002420 62 6f 6f 74 02 02 20 00 04 82 01 00 a8 e0 dd 69 |boot.. ........i|

> 00002430 5b b2 47 12 bf 74 41 7a 00 37 a0 b8 10 15 d4 4e |[.G..tAz.7.....N|

> 00002440 a6 59 74 9b 7d a4 df 95 eb 3f 1a 29 1c 60 23 7c |.Yt.}....?.).`#||

> 00002450 91 37 2a 07 d3 e9 45 17 ac ac ab a9 ba b4 42 70 |.7*...E.......Bp|

> 00002460 46 5f 67 22 f7 37 1f de 46 f9 67 44 74 d7 26 42 |F_g".7..F.gDt.&B|

> 00002470 49 9c e8 ee 98 78 89 2b b2 1e c3 58 a8 d2 3a 7f |I....x.+...X..:.|

> 00002480 39 7d 22 09 c6 01 c5 0f 95 65 57 1e af 79 d9 d6 |9}"......eW..y..|

> 00002490 8d 99 84 4f 24 ff 55 b2 b0 20 07 00 39 e6 9a 27 |...O$.U.. ..9..'|

> 000024a0 a0 bc 97 dd 27 7d f2 a2 88 b6 b5 53 4a ba 7a 8e |....'}.....SJ.z.|

> 000024b0 65 98 f6 ef 4d 7e 2e 91 01 66 35 9e e1 da 15 c4 |e...M~...f5.....|

> 000024c0 fe a4 d2 26 a1 99 88 a3 55 2f ac 65 71 f8 5f 86 |...&....U/.eq._.|

> 000024d0 a7 79 f8 b5 61 b5 da 2c 7b 89 39 3b ff 45 a3 7f |.y..a..,{.9;.E..|

> 000024e0 dc 92 d5 4e 8b df 68 c0 e9 43 18 7b 60 5a 03 60 |...N..h..C.{`Z.`|

> 000024f0 18 da 96 84 e7 97 a7 09 a9 1a 2d b6 5b d3 d2 f6 |..........-.[...|

> 00002500 c8 33 a2 8f ef 32 5e 6a 45 39 66 b5 a6 a4 35 0f |.3...2^jE9f...5.|

> 00002510 03 0c 9d 57 79 28 43 09 9a 3e 7b 01 8c 6e 66 b2 |...Wy(C..>{..nf.|

> 00002520 1a f3 3d 92 d1 66 91 04 4a 3e 79 69 |..=..f..J>yi|

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ hexdump -C -v /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/Fastboot-UL/fastboot.img > /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/Fastboot-UL/fbul2.txt

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$ diff /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/FB-UL-EDL/fbunlck.txt /home/bigcountry907/Desktop/ZTE/Fastboot-UL/fbul2.txt

bigcountry907@bigcountry907-NV55S:~$

There's definitely more to come but this is enough to think about for now.

Here are all the partition block sizes and labels for the blade x max

30535680	mmcblk0	EMMC CHIP

4096	mmcblk0p1

4096	mmcblk0p2

4096	mmcblk0p3

4096	mmcblk0p4

4096	mmcblk0p5

4096	mmcblk0p6

4096	mmcblk0p7

16384	mmcblk0p8

16384	mmcblk0p9

16384	mmcblk0p10

4096	mmcblk0p11

4096	mmcblk0p12

4096	mmcblk0p13

4096	mmcblk0p14

4096	mmcblk0p15

4096	mmcblk0p16

4096	mmcblk0p17

4096	mmcblk0p18

32768	mmcblk0p19

4096	mmcblk0p20

94208	mmcblk0p21

65536	mmcblk0p22

65536	mmcblk0p23

4096	mmcblk0p24

4096	mmcblk0p25

4096	mmcblk0p26

4096	mmcblk0p27

4096	mmcblk0p28

4096	mmcblk0p29

4096	mmcblk0p30

4096	mmcblk0p31

4096	mmcblk0p32

4096	mmcblk0p33

32768	mmcblk0p34

4096	mmcblk0p35

4096	mmcblk0p36

4096	mmcblk0p37

4096	mmcblk0p38

65536	mmcblk0p39

4096	mmcblk0p40

4096	mmcblk0p41

4096	mmcblk0p42

4096	mmcblk0p43

65536	mmcblk0p44

1048576	mmcblk0p45	cache

5242880	mmcblk0p46	system

23629807	mmcblk0p47	data

4096	mmcblk0rpmb

31166976	mmcblk1	SD CARD

31165935	mmcblk1p1	SD CARD Storage