Alcatel TCL A502DL/A501DL root/custom recovery/custom roms?

[lmgnsa]

Is there any way to get root/custom recovery/custom roms on the A502DL or A501DL? If so, how?

 

[Viva La Android]

Yeah @PizzaG I really don't understand that either. Most devs and contributors on T-Gram are fron XDA. The two platforms have long supported each other as you know. Seems like a very arbitrary rule.
I did have a question for you good sir if you might have a moment. Which partition images need to be flashed to the A509DL in order to initiate a network unlock? Thanks

Nicely put, don't you enjoy when others decide things for you...

 

[971shep]

I corresponded with TCL about unlocking the bootloader. The email contains no content claimed as priviledged by TCL:

From: "TCL.Mobile.Care" <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: Re: CRM:0026000020023 - I want to unlock the Bootloader
Date: Wed, 25 May 2022 19:39:00 +0000
To: "XXX SSS" <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[email protected]D.OUTLOOK.COM>

[-- Autoview using w3m -I 'utf-8' -T text/html -dump --]
I see. I am sorry, we do not provide steps to unlocking the bootloader, this is
the first step to rooting the phone, and this is not encouraged by us.

There are probably better, inexpensive devices to purchase as a learning tool for Android development.
Which brings up an idea; a thread on inexpensive devices for android development.

 

[Viva La Android]

I corresponded with TCL about unlocking the bootloader. The email contains no content claimed as priviledged by TCL:



There are probably better, inexpensive devices to purchase as a learning tool for Android development.
Which brings up an idea; a thread on inexpensive devices for android development.

As @PizzaG and many other members have recently brought to light, devices like the TracFone TCL A3 have long been unsupported for rooting, due to the perma-locked state of the bootloaders. Newer development projects like MTK Client have provided a long-awaited exploit for unofficially unlocking the bootloaders on many of these MediaTek-powered phones and tablets. For many years past, this simply was not a possibility. TCL/Alcatel is among the ever growing list of device makers that do not support official bootloader unlocking support. Now, thanks to the genius and determination of the development community, we no longer need the official support of the manufacturers. Have you been able to get your TCL bootloader unlocked?
Regarding your ideology for inexpensive device development support, the Android General forums here on XDA provide a ton of resources for cheap phones and tablets.

 

[971shep]

As @PizzaG and many other members have recently brought to light, devices like the TracFone TCL A3 have long been unsupported for rooting, due to the perma-locked state of the bootloaders. Newer development projects like MTK Client have provided a long-awaited exploit for unofficially unlocking the bootloaders on many of these MediaTek-powered phones and tablets. For many years past, this simply was not a possibility. TCL/Alcatel is among the ever growing list of device makers that do not support official bootloader unlocking support. Now, thanks to the genius and determination of the development community, we no longer need the official support of the manufacturers. Have you been able to get your TCL bootloader unlocked?
Regarding your ideology for inexpensive device development support, the Android General forums here on XDA provide a ton of resources for cheap phones and tablets.

I applaude the resourcefulness of the developers but to me the fundlemental issue is that Android at it's core, is an opensource, linux based project. Plus it is my phone I should be able to use it as I see fit. Maintaining a list of unfriendly phones will apply some economic pressure to those manufacturers.

I also do not think the blame falls squarely on mediatek. The Cudy AC2100 is a MT7621 based router that comes with an older version of OpenWRT out of the box. The company also provides more recent OpenWRT releases on it website for download. People buy this router specifically because of it's open OpenWRT roots and Cudy seems to know it.

Mediatek also supplies development boards with their new chips which bundle OpenWRT source code. If you review linux kernel changelogs, developers with mediatek.com email addresses make frequent code contributions.
I think the barriers are demanded by the vendors who are trying to milk the subscriptions for as long as they can. TCL has been legaly obliged to supply source code under the GPL. They appear to do so grudginly and wait as long as legally possible before publishing the code.
TCL Mobile source code

 

[PhobosAnomaly]

Here is the A502DL stock recovery and boot img/bin files and magisk patched boot bin/img and TWRP recovery also

TCL_LX_A502DL_Files.zip | by Privyetcyka for Generic Device/Other

Download GApps, Roms, Kernels, Themes, Firmware, and more. Free file hosting for all Android developers.

www.androidfilehost.com

I flashed TWRP and it appears to be working fine, however flashing the modified boot.bin made it ask for a password upon launching the bootloader. After factory resetting and going through setup, Magisk does indeed show up, but Wi-Fi and Bluetooth stopped working, and an error keeps popping up saying that Bluetooth has stopped. Is there a way around this? Sorry if the answer is obvious, this is my first time rooting a phone.

Edit: I used the boot.bin from the backup I made and the Magisk app to create a new boot.bin and now it's working perfectly fine. Either there are some slight differences between our phones that caused it to not work or I simply just botched the first install.

 

[Viva La Android]

I applaude the resourcefulness of the developers but to me the fundlemental issue is that Android at it's core, is an opensource, linux based project. Plus it is my phone I should be able to use it as I see fit. Maintaining a list of unfriendly phones will apply some economic pressure to those manufacturers.

I also do not think the blame falls squarely on mediatek. The Cudy AC2100 is a MT7621 based router that comes with an older version of OpenWRT out of the box. The company also provides more recent OpenWRT releases on it website for download. People buy this router specifically because of it's open OpenWRT roots and Cudy seems to know it.

Mediatek also supplies development boards with their new chips which bundle OpenWRT source code. If you review linux kernel changelogs, developers with mediatek.com email addresses make frequent code contributions.
I think the barriers are demanded by the vendors who are trying to milk the subscriptions for as long as they can. TCL has been legaly obliged to supply source code under the GPL. They appear to do so grudginly and wait as long as legally possible before publishing the code.
TCL Mobile source code

I couldn't agree with you more. It amazes me at the number of OEMs who brazenly disregard or refuse to comply with the GNU GPL on releasing source code. I have been in a back-and-forth email war with both Nokia and NUU for the past two months over this very topic. Both device makers concede that they are not obliged under GPL 2.0 to provide source code. In a fortunate manner for timing, I recently earned my Juris Doctorate from UK, so I'm planning on bringing suit against both companies if the requested source code is not made accessible to me by the first of July. Having researched the applicable caselaw recently, I was encouraged in learning that US courts have been consistent in issuing injunctions to enforce the GPU mandates under which device makers are bound. Litigation is time consuming and tedious, so I hope that I do not have to file suit; unfortunately, however, it appears that neither OEM will freely provide the requested source code. As a courtesy, I am submitting an email/letter of intent to the CEOs of both device makers later tonight, placing them both under notice that I'll be bringing suit in 14 days in the event the noncompliance persists. Perhaps this will be the catalyst for a fruitful resolution.
Ironic that you mentioned a Cudy router. I've got the Cudy LT500 4G/LTE router (MediaTek MT7621) and love it. Not only does it allow me to circumvent my carrier's data throttling, it also appears do be compatible with any Verizon or GSM-based SIM card.
Anyway, regarding the a502dl, I have a question that I'm hoping that you, or other members, may be able to answer. When using MTK Client to unlock the phone, I am unsure of how to boot the device into BROM mode, so that the software client can recognize and communicate with my phone. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[971shep]

I couldn't agree with you more. It amazes me at the number of OEMs who brazenly disregard or refuse to comply with the GNU GPL on releasing source code. I have been in a back-and-forth email war with both Nokia and NUU for the past two months over this very topic. Both device makers concede that they are not obliged under GPL 2.0 to provide source code. In a fortunate manner for timing, I recently earned my Juris Doctorate from UK, so I'm planning on bringing suit against both companies if the requested source code is not made accessible to me by the first of July. Having researched the applicable caselaw recently, I was encouraged in learning that US courts have been consistent in issuing injunctions to enforce the GPU mandates under which device makers are bound. Litigation is time consuming and tedious, so I hope that I do not have to file suit; unfortunately, however, it appears that neither OEM will freely provide the requested source code. As a courtesy, I am submitting an email/letter of intent to the CEOs of both device makers later tonight, placing them both under notice that I'll be bringing suit in 14 days in the event the noncompliance persists. Perhaps this will be the catalyst for a fruitful resolution.
Ironic that you mentioned a Cudy router. I've got the Cudy LT500 4G/LTE router (MediaTek MT7621) and love it. Not only does it allow me to circumvent my carrier's data throttling, it also appears do be compatible with any Verizon or GSM-based SIM card.
Anyway, regarding the a502dl, I have a question that I'm hoping that you, or other members, may be able to answer. When using MTK Client to unlock the phone, I am unsure of how to boot the device into BROM mode, so that the software client can recognize and communicate with my phone. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I have not done anything beyond dumping the OEM rom using mtkclient and starting to educate myself on building vaious components. The phone will be carrier unlocked in about 3 weeks at which point I will be more agreesive.

As far as the GNU/GPL code. In the U.S., a pivotal case was won against Linksys. They had a series of wrt54 routers and a hacker discovered that one of them was running Linux. Linksys resisted but lost in court and did eventually release the Broadcom based source. This spawned the LEDE and Openwrt projects. Another project DD-wrt, benefited. Broadcom kept some aspects like firmware propriatary and the DD-wrt developers signed an NDA and set up a business model developing high end broadcom based images.

 

[Viva La Android]

I have not done anything beyond dumping the OEM rom using mtkclient and starting to educate myself on building vaious components. The phone will be carrier unlocked in about 3 weeks at which point I will be more agreesive.

As far as the GNU/GPL code. In the U.S., a pivotal case was won against Linksys. They had a series of wrt54 routers and a hacker discovered that one of them was running Linux. Linksys resisted but lost in court and did eventually release the Broadcom based source. This spawned the LEDE and Openwrt projects. Another project DD-wrt, benefited. Broadcom kept some aspects like firmware propriatary and the DD-wrt developers signed an NDA and set up a business model developing high end broadcom based images.

Yes indeed. Free Software Foundation, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., (SDNY, 2009), although settled out of court by Cisco/Linksys, set an informal precedent with regard to the GNU GPL obligation of mobile device manufacturers who utilize and distribute open source software. Cisco was wise to settle. It is inevitable they would have lost at trial, which would have resulted in an even more costly outcome.