Installing Custom ROM on Cubot KingKong Mini
- Thread starter moctir
- Start date
You can consider dirty-flashing to AOSP 12.1 v416 or even to A13.
Worked for me.
I am on LeOS 20 (LOS based A13) now on my KKM2
I might try that thanks. Is there any disadvantage to dirty flashing? I've only been using it a week so tempted to format and go again. Test both V416 and LeOS and see if I can get everything working. I haven't looked into Android 13 but I assume there are less bugs in A12.
Do you have issues with the charging light not going off when it's fully charged? I'd live with that though if the Bluetooth worked!
I did everything according to your guide. I downloaded the firmware here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/tipzbuilds/files/GSIs/CorvusROM/Official/20221015 / but I still have a boot loop. What am I doing wrong?
I don't know if this makes a difference:
But did you first flash the new V07 Rom from the Cubot website with SPFlashtool, and selected in developer options OEM unlocking and USB debugging?
btw these steps are not needed at all:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
this step is not recommended unless you get a message that there is not enough space for the gsi:
fastboot flash product product_gsi.img
this step is not recommend as it could cause problems:
fastboot -w
(wipe data/factory reset is enough)
So: these are the correct steps for all kkm devices:
-flash newest rom from Cubot with SPflashtool
-boot into the rom and select in developer options OEM unlocking and USB debugging
-reboot to fastboot/bootloader mode
-fastboot flashing unlock
-fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img (the one from the Cubot rom you downloaded)
-fastboot reboot fastboot
-fastboot flash system GSI.img
-navigate to 'enter recovery' to enter recovery.
-wipe data/factory reset
restart system
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I have found this procedure in LeOS wiki (see lower part of that article = when bootloop):
Standard Android 10 and above (with dynamic partition) · Wiki · LeOS / LeOS-Wiki · GitLab
Wiki for LeOS users
there is no ab partition on our devicesI have found this procedure in LeOS wiki (see lower part of that article = when bootloop):
Standard Android 10 and above (with dynamic partition) · Wiki · LeOS / LeOS-Wiki · GitLab
Wiki for LeOS usersgitlab.com
1st I have to say that KKM3 is really a great device! Original ROM is really smooth and I had no problems.
But google is google so now I am trying to flash latest LeOS 19.1 bvS and I can confirm that it is NOT working as you have mentioned here. There was not enough space to flash so I had to use KKM2Pro procedure and delete "product" partition. After that, flash proces was successful. But after reboot it always stuck on Cubot logo with Orange state.
So I tried LeOS wiki procedure as I had mentioned before but with the same result.
Any advice?
Update:
Same results after flashing November LeOS 20 bvN, LeOS T, LeOS 19.1 bvN
Last edited:
Hello,
my KKM2Pro is in an infinitive bootloop. It turns on into orange state and after 5 seconds it reboots again. All the time.
I have read how to remove orange state, but my Problem is that I can not leave the bootloop to go to fastboot again. Pressing the buttons in various combinations didn't help.
Do you have any idea how I can leave the orange state bootloop an connect it to my PC again?
my KKM2Pro is in an infinitive bootloop. It turns on into orange state and after 5 seconds it reboots again. All the time.
I have read how to remove orange state, but my Problem is that I can not leave the bootloop to go to fastboot again. Pressing the buttons in various combinations didn't help.
Do you have any idea how I can leave the orange state bootloop an connect it to my PC again?
This happened me after trying to flash a custom vendor. As far as I can see your only option is to use SPFlash tool and recent to stock and then go again. Your best bet is to wait until the battery runs out as if you try to do it before then it will likely attempt to boot while using the tool is running and then will be bricked (until the battery runs out and you can use SP flash tool again).
The only other possibility is if you plug it in to your computer and type `adb devices`, sometimes you get a second where it will find the device during the bootloop. If you're fast enough you might be able to do something like `adb reboot recovery` or something that may work, but I think it's unlikely.
Thank you for the help! It worked and I succesfully flashed Lineage 18.1!
My mistake was, that I flashed the wrong stock firmware. I thought I have the KKM2Pro but actually I have KKM2.
Am I right, that there is no way to long-term root the kkm2 (with normal but, not always booting from recovery)? From reading this thread I have this impression, but mayby I overlooked some posts.
I think it is possible. So early in this thread I talk about the original KKM, on that I had to patch Magisk to recovery to get it to work and could root it through that. However I didn't get signal then because for some reason the IEMI was different when I booted to Recovery. Note this could have been fixed, there are ways to set the IEMI I just didn't use root enough to warrant it. I don't know the situation for the KKM2 but with the Pro Magisk worked as normal by patching it to Boot. So I would try Magisk with Boot first, if it doesn't work patch Recovery and see. If that does work, if you don't have signal check the IEMI compared to when you boot normally.
Hello, I flashed the LeOS 20 (AOSP 13) on my kkm1 yesterday. Most of the things look good.
One thing: the screen flickers from time to time. It looks like a CPU and GPU rendering issue. If I enable only HW rendering, the flickering is gone. However, the gpu-based screen is much brighter (in dark mode) than the cpu-rendered screen. I have not been able to change this. The contrast is also not the best (light gray letters on a slightly darker background). Does anyone have an idea what I can change?
One thing: the screen flickers from time to time. It looks like a CPU and GPU rendering issue. If I enable only HW rendering, the flickering is gone. However, the gpu-based screen is much brighter (in dark mode) than the cpu-rendered screen. I have not been able to change this. The contrast is also not the best (light gray letters on a slightly darker background). Does anyone have an idea what I can change?
my BAD MEMORY gave Hope torture to most people.
Really sorry. maybe just should not writing about flashing.
I just flashed for test and I sold KKM3. it does not match my needs.
so that, I does not write and forgot about process.
Just only I remember is almost same. but now, as a result, completly different.
and one more time, sorry.
I still cannot recall my memory.
when I first received, I imedately flashed gsi.
I tried to boot crdroid GSI. but struck in cubot logo.
and all phh based GSI happend same.
and I saw red state. not orange state. so I recheck my process.
red state changed to orange state. but same.
so I tried almost same, but little different base gsi. that is corvus gsi.
maybe I did some different process I thought.
busy day makes my memory blank.
these are process options what I could select possibly when does not work.
only one thing I remember, but does not certain, is
system load failure -> in stock recovery, factory wiping -> done.
1. delete product partition instead of flashing product.img
2. flash "blank" vbmeta.img instead of stock vbmeta.img
3. fastboot -w in bootloader mode, not fastbootd mode.
4. after flashing gsi, don't fastboot -w.
5. factory wiping via stock recovery.
6. if you see some partion error(It is certain - cache partition) in fastbootd or stock recovery,
you should solve that.
mean, that error does not shown up when next boot(fastbootd or stock recovery) process.
maybe flashing gsi process delete some partiton.
I does not type any command related to partition creating.
one more time, really sorry. maybe these process does not help anything.
Really sorry. maybe just should not writing about flashing.
I just flashed for test and I sold KKM3. it does not match my needs.
so that, I does not write and forgot about process.
Just only I remember is almost same. but now, as a result, completly different.
and one more time, sorry.
I still cannot recall my memory.
when I first received, I imedately flashed gsi.
I tried to boot crdroid GSI. but struck in cubot logo.
and all phh based GSI happend same.
and I saw red state. not orange state. so I recheck my process.
red state changed to orange state. but same.
so I tried almost same, but little different base gsi. that is corvus gsi.
maybe I did some different process I thought.
busy day makes my memory blank.
these are process options what I could select possibly when does not work.
only one thing I remember, but does not certain, is
system load failure -> in stock recovery, factory wiping -> done.
1. delete product partition instead of flashing product.img
2. flash "blank" vbmeta.img instead of stock vbmeta.img
3. fastboot -w in bootloader mode, not fastbootd mode.
4. after flashing gsi, don't fastboot -w.
5. factory wiping via stock recovery.
6. if you see some partion error(It is certain - cache partition) in fastbootd or stock recovery,
you should solve that.
mean, that error does not shown up when next boot(fastbootd or stock recovery) process.
maybe flashing gsi process delete some partiton.
I does not type any command related to partition creating.
one more time, really sorry. maybe these process does not help anything.
well, the new stock build has arrived https://cubot.net/platform/Support/detail/id/680/cid/86.html
has anybody tried to flash gsi over it?
anyway thanks for sharing
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Bad news............Yesterday I tested new KKM3 firmware (new fresh flash with cable):
CUBOT_KINGKONG MINI3_C031C_V08_20221206
January GSI LeOS 19.1 and December LeOS 20 aren't working. Booting still hangs on Cubot logo.
Differences in new firmware:
- still smooth, maybe a little bit smoother
- Battery usage still not showing in Settings
- "Battery optimization" option with list of all applications can not be found anywhere in settings. I can only call this option when app like Netguard asks for excluding from optimization. Optimization can be set only separately for every app in Settings/App
- more of Material Me setting in apps
- default "Display size" and "Font size" is smaller
- default launcher has new option "Home screen layout". Icons placement can be from 5x3 to 6x5
- camera with no improvements (still testing)
- Wellbeing can not be disabled still, other google apps can be disabled -
7UPDATE 2021
The original post was for the first King Kong Mini, for instructions for the King Kong Mini 2 go to page 9 in this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-on-cubot-kingkong-mini.4050815/post-84445303
======================
The Cubot King Kong Mini was released in Q4 2019. It is one of the smallest Android phones on the market with a 4" screen. Like many cheap Mediatek devices, one cannot be sure of how "safe" or "secure" these devices are, so the security/privacy conscious may want to consider installing a custom ROM. Here are the instructions for installing Android AOSP on the Cubot King Kong Mini. Note: I am not responsible for any bricked devices.
Download the Stock Rom from here and SP Flash Tool just in case you need to reinstall Stock. Download a system image, note you need to use an A/B arm32 image with 64 bindings. For example AOSP 9 is here.
This process probably can be done with SP Flash Tool but I wasn't able to manage it due to the disable-verification flag required.
Unzip the stock ROM and reboot the device to bootloader, connect via USB and unlock via:
Code:sudo fastboot flashing unlock
Note this will erase all data. Then on your computer navigate to the folder with the unzipped ROM (for me was NA_mt6761p_d936p_9101cmp_chuanqi_cc_256gbitp24d3_p_lte_3m-fdd-cs_mul_20191121-210020_songlixin_PC) and type
Code:fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
If you do not do this it seems to work without it but then it will bootloop when you try to switch it on. From here on it's standard.
Code:fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
Unzip the .xz image file you wish to use and type:
where SYSTEM is the name of whatever image downloaded.Code:fastboot flash system SYSTEM.img
Root
For root install magisk manager and you have to patch the recovery to get root (not just boot as flashing boot alone doesn't give you root). So in magisk get it to patch you boot and recovery images and then put those on your computer, go to bootloader and use:
Code:fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_boot.img fastboot flash recovery magisk_patched_recovery.img
You can read more about magisk from recovery here.
To get root then you need to reboot to recovery, hold power button + volume up and select Recovery. This will appear to boot as normal but you will have root when you do it this way and not when you boot normally. Unfortunately I do not have reception when I do this but do have root, other users have this problem but I have not found a solution.
Note that I thought I bricked my phone a few times before getting this as nothing would happen after a failed boot and I couldn't switch it on, however what happens is you can't do anything until the battery has almost completely discharged, then when you hit the power button you'll get the no battery sign and when you plug in you can get to Recovery again. This is quite annoying if you've charged it quite high as you'll have to wait a long time to discharge and be tapping on the power button a lot!!
What doesn't work
Battery usage doesn't work, this can probably be fixed following this guide. If I get time I will attempt this.
Other things to note, there is no TWRP yet so I don't have decent recovery options, this also makes it harder to use certain ROMS as you can't flash things like gapps if you install a ROM without it.
The battery life is definitely worse using AOSP GSI than stock, maybe that vendor overlay would help with that though.
I hope that helps others.5Hi,
I have got the Cubot King Kong Mini 2 and I can confirm that exchanging the system to LOS17.1 is possible too.
I did nearly the same as mekkadisu did (#39) for KKM1, but had to do a
before flashing the system.Code:fastboot reboot fastboot
This is what I did:
1.) Flash the newer OS for King Kong Mini 2 from King Kong's site using the instructions and flash tool already there (quoted from #39).
2.) Enable developer options by tapping the build number in Settings -> About Phone 7 times, Enable USB Debugging and Allow Bootloader Unlock from developer options (quoted from #39).
3.) (quoted from #39)Code:adb reboot bootloader
4.) once in bootloader mode (quoted from #39)Code:fastboot flashing unlock
5.) Then confirm unlock on the phone (quoted from #39)
6.) Note the locaton of the vbmeta.img, boot.img and recovery.img files from the stock ROM (quoted from #39)
Code:fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
7.) Now I did not flash the system directly, but rebooted to fastboot
Code:fastboot reboot fastboot
8.) After device is in real fastboot mode (the screen is different to that of bootloader fastboot mode)Code:fastboot flash system SYSTEM.img
I used the lineage-17.1-20210114-UNOFFICIAL-treble_a64_bvS.img.xz
Why did I do the "fastboot reboot fastboot":
without rebooting to fastboot but direclty flashing the system, I got this error:
Code:fastboot flash system lineage-17.1-20210114-UNOFFICIAL-treble_a64_bvS.img Sending sparse 'system' 1/10 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 4.898s] Writing 'system' FAILED (remote: 'This partition doesn't exist') fastboot: error: Command failed
After rebooting to fastboot it worked:
Code:fastboot flash system lineage-17.1-20210114-UNOFFICIAL-treble_a64_bvS.img Resizing 'system' OKAY [ 0.004s] Sending sparse 'system' 1/5 (262140 KB) OKAY [ 19.088s] Writing 'system' OKAY [ 4.061s] Sending sparse 'system' 2/5 (262140 KB) OKAY [ 19.596s] Writing 'system' OKAY [ 4.036s] Sending sparse 'system' 3/5 (262140 KB) OKAY [ 19.943s] Writing 'system' OKAY [ 4.048s] Sending sparse 'system' 4/5 (262140 KB) OKAY [ 20.290s] Writing 'system' OKAY [ 3.721s] Sending sparse 'system' 5/5 (177556 KB) OKAY [ 13.090s] Writing 'system' OKAY [ 2.879s] Finished. Total time: 110.773s
I'm not an expert in flashing mobile devices, so I don't know, why I had to to that. I would be very happy if an expert could reply and maybe give me a hint as to what the problem was.4I see that there are all kinds of instructions floating around in this thread with all kind of extra commands that you do not need to use at all.
Here is my comprehensive HowTo for our King Kong Mini 2:
For the KKM2 we need a A64 or A64binder32 image.
It can be either VNDK or VNDKLITE.
VNDKLITE is only needed if you want to use a read/write system.
If you use a systemless root version, e.g. Magisk, you do not need VNDKLITE necessarily but you can always choose it if you want.
I am using LeOS Android 12.1 on my kkm2 as I want to be as degoogled as possible.
Because it is so light, the battery time is quite good.
- download and unpack the gsi.img.xz file you chose
- put the unpacked .img together with the vbmeta.img file (attached below) in e.g. your home folder
- in Linux make sure the android-tools package is installed, in Windows make sure platform-tools is installed
- Boot into your phone, go to settings, about phone and tick 7 times on build number. Developer options will be activated
- In settings again there will now be Developer options (probably under system). Switch on OEM/bootloader unlocking and USB debugging
- connect your phone with the cable to the computer
- open a terminal or command prompt in the folder of the .img files and tick these commands:
- adb devices
(the phone should give a message to trust the computer)
- adb reboot bootloader
(phone reboots into bootloader/fastboot mode)
- fastboot flashing unlock
(you will be asked on the phone to confirm unlocking it)
- fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
-fastboot reboot fastboot
(phone reboots in fastbootd mode)
-fastboot flash system GSI-VNDK(lite)-a64-bvN.img
(on the phone choose):
-Enter recovery
-Wipe data/factory reset
-Reboot system now
That's all.
when upgrading your gsi, you only need to flash system again in fastbootd and don't need to data/factory reset (dirty flashing). Sometimes this also works between gsi's, but not always.
(ps:
you can skip the adb part by booting into bootloader/fastboot mode:
-hold volume up button while long pressing the power button on the phone
-in the little menu move with volume up to fastboot and select it with volume down)
It is known that with some PHH based gsi's the sound sometimes crackles a bit on some Mediatek devices. It is not yet clear what causes it.
I am playing around with these settings, somehow the crackling is being influenced by the brightness settings. The weird thing is that on our KKM1 with LineageOS A11, we don't have these crackling problems. Please share your experiences with this.
Phh Treble settings
Misc features
tick:
-Use linear screen brightness
-Force Enable Camera2APIHAL3
-Bluetooth workarounds / Mediatek
in developer options I changed:
-Animator duration scale .5x
happy flashing!3
I have moved the posts relating to the Pocket HERE. You can continue the conversation there. As and when development takes place for this device, you can make a request for a new forum as described by my colleague @Timmmmaaahh! above.3anyone knows how to replace the boot image on KKM2 ?
there's logo-verified.bin in default rom files ..
would be also nice to replace the colorful "charging" screen when phone is switched off
p.s. successfully loaded the logo-verified.bin in editor from here :
logo editor
edited and flashbed back with
fastboot flash logo logo.bin
Sending 'logo' (873 KB) OKAY [ 0.046s]
Writing 'logo' OKAY [ 0.024s]
battery animation is in the same file.
Anyone managed to remove 5sec delay with open bootloader?
The orange state is easy to remove, but delay remains ..
