Lenovo META mode

[cybermaus]

i had the same issue like you when i tried to mod Bruno Martins's Extended User Data to my A789...

Then i think to myself how did lenovo flash in ROM at the first place & with that google leads me to this post about Power On sequences, thank you so much Master Shifu.... :good:

However, i can't exactly recall which or the correct sequence as i was trying all combinations with Flash Tool set at download mode all the time & voila, suddenly Flash Tool starts to download & i got my A789 back...

Ohh realy you gave me new hope because its completely dead like no power on no charging tried all posible combinations
but now i have to try all seq in download mode but the issue is A660 factory not out yet i search so many chineas forms.
But atleast if it detects then there is some hope. I alredy packed to send back to china but i will try and tell you please pray for me and if you remember key sequence please write here thanks for giving me hope

if not mistaken, its the Vol-Dn + Power goes into META mode... :fingers-crossed:

my best guess is the preloader as cybermaus has mention, for my case i use A789 preloader at first for my modding & internal memory just increase 100MB then i download the V970's preloader_mt6577_phone.bin which i though was generic then ends up problem just like you... It actually doesn't detect the phone but with the right combinations of Power on sequences it accepts Flash Tool download...

But first did you do a full ROM backup ?

Your case is a completely different than mine so i guess we'll have to wait for Master Shifu cybermaus to further advice you since you don't have a full factory ROM... :fingers-crossed:

Good Luck... :fingers-crossed:

@yuweng; @adeelahmed11

Yes, META mode is to flash without preloader. With it you can format the entire eMMC chip, just like we used to do on our MT6516 first generation of Mediatek Android chips. And indeed, it is how the factory puts on the preloader in the first place.

However, I was under the assumtion the following 3 issues would make this hard to use for adeelahmed11:
- The meta mode does not use USB, but bootstrap using serial, and requires a special cable in the 3.5mm audio port.
- On the A660 phone PowerDown+Volume down goes into FACTORY mode, so META mode must be a different one, but he has no more buttons to try.
- He would still need a factory original flash package to flash onto the A660

Now, if what yuweng said is true, and he really broke his preloader, and fixed it without special cable, then I would have to assume somehow Mediatek worked around the serial cable requirement. Maybe they integrate the PL2303 USB to Serial hardware in the chipset. That would be sweet. Or maybe they can drive the USB without preloader software in some rudimentary mode.

Tell us yeweng: Did you ever put a PL2303 device driver on your PC? Also, did you put the flash program in serial mode instead of USB mode (it's an option in the flash program menu.

As to adeelahmed11, if you want to try this, it may be better to first wait for a real A660 ROM. If somehow you get the phone into META mode, and the flash utility starts to flash, you want it to flash the right stuff. If you overwrite it with more wrong stuff using this deeper level, well, it will not improve matters

 

[cybermaus]

i had the same issue like you when i tried to mod Bruno Martins's Extended User Data to my A789...

Then i think to myself how did lenovo flash in ROM at the first place & with that google leads me to this post about Power On sequences, thank you so much Master Shifu.... :good:

However, i can't exactly recall which or the correct sequence as i was trying all combinations with Flash Tool set at download mode all the time & voila, suddenly Flash Tool starts to download & i got my A789 back...

Ohh realy you gave me new hope because its completely dead like no power on no charging tried all posible combinations
but now i have to try all seq in download mode but the issue is A660 factory not out yet i search so many chineas forms.
But atleast if it detects then there is some hope. I alredy packed to send back to china but i will try and tell you please pray for me and if you remember key sequence please write here thanks for giving me hope

if not mistaken, its the Vol-Dn + Power goes into META mode... :fingers-crossed:

my best guess is the preloader as cybermaus has mention, for my case i use A789 preloader at first for my modding & internal memory just increase 100MB then i download the V970's preloader_mt6577_phone.bin which i though was generic then ends up problem just like you... It actually doesn't detect the phone but with the right combinations of Power on sequences it accepts Flash Tool download...

But first did you do a full ROM backup ?

Your case is a completely different than mine so i guess we'll have to wait for Master Shifu cybermaus to further advice you since you don't have a full factory ROM... :fingers-crossed:

Good Luck... :fingers-crossed:

@yuweng; @adeelahmed11

Yes, META mode is to flash without preloader. With it you can format the entire eMMC chip, just like we used to do on our MT6516 first generation of Mediatek Android chips. And indeed, it is how the factory puts on the preloader in the first place.

However, I was under the assumtion the following 3 issues would make this hard to use for adeelahmed11:
- The meta mode does not use USB, but bootstrap using serial, and requires a special cable in the 3.5mm audio port.
- On the A660 phone PowerDown+Volume down goes into FACTORY mode, so META mode must be a different one, but he has no more buttons to try.
- He would still need a factory original flash package to flash onto the A660

Now, if what yuweng said is true, and he really broke his preloader, and fixed it without special cable, then I would have to assume somehow Mediatek worked around the serial cable requirement. Maybe they integrate the PL2303 USB to Serial hardware in the chipset. That would be sweet. Or maybe they can drive the USB without preloader software in some rudimentary mode.

Tell us yeweng: Did you ever put a PL2303 device driver on your PC? Also, did you put the flash program in serial mode instead of USB mode (it's an option in the flash program menu.

As to adeelahmed11, if you want to try this, it may be better to first wait for a real A660 ROM. If somehow you get the phone into META mode, and the flash utility starts to flash, you want it to flash the right stuff. If you overwrite it with more wrong stuff using this deeper level, well, it will not improve matters

 

[yuweng]

Wow, now that you mention so many stuff here in fact (1) i did have PL2303 USB driver that i use at work for serial downloading software but that usb to serial converter was not plug in to the pc. It didn't show up as active device at device manager...OS Win7 x86, i've attach the report generated by USBDeview...

(2) i use android-sdk usb_driver as the mediatek preloader driver doesn't work on my pc...(3) can't recall which version of Flash Tool i use for downloading, either version 3.1224.01 or 3.1222.00

(4) i did tried disable/ enable USB Mode at Flash Tool but can clearly recall it was in USB Mode when it starts to downloading...

(5) i was using only five files PRELOADER, DSP_PL, MBR, EBR1 & RECOVERY during my modding & first, i use all files from A789 with modded scatter.txt. As said, the mod wouldn't work & i started to use each file one by one from V970 & my last try was the preloader that got it 'brick'...

(6) For my case it was full ROM download but i presume download with the correct preloader would have 'unbrick' it...

Mostly said Mediatek is 'unbrickable' so lets hope we'll be able to 'unbrick' adeelahmed11 A660... :fingers-crossed:

 

[cybermaus]

You kept a USB sniffer active while you were messing with your phone? Or is this a USB sniffer-log of a different time?
If the first, then I take of my hat to you for foresight! If the latter, then I am not sure if I want to spent time analyzing it. So please do tell me which. Edit, its not a stiffer-log, just a list of installed devices. How do you know it was not active during your rescue?

Reading your story, it is less encouraging: You tried Druno's repartitioning, so that scatter file would have messed with the MBR and maybe EBR partitions. And while you did reprogram the preloader, you did so from the original phone? I can imagine that if you break your MBR, the phone would appear to be very bricked, but not as deeply as when the preloader itself is broken. I am thinking your preloader, and therefore your USB client-side software, was always OK.

A further hint would be: Did you have to reprogram your IMEI number and/or WiFi/Bluetooth MAC addresses? If not that is a further hint your phone was not truly bricked.

As a reference: The way I see the preloader is as the BIOS of the phone. It initializes some core hardware, so the actual boot, the uboot, can kick off. But first, it initializes the USB port, and has some bytes of software so that the USB port can be used to communicate and reflash. It waits a second in this state, before really kicking off the uboot The way I see META mode is as a sort of JTAG interface, so that with no software at all on the phone, through a simple serial port, you can very slowly program the flash chip from scratch.

Of course. that is what I suspect, and we have learned to distrust my suspicions.

 

[yuweng]

Thank you Master Shifu for sharing your insight... :good: USBDeview is what i use for trouble-shooting for my usb to serial converter & the log was taken after the 'unbricking' process...Whoops, i can't confirm what was active during the rescue but i can confirm nothing shows up at device manager before the download starts & i didn't check what is there at device manager during the download...

i actually did the modding with caution but never thought wrong preloader would 'brick' the phone.... I've compare both files from A789 & V970 & to my surprise it is the same bit for bit except for PRELOADER & EBR1...even the scatter file is the same except for __NODL_FAT 0x629e8000 ! Bruno's Extended Data mod doesn't download everything... Fyi, i actually use scatter from Lewa ROM & earlier i have ported bruno's V970 to A789 with no patching at all, everything works except WiFi, GPS & a few others... Even after patching firmware folder with few related *.so, the problem remain the same... Well, i guess V970 is for V970 after all but it is very similar to A789 system files... :laugh:

So i guess for adeelahmed11 case, he has to get the correct preloader file to 'unbrick' it...

Found new info for downloading preloader for 'brick' MT6575/ 77
These russians are 'terror'...

rua1 mention that some MT6575/ 77 can't access META mode because not all has the right combinations key button to access it...

The original thread is here...i use Google Chrome built-in translator & its translation make sense compare to other translator...

It might be useful for fellow xda member that 'brick' their MT6575/ 77 preloader other than Lenovo... :good:

Other useful tuts from russia here & here... :good:

 

[cybermaus]

Yes, that Russian site you found is the *normal* thinking that I also have/had. You need a USB-to-serial cable, and you need to connect the cable to a serial port. For a lucky few, the serial connection is hidden in the 3.5mm port, but that may not be on every brand and model. You notice how that guy is happy he found a point on the board that is the serial connection? You can bet he tried the 3.5mm first. Next he went to look on the circuitboard itself. It what I would have tried, if I had a brick in my hands. But unless if you have the tools and skills, it is not for the normal user.

You however claimed you did it *without* serial cable, *without* serial port, *without* 3.5mm connector. That is what surprised me. Either you did not really brick your preloader. Or Mediatek build in the USB2Serial module into the later chips, in which case that Russian link you found is nice, but on the too difficult and thus unneeded track that I would have gone also.

If true, the trick must be in the fact you had the PL2303 driver installed. When cold-staring your Android, the phone briefly linked up its PL2303 mode with the driver. And you had your flash tool set to serial. So it simply worked. If I recall correctly, a button combination may not even be needed, if you have the PL2303 driver active the flash tool will simply send a command over it to go into the programming mode automatically. Or at least, it did so for the MT6516 chip, as described here.

But for now, lets simply wait until a A660 ROM turns up. Or someone else with a brick in his hands and a matching flashable ROM to go with it.

 

[adeelahmed11]

Thank you so much for creating the thread and your help, i tried all possible key combinations, but there is no last breath i think i should not waste time and try to claim the warranty because its almost a week old, so better chance to get back, i can try the usb to serial but i need the cable and its not available in my city and if i order from web it takes time, also still A660 Rom not available, etotalk.com claiming that they have rooted rom but they are not selling it , they are selling with phone only.
if i get back a new phone i will try the flash again but without selecting the lo level files like MBR and preloader
anyway thanks guys

 

[yuweng]

My dear Master Shifu cybermaus,

Just as you suspected, indeed, it become serial port...

i don't have to press the power button, with the battery out, i just hold the volume up on my A789 while plugging in the USB cable will activate META mode... :laugh:

 

[cybermaus]

I'll watch the video later.
Also, I see that a ROM has surfaced: A660_S019_120824

I will download it if I have a change, and try to create a recovery / ROW ROM for it

 

[adeelahmed11]

I'll watch the video later.
Also, I see that a ROM has surfaced: A660_S019_120824

I will download it if I have a change, and try to create a recovery / ROW ROM for it

What video boss and did you found the a660 rom so then i can try vol + and plug the cable

 

[cybermaus]

Ah, so you still have it then? Warranty not accepted? Bad for you, but strictly speaking correct, the shop did not send you a faulty product.

The ROM is this one with password bbs.lenovomobile.com

Do try to see if you can get it to work, by setting the flash tool to serial (not-USB), but to be honest, I still have my doubts about yuweng's case. I still wonder if his preloader was truly bricked. The video above shows the serial as it is provided from the preloader.

I did a full USB sniff/trace on the bootup process. In it, I did see above COM port, but not one before that.

But if he is correct, then the procedure will most likely be to remove the battery, connect the cable, start the download in the flash program and insert the battery.

You can also then try any button pressing, like power+volume-up to go into META mode. But this is I suspect controlled by the preloader, so that must be working. We need something before that phase.

 

[adeelahmed11]

Need CMW Recovery for Tooky(T1982) MT6575

Hi,

I tried this Rom with pressing vol+ while connecting to PC but nothing happened any way i sent back to china.
now i need help in my other china phone which is Tooky T1982. it is MT6575 so i tried Lenovo A750 Recovery but its not working, can you compile for me ? or guide me how do i it my self ?
here is i uploaded for your reference Tooky T1982 Rooted Rom

My 2nd question there is another model of Tooky T1981 and it has ICS 4.0 Rom can i port it to my Tooky T1982
here is i uploaded for your reference Tooky T1981 Rom

Waiting for your positive reply

Regards,

Adeel

 

[yuweng]

i refuse to believe Lenovo has taken out META mode feature on newer device...

Have you tried all other combinations...

At Device Manager -> Ports, there should be MediaTek USB VCOM(Android) ComXX or at least an unknown device should pop-up with the usual device connect sound if you have ur speaker switch on...

Refer to my video, however, for your case, the PRELOADER shouldn't have shown up since i capture it when i have already 'unbrick' it & i don't dare try to 'brick' it again to have the video capture again... :laugh:

 

[adeelahmed11]

I tried all possible key combinations but no device detected but i have also ZTE V970(not bricked ) so i power off the device and while press the VOL+ button plug the usb cable and PC detect some APEX device under windows 7 but Vcom drivers did not apply on it

 

[yuweng]

Ok ok, one last try if still cannot then no choice you have to sent it back... :fingers-crossed:

From my experience with 2 types of MT6577 as follows :

With battery inserted
Switch on ur speaker so that you will know if there is a new device connected (the sound is exactly just as u plug in ur USB thumbdrive)
1) Hold Volume Up, don't let go, now plugin USB cable ( this doesn't work on ur A660 )
2) Hold Volume Down, don't let go, now plugin USB cable
3) Hold both Volume Up & Power, don't let go, now plugin USB cable
4) Hold both Volume Down & Power, don't let go, now plugin USB cable

or may be u wanna try the unlisted method...
1) Hold both Volume Up & Down, don't let go, now plugin USB cable
2) Hold all button (Volume Up/Down with Power), don't let go, now plugin USB cable

With battery taken out
Same as above methods but with battery taken out

You have to have SP Flash Tool set to Download mode all the time while trying above steps & see if it starts to download if not then only try next method...May be u would also wanna try different USB port too if ur mobo supports USB2.0 or 3.0

I've also experience before with the battery taken out method, it may fail half way...What i did was, when it starts, reinsert back the battery & SP Flash Tool went on all the way ( this method i did was uploading system.img )

If it doesn't detect as Mediatek VCOM then fast fast double click it at Device Manager & force update it to Mediatek driver...

:fingers-crossed: :fingers-crossed: :fingers-crossed:

 

[adeelahmed11]

Thanks buddy but its already in china bcoz already waste too much time now lets see what lenovo service centre says

 

[cybermaus]

now i need help in my other china phone which is Tooky T1982. it is MT6575 so i tried Lenovo A750 Recovery but its not working, can you compile for me ?

My 2nd question there is another model of Tooky T1981[/URL] and it has ICS 4.0 Rom can i port it to my Tooky T1982

That may be less easy than you think. Firstly, trat 1982 phone seems to not have hardly any hardware buttons. So you would need the Touch version of the recovery. But with a different resolution the Touch version that I have may not work. I will attempt, but I cannot give any guarantees.

For the same reason porting 1981 to 1982 is difficult. Different hardware buttons. Would be interesting to do if I had both phones in my hand, but as a blind build it is too error prone.

 

[joostboonstra]

Hi,

I tried this Rom with pressing vol+ while connecting to PC but nothing happened any way i sent back to china.
now i need help in my other china phone which is Tooky T1982. it is MT6575 so i tried Lenovo A750 Recovery but its not working, can you compile for me ? or guide me how do i it my self ?
here is i uploaded for your reference Tooky T1982 Rooted Rom

My 2nd question there is another model of Tooky T1981 and it has ICS 4.0 Rom can i port it to my Tooky T1982
here is i uploaded for your reference Tooky T1981 Rom

Waiting for your positive reply

Regards,

Adeel

I have the rom to but with CWM_5.5.0.4. and it's working great.
just download the .img rename and replace it.http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

http://ge.tt/6qy1HrO/v/5

 

[adeelahmed11]

I have the rom to but with CWM_5.5.0.4. and it's working great.
just download the .img rename and replace it.http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

http://ge.tt/6qy1HrO/v/5

Thank you so much joostboonstra you really save so much time for reinventing the wheel are you using "T1982_V2.0.4_A3_S3_SVN1042_201207252315" or is there any update available? my phone soft restart after some time.

 

[wenten]

question

i refuse to believe Lenovo has taken out META mode feature on newer device...

Have you tried all other combinations...

At Device Manager -> Ports, there should be MediaTek USB VCOM(Android) ComXX or at least an unknown device should pop-up with the usual device connect sound if you have ur speaker switch on...

Refer to my video, however, for your case, the PRELOADER shouldn't have shown up since i capture it when i have already 'unbrick' it & i don't dare try to 'brick' it again to have the video capture again... :laugh:

There are unknown device pop up in my bricked a789 phone

i try other a789 which are not bricked it able detect

any solution to get the device to detected?

Already solve by manually install mt6577 driver