[Q] Lenovo Tab 2 A10-70F --Root??

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Old faithful

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2008
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i ll never use recoveries in the future because i have problem with android updates. i formated the tablet because of this. kingroot now have strategy for a10-lollipop. i ll send an email support in lenovo site hope some day, month, year :) i ll have an answer . thank u. i think sp flash has option for backing up tablet/partitions . i havent check this

edit: why is my nvram settings returned back to null if i do factory reset ?

Hey, I just noticed this could help you updating if you're already rooted with a custom recovery: Go to the sister thread and check Tzul's solution to your dilemma that doesn't require a full flash here and there.

Or get over here and ask him directly ;)

---------- Post added at 00:21 ---------- Previous post was at 00:16 ----------

Hi all,
I have a Lenovo TAB2 A10-70F and unfortunately I cannot flash the stock firmware using SP Flash Tools. Here you have the long story in a short version.
My tablet updated to Lollipop 5.0.1. I rooted the tablet using Kingroot, which was successful then I replaced the the Kingroot with SuperSu using the SuperSU Me app from the Google Play. After the installation the tablet required a reboot. And then my tablet wouldn't boot anymore. It stays at the logo screen forever. I've managed to go into recovery, did a data and cache wipe, but nothing happened. Fast boot is not working as well.
After reading a lot of tutorials I proceeded to flash a KitKat Rom. Downloaded the stock rom, SP Flash Tools, USB drivers and followed the steps as described in tutorials.
SP Flash Tools seems to work OK, but the flashing process stops after the red progress bar reaches 100%. After that nothing happens. I use Windows 8.1 and the latest USB drivers.
If you guys have any idea about what is going on please let me know. I love this tablet and I don't wanna see it thrown away in the garbage.
Thanks for your time and sorry if this is a double post or it's been answered somewhere else.

What version of SP Flash are you using? And what VCOM drivers? Could be as simple as an incompatible version of these two things.

Head on to the sister thread and follow instructions there. If you need further help, it's best to hang out there instead. This thread here has basically become stale ;)
 

defishinsea

Member
Dec 6, 2015
10
0
Hey, I just noticed this could help you updating if you're already rooted with a custom recovery: Go to the sister thread and check Tzul's solution to your dilemma that doesn't require a full flash here and there.

Or get over here and ask him directly ;)

---------- Post added at 00:21 ---------- Previous post was at 00:16 ----------



What version of SP Flash are you using? And what VCOM drivers? Could be as simple as an incompatible version of these two things.

Head on to the sister thread and follow instructions there. If you need further help, it's best to hang out there instead. This thread here has basically become stale ;)

I use this version of SP Flash: SP Flash Tool v5.1516
As regarding the drivers I cannot tell you what version I am using. I know that I downloaded them from one thread on XDA.
 

defishinsea

Member
Dec 6, 2015
10
0
Hey, I just noticed this could help you updating if you're already rooted with a custom recovery: Go to the sister thread and check Tzul's solution to your dilemma that doesn't require a full flash here and there.

Or get over here and ask him directly ;)

---------- Post added at 00:21 ---------- Previous post was at 00:16 ----------



What version of SP Flash are you using? And what VCOM drivers? Could be as simple as an incompatible version of these two things.

Head on to the sister thread and follow instructions there. If you need further help, it's best to hang out there instead. This thread here has basically become stale ;)
Solved. It was the version of SP Flash Tools I was using. Thank you all for your kindness.
 
T

thejan2009

Guest
Is there any way to unlock bootloader of this device with fastboot? I don't have access to a computer running windows, so SP Flash Tools are off the limits for me.
 

Old faithful

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2008
595
204
Wentworth-Nord
Is there any way to unlock bootloader of this device with fastboot? I don't have access to a computer running windows, so SP Flash Tools are off the limits for me.

Yes you can, once rooted (I recommend SuperSU, but you can use Kingroot, but do try to replace it with SuperSU ASAP). Check the first post of the sister thread here, paragraph 3, item 10

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk 2
 

Tzul

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2014
421
431
Is there any way to unlock bootloader of this device with fastboot? I don't have access to a computer running windows, so SP Flash Tools are off the limits for me.
The bootloader is unlocked. But if you have the old version, then it won't allow to flash most partitions via Fastboot. The new bootloader version, introduced with tablets that had Lollipop preinstalled, has better Fastboot support.
There's also a Linux version of the SPFT, by the way. To flash the new bootloader, you need SPFT, a custom recovery, or root.
 

Old faithful

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2008
595
204
Wentworth-Nord
The bootloader is unlocked. But if you have the old version, then it won't allow to flash most partitions via Fastboot. The new bootloader version, introduced with tablets that had Lollipop preinstalled, has better Fastboot support.
There's also a Linux version of the SPFT, by the way. To flash the new bootloader, you need SPFT, a custom recovery, or root.

I stand corrected - @Tzul's answer is the most technically accurate.

Beautifully said, Tzul! Wie meine Mutter immer sagt, "Man wird so alt wie eine Kuh und lernt immer noch dazu" :D


Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk 2
 
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T

thejan2009

Guest
The bootloader is unlocked. But if you have the old version, then it won't allow to flash most partitions via Fastboot. The new bootloader version, introduced with tablets that had Lollipop preinstalled, has better Fastboot support.
There's also a Linux version of the SPFT, by the way. To flash the new bootloader, you need SPFT, a custom recovery, or root.
Which scatter file should I use then? The tablet is fully updated to some Android 5 version, but when I received it, it was 4.4. I've just tried to flash recovery with the fishy SPFT tool, but it didn't download any data to the device. I didn't install the usb drivers as I assume they are for Windows only. Are the steps for installing custom recovery from linux-based host any different to the ones linked by @Old faithful?
 

Tzul

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2014
421
431
@Old faithful Nice saying!
@thejan2009 You can use any scatter file for the Tab 2 A10-70. There's one in the TWRP downloads, for example. Nothing of significance has changed in the scatter file between Kitkat and Lollipop, only project name and filename of the preloader.

Unfortunately I've never used the Linux version of SPFT myself, therefore I cannot help you with it.
 

lion567

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2013
190
158
The tablet is fully updated to some Android 5 version, but when I received it, it was 4.4. I've just tried to flash recovery with the fishy SPFT tool, but it didn't download any data to the device. I didn't install the usb drivers as I assume they are for Windows only. Are the steps for installing custom recovery from linux-based host any different to the ones linked by @Old faithful?
@thejan2009, you don't have to install any driver for SP FT on Linux, but you have to open access to corresponding USB VID and PID via udev (add a row to 51-android.rules which is ordinary lies in /etc/udev/rules.d/). On some Linux derivatives you should be a member of uucp or dialout group to have write access to virtual TTY. To find out if you've got access you can switch off your tablet run "dmesg | grep usb" and connect it to PC. You should get smth like this
Code:
[ 6545.938302] cdc_acm 1-11:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
[ 6548.525488] usb 1-11: USB disconnect, device number 6
[ 6555.977807] usb 1-11: new high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
[ 6556.106960] usb 1-11: New USB device found, idVendor=0e8d, idProduct=2000
[ 6556.106963] usb 1-11: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 6556.106965] usb 1-11: Product: MT65xx Preloader
[ 6556.106967] usb 1-11: Manufacturer: MediaTek
On Ubuntu 14.x you also have to add USB VID and PID to modemmanager black list (/etc/udev/rules.d/20-mm-blacklist-mtk.rules) or disable modemmanager. Check for cdc_acm loadable kernel module after, it can gone together with modemmanager and should be restarted.

IMHO fatsboot ot even adb are more useful tools under Linux. As @Tsul already mentioned above, if you run 5.0.x ROM, you have unlocked bootloader and you can flash any partition via fastboot.
If you are comfortable with standard Linux dd command, and have rooted your tablet, you can use adb shell to do the job
Code:
shell@A10-70L:/ $ su
root@A10-70L:/ # ls -al /dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/recovery                                               
lrwxrwxrwx root     root              2016-03-25 23:50 recovery -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
root@A10-70L:/ # grep  mmcblk0p10 /proc/partitions                                                
 179       10      16384 mmcblk0p10
root@A10-70L:/ # dd if=/storage/sdcard1/recovery.img of=/dev/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/recovery  bs=1024 count=16384
udev rules also required for adb and fastboot.
 
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thejan2009

Guest
These are actually my attempts at rooting the device. I tried once more with fastboot, it seems that tablet received the recovery img, but then it failed with "partition 'recovery' not support flash." Well whatever. I'll try this another time, but for now, thank you for the replies!
 

lion567

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2013
190
158
These are actually my attempts at rooting the device. I tried once more with fastboot, it seems that tablet received the recovery img, but then it failed with "partition 'recovery' not support flash." Well whatever. I'll try this another time, but for now, thank you for the replies!
It seems that you still have old KK bootloader - I've seen such OTA update (A10-70L_S000115_160119_ROW.zip) without lk.bin inside.
 

Tzul

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2014
421
431
@lion567 Thanks for the Linux info!

@thejan2009 That error message means you have the old "Kitkat" bootloader installed. If you want better Fastboot support, you have to use SPFT or root to flash another bootloader. Either my patched Kitkat one, or the Lollipop one. You can find both for the Tab 2 A10-70F in this archive. (Patched Kitkat bootloader: Kitkat/lk.patched.bin; Lollipop bootloader: Lollipop/lk.bin).
 
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Tzul

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2014
421
431
@lion567 Oops, you're right of course. In my original message, I also wrote what preloader goes along with each bootloader, but I decided to delete that, and removed the wrong part of the sentence.
 

muh00mad

New member
Jul 17, 2015
4
0
Dear Guys,

I've bought a Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F with preinstalled Android 5.0.1, I tried to install the recovery at the link but the SPFT status gets red and shows Download DA [something] and the timer keeps running till a message appear of action timeout.

I also tried Tzul guide at this link and the result is the same, however now my tab won't even open and when it connect to PC the preloader appear at device manager but the tab don't show anything and the SPFT can not connect to it.

my quesions are:
1) is there a way to fix the booating (i guess it got messed up)?
2) is there a way to install the TWRP without messing it again.

I'm running on windows 8.1 and the SP Flash Tool version is 5.1524.00.000.

Thanks
 

Sparkrite

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2014
885
315
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
Dear Guys,

I've bought a Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F with preinstalled Android 5.0.1, I tried to install the recovery at the link but the SPFT status gets red and shows Download DA [something] and the timer keeps running till a message appear of action timeout.

I also tried Tzul guide at this link and the result is the same, however now my tab won't even open and when it connect to PC the preloader appear at device manager but the tab don't show anything and the SPFT can not connect to it.

my quesions are:
1) is there a way to fix the booating (i guess it got messed up)?
2) is there a way to install the TWRP without messing it again.

I'm running on windows 8.1 and the SP Flash Tool version is 5.1524.00.000.

Thanks

Hi, I just dropped back in on this thread, used to be an active thread but has been superseded by this one:-

http://xdaforums.com/android/general/guide-lenovo-tab-2-a10-70-root-t3279322

All your answers can be found there.
 
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Old faithful

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2008
595
204
Wentworth-Nord
Dear Guys,

I've bought a Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F with preinstalled Android 5.0.1, I tried to install the recovery at the link but the SPFT status gets red and shows Download DA [something] and the timer keeps running till a message appear of action timeout.

I also tried Tzul guide at this link and the result is the same, however now my tab won't even open and when it connect to PC the preloader appear at device manager but the tab don't show anything and the SPFT can not connect to it.

my quesions are:
1) is there a way to fix the booating (i guess it got messed up)?
2) is there a way to install the TWRP without messing it again.

I'm running on windows 8.1 and the SP Flash Tool version is 5.1524.00.000.

Thanks

For starters you need SPFT 5.1548, although 5.1532 should also work. You may also have to remove the SPFT drivers as well using USBDeview. Finally make sure you use the same USB port and make sure power management is turned off for the USB ports as well.

Read the first post of the sister thread like was suggested before and if you need detailed instructions I've made a tutorial, I've posted a link a few days ago on that thread.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk 2
 
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  • 11
    Lenovo A10 70f finally rooted and cwm lollipop 5.0.1

    Hi my first post but I'm sure u will all enjoy, finally got this tablet rooted on lollipop 5.0.1, using following method.
    1. Download and install SPflashtools.
    2. Download and install MT6575 USB vcom drivers,
    3. Download a zip called carlivtouchrecovery.zip
    4. Download UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip.
    Right now to start.
    First off set device into USB debug, from about device, press build 10 times to access features.
    Now with device turned ON connect to PC using cable make sure all drivers installed OK.
    No disconnect again, and load up SPflashtools, choose scatter file from within carlivtouchrecovery. And make sure only recovery option has a tick. Now click download.
    Now connect device again whilst switched OFF, and now custom recovery is installed.
    Disconnect device, turn on device holding power and vol+ check recovery installed.
    Now to ROOT, insert the UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip onto sdcard1, load into recovery mode using power and vol+ again, choose recovery, then from here choose update from sdcard1, choose the UPDATE-SuperSU.zip and install. Restart and 100% rooted and with custom recovery, unfortunately I cannot add links but easy to Google search to find, please like if helps, thanx :D
    5
    Recoveries...

    Just a quick question - I'm coming from the well worn and comfortable neighbourhood of CWM and as i tried to do my first backup using this recovery, I notice there isn't any option to do backup on the external SDCard and was wondering if it was just me, or is it truly missing from this recovery? 16GB fills very quickly when experimenting!

    I have noticed that, you can back up to sd card on the recovery for lollipop, not on the kitkat version. My understanding was that recovery is independent of the os. Probably someone can shed some light on this issue?

    I have analyzed the two custom recoveries from that Russian forum. I'll henceforth call them CR4 and CR5. They are virtually identical, and they were made for the Elephone P6000! Except for the kernels, of course.

    A quick primer on the format of Android boot.img and recovery.img:
    They start with an "ANDROID!" header containing some address and size data, and a few other things that aren't important here.
    After this header, the actual Linux kernel image starts. This kernel image is usually compressed, to save space in flash memory. There are a few of popular formats, more about them in a second.
    After the kernel, there's a "rootfs" or "ramdisk". It's a compressed file system that literally provides the root file system, and contains the initial files required for booting Android, or the recovery. Mainly some init scripts and binaries.
    The ramdisk part usually concludes the boot/recovery image. There's an option to have a second loader afterwards, but I've never seen one personally.
    In Mediatek boot/recovery images, there's also a special 512 byte sector attached to the front of the kernel and ramdisk parts, but that's not important here either.

    Back to the compressed kernel formats. One is "zImage" - this is a gzipped kernel that self-extracts, i.e. it starts with a bit of decompression code and has the final gzipped kernel embedded. Our Lenovo tablet uses this format for Android 4.4, and therefore the CR4 uses it, too.
    For Android 5 however, the kernel is just plain gzipped, without self-extraction code. And of course CR5 mimics that. So how does the kernel get extracted in memory then? That's done by the bootloader. The tablet uses (L)ittle (K)ernel - you might have seen the "lk" partition in the scatter file. When powering on, the boot sequence is basically preloader (the thingy that's also responsible for initiating the VCOM connection with the SPFT) -> bootloader (has fastboot integrated and is responsible for the little "recovery, fastboot, normal" menu) -> kernel (boot.img / recovery.img).

    It's highly likely that the LK version from the Android 4.4 firmwares expects zImage kernels and can't handle plain gzipped kernels.
    That's why CR5 does not work when the tablet is still running Android 4.4 (or more precisely, the older LK). And like I said, it'd be pointless anyway, because the two recoveries are identical (that is, their ramdisks are identical, with one silly minor difference: the banner graphic of CR4 reads "Ported by hanuma50" whereas in CR5 it reads "Ported by >>psihop<<").

    So, the fact that the external SD card does get mounted in CR5 but not CR4 is not due to differences in the actual recoveries (ramdisks). It's due to the different kernels and/or bootloaders (LK).
    It might be possible to create a working zImage-based recovery from the Android 5 kernel and use that on the tablets with older firmware. Maybe it's also possible to use the new LK with the older firmware, if the new LK still supports zImage...
    version "4" of LK + CR4 = SD card not mounted
    version "4" of LK + CR5 = fails to boot, as explained above
    version "4" of LK + zImage version of Android 5 kernel = ???
    version "5" of LK + CR4 = ???
    version "5" of LK + CR5 = SD card mounted

    Would make an interesting experiment, but I don't feel like doing it. Also, it's probably easier to have the SD card mounted in CR4 by just doing a few modifications to certain files inside the ramdisk (fstab).
    I did originally consider porting a more properly adapted custom recovery to the tablet myself. But since I don't really need one (except for the initial installation of SuperSU), I probably won't try any time soon. I do all my partition backups with the SPFT. ;)
    5
    Well, I figured I would copy the backup from the internal sd card to my pc and then to a microsd along with all the other backups I intend to make.
    That way they are double backed up.
    Unless there's a reason that I wouldn't be able to see the files over mtp then I think that should work.


    Well, Sparkrite was giving me the impression that re-flashing the entire stock rom was riskier that restoring a backup made with the custom recovery.
    Maybe I misunderstood something but if that was what he meant then I would think that having a pre-rooted backup at least would make the process of getting the device safely back to stock condition easier.
    I may make a tweaked backup at the point that I know what I want on the tablet to begin with but right now I'm still figuring out what apps I need.
    My last tablet was from a few years ago so it hasn't been able to handle some of the newer things I have access to on the lenovo.
    Titanium backup sounds like a good idea, I may do that in addition.


    Well, I checked my stock os version number against the one from the rom Ondigo provided and they were the same before I installed that 4.4.4 update.
    Is there a reason that after returning to the stock state I couldn't just use the lenovo system updater to install the update again?
    Why do I need to load a a zipped update file as opposed to just using the normal update method.
    Also where would I get said file as I haven't seen any links posted to it so far in the thread.


    That's ok, I do too sometimes. :)


    That's probably what I'll do then, sounds simpler.


    Ok, I thought it would be, it's worked with every other driver install I've done.
    Sometimes there's a reason though, like having 2 drivers for the same device in separate child folders inside a parent folder.
    Hard telling which one windows will pick in that situation and it might not be the right one for the intended purpose.


    What would it overwrite the custom recovery with, isn't this one of the options from within the custom recovery?
    Does that option restore the stock recovery or overwrite the custom recovery with something else entirely?
    Why specifically would it be bad to use that option? :confused:


    pfff... ha! :rolleyes:


    Well, the idea would be to restore the device to it's pre-root state, basically exactly the way it is right now with that pre-root custom recovery backup I mentioned before.
    Then after that I would re-flash the stock recovery.
    So unless root and any changes made by root apps would persist through the pre-root backup restoration I'm unclear on why it would be any riskier than re-flashing the entire stock rom.
    Do you still think it's too risky after that clarification and if so could you be more specific about what flags it might throw up and?
    I'm not eager to see if the factory rom will actually work, I'm glad to have it in a worst case scenario but I would rather restore the tablet to stock on the current version of the os than re-install it entirely if I can avoid that.

    Also, Have you been through that process before of returning a tablet to stock and submitting it for warranty service?
    I would be curious about your experience with it since I never had to do that with my previous tablet.

    Great conversation guys...
    couple of things, Carliv Recovery will backup to sdcard0 (internal) or sdcard1 (ext-sdcard)
    backing up everything before flashing SuperSu root is the best way to have a full back to stock system.

    the carliv backups on the Internal sdcard did not show up on my PC but they are their when you boot back to recovery
    The backups to sdcard1 show up on the PC so they can be backed up without any problem

    Well, I checked my stock os version number against the one from the rom Ondigo provided and they were the same before I installed that 4.4.4 update.
    Is there a reason that after returning to the stock state I couldn't just use the lenovo system updater to install the update again?
    Why do I need to load a a zipped update file as opposed to just using the normal update method.
    Also where would I get said file as I haven't seen any links posted to it so far in the thread.

    all the OTA updates are in my AFH account here >> https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=46340

    also their is a hack to use exfat on your 64gig sdcard while in the tablet OS
    the file is in my AFH collection I posted above - update-android-fs-1-0-4-install-sud-zip.
    Instructions to use it are here >>https://translate.googleusercontent...42143/&usg=ALkJrhjp1hOQYA3ML76vkdrXgeqQrqiKkA
    5
    Hi my first post but I'm sure u will all enjoy, finally got this tablet rooted on lollipop 5.0.1, using following method.
    1. Download and install SPflashtools.
    2. Download and install MT6575 USB vcom drivers,
    3. Download a zip called carlivtouchrecovery.zip
    4. Download UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip.
    Right now to start.
    First off set device into USB debug, from about device, press build 10 times to access features.
    Now with device turned ON connect to PC using cable make sure all drivers installed OK.
    No disconnect again, and load up SPflashtools, choose scatter file from within carlivtouchrecovery. And make sure only recovery option has a tick. Now click download.
    Now connect device again whilst switched OFF, and now custom recovery is installed.
    Disconnect device, turn on device holding power and vol+ check recovery installed.
    Now to ROOT, insert the UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip onto sdcard1, load into recovery mode using power and vol+ again, choose recovery, then from here choose update from sdcard1, choose the UPDATE-SuperSU.zip and install. Restart and 100% rooted and with custom recovery, unfortunately I cannot add links but easy to Google search to find, please like if helps, thanx :D

    Well done!
    The exact method I said (linked to) in post 121 of this thread.
    However you took the time to elaborate on the steps needed.
    5
    TWRP is here!

    I managed to make a working TWRP custom recovery for this tablet!
    Like I said before, the screen boots up in portrait mode, but the touch panel driver returns coordinates in landscape mode, making everything unusable. If you compile TWRP from scratch, you can specify the flags RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_SWAP_XY and RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_X to fix this.

    Here's the download, containing the two versions for Android 4 and 5. And here are some screenshots.

    If you'd like to show your appreciation and encourage me to continue working on this, I have a donation link on the left.

    Anyone know how repair NVRAM? Wifi error, imei zero without root... MTK Engineering Mode not solution. Thnx.
    Well, if your personalized data (MAC addresses, IMEI, ...) is gone, then it's gone. There's no permanent fix for a deleted NVRAM yet, but if you place the proper files in the /data/nvram/ folder, you can get rid of the errors. I guess you have a A10-70L, because you mentioned IMEI? I only have the files from my A10-70F, without IMEI. You can download them here. But you'll need root and you'll need to edit the files (enter a valid MAC address for Bluetooth in the file BT_Addr at offset 0, and a MAC address for WLAN in the file WIFI at offset 4; you might also want to change the country code from "DE" [Germany] to "US" or whatever... here's a datasheet describing the format of the WIFI file).