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fans-android.com › Android

February 15, 2017

Author: Maxim

Sooner or later there comes a time when, for some reason, you need to return to an earlier version of the firmware on your Android device. These reasons can be very different: from software failures and errors to dissatisfaction with some unofficial build of the operating system.

In any case, you need to be fully armed and know how to undo changes made to the software.

• 1 Possible problems after updating Android
• 2 Options for returning old firmware 2.1 Backup
• 2.2 Other rollback methods

Firmware recovery methods

Depending on the degree of malfunction, there are several effective ways after which the gadget restores its functionality. So, how to restore the firmware on Android?

• Method No. 1. Restore settings to basic/factory settings. This is an effective method, but there are also side effects in the form of loss of all data.
• Method No. 2. Using third-party software to restore or install firmware. It is advisable to use only official (stock) versions to avoid system errors.
• Method No. 3. Using Recovery tools. With their help, you can install both official and user (custom) firmware.

Each method needs a detailed description, so that in the future a person can independently correct the problems that arise and repair his device, without additional financial costs.

Answers to your main 4 questions about Android resuscitation

I tried to install the official firmware, everything went well, but exactly halfway through the device turned off due to insufficient charge. Unfortunately, I did not immediately take this fact into account. I connected the phone to the charger, it turned on, but the startup stops at showing the logo and does not go further. What to do? Do not disconnect your smartphone from the charge for several hours and just wait for a start. It is possible that the process of installing new firmware will resume on its own; this happens quite often. You can reboot your phone a couple of times. If it doesn’t help, use our above method using Recovery. Can TWRP Manager be downloaded from Google Play? Yes, it is freely available. But it requires root rights to work. The computer does not see the Odin program. Check the serviceability of the installed drivers, reinstall them if necessary, disable the antivirus. And the most common thing is to check the USB cable and connectors. The smartphone turned into a brick as a result of a fall, and not because of unsuccessful firmware. Is it possible to save it yourself? This is a completely different procedure. If the device stops turning on after the impact, it means that its internal mechanisms have been damaged. And installing special programs, Recovery, that is, external “reanimation”, is unlikely to help

The Android operating system on each individual device has its own system, that is, software components. If it happens that your device has become a “brick,” then it is best to find instructions for a specific smartphone.

Factory reset

In almost 100% of cases, the user himself is to blame for the breakdown of the smartphone. Unsuccessfully installed applications, virus programs, unsuccessful firmware - and you have to figure out how to restore the firmware on Android.

If this happens, then you should perform a Hard reset of the gadget. Almost all phones have the ability to quickly call up a special menu – Recovery, which can be used to reset the settings. Typically, these are simultaneous presses of the lock and volume keys (each smartphone model has its own combinations).

You need to do the reset in the following sequence:

• If the gadget is functioning, then you should transfer all the necessary data to a flash drive or PC.
• Turn off your smartphone and press the volume and lock buttons at the same time. A black window should appear on the screen with a green Android logo in the center.
• In the window that appears, select “Wipe data/factory reset”.
• The next step is to select “delete all user data” and click “OK”.
• The device will turn off, but after a while the message “Reboot system” will appear.

After rebooting, the smartphone should start and look as if it was just purchased. The only negative is that all data and settings will have to be entered again.

Using third-party software to restore firmware

Resetting the settings does not always help, and the phone still remains inoperative. Then you can use another effective method that allows you to restore the firmware on Android on Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, Huawei and other brands of mobile devices.

We are talking about special programs, so-called resuscitators. They allow you to restore the stock firmware and install a new one. Every manufacturer has created a utility for these purposes, but the best application today is SP Flash Tool. The exception is Samsung, which uses a different processor as its base. This program has many functions and, as practice shows, is capable of restoring even the most hopeless “brick” smartphones.

Firmware recovery using Flash Tools

This software is suitable for owners of all smartphones based on the MTK processor. After restoration or flashing, the device begins to work faster and changes its visual design.

So, for work you will need:

• drivers for pairing the gadget with a PC;
• the installed firmware file downloaded from a reliable source;
• Flash Tool program.

First, you need to install special smartphone drivers so that the computer recognizes the connected gadget. They can be found on the Internet (for your model). By the way, it is not always possible to install them automatically, so you need to do the following:

• connect the gadget to the PC;
• open device manager;
• find an unidentified device;
• click on it and select “Update drivers”;
• select the path to the folder with downloaded drivers;
• install them.

Now you can move on to the step of how to restore the firmware on Android.

You need to make sure that the smartphone is charged at least 30-50% (or better yet, even more). And one more thing - you need to flash the device when it is turned off. This is a must.

• In the running program, click the “Scatter-loading” item. This selects the desired firmware file.
• Now you need to set the operating mode - the list includes Download Only, Firmware Upgrade and Format All+Download. The first allows you to select the smartphone partitions to be flashed, the second is a full recovery option with saving important data, and the third is formatting the device and installing from scratch.
• Important! Before clicking the “Download” button, you need to go to the program options and check the “DA DL All with Checksum” checkbox. Otherwise, the firmware may fail with an error.
• Now you can connect your disconnected smartphone to your PC.
• The firmware will start automatically immediately after connecting the device. You need to wait for a green circle to appear in the center of the program window.
• Ready! The smartphone can be disconnected from the PC, turned on and enjoyed.

How to prepare for the Samsung Android device recovery process:

• Charge your gadget fully.
• Install USB drivers on your computer by downloading them here.
• Download the Odin utility from this link and unpack the archive in a convenient location on your PC.
• Download the official firmware for your gadget. The best site for this is Samsung-Updates.com: in the “Devices”
  of the side menu, click on
  “select Device”
  and select the model of your device from the list.

On the next page there should be a list of firmware for this model, sorted by date, that is, the most recent at the top. We find the firmware for your region (Russia=SER, Ukraine=SEK), and then proceed to download by clicking “Download” next to the selected software. Now you need to click on one of the yellow buttons on the page.

So, are you all set? Have you installed the drivers and rebooted your computer? Have you unpacked the Odin program archives and firmware? Is your smartphone/tablet charged? Then let's get started! Follow my instructions carefully and in 15 minutes you will receive a device with freshly installed software.

Remove the battery for a while and put it back in place.

Using Recovery Tools

Another effective way to restore old firmware on Android is to use a special mode.

If custom firmware was installed on your smartphone, you can try using Recovery mode. There are two types of work:

• CWM-Recovery.
• TWRP-Recovery.

They have the same principle of operation, but the sequence of actions is slightly different. By the way, if the problem is how to restore imei on Android using firmware, then this method is effective.

So, the first method is CWM. Before starting work, the archive with the firmware backup must be on the gadget’s memory card. Then:

• you need to go to the recovery menu (volume/lock button combination);
• select “Wipe data/factory reset”;
• Next, you need to confirm resetting the settings in CWM Recovery - select “Yes”;
• in the main menu you need to select the “Wipe cache partition” section;
• cache reset is confirmed;
• the final stage is “Install zip from sdcard” and “Choose zip from sdcard”;
• After rebooting the device everything should work.

The second way to restore the firmware on Android using Recovery is TWRP. It is more modern, since you can navigate through the Recovery menu items by touching the screen. So:

• first you need to select “Wipe”;
• after that, check the box for the sections that need to be cleaned;
• reset settings – “Swipe to factory reset”;
• in the main menu, select the “Install” item, after which you need to specify the path to the Recovery file;
• After rebooting, the gadget can be launched from the TWRP menu.

A side option of both of these methods is the loss of all user files and data on the smartphone.

Backup is our everything

Now we connect our long-suffering camera/recorder with a network cable to the same network as the computer with the terminal program and TFTP server, launch the tftp server

Before experiments, be sure to make a backup copy (dump). To do this, you need to find out the size of the device's flash memory. The sf probe 0 command will help us with this.

xmtech # sf probe 0 8192 KiB hi_fmc at 0:0 is now current device

From this we can see that the size of the flash drive is 8192kb, which is 0x800000h in hexadecimal. (For a 16384kb flash drive this number will be 0x1000000h).

You will also need to find out the address of the available RAM in order to copy the dump into memory or load blocks there. Issue the printenv command and look at the bootcmd= variable. At the very end there is always the bootm command and the memory address. In our case, bootm 0x82000000 (there are also 0x42000000)

Then the commands for the backup will be:

After that, a dump.bin file containing a full backup copy will appear in the tftp server folder.

How to restore contacts

Perhaps the most important concern of mobile device owners is finding ways to restore contacts on Android after flashing the firmware.

In most situations, this cannot be done unless a backup has been made. However, with the help of some system tools and utilities, you can still restore what was lost.

• Using a Google account. If an Android user has a created Google account, then periodically the address book is saved in a special format and stored on the server for a month. After flashing, you can click on the contacts filter in the phone book and select Google Mail there.
• Another way is if all contacts were transferred to a SIM card at one time. There, in the book settings, you can import contacts from SIM to your phone.
• Finally, there is a chance to restore contacts using third-party utilities, such as Android Data Recovery or Super BackUp Pro. But here the chance is far from 100%, although some contacts can still be pulled out of oblivion.

What to do if the phone does not turn on and does not enter recovery?

Try running Recovery from the console by connecting your phone to your PC and using the Adb Run program. For it to work, USB debugging must be enabled on your smartphone. Another option is to install the android SDK on your PC, connect your Android device, go to the Fastboot folder and open a command window on your computer.

Interesting materials:

Is it possible to recover a Telegram account? Is it possible to restore an acrylic bathtub? Is it possible to restore a Kazakhstan train ticket? Is it possible to restore a power of attorney from a notary? Is it possible to recover a DVD disc? Is it possible to recover photos? Is it possible to restore history in Safari? Is it possible to restore from the recycle bin? Is it possible to recover a micro SD memory card? Is it possible to restore a contact after deleting it?

Restoring IMEI after flashing a smartphone

But even if the firmware is successfully installed, there is a possibility of an error occurring. Namely: the mobile network will be unavailable. In this case, you need to know how to restore “have” on Android after flashing the firmware, because it is precisely because of its absence that the smartphone does not recognize the communication region.

This problem may occur in the following cases:

• incorrect completion of phone firmware;
• poor-quality firmware assembly;
• critical completion of settings wipe.

This problem can be corrected in several ways.

Incorrect official update

Malfunctions after a manufacturer update may occur if the update was not completed due to mechanical problems:

• when flashing via PC during the process, the cable was pulled out (or the power was turned off);
• When installing wirelessly directly through the device itself, they did not keep track of the battery charge and the device turned off.

Here the possibility arises that then the phone may simply not turn on, or it may constantly display a loading message. To avoid this situation, you can immediately disable automatic updates on Android.

Manual IMEI repair

First, you need to check what your smartphone will respond to an IMEI request. To do this, you need to enter the combination “*#06#” in the call menu. If it gives an error, it means the IMEI needs to be restored. By the way, these combinations can be found (if the smartphone has 1 card, then the code will be the same) either on the body of the gadget under the battery, or in the technical passport for the device.

Manually IMEI is restored like this:

• the SIM card is removed;
• in dialing mode, you need to enter the combination “*#3646633#”;
• after entering the engineering menu, you should go to the CDS Information-Radio-Phone section;
• there will be a line “AT+”, where after the plus you need to enter “EGMR=1.7, “IMEI number”;
• you need to confirm the dialing and reboot the device.

Software IMEI recovery

If manually entering the code does not help, you can use auxiliary utilities.

To do this you need:

• install such a program on your smartphone and run it;
• click the option “read/recognize IMEI”;
• uncheck the “same IMEI” option and enter your identifier in the empty field;
• reboot the gadget.

Usually this measure helps even in the most critical situations. If this does not happen, it means that this firmware is not suitable for this smartphone, and it is better to reinstall it.