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[Please help] Scatter and ROM building

[Please help] Scatter and ROM building

Victor1964
Victor1964
Victor1964
Enthusiastic Member
8
10-12-2019, 09:09 PM
#1



Hello, I really hope I can get a bit of guidance here...it seems at XDA I've not been noticed by anyone that can/will answer. Here's my situation.
ZTE Quest 5 (Z3351S, MT6739)
Stock ROM, WAS rooted ith Magisk. (more on that below,)
Android 9, not sure of the exact version. 
Nice phone, but Qlink wireless sent it with LOADS of bloat, so I immediately started researching the possibility of root. AND I wasn't giving up til I got it, BUT (to my very limited credit,) I wasn't doing a thing beyond research until I got a full backup. partition-by-partition. Which I did get, via a temp root method I found on XDA, also notable is the more permanent solution outlined on page 14 didn't work at all. 
SO, I got my backups...every partition listed in the dev/block/by-name. All dd .img files...except userdata, that sucker was huge and there wasn't space for it..
I'd decided to go with Magisk during my research, this is a non-A/B device, and I'm not sure if it's a system-as-root device, but the boot.img ramdisk file is EMPTY (extracted using Android Image Kitchen v3.6, on Linux AND Windows 7.) So I extracted the recovery.img and the ramdisk there had a bunch of files. While I was busy extracting I went ahead and extracted the system.img...a few more tools on the desktop!
Well, after installing the Magisk, I rebooted several times to make sure things were good. Then installed a Magisk Module to get rid of the bloat...systemlessly. I happily waited til the morning, then rebooted the phone, but it would ONLY boot to the bootloader...whew, at least I had fastboot on an unlocked bootloader, right??? (Obviously) WRONG. While boot in fastboot I erased and reflashed the system and recovery, tried to reboot several different ways back into either the system or recovery, but I kept getting the bootloader.
Long-story-short...I didn't realize the battery wasn't charging all this time (in fastboot mode,) and when I finally decided to erase and flash the boot.img the phone lasted as long as the erase part....when I started typing in the fastboot flash command the phone DIED!!!!
Figured a way to get a charge into the battery, then no more fastboot, just the ZTE at the start, sits for a few seconds and reboots again. SO, 
My questions:
I think I have dam near went BLIND reading XDA, here, and probably 10 pages into every search I've made. Downloaded tools, and more tools, and even more tools...even another mt6739 rom just for the scatter, using a method I found on XDA. (Have an entire 150 GB part on my laptop dedicated to all the soft/firm wares.
I NEED to make an SP Flash Tool flashable ROM, along with the scatter...and without the phone this seems to be impossible. The battery is charged, and the XDA method of downloading an altered (Non-loadable) ROM and use the log output didn't give me anything I could figure was the right stuff....
Hopefully The phone will allow the boot.img download...I'm sure the rest of the entire image flashing went correctly. 
Help!!!! Please AND Thank You. (Granny would be proud of me on that statement!)
freshtyt
freshtyt
freshtyt
Senior Member
2,949
10-12-2019, 11:19 PM
#2
(10-12-2019, 09:09 PM)Victor1964 Hello, I really hope I can get a bit of guidance here...it seems at XDA I've not been noticed by anyone that can/will answer. Here's my situation.
ZTE Quest 5 (Z3351S, MT6739)
Stock ROM, WAS rooted ith Magisk. (more on that below,)
Android 9, not sure of the exact version. 
Nice phone, but Qlink wireless sent it with LOADS of bloat, so I immediately started researching the possibility of root. AND I wasn't giving up til I got it, BUT (to my very limited credit,) I wasn't doing a thing beyond research until I got a full backup. partition-by-partition. Which I did get, via a temp root method I found on XDA, also notable is the more permanent solution outlined on page 14 didn't work at all. 
SO, I got my backups...every partition listed in the dev/block/by-name. All dd .img files...except userdata, that sucker was huge and there wasn't space for it..
I'd decided to go with Magisk during my research, this is a non-A/B device, and I'm not sure if it's a system-as-root device, but the boot.img ramdisk file is EMPTY (extracted using Android Image Kitchen v3.6, on Linux AND Windows 7.) So I extracted the recovery.img and the ramdisk there had a bunch of files. While I was busy extracting I went ahead and extracted the system.img...a few more tools on the desktop!
Well, after installing the Magisk, I rebooted several times to make sure things were good. Then installed a Magisk Module to get rid of the bloat...systemlessly. I happily waited til the morning, then rebooted the phone, but it would ONLY boot to the bootloader...whew, at least I had fastboot on an unlocked bootloader, right??? (Obviously) WRONG. While boot in fastboot I erased and reflashed the system and recovery, tried to reboot several different ways back into either the system or recovery, but I kept getting the bootloader.
Long-story-short...I didn't realize the battery wasn't charging all this time (in fastboot mode,) and when I finally decided to erase and flash the boot.img the phone lasted as long as the erase part....when I started typing in the fastboot flash command the phone DIED!!!!
Figured a way to get a charge into the battery, then no more fastboot, just the ZTE at the start, sits for a few seconds and reboots again. SO, 
My questions:
I think I have dam near went BLIND reading XDA, here, and probably 10 pages into every search I've made. Downloaded tools, and more tools, and even more tools...even another mt6739 rom just for the scatter, using a method I found on XDA. (Have an entire 150 GB part on my laptop dedicated to all the soft/firm wares.
I NEED to make an SP Flash Tool flashable ROM, along with the scatter...and without the phone this seems to be impossible. The battery is charged, and the XDA method of downloading an altered (Non-loadable) ROM and use the log output didn't give me anything I could figure was the right stuff....
Hopefully The phone will allow the boot.img download...I'm sure the rest of the entire image flashing went correctly. 
Help!!!! Please AND Thank You. (Granny would be proud of me on that statement!)

check the backup you made, is there a file for the pgpt partition? if yes, load that file into wwr mtk tool @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-21969.html
latest version of wwr, you'll be able to create a scatter file

but for latest mediatek phones, having a scatter file usually doesn't cut it
your device might have secure boot (i.e require a custom DA in order to flash) or require only signed or verified firmware. either way you can only try and find out for yourself ie after you must have created the scatter file, try flashing using sp flash tool and see the outcome
Victor1964
Victor1964
Victor1964
Enthusiastic Member
8
10-12-2019, 11:45 PM
#3
(10-12-2019, 11:19 PM)freshtyt
(10-12-2019, 09:09 PM)Victor1964 Hello, I really hope I can get a bit of guidance here...it seems at XDA I've not been noticed by anyone that can/will answer. Here's my situation.
ZTE Quest 5 (Z3351S, MT6739)
Stock ROM, WAS rooted ith Magisk. (more on that below,)
Android 9, not sure of the exact version. 
Nice phone, but Qlink wireless sent it with LOADS of bloat, so I immediately started researching the possibility of root. AND I wasn't giving up til I got it, BUT (to my very limited credit,) I wasn't doing a thing beyond research until I got a full backup. partition-by-partition. Which I did get, via a temp root method I found on XDA, also notable is the more permanent solution outlined on page 14 didn't work at all. 
SO, I got my backups...every partition listed in the dev/block/by-name. All dd .img files...except userdata, that sucker was huge and there wasn't space for it..
I'd decided to go with Magisk during my research, this is a non-A/B device, and I'm not sure if it's a system-as-root device, but the boot.img ramdisk file is EMPTY (extracted using Android Image Kitchen v3.6, on Linux AND Windows 7.) So I extracted the recovery.img and the ramdisk there had a bunch of files. While I was busy extracting I went ahead and extracted the system.img...a few more tools on the desktop!
Well, after installing the Magisk, I rebooted several times to make sure things were good. Then installed a Magisk Module to get rid of the bloat...systemlessly. I happily waited til the morning, then rebooted the phone, but it would ONLY boot to the bootloader...whew, at least I had fastboot on an unlocked bootloader, right??? (Obviously) WRONG. While boot in fastboot I erased and reflashed the system and recovery, tried to reboot several different ways back into either the system or recovery, but I kept getting the bootloader.
Long-story-short...I didn't realize the battery wasn't charging all this time (in fastboot mode,) and when I finally decided to erase and flash the boot.img the phone lasted as long as the erase part....when I started typing in the fastboot flash command the phone DIED!!!!
Figured a way to get a charge into the battery, then no more fastboot, just the ZTE at the start, sits for a few seconds and reboots again. SO, 
My questions:
I think I have dam near went BLIND reading XDA, here, and probably 10 pages into every search I've made. Downloaded tools, and more tools, and even more tools...even another mt6739 rom just for the scatter, using a method I found on XDA. (Have an entire 150 GB part on my laptop dedicated to all the soft/firm wares.
I NEED to make an SP Flash Tool flashable ROM, along with the scatter...and without the phone this seems to be impossible. The battery is charged, and the XDA method of downloading an altered (Non-loadable) ROM and use the log output didn't give me anything I could figure was the right stuff....
Hopefully The phone will allow the boot.img download...I'm sure the rest of the entire image flashing went correctly. 
Help!!!! Please AND Thank You. (Granny would be proud of me on that statement!)

check the backup you made, is there a file for the pgpt partition? if yes, load that file into wwr mtk tool @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-21969.html
latest version of wwr, you'll be able to create a scatter file

but for latest mediatek phones, having a scatter file usually doesn't cut it
your device might have secure boot (i.e require a custom DA in order to flash) or require only signed or verified firmware. either way you can only try and find out for yourself ie after you must have created the scatter file, try flashing using sp flash tool and see the outcome
Thank you nuch!!! I will report back as to whether this worked, but have to do it in the morning, have a housefull of guests!!!


BTW, Everyone: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Victor1964
Victor1964
Victor1964
Enthusiastic Member
8
11-12-2019, 02:41 PM
#4
(10-12-2019, 11:19 PM)freshtyt
(10-12-2019, 09:09 PM)Victor1964 Hello, I really hope I can get a bit of guidance here...it seems at XDA I've not been noticed by anyone that can/will answer. Here's my situation.
ZTE Quest 5 (Z3351S, MT6739)
Stock ROM, WAS rooted ith Magisk. (more on that below,)
Android 9, not sure of the exact version. 
Nice phone, but Qlink wireless sent it with LOADS of bloat, so I immediately started researching the possibility of root. AND I wasn't giving up til I got it, BUT (to my very limited credit,) I wasn't doing a thing beyond research until I got a full backup. partition-by-partition. Which I did get, via a temp root method I found on XDA, also notable is the more permanent solution outlined on page 14 didn't work at all. 
SO, I got my backups...every partition listed in the dev/block/by-name. All dd .img files...except userdata, that sucker was huge and there wasn't space for it..
I'd decided to go with Magisk during my research, this is a non-A/B device, and I'm not sure if it's a system-as-root device, but the boot.img ramdisk file is EMPTY (extracted using Android Image Kitchen v3.6, on Linux AND Windows 7.) So I extracted the recovery.img and the ramdisk there had a bunch of files. While I was busy extracting I went ahead and extracted the system.img...a few more tools on the desktop!
Well, after installing the Magisk, I rebooted several times to make sure things were good. Then installed a Magisk Module to get rid of the bloat...systemlessly. I happily waited til the morning, then rebooted the phone, but it would ONLY boot to the bootloader...whew, at least I had fastboot on an unlocked bootloader, right??? (Obviously) WRONG. While boot in fastboot I erased and reflashed the system and recovery, tried to reboot several different ways back into either the system or recovery, but I kept getting the bootloader.
Long-story-short...I didn't realize the battery wasn't charging all this time (in fastboot mode,) and when I finally decided to erase and flash the boot.img the phone lasted as long as the erase part....when I started typing in the fastboot flash command the phone DIED!!!!
Figured a way to get a charge into the battery, then no more fastboot, just the ZTE at the start, sits for a few seconds and reboots again. SO, 
My questions:
I think I have dam near went BLIND reading XDA, here, and probably 10 pages into every search I've made. Downloaded tools, and more tools, and even more tools...even another mt6739 rom just for the scatter, using a method I found on XDA. (Have an entire 150 GB part on my laptop dedicated to all the soft/firm wares.
I NEED to make an SP Flash Tool flashable ROM, along with the scatter...and without the phone this seems to be impossible. The battery is charged, and the XDA method of downloading an altered (Non-loadable) ROM and use the log output didn't give me anything I could figure was the right stuff....
Hopefully The phone will allow the boot.img download...I'm sure the rest of the entire image flashing went correctly. 
Help!!!! Please AND Thank You. (Granny would be proud of me on that statement!)

check the backup you made, is there a file for the pgpt partition? if yes, load that file into wwr mtk tool @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-21969.html
latest version of wwr, you'll be able to create a scatter file

but for latest mediatek phones, having a scatter file usually doesn't cut it
your device might have secure boot (i.e require a custom DA in order to flash) or require only signed or verified firmware. either way you can only try and find out for yourself ie after you must have created the scatter file, try flashing using sp flash tool and see the outcome
No pgpt partition...and I'm aware of the DA and (sometimes) the Auth file. I THINK I have all of them listed in your forums...even the ones not particularly relating to ZTE...HOPING one of these will get me through. I also have several DA files from a 2019 MT6729's (dam few ZTE's there,) and will attempt to put those in...HOPING...

Here's a list of the partitions I backed up...oh and BTW: I made 2 sets. One set as described above using the dd command for each partition, and one set was a Magisk Module I installed and used, (though I can't remember the exact one.) Both sets appear to be the same excepting the MM set has backup dates in the names. Here's the list:

boot,  cache,  carrier,  dtbo,  expdb,  flashinfo,  frp,  gz1,  gz2,  lk,  lk2,  loader_ext1,  loader_ext2,  logo,  mcupmfw,  md1dsp,  md1img,  metadata,  nvcfg,  nvdata,  nvram,  para,  persist,  proinfo,  protect1  protect2,  recovery, sec1,  seccfg,  spmfw,  system,  tee1,  tee2, vendoe,  ztecfg....of course aal .img files. AND after checking them out, the backups from the MM app seem to have all the same data, except the ramdisk in the boot.img has an init and .backup folder with a .magisk file. 

I guess (IF I am correct,) my next move is to boot into my Linux Mint and use SuperR's Kitchen or something, (recommend one please! There's so many, and most won't work with Android 9,) stitch together a ROM from my .img's and here's the question: Would WwR_MTK read the scatter from the ROM I build?

Really NEED to get this figured out, the wife is losing patience wit me...this happened after I bricked her 5th Gen Amazon Fire tablet by downgrading (a few months ago, in my defence,) without reading deeper into the methods!
freshtyt
freshtyt
freshtyt
Senior Member
2,949
11-12-2019, 11:49 PM
#5



(11-12-2019, 02:41 PM)Victor1964 No pgpt partition...and I'm aware of the DA and (sometimes) the Auth file. I THINK I have all of them listed in your forums...even the ones not particularly relating to ZTE...HOPING one of these will get me through. I also have several DA files from a 2019 MT6729's (dam few ZTE's there,) and will attempt to put those in...HOPING...

Here's a list of the partitions I backed up...oh and BTW: I made 2 sets. One set as described above using the dd command for each partition, and one set was a Magisk Module I installed and used, (though I can't remember the exact one.) Both sets appear to be the same excepting the MM set has backup dates in the names. Here's the list:

boot,  cache,  carrier,  dtbo,  expdb,  flashinfo,  frp,  gz1,  gz2,  lk,  lk2,  loader_ext1,  loader_ext2,  logo,  mcupmfw,  md1dsp,  md1img,  metadata,  nvcfg,  nvdata,  nvram,  para,  persist,  proinfo,  protect1  protect2,  recovery, sec1,  seccfg,  spmfw,  system,  tee1,  tee2, vendoe,  ztecfg....of course aal .img files. AND after checking them out, the backups from the MM app seem to have all the same data, except the ramdisk in the boot.img has an init and .backup folder with a .magisk file. 

I guess (IF I am correct,) my next move is to boot into my Linux Mint and use SuperR's Kitchen or something, (recommend one please! There's so many, and most won't work with Android 9,) stitch together a ROM from my .img's and here's the question: Would WwR_MTK read the scatter from the ROM I build?

Really NEED to get this figured out, the wife is losing patience wit me...this happened after I bricked her 5th Gen Amazon Fire tablet by downgrading (a few months ago, in my defence,) without reading deeper into the methods!

no pgpt automatically means you cant create a scatter file, you will either need to look for firmware or backup firmware from a working phone. you will firmware firmware on certain paid websites such as easyfirmware etc, you can verify directly from them if their firmware is in scatter file format
This post was last modified: 11-12-2019, 11:50 PM by freshtyt.
Victor1964
Victor1964
Victor1964
Enthusiastic Member
8
12-12-2019, 05:33 AM
#6
(11-12-2019, 11:49 PM)freshtyt
(11-12-2019, 02:41 PM)Victor1964 No pgpt partition...and I'm aware of the DA and (sometimes) the Auth file. I THINK I have all of them listed in your forums...even the ones not particularly relating to ZTE...HOPING one of these will get me through. I also have several DA files from a 2019 MT6729's (dam few ZTE's there,) and will attempt to put those in...HOPING...

Here's a list of the partitions I backed up...oh and BTW: I made 2 sets. One set as described above using the dd command for each partition, and one set was a Magisk Module I installed and used, (though I can't remember the exact one.) Both sets appear to be the same excepting the MM set has backup dates in the names. Here's the list:

boot,  cache,  carrier,  dtbo,  expdb,  flashinfo,  frp,  gz1,  gz2,  lk,  lk2,  loader_ext1,  loader_ext2,  logo,  mcupmfw,  md1dsp,  md1img,  metadata,  nvcfg,  nvdata,  nvram,  para,  persist,  proinfo,  protect1  protect2,  recovery, sec1,  seccfg,  spmfw,  system,  tee1,  tee2, vendoe,  ztecfg....of course aal .img files. AND after checking them out, the backups from the MM app seem to have all the same data, except the ramdisk in the boot.img has an init and .backup folder with a .magisk file. 

I guess (IF I am correct,) my next move is to boot into my Linux Mint and use SuperR's Kitchen or something, (recommend one please! There's so many, and most won't work with Android 9,) stitch together a ROM from my .img's and here's the question: Would WwR_MTK read the scatter from the ROM I build?

Really NEED to get this figured out, the wife is losing patience wit me...this happened after I bricked her 5th Gen Amazon Fire tablet by downgrading (a few months ago, in my defence,) without reading deeper into the methods!

no pgpt automatically means you cant create a scatter file, you will either need to look for firmware or backup firmware from a working phone. you will firmware firmware on certain paid websites such as easyfirmware etc, you can verify directly from them if their firmware is in scatter file format
@freshtyt  Would it not be possible to load the system to an Android Studio emulator and get it that way? I did find that I also made an adb .ab backup and I know that will accept the adb restore, but I'm not sure how complete a restore that would be. And I'm not sure of the emulators have the multiple partitions that the device does. Think I'mma experiment with the emulator tomorrow...and research which byod devices their sim card can go into...maybe something not nearly as bloated...smdh.

AND, man, THANKS a lot for paying attention to me here, This and the Amazon tablet have been real deep android learning experiences...I'm still thinking about that amazon tablet too...hope someone can develop an anti-brick for it!.   Tongue
This post was last modified: 12-12-2019, 05:36 AM by Victor1964.
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
12-12-2019, 11:09 AM
#7
(12-12-2019, 05:33 AM)Victor1964 @freshtyt  Would it not be possible to load the system to an Android Studio emulator and get it that way? I did find that I also made an adb .ab backup and I know that will accept the adb restore, but I'm not sure how complete a restore that would be. And I'm not sure of the emulators have the multiple partitions that the device does. Think I'mma experiment with the emulator tomorrow...and research which byod devices their sim card can go into...maybe something not nearly as bloated...smdh.

AND, man, THANKS a lot for paying attention to me here, This and the Amazon tablet have been real deep android learning experiences...I'm still thinking about that amazon tablet too...hope someone can develop an anti-brick for it!.   Tongue

no, you wont be able to generate a scatter file that way, the other files don't contain partition table (on pgpt does) and the backup you made using adb must be userdata backup, it wont do anything good either
you can create a different from the amazon device maybe something might come up for it
hovatek
hovatek
hovatek
Administrator
49,570
15-12-2019, 08:01 PM
#8
(12-12-2019, 05:33 AM)Victor1964 AND, man, THANKS a lot for paying attention to me here, This and the Amazon tablet have been real deep android learning experiences...I'm still thinking about that amazon tablet too...hope someone can develop an anti-brick for it!.   Tongue

I think your device should be fixable.
You have a backup of some partitions so what you need is a scatter file.
If your device is (in its present state) flashable via SP flash tool then SP flash tool should equally be able to backup.
If this holds true then the video below should help you dump pgpt which can then be used to create a scatter file


The only obstacles I foresee is your model having Secure Boot (needing a DA file) or accepting only factory signed files
This post was last modified: 15-12-2019, 08:07 PM by hovatek.

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