Android system firmware. Use of specialized programs

23.06.2019 Windows 8

There are times when you need to change the software on your mobile phone. At this thought, many people's hair stands on end and their heartbeat quickens. And in vain, because in fact it is not difficult to do this.

Why flash a mobile phone?

Now is the time of computer technology and flat touch screen smartphones. However, despite the technological boom, you should not discount the old push-button mobile phones. The same “bricks”, sliders and “clamshells” that everyone had just a few years ago. No one thought about changing the software on these legendary devices. The question is, why flash them at all?

Phone firmware (Samsung, Nokia, etc.) can be done for the following reasons:

the device software is out of order or has become worse;
to get the latest software.

Few people have seen such a device crash the system, but this is quite possible, and there are plenty of reasons for this. In addition, official and independent developers release new firmware versions for these gadgets.

Phone firmware via computer

There are a few things to keep in mind before installing new software.

First you need to back up all the data (contacts, sms, settings, etc.) of the phone to a computer. This can be done using specialized programs (MyPhoneExplorer and others).
After that, it is necessary to charge the mobile: not lower than 80% of the battery, although it is better to be 100%.
It is best to flash the phone through a computer using a laptop. The reason is that it contains a battery, as a result of which, due to an accidental power outage, it will be possible to complete the process that has begun. Otherwise, the consequences can be catastrophic.

For the firmware you will need the following things:

of course, a phone 100% charged;
data cable (in most cases, USB is used, but some mobile devices require a special data cable);
firmware file; it must be downloaded from the Internet, but before that you need to carefully read the information, read comments and reviews, and before that you need to find out the version of the old firmware: enter the code * # 06 # on the keyboard (for Nokia there will be a different code - * # 0000 #);
drivers for a mobile device;
program for flashing the phone ("flash driver").

Programs

There are quite a few utilities for firmware and they are divided into two categories:

general, which are suitable for all models;
those that are intended for one manufacturer (for example, the Phoenix program for flashing Nokia phones).

General utilities can flash almost any model. However, if there is a program that is created specifically for a particular brand of mobile devices, it is better to use it, since it already contains all the necessary drivers and, possibly, the OS itself. Here is a small list of "flashers" for specific brands that will help "cure" the gadget:

for Nokia - Phoenix Service and the official Nokia Software Updater service;
Sony Ericsson - PC Companion (remastered by SEUS), unofficial DaVinchi;
LG - "flashers" Speedo, GsMulti;
Motorola - Flash&Backup, P2K;
Samsung - OptiFlash;
BenQ - Winswup Update Tool.

Consider the algorithm of work using the Phoenix utility as an example.

Flashing Nokia

Before flashing the phone, you need to download and install the Phoenix utility, which is designed specifically for this brand. In addition to the initial preparations described above, you need to do something else, namely, remove all programs that can somehow be associated with a mobile device (Nokia Software Update, Nokia PC Suite, and so on) and clean the cache after them and register. Otherwise, the Nokia phone firmware may fail. Also, for every fireman, it is worth disabling the antivirus.

Now you need to install Nokia Connectivity Cable Driver and Nokia Flashing Cable Driver. We connect the mobile device to the PC. You can make sure that all the drivers are in place in the "Device Manager". Open After, select "Device Manager" and expand the item Wireless Communication Devices. The number of devices should be between four and six.

We connect to the computer (select PC Suite mode) and launch Phoenix. In the Connection item, click Setting. In the window that opens, select Add. Click on Driver, select USB and scan (Scan). Select the device that appears. Press Select. Now, from the drop-down list in the Connection item, select the desired device. Next, go to the File\\ Scan Product tab. After scanning, the desired mobile device should appear at the bottom. If this happens, move on.

Go to the Flashing section, where you need to click Firmware Update. Now you have to choose a code. If there is not even the slightest idea which one is needed, then we take any. In this case, you need to remember one thing: if the Russian language is desired in the phone, then we are looking for the words Russian, Cyrillic or RU in the name of the firmware file. With the Product Code selected, click on Refurbish. Congratulations, the firmware of the phone through the computer has begun. It will last approximately 7-10 minutes. At this time, do not touch the phone, cable or the program itself.

flash tool

If there is no special utility and you need to flash the phone through a computer, the Flashtool program can easily cope with this if you have an OS file and drivers that you will need to find yourself.

The algorithm of work is the following. Turn off the phone, remove and insert the battery. Turn on Flashtool. Click on the lightning icon, leave a dot on the item Flashmode. Next, select the downloaded firmware from the list in the left window and click "OK". After that, instructions should appear for connecting your smartphone to a PC via a USB cable. We do this, and the program for flashing the phone starts working.

Flashing "Android"

Mobile devices based on the Android operating system require an OS change much more often than conventional mobile phones. The reason for this may be numerous malware, applications downloaded from unknown sources, etc. However, the most basic and most common reason for the failure of a smartphone is its owner.

The phone is flashed through a computer, but you can do without it (in Recovery mode).

Via PC

First you need to make some preparations.

Download a special utility for flashing (Flashtool, Bootloader or a program from the official developer - PC Companion for Sony Ericsson, "Fly smartphone software update" for Fly, etc.).
In parallel with this, we download the firmware for a specific device model. In this case, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the characteristics, read the comments and reviews. Copy the firmware to the Firmwares folder of the Flashtool program.
Install drivers on PC.
We make a backup copy of the files from the smartphone, and also copy the contents of the flash drive to the computer (the firmware of the phone through the computer will not leave the old marks about the location of the files on the flash card, therefore it will create new ones on top of the old ones).
We find the USB cable, and also do USB debugging (go to "Settings", find "Developer Features", then mark the item "USB Debugging" with a bird).
We charge the device to 100%.

After we open the Flashtool utility and go through the algorithm described above.

Without PC

This is done through the Recovery mode. To do this, the firmware file must be downloaded and moved to the memory card. Now turn off the smartphone and turn on Recovery. To do this, you need to simultaneously hold down a certain combination of keys (power and volume down, up or menu - the combination depends on the manufacturer). You can find out exactly the combination by looking at the device passport. Next, select the item “Apply Update From External Storage” (the firmware of the Samsung phone and many other Android-based smartphones is the same).

Working on Windows Mobile

With smartphones, things are much easier. To do this, you will need, in fact, the gadget itself, a USB cable and the Windows Phone Recovery Tool for the computer. To get started, download this utility from the official website (or follow this direct link: go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=522381, the download will start automatically), install and run. The program will immediately start searching for updates, after which it will ask you to connect your smartphone to a PC.

Now the search and installation of drivers for the connected device will begin. If they are not found, you can click on the appropriate button to search the Internet. When the drivers are installed, a large tile with the image of the connected gadget will appear. By clicking on it, you will start downloading the firmware file. Don't panic if the process takes too long, as the file can be up to a gigabyte in size. In addition, if the download is suddenly interrupted, it can always be continued from where it stopped. There is also one nice moment: if you want to flash the smartphone again, then you won’t have to download anything, since the OS will remain on the computer.

When the download is complete, the Reinstal Software button will appear, by clicking on which you will begin installing the software. At the same time, it is categorically undesirable to touch the phone, USB cable, turn on / off the computer, since the results of such manipulations can be quite deplorable.

If you install an unverified app, encounter malware, or experience a system failure, your Android device may not work properly or may not turn on at all. Often, flashing the gadget helps to fix the problem. Many people do this on their own. And this is not surprising, because there is nothing difficult in updating the software. However, there are some nuances that you just need to know. Consider how to flash an Android phone through a computer.

The Android OS is open source. This means that third-party developers can make various updates to the system, making it more attractive to the average user. That is why this operating system is used on almost all Chinese devices.

Firmware for Android are official and custom. The first ones are installed on gadgets of well-known companies (Samsung, HTC, LG, etc.). They can be downloaded from the official website of the manufacturer of your device.

To update a Chinese smartphone or tablet, custom firmware is most often used. It can be installed directly from your phone through the Recovery environment or using a computer and additional software. The second method allows you to revive the device even in cases where it does not start.

Check if there is a separate guide on the network for flashing your particular gadget. This is especially true if you need to update a Chinese tablet or smartphone such as Prestigio. The ideal option is to watch the video on the firmware.
Download the firmware file and program from a reliable source after reading user reviews before doing so.
Fully charge the battery of the device. Turning off the device during work can lead to its "".
Get a high-quality usb cable for a reliable connection between your PC and Android. It is better to use the cord that came with the gadget.

Preparing for flashing

Before updating a Chinese smartphone or tablet, you need to carefully prepare for the upcoming work. The preparation stage is as follows:

Finding and downloading suitable software.
Create a system backup.

The effectiveness and functionality of the update directly depends on the firmware file and the program used. To ensure that the new firmware does not conflict with the hardware, you should find out the current build number. This requires:

By entering the available number in the search engine, you can see all the information about this firmware, as well as find out to which version it can be updated. Download the selected firmware to your computer.

The next step is to download a program that will install the firmware on an Android smartphone or tablet via a computer. For Samsung devices, it is recommended to use the Kies or Odin utility. For LG, the KDZ Updater program is suitable. To update the Chinese gadget, you will need to install the SP Flash Tool application.

So that in the event of an unsuccessful update, a Chinese smartphone (tablet) on the Android OS does not turn into "", you need to make a backup copy of the existing firmware. For this, the CMW-recovery program is used. The sequence of work will be as follows:

Install drivers for your gadget on your PC. They are usually supplied with the device.
Install the previously downloaded SP Flash Tool.
Download the CMW recovery file to your computer. When choosing a software version, pay attention to the model of your device.
Unzip this file and run SP Flash Tool.
In the Scatter Loading field, enter the path to the CMW recovery, check the box next to the RECOVERY line and click Download.
Connect your smartphone (tablet) to the PC. The automatic installation of the recovery will begin, at the end of which a green circle will appear on the monitor.
Open the newly installed utility on the gadget and activate the "Save current ROM" item.
Specify a name for the backup and click Ok.

Many modern users are intimidated by the concept of "flashing" if it is mentioned in the context of mobile phones, so it would be useful to understand how to flash an Android phone. Most often, this is necessary in case the phone does not turn on or starts to fail very badly. Although some are simply not satisfied with their firmware due to design or other similar points.

In any case, we will consider the easiest way that even the most inexperienced users can perform. This method is suitable for all models of smartphones from Samsung, HTC, FLY and other modern manufacturers.

At the same time, the whole process will be described so that everyone can complete all its stages at home, without involving specialists.

What do we need

In addition to the mobile phone itself, this method provides for a program called ROM Manager. It is best to download it on Google Play.

The developer of this application is a team under the unusual name ClockworkMod. This team has long enjoyed great popularity and authority among users from various countries.

Their creation allows you to easily change the firmware, as well as perform a huge number of system manipulations.

The main ones among them are:

Backup;
System Restore;
Installing new firmware (what we need) and much more.

The main advantage of using the ROM Manager program to flash any phone, be it Samsung, HTC, FLY or something else, is the ability to roll back all changes.

This means that if there are any problems during installation or after it (for example, if the phone does not turn on), you simply do not like the new firmware for some reason, everything can be returned back.

Among other benefits of using the ROM Manager, the following are particularly important:

It is not difficult and everything can be done at home;
All operations are performed fairly quickly;
You don’t need to do anything through the computer, everything happens through the phone (unless you need to transfer the firmware to the phone through the computer, although there are other methods for this, such as Bluetooth or file sharing);
Reliability - thousands of users have already done a similar procedure.

We also need the new firmware itself. Many users today do not know where to find it. And the easiest way to do this is by phone.

In Google, you need to enter a query like “firmware for [phone model]”, that is, for example, “firmware for Samsung Galaxy J7”. All this is done very simply.

The problem is that there are a huge number of firmware on the Internet, but a lot of them, in the language of advanced users, are “broken”.

This means that after installation, the computer will not turn on, the user will not be able to install some programs, or other problems of various kinds will occur. Therefore, before downloading a particular firmware, use the following advice.

Advice: Read on the Internet what other users write about the version of the firmware that you are going to download.

To date, the positive opinion of people who have already installed something is the best guarantee of quality. And the manufacturer can write what he wants and all of this, of course, will only be good. Another tip will help you choose a good firmware.

Advice: Use the ROM Manager Premium program, which will make it difficult to find firmware for your phone model, and also show which ones are the most popular among other users. Also in the program window you can see the discussions of other users regarding a particular version of the firmware.

In any case, before performing all the actions described below, on your phone, or rather, on a memory card (this is important!), There must be a zip archive with a new firmware.

So, let's move on to the firmware process itself.

Stages of flashing an Android phone

ROM Manager is already downloaded and installed on your phone.

Now you need to do the following:

Get root rights. If you do not know how to do this, the whole process will be described especially for you.
Open the ROM Manager program and install ClockWorkMod. It is a program that downloads any files.

Yes, Android has its own such program, but we need ClockWorkMod to work.

To do this, do the following:

In the upper part of the program window, in the section called "Recovery Mode", click the "Install ClockWorkMod" button (highlighted in Figure No. 1.a);
After that, you should click on your device in the drop-down list, the appearance of which is shown in Figure No. 1.b;

No. 1. The main menu of the ROM Manager program and the phone model selection window

Attention: Before installing ClockWorkMod, the phone must not be connected to the computer. In general, it is better to turn off all its means of communication, except for Wi-Fi, which will make it possible to download the necessary files.

We are waiting for the end of downloading and installing ClockWorkMod.

Now you need to backup your system. You will need it in case of incorrect installation of the new firmware or other problems with it.

To do this, do the following:

In the main menu, select the "Save current ROM" command (highlighted in Figure No. 2);
Specify the name of the archive in which the current firmware will be stored, that is, the system backup in the window;
Press the "OK" button in the same window;
We are waiting for the program to create a backup copy of the system and save it in an archive with a user-specified name.

No. 2. Creating a backup in ROM Manager

To proceed directly to installing a new firmware, in the ROM Manager program window, select the item "Install ROM from SD card", which is highlighted in Figure No. 3. After that, you will need to choose where the firmware you downloaded earlier is located, that is, the zip archive with it.

Number 3. Button "Install ROM from SD card"

After that, you will be prompted to perform some actions along with installing a new firmware. So you can delete all data, wipe the cache, and also make a backup of the existing system. We have already done the latter, so here you can only select the item related to the cache.

Tip (mandatory to follow!): After all the above steps, connect your phone to the charger. This is very important, because if the phone runs out of power during the installation of a new firmware, this can lead to irreversible consequences.

After that, you will have to wait. Depending on the model, this process can take up to two hours, although in most cases it takes no more than 45 minutes. This completes the flashing process.

The process of obtaining root rights

This process is performed differently on different versions of Android. But in most cases, it all comes down to installing one of the special programs that allow you to literally get these same root rights with the click of a button.

The list of these programs is as follows:

Framaroot;
UniversalAndRoot;
VISIONary+;
Gingerbreak;
z4root;
BaiduRoot;
Romaster S.U.;
Towelroot;
Root Dashi;
360 root.

Now you just need to find one of them on the Internet, most likely on Google Play, install and use. It is safe to say that you will be able to figure out how to use them.

For example, the Framaroot program window is shown in Figure 4. All you need to do is click on the "Install SuperSU" button.

No. 4. Framaroot window

System Restore

Above, we said that if there are any problems with the new firmware, you can roll back all the changes and return to the old version. This procedure is also done in the ROM Manager.

In the main menu of the program, click the "Backups" button (highlighted in Figure No. 5).

After that, the usual dialog for choosing the location of the system image will appear. After selecting the previously created image, you will be able to choose one of three options.

Accordingly, we will need to select an item called "Restore".

No. 5. Main menu of ROM Manager

After a few more tens of minutes, the system may return to the state it was in before installing the new firmware. As you can see, there is absolutely nothing complicated in this procedure.

However, in the entire firmware with the help of the ROM Manager program, there is also nothing complicated - almost everything is done in one or two clicks.

In the video below, you can clearly see how the process of installing another firmware using the ROM Manager program takes place. True, this video is in English, but the meaning of what is happening is easy to understand.

You are the happy owner of a tablet or smartphone, and for some reason you are interested in the question: You have come to the right place. In this article, I will write in detail about what you need for this, provide the appropriate instructions, point out what you need to pay special attention to, and give some useful recommendations.

I must say right away that you are far from the first user who wants to re-flash Android. This issue becomes relevant for all owners, some time after the purchase. This is mainly due to the fact that new versions, which include some useful features, are released more and more often. And some are simply not satisfied with the work of the already installed version.

So, what do we need in order for the new one to be installed on your device. First of all, charge your device (tablet or smartphone) that you are going to reflash. Take care of the driver installation file that will be needed in order for the computer to correctly recognize the device. Next, prepare the cord that will connect the gadget to the computer. From the software, you will need Odin, as well as the necessary firmware file.

Now your attention is invited to instructions on how to flash Android. So, we connect the phone or tablet to the computer. Before doing this, install the required driver. It is located on the disk that came with the device. If you do not have it, download this software on the official website. After that, download the desired firmware file to your computer. They, as a rule, are "handed out" on various forums or file sharing sites. Please note that the file has an .ops extension.

When you have all these conditions met, press three buttons on the device at the same time: power, menu and volume down. The display will show “Downloading”. This will mean that your device is ready for flashing. Next, connect it with a cable to your computer. After that, launch the Odin program. Make sure to download the latest version when you complete this procedure. After starting, you should see the firmware selection inscription, under which the OPS button is located. Click on it and specify the path to the firmware file. That's it, now click on "Start" and wait for the process to complete, which will last about four to five minutes. After that, you will see the message PASS. This will notify you when the procedure is complete. Now you have received the answer to the question: "How to flash Android?".

Please note that the phone may reboot before the flashing is complete. Do not interrupt this process under any circumstances. Just wait for it to complete.

A few more important tips. Before flashing Android, save all important information that is on your device, as all data will be deleted. I already mentioned the battery charge at the beginning, but this is an important aspect. In no case should the battery be allowed to discharge before the process is completed. If a crash or freeze occurs during the firmware, use the three buttons again. That's all.

You will need

To flash a phone at home, you will need: the device itself, a USB cable for the device, a desktop computer, and most importantly, a little patience. It is also necessary that the following be installed on the computer: a program for flashing the phone and the firmware itself.

Instruction

Download from the latest firmware for your cell phone model phone. You can do this using search services by entering the query: "to" your model phone"". After the required software is downloaded to your computer, you can proceed to the next steps.

With the help of all the same search services, download and install on your computer a special program, which today is known as the Flasher. Such applications are best downloaded from the official website of the developer of your phone.

The device will be formatted and then the new software will be installed on it.