ROM Backup or ROM Dumping?
Backing is always in the precautionary measures in modding, that is why there are several ways which are created to be used on certain situations to backup or dump any ROM.
This article will be discussing another way to backup and do ROM dump for Mediatek (MTK) android phones and tablets. Lucky you if you have an MTK android phone.
How To Fully Backup or ROM dump any Mediatek (MTK) Devices (Phones and Tablets)
For all Mediatek devices such as MT6595, MT6592, MT6589, MT6582, MT6577, MT6575, MT6573, MT6572 and hopefully for all other MT65xx in the future as long has having a EXT4 block type, I suggest you follow the method of making a backup or ROM dump by using tools made for Mediatek itself, MTK Droid Root and Tools as well as SP Flash Tool. So, what are we waiting for? Let us begin.
NOTE: Please carefully follow the instructions to avoid problems.
For those who want to backup or dump STOCK ROM, I have a separate, more informative article which linked here.
REQUIREMENTS:
Preparations:
Download and install MTK USB Drivers to detect your device even on preloader. Download and extract SP Flash Tool and MTK Droid Root and Tools to any location in your computer. Put your MTK device on USB debugging mode, go to your device Settings – Developer options to enable it. Don’t forget to prepare for the scatter file for your device. Please carefully follow the instructions below, GOODLUCK!
INSTRUCTIONS:
The first thing that we need to do is to open SP Flash Tool application, run it as administrator. From the tool, you’ll see a button Scatter-loading, click it and open the scatter file of your android device.
After opening the scatter file, it will load the regions or the partitions of your android device. If you are curious why it was unchecked, it was because you haven’t backup or dump them yet.
Click on Read Back tab then click ADD once. It will add one row, click N/A on the first row. The tool will ask you where to save the file and what file name, don’t ever change the filename (if it was named as ROM_0 or ROM_1, leave the name as it is). Just go to the folder where you want to save it then click SAVE.
Now, you need to enter the proper Hex values for the Start Address and the Length. How? Find the scatter file which you have made previously and open it using Notepad ++.
What you see next to the partition names are actually the Address of each partitions. If you want to get a partitions individually, then their length values can be found on the block info size that can be found on the MTK Droid Root and Tools. I have a separate article about this linked here.
Since our goal is to back up the whole ROM, we don’t need to get the length value from the block info, instead, use the values from the scatter file itself.
What we do now is to find the Preloader line from the scatter file and copy its value which in my case, it has a value of 0x0. We will put the Preloader’s value to the Start Address field on the SP Flash Tool.
The next step is to find the value to be entered in the Length field, this will be your option. If you want to backup or dump the ROM from Preloader down to the android system only (no user-data), then, select the value of the Cache line on the scatter file and enter it in the Length field (in my case, I have a value of 0x227e8000). Otherwise, if you want to fully backup or dump the whole ROM, select the FAT (NODL_FAT) value, in my case its 0x810e8000, then enter it in the Length field. Review the values you have entered. Click OK.
Since I want to get a complete, whole, full ROM backup / dump, then I’ll choose FAT.
Turn OFF your android phone or tablet. From SP Flash Tool, click Read Back button and immediately connect you switched-OFF android device via USB cable. The tool will detect your device and it will start backing up and dumping your current ROM. It may take 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the ROM size and the specs of your computer (mine is 1.6 Gb which takes around 30 minutes on a Dual Core processor, be sure your not running any apps aside from this tool so you won't have any interruptions).
After the download is done, you will see the sign like the image below.
Open MTK Droid Root and Tools application, run it as administrator. From the tool, click the root, backup, recovery tab. You need to disconnect the USB cable from your phone or tablet and turn it ON, when it is powered ON already, connect again your device. The tool will recognize your device and the button To process file ROM_ from Flash Tool will be enabled. Click on that button and select the ROM that we have made earlier which in my case "ROM_0".
Wait for the process to be completed, if you will be asked To automatically create CWM recovery, click YES. Read the status messages and wait for the task to complete.
If the process is done, you will now have your ROM backup or dump at the Backup folder on MTK Droid Root and Tools folder. The backup that we have processed has a filename with ForFlashtoolFromReadback, mine is Neer-A848i_130416_ForFlashtoolFromReadBack_140526-112330. Open that folder and you'll see the partitions are copied and dumped.
To restore or flash the ROM dump which we have made, simply open the SP Flash Tool app (run as admin), and click Scatter-loading to load the scatter file from the processed ROM, see the image just right above.
Now, all the regions and partitions are loaded ready for flashing.
DANGER! Don't try to flash the Preloader and the DSP_BL because it will brick your device. Uncheck it.
Disconnect your USB cable and turn OFF your phone or tablet, when it's already OFF, click the Download button from SP Flash Tool and immediately plug-in your switched-off device via USB cable.
Wait for the download to finish and it the image prompt will appear. Disconnect the USB cable and turn on your device, now it will be back to your ROM's previous state.
Done!
REQUIREMENTS:
- Computer running Windows
- MTK USB Drivers - Download it here (credits to the developer from XDA for this tool)
- MTK Droid Root and Tools - Get it here
- SP Flash Tool - Get it here (download the recommended or latest version)
- Scatter file of your device – make your own in a very easy way.
- Notepad ++ - for opening scatter file. Download it here.
- MTK Device having EXT4 block type and USB Cable
- How to know if you have a EXT4 block?
- If you have other type of block, I have a separate article for that on how to backup / romdump
Download and install MTK USB Drivers to detect your device even on preloader. Download and extract SP Flash Tool and MTK Droid Root and Tools to any location in your computer. Put your MTK device on USB debugging mode, go to your device Settings – Developer options to enable it. Don’t forget to prepare for the scatter file for your device. Please carefully follow the instructions below, GOODLUCK!
INSTRUCTIONS:
The first thing that we need to do is to open SP Flash Tool application, run it as administrator. From the tool, you’ll see a button Scatter-loading, click it and open the scatter file of your android device.
After opening the scatter file, it will load the regions or the partitions of your android device. If you are curious why it was unchecked, it was because you haven’t backup or dump them yet.
Click on Read Back tab then click ADD once. It will add one row, click N/A on the first row. The tool will ask you where to save the file and what file name, don’t ever change the filename (if it was named as ROM_0 or ROM_1, leave the name as it is). Just go to the folder where you want to save it then click SAVE.
Now, you need to enter the proper Hex values for the Start Address and the Length. How? Find the scatter file which you have made previously and open it using Notepad ++.
What you see next to the partition names are actually the Address of each partitions. If you want to get a partitions individually, then their length values can be found on the block info size that can be found on the MTK Droid Root and Tools. I have a separate article about this linked here.
Since our goal is to back up the whole ROM, we don’t need to get the length value from the block info, instead, use the values from the scatter file itself.
What we do now is to find the Preloader line from the scatter file and copy its value which in my case, it has a value of 0x0. We will put the Preloader’s value to the Start Address field on the SP Flash Tool.
The next step is to find the value to be entered in the Length field, this will be your option. If you want to backup or dump the ROM from Preloader down to the android system only (no user-data), then, select the value of the Cache line on the scatter file and enter it in the Length field (in my case, I have a value of 0x227e8000). Otherwise, if you want to fully backup or dump the whole ROM, select the FAT (NODL_FAT) value, in my case its 0x810e8000, then enter it in the Length field. Review the values you have entered. Click OK.
Turn OFF your android phone or tablet. From SP Flash Tool, click Read Back button and immediately connect you switched-OFF android device via USB cable. The tool will detect your device and it will start backing up and dumping your current ROM. It may take 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the ROM size and the specs of your computer (mine is 1.6 Gb which takes around 30 minutes on a Dual Core processor, be sure your not running any apps aside from this tool so you won't have any interruptions).
After the download is done, you will see the sign like the image below.
Preparing the ROM backup / dump for flashing
Since we are done getting a ROM backup / dump, the next step is to prepare it and make it flashable.Open MTK Droid Root and Tools application, run it as administrator. From the tool, click the root, backup, recovery tab. You need to disconnect the USB cable from your phone or tablet and turn it ON, when it is powered ON already, connect again your device. The tool will recognize your device and the button To process file ROM_ from Flash Tool will be enabled. Click on that button and select the ROM that we have made earlier which in my case "ROM_0".
Wait for the process to be completed, if you will be asked To automatically create CWM recovery, click YES. Read the status messages and wait for the task to complete.
If the process is done, you will now have your ROM backup or dump at the Backup folder on MTK Droid Root and Tools folder. The backup that we have processed has a filename with ForFlashtoolFromReadback, mine is Neer-A848i_130416_ForFlashtoolFromReadBack_140526-112330. Open that folder and you'll see the partitions are copied and dumped.
Restoring the ROM backup / dump
To restore or flash the ROM dump which we have made, simply open the SP Flash Tool app (run as admin), and click Scatter-loading to load the scatter file from the processed ROM, see the image just right above.
Now, all the regions and partitions are loaded ready for flashing.
DANGER! Don't try to flash the Preloader and the DSP_BL because it will brick your device. Uncheck it.
Disconnect your USB cable and turn OFF your phone or tablet, when it's already OFF, click the Download button from SP Flash Tool and immediately plug-in your switched-off device via USB cable.
Wait for the download to finish and it the image prompt will appear. Disconnect the USB cable and turn on your device, now it will be back to your ROM's previous state.
Done!
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