Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.7 ROM

[Link6381]

I reflashed the Finless Rom with the standard recovery image.
Then checked if i had internal sd.
Then flashed the CWM recovery image separate afterwards.
Worked !
So my mistake was flashing the CWM recovery image same time with Finless Rom and Boot.
XBMC was doing exactly as you described.
Good Luck !

Thanks for the reply.

Before I saw your latest reply, I went ahead and flashed Finless 1.6 with similar o/c kernel I was using on 1.7 The X7 and XBMC, as of now... are not having any further issue. Any lost feature added in 1.7 does not effect me for my use and setup.

For now, I sadly have an insane amount of tedious work to do because when this happened, it also wiped my external SD card and that is where my backups were. Almost 3 wks of work lost. Uggg

Perhaps when 1.8 or newer is released, I will give it a go. I'll see how 1.6 w/ kernel_phja_720_vsfsam_cpu1704h_gpu600_ddr720 o/c + justxbmc v2 apk works out in my real-world use.

Thanks again. M~

[1pairofsocks]

Thanks for the reply.

Before I saw your latest reply, I went ahead and flashed Finless 1.6 with similar o/c kernel I was using on 1.7 The X7 and XBMC, as of now... are not having any further issue. Any lost feature added in 1.7 does not effect me for my use and setup.

For now, I sadly have an insane amount of tedious work to do because when this happened, it also wiped my external SD card and that is where my backups were. Almost 3 wks of work lost. Uggg

Perhaps when 1.8 or newer is released, I will give it a go. I'll see how 1.6 w/ kernel_phja_720_vsfsam_cpu1704h_gpu600_ddr720 o/c + justxbmc v2 apk works out in my real-world use.

Thanks again. M~

Never leave your usb stick, sd card or whatever in de box when flashing new roms.
Sorry that happened.

[Link6381]

Yap, been there, did that The standard recovery is used somehow at the final stages of new rom installation and it's essential. After that CWM can be flashed back.

OK, so to clarify what you guys both did, did you use the Finless ROM Flash Tool v1.37 and then UN-CHECK #6 'recovery' when flashing the # 1-5? I would still like to test this method to see how things would run?

Please give any details/instructions you can on flashing the o/c kernel and boot with 1.7rom as per your method (standard recovery) Thanks.

[Link6381]

Never leave your usb stick, sd card or whatever in de box when flashing new roms.
Sorry that happened.

Hi, I never do. This data loss happened on a regular reboot of the X7, not during flash. That is when all the xbmc data files, folders, settings were gone and in addition, it wiped AND corrupted the external SD card. A simple restart caused all this including the notification area saying ;damaged storage. as mentioned previously, it did nothing to my external usb drive, but only the ext sd card.

[1pairofsocks]

OK, so to clarify what you guys both did, did you use the Finless ROM Flash Tool v1.37 and then UN-CHECK #6 'recovery' when flashing the # 1-5? I would still like to test this method to see how things would run?

Please give any details/instructions you can on flashing the o/c kernel and boot with 1.7rom as per your method (standard recovery) Thanks.

Start de Flash tool, i used v1.37 leave al as is, first erase your nand, then only choose your kernel and boot img you want to use and then flash rom.
Its all in the README FIRST file !
After the system is up and running, there is a reboot app installed that can make you boot in to recovery and some more mode's.
Flashing another recovery img afterwards like CWM has nothing to do with the android system.
Start the flash tool, uncheck everything except recovery, choose your image. (x7-cwm-recovery.img)
It gives you the opportunity to boot in recovery mode (with the reboot app) and then backup your entire android system incl apps and data. (for instance to your external SD Card)
You have to fiddle around to see how everything works
Google is your best friend.
If you know how to backup your entire system, then you are safe to flash new roms as many as you want.
That is, if you take out your SD Card before flashing !!!!

[Molle]

Please give any details/instructions you can on flashing the o/c kernel and boot with 1.7rom as per your method (standard recovery) Thanks.

On rooted ROMs (like the Finless ones) you can use the flash_image tool to flash the boot, kernel (and recovery) partitions from within the system.

As an example, I'm using the following shell script, which I have stored along with the executable on the external sd, for flashing the kernel:

flash_kernel.sh

#!/system/bin/sh

mount -o remount,rw /system
cp flash_image /system/bin/flash_image
/system/bin/flash_image kernel kernel.img

The script can be easily adapted for flashing the other partitions as well. This way you don't need to connect the device to a PC at all (except perhaps for updating the whole system).

[1pairofsocks]

On rooted ROMs (like the Finless ones) you can use the flash_image tool to flash the boot, kernel (and recovery) partitions from within the system.

As an example, I'm using the following shell script, which I have stored along with the executable on the external sd, for flashing the kernel:

flash_kernel.sh

#!/system/bin/sh

mount -o remount,rw /system
cp flash_image /system/bin/flash_image
/system/bin/flash_image kernel kernel.img

The script can be easily adapted for flashing the other partitions as well. This way you don't need to connect the device to a PC at all (except perhaps for updating the whole system).

Thank you for that.

This is new for me.
Can you tell me what files i have to flash manually to make a new rom work.
There are 7 files to flash with the Flash Tool using PC.
Do they all have to be flashed using your method ?

[Molle]

Can you tell me what files i have to flash manually to make a new rom work.
There are 7 files to flash with the Flash Tool using PC.
Do they all have to be flashed using your method ?

I have never used this method for a full system upgrade, only for flashing various test versions of the three images/partitions I listed (boot, kernel, recovery).

But if you're sport for it, you could add 'system.img' to the list. You can ignore the boot loader (RK3188Loader(L)_V1.24.bin) and parameters. So you'd basically attempt the following:

flash_image misc <path>/<misc.img>
flash_image kernel <path>/<kernel.img>
flash_image boot <path>/<boot.img>
flash_image recovery <path>/<recovery.img>
flash_image system <path>/<system.img>

I for one would be interested in hearing if 1.6 can be upgraded to 1.7 by using this method. Usually there are some post-installation scripts to be run after the installation/upgrade. They won't most likely be executed if the update is attempted this way.

All in all, I don't think this update method differs all that much from the sdcard/update.img one some users utilise.

[ROQUI]

Hi Bob,

Will you launch a rom for the NEO X7 MINI? A lot of people would be very gratefull.

Thanks,

[Molle]

No freezes and/or shutdowns since I reverted back to using my own kernel build three days ago ('uptime' in terminal verifies this).

All other parts of the system having stayed the same, I'd say this is definitely an issue with the 007 kernel (and its rkpatchomatic derivatives). Users in the MINIX Forums have flashed the 007 kernel on the 006c ROM and reported the same problems as with full 007 ROM.

[dxben]

No freezes and/or shutdowns since I reverted back to using my own kernel build three days ago ('uptime' in terminal verifies this.

Molle, is it possible to download your stable kernel build anywhere?

Ben

[Molle]

Molle, is it possible to download your stable kernel build anywhere?

Check the "Minix X7 kernels with video fix and overclocks" sticky thread.

[franckleroy]

Hi Bob,

Will you launch a rom for the NEO X7 MINI? A lot of people would be very gratefull.

Thanks,

Hello
I use this firmware on X7 mini, it works great !!!

Franck.

[off_d]

bluetooth keyboard

Hello!

I'm trying to connect a bluetooth keyboard (microsoft wedge) to my minix. i have managed to get it connected from within 1meter distance (maybe even less). When i move further away it disconnects. I have changed batteries etc. It's not a problem with the keyboard because when i pair it with my Galaxy S4, it works flawlessly (it even works from 10meters away).

Any ideas ?

thanx

[ptiper21]

Check the "Minix X7 kernels with video fix and overclocks" sticky thread.

so if we use finless 1.7 with your custom kernel , would you thinl that my refresh problem in display is going to be fixed? hdmi aka problem...