Albert

Friday, October 15, 2010

How to Root the Spice MI-300 with Custom ROM

How to root a Spice MI-300 Android phone by flashing a custom ROM (FiretrapSugar) via the built-in recovery mode. This gives you root access, a custom launcher, and useful pre-installed apps.

Warning: Rooting may brick your device and will void the manufacturer warranty. Proceed at your own risk.

Rooting erases all phone data (SD card data is preserved). Ensure you have backed up everything before starting.

Prerequisites

Spice MI-300 updated to the official Android 2.1 release from Spice
Two custom ROM flavors are available at Boston Mania: FiretrapVanilla and FiretrapSugar — this guide uses FiretrapSugar

Rooting procedure

Download the custom ROM from this link
Extract the .rar file (using WinRAR) and rename firetrapSugar.nb0 to firmware.nb0
Copy firmware.nb0 to the root directory of your SD card (not inside any folder)
Switch off the phone
Press and hold Volume Up + Camera, then also press and hold Power (next to the 3.5 mm audio jack) for about 15 seconds
The phone boots into Android system recovery mode
Using the trackball, scroll down to Download nb0 from sdcard and press the trackball to start
Wait 2–3 minutes for the firmware update to complete
The phone reboots with the new "Android" splash screen — you now have FiretrapSugar with root access

Recommended apps

With root access you can install: SetCPU (adjust CPU clock between 122–600 MHz), RootExplorer, QuickSSHd, CacheCleaner, WebSharing, Astro, Skype.

Tips

When root apps prompt for superuser access, check Always allow for trusted apps to avoid re-confirmation
Use the SwitchPro widget (included in FiretrapSugar) to turn the camera flash into a torch
Install QuickSSHd for shell access over Wi-Fi instead of USB adb
With QuickSSHd, you can copy files to the phone over Wi-Fi using WinSCP

Backing up NAND flash partitions

After rooting, back up all NAND flash partitions immediately. The boot and recovery partitions are especially important.

Log in to the phone via adb or SSH (QuickSSHd)
If using adb, run su and confirm the superuser prompt on the phone
Run the following commands to dump all partitions to the SD card (view the partition map with cat /proc/mtd):

cat /dev/mtd/mtd0  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd0.boot
cat /dev/mtd/mtd1  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd1.misc
cat /dev/mtd/mtd2  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd2.splash
cat /dev/mtd/mtd3  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd3.recovery
cat /dev/mtd/mtd4  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd4.ftm
cat /dev/mtd/mtd5  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd5.hidden
cat /dev/mtd/mtd6  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd6.dgbmask
cat /dev/mtd/mtd7  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd7.system
cat /dev/mtd/mtd8  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd8.misc2
cat /dev/mtd/mtd9  > /sdcard/bkup.mtd9.cache
cat /dev/mtd/mtd10 > /sdcard/bkup.mtd10.userdata

Copy the backup files from the SD card to a safe location on your PC.

To revert to the official firmware (e.g. for warranty claims), re-flash using the Software Update Tool from Spice and the phone returns to its original state.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Spice MI-300 Review: Budget Android for Linux Hackers

A review of the Spice MI-300, a budget Android phone (~10,000 INR) that doubles as a Linux hacking platform. Internally it is the Commtiva Z71 / Vibo A688, sold under different brand names worldwide.

Pros

Excellent touch response — better than many branded phones at this price
Compact size and thickness comparable with branded devices
Decent camera quality at good distance with good ambient light
Android 2.1 official update available from Spice
Active community providing custom ROMs (Android 2.2 already in testing)
Plenty of hacking resources available in the Android community

Cons

Poor build quality — plastic body
Poor battery life — 1 to 1.5 days at best
Camera cannot focus at short distances (e.g. document scanning)

Hardware — same device, many brands

The phone is known as Vibo A688 / Z71 in the Android community. It is manufactured by Taiwan-based Commtiva and sold under many names:

Apanda A60 (China)
ChinaVision Excalibur
Cincinnati Bell Blaze f800
Commtiva Z71
Muchtel A1 (Taiwan)
Nexian Journey A890 (Indonesia)
Orange Boston
Spice MI-300 (India)
Vibo A688 (Taiwan)
Wellcom A88 (Thailand)
Videocon Evolve V7500

Even Motorola sells similar hardware as the Motorola Quench XT502.

Rooting

After the official 2.1 update, Spice reduced the CPU clock from 600 MHz to 480 MHz (to improve battery life). Rooting the phone and flashing the FiretrapSugar 1.1 custom ROM from Boston Mania restores full control.

Rooting or flashing a custom ROM may void the manufacturer warranty. Do not attempt this unless you understand the risks.

With root access you can:

Set CPU clock profiles to balance performance and battery life
Use the camera flash as a torch
SSH into the phone's Linux shell
Use 3G tethering over Wi-Fi
Run scripts in Ruby, Python, Perl, or JavaScript
Cross-compile C programs with an ARM toolchain and run them on the phone

Recommended apps

Root Explorer (paid) — file manager with root access
QuickSSHd (paid) — SSH server for shell access over Wi-Fi (use PuTTY/WinSCP)
SetCPU (paid) — CPU clock control
Cache Cleaner (free)
Alarm Clock Plus (free)
WebSharing (paid version has more features)
Astro (free file browser)
Skype — VoIP calls over Wi-Fi
Lookout — phone tracking for lost/stolen devices
Barnacle Wifi Tether — turn the phone into a Wi-Fi router

Photos