Google Apps can't be reinstalled

For the people who want to flash their phone with SP tools with 1.8.5, here is the scatter file which was build with the Mtk Droid Tools:

For me this file worked with SP Flash Tool v3.1312.0.139 and the MT65xx drivers for FP1U.

2 Likes

@Kephson thanks for the scatterfile, I have updated my post to refer people to this option if they want to save a step in the proces.

dear Dave,

i would like to try this solution but the drivers aren’t installed.

can you explain (very detailed) how i can install it?

regards,
Marijke

My FP did not stuck in a re-installing loop. It just ended with a couple of spoiled apps.

I tried to re-install everything again and - for some reasons I don’t know - all things are just fine again, now:

  • swipe function: runs
  • News and weather: runs
  • Play store: back and runs
  • old calender app: back and runs after installing new google calender app, and synchronizing it in the background

Puuuuha… I’m released… after in total 4 hours of bug-fixing. But my FP is running again perfect as I has been used to it, that’s the main point.

@daveboschma : Thanks a lot for your support! :smile:

1 Like

@MDP:

  • Download the drivers. I found a cleaner source for the drivers: http://gleescape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/MT65xx_USB_Driver.zip
  • Unpack
  • Boot phone into recovery (you may need to select update from adb in recovery for your phone to show itself to windows)
  • Connect to PC.
  • Windows should now say either that it is installing a android phone (or something similar) or ask you for its drivers.
  • If it asks for drivers point to the files in the usb_driver subdir (by selecting the android_winusb.inf file)
  • windows should now see the MTK6589 phone.

After installation of the drivers power down your phone (for example by taking cable and battery out) and proceed with flashing. If you still can’t flash, nothing happens so you’re still save. Something went wrong while installing the drivers. If this happens come back here (try reinstalling the drivers by right-clicking the android_winusb.inf file and press install in windows explorer).

In short: the only risky step is when your computer does see the phone and SP flasher starts flashing. Then be very still for a moment.

1 Like

@daveboschma

what do you think about this idea?

Marijke

@MDP sorry to spoil the fun but you need a bit more than a factory reset. You need a downgrade or a reflash.
You are right about the part were you need to recustomize the FP.

As they say in Dutch “je kunt niet alles hebben” (roughly “you cant win them all”).

Thanks a lot for your good explanation. But what is the MTK driver in Windows necessary for? Why do I need it to flash the phone? I’m flashing the firmware of Fairphone, or not? I have no Windows around to flash but Linux. And with this adb works just fine. But only adb, and adb sideload pushes the Fairphone OS nicely on the phone, and the phone tries its best to install it - but fails :frowning:

MTK diver is necessary to use the SP Flasher tool under windows. I do not know if there is a linux equivalent. ADB is not good enough as it doesn’t work based on the scatterfile. As far as I know ADB can’t repartition the phone, something SP flasher was designed to do.

EDIT: the highly informed people of http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2650125&page=1 tell us that there is no know equivalent of SP Flash. Find yourself a Windows machine… (or wait for a different solution).

Do you know what is this Scatterfile necessary for? Never heard of it before. And it’s only a few bytes.

@Amber, It is a map of the memory chip in the phone. It tells SP flasher where to write which image. Think of it as the Memory chip version of a partition table. One small change and you’ll overwrite a part you do not want to…

2 Likes

Thanks for explanation. By looking for MTK Droid Tools I’ve found an article on android-hilfe.de in german language which explains this and the use of SP Flasher as well.

Jippie Jippie!!!
I think it worked for me as well.
It took me hours (and several missed phonecalls) and will take me some extra hours to get my phone working as i was used to.
But what a relief!!!
Thank you all contributers to this forum and special thanks to @daveboschma!
the extra info on how to install the driver (Google Apps can't be reinstalled) was very helpful!

Marijke

2 Likes

@MDP, you’re most welcome. You almost had me worried that something went wrong… It became very quiet here. :wink:

I installed 1mobile market, and an alternative keyboard so I life with out Google right now… Read the solution from @daveboschma (bedankt van uit Duitsland voor jouw aanradingen!) but I decided to wait for an easier solution than this one… @paulakreuzer are there any news on this new gapp updater?

@Robert_Muth I’m just a community moderator, not a Fairphone employee. So I don’t know more than you.
But it doesn’t seem like they posted a solution yet.

Hello . I’ve read these posts and I’m very confused and disheartened -to the point of thinking I might just buy a standard phone tomorrow :frowning: I have kola nut1.8 and I keep getting a message to update to 1.8.5 I try to do that and it restarts/system update -but then I still see the message telling me I need to update and I am still on 1.8. That would be fine except, as with many others, I have lost my Google apps. I try to install from the widget and the fairphone updater and they both say installed but aren’t installed. I even tried getting Google Play store but that just keeps stopping. The main reason I need my phone is for gmail.
Is there a fix I can understand? I seem to be in an endless loop being told to update the OS and Googel apps -updating - getting the messages again -and no luck. Thankyou.

@daveboschma Thanks a lot for your instructions and your help. I’m finally able to use my phone again :smiley:

2 Likes

@Martin_Blackforest you are not alone with theese problems. The Fairphone Team is working on a solution right now.

Did you do this “just” once? If so than maybe you only did the pre-update wich updated the updater app but not the OS. So that would explain why you are still on 1.8.
The being stuck in the GAPPS-loop is one of the things that Fairphone is trying to fix right now, but if you only did the pre-update for now you might be in luck and after finishing the full update reinstalling GAPPS might work.
@daveboschma also provided a fix for this problem here, but I guess you’d have to be quite tech-savy to understand it. (At least I don’t :blush:)

Hey Jonathan, I followed the instructions of daveboschma (post 82 . Good luck!