It’s hard to imagine a smartphone and tablet servicing workshop, like any other workshop, without soldering or measuring equipment. But the main place here is always occupied by tools for software repair: unlocking, recovery and firmware. They are the ones who help the technician unlock, flash or revive a non-working device.

Let's get to know them better.

BOXING

What is boxing?

How to choose?

Dongles can also be divided into more universal ones, supporting the maximum number of models from popular manufacturers and the most popular operations, and dongles designed for specific devices and operations.

Universal solutions:

Specialized solutions:

Reset FRP

Samsung and LG

SMART CARD

What is a smart card?

The smart card is used to authenticate your purchase and identify your device to the developer's server. In fact, it looks like a regular SIM card for mobile phones. The smart card is designed to store data about the firmware version, the firmware itself and other special information.

Smart card chip structure

Important! A smart card has a limited number of information recording cycles. Usually the software warns the user that an update is required. That's why do not update the smart card unless necessary. It may simply get blocked, and as a result you will no longer be able to use this smart card or even the box (it all depends on the developer of the box). If you are unable to update your smart card when required, your best bet is to contact technical support.

What to choose: boxing or dongle?

Boxing is suitable if:

• connection via COM port is required;
• Phone recovery is only possible using JTAG or eMMC interface.

Dongle is suitable if:

• you are going to work with the phone in working condition;
• you need to unlock, flash, repair IMEI, remove FRP;
• The PC recognizes the phone;
• you are not going to work with the hardware of the device.

In the continuation of this article you will learn about possible errors and problems that arise when working with dongles and boxes, and how to detect and eliminate their cause.

There are times when you need to change the software on your mobile phone. This thought makes many people's hair stand on end and their heart rate increase. And in vain, because in fact it is not difficult to do.

Why flash a mobile phone?

Now is the time computer technology and flat smartphones with touch screens. However, despite the technological boom, old push-button mobile phones should not be discounted. The same “bricks”, sliders and “clamshells” that everyone had just a few years ago. Nobody even thought about changing the software on these legendary devices. The question is, why flash them at all?

Firmware updating of a phone (Samsung, Nokia, etc.) can be done for the following reasons:

• the device software has broken down or started to work worse;
• to obtain newer software.

Few people have seen such a device crash, 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.

Flashing phone firmware via computer

Before you install new software, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. First you need to create backup copy all data (contacts, SMS, settings, etc.) of the phone to the computer. This can be done using specialized programs (MyPhoneExplorer and others).
2. After this, you must charge your mobile phone: at least 80% of the battery, although 100% is better.
3. It is best to flash the phone's firmware via 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 started. Otherwise, the consequences could be catastrophic.

For the firmware you will need the following things:

• of course, the phone is 100% charged;
• data cable (in most cases USB is used, but some mobile devices require a special data cable);
• firmware file; it needs to 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;
• a program for flashing a phone (“flasher”).

Programs

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

• general ones that 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 certain 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 “flashing tools” for specific brands that will help “cure” the gadget:

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

Let's look at the algorithm using the example of the Phoenix utility.

Flashing Nokia

Before flashing your phone's firmware, 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 the mobile device (Nokia Software Update, Nokia PC Suite, etc.) and then clear the cache and register. Otherwise, the firmware of the Nokia phone may fail. Also, just in case, you should turn off your antivirus.

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

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

Go to the Flashing section, where you need to click Firmware Update. Now you need to select a code. If we don’t have the slightest idea which one is needed, then we take any one. At the same time, you need to remember one point: if Russian is desired in the phone, then look for the words Russian, Cyrillic or RU in the name of the firmware file. When Product Code is selected, click on Refurbish. Congratulations, flashing your phone via your computer has begun. It will last approximately 7-10 minutes. During this time, you should not touch the phone, cable or the program itself.

Flashtool

If there is no special utility and you need to flash the phone’s firmware via a computer, the Flashtool program can easily handle this if you have the OS file and drivers, which you will need to find yourself.

The work algorithm is as follows. Turn off the phone, remove and insert the battery. Turn on the Flashtool program. Click on the lightning icon and leave a dot on the Flashmode item. Next, select the downloaded firmware from the list in the left window and click “Ok”. Afterwards you should see instructions for connecting your smartphone to your PC via a USB cable. We do this, and the program for flashing the phone starts working.

Flashing Android

Mobile devices based operating system Android requires an OS change much more often than regular 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 a smartphone to fail is its owner.

The phone's firmware is flashed via a computer, but you can do without it (in Recovery mode).

Via PC

First you need to make some preparations.

1. Download special utility for flashing (Flashtool, Bootloader or a program from the official developer – PC Companion for Sony Ericsson, “Software Update Fly smartphones" for Fly, etc.).
2. At the same time, download the firmware for specific model devices. In this case, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the characteristics, read comments and reviews. Copy the firmware to the Firmwares folder of the Flashtool program.
3. Install drivers on the PC.
4. We make a backup copy of the files from the smartphone, and also copy the contents of the flash drive to the computer (flashing the phone's firmware through the computer will not leave old marks about the location of the files on the flash card, so it will create new ones on top of the old ones).
5. We find a USB cable, and also do USB debugging (go to “Settings”, find “Developer Features”, then check the “USB Debugging” checkbox).
6. We charge the device 100%.

Then open the Flashtool utility and go through the algorithm described above.

Without PC

This is done through 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 the exact combination by looking at the device passport. Next, select the “Apply Update From External Storage” item (firmware for a Samsung phone and many other Android-based smartphones happens the same way).

We are working on Windows Mobile

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

Now the search and installation of drivers for the connected device will begin. If they are not found, you can click on the corresponding button to search on the Internet. When the drivers are installed, a large tile with an 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 weigh around a gigabyte. In addition, if the download is suddenly interrupted, it can always be resumed from where it stopped. There is also one nice thing: if you want to flash your smartphone again, 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, clicking on which will begin installing the software. At the same time, it is strictly undesirable to touch the phone, USB cable, or turn on/off the computer, since the results of such manipulations can be quite disastrous.

The proposed programmer circuit is, in my opinion, the simplest and can easily be reproduced by any novice radio amateur who has decided to try his hand at creating devices on microcontrollers. The circuit does not contain super-scarce parts and does not even require manufacturing printed circuit board- everything can be assembled by overhead mounting or on a breadboard (for example, I laid out a signet for it in 15 minutes on a piece of substandard glass hetinax). This programmer is suitable for flashing Atmega8 and Attiny2313 microcontrollers, which can be useful in the manufacture of pulse metal detectors such as ClonePI-W or TrakerPI.

Since the programmer circuit is simple and will not cause any problems during manufacturing, I suggest further step by step instructions on using the device (for beginners) when flashing the Atmega8 microcontroller firmware for the manufacture of the ClonePI-W.1 metal detector. Installing the PonyProg program. with the program and unzip it. Click on setup.exe. The normal installation will take place. Now go to the system drive and in the Program Files folder we find the Pony Prog2000 folder. We go into it and delete the PonyProg2000.exe file. From the unzipped material, copy the file PonyProg 207 rus.exe into this folder, which allows you to Russify and modify the program. Create a shortcut in this folder and place it on the Desktop. The program is installed.

Setting up the program. We connect the programmer and run the program. In the Settings menu, select “Calibration” and perform it. After that, in the Settings menu, select Hardware Settings and set Serial, COM1 and SI Prog API. The remaining windows are empty. Click Check, OK. This completes the setup. If it was successful, then everything is fine; if not, we look for and eliminate the error in the hardware.

Microcontroller firmware. We insert the controller into the socket. In the window at the top of the program, select AVR Micro, in the adjacent Atmega8. Now click Commands-Read All. Data will be read from the microcontroller. When it is completed, a message indicating its successful completion will appear. Such reading, even of a clean microcircuit, allows you to better “make friends” with the Computer-Programmer-Microcontroller combination, and if everything goes OK, then you can definitely hope for success. Now we load the dump of the firmware itself into the programmer. File - Open the contents of the device from a file and use Explorer to find the dump file we need with the extension .hex. Open it, its contents will be reflected in a large program window.

Now it is very important to set the controller configuration bits correctly. You can view them on the ClonePI-W developer website. Click on the icon with the lock. We check the boxes as required. Click OK. Now we write the program into the microcontroller. Commands - Write all. There was a recording, then a check. At the end of the test, the Recording completed sign will appear. If everything went as described above, then take out the controller and place it in the device being manufactured, connect the power and enjoy the result. Finally, a couple more tips. Power for the programmer circuit can be taken from the USB port of the computer or used for this purpose the power supply of your ADSL modem, which can be turned off while programming the controller. In addition (in some cases), while programming the stone, it is necessary to disable antiviruses and firewalls (NOD32, for example, blocks some actions involving data transfer via COM port). That's all about the proposed device in a nutshell. The material was kindly provided by Elektrodych.

The convenience of working with modern mobile devices is largely due to the presence of pre-installed firmware, without which the functioning of electronics is simply impossible. These firmware are among electronic engineers and repair specialists mobile devices usually called firmware. In many devices, these firmwares are often damaged, in modern parlance they “fly off”, making it impossible to work with installed applications. To restore the firmware, a programmer is used. This is a hardware and software device for reading and writing data into a read-only memory or internal memory of microcontrollers.

The most popular device among users is the smartphone. Let's take a closer look at what is needed to “revive” a mobile phone whose firmware has crashed. In addition, a large amount of electronics comes from China and the USA, and when purchasing such a mobile phone, a problem arises in the difference in firmware. It is in such situations that you cannot do without a phone programmer.

Programmers for restoring software on phones are required to download firmware to the device. The programmer itself is connected via the corresponding port of the smartphone and is reprogrammed. There are no universal programmers that support work with various types of devices, however, there are models compatible with the most popular smartphones.

Types of programmers

In addition, programmers may differ in chip type, complexity, connection to a computer, as well as in the list additional functions, there are two fundamental differences between the construction of these devices:

1. Based on an array of universal hardware drivers. The versatility of such programmers lies in the ability to read and feed logical levels, as well as the ability to feed complex algorithms. Based on the operating principle of these universal programmers As a rule, expensive universal models work.
2. Models that optimize for a given list of microcircuits. These programmers are often significantly lower in cost than models of the first type, and the existing list of functions can be expanded by adding new types of chips.

Our online store specializes in spare parts for mobile phones and tablets and offers a large assortment of recovery programmers software on phones of various models. We guarantee timely delivery of your order and reasonable prices.

A programmer is a hardware-software device that is used to read or write information into a storage device (internal microcontrollers). If a radio amateur needs to program a microcontroller device once, you can use a conventional programmer that connects to a COM or LPT port. For example, the simplest AVR programmer is a cable of 6 and 4 resistors (PonyProg programmer).

Using a regular programmer, you can load hex programs into many AVR microcontrollers without wasting extra time and money. In addition, the programmer can be used as an in-circuit programmer, so you can program AVR microcontroller without removing it from the device.

Such programmers are connected to the computer using a special program (also called a programmer). It transmits from, and the device only writes it to the chip’s memory. Programmers can be connected via a serial or parallel port, via a USB connector, etc. Modern programmers are usually connected via USB.

The USB programmer is designed for programming microprocessor devices of a certain company (depending on the brand of the programmer) in assembled form. It greatly simplifies the process of setting up the software.

How to connect a USB programmer?

To use the device, you must connect it to one of the USB ports on your computer. After this, a message about connecting a new USBasp USB device will appear on the computer, and the LED on the programmer itself will light up, which means that the device has been successfully connected.

Then you need to install drivers so that the OS can work correctly with this device. After this, you can connect the microprocessor device to the ISP interface. During programming, the second LED will light up.

As a rule, the programmer has two interfaces - one for connecting a microcontroller, the second for connecting to a computer. In order to connect the microcontroller, you can use the ISP serial programming mode. And to the computer this device connects via a standard USB connector.

To control the programmer you need to install special programs. It is best to use windowed applications. For example, to work with the device you can use ExtremeBurner, Khazama, avrguge and others.