Just few years back if we ask what’s the best budget value for money smartphone brand then most tech experts and a lot of people used to recommend Xiaomi which provided smartphones with high specs at such low price that most people never ever thought it’s possible as almost all big and small companies used to put big price tag on low and mid range smartphones which made large percentage of people get used to and think that’s the best price they can get on smartphones but when the chinese company Xiaomi entered in global market with it’s budget smartphones they created huge buzz around the world and increased competition between mobile companies to quite big extent in this capitalist world.
In sense, Xiaomi mesmerized people and many companies with it’s high specs low price smartphones and it’s still continuing the same due to such product prices and smart business strategy of Xiaomi in just few years it become most favourite and top smartphone brand in many developing countries especially in India including that Xiaomi inspired numerous companies to enter in global market out of them tecno is one by transsion a chinese company that since year 2008 used to mainly focus in digitalizing Africa with it’s low price mobile phones but later in year 2017 it started expanding to some developing countries releasing many valuable budget premium smartphones which is now edge to edge competing with Xiaomi inc. globally.
Tecno is basically sub brand of transsion company which is a key player and one of the best alternative to Xiaomi that as said earlier make and release value for money smartphones but thing is it uses Mediatek processor on most smartphones which is thought good one but not open source due to that external development from third party developers is less in comparison to Qualcomm Snapdragon processor yet large percentage of people buy mediatek powered smartphones as not everyone need custom third party development and in many things Mediatek smartphones are way better than Snapdragon ones like for instance in terms of security and ability to bring back device from hard brick using numerous ways, isn’t that super cool?
Mediatek and Snapdragon are popular mobile processors widely used by many manufacturers around the world on smartphones including tecno thought they have their own pros and cons but at the end if you choose right specifications device you most likely get pretty good and solid experience in most categories either it’s multi-tasking or gaming etc but the main drawback here is majority of mobile makers for whatever reason stop giving security updates and software upgrades after 1 or 2 years even if processor and hardware inside support latest softwares due to that the device eventually become outdated and make it hard and boring to use on go, quite disappointing right?
So, some people mainly geeks and developers to not let their smartphone become outdated do various things like unlock bootloader, rooting, install custom recoveries like TWRP and roms basically softwares which unlock system level aka root access of device and allows you to write, modify and change system files to get a lot of new desired features on your device and customize it extensively but thing is doing any one of them will void device warranty including that process is bit difficult for newbies on new devices back then like few years ago it’s easy to do that stuff all you need is one app like Kingoroot which will instantly root most Android devices and later users can do almost anything but now latest Android smartphones comes with modern security so do those things it’s required to have PC with compatible drivers and user have to must follow device specific guide given by developer carefully from trusted platforms like XDA else it can softbrick or hardbrick device which is sometimes irreparable.
Now in order to customize new smartphones it’s mandatory to unlock bootloader after that only flashing recovery, root and custom roms is possible and each device may have specific guide based on manufacturer, hardware and software specifications as they are not universal it’s risky to try on other devices thought some steps are similar but not always and sometimes it can end up causing troubles so be careful like for instance to name few though magisk is rooting software for both Snapdragon as well as Mediatek devices but flashing steps may be bit different including that some devices only boot and can’t save recovery and on some devices there will be 2 partitions so you have to install custom roms in one of them you find this way on new devices created for dynamic updates and many more.
Android is most popular open source operating system created by search engine giant Google which is used by many companies globally to power up their products with large market share on smartphones started at Android 1.0 and now at Android 14 but thing is Google officially first release any new update or upgrade to it’s devices like Nexus and Pixel etc after that only other devices can build them using AOSP aka Android open source project by individual developers or companies which is pretty good but thing is as said earlier many companies still don’t give updates after 1 or 2 years of release that’s quite problematic for users and many of them complained to makers and eventually this issue was addressed by Google to fix this in year 2017 they created and released revolutionary Project Treble.
Qualcomm Snapdragon is open source processor due to that developers like and prefer to do custom developement like recoveries, custom roms etc on devices which integrated it and usually they don’t focus much on closed source processor like Mediatek yet still premium brand like tecno still use them as it’s better in other categories if you like custom rom stuff it’s better go with Snapdragon but in case you already have Mediatek device specifically tecno smartphones and want to upgrade them as tecno don’t give them don’t worry fortunately we have treble tecnology by using that developers build many GSIs of old and latest stock and custom Android software which you can install directly on your tecno or other Mediatek as well as Snapdragon processor devices by using few simple ADB commands or through custom recovery easily on the go.
Google introduced Treble project back in year 2017 for Android 8.0 which basically provide GSI aka generic system image software that can be installed on almost all Android devices which came with treble support thought there are few ways to add treble support on unsupported devices but device which come with official support may have better compatability so before flashing GSIs on your tecno or any other device first you have to check either it support or not for that you don’t need PC or root Android all you need is a simple app for instance Treble Info which provide all necessary information regarding Treble state of your device based on that you can proceed further if your device is supported then you can flash GSI according to device specific guides provided by geeks from platforms like XDA else it’s better to stay away from flashing GSIs because it can end up bricking device that can make things hard to fix later on, be careful.
However, even If your tecno or any other device support treble project that doesn’t mean it can boot all GSIs because the compatibility of GSI based on hardware and mainly vendor of device which is why it’s always better to choose AOSP based GSIs or GSIs that are ported from such device which hardware mainly processor and vendor is similar to your device in that way flashed GSI most likely boot thought all this feel simple but thing is if you’re newbie flashing GSI is bit difficult task for sure as each device may have different adb commands and files like for instance product.img which is required to increase the partition size of device needed to be flashed before you install GSI as size of many gsis are bigger than custom roms including that sometimes if available you may have to flash modded vendor to fix device specific gsi bugs like for instance 3 sim issue on tecno pova ld7j and there can be many more commands or files based on device to boot GSIs successfully.
Especially, the foremost thing is if you decided to flash GSIs first thing you have to select is right GSI there are different versions of GSI as you may know at present we have 32 and 64 bit processor so the GSIs we usually develop and have are 32 and 64 bit and nowadays makers releasing Android devices with dynamic partitions which comes with 2 partitions aka A/B slots created for seamless updates means as there are two slots system can choose one inactive slot to install whatever system updates making other slot inactive which you can switch whenever you wish due to that you can install software updates in background and if for any reason it’s corrupt then you can switch to other slot to install and boot back software including that you can boot two custom roms and GSIs using custom recovery or dynamic system loader inshort DSU on one device so that you can enjoy two softwares and multitask efficiently.
In sense, there are number of benefits of having A/B partitions device and usually in most a/b devices on stock firmware, custom roms and GSIs we find super.img which is basically single package of all necessary system files like system, product, recovery, boot etc created by developers to keep them organised and simple so that device can better understand and flash software files without much issues or errors which is why many makers including super.img in software thought some makers use payload.bin which require python pkgs to extract using terminal and ofp used mainly by Realme need mct ofp bypass tool at the end they are basically copy of super.img back in early days of Android system files used to be in different places due to that it used to become bit difficult for device to process and if any system file miss lead to many software corruptions but now with super.img they are quite less and become user friendly for both users and devices.
You may say my tecno or other device doesn’t have A/B partitions yet still it supports dynamic partitions as I can get super.img in my stock firmware and treble info app also show that device support dynamic partitions like for instance tecno pova ld7/j which is possible as the word dynamic partition not only refer and mean A/B slots even if you’re device can flash super.img it can be considered as dynamic partition that compatibility can be added on device which comes by default if you’re device support treble project where we use GSIs but thing is you won’t get support for seamless updates as there are no A/B slots but the benefit of having dynamic partitons support is to keep system files organised and device can modify or delete partitions and if vendor or any other file which you use didn’t work then you can simply replace it with other working one in super.img to easily fix or boot software thought you can do this on unsupported dynamic partitions device as well but the process is bit complex and not easy.
Anyway, now you know what are A/B slots and super.img dynamic partitions but there are some more important things you have to know before you flash GSIs as said earlier GSI is part of project treble created by Google which is basically pure implementation of Android without any code changes due to that devices can easily run them but as it’s pure size of it is twice or thrice larger than of custom rom due to that if device partition doesn’t have enough space you have to delete certain stock partitions like product which stores camera apk and system ext which stores like radio apk etc to get some additional sufficient space and flash GSIs at the same time there are several variants of GSI like for instance if GSI name denotes bgN for GSI with GApps and bvN without GApps only device including that there is slim GSI which is small size lite variant of full GSI and we also have VNDK and VNDKLITE variants of GSIs so you have to choose right GSI variant based on your device hardware specs and preferences to make things work well on device effectively.
If you’re familiar with Android then you may probably know vendor partition it is basically software that stores all the components of devices and can allow and disallow which functions to run or not on your device at present there is stock vendor which is provided by makers of device and we have oss aka open source software vendor which is continuously developed by many third party developers around the world regularly due to that OSS vendor is considered way better than OSS vendor and yeah it’s user subjective but do you know vendor partition used to be part of system on Android which is separated by Google when they introduced Android 8.0 Oreo and Project Treble with VNDK -vendor native development kit since then vendor got more spotlight and attention from users and developer community and eventually they started making GSIs based on VNDK and VNDKLITE which is nothing but the lite and trimmed down version of VNDK so it’s less size at the cost of device compatibility guarantees, gotcha?
In simple, VNDK configuration is responsible for enforcing seperation between different parts of the system where VNDKLITE relaxes this requirement it basically comes with such system libraries which are developed to have better compatibility and work well on old low end and Android Go devices thought new devices usually can flash VNDK GSIs like devices which came with Android 9 and above by default but not always which is why you have to check your vendor and VNDK version using Treble info app then based on that you have to flash GSIs if your vendor and VNDK version is low then it’s better to flash VNDKLITE gsis or else full VNDK gsis may not work fine but thing is sometimes even on high vendor latest devices for several reasons mainly due to lack of storage space VNDK gsis failed to get installed even after resizing partitions by flashing product.img, deleting product and system ext in that case flashing right VNDKLITE gsis is wise choice to boot up device and figure out things to fix later.
Eventhough, now you know basics and most important things to select and flash GSIs on your Tecno or any other maker devices but thing is sometimes even if you have correct hardware and choose right slim, VNDK or VNDKLITE still you may find few bugs as GSI is pure implementation of Android without code changes which can run on most devices but thing is accurate compatibility and functionality between hardware and software is not guaranteed thought if your device has good developer support you may find some fixes to them using modded or decrypted vendor and through Magisk root in form of modules which may work but not always and if you incorrectly flashed correct or wrong GSIs or modules then it can soft or hard brick device at that time to boot back device you may have to re-flash other GSIs or in some cases you have to install device original firmware using softwares like SP flash tools which is why do proper research and clarify doubts on forums or device social channels or groups before you do anything on the device to stay in safe zone.
SP flash tool is fantastic software specifically created for mediatek processor chipset based smartphones like Tecno which can fix most cases soft and hardbrick of device not just GSI if you do proper extraction of stock firmware and install correct drivers and bypass auth using MCT after that you have to simply load mtk all in one.bin and Android scatter file from the stock firmware then uncheck preloader as on some devices it causes soft brick then click on download keeping your device in switched off it will detect and flash the firmware automatically but sometimes it may give errors for instance if you own Tecno Pova LD7/J and flashed unsigned stock firmware then kindly don’t upgrade device firmware using sp flash or any other tool which will not let you boot device in order to fix that you have to flash signed boot firmware using softwares like device manager or TFM tool but thing is sometimes they don’t work well in that scenario you have to research and ask in device support community even there you didn’t got fixes in that case you may have to give device to official or local service center they usually have better paid tools and expertise to fix almost all device hard or soft brick problems in less time.
Remember, in order to flash any gsi you first have to enable developer settings in that enable oem unlocking, usb debugging and unlock bootloader no need to root or flash any custom recoveries which are required to get system level access and flash custom roms or GSIs specifically developed for your device thought few years back you must need PC to do all of them as adb and platform tools are only available for PCs but now you just need external Android device in that you have to simply install pretty amazing app named Bugjaegar and then connect with fellow device using OTG cable after that it let you control and send all the commands to do whatever Android custom stuff you want quite easily at the end you choose the one whichever is convenient and comfortable for you, if you noted info said above now you’re ready to unlock your Tecno device bootloader, root, flash custom recoveries like TWRP and GSIs, let’s get started.
• Tecno official support •
Website : tecno-mobile.com
• Tecno devices unofficial support •
• How to enable developer options on Tecno devices •
– Go to Settings then tap on My Phone >
– Tap on Android version >
– Tap on Build number 7 times.
– Now you’ll get you’re developer.
– Go back and enter into System >
– Tap on Developer options >
– Enable OEM Unlocking then scroll down.
– Enable USB debugging.
That’s it, now if you want to use adb tools connect your device to PC else use OTG to connect device and start using Bugjaegar.
• How to unlock bootloader on Tecno Android devices •
– Note : unlock bootloader wipes data so kindly do backup data using right tools after that go through process below.
– Enter fastboot reboot recovery and execute or use power, volume up and down at same time to enter recovery.
– Now download adb platform tools, extract to desktop and open folder or else use Bugjaegar you don’t need to all this.
– In PC file explorer folder search bar enter cmd or right click and open CMD terminal.
– You can connect fellow device using OTG cable and open Bugjaegar as well.
– If you wanna use Bugjaegar way, go to thunder option then tap on <⚡>
– In PC or Bugjaegar terminal, enter and execute command adb devices
– It will list connected devices.
– Enter and execute command adb reboot bootloader
– Enter and execute command fastboot devices
– Enter and execute command fastboot flashing unlock
– It will ask you to press volume up do it.
– If you just want to unlock then enter and execute command fastboot reboot
– Bingo, you successfully unlocked bootloader of your Tecno devices.
• How to flash gsis on Tecno devices •
Note : you must have to flash vbmeta which is for decryption of device if you don’t flash it your device may soft or hard brick at present there are two types of vbmeta the one we provided here is off set one as it has small command line to enter in terminal.
– First, download your desired gsi file from trusted sources online like sourceforge.
– If you’re using platform tools then kindly extract your gsi archive in to the folder and copy vbmeta.img after that open CMD terminal.
– In case, you’re using Bugjaegar you don’t have to do that simply download vbmeta, GSI system img and make sure to put in main folder of internal storage or sd card to be clear and get no errors.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter above commands one after one each time then kindly tap on pin icon same as you done before but now add vbmeta.img and boot.img file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command it will process and flash them with in minute instantly.
– Enter and execute command adb reboot bootloader
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash vbmeta drag and add the vbmeta.img into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash vbmeta, then tap on pin icon to add vbmeta.img file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command, it usually flash file instantly.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot fastboot
– Enter and execute command fastboot delete-logical-partition product
– Enter and execute command fastboot delete-logical-parttion system_ext
– Enter and execute command fastboot erase system
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash system drag and add gsi system file into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash system then tap on pin icon to add gsi file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command, Bugjaegar usually take more time to process gsi than PC.
– Once gsi system file started installing it may take up to 10 min based on size.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot recovery
– Wipe data/factory reset.
– Wipe cache partition.
Well, now in fastboot or manual do reboot to enjoy gsi on your Tecno devices.
But, wait it’s not over yet on some tecno devices like for instance tecno pova 4 there is less space due to existing system files so you won’t be able to flash big GSIs like more than 3 or 4 GB in that case you may try to install slim or VNDKLITE variant GSIs but there’s chance you may can’t or don’t want to install them instead you only want to install big full VNDK GSIs in such scenario don’t worry there is a simple fix all you have to do is delete product cow file from system which is added by maker for A/B dynamic partition stock device OTA aka over the air updates but as you are now going to install GSI you no more require product cow for OTA so once you remove product cow you’re good to flash most big size GSIs on tecno devices.
• How to flash big size GSIs on Tecno devices •
Note : first as shown above first get into bootloader and flash off set vbmeta file provide then get into fastboot mode.
– Now open CMD or Bugjaegar.
– Enter and execute command fastboot getvar all, it will show all existing system files if there is product cow system file then kindly proceed to below steps.
– Enter and execute command fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a-cow
– Enter and execute command fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
– Enter and execute command fastboot delete-logical-partition system_ext_a
– Enter and execute command fastboot erase system_a
– Enter and execute command fastboot erase system_a
If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash system drag and add gsi system file into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash system_a then tap on pin icon to add gsi file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command, Bugjaegar usually take more time to process gsi than PC.
– Once gsi system file started installing it may take up to 10 min based on size.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot recovery
– Wipe data/factory reset.
– Wipe cache partition.
Alright, now in fastboot or manual do reboot to enjoy gsi on your Tecno devices.
• How to go back to stock from GSI on Tecno devices •
– First download your Tecno device stock firmware from trusted platforms like for instance naijaroms.com
– Once you done, extact stock firmware, if you’re using PC copy super.img file into platform tools to proceed further.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot fastboot
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash system drag and add gsi system file into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash super, then tap on pin icon to add gsi file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command, Bugjaegar usually take more time to process gsi than PC.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot recovery
– Wipe data/factory reset
– Wipe cache partition
– Now, do fastboot or manual boot.
Ta-da, you successfully flashed your stock firmware on your Tecno devices.
• How to root Tecno devices •
– First, download your current stock signed or unsigned stock firmware from trusted sources like naijaroms.com
– Once done, exact your stock firmware on desktop or specific folder to be clear.
– In stock firmware, you’ll find super.img extract it using softwares like WinRAR or Zarchiver in that you’ll find boot.img.
– Now download and open Magisk then tap on install.
– Choose Select and Patch a File then tap on LET’S GO.
– It will start patching boot.img once done the file will be saved in download folder.
Note : you must have to flash vbmeta which is for decryption of device if you don’t flash it you device may soft or hard brick at presenf there are two types of vbmeta we now providing off set one as it has small command to enter on terminal.
– if you’re using PC platform tools then kindly copy your patched boot.img and off set vbmeta.img in to the folder and after that simply open CMD terminal.
– In case you’re using Bugjaegar you don’t have to do that simply copy boot.img and vbmets.img put in main folder of internal storage or sd card to get no errors.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot recovery.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot fastboot.
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash vbmeta drag and add vbmeta.img file into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash vbmeta.img, then tap on pin icon to add gsi file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command it will usually flash file instantly.
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash boot drag and add gsi boot.img into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash boot, then tap on pin icon to add boot.img file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command it will usually flash file instantly.
Wohoo, you successfully decrypted and magisk rooted Tecno devices.
• How to flash custom recovery on Tecno devices •
Note : only some Tecno devices have custom recoveries many of them don’t have but don’t worry as said earlier you can still flash gsis and root devices incase your device has custom recovery make sure to get right one as flashing wrong one may end causing soft or hardbrick device.
– First download your device specific custom recovery like TWRP from trusted platforms like XDA or 4pda.ru.
– if you’re using PC platform tools then kindly copy your recover.img or zip in to the folder then open CMD terminal.
– In case you’re using Bugjaegar you don’t have to do that simply copy boot.img and vbmets.img put in main folder of internal storage or sd card to get no errors.
– In PC CMD or Bugjaegar, enter and execute command adb reboot bootloader.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot fastboot.
– If you’re using PC, enter fastboot flash recovery drag and add recovery.img into the CMD terminal and execute command.
– If you’re using Bugjaegar, enter fastboot flash recovery, then tap on pin icon to add recovery.img file from internal storage, sd card or otg then execute command it will usually flash file instantly.
Note : if your device is dynamic partitions with slots, first check slot which you’re in using command fastboot get current slot if terminal show a or b based on that set and flash recovery like for instance if it’s A fastboot -set-active=_a and then fastboot flash recovery_a and vice versa but thing is in some dynamic partition devices there is no recovery partition in that case you can’t flash recovery instead you have to use this command fastboot boot recovery if that didn’t work use fastboot get current slot based on the result try fastboot boot recovery_a or recovery_b after that in custom recovery, advanced, in ramdisk flash custom recovery after that switch to other slot do same as doing this process will keep your custom recovery permanent on system and let you flash cool stuff.
– You booted in custom recovery.
– Enter and execute command fastboot reboot recovery
– Yay, you successfully flashed custom recovery on your Tecno devices.
Finally, this is how you can unlock bootloader, root, flash gsis and custom recovery on Tecno devices thought most Tecno devices don’t have custom roms but in future may developers build fabulous custom roms for our devices at present we don’t have better option other than to rely on gsis as Tecno don’t give timely updates and mainly they not even give 1 upgrade which is quite disappointing right? I hope atleast in future Tecno focus on it else it will eventually have bad impact on sells around the world even if it sell premium smartphones at best price as nowadays customers are aware of software and they know software updates and upgrades are very necessary to not just enjoy but also to keep device up-to-date, anyhow do you like Tecno? If so will you buy again? kindly say your personal experience on Tecno in our comment section below, see ya 🙂