How to increase primary partition (internal storage) on an MTK Android

hovatek
Administrator

49,850

29-04-2014, 04:25 PM

#1

So you are looking at the specifications of your phone and see 8GB internal memory. You then slot in your 8GB memory and expect to have 16GB in all, only for your internal memory to show 2GB! Have you been scammed? No. Where then did the 6GB go? That's the underlined question behind the tweak in this tutorial.
How the 8GB (2GB and 6GB) in question is shared is decided by two files (EBR1 and EBR2) . The 2GB in this case, is the internal storage (where apps will get installed to) while the 6GB is the phone storage (acts as memory card when you don't have one). Once a memory card is inserted, the phone storage becomes dormant, what a waste!
Wouldn't it be nice to use 7.5GB for internal storage and 0.5GB for phone storage? Let's take a look at how you can do this by tweaking the EBR 1 and EBR2 files

* Note: You might find the procedure below quite confusing. There's an alternative method posted by emmaachile @ http://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-718.html using EBRtweak which you might want to take a look at.

See the video tutorial below or @ http://youtu.be/k5UspcUtCLE

Tools needed

* HxD hex editor

* Hex Calculator

* Notepad++

* MTK Droid tools

* [ Login to download]

* Byte Converter

* [ Login to download]

Step 1: Extract EBR1 and EBR2
1. Download PdaNet
2. Download MTK Droid tools
3. Enable USB debugging on the phone and connect it to PC
4. While the phone is connected to PC, install PdaNet on your PC
5. Still with the phone connected, extract MTK droid tools form the compresses format
6. Open the MTK Droid tools folder and launch MTK Droid tools (green logo)
7. MTK Droid tools should display your phone's details and the box at the bottom should be yellow
8. Click root at the bottom
9. Select Yes to any prompt on PC and Grant to any on the phone
10. Wait till the box turns green
11. When the box turns green, click on the root, backup, recovery tab
12. Click on Backup and wait till it completes.
13. When backup is complete, open the backup folder inside the MTK folder
14. Inside the backup folder, you'll see a folder named after your phone model. inside it will be your EBR1 and EBR2 files .

Step 2: Tweak / modify EBR1 and EBR2 files
NOTE: We'll be using a sample device, replicate this procedure (not the values we use) as it best suits your device

1. Check your device scatter file (MDT Block Info):

[Image: how_to_increase_primary_partition_size_1.jpg]

(a) USRDATA 0x44980000 (hex)
(b) FAT 0xCB980000 (hex)

2. Check and calculate existing size of mount point /data:
Y = b - a = 0xCB980000 - 0x44980000
= 0x87000000 (hex) = 2,264,924,160 bytes (hex to bytes conversion)

3. Open existing EBR1:

[Image: how_to_increase_primary_partition_size_2.jpg]

4. Collect Hex values:
A = 0x00221800 = 0x221800 (00 18 22 00) B = 0x00438000 = 0x438000 (00 80 43 00)
C = 0x0001B400 = 0x1B400 (00 B4 01 00)
Max Value = 0xFFFFFFFF (FF FF FF FF)
Open existing EBR2:

[Image: how_to_increase_primary_partition_size_3.jpg]

D = 0x0063E400 = 0x63E400 (00 E4 63 00)
E = 0xFF9A67FF (FF 67 9A FF)

5. Calculate D and E to make sure:
D = ( A + B ) - C = ( 0x221800 + 0x438000 ) - 0x1B400 = 0x63E400
E = Max Value - ( A + B ) = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( 0x221800 + 0x43800 ) = 0xFF9A67FF

6. Calculate target size (I use my device as example):
Target size (X) = 2,4GB = 2576980377.6 bytes
1 sector in NAND flash is 512 bytes.

X = 2576980377.6 bytes / 512 sector = 5033164.8 => 5033180 (rounded up) Convert 5033180 (dec) to hex.
X = 4CCCDC (hex) = 0x4CCCDC ( DC CC 4C 00)

7. Change EBR1 from this:
01E0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 18 22 00 00 80 43 00 00 00
Into this:
01E0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 18 22 00 DC CC 4C 00 00 00

[Image: how_to_increase_primary_partition_size_4.jpg]

8. Calculate new D and E:
D = A + X + C = 0x221800 + 0x4CCCDC + 0x1B400 = 0x7098DC (DC 98 70 00) E = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( A + X ) = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( 0x221800 + 0x4CCCDC ) = 0xFF911B23 (23 1B 91 FF)

9. Change EBR2 from this:
01C0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 E4 63 00 FF 67 9A FF 00 00
Into this:
01C0 00 00 83 00 00 00 DC 98 70 00 23 1B 91 FF 00 00

[Image: how_to_increase_primary_partition_size_5.jpg]

10. Save the modified EBR files

Step 3: Flash with SP Flash tool
1. After modifying the EBR files, copy them back into the source folder (overwrite previous EBR1 and EBR2 files there)
2. Flash all the files using SP Flash tool (See how to use SP Flash tool @ http://www.hovatek.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=159 )

This post was last modified: 13-02-2015, 10:43 AM by hovatek.

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hovatek
Administrator

49,850

19-08-2014, 02:11 PM

#2

Image issues fixed!

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X3non
Recognized Contributor

22,062

19-08-2014, 07:04 PM

#3

Nice work ..buh this tutorial isn't ƒσʀ the lame at heart Big Grin

no tecno device ι coulda giving it α try

hovatek
Administrator

49,850

19-08-2014, 08:21 PM

#4

(19-08-2014, 07:04 PM)X3non Nice work ..buh this tutorial isn't ƒσʀ the lame at heart no tecno device ι coulda giving it α try

Your D5 is really proving difficult

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X3non
Recognized Contributor

22,062

20-08-2014, 08:42 AM

#5

(19-08-2014, 08:21 PM)hovatek Your D5 is really proving difficult

Yeah.. ι have α feeling tecno guys made α mistake on му device ..giving it file sector meant ƒσʀ d3 buh naming the fne d5 :'(

hovatek
Administrator

49,850

20-08-2014, 10:36 AM

#6

(20-08-2014, 08:42 AM)X3non
(19-08-2014, 08:21 PM)hovatek Your D5 is really proving difficult

Yeah.. ι have α feeling tecno guys made α mistake on му device ..giving it file sector meant ƒσʀ d3 buh naming the fne d5 :'(

From our digging, we know that the phone should be registered as something between a d3 and a d5 or even something else. we're looking into drivers for such unrecognized / unknown device scenarios..... unless its graduated into a hardware issue

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X3non
Recognized Contributor

22,062

20-08-2014, 07:42 PM

#7

(20-08-2014, 10:36 AM)hovatek From our digging, we know that the phone should be registered as something between a d3 and a d5 or even something else. we're looking into drivers for such unrecognized / unknown device scenarios..... unless its graduated into a hardware issue

Cool ..buh the fne has hardly ever fallen тσ the ground since it got bricked ..infact it has spent most of its time on the ground ..ι really doubt it has gotten тσ hardware issue ..ι requested ƒσʀ the 300ohm resistor tho ..was told тσ come back 2mao ..lemme see if ι'ɗ try that method

gmb65
Newbie

2

26-09-2014, 11:02 AM

#8

(29-04-2014, 04:25 PM)hovatek So you are looking at the specifications of your phone and see 8GB internal memory. You then slot in your 8GB memory and expect to have 16GB in all, only for your internal memory to show 2GB! Have you been scammed? No. Where then did the 6GB go? That's the underlined question behind the tweak in this tutorial.
How the 8GB (2GB and 6GB) in question is shared is decided by two files (EBR1 and EBR2) . The 2GB in this case, is the internal storage (where apps will get installed to) while the 6GB is the phone storage (acts as memory card when you don't have one). Once a memory card is inserted, the phone storage becomes dormant, what a waste!
Wouldn't it be nice to use 7.5GB for internal storage and 0.5GB for phone storage? Let's take a look at how you can do this by tweaking the EBR 1 and EBR2 files

Tools needed

* HxD hex editor

* Hex Calculator

* Notepad++

* MTK Droid tools

* [ Login to download]

* Byte Converter

* [ Login to download]

Step 1: Extract EBR1 and EBR2
1. Download PdaNet
2. Download MTK Droid tools
3. Enable USB debugging on the phone and connect it to PC
4. While the phone is connected to PC, install PdaNet on your PC
5. Still with the phone connected, extract MTK droid tools form the compresses format
6. Open the MTK Droid tools folder and launch MTK Droid tools (green logo)
7. MTK Droid tools should display your phone's details and the box at the bottom should be yellow
8. Click root at the bottom
9. Select Yes to any prompt on PC and Grant to any on the phone
10. Wait till the box turns green
11. When the box turns green, click on the root, backup, recovery tab
12. Click on Backup and wait till it completes.
13. When backup is complete, open the backup folder inside the MTK folder
14. Inside the backup folder, you'll see a folder named after your phone model. inside it will be your EBR1 and EBR2 files .

Step 2: Tweak / modify EBR1 and EBR2 files
NOTE: We'll be using a sample device, replicate this procedure (not the values we use) as it best suits your device

1. Check your device scatter file (MDT Block Info):

(a) USRDATA 0x44980000 (hex)
(b) FAT 0xCB980000 (hex)

2. Check and calculate existing size of mount point /data:
Y = b - a = 0xCB980000 - 0x44980000
= 0x87000000 (hex) = 2,264,924,160 bytes (hex to bytes conversion)

3. Open existing EBR1:

4. Collect Hex values:
A = 0x00221800 = 0x221800 (00 18 22 00) B = 0x00438000 = 0x438000 (00 80 43 00)
C = 0x0001B400 = 0x1B400 (00 B4 01 00)
Max Value = 0xFFFFFFFF (FF FF FF FF)
Open existing EBR2:

D = 0x0063E400 = 0x63E400 (00 E4 63 00)
E = 0xFF9A67FF (FF 67 9A FF)

5. Calculate D and E to make sure:
D = ( A + B ) - C = ( 0x221800 + 0x438000 ) - 0x1B400 = 0x63E400
E = Max Value - ( A + B ) = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( 0x221800 + 0x43800 ) = 0xFF9A67FF

6. Calculate target size (I use my device as example):
Target size (X) = 2,4GB = 2576980377.6 bytes
1 sector in NAND flash is 512 bytes.

X = 2576980377.6 bytes / 512 sector = 5033164.8 => 5033180 (rounded up) Convert 5033180 (dec) to hex.
X = 4CCCDC (hex) = 0x4CCCDC ( DC CC 4C 00)

7. Change EBR1 from this:
01E0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 18 22 00 00 80 43 00 00 00
Into this:
01E0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 18 22 00 DC CC 4C 00 00 00

8. Calculate new D and E:
D = A + X + C = 0x221800 + 0x4CCCDC + 0x1B400 = 0x7098DC (DC 98 70 00) E = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( A + X ) = 0xFFFFFFFF - ( 0x221800 + 0x4CCCDC ) = 0xFF911B23 (23 1B 91 FF)

9. Change EBR2 from this:
01C0 00 00 83 00 00 00 00 E4 63 00 FF 67 9A FF 00 00
Into this:
01C0 00 00 83 00 00 00 DC 98 70 00 23 1B 91 FF 00 00

10. Save the modified EBR files

Step 3: Flash with SP Flash tool
1. After modifying the EBR files, copy them back into the source folder (overwrite previous EBR1 and EBR2 files there)
2. Flash all the files using SP Flash tool (See how to use SP Flash tool @ http://www.hovatek.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=159 )

gmb65
Newbie

2

26-09-2014, 11:06 AM

#9

why do you subtract C in step 5, but ADD in step 8 ???

hovatek
Administrator

49,850

26-09-2014, 11:29 AM

#10

(26-09-2014, 11:06 AM)gmb65 why do you subtract C in step 5, but ADD in step 8 ???

because the total must be constant and you're deducting from one to increase the other

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