Need help to flash Meizu5 pro originally on Android. Problem with the cache partition

[mlinodasilva]

614.0 # adb push recovery-turbo.img /sdcard/
#I switch to TWRP and flash the .img in the recovery (not system) partition
#I reboot to recovery mode and have the ubuntu logo with the wine color background

615.0 # rm -rf /root/.cache/ubuntuimages

2017.08.20 17:32:30 
root@patashnik: /home/doktorcaligari/configs/meizu_pro5 
616.0 # ubuntu-device-flash --server=http://system-image.ubports.com touch --device=turbo --channel=15.04/stable
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Device is |turbo|
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Flashing version 1 from 15.04/stable channel and server http://system-image.ubports.com to device turbo
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/ubports-touch/15.04/stable/turbo/version-1.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/ubports-touch/15.04/stable/turbo/version-1.tar.xz to device
992 B / 109.89 MB [________] 0.00 % 7.39 MB/s 14s2017/08/20 17:32:35 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/keyring-4c4e7ef380ebcfa2c31084efa199138e93bfed8fc58aa3eb06bdf75a78af9b57.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/gpg/image-master.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/gpg/image-signing.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/keyring-4c4e7ef380ebcfa2c31084efa199138e93bfed8fc58aa3eb06bdf75a78af9b57.tar.xz to device
991 B / 321.93 MB [________] 0.00 % 10.41 MB/s 30s2017/08/20 17:32:35 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/gpg/image-master.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:32:35 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/gpg/image-signing.tar.xz to device
109.89 MB / 109.89 MB [======] 100.00 % 1.03 MB/s 
2017/08/20 17:34:22 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/device-60f53a5768e9340729d3a5ef9263bd3a9726792e7d0dbf830e5b124938dd419a.tar.xz to device
144.91 MB / 321.93 MB [=======>______________] 45.01 % 1.12 MB/s 2m37s2017/08/20 17:34:44 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/device-60f53a5768e9340729d3a5ef9263bd3a9726792e7d0dbf830e5b124938dd419a.tar.xz to device
321.93 MB / 321.93 MB [===========] 100.00 % 1.49 MB/s 
2017/08/20 17:36:11 Start pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/ubports-d50c18b27590af5734a826c4f7857d8909b0e0f902d21af142a780620c8eb58b.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:37:19 Done pushing /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/pool/ubports-d50c18b27590af5734a826c4f7857d8909b0e0f902d21af142a780620c8eb58b.tar.xz to device
2017/08/20 17:37:19 Created ubuntu_command: /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/ubuntu_commands448925269
2017/08/20 17:37:19 Rebooting into recovery to flash

EDIT: For the sake of it, I tried the procedure from a previous thread: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/238/trouble-porting-to-the-meizu-pro-5-ubuntu/9

ubuntu-device-flash --server=https://system-image.ubports.com / touch \ --download-only --revision=2 --device=turbo --channel=ubports-touch/legacy

but I get the same "Update failed, contact support message.

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva It still looks like a possible problem with the cache, I think, but also it would be nice to know what is in the 991 bytes file and the 992 bytes file. It might be that it contains "Invalid request", or something, which would mean that you don't have access to all the files before you install.

So, i think you should check the content of those two small files and try one more time to clear the cache. I.e: rm -fr /root/.cache/ubuntuimages/.

[mlinodasilva]

@hans1977se which ones? the keyring and image-master files?

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva yes

[mlinodasilva]

@hans1977se alright, decompressing the version1.tar.xz yields these files:

720.0 # tree
.
|-- system
|   `-- etc
|       |-- system-image
|       |   |-- channel.ini
|       |   `-- config.d
|       |       |-- 00_default.ini -> ../client.ini
|       |       `-- 01_channel.ini -> ../channel.ini
|       `-- ubuntu-build
`-- version-1.tar.xz

as for the keyring file:

729.0 # tree
.
|-- device-60f53a5768e9340729d3a5ef9263bd3a9726792e7d0dbf830e5b124938dd419a.tar.xz
|-- device-60f53a5768e9340729d3a5ef9263bd3a9726792e7d0dbf830e5b124938dd419a.tar.xz.asc
|-- keyring-4c4e7ef380ebcfa2c31084efa199138e93bfed8fc58aa3eb06bdf75a78af9b57.tar.xz
|-- keyring-4c4e7ef380ebcfa2c31084efa199138e93bfed8fc58aa3eb06bdf75a78af9b57.tar.xz.asc
|-- system
|   `-- usr
|       `-- share
|           `-- system-image
|               |-- archive-master.tar.xz
|               `-- archive-master.tar.xz.asc
|-- ubports-d50c18b27590af5734a826c4f7857d8909b0e0f902d21af142a780620c8eb58b.tar.xz
`-- ubports-d50c18b27590af5734a826c4f7857d8909b0e0f902d21af142a780620c8eb58b.tar.xz.asc

In any case couldn't it be possible to manually download the kernel files and flash them like I did originally for the canonical ubuntu-touch? I used the method from this link: https://askubuntu.com/questions/767323/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-meizu-pro-5-that-was-originally-with-android

I would need a kernel-OTA-15.zip (with boot.img, dtb, logo.bin, ldfw), ubuntu*.tar.xz, device*.tar.xz, custom*.tar.xz, version*.tar.xz. Basically doing whatever worked in the past with canonical...

Anyway, there seems to be nothing wrong with my partition table as shown by the command below...

746.0 # adb shell sgdisk --print /dev/block/sda | grep -v GUID
Disk /dev/block/sda: 7633920 sectors, 29.1 GiB
Logical sector size: 4096 bytes
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 6, last usable sector is 7633914
Partitions will be aligned on 64-sector boundaries
Total free space is 11386 sectors (44.5 MiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            1024            1279   1024.0 KiB  0700  private
   2            1280            1343   256.0 KiB   0700  proinfo
   3            1344            1407   256.0 KiB   0700  misc
  21            2048            3071   4.0 MiB     0700  param
  22            3072            5119   8.0 MiB     0700  efs
  23            5120            5631   2.0 MiB     0700  pnv
  24            5632            6655   4.0 MiB     0700  ldfw
  25            6656            7679   4.0 MiB     0700  dtb
  26            7680           13823   24.0 MiB    0700  bootimg
  27           13824           22015   32.0 MiB    0700  recovery
  28           22016           30207   32.0 MiB    0700  bootlogo
  29           30208           35327   20.0 MiB    0700  rstinfo
  30           35328           40447   20.0 MiB    0700  mnv
  31           40448           45567   20.0 MiB    0700  reserved1
  32           45568           50687   20.0 MiB    0700  reserved2
  33           50688           55807   20.0 MiB    0700  reserved3
  41           65536          720895   2.5 GiB     0700  system
  42          720896          851967   512.0 MiB   0700  custom
  43          851968          983039   512.0 MiB   0700  cache
  44          983040         7633914   25.4 GiB    0700  userdata

[Stefano]

@mlinodasilva Ok, let's try something else here.
Install TWRP recovery, wipe it all clean, download my backup of Ubports_ota1.zip from : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1z6xtxx8BDjVFQ4czZmbzhwWjg/view?usp=sharing
unzip it, and restore it with TWRP.
It's a fresh, clean, formated install of Ubports_ota1. Then just flash recovery-turbo.img. Then

Hope it works. ( I did once the same time when I had a similar problem and then it all works like a charm) Fingers crossed.

[Marathon2422]

@mlinodasilva if you search xda site for multirom v33 ,there is a link for all the bits and pieces of pro 5 (when using fastboot i always have to use sudo , or nothing happens)

[Stefano]

This post is deleted!

[Stefano]

@mlinodasilva Just try to restore that backup of mine and let me know how it did go.

[mlinodasilva]

@Stefano That worked thank God!! I had an additional difficulty the recovery couldn't flash the data partition for some reason so I reformated it, I suspect the issue might have been lying there. For the sake of it I tried ubuntu-device-flash and it still didn't work, but this time he got stuck on a progress bar.

Anyway I flashed all the partition images you sent me, and soon enough I had ubports booting!

I cannot state how much I am grateful for your help, you have been most kind in helping me, I was going nuts oer this. THANKS!

Now I just have to figure out how to make my SIM work again (I never could get it to work in anything else than the slim slot with the canonical image, and now it doesn't seem to recognize the sim in any of the two slots, but thats probably an hardware fault I have had since the beginning, these meizu 5 phones are known to have random hardware issues).

In any case, I have internet, camera, and hopefully GPS already working, so it's already a nice start. Thanks again Stefano!

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva Very nice indeed, that @Stefano was able to help you to get ubports onto your phone!

I'm thinking that it is probably not only you having this problem so now when you have both his working files and your non-working files in the cache, could you try to compare to see if you can find something that looks wrong about them? In particular the files keyring and image-master files that looked strange in your log print would be interesting i think.

[mlinodasilva]

@hans1977se I can upload my /root/.cache/ubuntuimages I haven't deleted it yet, would that be of interest?

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva Sure. Why not. More people will be able to compare then. Could be a good idea to limit the size if there are obviously unrelated files, though.

[mlinodasilva]

Update: Don't try to rsync your old canonical home folder in ubports, everything gets stuck, I'm in the middle of wiping my data folder and reflashing again

It's gonna be a pain in the ass re-importing the contacts, calendar, etc... is there a list of the relevant hidden folders anywhere?

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva Copy the .local/share/history-service/history.sqlite, the .local/share/evolution/addressbook/system/contacts.db and your camera pictures. Should take you quite a step, hopefully.

[Stefano]

@mlinodasilva

[Stefano]

@mlinodasilva I would wipe all partitions apart from ExternalSD ( not rm -rf, but wipe in setting of TWRP)
Then I would do fastboot -w, reboot to recovery,
then I would flash Flyme - the one you flashed when converting from a to i/g firmware. IT might show some errors, but it will flash successfully.
Unlock the bootloader if it gets locked again.
Start the Flyme, enable the Developer options + Usb debbuging.
Reboot to fastboot, flash TWRP recovery.
Reboot to recovery, wipe ( not rm -rf ) all partitions apart from ExternalSD.
Now reboot to fastboot and flash recovery-turbo.img
Reboot to recovery
In terminal type: adb devices if it list your device.
Now try ubuntu-device-flash..... again.

[mlinodasilva]

@Stefano this is to try to solve the issue
With the phone not detecting the SIM card? Did anyoneelse have this issue in the past?

[Stefano]

@mlinodasilva What happened that your phone doesn't recognise sim cards? In settings, are there an IMEI numbers or is it says None?
This might help to fix the issues with the partitions on your phone, since you have some glitches there, so maybe a complete wipe + factory reset + flashing Flyme and later Ubports might be a sollution.
Not sure about the recognising the SIM, but give it a shot.

[hans1977se]

@mlinodasilva I forgot to tell that rsync between my Nexus 4 with Canonical image and Nexus 5 with ubports image works for me.