Explay Tornado Smartphone Firmware ▷ ➡️ IK4 ▷ ➡️

Explay Tornado Smartphone Firmware

Smartphones manufactured under the Explay brand have become widespread among s in Russia. One of the most successful products of the manufacturer is the Tornado model. The material below discusses the possibilities of managing the system software of this phone, that is, updating and reinstalling the operating system, restoring devices after Android lockdown, and replacing the official system of the device with custom firmware.

Explay Tornado is a budget solution with mid-range technical characteristics and its own “highlight” - the presence of three SIM card slots. This allows the smartphone to become a great digital companion for the modern person. But not only the hardware components make it possible for the Android device to function smoothly, the software part also plays an important role. Here, Explay Tornado owners can choose the operating system (official / custom), which, in turn, dictates the choice of how to install android.

All manipulations with your own device are carried out by the owner at his own peril and risk. Responsibility for negative consequences in case they occur rests entirely with the who carried out the firmware and related operations.

Table of Contents

Training

Before flashing the device, you need to prepare it properly. The same applies to the computer, which will be used as a manipulation tool. Even if the firmware will be carried out without using a PC, and some unofficial methods allow it, do the driver installation and backup procedure in advance. In most cases, this approach will allow you to easily restore Explay Tornado performance in the event of unforeseen situations.

Drivers

So the first thing to do along the way to equip Explay Tornado with the desired firmware, as well as when restoring the software part of the device, is to install the drivers. In general, this procedure for the considered model does not differ from the actions performed when working with other Android devices based on the Mediatek hardware platform. The corresponding instructions can be found in the material at the link below, you will need the sections "Installing ADB Drivers" e "Installing VCOM Drivers for Mediatek Devices" :

Read more: Installing drivers for Android firmware

The file containing the verified Explay Tornado drivers, which were also used during the necessary manipulations to create this article, is available at the link:

drivers to flash Explay Tornado smartphone

After equipping the system with drivers, it will be useful to check their performance:

The most "core" component you need to install Android on Explay Tornado is the "PreLoader USB VCOM Port" driver . To make sure the component is installed, turn off the smartphone completely, open the Windows "Task Manager" and connect the USB cable connected to the PC port to the Explay Tornado connector. As a result, the "Mediatek PreLoader USB VCOM (Android)" device must be detected in the "Dispatcher" for a few seconds.
Drivers for mode "YUSB debugging" . Turn on the device, turn on debugging. Read more: How to enable USB debugging mode on Android After connecting the smartphone to PC, the device "Android ADB interface" should appear in the "Device « .

Software tools

In almost all situations, with a serious intervention in the Explay Tornado system software, you will need a well-known universal tool created to manipulate the software part of MTK devices - the SP Flash tool. A link to the latest version of the tool, which perfectly interacts with the model in question, is in the review article on our website.

Before proceeding with the instructions below, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the general course of procedures carried out through the Flash Tool by studying the material:

Lesson: Lenovo S660 Smartphone Firmware

Ruth's rights

Super privileges on this machine can be obtained in several ways. Also, root rights are built into many custom device firmwares. If there is a target and you need to root Explay Tornado, which is running the official Android, you can use one of the applications: KingROOT, Kingo Root or Root Genius.

The choice of a tool is not critical, and instructions for working with a specific tool can be found in the lessons at the links below.

Of course, creating a backup of information is a necessary step before starting to reinstall the operating system on any Android device. A fairly long list of backup methods before firmware is applicable to Explay Tornado, and some of them are described in an article on our website:

See also: How to Backup an Android Device Before Flashing

As a recommendation, it is proposed to create a complete dump of the Explay Tornado internal memory and only then proceed to a serious intervention on its software part. For such reinsurance, you will need the SP FlashTool described above, an official firmware scatter file (you can it from the link in the description of the installation method for Android No. 1 below in the article), as well as instructions:

Read more: Creating a full copy of the firmware of MTK devices using SP FlashTool

On the other hand, it should be noted the importance of obtaining a backup of the section "NVRAM" before interfering with the smartphone's system software. This memory area stores information about IMEI and other data, without which it is impossible to guarantee the operation of the communication. Since the model under consideration is not entirely standard with regard to SIM cards (there are three card slots), el dump of NVRAM must be saved before flashing!

After creating a full system backup using the above method via flash drive, "NVRAM" it will be saved to the PC disk, but if for some reason the whole system has not been backed up, you can use the following method: using the script "NVRAM_backup_restore_MT6582" .

the utility to create and recover NVRAM in Explay Tornado

The method requires previously obtained super privileges on the device!

We unpack the file obtained from the previous link in a separate directory and connect the Expley Tornado with the "USB debugging" enabled and received root rights to the computer.
Launch the bat file "NVRAM_backup.bat" .
We are waiting for the script to do its job and save the information in the directory "NVRAM_backup_restore_MT6582" .
The name of the resulting backup image file is "Nvram.img" . For storage, it is recommended to copy it in a safe place.
If it is necessary to restore the operability of the SIM cards in the future, we will use the batch file "NVRAM_restore.bat" .

Firmware

Installing various versions of Android OS on Explay Tornado after full preparation is completely simple process and does not take much time. You just need to follow the instructions and correctly assess the initial state of the smartphone, as well as choose the method of manipulation according to the desired result.

Method 1: official PC firmware, "split"

Installed on the reader's computer during the preparatory procedures above, the SP Flash Tool allows you to perform almost any manipulation with the Expley Tornado system software. These include reinstalling, updating, or rolling back and restoring a crashed Android. But this only applies to the official assemblies of the operating system published by the manufacturer for the model in question.

During the existence of the device, only three versions of the official system software were released: v1.0, v1.01, v1.02. The following examples use the latest firmware version 1.02 , which can be ed from the link:

Explay Tornado Official Firmware

Standard firmware / upgrade

In the case that the smartphone is loaded on Android and generally works normally, and as a result of the firmware, the wants to get an official system reinstalled or update it to the latest version, it is advisable to resort to the following instructions to install the system operating offered by the device manufacturer.

1. Unzip the package with the official system images obtained from the above link into a separate folder.
2. Launch Flashstool and point the program to the scatter file path "MT6582_Android_scatter.txt" located in the directory with the system software components. The button "choose" to the right of the field "Sparse load file" - file selection in the open window "Explorer" - confirmation by clicking "Open" .
3. Without changing the firmware mode « only» default to no other, press the button "" . The controls in the Flash tool window will be disabled, except for the button Stop .
4. We connect the Explay Tornado completely turned off with a cable to the USB port of the computer. The process of transferring data to the phone starts automatically and takes about 3 minutes.
5. After the transfer of all components of the system software to the smartphone is completed, the window will appear « OK» . We disconnect the cable from the device and launch the flashed smartphone by pressing the button "Power" .
6. The first launch after completing the above steps in the instructions will take longer than usual (the device will "hang" at startup for some time), this is a normal situation.
7. At the end of the initialization of the reinstalled / updated software components, we will be presented with the home screen of the official version of Android with the ability to select a language, and then - other basic system parameters.
8. After the initial setup, the smartphone is ready to use!

Recovery

Due to various adverse events, for example errors that occurred during the reinstallation of the operating system, serious hardware and software failures, etc. A situation may occur where Explay Tornado stops starting in normal mode, responds to the power key, is not detected by the computer, etc.

If you exclude the hardware malfunction, the firmware via Flashstool can help in such a situation using a certain, somewhat non-standard method.

The first operation you should try if the Explay Tornado has become a 'brick' is the 'standard' firmware described above via Flashtool. Only if this manipulation does not produce results, proceed with the following instructions!

and unzip the official firmware. Launch SP FlashTool, add a hash file.
Select mode "Firmware update" from the drop-down list to transfer data to memory with preliminary formatting of individual partitions.
Push the button "" .
We remove the battery from the phone and connect it to the PC in one of the following ways:
- We take Explay Tornado without battery, press and hold the button "Power" , we connect the USB cable connected to the PC. As soon as the computer detects the device (makes the sound of connecting a new device), release "Power" and immediately install the battery in its place;
- O we press and hold both keys on the smartphone without a battery, with the help of which, in normal mode, the volume level is controlled and, holding them, we connect the YUSB cable.
After connecting using one of the above methods, you should start the cleaning process and then overwrite the device memory. This will be requested by quickly running the colored stripes in Flashtool's progress bar and then filling the latter with yellow.
Then, you have to wait for the window that confirms the success of the operation to appear: « OK» . The device can be disconnected from the PC.
We put in place or “juggle” the battery and start the smartphone by pressing and holding the button "Switched on" .
As in the case of the "standard" procedure for reinstalling the operating system, the first launch of the device can take a long time. It only remains to wait for the welcome screen and determine the main Android parameters.

Method 2: unofficial firmware

The latest version of Android with Tornado Explay as a result of installing the official system version 1.02 is 4.4.2. Many owners of the model in question want to get a newer Android assembly on their phone than the morally outdated KitKat, or eliminate some of the shortcomings of the official operating system, to provide a higher level of device performance, to get a modern interface of software shell, etc. The solution to these problems may be the installation of custom firmware.

Despite the large number of unofficial systems ported for Explay Tornado and available on the internet, it should be noted that a truly stable and flawless solution is quite difficult to find. The main drawback of most is the lack of operability of the third SIM card. If such a "loss" is acceptable to the , you can consider switching to custom.

The instructions below allow you to install almost any modified operating system on the model in question. The procedure itself is carried out in two steps.

Step 1: custom recovery

The methodology for installing unofficial systems on most Android devices involves using a modified recovery environment - custom recovery. Explay Tornado s have a choice here: Two of the most popular environment options have been adapted for the device: ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) and TeamWin Recovery (TWRP), their images can be obtained from the link below. In our example, TWRP is used as a more functional and popular solution, but a who prefers CWM can also use it.

Custom CWM and TWRP Recovery for Explay Tornado

1. We carry out the first two points of the instructions to install the official operating system using the standard method (Method 1 above in the article), that is, we launch SP FlashTool, add a scatter file from the folder with system images to the application.
2. We remove the marks from all the checkboxes located near the designation of the memory sections of the device, we leave a mark only in front of "RECOVERY" .
3. Double-click the path to the recovery environment image location in the field "Location" . Then, in the Explorer window that opens, specify the path where the ed custom recovery image is saved, click "Open" .
4. Click on "" and connect Explay Tornado in the off state to PC.
5. Transfer of the modified environment image will start automatically and end with the window « OK» .
6. We disconnect the cable from the device and start the recovery. To enter the extended recovery environment, use the key combination "Volume +" y "Switched on" on the smartphone off until the environment logo appears on the screen.

For convenience in subsequent recovery operation, we chose the Russian-language interface. Also, after the first launch, you need to flip the switch "Allow changes" on the TWRP main screen.

Step 2: install an unofficial operating system

After the extended recovery appeared in Explay Tornado, the installation of the custom firmware goes smoothly; You can switch several solutions one to another in search of the best system software for your own understanding. Working with TWRP is a simple process and can be carried out at an intuitive level, however, if this is the first with the environment, it is recommended to study the material in the link below, and only then proceed to follow the instructions. .

Also read: How to flash an Android device via TWRP

As for the Explay Tornado custom, as mentioned above, there are many romodel proposals for the model. In of popularity, as well as functionality and stability when working on the smartphone in question, one of the first places is occupied by the shell MIUI .

Method 3: install Android without a PC

Many Android smartphone s prefer to flash their devices without resorting to using a computer as a tampering tool. In the case of Explay Tornado, this method is applicable, but it can be recommended to those s who already have some experience and are confident in their actions.

As a demonstration of the method, we install a system shell AOKP MM modified in Explay Tornado, which is based on Android 6.0. In general, the proposed system can be described as fast, fluid and stable, it is equipped with Google services and is suitable for everyday use. Disadvantages: two (instead of three) working SIM cards, VPN not working, and 2G / 3G network switch.

the zip file with AOKP and the TWRP image from the following link. custom firmware based on Android 6.0 and TWRP image for Explay TornadoWe put the received in the root of the microSD device.
We get root rights on Expley Tornado without using a computer. For this:
Install TWRP. To equip the model in question with custom recovery without using a PC, apply the Android application Flashify :
- We received the Flash file by ing Google Play Store: Install Flashify from Google Play Store
- We launch the tool, confirm awareness of risks, provide root rights to the tool;
- Click on the item "Recovery image" in the section "Flash" . Then touch "Choose a file" , then "File Browser" ;
- Open the directory "Sdcard" and specify the image "TWRP_3.0_Tornado.img" for the flasher It remains to click "YUP!" in the window that appears, and the modified recovery environment will begin to install on the device. At the end of the procedure, a confirmation will be displayed where you should touch "RESTART NOW" .
Following the above steps will restart the Tornado Explay in TWRP Advanced Recovery. Next, we act exactly by repeating the instructions for the direct installation of MIUI above in the article, starting from point 2. We will repeat briefly, the steps are as follows:
- for;
- Cleaning partitions;
- Installing a custom zip package.
After the installation is complete, we reboot into the custom operating system, set the configuration, we appreciate the advantages of AOKP MM!

Having studied the above, you can make sure that flashing an Explay Tornado smartphone is not as difficult as it might seem to a beginner. The most important thing is to follow the instructions carefully, use reliable tools, and perhaps most importantly files from trusted sources. Happy firmware!

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