How To Root The XOLO Q700 And Flash CWM Recovery

Note: By rooting the warranty will be void. PAR Forums is not responsible for any kind of loss or damage to your phone. Root at your own risk

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Just purchased the Xolo Q700? Do you want to root it? Do you want to install CWM recovery and take backups, install custom ROMs and do more? Well, here's a step by step method to root the phone and install CWM recovery. This method was cited on the XDA forums recently and we combined the procedure for you in a How-To. Lets head straight for it.

 Requirements:

• The Xolo Q700 phone fully charged
• Download the USB and ADB drivers for the Xolo Q700 
• Download the Motochopper rooting utility from here
• Download the flash tool for the recovery from here
• Download the recovery image from here

Download the necessary drivers and tools to a folder on your desktop and extract the archives to their respective folders. First, we shall root the phone and later install the CWM recovery patch. Make sure you have administrative rights on your Windows PC before you proceed.

Install the necessary driver(s)

Rooting the Xolo Q700

For this, we will need the USB and ADB drivers installed. Go ahead and install the drivers (usually one driver should work, but in certain cases, you would have to install both the drivers). To be on the safer side, install both to make your work easier. Once the drivers are installed, head over to the phone’s settings and click around 5 to 7 times on the “Build Number” in the “About Phone” in “Settings”. This will enable the “Developer Options” from where you should enable “USB Debugging”. Then head back to the “Settings > Security” and enable “Unknown sources”. Now connect the phone to the PC and let the drivers be installed for the ADB mode. Your phone is now ready for rooting. If you have installed both the drivers on the PC, make sure that the “PdaNet Desktop” utility is not running in the background. You will see the app running in the system tray. Shut it down or your phone will not be rooted. Don’t forget to do this before proceeding.

Execute Motochopper and let the exploit complete

Now all you need to do is double-click on the folder where you downloaded the files, double-click on the Motochopper folder and then again double-click on the “Run.Bat” file. This file is a DOS mode batch executable file, which will do the needful for you. Proceed with the on-screen instructions and your phone should be rooted in a few seconds. In case you see the procedure halted for more than 5 minutes, you should try repeating the method. If you still get stuck here, go to the “Settings > Security” and enable/disable “Verify Apps”. This should allow the Superuser app needed to be installed on the phone by the rooting script. Now run the batch file again till you see the last line stating “Exploit complete” and “press any key to reboot the phone”. Your phone should reboot automatically and your Xolo Q700 is finally rooted. Install any app that requires root permissions, such as Root Explorer or Titanium Backup, to verify that the rooting is successful.

Confirm the rooting with an app that needs superuser permissions

Flash the CWM Recovery on the Xolo Q700

Rooting and flashing a recovery software on the phone is considered risky and will void any and all warranty on the phone. The procedure can also brick your phone rendering it dead or useless. Do this with extreme care. 

Assuming that you have gathered all the necessary files for this process in a folder on your desktop, proceed with extreme caution. Also make sure that you have two files required for the recovery present on the recovery folder. These files are “recovery.img” and “MT6589_Android_scatter_emmc.txt”. Now head on to the folder “SP_Flash_Tool_v3.1248.0.96” in the folder you downloaded all the files. Here, execute the “Flash_Tool.exe” file and bring on the utility. Now follow the steps given below very, very carefully. Do not connect the phone as yet.

Make the necessary settings and give proper file names before flashing

1. In the Smart Phone Flash Tool utility, click on the button named “Scatter-loading” and feed the file named “MT6589_Android_scatter_emmc.txt”. The window below will fill up with some vague values and text. Make sure the “Recovery” line is the only one checked. 

2. Then click on the “Recovery” line and feed the file “Recovery.img” from the folder you downloaded. Usually this is done automatically, but we recommend you confirm this step. 

3. Next, click on “Window” in the menu, click on “Write Memory”. Make sure the check mark is present. This will bring up an additional tab “Write Memory” in the main interface.

4.  Click on the “Write Memory” tab. Here, check the box “EMMC” in the “Memory Settings” section. 

Double check the entries you type in before hitting that “Write Memory” button

5. Now click on the “Open Raw Data” button and feed it the “Recovery.img” file again. This file path should be seen in the “Write Parameter” field below. 

6. This step is crucial. In the “Write Parameter” section, you will find two mode fields— “Begin address” and “Container Length”. Enter these two values respectively:

Begin Address:            0x2d80000

Container Length:       0×600000

The above values are “Zeros” and not the alphabet “O”. Double-check the values or copy and paste them from here. Check the screenshot for verification. 

7. Once all these settings are done, hit the “Write Memory” button on the top. The utility will start searching for the phone. 

If you see the green circle, the flashing is successful

8. Now turn off the phone, remove the battery and reinsert it after around 30 seconds. Do not switch it on. Just connect the switched-off phone to the USB cable.

The drivers for the EMMC mode will be installed automatically and the utility will start writing the recovery software to the phone. You can see this happening and confirm it with the change in colours and the activity on the bottom of the utility’s window. At times, the phone’s drivers take a while to be installed. Don’t panic if the utility does not continue ahead after the drivers are installed. Give it a while more, then disconnect and reconnect the phone again after the drivers are installed. Voila! The recovery utility is installed and to confirm this, you will see a small square window pop up with a bright green circle in it. It is now safe to disconnect your phone. 

The Xolo Q700 in CWM Recovery mode.

To get into the recovery mode, simply press the “Volume UP + Power” buttons together for a few seconds and you will automatically land into the recovery mode. Now you can take backups and flash custom ROMs on your Xolo Q700. Sadly, there are no custom ROMs available as yet, but I am sure, there are a few developers already working on a few. 

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Free 1000 Amazon Coins ($10) for Purchasing Any Android Apps

If you’re having an Android device, you will definitely want to install Amazon Appstore onto your device. Apart from free download of a paid app daily, and constant discount and rebates on apps purchase, now Amazon is also giving away Amazon Coins valued at $10 in monetary term.

Amazon Coins is a virtual currency from Amazon.com which can be used to purchase apps and games for the Kindle and Android from the Amazon Appstore, or for in-app purchase. Amazon normally sells Amazon Coins at up to 10% discount to its face value to promote the use of the virtual currency. In other words, Amazon Coins is just like a cold, hard cash, though it can only be used within Android phone or tablet and Kindle Fire devices with Amazon Appstore, and on Amazon.com.

PayPal Mobile 2.8 for Android Deposit Check Via Scan Image

As the number one of the most trusted brand in online and mobile payments, PayPal has recently released the newest version of its Android app. The latest version of PayPal Android app, version 2.8, has been designed to include a couple of features which have been existing on PayPal for iPhone app, such as ability to add money from check issued in the US simply by scanning the check image with PayPal app, and store application on Android’s removable SD card. The inclusion of check scanning feature means that Android users can now also deposit and transfer the check though their phone.

Features of the PayPal android app includes:

• Send money as a gift, split the bill or repay to friend for free.
• Add money to PayPal account by snapping a photo of check.
• Check balance, withdraw money or view past transactions directly from Android phone.
• Search the businesses nearby that accept PayPal as payment via PayPal local feature.
• Supports SD card to improve application performance.

Steps to deposit check through PayPal Android app:

1. Sign the back of the Check.
2. Snap a clear photo of front and back directly from Android phone.
3. Then, enter the Check amount and tap on the “Process Check” button to proceed with the deposit process.
4. After that, PayPal will verify and send a confirmation to user once completed.

According to PayPal, it may take up to six days to process and clear the deposit and users have to keep the check for at least 15 days.

PayPal Android app is available as a free download at Android market.

The Secret Powers Hidden In Your Android's Accessibility Options

The Secret Powers Hidden In Your Android's Accessibility Options

You can tweak so many things in Android, you probably haven't even bothered opening up the Accessibility settings. Given the name, you'd think those are only features for people with disabilities, but they can actually be useful for anyone.

The Accessibility settings in Android, much like those on the iPhone, have diverse uses. Browse to Settings > System > Accessibility on your Android device and try these tricks.

Zoom Anywhere with Magnification Gestures

Enable "Magnification Gestures" and Android will zoom in on anything you want (except the keyboard and notifications bar), whether the app allows for it or now. It's easy to implement too. Just triple-tap any part that you want to magnify, and then pan with multiple fingers. Pinching adjusts the zoom level.

There's also a shortcut if you use this feature often, as Google puts it in the app itself:

You can also temporarily magnify what's under your finger by triple tapping and holding. In this magnified state, you can drag your finger to explore different parts of the screen. Lift your finger to return to your previous state.

You can zoom in on your favorite Instagram images with this little trick, for example, since Instagram doesn't allow for regular pinch-to-zoom. And of course, any other app too.

Hang Up with the Power Button

When your phone rings and you need to quickly cut the call, press the Power button-that's all you'll have to do if you enable "Power button ends call" in your Accessibility settings.

There's nothing more to this one, but the option itself is useful. It's the setting I first enable in any Android phone because I often have my phone in my pocket. If you're in a meeting or busy in any way, you can just cut the call and have it go to voicemail, without ever taking your phone out of the pocket. Plus, it is also useful if your proximity sensor takes a few seconds to register the tap to end a call after talking.

Turn Any Book into an Audiobook

Google's built-in "Text-to-speech output" option can turn any ebook into an audiobook, says CNET. It won't work with Pocket or even Kindle, but with the Google Play Books app, you can have any book read aloud. The best part? You can customize the voice to how you like it.

Because it's Google's own engine, you can choose from the various voice data options for an accent or language that best suits your preferences. For example, with English, you get options for United States, United Kingdom or India. With Spanish, you can choose between the US or Spain. You can also set the rate of speech, choosing between nine speeds. Tap the "Listen to an example" to get it just how you want it.

Once Text-to-speech output is set up, go to Google Play Books and open your ebook. If you didn't buy it from the Google Play Store, don't worry, you can easily import all your ebooks into Google Play Books. In the app, go to Menu > Settings and enable "Automatically read aloud" to have Google read any book you open.

CNET recommends that you also enable another option:

You'll also want to ensure that "High-quality voice" is turned on as well, otherwise the speech sounds a little too robotic.

Be warned that the "High-quality voice" setting requires you to use data, so only enable it if internet charges or speed aren't a concern.

Get Larger Text System-Wide

If the font size of your device is not big enough-and it often isn't, especially if you need reading glasses-then Accessibility settings can provide relief. There is an option here to enable "Large text" and it works across the system. So your font is made larger everywhere, thus making it more legible too.

Enable and Disable Accessibility Features with a Shortcut

While you have all these Accessibility features, you might not want or need to use them all the time. A simple shortcut lets you enable/disable them quickly.

Take, for instance, the Large Text option. You might not want that bigger font all the time, but you can keep it enabled and only switch it on and off as required with this shortcut. Now, the Accessibility shortcut can be activated in two ways: by pressing and holding the power button or by touching and holding two fingers.

Pressing and holding the Power button was a no-go for me, and would be for many people, as it brings up the shutdown menu for Android. When you're touching and holding two fingers, make sure it's on a place where you can't trigger some other action-for example, doing it on the homescreen will probably bring up widget and launcher options.

These accessibility options should help you get more out of your Android without installing anything. There are other options too, like Talkback, but those are made for certain disabilities in a way that they require you to change how you normally use Android.