Wild install on RG477M

[RafaelLVX]

Well it's been so long since I last flashed a new Android OS on top of stock. Long before Lineage, Android tinkerers used CyanogenMod. Those were the days.

Just wanted to share my experience with installing GammaOS Next 1.2.1 on my Anbernic RG477M, because it feels like it's a little more unpredictable than I'm used to when tinkering with devices. This might or might not be due to a recent update from Anbernic, though I cannot tell for sure. I got my device in the mail not a week ago, and it had one big update to download right from waking up to factory settings (though it uses a different app called FOTA Update, not your regular Android "search for updates" functionality).

For context, though it's been a while, it's not my first time around OS flashing tutorials. I did a fair amount of tinkering before, flashed a dozen Android phones and tablets, flashed my PSP. I don't cut corners, and I followed the steps here to the letter as best I could.

Steps 1 through 3 went fine. Then I went straight to step 4. Format UFS-LUA0 and UFS-LUA1 Only (Manual Format), which is where stuff started to get interesting. At "Format 1: UFS-LUA0", it says "Connect the device via USB, and ensure it is shut down (powered off)." That implies I should connect USB while device is powered off, in my interpretation. Nothing happened. I restarted computer, tried again, nothing. Then I watched the video. That video shows the user with device connected while POWERED ON, clicking on Format, and then powering it off. That finally worked here, but to me, that's not what the tutorial says ("connect and ensure it is shut down"). But anyway, it formatted LUA0 and 1 pretty quickly, didn't stop responding between commands.

Then came 5. Flash GammaOS (Download Tab). I did as directed, though "super" was selected and populated right away, didn't need to pick a missing file as the tutorial implies might be needed. However, clicking "Download" did nothing. Then long-pressing Power button, Power + Vol Down, disconnecting, reconnecting, different cable, nothing worked. I thought I bricked it good. I went to the Unbricker tutorial, but I was pretty sure it was going to be impossible to do it, since that process relies on the device being detected by the Flash Tool, which mine was having a hard time doing.

So again I checked the video (this time, the unbricker video). That video shows something interesting, which is clicking on Download, then holding Power, and holding Vol Down, in that order. Doing this, my Download suddenly came alive and went through all the way. Phew.

Now, time to 6. Re-Flash Preloaders (Advanced Mode -> Write Memory). preloader_b.bin worked at first try. preloader_a.bin again didn't respond. Then I tried the combination from before (disconnect, connect, hold Power and hold Vol Down). This took several tries, but eventually it came alive again, and I finally made it to the finish line.

So this was kind of a wild ride. I'm not even saying the tutorial is wrong or inaccurate. I know how connecting a device in Windows through USB can vary immensely from machine to machine, and even more so when dealing with firmware flashing software. Sometimes Windows just won't recognize a device, then you switch ports and it does. The fact that the troubleshooting steps are hit or miss can leave you head-scratching more than once.

Anyway, I don't know if it's my device, or my computer, or both, but this wasn't as smooth as I expected, though I definitely completed installation and I'm glad I did. I hope my experience can be useful for others having issues.