Open your command terminal and navigate to your working directory.
Mboot (a customized version of U-Boot) initializes hardware components and kicks off the OS kernel.
Mstar has produced hundreds of chip variations over the decades. Ensure the unpack/repack tool structure matches your specific generation of hardware, as header rules change frequently between chip versions. Dump Mstar Unpack Repack Tool
: Place your firmware file in the tool directory and run the unpack script via the command line: python mstar-bin-tool.py -u MstarUpgrade.bin Use code with caution.
| Issue | Description | |-------|-------------| | | Some newer MStar chips use AES or proprietary XOR obfuscation – tools may fail. | | Version variance | MStar firmware changes across chip families (MST6M48, MST9E19, MSD306, etc.). One tool may not work for all. | | Header checksums | Repacked firmware may fail signature verification if bootloader checks CRC32/MD5 of partitions. | | Endianness | MStar often uses big-endian for certain headers, requiring manual patching. | | No official documentation | Tools are reverse-engineered and may be incomplete. | Open your command terminal and navigate to your
| Component | Function | |-----------|----------| | mstar_dump | Extracts raw NAND/NOR flash dumps into individual partitions (boot, kernel, rootfs, etc.) | | mstar_unpack | Decompresses and decodes MStar-specific packed filesystems (e.g., SquashFS with custom headers, LZMA chunks) | | mstar_repack | Rebuilds a valid firmware image from modified partition files | | ms_mkbootimg | Creates a boot image with MStar’s custom header (different from Android standard) | | cramfs-utils (modified) | Often needed because MStar uses altered CRAMFS or SquashFS variants |
System images like system.img can be mounted in a Linux environment or unpacked using standard ext4 unpacking utilities to inject root binaries, modify boot animations, or remove bloatware apps. | | Version variance | MStar firmware changes
Navigate to system/app or system/priv-app and delete unwanted factory applications to free up memory.
To use the tool, you will need a Windows PC with Python installed, or a similar environment that can run the Python scripts ( unpack.py and pack.py ) found on GitHub.