Applying the Firmware Upgrade
for the NX700QC16G
Thank you to all parties on the Freaktab forum
and all those who commented this posting.
Special thanks to Brian December 4, 2014
NOTE: This will wipe out all apps and info on your tablet
NOTE: I am using
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Processor with 8 Gb RAM
NOTE: It has been reported that the driver install may not work on window 8. But it does appear to work fine on windows 7. Reported in comments below by d wilson December 4, 2014. A method to install the USB drivers is located at How To Install Nextbook7 (NX700QC16G) USB Drivers on Windows 8 & 8.1.
How to find it
-- Go to the Nextbook Website nextbookusa.com/download.php
-- Go to updates and select Firmware
-- Scroll down to updates and it is there
What You Will See & Download
Nextbook 7 (NX700QC16G)
firmware update instructions:
Directly to the right of this text is a button that will download the a docx file with instructions. Download this Instruction File. This is a Microsoft word compatible file. Wordpad in windows will open this file.
Download the Firmware Update File. This file is 2 gigabytes in size and downloads slowly. Since this is the only good file as far as I can tell.
You now have a instruction file and a firmware file.
Notes on Firmware Upgrade
This upgrade will get rid of the Data Partition. The Application Partition will now be 13.12 Gigabytes in size.Lots of activity on the FreakTab forum by people reporting success at fixing the drivers.zip problem and installing the new firmware. Also lots of comments below.
I tried the replace the files without success. So I used Brian December 3, 2014 post in the comments below to download the drivers and sp flash tool.
How To Install Firmware Upgrade
NOTE: Use the links below to get the driver and SP Flash Tool. The ones at NextbookUSA do not work at this time.Doing Step 1
Download the Driver File from China Gadgets Reviews MediaTek Smartphone Driver. Do the right click and Extract Here to decompress this file.For windows 7 or earlier run the Mediatek Driver Install.bat file. Just pick yes or install to get pass the screens. If you have Windows 8 or later then try following the directions at How To Install Nextbook7 (NX700QC16G) USB Drivers on Windows 8 & 8.1.
Doing Step 2
Do the right click Extract Here to the Firmware file you got from NextbookUSA above.Doing Step 3
Download SP_Flash_Tool rar or SP_Flash_Tool zip file. Use the file marked as new. Do the right click Extract Here to decompress this file.Run flash_tool.exe in the SP_Flash folder..
Now you can follow the directions and pictures found in the Instruction docx file from NextbookUSA that you download above.
NOTE: Turn off tablet by holding power button down for a couple of seconds until a screen appears with a power off button and pick power off.
NOTE: I had to connect the tablet to several different usb ports before it would work. If it does not start up by showing progress in the bar at the bottom of the screen in 5 seconds then try another usb port.
nextbook7.blogspot.com also a good run through on upgrading NX700QC16G and a guide to install USB drivers for windows 8.
FreakTab A entire thread on upgrading the firmware and rooting the NX700QC16G. I have not done it yet but I read that this tablet is easy to root once you do the firmware upgrade.
NOTE: I had to connect the tablet to several different usb ports before it would work. If it does not start up by showing progress in the bar at the bottom of the screen in 5 seconds then try another usb port.
Other Sources of Info
nextbook7.blogspot.com also a good run through on upgrading NX700QC16G and a guide to install USB drivers for windows 8.
FreakTab A entire thread on upgrading the firmware and rooting the NX700QC16G. I have not done it yet but I read that this tablet is easy to root once you do the firmware upgrade.
please post any new info on the firmware update problem, thanks
ReplyDeleteDecember 2 -- still getting CRC errors. Got this on Black Friday and am losing patience with this company.
ReplyDeleteMy avast anti-virus tells me there is malware threat when downloading the flash tool. Do you guys get this too?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for other ways to fix this myself using the SDK. If I can't get it fixed soon I'm returning my 2 Nextbook 7 tablets I just bought. How can a stupid bug about the storage space partitions go unnoticed???
I got a reply from customer support and they asked me to send a screenshot of the CRC errors. I agree... How in the world could a bug this big get past quantity control?
ReplyDeleteflash tool here: http://mtk2000.ucoz.ru/load/soft/soft_mtk/sp_flash_tool/5-1-0-14
ReplyDeletedriver here: https://www.copy.com/s/IovXSBaYwLfS/MediaTek%20SmartPhone%20Driver%20Auto%20Installer%20v1.1236.00.rar
Also, I did install the new firmware, the file on nextbook's site is good, and now there is about 13GB available for app install
Thank you Brian. Those files really worked for me.
DeleteWhen I open the SP_Flash_Tool folder I see two items : SP_Flash_Tool_v5.1420.03 and internet shortcut named China Phone.
DeleteWhen I double click the SP_Flash_Tool folder I see these items:
a folder named "codecs"
assistant.exe
Authentication.dll
BromAdapterTool.ini
console_mode.xsd
CustPT.ini
DP_PL.bin
DA_SWSEC.bin
download_scene.ini
flash_tool.exe
flashtool.qch
flashtool.qhc
FlashToolLib.dll
When I double-click on flash_tool.exe I get the following message: "C:\Users\GXXXX\Desktop\SP_Flash_Tool_exe_windows_v5.1420.00\SP_Flash_T...\flash_tool.exe is not a valid Win32 application."
Can anyone help with this?
I have the driver installed, and the flash tool running. What is the flash tool supposed to do? I pointed it to the scatter file from the updated firmware from Nextbook, then selected upgrade firmware -- clicked the download button and nothing happens.
ReplyDeleteNevermind... finally saw the instructions from the Nextbook site. Firmware update installed and working! Plenty of room for apps now.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you do once the download was not working? Mine has the files but won't do anything when you press the download button.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the Mediatek Driver Install.bat file will Not work with windows 8.
ReplyDeleteI looked in the file and it mentions windows: 2003 , Vista , NT, XP, win 7, but NOT windows 8.
So if you have windows 8 and it is not loading the driver correctly when you connect the tablet to your computer, that is probably the problem.
Go find yourself a windows 7 computer to use for a few minutes and it will work fine.
I now have right around 13gb of space available for apps and such.
thanks for all the help....
Thanks for the tip. I have noted it in the posting.
DeleteA method for installing the drivers under Windows 8 exist at another blog at
Deletehttp://nextbook7.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-to-install-nextbook7-nx700qc16g-usb.html
I've successfully applied the firmware update to two Nextbook 7 tablets.
ReplyDeleteI've documented the process in detail on my blog. Also I wrote up how to get the USB drivers working.
Firmware Update: http://nextbook7.blogspot.com/2014/1...re-update.html
USB Driver Instructions: http://nextbook7.blogspot.com/2014/1...nextbook7.html
Thanks everyone for your help. Now I'm off to working on getting it rooted and will document that in detail as well.
Enjoy!
Nice write up. I have put you into the posting.
DeleteYou shouldn't have made that last posting about the $59.99 price. Walmart must have read it, now they are $69.99 at Walmart. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm sure lovin' my Thanksgiving day special $49.99 unit.
13gb of internal storage available and a 32gb sd card slapped up in there.
" forgive me, I am a worm "... " nuns. no sense of humor "
Got 3 on black Friday and they were $28 ea
DeleteNow I just can't get the firmware on driving me nuts
I am sure most you know that is can be rooted now, IROOT works in about 5 minutes, http://www.mgyun.com/en/GetIRoot and i removed all the bloat ware and I removed most of the Google crap ware like books and movies and gmail. reply to me if you want help
ReplyDeleteCan Iroot be used without upgrading firmware?
DeleteWorked Excellent!! Thank You!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome
Deletehelp . I cant get my tablet to connect to PC when off to complete the last download set for the upgrade. the tablet connects to PC when it is on
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe SP_Flash_Tool should be running when you and scatter to the firmware so you see a progress bar at the bottom before you plug in the tablet. Try a different USB port.
DeleteHello I have the same exact problem as Brad Hansmann, I don't understand what you mean with
Delete"
The SP_Flash_Tool should be running when you and scatter to the firmware so you see a progress bar at the bottom before you plug in the tablet. Try a different USB port."
When I plug my nextbook7 the device will go on "charge mode" and will not communicate with the flash tool.
DeleteThe flash tool is in the directions step 3. See my write up and the pictures in the nextbook instruction file. As to just charging if nextbook is off then try another USB port. Or maybe the usb drivers are not installed. Do you have windows 8 or later (recheck directions)?
DeleteAfter waiting for almost 2 hours for the firmware file to download, there's an error when I try to unzip it. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI've tried several times today to download the flash_tool file from the MKT2000 site but Winzip says it is corrupt.
ReplyDeleteAlso downloaded the flash_tool from Nextbook site directly and it extracts fine but when I try to run flash_tool.exe it crashes.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks
Just downloaded it with no trouble. It is a "RAR" file. I decompressed it and then zip it with windows and put that file in dropbox. A link to it is in the instructions above.
DeleteThanks Peter! I haven't had time to try the update yet but I was able to download and extract the file from Dropbox so it's already better! Thanks very much for all your time!
DeleteI'm not sure why I was having trouble getting it from the regular site but to answer your question,
I am running Windows 7 Home Pro 64 bit with an i5-4440 CPU and 16GB RAM. I had also turned off Avast before trying the download.
Very strange but again this was a big help.
Changed the posting to show a article with multiple sources for driver file and a zip copy of the SP_Flash_Tool
ReplyDelete5th time trying to download the Firmware Update file. Gets to various stages of completion and just fails. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteIt takes like a couple of hours. Wait till done. Or try some other time when connection is better. What do you mean by just fails? Does your browser quit and give you a error message? Try another browser or download manager that will handle big slow downloads. I use recent version Firefox.
DeleteThe firmware update file is pretty big (2GB) so you will need to make sure you have enough free space on your C: drive else the download will fail once it fills up your disk/partition). Hope this helps.
DeleteUnder other sources of information is a link to Freaktab where there are other methods of updating and rooting this tablet. Also there is a link to another guide.
ReplyDeleteI've followed these instructions (thanks, BTW), but am still not having any luck updating the firmware. I get to the point where the instructions say to fire up the SP Flash Tool, locate the scatter file, and plug in the tablet. When I do so, the drivers get installed, but the flash tool never takes off and does its thing. I've tried multiple computers (both Windows 7, one 32-bit and one 64-bit), but am not having any success. Ideas?
ReplyDeleteHow long does the update take? I have completed all the steps, but the flash tool doesn't show any sort of progress.
ReplyDeleteFro those having trouble getting the update to start, make sure you power the tablet all the way down (not just put it to sleep) or it will not start the update.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a couple of tries to realize this but I held the power button down for a few seconds and chose "Power Off". Once the tablet was off, I connected the USB to the PC and could see the update begin immediately. The progress bar at the bottom of the flash tool started and followed the update which only took a few minutes.
Hope this helps.
Chose "Power off" and still nothing. Is there a particular setting the USB needs to be in? I get the charge indicator so I know it's getting power.
DeleteOther than making sure it is still fully off before you plug in the USB cable (and following all the instructions leading up to that step first), the only other suggestion I've seen is to use a different USB port on your PC.
DeleteOther than that I'm not sure what to suggest. Sorry and good luck.
Good point. Will update page with this. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteReflashing the tablet worked on a Windows 7 PC (though not on Linux under WINE) and now I have full access to my tablet's internal memory for app installation. However, I now have a new problem that may have been caused by flashing the new firmware.
ReplyDeleteWhen I plugged a USB cable into my tablet before, I would get a screen asking if I'd like to turn on Mass Storage Mode. This screen no longer appears and I am unable to transfer files from/to the device. Looking at the messages from the USB core on my laptop it seems a "high-speed USB device" connects but that's it - no vendor information etc. Has anyone else encountered a similar problem?
The SD card partition is gone. All 13 gigabytes is now in the "Application Partition". Now you can install apps using all the internal flash memory except for the space used by android. The application memory cannot be seen as a sd card. You can use a real sd card to store files. You can transfer files using email, cloud services and networking. A simple file manager is included that can move files around including from a sd card to internal flash memory. A better file manager is "ES File" which supports networking. In "Additional Info" above is a link to "Freaktab" where you could root and create a sd card partition. The Sd card partition will decrease the size and flexibility of a application partition.
DeleteI understand but that doesn't relate to my problem. I'm experiencing no problems with the SD card at all.
DeleteJust so you know, that never did start working again. Oh well.
DeleteSomewhere around Android 4 I believe, Android began using a partition that emulates an SD card. They did this to help ease the transition to 4.4.x, wherein apps must have the media_rw permission to write anything to the external SD card. Android calls it "Internal storage" or "Internal SD card" sometimes. It's mounted at /mnt/sdcard , so most people call it internal SD or SD card partition. ALL of the space that made up the data partition has been moved to the application partition (which was less than 1 GB in the stock firmware, the cause of a lot of complaints that led to update release.)
DeleteThe "Freaktab" tool Peter talks about will let you create a new /mnt/sdcard partition in your device, giving you the same functionality other devices have because they aren't made by wise-ass manufacturers: "They want more app space? GIVE THEM ALL THE SPACE."
/mnt/sdcard is also (depending on device):
* /storage/sdcard0
* /sdcard
* /storage/emulated/0
* /storage/emulated/legacy
Juwst to name a few common ones I know of.
Hello - I have downloaded all three items as the instructions but when double click on the flash tool, i get a message that the Scatter File can not be found. What am I not doing correctly?
ReplyDeleteIn step 3 above you download and uncompressed the sp flash tool. Then you follow the instructions in the "nextbook instruction file" that you downloaded along with the firmware file from Nextbookusa website. It shows the scatter file being chosen via the "scatter-loading" button. There are some pictures.
Deletehow do you get the flashtool to work. the one on the next book website downloads but when you click on the flashtool.exe. it says scatter file not found. i also tried the one from here but it downloads as a pdf adobe file and i cant extract the file or open them. any help would be great for i am about to throw this thing out.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter - I was able to successfully follow your instructions and update the tablets I bought for Christmas - now I don't have to deal with that stupid partition! Thank you! I made sure to reference your article in my review of the Nextbook 7" here: http://blog.poweredbyvision.net/post/nextbook-7-tablet-review-and-tips
ReplyDeleteAll the flash_tool files I have downloaded or tried to from this site either do not work or my McAfee says the site is dangerous and when I go to it the file takes over an hour to download and then it is empty so can someone point me to a working flash_tool for windows 7 please?
ReplyDeletewell I have tried everything i can not get the scatter to work and now guess what My Tablet will not even come on
ReplyDeleteI did i I did it I M up and RUNNING I LOVE YOU!! THANK YOU!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood news in deed. Glad I could help.
DeleteThank you very MUCH Worked GREAT and make this device much more useful
ReplyDeleteI cant get this to work ive followed all the steps pluged into all usb ports and nothing
ReplyDeletestill not working please help
DeleteRepeat the process. Maybe something did not get done right.
DeleteI have tried on Win 8.1 and Win 7. USB drivers installed and I can see the files on the tablet. Also tried the PDAnet drivers. Tablet attaches. but when I run flash tool the progress bar never moves. Any Help?
ReplyDeleteI give up....
DeleteTime to return the Tablet. 7 Days, 3 computers and could not get the firmware to upgrade.
DeleteI do not have windows 8 but installing the usb drivers is different. All I can think of is try a different USB port. Or maybe repeat the process again in case something did not get done right.
ReplyDeleteTim...your post was a great help. It seemed to have worked. I was able to load several apps on the new partition immediately after the firmware upgrade but something unusual is happening. After I try to load addititional apps, it seems to have reverted back and the default write disk is the smaller 1GB partition. How can I change the default write disk to the larger partition? Please help!!! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere is no default. If you were successful in the upgrade then the application partition is 13 GBs and cannot change.
DeleteTo check it
1. Pull down screen from top right corner and pick "Settings"
2. Pick out "Device - Storage" and you should see "Internal Storage" as "Total Space 13.12GB".
Perhaps you are confusing it with the system partition or ram. Both of which are 1GB.
Tim is over at http://nextbook7.blogspot.com/
Peter...thank you...maybe my firmware upgrade was not as successful as I thought. When I go to Storage, I see 2 internal storage partitions and see that the new apps I downloaded were on the larger partition. When looking at this screen, I see the smaller partition as the "Default Write disk" hence my question. I'll check and maybe try upgrading again. Thank you!!!
DeleteIs there a way to back up my apps so I don't loose everything after the firmware update?
ReplyDeletescatter file not found thats all i keep getting
ReplyDeleteIn step 3 above you download and uncompressed the sp flash tool. Then you follow the instructions in the "nextbook instruction file" that you downloaded along with the firmware file from Nextbookusa website. It shows the scatter file being chosen via the "scatter-loading" button. There are some pictures.
Deletefyi...i was having the connecting device issue and after trying all usb's i turned off the app permissions on the tablet, shut it off and the download started right away. Just pull down at the top of the tablet and turn off. It works!! Thanks Peter!
ReplyDeleteDid all that still extracted files clicked on flash and still scatter file not found strange and frustrating
ReplyDeletedid you put all the files on your desktop and make sure that is where your program is pointing to load files. I found the instructions that I loaded were not the clearest and had to do a lot of trial and error. Took me 2 days and about 3 hours to get it to work...but I did get it to work.
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ReplyDeleteI have tried all steps twice now at different times couple months apart. I have accomplished the download and unzips successfully get all the way to the flash tool to do the download to the tablet and NOTHING happens. I have made sure it was turned off, app permission is turned off, and on every USB port on my computer and HUB to no help. What else can be tried before I make this a flying disk instead of a tablet????? Any help would be appreciated as long as you are not suggesting I download again for the 3rd time as that is not the problem. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhen I finally connect tablet to PC USB port, there is no update. It starts charging it the tablet.
ReplyDeleteHow do you turn app permission off for update to work?
Thank you.
I have done all the steps and all goes well till I plugin the USB cable. The flashtool recognizes the NextBook, but shows a popup with this message;
ReplyDelete"PMT changed for the ROM; it must be downloaded." Any suggestions?
No knowledge of this error. Did a little research. Scatter file and rom mismatch or wrong method.
ReplyDeleteTry downloading rom file again. The rom is large and takes a while.
As per nextbook instructions pick scatter file by pressing the scatter loading button. Change "download Only" to "Firmware upgrade".
Go thru instructions look at screen shots in the nextbook instruction file. It goes my instructions and files then nextbook instructions.
You can also ask the experts at the freaktab forum under other sources. I am not a expert but a amateur that got this to work. Good luck.
I have tried this process a dozen times since Christmas using two different PC's. It has never done anything until today. Today it worked exactly as described above with one exception. After the tablet was "updated," the screen size, position, and touch function were completely screwed up. The image is upside down and the touch points sometimes respond about 90 degrees around the center of screen. So I can make some things work by touching a position along the left edge even though the icon is at the top. This makes this tablet worthless. Any ideas how to fix this?
ReplyDeleteI might have figured it out. I'll let you know after I install the correct firmware. Somehow I got the firmware for the Nextbook 8, not the Nextbook 7.
ReplyDeleteThis works exactly as it says, IF you install the right firmware. I thing I had to do to get it to work was to have the download ready to go and turn off the tablet while it was connected to the computer. Just plugging it in while it was off didn't work no matter what I tried.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are all set. Now you should have plenty of space for apps.
ReplyDeleteMy son wiped the cache and data and now the nextbook 7 will not make it past the splash screen. can i use the flash tool to put the 4.4 back on it or am i out of luck?
ReplyDeleteI only know data and cache for a app. If a app is messed up then uninstall and reinstall the app will fix it.
DeleteAs far as updating the firmware. This will enable you to get have more app memory. So you can install more apps and bigger apps. However all the apps and data on the tablet are erased. So you will have to reinstall the apps.
Is there a way to download this fix to my tablet without having a PC? I only have my tablet and my phone.
ReplyDeleteYes you can download the files with some kind of file manager to the tablet. But there is no way to update the firmware except through a computer. I suggest you find someone with a computer to help you.
DeleteI've upgraded the firmware and everything went smoothly. but now the tablet won't power on.
ReplyDeleteUsing my experience to get Windows product key.
ReplyDeleteTry it: www.aakeys.com
After i used, my windows work great,hope can help you
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ReplyDeleteHello, I just followed your instructions using (a few different windows interfaces but all the same software) windows 10 and I now have a bit over 13 Gig available on my Nextbook 7. Thanks so much Peter. I'm not a Tech Geek by any means. I'm an old retired guy. If I can do it most others will be able to do it. Thanks again for the instructions.
ReplyDeleteI know this is an old post ... but hoping someone is still reading it. I've got this tablet and also a Windows 10 computer. Can someone tell me how I can update my tablet and get enough space to hold needed apps. I tried using a Windows XP machine and was not successful. I downloaded everything but not smart enough to know what to do with those files after download. I could only make it thru the end of step one ... after that was unable to follow to step two. Any help appreciated.
DeleteHello seems I'm late too the party awesome insight on this page , I have downloaded all files . I did the first step fine as for the second , I'm not sure I have a scatter file program , or do I and not know it , I'm on win 7 64 . Seems when it comes to the scatter file section everyone starts loosing there way , I also tried skipping the step and it said scatter file not found not upset I'm patient and help would be grand at this moment
ReplyDeleteScatter file is in the big 2gb firmware file.. under images/MT8127_Android_scatter.txt .. you must load scat file or it will not work..
DeleteI'm also using win 7/64 .. Flash it with no problems..Had to try couple different USB ports but i got it.. Now have 13gb for apps.Tab works great..
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ReplyDeleteplzzz file download link send me
ReplyDeleteHi, i have hard bricked my moms nextbook 7 tablet. Please send me the correct firmware files to fix this problem.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletethe download link doesnt work please help me
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone! I just picked up (now in 2018) a used NextBook NX700QC and am trying to update the firmware — the company website doesn't exist anymore... Any place else that I can obtain the files, etc.? Many Thanks!
ReplyDelete