Sunday, October 18, 2015

[SOLVED] Lenovo A6000 Update Error: "Your phone has not switched carriers an cannot be upgraded" (status 101)

     My Lenovo A6000 has been stuck on Android 4.4.4 ever since I bought it...I was so happy when the system updater notified me that an upgrade was available!  After downloading the 1GB update though it failed to install.  So I tried it again...and the installation failed again.  So what is a self-respecting Android user supposed to do but go find the OTA and download it from XDA-Developers.  I downloaded this ROM here:

I made a backup of this ZIP here, but I make no warranty about it's safety or legitimacy:


      (Note: Later I found this link too...for what it's worth. Lenovo a6000 plus Lolipop 5.0.2 official OTA zip file(Google drive)

      To install it, I saved the file to my SD Card and then powered off the phone.  The instructions for going into Recovery mode are (source: How to Enter Recovery Mode on A6000):
  • Power off your device.
  • Boot in recovery mode by pressing and holding Volume Up and Power Button at the same time.
  • Release all buttons when the Lenovo A6000 screen flickers and in a few seconds the Recovery screen will appear.
  • When the Android image appears press Power shortly

      After installing the ZIP file from the SD Card (one of the options in recovery mode) I got an error that the installation did not finish...but on rebooting the phone the OS was at version 5.0.2! What?!  Almost immediately after that  it prompted me to install another update, version S056, a 156MB update. Downloaded, rebooted, and then got this error:
LENOVO A6000 System Update Kraft-A6000_S054_150915 - lenovoError details..Stock recovery says, "Your phone does not switch carrier, cannot upgrade"E: Error in /data/data/com.Lenovo.its/ap_its packages/(long hash numbers)-Lenovo ota.zip
Status(101)Installation aborted
     Man...what is the deal with Lenovo's ROMs?! After searching the Internet it becomes very obvious that the Lollipop upgrade for Lenovo phones is NOT GOING WELL. (Example: Lenovo Forum).  After some searching and finding many solutions that involve downgrading, using ADB, and other advanced method I found two off-the-cuff remarks that the "Carrier" ZIP files are bundled in the original "Kraft-A6000_S052_150825_WCCA.zip" file. So the solution I found to work for me was:
  1. Extract Kraft-A6000_S052_150825_WCCA.zip on a desktop computer (I used Windows)
  2. Locate the correct country .zip file in the extracted files. For me the file I needed was HongKong.ota.zip
  3. Connect the phone the computer via USB and copy that file to the root of the SD Card (I used MTP mode).
  4. When I tried to boot the phone into Recovery mode using the original instructions above the phone was unresponsive at the touch menu (so many bugs!)...so the only way I found to easily force the phone into recovery mode is to allow the System Update Utility to download and attempt to install the 156MB update...and then FAIL which leaves you in Recovery mode thankfully.  Select install update from SD Card and then choose your country's specific OTA.ZIP file.  This succeded and automatically rebooted the phone.
     I made a backup of the ZIPs here, but I make no warranty about it's safety or legitimacy:


     After this procedure the System Update worked for me successfully after re-downloading the 156MB package again.
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