Here is a step-by-step guide on how to extract Huawei Firmware Package and install UPDATE.APP file. Huawei is a company that dominates the Chinese tech market. Along with manufacturing mesmerizing technology, it also develops one of the world’s top-selling smartphones. The Chinese tech giant manufactures a colossal range of smartphones covering all sections of the smartphone market, which include cheap low-end smartphones to expensive high-end smartphones, along with favorable mid-range smartphones with amazing quality and a reasonable price.
Although Huawei never fails to fascinate the mobile phone market by unveiling new phones every year with cutting edge technology, software updates have never been the strong aspect of the company.
Huawei’s software updates have never been consistent and this remains a major obstacle in gaining trust and the satisfaction of the users. Android OS updates are always welcome news for the users but how can a phone company keep its users satisfied, while having incompatible updates? Often, Huawei phones receive updates after a hefty amount of time via the internet. The wait can be as long as months after the official release by Google. Furthermore, devices receive the operating system updates at varying times. Wouldn’t it make you anxious, especially when your friends using Samsung and Iphones receive updates in no time? Of course, it would!
But, Huawei wouldn’t want other mobile phone companies to get the spotlight. So it has made the Android Operating System (OS) updates available over the internet. You can still update your Huawei phone via the Huawei firmware package, utilizing the update.app file within. This way you could update your phone before your Huawei phone actually receives the update.
Steps to Install Update.app file from Huawei Firmware Package
Even though the Huawei firmware package can be effortlessly found on the internet, it takes some hard work to actually update your phone, because the firmware needs extraction, and that is a tricky task! Nonetheless, you don’t need to worry because we have made a list of some simple steps to follow in order to quickly update your phone.
Pre-Requirements:
There are a few apps and software that you require beforehand. In order to update your phone, you must have it connected to your computer, which must have the following things. If you don’t have those apps, no need to stress over downloading them because we have also provided a link for the respectable apps.
- Firstly, a Firmware zip file for update.zip is needed. This can be found in the Huawei firmware database.
- Second, it is also mandatory that your device has unlocked Bootloader.
- Also, your PC should have the Huawei Update Extractor (for windows) downloaded. If not, you can download it from here.
- In addition to that, ADB and Fastboot Tools should be installed on your computer. Follow this guide to install and setup ADB and Fastboot drivers on your PC.
- Lastly, you will require extractor programs such as 7zip or WinRar. These programs are commonly available on computers. But if you don’t have them, we have got it covered. You can download them from the given link:
Step No 1:- Identification of your Device Firmware Build
Before starting the extraction of the update file from the firmware pack available over the internet, it is required that you find out the firmware build that is used to run your device. You can easily find the related information in your phone’s setting menu. To get the firmware build, you need to open Settings > System > About Phone > Build Number. An example of a Build number is ‘BLA-L29 8.0.0.132 (C636)’.
The second step is that you need to identify the version of the Build Number. First, you need to remove the device number from the build number, in this example, you will remove the Android version i.e 8.0.0.132, and then you have to add the letters BLA to the last 3 digits of the device number and add it to the end of the build number. So, the version will look somewhat like this: BLA-L29C636B132.
Step No 2:- Download the Update.zip app file on your PC
As soon as you have the version of the device’s firmware, you can start searching for the update.zip app file that you need to download. Without having to wait any longer, you can copy your firmware version number and paste it on the website of the Huawei Firmware Database.
You are required to look for the file with the name ‘Full OTA- MF’. Once you know which file to download, you can start the download by just clicking the ‘UPDATE’ button. This way, you will have the zip file downloaded in a matter of seconds. There is an update.app file within it, which now needs to be extracted using the extractor tools like 7zip or WinRar, as previously mentioned.
Step No 3:- Use the Huawei Update Extractor
Now, this is where the Huawei Update Extractor comes in use. Once you have it downloaded, you need to access the settings menu available on the Tool Bar by opening HuaweiUpdateExtractor.exe. Then you must remove the tick from the option from the ‘Verify Header Checksum’ and save it. After that, head back to the Extracting Tab and click the “…” button to locate the extracted file “Update.app”. Next, you need to select the ‘extract selected’ button, which will automatically save the extracted update file (boot.img, system.img).
Step No 4:- Flashing the Extracted File (Install Update.app)
The final step for the extraction of the update file is to flash the file. The steps that should be followed are that first, the extracted file should be flashed. This can be done by going to the Huawei Update Extractor and then locating the file named RAMDISK.img. Then the Minimal ADB and the Fastboot tools should be used to flash the file. Follow the given steps:
- First, you need to restart the phone by simply turning it off and starting it again, or by using the Fastboot mode. It varies by the model to model. Nevertheless, in most of the phones, you can simply do it by pressing the power off button and volume down button simultaneously.
- If not, then connect the phone to your PC using a USB cable and then repeat the procedure.
- Next, open the command prompt window by simply typing in ‘cmd’ on the search bar. You can also open it by clicking the Start button and then going to the command prompt window.
- Type ‘fastboot devices’ only when you have downloaded the Fastboot Tool and the Minimal ADB. It is vital that you confirm that the devices show up on the screen.
- After that, it is essential that you type the following words correctly; ‘fastboot flash ramdisk RAMDISK.img’ which is the name of your update.app file. Then press the Enter key.
- This commences the flashing process. Once the flashing process completes, disconnect your phone.
You can download any software update for your Huawei phone even before it arrives on your phone. This process is useful for Android Oreo 8, however, you can also use it for Android Nougat 7, for which you will have to extract the BOOT file and the iteration of the above-mentioned process. The difference is that just type “fastboot flash boot BOOT.img”, and BANG! It’s done.
Following these steps, you no longer would have to wait for your Huawei phone to receive the latest update. As soon as the update is launched by Google, you can follow these simple steps and have your phone up to date in no time.
Credit: All credit goes to the developer ante0 for his original guide at XDA Forums, which is the source of this guide and the images used herein.
