[Android] Root for VIBO A688

This is just a translation of the guides offered here and here. So all thanks should go to yang2129 for discovering that the adb remote shell is a privileged user (haha). I’m not going to do a literal translation, just a bare bones translation to keep this short and simple. Also this assumes you are running Windows and not Linux or OSX. Also of course you should perform this operation at your own risk and neither I nor the original posters (yang2129, etc) should be held liable if your house explodes or anything.

  1. Plug A688 into your computer. A new virtual cd drive should appear with a picture of a phone. Open this drive and copy the RUT folder to a convenient location (e.g. C:\RUT\ )

  1. Download this file (A688_GoRoot.rar) and unrar the contents to some place convenient (e.g. C:)

  1. Now, disconnect the A688 from your PC and power it off (not standby but completely powered down). Hold down both volume up down keys and while holding them down press and release the power button. A688 will boot into FTM mode.

  1. While the A688 is in FTM mode, plug it into your PC. The new hardware installation wizard should appear. Select the option to choose the location of the driver files. Choose the option to instruct Windows where to search for drivers, then either key in the path or use the browse button to navigate to the location where you copied the RUT folder from step one. (e.g. C:\RUT\Driver\Android )

  1. If Windows asks for permission to install unsigned/unverified drivers, select Yes. A series of devices will be installed.

  1. When all the devices are installed, open a command prompt by pressing Win+R and typing “cmd”. In the command prompt navigate to the location where your A688_GoRoot.rar files were unpacked to (e.g. if you unpacked to C:\ then type cd ). Type goroot.bat and wait for the commands to complete. After they are completed you have root access.

  1. Test your root access by downloading MarketEnabler and using it to change your Market region to T-Mobile (USA). Scan this QR code to get it from my mirror:

Thanks, Jashsu! You da man!! :notworthy:

I screwed up my USB cable and I’ll have to wait til Tuesday to see how I can get a replacement. Once I do, I’ll try it and report how it went.

Geez, I’d rather walk around with my pants down than be seen with a heart sticker on my phone :stuck_out_tongue:

At any rate, this is cool. Are there working Eclair ROM’s out for the A688?

[quote=“catfish13”]Geez, I’d rather walk around with my pants down than be seen with a heart sticker on my phone :stuck_out_tongue:

At any rate, this is cool. Are there working Eclair ROM’s out for the A688?[/quote]
I’ll be honest, I don’t know all the cool sites for phone hacking in Taiwan. But really it’s probably mostly spread between sogi, mobile01 and cool3c. Haven’t found any A688 ROMs. Perhaps they’ll come in time, but I’m a bit less confident in that, since the A688 is pretty much a Taiwan-exclusive device. Most of the Android phone hackers have tended to be westerners.

Thanks for the heads up. I’m actually thinking of getting a second Android that I can root and play around with, so I guess this means I should look into the CHT 8000 since it has a T-Mobile counterpart?

Your hypothesis seems to be correct. Take a look at Modaco’s T-Mobile Pulse forum. There are discussion threads that cover the various international incarnations of this device. This long thread talks about just the CHT 8000 in particular.

I would still err on the side of going with one of the more mainstream HTC devices. However, if the extra six thousand NTD can’t be justified, at least there seems to be a bit of custom rom development for the Huawei too. Do report back if you do pick up the CHT 8000 and fiddle with root/custom roms.