Meizu M2 Note: How to Flash the International (Global) Firmware

About a year and three months ago I bought a Meizu M2 Note (in Russian) and was very happy with it all year: a strong battery, a bright, beautiful screen, plenty of room for apps. The only wish was a better camera (though with third-party apps it sometimes gave good results).

A year later I bought myself a new phone and decided to give the Meizu to my child — but first to reflash it from the Chinese firmware to the international one (Global, letter G) to get an English/Russian interface. The process stretched over several days, so here are the pitfalls to save you time.

1. The most important thing: your Flyme account password

Save and write down your Flyme account password! Without it you can’t easily get root, and on someone else’s phone you can’t even do a factory reset.

A year earlier I had written my password down — imagine my surprise when it didn’t work. I only managed to recover it via email, and not on the first try. So make sure your account has a real, working email address.

It can be worse: a child sets a screen lock and forgets it, and without the Flyme password the phone can’t be unlocked. Or someone buys a used Meizu that’s tied to another person’s account. In such cases people sent the manufacturer photos of the phone, box and receipt, and got a password reset link within one to two weeks.

2. Preparation

Copy everything you need to a computer and factory-reset the phone.

3. Why the international firmware won’t install

The international firmware doesn’t install on the Chinese version of the phone. To “trick” it, you need to change the device ID.

Important: from the latest Chinese firmware at the time, 5.1.10.0A, I couldn’t install the official international Flyme 5.1.10.0G. I even tried the beta 5.6.10.18A, got root, changed the ID — the update to G still failed with Firmware corrupt.

What helped was the opposite: not upgrading the Chinese firmware but downgrading it.

4. Install the older Chinese firmware Flyme 5.1.4.0A

It installed without problems. I took the Meizu firmware from a fan site with a firmware archive (it no longer works); the firmware itself is easy to find by its version number.

5. How to install a different Flyme version

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Hold the volume-up and power buttons until the phone starts.
3. Connect the phone to a computer with a USB cable.
4. A Recovery drive appears on the computer — copy the firmware archive update.zip to it.
5. Once the file is fully copied, tick both System upgrade and Clear data and press the start button on the right.
6. If the firmware check passes, flashing begins — it takes about 20 minutes.

After flashing, choose English, connect to Wi-Fi and sign in to your Flyme account.

6. Get root

Turn on root access in the phone’s settings (that’s what the Flyme sign-in is needed for) and reboot.

7. Change the phone ID

1. Copy the files from this archive to the phone: files-for-meizu.zip.
2. Install SuperSU (eu.chainfire.supersu.apk). The system will warn that installing from unknown sources is blocked — tap Settings, then Install.
3. Install Terminal Emulator for Android (jackpal.androidterm.apk). Both apps are in the store too, but the Chinese firmware has no Google Play by default, so installing the apk is easier.
4. Run SuperSU: answer CONTINUE to the first question, NORMAL to the second, then Allow. Installation takes about a minute. It should end with OK and REBOOT. If you get Installation failed, try again — it worked for me on the second attempt.
5. Run Terminal Emulator, type su and press Enter. Confirm the superuser request (GRANT).
6. Run the ID change script:

   sh /sdcard/chid.sh

   If the file isn’t found, try:

   sh /storage/emulated/0/chid.sh

   Some lines will flash by and the phone will reboot.

A file with system information, proinfo.img, will appear in the root of the phone’s storage — keep a copy somewhere else, it may come in handy later.

8. Install the international firmware

If the ID has changed, install the international version following step 5. I downloaded the official Flyme 5.1.10.0G from the official Flyme website.

The international G version installed successfully, and the Meizu M2 Note worked with the new interface. Flyme 5.1.10.0G has no Google services, but after a reflash like this, adding them takes just a few minutes

If the phone is tied to someone else’s Flyme account

Added 29.04.2017. If you can’t sign in to Flyme, recover the password via email or have the account unlinked from the phone. A tip from the 4PDA forum: take a photo of the screen showing the serial number and IMEI, photos of the box and accessories, and the seller’s receipt, and email them in English to [email protected] and [email protected] — the person’s phone was unlinked the next day.

Warning: unlinking the Flyme account completely wipes the phone. Back up your contacts, messages and anything important before submitting the request.