Home > ROMs > Custom ROMs

Install Custom ROM on Cubot King Kong Mini 2

In this guide, we will show you the steps to install a custom ROM on your Cubot King Kong Mini 2 device. The smartphone domain is brimming up with a plentitude of devices from various OEMs. And it’s the budget domain that has proven to be the most competitive one out there. Inspite of that, the offerings from Cubot have still managed to make a name for themselves. In this regard, the second iteration of King Kong Mini beholds all the nifty features, at a price that is affordable to the masses.

But in spite of all the goodies attached, the device isn’t very well known in custom development. The good news is that it wouldn’t stop you from gaining administrative privileges by rooting the device via Magisk patched recovery.img and boot.img. What about custom ROMs? Well, while there aren’t any dedicated ROMs specifically for this device, there are a plethora of GSI Images of custom ROMs that you could flash onto your device. And in this guide, we will show you how to do just that. Follow along.

How to Install Custom ROM on Cubot King Kong Mini 2

install custom rom Cubot King Kong Mini 2

The below instructions are listed under separate sections for ease of understanding. Make sure to follow the same sequence as mentioned below. Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your device and data by performing the below steps.

STEP 1: Install Android SDK

install adb platform tools windows

To begin with, install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.

STEP 2: Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking

Next up, you will have to enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking on your device. The former will make your device recognizable by the PC in ADB mode. This will then allow you to boot your device to Fastboot Mode. On the other hand, OEM Unlocking is required to carry out the bootloader unlocking process.

install custom rom Cubot King Kong Mini 2

So head over to Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Tap on Build Number Number 7 times > Go back to Settings > System > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking.

STEP 3: Unlock Bootloader on Cubot King Kong Mini 2

You will also have to unlock the bootloader on your Cubot King Kong Mini 2 device if you wish to root it via Magisk. Do keep in mind that doing so will wipe off all the data and might make the device’s warranty null and void as well. So if that’s well and good, then refer to our guide on How to Unlock Bootloader on Cubot Devices.

install custom rom Cubot King Kong Mini 2

STEP 4: Download Cubot King Kong Mini 2 Stock Firmware

  1. To begin with, download the stock firmware for your device from the official site
  2. Then extract it to any convenient location on your PC using WinZIP/WinRAR.
  3. Now copy the vbmeta.img file from there and transfer it to the platform-tools folder.

STEP 5: Download Custom ROM for Cubot King Kong Mini 2

As of now, there aren’t many custom ROMs for this device. however, a few GSI ROMs have made their way. In this regard, LineageOS seems to be the most popular choice for many, so let’s proceed with this only. So get hold of the GSI file from below:

LineageOS for Cubot King Kong Mini 2: Download Link

Once you have downloaded the ROM, extract it to the platform-tools folder. Likewise, rename it to system, so that the complete name becomes system.img.

STEP 6: Boot Cubot King Kong Mini 2 to Fastboot Mode

  1. Connect your device to the PC via USB cable. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled.
  2. Then head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt.
    command-prompt-inside-adb
  3. After that, type in the following command in the CMD window to boot your device to Fastboot Mode
    adb reboot bootloader
  4. To verify the Fastboot connection, type in the below command and you should get back the device ID.
    fastboot devices

    install custom rom Cubot King Kong Mini 2

STEP 7: Flash Custom ROM on Cubot King Kong Mini 2

  1. Make sure that the vbmeta.img [from stock firmware] and system.img [LineageOS] are present in the platform-tools folder.
  2. Then execute the below command to flash vbmeta and hence disable the verity check:
    fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
  3. Now boot your device to FastbootD Mode using the below command:
    fastboot reboot fastboot
  4. Finally, execute the below command to flash the Custom ROM:
    fastboot flash system system.img
  5. You may now reboot your device to the newly installed OS via the below command:
    fastboot reboot

So these were the steps to install a custom ROM on Cubot King Kong Mini 2. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.


Share:
  • Why do we need the stock firmware? Is it not enough to just flash the custom ROM (like LineageOS)?
    [ STEP 4: Download Cubot King Kong Mini 2 Stock Firmware ]

    • Sadique Hassan

      We only need the vbmeta file from stock firmware to disable the verififcation check [which is a prerequisite for flashing a GSI ROM].