How to flash the Minix Neo X7 mini

1) Contact us by support@novisign.com in order to get the firmware ZIP file.

2) Once you get the ZIP file, right click the zip file “Flash X7 firmware.zip” and save it on your PC.

3) After the download is complete, unzip the file, to get the Android flashing tool utility and the drivers for the Minix. You can also download the drivers from Minix website (the file name is NEO USB Driver V3.5 and it’s 306KB).

4) Right click the image file “2014-3-6 X7mini rooted and rotation.zip” and save it on your PC.

5) After the download is complete, unzip the file, to have an img file. This is the image you’re going to flash on your Minix as a new firmware.

6) Connect the Minix to a screen.

7) Connect the Minix to your PC using USB-to-USB cable (for the USB cable – please connect it in the USB port of the Minix which is closer to the edge of the device and not to the other USB port – otherwise the mouse won’t work).

8) Connect a mouse to the Minix using the other USB port.

9) Plug in the Minix to the power.

10) After the Android operating system is up go to “Settings” -> “USB” -> “Connect to PC” and check the checkbox. You will hear a ding sound on your connected PC. That means, the PC has detected new hardware connected and will now search for a driver for it.

11) On your PC, you should choose to manually search for a driver and then find the appropriate driver you got on step #3 and select it (i.e. if your operating system is Windows 7 32bit, you should choose “x86” or “Win32Bit” and then drill down to find the driver for Win7).

12) After the driver is successfully installed on your PC, you should be able to see the Minix in the device manager Windows utility. Now the PC can recognize your Minix.

13) Unplug the Minix from power.

14) Start the flashing tool utility (run the file “RKBatchTool–1.7.exe”). All the connected devices should be in gray color.

15) Now you need to bring the Minix into flash mode. Use a paper clip to insert into the reset hole of the Minix. Hold it down and in parallel plug the power cord, keep the paper clip there for 3 – 5 seconds. Take out the paper clip. You’re supposed to hear a ding sound from the connected PC. That means the Minix is now in flash mode and ready to be flashed.

16) On the PC, in the RocketChip flashing utility, you’re supposed to see a green square in the connected device frame (representing your Minix).

17) In the RocketChip flashing utility, in the “FW Path” choose the image file which you downloaded on step #4.

18) Click the “Restore” button. This will erase all the data on the Minix and then will flash the new image on the Minix.

19) It will take a couple of minutes till you see the success message.

20) Unplug the USB cord from the PC and unplug the power from the Minix.

21) Plug the power to the Minix. The first time it starts will take more time than the usual, so be patient.

22) After the Minix is up and running, you’ll be able to notice the rotation option on its screen (“Settings” -> “Display” -> “Screen rotation”; if you choose “Portrait”, the Minix will go into portrait rotation mode).

You can use the video for flashing the Minix Neo X7 (unlike the Minix Neo X7 mini) as an accessory, but please stick to the orders of this walkthrough.
If you need to flash the bigger version of the Minix Neo X7 (the one with the 16GB), you can use this walkthrough.