Mt6589 Android Scatter Emmc

This post explains what an MT6589 scatter file is, why it matters for eMMC-based Android devices, and how to use and modify scatter files safely for tasks like flashing, backup, recovery, and repartitioning. It focuses on Mediatek MT6589-family phones (e.g., many low‑ to mid‑range devices from several years ago) with eMMC storage.

- partition_index: SYS0
  partition_name: preloader
  file_name: preloader_mt6589.bin
  is_download: true
  type: SV5_BL_BIN
  linear_start_addr: 0x0
  physical_start_addr: 0x0
  partition_size: 0x40000

Notice that each partition has:


Critical: Scatter files are chipset-specific and board-specific. An MT6589 scatter file for a Lenovo A820 will not work on a ZTE V987, even though both use MT6589. The partition sizes and preloader base address may differ. mt6589 android scatter emmc


The file defines the start address (hexadecimal offset) and size for these standard partitions: This post explains what an MT6589 scatter file


MBR (Master Boot Record) & EBR1 (Extended Boot Record):


LK (Little Kernel / U-Boot):


BOOTIMG (Kernel + Ramdisk):


RECOVERY:


ANDROID (System):


CACHE:


USRDATA:




Compare with dumped GPT: Run on device:
cat /proc/partitions
ls -l /dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name