[Miscellaneous Android Development] dolorespark:
Below are six different flavors of CWM-based Recovery v6.0.2.8 for devices that use Allwinner A10 and A13 chips and are running Android 4.x. If you're unsure whether one of them is appropriate for your device, see "Which version should I choose?", below.

Unlike some versions, these will

not

erase the partition or SD card containing the update.zip that's just been installed. Also, the "wipe data/factory reset" option will not erase your internal SD card ('/emmc'). The button assignments should be what you'd expect: Vol- / Vol+ move the highlight up or down, Power selects, and any other button acts as a Back button. If your tablet has capacitive (touch) buttons and uses an ft5x touchscreen controller, they should act as Back buttons as well.

Installation

The files are packaged as update zips and can be installed from your existing stock or CWM recovery. Alternately, you can unzip the file and install it from a normally-booted system using a script.

From Recovery: Copy the entire file still zipped to your internal or external (removable) SD card. Reboot into Recovery, then choose 'install zip from sdcard'. Root access is not required if CWM is installed this way.

From a Running System: Unzip the file and copy recovery.img and install-recovery.sh to your internal or external SD card. Next, either run "adb shell" or open the Terminal app, then change the directory to where you stored the files. If you're using Terminal, start by running "su" to get root access (you may already have it if using adb). Now, type in "sh install-recovery.sh" then press Enter. Messages will appear telling you whether it succeeded or failed.

Which version should I choose?

Do I have an A10 or A13? From an adb shell or from the Terminal Emulator app, run "cat /proc/cpuinfo". Look next to the 'Hardware' entry: it should say either "sun4i" (A10) or "sun5i" (A13). If it says anything else,

don't

use these files.

Do I have 9, 10, or 11 partitions? From an adb shell or from the Terminal Emulator app, run "cat /proc/partitions". If the last of the "nand" entries is "nandi", you have 9; if it's "nandj", you have 10; if it's "nandk", you have 11. If you choose the wrong version, everything else will work correctly but CWM won't be able to mount your internal SD card (a.k.a. '/emmc'). If so, try installing the other version.

IMPORTANT: If your device has 8 or fewer partitions (i.e the last one is "nandh")

do not

install this version. It will end up in the wrong partition and likely require the entire ROM to be reflashed.

Booting into (CWM) Recovery

Getting into Recovery should be simple but sometimes it isn't. Try these methods in the order listed:

With the tablet off, press and hold both Vol+ and Power. It may take 10 seconds or more for the first logo or icon to appear.

With the tablet on and booted normally, press and hold the Power button until the tablet turns off -

ignore

the Shutdown popup. Now, try method #1 again.

From an adb shell prompt or from the Terminal Emulator app, enter

"echo -e 'boot-recovery\0' > /dev/block/nandf; sync"

(note: that's a "backslash zero" in the line above)

Now, press and hold Power until the tablet turns off, then turn it back on

normally

(i.e. no buttons pressed).

If none of the above work, post a question - perhaps someone else has a better solution.

(Edit: Previously, I'd said that "adb reboot recovery" should also do the trick but I've never had it succeed. I was mistaken: it does work on my A10 tablet but not on my A13. You may want to try it as an alternative to the suggestions above.)

Updates

v2

assigned additional key values to the navigation (up/down) functions, so each key should do something (if the various buttons on your tablet don't generate "standard" values", there's no way to predict what each will do until you test them)

fixed the syntax error in install-recovery.sh

fixed the reboot recovery menu item on the Advanced menu

v2a

added versions for tablets with 11 partitions