[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kittomer:
Ok, I got an obscure Allwinner A31S based tablet by a company called "Tristan Auran" with model name Planet 3 from ebay for a few bucks. It's fairly nice for the price, and like with all the devices I get, I went about rooting and tuning it. While attempting to install a custom recovery, the recovery must have damaged something and the tablet refused to boot after starting it once.

I had a dump of the important partitions, but I couldn't read them back anymore and no matter how often I tried making a PhoenixSuite flashable image, they tablet would always lock up on the boot logo. Noone online seems to have a working stock rom, and the manufacturer didn't reply to my requests.

Seeing it as a lost cause, I downloaded firmware randomly of tablets that had the same or similar hardware configurations. I ended up finding one that actually booted fairly flawlessly and got most of everything working by editing the Allwinner SystemConfig and Build.prop to the right values. Touch, sound, graphics, all seems to work without major bugs.

The only thing that eludes me is Wlan at the moment. No matter what I tried it will not work on its own.

Interestingly, Wlan starts working when I boot with a plugged in USB Wlan stick. Not too surprising, but the onboard Wlan chip ALSO starts working when I unplug the USB Stick and insmod the proper driver quickly (the USB stick uses an RTL8188 chip, and the onboard chip is a RTL8723AS combined wlan/bluetooth chip).

Reading the logs has been a bit enigmatic to me, and all I could glean is that for some reason the drivers unload when the USB stick is NOT plugged in, but not why or how I could fix that.

When I boot without plugged in USB stick, the onboard wlan is not appearing on an lsusb printout, if I boot with it plugged in they BOTH appear with their proper IDs.

Any help is appreciated, and if you happen to have the same tablet I'll upload the image somwhere.

Here is a dmesg printout of the section with the 8188 driver loading with the USB stick NOT plugged in for starters.

I'm sure that there is some other weirdness in there, but everything else seems to work well, so I wouldn't worry too much about anything unrelated to wlan or USB.

<6>[ 36.404154] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
<6>[ 36.404204] hub 4-0:1.0: 1 port detected
<7>[ 36.406089] SELinux: initialized (dev mmcblk0p1, type vfat), uses genfs_contexts
<6>[ 36.407880] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8188eu
<4>[ 36.407896] RTL871X: module init ret=0
<3>[ 36.411642] init: no such service 'fuse_extsd'
<6>[ 36.751853] usb 4-1: new full-speed USB device number 2 using sw-ohci
<6>[ 36.924743] usb 4-1: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
<6>[ 36.942782] rtk_btusb: btusb_probe 1==========can_wakeup=1 flag2=0
<6>[ 36.942798] rtk_btusb: patch_add
<6>[ 36.942828] rtk_btusb: hci_register_dev e3e6e800 name bus 1
<6>[ 36.942840] rtk_btusb: id=0
<6>[ 36.942851] rtk_btusb: hdev->name=hci0
<3>[ 36.942859] rtk_btusb: ===================hci_register_dev success
<4>[ 38.123389] [ND]flush cache 1 1!
<7>[ 38.144630] SELinux: initialized (dev nandk, type vfat), uses genfs_contexts
<3>[ 38.147101] init: no such service 'fuse_sdcard'
<6>[ 38.958934] init: waitpid returned pid 2790, status = 00000000
<3>[ 38.958969] init: untracked pid 2790 exited
<4>[ 40.843108] RTL871X: module exit start
<6>[ 40.843133] usbcore: deregistering interface driver rtl8188eu
<4>[ 40.843927] [sw_hci_sun6i]: ERR: sw_ehci is null
<4>[ 40.843946] [sw_hci_sun6i]: [sw-ohci1]: sw_usb_disable_ohci
<4>[ 40.843965] [sw_hci_sun6i]: [sw-ohci1]: remove, pdev->name: sw-ohci, pdev->id: 1, sw_ohci: 0xc08e5fb4
<6>[ 40.843992] sw-ohci sw-ohci.1: remove, state 1
<6>[ 40.844029] usb usb4: USB disconnect, device number 1
<6>[ 40.844049] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
<6>[ 40.844388] rtk_btusb: btusb_disconnect
<6>[ 40.844401] rtk_btusb: patch_remove
<6>[ 40.844419] rtk_btusb: hci_unregister_dev hdeve3e6e800 name hci0 bus 1
<6>[ 40.844437] rtk_btusb: btusb_flush add delay
<6>[ 40.866089] sw-ohci sw-ohci.1: USB bus 4 deregistered
<4>[ 40.866129] [sw_hci_sun6i]: [sw-ohci1]: Set USB Power OFF
<4>[ 40.866148] [sw_hci_sun6i]: [sw-ohci1]: close clock
<4>[ 40.866178] [RTL8723AS]: Set GPIO rtk_rtl8723as_wl_dis to 0 !
<4>[ 40.866192] [RTL8723AS]: RTL8723AS is powered down by wifi
<4>[ 40.866204] [RTL8723AS]: rtl8723as module power set by axp.

and WITH the USB stick.

<6>[ 35.781577] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
<6>[ 35.781645] hub 4-0:1.0: 1 port detected
<7>[ 35.785044] SELinux: initialized (dev mmcblk0p1, type vfat), uses genfs_contexts
<3>[ 35.790935] init: no such service 'fuse_extsd'
<4>[ 35.794361] bFWReady == _FALSE call reset 8051...
<4>[ 35.823665] RTL871X: rtw_ndev_init(wlan0)
<4>[ 35.867817] RTL871X: rtw_ndev_init(p2p0)
<6>[ 35.879110] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8188eu
<4>[ 35.879129] RTL871X: module init ret=0
<6>[ 36.078727] init: computing context for service '/system/bin/logwrapper'
<5>[ 36.079073] init: starting 'p2p_supplicant'
<6>[ 36.080865] init: Created socket '/dev/socket/wpa_wlan0' with mode '660', user '1010', group '1010'
<6>[ 36.121142] usb 4-1: new full-speed USB device number 2 using sw-ohci
<6>[ 36.294094] usb 4-1: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
<6>[ 36.320360] rtk_btusb: btusb_probe 1==========can_wakeup=1	flag2=0
<6>[ 36.320382] rtk_btusb: patch_add
<6>[ 36.320455] rtk_btusb: hci_register_dev e43cf800 name bus 1
<6>[ 36.320473] rtk_btusb: id=0
<6>[ 36.320498] rtk_btusb: hdev->name=hci0
<3>[ 36.320523] rtk_btusb: ===================hci_register_dev success
<4>[ 36.581279] ==> rtl8188e_iol_efuse_patch
<6>[ 36.848256] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): p2p0: link is not ready
<6>[ 37.145264] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
<4>[ 37.569824] [ND]flush cache 1 1!
<7>[ 37.572658] SELinux: initialized (dev nandk, type vfat), uses genfs_contexts
<3>[ 37.574856] init: no such service 'fuse_sdcard'
<6>[ 38.318666] init: waitpid returned pid 2873, status = 00000000
<3>[ 38.318707] init: untracked pid 2873 exited
<4>[ 38.616284] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 38.701415] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 38.705556] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 38.709440] RTL871X: assoc success
<6>[ 38.709987] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready

This happens after I disconnect the USB stick and insmod the 8723au.ko driver. (Although I'm confused by the mess of chip model names. Might not actually be the 8723au driver that talks to the onboard chip. as I said, can't make a sese of it.)

<4>[ 113.662806] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_host_rx, end 2 RX proto error(0x204)
<4>[ 113.662841] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_host_rx, end 2 RX proto error(0x4)
<4>[ 113.662885] [sun6i_usb]:
<4>[ 113.662889] ------------IRQ DISCONNECT-------------
<4>[ 113.662894]
<6>[ 113.662966] usb 3-1: USB disconnect, device number 2
<4>[ 113.710835] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e3475140, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.710859] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe3475140,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.710876] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.710894] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e34750c0, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.710915] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe34750c0,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.710931] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.710948] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e3f09f40, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.710969] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe3f09f40,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.710984] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711001] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e3f09ec0, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.711021] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe3f09ec0,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.711037] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711054] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e3f09e40, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.711075] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe3f09e40,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.711090] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711107] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e34752c0, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.711128] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe34752c0,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.711143] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711160] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e3475240, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.711181] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe3475240,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.711196] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711213] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_urb_dequeue, sw_hcd(e622b4d8, 0x0, 0x3f),urb(e34751c0, 4000, 0), dev = 2, ep = 1, dir = in
<4>[ 113.711233] [sun6i_usb]: sw_hcd_cleanup_urb: qh(0xe0357e40,0x1,0x2), urb(0xe34751c0,4000,0), ep(0xe622b5cc,2,0xe0357e40,0x (null))
<4>[ 113.711249] [sun6i_usb]: ERR: sw_hcd_advance_schedule, host is not active
<4>[ 113.711369] RTL871X: rtw_cmd_thread: DriverStopped(1) SurpriseRemoved(1) break at line 478
<6>[ 113.732930] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: DE
<4>[ 113.771502] RTL871X: rtw_ndev_uninit(wlan0)
<5>[ 113.835924] init: service 'dhcpcd_wlan0' is being killed
<6>[ 113.836827] init: waitpid returned pid 3172, status = 00000009
<5>[ 113.836855] init: process 'dhcpcd_wlan0', pid 3172 exited
<4>[ 113.930931] [sun6i_usb]:
<4>[ 113.930936]
<4>[ 113.930939] rmmod_host_driver
<4>[ 113.930943]
<4>[ 113.930957] [sw_hcd0]: sw_usb_host0_disable start
<4>[ 113.930970] [sw_hcd0]: sw_hcd_wait_for_disconnect cnt=0
<4>[ 113.930984] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd_host0]: Set USB Power OFF
<4>[ 113.931172] [sun6i_usb]: -------sw_hcd0_soft_disconnect---------
<4>[ 113.931207] [sun6i_usb]: wrn: hcd is not enable, need not stop hcd
<4>[ 113.931245] [sw_hcd0]: close_usb_clock
<4>[ 113.931267] [sw_hcd0]: sw_usb_host0_disable end
<4>[ 113.991092] RTL871X: rtw_ndev_uninit(p2p0)
<6>[ 114.057791] healthd: battery l=100 v=4156 t=30.0 h=2 st=5 c=3 chg=au
<4>[ 114.211428] RTL871X: rtw_dev_unload: driver not in IPS
<4>[ 114.212611] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_h_disable, epnum = 0
<4>[ 114.212625] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_h_disable, epnum = 0
<4>[ 114.212636] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_h_disable, epnum = 81
<4>[ 114.212648] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_h_disable, epnum = 2
<4>[ 114.212658] [sun6i_usb]: [sw_hcd]: sw_hcd_h_disable, epnum = 3
<6>[ 114.232911] healthd: battery l=100 v=4156 t=30.0 h=2 st=5 c=3 chg=a
<4>[ 128.464964] [RTL8723AS]: Set GPIO rtk_rtl8723as_wl_dis to 1 !
<4>[ 128.464985] [RTL8723AS]: RTL8723AS is powered up by wifi
<4>[ 128.464997] [RTL8723AS]: rtl8723as module power set by axp.
<4>[ 128.465116] create_regulator: axp22_ldo5: Failed to create debugfs directory
<4>[ 128.465638] [RTL8723AS]: RTL8723AS power state change: wifi 1, bt 0 !!
<4>[ 128.465663] [RTL8723AS]: succeed to set gpio rtk_rtl8723as_wl_dis to 1 !
<4>[ 128.465677] [RTL8723AS]: sdio wifi power state: on
<6>[ 130.511390] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8723au
<6>[ 134.264995] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
<4>[ 136.498820] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 136.680901] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 136.683811] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 136.688876] RTL871X: assoc success
<6>[ 136.689288] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
<4>[ 136.711963] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 136.722834] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 136.722843]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<4>[ 136.725356] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 136.857833] RTL871X: set pairwise key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) camid:4
<4>[ 136.881808] RTL871X: set group key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) keyid:1
<6>[ 136.938034] init: computing context for service '/system/bin/dhcpcd'
<5>[ 136.938412] init: starting 'dhcpcd_wlan0'
<4>[ 138.349822] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 138.349831]	==> rssi_level:2, rate_bitmap:0x000ff000
<6>[ 158.933711] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
<4>[ 161.069767] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 161.254903] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 161.257812] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 161.261880] RTL871X: assoc success
<6>[ 161.262289] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
<4>[ 161.294824] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 161.294833]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<4>[ 162.347821] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 162.347829]	==> rssi_level:2, rate_bitmap:0x000ff000
<5>[ 167.150502] init: service 'dhcpcd_wlan0' is being killed
<6>[ 167.151527] init: waitpid returned pid 5785, status = 00000009
<5>[ 167.151552] init: process 'dhcpcd_wlan0', pid 5785 exited
<6>[ 167.151652] init: waitpid returned pid 5988, status = 00000009
<3>[ 167.151676] init: untracked pid 5988 exited
<6>[ 167.488584] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
<4>[ 169.619684] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 169.754869] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 169.756810] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 169.760866] RTL871X: assoc success
<4>[ 169.793814] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 169.793822]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<6>[ 169.974281] init: computing context for service '/system/bin/dhcpcd'
<5>[ 169.974537] init: starting 'dhcpcd_wlan0'
<4>[ 170.347837] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 170.347845]	==> rssi_level:2, rate_bitmap:0x000ff000
<6>[ 176.033973] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: DE
<5>[ 176.042455] init: service 'dhcpcd_wlan0' is being killed
<6>[ 176.043355] init: waitpid returned pid 6052, status = 00000009
<5>[ 176.043381] init: process 'dhcpcd_wlan0', pid 6052 exited
<4>[ 176.752841] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 176.920935] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 176.923854] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 176.928948] RTL871X: assoc success
<6>[ 176.929450] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
<4>[ 176.952660] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 176.961837] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 176.961846]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<4>[ 176.963241] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 177.095848] RTL871X: set pairwise key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) camid:4
<4>[ 177.119838] RTL871X: set group key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) keyid:1
<6>[ 177.189899] init: computing context for service '/system/bin/dhcpcd'
<5>[ 177.190155] init: starting 'dhcpcd_wlan0'
<4>[ 178.347825] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 178.347833]	==> rssi_level:2, rate_bitmap:0x000ff000
<6>[ 199.844666] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
<4>[ 201.990451] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 202.216893] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 202.219807] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 202.223864] RTL871X: assoc success
<4>[ 202.256829] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 202.256839]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<4>[ 202.492815] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 202.492822]	==> rssi_level:2, rate_bitmap:0x000ff000
<6>[ 207.262315] init: waitpid returned pid 6228, status = 00000100
<5>[ 207.262345] init: process 'dhcpcd_wlan0', pid 6228 exited
<6>[ 207.293697] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: DE
<4>[ 210.510748] RTL871X: nolinked power save enter
<4>[ 216.489797] RTL871X: nolinked power save leave
<4>[ 220.480740] RTL871X: nolinked power save enter
<6>[ 221.232645] healthd: battery l=100 v=4144 t=30.0 h=2 st=5 c=3 chg=a
<4>[ 224.291801] RTL871X: nolinked power save leave
<4>[ 224.295810] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 224.435912] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 224.438824] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 226.734820] RTL871X: rtw_set_802_11_connect(wlan0) fw_state=0x00000008
<4>[ 226.894886] RTL871X: start auth
<4>[ 226.897805] RTL871X: auth success, start assoc
<4>[ 226.902877] RTL871X: assoc success
<4>[ 226.927654] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 226.936846] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff
<4>[ 226.936855]	==> rssi_level:0, rate_bitmap:0x000ff005
<4>[ 226.938306] RTL871X: send eapol packet
<4>[ 227.072854] RTL871X: set pairwise key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) camid:4
<4>[ 227.096820] RTL871X: set group key to hw: alg:4(WEP40-1 WEP104-5 TKIP-2 AES-4) keyid:1
<6>[ 227.152065] init: computing context for service '/system/bin/dhcpcd'
<5>[ 227.152336] init: starting 'dhcpcd_wlan0'
<4>[ 229.403830] UpdateHalRAMask8192CUsb => mac_id:0, networkType:0x0b, mask:0x000fffff