yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Device Reviews and Information] makakk0:
Gearlabs ROM seems to be working

I bought my Chuwi more than one year ago on Aliexpress. It had some bugs, for example every browser crashed for some reason at some point (stock ROM 20181122 update). I mean it wasn't that bad, I didn't send it back, my first goal was to have a tablet for traveling, watch videos and manage photos. The wifi signal was weak and it's still weak.

This week I had some time and some power as well to try out custom ROMs on the device. First I flashed the Gearlabs ROM, the browser crashes weren't gone. After that I tried Treble AOSP Android 9 on Chuwi Hi9 Air, where the notification area with the fast settings was quite ugly. I flashed the stock 20181122 ROM again, and I noticed, that right after first boot Google Play deleted some font-manager app. Maybe this caused the browser crashes? I flashed an earlier update (which one is mentioned in Gearlabs how-to, 201808??), after first boot Google Play didn't find any suspicious apps, so it looked better. Gearlabs ROM seemed a bit cleaner and faster, so flashed it again (on the 201808?? stock ROM) and since that point I didn't have any browser crashes, BUT Google Play and Magisk crashed for a few times. Another problem, that Netflix is not available with this ROM from Google Play, so I needed to download it from a third party source.

So all in all, I really recommend GearLabs ROM (v3 20180917)!

Don't forget to flash first the 201808 stock ROM first!
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Any luck with v214?

Should be resolved now:

https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases/tag/v214
[Device Reviews and Information] tensoba:
Is v214 working?
[Device Reviews and Information] uncleabubear:
I can confirm AOSP 10.0 v.214 does not work. Stuck on Android logo! Back to AOSP 9.0 v.123 :crying:
[Device Reviews and Information] R@mpage:
AOSP 10.0 v215 too.

does not work; hangs on logo.
[Device Reviews and Information] uncleabubear:
End of an era.

My tablet has died :crying:

Will not charge, go into fastboot/recovery or SP Flash.

Something wrong with the USB or battery.

It would have been two years old in two weeks time.

Anyway I think my obsession with my tablet is over for the time being.

May you and your family keep safe and well in these difficult times :good: :)

Maybe I'll see you in another forum.

Regards Andrew.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
Try removing the back cover from the tablet and access the battery to diagnose the problem.

For example, unsolder the battery and check its performance separately from the tablet.

Carefully examine the soldering of the micro-USB connector.
[Device Reviews and Information] Galeanatur:
What is the best combination of Netflix for this tablet. For best quality and stability. Which apk should I install?
[Device Reviews and Information] Micka41:
Lineage OS

Hello,

Has anyone tested LineageOS 17.1?

https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-17.x/"]https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-17.x/

I tried Android 9 version 123 but I have a problem of drain battery in standby.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
I tested with the same battery drain issue (((

I had to return to 0604.
[Device Reviews and Information] Micka41:
What is the android version of the 0604?

Auto answer : Stock ROM

Android 8 v32 work well too
[Device Reviews and Information] Micka41:
Android 10 v216 work with rashydos's instructions https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/1162

I have also a drain battery too on this version ...

Back to 8
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Yep, Pie GSIs suffer from high battery drain and it seems that issue still is unresolved for the Ten GSIs...

The latest unproblematic GSI I could find is this Linage 15.1 here - unfortunately nobody seems to bother with building Oreo GSIs with a recent SPL...
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
What about the battery drain speed?

I downloaded lineage-15.1-arm64-aonly.img

For those who are interested in trying this GSI, I enclose a list of the files in this image.

As I understand, it is vanilla (no gapps) img
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Seems pretty OK so far, standby holds up several days (as for the slightly older phh v32 GSI) - compared to no more than two days with the phh v123 Pie GSI (even with activated power saving mode) and battery charging to no more than ~80%.

---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 PM ----------

v217 seems to include a partial fix...
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
I charge my battery to about 80% too)

IMO, one should compare battery drain and other GSI parameters with stock ROM.
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Sorry, i meant the device wouldn't charge beyond roughly 80% - even if I wanted to.

The stock ROM is so severely outdated from a security patch level perspective that I couldn't recommend it for serious use. Too bad Chuwi didn't keep up to their announcement for Pie (even though Mediatek is probably to blame for that, as for the ancient kernel version) which would have most likely been a better basis for Pie GSIs.
[Device Reviews and Information] russy23:
hi, your local noob here, can a rom for this tablet be ported over to a very similar speced tablet thats stuck on android 7?Im guessing its a no but thought id ask, thankyou
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
If your tablet based on HelioX20 CPU then you can try flashing system.img from our ROM.

Before these exercises be sure to make a nandroid backup.
[Device Reviews and Information] russy23:
yea its helio x20, 4gb ram with 64gb storage, i was going to try it but the different android versions stopped me, i personally have no experience in porting roms or correcting issues, but a more modern android version would be very nice, i mean nice tablet, not the most powerful..
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
Starting with Oreo, devices support Treble - a modular base OS which separate vendor's (hardware) subsystem from system.img (software subsystem).

https://www.computerworld.com/artic...ect-treble-android-upgrade-fix-explained.html

Thus, on our tablet it is possible to install alternative Generic System Image (GSI) instead of stock one.

I hope you can also try this trick.
[Device Reviews and Information] russy23:
thankyou for explaining, officially this only got android 7, so, well game over lol, such a shame
[Device Reviews and Information] maolin95:
Hi - any chance you can share detailed steps how to do this? thanks. I am getting error "failed to copy 'C:\libstdc++.so' to '/vendor/lib/libstdc++.so': couldn't create file: Read-only file system"
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
You can copy libstdc++.so (and any other file) to /vendor/lib manually on Android using root file manager like Total Commander.
[Device Reviews and Information] maolin95:
Thanks - do I do this in a functioning rom before I install the system image in fastboot?
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
If you have TWRP installed , then I recommend installing GSI via recovery. Have you read info on huge battery drain on GSI?

IMO, this drain make impossible GSI usage.

In any case, be sure make Nandroid backup before any experiments.
[Device Reviews and Information] Rejerf:
MT6797D X23 here. Tried AOSP 9.0 v123 (system-arm64-aonly-gapps-su.img), but the device is overheating. I guess it's due to the battery drain issue.

What else can be flashed for a daily use?
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
I have tried several gsi images with no positive result.

At the moment I am using stock ROM 0604. IMO, it is best choice.
[Device Reviews and Information] thecoolkid:
Try Havoc Android 10 based, it's working great and standby battery is very good :good:
[Device Reviews and Information] Rejerf:
Did you actually managed to install Havoc on Chuwi Hi9 Air? May I ask which version and how (via fastboot or TWRP)?
[Device Reviews and Information] thecoolkid:
Yeah, I'm testing it now against Oreo, because I got two Chuwi Hi9 Air's. I used the official June release (arm64-aonly), but I will be trying latest July release soon. I used TWRP, because I needed to flash gapps on top of that, system image with gapps is too big to fit our partition.

Update:

Oh, and don't flash official magisk, because it breaks it. You need to use special magisk for Android ten PHH GSI's.
[Device Reviews and Information] Rejerf:
After flashing Havoc-OS-v3.7-20200709-Official-arm64-aonly.img (1.79 GB) over stock ROM (completed strangely fast but without errors), I tried to flash GApps (open_gapps-arm64-10.0-pico-20200714.zip - 96 MB), but got message: insufficient space on system partition. Boot loop afterwards. This is strange, because the GearLabs v3 has a 2,5 GB img file (GApps included) and this ROM works in my case. Maybe I'm doing something wrong here.

If you have a special method of successful installing Havoc then please share bro. Appreciate it ;)
[Device Reviews and Information] thecoolkid:
Bring everything back to stock (I hope you have backups lol), then try one step at a time. Flash system vanilla and see if it boots, then make .gapps-config file with only essentials (because gapps packages calculate required space assuming they still need to leave some empty for other mods), if you got the error then remove some more apps from config and try again. You might need to modify vendor copying some libs from system partition, it's a known mediatek issue:

https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/1305
[Device Reviews and Information] tensoba:
Thanks. I have successfully installed Havoc3.7 and opengapps (nano).

It is working almost perfectly, and battery drain issue is almost solved.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
Please inform me in more detail on the battery drain compared to the stock firmware .

I had an unacceptably high discharge rate on Lineage 16.
[Device Reviews and Information] thecoolkid:
Congrats ? are you using magisk from Luke's telegram?
[Device Reviews and Information] tensoba:
The battery drain on Havoc is worse than that on the stock rom but much better than that on AOSP 9.0 v123. Thus, I am using Greenify.

---------- Post added at 04:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 AM ----------

I am using Magisk-phh downloaded from Havoc-OS site.
[Device Reviews and Information] spameris:
how can i switch off tablet when it is in orange state and doing boot loop. I do not want to open tablet and remove battery for switching it off to get working SP flash tool.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
1. To turn off the tablet, hold down the power button until the display turns off.

2. Use adb to shutdown, reboot to system, or reboot to recovery.
[Device Reviews and Information] uncleabubear:
Press the reset button with a sim tool
[Device Reviews and Information] Jan1torEarl:
Android 10 Havoc-OS seems to be running great, thanks so much for sharing!! The only thing I don't have working is Magisk. Where exactly can I find a proper version?

---------- Post added at 09:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 PM ----------

Never mind here's the official Havoc-OS post on XDA which has all the links we need:

https://xdaforums.com/project-trebl...e-development/havoc-os-3-3-gsi-archs-t4076903
[Device Reviews and Information] Albertorc12:
Please, could you give me step by step, all the things you do to install havoc 3.7??

I have the Helio x20 version of this tablet.

Thank you!
[Device Reviews and Information] russy23:
hi guys, sorry if this is in the wrong place, but i cant find or get a answer anywhere, i dont have this tablet but i have a mtk6797 helio x20 device, and quite simply its a laggy mess in games, i believe this happens with all the helio x deco core series chips, so i guess you guys have it??anyway was there a solution to this please. thankyou
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
But the fix for that vndk issue still has not been implemented, unfortunately...

https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/issues/1305

And even if I mount system in TWRP and make the adjustments, Havoc 3.7 arm64 aonly is stuck at boot (while LOS 15.1 boots just fine).

Anything else you did for the boot to complete?
[Device Reviews and Information] thecoolkid:
Don't flash magisk
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Oh, but I haven't (don't really require root or GApps, just the TWRP recovery for SPL updates - which I have added via SPFlash, so the bootloader didn't need to be unlocked)...

But even if I DO apply the Magisk ZIP from the Havoc OS XDA thread and apply the vndk fixes via ADB (which only works in TWRP, as the Havoc OS image denies ADB access until enabled via the Android settings dialog - sic) that doesn't change a thing: The device is stuck on boot - and that's the case for any Ten GSI I tried (Havoc 3.7, phh AOSP v222, LOS 17.1).

So I am stuck with LOS 15.1 (as Pie GSIs suffer from high standby power drain for MTK6797 and its really crappy vendor image)....
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
The Helio X20 was a medium spec SOC (especially in respect to the gfx side) when it came to market 2016 and the firmware support from Mediatek is abysmal, so I'd guess we're out of options here (apart from buying smarter next time:rolleyes:)...
[Device Reviews and Information] Miles Prower:
Hello, I'm trying to flash the 201808 update on the device before installing TWRP and GearLabs but I'm unsure of the process. I've loaded the ota ZIP on the internal memory, then selected Settings > System > About > Updates > Local update. The device reboots on an error screen, then reboots again in its O000623 stock rom.

Any idea?

Edit: Nevermind! Used SP Tools to flash it, and it worked. Now for custom roms...

Edit2: I'm back on the stock rom that originally shipped with the device. Was I mistaken and was it already on the Aug 2018 update out of the box? Android 8.0.0 with kernel 3.18.60

The bootloader is unlocked ("orange state"), TWRP is installed but asks me for a password to proceed with flashing stuff. I don't have that.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
201808 should be decrypted. I use non encrypted 0604 instead.
[Device Reviews and Information] Miles Prower:
I've succeeded in flashing GearLabs through SP Tools. Now I'm running into another issue: the camera is stuck in some "error state", and even the Camera API probes don't see a camera on the device.

I've tried wiping all data, formatting and flashing again, downgrading to 0604, reflashing stock, ... no improvement. The camera is still not working. Any idea?

Edit: log doesn't say much

https://i.imgur.com/IyfswHk.png

Edit2: dead in LineageOS too, same symptoms
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
1. Before any experiment with firmware, you must first make a nandroid backup. This ensures a painless return to the status quo.

2. In TWRP try wipe - factory reset

3. On 0604 (Magisk, microG) I have an Open Camera and a stock camera working OK.
[Device Reviews and Information] Miles Prower:
Hi again, at this point I have absolutely no idea what I did, but the camera decided to work again.

I'm currently on O00623-20181122 and noticed the camera working again, by pure dumb luck (I've tried this ROM before, it failed).

I've made a full nandroid backup of this current state.

I took the plunge and flashed twrp_3.2.2-0_Hi9Air, using SP Flash Tools while keeping the bootloader locked. It worked, allowing me to make said Nandroid backup. I then flashed Magisk-v20.4.zip from TWRP an rebooted. Everything is working as expected as far as I can tell: the device is rooted, using the latest official firmware (which may or may not be a good thing), passing SafetyNet checks. I could run AdAway to edit /etc/hosts without issues and block ads system-wide that way.

I feel relieved, even if dumbfounded.

Edit: not quite fixed. There's a video feed, but its orientation is wrong. In some apps it's upside-down, in some other it's rotated90° and distorted. Weird.
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
Very intersting info, thanks!

I am waiting for your feedback on the work of these firmware versions on our tablet.

In particular, what can you say about the battery discharge rate?
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
You're welcome! :D

I noticed a worse battery consumption for all the Android 10 GSI ROMs I have tested comparing to the stock Oreo ROM. However, for my use, the battery life is OK. Offline charging does not work.

I will give you a little feedback regarding the ROMs I tested:

-phh's AOSP Q: It was the first ROM I have tried. It was really fast, but many features that I expected are not implemented in it. I don't have much information about it because I soon started using Havoc.

-Havoc OS: I was using it since August beginning. The ROM is very stable and fluid. The battery consumption and the overheating started to bother me in the last few days and it got worse after upgrading from v3.7 to v3.8. I don't know if the problem was the dirty update, but I don't think it was.

-BLISS: I installed it today. The animations are not so fluid as the Havoc ones and the settings manager crashed sometimes. It doesn't look optimized for tablets. However, the battery consumption seems to be better than in Havoc; the tablet does not overheat as it did with Havoc OS using the same apps, and I am not using the Battery Saver as I was used to doing.
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
Damn,

even when applying the fixes required for Ten from step 15, my Hi9 Air is still stuck on the boot animation (with zygote crashing, according to logcat).

Could that be due to my having applied the remove_encryption_97.zip via TWRP, for the Lineage 15.1 GSI I have been running so far?
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
I have never tested encryption removal, but I believe this is not the problem if you reinstalled the stock ROM and did not apply the remove encryption script on the new installation.

Which GSI ROM did you try to install? Was there any feedback on the command line when you ran the 'adb shell ...' commands? Did you tried to install Magisk and Gapps?
[Device Reviews and Information] BOFH2k:
I tried both, phh v222 and andyyan lineage 17.1 with the adb commands from step 15 working just fine in TWRP but adb logcat then showing the zygote bootloop mentioned before - will try again with a fresh SPFlash. Using neither Magisk nor GApps...

UPDATE: After following your guide step by step (including bootloader unlock) phh v222 boots just fine after the patch via adb.

Now that's puzzling: So far I cloud keep my bootloader locked (avoiding the orange state timeout), using the patched GearLabs v3 boot.img and replacing the system image via TWRP (installed via SP Flash). While that worked for Oreo and Pie GSIs, this no longer seems to be the case for Ten GSIs...

Anybody have a clue why?
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
Glad the installation worked!

That question you raised makes sense. Installing ROMs via TWRP should work. Assuming that the image was installed correctly, the only thing that may not have worked is the ADB command. This would imply that ADB commands may not work in recovery mode if fastboot is blocked.

Now comes another question: would it be possible to apply the patches directly through TWRP, either in the file manager, terminal or by zip?
[Device Reviews and Information] amg314:
I came across an interesting topic dedicated to the original method of obtaining root on mtk processors (including our Helio 20)

I have not tested this method, for those who want to test it in practice, I strongly recommend making a Nandroid backup before checking mtk-su.

https://xdaforums.com/android/development/amazing-temp-root-mediatek-armv8-t3922213

Software root method for MediaTek MT67xx, MT816x, and MT817x!

=========================================================

Rooting with locked bootloader))

'So in case it's not clear, what mtk-su does is give you a root shell to do with as you please. It's like running 'su', but without the need to have su installed. That may be a holy grail for locked devices. On some devices, it may be possible to install a root manager for permanent root using mtk-su as a springboard.'
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
I am very interested in testing this tool, I think it would be useful mainly for the Stock ROM. If it is possible to root the device permanently without having to install TWRP, it looks very interesting.

Today I have done a lot of tests, and finally discovered what happened here. The big problem is Magisk: the standard module isn't compatible with the Android Q GSIs. Then, since the GearLabs ROM boot image was patched with the standard Magisk, it causes the boot loop. To solve this, I installed the modified phh-Magisk through the TWRP recovery, it is enough to avoid the boot loop. After the system configuration, I could unpatch the boot image and uninstall Magisk.

This time, I installed the Lineage OS "Q-mod" from eremitein, with gapps included. I thought that with the bootloader locked, without root and with the pre-installed Google apps, it would be possible to get the play protect certified device, but despite all efforts, the tablet still appears as not certified.
[Device Reviews and Information] matiptp:
Chuwi hi9 Air TWRP bootloop after image flash

Hi guys,

this is my first time so be gentle :o

I've tried to root and update my chuwi hi9 Air. I've proceeded with typical instalation from various sites (including xda).

What I've done:

Unlocked the bootloader

Installed newest TWRP which did not work well

I've managed to install twrp_3.2.2-0_Hi9Air.zip and it works well (thanks :cowboy: )

Got Magisk

TWRP Wipe System, cash etc.

downloaded a few OS: PixelExperience_Plus-9.0-arm64_aonly, PixelExperience_Plus-9.0-arm64_ab, system-arm64-ab-vanilla-nosu, LineageOS_151_v0.1_Hi9Air_Fastboot, lineage-16.0-20191017-UNOFFICIAL-treble_arm64_avN, lineage-17.1-20201012-UNOFFICIAL-treble_arm64_avS

Flash images from above

Everything seems to work well, but TWRP logs:

[IMAGE FLASH STARTED]

Image to flash:'....' <- whichever I try to install

Calculating restore details...

[IMAGE FLASH COMPLETED]

And that is it.

When I reboot my Chuwi still boots to TWRP...

Help please, my son needs his tablet which his dad told him would work faster...

Mat
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
First of all, welcome :D

If you have a working TWRP, it is a good start, especially for installing Gapps and to apply the patches in the case you'll use Android 10 ROMs. I recommend you to use these instructions for installing Android 9, or these instructions for A10.

If you don't want to follow all the steps, try to flash the image through fastboot using 'fastboot flash system NameOfROMFile.img' and then use TWRP to install Gapps and the patch for A10.

Two tips: Chuwi Hi9 Air has A-only system partition, so only use arm64 A-only ROMs. And in general, A10 GSI ROMs doesn't work well with magisk, so it's good to avoid it or use a patched version (available with the instructions).
[Device Reviews and Information] santosst:
In fact, the tutorial for installing Android 9 was done by uncleabubear, but I can say that it should work... This error never happened to me when I tried to install Magisk so I can't imagine a workaround for this problem :(

Try to repeat all the process but skip the Magisk installation, make sure the system starts correctly only with Gapps. If you get it, you can either try the installation again via TWRP or install Magisk using the Magisk Manager (if you downloaded the ROM Stock, place the file "boot-verified.img" on the tablet and try to patch it from the Manager, then flash the patched boot img through TWRP). Tell us when you try it, I hope it works :highfive: