[Android General] redrew89:
View attachment 5499981

Sprint Slate 8 (ANS_NKS AQT80) 8 Inch Tablet

Files: Google Drive

<Includes dumps of stock boot, recovery, splash. Attempted TWRP 3.6.0 build>

​

I recently had one of these ancient tablets come into my possession, and like any good nerd, I set out to hack it as much as possible. Admittedly, I knew that this would be an uphill battle, given the relative unpopularity of this particular slate, limited resources, and nonexistent documentation. However, I have made some progress, which I'll share here for the benefit of the community. Some of the information here was collected from other threads that I found scattered about via Google. <This thread also serves as a subtle "call-to-arms" for anyone who happens to have access to this device and has the ability to assist in testing recoveries and ROMs for this device in the future. I have access to one, currently, and know where I can locate another. My Android development skills are moderate, but limited, as I have next to no experience with custom ROM creation, or low-level Android systems. Mentor-ship would also be appreciated.>

Rooting

Rooting this device can be accomplished with Kingo Root (I downloaded the APK from the offical website, be sure to enable Unknown Sources for APK installation). Once rooted, you can remove Kingo Root and update SuperSU to 2.49. This should give you root access to install EX File Explorer/Root Uninstaller to debloat Gapps/Facebook/Sprint carrier apps, which speeds up the device nicely.

Recovery

I've been attempting to make a working TWRP for this device using this guide and while I have an image that flashes and boots, it has notable issues with touch input that make it unusable for anything important. I've included a link to Google Drive where I've backed-up the most recent bootable image. Once you have root, you can install the Official TWRP app to flash IMG files to recovery. Always be sure to back-up stock recovery before flashing anything. My stock recovery dump has worked for me, but might not work for you. </Disclaimer>

Custom ROMs

<None currently exist. Future plans include a Marshmallow or Nougat-based build that has better app support than Lollipop. Interestingly, the stock app payload includes both Trebuchet Launcher and CyanogenMod File Browser. Perhaps this tablet shipped with an OEM variant of CM12? More investigation is needed.>

Other Info

Other users have reported that running this device as WiFi-only (no SIM card inserted) leaves a constantly-visible NO SIM notification. I was able to remove this by uninstalling the Sprint-provided apps and phone dialer. Also, enabling Airplane Mode and then re-enabling WiFi and Bluetooth will improve performance and battery life noticably.

I've been unable to replace the boot splash, as this device apparently uses a splash partition and I'm not sure what format the image that I dumped might have and how I could replace it. This dump is also included in the Drive link.

Notably, I have had some issue with getting fastboot commands to work properly on this device. Some commands work while others fail at the remote end. I've tried to track down the issue, trying different versions of platform-tools as well as ADB driver packages. In the event that I accidentally break recovery or system, having fastboot working as a failsafe is a key priority.

I've also managed to locate the website for Quanta which lists a slightly-updated variant of this specific device. I have attempted to reach out to them via their contact email to see if they might provide a copy of the stock firmware at release. This might help with porting a newer version of AOSP.

Future Posts will include more details about installed apps and other information, as uncovered.