yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Topics] DrScrad:
Have any of you guys ever experienced this after flashing firmware? I don't recall ever dropping it.. and it was working fine until i attemped to flash this firmware listed under the linux section.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
@Viva La Android, first of all it would be wrong not to thank you for your good efforts at salvaging these tablets. I had waited a long time to find a solution, and had almost given up hope, when I stumbled upon your posts. I read them thru with much interest and then decided to give it a try.

I have not had any problems with smartphones being accessed on Linux before, so perhaps my problem is as SamuelEDL suggested. I will have to figure a way to unlock first.

Any help along those lines would be appreciated.

Thanks again.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Like @SamuEDL, I have a Windows setup as well. Many members claim that a lot of the device recognition issues often experienced with Windows can be resolved by using a Linux environment, so I added that section to the instructions accordingly. By the looks of the photos you posted, there is a firmware mismatch on one or more of the partitions. As noted in the Linux instructions, the fastboot protocol I outlined does not perform a full restoration of firmware like PhoenixUSB Pro, PhoenixSuit or LiveSuit. Those three utilities were developed by Allwinner and provide a thorough and absolute methodology to restoring a device's firmware to a factory stock state. My recommendation at this point would be to get access to a Windows PC or laptop and perform a firmware restoration using PhoenixUSB Pro, as outlined in the first section of my guide. The good news with Allwinner-based tablets is that they are almost impossible to hard brick, due to a hardware embedded bootloader protocol known as BROM (proprietary FEL mode). Flashing your tablet using PhoenixUSB Pro is virtually certain to get your device back up and going.

Thanks @SamuEDL for your input on things. Your insight has been a big help.

@Bubba The Hack I did find this tutorial on GitHub for using LiveSuit on Debian and Ubuntu.

GitHub - linux-sunxi/sunxi-livesuite: All in one repo for the LiveSuit tool, to take some of the pain outof using this.

All in one repo for the LiveSuit tool, to take some of the pain outof using this. - linux-sunxi/sunxi-livesuite

github.com
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
Thanks. The idea that I should not use Linux is surprising. I will try to boot into an old windows machine and see if it works.

But how about a way to just unlock so the firmware upgrade works?

Also, I did not send pictures; that was Dr. Scrad.
[General Topics] DrScrad:
Hey, so I followed your instructions from a brand new Windows 11 install and used the PhoenixPro method which it succeeded in flashing the firmware successfully.. almost. when I rebooted the tablet after exiting the program, I powered it off and rebooted it.. Should I have waited for it to reboot itself rather than me turning it off after i had left the program? Becausse it reboots now into just a blank screen.. do you think it's still stuck in BROM mode?
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
I need some more info. Is your tablet the Android 11 or Android 12 variant? And which firmware package did you flash?
[General Topics] DrScrad:
It was an Android 12 and i was flashing firmware V9..
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Ok. That's where you erred. The v9 firmware is Android 11. Good news, you can't hard brick an Allwinner tablet, or, at least, it would be very difficult to do so. Do this to resolve your problem:

Do the entire procedure over from scratch, except this time use the Android 12 Go Edition firmware I provided in the DOWNLOADS section. It will fix your tablet.

My instructions are not entirely clear on this, so the mishap was not entirely your fault. I will re-word the instructions to be clear on this. The Android 12 variant is new, so I only recently contacted the device maker and obtained the latest firmware package. I have not had a chance yet to fully hash out the two variants in the OP.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Thank you @Aquaires for helpimg.me to keep the threads organized. I'm sorry for the delay in replying.

Okay so I need a bit more info. What variant of the Scepter 8 do you have, the Android 11 Go Edition or the Android 12 Go Edition model? What firmware version was installed when you received your tablet?
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
Thank you for the good help on this problem. Getting the tablet to be more useful is a big deal and greatly appreciated.

You may find my experience helpful, and I am glad to pass it on. I am using a Debian 11 (Bullseye) OS with Xfce 4.16 installed. My tablet is the early cheapo from q-link.

After trying with Linux and getting mislead into using windows, I had nothing but confusion and problems. As a last ditch effort, I went back to my Linux desktop and started fresh. Here are the simple steps.

First, open Synaptic Package Manager to install ADB, Fastboot and android-sdk-platform-tools. (Not sure I needed the last one.) USB device drivers appear to be already installed.

Pressed power button on tablet and entered regular system.

Followed steps to enter Developer mode.

Turn off lock and USB debugging.,

Shutdown tablet.

Held volume-down and power buttons until text came on screen and then release power button. Release volume-down button when green android appears.

Plug in cable from tablet to computer.

Open terminal window.

Type in:

fastboot devices

and press Enter.

See tablet's alphnumeric text string listed there.

Type in:

fastboot oem unlock

and press Enter.

See that it states that it is unlocked.

Download the patched_boot.img file.

Go back to terminal window and change directory to location of the img file.

Type in:

fastboot flash boot ./patched_boot.img

and press Enter.

You might get back something like::

Invalid sparse file format at header magic

Sending sparse 'boot' 1/2 (32764 KB) OKAY [ 1.317s]

Writing 'boot' OKAY [ 2.596s]

Sending sparse 'boot' 2/2 (1408 KB) OKAY [ 0.083s]

Writing 'boot' OKAY [ 1.871s]

Finished. Total time: 5.964s

Type in:

fastboot reboot

and get back:

Rebooting OKAY [ 0.008s]

Finished. Total time: 1.761s

Let everything sit for a while and then hear tones from the tablet.

Type in:

fastboot devices

and get back nothing. (Evidently the tablet rebooted and came back on in different mode.)

When I pressed the power button once, the screen lit up and showed the desktop screen. It was ready for use.

I liked how easy that was to accomplish the task on my regular desktop. (I strongly recommend every windows user to set up a dual-boot and include some Linux distro on their systems. After using it for a time, you'll never go back.)

My Usage Review

I noticed that the screen of the tablet is somewhat insensitive. It is important to press near the center of a line to get it to activate. Also, some things are not selectable, so expecting anything may be unreasonable.

While disabling google apps, I further notice that the screen is very cheap, and must be pressed quite firmly to activate. I always use a pen with a rubber tip designed for working on touch screens, and activation of the screen was far different than other screens I've used.

The image file was better than stock. However, it misses a lot of things. It fails to remove all of the google crap and it does not have a keyboard app, which is bizarre. It only allows voice activation, which means using google again. There is a need to remove more overhead.

I ended up with Android 11.

Thanks again.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
@Bubba The Hack, thank you for the comprehensive outline on performing these procedures on Debian. This will undoubtedly assist other members who have a similar setup.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
At this point I have installed some nice keyboards from F-Droid and removed the google voice to text feature. While the system sees the keyboards, they do not show up in Opera, the default browser. Any ideas what happened? Is this an issue with the build of choice?
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
I also notice that this build does not allow the turning off of the android setup notifications. It keeps wanting to finish by connecting with the playstore.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
It was a bit of a slow go, but the screen is working a little better, though I don't know why. Also got the keyboard problem sorted. I had to use the google voice to download a couple things, and then fooling around with the keyboard setup settings, it seemed to start showing up after I turned off the google voice part. I installed keyboard switcher apk and things are more usable. Perhaps other have had the same problem. I would say to try with or without gboard enabled. I was able to download the F-droid client and the Aurora Store apk. Now to get some good apps.
[General Topics] Aquaires:
C:\Users\DragoAquaires>fastboot flash boot_a boot_a.img

target reported max download size of 33554432 bytes

Invalid sparse file format at header magic

sending sparse 'boot_a' 1/2 (32764 KB)...

OKAY [ 1.260s]

writing 'boot_a' 1/2...

OKAY [ 2.749s]

sending sparse 'boot_a' 2/2 (1124 KB)...

OKAY [ 0.072s]

writing 'boot_a' 2/2...

OKAY [ 2.508s]

finished. total time: 6.597s

C:\Users\DragoAquaires>fastboot flash boot_b boot_b.img

target reported max download size of 33554432 bytes

Invalid sparse file format at header magic

sending sparse 'boot_b' 1/2 (32764 KB)...

OKAY [ 1.257s]

writing 'boot_b' 1/2...

OKAY [ 2.749s]

sending sparse 'boot_b' 2/2 (1124 KB)...

OKAY [ 0.073s]

writing 'boot_b' 2/2...

OKAY [ 2.522s]

finished. total time: 6.608s

Device is Specter 8

MD 2207 AP13023131

Android 12 go

The new 2gb ram

only thing i can think of is the invalid sparse format at header magic in boot a&b image
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
I wish to reverse my opinion of the tablet screen. After a little while, the screen sensitivity came back and with a vengeance. The touch and feel is one of the best I've experienced, and I love the larger screen that a tablet allows.

I do not know what happened, but it is great now. No doubt the better build helps a great deal. It is very fast and responsive. Thanks again to Viva La Android.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Glad to hear. I, too, have noticed that with a little debloating and tweaking, the tablet is actually pretty responsive. Perhaps it's something to do with devices using the dynamic partitioning scheme...I'm not exactly sure...but after installing a particular ROM, it seems like it takes a little time before things start to even out and fall into place in terms of performance and responsiveness.

I have rewritten the firmware installation instructions to include only.the proprietary Allwinner flashing tools. I'm going to include an optimized build in a separate thread once I have packaged it into a standard .img firmware archive. Thanks for your feedback and input. It is truly appreciated.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
I have found that google has its claws into everything on it and it took me quite a while to remove as much as I can without a customized ROM that was programmed without google stuff to begin with. (PureOS?)

I found that I really had to work hard at disabling many things (read "most apps"), and even that was not enough. I had to actually force stop almost everything after downloading and installing safe substitutes. I cleared the cache and storage of all the apps I stopped, and also went into other settings for each app and turned off anything I could.

I next installed F-droid and Aurora Store for safe apps.

The big issue was replacing the voice typing. (I needed a quiet device to use indoors in meeting environements.) It was a pain, but worth it. I found that removing Gboard and voice typing could be done after downloading a couple keyboards and Keyboard Switcher. But it required a lot of fiddling. (It was probably a simple order of steps to do it right, but not knowing them was trial and error, but worth it.)

Google play store notifications had to be silenced because they bother the user to death. Turning them off and force stopping the apps got it all quiet now.

And just like my desktop, I don't have to do anything to log in when it boots up.

It is sure easier to do these things on a tablet instead of a small phone screen. The tablet is now a real useful tool instead of the toy a smartphone is.

My hotspot is my flip phone when I am away from home and I need to use my notebook or tablet. Life is so much easier now.

I have very good battery life, so that is a real blessing, too.

Now, to download a nice wallpaper to get rid of the q-link logo.......
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
This is Stokie, a great HD wallpaper app repo of OEM stock wallpapers from dozens of manufacturers and hundreds of devices. https://drive.google.com/file/d/10_7Pw1NdHDWnHHo4Opll87W0TWIXUNNJ/view?usp=drivesdk

Thank you for sharing your input. Because the Scepter 8 doesn't have a logical /system partition, but rather a dynamic /super partition, it can be difficult to debloat and modify /system, /product, /vendor & /system-ext, all of which include preinstalled apps. The best way to make these changes is to use an image extractor and extract /system, /vendor and /product from the super.img file. You can then mount each partition on your desktop, make the desires changes, and then repack the logical partitions into a super.img once again, which can be flashed via fastboot.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
For you members with the Android 11 Go Edition variant, who would like to upgrade to Android 12 Go Edition, I have some good news. The CEO of Hot Pepper Mobile has just given me access to an Android 12 Go Edition firmware package for the Allwinner-A100 variant.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
The quick and dirty way to handle the wallpaper issue was to get a decent file manager (I chose Cx File Explorer) and then go to Settings>Display>Wallpaper>Wallpapers>My Photos, which opens your file manager. Go to where you've downloaded your favorites and select one. That's it.

This method allows me to just sidestep the nastiness of the dynamic super partition issue.

I look forward to news about the newer edition.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Thanks for your continued support and feedback. As we speak i am unpacking the Android 12 Go Edition firmware and the super.img. I want to petsonally.check the /system/build.prop, as well as rhe /vendor and /product .prop files to make sure of its compatibility with the A100 variant. So far everything checks out. Ill be posting a link soon.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Okay, for members who own the original Allwinner-A100 Scepter 8 variant, with Android 11 Go Edition, I am getting the link ready for the Android 12 Go Edition firmware package for upgrading the OS. To avoid confusion and potential firmware mismatching, this Android 12 Go Edition firmware is not the same build as the package for the A133 variant. Also i have not flashed this package to my own device, as my display is presently broken and not operable. You try this at your own risk. I am relying on the word of the CEO of Hot Pepper Mobile that this package is for the A100. I will have the link live here and in the OP within the next 15 minutes or so. I need a tester to confirm A100 compatibility.

Android 12 Go Edition Firmware

To any zealous testers who want to confirm compatibility with the original A100 model, if this package does not.work for whatever reason, you can fully restore your tablet by flashing the v9 Android 11 Go Edition firmware package. The hardware embedded bootloader protocol (FEL/BROM mode) makes Allwinner tablets almost impossible to hard brick.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Guys I just tried to upgrade from Android 11 GE to Android 12 GE, to no avail. I am going to try to put together some fastboot flashable images for upgrading to Android 12 GE. For now, the package i just posted will be treated as an incremental build to the original Android 12 GE firmware i posted in the OP.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Notwithstanding my lack of success in upgrading the Scepter 8 firmware to the Android 12 GE build, i would still like for a tester to give it a go. Keep in mind that my touch screen digitizer is damaged. It is quite possible that my LCD is faulty as well, possibly giving me a bad result on my upgrade attempt. I get only a blank backlit screen, but perhaps this is due to my damaged display, and not a firmware compatibility issue.
[General Topics] addyo99:
Hi, I'm new here but would there be any hope in porting lineage OS to this tablet, additionally is the Andriod 12 Go image above a stock image or a bloated image that comes standard with the specter 8, thanks.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Welcome. I am glad to have you here. LineageOS is already running on the Scepter 8. Because it supports Project Treble, the LineageOS 19.1 GSI builds boot up and run on this tablet. The Android 12 GE firmware is directly from the manufacturer, so the build is fully stock.
[General Topics] tmoney75:
My scepter is stuck on the QLINK screen and is not recognized by my laptop, no matter what I do!! Am I totally screwed?
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
It's an Allwinner tablet. You can't hard brick one of those. Hold the Power button for up to 20 seconds until you are surely powered off. Then follow my instructions for the PhoenixUSB Pro firmware restoration. It will flash your device in a powered off state.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
@crimson

The vbmeta.img is part of the firmware package. The patched boot image I linked you already has verity disabled and is patched for Magisk root. All you need to do is perform a factory data reset, flash both slots of your /boot partition with the patched boot image I linked you, and boot your tablet. You shouldn't need to do anything with vbmeta.img because I already disabled verity per the pre-patched boot image. To flash both slots, execute these commands in fastboot:

fastboot flash boot_a opt-encrypt-magisk_boot.img
fastboot flash boot_b opt-encrypt-magisk_boot.img
fastboot reboot
[General Topics] tmoney75:
MD2207AP13032681
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
The "AP13" is the latest model, with Android 12 Go Edition, 2GB RAM and the Allwinner-A133. Simply follow my guide on restoring your firmware using PhoenixUSB Pro. Use the newest Android 12 Go Edition firmware I have listed in the downloads section, which has a build date of 20220711.
[General Topics] tmoney75:
Nothing…….

still nothing trying it on the shut off tablet. It pops up charging and then nothing happens on Phoenix. I may be doing something wrong, who knows. Have flashed several phones no issues, this tablet was brought to me and I thought no problem lol
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Make sure you have the correct drivers installed on your computer, or your tablet won't be recognized. Pay special attention to the INSTALLING USB DEVICE DRIVERS section in the OP. Also I just added instructions for PhoenixSuit as well. Maybe try that tool.
[General Topics] JovialQuestion:
Anyone know where the firmware is on

FCC ID 2APD4-AP15

fcc.report

I don't see V02 and AP15 .it's android 12 GO

August 2022

I just need the boot img so I can patch it. I'm not familiar with the board so idk if the one I have will work.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
You can patch the boot image from the V01_20220711 firmware I have in the downloads section. It will suffice to root your device. Give me the full build number for the V02 firmware and in the meantime I will get it directly from the manufacturer.

The manufacturer, Hot Pepper Mobile, does not publicly release any of the firmware packages for the QLink Scepter 8. I have an arrangement with Hot Pepper Mobile CEO Shawn Sun to get limited access to some firmware builds. Once the link is provided to me, I have only a 4-hour window to download the firmware and upload it to my own cloud hosting before the link expires permanently..Since the links are sent to me from Hong Kong, China, the time zone difference can be a challenge, especially if I get a link while I'm sleeping at 2:00 a.m. EST, with the link expiring at 6:00 a.m. The Chinese government are extremely paranoid that US intelligence will hack their servers. As such, access has a time limit.
[General Topics] JovialQuestion:
V02-20220726
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Thanks. I'll make a written request now.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
If you would like to root.your device now, the V01_20220711 boot image should suffice for patching. Android 12 Go Edition boot images are derived from the Android Common Kernel (ACL) upstream source. Due to the ACK's nature for broad compatibility on devices with the same or similar hardware, you should have no issues. In any event, I should have the exact firmware image for your device within the next couple of days.
[General Topics] JovialQuestion:
Any chance you have the boot img already extracted. I keep pulling it from the .img file. No matter how I try the file is corrupt and I'm not able to unpack the boot img.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
You have to unpack the firmware image using specialized tools. But yes I have a boot image already extracted and pre-patched to remove verity and for.Magisk root support. I'll get you a link

No-Verity Magisk Patched Boot Image

This image is from the Android 12 GE firmware package with build number V01_20220711. When flashing it with fastboot, it's always a good idea to flash both boot.slots.
[General Topics] JovialQuestion:
Thanks. I can open most of the img files. Not any vbmeta or boot those two were the only ones in the archive I couldn't. The vendor boot I can open. Life saver tho. Thank you. Ill figure out why it's pulling them incomplete. Probably not the right tool .

*********

I got it.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
Anytime friend. This is the preferred tool for unpacking Allwinner firmware images. Extract and save it on a Windows computer, double click runner.bat, drag and drop the firmware image inside the interface. Type smt and press enter.

Allwinner ImgRePacker Tool

A number of .fex files will be extracted from the firmware .img file. For example, boot.fex is the boot image. You can simply rename the file extension from .fex to .img to convert the file types.

The boot image I linked you has force encryption and dm-verity disabled, as well as ramdisk patching for Magisk v24.3 root support. You can update Magisk via Direct Install once you get booted up.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
@JovialQuestion, I now have the firmware package for your tablet. I'll post a link in the OP soon as I get it uploaded to my cloud host.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
The latest V02 Android 12 Go Edition firmware is now available in the downloads section.
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
For any members who need to perform a firmware restoration, but are having unresolved device recognition issues using any of the three flashing tools outlined in the OP, there is an alternative method for flashing stock firmware via micro SD card. An Allwinner proprietary tool known as PhoenixCard can be used to burn a factory image to a micro SD card. In turn, that card can be inserted in the external micro SD slot, whereas the tablet is booted using a hardware key operation. Once the OS is booted from external storage, the firmware image is then written to eMMC flash storage, fully restoring the device to its stock factory state. This method is ideal for members who cannot achieve the proper device recognition while using PhoenixUSB Pro, PhoenixSuit, or LiveSuit, or for members who have fully corrupted the tablet's partition index.

I will be posting a step-by-step guide for PhoenixCard in the OP later tonight
[General Topics] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
The PhoenixCard guide has been added in the OP under Method 4.
[General Topics] Bubba The Hack:
A quick question just came up when checking out MicroG; does the version you gave us support "signature faking" or must we create a custom ROM that has that feature?