Rooting guide for BOOX Go 10.3 Gen2 (Lumi)

[alllexx]

Inspired by https://github.com/jdkruzr/BooxPalma2RootGuide with patched Fairphone 4 ABL shared by @AuroraWright https://github.com/jdkruzr/BooxPalma...ent-3750339416

Files (attachments) used in the guide:
ablmod.zip
bitra_boox.bin

Proceed at your own risk and be ready to perform recovery with an EDL cable (which works but is a little annoying and requires multiple tries in my experience) or even open the case and use the EDL test point (luckily, I didn't have to).

In short, the guide consists of these steps:

1. Boot to EDL mode
2. Dump boot images
3. Boot Android
4. Patch boot images with Magisk and pull them
5. Boot to EDL mode
6. Backup abl partitions and flash ablmod on them
7. Reboot to bootloader
8. Unlock the bootloader (your userdata will be erased!)
9. Flash boot images
10. Reboot to Android and finish configuring via the Magisk app

Before proceeding with the steps, I suggest you:

• Backup all valuable user data from /sdcard, since it will be erased
• Update to the latest firmware, since version 4.2 introduced some nice fixes to frontlight calibration, and I haven't tested OTA upgrades after rooting (I'm on the latest firmware)

Speaking of OTA upgrades, it was reported https://github.com/jdkruzr/BooxPalma...ent-3636102326 that reflashing the stock abl partitions back makes OTA work for Palma 2 Pro, but it wasn't tested on Go 10.3 Gen2 (Lumi).

Also, since I only have the Lumi version of this Go, I haven't tried it on the non-Lumi one, but I assume they're close enough for these instructions to work.

1. Install the required tools
On your PC, follow https://github.com/bkerler/edl to install adb, fastboot and edl tools. Note that for Linux you'll need a udev rule to access the 9008 device without root:

sudo curl -L -o /etc/udev/rules.d/51-edl.rules \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bkerler/edl/master/Drivers/51-edl.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

2. Reboot to EDL
On your Go, enable ADB. On the Onyx go to "Apps" -> Hamburger Menu -> "App Management" and enable "USB Debug Mode".
Next, connect the Go to your PC via a USB cable. Verify it's connectable:

adb devices

should not be empty. Then reboot to EDL:

adb reboot edl

*when prompted, allow the ADB connection on the Go

3. Dump boot and abl images
Assuming you have the attached bitra_boox.bin (origin: https://github.com/bkerler/Loaders/r...1d8a_fhprg.bin) in your working dir, run:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin r boot_a,boot_b,abl_a,abl_b boot_a.img,boot_b.img,abl_a.img,abl_b.img

Reboot back to Android with:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin reset

4. Patch boot images

Install Magisk on your device. Then copy boot_a.img and boot_b.img to the Go and patch them: open Magisk and click the "Install" button in the upper right. Pick "Select and Patch a File." You will repeat this twice, once for boot_a.img and once for boot_b.img. Each time it will produce a new .img boot partition file ending with a random set of characters. Make sure you keep track of which one is which. Copy them over to your PC and name them boot_a_patched.img and boot_b_patched.img.

5. Flash ablmod
First, reboot to EDL just like you did at step 2. Then, unzip the attached ablmod.zip and place ablmod.img in the current dir and flash it to both abl_a and abl_b:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin w abl_a ablmod.img
edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin w abl_b ablmod.img

Next find the active slot:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin getactiveslot

It will print either "Current active slot: a" or "Current active slot: b". We want to cycle the active slot once: I had soft bricks after flashing working boot images with edl, which were resolved by this cycling. Maybe it's not needed for the ABL, but better to be safe.
If your current active slot is "a", do:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin --memory=ufs setactiveslot b
edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin --memory=ufs setactiveslot a

If it was "b", the other way round:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin --memory=ufs setactiveslot a
edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin --memory=ufs setactiveslot b

And reboot to Android:

edl --loader=bitra_boox.bin reset

6. Unlock the bootloader
Now we have a bootloader that allows unlocking. Boot to bootloader with:

adb reboot bootloader

Then unlock the bootloader. IT WILL ERASE USERDATA!
After the device is ready and visible ("fastboot devices" must show the device), execute:

fastboot flashing unlock

The ABL is patched to not require confirmation with volume and power keys like the original FP4 does, since Go 10.3 Gen2 has no physical volume buttons. However, if something goes wrong, you can attach a USB keyboard to the Type C port and use the arrow keys instead of the volume buttons.

After unlocking and erasing userdata, the device should reboot back to Android.

7. Flash boot images
Enable USB Debugging again (see step 2) and reinstall Magisk (userdata was wiped). Reboot to bootloader:

adb reboot bootloader

Then, when the device is ready, flash the patched boot images:

fastboot flash boot_a boot_a_patched.img
fastboot flash boot_b boot_b_patched.img

Now cycle active slots (likely not needed — the issue is when writing with edl — but I still prefer to do it). Verify the current active slot:

fastboot getvar current-slot

If the active slot is "a", run:

fastboot set_active b
fastboot set_active a

And vice versa if it's "b":

fastboot set_active a
fastboot set_active b

Reboot to Android with:

fastboot reboot

8. Configure Magisk
Upon successful boot, run the Magisk app and it will ask for finalizing steps to make it fully functional. After it does so and reboots, you have a properly rooted device with an unlocked bootloader.