Poke 3 Root and Firmware Updating

[mace-cortex]

I've used my Poke 3 completely offline due to privacy concerns, and just discovered that rooting can help solve those issues thanks to this forum

I use KOReader for books and Tachiyomi for manga. Once rooted for a more privacy-friendly connected experience, I plan to use AFWall+, Syncthing, and Wallabag.

1. Are there any downsides to rooting if I don't care for any Onyx or Google apps?
2. Is Thomas' Random Hackery still the best guide to use for rooting the Poke 3? What else should I keep in mind so that everything goes smoothly?
3. The Poke 3 is still on an older v3.1 firmware. What am I missing out on by not upgrading? If upgrading is recommended, which version and how do I get it?

[mace-cortex]

Originally Posted by mace-cortex

1. Are there any downsides to rooting if I don't care for any Onyx or Google apps?
2. Is Thomas' Random Hackery still the best guide to use for rooting the Poke 3? What else should I keep in mind so that everything goes smoothly?
3. The Poke 3 is still on an older v3.1 firmware. What am I missing out on by not upgrading? If upgrading is recommended, which version and how do I get it?

One more:

• How do I make a full backup of the pre-root Poke 3 and restore that to undo root later on?

[Renate]

You can use EDL and make a full raw 32 GB backup.
Then you can restore in a single operation, no matter what you do.

C:\>edl.exe /lpoke3.bin /r bignastyfile

If you still have some Onyx stuff enabled you can download an update on your desktop, plunk it down on /sdcard/update.upx and tell Onyx to update (without your Poke3 being online).

$ am start -a onyx.settings.action.firmware

If you broke that, I have a recovery that you can install updates with.

The latest update is:

Model:  Poke3 (English)
Finger: ONYX/Poke3/Poke3:10/2023-12-12_23-45_3.5_4687b1901/12699:user/dev-keys
Link:   http://firmware-us.boox.com/729099b8ab981a2b2f4a3d29af22b0db/update.upx
Size:   1,669,183,019
MD5:    729099b8ab981a2b2f4a3d29af22b0db

[mace-cortex]

Originally Posted by Renate

You can use EDL and make a full raw 32 GB backup.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I learned more about EDL from your website, and installed Qualcomm Sahara / Firehose Diag Tools for EDL on Linux. I'm having trouble figuring out how to correctly make the backup.

• Is prog_emmc_ufs_firehose_Sdm636_ddr.elf the right programmer for the Poke 3? If not, where do I find the right one?
• What is the command to make a full backup for safely restoring to my original v3.1 non-rooted Poke3?

[mace-cortex]

I ran the following with and without the above loader:

edl printgpt

In both cases, I get the same errors:

/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:165: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\S'
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:166: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\['
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:207: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\['
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:456: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\S'
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:165: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\S'
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:166: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\['
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:207: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\['
/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/docopt-0.6.2-py3.12.egg/docopt.py:456: SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\S'
Capstone library is missing (optional).
Keystone library is missing (optional).
Qualcomm Sahara / Firehose Client V3.62 (c) B.Kerler 2018-2023.
main - Trying with no loader given ...
main - Waiting for the device
main - Device detected :)
main - Mode detected: sahara
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/edl", line 4, in <module>
    __import__('pkg_resources').run_script('edlclient==3.62', 'edl')
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 720, in run_script
    self.require(requires)[0].run_script(script_name, ns)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pkg_resources/__init__.py", line 1559, in run_script
    exec(code, namespace, namespace)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/edlclient-3.62-py3.12.egg/EGG-INFO/scripts/edl", line 393, in <module>
    base.run()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/edlclient-3.62-py3.12.egg/EGG-INFO/scripts/edl", line 295, in run
    version = conninfo["data"].version
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: type object 'req' has no attribute 'version'

[mace-cortex]

I decided to skip the EDL backup and dive into rooting.

I've gotten to the fastboot section, but cannot figure out how to boot the image to test before flashing.

adb reboot fastboot
# Works without issues

fastboot devices

# Displays the following:
B751CA90	 fastboot

fastboot getvar current-slot

# Displays the following:
getvar:current-slot	 	 FAILED (remote: 'GetVar Variable Not found')
Finished. Total time: 0.001s

fastboot boot magisk_patched-27000_lRCKS.img

# Hangs on the following
Sending 'boot.img' (13593 KB)                      

# Canceling the command shows this
FAILED (Status read failed (No such device))

[mace-cortex]

After a lengthy search with a healthy dose of trial and error, I found the following fix: use a USB hub!

I still couldn't figure out how to properly get an EDL backup, but the fastboot flash went through.

Strange solution, but it looks like I now have a properly rooted Poke 3!

[Renate]

Originally Posted by mace-cortex

I learned more about EDL from your website, and installed Qualcomm Sahara / Firehose Diag Tools for EDL on Linux.

Ok, so you had Linux. OTOH, my native Windows version works with less drama.