howto bring a likebook mars t80d back to life under gnu/linux?

prout · 05-01-2021, 04:25 PM

Hi there.

I have an "old" likebook mars t80d, and I have the same problem that many people had : one day, after maybe a full discharge of the battery, the e-reader froze on the booting page.

Whatever I try (power, reset, etc.), it still stays with the page :

Code:

likebook
starting up...

But without any dot moving or what, the screen never refresh.

So I tried to bring it back to life.
I did lots of researches but I haven't found any correct solution for GNU/Linux users (and newbe in android's world).

adb didn't respond:

Code:

root@my.computer~# adb devices
List of devices attached

root@my.computer:~#

But I saw that "rkflashtool" could maybe help.
So I've tried to play with rkflashtool:

Code:

root@my.computer:~# rkflashtool p
rkflashtool: info: rkflashtool v5.2
rkflashtool: info: Detected RK3368...
rkflashtool: info: interface claimed
rkflashtool: info: reading parameters at offset 0x00000000
rkflashtool: info: size:  0x000003b1
FIRMWARE_VER: 6.0.0
MACHINE_MODEL: RK3368
MACHINE_ID: 007
MANUFACTURER: RK3368
MAGIC: 0x5041524B
ATAG: 0x00200800
MACHINE: 3368
CHECK_MASK: 0x80
PWR_HLD: 0,0,A,0,1
#KERNEL_IMG: 0x00280000
#FDT_NAME: rk-kernel.dtb
#RECOVER_KEY: 1,1,0,20,0
#in section; per section 512(0x200) bytes
CMDLINE: console=ttyS2 androidboot.baseband=N/A androidboot.selinux=permissive androidboot.hardware=rk30board androidboot.console=ttyS2 init=/init mtdparts=rk29xxnand:0x00002000@0x00002000(uboot),0x00002000@0x00004000(trust),0x00002000@0x00006000(wbf),0x00002000@0x00008000(misc),0x00008000@0x0000a000(resource),0x0000a000@0x00012000(kernel),0x00010000@0x0001c000(boot),0x00010000@0x0002c000(recovery),0x00038000@0x0003c000(backup),0x00040000@0x00074000(cache),0x00002000@0x000B4000(kpanic),0x00300000@0x000B6000(system),0x00008000@0x003B6000(metadata),0x00002000@0x003BE000(baseparamer),0x00020000@0x003C0000(radical_update),-@0x003E0000(userdata)

And, it looks like my computer can say "hello" to Mars!

And I have successfully made a backup image of the "system" partition.

Can I find an image to push into the likebook with rkflashtool, like a

Code:

rkflashtool w system < bring_me_back_to_life_please.img

or any other tricks?

If so, how to do it?

thank you!

N.B.: I don't have windows, neither a facebook account to see what boyue says :/

-- Edit: see #31 for a woking version of android 6 fw

rvcjew · 05-01-2021, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prout

Hi there.

I have an "old" likebook mars t80d, and I have the same problem that many people had : one day, after maybe a full discharge of the battery, the e-reader froze on the booting page.

Whatever I try (power, reset, etc.), it still stays with the page :

Code:

likebook
starting up...

But without any dot moving or what, the screen never refresh.

So I tried to bring it back to life.
I did lots of researches but I haven't found any correct solution for GNU/Linux users (and newbe in android's world).

adb didn't respond:

Code:

root@my.computer~# adb devices
List of devices attached

root@my.computer:~#

But I saw that "rkflashtool" could maybe help.
So I've tried to play with rkflashtool:

Code:

root@my.computer:~# rkflashtool p
rkflashtool: info: rkflashtool v5.2
rkflashtool: info: Detected RK3368...
rkflashtool: info: interface claimed
rkflashtool: info: reading parameters at offset 0x00000000
rkflashtool: info: size:  0x000003b1
FIRMWARE_VER: 6.0.0
MACHINE_MODEL: RK3368
MACHINE_ID: 007
MANUFACTURER: RK3368
MAGIC: 0x5041524B
ATAG: 0x00200800
MACHINE: 3368
CHECK_MASK: 0x80
PWR_HLD: 0,0,A,0,1
#KERNEL_IMG: 0x00280000
#FDT_NAME: rk-kernel.dtb
#RECOVER_KEY: 1,1,0,20,0
#in section; per section 512(0x200) bytes
CMDLINE: console=ttyS2 androidboot.baseband=N/A androidboot.selinux=permissive androidboot.hardware=rk30board androidboot.console=ttyS2 init=/init mtdparts=rk29xxnand:0x00002000@0x00002000(uboot),0x00002000@0x00004000(trust),0x00002000@0x00006000(wbf),0x00002000@0x00008000(misc),0x00008000@0x0000a000(resource),0x0000a000@0x00012000(kernel),0x00010000@0x0001c000(boot),0x00010000@0x0002c000(recovery),0x00038000@0x0003c000(backup),0x00040000@0x00074000(cache),0x00002000@0x000B4000(kpanic),0x00300000@0x000B6000(system),0x00008000@0x003B6000(metadata),0x00002000@0x003BE000(baseparamer),0x00020000@0x003C0000(radical_update),-@0x003E0000(userdata)

And, it looks like my computer can say "hello" to Mars!

And I have successfully made a backup image of the "system" partition.

Can I find an image to push into the likebook with rkflashtool, like a

Code:

rkflashtool w system < bring_me_back_to_life_please.img

or any other tricks?

If so, how to do it?

thank you!

N.B.: I don't have windows, neither a facebook account to see what boyue says :/

Was the mars running the new 8.1 update or the 6.0?

Could you vm windows temporarily? I don't know enough about flashing rktool, so can't help there.

You should be able to see boyue posts without logging into Facebook but if you reply with what you had before maybe I can get a link to the firmware you need. It will wipe the device.

prout · 05-02-2021, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvcjew

Was the mars running the new 8.1 update or the 6.0?

the mars was running an old 6.0 (from 2019)

Quote:

Could you vm windows temporarily? […]

No I can't.

Quote:

You should be able to see boyue posts without logging into Facebook […]

I can't, when I try to go to the facebook page like for the android 8.1 from another post, it says: "You must log in first."

rvcjew · 05-02-2021, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prout

the mars was running an old 6.0 (from 2019)

No I can't.

I can't, when I try to go to the facebook page like for the android 8.1 from another post, it says: "You must log in first."

Do you care if you go to 8.1?

prout · 05-02-2021, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvcjew

Do you care if you go to 8.1?

I don't know the difference, but I*prefer having a 8.1 version of android rather than a brick

rvcjew · 05-02-2021, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prout

I don't know the difference, but I*prefer having a 8.1 version of android rather than a brick

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1BUDt...xport=download

Flash this img to it through your tool. In windows android tool it would flash this, reboot, erase, and be the OOBE like new. If this works as intended then just take the OTA's it should find after. If possible charge it all day first to make sure its at least 80%.

I take it you already got it in Bootloader mode if you could dump stuff off it.

prout · 05-03-2021, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvcjew

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1BUDt...xport=download

Thx.
But this image doesn't looks like an image :

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ unrar x T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar 

UNRAR 5.50 freeware      Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal


Extracting from T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar

Extracting  update-10225.img                                          OK 
All OK
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ ls
T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar  update-10225.img
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ file update-10225.img 
update-10225.img: data

So I can't mount it to check what it is and if it will be ok to upload it with rkflashtool.

And I don't know how to do that neither, because I guess that reuploading the system partition won't be enough (and can be dangerous if the size isn't exactly the same as the actual one on the mars partition table), maybe there is also the kernel to change and have to configure uboot too?

the image should be something like this (it is my system backup partition made with "rkflashtool r system > system.img") :

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/bkp$ file system.img 
system.img: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=da504c53-9beb-f35c-85c5-cedf74546f7a, volume name "system" (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files)
user@my.computer:/tmp/bkp$

isn't it?

md5sum are:

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ md5sum T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar 
5889e314b96538dee15358297b3ea4c2  T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ md5sum update-10225.img 
1c245bd3b284a8278c9c31956ed41d05  update-10225.img
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$

Quote:

I take it you already got it in Bootloader mode if you could dump stuff off it.

I have no idea about the "Bootloader mode".

rvcjew · 05-03-2021, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prout

Thx.
But this image doesn't looks like an image :

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ unrar x T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar 

UNRAR 5.50 freeware      Copyright (c) 1993-2017 Alexander Roshal


Extracting from T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar

Extracting  update-10225.img                                          OK 
All OK
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ ls
T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar  update-10225.img
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ file update-10225.img 
update-10225.img: data

So I can't mount it to check what it is and if it will be ok to upload it with rkflashtool.

And I don't know how to do that neither, because I guess that reuploading the system partition won't be enough (and can be dangerous if the size isn't exactly the same as the actual one on the mars partition table), maybe there is also the kernel to change and have to configure uboot too?

the image should be something like this (it is my system backup partition made with "rkflashtool r system > system.img") :

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/bkp$ file system.img 
system.img: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=da504c53-9beb-f35c-85c5-cedf74546f7a, volume name "system" (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files)
user@my.computer:/tmp/bkp$

isn't it?

md5sum are:

Code:

user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ md5sum T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar 
5889e314b96538dee15358297b3ea4c2  T80D-Mars-Android8.1-FW.rar
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$ md5sum update-10225.img 
1c245bd3b284a8278c9c31956ed41d05  update-10225.img
user@my.computer:/tmp/t80d$

I have no idea about the "Bootloader mode".

If you want to see what's in it you need to unpack it with something like this.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/t...acker.2257331/

It has all those separate imgs and A parameter file in that one file. It should also be signed I believe.

This PDF is the Windows instructions but does say how to get into boot loader mode which I assumed you already did if your talking to the device at all with anything vs ADB. Holding in the small hole near the bottom and pushing in a USB cable.

bazz2004 · 05-03-2021, 12:56 PM

This won't cheer you up but maybe the battery died. It was drained completely and because it doesn't boot up you can't check the charge level. Replacing the battery could be even more hassle than messing around with reinstalling the firmware/software.

rvcjew · 05-03-2021, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazz2004

This won't cheer you up but maybe the battery died. It was drained completely and because it doesn't boot up you can't check the charge level. Replacing the battery could be even more hassle than messing around with reinstalling the firmware/software.

It does boot up it just boot loops at the OS start because when the mars sits dead for a while the nand gets jacked up. It needs to just be flashed to a working firmware again. This is why you want to store the devices at 60% OFF cause then the shelf life is years.

bazz2004 · 05-03-2021, 03:20 PM

prout "Whatever I try (power, reset, etc.), it still stays with the page :
Code:
likebook
starting up...
But without any dot moving or what, the screen never refresh."

That doesn't sound like booting up as I understand it rvcjew.

rvcjew · 05-03-2021, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazz2004

prout "Whatever I try (power, reset, etc.), it still stays with the page :
Code:
likebook
starting up...
But without any dot moving or what, the screen never refresh."

That doesn't sound like booting up as I understand it rvcjew.

That screen means its loading android but then finds missing/corrupt files so it will either sit at that screen till the device dies or will reboot and try again (depends how broken). Since they do get this it is not bricked which is good. The other day I updated my ares note to 3.1.0 and had font issues so re-flashed a old backup I had but with the userdata added (since its encrypted) it would not boot right and did what theirs is doing now so after re-flashing without user data to set it up as new it was fine.

If it were me I'd just install vmware player on my linux distro, install windows 10 as you don't need a key to use it for like 60 days and then just run the windows tool and after wards remove the VM but that's me lol.

https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html

bazz2004 · 05-04-2021, 01:48 AM

I'd buy a replacement e-reader rather than face all that.

prout · 05-04-2021, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvcjew

If you want to see what's in it you need to unpack it with something like this.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/t...acker.2257331/

It has all those separate imgs and A parameter file in that one file. It should also be signed I believe.

Nice, thx!

Quote:

This PDF is the Windows instructions but does say how to get into boot loader mode which I assumed you already did if your talking to the device at all with anything vs ADB. Holding in the small hole near the bottom and pushing in a USB cable.

OK, I've tried the the holding part, but still no device with adb. But it is not important I guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazz2004

This won't cheer you up but maybe the battery died[…]

No, the battery was ok

I've checked it before posting (it was 3.9 V)

OK, so, I've seen that from a radxa tuto ( https://wiki.radxa.com/Rock/flash_th...Recommended.29 ) that we have to use a non-free tool called "upgrade_tool" to use the update.img provided by rvcjew, because rkflashtool can only "flash" and do not update.

So I try to update it with the uf option like that :

Quote:

root@my.computer:/tmp/Linux_Upgrade_Tool_v1.21# ./upgrade_tool uf /tmp/update-10225.img

And I had an error at the end (sorry, I don't have the log anymore ^^').
Then my mars screen was all black o_O
So I retried, same error, and retried again, and this time it was good (a OK).
The mars rebooted, I've seen a black screen with a circle in the centre with "ereasing" in the center of the circle, then the screen changed with a ¼ left border black and the rest is dark grey. And now, I'm not so sure what to do...
I'll wait a bit then try to reboot it again to see if it will be ok ^^'

bazz2004 · 05-04-2021, 04:02 PM

"No, the battery was ok I've checked it before posting (it was 3.9 V)"

A car battery can show 12v but not have enough juice (amps) to get things going. Saying that I've no idea how the different technology of these batteries holds up in an e-reader. All batteries fail sooner or later. The Mars is a few years old so you can't rule it out.

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05-03-2021, 12:56 PM	#9
bazz2004 Groupie Posts: 197 Karma: 14745 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Boyue Alita	This won't cheer you up but maybe the battery died. It was drained completely and because it doesn't boot up you can't check the charge level. Replacing the battery could be even more hassle than messing around with reinstalling the firmware/software.

05-03-2021, 03:20 PM	#11
bazz2004 Groupie Posts: 197 Karma: 14745 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Boyue Alita	prout "Whatever I try (power, reset, etc.), it still stays with the page : Code: likebook starting up... But without any dot moving or what, the screen never refresh." That doesn't sound like booting up as I understand it rvcjew.

05-04-2021, 01:48 AM	#13
bazz2004 Groupie Posts: 197 Karma: 14745 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Boyue Alita	I'd buy a replacement e-reader rather than face all that.

05-04-2021, 04:02 PM	#15
bazz2004 Groupie Posts: 197 Karma: 14745 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Boyue Alita	"No, the battery was ok I've checked it before posting (it was 3.9 V)" A car battery can show 12v but not have enough juice (amps) to get things going. Saying that I've no idea how the different technology of these batteries holds up in an e-reader. All batteries fail sooner or later. The Mars is a few years old so you can't rule it out.

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