Rooting the Likebook Mars (Detailed Guide)

[shitbrickman]

What follows is a reproducible routine to root Android 6 on the T80D in (hopefully) plain English. This procedure was tested on a generic x64 Windows 10 PC and assumes the reader possesses basic computing knowledge.

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1. Environment Setup

a. Ensure important data is backed up from device (see BONUS 2). Disconnect device from computer and power off.

b. Download and install device drivers:
https://mega.nz/file/TFYUBQpZ#j562jV...UVfg28zGkGgGJk

c. Download tools package from here (rk android tool, rk dumper, adb/fastboot, config_16.cfg, supersu zips, twrp.img, stock boot.img):
https://files.catbox.moe/84xay8.zip

d. Extract files from the tools archive such that "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\AndroidTool.exe" runs.

e. Download Android system image from here, place "t80d-456.img" in "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\":
https://yadi.sk/d/53qTS_Oqefv_UQ

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2. Flash Android Image

a. Run "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\AndroidTool.exe" as admin. The bottom of the window should say "no
devices found". Plug your device into the PC. Hold the power and reset buttons
down until the "no devices found" text changes to "found one loader device".

b. Select "upgrade firmware" tab, click "firmware" button, select "C:\2.3.0
ROOT\t80d-456.img" in the file browser. Hit the "upgrade" button next to the "firmware" button
after a brief wait. Wait some more.

c. Your device should reboot. It may be a few minutes before you see the
Android Setup screen. Complete setup as you normally would.

d. Navigate to Android settings, tap the build number until you enable
developer options. From developer options enable USB debugging, ensure your PC
is authorized. Power off the device.

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3. Flash Supersu

a. Ensure AndroidTool.exe is running as admin and your device is connected to the PC. Hold the power and reset buttons down until you see "found one loader device" as before. Select the "download image" tab. Right click the main inner window, select "load config", select config_16.cfg. Uncheck all the boxes except the one labeled "boot". Replace the contents of the textbox next to "boot" with "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\TWRP.img". Hit "run". Mind the scrollbar - there are checkboxes you cannot see and you must physically click the scollbar in order to use it. Keep this window open.

b. The device should reboot to the "likebook starting up" screen and the backlight should enable itself. Open an admin command prompt and navigate to "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\bin". Run "adb devices". If you see you're device you're set to flash supersu.

c. Run "adb push 1supersu.zip /sdcard/", followed by "adb push 2supersu.zip /sdcard/".

d. Run "adb shell". Inside the shell run "twrp install /sdcard/1supersu.zip" followed by "twrp install /sdcard/2supersu.zip".

e. Hold the power and reset buttons down until you see "found one loader device" in AndroidTool.exe. Replace the contents of the textbox next to "boot" with "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\boot.img". Select "run".

f. With any luck your device will reboot and you'll be rooted.

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BONUS 1.
You may want to backup your rooted image. Open an admin command prompt and navigate to "C:\2.3.0 ROOT\bin". Run "rkDumper.exe dump". The dumped images can be reflashed via AndroidTool.exe. System.img is where supersu lives in this case.

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BONUS 2: If you can get to fastboot you can unlock the bootloader via the instructions below:
http://opensource.rock-chips.com/wiki_Fastboot
I've only been able to get a workable fastboot server from my device from the Android 8 recovery.img. YMMV.

[rgm]

Hi
Thank you for so detailed information.
I was eager wait successful root for Mars, and happy to see this.
Is this works for new Android 8.1 firm too? I planned to do upgrade soon.
Thanks

[shitbrickman]

Originally Posted by rgm

Hi
Thank you for so detailed information.
I was eager wait successful root for Mars, and happy to see this.
Is this works for new Android 8.1 firm too? I planned to do upgrade soon.
Thanks

Not a problem. TWRP does not start adb on Android 8.1. Supersu should work assuming you can get TWRP working, but I've yet to figure it out.

[endemion06463]

So I guess this also isn't gonna work for the P78?

[fduniho]

I rooted my Nook Simple Touch to get it to run Android, but my Likebook Mars already runs Android. So, what advantages would come from rooting the Likebook Mars?

[bazz2004]

I believe fduniho is correct in that this is a pointless exercise. You are really asking for trouble and even "upgrading" Android from 6.1 to 8.1 is for most people stressful and not worth doing. My smart phone is now on Android 11. It took Boyue forever to work out how to upgrade to 8.1 and put the instruction on the web. They had to do it because they made the promise but it's unlikely they will go beyond 8.1. 6.1 does the job adequately for many users.

[Waddle]

Yeah me too...what's the advantage in rooting an e-book? Thanks!

[endemion06463]

Originally Posted by Waddle

Yeah me too...what's the advantage in rooting an e-book? Thanks!

The advantage is that you can run apps that require root. Or tweak things that for instance reduce battery consumption.

I for one would love to be able to get rid of that horrible MTP (media transfer protocol) as it's slow and buggy. Backups and large data transfers would work so much better if you can just access your device's storage as a regular (usb) drive.

[bazz2004]

These devices are not up to doing everything. They are e-readers with a few bells and whistles. No amount of hacking is going to unleash a beast of a device. It's not worth risking screwing them up.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by endemion06463

I for one would love to be able to get rid of that horrible MTP (media transfer protocol) as it's slow and buggy. Backups and large data transfers would work so much better if you can just access your device's storage as a regular (usb) drive.

For this, the operating system should have to contain the driver for making partitions available - but this is not the case.

[endemion06463]

Originally Posted by bazz2004

These devices are not up to doing everything. They are e-readers with a few bells and whistles. No amount of hacking is going to unleash a beast of a device. It's not worth risking screwing them up.

Whether it's worth it is a personal deliberation. My previous ereader had crashing issues and the battery use was far from efficient. All solved with rooting and installing a different (inkbook based) rom.

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

For this, the operating system should have to contain the driver for making partitions available - but this is not the case.

Personally it's fine to have that only work for the sd card (which I transferred from my previous ereader and has all my books on it). That shouldn't be an issue but does require rooting.

[bazz2004]

The Alita worked OK out of the box though I didn't think much of the Boyue reading app. I have so far had two years of reading books with wifi mostly off to give better battery life. If you need to find a new hobby and enjoy messing around with android devices "hacking and tweaking" it has to be worth a look. I'm posting from a PC.

[Quoth]

I found the Boyue app good for image based PDFs. I installed KOreader for epub via APK from git downloaded by stock browser. I see no need to root my Mars (or Kobo or most Android phones / Tablets). There is some value in rooting older Kindles.

[endemion06463]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I found the Boyue app good for image based PDFs. I installed KOreader for epub via APK from git downloaded by stock browser. I see no need to root my Mars (or Kobo or most Android phones / Tablets). There is some value in rooting older Kindles.

The thing is though that all the things you can't do without root is getting bigger and bigger. For instance these days if you enable battery saver on android it's become standard for it to switch to dark mode. Now that may be nice for amoled but it makes no sense for lcd, in fact lcd uses more power to go dark. And you don't have access to the specific battery saver settings. If you want to disable this particular part of the battery saver profile you need root access to edit a certain xml file. Honestly I think it's ridiculous that the devices we buy and own lock that same owner out of their own device's full access unless you jump trough hoops and void warranty (which is often a lie btw depending on where you live) and what not.

[bazz2004]

E-readers don't have lcd screens. That's why they are bought in addition to other devices that can give eye strain. It's about all that e-readers like Boyue have going for them but it's important.