Develop Bugs

iFive Air Tablet - 9.7" 2048x1536px - RK3288 - Android

FNF iFive Air 9.7" Tablet​
CPU: Rockchip RK3288 Quad-core Cortex-A17 processor, 1.8 GHz (seems to be locked to 1.6 GHz for heat/battery concerns without much loss in performance, maybe lower binned processor)
GPU: Mali-T764 (or Mali-T760MP4 - 4 core GPU)
Screen: 9.7", 2048 x 1536 (4:3), Capacitive, Retina, IPS, 10-point multi-touch
Memory: 2 GB DDR3 RAM (not sure if LP or not), 16/32 GB eMMC, microSD, OTG
Networking: WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, Miracast
Camera: 8MP back camera , 2MP front camera
Sensors: Gravity Sensor, Gyroscope
Battery: 8200mAh
Net weight: 534 g / 18.84 oz
Size: 240 x 168 x 7.5 mm (review measured at 240 x 168 x 7.8 mm)
OS: Android 4.4.4 (RK3288 are supposed to get 5.0, so this device might as well)
Rebranded versions: HaierPad 971 in Europe
Official Links
Main Page
Product Page (Tab Order: Info / Pics / Specs / Intro Video / Firmware / 16 GB TMall / 32 GB TMall)
5Fans Subforum
Reviews
iambillbil (Chinese - use your favorite translator -- Chrome built-in or Bing seem to work well, Google Translate is slower)
Appearance
Hardware Evaluation
Performance Evaluation
Game Evaluation
Endurance Evaluation
Other
iFive Air Skin Review
Mu-Yun's Review
iMP3.net Review
Videos
Official Intro Video (YouTube Version)
Unboxing
Unboxing and Tactile Test from HongKongGeek
Accessories
Cases
There is an "official" case for the tablet -- it's a PU leather flip case in 5 colors (black, white, blue, pink, and gold) that can be found on AliExpress and other similar sites searching for "iFive Air case". There are two brands of the case that can be found -- one with a brown interior with volume holes that seem off to one side based on the pictures. The other one has a gray interior with centered volume holes. I got the gray one and it actually fits quite well. There are some areas that aren't protected well (mostly the lower right corner. I ordered the "black" one, which is actually much more of a dark gray. It actually really looks good with the white front and light gray back. The cutouts match very well (better than it looks in the pictures).
iPad Air/iPad 5 cases -- as the dimensions are close (240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm), some of those cases might work as long as you take care to get the ones that leave the top part of the tablet exposed for the different port layout -- they may also not work. According to iambillbil in his "Appearance" review, you can use the iPad Air hard plastic and silicone covers as the buttons and cameras line up (although, from his pictures, not quite exactly) but not the Apple shell covers (I assume he means the magnetic attach ones, but I'm not sure). I ordered an iPad Air Origami case from AliExpress. Even thought the dimensions match, the side profile of the tablet is different from the iPad Air, so it didn't fit in the case at all. The case needed the slightly more rounded profile shape.
universal 9.7" tablet cases
Screen Protectors
The tablet comes with a screen protector installed. iPad Air protectors should work as well, but they will generally have a cutout for the home button which is unneeded for this tablet.
ROMS
Official Firmware
Official 4.4.x Firmware
Official 5.1.x Firmware
Official 6.0.x Firmware
Official Alternative Firmware
My Custom ROMs
4.4.x
iFive Air 32GB Nexus v1.1.0.x (Bare Base)
iFive Air 32GB Nexus v1.1.2.x (Bare Base)
5.1.x
iFive Air 32GB Nexus v2.0.6.x (Bare Base)
CrewRKTablets' ROMs (Thanks Oma!!)
4.4.x
Oma's Customized Stock v1.x
Oma's Customized Stock v2.x
Oma's OmniROM (RK32xx Generic)
Oma's Air AOSP
5.1.x
Oma's AOSP 5.1.1 v1.1
Oma's CM12.1 v1.2.1
Oma's 5.1.1 Custom Stock v1.0 (based on 2.0.3)
6.0.x
Oma's 6.0.x AOSP Based
Oma's CM13 Based
Custom Recovery (Thanks CrewRKTables!)
CWM 6.0.5.1 / TWRP 2.8.3.0
CWM 6.0.5.1 / TWRP 2.8.4.0
TWRP 2.8.4.0 for 5.x+
TWRP 3.0.0 for 6.0+
Known Issues and Bugs (All ROMs)
moved to separate post
Tutorials
Official Firmware Flashing Instructions (Translated)
Firmware Customization Tutorial
Rooting the iFive Air
Resources
RK3288 Specs
Mali-T760 Specs
CNX-Software RK32xx News
Dev Resources
Firefly Dev Board Wiki
Linux Rockchip Wiki
Androtab
Linuxium
CrewRKTablets Dev Forum
Freaktab
*** Remember, anything you do to your tablet is AT YOUR OWN RISK -- following any procedure here may result in bricking your device ***

Reserved

Official Firmware Flashing Instructions (Translated)
This document is included in the official firmware flashing tool, but in Chinese. There are pictures in the document. Here is the translated text (between Google and Bing)
To get the software to be in English instead of Chinese, go into the config.ini and change the [Language] > Selected value from "1" to "2".
Step 1: The Pre-Upgrade Considerations
Make sure that the tablet has enough power, not in a low power state. (>30% of power)
RK3188 RK3288 upgrade tool and can not be universal.
Make sure USB debugging is turned off ("Settings > Developer Options > USB debugging " should be unchecked)
Make sure USB connection type is set to "Mass Storage"
If the connection to the computer automatically switches to upgrade mode fails , reconnect again.
Please copy important files to another storage device in advance, the upgrade will format, to prevent loss of important documents.
Step 2: The Driver Installation
machine turned on, press the switch button 15S, during machine shutdown will be black, but do not let go.
Connect the USB to the computer, and other computer recognizes the device let go (to windows7, for example), as shown below:
If you do not pop up this option, select the desktop or the Start menu, computer / right click My Computer, and select Manage.
After opening management, select the Device Manager, which can be seen when an unknown device.
Driver Installation
Facing the unknown device, right click and select Update Driver Software.
Click the Select Browse my computer for driver software. Note: You can click on the automatic search.
Click Browse and select the location of the driver
Upgrade tools folder has a folder Driver, Driver folder contains a version upgrade drive, if your computer system is 64, select X64; if it is 32, select X86, then according to operating system selection.
Pop up whether to install this device software, select Install.
After the installation is complete, in the Device Manager can see the driver Rockusb Device.
Step 3: Firmware Upgrade
Extract the downloaded iFive Air upgrade kit if not done already.
Open FactoryTool.exe [UpdateTool.exe is referenced in the document but outdated]
Select the "firmware", and select the path of the next firmware.
Check the "repair" option.
Select the "Start" option.
Connect the tablet to the PC via USB
The machine will automatically enter download mode and download the firmware.
After the firmware download is completed, there will be a green icon prompt, unplug the USB cable. (Otherwise the machine will go into upgrade mode). [This is super important, because otherwise it will switch to upgrade mode and keep doing factory resets on the device. until you stop it].
Select "Stop" option, and then exit the upgrade program.

GPU question.
Hi,
I have a question about the GPU. Hope anyone can answer.
On their website its advertised as Mali-T764-16 core GPU (@326GFLOPS)
Shouldn't that be Mali-T760 MP16? As far as I was aware Mali T-764 is a quad core GPU (@ around 90GFLOPS)
Any idea which GPU is on this tablet, I'm planing to buy this tablet.(or Pipo P9).
Thanks.

pal2342 said:
Hi,
I have a question about the GPU. Hope anyone can answer.
On their website its advertised as Mali-T764-16 core GPU (@326GFLOPS)
Shouldn't that be Mali-T760 MP16? As far as I was aware Mali T-764 is a quad core GPU (@ around 90GFLOPS)
Any idea which GPU is on this tablet, I'm planing to buy this tablet.(or Pipo P9).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything I've seen listed has it as the Malt-T764. However, if you got the ARM/Mali website, no such core exists. I've seen it listed on other sites as T760MP4. Going by the Mali site (http://www.arm.com/products/multimedia/mali-performance-efficient-graphics/mali-t760.php), it says it scales up to 16 core product. I'm not sure what the MP4 means. I've also seen other tablets with the 762/760MP2.
Scalable would mean that a company incorporates it into their design, they could use up to a 16 core version (MP16 as you said). The RK3288 design is just using the 4 core version, which is what you'll find across all the RK3288 chips.
I wouldn't get to wrapped up in the Chinese manufacturer specs, they all seem a little "enhanced". Many of them cheat on their AnTuTu scores. iFive also lists the tablet as having a 1.8 GHz chip when it's limited to 1.6 GHz (not sure if a lower binned part, or just software limited). Most RK3288 chips are at 1.8 GHz. The reviews show that it's performance is pretty close to the same but with lower heat and better battery.
The PiPO P9 will probably perform slightly better since it's at the full 1.8 GHz and also running a lower res screen (1920x1200 vs 2048x1536). I wanted the 4:3 screen for reading documents. I personally don't like PiPO because I don't like the charging via DC adapter rather than USB method they use. I don't need another, different cable around.

I ordered one during the 12.12 sales and am waiting for it now. I wish the processor wasn't slightly underclocked, but the performance numbers aren't really hampered by it that much, and I'm not really getting it for gaming as much as document viewing.
The biggest problem so far has been finding a case for it. The semi-official one (the only one actually designed for it) seems to not even fit it that well, and is well, pretty blah looking. I figure some of the iPad Air cases should work, but I'm hesitant to order one without knowing.
Anyone out there with this tablet try any cases?
[Note: I just moved this from reply 2 down here to clear that out as a reserved reply]

Firmware Customization Tutorial
needs to be done in Linux, as you're working with ext4 filesystems -- however, you can do it in a VM install just fine (I'm using a VirtualBox install with shared folder support)
not a Linux tutorial -- you'll need to know what/how to get root access in order to run the appropriate commands for your distro
at various points, depending on how much you're changing the system.img, you may need to resize the filesystem and the image file
Accessing the system.img filesystem
if needed, unpack the firmware image
using Android Tools 2.3, click on the Advanced tab [part of Oma's downloads, or can be gotten from Firefly's website)
under the firmware selection box ("...") navigate to the packed firmware image (i.e., stock one, not Oma's)
click on the "Unpack" button
navigate to the "Output" directory under wherever you ran the AndroidTool.exe from to find the extracted firmware portions
in Linux, mount the system.img file
Code:
mount -o loop path_to_image path_to_mount_point
if this fails with "mount: unknown error -1" you probably don't have the loop module running
as root run
Code:
modprobe loop
and retry to mount
the image should also be accessible as /dev/loop0
go to the mounted directory and make desired changes
defrag the image file if you want using e4defrag
unmount the loopback image
Resizing the filesystem/image file
dd method (example included step not needed for this purpose (partition resizing)
use dd to make image file the size you want
use dd to copy over the old image file into the new file
run e2fsck and resize2fs on the image file
(basically, this is extra work beyond letting the resize2fs taking care of resizing the image file for you)
filesystem resize method
image must not be mounted
e2fsck -f ./system.img
resize2fs ./system.img [size] ("768M" for example, see the man page for more info)

Thanks for the info.
I think I'll go with the PIPO P9. I'll be using it mostly for gaming. I considered the Xiaomi MiPad, but the screen is bit too small for my taste. The other high end tablets are out of my budget.
TeutonJon78 said:
Everything I've seen listed has it as the Malt-T764. However, if you got the ARM/Mali website, no such core exists. I've seen it listed on other sites as T760MP4. Going by the Mali site, it says it scales up to 16 core product. I'm not sure what the MP4 means. I've also seen other tablets with the 762/760MP2.
Scalable would mean that a company incorporates it into their design, they could use up to a 16 core version (MP16 as you said). The RK3288 design is just using the 4 core version, which is what you'll find across all the RK3288 chips.
I wouldn't get to wrapped up in the Chinese manufacturer specs, they all seem a little "enhanced". Many of them cheat on their AnTuTu scores. iFive also lists the tablet as having a 1.8 GHz chip when it's limited to 1.6 GHz (not sure if a lower binned part, or just software limited). Most RK3288 chips are at 1.8 GHz. The reviews show that it's performance is pretty close to the same but with lower heat and better battery.
The PiPO P9 will probably perform slightly better since it's at the full 1.8 GHz and also running a lower res screen (1920x1200 vs 2048x1536). I wanted the 4:3 screen for reading documents. I personally don't like PiPO because I don't like the charging via DC adapter rather than USB method they use. I don't need another, different cable around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Is there any way to disable vibration on notifications?

pylly said:
Is there any way to disable vibration on notifications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine's not vibrating on notifications. But I turned off the "Vibrate on touch" setting. Maybe those are linked?

The Pipo P9 has a larger screen with lower pixel count than the iFive Air. The Pipo P9 can be charged using the Micro USB and/or the AC charger, this is also possible with the P1.
I don't like false advertizing, especially not with the CPU and GPU and I highly doubt that the RK3288 clocked at 1.8 GHz would have generated more heat than the aluminum case could cope with.
The biggest factor with power consumption is the screen brightness, not the CPU clock. I need to dim my scren to the lowest setting and it is still extremely bright.
With a higher clocked CPU I can always change the clock frequency to clock it at 1.6 GHz in case I want to. But since I pay for 1.8 and only get 1.6 GHz, I cannot clock it higher than 1.6.
Antutu 5.5 shows over 35000 points and Geekbench 3 reports 720 points with the single core test, very good. But all the lies, this needs to stop. It is chid's play and not very mature.
Ah just in case, the iFive Air does not have GPS and it is missing HDMI out, otherwise it is a very solid choice. The 5GHz WiFi works very well. But I regularly see red flashing frames around Chrome browser what is an indicator that the CPU is not powerful enough to cope with the browser's CPU power demand.
And because it also has ART support, I switched to ART from DALVIK. Big mistake. The iFive Air does not boot anymore and is stuck in the boot animation. There is now way to fix this and wow it get's better.
I cannot even flash a new firmware because the OMA ROM flashing method does not work. I always get Error "Match device type failed,stop running!".
How to recover from accidently switching to ART runtime switching (installing factory firmware):
You can download the factory firmware from the first post in this thread. The Factory Tool provided there will not work.
Download the Factory tool from this forum link, it will correctly work and show English Language when starting it up. You will also find the working RK3288 drivers there.
1. Install the drivers for the RK3288 (don't bother with the adb folder, just use the installer
2. power the iFive off
3. Start the Factory tool
4. Press Power button on the iFive and check if it is finding a loader entry with the USB tree shown in the factory log. If you do not see a Loader text, it won't work, e.g. if ADB is shown, nothing works, try powering it off and on until you see Loader as text next to an USB port.
5. Load the factory image using the appropriate button
6. Run the update. You will see progress next to the loader text.
7. Wait until the iFive flashes the ROM and do not remove the USB cable yet.
8. After the iFife tablet has booted up, remove the USB cable and close the Factory Tool.
Rooting the iFive Air:
1. If you would like to root the iFive Air, use Root Genius 1.8.7. You can download it from here.
1. Enable USB Debugging in the Settings and then start the tool Root Genius.
2. It will install drivers needed and after it recognizes the tablet you can then root the tablet using the green Root button.
3. Root Genius will install Kinguser.
4. Update the Kinguser program and then install Link2SD from the Google Play Store.
5. Link2SD will allow you to uninstall all the chinese programs.
Disable all the crappy utilities in the factory ROM (all with chinese signs) and you are set.
Warning: whatever you try, do not switch the iFive Air to ART runtime, it will not boot anymore after that.

StardustOne said:
The Pipo P9 has a larger screen with lower pixel count than the iFive Air. The Pipo P9 can be charged using the Micro USB and/or the AC charger, this is also possible with the P1.
...
But I regularly see red flashing frames around Chrome browser what is an indicator that the CPU is not powerful enough to cope with the browser's CPU power demand.
...
And because it also has ART support, I switched to ART from DALVIK. Big mistake. The iFive Air does not boot anymore and is stuck in the boot animation. There is now way to fix this and wow it get's better.
...
I cannot even flash a new firmware because the OMA ROM flashing method does not work. I always get Error "Match device type failed,stop running!".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know the PiPO's could still charge over USB. It seems silly to bother adding in an extra charging method.
They definitely need to stop putting out wrong specs. Although, I wonder if it's just a kernel bug, since EVERY other RK3288 is at 1.8 GHz, including the similarly spec'ed mini tablet. I can't imagine they would just arbitrarily get a lower binned processor for this flagship tablet.
I haven't had any flashing frames in Chrome -- maybe you have a bad unit? Although, I haven't done that much browsing yet, mostly scanned PDF's in the 150 MB+ range, which I would think would stress the CPU/GPU pretty well (the device gets pretty warm).
That's curious about ART. It seems a little odd. It would probably be one of the build in iFive/Chinese apps. Did you remove all of those?

Known Issues and Bugs (All ROMs)
General HW Issues
CPU is at 1.608 GHz instead of the advertised 1.8 GHz. Every other RK3288 devices seems to be at the advertised 1.8 GHz. This could be a kernel bug or it could be intentional (either a lower binned processor or due to thermal concerns). It would seem a little strange for a lower binned processor since their smaller tablet of the same specs is at full 1.8 GHz.
Volume buttons may be mapped backwards. Pushing on the button farthest from the power is "Vol Up" and the close one is "Vol Down". So in landscape mode it maps correctly to what you'd expect, but in portrait it's backwards from expected. And this is generally a portrait tablet. Discussion on the forums seems to be saying that other tablets have the same mapping, so probably not an actual bug.
Stock ROM
list of stock issues from 5Fans
Analaysis/commentary from Mike Canex
Storage
stock ROM splits eMMC into two data partitions (This is due to the RK3288 SDK setup apparently. Rockchip hasn't upgraded to the newer standard of unified storage.)
mount points aren't setup correctly in /storage for external SD card
/mnt/sdcard -> /mnt/internal_sd
/sdcard -> /mnt/internal_sd
/storage/emulated -> nowhere
/storage/sdcard0 -> /mnt/internal_sd
/storage/sdcard1 -> no created/linked -- should go to /mnt/external_sd
WiFi
If WiFi is set to turn off during sleep, it won't resume the connection without a restart. However, if you leave the option ticked to allow Android to scan WiFi points even when turned off, it will work correctly. I assume it's an issue with the WiFi chip not coming out of full lower powered state correctly.
Net Connections
Even with all the iFive and Chinese apps disabled, there are still connections being made to China via the Google Accounts services.
cause unkown
flashing red border in Chrome and other apps (relates to Developer Mode and Strict Mode)
Oma Stock-Based ROM
same as stock
Oma integrates some of his own preferred system apps, which may or may not be an issue for you. The ones that affect system functionality:
AdAway
Viper4Android
Oma's OmniROM Universal Build
any stock kernel issues
camera may not be working yet

Rooting the iFive Air
integrate root and a SU app directly in the ROM
use a ROM with root/SU app already integrated
3288 Ez Root Tool
This works really well as it packages root up as OTA update the system will automatically prompt you to install. You just have to put it in the root of either internal or SD card storage and wait till it rescans and finds the update. Make sure to read the instructions though, as the actual update.zip is inside the file you download.
no PC required
This is a generic RK3288 root method.
I used this method for stock and it worked perfectly.
Chinese Root Methods
ROOT Genius
requires a PC.
[*]@StardustOne provides instructions
ends up installing KingUser for the SU app
KingRoot (from Chinese forums)
360 Root (from Chinese forums)
dev hack -- Apparently on some RK3288 devices, if you go into the calculator and enter !^06^ it will prompt you if you want to root the device. This didn't work on the iFive Air for me. Some people in the FreakTab forum seemed be using an external mouse though, and perhaps the difference.

StardustOne said:
You can download the factory firmware from the first post in this thread. The Factory Tool provided there will not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the factory tool provided with the stock ROM download and it worked perfectly for me. The place I ordered from converted the language for me (which was nice), but I'd also prefer it be same as from the factory, so I reflashed it the second I got it.
Now, if you're stuck in the boot loop, probably just needed to put it into recovery mode first. From off, if you hold power and the farther volume button, it will get into that mode. That might help it connect to the Factory tool.

Oma posted a new stock based ROM (v.1.1) which fixes the chrome red ring problem and other minor fixes. You can get it from the link on the first post.

Multi-Window v2.0 has landed on iFive Air
- Oma -
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

Oma7144 said:
Multi-Window v2.0 has landed on iFive Air
- Oma -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha, welcome to the thread. Thanks for the great work.

Oma's posted a new ROM for the Air based on pure AOSP. Link is in the first post.

Android 5.0
iFive Air Tablet can be upgraded to Android 5.0? If yes, where to download firmware?

GRETEL A7 - Information & Reviews - 4.7" HD | MT6580A | 1GB | 16GB | Breathing Light

GRETEL A7
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Specs:
Dimensions: 139.6 * 66.9 * 9.4mm
Weight: 127g
Chassis: Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6580A
CPU: ARM Cortex-A7, 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP1, Cores: 1
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 4.7 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 2000 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Back Camera: 3264 x 2448 pixels (8MP)
Front Camera: 1920 x 1080 pixels (2MP)
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, single-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Breathing Light
Colors: Black and White
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/gretel-a7-development-support-t3666740
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own unboxing: Post #6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​

Reserved

Strong.... malware:
And Can't disable the apps.

sonydp said:
Strong.... malware:
And Can't disable the apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post a screenshot of the system's firmware version together with the name of the app used to scan the device?
I'll make a report for the company.

Scanned with AVG Antivirus.
I'm talking with Gretel and AVG to clarify the situation, I'll post here when I have more information.

Flash Unboxing and Build Quality Review
This is the GRETEL A7.
Hardware
This is the second device released by GRETEL, an entry-level smartphone for thoswe who don't care about a big screen or great specs. With its superb 4.7" HD Screen (ironic of course), this is the one of the most compact devices released in 2017. It is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, so you will have to forget about 4G/LTE, together with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x User Guide, 1x Screen Protector and the Smartphone (of course). A TPU Cover is included, and a plastic screen protector is pre-applied.
Talking about the dimensions, this is the smallest device i have ever reviewed. It is 13.9x6.92x0.94cm, with medium bezels, and weights 128g, pretty lightweight.
Its design is average, with a Plastic Body and a Physical Button (that also hides a Notification LED) on the front. Unfortunately that Physical Button doesn't work as a fingerprint scanner, even though it looks so.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors.
On the lower front side there isn't anything at all except the physical button, on-screen keys are used instead. I don't understand this choice, there is so much space on the sides of the central button...weird.
Here you can see the Notification LED, pretty unique.
On the back side there is the removable back cover. Feels solid enough, but not so resistant to scratches.
The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED Flashlight.
Some Personal Words about the Device
This is just an unboxing with some thoughts about the build quality, i won't review this device because i only had it for some days.
Something i can say is that this is a device meant for a specific target of users, nowadays the majority of smartphones are not so compact anymore, and the lack of 4G/LTE can't make this a daily driver so easily.
I'm impressed to see a company that still releases compact devices though, i know someone that doesn't upgrade his own device because compact ones are rare, and most of the times, expensive.
If you are looking for a cheap and compact device, this is a device that should be considered.
You can find full-res images here, with some extras: http://imgur.com/a/UmHCm
Official Website: http://www.gretel.cc/en/product/a7
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the GRETEL website.​

Hmm unfortunatelly phone drains battery really fast, phone is unresistable when connected to charger

I've ordered this phone on amazon and it's arriving tomorrow.
Do you know if this phone comes rooted by default?

Root
Hi, I also bought this phone and plan to make it my primary device. It's hard today to find a compact phone that fits in your pocket like this one!
Battery drain indeed seems high just after charging but appears to stabilise after a while (in contrast with other phones I have had that showed hardly any battery consumption just after charging but then dropped from 40% to 0 in no time).
Rooting should be easy because Juan Carossero shared TWRP for this device on needrom. I'll try it out soon and keep everyone here posted.
To finish for now, I also have a question for this community: I have not made the OTA update yet, I'm still on the 2016 ROM. Is the 2017 update really an improvement -- what's better about it?

Hi guys,
My A7's battery is behaving pretty bad since a few days. It discharges from 57% to 0% instantly, and charges to 100% too fast to be normal. It sounds like a battery failure but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Is there anyone else facing battery issues with this device?
Thank you!

Alberto96 said:
Hi guys,
My A7's battery is behaving pretty bad since a few days. It discharges from 57% to 0% instantly, and charges to 100% too fast to be normal. It sounds like a battery failure but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Is there anyone else facing battery issues with this device?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a lot of discussion about this also on 4PDA, with Google Translate you'll be able to read most of it. Some people indeed seem to speak of bad battery. And there's also a deep sleep problem :
"Steps:
1) Install 3Ctoolbox application from google play
2) Reboot phone
3) Enable event indicator in options - screen - home key light
4) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see how long the cpu was in deep sleep state.
5) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top) and power off screen for 20-30 seconds
6) Enable screen and unlock device
7) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that the CPU was in deep sleep for about 20-30 seconds. It is good
8) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top)
8) Open sms application and send sms to yourself and power off screen. Event indicator becomes green while screen is off
9) Wait 20-30 seconds while the event indicator is green and screen is off
9) Enable screen and unlock device. Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that cpu was not in deep sleep state anymore. It works at 1GHZ speed most time. Now CPU will not go to deep sleep until reboot." [Source: Tolyy, on 4PDA forum]

bunchofdutch said:
There is a lot of discussion about this also on 4PDA, with Google Translate you'll be able to read most of it. Some people indeed seem to speak of bad battery. And there's also a deep sleep problem :
"Steps:
1) Install 3Ctoolbox application from google play
2) Reboot phone
3) Enable event indicator in options - screen - home key light
4) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see how long the cpu was in deep sleep state.
5) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top) and power off screen for 20-30 seconds
6) Enable screen and unlock device
7) Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that the CPU was in deep sleep for about 20-30 seconds. It is good
8) Press reset button in 3ctoolbox (X symbol at top)
8) Open sms application and send sms to yourself and power off screen. Event indicator becomes green while screen is off
9) Wait 20-30 seconds while the event indicator is green and screen is off
9) Enable screen and unlock device. Open 3Ctoolbox, Select CPU MGR - Times. You will see that cpu was not in deep sleep state anymore. It works at 1GHZ speed most time. Now CPU will not go to deep sleep until reboot." [Source: Tolyy, on 4PDA forum]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is bad, so all batteries are defected then? Damn, i hope not.
About the deep sleep issue, i will check if mine is affected by it too.
If you know someone with this device (or if you can post this thread on 4PDA), let them post a reply here. More feedbacks = more attention from the company about this issue (usually...).

Yes @Alberto96 . My device has the same issue, I sent an email to the seller and they don't want to send me a new battery. Disappointed.

Are you sure it's the battery, not the gauge & calibration of the software? I used to have a Star B943, it would show strange fluctuations in battery %. On that device, I learned that by switching it off not with the hardware button but with Mobile Uncle Tools / Shutdown, I could get a much more stable battery reading. Not sure why, but sure of the result.

hi. i want to root my gretel a7. but i dont know how to root it..

Paulo1707 said:
hi. i want to root my gretel a7. but i dont know how to root it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you have it: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/gretel-a7-development-support-t3666740

bunchofdutch said:
Are you sure it's the battery, not the gauge & calibration of the software? I used to have a Star B943, it would show strange fluctuations in battery %. On that device, I learned that by switching it off not with the hardware button but with Mobile Uncle Tools / Shutdown, I could get a much more stable battery reading. Not sure why, but sure of the result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine battery is very poor too. But as you suggested, I thinks it's software problem. I started using Greenify with Donation package. It allows me to hibernate system apps such as Messages, Google Play Store etc. But battery drains in front of my eyes. It was better till I installed some apps from google store. I think we need a new debugged ROM...

I'm getting an aware issue with, what appears to be a system app. It calls itself shell and is under com.android.internal.
I have managed to uninstall it but it just comes back a day or two later. It serves up full screen ads.
I also had an app claiming to be a file manager, but which didn't appear in the app drawer, which also had adware issues. Malwarebytes didn't find an issue but it did spot the shell app trying to install the file manager again.
Anyone have any ideas?
---------- Post added at 11:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:59 PM ----------
appofox said:
Mine battery is very poor too. But as you suggested, I thinks it's software problem. I started using Greenify with Donation package. It allows me to hibernate system apps such as Messages, Google Play Store etc. But battery drains in front of my eyes. It was better till I installed some apps from google store. I think we need a new debugged ROM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found the battery drains and charges very quickly when in use, but the screen on times are actually not bad (around 3 hours). So I assumed this was ok considering the small battery capacity.

I think Google Play Store after scan informed me about com.android.internal that it may be malware and uninstalled it. I do not have it at this moment. I have File Manager though in apps list and in the drawer too, though icons is not the same. I can't nor Force stop it nor Disable it.

appofox said:
I think Google Play Store after scan informed me about com.android.internal that it may be malware and uninstalled it. I do not have it at this moment. I have File Manager though in apps list and in the drawer too, though icons is not the same. I can't nor Force stop it nor Disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I do have a file manager in the app drawer as well. That one appears to be OK. There was another, only found in the settings app list that had a lot of permissions. I uninstalled it and it has stayed away, but I think the shell app tries to reinstall it and only malwarebytes stops it.

CHUWI Hipad Root, TWRP, +Info, etc.

Little review and tablet issues:
I've been waiting for this tablet for 1 month and it has finally arrived. I bought this tablet for two reasons:
1. I was looking for a tablet with a Wifi AC chip for ~$100. None of the tablets around that price tag had this type of chip (best had Wifi N chips). Therefore after researching for a little while I found out that this was the only option available. The only alternative was Huawei Mediapad T5, with a worse battery (5K vs 7K mAh) and also a $100+ increment in price (~$100 for the Chuwi vs ~$200 for the Huawei).
2. The tablet it clearly powerful, fast and way better in terms of power than other tablets I've been using (even Samsung Tabs). But there are some issues that may be a turnoff for some users and most of them won't be easily solvable by the company.
After reading some reviews I can confirm several issues that won't be fully resolved:
Screen issues
1. The touch screen it's not the best (better with the latest ROM, see workarounds).
They have made an overkill in the Tablet specs (decacore,...) with a cheap touch panel. The game experience is very poor despite they are selling it as a "Gaming Tablet".
Chuwi seems to be more focused in selling at all costs than actually providing what people expect from their products. Probably they should have been selling this tablet for $50-100 more with a better screen, but this way they would have found other alternative products that may have provoked most people not buying this... difficult decission for Chuwi, ending obviously on a really bad experience (for most of the powerful games, like PUBG mobile)
Here is a video comparing Pocophone F1 with Chuwi Hipad:
https://vimeo.com/313134711
There are clearly some lag issues (the stroke is behind the finger most of the time) and it's very imprecise, without the possibility of draw a perfect line, but a trail of individual dots recognized.
Screen Issues Workarounds (WIP)
- I'm going to test a capacitive pen to see if this makes the touch screen a lesser issue. When I test it will comment. With the latest November update, the touch screen performs a little bit better, but marginally better.
- With the new kernel 3.18.60 (Rom 11th Jan 2019) it seems that the tablet it's a little bit more responsive.
- It works worse with the capacitive pen than with the finger.
Game Streaming Issues - Solved
2. Personally I was not interested in playing games directly on the tablet, but streaming games from my PC. And also found some hindrances:
- Steam Link Beta is not currently working: sound works, input works (touch controls) but video is not showing. Not sure where is the problem but when we start the app an error message says: Steam Link performance hasn't been verified on this device (Techain Hi9Air), so it may not perform well
Game Streaming Issues Workarounds
- I'm currently testing two apps: Remotr, KinoConsole. I like Steam Link because it's fully integrated and works extremely good. I've found some issues in Remotr (drag-n-drop not working) and in KinoConsole (issues with streaming image distorted). I don't find any value in Parsec atm at least for what I'm looking for (playing on the go without have to pre-setup anything).
- I've solved the Issue with Steam Link Beta. Here is the solution: https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam_Link/comments/akz50n/troubleshooting_android_video_issues/?
Wifi Issues
3. WiFi chip is very poor: I've been testing with iperf2 tests and there is a 50% speed reduction vs a Pocophone F1. It's important to say that in the same spot Chuwi Hipad is getting around -70-75dBm while Poco F1 is around -60dBm
If I find new issues I will comment them.
Wifi Issues Workarounds (WIP)
3. With the wifi thing there is nothing to do, if I could possibly return the tablet, I may do it, but since I bought it overseas I may forget about this.
For me it's important to have a good Wifi signal, because as I said I'm using it for playing streamed games and with a bad signal games are unplayable.
- Currently I've switched my AC router to a D-Link DIR 882 with a modded DD-WRT ROM to DHT80 and it's working fine. The chip seem to be really bad compared to other alternatives (like my Pocophone F1 Wifi chip), but I have to say that for under $150 I've not seen an alternative tablet with AC at all at the current moment (1Q 2019)
Dissasembling Chuwi HIPAD for repairing (screen, battery, ...)
One of the issues I've found is that opening the tablet it's extremely difficult compared to other alternatives. The tablets its extremely sealed without any screws and just left to open with pure pressure:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The BIG problem is that it's so hard to open the case that I've ended breaking the touch screen, so be extremely careful when pressuring the thing trying to not bend the tablet too much or press on any point of the screen. I changed the screen of a Chuwi Hi8 Pro 30 minutes before doing this, so I know what I'm talking about: I would say that the risk of breaking with this model is 8/10.
Why I've tried to open the case? Because in the last days I noticed that the tablet touch screen was not working. I expected that the cable was not adequatelly plugged, or maybe the touch screen was faulty (I think that the touch screen was faulty so I don't really care about breaking it).
Here is an image of the PCB:
UPDATE: 30/3/2019
I started changing the screen and here is the result:
Two mistakes:
1. Ordering the new screen before being sure that I was able to extract it.
2. Trying to extract it WITHOUT an adequate heat gun (just with a hair dryer)
The screen is TOO big, and they only sell the screen replacement WITHOUT the touch panel. In the majority of the tablets they don't sell the touch panel with the screen replacement, BUT the difference is that the screen are rarely sticked to the panel with industrial glue. Therefore, if you don't have a really good heat gun, you won't be able to remove the panel from the screen and you will end breaking the panel. I've changed a lot of screens in other tablets without hassle just with my hairdryer, but this screen it's way harder. If you have never changed a screen the probability of breaking everything as I did is 100%. But for the cost of this tablet, I'm not sure that going for a service it's worth so If you cannot repair it yourself, i think this tablet is not worth at all.
Development: Rooting, Recovery, ROMS
I would like to create a comprehensive list of Rooting, recovery, possible ROMS, that may appear for this recent tablet in the future. The tablet is new and not very well known for most people yet, so we might have to wait a bit until other users start to find some value in this budget powerful tablet, depite of the caveats we have already found.
Flashing Process with SP Flash Tool (no unlock needed)
Remember: there is a risk of briking the tablet!
This will do a full wipe to your Tablet so remember to backup your data before doing so
This is the easy method to flash the tablet. All we need are some tools:
1. The SP Flash Tool: (Download v5.1728 here)
2. A ROM: (check in the bottom section for ROMs).
3. Drivers: There are multiple options, but here are some working drivers for Windows:
64bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337087008142
32bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337086745908
How to flash with SP Flash Tool:
1. Extract ROM and SP Flash Tool in the same folder. Try to avoid special characters in the folders like chinese chars to avoid issues during flash
2. Open flash_tool.exe
3. In "Download Agent" select MTK_AllinOne_DA.bin
4. In the "Scatter-loading-File" select MT6797_Android_scatter.txt
5. In the "Download Only" dropdown select Firmware Upgrade
6. Turn off the tablet and disconnect the Tablet from the USB cable
7. Press the button "Download" in the top
8. Connect the Tablet to the USB cable
9. If everything it's right (including driver installation) it may appear a red line in the bottom that goes to 100%. Just wait until the process is complete with a green tick opening in a window.
10. If it gets stuck at some point (for example at 72%) for some minutes, it will end failing the installation and you will have to start over. Remember that there is a risk of bricking the tablet.
Rooting process
Remember: there is a risk of briking the tablet!
This will do a full wipe to your Tablet so remember to backup your data before doing so
Last time I did the process was with: Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20181107
After updating to the new ROM (Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20190111) tested root process again and worked flawlessly.
1. First we need to install the USB drivers
64bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337087008142
32bit: https://chuwiinnovationtechnologysh...jo5exkkrpmd350sicz4ae45yegp/file/337086745908
2. Install ADB like any other device. There are multiple tutorials out there.
3. Activate the USB debugging option and the OEM unlocking option in the developers option menu (unlocking it by pressing 7 times in the Build number just like any other Android vanilla device)
4. If we plug the USB to the computer and we do a "adb devices", we will see it listed after permitting in the device:
So far, everything exactly the same as rooting for any other Android device.
5. Download the latest Magisk Manager APK from the site https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/ and install it
6. Download the latest boot.img file (download your ROM to get the boot.img within) and place it somewhere you can find it in your phone (Downloads folder for example).
7. We open Magisk Manager and press "Install"
8. There we press: "Patch Boot Image File" and in the file explorer we select the boot.img file we have already downloaded and wait until it is patched.
9. After it's patched we will see this message:
Patched image is placed in:
/storage/emulated/0/Download/patched_boot.img (or whatever route we have used for installation)
10. Connect the Hipad with the PC and transfer that "patched_boot.img" file to the computer to a directory (for example C:/CHUWI we will use this for the example)
11. Now it's time to flash
Here goes the most risky moment. Because we have to enter the bootloader, unlock it and then flash the new "patched root boot image"
12. We go into the console and type: adb reboot bootloader
And it will automatically reboot into the Fastboot
13. Now we unlock the bootloader with the command: fastboot oem unlock
IMPORTANT: Remember that after OEM unlocking the system will wipe to factory default. Backup everything if you have anything important installed in the device
We will see a message that says: "Unlock bootloader", press Volume up to unlock and Volume down to cancel: We press the volume up button.
14. After this, we have an extended bootloader menu that permits going into fastboot, recovery and system fromt there. At this point we are ready to flash the rooted boot img.
15. We type: fastboot flash boot patched_boot.img
And we will see something like ths:
$ fastboot flash boot patched_boot.img
target reported max download size of 134217728 bytes
sending 'boot' (10415 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.348s]
writing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 0.141s]
finished. total time: 0.489s
16. Finally it's time to reboot to check results by typing: fastboot reboot
17. After OEM unlocking we will see the orange Chuwi logo meaning that we have "unlocked it" and suggesting we are in an "untrusted state". That's fine.
18. Be aware, that after doing this it will take a little bit more than usual to boot Android. Just wait for it.
19. When device has rebooted Magisk Manager will be already installed but we will have to update because everything has been wiped as I warned before. If everything has gone right (maybe we will have to reboot again after the first boot for some updates to take in place) we will see this in Magisk Manager:
20. And that's all folks! Root installed in our device:
TWRP process
At this moment we don't have a TWRP or any other recovery compatible with this hardware, stay tunned.
Official ROMs
* 11th Jan 2019, Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20190111: Download
- Big improvement in the touch screen, It seems that the touch screen it's a little bit more responsive
- New kernel 3.18.60
* 6th Nov 2018, Android: 8.0.0 custom build Hipad_v1.1_20181107 Download
- Slight improvement in the touch screen
Other ROMS
We don't have any custom ROMS available yet
Let's see if some ROM devs want to test this and make a custom ROM like Resurrection Remix 6 (based on Oreo).
Updates
- This tablet will be updated mid-2019 to Android 9.0 Pie: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78278868&postcount=994

Thank you very much sir!
You were the first brave one to try rooting on this tablet.

Definitely Touch pad is very unresponsive
Sample video with Hipad vs Pocophone F1: https://vimeo.com/313134711

Dupe

I continue with the issues
Today I've been able to troubleshoot the streaming issue with Steam Link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam_Link/comments/akz50n/troubleshooting_android_video_issues/
Still not a great tablet, but a little bit better today

MiSSigNNo said:
Definitely Touch pad is very unresponsive
Sample video with Hipad vs Pocophone F1: https://vimeo.com/313134711
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that really a fair comparison? 6" vs 10" screen. $330 vs $145. I read your critique and ordered a Hipad anyway. But my most demanding app is Nascar Raceview, so touchscreen response isn't a really big deal to me anyway. I'm going to use it to replace my 2016 10" Samsung Tab A which is getting a little outdated.
I do want to thank you, though, for your effort to improve the Hipad's performance.

lewmur said:
Is that really a fair comparison? 6" vs 10" screen. $330 vs $145.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, is not a comparison in fact. It's just a demonstration of the situation. How it performs the finger and the stylus in a Poco F1 and how it performs with a Hipad.
If I saw this comparison, made for example, by you, I would have not bought this tablet probably. This is something that has dissapointed me. Still, I'm currently using to play some card games like Artifact and Magic Arena via Steam Link. It's a little bit frustrating when you try to press a button by touching the screen and it just press anywhere else except for the place you are trying to do it. And I have to recognice that I have to play carefully becuase if I press without extreme precision, I may end playing something that it's not intended.
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.

MiSSigNNo said:
Well, is not a comparison in fact. It's just a demonstration of the situation. How it performs the finger and the stylus in a Poco F1 and how it performs with a Hipad.
If I saw this comparison, made for example, by you, I would have not bought this tablet probably. This is something that has dissapointed me. Still, I'm currently using to play some card games like Artifact and Magic Arena via Steam Link. It's a little bit frustrating when you try to press a button by touching the screen and it just press anywhere else except for the place you are trying to do it. And I have to recognice that I have to play carefully becuase if I press without extreme precision, I may end playing something that it's not intended.
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. You just made my point for me. It was a comparison and, IMO, an unjust one. If you had included the statement "So overall, the tablet is awesome A+", then it would have been more even handed. As it was, I was almost convinced not the buy a Hipad.

No news on an update to address the issue on chuwi forums.
I've read somewhere (not sure where so don't get this for granded) that the hi9 plus also has tricky touch.
I'm starting to feel it is a hardware problem and not a software one.
So bad screen inventory or a flaw on the software side? We'll see.
Which stylus are you using in the video?

MiSSigNNo said:
So overall, the tablet it's awesome. A+ But the screen is completely ****. The worst element by far. The second worse: the Wifi AC Chipset, very poor power.
But I was intending to buy a Huawei T5 10.1' to compare between both ($200). And I've ended renouncing to it, because I think that it's fine to go on with the Hipad. I think that for what I need it's more than sufficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i just ordered an alldocube tablet, similar x27 chipset and i've been doing some research before it arrive:
apart from the random touchscreen issue, i think the main problem is with the helios x20 series chipset, is it struggles with responsiveness and "short burst" tasks. i am new user can't post links so just google and run "kraken javascript benchmark" in browser.
the a72 cores in helios x20 should mean you score ~4000 here, but typically i see 9000-10000 in reviews for devices using this chipset. so the problem reported is it is not even utilizing these fast cores in these short bursty tasks. of course this is good for battery saving, but bad for performance/responsiveness.
for longer running benchmarks like geekbench, antutu the cores become active and are OK
so there have been some solutions, for example the meizu 6 got updated firmware that boosts the cores more aggressively, and anandtech review said benchmark results improved 2-2.5x, but they don't say how they do this
some portion of the redmi note 4 phones also use the x20 chipset, it is more laggy than the snapdragon counterpart, and there have been a few tweaks in their forums, this one looks promising to me, google "Redmi note 4 (mtk) better gaming Learn how to get the most out of it (root)"
it seems you first disable the mtk perfservice, so the system uses the default cpu governor. then you make some tweaks
of course you need root and you do this at your own risk etc so make sure you read the miui thread and understand before using the code, also it is a good idea to note down the system default values before you change them, for when you want to revert back.
from the thread here is some recommended code for light gaming and general use to improve response, comments are my interpretation of what it does:
Code:
#background "real time" priority task 0.01ms time allocation
echo 10000 > /dev/cpuctl/bg_non_interactive/cpu.rt_runtime_us
#time between when scheduler reschedules 0.95ms for "real time" priority task
echo 950000 > /dev/cpuctl/cpu.rt_runtime_us
#default time allocated by scheduler for "real time" priority task 1ms
echo 1000000 > /dev/cpuctl/cpu.rt_period_us
#this is feature to take in to account number of cores for allotting time, turn it off to increase response time
echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/sched_tunable_scaling
#dynamic voltage frequency scheduler for gpu on
echo 1 > /proc/mali/dvfs_enable
#ignore thermal for gpu on, since the cpu a72 cores
echo 1 > /proc/gpufreq/gpufreq_limited_thermal_ignore heat up and cause throttling
# apparently this unlocks the a72 cores
echo 0 > /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
i think this or some other code on that thread can help the system utilize the strong a72 cores, increasing performance but at expense of battery, if you can tweak it such that Kraken benchmark gets close to 4000 score with acceptable battery, i think it is big success.

Thanks for the suggestions @xygn
Where is the article you are talking about?

MiSSigNNo said:
Thanks for the suggestions @xygn
Where is the article you are talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't post link because new account, but google "Redmi note 4 (mtk) better gaming Learn how to get the most out of it (root)", there are a few suggestions on that thread

I'm not sure how to interpret the kraken results:
https://mzl.la/2N9PSCZ
I may be testing those parameters to see if there is any improvement.

I've tested your mods and there is no improvement in touchpad responsiveness
Also this policy /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
Was not found.

I've screwed up the recovery trying to create a compatible TWRP. Can anyone send me a working hipad recovery img please?

MiSSigNNo said:
I'm not sure how to interpret the kraken results:
https://mzl.la/2N9PSCZ
I may be testing those parameters to see if there is any improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the benchmark is measured in time so the higher the longer it took to execute, on the x20 i've seen as low as 3000. for example google "redmi note 4 x20 anandtech", which kind of makes sense since the a72 cores are about twice as fast, and people have found they don't get utilized at all in some workloads, and this should be able to be tweaked.
MiSSigNNo said:
I've tested your mods and there is no improvement in touchpad responsiveness
Also this policy /proc/ppm/policy/hica_is_limit_big_freq
Was not found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm that's disappointing, i'll see how my alldocube responds when i get it, still waiting...
MiSSigNNo said:
I've screwed up the recovery trying to create a compatible TWRP. Can anyone send me a working hipad recovery img please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chuwi has stock firmware is that what you need? i just google "chuwi hipad stock firmware" and second result

xygn said:
chuwi has stock firmware is that what you need? i just google "chuwi hipad stock firmware" and second result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I need the stock recovery. Fun fact, MIUI by default restores automatically the recovery if you don't have magisk installed. So you don't have to ever worry to end (like me) with a corrupted recovery. Things went wrong when I was trying to flash a new TWRP and I could not save successfully the original recovery unfortunatelly (my bad)

To get the stock recovery is simple. For those that have already rooted with my method:
1. Install the app Diskinfo
2. Enable all partitions in the settings
3. Theorically there should appear a partition like /dev/block/mmcblk0pXX (XX is two numbers)
4. Download Terminal emualtor
5. Run the command "su"
6. Run the command "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0pXX of=/sdcard/stock-recovery.img" (remember to replace the XX with the number of the partition of the recovery)
Also can be found in the log with Terminal emulator:
1. Command: "cat /cache/recovery/last_log | grep recovery"
And will get a line like:
19 /recovery emmc /dev/block/...
And then with the path (/dev/block/... ) just need to edit the dd if=/path/... of=/sdcard/stock-recovery.img

Why root?
Just received my Hipad and I'm wondering if it is really worth rooting. Normally, that's the first thing I do with a new tablet. But without any custom ROMs available, is it really worth the irritation of the delay in booting?

lewmur said:
Just received my Hipad and I'm wondering if it is really worth rooting. Normally, that's the first thing I do with a new tablet. But without any custom ROMs available, is it really worth the irritation of the delay in booting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I like rooting to have access to Magisk modules. There are some Magisk modules are that are awesome.
By the way, could you checkout my last post, and try to extract your recovery with the method I showed? I was trying to create a TRWP but I "corrupted" my original recovery.
With a new sane recovery I may try to create a functional TWRP and maybe some custom ROM may follow

little review, feedback after a week use

i have some PM from guys with my previous smartphone who ask me if A50 is good choice, so ... here is my answer after a little week of use my, may be people who hesitate to buy it will find this post useful :
My model : i have bought the one with 4G RAM / no nfc ( 250€ only ! ) i was thinking RAM would be far enough, but when i have seen all apps samsungs pre install .... => if you dont want to debloat it's better to buy the 6G Ram model. After debloat 4G ram is enough for me
Screen : the oled screen is big and beautiful, i really enjoy it
speed : after this debloat and disable animation ( in dev settings ) the UI is very fast , before that i had slight stutters
sound : internal spaker is bad for music, but it was not a surprise for me, i always use a bluetooth speaker or my bose headphones. With dolby atmos enabled in Sound\advanced : the sound is really good in my headphone
Samsung rom : it's my first samsung device, I usually use custom roms, so for me there is far too much apps that i don't need...
BUT after this debloat i must say the rom is really good not really need custom rom ! a lot of usefull tweaks who improves the daily use.
the black theme is beautifull. the Blue light filter can be fully customized (opacity, start time, end time ) . AlwaysOnDisplay can be programmed to be disabled the night (so it drain less battery ). Samsung gesture is fine and can be enabled instead of navbar. easy switch (call , sms , data ) when you use 2 simcard.
Camera : i like it. quality is good. My wife use it for selfies ( :crying: ) and love the "show hand feature" to take a selfie
Battery : after debloat and disable AOD the night ( AOD drain near 1% per hour ) , the battery is good. I would say a little bit less that my previous device ( moto z play ) but it was a battery monster. And A50 screen is bigger and cpu faster, so it's ok, enough
Fingerprint scanner: epic fail from samsung (have not they tested? ) , you can still use it but with me accuracy is bad, even if it's a little bit better after april update and with that or that . Even when it works it is so slow ( it is faster to use pattern )
BUT for me it does not matter so much because the face unlock works so fine ! even in a dark room. So i have enable : Screen pattern + Face recognition + Smart Lock + changed screen timeout from 15 sec to 30 sec, and quite happy with that. I rarely need to use screen pattern and nearly have forgotten this bad fingerprint scanner
EDIT November 2019 : Samsung have patched the fingerprint, it's fast now, so not an issue anymore
network some guys seems to complain about 4G speed, no issue for me, i use 2 sims with no problem
XDA / root / Custom Rom : twrp dev is probably abandonned, root is a bit touchy/risky
BUT Samsung ROM is secure and well designed, a lot of usefull tweaks => so for me better to stick to stock for now anyway.
So, Would i recommend A50 ? the answer is "Yes", if you can use face unlock and forget fingerprint. if debloat with adb is in your in your abilities ( or try to root ). And if you don't use internal speaker to listen music. For that price ( the 4G ram model = 250€) it's really a good purchase for a so excellent oled screen / big battery / quite fast cpu / quite good cam / excellent rom. Warning if you need NFC there is a specific model with NFC

The 4GB model was €169 here in The Netherlands a few weeks ago on sale. I think you can't beat that price with any phone not even from Xiaomi. With DNS66 for removing ads and Youtube Vanced I don't even need root anymore. I also de-bloated it via powershell and it's amazing fast.

Just bought an A50 from Carphone Warehouse on contract for the wife. To my great surprise and happiness - it has dual sim enabled and both IMEI's and options all working out of the box. My other phone is a P30 Lite which I'm struggling to get dual sim working on and here she has a working Dual sim out of the box. Life aint fair .
She had a Samsung J5 2017 so shes' used to the Samsung phones and quite likes this one - especially the fact that with 128GB RAM, she's not runnnig out of memory space any more.

fablebreton said:
i have some PM from guys with my previous smartphone who ask me if A50 is good choice, so ... here is my answer after a little week of use my, may be people who hesitate to buy it will find this post useful :
My model : i have bought the one with 4G RAM / no nfc ( 250€ only ! ) i was thinking RAM would be far enough, but when i have seen all apps samsungs pre install .... => if you dont want to debloat it's better to buy the 6G Ram model. After debloat 4G ram is enough for me
Screen : the oled screen is big and beautiful, i really enjoy it
speed : after this debloat and disable animation ( in dev settings ) the UI is very fast , before that i had slight stutters
sound : internal spaker is bad for music, but it was not a surprise for me, i always use a bluetooth speaker or my bose headphones. With dolby atmos enabled in Sound\advanced : the sound is really good in my headphone
Samsung rom : it's my first samsung device, I usually use custom roms, so for me there is far too much apps that i don't need...
BUT after this debloat i must say the rom is really good not really need custom rom ! a lot of usefull tweaks who improves the daily use.
the black theme is beautifull. the Blue light filter can be fully customized (opacity, start time, end time ) . AlwaysOnDisplay can be programmed to be disabled the night (so it drain less battery ). Samsung gesture is fine and can be enabled instead of navbar. easy switch (call , sms , data ) when you use 2 simcard.
Camera : i like it. quality is good. My wife use it for selfies ( :crying: ) and love the "show hand feature" to take a selfie
Battery : after debloat and disable AOD the night ( AOD drain near 1% per hour ) , the battery is good. I would say a little bit less that my previous device ( moto z play ) but it was a battery monster. And A50 screen is bigger and cpu faster, so it's ok, enough
Fingerprint scanner: epic fail from samsung (have not they tested? ) , you can still use it but with me accuracy is bad, even if it's a little bit better after april update and with that or that . Even when it works it is so slow ( it is faster to use pattern )
BUT for me it does not matter so much because the face unlock works so fine ! even in a dark room. So i have enable : Screen pattern + Face recognition + Smart Lock + changed screen timeout from 15 sec to 30 sec, and quite happy with that. I rarely need to use screen pattern and nearly have forgotten this bad fingerprint scanner
network some guys seems to complain about 4G speed, no issue for me, i use 2 sims with no problem
XDA / root / Custom Rom : twrp dev is probably abandonned, root is a bit touchy/risky
BUT Samsung ROM is secure and well designed, a lot of usefull tweaks => so for me better to stick to stock for now anyway.
So, Would i recommend A50 ? the answer is "Yes", if you can use face unlock and forget fingerprint. if debloat with adb is in your in your abilities ( or try to root ). And if you don't use internal speaker to listen music. For that price ( the 4G ram model = 250€) it's really a good purchase for a so excellent oled screen / big battery / quite fast cpu / quite good cam / excellent rom. Warning if you need NFC there is a specific model with NFC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have u debloated google apps? Will there any problem while formating later on if gogle setup and all disabled?

General Post your configuration and experience of Stock/Custom roms that you daily drive here.

Purpose
I have been jumping from one UI to gsi's to back to one UI. I just want to know what are yall experiences with different roms and maybe stock one UI and what mods/workarounds or apps do you use to solve problems. Any custom kernel etc. I'll start with mine here
My Current Configuration:
(i edit this op when i switch a gsi or attempt further mods)
OS: YAAP GSI
Device: SM-A325F
Firmware version: A325FXXS4DWD4
Rooted with KernelSU.
Using OrangeFox from here.
Mods:
1. Custom kernel:
I made my own permissive custom kernel from A325FXXS3CWB3 Samsung's source from here.
It has a lot of changes which include removing entire security and knox debloat as it is not used in GSI.
It also has changed default ram compressor to lz4 instead of lzo-rle which should be faster.
I have tested this kernel on A325FXXU3DWB8, A325FXXU2CWA6, A325FXXU2CVK3.
It also boots on one UI.
It was possible all thanks to @KrutosVIP and his amazing work here.
You can download it from here.
Just flash it in twrp with no additional steps required. Make sure to backup boot in case it doesn't boot.
NOTE: i switched to my kernelsu kernel which is available here on a32 threads. it still offers the same features but it has kernelsu
2. Penguin Gcam and FreeDcam:
I currently use Penguin Gcam from here.
It includes needed features. The only thing broken is slow motion.
I use FreeDcam Inorder to get access to all the other cameras including Ultra wide, depth sensor and macro camera. It works great. The only problem as of my writing on this thread is that changing the ISO manually crashes the app.
Fortunately @uluruman has created the files and presets for this app which work amazingly. You can check it out from here.
You can check out FreeDcam on the F-Droid store from here or on github from here.
3. Workarounds in Phh settings
Samsung Features:
1. Enable extended brightness range (fixes brightness issues)
2. Double tap to wake (optional. But you can use it if you like)
3. Enable access to all cameras (Important for FreeDcam)
4. Enable extra sensors
Misc Features:
1. Use alternate way to detect headsets [fixes headphone jack] (Optional in roms built after or during march patch since they already include my overlay.)
2. Force FPS (set to your desired refresh rate) [i use 90] (NOTE: some gsi's have issue with this on android 13 firmware. There is no fix to this. Upgrade to march patch because project elixir seems to have this fixed on march spl. Or try switching to another gsi or downgrade firmware)
3. Force alternative backlight scale, Allow setting brightness to the lowest (needed to fix brightness bar)
4. Force Enable Camera2API HAL3 (To make FreeDcam work)
5. Force Disable AD2P offload (Fixes bluetooth audio for android versions 12 and below.)
6. On newer gsis Bluetooth is broken. To fix Enable Use systemwide bt hal.
Reboot after changing settings is recommended.
4. Magisk Modules
1. Audio Modification Library, Dolby Atmos from Moto G Pro (NOTE: Moto core is required for this.) [Just a dolby atmos port i like]
2. Fullscreen/Immersive Gestures (Q-T) (Removes keyboard space bar at bottom)
3. mindetach, Youtube Revanced Extended (Youtube revanced extended and to detach it from playstore which prevents updating.)
4. Safetynetfix MOD, Shamiko (Dealing with safetynet issues and bypassing root checks in applications)
5. LSPosed - Zygisk (Mostly to get broken face unlock back since broken face unlock on gsi's due to unknown issue with android 13 vendor.)
5. Xposed Modules
The only Xposed module i use is universalauth. Using this module i can get face unlock back on every gsi due to a unknown issue with android 13 firmware or vendor. It works reliably.
Note: It broke in android QPR1 so dev posted a custom xposed link here.
Its broken on QPR2 again. The current workaround is to disable auto dismiss lock screen in face unlock app.
If it happens on QPR updates just remember the workaround.
Since It is unable to download the apks for libraries. You need to download Moto face unlock from here.
Then import it.
To allow restricted settings go to app info of face unlock app. press three dots on top right and allow accessibility. Entered pin if prompted.
Enjoy face unlock.
Over all Experience:
I am happy with using it. Its super smooth. Bugs are of course expected in generic system images. But they are good enough to use daily. Gaming performance in some cases is amazing. Enabling allow higher fps in games in some roms like crdroid unlocks many settings. e.g. i could play cod at 90Fps at medium. The fps hovered around 60-90 fps. It was amazing. If you set the performance mode to performance in game space in roms that have it, It works amazingly. A game restart is required and it works. Actually bumps the fps by a lot. I still do switch from gsi's to gsi's since sometimes i get bored or the gsi lacks some important things. For now In my opinion using a GSI is far better than stock firmware for me. The gsi's i would recommend are crDroid, Elixir, Pixel Experience, EvolutionX, LineageOS (TD based)
you can find more GSI's from here.
Hoping to hear about what you use on your device and how your experience is.

For One UI users. i have a thread on floating tweaks which enable many features and small tweaks to help phone run a lil bit faster check it out from here

Another camera app which can use all the cameras is Open Camera. It is more convenient than FreeDCam, has almost all the same features and even more, for example HDR and panoramas, but unfortunately, like FreeDCam, cannot shoot video from extra cameras out of the box. I tried to edit the settings file manually but it didn't help as it did with FreeDCam, I suppose there should be something else fixed in the app itself, but still I'm going to try again editing the settings in the future.

uluruman said:
Another camera app which can use all the cameras is Open Camera. It is more convenient than FreeDCam, has almost all the same features and even more, for example HDR and panoramas, but unfortunately, like FreeDCam, cannot shoot video from extra cameras out of the box. I tried to edit the settings file manually but it didn't help as it did with FreeDCam, I suppose there should be something else fixed in the app itself, but still I'm going to try again editing the settings in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used it before. i actually got the cameras to work once. i dont know how. I ditched freedcam for it. But idk maybe after i switched roms or an update they broke again? i think if you look in info it says Only 2 cameras present. Our limited camera2api only shows 2 cameras. While freedcam forces to use the camera no matter what.
I may be wrong i saw something abt this somewhere.
Maybe downgrading to an older apk might help. But i sadly dont have enough time for that

I also recommend using No-frills CPU Control CLASSIC to lower the min CPU frequency to 500 MHz and set govenor to "shedutil" (if it's not already). Also set Android System battery usage to "Restricted" (Settings > Battery > Battery Usage > Android System). That should reduce the battery consumption in the doze mode.

Captain_cookie_200 said:
I used it before. i actually got the cameras to work once. i dont know how. I ditched freedcam for it. But idk maybe after i switched roms or an update they broke again? i think if you look in info it says Only 2 cameras present. Our limited camera2api only shows 2 cameras. While freedcam forces to use the camera no matter what.
I may be wrong i saw something abt this somewhere.
Maybe downgrading to an older apk might help. But i sadly dont have enough time for that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open Camera can now shoot photos from all cameras, only shooting video does not work.

uluruman said:
I also recommend using No-frills CPU Control CLASSIC to lower the min CPU frequency to 500 MHz and set govenor to "shedutil" (if it's not already). Also set Android System battery usage to "Restricted" (Settings > Battery > Battery Usage > Android System). That should reduce the battery consumption in the doze mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have noticed big cores are alr at schedutil. although some roms report efficiency cores using "null" like no governer at all. But kernel manager says they use schedutil. I mostly set my governer to ondemand.

uluruman said:
Open Camera can now shoot photos from all cameras, only shooting video does not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk that small popup for switching cameras is gone. and it cant use the other cameras

So i just installed crdroid 9.2 looks like gms was going crazy in the bg eating my cpu. The fix i found is to run this command.
su -c pm disable com.google.android.gms/.chimera.GmsIntentOperationService
this seems to fix it and i dont see anything broken. I searched it and looks like this issue does happen for alot of users.

Captain_cookie_200 said:
So i just installed crdroid 9.2 looks like gms was going crazy in the bg eating my cpu. The fix i found is to run this command.
su -c pm disable com.google.android.gms/.chimera.GmsIntentOperationService
this seems to fix it and i dont see anything broken. I searched it and looks like this issue does happen for alot of users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's only if you're using a gapps version. I am using the vanilla version of LOS, so there are basically only two com.google.android.[something] packages in my system: com.google.android.apps.googlecamera.fishfood and com.google.android.networkstack.tethering.overlay

uluruman said:
That's only if you're using a gapps version. I am using the vanilla version of LOS, so there are basically only two com.google.android.[something] packages in my system: com.google.android.apps.googlecamera.fishfood and com.google.android.networkstack.tethering.overlay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i m talking about people who use gapps. they are quite important in my day to day life otherwise i'd get rid of em

Just to update here. I tried magisk v26 and seems like it works fine. Although it had issues with my Dolby Atmos mods so i got rid of it and downgraded to v25.2 again. Otherwise all of my other modules were working fine and i didnt see any issues.

I have lineage os 20, but bro, don't have phhsetings haha

ApiYoshi said:
I have lineage os 20, but bro, don't have phhsetings haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
using light i see.

Captain_cookie_200 said:
using light i see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, it was a error hahaha, im now on another lineage gsi which have phh

Bro, you know if on Crdroid, the SD works normal? For me, as the SD is on exFAT, many gsi don't recognize it

ApiYoshi said:
Bro, you know if on Crdroid, the SD works normal? For me, as the SD is on exFAT, many gsi don't recognize it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont use a sd card. even tho I need one badly. it would save alot of time for me when switching gsi's

Captain_cookie_200 said:
i dont use a sd card. even tho I need one badly. it would save alot of time for me when switching gsi's
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oooh, well... Yes, a SD is so useful for that, in the SD I backup almost everything

ApiYoshi said:
Oooh, well... Yes, a SD is so useful for that, in the SD I backup almost everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will test the gsi, is stable?

ApiYoshi said:
I will test the gsi, is stable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. march patch (qpr2) just came out today. give it a go