TTT-Update the BIOS on your X98 Air II/3G to the latest dual boot version (2.02)
TTT TecKnight's Teclast Tutorials series
Update the BIOS on your X98 Air II/3G to the latest dual boot version (2.02)
Frequently asked questions:
What are the advantages/reasons for updating my BIOS to version 2.02
1. BIOS 2.02 fixes a major power drain issue in Windows sleep mode, slashing the power consumption by 80% when in sleep mode under Windows.
2. BIOS 2.02 enables Boot to other OS functionality from both Windows and Android. This allows you to simply click a Boot to Windows or Boot to Android icon to cause the device to immediately reboot and then launch the other OS.
3. Other minor fixes included in 2.02 update.
Which models of X98 Air II/3G is BIOS version 2.02 compatible with ?
BIOS 2.02 is designed to be compatible with all variants of the X98 Air II/3G.
At the time this instruction was published, 2.02 had been reported successfully flashed to virtually all Air models.
It is not known to be incompatible with any models.
What about other BIOS versions ? Can I use your script to flash them ?
Yes you can. I will keep the flash archive updated with what I consider the latest official Teclast BIOS that has proven to be safe to flash.
That is currently version 2.02.
If you wish to flash a different image, simply follow the instructions in
Step 2.
Determine your current BIOS version (coming soon)
IMPORTANT !! READ FIRST !!
Before you attempt this procedure:
1. There is ALWAYS a chance something might go wrong when flashing a BIOS image, even when the image is correct for your device.
When BIOS flashing goes awry, it can result in a "brick", meaning the tablet reponds like a brick. A bricked device will not power up or display anything. It is basically out of commission.
The only way to recover from a brick is to open your case and use a CH341A BIOS flasher like this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-25-Serie...H341A-Module-W-Software-Driver-/161436716985?
These instructions attempt to minimize your risk by using the update method with the highest success rate, which is using adb and android to flash the BIOS.
Indeed, reports of bricked tablets when using this flashing method are very rare.
Only you can decide if the benefits from updating to 2.02 are worth the risks. By continuing with this procedure, you are assuming all risk for what might happen to your tablet.
2. The BIOS image as shipped from the factory contains an embedded unique Windows 8.1 software license key.
It is highly recommended that you obtain your Windows 8.1 software license key before you flash BIOS 2.02, as the flashing process will remove your key from the BIOS image.
New 8/25/2015
You can extract your embedded product key by pasting the following into a Windows CMD prompt, followed by
Enter:
Code:
powershell "(Get-WmiObject -query ‘select * from SoftwareLicensingService’).OA3xOriginalProductKey" > %userprofile%/Desktop/WProdKey.txt
This will create a file called
WProdKey.txt on your Desktop containing your embedded Windows product key.
Extract the key
before you flash the new BIOS and store it somewhere that is NOT on the tablet.
Use the key if you need to reinstall Windows 8.1 on the tablet for some reason.
Procedure: Update BIOS to 2.02 Dual Boot
Required:
1. Windows Host PC with adb drivers installed.
2. Teclast X98 Air device with any version of Android installed.
3. USB A to Micro USB cable
4. BIOS 2.02 adb FLASH202 archive (thanks to Mirek190 for creating this archive !! I have pretty much rewritten it at this point)
Step by Step instructions:
1. Extract
FLASH202 archive to a folder on your Windows Host PC.
2. If you wish to flash a BIOS image other than 2.02, rename the BIOS image you want to flash to
X98_Air_3G_Dual.bin and browse to the folder where you extracted the
FLASH202 archive. Open the
X98-Air-dual-boot-bios-and-FPT folder and place your renamed BIOS image there, overwriting the existing file.
3. Ensure that your tablet has at least 50% battery charge.
4. Boot your tablet into Android.
5. Enable USB debugging in Android if not already enabled.
6. Connect your tablet to your Windows Host PC using the USB A to Micro USB cable.
7. On Host PC, browse to the folder where you extracted the
FLASH202 archive.
8. Double click on the file
FLASH.BAT. It should have a
GEAR icon next to it.
You should see:
Code:
***********************************************
* FLASH.BAT ver 3.07 *
* Tool to flash BIOS *
* on Teclast X98 Air II/3G *
* created *
* 2015.4.23 Mirek190 *
* *
* modified *
* 2015.8.10 TecKnight *
***********************************************
IMPORTANT !!
- Your BATTERY must be charged to 50% or higher !!
- Your X98 device must be booted into Android and connected to this PC via USB
- On X98 device-"Settings->Developer options->USB debugging" must be checked
If all above requirements are met, press ENTER to proceed
Otherwise, press CTRL-C to abort
9. Press
ENTER. You should see:
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
Baytrail00F0C770 device
If you do not see the line in red, and the script is not continuing to the message in
Step 10 below, then
adb is not detecting your X98 Air device. Check that your USB cable is connected properly and USB debugging is enabled in Android. If
FLASH.BAT is still not detecting your tablet after these checks, press
CTRL-C to abort
.
Then press
y + ENTER to the
Terminate BAT file (Y/N) prompt.
Now, perform the following procedure on your host PC:
Once you have completed the listed procedure, restart this procedure from
Step 7.
10. If adb is able to detect your X98 Air device, you will see the following message:
You are about to flash the BIOS on your X98 Air device to ver 2.02 Dual Boot
If you do not wish to do this, press CTRL-C to abort.
By pressing ENTER you confirm your understanding that your embedded Windows key
will be wiped by this process and you agree to accept all responsibility
for what may happen to your device.
11. Press
ENTER if you agree.
You will see:
NOTE: This process can take 2 minutes or more to complete.
DO NOT INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS or unpleasant results may occur.
Flash Process Commencing @ 12:30:30 on 7/17/2015
12. Wait for the script to finish. If you see this message:
**BIOS flash FAILURE !! Check flashlog.txt. Post to XDA Developers if necessary
Press ENTER to view flashlog.txt.
Press
ENTER and your flash log will be displayed. Troubleshoot your failed flash or post the log to XDA Developers..
13. If you see this message:
**BIOS flash SUCCESS !! Press ENTER to power off X98 Air device immediately.
14. Press the
ENTER key and your X98 Air device will be powered down.
15. Disconnect tablet from PC. Wait at least 15 seconds and power tablet back up while holding Vol+.
16. Select your OS and continue. Congratulations !!
_________
Change Log:
9/14/2015 Added Step 2 to allow users to replace the target BIOS image with an image of their choice. Added FAQ heading to this effect as well.
8/10/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.07. Changed confirmation wording to indicate Windows key will be destroyed and to have user assume all responsibility for what may happen.
8/6/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.06. Added code to change back to correct directory when run as administrator. Enhanced flash failure checking to indicate whether FPT was successfully executed and failed to flash vs when there was a problem launching FPT. Script now brings up flashlog.txt in NOTEPAD following failed flash.
8/4/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.05. Added automated power down of X98 Air device following successful flash. This is to attempt to minimize bricked devices due to users not following instructions. Thanks to Mirek190 for suggesting this. FYI: I tested this new FLASH.BAT on my X98 Air 3G twice. Each time the flash was successful and no bricks were made. Here is the flashlog.txt.
7/27/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.04. Removed Repartition option and option select menu. Clarified wording in a few places
7/19/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.03. Fixed error in call to FPT that was preventing FPT from launching. Thanks to Lysie for catching this.
7/17/2015 FLASH.BAT ver 3.02. Added reliable FLASH success/failure detection to the script. Script now searches the output from the FPT command for the string "FPT Operation Passed". Thanks to ArcticSilverFox for providing a flashlog.txt from a successful flash. Also added a version # to FLASH.BAT and very specific do not disturb instructions as FPT is called.
7/17/2015 Fixed a couple of errors in FLASH.BAT introduced while making the earlier mods. Thanks to ArcticSilverFox for his assistance above and beyond the call of duty !!
7/16/2015 Improved FLASH.BAT script, adding detailed runtime logging to new log file flashlog.txt and added explicit warnings that display prior to flashing device. Added code to automatically kill any running adb processes before flashing. Removed instructions to user to kill adb processes. Updated tutorial to reflect changes in FLASH.BAT.
