This may require rooting the tablet (mine was) but will allow you to:
You will need a 4+GB SD card, USB mouse/keyboard, HDMI cable, HDMI monitor/tv for this to work.
Booting Linux from SD card
1. DD the linux image to your SD card.
2. Write the mk802 bootloader to your SD card. (the regular MK802 device files are the only one that work for me; MK802II/MK802+/etc don't work.)
3. Copy the mk802 script.bin to the first partition on the newly created SD card (the first 16MB partition).
4. Plug in HDMI cable and USB keyboard/mouse.
5. Insert SD card and restart the tablet by holding down power button; may have to hold power and Vol+ or Vol - for rebooting.
6. The keyboard/mouse should turn on if this works (light on mouse turns on) and then your HDMI tv/monitor will show a black screen and/or penguin as it boots. If your USB device does not get power or the HDMI TV not find a signal, restart the tablet. This may take multiple times to get this to work.
http://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/development/topics/debian-wheezy-lxde-armhf-build
MK802 bootloader
MK802 script.bin
Other versions work great
A: Downloads | cubiuntu (CB1 editions work (cubiebox))
Aruntu 23-Jun-2014 CB1 0.777 Deep Blue Edition ----- Working GPU that will play 1080p content. Easiest to get working; based on ubuntu.
B: http://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/development--3/topics/linaro-12-06-desktop
The bad:
1. The MK802 bootloader files give rock solid performance but I can't figure out how to access the full 1GB. Using anything else causes issues or won't boot.
2. HDMI only so far.
3. PITA to get the hang of booting the SD card. Takes a few tries as there are no indicator lights beyond the mouse/keyboard turning on.
____________________________
Easy android recovery i.e. fix stuck android boot loop
Once you boot into linux you can write directly to the nand for recovery.
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/craig-tablets/53726-cmp741e-complete-nandroid-backup-3.html
Dev-Host - A10_FW_BACKUP_20130120_1154.zip - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service
/dev/nanda etc
or
/dev/nand1 etc
cat /sdcard/bootloader.img > /dev/block/nanda
cat /sdcard/boot.img > /dev/block/nandc
You can also use the recovery.img if you want.
Understanding which paritions to write to:
Android/partitions - linux-sunxi.org
____________________________
The above works fine for Allwinner A10 tablet. Should work with new versions of allwinner A20/A31. You just have to find the correct bootloader and script.bin. Pulling the script.bin from the android filesystem did NOT work for me.
- Boot just about any linux image - recommended armhf for speed increase.
- Recover android very easily once linux is booted on the tablet
You will need a 4+GB SD card, USB mouse/keyboard, HDMI cable, HDMI monitor/tv for this to work.
Booting Linux from SD card
1. DD the linux image to your SD card.
2. Write the mk802 bootloader to your SD card. (the regular MK802 device files are the only one that work for me; MK802II/MK802+/etc don't work.)
3. Copy the mk802 script.bin to the first partition on the newly created SD card (the first 16MB partition).
4. Plug in HDMI cable and USB keyboard/mouse.
5. Insert SD card and restart the tablet by holding down power button; may have to hold power and Vol+ or Vol - for rebooting.
6. The keyboard/mouse should turn on if this works (light on mouse turns on) and then your HDMI tv/monitor will show a black screen and/or penguin as it boots. If your USB device does not get power or the HDMI TV not find a signal, restart the tablet. This may take multiple times to get this to work.
http://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/development/topics/debian-wheezy-lxde-armhf-build
MK802 bootloader
MK802 script.bin
Other versions work great
A: Downloads | cubiuntu (CB1 editions work (cubiebox))
Aruntu 23-Jun-2014 CB1 0.777 Deep Blue Edition ----- Working GPU that will play 1080p content. Easiest to get working; based on ubuntu.
B: http://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/development--3/topics/linaro-12-06-desktop
The bad:
1. The MK802 bootloader files give rock solid performance but I can't figure out how to access the full 1GB. Using anything else causes issues or won't boot.
2. HDMI only so far.
3. PITA to get the hang of booting the SD card. Takes a few tries as there are no indicator lights beyond the mouse/keyboard turning on.
____________________________
Easy android recovery i.e. fix stuck android boot loop
Once you boot into linux you can write directly to the nand for recovery.
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/craig-tablets/53726-cmp741e-complete-nandroid-backup-3.html
Dev-Host - A10_FW_BACKUP_20130120_1154.zip - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service
/dev/nanda etc
or
/dev/nand1 etc
cat /sdcard/bootloader.img > /dev/block/nanda
cat /sdcard/boot.img > /dev/block/nandc
You can also use the recovery.img if you want.
Understanding which paritions to write to:
Android/partitions - linux-sunxi.org
____________________________
The above works fine for Allwinner A10 tablet. Should work with new versions of allwinner A20/A31. You just have to find the correct bootloader and script.bin. Pulling the script.bin from the android filesystem did NOT work for me.
