Ramos i9s Pro

[bossew]

@Billcnz

Good to know it supports larger capacity Micro SD cards. I had ended up buying a 64 GB USB flash drive because I was worried about the storage capacity (especially with Windows and all its updates!). Would you mind sharing where you bought the 128 GB ones or at least what version of SanDisk they are so I can get one too? I think I'll send Ramos another email, but I don't know if they'll be able to help with the battery indicator issue. What you saw certainly sounds familiar...

How I sorted my tablet out was to install the i9s Windows firmware. It really is the same as the i9s Pro, but without the dual boot. It's worth it for some that want just a single OS, as it will boot directly into it with everything set up. The only other issue I have is that even though I installed using English/UK as my locale/language, I still get some Chinese text dotted here and there (volume mixer for example, where "Speakers" is in Chinese). That's a Windows thing I'll have to sort out someday. Just the battery indicator is bothering me now.

@bossew

I know that holding down volume up while pressing the power button gives you this thing called "DMX mode" (I think), which I think is for flashing. Have you tried holding down volume down while pressing the power button? You have to hold them for a while until the large Chinese text that usually appears disappears, if you get what I mean. It's similar to smartphones in a way.

Thanks, Holding down volume - from power off, letting go after the large chineese characters get you into a mode where you can chose recovery. Continue holding volume down, take you to safe mode.

[SyreetaW]

OK... this is getting annoying now. I was thinking maybe I should get the tablet back to the way it originally was (dual boot Android and Windows), THEN reflash the BIOS and install i9s version Windows only which should leave everything else untouched and perhaps that would get me the battery indicator back as well as Windows only with at least most of the storage intact. I have just flashed the Android BIOS (I9S_SPINOR_10.bin) and now I can't get into Windows at all and I have no idea how to flash Android onto this thing! I'm trying to follow the "Engrish" instructions, but nothing actually says HOW you flash the Android OS itself. I've tried doing it the Windows way (all files on a USB flash drive and start up in UEFI and I've also tried booting off the flash drive as well), but it doesn't see it despite being formatted the way the BIOS should recognise (GPT). Is there something I'm missing? Can anyone help?

EDIT: Never mind, figured it out and now have Android back. Now to see if I can get back to Windows and KEEP the battery indicator without screwing anything up! I would try Android, but I would prefer it to be a vanilla iteration instead of a custom one.

EDIT 2: Bah, Windows and a battery indicator just won't work on this tablet, so I have a plan. Does anyone know how to edit the partition.tbl file to make the Android partition as small as possible? Also, What is the smallest amount of space this version of Android can run on? Thanks in advance for any help offered...

[WildBill]

I have a Ramos i9s Android tablet (Game Edition) and have been trying to get it rooted. Did a factory reset and when it rebooted everything was in Chinese! Can you help me get it back to English? Even the Settings page is in Chinese.

[Billcnz]

In Settings look for icon of A with three dots and after touching choose the top item then scroll down until you see English.

[Jarek Staniszewski]

Hello, I have similar problem with my Ramos i9s pro. I't started with accidentally uninstalling Chinese software from android. Android stops working. So i decided to remove all partitions under windows to gain some extra space - something went wrong. Now my Ramos is not booting at all, i have downloaded all 4 files (android bios, windows bios, android firmware and windows firmware (from AngryParis post 05-10-2015, 02:37 PM)).
Can somebody explain step by step instructions how to restore it to original state. I think i'm stuck on Android bios part 2 (i'm using dnx mode with ramos connected to my laptop Win7 32bit). CMD window saying: sending 'fw_stage2' (2048 KB)... OKAY, writing 'fw_stage2'... FAILED (remote: unknown command) finished. Total time:
After that i was trying to flash android firmware using Manufacturing Flash tool, but nothing happens.
Thank You and sorry for my poor English.

[Billcnz]

A Chinese user posted a tutorial on the lewa os forum: http://bbs.lewaos.com/forum.php?mod=...threads=thread

Ultimately I think the best advice for anyone who hasn't touched the partitions would just be to leave the default factory configuration alone.

[Jarek Staniszewski]

Thank You. I was unable to restore dual boot. But i manage to remove all partitions and install fresh Windows 8.1. Now i have fully working windows 8.1 on 54.1GB partition with 49GB free space.
Can You tell me if i want to install dual boot do i need to restore original partitions table first? - if Yes how can i restore it. Thank You.

Now i have 5 partitions:
1. System partition EFI 64MB
2. RAW partition 64MB
3. System partition EFI 100MB
4. Windows NTFS 54,18GB
5.System Restore 3,71GB

[Billcnz]

From reading on the Chinese forum it's possible to use a different partition table making the Android partition smaller but you would need to download the required files and start from scratch again.

[SyreetaW]

Hey Jarek Staniszewski,

Perhaps I can help you out with getting your Ramos i9s Pro back to factory state? First thing's first. You need to flash the Android BIOS first. Unfortunately at this time, it seems the links are down (they're saying they don't exist for me). If you have the files already that's good.

1. To flash the BIOS, drop all the files in the "i9spro-android-BIOS-1" folder (fparts.txt, fpt.efi, fpt64.efi, I9S_SPINOR_10.bin and startup.nsh) onto a properly formatted USB flash drive (GPT for best results) and make sure its name is WINPE, and start your tablet up either holding down the middle of the volume button (meaning both + and - are pressed together) or pressing F7 on an attached keyboard. F7 will give you a boot menu and is the option I use. Highlight the UEFI built in BIOS and press Enter. The UEFI BIOS will run and say you can press ESC to skip looking for startup.nsh. Don't do this. Let it find it and it will read the files on the USB drive. While it's doing this (you see a few percentages of stuff being flashed), plug the data cable into your PC and run the "update-bios-stage2" batch file found in the "i9spro-android-BIOS-2" folder. A command prompt window will appear on your PC. Don't worry about it and leave it open.

As soon as the files have finished flashing on your tablet, you have a few seconds when the screen turns black (it'll briefly go into fastboot/DMX mode) to plug in the other end of the cable into your tablet. If you miss the time window, just shut it down and then turn it on holding down volume + and you should see the command prompt quickly flash something and then disappear. That means the Android BIOS is done.

2. Now to flash Android itself. This is a little more complicated. You need all the files in the "i9s pro" folder ("win" is added if it's for Windows). This has two folders. One containing the flashing software you need to install on your PC and the other containing the ROM files. Mine unfortunately looks like gibberish, but open the folder with the shorter "name". First, install the iSoC USB driver (Windows will nag you about certificates, but don't worry, it's safe, but old). Then install the Intel Android USB driver (though there is a newer version available it seems that everything in the folder works best with the version there, so just stay with it). Now that you've installed those, click the reghack.reg file. Sounds iffy, but I did so with no adverse effects.

Next, install the Manufacturing Flash Tool (MFT). Once that's done, copy the file to the "CUSTOM_CONFIG.ini" file to the MFT installation directory. Open the Flash Tool and go to "File", then "Settings" and make sure to do/see the following:

On the "General Properties" tab under "SOC devices":

VID: 8087
PID: 0A65

Under "Android devices":

VID: 8087
PID: 09EF

Under "Options":

Override GP flag unchecked: 0x80000045
Logger level: DEBUG
Save statistics: Checked

Click Apply and then OK. Still with me? Good. Now a strange step, but make a folder called "AOS_FINAL_IMAGE" and copy all the firmware/ROM files from the second folder (which will say something like "i9s pro" and then a date) in there. I haven't tried not doing this step as it's already complicated and annoying as it is. Now back to the Flash Tool and the tablet. Start it up in fastboot/DMX mode and plug it into your PC, if you haven't installed the USB drivers before, Windows will pop up a little notification. Now in the Status messages in the Flash Tool, you'll see that it has seen the tablet and will say it's ready to flash. Go to "File", then "Open" and navigate to your "AOS_FINAL_IMAGE" folder. Open the file "flash.xml". It should start the flash process and you'll see the DroidBoot logo and a load of stuff going on on the tablet. Let it do its thing and the tablet will restart and you'll see Android again! Unlock your screen and tap the "MicroVirt" icon (the colourful "M"). It'll say something completely in Chinese (Note: even in English it will remain so), so just tap the button which probably says OK. What this app does is set up the dual boot menu you see when you power up the tablet. Let's move on, it's almost over.

3. Now here's where it gets easier. It's time to get Windows back on there. Remember the way you flashed the Android BIOS? Do it exactly the same way with the Windows one, which is "I9S_SPINOR_11_W.bin". The "startup.nsh" file will reflect this, but you can use the Android one if you edit the file in Notepad to run the chosen .bin file. But it's best to just download the right files and just drop them onto your preformatted USB flash drive.

4. Now, it's finally time for Windows. If you got the folder "i9spro-win8.1-20150106-压缩包1" or something that says "i9s pro" and "win" in its title, drop all the files onto your preformatted USB flash file if it's large enough to hold all the files (just over 5GB worth). Start up your tablet and get back into the boot menu (F7 from power up or hold down volume + and - to get into the BIOS and go from there, but I highly recommend a USB OTG hub to attach the flash drive and a keyboard and a mouse if it has enough ports). This time start from the USB flash drive itself. It won't be called "WINPE" like I mentioned it should be called earlier, but whatever brand your drive is. The tablet will seem to restart and you'll see those large Chinese characters again. However, you'll see the familiar spinning circle of dots from Windows 8... It will start up into the "Diskpart" command prompt which will run all the batch files and stuff and partition the eMMC the way it was from factory. A note about Diskpart... when it's green, everything is OK. If it appears red for any reason something is wrong.

Usually, not having the drive named as "WINPE" or it not being formatted correctly (I've had times when even FAT32 wasn't good enough, but GPT or UEFI BIOS compatible was perfect) is the cause, so make sure your drive is ready as described. It'll take some time to install, but it will come to a point where it will ask you to shut down the tablet or type "exit" (I recommend the latter). This will restart the tablet and finish the Windows 8.1 installation. It will start up again and run some quick tests of the hardware. Finally, when the "OOBE" (means "out of box experience") box appears, check the little box. If it's in Chinese it means "customise". I think it allows to you some extra settings when you get to the stage of choosing your language and such, but I've also read it's a good thing to do. Once you click the first button to restart, that's it!

When you turn on your tablet or restart you'll have the dual boot menu back and both Windows and Android partitions! I have no idea on how to modify the size of those partitions and it would be best to prepare these via Diskpart and the partition.tbl files, so you'll need to do some research on that. I'm selling my tablet as a decent Windows or Android stylus will never be released as companies just keep skirting round the question when people ask, so I'm saving up for a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition instead.

[Jarek Staniszewski]

Wow, great tutorial in proper English SyreetaW. I do not know how can i thank You. Will try to restore my tablet later as now my tablet is running great with Windows only, I have all files ready. Can You tell me one more thing, can i remove all partitions befor flashing Android (now i have 5 partitions, i know it is safe to remove 3 of them but im not sure about another 2 (EFI partitions)). Or should i leave them alone? Thank You again SyreetaW.

[SyreetaW]

Wow, great tutorial in proper English SyreetaW. I do not know how can i thank You. Will try to restore my tablet later as now my tablet is running great with Windows only, I have all files ready. Can You tell me one more thing, can i remove all partitions befor flashing Android (now i have 5 partitions, i know it is safe to remove 3 of them but im not sure about another 2 (EFI partitions)). Or should i leave them alone? Thank You again SyreetaW.

Happy to help. The method I described will wipe everything completely and rewrite all the partitions just like they were from factory (32GB for Android and 32GB for Windows minus whatever they use for system files, so you'll get something like 27GB each for data). You can leave them alone as they'll be gone anyway. I've tried removing partitions before while in Windows, but it seems certain ones are required for the tablet to even boot into an OS and I end up messing it up. That's why I don't have any valuable information on the tablet as I'm always reflashing it to make it right again. I'd do all this just to get it to normal again if you really need both OSes. You can flash either OS alone by using the i9s tablet files as an i9s pro is just a i9s with more storage and the special dual boot BIOS. It comes in Windows only and Android only flavours (but only either 16GB or 32GB).

I've done Windows alone only once and found I lost the battery charging indicator and now realise that you only get that if you use Android. So I don't really know what the Windows version of the i9s tablet is like when you need to see how much charge is left. Ramos refuse to reply to me despite me contacting them 3 times about it. Hope this helps.

[WildBill]

It would be nice to get a custom recovery for i9sPro but I don't think the W13Pro will help as that's using a different SoC and the partition layout would also be different. It would have to be built specifically for i9sPro and use it's kernel or boot image and partitioning info.

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

I have successfully rooted my Ramos i9s Android tablet. I have NOT flashed any custom ROM and before I do anything else I want to make a COMPLETE backup. Several backup programs only back up apps and data, this will not do. I want to back up my stock ROM and everything else so it can be restored to its present state. Will TWRP or CWM do this? If so, is one of those recommended over the other for my tablet? One other question, since I have root does that mean my Bootloader is unlocked also?

[Billcnz]

I have successfully rooted my Ramos i9s Android tablet. I have NOT flashed any custom ROM and before I do anything else I want to make a COMPLETE backup. Several backup programs only back up apps and data, this will not do. I want to back up my stock ROM and everything else so it can be restored to its present state. Will TWRP or CWM do this? If so, is one of those recommended over the other for my tablet? One other question, since I have root does that mean my Bootloader is unlocked also?

There's not really a perfect backup solution for this device yet. TWRP or CWM would be good but they are custom recoveries and would need to be specifically built for the device by a developer who knows how. I did find an app that will backup individual partitions but haven't been game to try to restore them.

[WildBill]

Noticed after my successful root that Kingo ROOT installed KingoUser instead of SuperuserSU. After doing some online research I am not comfortable with that program being on my tablet. I would like to replace it with SuperuserSU but do not know he to do that.
Since my Ramos is rooted I have not messed with the internals so it is still running stock KitKat 4.4.2. If I do a factory reset will that effectively "unroot" the tablet and restore it to it's original state?

[Billcnz]

Noticed after my successful root that Kingo ROOT installed KingoUser instead of SuperuserSU. After doing some online research I am not comfortable with that program being on my tablet. I would like to replace it with SuperuserSU but do not know he to do that.
Since my Ramos is rooted I have not messed with the internals so it is still running stock KitKat 4.4.2. If I do a factory reset will that effectively "unroot" the tablet and restore it to it's original state?

If the KingoUser is working properly it will let you install SuperSu from playstore and grant permissions to replace the su binary. You can then disable KingoUser under settings apps all.

Kingo root worked well to root my i9sPro but I tried it on my new i11 Pro and although it said it was successful it's not granting apps root permission so I will have to try another method.