Does anyone know of this E-Book reader and how to update the firmware on it ?

[Nicolas72]

Hey folks,
Found this amazing site (China gadgets here i come ) while browsing the web searching for a way to flash my EBook Reader to its newest Firmware.
I will include a picture of that thing here because you really cant go by model number or description alone. (When you check out the china wholesale sites you know why. Everyone uses their own little model scheme and description)
It is a 7 Inch cPaper reader with builtin 2G of memory.
The current firmware saya Rockchip RK2729 SDK Version V1.0.5. Thats one of em.
My other reader (bought from the same store, same day) has 4g of builtin memory but its firmware says RK2729 SDK Version 1.0..

The 1.0.5 one works very well for my needs. It supports alot of different book types. Movies and sound files are also supported even tho this isnt the main reason why i bought it.
The interesting thing is that both claim to support FM Radio as well. The new one (V1.0.5) doesnt but the older (V1.0.) has a radio menu where i can scan frequencies and so on.
I can not get any stations here for whatever reason tho.
Now my actual problem is that i want to have both with the same firmware V1.0.5 but i cant find a way to make the hidden partition visible.
Ive tried the rkusb.tag and various other names but its a no go.
I am running Linux with kernel 2.6.35-24-generic and when i probe the usb ports with lsusb i get:

lsusb output
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 071b:3203 Domain Technologies, Inc. Rockchip Media Player
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

sudo fdisk -l output:
Disk /dev/sdd: 1820 MB, 1820327936 bytes
56 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1024 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 3472 * 512 = 1777664 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6f20736b

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 ? 224118 552894 570754815+ 72 Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(357, 116, 40) logical=(224117, 27, 11)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 45) logical=(552893, 16, 51)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdd2 ? 48586 606198 968014120 65 Novell Netware 386
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(288, 115, 43) logical=(48585, 38, 47)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(367, 114, 50) logical=(606197, 28, 42)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdd3 ? 538561 1096173 968014096 79 Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(366, 32, 33) logical=(538560, 18, 30)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 43) logical=(1096172, 7, 39)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdd4 ? 831130 831146 27749+ d Unknown
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(372, 97, 50) logical=(831129, 20, 25)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(0, 10, 0) logical=(831145, 19, 33)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

So i can only mount the main /dev/sdd volume which is the user memory of the player.
It is ok if i just want to copy or delete files on the reader but i cant get to the other partitions that most likely hold the system files.
I hope someone has an idea of how to do that.
Here is the picture of the player.
Thanks in advance folks. Any comments or tips and tricks are welcome.

[Trinity]

I have bought 1 of thosee and have crashed it after playing with the firmware. Now it don't work lol
You can access the 4 drives on the device via a program called "RK27 Device manager" but i`ve looked everywhere for firmwware updates and can't find anything. Well i thought i'd found some firmware, but it was wrong and now its crashed my ereader. And now i have no backup. lol
Whats the chances of getting the backfile from you as its the same device? Thats if you can extract it.

[Trinity]

Just found a cure for my ereader. Seems the product as been rebranded under several different names. But when i bought it, there was no brand name and just called a Ebook with no site for updates.
So i tried different firmware software from different companies. I had nothing to lose as i'd killed my ereader. Its a habbit of mine to break things
Firstly i tried the Migear firmware upgrades and it worked a treat, but video player and something else was missing from the menu. I wanted my video player back!
Migear
MiGear eBook Reader ADOBE DRM license firmware upgrade



After more googling i found another company selling the same item. So went to their page and downloaded there firmware.
Skytex
SKYTEX - Downloads.

Found the .img file in the folders from skytex and i gave it a whirl. It worked a treat and now i have all the functions back and the menu looks 10 times better :-)
I used the RK28 Device manager to upgrade the .img files that were in the downloaded folders. Took about 90seconds to load and install the firmware to the device.
I wonder if the battery life is a little better?? Was only getting about 3 to 4 hours reading time!

My ebook menu now looks like this and i'm a happy bunny now



The radio on it is still useless tho........

[Nicolas72]

Hey Trinity,
I am glad that you got yours working again.
I have been trying to extract the firmware from my device but since i am not using Windoze i cant run that RK28 Devicemanager. Tried using it under Wine but still no go.
My problem wasnt as pressing since the reader still worked (works) its just that radio button thats useless.
Maybe i should just install Windoze in either a seperate partition or on a a Stick or something.
At that point it seemed a little bit of an overkill to do so.
Once ive done so i will extract the firmware and post it here or email it to you or whatever is best.
With all the different brands, modelnames etc out there its hard to get the right firmware hehe.
I have even contacted my seller to ask for it but he just shrugs and says.. me not know..
So whats the firmware version of your ebook reader now ? V1.0.5 or lower, higher ?
Hope to get around doing that this week.
I didnt mess with the firmware yet since i couldnt make a backup and i didnt want to brick the reader lol
Will keep you posted tho.

Nicolas

[Trinity]

When i bought the ereader a couple of weeks back, the firmware version was 1.0.0. So thought i'd look to see if i could find an update. Thought i had found 1 but after i installed it, i realized i had installed wrong firmware and it crashed my ereader.
So went searching for details on the ereader and how to access the hidden drives and came across intructions from a site called mobileread.com, gave it a shot and bingo, the extra 2 drives appeared withe the other 2 drives, but i still i had try find the firmware as i'd screwed all system and backup files, and were not retrievable as i'd over writen them all.
The skytex firmware is the same setup as the original, but with more eye candy, still no improvements on the radio and will not find any stations even setup for europe. Also the screen seems sharper and faster and plays all the formats as it did before.
I'm happy with the skytex firmware, so no need for you to do me a backup of your ereader. Thx for the offer anyway :-)

Right, time to get back to sorting out my 20.000 .epubs and .mobi ebooks with calibre..


Copied from Mobileread.com....

eBook readers based on the Rockchip RK2729 have 3 hidden partitions.

1. A backup firmware (only updated using the Firmware Upgrade tool (RK28DM) available here)
2. The firmware actually loaded (150MB partition)
3. User settings. (80MB partition)

We can see (and then backup) 2. and 3. above using the following method:

• Attach the reader to the computer using the mini-usb cable.
• Create an empty file with the following name: rkusb.tag
• Copy it into the root of internal memory (NEXTBOOK Partition). There may be another unnamed partition for the microSD card, if installed. Make note of the Drive Letters assigned.
• Turn off the reader
• Shutdown and restart the computer
• Turn on the reader and wait until the USB connection picture is displayed
• Wait a reasonable time to recognize the reader (the previously visible partitions above may have the Drive Letters re-assigned now)
• After the computer finds the two new partitions, copy the contents of each of them into a zipped file or "as is" onto your hard drive
• Delete the empty file created (rkusb.tag) in internal memory
• Power cycle the reader and the hidden partitions will “disappear” as before.

Notes:

1. Do not try to copy the individual files into the hidden partitions to update the firmware.
2. The OS loader of the reader checks the CRC of the files from partition 1. to 2. and if they do not match, they are replaced.
3. To update you have to create an image (FAT) .img file using UltraISO or WinImage, and replicate the file structure of the larger (150MB) hidden partition’s contents.
4. Then use the software Rockchip DK28DM_Setup to install the firmware upgrade tool and update with your .img file.

For other devices, other possible empty filenames, instead of rkusb.tag, to try are:
- teclast.sys, FRK.TAG, HTC_001.Tag

If you aren't comfortable messying around with your device's firmware, then don't! Proceed with extreme caution as there may be a slight chance you can "brick" your device if the above is preformed incorrectly. These instructions work for me, but I won't be held responsible for any damage done to your device by following them (or not!).

[Nicolas72]

I followed those steps before, with creating the rkusb.tag and whatnot.
There are references on the web about how to `unhide` those partitions with different names.
rkusb.tag is just one of them but unfortunately it didnt do the trick for me.
My steps :

Find a Windoze computer. Win 7 in my case. 32 bit.
Installed the special rkw27 usb driver (only got that option after hitting the switch button on the update tool)
Now the player has its blue light on constantly and it recognized as Class for RK27 device under the device manager in windows.
It didnt get an additional or new drive letter tho.
In order to use the player again i have to press the reset button on its back otherwise nothing will happen. It wont even turn off.
When i plug it in or unplug it it always gets detected but stops there.
Without being able to backup my firmware its just too risky for me to upload that firmware that you have found. (Even tho i am darn tempted to do just that lol)
I have had even less luck using my linux system.
While in Windows i even checked with a partition tool to see if there might be a unrecognized one.
But there wasnt any.
I am kinda stomped on how to proceed from here.
To have a backup would be nice in any case, even if i dont update it.
Better to be safe than sorry lol
Maybe you have some more tips for me.

Regards

Nicolas

[Trinity]

I've tried to repeat the operation again to view the 2 hidden drives, but for some reason i can`t seem to do it again.
I've looked everywhere trying to find a answer to access the drives, but with no luck.
I think the backup/img file on the device originally was a .rkw file which used the rk27 devivce manager to upload, but the version i have now on the device is from skytex website and is a .img backup file and users the rk28 device manager, file size is around 100meg, it also gives the unbranded device a name now which is called Premer.
The original firmware version was 1.0.0, and this firmware i have now is version 1.0.0.1 so the rk28 reads, but device reads it as 1.0
I managed to crash it again while trying to get to view the 2 hidden drives while playing with software. I used the rk28 and skytex .img file again which restored the device in less than 2mins.
Personally i prefer the skytex software and it does seem to run better and looks/feels better, even at startup it as some animation while booting up, and when plugged into usb, it shows a icon which looks cool instead of the cable/pc picture which used to show up.
If you do go with the skytex firmware, make sure you backup all your media files as it might be wiped while updating, and proberly best to use a windows system when updating the firmware to be safe. Also skytex will proberly have more firmware updates later on their site, so you would be better off with the skytex setup.

[Nicolas72]

This whole firmware flashing and unhiding partitions is a nice time sink lol
BUT I think for now i will leave it be because i cant make a backup and to be honest to risk of bricking it even with the skytex firmware is just too high for me.
Ive waited 4 weeks for that ebook gadget to come here and well it would be a shame to risk that.
I think what we would need is a usb boot partition reader or something like that.
As i said before under windows 7 it is possible to install the drivers for the device but then it just sits there.
Maybe someone else comes up with a way to do it.
I will be monitoring the skytex site though and maybe one day when i feel adventurous i will give it a whirl.
That it would be so difficult to read the system files off it actually surprises me.
Talking to my seller yielded no results hehe..I am not surprised there either.
Thanks for all your effort though. I really appreciate it.
In case there are any news..post them here please.
(ordered some mp3/4/5/6/7/8/9 whatnot) players and this is going to be a nice challenge to lol.

Regards
Nicolas

[Nicolas72]

Ok,
I have to admit that i am still very tempted to just flash the ereader with the skytex firmware.
There is just one little details that still gives me pause and that is the supported languages.
On the skytex website it lists the main languages but not portuguese.
So i am not sure if it supports it.
In case you are reading this Trinity could you please be so kind as to check with your current one ?
Furthermore i have been unable to find any other usable firmware sites for it.
Googling yielded alot of results for the similar design but well its a gamble lol.
Going directly to rockchip was a dead end too since they only design the hardware but not the UI or what the kind of case and buttons the final factory puts into that thing.
Some sites suggest to open the unit up and short out a few pins on some chips to access the firmware partition. ( I can see the result already that i would be getting lol)
Anyways, if you could verify that portuguese is indeed in the languages menu i will update it.

Regards
Nicolas

[Trinity]

Lol.
Yes skytex supports portuguese and another 18 other lauguage on the device. And when you download the software, you will have all the tools within the package to upload the firmware to your device. I don't know what the battery life is like on yours, but i'm getting around 4 hours of reading time before i have to charge it up again. How about yours?