Best way to de-google Note Air 3 C ?

[BiduleMachin]

Hi,

I just bought an Onyx Boox Note Air 3C, it will arrive in the coming weeks.

I am a bit familiar with rooting and custom ROM world on Android phones. I had multiple Xiaomi phone (and still have a POCO) that I choosed specifically because they had a community behind it making custom software and custom ROMs for them. That allows me to install a ROM without any Google service, and use microG to replace them. I then use F-Droid and if needed Aurora Store to get my apps.

Given that the Air 3C is Android, my question is the following :
How close can I get to what I am doing on my Android phone with the Air 3C ?

The best of the best would be to have a custom ROM like LineageOS and all its derivatives (crDroid, SparkOS, EvolutionX....). But I guess I can forget that, as there is probably not enough interest in the device for it. Is that right ?

Then, the second choice would be to de-google as much as possible the official ROM. But before doing that, I would feel much safer if I know that there is a way to recover the device to the factory OS. With Xiaomi phones, the manufacturer provides all its ROMs in packages that can be installed via Fastboot. This works 100% of the time (at least with what I am doing) to recover the device.
Is such thing available for Air 3C ?
Can the OS ROM be downloaded from the manufacturer website or on a third party side ?
Is it possible to unlock the bootloader ?
Is it possible to install tools to the recovery partition such as TWRP or similar ?
Can Magisk be installed without more risk than any normal Android phone ?

I know some ways to remove Google services. But I guess the Air 3C has some very specific components that are needed to manage specificities of the screen or some other hardware. What things should I be careful not to remove if I want to de-google the device ?

That is a lot of questions and I'm sorry for that. I would be very happy to read about anything you would have to answer about the subject. Even better, if you have already tried with or without success such things on this device, I would love getting some advices from you.

Thanks in advance and have a nice day !

[dcarvil]

Originally Posted by BiduleMachin

Hi,


Can the OS ROM be downloaded from the manufacturer website or on a third party side ?
Is it possible to unlock the bootloader ?
Is it possible to install tools to the recovery partition such as TWRP or similar ?
Can Magisk be installed without more risk than any normal Android phone ?[/B]

Yes, the OS ROM can be downloaded. Run this query, then look for the downloadUrlList.
http://data.onyx-international.cn/ap...t%22:%22%22%7D

The bootloader is unlocked at the factory.

I don't know of any tools for the recovery partition, but look at Renate's site at https://www.temblast.com/android.htm. She will probably respond to your post with more information. She is very active on this forum, and very knowledgeable.

Yes, Magisk can be installed. Read this thread on the Poke5. It is for a different device, but the procedure is the same. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=357269

Also, read all the posts in the NoteAir3C thread. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=357326

Can't help with the de-Google part.

[Renate]

For radical experimenting, I suggest that you get EDL working and make a full, raw backup first.
Then, no matter what you do you can get back to where you were.
Ok, for a NoteAir3C, that's 6 files that total 64 GB.
It's a bit overkill, but if you have the space somewhere...

[BiduleMachin]

Thanks a lot for your answer @dcarvil and @Renate.

I have space to store an entire raw backup, no problem. I want to stay safe with the device. I have never done a raw backup on Android because I always had the guarantee that flashing manufacter software like MIUI from Fastboot was going to work. Is the raw backup restoration done in EDL mode too ?

If I'm correct, Fastboot is only a thing on Xiaomi so I don't think there is the same on Boox, right ? Can EDL be used to install TWRP or similar tool on the recovery partition on Boox ?

I have downloaded the manufacter ROM from their API. It is a .upx file, is there a way to flash it from EDL or other recovery mode to the Boox is case of a problem ? Xiaomi usually makes a .zip with .img files and a .bat that automatically flashes all images to the corresponding partitions. Is there something similar ?

I will try to follow the Magisk procedure for Poke5. Is it the exact same way with Air 3C ?

Is there Boox modding specific tools made by the community that I should look at ? There is no custom ROM or OS, right ?

Thanks in advance for any answer and have a nice day.

[Renate]

Yes, fastboot exists in Onyx.
Updates are encrypted, see https://github.com/Hagb/decryptBooxUpdateUpx
Magisk procedures are the same for everything.
The only difference is whether the boot.img is just in update.zip or in payload.bin
Forget Xiaomi.

[BiduleMachin]

Thanks for the decrypting tool, I successfully got the .zip with the payload.bin. It appears the Magisk app recently got an update allowing to extract it by itself to patch it, so I will probably try that way.
Once the file has been patched, what is the procedure to flash it ? Do I flash the boot.img only or should I somehow include it back into a payload.bin and flash that ? Is the partition called "boot" like any Android phone ?

Xiaomi is all I know so far so I'm trying to see how it compares. But once magisk is installed, I will be able to do the rest by myself. I am in parrallel looking for the most up to date way of removing all google services.

Is there also apps by Onyx I can remove to improve privacy ? I guess I can't go without the official note taking app as it is probably very hardware dependant. But if there is other tools or apps you would recommend for this model, I'm very interested.

Thanks in advance for your answer and have a nice day.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by BiduleMachin

Do I flash the boot.img only...

If the update is newer than your version you should update first.
Since you already downloaded it you can save on your data/time.
Push the encrypted update.upx to /sdcard.

adb push update.upx sdcard
adb shell am start -a onyx.settings.action.firmware

If you have EDL you can flash the decrypted/depayloaded boot.img
Or use fastboot.

[BiduleMachin]

Pushing the encrypted update is the same as the OTA update from the settings, right ?

ADB needs a functionnal OS. Is there a way to flash the entire ROM (encrypted or decrypted) from EDL or fastboot in case I don't have access to the system ? Or is my raw backup the only thing I can flash without a functionnal OS ?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by BiduleMachin

Pushing the encrypted update is the same as the OTA update from the settings, right ?

You're only saving the download bit.

Originally Posted by BiduleMachin

ADB needs a functionnal OS.

Or (custom) recovery.
There's also Fastboot and EDL.

I flash stuff in normal system, recovery, fastboot, EDL all the time.

[cartz]

Originally Posted by BiduleMachin

The best of the best would be to have a custom ROM like LineageOS and all its derivatives (crDroid, SparkOS, EvolutionX....). But I guess I can forget that, as there is probably not enough interest in the device for it. Is that right ?

There would be more interest in LineageOS for Boox devices than the Hisense e-ink devices given there sheer volume of boox devices outside of China relative to Hisense. Yet Lineage is now available on Hisense - see https://xdaforums.com/t/hisense-a9-r...#post-89431982

I'm hoping someone with the right skill set will tackle it at some stage.