Boox Onyx New Update : 3.5.3

[Michal Jancik]

New update 3.5.3 support Dark Mode & New GUI(Graphics Interface) for Boox Onyx devices is out !

Good day ladies and gentlemen, check all your devices as there is a new update available that will bring a feature I've been waiting for a long time and that is "DARK MOD & NEW GUI"!

I personally like the new GUI improvements (graphical interface) much more than the previous ones.



( Tested with BOOX Onyx Leaf 2 )

These are the highlights of the new firmware update

• New UI: Minimalist Elegance, Maximum Efficiency
• Annotate & Share: FreeMark and BOOXDrop Screen Mirroring
• Read & Take Notes: Dark Mode, Smarter Image Edit and OCR



- New system UI look
- Added globalnAI assistant
- Updated Android security Patch

NeoReader

- The flow document suport Dark Mode
- Optimized document sync proces

And more ..

In addition to the aforementioned upgrades, an AI assistant is now available in the Naviball and Control Center,
If you haven't received it yet, please wait a bit longer or check for updates in Settings

LEAR MORE HERE :
https://shop.boox.com/blogs/news/boox-firmware-v3-5-3

INFO:

I also n
oticed that if you look deeper into the settings, it is possible to directly sign up to receive the Beta version, which can be interesting for users who like to test for the first time, or are impatiently waiting for some small pre-fixes.

[Renate]

Thanks for the heads up.

It does concern me the "no downgrading" bit though. Also, this is an incremental update, so your device should be mostly stock. Magisk should probably be ok.

If you have experience with EDL and have plenty of space on your desktop you can make a full, raw backup. That way you can effortlessly return to how it was.

My reader software always had a dark mode, but obviously a system-wide dark mode is more consistent. (I hate dark mode.)

[Harmon]

My Boox Tab Mini C is at 3.5.1, and says there are no updates available. Just bought this device, & like it a lot, but wondering if it’s not being orphaned…

[Julie Paradise]

Originally Posted by Harmon

My Boox Tab Mini C is at 3.5.1, and says there are no updates available. Just bought this device, & like it a lot, but wondering if it’s not being orphaned…

On Reddit the representative mentioned that Boox wants to smooth out bugs for some specific models. --> www.reddit.com/r/Onyx_Boox...

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Just bought this device, & like it a lot, but wondering if it’s not being orphaned…

Well, it did have an update in the last 3 months.
Moreover all updates are rolled out individually.

[Markismus]

Just installed 3.5.3 and would love to enable dark mode. Can't find it, though. Usermanual also doesn't help. Who could enlighten me and darken my screen?

EDIT: Found it. https://imgur.com/gallery/dark-mode-boox-QQiO9JX
Isn't working for PDF's, though, so it's still no good for studying in bed.

[Michal Jancik]

After the update, I noticed that my device is noticeably faster globally (BOOX Onyx Leaf 2), both in the GUI and when reading in the settings, where changing the font size, weight, dictionaries react almost immediately. Anyway, I will see after some time if this reactivity will be the same. I was very pleased with the update, I like the new look even more than before.
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If you have experience with EDL and have plenty of space on your desktop you can make a full, raw backup. That way you can effortlessly return to how it was.

That is a good reminder, but my experience is not so good and I am worried that I would damage the device.

[dcarvil]

Originally Posted by Renate

Thanks for the heads up.

It does concern me the "no downgrading" bit though. Also, this is an incremental update, so your device should be mostly stock. Magisk should probably be ok.

If you have experience with EDL and have plenty of space on your desktop you can make a full, raw backup. That way you can effortlessly return to how it was.

My reader software always had a dark mode, but obviously a system-wide dark mode is more consistent. (I hate dark mode.)

Renate,

I don't have a Windows box, so I cannot use your utility. I ran this python script for my NoteAir3:

./edl/edl rf edl-fullbackup.bin --memory=ufs --loader=./edl/Loaders/lenovo_motorola/001b80e102e80000_8b2d1c830d9d8576_fhprg_moto_g52.b in

This resulted in these files:

-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 59471036416 Jul 6 14:28 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun0
-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 8388608 Jul 6 14:28 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun1
-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 8388608 Jul 6 14:28 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun2
-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 134217728 Jul 6 14:28 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun3
-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 4294967296 Jul 6 14:30 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun4
-rw-r--r-- 1 dcarvil dcarvil 134217728 Jul 6 14:30 edl-fullbackup.bin.lun5

Do I need anything else to restore my NoteAir3 if the 3.5.3 upgrade does not work for me?

Thanks for all your work in this forum.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by dcarvil

Do I need anything else to restore my NoteAir3 if the 3.5.3 upgrade does not work for me?

That all looks good.
Just DO NOT under any circumstances "wipe" your data.
That will destroys the keys used to decrypt your data and it's gone for good even though you have a backup.

[dcarvil]

Originally Posted by Renate

That all looks good.
Just DO NOT under any circumstances "wipe" your data.
That will destroys the keys used to decrypt your data and it's gone for good even though you have a backup.

Great, thanks.

[Anghirrim]

Hi, thanks for the info! Upgrading now.

Side point, for those who were a bit too enthusiasts while debloating your device and end up with a connection error to Onyx's servers...

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 <yourpackagename>

Can be reverted with:

adb shell cmd package install-existing --user 0 <yourpackagename>

And

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 <yourpackagename>

with

adb shell pm enable --user 0 <yourpackagename>

[Markismus]

One of changes in the Neoreader App of firmware 3.5.3 is the annotations applet: It no longer allows you to edit the quoted text which you are annotation. Especially, with scanned OCR-red pages this is a feature that I am missing. I would go back to an earlier firmware for it --- if that were possible!

Anyone any idea how to re-enable that? Someone knows a hidden setting?

[dcarvil]

Is anyone else having problems re-rooting after applying the 3.5.3 update? I am trying to boot the Magisk patched image without flashing it. I get the following error:

xfx:~/oldhome/Phone/boox/na2p $ fastboot -v boot magisk_patched-26400_QLQZ1.img
Sending 'boot.img' (98304 KB) OKAY [ 2.239s]
Booting FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')
fastboot: error: Command failed
xfx:~/oldhome/Phone/boox/na2p $

I have tried all the usual remedies - different USB cables and ports, even a different computer. I've tried the latest 3 versions of platform tools. I am using Linux, so drivers are generally not an issue.

All other fastboot commands are working. I get the same error trying to fastboot boot the stock, unpatched image, so it does not appear to be a problem with the patched image. The tablet is running fine with the update other than this issue.

FWIW, I updated using the full 1.8G image, not the smaller incremental update image. The incremental image gave me an "update failed" message, even though I restored the stock boot image before trying the update.

The tablet is a NoteAir3.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by dcarvil

Is anyone else having problems re-rooting after applying the 3.5.3 update?

Uh-oh. Did they put in a new abl without boot or even flash?
Do you have EDL working? Pull abl for me, please.

I can't justify loading 1.8 GB on my connection, but a peek seems to indicate that they did whack abl on you.

The new Go's have crippled abl's.

[dcarvil]

Originally Posted by Renate

Uh-oh. Did they put in a new abl without boot or even flash?
Do you have EDL working? Pull abl for me, please.

Is abl the boot.img? If not, how do I pull it?

I have not tried flash yet. I like to test the image before flashing it, so flashing it without first testing would be the last resort.

Thanks.