Monthly Archives: May 2013

Flashing / Updating Firmware Chuwi V88 HOWTO

Updating and flashing a new firmware on the Chuwi V88 Pad mini is a straight forward process, I will document the steps involved. Firstly you will need to download the updated firmware see the links below, as the flashing tools were by default Chinese language I have enabled the English language settings by default. I have provided just the firmware package, with the update.img, The Rock Chip Batch Tools v1.7 are a seperate download. Remember to download the correct firmware for your V88, the variants are Chuwi V88’s with Bluetooth and without.

Chuwi V88 Pad mini Firmwares & Flash Tools:

Chuwi V88 All Models With Bluetooth :

Latest Android 4.2.2 Version Download V88 Firmware Build Date 2013-06-20
Change Log:
1. Improved stability.
2. Tablet sleep/wake issues fixed.

Download V88 Firmware Build Date 2013-06-03
Change Log:
1. Initial Android 4.2.2 Release

Download V88 Firmware Build Date 2013-05-25
Change Log:
1. Solve camera stops running bug.
2. Optimized for lower power usage.
3. HDMI Push optimized connection.
4. Optimizing wakeup, fix touch function not detecting input.

Download V88 Firmware Build Date 2013-05-09
Change Log:
1. Increased stability.

Download V88 Firmware Build Date 2013-04-26
Comments:
Initial release.

Chuwi V88 All Models Without Bluetooth :

Download V88 No Bluetooth Firmware Build Date 2013-04-25
Comments:
Initial release.

Rockchip Flash Tool v1.7:
RKBatchTool and USB Drivers : Download RKBatchTool v1.7

1. Unrar the update.img firmware archive, they are .rar and will need to be extracted then you must download and install the Rockchip USB drivers on your PC, these are in the Drivers folder in the RKBatchTool archive, make sure you install the correct version for your operating system and the corresponding 32 or 64 bit version specific to your operating system, this is important.

2. Power on your Chuwi V88 Pad mini, I suggest you have at least 50% battery. Now enter Settings, then under the DEVICE section select the Storage option then press the Settings icon (three square dots) located in the top right corner of the screen. The press the USB computer connection option, make sure you have checked the Mass Storage Device option.

3. Now connect the Chuwi V88 to your PC with the micro USB to USB lead. Now navigate on your PC to the folder labled BatchTool, and double click and run RKBatchTool.

4. Rockchip Batch Tool 1.7 will load, you should see a pink indicator box under the Connected Devices section, this shows your V88 has been detected.

5. You will now need to select the firmware (update.img) you wish to flash, click the location button itsĀ  at the opposite end of the FW Path: line, now navigate to the update.img file and select. The Rockchip Batch Tool will then load the file and display the files details in the info boxes.

6. Now press the button at the bottom of theĀ Rockchip Batch Tool marked Switch this will enable firmware flashing mode. The Chuwi V88 will now have a black screen, however the Connected Devices indicator box will change from pink to green.

7. Now press the Restore button, the Connected Devices indicator box will now flash yellow as the V88 is formatted, the new firmware will then be uploaded.

8. Once this flashing process has finished the V88 will reboot into the Andriod recovery system, this will format the /data /cache and the /mnt/sdcard/ then the V88 will then reboot.

9. The first time boot is very sloooooow, just be patient.

10. Once booted the Chuwi V88 will be in the default Chinese language, you will need to change your language unless you are Chinese. Press the settings icon on the V88 main screen, now in the left hand column scroll down to the A… symbol in a square box, press it. The very first option in the right hand side menu is languages, press this it will now list all the language options, scroll down to your choice and select. Enjoy the upgraded V88.

Rockchip Batch Tool

Chuwi V88 AnTuTu Benchmarking

After a short wait my Android Chuwi V88 Pad mini has arrived, after charging the battery to 100% I decided to download AnTuTu for a quick bench mark having seen scores on the internet range from 15,000 to a claimed 18,000.

I have not tweaked the Android OS in any way and this is the stock factory supplied firmware, I do however have the updated Chuwi V88 firmware my intention is to update, and will post a how to flash guide for the Chuwi V88 soon. The unit I have been supplied is the 1GB / 16GB version in white, I did actually order the 2GB / 16GB version, however I will take this up with the company who supplied me as I paid the premuim for the 2GB memory.

Below is a screen capture of the current settings page to show the current Andriod version being 4.1.1 and kernel and build details.

Chuwi v88 Settings Page

I then ran two AnTuTu benchmarks, to give an average feel for the numbers and I was very impressed! See for yourself, the highest being 17673! See the two screen captures below for more information, suffice to say this is indeed a pocket rocket Android tablet, the build quality is great overall I am very happy with my purchase apart from the missing 1GB of memory, however a partial refund will resolve this problem.
Chuwi v88 AnTuTu Benchmark

v88 Chuwi Pad mini Benchmark