The Ainol AW1 is a cheap 7" A20 based tablet that comes with an SPCI connector, allowing a 3G modem module to be plugged in.

Identification

Ainol AW1
Manufacturer	Ainol
Dimensions	190mm x 115mm x 8mm
Release Date	October 2013
Website	Ainol AW1 Product Page
Specifications
SoC	A20 @ 1Ghz
DRAM	512MiB DDR3 @ 432MHz
NAND	8GiB
Power	2400mAh 3.7V Li-Ion battery, USB
Features
LCD	800x480 (7" 5:3)
Touchscreen	5-finger capacitive (Silead GSL1680)
Audio	3.5mm headphone plug, internal speaker, internal microphone
Network	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (Ampak AP6210)
Storage	µSD
USB	1 USB2.0 OTG
Camera	2.0MP (1600x1200) front
Other	Accelerometer (STMicroelectronics LIS3DH), Bluetooth (Ampak AP6210), SPCI socket.
Headers	UART, I2C

On the back of the device, the following is printed:

ainol
3G AW1

The PCB has the following silkscreened on it:

NOVO-707FC-A1_V02_13073100

In Android, under Settings->About Tablet, you will find:

Model Number: Numy_3G_AW1
Build Number: 20130924

Sunxi support

Current status

Supported, but lacks mainline kernel support, and some features are missing under our sunxi kernel.

Manual build

You can build things for yourself by following our Manual build howto and by choosing from the configurations available below.

U-Boot

Sunxi/Legacy U-Boot

Use the Ainol_AW1" build target.

Mainline U-Boot

Use the Ainol_AW1 build target.

Linux Kernel

Sunxi/Legacy Kernel

Use the ainol_aw1.fex file.

Some features are missing on Linux (sunxi-3.4 branch):

USB OTG doesn't work on the external connector (common to all sun7i devices) and it doesn't seem to work in either host or device mode
Wi-Fi support is not there but external patches are available (it segfaults as-is)
Touchscreen support is not there but external patches are available (untested)

Mainline kernel

Use the FAMILY-CHIP-DEVICE.dtb device-tree binary.

Tips, Tricks, Caveats

FEL mode

Any button (VOL-, VOL+, HOME) triggers FEL mode from boot1.

Sending '2' over UART at boot triggers FEL mode from boot1.

SPCI slot / 3G Modem

The device has a SPCI modem connector that allows connecting a specifically designed 3G/4G/Voice module. An example of such a modem is the Huawei E1220, which sometimes gets sold with this tablet.

Adding a serial port (voids warranty)

Ainol AW1 UART pads

Device disassembly

The plastic back case is very easy to open. There are no screws but only a few clips that are easy to pop: you probably don't even need a plastic tool for this.

Once the PCB is exposed, there are 4 Philips screws to remove on the lower part of the PCB. You must also remove the LCD/touchscreen connections by lifting up the black parts on the connectors and releasing the flexible flat cable, on the top-right part of the PCB. At this point, you should be able to flip the PCB to the right, exposing its back.

A black isolant sticker covers the back of the PCB: remove it for now but don't forget to put it back later, as it isolates the many test pins from the conductive surface of the back of the screen!