This cheap (40EUR) tablet is an A23 based update of the hugely popular Q88, which was based on the A13. It is currently often sold as an A13 device, even though the A23 is a serious step up from the measly A13.

Identification

Ippo q8h
Manufacturer	Ippo
Dimensions	181mm x 121mm x 10.5mm
Release Date	November 2013
Website	Missing Product Page
Specifications
SoC	A23 @ 1.5Ghz (verify me!)
DRAM	512MiB DDR3 @ 480MHz
NAND	4GB
Power	DC 5V @ 2A, 1000mAh 3.7V Li-Ion battery
Features
LCD	800x480 (7" 16:9)
Touchscreen	5-finger capacitive (Silead GSL1680)
Audio	3.5mm headphone plug, internal speaker, internal microphone
Network	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (Realtek RTL8188ETV / Espressif ESP8089 / RDA RDA5990p)
Storage	µSD
USB	1 USB2.0 OTG
Camera	0.3MP (640x480) front-facing
Other	Accelerometer (Domintech DMARD10), Bluetooth (when combined with RDA5990 module).
Headers	UART

The Q8H has multiple revisions, with minor variations to passive component placement.

Q8H-V2

The markings on the board read:

Q8H-V2
2013-11-19

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

Model Number: Q8H
Build Number: polaris a70H-eng 4.2.2 JDQ39 20131127 test-keys

These android ids matches the android image used on the Eken A70h, which has a different case design.

This version comes with a Realtek RTL8188ETV wifi usb module.

Q8H-V5

The markings on the board read:

Q8H-V5
2013-12-26

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

Model Number: Q8H
Build Number: polaris-eng 4.2.2 8089 20140103-8089

This version comes with an Espressif ESP8089 wifi usb module.

Q8H-V1.0

The markings on the board read:

Q8H-V1.0
2014 03 15

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

Model Number: Q8H
Build Number: polaris-eng 4.2.2 JDQ39 20140326 test-keys

This version comes with an RDA RDA5990P shared wifi/bluetooth/fm radio.

Q8H-V1.2

The markings on the board read:

Q8H-V1.2
2014 08 02

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

Model Number: Q8H
Build Number: polaris_p1-eng 4.4.2 KVT 20140627 test-keys

This version comes with an RDA RDA5990P shared wifi/bluetooth/fm radio.

Q8H-V1.5

The markings on the board read:

Q8H-V1.5 
2015 0129

Q8H-V1.5 2015 0129 sports a:
CPU: A33
Ram: 512 mb
Touchscren: GSL1680
WIFI: RTL8703AS
NAND: 4GB
Screen 1024x768 (?)
USB: 1 otg ( no additional pads found to support a second one )

Working:

Display - you need to modify the lcd specifics in FEX (they can be extracted from uboot) - make sure you install the simple framebuffer driver
Kernel - linux-sunxi next (4.6-rcX)
DTB: tried some - sun8i-a33-q8-tablet.dtb works ok
SDcard: OTG
Brightness:

Make sure the GPIOS are exposed in the FEX file (should be by default)

echo 244 > /sys/class/gpio/export

echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio244/direction

Dim backlight: echo "1" > /sys/class/gpio244/value

Full backlight: echo "0" > /sys/class/gpio244/value

Video on/off:

Make sure the GPIOS are exposed in the FEX file (should be by default)

echo 230 > /sys/class/gpio/export

echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio230/direction

Dim backlight: echo "1" > /sys/class/gpio230/value

Full backlight: echo "0" > /sys/class/gpio230/value

import struct
import os

inputDevice = "/dev/input/event1"
inputEventFormat = 'iihhi'
inputEventSize = 16
file = open(inputDevice, "rb")
event = file.read(inputEventSize)
lcdStatus = 1;

os.system("echo 224 > /sys/class/gpio/export");
os.system('echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio224/direction');
os.system('echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio224/value');
os.system("echo 230 > /sys/class/gpio/export");
os.system('echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio230/direction');
os.system('echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio230/value');


while event:
  (time1, time2, type, code, value) = struct.unpack(inputEventFormat, event)

  print "code %d, value %d" %(code, value)

  if value == 1:
    if lcdStatus == 0:
     os.system('echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio230/value');
     lcdStatus = 1
    else:
     os.system('echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio230/value');
     lcdStatus = 0

  event = file.read(inputEventSize)
file.close()

Ubuntu - 15.10 Wily
Instalation method - SDcard - debootstrap
USB ethernet used AX88772b - OTG

Not working:

wifi (chip is RTL8703AS but the driver is rtl8723bs, managed to modify the dtb now the device shows in /sys/bus/sdio but can't load the driver [mmc0:0001:1 failed with error -16]),
bluetooth,
audio,
rotation,
touchscreen,
hardware keys (there is a screen saver [black screen] in place in the framebuffer, power on button can "wake" up the device) although power button shuts down the device after 5 seconds or so.

Problems encountered:

kernel 4.6-rcX and Ubuntu 14 (trusty) does not boot
USB has a weird behaviour
1. I had a 2.0 hub plugged in and in that the USB ethernet, and my keyboard G11 has an internal hub, I seems that the hubs can't work together in linux (tested in windows and all looks ok) I had no enthernet connection till I removed my keyboard (power was ok since I tested it charging my phone, a wifi adapter, a sdcard reader, and the AX88772b and network was just fine).
Tried compiling the latest AX88772b driver I got a siocsifflags: No room left on device when up-ing the interface via ifconfig

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

Model Number: Q8H
Build Number: astar_y3-eng 4.4.2 KVT49L 20141120 test-keys

Android modules

Module name			Size		Status/used bu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8723bs_vq0 			1836110		0 - Live 0x00000000
gslX680 			305751		0 - Live 0x00000000 (F)
mxc622x 			4341		0 - Live 0x00000000
sunxi_schw 			12559		0 - Live 0x00000000 (O)
cdc_ether 			5099		0 - Live 0x00000000
rtl8150 			9023		0 - Live 0x00000000
mcs7830 			6292		0 - Live 0x00000000
qf9700 				7805		0 - Live 0x00000000
asix 				17150		0 - Live 0x00000000
usbnet 				17700 		4 cdc_ether,mcs7830,qf9700,asix, Live 0x00000000
sunxi_keyboard 			3021 		0 - Live 0x00000000
sw_device 			13668 		0 - Live 0x00000000
vfe_v4l2 			446344 		0 - Live 0x00000000
gc2035 				13729 		0 - Live 0x00000000
gc0312 				9954 		1 - Live 0x00000000
gc0328 				11571 		0 - Live 0x00000000
gc0308 				10958 		0 - Live 0x00000000
vfe_subdev 			4523 		5 vfe_v4l2,gc2035,gc0312,gc0328,gc0308, Live 0x00000000
vfe_os 				4099 		2 vfe_v4l2,vfe_subdev, Live 0x00000000
cci 				21594 		4 gc2035,gc0312,gc0328,gc0308, Live 0x00000000
videobuf_dma_contig 		5535 		1 vfe_v4l2, Live 0x00000000
videobuf_core 			16520 		2 vfe_v4l2,videobuf_dma_contig, Live 0x00000000
leds_sunxi 			1351 		0 - Live 0x00000000
mali 				209866 		15 - Live 0x00000000 (O)
lcd 				49673 		0 - Live 0x00000000
disp 				993096 		8 mali,lcd, Live 0x00000000
nand 				287437 		10 - Live 0x00000000 (O)

This version comes with an Realtek RTL???? wifi chip. Note that some Q8H-V1.5 boards also ship with an A33 soc.

Sunxi support

Current status

Like all things A23, this hardware is not supported. It is however a prime target for development. For more information, check the Allwinner A23 SoC page.

Images

HW-Pack

BSP

Manual build specifics

For building u-boot, use the "Ippo_q8h" target.
The .fex file can be found in sunxi-boards as ippo_q8h_v5.fex

Everything else is the same as the manual build howto.

Mainline kernel

Q8H-V1.2

Use the sun8i-a23-ippo-q8h-v1.2.dts device-tree file for the mainline kernel.

Q8H-V5

Use the sun8i-a23-ippo-q8h-v5.dts device-tree file for the mainline kernel.

Tips, Tricks, Caveats

FEL mode

The Volume + button triggers FEL mode.

Android ADB access

Standard ADB does not work out of the box. You need to add the vendor id 0x1F3A to the adb usb config file.

Wifi

While some use the well known Realtek Wifi chips, this tablet is also known to come with an Espressif ESP8089 or an RDA RDA5990P. The latter two have no support in our standard kernel, but source code is available from other kernel tree releases. Please check our Wifi page for more details.

Adding a serial port (voids warranty)

UART pads

Device disassembly

As is the case with the Q8, it is absolutely trivial to open this device.

The edge of the back cover needs to be pushed to the outside to release the clips. So put the device on its back and insert your plastic tool in the outer edge. Push the outer casing away from the display, and you should soon hear the clips release.

Locating the UART

An obvious serial port is available on the mainboard, to the right of the SoC, between the 2 oscillators. The 2 pads are separately enclosed in white circles. The pad nearer to the SoC is TX, the other is RX.

These pads correspond to PL2/3, which is the R_UART in the SoC. This UART is not listed in the datasheets, however you can find information about it in the A23 SDK sources.

The serial port is not enabled in the stock Android image. Edit the FEX file and set s_uart_used = 1 in the s_uart0 section. The port is then used by the OpenRISC core to dump debug messages. Whether this port can be used by the primary system with Allwinner's kernel is still unknown. From a hardware perspective, they can share the port, provided adequate locking is done.

Pictures

Q8H V2 board front
Q8H V5 board front
Q8H V5 board back
Q8H V1.0 board front
Q8H V1.2 board front

Hardware documentation

Also known as

This hardware is sold under many guises, very often as Q88Pro. If it is claimed to be an A13 tablet but with a 4.2.2 android, then chances are that it is an A23 one instead.

Ippo q8h

Contents

Identification

Q8H-V2

Q8H-V5

Q8H-V1.0

Q8H-V1.2

Q8H-V1.5

Working:

Not working:

Android modules

Sunxi support

Current status

Images

HW-Pack

BSP

Manual build specifics

Mainline kernel

Q8H-V1.2

Q8H-V5

Tips, Tricks, Caveats

FEL mode

Android ADB access

Wifi

Adding a serial port (voids warranty)

Device disassembly

Locating the UART

Pictures

Hardware documentation

Also known as

See also

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