[Riccardo]

Hi,

I’m sorry but I don’t have all those files anymore… :/ I don’t have that tablet either.

[Riccardo]

I’ve tried several microSD cards. On Windows 10, I must use an old unsigned driver to let the tablet actually read the SD; on Android the card is detcted randomly, I must eject and reinsert it several times and the tablet often detect it when I remove it but not when I insert it into the internal reader (I mean, I get a message about an SD card removed from the slot, but when I insert it nothing happens). Other times it detects it but it says it need to be formatted. Other times it detects it for a while but lose it at reboot and the same happens on TWRP.

 

But the strange(est) thing is that at the beginning (after a full format, flashing procedure etc.) the device seems to be working not so bad, so it’s something that goes worse with the time.

I rooted my tablet to use the SD card with App2SD; I start to think that partitioning the SD card (needed procedure to let that app work) will cause this sort of issue, I don’t know. I’ll try some different FS for the partitioned space and see what happens.

As for the CM rom, I tried it and it seems a well done job but unfortunately I need a rom that I can unroot, because an app I use won’t be fooled by any hide rooting procedure and need a full unroot to work properly. In CM I can pheraps disable SuperSU but I cannot perform a full unroot, I’m afraid… besides, on CM the audio is not routed through HDMI, and that’s something I need too.

 

[Riccardo]

Well, now the SD reader failed under android too. Just great.

And yes, I’ve tried several microSD cards: it reads it randomly, failing to do that 9 times out of 10 and, even when it reads it, at reboot that very same SD card is gone again. Ironically, I’ve not the same problem on Windows, now. I’ve flashed the stock rom again and again; nothing changed.

This chinese tablet is the WORST purchase of my life, indeed.

[Riccardo]

Well, now the SD reader failed under android too. Just great.

And yes, I’ve tried several microSD cards: it reads it randomly, failing to do that 9 times out of 10 and, even when it reads it, at reboot that very same SD card is gone again. Ironically, I’ve not the same problem on Windows, now. I’ve flashed the stock rom again and again; nothing changed.

This chinese tablet is the WORST purchase of my life, indeed.

[Riccardo]

Pedro Quaresma wrote:

I did notice after the reboot one of the 3 SD controllers shows v6.3 but the other 2 that were uninstalled show up as 10.0 again. Argh.

 

That happens with my SD controllers too, so I think is normal.

Have you tried the reader with another SD card?

[Riccardo]

Pedro Quaresma wrote:

Thanks for this, but this solution actually has a few issues:

1 ) If I uninstall any SD Host Controller, they come back after reboot

If you see 3 “Sd Host controller”, uninstall the first 2, then  disable the third and use the proper driver to update it.

 

2) The “Intel SD Host Controller (Deprecated)” has a version of 10.0 . Do I need to grab this 6.3 from somewhere first?

Take a look at this: http://techtablets.com/forum/topic/reading-sdxc-card/

The driver posted there seems to work for the Teclast X98, but I tested it on my iWork8 Air (that suffered the same SD reader issue) and it works as well, so it should be good for your tablet too, I hope.

 

[Riccardo]

Pedro Quaresma wrote:

I wanted to try this solution, but when I go to the device manager, I have no less than THREE SD Host Controller’s I tried uninstalling all and rebooting but they all came back :O Any ideas?

Uninstall the first two SD Host controller (and perhaps is a good idea to do the same with the other device with the “!” on it). Right click on the third SD Host (disable it, if you want, but not uninstall it) and then update the driver manually. Uncheck “Show compatible hardware” and click on “Have disk”, then select the older driver (Intel SD Host Controller v6.3.9600.16408).

The procedure must be done with device driver signing disabled.

1. Select the “Start” button.
2. Type “startup”.
3. Select “Change advanced startup settings“.
4. Select “Restart now” under the “Advanced startup” area.
5. Select “Troubleshoot“.
6. Select “Advanced Options“.
7. Select “Startup Options“.
8. Select “Restart“.
9. A menu will appear where you can press “7” on your keyboard to choose “Disable driver signing enforcement“.

[Riccardo]

silverstar wrote:

Actually when I flashed the original windows again, everything worked. 

That’s odd, I’ve flashed the original firmware plenty of times but, in my case, that never worked to restore the internal reader functionality. I suspected an hardware failure, in fact.

 

 

[Riccardo]

So far so good, Windows Update is working and the internal reader still works.

One thing I don’t understand is, If this is just a driver issue (as it seems) why if you flash the original firmware on the tablet you still have troubles with this driver…?

[Riccardo]

I’m doing some testing: I’ve disabled the automatic updates and I’ve connected the tablet to the internet. I’ve also upgraded the O.S. with the latest patch (KB3176938) and all was fine with the SD cards reader.

So, out of curiosity, I’ve enabled again the automatic updates and forced the drivers update on the “Intel – Controller Host SD”; there are three of them: the first two needed no updates but the last one yes and THAT messed up with the SD again.

So I’ve disabled the automatic updates once again, I’ve uninstalled the latest cumulative patch and I’ve reinstalled the working drivers (by the way, the version of the working driver is: 10.0.14393.0 rs1_release.160715-1616).

I’ve installed the latest cumulative patch KB3176938 for the second time via Windows Update and I think all is fine, since my SD is right there on the Windows File Explorer .

From what I’ve so far understood, the issue is a banal driver problem that probably occurs when we force the updates of the O.S. on the tablet (this tablets were not meant to be upgraded, I think…) so it’s important to disable the automatic driver updates under ‘Control Panel’ – ‘Devices’ – <PC name> – ‘Device installation settings’  and select  “No (your device might not work as expected)”

This way you’ll get the O.S. updates but (I think) your existing drivers will not be overwritten with the newest ones, unless you decide to do that manually.

[Riccardo]

As for now, I avoided to reconnect the tablet to the internet because I fear a forced update will vanish my efforts. Rebooting the O.S. without connection to the internet, however, doesn’t overwrites the older drivers, in my case.

 

The only thing I did so far is this: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/15989-device-driver-automatic-installation-turn-off-windows-10-a.html and please note that I’ve disabled (not uninstalled at first) the present drivers in the “Disable driver signature enforcement” enviroment, when I was not connected to the internet. Then, I clicked on the disabled “Sd Host” and force the installation of the older driver. That works out smoothly, for me.

Please note that I’m not a technician, so probably not all the steps I went into are really necessary. I don’t know. But it worked that way.

 

Now I’m going to try some of this advices here, too: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8013-windows-update-automatic-updates-enable-disable-windows-10-a.html when I’ll have some more time to dedicate to this issue.

 

I’ll let you know how it goes.

[Riccardo]

All right, I don’t want to speak too soon but I think I’ve solved this damned issue!

The trick is to execute Windows with the “Disable driver signature enforcement” option, disable the automatic updates, uninstall the existing drivers under “Host SD” – “Intel Controller Host SD” and force the installation of some older drivers for Windows 8.1 I’ve found here:

Reading SDXC Card. (Solved – Drives Fix Inside)

That worked!

Now, how to prevent the resurface of the issue and how stable will this older driver be, on a Windows 10 enviroment, only time will tell but, for now, my 32gb SD card works again on my Windows partition and that’s a relief!

[Riccardo]

Eric Dunn wrote:

Hah! I’ve already read through all that. Great minds think alike. I suspected it would be a huge pain in the arse given what people were experiencing, and will likely just leave it for now. Thank you again for that.

I’ve tried this method:

By the way, if you want to make your own custom android_data partition size, just open with an hex editor the original gpt.bin and search near of android_data the hex number 50. Next replace this number the previous table of mirek
hex | dec | size
08 — 8 — 2 GB
0C — 12 — 3 GB
10 — 16 — 4 GB
14 — 20 — 5 GB
18 — 24 — 6 GB
20 — 32 — 8 GB
28 — 40 — 10 GB
30 — 48 — 12 GB
40 — 64 — 16 GB
50 — 80 — 20 GB
78 — 120 — 30 GB
A0 — 160 — 40 GB
D4 — 212 — 53 GB
Summarized: HEX = Hex(4*Size_GiB)

And it works, but for the iWork8 Air you should search for a “20” hex number near the column with “android_data” (not “50”)

To edit the gpt.bin file, you could use this: http://download.cnet.com/HxD-Hex-Editor/3000-2352_4-10891068.html

[Riccardo]

Ther’s nothing to do…

Gearbest sent me another iWork8 Air (since mine was still in warranty) but, after some days, the issue with the internal SD card reader come up again 🙁

I avoided to boot from Android to Windows and viceversa (I always shut down the terminal to do that), I avoided to take out the microsd too, but ther’s something that triggers this problem anyway…

[Riccardo]

Eric Dunn wrote:

Riccardo,

That is a huge response. Thank you! This is great and I appreciate it so much.

Don’t mention it, it’s a pleasure 🙂

Also is there a way to safely decrease the size of the 8GB android partition by 5GB? 3 should be ample for that, and 5 would make a HUGE difference on the windows side.

Ther’s a procedure that involves the use of a custom gpt.bin file (is a file stored inside the original installation rom, here: http://www.cube-tablet.com/download/).

Someone modified this gpt files for the Teclast x98 model but, using an hex editor, it seems this files could work on the iWork8 Air too.

I’ve attempted the procedure, but failed in modifying the file, so I gave up eventually.

Anyway, if you want to try, remember that Android must be flashed before attempting the upgrading procedure on Windows, because when you’ll flash Android all the other partitions will be lost.

For the details, take a look at this threads here:

– http://techtablets.com/2016/01/cube-iwork8-ultimate-gets-dual-boot-files-and-how-too/# (see in particular the comment posted by iwork8night on June 29, 2016, 5:17 pm)

– http://techtablets.com/forum/topic/resize-android-partition-the-easy-way-for-x98-serie/

– http://techtablets.com/forum/reply/31049/

Good luck with all that 🙂

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