I am creating this thread to gather the available information about "unbricking" the Elf II, in case one has flashed a wrong/corrupted image by accident.
The information below should apply to any Amlogic based tablet or device, by the way, but since I have an Elf II that's what I am going to focus on.
Please note that the information provided below is without any guarantee. It may or may not work. For example, if the Elf II hardware is damaged in any way, obviously it can't be "unbricked" by flashing the firmware.
Apparently the Elf II can be "unbricked" by booting from the microSD provided the microSD has the following:
1. Must be formatted FAT 32.
2. Has u-boot.bin file (approx. 250 kB). This is the standard ARM bootloader. Its function is to load the uImage_recovery file contents (kernel and initramfs).
3. Has uImage_recovery (approx. 3.8 MB). This I assume is a Linux kernel + initramfs that is booted into directly by u-boot.bin.
4. Has a script factory_update_param.aml that is run by uImage_recovery. The function of this script is to restore the Elf II to its factory settings (partitioning of the flash, etc) and flash the Elf II firmware file.
5. The Elf II firmware file itself.
To boot from the microSD: make sure the Elf II is completely turned OFF, then hold down "-volume" button and press "power" for 5 seconds. The Elf II will automatically perform the "unbricking" described above if a properly configured microSD card is present. Note that this will completely erase the Elf II flash, wiping any data and installed programs.
The 0615.rar firmware update file has all the files mentioned above and so can be used to "unbrick" an Elf II, in principle.
OK, that's the theory, correct me if I am wrong and please contribute your own experience/tests/hints.
EDIT:
To flash any firmware, please follow Ainol's step-by-step tutorial: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ainol/Tutorial+of+Ainol+Novo+7+Tornados%2C+Mars%2C+Aurora+II+and+Elf+II+Firmware+Update.pdf
The information below should apply to any Amlogic based tablet or device, by the way, but since I have an Elf II that's what I am going to focus on.
Please note that the information provided below is without any guarantee. It may or may not work. For example, if the Elf II hardware is damaged in any way, obviously it can't be "unbricked" by flashing the firmware.
Apparently the Elf II can be "unbricked" by booting from the microSD provided the microSD has the following:
1. Must be formatted FAT 32.
2. Has u-boot.bin file (approx. 250 kB). This is the standard ARM bootloader. Its function is to load the uImage_recovery file contents (kernel and initramfs).
3. Has uImage_recovery (approx. 3.8 MB). This I assume is a Linux kernel + initramfs that is booted into directly by u-boot.bin.
4. Has a script factory_update_param.aml that is run by uImage_recovery. The function of this script is to restore the Elf II to its factory settings (partitioning of the flash, etc) and flash the Elf II firmware file.
5. The Elf II firmware file itself.
To boot from the microSD: make sure the Elf II is completely turned OFF, then hold down "-volume" button and press "power" for 5 seconds. The Elf II will automatically perform the "unbricking" described above if a properly configured microSD card is present. Note that this will completely erase the Elf II flash, wiping any data and installed programs.
The 0615.rar firmware update file has all the files mentioned above and so can be used to "unbrick" an Elf II, in principle.
OK, that's the theory, correct me if I am wrong and please contribute your own experience/tests/hints.
EDIT:
To flash any firmware, please follow Ainol's step-by-step tutorial: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ainol/Tutorial+of+Ainol+Novo+7+Tornados%2C+Mars%2C+Aurora+II+and+Elf+II+Firmware+Update.pdf