Linux on Kiano Intelect X3

Linux on Kiano Intelect X3 HD

Hi everyone, long time have passed since my last post. I've had some free time this weekend to try to install Ubuntu Linux on a cheap Kiano Intelect X3 tablet which is not officially supported. I've got in contact with this Poland company who make these devices and asked if they have support Linux on their product, but got answer

Dear Client,

we don't provide support for the LINUX system.

We don't have any controls for this system.

So I've was on my own with making this work. Let state this clear, not everything is working, and/or working how expected. But basic functionality as mini laptop was achieved. 3D acceleration works, so does wifi, all ports work but mini hdmi was not tested yet nor was audio port.
Also I've noticed that this tablet has BIOS Developer/Expert options unlocked, as you can see from these photos.

 
 

Lets talk about it's specs
CPU: Intel X5 Z8350 4 × 1.44 up to 1.92GHz
GFX: INTEL HD Graphics
SCREEN: 10.1” IPS HD, 800 × 1280 multi-touch
RAM: 2 GB DDR3
STOR: 32 GB eMMC
STOR2: MicroSD up to 32 GB
CAM: 2Mpx, front 0.3Mpx
AC: li-po 6000mAh
MicroHDMI
SND: Mono
WI-FI: 802.11/b/g/n
BLUETOOTH: 4.0
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home
It also offers MicroUSB UTG and charging support, you can charge it in car or via AC/DC adapter at home, it's very useful feature especially for me.
COST: ~150eur (2018 summer).

Why i bought it? Because i was in Poland and i needed to access Windows in that time and of it's price of course! But like every windows PC, it starts enormous lag time by time it slows down and works like shit. So I've tried Linux on it and it actually works! :D

Preparing install media

You will need at least 4GB flash disk drive. Download unetbootin, Prepare FLASH drive, it must be formatted using GUID partition table and FAT32 file system.

After making the flash disk, copy this file to /flash_disk/EFI/BOOT/

Preparing tablet to install Linux

First of all you'll need an external keyboard, because you will be unable to enter BIOS with internal keyboard, it does not work at all. Connect usb keyboard to USB OTG or USB port in the keyboard case. Also, you will need MicroUSB OTG cable if you want to use keyboard+flash drive simultaneously, but i think the USB hub should work as well. After you insert the flash media, connect the keyboard. Power off this tablet and start again. Turn it on and start pressing DEL key repeatedly until it enters the BIOS.  In Boot menu down to bottom and you will see the Boot Option Properties, select USB FLASH DRIVE, press + (or shift +), it would swap options, by the priority boot device you are trying to boot from, should be the first in the list.

NOTE! If you don't have neither USB HUB nor USB OTG cable, you can still start boot from flash media, just insert it and reboot machine, the grub boot menu should appear (I've not tested this method, but in theory it should work).

After booting the screen should be flipped in left, it will be in that position all the installation.

After installing Ubuntu we should tweak a few things to make it work as expected. First, we need to rotate screen to its normal position. Both Console screen when booting and Xorg screen when booted, also I've need to make it rotate on accelerometer events. It's easily done by installing the packets and configuring the system itself. Do the following steps in terminal:
# sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:teejee2008/ppa
# sudo apt-get install iio-sensor-proxy x11-xserver-utils touchegg ukuu xinput-calibrator
# sudo ukuu --install v4.20.3
# sudo apt upgrade
Edit /etc/default/grub, find and change line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" change to: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="fbcon=rotate:3"
Add rule, for screen rotation to udev local rules, make file /etc/udev/hwdb.d/61-sensor-local.hwdb  and add to it:

sensor:modalias:acpi:BOSC0200*:dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrKIANOA12i.WT210P.JqBJREA03:bd08/30/2017:svnDefaultstring:pnDefaultstring:pvrDefaultstring:rvnDefaultstring:rnDefaultstring:rvrDefaultstring:cvnDefaultstring:ct30:cvrDefaultstring:
 ACCEL_MOUNT_MATRIX=-1, 0, 0; 0, 1, 0; 0, 0, 1

# sudo systemd-hwdb update
# udevadm trigger -v -p DEVNAME=/dev/iio:device0;udevadm trigger -v -p DEVNAME=/dev/iio:device1
# sudo update-grub
Support for touchscreen
# mkdir /lib/firmware/silead;wget https://github.com/e1z0/gsl-firmware/raw/master/firmware/kiano/intelect-x3/firmware_00.fw -O /lib/firmware/silead/mssl1680.fw

Where it goes?

Touchscreen support works, but it needs calibration (i think you should use this tool), or all calibration matrix to be calculated from specs we got. So i will leave it for now. If someone will be interested in this article i will write an update about how to correctly calibrate it. That's all for now, reboot and enjoy, partially supported tablet! :)

UPDATE: When you are going back to windows and unable to reinstall it because of disk partition error in windows setup, please watch this video.

To be continued...