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This document will guide you through the necessary steps needed to flash install or update Android on your Gemini with Linux or Android OS.

'''Please note: &nbsp;''''''<span style="color: #ff0000;">Flashing Installing Android or Linux will delete any user data on the device. Please make sure you have a backup of any important data before starting!</span>'''

<div style="text-align: justify;">'''Important Note: <span style="color: #ff0000;">please Please don’t use other tools to flash firmware fo your Gemini as it’s easy to loose key information such as the IMEI number. In particular, never use the “Format all + download“ option in the SP Flash Tool as this erases key information stored in the NVRAM partition and can lead to a non-functional device.<br data-attributes="%20/"><br data-attributes="%20/"></span>'''</div>There are 3 steps needed to install or upgrade Android on your Gemini:

These steps are detailed in the next sections. ==<br data-attributes="%20/">Download and Install FlashTool on Windows==The first step to install FlashTool on a Windows PC is to install the flash tool drivers. These The drivers are needed for your Windows PC to communicate with your Gemini, the minimum requirement is to have a 64bit Windows operating system.

Once downloaded the Windows flash toolFlashTool, please unzip it to reveal the '''FlashToolWindows''' folder. Next, run the flash tool by double clicking on '''flash_tool''' (flash_tool.exe) file in the '''FlashToolWindows''' folder.

==Download and Install FlashTool on Linux=='''The following procedure has been tested on Debian 9.0, Ubuntu 18.04 (see notes below) and Fedore Fedora 28 (see notes below).'''

<code>ATTRS{idVendor}=="0e8d", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"</code><br data-attributes="%20/"><code>ATTRS{idVendor}=="6000", ENV{ID_MM_DEVICE_IGNORE}="1"<br data-attributes="%20/"></code>

 &nbsp;<code>sudo apt-get install libjpeg62</code>

On Fedora you will have to write the following command to allow applications running with root privileges to access the X server (this will fix the lines above for both the gedit and the flash_toolcommand):

Additionally you will have to  to&nbsp; restart the udev service by typing (or rebooting your machine):

<code>udevadm control --reload-rules &amp;& amp; udevadm trigger</code>

==Download Android Gemini Firmware==Now that the Flash Tool FlashTool application is running, it is time to download the Gemini Android Firmware. Planet Computers provides both an Android-only firmware and a Linux or Android-Linux firmware. If you choose to flash a standard Android firmware, you will have to download one from this page: the [[Gemini Firmware|Gemini Firmware.page]] After downloading the firmware, unzip it to reveal the folder containing the firmware code, for example '''Gemini_WIFI_MP_09052018''' or '''Gemini_x27_FOTA3_12062018'''. If you choose to flash a dual boot Android-Linux firmware, then follow this link to get to the Gemini partitioner.

==Configuring Flash ToolFlashTool==

* Scatter-loading file should be set to the specific scatter '''Gemini_Android.txt''' file of the firmware that you want to flash, which is located in inside the of the firmware folder  [[File:flash1that you downloaded.png]]

The provided flash tool is already configured for your Gemini[[File:Screen_Shot_2018-06-21_at_10. To create a backup of your NVRAM partition, just click on the '''Readback''' tab and then on the '''Add''' button52. A row will appear in the table as in the following screenshot02.png|center|799x526px|border]]

[[FileNext, just click the '''Read Back''' button, <span style="color:nvram#252525; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 15.008px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">connect your PC to the left end USB-C port on your Gemini</span> and restart the Gemini. Once booting, the flash tool will detect the unit and will write the NVRAM partition on a file on your hard disk called NVRAM0 (see screenshot below). It’s a good idea to keep this file as a backup.png]]

Next, just click the '''Read Back''' button, connect your Gemini to your PC and restart the Gemini[[File:Screen_Shot_2018-06-21_at_10. Once rebooted, the flash tool will detect the phone and will write the NVRAM partition on a file on your hard disk called NVRAM051. It’s a good idea to keep this file as a backup50.png|center|800x527px|border]]

== ====Flashing the Gemini with an alternative firmware==Be sure to follow the previous step to store a copy of the NVRAM partition as backup[[File:Screen_Shot_2018-06-21_at_11.01. Now, run the Flash tool software and click on the '''Download''' tab20. Next, locate the '''Scatter-loading File''' option and click on the associated '''choose''' '''button''', as highlighted in the picture below:png|center|800x597px|border]]

Once you select To start the scatter fileflashing process, just click the table should be populated as belowbig '''Download''' button, <span style="color: #252525; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 15.008px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">connect your PC to the left end USB-C port on your Gemini</span> and restart the Gemini. Once booting, the flash tool will detect the unit and will start flashing the device with the selected firmware.

[[File:flash2Screen_Shot_2018-06-21_at_11.12.29.png|center|800x597px|border]]

==Notes on To start the flashing firmwares==When switching between a standard Android to a dual boot Android/Linux firmwareprocess, you will need to use just click the big '''Firmware Upgrade 'Download''mode because you need to format the device. If you don't need to repartition the devicebutton, you can use the <span style="color: #252525; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro''Download Only '''mode and flash a single partition without formatting, sans-serif; font-size: 15. This is useful because you can update 008px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">connect your PC to the Android system partition without deleting left end USB-C port on your data (which is stored in Gemini</span> and restart the user data partition)Gemini. Once booting, or you can update the boot.img flash tool will detect the unit and switching from an Android system to a rooted one or viceversawill start flashing the device with the selected firmware.

==Linux dual boot notes==The dual boot mechanism works as followfollowing screenshot shows a successfully completed flashing process:

* '''Dual boot Android[[File:Screen_Shot_2018-Linux firmware'''** Press Esc (On) for around one second to turn ON the unit and boot into Android. You should release the Esc (On) button before the screen turns ON, otherwise the unit will boot into recovery mode (see below).** Press Esc (On) for around one second to turn ON the unit and at the same time press and hold the side button until the screen turns ON to boot into Linux. You should release the Esc (On) button before the screen turns ON, but you must keep the side button pressed until you see the turning ON. When the screen turns ON you can release the side button, and the unit will boot into Linux06-21_at_11.** Press Esc (On) and keep pressing the button until the screen turns ON to boot in recovery mode17. At this stage the recovery mode is disabled and you will see a droid image with a red triangle and a "No command" text44.png|center|800x595px|border]]