Rockchip Non-A/B OTA: Android 13 to Android 14

ArmSoM platform reference: complete non-A/B Android 13→14 OTA procedure from Chinese document RK-KF-YF-788 V1.0.0. Its scope lists RK3326/RK3399/RK356x/RK3588/RK3562 and kernels 5.10 and 6.10; 6.10 is retained, not silently changed to 6.1. This does not certify any ArmSoM board. Check the actual board, Android BSP, partitions and security configuration; hardware validation has not been performed. Only a Chinese source is available. It contains no technical illustrations; tables and patches remain editable.

Risk: the source patch wipes user data and the debugging setting weakens SELinux protection. These are source examples, not executed commands. Back up data and independently review the target SDK; do not treat them as a production configuration.

1. Overview

This guide describes upgrading a Rockchip Android 13.0 non-A/B system to an Android 14.0 non-A/B system through OTA.

2. Android 14.0 patches

2.1 data partition and keymaster

(1) After a major-version upgrade, the source strongly recommends wiping data to avoid complex compatibility problems that prevent Android from starting. Applying the following reference patch in the Android 14 SDK build/make repository automatically wipes data after the upgrade.

diff --git a/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files.py b/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files.py
index d1b935845f..a3f2e28af0 100755
--- a/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files.py
+++ b/tools/releasetools/ota_from_target_files.py
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 OPTIONS = ota_utils.OPTIONS
 OPTIONS.verify = False
 OPTIONS.patch_threshold = 0.95
-OPTIONS.wipe_user_data = False
+OPTIONS.wipe_user_data = True
 OPTIONS.extra_script = None
 OPTIONS.worker_threads = multiprocessing.cpu_count() // 2
 if OPTIONS.worker_threads == 0:
@@ -1498,14 +1498,15 @@ def main(argv):
   else:
     OPTIONS.info_dict = ParseInfoDict(args[0])

-  if OPTIONS.wipe_user_data:
+  '''if OPTIONS.wipe_user_data:
     if not OPTIONS.vabc_downgrade:
       logger.info("Detected downgrade/datawipe OTA."
                   "When wiping userdata, VABC OTA makes the user "
                   "wait in recovery mode for merge to finish. Disable VABC by "
                   "default. If you really want to do VABC downgrade, pass "
                   "--vabc_downgrade")
-      OPTIONS.disable_vabc = True
+      OPTIONS.disable_vabc = True'''
+  if OPTIONS.downgrade:
     # We should only allow downgrading incrementals (as opposed to full).
     # Otherwise the device may go back from arbitrary build with this full
     # OTA package.

(2) To retain data after the upgrade:

a. First perform the upgrade in section 3. If the Android main interface starts normally, skip b; otherwise follow b.

b. Obtain the applicable patches from userdata_patches at the source download below and apply them to the corresponding Android 14 SDK repositories. Follow README.txt in that directory for the exact usage.

Source download: patches, extraction code 0nsa. Current availability is unverified; nothing was downloaded or executed.

Important: these patches are only for projects upgrading existing Android 13 devices to Android 14; do not use them for new Android 14 devices.

3. Upgrading Android 13.0 to Android 14.0

Generate the matching OTA package on the Rockchip Android 14.0 platform, copy it to the Rockchip Android 13.0 device and perform a normal OTA upgrade. Read the precautions in section 4 first.

1. Select the Android 13→14 lunch target, for example lunch rk3588_t-userdebug or lunch rk3568_t-userdebug. The corresponding lunch project directory can normally be copied from the Android 13 SDK.
2. Build the system normally: compile uboot and kernel, run lunch, then use the source command:

make clean && make –j32 && make dist -j32 && ./mkimage.sh ota

The first –j32 contains a non-ASCII dash in the source and is retained for traceability; verify the actual option before execution. This is not a guarantee that direct copying will work.

1. Take the package from step 2 and name it update.zip.
2. Place the matching update.zip on the Android 13 device and upgrade.

Upgrade history:

(1) If the current Android 13.0 was upgraded from Android 12.0 using Rockchip_Developer_Guide_OTA_from_Android12_to_Android13_CN, the further upgrade to 14.0 follows Rockchip_Developer_Guide_OTA_from_Android12_to_Android14_CN: select the Android 12.0 lunch target in the 14.0 tree, such as lunch rk3568_s-userdebug or lunch rk3588_s-userdebug, build normally, and place the package spelled upddate.zip in the source on what that paragraph calls the “Android 14.0 device” to upgrade.

(2) If Android 13.0 came from Android 11.0 using Rockchip_Developer_Guide_OTA_from_Android11_to_Android13_CN, follow Rockchip_Developer_Guide_OTA_from_Android11_to_Android14_CN: select the Android 11.0 lunch target in the 14.0 tree, such as lunch rk3568_r-userdebug, build normally, and place the source-spelled upddate.zip on what that paragraph calls the “Android 14.0 device” to upgrade.

Editorial note: upddate.zip conflicts with update.zip in the main procedure, and “Android 14.0 device” conflicts with the pre-upgrade Android 13.0 context. Both source discrepancies are retained; verify the real filename and target device.

4. Precautions

1. For validation/debugging, the source requires userdebug on each Android platform, such as Android 13.0/14.0, with the following variable. This debugging example must not be adopted directly for production.

BOARD_SELINUX_ENFORCING := false

1. Before OTA, ensure that the parameter partition tables match. For 13.0→14.0, the 14.0 firmware must use the same parameter.txt as 13.0.
2. Ensure matching data filesystems and encryption in fstab, for example fstab.rk30board. For 13.0→14.0, the 14.0 data filesystem and encryption must match 13.0.
3. Verify that the firmware itself works before OTA. For 13.0→14.0, flash the 14.0 firmware with a tool such as RKDevTool and confirm normal boot and correct operation of all functions.

Official background: AOSP non-A/B OTA. This reference does not validate the source Rockchip patches against a current SDK.