diff --git a/external/devlib/devlib/bin/scripts/shutils.in b/external/devlib/devlib/bin/scripts/shutils.in
index e230229e18d6334b00d59d13b9d23aa29484435a..0cca5bba517cb01accf0afc49407200797617b04 100755
--- a/external/devlib/devlib/bin/scripts/shutils.in
+++ b/external/devlib/devlib/bin/scripts/shutils.in
@@ -255,6 +255,28 @@ sched_get_kernel_attributes() {
 # Misc
 ################################################################################
 
+read_tree_values() {
+    BASEPATH=$1
+    MAXDEPTH=$2
+
+    if [ ! -e $BASEPATH ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: $BASEPATH does not exist"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    PATHS=$($BUSYBOX find $BASEPATH -follow -maxdepth $MAXDEPTH)
+    i=0
+    for path in $PATHS; do
+        i=$(expr $i + 1)
+        if [ $i -gt 1 ]; then
+            break;
+        fi
+    done
+    if [ $i -gt 1 ]; then
+        $BUSYBOX grep -s '' $PATHS
+    fi
+}
+
 read_tree_tgz_b64() {
     BASEPATH=$1
     MAXDEPTH=$2
@@ -353,6 +375,9 @@ ftrace_get_function_stats)
 hotplug_online_all)
 	hotplug_online_all
     ;;
+read_tree_values)
+	read_tree_values $*
+    ;;
 read_tree_tgz_b64)
 	read_tree_tgz_b64 $*
     ;;
diff --git a/external/devlib/devlib/module/hwmon.py b/external/devlib/devlib/module/hwmon.py
index 7145ae54110199da2b32f77b6ea2e51ea5c2c4dd..3ecc55ca9c6339f3f0f7bbfb771bfc0b6d7c8c3e 100644
--- a/external/devlib/devlib/module/hwmon.py
+++ b/external/devlib/devlib/module/hwmon.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class HwmonModule(Module):
         self.scan()
 
     def scan(self):
-        values_tree = self.target.read_tree_values(self.root, depth=3)
+        values_tree = self.target.read_tree_values(self.root, depth=3, tar=True)
         for entry_id, fields in values_tree.items():
             path = self.target.path.join(self.root, entry_id)
             name = fields.pop('name', None)
diff --git a/external/devlib/devlib/target.py b/external/devlib/devlib/target.py
index ad0b6d06c4b255d72c7afd7dad4051d21d4d1215..18fb59ca63d40835f64432215054117619fa89f4 100644
--- a/external/devlib/devlib/target.py
+++ b/external/devlib/devlib/target.py
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ class Target(object):
         timeout = duration + 10
         self.execute('sleep {}'.format(duration), timeout=timeout)
 
-    def read_tree_values_flat(self, path, depth=1, check_exit_code=True,
+    def read_tree_tar_flat(self, path, depth=1, check_exit_code=True,
                               decode_unicode=True, strip_null_chars=True):
         command = 'read_tree_tgz_b64 {} {} {}'.format(quote(path), depth,
                                                   quote(self.working_directory))
@@ -732,8 +732,23 @@ class Target(object):
 
         return result
 
+    def read_tree_values_flat(self, path, depth=1, check_exit_code=True):
+        command = 'read_tree_values {} {}'.format(quote(path), depth)
+        output = self._execute_util(command, as_root=self.is_rooted,
+                                    check_exit_code=check_exit_code)
+
+        accumulator = defaultdict(list)
+        for entry in output.strip().split('\n'):
+            if ':' not in entry:
+                continue
+            path, value = entry.strip().split(':', 1)
+            accumulator[path].append(value)
+
+        result = {k: '\n'.join(v).strip() for k, v in accumulator.items()}
+        return result
+
     def read_tree_values(self, path, depth=1, dictcls=dict,
-                         check_exit_code=True, decode_unicode=True,
+                         check_exit_code=True, tar=False, decode_unicode=True,
                          strip_null_chars=True):
         """
         Reads the content of all files under a given tree
@@ -742,14 +757,20 @@ class Target(object):
         :depth: maximum tree depth to read
         :dictcls: type of the dict used to store the results
         :check_exit_code: raise an exception if the shutil command fails
-        :decode_unicode: decode the content of files as utf-8
+        :tar: fetch the entire tree using tar rather than just the value (more
+              robust but slower in some use-cases)
+        :decode_unicode: decode the content of tar-ed files as utf-8
         :strip_null_chars: remove '\x00' chars from the content of utf-8
                            decoded files
 
         :returns: a tree-like dict with the content of files as leafs
         """
-        value_map = self.read_tree_values_flat(path, depth, check_exit_code,
-                                               decode_unicode, strip_null_chars)
+        if not tar:
+            value_map = self.read_tree_values_flat(path, depth, check_exit_code)
+        else:
+            value_map = self.read_tree_tar_flat(path, depth, check_exit_code,
+                                                decode_unicode,
+                                                strip_null_chars)
         return _build_path_tree(value_map, path, self.path.sep, dictcls)
 
     # internal methods
@@ -1856,7 +1877,7 @@ class TypedKernelConfig(Mapping):
         elif isinstance(val, KernelConfigTristate):
             return val.value
         elif isinstance(val, basestring):
-            return '"{}"'.format(val)
+            return '"{}"'.format(val.strip('"'))
         else:
             return str(val)
 
@@ -1999,6 +2020,8 @@ class KernelConfig(object):
         for k, v in self.typed_config.items():
             yield (k, self.typed_config._val_to_str(v))
 
+    items = iteritems
+
     def get(self, name, strict=False):
         if strict:
             val = self.typed_config[name]
diff --git a/external/devlib/doc/target.rst b/external/devlib/doc/target.rst
index b63ba76b6f6ad875862c148356eccef32f95d2a8..ea1dc780f7e0540c232d388e9797bc588c9c11f9 100644
--- a/external/devlib/doc/target.rst
+++ b/external/devlib/doc/target.rst
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ Target
        some sysfs entries silently failing to set the written value without
        returning an error code.
 
-.. method:: Target.read_tree_values(path, depth=1, dictcls=dict):
+.. method:: Target.read_tree_values(path, depth=1, dictcls=dict, [, tar [, decode_unicode [, strip_null_char ]]]):
 
    Read values of all sysfs (or similar) file nodes under ``path``, traversing
    up to the maximum depth ``depth``.
@@ -358,9 +358,18 @@ Target
    value is a dict-line object  with a key for every entry under ``path``
    mapping onto its value or further dict-like objects as appropriate.
 
+   Although the default behaviour should suit most users, it is possible to
+   encounter issues when reading binary files, or files with colons in their
+   name for example. In such cases, the ``tar`` parameter can be set to force a
+   full archive of the tree using tar, hence providing a more robust behaviour.
+   This can, however, slow down the read process significantly.
+
    :param path: sysfs path to scan
    :param depth: maximum depth to descend
    :param dictcls: a dict-like type to be used for each level of the hierarchy.
+   :param tar: the files will be read using tar rather than grep
+   :param decode_unicode: decode the content of tar-ed files as utf-8
+   :param strip_null_char: remove null chars from utf-8 decoded files
 
 .. method:: Target.read_tree_values_flat(path, depth=1):
 
diff --git a/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/target/info.py b/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/target/info.py
index 5b11f7d83521540f26a35db0ace3ed0b56e475a0..52b214c837a6bd6a37405b3e1c01612625809d74 100644
--- a/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/target/info.py
+++ b/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/target/info.py
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ def kernel_version_from_pod(pod):
 
 def kernel_config_from_pod(pod):
     config = KernelConfig('')
-    config._config = pod['kernel_config']
+    config.typed_config._config = pod['kernel_config']
     lines = []
-    for key, value in config._config.items():
+    for key, value in config.items():
         if value == 'n':
             lines.append('# {} is not set'.format(key))
         else:
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ def cache_target_info(target_info, overwrite=False):
 
 class TargetInfo(Podable):
 
-    _pod_serialization_version = 2
+    _pod_serialization_version = 3
 
     @staticmethod
     def from_pod(pod):
@@ -401,3 +401,11 @@ class TargetInfo(Podable):
         pod['page_size_kb'] = pod.get('page_size_kb')
         pod['_pod_version'] = pod.get('format_version', 0)
         return pod
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _pod_upgrade_v3(pod):
+        config = {}
+        for key, value in pod['kernel_config'].items():
+            config[key.upper()] = value
+        pod['kernel_config'] = config
+        return pod
diff --git a/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/workload.py b/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/workload.py
index f5d0e1354f45da4330512d10710f4f472c297514..62f980ce1a86605d33436b77e224cb22c8bf4ee1 100644
--- a/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/workload.py
+++ b/external/workload-automation/wa/framework/workload.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class Workload(TargetedPlugin):
 
         supported_platforms = getattr(self, 'supported_platforms', [])
         if supported_platforms and self.target.os not in supported_platforms:
-            msg = 'Supported platforms for "{}" are "{}", attemping to run on "{}"'
+            msg = 'Supported platforms for "{}" are "{}", attempting to run on "{}"'
             raise WorkloadError(msg.format(self.name, ' '.join(self.supported_platforms),
                                            self.target.os))
 
diff --git a/external/workload-automation/wa/output_processors/postgresql.py b/external/workload-automation/wa/output_processors/postgresql.py
index a2fa27b86d9e66106db16bb7f6d36b1e0d215330..ba1ef37990c94b1f274416ab818bc59332a78dba 100644
--- a/external/workload-automation/wa/output_processors/postgresql.py
+++ b/external/workload-automation/wa/output_processors/postgresql.py
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ class PostgresqlResultProcessor(OutputProcessor):
                 target_pod['sched_features'],
                 target_pod['page_size_kb'],
                 # Android Specific
-                target_pod.get('screen_resolution'),
+                list(target_pod.get('screen_resolution')),
                 target_pod.get('prop'),
                 target_pod.get('android_id'),
                 target_pod.get('pod_version'),
diff --git a/external/workload-automation/wa/workloads/manual/__init__.py b/external/workload-automation/wa/workloads/manual/__init__.py
index 0f2257d24b24d796d26df0900ff9f34b2aed430c..2891698017a5a562cdaeea43d30a6fcabaf1e7c2 100644
--- a/external/workload-automation/wa/workloads/manual/__init__.py
+++ b/external/workload-automation/wa/workloads/manual/__init__.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class ManualWorkload(Workload):
     def run(self, context):
         self.logger.info('START NOW!')
         if self.duration:
-            self.device.sleep(self.duration)
+            self.target.sleep(self.duration)
         elif self.user_triggered:
             self.logger.info('')
             self.logger.info('hit any key to end your workload execution...')
diff --git a/lisa/energy_model.py b/lisa/energy_model.py
index 29da91fefdf4f5d1a9bc56cd08c62c98f7d7e22c..2e8d02d79de68528697442441890569135edd631 100644
--- a/lisa/energy_model.py
+++ b/lisa/energy_model.py
@@ -873,7 +873,7 @@ class EnergyModel(Serializable, Loggable):
         pd_attr = defaultdict(dict)
         cpu_to_pd = {}
 
-        debugfs_em = target.read_tree_values(directory, depth=3)
+        debugfs_em = target.read_tree_values(directory, depth=3, tar=True)
         if not debugfs_em:
             raise TargetStableError('Energy Model not exposed at {} in sysfs.'.format(directory))