Related
Greetings all,
This is my first post here. I hope to make it a memorable one.
Really; I've been programming on the UNIX system for more than 20 years.
Having picked up and activated a brand new HTC-EVO android-2.2 (froyo) 4
days ago. I discover "big brother's watching" (google). This is completely unacceptable. Looking for the definitive answer brings me to XDA. So, I spent the past 2 days reading threads here. But can't shake the notion that all of this "rooting" seems overly complicated. I mean if android runs atop Linux, WTF is all this MS-DOS BS? Granted, I'm new to the EVO, but in UNIX, it seems that a simple:
Code:
# su
password
# mkdir /evoandroid
# mount /dev/android-device /evoandroid
dd if=<your-ROM-name-here> of=/evoandroid
would suffice.
This above is only slightly different for Linux - but I think you get the picture.
Sure. I know the SDK && NDK are written for MS-DOS & Co.
But what's that got to do with writing a "rooted" ROM to the EVO?
Because Windows users use the EVO too?
Sorry, but what am I missing here? Would love to start writing a self-made ROM to my new EVO. In fact I've already nearly finished a compilation that features an almost indistinguishable OS X. But hate to move any farther forward w/o clearing this "nit" I have with writing to the EVO.
Thank you for all your time and consideration.
--Chris
I don't understand your question. Can you clarify, and I'm sure someone will be glad to help if possible.
You can download Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of the SDK & NDK, so I'm not sure why you think they are Windows specific. (Many, if not most, ROM devs use Ubuntu since compiling AOSP & kernel source works well on it.)
If there is some part of the rooting process for the EVO that requires Windows, then that might be better directed to the EVO specific forums. I have helped to root one EVO myself, and it was done from a Mac. Things may have changed though.
Hello gnarlyc, and thank you for your reply.
gnarlyc said:
I don't understand your question. Can you clarify, and I'm sure someone will be glad to help if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK fair enough. I'll try to be more concise.
Currently, it is my understanding, that to "get root" on the EVO. One must download the SDK && NDK. Then use the tools provided there-in to "get root".
Yes, I am aware that you also need some of the wonderful utilities provided by the "dev's" here at XDA.
But I wonder why it wouldn't be simpler to mount(8) ( http ://internethell.net/man/?query=mount ) the EVO (rom & sdcard), and simply write the custom ROM "raw" right to the EVO's live rom.
eg; on a *NIX boxen
Code:
# su
password
# mkdir /evoandroid
# mount /dev/evo-device /evoandroid
# dd if=./custom-rom.img of=/evoandroid
see: http ://internethell.net/man/?query=dd
Done. That was easy, wasn't it.
gnarlyc said:
You can download Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of the SDK & NDK, so I'm not sure why you think they are Windows specific. (Many, if not most, ROM devs use Ubuntu since compiling AOSP & kernel source works well on it.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was aware of the source being *NIX. But when I went to HTC, they presented me with only the Windows version. Perhaps, they felt I was on Windows, based on some browser "sniffing" thing. Dunno. I don't have Windows on anything. But occasionally on one of my BSD servers, I'll mount it in a Virtualbox VM.
Thanks for your info here. I'll go back and get the Mac version. I don't suppose it supports Apple Macs?
gnarlyc said:
If there is some part of the rooting process for the EVO that requires Windows,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See above.
gnarlyc said:
then that might be better directed to the EVO specific forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't find the HTC-EVO phone as a separate forum - like the other EVO's.
gnarlyc said:
I have helped to root one EVO myself, and it was done from a Mac. Things may have changed though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't feel I'd have any trouble "rooting" it. I just felt that all of the "tut's" I've found here were un-necessarily complicated - overly complex. So I'm wondering why my example above wouldn't work.
Thank you again gnarlyc, for your thoughtful response.
--Chris
CTH-EVO said:
Hello gnarlyc, and thank you for your reply.
OK fair enough. I'll try to be more concise.
Currently, it is my understanding, that to "get root" on the EVO. One must download the SDK && NDK. Then use the tools provided there-in to "get root".
Yes, I am aware that you also need some of the wonderful utilities provided by the "dev's" here at XDA.
But I wonder why it wouldn't be simpler to mount(8) ( http ://internethell.net/man/?query=mount ) the EVO (rom & sdcard), and simply write the custom ROM "raw" right to the EVO's live rom.
eg; on a *NIX boxen
Code:
# su
password
# mkdir /evoandroid
# mount /dev/evo-device /evoandroid
# dd if=./custom-rom.img of=/evoandroid
see: http ://internethell.net/man/?query=dd
Done. That was easy, wasn't it.
I was aware of the source being *NIX. But when I went to HTC, they presented me with only the Windows version. Perhaps, they felt I was on Windows, based on some browser "sniffing" thing. Dunno. I don't have Windows on anything. But occasionally on one of my BSD servers, I'll mount it in a Virtualbox VM.
Thanks for your info here. I'll go back and get the Mac version. I don't suppose it supports Apple Macs?
See above.
Couldn't find the HTC-EVO phone as a separate forum - like the other EVO's.
I don't feel I'd have any trouble "rooting" it. I just felt that all of the "tut's" I've found here were un-necessarily complicated - overly complex. So I'm wondering why my example above wouldn't work.
Thank you again gnarlyc, for your thoughtful response.
--Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I think I get you now. I don't think this will work though. The running image is on an internal partition. Maybe you can mount that? I don't think so though. It doesn't seem to me that mounting the sdcard will get you anywhere. So many 'impossible' things have already been done with Android, so I wouldn't count you out completely.
http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack,_Edit,_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images
Kernel source for HTC phones - http://developer.htc.com/
Android Open Source Project source - http://source.android.com/source/download.html
Android SDK - http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Android NDK - http://developer.android.com/sdk/ndk/index.html
I recommend this script for grabbing AOSP source on Debian/Ubuntu - http://blog.coralic.nl/2010/01/28/build-eclair-aka-android-2-1-for-hero-from-source/
You can change 'eclair' to 'froyo' for Android 2.2 source. It's good to look at this even if you don't use a Debian based distro, although it's mostly the same stuff that's on Google's site.
EVO forum - http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=653
I don't think there's more than one EVO, but maybe I'm wrong. The internal name is 'Supersonic', btw. You might see that in places.
Won't this root method work? - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=787304
Some other light reading -
http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack,_Edit,_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images
http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/6037-general-rom-faq.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246
http://blog.coralic.nl/2010/01/28/build-eclair-aka-android-2-1-for-hero-from-source/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622916
http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc...how-build-your-own-kernel-package-source.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6738713&postcount=1
http://www.kandroid.org/android_pdk/index.html
http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcdxIJRSH9ypZGZzc2pxNDlfMjdnazk4OHNxZA&hl=en
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=641223
http://adrianvintu.com/blogengine/post/Colored-Logcat-Script-for-Windows.aspx
http://www.androidenea.com/2009/08/init-process-and-initrc.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=623976
http://lukasz.szmit.eu/2009/12/making-your-own-rooted-android-rom.html
http://androidguts.com/index.php/Main_Page
http://groups.google.com/group/android-kernel
http://groups.google.com/group/android-building
http://groups.google.com/group/android-porting
http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers
http://groups.google.com/group/android-ndk
http://groups.google.com/group/android-platform
Greetings gnarlyc.
Let me first preface this by saying how grateful I am for all the time and effort you put into your last reply - WOW.
I don't want to sound argumentative. But just for the record, when I plug my EVO into one of my BSD servers, it immediately sees both the running system, and the sdcard. While I haven't yet attempted to mount the live system. I will endeavor to do so when I can determine what state I need to have the phone in to safely mount it. I'll report back to you with my results.
I have a strong suspicion I'll be posting a "one step to root and ROM" here within a week. That should help a lot of folks out.
I primarily develop in, and on the BSD family of operating systems. But given the Linux ABI support on BSD, I've made my development workstation dual-boot BSD/Fedora 13. But given the workstation is an AMD X4 six-core 4Ghz
board. I've decided to cobble up a copy of OS X (Apple CPU) to install on it as well - see; triple-boot. I'm just about to install it in the next couple of days. But thought I'd take a break on that development, and play with my new toy.
I should also have a copy of OS X for the EVO before long. Think anyone would be interested?
Well, I may not be new to development, but this EVO is new territory for me. So I'd do well to take advantage of the wealth of information you've thoughtfully provided me.
Best wishes to you gnarlyc, and thanks again.
--Chris
CTH-EVO said:
Greetings gnarlyc.
Let me first preface this by saying how grateful I am for all the time and effort you put into your last reply - WOW.
I don't want to sound argumentative. But just for the record, when I plug my EVO into one of my BSD servers, it immediately sees both the running system, and the sdcard. While I haven't yet attempted to mount the live system. I will endeavor to do so when I can determine what state I need to have the phone in to safely mount it. I'll report back to you with my results.
I have a strong suspicion I'll be posting a "one step to root and ROM" here within a week. That should help a lot of folks out.
I primarily develop in, and on the BSD family of operating systems. But given the Linux ABI support on BSD, I've made my development workstation dual-boot BSD/Fedora 13. But given the workstation is an AMD X4 six-core 4Ghz
board. I've decided to cobble up a copy of OS X (Apple CPU) to install on it as well - see; triple-boot. I'm just about to install it in the next couple of days. But thought I'd take a break on that development, and play with my new toy.
I should also have a copy of OS X for the EVO before long. Think anyone would be interested?
Well, I may not be new to development, but this EVO is new territory for me. So I'd do well to take advantage of the wealth of information you've thoughtfully provided me.
Best wishes to you gnarlyc, and thanks again.
--Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I'm wrong at least once per day, but that's ok as long as I realize it and learn from it. I hope you are able to work it out.
I've seen 'rooting' of the Eris go from installing a leaked ROM to doing some crazy timing with pulling out the sdcard (or something like that) to a 1-click app that's on the market. Some really determined, knowledgeable, and intelligent people have put a lot of time into making these things easier and better. Welcome to the community!
A copy of OS X for the EVO? Do you mean running on the EVO? If so, then I'm sure people would be interested from a purely geeky perspective. There are several phones out there with the option to install Ubuntu and/or Debian on them. They don't seem to be of practical use yet. Can you cross-compile Darwin for arm CPUs? Maybe I'm confused here... My knowledge of such things only runs so deep.
(Side note - I keep those links in a text file just for such occasions. I don't see why everyone should have to spend their time searching for the sites that I already know about.)
gnarlyc said:
No problem. I'm wrong at least once per day, but that's ok as long as I realize it and learn from it. I hope you are able to work it out.
I've seen 'rooting' of the Eris go from installing a leaked ROM to doing some crazy timing with pulling out the sdcard (or something like that) to a 1-click app that's on the market. Some really determined, knowledgeable, and intelligent people have put a lot of time into making these things easier and better. Welcome to the community!
A copy of OS X for the EVO? Do you mean running on the EVO? If so, then I'm sure people would be interested from a purely geeky perspective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and no. The "apps" and android are made with Java - something Oracle is currently sueing Google for as I speak (Google clams "clean-room" in-house Java, Oracle claims otherwise). So for all practical purposes, there is no reason that those same "apps" found on the phones, and in the "market" can't be made to run on OS X. In fact, it opens the doors to additional "apps" that otherwise wouldn't be possible - iTunes, for example.
gnarlyc said:
There are several phones out there with the option to install Ubuntu and/or Debian on them. They don't seem to be of practical use yet. Can you cross-compile Darwin for arm CPUs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you asked. BSD (which is what "hosts" NeXT/Darwin) has no problems with ARM, and I'm confident that I can manipulate Darwin to work on Snapdragon.
gnarlyc said:
Maybe I'm confused here... My knowledge of such things only runs so deep.
(Side note - I keep those links in a text file just for such occasions. I don't see why everyone should have to spend their time searching for the sites that I already know about.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really glad you do - it really helped me a lot not having to weed all these "jewls" out. Thank you very much for sharing them with me, I appreciate it!
Best wishes to you gnarlyc, and have a wonderful day.
--Chris
Are they doing something similar to what you are talking about?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=788554
gnarlyc said:
Are they doing something similar to what you are talking about?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=788554
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link gnarlyc.
I thought about something similar to this when I first thought about "rooting" the phone; making a system folder on the sdcard, then "soft linking" it to /system.
Problem being, the performance hit using the sdcard for system related tasks made this option undesirable.
Thanks again for sharing the link, gnarlyc.
OH, one thing though, my phone is not linked to google. I have no google account(s). I activated this phone in "developer mode". Meaning that there is no personal info to worry about "attached" to this phone. Making it an ideal candidate for creating a bone-stock ROM for recovery/hacking purposes. I don't suppose you can direct me to "cloning" this phone. So that I might share this w/others as a ROM suitable for un-bricking their phone, could you?
HTC-EVO (supersonic) s/w# 3.26.651.6, baseband# 2.15.00.07.28, PRI version 1.71_003, andriod 2.2
Thanks again.
--Chris
Can I ask, what do you mean by "big brother (Google) is watching"?
CTH-EVO said:
Thanks for the link gnarlyc.
I thought about something similar to this when I first thought about "rooting" the phone; making a system folder on the sdcard, then "soft linking" it to /system.
Problem being, the performance hit using the sdcard for system related tasks made this option undesirable.
Thanks again for sharing the link, gnarlyc.
OH, one thing though, my phone is not linked to google. I have no google account(s). I activated this phone in "developer mode". Meaning that there is no personal info to worry about "attached" to this phone. Making it an ideal candidate for creating a bone-stock ROM for recovery/hacking purposes. I don't suppose you can direct me to "cloning" this phone. So that I might share this w/others as a ROM suitable for un-bricking their phone, could you?
HTC-EVO (supersonic) s/w# 3.26.651.6, baseband# 2.15.00.07.28, PRI version 1.71_003, andriod 2.2
Thanks again.
--Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a custom recovery partition like Amon_Ra's, you can do a NAND backup to the sdcard. It's basically a snapshot of the currently flashed ROM. That should work just fine. NAND's can be manipulated in dsixda's kitchen (although I haven't tried it, the option is there and dsixda has things together pretty well) and I THINK you should be able to copy one from one EVO to another and do a restore.
A side note... Generally when people create the ROMs that are out there, they do not include the directories under /data that might have personal info, so you can actually create a bone-stock ROM like you want without using a phone in such a state as yours. I've flashed a lot of different ROMs, and I'm pretty sure that none of them had identifying information about the dev unless they purposely did something like put their name in the build.prop or the wallpaper. Generally, if they include a /data, it's just for /data/app, although there are exceptions like when they want to change a database or something else that might be under /data.
As far as I know, your phone won't be linked to Google until you sign in with the Google account. I've gone several days on a fresh ROM without setting that up. Eventually, I find I want to install something from the Market, so I go ahead and sign in...
MaybachMan said:
Can I ask, what do you mean by "big brother (Google) is watching"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greetings MaybachMan.
Yes. Of course you may.
What I mean by that, is that is that Google monitors your activity. To what extent,
all depends on what applications you use, and to what extent you have a relation
with Google - Gmail, Google search, or any other Google application/account you
have with Google. Myself, on the other hand, I activated my EVO in "developer" mode.
I have no Gmail account, or any other relationship/account with Google.
Google needs your data. Google is a "data miner" that's what Google does.
I don't have a problem with their chosen line of business. I simply choose not to be
part of the data they "mine" - to the extent I am able.
Meaning in the context of my OP; I want to remove most (if not all) of the Google apps
on my EVO - including the Market app.
I hope I have cleared things up for you, MaybachMan.
Thanks for your reply.
--Chris
gnarlyc said:
If you have a custom recovery partition like Amon_Ra's, you can do a NAND backup to the sdcard. It's basically a snapshot of the currently flashed ROM. That should work just fine. NAND's can be manipulated in dsixda's kitchen (although I haven't tried it, the option is there and dsixda has things together pretty well) and I THINK you should be able to copy one from one EVO to another and do a restore.
A side note... Generally when people create the ROMs that are out there, they do not include the directories under /data that might have personal info, so you can actually create a bone-stock ROM like you want without using a phone in such a state as yours. I've flashed a lot of different ROMs, and I'm pretty sure that none of them had identifying information about the dev unless they purposely did something like put their name in the build.prop or the wallpaper. Generally, if they include a /data, it's just for /data/app, although there are exceptions like when they want to change a database or something else that might be under /data.
As far as I know, your phone won't be linked to Google until you sign in with the Google account. I've gone several days on a fresh ROM without setting that up. Eventually, I find I want to install something from the Market, so I go ahead and sign in...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you gnarlyc! You're a "pillar of wisdom" where these phones are concerned.
I really appreciate your sharing it with me.
Best wishes, and thanks again gnarlyc.
--Chris
CTH-EVO said:
Thank you gnarlyc! You're a "pillar of wisdom" where these phones are concerned.
I really appreciate your sharing it with me.
Best wishes, and thanks again gnarlyc.
--Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, thank you. At least one of the voices tells me that's why I'm here. I'm still learning, and I find it easier to pass on what I learn if I learned it recently. Since I just got this phone in March, nearly everything I know about it is pretty fresh!
In addition the "big brother" post. The book 1984 I believe is where it comes from. The author is George Orwell and usually this book refers to things in society today as an Orwellian society. It's a really great book anyone who has spare time should really check it out if they like conspiracies, apocalyptic scenarios etc.
@CTH-EVO - I understand having a little linux background myself why you feel the way you do that you could just dd a raw image to the phone but there are a few issues with that, that I would like to clarify with you.
It's not entirely impossible. We have seen that around here many times.
However....
1. To clarify, Android is NOT general linux in the form you think of it. It's definitely HAS a beautiful open source twin sister (AOSP) but HTC's version of sense is locked down, restricted, and tight. But there are other reasons why..
2. The boot process... By default you can't mount the system directory to be writable, only readable which wouldn't make a hill a beans difference if you try to use dd. It would just produce error:unwritable.
To iterate further into this subject though, there is also the boot process and the partitions that go with that. Let me go ahead and get the boot process out of the way first:
**Generic Boot Process**
1.SelfCheck
2.Radio
3.S-on/S-off (developer mode only)
4.Recovery (if installed)
5.Rom
By default when the system boots it is directed specifically from the radio (unless s-on is installed) to the system partition, which by default the system partition locks any root needed functions out (including writablility from external sources).
One other thing of note, the phone more than welcomes ANY linux o.s. to see the internal phone storage, just that you can't write to it unless you have root.
However I also would like to inform you that there are universal root programs getting easier and easier these days to use so you don't have to download all this and that, and most phones now you don't even have to have a computer to root it.
Here's what is involved in the rooting process:
1. Exploit code to inject code for root access (done from shell of phone)
2. root files (permissions program, etc)
3. recovery flash. (flashed to it's own 'sub' partition)
Actually come to think of it you used to have to boot into recovery to root (well.. not really a recovery but the stock wiping/reset program) And you could possibly get dd to flash the system from there, but the real issue here is just not bricking the device.
The device itself is of course just one memory bank partitioned into different places. If you use dd to flash a raw image to the rom, it would wipe out EVERYTHING would it not? And not JUST the regular rom partitions? This would be sweet if you can set up an entire phone's system including bootstrap, radio, and recovery (effectively unbricking probably 3/4 the bricked phones out there right now) but if it's unsuccessful, or unfinished then would it not brick it entirely?
Hope this helps you out!
Just wondering if the OTA servers are back and if a new update is available?
They have been down several days. You can be patient and wait, or you can go over
to one of the threads in Developers and download the file version -- say 3588.
Usually you have to win-rar the download to get the update.zip and recovery folder.
Hook up your PC to you G-Tablet and copy both files to the /sdcard directory.
The shut down and boot into recovery using power/volume + and that you cause the update to load.
Hope this helps.
Rev
I was just hoping (maybe plz)
That a new release would bring us some honey happiness!
I am content with VegaN for now..
Sorry, but I don't frankly think we see honey-anything for a long while
unless its an out and out hack.
Google is being stupid and it seems to me the tablet companies are not
moving that fast either.
IN THE END, I think whether you are really happy with something -- as in
tablet -- depends on how you use what you've got to work with.
Rev
butchconner said:
Sorry, but I don't frankly think we see honey-anything for a long while
unless its an out and out hack.
Google is being stupid and it seems to me the tablet companies are not
moving that fast either.
IN THE END, I think whether you are really happy with something -- as in
tablet -- depends on how you use what you've got to work with.
Rev
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not google that is holding up things. Its the tablet manufacturers. We could have honeycomb if viewsonic released source code for the drivers we need. What viewsonic should be doing is using the developers here to improve there products!
But couldn't you....
tnerb123 said:
Its not google that is holding up things. Its the tablet manufacturers. We could have honeycomb if viewsonic released source code for the drivers we need. What viewsonic should be doing is using the developers here to improve there products!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an expert or anything, but if the Xoom and the G-tab are as close in hardware as I've read, couldn't someone extract the drivers from a Xoom and use them in a G-tab? I hope I'm asking this correctly. I'm not sure how the dirvers are implimented in Android since I come from a PC background.
IndyLateNite said:
I'm not an expert or anything, but if the Xoom and the G-tab are as close in hardware as I've read, couldn't someone extract the drivers from a Xoom and use them in a G-tab? I hope I'm asking this correctly. I'm not sure how the dirvers are implimented in Android since I come from a PC background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They aren't the same, that's the problem. Completely different system boards - the only thing the "same" that we know of is the CPU, and I believe the Wifi. The only issue is that the frame buffer seems to have moved to either the kernel or the bootloader, so even though we can boot up Honeycomb on the GTAB, no one's been able to activate the LCD (yet).
What we really need, from my "hacker" perspective, is another Harmony device like the Adam or VEGA to get Honeycomb. That's something we can use on the GTAB, since the boards are similar. Or, at the very least, for Nvidia to release a Honeycomb dev kit for the Harmony board. But so far none of these things have happened yet.
Imo, don't go on Honeycomb as your reason to own / keep a GTAB. I'd be more concerned about optimizing Froyo at this point. Google (and Nvidia) have really locked down Honeycomb so far, so who knows when a Harmony-based version will show up.
roebeet said:
They aren't the same, that's the problem. Completely different system boards - the only thing the "same" that we know of is the CPU, and I believe the Wifi. The only issue is that the frame buffer seems to have moved to either the kernel or the bootloader, so even though we can boot up Honeycomb on the GTAB, no one's been able to activate the LCD (yet).
What we really need, from my "hacker" perspective, is another Harmony device like the Adam or VEGA to get Honeycomb. That's something we can use on the GTAB, since the boards are similar. Or, at the very least, for Nvidia to release a Honeycomb dev kit for the Harmony board. But so far none of these things have happened yet.
Imo, don't go on Honeycomb as your reason to own / keep a GTAB. I'd be more concerned about optimizing Froyo at this point. Google (and Nvidia) have really locked down Honeycomb so far, so who knows when a Harmony-based version will show up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the explaination. I'm very new to the Android world so I'm still struggling to get a "windows" reference to everything. I've tried a few of the gingerbread roms and really don't see much diference than the stock one. Apps appear to work the same and other than a speed increase, it was the same "experience" if you know what I mean. I just wish there were apps that took full use of the tablet experience.
IndyLateNite said:
Thanks for the explaination. I'm very new to the Android world so I'm still struggling to get a "windows" reference to everything. I've tried a few of the gingerbread roms and really don't see much diference than the stock one. Apps appear to work the same and other than a speed increase, it was the same "experience" if you know what I mean. I just wish there were apps that took full use of the tablet experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same learning curve - Android is more like Windows CE than Windows, imo. As for Gingerbread, it's not a major update but it is a bit more polished and there are speed improvements - think of it as a "service pack", almost.
I attempted to flash my gtab with Android OS 3.0. I am not a noob to flashing a new FW so I am not sure what happened. But now my gtab sits at the viewsonic screen and that's it. I try to boot into CW but when I press the Vol+ key I get the message at the top:
"Detect a recovery key pressed"
"Booting recovery kernel image"
And that is it. So I can't boot into CWM to mount my storage. Can ANYBODY please help me?!?!?! I'm freakin out that I have ruined my gtab.
Thanks
-Buddah
You tried to jump a cliff and fell down the great chasm. What you need to do is visit my website (just put it up today) and follow the procedure to nvflash. It's written for beginners like yourself so I'm sure you won't have any problem with it.
http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummies.webs.com/nvflash.htm
What happened was you tried tried to use the wrong CWM. Just read my website and you'll see what I mean.
Added by edit.
Also, visit my ROM page for the appropriate way to flash a ROM.
Assuming you used Bottle of Smoke, were you on a 1.1 ROM (ie. 3588 stock, VEGAn-TAB or CM7) and then flashed with cwm? If so, that's your root cause (1.1 ROM jumping to a 1.2 ROM with cwm = soft brick).
As mentioned, you need nvflash to fix it. It's most likely a soft-brick, not a hard brick.
dun dun dun....another one bites the dust, da da dun dun dun
Many many thanks! I NVflashed my gtab and I am back up and running.
There's been a wave of people soft-bricking their gtab because they were not aware of the 1.1 - 1.2 issue. Wonder if that has anything to do with the recent woot and tigerdirect sales...
buddah77 said:
Many many thanks! I NVflashed my gtab and I am back up and running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious. Did you use my nvflash instructions or the ones in this forum? I just want to get a feel of if my site is helpful to beginners at all. I've simplified the instructions as much as I could without giving up the technical stuff.
goodintentions said:
There's been a wave of people soft-bricking their gtab because they were not aware of the 1.1 - 1.2 issue. Wonder if that has anything to do with the recent woot and tigerdirect sales...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, for one, want to again thank the power users here for their excellent user support. YOU have the hardest job of all and I appreciate anyone who helps do post-support for my own ROMs. It is very much appreciated.
goodintentions said:
There's been a wave of people soft-bricking their gtab because they were not aware of the 1.1 - 1.2 issue. Wonder if that has anything to do with the recent woot and tigerdirect sales...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*raises her hand slowly*
I got a gtab from woot. I soft-bricked it because it came with the 1.2 bootloader and I installed CWM on it (wanted to install CM7) Luckily the instructions on this forum got me back up and running with nvflash.
P.S. Wish I would've know about your website good intentions. The post I followed was very good, but I always like to see more than one set of instructions before doing something I'm not comfortable with. Acutally I wish I would've seen that stuff before I soft-bricked my gtab :-(
I will say this, once you know how to use NVFlash you can do a lot more experimenting...the worst case is you lose a configuration and have to re-load apps.
I think its sad to know so many GTabs are out in the wild running stock, with people going "These Android tabs are Crap!"....
@goodintentions:
I followed your instructions to the letter and that is what did it for me. It was very accurately detailed and left no room for interpretation. I work in IT Support so I have a fair amount of experience reading crappy instructions. Yours was very helpful and again, thank you for saving me so much time and frustration.
HeadRusch1 said:
I will say this, once you know how to use NVFlash you can do a lot more experimenting...the worst case is you lose a configuration and have to re-load apps.
I think its sad to know so many GTabs are out in the wild running stock, with people going "These Android tabs are Crap!"....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's one of the problems with Android vs *gasp* Ipads, the fragmentation and butchering by some vendors leave a bad taste in some peoples mouths, so to speak.
If not for the developers working on the Gtab, I would have probably taken mine back way before now. Some people aren't all that tech savvy and even me, having worked with PC and various gadgets hardware and software wise for many years, and I still scratch my head from time to time.
I've never had stock but keep testing ROMS. Even the more stable ones had bugs. I wish there was a really good stable Honeycomb out I'm considering the Asus tablet but want to wait for Kal-El. Partly because of the better screen/ram. Things that will never get fixed/upgraded with software.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of the times communication is hard between the tech savy and the not-so tech savy.
In the android world, we say "flash" instead of "install". Believe it or not, but this is a source of confusion for a lot of people out there. For kicks, I did a search and couldn't find a single explanation that says something like flash = install. Remember that we're dealing with people who came from the PC world.
The confusion gets progressively worse from there. What's clockworkmod? What's recovery? What's nvflash? Try searching for these terms and you will find explanations that only induce more questions.
I regularly have to instruct totally tech-illiterate people how to use their devices. This has given me an insight into how to communicate with people who are not tech savy.
I remember my first PDA (a DELL AXIM) and had a hard time wrapping my head around how the OS and firmware were integrated. I was used to the the whole hardware / OS separation on PC's and this was hard to ween myself off of. My DAP's were the same way as my PDA, and so when I started messing with Android it at least made some sense to me.
goodintentions said:
In the android world, we say "flash" instead of "install". Believe it or not, but this is a source of confusion for a lot of people out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This did confuse me at first, but something dawned on me as to why it may be like this. In the android world, we do install apps. So saying that we are installing a rom would possibly lead to more confusion. "where's the APK for me to install Brilliant Corners?" etc.
Seems we use Flash when speaking of operating systems, but install when speaking of applications.
But we don't ever hear people say "I flashed windows 7 last night."
goodintentions said:
But we don't ever hear people say "I flashed windows 7 last night."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updates to hardware devices (BIOS, video firmware, cdroms, etc) usually are refered to as flash... pretty much forever
goodintentions said:
But we don't ever hear people say "I flashed windows 7 last night."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fortunately (or unfortunately ependong on your outlook) we don't have 17 different interpretations of one Windows OS version. And most lay users really don't repetatively install different operating systems, either.
TJEvans said:
fortunately (or unfortunately ependong on your outlook) we don't have 17 different interpretations of one Windows OS version. And most lay users really don't repetatively install different operating systems, either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, back in my youthful days (before I turned 103) I tried out every operating system in existant at the time. This included all the windows versions and linux distros. I also tried (sometimes succesful) to flash mac os into pc platform. Fun times.
I have a Nook Tablet 8gig that I rooted about 10 months ago with no problems. I have had no complaints so I have not mucked around with it, but now I am wondering about updating a bit. The issue is that I want to be able to use an external keryboard dock with my NT, and I read that it was only possible with CM7 (not sure if that means CM7 and above). I rooted the NT using the great instructions and files recommended in the developers thread, but to be honest I have no idea what my nook is rooted with- it works well so I have not messed with it.
I am essentially looking for instructions on how to re-root my NT after I re-set it to factory, or how to alter my current root to run CM7. My screen is half wonked, and I may take it back since I got the extended warrenty, especially if I have to re-root it for this anyway.
Also...what is CM7? Is that an Android version?
As a side note: Can anyone confirm that you can use an external keyboard with CM7 or above?
What do you want to do first?...do you want to return to stock so that you can return your nt...or do you want to flash cm7? (cm7 is a ROM by the way a version of Android os)
Sent from my Dark Unicorn Resurrected v.2.5 using xda premium
systems6 said:
What do you want to do first?...do you want to return to stock so that you can return your nt...or do you want to flash cm7? (cm7 is a ROM by the way a version of Android os)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ultimately what I want to do is run an external keyboard, and the information I have is that they will run on CM7. I will probably (assuming my warranty will cover this) be getting this one fixed to replaced soon, so I will need to re-root when I get it back, but for now I don't see the need to re-root if I don't have to.
What does it mean to "flash" cm7?
drworm73 said:
What does it mean to "flash" cm7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your nook is broken already, why bother doing anything to it? Just get it fixed then address the things you want to address. And while you are waiting for the replacement see the next line.
After reading above quote along with your original post you honestly need to read...A LOT. You need to learn at least the basic lingo before you even make an attempt to do anything. Failure to have even an iota of understanding will only lead to failure, complaints, and frustration. Spend a few hours going through the posts on here. There are several new user guides. Read them. Re-Read them. Read them again. Learn to understand what people are talking about when someone says something like "Flash x, y, or z".
As for the keyboard question, I am fairly certain that it doesn't work on ANY rom. They are working on getting the OTG portion of the kernel ironed out. While it is called a tablet it is a glorified E-Reader. The devs have done an awesome job making the Nooks into what they are today (for those of us that have modified them),
SlowCobra96 said:
After reading above quote along with your original post you honestly need to read...A LOT. You need to learn at least the basic lingo before you even make an attempt to do anything. Failure to have even an iota of understanding will only lead to failure, complaints, and frustration. Spend a few hours going through the posts on here. There are several new user guides. Read them. Re-Read them. Read them again. Learn to understand what people are talking about when someone says something like "Flash x, y, or z"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any good links to layman information sites or tutorials? I was able to Root it easily (it is pretty simple), but I will admit that some of the android specific terminology does go over my head.
As for the keyboard question, I am fairly certain that it doesn't work on ANY rom. They are working on getting the OTG portion of the kernel ironed out. While it is called a tablet it is a glorified E-Reader. The devs have done an awesome job making the Nooks into what they are today (for those of us that have modified them),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read several places where cm7 has allowed keyboard use for users. They are not expensive, and I would really like to try.
As for getting it fixed...well I love my nook and use it every day, so I have been loathe to take it in. I suppose that is silly.
drworm73 said:
Any good links to layman information sites or tutorials? I was able to Root it easily (it is pretty simple), but I will admit that some of the android specific terminology does go over my head.
I have read several places where cm7 has allowed keyboard use for users. They are not expensive, and I would really like to try.
As for getting it fixed...well I love my nook and use it every day, so I have been loathe to take it in. I suppose that is silly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will love it more when it works completely and isn't "wonky". You will survive without it for a little bit. Trust me you won't die. Also because CM7 allows for a keyboard doesn't mean every device running CM7 will. Search the forums for more information. I know that some of the developers have been working on it for CM10 but I don't recall seeing any posts saying that they have it working definitively.
As for specific sites or tutorials. Just visit the various android boards and look for the Noob guides. Search google for more details on subjects you want to know about.
SlowCobra96 said:
You will love it more when it works completely and isn't "wonky". You will survive without it for a little bit. Trust me you won't die. Also because CM7 allows for a keyboard doesn't mean every device running CM7 will. Search the forums for more information. I know that some of the developers have been working on it for CM10 but I don't recall seeing any posts saying that they have it working definitively.
As for specific sites or tutorials. Just visit the various android boards and look for the Noob guides. Search google for more details on subjects you want to know about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank, I just took it back to Best Buy and they replaced it with an HD. I thought about an HD+, but I use my nook for reading more than anything (lots of comics, some novels), and the 9" is much less comfortable for that. Now I need to root this bad boy, and I don't have to monkey around with roms other than rooting because the HD already has support for an external keyboard.
This can be closed, as far as I am concerned. Thanks.
Hi, all!
I've bought Nook 8Gb tablets for my sons for Christmas.
The BIG requirement is the Nook runs Temple Run and Minecraft. That's why I need Android.
I bought the downloadable 8GB N2A card which boots into JB. Unfortunately, neither of the two apps I need will run!!
I've asked the vendor for the Gingerbread Version, hoping the apps will run there.
If my primary requirement is these games, would I be better off:
1. Rooting from SD card
2. Booting CMx from SD card
Or
3. Another method
I would love to hear your opinions!!!!
Your problem was that you bought something from someone that took the developers hard work and threw it on a card instead of learning how to do it yourself and donating to the developers that actually spent their precious time to figure everything out.
Also, both those games run on JB.
Now that you threw away money, read through the forums and put CM10 which is JB on EMMC. No need to run it from an SD card.
Sent from my NT running CM10
BoostedB18C said:
Your problem was that you bought something from someone that took the developers hard work and threw it on a card instead of learning how to do it yourself and donating to the developers that actually spent their precious time to figure everything out.
Also, both those games run on JB.
Now that you threw away money, read through the forums and put CM10 which is JB on EMMC. No need to run it from an SD card.
Sent from my NT running CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I think I will do just that. I assume EMMC means embedded memory card. Is that right? Could you direct me to a good starting thread?
Also, is there a downside to running on a bootable card? If performance is about the same, I may want to do that. I've read some B&N updates trash the rooted Android environment. Is that true?
BoostedB18C said:
Your problem was that you bought something from someone that took the developers hard work and threw it on a card instead of learning how to do it yourself and donating to the developers that actually spent their precious time to figure everything out.
Also, both those games run on JB.
Now that you threw away money, read through the forums and put CM10 which is JB on EMMC. No need to run it from an SD card.
Sent from my NT running CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate all who contributed to getting pure Android on the NT. Thank you all. I wasn't aware of this forum until a day or so ago.
Honestly, search these forums. You need to read until you understand what is going on. Then when you try something and run into a problem it will be easier to figure out what to do. Not to mention, because you will have a better understanding, if something goes wrong it will be easier for you to explain what happened as well as for people to help.
Start with the stickies from the general forums. Like this one http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20774737
Sent from my NT running CM10
Fbunn said:
I've read some B&N updates trash the rooted Android environment. Is that true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you install a new rom, you will wipe out the B&N OS completely. No need to worry about their updates after that.
Sent via the Skyrocket
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
liquidzoo said:
If you install a new rom, you will wipe out the B&N OS completely. No need to worry about their updates after that.
Sent via the Skyrocket
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, liquidzoo!
I've also started a thread similar to this. And it's picking up traction now.
See it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046376&page=3
First thing you need to do is root your Nook tablet, if haven't done so. Just follow liquidzoo's instructions (which is in his signature).
Just a note, I have cm10 (job) on internal storage and have no proble,ms with Temple Run. I don't know about the ND2 cards but I should think those games should run on them. I'd check on getting a refund if they're not working.
Good luck on rooting. I've had a blast since I started with my Nook!
Nikkiel
Sent from my Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet using xda premium