Database Users

[ROM][2.1] Eclair Strikes Back v2 [2011.06.23]

Since there's been some interest in comparing the 2.2 ROMs with the 2.1, here are some stock eclair nandroid images based on the Cincinnati Bell 2.1 ROM that can be used in OpenRecovery without flashing SBFs. You can use these to switch between 2.1 and other 2.2 ROMs without bothering with RSD Lite/sbf_flash.
Of course gallery key, camera and FM radio work well on these. Although, I've been having market problems (paid apps fail to download). Hopefully that will resolve itself if/when market decides to self-update... In the interim, I recommend using something like Titanium Backup to migrate your paid apps.
Eclair Strikes Back v2 (2011.06.23)
This is a tweaked version of CBW_eclair_STR_U2_04_1E_1.zip with some tricks we've been using in 2.2 (expanded apns-conf.xml, JIT from FrozenEclair, memhack to move dalvik-cache to /cache, egl.cfg hack to disable software rendering).
eclair-strikes-back-v2-beta.zip (the beta is now final )
Changes since v1:
ext-partition support compatible with the stock221-derived ROMs*
Automatic swap support for fjfalcon's fastboot kernel
Automatic support for link2sd (either FAT extra partition or stock221's /sd-ext/link2sd method)
Additional cpu governors (conservative, interactive)
Market upgraded to 2.2.7
*dalvik-cache on /sd-ext is not supported by default on this ROM.
Previous release: Eclair Strikes Back v1
eclair-strikes-back.zip
2011-06-16 Update to fix market on ESB v1 (upgrades market to 2.2.7)
Stock 2.1 (Cincinnati Bell)
This is a rooted version of Cincinnati Bell's STR_U2_04.1E.1 with OpenRecovery support pre-installed.
CBW_eclair_STR_U2_04_1E_1.zip

Hey Mioze do you have the app2ext script that is in the Bluesteel rom? Might try your eclair nands with it and see what i get.

I've finally successfully downloaded and installed a paid app from the market now on Eclair Strikes Back. Market is still old one though... not sure why it's taking so long to update to new one. When I did a factory reset on stock 2.1 soon after I bought the phone the market updated itself pretty quickly IIRC.
Still, this feels so smooth and fast....
EDIT:
And don't seem to be having downloading issues with any apps, be it paid or free anymore. Maybe you'll have to manually replace the market.apk with the new one though, since I'm not sure it's ever going to self-update.

syrenz said:
I've finally successfully downloaded and installed a paid app from the market now on Eclair Strikes Back. Market is still old one though... not sure why it's taking so long to update to new one. When I did a factory reset on stock 2.1 soon after I bought the phone the market updated itself pretty quickly IIRC.
Still, this feels so smooth and fast....
EDIT:
And don't seem to be having downloading issues with any apps, be it paid or free anymore. Maybe you'll have to manually replace the market.apk with the new one though, since I'm not sure it's ever going to self-update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what about moving applications to the sd? available or will be applied app2sd?. Open recovery will still work? I have some applications that are supported only from 2.2, they can no longer be installed .... of course there will have to sacrifice something.
I at the continuing problems of delay in opening and closing apps, malfunction of the camera, out of trouble and delay an application to load the launcher and would return to around 2.1, but I also like the space for application installation and open recovery.
PS: It's easy to return to 2.1?

download on process
kinda miss the haptic feedback hahaha..
thx a lot Mioze..

I'm pretty sure you can only move apps to SD for 2.2... since I never used it (I never have so many apps installed at once that it's neccesary) I don't mind losing that functionality.
There are a few apps from 2.2 that I like, most notably the new gmail and youtube apps, but those are minor sacrifices for me really.
Open recovery is installed in both those links. I find the camera works much better on 2.1, seems much faster in taking and processing pictures.
In any case, it is indeed very easy to return to 2.1 and then return back to a 2.2 ROM if you don't like it. You take one of those links (I'm using eclair strikes back) and flash it through nandroid just as you would any other ROM that we have here. And you can flash back the same way if you don't like it.
Be advised, there are currently some issues around the android market for some reason (just see the posts above)... I'm thinking we might have to replace the market apk.
Anyways, I personally am loving it.
EDIT:
Oh, you might have to setup the APN's as well.

Tavinsky said:
And what about moving applications to the sd? available or will be applied app2sd?. Open recovery will still work? I have some applications that are supported only from 2.2, they can no longer be installed .... of course there will have to sacrifice something.
I at the continuing problems of delay in opening and closing apps, malfunction of the camera, out of trouble and delay an application to load the launcher and would return to around 2.1, but I also like the space for application installation and open recovery.
PS: It's easy to return to 2.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I intend to make an updated eclair-strikes-back to add app2ext support and additional governors but I probably won't have time until later in the week. I view link2sd as the eclair equivalent of froyo's native app2sd, though. Link2sd may already work with fat as the second partition, but I haven't tested it yet because of the market problem. The market problem is #1 on my list when I get time.
And yes, these 2.1 ROMs will keep OpenRecovery intact and you can just flash between 2.1 and 2.2 ROMs the same way you would switch between 2.2 ROMs.

Thanks for the work Mioze7Ae! Let's try it, you know, always gives a bit of fear making a mistake, but gradually removes the fear. I do not know that flashing. It's like applying an Update? I apply a copy nandroid?

Tavinsky said:
Thanks for the work Mioze7Ae! Let's try it, you know, always gives a bit of fear making a mistake, but gradually removes the fear. I do not know that flashing. It's like applying an Update? I apply a copy nandroid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know how you feel. I always used to have fear/apprehension when flashing a ROM. I've done it enough times now that it's all gone by now though.
Anyways:
Download the ROM. Unzip it. Copy and paste the folder (should contain 4 things in it boot.img etc...) into your SD card under OpenRecovery/Nandroid/ (if you've gone to a 2.2 ROM you should see that ROM in the same place where you're putting this). Anyways, launch open recovery and do recovery boot or hold volume up while pressing power on (if your phone is off). If you get an image and nothing happens, you may have to go into open recovery and select install recovery system before doing this - if you have a bunch of weird pictures in your gallery including Darth Maul then you don't have to worry about this. Then navigate - using the volume keys to move up and down and the camera button to select - to Nandroid, select restore, select Eclair strikes back, select restore all. Once that's done, make sure to wipe data/factory reset and then wipe/clear dalvik cache and cache. Then reboot and it should work. (First reboots are long).
You may have to setup your APN's also.

Excellent. Thanks, sounds simple ... downloading ..... then tell how it worked.

syrenz said:
it boot.img etc...) into your SD card under OpenRecovery/Nandroid/ (if you've
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They actually go in nandroid/openrecovery/, it's the updates.zip that go in OpenRecovery/updates/ so it's easy to remember that wrong. I'm always adb push'ing to them so I only noticed the mistake because I've got the muscle memory from typing them all the time. Gotta love the consistency

hey mioze7ae, using it right now btw, is it possible to change the read_ahead settings to 2048 instead of 128? i can manually replace the file but once reboot, it changes back.
thanks!

Manual market update
I replaced /system/app/Vending.apk with the 2.2.7 com.android.vending.apk found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=875067
After doing this and rebuilding dalvik-cache I have the new market and I am able to install paid apps! I'll make an update for it tomorrow, I have to crash.

Two things you can get from market before you flash. APN backup/ restore and SD speed Increase. You can backup your APNs and then once you get to the eclairs, restore them. SD Speed Increase will kick up your SD cache to 2048, instead of 128. Both are free.

Woodrube said:
Two things you can get from market before you flash. APN backup/ restore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much appreciated... Didn't know there was such an app and it's a pain to re-enter all that stuff...

syrenz said:
I know how you feel. I always used to have fear/apprehension when flashing a ROM. I've done it enough times now that it's all gone by now though.
Anyways:
Download the ROM. Unzip it. Copy and paste the folder (should contain 4 things in it boot.img etc...) into your SD card under OpenRecovery/Nandroid/ (if you've gone to a 2.2 ROM you should see that ROM in the same place where you're putting this). Anyways, launch open recovery and do recovery boot or hold volume up while pressing power on (if your phone is off). If you get an image and nothing happens, you may have to go into open recovery and select install recovery system before doing this - if you have a bunch of weird pictures in your gallery including Darth Maul then you don't have to worry about this. Then navigate - using the volume keys to move up and down and the camera button to select - to Nandroid, select restore, select Eclair strikes back, select restore all. Once that's done, make sure to wipe data/factory reset and then wipe/clear dalvik cache and cache. Then reboot and it should work. (First reboots are long).
You may have to setup your APN's also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just want to check; is it completely safe to remove those wierd pics in the gallery?

androidlover123 said:
I just want to check; is it completely safe to remove those wierd pics in the gallery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. But if you have to use open recovery for whatever reason, you'll need them. You can either click install recovery as needed (which creates the pics) and delete them after, or the best thing to do is get an app that just hides the pics from gallery - so they are there when you need them, but don't interfere. I saw an app "Gallery Excluder" or something floating around in the XDA Android Apps section - that would work. Or a gallery like QuickPic let's you hide things as well.
EDIT:
Nevermind, Gallery Excluder hides folders only. There are other apps though, I believe.

Just an update on progress with ESB
I've done some testing and Link2SD already works with the released eclair-strikes-back but currently only when using FAT for the second partition.
To get ext support in, I'm trying to get the darktremor a2sd scripts to work. They look high quality and robust and should handle swap gracefully when booting the custom kernel as well (current status--some rare hung boots with a flaky SD card when using the latest beta scripts, will try the stable release next). There's also a GUI in the market for managing the SD card (currently only Froyo+, I'm inquiring whether the developer can add eclair support).

Mioze7Ae said:
Just an update on progress with ESB
I've done some testing and Link2SD already works with the released eclair-strikes-back but currently only when using FAT for the second partition.
To get ext support in, I'm trying to get the darktremor a2sd scripts to work. They look high quality and robust and should handle swap gracefully when booting the custom kernel as well (current status--some rare hung boots with a flaky SD card when using the latest beta scripts, will try the stable release next). There's also a GUI in the market for managing the SD card (currently only Froyo+, I'm inquiring whether the developer can add eclair support).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am hoping that the ext will come through. If I am using the sd-ext/app folder on the Steelblue ROM, can I leave all my apps in there and flash your eclair with ext support (when ready) or will I have to use Titanium-migrate? I would think that it really wouldn't matter for most of the apps, except FroYo specific ones like Flash 10.3 but not sure.
p.s. Are you going to call your next version "Return of the Eclair"?

MD5 Check failed. Does this have something to do with the fact that I bought my phone in the middle east?

[Q] Rooted/Custom Rom'd AT&T S4, now for some very basic questions!

I recently rooted/installed CleanROM for my S4, but now I have some basic questions regarding what actually happened in the process and how I could improve it. (First smartphone, first Android).
1. Is flashing the exact equivalent of installing a kernel/ROM/app in a recovery like TeamWin that is zipped in an SD card? All I did was select my zipped file and install--the guide says to use GooManager but I never used it. Also, does updating TWRP, kernel, or ROM (same application/kernel/ROM, but newer version) require that you delete the old ZIP, copy over the new ZIP, then install it? Is there a cleaner method (I feel that since we have to wipe to prevent old files from interfering with new ROM that maybe parts of the old version of a ROM may be redundant or may interfere with the new ROM?
2. Is there a way I can save the phone settings when dealing with one ROM and transferring these settings to another ROM? I really don't want to spend 20 minutes to go through all the settings and change it to my liking every time I install a new ROM.
3. With TWRP I could backup the entire ROM and also be able to install that backup ROM if I don't like the new ROM installed? What does Titanium Backup offer in regards to this aside from backing up app data and the ability freeze/uninstall system apps?
4. Does Titanium Backup leave any residual files? I see other apps designed to uninstall system apps and Titanium Backup seems like an all-in-one jack of all trades.
5. I thought I wiped everything and to me, that sounds like reformatting the entire drive. I only wiped system, boot, and data though (good enough for ROMs, according to what I've read). I was surprised when I saw my videos that I had already backed up to my PC accessible on the phone. Should I just wipe literally everything (I assume it would be cleaner) like cache, preload, EFS, modem, recovery, etc.? Will wiping literally everything be like reformatting my phone (since my phone was not reformatted because my personal videos was still there when I installed my custom ROM? If I were to install completely different ROMs cleanly and wanted to keep my personal files, I would only need to wipe system, data, and boot?
4. Do I have to use CASUAL again to install an updated TWRP?
5. Does backing up a ROM also backup its root? I'm going to assume this is a dumb question and the answer is no. I'm also guessing I have to block OTA updates from AT&T to ensure I keep my root. How would I go about doing this? Also, would my phone be "safe" if I stick to my ROM (no updates or anything) for 4+ years? I'm asking this as an extreme case because I feel like I'm missing out on AT&T security updates that could protect my phone and also I don't think the developer my ROM (CleanROM) will do frequent updates).
6. I had problems with my computer not being able to recognize my phone and my SD card in the phone after I wiped everything and before I installed a ROM. I literally had to take the SD card from the phone and use an SD card reader to transfer my custom ROM/loki then put it back into the phone. Was I missing a driver?
7. What are some must-have apps a newly rooted user would want?
8. I read that you only need 1 EFS backup and you don't need to back it up every time you are going to install a custom ROM. Can I get a confirmation?
9. What does Goo Manager do and would I want it?
10. Is it essential that I keep up to date with news about my custom ROM/phone to ensure my phone is secured?
**Not Root/ROM related--Is swiping an app away from the Recent Apps List (long-press home button) the equivalent of killing an app? I use the Recent Apps List often but I don't want to go about swiping apps away if means it is killing it, since I read that killing apps are bad and actually drains battery life. Also, is there a mod that lets you access the Recent Apps List by long-pressing the menu one? I only see a mod that kills the app if you long-press it.
Also, any ROMs you guys can recommend me that is like CleanROM? It has to be TW-based because I use multi-windows. Basically, I want a stable, popular (popular ones tend to be more frequently updated, which is important because there are often bugs in custom ROMs), and optimized/debloated ROM (as debloated as possible, I rather use my own large list of apps than pre-installed ones). I was looking at GoldenEye but I'm not sure.
Thanks. I'm hoping for many responses as I have more questions to ask but not a lot of free time (I will check back on this thread every several hours until there are no more responses on the thread.

Hey there! Here is my take on at least some of your questions. I am not a super pro, but I will try not to give you any wrong info.
1. The zip files that are still out on your SD card are just the install files for whatever you are flashing. They won't be cleaned up automatically and you will need to delete them yourself if you want them gone. That being said I would recommend leaving the previous version's zip out there in case you need to back out of the new version.
2. If by phone settings you mean all of the settings in the various option menus baked into the ROM it is best to redo those when switching between ROMs. Many ROMs add and take away options and add whole new option sections so you will want to go through those and set things to your liking. Another option is to use a launcher like Nova Launcher that lets you back up its settings and restore them which is a big chunk of the things I change when going to a new ROM. Some people may have a different opinion on this one.
3. Yes if you make a backup in a recovery like TWRP and then restore from it it will be like you never flashed the other ROM. Titanium backup does what you say and also can backup individual Apps themselves and restore them.
4. Once you have a recovery installed you should not have to go through the hoops you went through to get it there to update it. Check the thread for the recovery for upgrade instructions.
5. Your SD card will not be wiped when you wipe system or data. There is also the internal "sdcard" that if I recall is not wiped when you do a standard wipe which will keep things like pics and videos between flashes.
6. So you were trying to access the phone storage/SD card while it was in recovery? I have never had much luck with that. I always just make sure I have all of the files I will need to install the new ROM moved over before I wipe it. That being said if you have the right driver it might be possible.
7. Titanium Backup, a file explorer that can leverage Root access like Root Explorer, maybe something like Greenify (I think it takes Root). Other than that check out the thread in the Apps/Themes subforum where people list their top 5 apps.
8. Pass (but I think what you heard/read is right)
9. Goo Manager can let you know if there is updated version of your ROM or what other ROMs are available for your device and download them. It can also be used to install a recovery. Personally I don't use it and just check ROM threads for updates if the ROM doesn't offer OTA updates.
10. I rarely see mention of security fixes/features in custom ROMs so I don't think you need to stay on top of threads for that reason. With that said, if security is crazy super important to you then a custom ROM might not be your best bet. Even though source code is available for most if not all of them that doesn't mean someone has gone through the code looking for security flaws (or even malicious code).
11. You can test this yourself. Go into the "Apps" section of the options and look at what Apps are running then swipe one away and check again. Personally I would go ahead and swipe away Apps as needed since that is a core Android feature. I haven't seen a mod for what you are asking.
12. The other two TW-based ROMs I have used are Goldeneye and Alpha. Both are good, but I am using Alpha now due to its higher degree of customization. Goldeneye hasn't been updated in a month or so, Alpha is being updated regularly at the moment.
---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------
Here is the link to the thread where people list out their top 5 apps!

Nice post, very good help...serious...

Incredibly helpful, thanks. I will post more questions if I have here, kind of busy at the moment.

Question:
What is the best way to detect whether a third-party app has a keylogger? I read from an article that it is incredibly easy for someone to put a keylogger on an app. Is Avast Mobile Security and Antivirus capable/overkill for this job? Also, I was worried that Avast may actually be bad because it would deteriorate (wear and tear on the SSD of the phone) through all the scannings? Or am I completely wrong? If I am wrong, I'm guessing it's because an antivirus only reads your files and therefore does not wear down a SSD (I'm not even sure if this is right).

mindstormer said:
Question:
What is the best way to detect whether a third-party app has a keylogger? I read from an article that it is incredibly easy for someone to put a keylogger on an app. Is Avast Mobile Security and Antivirus capable/overkill for this job? Also, I was worried that Avast may actually be bad because it would deteriorate (wear and tear on the SSD of the phone) through all the scannings? Or am I completely wrong? If I am wrong, I'm guessing it's because an antivirus only reads your files and therefore does not wear down a SSD (I'm not even sure if this is right).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can read a SSD all day long, that doesn't wear it out. Writing to a SSD will cause wear, not reading. I'm thinking that most antivirus apps can find that kind of stuff, but don't download from unknown sources or those you don't trust. Even Google Play has some shady stuff. I would recommend researching an app on Google if you have any doubts about it. I'm sure it can be done, but I really doubt any of your friends know how to reprogram one of your apps to have a keylogger, plus I wouldn't let them use my phone in the first place.
To answer your questions:
1. Antivirus doesn't wear anything out, it just puts load on your system.
2. Most antivirus apps should detect apps like the ones your talking about.

agent929 said:
You can read a SSD all day long, that doesn't wear it out. Writing to a SSD will cause wear, not reading. I'm thinking that most antivirus apps can find that kind of stuff, but don't download from unknown sources or those you don't trust. Even Google Play has some shady stuff. I would recommend researching an app on Google if you have any doubts about it. I'm sure it can be done, but I really doubt any of your friends know how to reprogram one of your apps to have a keylogger, plus I wouldn't let them use my phone in the first place.
To answer your questions:
1. Antivirus doesn't wear anything out, it just puts load on your system.
2. Most antivirus apps should detect apps like the ones your talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the confirmation.
Another question for anyone:
Clean Master found the folder of an app that I installed on a precious ROM, so I not wipe the device cleanly. I though wiping system, boot, and data was enough--what was I missing, or should I have checked everything to be wiped on TeamWin Recovery?

Are you sure its not coming from your SD card?
Sent from miPhone using XDA Premium HD app

My kindle fire HDX 7" setup, for newbies!

First of all, thanks a lot to Cpasjuste for making the working gapps flashble zip, here's a link to that. I take no responsibility for doing this, all credit goes to Cpasjuste. Also I do not know a lot about deving myself but i've had two android devices before this and have been avid in modding them, just thought i'd put that out there.
So, first thing I did was get root, factory reset and get safestrap recovery. then I made a backup of my stock ROM, kept it on my kindle, and moved it to a safe spot in my computer (I recommend everyone does this, no matter if they choose to follow this setup or not.) I created a new ROM slot with default partitions, and restored my stock ROM to it (you do this in case any thing happens you have your stock ROM to fall back on). I tried flashing Cpasjuste's gapps rom, but for some reason there were multiple issues with it so instead, i restored to stock, on ROM slot 1, and flashed his gapps zip mentioned earlier. Rebooted and everything (well almost everything) worked perfectly. playstore works and only app that I have discovered to be incompatible is instagram for some reason, but i found a apk download online that installed perfectly to replace it. I installed a app from play store called recent apps quick button, which basically activates android's recent apps, then I installed a app from play store called Home2 shortcut. this lets me assign the resent apps quick button to double tapping the home button so now when i double tap the home button it brings me to recent apps. It's really nice since kindles default Rom doesn't have a recent apps button! Right now I am working on blocking updates from amazon to prevent losing root or bricking, using the tutorial found at the end of the root link. Let me know what you guys have done to make your kindle fire HDX experince better, or any questions you have.
Also, I forgot to mention that using the gapps flashable zip broke my amazon appstore and most amazon services, except video it seams like, but since we have safestrap recovery this isn't a big deal to me because i can always get it back, and im sure it will be fixed in future. Have fun and be safe while experimenting with your kindle.
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE DONE TO YOUR DEVICE, KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING BEFORE YOU DO IT!!!!!!!

Ah! Thats what I missed, I didnt realise I could use restore on a different ROM slot! Thanks for that, going to try it later!:good:

OurFriendIrony said:
Ah! Thats what I missed, I didnt realise I could use restore on a different ROM slot! Thanks for that, going to try it later!:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! Also if I were you I would delete most of the user apps on your stock ROM, Idk if you did what I said and factory reset before you got safestrap (I would not try it if you already safestrap since you will lose safestrap and possible break you device!) but if you didnt I would just go back and delete most user apps and data off stock ROM and then redo the backup and restore with that. because you most likely wont be using the stock ROM (you don't want to alter it since you want to have a safe spot to restore to) you want it to take up as little storage as possible. My advice, pretend that you don't have root and don't do anything with it, like editing parts of system, or flashing mod packages, etc... (only exception is having super user and safe strap app installed.) Let me know if any part of this was to confusing. Hope this helped!

Haha, I saw your reply about 2 minutes after starting up the factory rest. I can, however, confirm that safestrap is still installed between the boot and IS load, so I'm actually in a perfect position. Have taken a new backup of pure stock rom!
Happy days!

I got a copy of my Stock ROM installed into ROM slot 1 and then added the gapps package, it worked beautifully!
I now have a tablet with all the google features on and have no issues so far.
except...
when I boot to ROM slot 1, I get a message saying "Kindle is Updating/Upgrading". It doesn't do anything and it only takes a few seconds before it gives up. I was just wondering if there was a way of getting rid of this??

As someone who hasn't had any prior experience with Android (although a fair share of experience with GNU/Linux), I appreciate a thread like this.
I also rooted the device (works well from GNU/Linux), installed SuperSU and some essential apps to make the stock OS usable (busybox and a terminal emulator, of course; and also a lightweight file browser that doesn't take much space and does exactly that, lets me browse local files). Then installed SafeStrap and backed everything up to both the Kindle and the PC (the backup is accessible via MTP, in the internal storage, so you can just connect the USB cable and copy the TWRP directory – at least in KDE).
Now I'm going to try the new AOSP ROM. Though since I'm new to the whole Android business, the partition sizes have me a bit confused. I'd want to have three slots – the stock ROM (obviously), the stock FireOS (one that I can modify) and AOSP. What partition sizes for the two slots would be the best, if it's the 16GB HDX? Also, say I download a PDF file; would both FireOS and AOSP see the file if I put it in internal storage, or would I have to manually copy it over to the other slot through my PC?

@GreatEmerald, whats AOSP? I'm thinking of playing around a bit more. I want to try out some more ROMs.
I put my first ROM slot (Stock with gapps added and amazon crap removed) on Flight Mode and now when I try and put it on wireless it restarts....

OurFriendIrony said:
@GreatEmerald, whats AOSP? I'm thinking of playing around a bit more. I want to try out some more ROMs.
I put my first ROM slot (Stock with gapps added and amazon crap removed) on Flight Mode and now when I try and put it on wireless it restarts....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP = Android Open Source Project
Many other devices have an AOSP build and is typically a very nice build to flash if you like the core android feel with some extra very nice features.

OurFriendIrony said:
@GreatEmerald, whats AOSP? I'm thinking of playing around a bit more. I want to try out some more ROMs.
I put my first ROM slot (Stock with gapps added and amazon crap removed) on Flight Mode and now when I try and put it on wireless it restarts....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, as mentioned, AOSP is a ROM for stock Android 4.2.2, pretty much the only big ROM available for the HDX7 right now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2607185
It works pretty well as it is, I'm impressed it's as good already given how new the project is. Though it still has some issues for normal use. Aside from the bugs mentioned in the post, Chrome crashes as soon as it's launched (but you can use Firefox instead), as does the Kindle app (which is mainly what is stopping me from using it, because the point of a Kindle is the integration with Amazon services...). Also, the Facebook app fails to install for some reason.
Everything else I tried works fine. I installed F-Droid, a file manager, Busybox and a terminal, then the Amazon app and some of the Amazon cloud apps, and finally Skype. All of them work very nicely on AOSP. Even tested a video call on Skype and it worked without any problems (including the camera working correctly).
As someone new to Android and from a GNU/Linux background, I'm really happy that F-Droid exists. It's an app store/package manager that offers only free and open source software. For regular users that might sound as not a big deal, but actually filtering software by license is more powerful than one would think. You're guaranteed to have only apps that have no spyware and adware, because you can't hide them in open code. And those who make apps without publishing their code obviously have something to hide. So much like in GNU/Linux, the first place to check for new apps for me is F-Droid, and after that the main store of the OS (be it Google Play or Amazon Store), and only then 1Mobile market.
I still would like to know more about that partitioning, though. I figured out that the emulated SD card is shared between ROMs (I uploaded F-Droid to the Downloads directory on FireOS, and could see it on AOSP just as well), but I still don't know what exactly the two partitions you have to make to set up a ROM slot are and how much space should be allocated to them.

GreatEmerald said:
Yea, as mentioned, AOSP is a ROM for stock Android 4.2.2, pretty much the only big ROM available for the HDX7 right now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2607185
It works pretty well as it is, I'm impressed it's as good already given how new the project is. Though it still has some issues for normal use. Aside from the bugs mentioned in the post, Chrome crashes as soon as it's launched (but you can use Firefox instead), as does the Kindle app (which is mainly what is stopping me from using it, because the point of a Kindle is the integration with Amazon services...). Also, the Facebook app fails to install for some reason.
Everything else I tried works fine. I installed F-Droid, a file manager, Busybox and a terminal, then the Amazon app and some of the Amazon cloud apps, and finally Skype. All of them work very nicely on AOSP. Even tested a video call on Skype and it worked without any problems (including the camera working correctly).
As someone new to Android and from a GNU/Linux background, I'm really happy that F-Droid exists. It's an app store/package manager that offers only free and open source software. For regular users that might sound as not a big deal, but actually filtering software by license is more powerful than one would think. You're guaranteed to have only apps that have no spyware and adware, because you can't hide them in open code. And those who make apps without publishing their code obviously have something to hide. So much like in GNU/Linux, the first place to check for new apps for me is F-Droid, and after that the main store of the OS (be it Google Play or Amazon Store), and only then 1Mobile market.
I still would like to know more about that partitioning, though. I figured out that the emulated SD card is shared between ROMs (I uploaded F-Droid to the Downloads directory on FireOS, and could see it on AOSP just as well), but I still don't know what exactly the two partitions you have to make to set up a ROM slot are and how much space should be allocated to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The system partition only needs to be as big as the Rom or backup you flash is, the data partition I typically make as big as possible (4000 mb) since this is what your Rom will consider internal storage. This is where apps and app data will be downloaded onto, where the rest of the data on your ad card is shared and is used for music, videos and lots of other custom stuff you can add. As for the cache I leave it at the default, this is where temporary data for apps is stored ( for example when you play a youtube video, it is temporarily stored on this partition.

spaghettiknight said:
The system partition only needs to be as big as the Rom or backup you flash is, the data partition I typically make as big as possible (4000 mb) since this is what your Rom will consider internal storage. This is where apps and app data will be downloaded onto, where the rest of the data on your ad card is shared and is used for music, videos and lots of other custom stuff you can add. As for the cache I leave it at the default, this is where temporary data for apps is stored ( for example when you play a youtube video, it is temporarily stored on this partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that's good to know. It makes me wonder, though – can I resize partitions in some way? Say, I created a smallish partition setup for ROM slot 1, then another one for ROM slot 2, and then have a bit spare; can I allocate the whole space to ROM slot 1 if I no longer need ROM slot 2? Or to do a backup, clear the partition setup, then restore the backup into newly sized partitions?

GreatEmerald said:
Ah, that's good to know. It makes me wonder, though – can I resize partitions in some way? Say, I created a smallish partition setup for ROM slot 1, then another one for ROM slot 2, and then have a bit spare; can I allocate the whole space to ROM slot 1 if I no longer need ROM slot 2? Or to do a backup, clear the partition setup, then restore the backup into newly sized partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, what i would do is backup my current setup, delete the rom slot your using, then remake it with your newly picked partitions

Nevermind. Got it working now. Thanks for the guide!

safestrap not working on my kindle hdx 7"
Hi my kindle is already rooted and I used towelroot. I have supersu installed too. I'm currently on the step of where I should install safestrap, but it seems safestrap is not working on my tablet. I tried 3.65, 3.72, 3.75 version of safestrap but it does not work. It always restart normally. Not in recovery. Pls help. 13.3.2.8 version. Thank u in advance.

pinksummer17 said:
Hi my kindle is already rooted and I used towelroot. I have supersu installed too. I'm currently on the step of where I should install safestrap, but it seems safestrap is not working on my tablet. I tried 3.65, 3.72, 3.75 version of safestrap but it does not work. It always restart normally. Not in recovery. Pls help. 13.3.2.8 version. Thank u in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you blocked OTA with HDX Toolkit? If not your device will likely brick if Amazon attempts to push an update. At present the blocker in HDX toolkit is the only one that works on 3.2.8.
Your attention should be focused on this task; can deal with safestrap once OTA block is in place.

ya I had to learn about that the hard way

[Tutorial] [OTA 3.0] [Nvidia Shield Tablet] How to debloat and optimize ota 3.0

DISCLAIMER: though this seems safe, there are always risks. Warranty may be void, bugs might crawl out of your shield. I am not responsible for mishaps, bugs, crashes, damage, loss of jobs, girlfriends, and/or if your shield turns into Skynet and begins to destroy the human race!
Firstly, throughout this tutorial I will be shamelessly pointing you toward others threads. Please, give them your thanks. They are masters in their fields and with out them none of this would be happening! Also remember noone gets paid for any of this, they with their skills and I with time do this out love for tech and a desire to help others and see them enjoy their tech as much as we all love ours. That said... Onto the cookies!
*********PLEASE NOTE*********
*********THIS ENTIRE PROCESS CAN BE DONE WITH OUT ANY ACCESS TO A PC!
--BUT--
TO KEEP A LOCKED BOOTLOADER AND AVOID WARRANTY NASTYNESS PLEASE READ
*If you are still on a locked bootloader, and want to easily keep it. Root ota 2.2.1 first, install flashify, and use it to install twrp.
*Rooting ota 3. 0 and using flashify from there will also preserve locked bootloader.
*Rooted ota 2.2.1 or a custom recovery will break nvidias native ota system. You will have need a copy if the FULL OTA from the links provided. They flash easily in twrp. But ONLY THE FULL OTA, NOT THE INCREMENTAL.
******PREREQUISITES (These Are Required)******
*Must be rooted.
If coming from stock, (unrooted, stock recovery, and locked bootloader) Kingroot will root any ota so far.
Install apk, run it, it will most likely reboot your shield, on ota 3 it will freeze, (mine did at around 30% on ota 3, but instead of a reboot, I got a freeze) this is normal. Hold power button until the shield turns off. Boot back up, and run Kingroot again. It should now complete fine, installing Kinguser as root control app. This gives you enough root to run flashify from play store to install the next step. (thanks to China for making kingroot and whoever translated it for us)
Kingroot link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/one-click-root-tool-android-2-x-5-0-t3107461
*Team Win Recovery Project (twrp) must be installed.
Head over here to @Steel01 thread for multi rom twrp. You will only (at the moment) need his modified twrp build. More instructions there. Don't forget to thank him! (Thanks @Steel01)
@Steel01 multi rom twrp thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tablet/development/multirom-v30-unofficial-port-t3025355
*ota 3.0 FULL OTA (thanks to @MidgetMob)
Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/shi...k-recovery-images-ota-library-guides-t2988881
*MEGA may or may NOT work. Mega has issues from time to time. (thanks @Ctrl_Alt_Del for the heads up)
****If MEGA links are not working, here's another source.
Thanks @gavin-phelan for the links.
OTHER Link for full ota: http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tablet/general/android-5-1-t3115536
*SuperSU recovery flashable installer. (thanks to @Chainfire)
Link to supersu beta (beta works better for the xposed framework):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/2014-09-02-supersu-v2-05-t2868133
*Fdroid store for selinux mode changer (needed for viper) and ad away apps! (thanks Fdroid!)
Link: https://f-droid.org
*****OPTIONAL*****
*Xposed super alpha for Android 5.1 (sdk22) (thanks @romracer)
Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/super-alpha-posted-permission-xposed-t3072979
You must read that thread a bit. You will need the xposed installer from the main xposed lollipop thread. (thanks @rovo89)
Main xposed thread
Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
*Gravitybox works on 5.1 now (thanks @C3C076)
Link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/app-gravitybox-v5-0-0alpha-tweak-box-t3037566
*BusyBox - Busybox is required for viper4android install. Make sure to run and install it BEFORE YOU INSTALL VIPER DRIVER. The apk can be installed, but when you run it. It will try to install the viper driver. Selinux must be set to permissive, and busybox installed first.
It can be found in play store.
*selinuxmodechanger can be found in fdroid repository.
*ViPER4Android audio engine (thanks @zhuhang)
For viper install. Be sure to install fdroid and get selinux mode changer. And change to permissive BEFORE YOU INSTALL VIPER DRIVER. the app is fine but for the driver to install selinux must be set to permissive. After that it's fine to set it back to enforcing.
Link: http://vipersaudio.com/blog/?page_id=48
Forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223
Someone said cookies? (Procedure)
**tip** titanium backup SUCKS FOR backing up app data. Bugs out the apps sometimes. So for games, manually backup saves and place them back after reinstall. It's helpful to use tibu to backup your apps alone. Then use tibu again to make a recovery flashable zip to reinstall them all at once....
*Firstly you will need a root enabled file browser (I use es file explorer)
*On the internal memory, firstly back up any pics or ANYTHING you want saved from internal memory to the external SD card. (I usually name my backup folders starting with a # to keep them separated from anything that's written to external via an app or the system. Helps to keep track.)
*Next delete it ALL. In es file Explorer just as everything in sdcard0. /android gone, all folders, ax them. I even nuked the hidden folders and all. I wanted a totally clean install. So anything in the /sdcard0 folder can get wiped. As wiping through twrp DOES NOT WIPE THESE FILES. And sometimes can cause oddness on new installs. This can also be achieved through twrp but it takes longer. Keep in mind that everything inside /sdcard is rebuilt on FIRST boot. Hence deleting in twrp. Don't navigate to straight / things go bad if you mess about in those files....
*After everything has been deleted on internal, and the folders your not using for backups on external. Namely the /android folder on external. You should be ready to reboot to recovery....
*Now reboot into twrp. Click wipe, advanced, then check dalvik, system, data, and cache. Wipe
*Now flash the FULL OTA for your model of shield.
*Next click the home button in twrp. Then Mount, then, uncheck the box for system, then, re-check it. (remount system)
*Now click on the Home button again, Advanced, File Manager.....
*Now the fun part...
Navigate to /system/app and delete the following FOLDERS, contents and all, by clicking on each folder one at a time, once clicked, it will show you contents of that folder. At the bottom click select, then delete, swipe to delete. For each of the following folders....
++*NOTICE* Some of these folders contain libs (library files) and i discovered some issues with deleting them. (videos not working, possible connection console mode crashing, etc) These folders are indicated below, and any side effects possible due to its removal. Console mode has been solid so far even without the libs. That doesnt mean that it wont cause any issues later and i just havent seen it yet. So BEWARE o0o0o =D
Adobe reader
Books
Calendar
++**Chrome (I use chrome beta) (CONTAINS LIBS) possible connection to the "great chrome slowdown" These ARE SAFE to remove and removal may cure the slowdown bug. either way, using any browser BUT chrome (i.e. Chrome Beta, Dolphin, Opera etc.) also fixes the "Chrome slug races"
Cloud print
Input methods for Japanese and Korean (unless you need it)
++**Drive (CONTAINS LIBS) i havent noticed any side effects from removing these and SHOULD BE SAFE to delete. also i use es file explorer for drive access
Email (I use inbox)
Evernote
Evernote widget
Exchange2
Gmail (I use inbox or reinstall from store)
++**Hangouts (CONTAINS LIBS) i use hangouts for OUTGOING PHONE CALLS, as such i feel these libs are POSSIBLY NOT SAFE to remove. i havent found any issues so far but BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY on an essential core sytem
Holo spiral
Google tts (optional)
Juswrite (I don't use the stylus or handwriting)
latinIME (aosp keyboard)
++**Maps (CONTAINS LIBS) i havent found any issues but NAVIGATION to me is an essential core system therefore i feel these are POSSIBLY NOT SAFE to remove. again BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Music2 (I use gonemad music player or reinstall from store)
Newstand
Nvcameraawesome (it sucked and I use camera51)
Phase beam
Play games
++**Print spooler (CONTAINS LIBS) never use(d) it so i dunno really. SHOULD BE SAFE to remove (feedback welcome)
Street
Stylusmobileoem (like I said I don't even HAVE a stylus (unless someone has an extra they are willing to mail....)
Talkback
Trine 2 (unless you like it)
Twitch (unless you use it, also in play store)
++**Videos (CONTAINS LIBS) I had issues playing embedded videos in play store (app trailers) and some websites. i would recommend DO NOT REMOVE THIS. i ONLY left this here for info only. remove ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK
Write (again with stylus stuff)
++**Youtube (CONTAINS LIBS) never had any issues removing this. but i feel it could be related to my above mentioned video playback bug. this is OPTIONAL.
*now navigate to /system/priv-app
Delete folder musicfx (needs to be gone or disabled for viper4android audio install)
*now navigate to /system/vendor/app
Delete the folder watercolor (dabbler can be gotten from play store)
*if you feel busy /system/media/audio is where the ring tones are and you can delete the ones you don't use for more space but it's only 3mb....
*FINALLY hit the home button in twrp again.
**DO NOT FORGET** Install superSU beta for root!!!
*REBOOT!!
*After system boots up and gets done optimizing, it's safe to reboot back to twrp and flash the xposed framework.
*You're done! That's it... Wait... What? You want even MORE cookies? Well, OK....
*Keep reading for optional steps for even better results!
***PS... Keep checking our friend's @BitOBSessiOn and @twistedumbrella threads for really great kernels for our ota..
Thanks @BitOBSessiOn
Thanks @twistedumbrella
Links:
Bito: http://forum.xda-developers.com/shi.../tweaked-kernel-nvidia-shield-tablet-t3069776
++++++ ***check out @BitOBSessiOn thread, ota 3.0 source built, optimized kernels for all models released!
NEW UNIFIED BUILDS FOR OTA 3.0 (ONE FILE FOR ALL MODELS)
Twistedumbrella: 2.2.1 ONLY http://forum.xda-developers.com/shi...t/stock-lollipop-kernel-cifs-support-t2967839
And some more post script.
PPS **tips**
*System apps always keep a copy of themselves for when it gets updated, so all those apps (that you just deleted) end up being over 400 mb after they all update once. And they ALL HAVE updates at time of install. So you save there. Just takes a minute to reinstall as user apps from the play store,and save a bunch of space.
***WIFI ISSUES!** If you do NOT HAVE a 5ghz router. Go to wifi settings, advanced, wifi band, switch from auto to 2.4ghz, makes the Web run faster and if it's set to auto I notice a good 40 second delay in wifi connecting. Also make sure the box "wifi always scan" is turned in. Otherwise wifi doesn't auto connect at boot.
*Get folder mount from the play store. It automagically patches android to let apps write to external SD. As well as links folders on external to internal so you can move ANY app to sd card. Profit!
*For a cleaner install. Install fdroid, then ad away. And run ad away before you ever open more than play store for es file Explorer to install fdroid. This way ad away is the first or one of the first apps to open. Blocking ads from that point on. That way if apps have built in ads, they won't even be able to load!
*Also thanks to @djdarkknight96 here's a link for a bad ass themed SwiftKey keyboard
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016053
*To improve system responsiveness, enable developer options (In settings, click about tablet, click build number 7 times.) Then in developer options about midway down, turn "window animation scale" "transition animation scale" and "animator duration scale" from 1.0 to .5 this increases the speed of animations throughout the system/rom
*After installing the gravitybox xposed module, you can turn those 3 animation scales down further to .25 for even faster response.
*Native lcd density for shield tablet is 283.
It comes stock at 320
*Nvidia corporate tegra color scheme. Green is hex (#76b900) rgb (r:118 g:185 b:0), and grey, hex (#5c5c5c) not sure greys rgb. And black.... I looked it up in their corporate and product guidelines pdf.
*You can add apps to console mode by clicking the little + symbol under "android games" and "media apps" in shield hub. They will then be added to the "easier" to navigate shield hub menu.
*In the play store kernel adiutor (yes that's how it's spelled) allows control over the cpu speed and other critical stuff and things. To squeeze alot more juice from your battery, if everything else here is done, I found I could clock the cpu @2ghz (200mhz down from stock) and it's just as fast as true stock. Killer battery savings on top of the improvements already made in ota 3.0
*If you adjust the clock speeds in kernel adiutor... Make sure to reset the minimum to 51 every time and sit and watch to make sure they stuck. They will float around, then settle. But if you exit after altering the max and the minimum is floating high, it will set the minimum to that value.... Found THAT out the hard way......
*The letters that form the word "SHIELD" on the back of our devices.... Are stickers in small indents.... Looks really kewl if taken out. (see post #13 for pics)
+ *POSSIBLE USB ON THE GO (OTG) FIX*
Power off your shield, plug in USB OTG cable with a flash drive in it. Power on the shield. Once booted, pull flash drive and use whatever OTG compatible device you wish (mouse, keyboard, micro missile launcher--thanks ThinkGeek!))
ONE CONDITION! This method BREAKS CHARGING UNTIL NEXT REBOOT! (thanks nvidia!)
Enjoy!
Questions and comments always welcomed and encouraged!
If i forgot something, missed a step, whatever. Let me know!
I'll update/add to this if/when I think of things.
Ideas? Let me know!
CHECK POST #2 FOR UPDATE TIMES.
I'll try to highlight changes until I update again.
Look for the + symbol
Cheers,
Cyris
Mmm cookies just like mom makes!

Just a reminder! ALWAYS CHECK THE MD5 CHECKSUM FOR DOWNLOADED FILES. Md5 checker in play store works great. It can certainly save some headaches!
A SECOND MORE IMPORTANT REMINDER, KEEP A COPY OF YOUR FULL OTA IN THE ROOT OF YOUR EXTERNAL SD CARD. THAT WAY IF THE LIQUID DEFECATION TRULY STRIKES THE AUXILIARY ROTOR. YOU CAN USE NVIDIAS BACKUP STOCK RECOVERY (AT BUGDROID (ANDY ON HIS BACK WITH A RED ! OVER IT) HIT "VOLUME UP" + "POWER") TO WIPE DATA AND FLASH A STOCK FULL OTA AND GET BACK UP AND RUNNING AGAIN. THEN USE KINGROOT, THEN FLASHIFY, THEN TWRP, TO GET ROOT BACK AND CUSTOM RECOVERY....
**UPDATES**
Times are Pacific (my local)
+Initial post 5/25 @ 1300 (apx)
+Updated 5/25 @ 1655
+Updated 5/25 @ 1730
+Updated 5/25 @ 1810 - make sure you check this one for viper audio install
+Updated 5/25 @ 2304 - new full ota links
+Updated 5/26 @ 1030 - @BitOBSessiOn ota 3 kernel release, links posted
+Updated 5/26 @ 1546 - Added usb-otg temporary fix
+Updated 5/27 @ 2200 - Cleanup OP, removed old + symbols
+Updated 6/17 @ 1430 - Added info on folders containing LIBS in the wiping section.

Nice! I will report back once I have redone my tablet.
And please, give me some time. It's the end of a holiday weekend & I have a few things to do before going back to work Tuesday.

Ctrl_Alt_Del said:
Nice! I will report back once I have redone my tablet.
And please, give me some time. It's the end of a holiday weekend & I have a few things to do before going back to work Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries. I created this thread for a laid back easy way to (try) and get the most from our device. Xda was always my go to place to find help and it's a bit different now. Not everyone is a developer, but it shouldn't be hard to get knowledge from those that are. Hell I'm no dev, just like to test stuff, a crack flasher. But at one time I didn't know what root was..... We all were. I know I love it when I show someone my device I spent 100s of hours tweaking just right and the look on their face! At one time that was me. I had to ask questions that probably got a few chuckles. But usually there was someone there to ask. If i can help I figure I SHOULD,
As I said I encourage questions. It may help someone else later on. Cheers!

... Wrong button.....

All is well. And the wipe,install directions from TWRP went flawlessly.
As soon as it booted, I was presented with the Welcome screen, as if it were a brand new device, unlike just updating an older OS. Chose the language, if I had a Google account & signed in...all that cookie dust. Apps from the list I have backed up to the Google servers under my account downloaded & installed automagically.
And best of all....no more "Android is Starting" & no more "optimizing the apps" at cold startup! Big thumbs up there! :good:
By the way, I could not get the full install from the link you provided from another user. It went to Mega & Mega is having transfer issues. It would download about 10 thru 15 % then flash something about a transfer error, then reduce the file transferred back down to 8 or 9 %...then download that again up to around 12 % or so, then back down to 8 %....lather, rinse, repeat...indefinitely! I used this user's link in his post to get the correct ROM: Android 5.1 out now
Just an FYI there.

Ctrl_Alt_Del said:
All is well. And the wipe,install directions from TWRP went flawlessly.
As soon as it booted, I was presented with the Welcome screen, as if it were a brand new device, unlike just updating an older OS. Chose the language, if I had a Google account & signed in...all that cookie dust. Apps from the list I have backed up to the Google servers under my account downloaded & installed automagically.
And best of all....no more "Android is Starting" & no more "optimizing the apps" at cold startup! Big thumbs up there! :good:
By the way, I could not get the full install from the link you provided from another user. It went to Mega & Mega is having transfer issues. It would download about 10 thru 15 % then flash something about a transfer error, then reduce the file transferred back down to 8 or 9 %...then download that again up to around 12 % or so, then back down to 8 %....lather, rinse, repeat...indefinitely! I used this user's link in his post to get the correct ROM: Android 5.1 out now
Just an FYI there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear it went well. And thanks for the info on mega. It does that from time to time. Could be alot of people trying to get that file right now. Links updated.
If you go through the xposed install and all. It gets spooky fast....

can you explain about screen density? native 283? how do you know that? table has 320 dpi

Excellent guide and info. Spent all weekend formatting and dealing with "optimizing apps", this fixed it all, great tablet now

GOALAR said:
can you explain about screen density? native 283? how do you know that? table has 320 dpi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an 8 inch screen. With a resolution of 1920x1200 I'm not sure the math, but it adds up to 283,or there are a few sites that you can go to and enter your the screen info and it will tell you what you density is. Density is how many pixels are in a square inch. Also GSM arena and a few other sites show this data if you Google "shield tablet specs".
Switching from 320 to 283 just makes the screen look sharper. It also can effect what games are listed as compatible in the play store. Example, dead space and dead trigger 2 will not install @ 283. But will run at it. I have dead space myself and it plays fine but I have to side load it or set my density back to 320 in build.prop then install it.
Think of it like running different resolutions on your pc monitor. The monitor will show them just fine, but only 1 is the exact spec from the factory, and look the best.

Thanks For This
Hi, @Pariahnoble. Just wanted to say that this is great, exactly the kind of effort that supports the XDA community.
I am sure that this will be a huge help to a lot of people.

koop1955 said:
Hi, @Pariahnoble. Just wanted to say that this is great, exactly the kind of effort that supports the XDA community.
I am sure that this will be a huge help to a lot of people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! =D Just hope it does in fact help some folks enjoy their shields a little more. I've been pretty unhappy so far, it was this or a Nexus 9, now I don't regret my decision anymore lol

Pictures of back of shield with letter stickers removed

Updated again

I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this thread. This looks great.
By the way, did I miss something or can this actually be done completely without the use of a computer?

radio five said:
I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this thread. This looks great.
By the way, did I miss something or can this actually be done completely without the use of a computer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope didn't miss a beat. This whole process can be done with no pc (I don't have a pc, my shield is my ONLY device.) so I've learned how to do it all locally (on board the shield itself).
This is only just now available, 5/13 kingroot was released that would root the tablet stock off the shelf. And flashify to put on the custom twrp. After that it's good times!
Ps, thanks for the heads up on the no pc thing, I forgot to mention that, OP updated...

That's great news for me since my computer recently took a **** and I'm about to throw my old laptop out the window. (windows vista, won't take adb drivers, runs out of memory using chrome, etc...)
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app

radio five said:
That's great news for me since my computer recently took a **** and I'm about to throw my old laptop out the window. (windows vista, won't take adb drivers, runs out of memory using chrome, etc...)
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ouch! I feel your pain. I recently had to try to flash using add (adb but "add" was a great typo) on Windows xp.... Oh yeah... THAT went well.... Then 2 days later kingroot came out.
Just make sure (and I'll add this to the op as well) to keep a copy of the full ota on the ROOT of your external SD card, that way if your shield take a flaming deuce in your hands, you can STILL use nvidia backup recovery. If you have ever seen the "bug droid" (ole Andy on his back and the flaming red ! Over it) hold the "volume up" button and hit power and the nvidia recovery comes up. Let's you flash a STOCK FULL OTA and bam, back in business, just kingroot, flashify, twrp, keep calm, and carry on!

Man, I'm glad you said something! I'm gathering all the files on my external sd card in a folder (downloads/Shield Optimization) and I was getting ready to take the plunge. I'll move everything to the sd card's root before I get started.
I'm also considering backing all of my sd card to a work computer temporarily so I can reformat it. My junk heap of a laptop can't read it but I suspect my shield may have formatted it to a weird..... format.
I just want to have the card ready in the event I want to transfer large files and not wait as long.
Speaking of which, would I be able to format my sd card via my PC with it still in the Shield, connected by a usb cable?
Sorry if I'm getting slightly off topic.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using XDA Free mobile app

@radio five
Firstly the only file you really need in the root folder is the ota zip. That's only because I'm pretty sure that's where the stock recovery will look for it, IF everything goes to hell.
Yes about formatting your card or storing files elsewhere during all this. The closer to a fresh card and internal memory the better.
Not sure what if any besides ntfs that the shield would format it to. But ntfs is recommended. And it's so far the only (I think) supported format for cards over 32gb. Also. After you format it to ntfs, quick format is OK, full is better but much slower on Windows, make sure to name it. Any is OK. "Sdcard" works.
In Windows Explorer, click on the volume (Sdcard you just formatted) to select it. Wait a sec. Then click it again. And name it when it highlights.
It fixes SOMETHING, Noone really knows what, but makes the shield recognize SD cards over 32gb
I'm sure there IS a way to format via adb, but I have no idea how...
What topic? >.< lol all questions are encouraged.

How to install a custom Rom with the small system partition size??

Hi all.
Dug an original 2012 nexus 7 (16GB) out of the drawer to see if it could be refreshed a bit and brought back in to some sort of use.
I've put Lineage 14.1 on it and rooted with the nexus toolkit but I had to install the pico Gapps as there is only 689mb of system space. I've trawled the internet looking for a solution on how to make the system partition slightly bigger to accomodate a larger rom and all i came up with was using "Parted" to try and resize the partitions. I've tried everything but i can't get a reading from mmcblk0. Keeps telling me that there's no such file or words to that effect. I know it's there because i can see it. I'm clearly doing something wrong in adb. I see Roms for CRDroid that combined with Gapps pico are too big to fit on. They've been made so there's obviously a way to get them on there that i'm missing.
Would anybody be willing to give me a guide on how to get the system partition bigger?
Thanks very much

There is no possibility to re-orgainize partition sizes for the Nexus 7. The only idea which could work in my opinion: create an image file on the /data partition, move the content from e.g. /system/apps there and bind mount the image file to /system/apps
Unfortunately this new concept needs to be supported by your custom recovery, too, otherwise you would not be able to install any app. Long story, short answer: much work to be done and it's not really needed as you can download almost all Gapps from the playstore and then these apps will be installed on the /data partition.
Btw. custom ROMs occupying too much space on /system probably should try to reduce the number of supported languages / features or renounce on pre-compilation of the build-in apps. First startup will take longer but on the other side you gain some additional space ... Just a hint.

Try google "nvflash" for Nexus 7. Attention! This is a low-level utility, if used improperly and there are no backups, RESTORE THE DEVICE WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE!!!
I strongly do not recommend this, the risk of turning the tablet into a brick is very large.
Instead, you can use root file explorer to remove unnecessary system applications and files (for example, media - boot animation, sounds, etc.) to free space.

gmikhail said:
Try google "nvflash" for Nexus 7. Attention! This is a low-level utility, if used improperly and there are no backups, RESTORE THE DEVICE WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE!!!
I strongly do not recommend this, the risk of turning the tablet into a brick is very large.
Instead, you can use root file explorer to remove unnecessary system applications and files (for example, media - boot animation, sounds, etc.) to free space.
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Click to collapse
Hi.
Spent the last hour or so trying to decipher what nvflash actually was. I think the penny has dropped. You wern't recommending it as a way to get more space. You were potentially recommending it as a failsafe so i could mess about with the partitions without bricking it????
Anyway, thanks very much. I think i'll just have a look at uninstalling some of the non required files to free up the space. I assume the best way would be to install the ROM of choice, go in and uninstall stuff and hopefully if enough space has been created, be able to flash gapps?

@blueplasticsoulman probably you would like to have a look at Magic GApps 2017.11.9, they are implementing more or less the solution I pointed out in my other post. I didn't try yet, but sounds promising to me.

AndDiSa said:
@blueplasticsoulman probably you would like to have a look at Magic GApps 2017.11.9, they are implementing more or less the solution I pointed out in my other post. I didn't try yet, but sounds promising to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. I did get the problem sorted by installing the rom and then removing things that wern't required such as stock email, telephone functions (not sure why they are in the rom anyway) gallery and some wallpapers. That created enough space to then be able to install pico gapps. Runs quite nice on CRdroid although it probably wont get used as we all have newer tablets. Still, nice to know it runs good after 6 years. :good: