Database Users

Throwing in the Towel on the A7

After spending much of the past 24 hours trying to install both eLocity's latest firmware update (from 2/24/11) and DexMod 1.3 (so I can utilize Android Marketplace) I am probably going to give up and return my A7 to the retailer before my 30 days are up. Thank you to Dexter and everyone else who posted such informative and useful instructions on the A7 forum. I am perplexed as to why I was not successful in accomplishing the update and modification. I really do like the A7 and hate to return it, but whats the sense of owning a Android device if you can't utilize the Marketplace. Duh! I would even be willing to pay a nominal fee to a honest, tech-savvy individual to modify/update my A7 for me. Thanks again everyone, looks like I'll be shopping for a tablet thats a little more user-friendly.

Just my 2 cents... There is not eLocity (Stream TV Network) problem
Google denied Market at some tablets. G considered that their OS version 2.X is not compatible with tablets.
These tablets do not have Market "out-of-box":
Viewsonic G Tablet
Malata ZPad
Advent Vega
Archos (all versions)
etc...
Idk why Galaxy Tab has market "out-of-box". May be Samsung proved Google that it's big phone)))

StarBriteK said:
After spending much of the past 24 hours trying to install both eLocity's latest firmware update (from 2/24/11) and DexMod 1.3 (so I can utilize Android Marketplace) I am probably going to give up and return my A7 to the retailer before my 30 days are up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try nameing the file Update. Do not add the.dot zip, holding down the power button until the third line of text is seen then release will get you into program mode.. selling a tegra tablet to get anything other than another tegra is like going backwards...

StarBriteK said:
After spending much of the past 24 hours trying to install both eLocity's latest firmware update (from 2/24/11) and DexMod 1.3 (so I can utilize Android Marketplace) I am probably going to give up and return my A7 to the retailer before my 30 days are up. Thank you to Dexter and everyone else who posted such informative and useful instructions on the A7 forum. I am perplexed as to why I was not successful in accomplishing the update and modification. I really do like the A7 and hate to return it, but whats the sense of owning a Android device if you can't utilize the Marketplace. Duh! I would even be willing to pay a nominal fee to a honest, tech-savvy individual to modify/update my A7 for me. Thanks again everyone, looks like I'll be shopping for a tablet thats a little more user-friendly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you located? I'm. Sure if there is a member here local to you, they'd be willing to help you out.

I'm enjoying my A7 but, I do have to give a certain amount of blame to Stream for the lack of user friendliness the device presents. There are all sorts of documentation out there for companies to reference when designing an Android device, giving them an outline of what will work. The choice to implement a code structure or hardware features that do not work or require a work-around is directly the fault of Stream, as testing should have revealed the issues.
Take a look at how long Dexter has been working on the mod many of us are using, the feedback people give after putting it through the "real world" challenge and then the subsequent updates from Dexter...if Stream did the testing and verifications on this product from concept to creation to now...someone needs to be fired or doesn't care. Without detracting from Dexter's efforts or anyone else contributing on this board but, if the customer base can put so many fixes in place:Why can't the OEM? Why are they so slow in comparison on responses? Why don't their updates fix the most common issues? How did they allow themselves to release a tablet without a proper OS and fail to do better funtionality testing?
I'm glad their are folks like Dexter out here and forums like XDA otherwise decent hardware like this would allow companies to seperate us from our dollars on inflated claims of fuctionality and force us to jump through hoops to get a remedy.

problem with A7
StarBriteK said:
After spending much of the past 24 hours trying to install both eLocity's latest firmware update (from 2/24/11) and DexMod 1.3 (so I can utilize Android Marketplace) I am probably going to give up and return my A7 to the retailer before my 30 days are up. Thank you to Dexter and everyone else who posted such informative and useful instructions on the A7 forum. I am perplexed as to why I was not successful in accomplishing the update and modification. I really do like the A7 and hate to return it, but whats the sense of owning a Android device if you can't utilize the Marketplace. Duh! I would even be willing to pay a nominal fee to a honest, tech-savvy individual to modify/update my A7 for me. Thanks again everyone, looks like I'll be shopping for a tablet thats a little more user-friendly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
\
email me at [email protected] and I will do what I can to help.

A7 Towel
Here are some quick things to know/try that work for me -
1. SD card must be formatted as FAT format, FAT32 is fine
2. Mod file is named update.zip in sd card, do not put it in any folder in the SD card
3. When you are powered down, if you hold the power button in for about 15 seconds and then release and then hold in again for a few seconds you will see, hold in for another 5 seconds to go to boot menu, immediately hold in for another 5 seconds and then release, you should see a android character, tap on home icon on right and it should go into a boot menu
4. Use the buttons on the tablet (home, etc on the right) to page down and up the list of selections. Top 2 buttons on the right are up and down. Second to bottom icon is select.
5. Scroll to "apply sdcard:update.zip"
6. Select that option (second to bottom icon on right of screen)
it should now apply the update.zip on your sd card. It could take a while.
If there are any errors then the update.zip file may be corrupted. All updates are over 90MB in size except for the patch that Dexter sent recently which is around 3MB.
Let us know if this works.

Thanks for the responses
I have done several times the instructions some of you have responded back with and watched several posts on YouTube also. Yes my card is formatted to Fat32 and yes I used a capital U on Update.zip. I have followed the instructions to a "t" for installing DexMod and Elocity's own instructions on their website in regards to the 2/24/11 update. My A7 simply would not recognize and open the SD card file and would then abort the program. I'm simply at a point where how much more of my time do I want to spend spinning my wheels on the A7 tablet in order to have access to the Android Marketplace. Thanks again everyone.

Please see my response at bottom.

A7 issue
sorry to hear that. I suspect your update.zip file is probably not being recognized as a zip file. mine is named update.zip, no uppercase anything. Sometimes there can be a hidden extension of another .zip so the system sees it as update.zip.zip
I downloaded the mod and renamed mine on my pc and then copied it directly to the microsd card. Sorry to hear about the time its taken you so far. As I said earlier I would be happy to work with you if you wish.

just to clarify, you can't really install the latest feb 24 update from elocity AND dexters elocitymod rom. Unless, that is, you take the mods that dexter has done and apply them to the latest elocity update and regression test it, debug it, etc... elocity did a fair job of putting out a cheap android tablet. they made some sacrifices on the hardware side - no multitouch and no hi res screen, but for the price, it's hard to beat. and dexter's mod makes the a7 infinitely more useful. have you tried other microsd cards? you can get cheap 2gb and 4gb ones at target or bestbuy. if those don't work, you can just return them. lots of people have been using dexter's elocitymod successfully. without it, i probably would have returned the a7 also. if you're looking for something a bit more polished, get ready to spend a bit more. samsung galaxy tab goes for about $600-$800 motorola xoom about the same price as well.

Did you check your sd card for bad sectors or tried a different sd card? Just curious.

Same problem adding Dexter Mod
I've just got the A7 and I'm following the threads about the Dexter Mod. I'm a little confused about 1- what to name the file...some say with a capital U and some not...2- with or without .zip...again same thing 3- can you use the 1.2 Mod after Elocity's latest firware update...the reason I ask this is because the link for 1.3 is down and I do have 1.2 on my pc for some reason.
On my sdcard it doesn't have a directory "ROOT" do i just copy it to the open card. So may questions...sorry about that, been at it for 3 hours and no success. Have to laugh tho....
BTW I have a file named LOST.DIR on the sdcard

file name
The file when you download it is already in zip form. All you need to do is rename it to ( update ).

Dexter Mod 1.3
Thank you. Just installed on 1 of my A7's but the 1.3 Mod...Was able to download it this morning, the site is back up again.
Now to do the bluetooth fix...life is all go...lol

Ok, lets clear this up once and for all...
For everyone that is getting confused about update.zip, Update.zip, Update.zip.zip, and whatever other additional permutations of combinations that people have been able to come up with.
The answer: although some people have reported success with a lower case "u", the best way is to simply follow the directions layed out for you and name it "Update.zip"
Here's the simple truth of the matter, the file you download is <Dexter's_webspace>/ElocityModv13.zip ... or if you are going after eLocity's updates it would be
<elocity's_webspace>/update.zip
Notice that both files have ".zip" at the end. No question about it, no chance that this is not true, no chance that as I actually saw someone post on here "elocity never named it .zip".
Now, here's where people have the opportunity to get confused and do something wrong...
PC Users:
A default out of the box Windows installation is set to HIDE file extensions of known file types (zip files included). So, when you look at your download it will appear to be just "ElocityModv13" or just "Update" even though the file extension (.zip) is actually there. So when you try to rename it to "Update.zip" you are changing only the information BEFORE the file extension, thereby making it "Update.zip.zip"... This is no one else's fault. Please don't blame eLocity, please don't blame Dexter, please don't blame the Android OS itself.
The Solution!:
Open Windows Explorer, go to the "Tools" drop down menu, go to "Folder Options", click on the "View" tab on the window that just popped up, uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types" checkbox, click "OK", profit.
MAC Users:
I am guessing that this applies to most of the "What do I do with all these folders from the zip file" type of posts. The most probable issue here is that Mac's have a rather annoying habit of unzipping zip files as soon as it finishes downloading them, leaving you with just a folder (in this case either named "ElocityModv13" or "update" with no file extension (its a folder).
Mac Solution:
To keep Safari from automatically unzipping your files, the fix is easy.
Open Safari, open Safari's preferences, Click on the "General" tab, uncheck the "open safe files" box, close preferences. Now download either the mod or the stock update again, and you'll have the actual zip file instead of just a folder with the contents of the original file.
Hopefully this helps a lot of people figure this out.
Now...
My Disclaimer:
I already am prepared for the inevitable "stop being rude", "somebody call me a wahmublance", "I'm new to this" type of response that I seem to get more often then not on here. So, before any of that happens let me explain my standpoint.
Anyone trying to go down this route and put a custom rom on their device is attempting to modify it. This SHOULD require at very least a working knowledge of the device or software you are trying to modify. I am not saying everyone here should be on Dexter's level, but at least a little computer know how would be very beneficial. Next, before just diving in to changing things on this little chunk of technology that you just spent a few hundred on, read. Simple as that, educate yourself on the toy you just bough. Creating many many duplicates of threads asking the same extremely basic questions does not help anyone. It clutters up the forums, makes the people that actually have the answers so sick of saying the same thing over and over that they just don't answer any more, makes it harder to navigate the actual different topics, and makes it harder for everyone else to find the answers they are looking for. There should be no "which one of the 15 bluetooth not working threads was that post in?"
I apologize for my complete lack of patience with people that can not search for information and need to be spoon fed. But 99% of the time the question has already been asked and answered. And lets be serious here, the A7 forum only has FOUR SECTIONS, really not a lot of reading. And in the other cases where it is a user error like not knowing how to rename a file or yesterday's hilarious "My SD card doesn't have a folder called ROOT", you really need to ask yourself if this is really something you are up to. If you lack the basic knowledge to perform the easy steps of the process, is it really worth it to risk creating a $300 paperweight to say "look at the cool thing I did" to your friends?
If something I said here seems like it was taken from your post/story, don't take it personal, it was only listed as an example.

I'm sorry I opened such a can of worms on this subject for some "TECHNOLOGICALLY-ADVANCED" individuals who seem to have nothing better to do but respond with condescending remarks on this forum. FYI: I recently purchased a new Samsung Galaxy tablet on eBay for $360.00, hence my A7 has been shipped back to the retailer for a refund. I still think the A7 is a great device, I simply do not have the time to repeatedly attempt to update it so I can have access to the Android Marketplace, nor the patience to tolerate the attitude of certain posters to this forum. I thought the purpose for this forum was to help each other out on issues, not to repeatedly "Beat Dead Horses" which some individuals tend to be doing. Thanks again everyone and GOOD LUCK!

StarBriteK said:
I'm sorry I opened such a can of worms on this subject for some "TECHNOLOGICALLY-ADVANCED" individuals who seem to have nothing better to do but respond with condescending remarks on this forum. FYI: I recently purchased a new Samsung Galaxy tablet on eBay for $360.00, hence my A7 has been shipped back to the retailer for a refund. I still think the A7 is a great device, I simply do not have the time to repeatedly attempt to update it so I can have access to the Android Marketplace, nor the patience to tolerate the attitude of certain posters to this forum. I thought the purpose for this forum was to help each other out on issues, not to repeatedly "Beat Dead Horses" which some individuals tend to be doing. Thanks again everyone and GOOD LUCK!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didn't open a can of worms, it was just a coincidence that the misinforming post that sent the fingers of fury flying happened to be on your thread. and trust me, I have plenty of better things to do, this is just filler.
Seems like you got a hell of a good deal on the G Tab, Congrats.
And yes, the point of a forum is to help other people, which I do. By correcting bad advice, and trying to get people to ask for and give help in a more collaborative way instead of the same questions being asked over and over again. I'm sorry if you find my presence on the internet grating, just be glad that you haven't had to endure my vocabulary in person (apparently it is pretty similar to that of a drunken sailor with tourette's syndrome with the same measure of sarcasm that I treat the net to)
Back at you on the good luck. Expecting a review on the g tab, pro's and con's vs the A7 hopefully

LOL
LOL, you guys are just hilarious

[GUIDE | READ ME | DISCONTINUED-28/06/12 ] A Newbie Guide for your Galaxy Tab 7.7 ▓░░

[GUIDE | READ ME | DISCONTINUED-28/06/12 ] A Newbie Guide for your Galaxy Tab 7.7 ▓░░
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Do terms like ‘Android ROM’ confuse you? Is your understanding of ‘flashing’ limited to acts of exhibitionism? Do you feel left out or clueless when your friends talk about flashing the latest custom ROM to their Android device ? here is a guide for you to make your life easier
Hey guys, this is a guide which will help many people (new users).
The Very Beginning!​
Android is an Operating System (OS), like Windows or OSX to your computer or iOS [1] to the iPad and iPhone. It controls how the phone reacts to your inputs, what's displayed on the screen and when. Many would argue, the OS is the most important factor of any mobile device. Whether or not you agree, it certainly has a massive impact on user experience, hopefully at the end of this, you'll be able to make up your own mind.
Note-
Red color means -> its important !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understanding ROM’s and Builds​
A ROM is essentially a custom version of Android. Each tweaks, combines, or optimizes Android to offer something standard versions lack. Within ROM’s, you have what are known as builds (basic branches of Android code) that offer certain features and characteristics.
Think of it as a crude metaphor for Microsoft Windows. There’s XP, Vista, and Windows 7. All three are Windows operating systems and can typically run the same programs, but there are major differences between them. Within each OS, there’s further distinction between Vista Home, Vista Pro, and Vista Ultimate. Likewise, one ROM can spawn multiple versions. For instance, there are several flavors of Drake’s Hero ROM..
Be advised that some ROM’s require a wipe (erases all information stored on your phone) before or after installation. This is done when you enter the recovery mode and perform a “factory data reset.”
What is Firmware?​
The read-only operating systems that we just discussed above are also called ‘firmware’, as they stay firmly in place without modification access to the users of the device. Modification of firmware is still however possible, just not under normal usage. Many devices require specialized hardware to be used for the purpose while other devices have the storage set as read-only through software protection only, which can be removed or overridden without the need for any specialized hardware, just by using software written for the purpose, often but not always requiring connection to a computer.
Thus, the terms ‘operating system’ and ‘firmware’ both refer to the same thing and can be used interchangeably when applied to such devices.
Flashing​
The ROM memory used in smartphones and tablets etc. is often same as flash memory found in SD cards and USB flash drives, simply optimized for better speed and performance while running the operating system. As explained above, it is read-only under normal usage and requires a special procedure for any modifications to be made to its contents. The procedure of modifying or replacing the contents of such flash memory is known as flashing. Thus, in layman’s terms, flashing is essentially the same as installing or modifying the firmware of a device that is stored on its protected flash memory.
2 – Mobile Operating Systems
ROM as the Operating System​
When it comes to smartphones and tablets, the term ROM is used to refer to the firmware stored in the internal memory of the device, rather than the internal memory itself. It can also refer to a file prepared for the purpose of replacing this firmware with another version of using a special method.
Thus, when you are told by someone to download a ROM, they are referring to the file that contains the firmware in a format ready to be installed to your phone to replace it’s existing firmware. Similarly, when asked what ROM is your phone running or when told by someone their phone is running a particular ROM, they are again talking about the particular variant of the firmware.
Types of ROMs​->
Unlike most desktop operating systems, mobile operating systems can be found in installable format in multiple forms, which can be categorized as follows.
A)Truly Stock ROMs / firmware​:
This is the operating system in its default form, without any modifications made to it except for any device-specific support required to run it on the particular device. Truly stock firmware provides the standard user experience of the operating system without any cosmetic or functional changes made.
B)Manufacturer or Carrier branded Stock ROM / Firmware:
This type of firmware has had enhancements added over the default operating system by the device manufacturer or the mobile service carrier. This often includes interface enhancements, proprietary applications and in most cases, restrictions intended to limit the use of the device with a specific carrier or region. There are often further restrictions preventing installation of firmware not released by the carrier or manufacturer.
C)Custom ROM / firmware​:
Independent developers who like to customize their devices beyond the standard options provided often tend to release the fruits of their labor for the rest to enjoy, in form of custom ROMs.
3 – Stock Vs. Custom ROMs​
Both stock and custom ROMs have their merits and demerits and choosing between the two requires careful consideration. In this section, we are going to make a comparison between the two types of ROMs to help you make the right choice. Let us begin by taking a look at their advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Stock ROMs​
Stock firmware is the result of a lot of research and testing done by the operating system vendor, the device manufacturer and/or the mobile service carrier. Therefore, it carries several advantages:-
1>It is usually quite stable upon release.
2>Almost all bugs are patched during the extensive beta testing before release.
3>It carries the official support by the firmware vendor, device manufacturer and the mobile service carrier.
4>Updates are pushed automatically to the device by the carrier.
Along with its advantages, stock firmware also carries its disadvantages and these include:​
1>Updates aren’t frequent, as development is done mostly by corporations who have to follow a scheduled release cycle.
2>Providing feedback to the manufacturer in case of any issues is either impossible, unwelcome (often with Apple devices), or a long, tedious process.
3>Similarly, getting official support can be a hassle as well, involving a tedious process.
4>If the device manufacturer and operating system developer are different (as is the case with Android and Windows Phone 7), any updates released by thekoperating system vendor need to be edited by the device manufacturer or mobile carrier to add compatibility and additional software before release. Hence, some devices get updates delayed by months.
5>Updates are often released first in the United States, leaving the rest of the world waiting. (A world does happen to exist beyond the United States, we’ve confirmed it ourselves!)
6>Worse still, when manufacturers choose to no longer release official updates for their older devi#es in favor of newer ones, their users are essentially stuck with old versions of the operating system. This case is evident with many Android devices barely a year and a half old.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Custom ROMs-​
Custom ROMs are as good or as bad as the effort put into them by their developers. Key advantages of custom ROMs are:
1)First and foremost, choice! There are thousands of custom ROMs out there for a range of devices, each offering a diverse set of features not found in the stock ROM.
2)Update frequency – custom ROMs are often under active development and newer releases of the core operating system are incorporated in them way before updated official ROMs are released.
3)Providing feedback is as easy as leaving a message on the development forum for the ROM in question.
Getting support with your issues at the forums is similarly easy, as not only the main developers themselves but also other experienced users of the ROM from the community are glad to help you with your issues and in the process, improve the ROM for everyone.
4)Custom ROMs usually have all the extra restrictions removed
5)Performance enhancements and optimizations found in many custom ROMs can make them much faster than stock ROMs ,enabling users to get the most out of their devices.
5)Overclocking options are built into some custom ROMs, further speeding up the devices.
6)Undervolting options found in some ROMs on the other hand result in improved battery life.
7)Old phones with little internal memory can benefit most from custom ROMs that allow them to use the external SD card memory for the apps exactly the way they would use the internal memory.
So with all these advantages, there should be no reason to stick with the stock ROM, right? Not necessarily! Like all things in life, custom ROMs come with their disadvantages as well:
1)Due to the lack of extensive testing prior to release, many custom ROMs can be buggy in the beginning and installing a ROM with missing or corrupt critical files can even brick your phone.
2)Several custom ROMs that are ports of ROMs from other phones can have missing functionality that hasn’t been made to work on your phone with the ROM yet.
Installing a custom ROM usually involves wiping your phone to factory settings, so you lose your data and start from scratch. Fortunately, Android’s built-in contact syncing along with apps offering message, call log and app backup/restore make this process easier, letting you retain your data.
The installation process can be cumbersome and requires you to root your phone and often circumvent its security features to allow for custom ROM installation in the first place.
Installing a custom ROM will in most cases void your phone’s warranty, though often the process is reversible, meaning you can turn your phone back to stock as long as it isn’t bricked.
Choosing the Right Custom ROM​
With several custom ROMs available for most Android devices, choosing the right one isn’t always easy. The question of ‘which is the best ROM for _____ phone / tablet’ is as often frowned-upon at the forums as it is asked, since there is no universal answer for it. One ROM may be the best for me while another might suit you better. The only solution is to read a lot, go through the feature list, read user response and if required, ask the developer questions at the forum page for the ROM. Attempt to install the ROM only after you are fairly satisfied that doing so will not harm your device to the extent you can’t fix.
Nandroid BACKUP​A Nandroid Backup is a backup file of your current ROM and its settings, you can do it manually using Clockwork Mod Recovery, it's fairly intuitive so you shouldn't have too much issue figuring these steps out.*IMPORTANT*
RISKS OF ROOTING​When a root exploit is initially found, it may or may not be stable. What this means is that it may not work reliably, or worse, it may cause a permanent failure of the phone, preventing it from booting up. A responsible phone hacker will therefore test the exploit extensively across many phones and modify the exploit as needed to make it stable. When the exploit has been proven to work safely and reliably, it is released to the public. However, this does not guarantee that the exploit will work with every single phone that it targets. The person or team that releases the exploit will make it clear that the exploit is "use at your own risk." Each person considering rooting their phone needs to understand this risk and decide whether it's worth proceeding or not.
Once the exploit has removed the NAND protection, the risk of permanently damaging your phone becomes very, very low. That's not to say that you can't get yourself into a bind, but with a little bit of know-how, rarely does a bad situation mean a bricked phone. If you haven't guessed already, a bricked phone is a phone that shares the qualities of a brick: it can look rectangular and do nothing.
As a preemptive safety measure, the custom recovery program installed as part of the root exploit contains a very useful tool called a NANDroid backup/restore. This utility backs up your internal memory and essentially is a save-state. No matter how you change your phone in the future, you can always bring your phone back to the state it was in at the time of the backup. It is highly recommended to make a NANDroid backup before flashing anything.
Knowledge is power here. If you've read this far, you already have a really good foundation into the Android rooting world. For more excellent infor-ation, I recommend reading this post: Quick INTRO TO ROOTING for those new to rooting, which will give you a broader vocabulary of root-related terminology. The more information you gather, the more you will realize that the risks of rooting are very low, while the rewards are very high.
And don't hesitate to use these forums to ask questions and seek clarifications. The rooting community is strong, and there are tons of people eager to help. Today's newbies are tomorrow's experts. Good luck in your endeavor%r1
The Android Family Tree
Android has a come a long was since its birth in 2008, however we're not here to fire into its history specifically, but what its history might mean for you! Android has been released in incremental versions. Each phone may differ in what version it has installed, usually the vendor decides what version it will choose, and develops Android into a specific ROM [2] for the device. To find out what version of Android your device is, navigate to the settings menu and select 'about phone', under 'Android version' there will be three numbers, the first two, will tell you what release you're running. There are currently 5 flavours of Android for phones, these are;
1.5 - Cupcake
One thing you'll learn, Android has quirky names! This version of android is likely the most basic version you'll meet, very few handsets still selling have this version. If you have a handset with version 1.5, you're limited in a big way! There are many features missing that means 1.5 just can't support many of the applications offered up in the market!
1.6 - Donut
Donut offered a few improvements over Cupcake; Voice search, turn-by-turn navigation and an improved market to name a few! It's still missing a few features that don't allow the more advanced apps to run. So don't be suprised if you're missing a few from the market.
2.0/2.1 - Eclair
Google picked up their game with the move to 2.1, it is arguably the largest and most important update Google made. Most applications will work on 2.1! It also included support for Microsoft exchange (if you don't know what this is, you don't need it) increased speed, smoothness, and improved the user interface immensely.
2.2 - Froyo
Currently the largest version in use, you're with a masses here and perhaps will find comfort in it. a few performance tweaks, faster browsing and the ability to run Adobe Flash 10.1 is among the few things you can do over your 2.1 bretheren.
2.3/2.4 - Gingerbread
Updated UI, higher resolution screens, VoIP calls, improved keyboard, introduced NFC to the world, faster performance, and a better battery life are among the benefits over your older bretheren. This released also improved voice-to-text engine input, copy and paste, audio effects, and enabled simultaneous multiple camera support.
4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich
Ok huuuge update here, haven't played on it yet but this is shaping up to be the biggest update since 2.1, if not ever! Combining Gingerbread and Honeycomb, this is loooking a very mature and slick version of Android. Massive UI overhaul; hardware acceleration, no physical/permanent buttons, new Roboto font, Honeycomb task manager, new screen layouts, easily customisable folders, widget app drawer and a customisable launcher. Other improvements include new contacts or 'people' app, further improved copy and paste, further improved keyboard, visual voicemail with improved functionality, improved gestures, new lock screen, integrated screenshot capture, facial recognition unlocking, Android Beam utilising NFC, and awesome 3g data management software!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power saving tips:
Dont use a live theme
Use a dark wallpaper
Turn off wi-fi & bluetooth when not in use
Stop friendstream, facebook & peep updating every 5mins. Set mine to manual.
Set email app to manual
Set screen brightness to auto or 40% (lower if you can put up with it).
How does one flash a kernel?
The process is a simple as flashing a ROM, put the .zip on ur sdcard, go into recovery,wipe cache,dalvik-cache, install .zip from sdcard, reboot phone and ur done.
How to Flash A Custom ROM-
Download a ROM of your choice from the All Things Root section (The Forum you are in) You can find direct links to each of them in the All Things Root Guide that is stickied at the top of this forum.
1- Once downloaded, its recommended to download it from your computer and place it on your phone, put it on the root of your internal or external sd cards. Root meaning not in a folder.
2- Reboot into recovery using Quick Reboot.
3- Using your volume keys to scroll and your power key to select, scroll down tand select "Wipe data/Factory Reset" then scroll to "Yes" and select.
4- Scroll down and select "Wipe Cache Partition" and then select "Yes"
5- Scroll down and select "Advanced" and select "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and then select "Yes" then scroll down and select "Go Back"
6- Sroll down and select "mounts and storage" then scroll down and select ONLY these 3 listed, "format data" and then select "Yes", then scroll down and select "format cache" and then select "Yes", then scroll down and select "format system" and then select "Yes". Then scroll down to and select "Go Back"
7- Then scroll down to "Install Zip From Sd", if you put the ROM on your external SD card select "choose zip from SD". If you put it on your internal scroll down and select 'choose zip from internal". Then after you selected one of those depended on where you put the ROM, scroll down and select the ROM and then Select "Yes".
Let it run and do its thing and once it says its done, select "reboot system now" and enjoy
How To Flash A Theme-
Download a theme of your choice from the All Things Root section (The Forum you are in) You can find direct links to each of them in the All Things Root Guide that is stickied at the top of this forum.
1- Once downloaded, its recommended to download it from your computer and place it on your phone, put it on the root of your internal or external sd cards. Root meaning not in a folder.
2- Reboot into recovery using Quick Reboot.
3- Using your volume keys to scroll and power button to select, scroll down and select "wipe cache partition" and then select "Yes"
4- Scroll down to and select "Advanced" and then select "Wipe Dalvik Cache"
5- Then scroll down and select "Go Back"
6- Then scroll down to "Install Zip From Sd", if you put the theme on your external SD card select "choose zip from SD". If you put it on your internal scroll down and select 'choose zip from internal". Then after you selected one of those depended on where you put the theme, scroll down and select the theme and then Select "Yes".
Let it run and do its thing and once it says its done, select "reboot system now" and enjoy
You can find stock firmwares here -​sampro.pl
sammobile
Important (Read it carefully)​ -> Forum & Marketplace Rules & announcements
Some other guides by some great developers-
> [ROM&GUIDE] Official Firmwares SGT 7.7 P6800 + P6810 Download By xenix96
>[GUIDE] Root By Jade Eyed Wolf
> [Guide] Full Tutorial To Install Custom ROM [GT-P6800] BY haidharbbc
Useful posts​ -
> [FAQ] Com-on Issues with the P6800 and their Solutions (where available) By Theory
>Welcome To the Galaxy Tab 7.7 Forum -Please Read Before Posting- by original_ganjaman
>[REF] Partitions P6800 + P6810 By Chainfire
> Simple ways to speed up your tablet!!
HONYCOMB FULL PREVIEW USER GUIDE *IMPORTANT*
I will update it ,when there is a need.
--->I will add more. If I ever miss anything please send me a private message
That should be enough to get you started.
CHANGELOG-​
UPDATE - 22/04/12 MAJOR UPDATE !! lot of information added!!!!
UPDATE -02/05/12 Android Terms,Slang & Definition added to guide see post #3 !!
UPDATE - 28/06/12-Due to fact, i dont own this tab anymore, there will be no updates.sorry!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope this guide helps you.......
Thanks..........
Please comment if you have any problems, or want to share anything.
Please give an REVIEW ,it means a lot to me.Thank you.

-------------------*Important Tips*---------------------
--- Important Tips ---​
[1]THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE *BEST* ROM OR *BEST* TWEAKS
-everything that has *best* in it's name is mainly made by questioner's preference.
[2] STOP ASKING FOR ETA'S....Stop asking when will it be released or when will that be released.its silly you know. IT WILL COME WHEN ITS READY GET IT ?
[3]OK this will be quite simple. If it says DEVS ONLY leave it alone. Don't comment unnecessary trash and ask for ETA's.
It's unstable so don't go making a thread in general section asking if it's stable or not.ok ?
[4]RESPECT THE DEVELOPERS*IMPORTANT*
[5] Read or search before posting anything! GOOGLE is your best friend!
https://www.google.com (use me)
SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH BEFORE DOING SOMETHING !!!!!
I hope i am clear.....
[6] Stop posting and posting the same stuff over and over and over again! If it says in the ROM description that ""This" is not working" Dont keep on asking is "this" working? or something like that.
[7] Post in the proper section. You will get more help if you do this.
For example... don't start a question thread in developers forum just because you think it's more active than general section. EVERYTHING HAS IT'S PURPOSE
[8] If a bug has been reported once,then THATS ENOUGH REPORTING < Read once more,enough said
[9] LOOK,READ AND THEN ONLY POST,If there is something you want to post,then look at thread,read the whole thread and then ONLY post.
Credits - DooAce ,prawesome

Android Terms,Slang & Definitions*Important* + How to Increase Battery Life !
PART #1​
Android Terms,Slang & Definitions​
Apps2SD:A method of storing applications and cache on the device's microSD card.
ADB:Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a versatile command line tool that lets you communicate with an emulator instance or connected Android-powered device. It is a client-server program that includes three components:
•A client, which runs on your development machine. You can invoke a client from a shell by issuing an adb command. Other Android tools such as the ADT plugin and DDMS also create adb clients.
•A server, which runs as a background process on your development machine. The server manages communication between the client and the adb daemon running on an emulator or device.
•A daemon, which runs as a background process on each emulator or device instance.
AMOLED:Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. Basically, a very colorful, bright, display found in some smartphones.
APK:Android application package file. Each Android application is compiled and packaged in a single file that includes all of the application's code (.dex files), resources, assets, and manifest file. The application package file can have any name but must use the .apk extension. For example: myExampleAppname.apk. For convenience, an application package file is often referred to as an ".apk".
Alpha:The alpha phase of the release life cycle is the first phase to begin software testing (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, used as the number 1). In this phase, developers generally test the software using white box techniques. Additional validation is then performed using black box or gray box techniques, by another testing team. Moving to black box testing inside the organization is known as alpha release.[1]
Alpha software can be unstable and could cause crashes or data loss. The exception to this is when the alpha is available publicly (such as a pre-order bonus), in which developers normally push for stability so that their testers can test properly. External availability of alpha software is uncommon in proprietary software. However, open source software, in particular, often have publicly available alpha versions, often distributed as the raw source code of the software.
The alpha phase usually ends with a feature freeze, indicating that no more features will be added to the software. At this time, the software is said to be a feature complete.
Boot Animation:Boot animation is a term for a graphical representation of the boot process of the operating system.
Boot animation can be a simple visualisation of the scrolling boot messages in the console, but it can also present graphics or some combinations of both.
Unlike splash screens, boot screen or boot animation is not necessarily designed for marketing purposes, but can be to enhance the experience of the user as eye candy, or provide the user with messages (with an added advantage of color coding facility) to diagnose the state of the system.
Bootloader:This small program's only job is to load other data and programs which are then executed from RAM.Often, multiple-stage boot loaders are used, during which several programs of increasing complexity load one after the other in a process of chain loading.
Bootloop:When your system recycles over and over without entering the main OS.
Beta: is the software development phase following alpha. It generally begins when the software is feature complete. Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software, as well as speed/performance issues. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts to users, often incorporating usability testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release and this is typically the first time that the software is available outside of the organization that developed it.
The users of a beta version are called beta testers. They are usually customers or prospective customers of the organization that develops the software, willing to test the software without charge, often receiving the final software free of charge or for a reduced price.
Beta version software is often useful for demonstrations and previews within an organization and to prospective customers. Some developers refer to this stage as a preview, prototype, technical preview (TP), or early access.
Some software is kept in perpetual beta—where new features and functionality is continually added to the software without establishing a firm "final" release.
CPU:It stands for Central Processing Unit and handles all the complex mathematical formulas necessary to do everyday things like surfing the Internet.
Cache:A component that transparently stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored elsewhere. If requested data is contained in the cache (cache hit), this request can be served by simply reading the cache, which is comparatively faster. Otherwise (cache miss), the data has to be recomputed or fetched from its original storage location, which is comparatively slower. Hence, the greater the number of requests that can be served from the cache, the faster the overall system performance becomes.
CDMA:Mobile phone standards called cdmaOne, CDMA2000 (the 3G evolution of cdmaOne) and WCDMA (the 3G standard used by GSM carriers), which are often referred to as simply CDMA, and use CDMA as an underlying channel access method.
CIQ:Carrier IQ. A piece of preinstalled software that runs with elevated access in the background of portable devices by default and records everything. Potentially can be exploited to steal information.
Dual Core:A dual core processor is a central processing unit (CPU) that has two separate cores on the same die, each with its own cache. It essentially is two microprocessors in one. This type of CPU is widely available from many manufacturers. Other types of multi-core processors also have been developed, including quad-core processors with four cores each, hexa-core processors with six, octa-core processors with eight and many-core processors with an even larger number of cores.
Dalvik:The Android platform's virtual machine. The Dalvik VM is an interpreter-only virtual machine that executes files in the Dalvik Executable (.dex) format, a format that is optimized for efficient storage and memory-mappable execution.
Dalvik Cache:Writable cache that contains the optimized bytecode of all apk files (apps) on your Android device. Having the information in it's own cache makes applications load faster and perform better.
EXT2:The ext2 or second extended filesystem is a file system for the Linux kernel. It was initially designed by Rémy Card as a replacement for the extended file system (ext).
ext2 was the default filesystem in several Linux distributions, including Debian and Red Hat Linux, until supplanted more recently by ext3, which is almost completely compatible with ext2 and is a journaling file system. ext2 is still the filesystem of choice for flash-based storage media (such as SD cards, and USB flash drives) since its lack of a journal minimizes the number of writes and flash devices have only a limited number of write cycles. Recent kernels, however, support a journal-less mode of ext4, which would offer the same benefit along with a number of ext4-specific benefits.
EXT3:Third extended filesystem, is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian. Stephen Tweedie first revealed that he was working on extending ext2 in Journaling the Linux ext2fs Filesystem in a 1998 paper and later in a February 1999 kernel mailing list posting, and the filesystem was merged with the mainline Linux kernel in November 2001 from 2.4.15 onward.Its main advantage over ext2 is journaling, which improves reliability and eliminates the need to check the file system after an unclean shutdown. Its successor is ext4.
EXT4:It was born as a series of backward compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for the Lustre file system between 2003 and 2006, meant to extend storage limits and add other performance improvements.However, other Linux kernel developers opposed accepting extensions to ext3 for stability reasons,and proposed to fork the source code of ext3, rename it as ext4, and do all the development there, without affecting the current ext3 users. This proposal was accepted, and on 28 June 2006, Theodore Ts'o, the ext3 maintainer, announced the new plan of development for ext4.
FC/FC's:Short for "force close," meaning an app that has crashed.
Fastboot:A diagnostic protocol used primarily to modify the flash filesystem in Android smartphones from another computer over a USB connection. It is part of the Android Debug Bridge library.
Utilizing the Fastboot protocol requires that the device be started in a boot loader or Second Program Loader mode in which only the most basic hardware initialization is performed. After enabling the protocol on the device itself it will accept any command sent to it over USB via a command line. Some of most commonly used fastboot commands include:
•flash - Overwrites a partition in flash with a binary image stored on the host computer.
•erase - Erases a partition in flash.
•reboot - Reboots the device into the either the main operating system or the system recovery partition.
•devices - Displays a list of all devices (with Serial #) connected to the host computer.
Flashing:The ROM memory used in smartphones and tablets etc. is often same as flash memory found in SD cards and USB flash drives, simply optimized for better speed and performance while running the operating system.
Hotspot:A spot that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider. Hotspots typically use Wi-Fi technology.You can connect wifi campatible devices to it.
HDMI:High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting encrypted uncompressed digital data.It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency (RF) coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA (also called D-sub or DE-15F). HDMI connects digital audio/video sources (such as set-top boxes, DVD players, HD DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players, AVCHD camcorders, personal computers (PCs), video game consoles (such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), AV receivers, tablet computers, and mobile phones) to compatible digital audio devices, computer monitors, video projectors, and digital televisions.
JIT:The Just-in-Time Compiler. Released with Android 2.2, it's a method of greatly speeding up apps in Android on the software side.
Kang:Someone writes a code,someone else modifies the code to make their own release,its concidered a kang release.
Kernel:A kernel is a layer of code that allows the OS and applications to interface with your phone's hardware. The degree in which you can access your phone's hardware features depends on the quality of code in the kernel. The homebrew (rooting) community for HTC has made several kernel code improvements that give us additional features from our hardware that the stock kernel does not. When you flash a custom ROM, you automatically get a kernel. But you can also flash a standalone kernel ROM on top of the existing one, effectively overwriting it. These days, the difference in custom kernels is less about new features and more about alternate configurations. Choosing a custom kernel is basically choosing one that works best with your ROM.
Launcher:Collectively, the part of the Android user interface on home screens that lets you launch apps, make phone calls, etc. Is built in to Android, or can be purchased in the Android Market.
LCD Density:Pixel density is a measurement of the resolution of devices in various contexts; typically computer displays, image scanners, and digital camera image sensors.
First of all you need to understand that the Android User Interface uses something called a "display independent pixel" or a "dip" (yes, it's confusing because the density settings are in "dots per inch" or "dpi" which are considered the same as "ppi" or "pixels per inch" as well).
The default LCD Density setting on Android is 160 dpi. As far as the operating system is concerned 1 dip @ 160 dpi = 1 screen pixel. It doesn't mean that's actually true, but you've gotta start somewhere. In my opinion it would have been a lot nicer if they'd chosen 100 dpi because then it would be an easy percentage thing, but they didn't so we're stuck with this formula.
Mod:The act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer.
Nightly:A build that is performed at the end of each day of development. If you use a continuous integration server, it will generally be configured to build the code and run the unit tests on every check in. At the end of each day you may want to run more extensive tests, regression test and integration tests for example, which take too long to run on each check in and these would be triggered after the nightly build. If you have a full continuously delivery pipeline the nightly build may also be used to deploy the built code to environments for user testing.
Open GL:An open source 3D graphics library used in many devices, including Android devices.
Open & Closed Beta:Developers release either a closed beta or an open beta; closed beta versions are released to a select group of individuals for a user test and are invitation only, while open betas are from a larger group to the general public and anyone interested. The testers report any bugs that they find, and sometimes suggest additional features they think should be available in the final version.
Overclock:To increase the speed of your CPU.
Partition:The phone's internal memory (not the SD card) is solid-state (flash) memory, AKA NAND. It can be partitioned much like a normal hard drive can be partitioned. The bootloader exists in its own partition. Recovery is another partition; radio, system, cache, etc are all partitions.
Here are the standard partitions on an Android phone:
/misc - not sure what this is for.
/boot - bootloader, kernel
/recovery - holds the recovery program (either clockworkmod or RA recovery for a rooted Evo)
/system - operating system goes here: Android, Sense, boot animation, Sprint crapware, busybox, etc
/cache - cached data from OS usage
/data - user applications, data, settings, etc.
The below partitions are not android-specific. They are tied to the hardware of the phone, but the kernel may have code allowing Android to interact with said hardware.
/radio - the phone's radio firmware, controls cellular, data, GPS, bluetooth.
/wimax - firmware for Sprint's flavor of 4G, WiMax.
PRL:The Preferred Roaming List, basically a way of telling your phone which towers to connect to first.
RUU:a complete software package released by HTC, it can contain many things they are trying to update. Radio, ROM, bootloader, etc... Installing an ruu is like installing an image on a hard drive it wipes the phone and installs the image. It will wipe everything data and all so if you install one be prepared.
Radios:On the HTC side of things,the radios persist of:
•WiFi, which operates at 2.4-5ghz depending on what channel it's running
•Cellular/3G, which carries voice and data
•4G/WiMAX, which only carries data
•GPS, which is receive-only
•Bluetooth, which talks to WiiMotes and headsets
Flashing a radio means updating the code that controls the phones way of sending and recieving a signal.
Root:The first level of a folder.
SBC:(the ability to charge your battery beyond the default safe limit). The concept is similar to overclocking a processor: you're overriding the safety limits established to achieve additional performance. The benefit here is that you may gain more use of your battery per charge. The drawback is that you can damage the battery and significantly reduce its longevity. Some kernels claim they are using a safe technique to prevent battery damage. Just be aware of the potential risks.
Sideloading:It means installing applications without using the official Android Market.
Splash Screen:A splash screen is an image that appears while android is loading.Splash screens cover the entire screen or simply a rectangle near the center of the screen. The splash screens of operating systems and some applications that expect to be run full-screen usually cover the entire screen.
Superuser/SU:On many computer operating systems, the superuser is a special user account used for system administration. Depending on the operating system, the actual name of this account might be: root, administrator or supervisor.
Normal work on such a system is done using ordinary user accounts, and because these do not have the ability to make system-wide changes any viruses and other malware - or simple user errors - do not have the ability to adversly affect a whole system. In organizations, administrative privileges are often reserved for authorized experienced individuals.
Script:The Scripting Layer for Android (abridged as SL4A, and previously named Android Scripting Environment or ASE) is a library that allows the creation and running of scripts written in various scripting languages directly on Android devices. SL4A is designed for developers and is still alpha quality software.
These scripts have access to many of the APIs available to normal Java Android applications, but with a simplified interface. Scripts can be run interactively in a terminal, in the background, or via Locale.
SDK:(SDK or "devkit") is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.
Stock:This is the operating system in its default form, without any modifications made to it except for any device-specific support required to run it on the particular device.
S-On:Security on,means no acces to the phones operating system.
S-Off:Security was exploited,now have access to the operating system.
Tethering:Means sharing the Internet connection of an Internet-capable mobile phone with other devices. This sharing can be offered over a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, or by physical connection using a cable. In the case of tethering over wireless LAN, the feature may be branded as a mobile hotspot.The Internet-connected mobile phone acts as a portable router when providing tethering services to others.
USB:Stands for Universal Serial Bus. Is a method of connecting devices to a computer. Most smartphones now use microUSB cables to charge and sync.
Updater Script:When Android devices install updates via 'update.zip' files using recovery mode they have to perform a wide range of functions on files and permissions. Instead of using a minimal shell such as {b,d,c}sh the Android designers decided to create a small functional language that can be extended by device manufacturers if necessary. Since the Android "Donut" release (v1.6) the scripting language is called Edify and is defined primarily in the bootable/recovery/{edify,edifyscripting,updater} directories of the Android source-code tree.
Wireless N:Wireless N technology increases wireless internet connection. Wireless 'N' routers also work with Wireless 'G' and 'B' wireless adapters.
WiiMax:(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas.
YAFFS:Yaffs1 is the first version of this file system and works on NAND chips that have 512 byte pages + 16 byte spare (OOB;Out-Of-Band) areas.[clarification needed] These older chips also generally allow 2 or 3 write cycles per page,which YAFFS takes advantage of - i.e. dirty pages are marked by writing to a specific spare area byte.
Newer NAND flash chips have larger pages, 2048 bytes + 64 bytes spare areas, and stricter write requirements.Each page within an erase block (128 kilobytes) must be written to in sequential order, and each page must be written only once.YAFFS2 was designed to accommodate these newer chips.YAFFS2 is based on the YAFFS1 source code,with the major difference being that internal structures are not fixed to assume 512 byte sizing,and a block sequence number is placed on each written page. In this way older pages can be logically overwritten without violating the "write once" rule.[clarification needed]
YAFFS is a robust log-structured file system that holds data integrity as a high priority.A secondary YAFFS goal is high performance.YAFFS will typically outperform most alternatives.It is also designed to be portable and has been used on Linux, WinCE, pSOS, eCos,ThreadX and various special-purpose OSes.A variant 'YAFFS/Direct' is used in situations where there is no OS, embedded OSes and bootloaders: it has the same core filesystem but simpler interfacing to the OS and NAND flash hardware.
Zipalign: An archive alignment tool introduced first time with 1.6 Android SDK (software development kit). It optimizes the way an Android application package (APK) is packaged. Doing so enables the Android operating system to interact with the application more efficiently, and hence has the potential to make the application and overall the whole system much faster. Execution time is minimized for zipaligned applications, resulting is lesser amount of RAM consumption when running the APK.
CREDITS-Diablo67
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART #2​How to increase battery of Your Tab !​
While many of us, and our readers, are seasoned vets of the Android ecosystem, there are many that are just starting out. After spending the last hour looking for something to cover that was extreme, I had an idea. That idea is what you are seeing here. A newbie friendly series of posts that will outline various topics from the simple, to the more complex. Not always about some new root tool, some new device or some insane kernel. More focused on basic daily operations, things that can improve upon the newest users experience to the Android ecosystem.
In today’s newbie guide we are going to outline a few battery saver tips and tricks that can help extend the life of your battery.
Tip #1 - As much as we all love the look of live wallpapers, they suck battery. Sticking to a static, or regular picture, will help out. Alternatively, the best option for many devices is using a true black png image. This is particularly helpful on AMOLED based screens, as color pixels use power where as black does not. Click the link to head to a black png, long press on it and save it. Then apply it as your wallpaper. If you can set it as a lockscreen wallpaper too that would be a good idea.
Tip #2 – Cut back on the widgets. While widgets are pretty, fun and often times useful, over doing it can hurt you long-term. Not just in battery performance, but even device performance. For instance, using Beautiful Widgets, you can get the date, time and weather in one widget versus running three different ones. If you can’t live with out them, then at least adjust the settings for when they update. Instead of polling the weather every time you turn your screen on, set it to every 4 or 8 hours. Most widgets will also let you set them to only pol manually. While it might be a slight inconvenience, pulling data for updates uses power and it uses your data plan.Similar rules apply to apps like Hootsuit, Facebook and so on.
Tip #3 – Screen brightness can dramatically affect your overall battery life. Many devices have an auto brightness setting that will use your light sensor to adjust the brightness according to the current lighting conditions. It is recommended that you leave that turned on. I have found that while it is nice, I prefer to have manual control of my brightness. If you spend a great deal of time indoors, the lowest brightness setting is enough to see your screen and use your phone. While the next statement might seem to contradict the widget tip, not all widgets consume power. Most Android version have a ‘power control’ widget which gives you quick access to WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, Sync and brightness. If your device doesn’t have one, you can locate single button widgets that offer the brightness control, such as this one. I personally keep it to the lowest setting and if I need more light, just tap the brightness button to make it brighter when I need it.
Tip #4 - This one is simple and easy. Keep Wi-Fi and GPS off unless you actually need them. Both are easily controlled with the power control widget ro any other number of apps to keep you from having to go through the settings all the time. Heck, many newer devices even have those in the notification drop down bar now.
Tip #5 – When traveling or staying in an area that has no reception, turn of the devices radios. Sounds silly right? But if you are somewhere that gets no service at all, your device is going to be constantly searching for service and your battery is going to drain like crazy. The easiest and most universal way to turn of your radios is to put the device in ‘airplane mode.’ That is generally under Menu > Settings > Wireless and Networks. Although some UI’s have it in a different location and there are also apps and widgets that can accommodate this function. This also works out well in an office environment where Wi-Fi might be present but cell service is non existent. You might need to toggle the Wi-Fi back on for data use, but your phone won’t be searching for cell connection the whole day either.
Tip #6 – Adjust your screen off time. Many of us seasoned vets just hit the power button when we are done on our phone to turn of the screen. While it is rare, some devices don’t have that option. Setting the screen off time to the lowest amount of time will help ensure your phone’s screen goes off in case you forget. Believe me, I have seen people set their phone down with the screen on for hours and wonder why their battery dies so quickly. This can be accessed via Menu > Settings > Display. Depending on your current device, it might be screen off timer or sleep. Maybe others, not sure.
Tip #7 – This tip has a few various parts. First, running your battery through a few charge cycles is always a good idea. This means fully charging the device, then running it until it powers off. While it is off, plug in and charge it to 100%. Then repeat the process at least twice, but three times is a good idea. Sadly, the batteries the manufacturers use, aren’t always of the highest quality. Bummer huh.
Tip #8 – Watch for ‘rogue’ apps. By that we mean, if you have recently installed an application and you have noticed that your battery life has also recently gotten worse, you may have a rogue app running. This is usually pretty easy to find by checking Menu > Settings > Battery. You can usually see what apps are sucking juice. If you locate one, you can kill that process to stop it from eating battery, or if it is an app you hardly use simply uninstall it.
Tip #9 – Final tip for this post. Your launcher. Yes, your current launcher might be the culprit as well and you may not even know it. The fantabulous Sense UI found on HTC devices, TouchWiz found on Samsung devices and MotoBlur found on Motorola devices can also attribute to battery brain. Often times switching to a new launcher such as Go Launcher EX, ADW Launcher EX or countless other launchers can provide not only a boost in battery performance, but also a boost in your devices speed. Not to mention the added benefit of fun UI elements, themes and tweaks.
While there are plenty of other tips and tricks that I am sure our readers will add to the comments, these are 9 that can really make a difference in your daily consumption. Give them a try if you haven’t already done so and give it a couple of days. Nothing happens over night.
CREDITS-> Stormy Beach.

Good guide for the noobs

Thread updated - Major update - 22/04/12​
Please comment if you have any problems, or want to share anything.
Please give an REVIEW ,it means a lot to me.Thank you.

Great job. I'm sure it'll help newbies a lot. Too bad that there is still not much in the development section to put your guide to work. Hopefully that'll come soon.

Marand55 said:
Great job. I'm sure it'll help newbies a lot. Too bad that there is still not much in the development section to put your guide to work. Hopefully that'll come soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes , you are right... there is not much in the development section ,it can be due to since its new tablet . hope it gets better.

Thanks for putting all this together... haven't read through it all yet as I think it probably covers a lot of what I know and have learnt since I joined the Android world last year, but I will bookmark it so I can point friends this way if they leave the iPhone flock.

Ruxin said:
Thanks for putting all this together... haven't read through it all yet as I think it probably covers a lot of what I know and have learnt since I joined the Android world last year, but I will bookmark it so I can point friends this way if they leave the iPhone flock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you

This is a fantastic guide not only for someone new to the p6800/p6810, but anyone new to the Android ecosystem in general. Thank you for clearing a lot up for me!

JemaKnight said:
This is a fantastic guide not only for someone new to the p6800/p6810, but anyone new to the Android ecosystem in general. Thank you for clearing a lot up for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome ;-)

Great information. I wish I had it to look at when I first started playing around with rooting my Nook Color! This is a good thread to keep handy when a real novice gets the bug. Thanks.

GUIDE UPDATED -2/05/12​"Android Terms,Slang & Definitions" added SEE post #3

Thanks for using the siggy!
And thanks again for the effort on piling things up!

billy_overheat said:
Thanks for using the siggy!
And thanks again for the effort on piling things up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome !

Thumbs Upz! This is amust read and priority post before u go to other topics.

Help
Great Post!
Please I know I am most likely in the wrong area or post, I have had a Desire HD before and been down the road of rooting and flashing roms on it, I now own a Galaxy tab 7.7 and feel as if this is all new for me again. unfortunately I am in South Africa and had bought my tablet online, I was not told it would be a Arabic region tablet. Could I please ask who to speak to or ask for help on roms, I have the build number (HTJ85B P6800JPKL4) and want to know what roms will work and what not to use on this.
Please, I know you guys have better things to worry about but your advise or help would be gladly appreciated
Thank you in advance!

evil_penguin said:
Tip #1 - As much as we all love the look of live wallpapers, they suck battery. Sticking to a static, or regular picture, will help out. Alternatively, the best option for many devices is using a true black png image. This is particularly helpful on AMOLED based screens, as color pixels use power where as black does not. Click the link to head to a black png, long press on it and save it. Then apply it as your wallpaper. If you can set it as a lockscreen wallpaper too that would be a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anybody have a link to the png? I have misplaced mine, and I miss it. There doesn't seem to be a link here anywhere. thx.

Thanks
Thanks, really helpfull covers many things I was wondering about

thx
very helpful

Sony Tablet Z Competition Entries

Below are the entries for the Tablet Z Development Contest (in random order). The subsequent posts in this thread have more details of each project including the developer's most recent information on the project. Before casting your vote, read through each of the projects in full - you can't change your vote after you've made it!
lilstevie - Open Source LK (LittleKernel) Bootloader + Recovery
Apache14 - Open Source Infrared Receiver & Transmitter Library
zacthespack - LinuxOnAndroid Project (Standard/ROM/Native)
sailnw - App for Sailors and Cruisers Using Waterproof Tablet (no link)
rayman - Tablet Multiboot Manager
anthonycr - Lightning Browser (Open Source Web browser)
bluefa1con - PAC All-In-One ROM
mamenyaka - Ubuntu Touch Porting
rydo88 - Tablet Z Smart House System

lilstevie - Open Source LK (LittleKernel) Bootloader + Recovery
What is LittleKernel?
LittleKernel is an opensource bootloader for qualcomm devices available from codeaurora.
Why LK?
TL;DR Version
LK allows running separate boot and recovery that are fully independant of eachother.
Sony use a special method of booting into recovery for their updates, this is not available when you are unlocked, and there is no button combination to enter this mode. As a result the common method to get recovery on Xperia devices has been to use an initrd that has a script to load either normal boot or recovery boot based on a button press. This is a far from ideal solution as when you update your kernel it also updates your recovery. If something goes wrong you are stuck needing a computer to reflash the kernel partition.
With the recent addition of TWRP support for the latest devices there have been advances made in this technique making recovery updatable it still requires the flashed boot image to support that method. This is less than ideal still as it reduces choice in what you want on your device, giving the decision to the dev of the rom you have flashed. This also leaves you in the position of needing your computer if a kernel update fails for any reason.
LK solves these problems by separating out boot and recovery to their own kernels with their own ramdisks like every other device, if you flash the boot kernel, recovery isn't touched and will be there for you as a failsafe in case anything goes wrong. This removes the need to have a computer near by in case of breakage occuring.
What progress has been made?
LK is operational, small bugs still need work and driver porting for lcd and notification led are underway.
Click here for the project thread

Apache14 - Open Source Infrared Receiver & Transmitter Library
I have been working on the open source library for allowing the use of the IR transmitter and receiver on the Tablet Z, At the beginning of this project I believe there was no other project looking into IR functionality in community driven roms (so this project was started from scratch).
As this project was started from almost no information about the IR device / protocol ect. there have been many stages of the development, this was split into 3 very distinct stages, please see below a lost of these stages and the progress made.
Stage 1 (Analysing communications)
This stage was mainly finding how the information was sent to the IR device and in what form. It was found that the IR device was connected to a tty serial port on the qcom main processor (ttyHSL2 in user space), from this I was able to "sniff" out the data sent and received by the application on the sony stock rom. This data was analysed and all possible commands where extracted (Get raw data, Send raw data, send specific key, get version).
Stage 2 (Create native library)
After the commands where known a library was created (in C) to enable the use of the IR blaster chip, this was a lot of trial and error as it was very timing specific (sleeps / poll ftw ). This part was surprisingly easy and i was able to get a working library that enabled learn and send command within a few days
Stage 3 (Create a application for everyone to use)
Once the library was completed to a point where it was usable, an application was created making use of the library as a JNI library. As I have little android java experience this is probably the weakest aspect of the project to date. This app went through a number of revisions and started off as 2/3 buttons for testing (this is illustrated below in the picture / video section. The xda member isimobile took one of the revisions and made improvements to the UI as well as using an SQL database to store the keys.
One aspect of the original plan that has not been explored is the robotics aspect, however this is mainly due to the amount of work required being much more than i first planned on.
Please find the links to source code (for library and app) as well as some videos and pictures to illustrate the projects timeline.
Library Src
APP Src
Early Application
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Current Application
Initial Test Video (day 1)
Initial App Test
I would like to finish by extending thanks to all at XDA and Sony who have made this competition happen and giving me this opportunity to develop a fun project.
Click here for the project thread

zacthespack - LinuxOnAndroid Project (Standard/ROM/Native)
As it stands below is the current placement with the three parts of the project:
Standard LoA - I have completed testing of all current images and everything works as it should, when running stock you must make the system partition r/w but this has all be added to my thread. In fact, this is the best device so far in terms of smoothness and actually usability over VNC.
However I have also made good progress with getting rid of VNC and using the Android frame buffer for graphics out put, so it takes more to switch between Android and Linux BUT you get a much better linux experience. I hope to release this in the coming few days once a few graphics glitch with Unity have been fixed.
LoA ROM - I have also started work on the ROM, getting my read around the ROM git structure has been the first port of call and actually getting my mods integrated into a repo so others could build is what I am working on at the moment. As it stands I have pretty much finished integrating the required code to launch and boot the images within the ROM so no need for a stand along app, just pull down the status bar and hit boot linux. Also added the settings for it all into the ROMs settings menu to make it all feel nice and one. I have plans then to integrate Linux and Android more, with the final result being a free version of everything Ubuntu edge can do but on hardware that you can actually buy
Native Linux - Only just started on this now as personal I prefer the other two parts of the project as I like to still have android at my finger tips when needed
So in all while I may have not completed as much as other projects I do think my project has a lot more to do and is certainly not something I will be stopping any time soon. Users already have access the standard LoA and I have started to see more Tablet Z popping up as installing the app, we also hope to push a 'alpha' of the ROM to the tablet Z very soon once the git is all sorted so people could integrate LoA into other base ROMs if they so please.
Click here for the project thread

sailnw - App for Sailors and Cruisers Using Waterproof Tablet
As I mentioned in the contest entry, the app I am working on is for active sailors and cruisers which would utilize Xperia Z's waterproof features and excellent form factor for use in salt water environments under way. At this stage I am collecting input from active sailors and cruisers regarding features and design of the app. Planning to have app flow and some screen designs in September. Also actively looking for project participants on the development side.
No forum thread is available for this entry.

rayman - Tablet Multiboot Manager
Goal: Create a multiboot solution for the Tablet Z.
The goal consists of two parts:
1) Ability to dynamically boot images without flashing them
2) A solution for picking the boot image to run.
Step 1 was completed within the first week after receiving the tablet,
and sources are available on my github.
Step 2 was much more complex. I first evaluated the solutions
currently available, primarily kexecboot(.org), MultiRom (TWRP-based
for N7) and petitboot. Common to all those solutions is that they are
overcomplicated. Some automatically scan for things that looks like
roms and some requires special made update.zip's. On top of that most
solutions are less than good looking.
With that in mind, I set out to create something extremely simplistic - the result is Hydra.
There are some minor features missing before it's ready for release, but the GUI and boot setup works.
Features:
* Auto-aligning grid of large, good looking icons for selecting image - currently a maximum of 10 images.
* Flashy buttons automatically created based on a target-specific image
* Optimized graphics display to ensure smooth rendering
* Automatically append required commandline arguments
* Read boot configuration from a simple boot.ini format - supports boot.img's and raw kernel + ramdisk + cmdline setup.
* Auto-boot a default image after a configurable timeout
Planned Features:
* Per-boot.img runtime settings - planned but that's for version 2.0
* Scrollable grid - allowing for more than 10 images.
* Automatically locate boot.ini's in a boot subdir on all storage units that are mountable. This means autodetecting available images on microsd or usb harddisk.
Some Images:
Click here for the project thread

anthonycr - Lightning Browser (Open Source Web browser)
I've kept the source code updated on github (https://github.com/anthonycr/Lightning-Browser). A direct download to the latest beta is here (https://github.com/anthonycr/Lightni...s.apk?raw=true), and a description can be found on the main project page.
What I've accomplished:
- added a History page
- added better bookmark layout (fixed bug in full-screen mode)
- better full screen URL handling
- added some more animations
- incognito mode (does not record URLs visited or searched, and runs without cookies for extra protection)
- notify user of SSL certificate errors
- popup tabs now work
- fixed bug where certain sites wouldn't display until touched
- better full-screen video (flash is still partially broken… it’s Adobe's problem)
- memory management
- HTTP authentication
- multiple search engines
- ability to change download location
- text re-flow
- ability to import bookmarks from either the stock browser or Chrome if you are signed in
- text size
Current Screenshots
I haven't had much feedback in the Tablet Z forum, so I've mostly been working off the feedback I've been receiving in my main thread in the application forum. It's a lot more lively there.
Thanks! I've had wonderful time developing with the Xperia Tablet Z.
Click here for the project thread

bluefa1con - PAC All-In-One ROM
Information about this project is available in this PDF document: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20579840/PAC/PACmanTabletZ.pdf
Click here for the project thread

mamenyaka - Ubuntu Touch Porting
I am mamenyaka from XDA. My project is about porting Ubuntu Touch to the Tablet Z.
My thread is located here, and you can also check out the Ubuntu wiki page of the device.
Ubuntu Touch is running in a separated container on top of an Android kernel, so it is made out of two images: the device image and the ubuntu image.
The ubuntu image is provided by ubuntu in the form of a .zip file.
The device image is built by me, and it is based on CM.
To install Ubuntu Touch, you just need to flash the two .zips in recovery.
The journey
The first step was to build the device image and remove unnecessary Android components. Some hacks were needed, because some components relied on external parts of CM that were excluded from Ubuntu Touch and some proprietary blobs were missing too. And there were some modifications needed by Ubuntu Touch, documented in their porting guide.
After successfully building the image, it turned out that WiFi and the Camera didn't work.
The WiFi needed some extra binaries and the kernel module itself needed to be loaded manually at init (insmod). But the WiFi is now working, and that is the most important part. Without it no development can be done with the Ubuntu SDK, because it downloads and installs a lot of packages on the device that are necessary to deploy your QT/QML apps.
The camera was fixed partially by acquiring the right blobs, but the Camera app itself is buggy, I think. Maybe it will be fixed in future releases.
All my work can be found and reproduced by using my github repos (the ones for Sony) and by following the porting guide.
The future
As Ubuntu Touch is making the switch from being "just another Android shell":
Instead of booting into android and firing up the Ubuntu system after
android has booted, the new images now boot into Ubuntu and initialize
android inside an LXC container during boot.
the development will continue. Sadly, from 07-12 until now there has been no new porting guide, so the ports do not work with the new image (yet) and the development of the old format has stopped. Until then I am releasing updated images and experimenting with dual boot. In the xda thread I wrote a little tutorial on how to do dual booting with Ubuntu Touch and CM based Android ROMs, but it's not the real thing, but it works without the need of a PC (no need to flash boot.img via fastboot).
Click here for the project thread
Click here to make your vote in the contest - the password is 'xdasonycontest852'

rydo88 - Tablet Z Smart House System
No response received asking for project update. Information below taken from project thread:
As for the hint, I’m going to start with two of them, as I didn’t add one last week. This project originally began as part of this prescient home and then I decided I could adapt part of it to be more fun than practical.
1. A great place to set down one’s drink.
2. Tabletop gaming.
What I’m calling the proof of concept project was put together while moving. It starts with a secret… I’m a bathroom reader. Okay, so maybe that’s not a huge secret (books and magazines strewn around the bathroom is a bit of a giveaway), but it’s not exactly a polite conversation topic. It was conceived while describing the project to a friend who pointed out that he doesn’t cook, but there was an alternate use he found noteworthy (i.e. reading the royal reports on the porcelain throne). Henceforth this will just be described as the book preparation device (or BPD to save some typing). The materials needed are superglue, a sharp knife (preferably something like an Exacto), an NFC tag, and a magazine that you don’t want to read anymore. Use the superglue to laminate a block of pages together, either the whole magazine or just a section large enough to house the NFC tag. The one I did was about a 3 inch square through the whole magazine, excluding the cover. This also left the edges loose, providing a more authentic magazine look, rather than a big mess of superglue. Once this is set and dried, outline the NFC tag on the block for the pattern to cut. Cut and remove layers until you’ve made a cavity large enough for the tag to fit. Snugness is a personal preference, I left mine so that the tag was removable, but a tight fit and some glue could make this more permanent. Sony’s native Smarttag software works well for this application. Just customize the options so that the tag (blue in this case) triggers the tablet to open Play Books. A nice feature of Sony’s application is that there are ‘end’ actions, so a second contact with the tag causes a second set of actions to occur. I set this option to return to the home screen and read the time aloud (so that I know how late I am to wherever I’m headed). Once this is set up, leave the magazine near your reading chair. Place the tablet on the BPD as you sit down and presto! Your book is opened, as if by magic. When you’re done reading, set the tablet down again, stand, stretch, and poof! Your tablet has closed the book, told you how long you were lost in it, and is ready to travel to the next project.
I’ll add some pictures and a video here before too long. Maybe even a witty/catchy acronym to rename the project.
Concept:
To utilize NFC and other features of the Tablet Z in order to produce a system which causes the tablet to perform actions in a semi-predictive matter.
Methodology:
I intend to modify items to produce convenient and unobtrusive ways of integrating NFC tags. This will provide the infrastructure for the system. On the device, software will be used to carry out instructions specific to the tag and other variables.
To put my sciencey talk into a more tangible example, take for instance the kitchen. What function would be handy for a tablet to perform by itself? The most obvious answer to me, is for it to open up a recipe. In order to accomplish this, I intend to create a stand with an integrated NFC tag, which would trigger the tablet to open a recipe app. Depending on the software side (which I plan on mostly using existing apps, as I'm not much of a coder), I would ideally have the system cross reference a menu that's been planned out (i.e. that you had planned for meatloaf on Monday night, the tablet would open directly to a meatloaf recipe). As a starting point, it will likely open to a random recipe. For anyone following along at home, the action should be easily modified on the software side. Perhaps some people prefer to catch up with HBO or listen to some Sinatra while cooking. The idea is in the same vein as the whole home-of-the-future concept.
This concept will be extrapolated to several rooms.Other planned functionality would be to automatically turn on the TV in the living room, play music in the den, set alarms in the bedroom, and perhaps a few other tricks along the way.
Before I wrap this post up, I'd like to say thanks to XDA and Sony for holding this competition and giving me the opportunity to create this project. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who takes the time to follow the projects in this contest and hope that everyone has a bit of fun.
Click here for the project thread

custom ROM that is ultra ultra minimal... is it possible?

I am a noob to rooting, and flashing custom roms. However, I'm very computer literate.
I bought the Xperia X compact because it appeared flashing roms would be very possible.
I have a simply idea, I want to make a rom that is so ultra minimal many of you might think I'm crazy.
All I want it a phone with a black screen, one icon of each: phone, contacts, txt, calculator.
that is it. I don't want internet, I don't want GPS.. nothing. I don't want any trace of any company on my phone.
Think of it this way, I want a blank slate, like a new fresh computer, and I want to install the OS of my choice, with only the things I want. I can't seem to find anything like this(it may exist, but my searching of the web returns nothing close) Can someone please help me with this?
Thanks in advance.
Mike

matridium said:
I am a noob to rooting, and flashing custom roms. However, I'm very computer literate.
I bought the Xperia X compact because it appeared flashing roms would be very possible.
I have a simply idea, I want to make a rom that is so ultra minimal many of you might think I'm crazy.
All I want it a phone with a black screen, one icon of each: phone, contacts, txt, calculator.
that is it. I don't want internet, I don't want GPS.. nothing. I don't want any trace of any company on my phone.
Think of it this way, I want a blank slate, like a new fresh computer, and I want to install the OS of my choice, with only the things I want. I can't seem to find anything like this(it may exist, but my searching of the web returns nothing close) Can someone please help me with this?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install any OS you want, root, and delete system folders of whatever you don't want. Then, you can end up with a black screen and 4 apps and nothing else. However, there will never be 'no trace of any company' unless you build your own components and design your own os. Even the 4 apps you want are developed and installed by the os maker, and they run how they want tjem to, (including collecting data, etc). Also, removing apps is removing a small part of the system that runs the phone. There is the kernel, system processes, and more that are required to use the phone at all, (or even turn it on), and all of these things are designed to operate a certain way, and contain many traces of various companies. You can't remove those things.
But, if what you want is the appearance of such a thing, you can easily attain that.

levone1 said:
install any OS you want, root, and delete system folders of whatever you don't want. Then, you can end up with a black screen and 4 apps and nothing else. However, there will never be 'no trace of any company' unless you build your own components and design your own os. Even the 4 apps you want are developed and installed by the os maker, and they run how they want tjem to, (including collecting data, etc). Also, removing apps is removing a small part of the system that runs the phone. There is the kernel, system processes, and more that are required to use the phone at all, (or even turn it on), and all of these things are designed to operate a certain way, and contain many traces of various companies. You can't remove those things.
But, if what you want is the appearance of such a thing, you can easily attain that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply,
I guess, what I'm asking, (maybe your answered this) is it possible to install the OS, and not install drivers to run things like WIFI, GPS. I simply have no use for them. I currently turn them off on my X compact. I can get two solid days without charging my phone with just these two things turned off. Second, I use nothing on the phone, but placing calls, occasional TXT, and simple calculations. IMO there's absolutely no reason to have anything else on a phone. so in your reply you say install the OS I want, root it, and delete anything I want. So, since I don't know much about this and I'm still learning, what are the most one can delete from the system and still have a functioning phone? Does Sony publish a list what's on the Mother board, and what drivers run them? If there is it would be a great starting point for me to get an idea of what can absolutely not be deleted.
Thanks again!

matridium said:
Thanks for the reply,
I guess, what I'm asking, (maybe your answered this) is it possible to install the OS, and not install drivers to run things like WIFI, GPS. I simply have no use for them. I currently turn them off on my X compact. I can get two solid days without charging my phone with just these two things turned off. Second, I use nothing on the phone, but placing calls, occasional TXT, and simple calculations. IMO there's absolutely no reason to have anything else on a phone. so in your reply you say install the OS I want, root it, and delete anything I want. So, since I don't know much about this and I'm still learning, what are the most one can delete from the system and still have a functioning phone? Does Sony publish a list what's on the Mother board, and what drivers run them? If there is it would be a great starting point for me to get an idea of what can absolutely not be deleted.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be a list compiled somewhere, but I can't say I know enough about it to give you direction. I think it would definitely be a chore to figure out, since modern roms can have over 100 system apps installed, (between /system/app and /system/priv-app), plus all of the other stuff. As far as Sony publishing info, they have an 'open' program for developers, but it's not entirely open source. You can find all of the sources they do make available on Sony developer site.
Personally, I usually just use the built-in app disabler and disable anything I don't want, and it hides the icon. Some things you can't officially disable, but you can use a third-party app, or delete app folders, but you want to be careful and make a backup. Maybe just move folders to a temp folder somewhere, in recovery file manager, and see if it reboots. Then, if not, you can go back to recovery and put it back...

levone1 said:
May be a list compiled somewhere, but I can't say I know enough about it to give you direction. I think it would definitely be a chore to figure out, since modern roms can have over 100 system apps installed, (between /system/app and /system/priv-app), plus all of the other stuff. As far as Sony publishing info, they have an 'open' program for developers, but it's not entirely open source. You can find all of the sources they do make available on Sony developer site.
Personally, I usually just use the built-in app disabler and disable anything I don't want, and it hides the icon. Some things you can't officially disable, but you can use a third-party app, or delete app folders, but you want to be careful and make a backup. Maybe just move folders to a temp folder somewhere, in recovery file manager, and see if it reboots. Then, if not, you can go back to recovery and put it back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that Sony has their open environment for developers. I like that they do this, its a good thing. I think there is a forum on their, I might be able to get some answers. I thought that on XDA, someone would actually know what you can and can't delete since it appears to me, making a custom rom would require deleting and removing things or adding things. Someone probably knows... From my perspective, I have found that most things that reference custom ROMs (here on XDA, or YouTube) seem to revolve around, either tricking out a phone, or "I did it! because I can"... "this does not work, I'm going to figure this out" and all of that is very cool. but I have not seen much in regards to hacks that make phones more useful, like a tool instead of the toys they are.
when I find out anything from Sony or on my own about doing what I propose, I will post back here. If anyone has any ideas or resources just let me know.
Thanks!

I think you could probably do better with some classic phone (not smartphone) with requirements like this.

A Sonim XP5 would come closest to fitting your requirements right out of the box. You start hacking on a smartphone too much and you'll end up with a paper weight.

The sonim xp5 looks promising.
I ordered a used from ebay I'm going to give it a try.
I still think phones should be sold with an option to Install anything you want just like computers. In fact the Industry would be even better if they followed what computers did. Allow people to purchase their own Mother boards, enclosures, batteries, and components, and let users build their own phones. just think it would a much better market.
Thanks for the help

got the XP5 but its not what I want either
The XP5 is ok.... If I want to survive a nuclear holocaust! That thing is thick as brick. Its a neat idea, but a little to limited.
OK, so I'm thinking has anyone installed a straight Linux OS on the Compact.
any thoughts?

matridium said:
The XP5 is ok.... If I want to survive a nuclear holocaust! That thing is thick as brick. Its a neat idea, but a little to limited.
OK, so I'm thinking has anyone installed a straight Linux OS on the Compact.
any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. Linux deploy works great. I had Ubuntu and Kali running smoothly. Look up a tutorial, but know that there are a few ways to do it. I used boot-from-sdcard method . Basically partition sdcard, using 8gb or so of ext4 for Linux, then open Linux deploy app, and set preferences for environment, then install os, (takes a while and you need a strong internet connection), then use vnc app to connect to the Linux desktop. Almost everything works well, but sound is tricky. I got it partially working with media server app. Also, the file system is set up slightly different than on a Linux computer, so i had a little trouble with apktool... Another nice thing about it is that you can easily mount your android storage to the Linux desktop in terminal, and the Linux os runs basically as an app, so you can just go back and forth on the fly, and transfer files easily.

:good:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

E-ink GPS topographic’s map

Have you ever dreamed about be able to carry with you a device that will not leave you in the middle of nowhere by running out of battery, depriving you of usefull data at the worst moment, when you needed it ?!
Few years ago i was very convinced of the powerful ability of the E-ink screen’s technologies to save the précious energy of lithium’s batterys. But i was disapointed how theses screens where used for.. Most of the time, they were only used for e-book reader.. and that’s all.
That’s why i’m here today, to share with you my work and research about the modding and hacking of the Nook Simple Touch of Barnes & Nobles.
Actually it's more like a mash up of all the existing work made by the community of XDA and paraglider.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
All is available here : https://ludovic.cool/?p=37
Some help would be cool to improve the GPS interaction with the system, i found this project but don't know how to do that : https://github.com/kconger/android-serial-gps-driver

Reserved.

Fascinating! This is not something I would ever do but I read the whole thing with interest. A great guide. Thanks for sharing yet another surprising adaptation of my favorite device

nmyshkin said:
Fascinating! This is not something I would ever do but I read the whole thing with interest. A great guide. Thanks for sharing yet another surprising adaptation of my favorite device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank's you
One of my last "issue" is to improve the GPS software solution (actually UsbGps4Droid) by a native serial driver like this :
* https://github.com/kostya740/gps-glonass-android-driver
* https://github.com/kconger/android-serial-gps-driver
Help would be appreciate.

@nmyshkin i'm really impress by your work on the NST !
I just follow the process to setup the modded settings.apk and the NTGAppsAttack.
I'm looking to "enable GPS" function in Android. i'm a little bit stuck here.
In Settings.apk > Security > Location is well activated.
But apps with GPS func still claim gps is not enable in settings.
Also Gmaps is not starting, is just showing the root acces allowed pop-in but i think it's another problem.
I'm pretty sure my installation of https://github.com/dipcore/gps-glonass-android-driver is ok so .. i'm a little bit lost.

liptonthe said:
@nmyshkin i'm really impress by your work on the NST !
I just follow the process to setup the modded settings.apk and the NTGAppsAttack.
I'm looking to "enable GPS" function in Android. i'm a little bit stuck here.
In Settings.apk > Security > Location is well activated.
But apps with GPS func still claim gps is not enable in settings.
Also Gmaps is not starting, is just showing the root acces allowed pop-in but i think it's another problem.
I'm pretty sure my installation of https://github.com/dipcore/gps-glonass-android-driver is ok so .. i'm a little bit lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I need to get back to that updating GApps post. It seems at this time that just about everything has died but I did think network location was still working the last time I checked. I looked at my NST running 1.2.1 and GMaps there shows a location "circle" near my house and gives an accuracy rating, so I think it is still functioning.
What you describe about the root access popup sounds like the toggle app I wrote for turning GMaps on and off since it runs in the background a lot otherwise. But you still need the actual Maps app installed for that app to work. Did you by any chance forget to install the actual Maps app?
The Settings app pushes a "1" value into settings.db for network location via gps & wifi, whether they exist or not if it sees the Network Location app. Other apps should see this, but it's hard to know what is happening inside since much of the Android 2.1 OS in the NST has been removed by B&N and the GApps installation is now so shaky. I wish I had better information for you but your detailed knowledge exceeds mine, I'm sure. I'm waiting for my 1.2.2 NST to charge up so I can check Network Location there and see if it is still working.
In the meantime, if you could give me an example of an apk that attempts to use network location and will still run on the NST, I can give it a try to see what happens on my devices.

I wish I had better information for you but your detailed knowledge exceeds mine, I'm sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like this was the truth but i'm really quite a noob about deep android system. also i'm very news in the NST world.
Btw, when i try to install "Maps.apk" from the NewGApps.zip :
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb install Maps.apk
Maps.apk: 1 file pushed. 0.8 MB/s (7025142 bytes in 8.889s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/Maps.apk
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION]
rm failed for -f, Read-only file system
The Gmaps who not run and just show the pop-in is the "Google_Maps_1.apk"
I have attached the apps i use who require location below.

liptonthe said:
I would like this was the truth but i'm really quite a noob about deep android system. also i'm very news in the NST world.
Btw, when i try to install "Maps.apk" from the NewGApps.zip :
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb install Maps.apk
Maps.apk: 1 file pushed. 0.8 MB/s (7025142 bytes in 8.889s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/Maps.apk
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION]
rm failed for -f, Read-only file system
The Gmaps who not run and just show the pop-in is the "Google_Maps_1.apk"
I have attached the apps i use who require location below.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that Network Location is still working on my 1.2.2 NST. However, Network Location is not the same thing as a GPS radio, and I think that is what the two apps you attached in your previous post are looking for (one says so explicitly). So without the fallback ability to get location data from an NLP app, they will not be able to run. That's the beauty of GMaps. It can use WiFi NLP if that's all that is available. There are no stand-alone NLP apps for Android 2.1, as far as I know. The earliest one I am aware of is for Android 4.x, and that's by Mozilla. There might be others.
As for Maps refusing to install, I am puzzled. I downloaded the zip to see if perhaps the file inside was corrupted, but I had no problems with it. It is supposed to be a system app. Perhaps if you just place it into /system/app, set the permissions as rw-r-r and reboot, it will then work.
Edit: yes, on looking at your adb install I see it rejected the procedure because the system was read-only. You would have to mount the system as r/w before installing. It might be easier just to use a root-enabled file manager and "install" as I described above.

nmyshkin said:
I can confirm that Network Location is still working on my 1.2.2 NST. However, Network Location is not the same thing as a GPS radio, and I think that is what the two apps you attached in your previous post are looking for (one says so explicitly). So without the fallback ability to get location data from an NLP app, they will not be able to run. That's the beauty of GMaps. It can use WiFi NLP if that's all that is available. There are no stand-alone NLP apps for Android 2.1, as far as I know. The earliest one I am aware of is for Android 4.x, and that's by Mozilla. There might be others.
As for Maps refusing to install, I am puzzled. I downloaded the zip to see if perhaps the file inside was corrupted, but I had no problems with it. It is supposed to be a system app. Perhaps if you just place it into /system/app, set the permissions as rw-r-r and reboot, it will then work.
Edit: yes, on looking at your adb install I see it rejected the procedure because the system was read-only. You would have to mount the system as r/w before installing. It might be easier just to use a root-enabled file manager and "install" as I described above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank's you very much for your time, I'm actually restoring to a previous state i think i have miss something.
I'm disapointed about the Location service who doesn't include GPS radio.
The thing i doesn't underdstand is why i'm not able to ask to te system to exploit the GPS serial driver i setup.
I came from Gnu/Linux, so for me there is the hardware,kernel,driver, the software who exploit the device throught the driver.
I guess the Android provider wrap the location and drivers interaction to the apps.
I should make more research about it..

liptonthe said:
Thank's you very much for your time, I'm actually restoring to a previous state i think i have miss something.
I'm disapointed about the Location service who doesn't include GPS radio.
The thing i doesn't underdstand is why i'm not able to ask to te system to exploit the GPS serial driver i setup.
I came from Gnu/Linux, so for me there is the hardware,kernel,driver, the software who exploit the device throught the driver.
I guess the Android provider wrap the location and drivers interaction to the apps.
I should make more research about it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what it is worth, there is no entry in settings.db for GPS radio on the NST. Whether there is one in other devices, I have not checked yet. If it's just a matter of telling settings.db that the radio hardware which you added is "on" so that apps which inquire will find out, it should be easy enough to add an entry to the database. Then you would need a way to push a "1" or a "0" as is needed.
I'm guessing that to get your implementation of the GPS to work on the device you bypassed this artifact. There is probably also a page in the original NST Settings which has a place for turning on the "cell radio". In fact I know there is, but I don't remember how to get there any longer. I don't know whether that's sufficient or whether there is another entry that is specific to GPS. Either way, there might be more info the system wants before it can respond to queries from apps and tell them there is actually a real piece of hardware which is on, since the original system lacked that.

I was trying to get a GPS app to work on my Glow3.
I got the kernel and ntxconfig modified to use an unused UART.
I didn't use a mock location provider or an actual LocationProvider, I just did the NMEA in the app.
It worked fine, but the stupid pint-sized GPS receiver used one of those stupid toggling ground contacts for power on/off.
You could never get the thing to reliably turn on, so I got bored and the project subsided.

Renate NST said:
I was trying to get a GPS app to work on my Glow3.
I got the kernel and ntxconfig modified to use an unused UART.
I didn't use a mock location provider or an actual LocationProvider, I just did the NMEA in the app.
It worked fine, but the stupid pint-sized GPS receiver used one of those stupid toggling ground contacts for power on/off.
You could never get the thing to reliably turn on, so I got bored and the project subsided.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe i have already read your post, it is that ? : https://forum.xda-developers.com/nook-touch/general/gps-nook-t4021145
the toggling is GPIO pin controlled with low / high state ?
Personnaly i use this little circuit about GPIO pin :
Have GPS provider will allowing the use of already well developped map software with all the feature.
That's my only wish actually...
If i have well underdanded to permit this a backport from another device, making a new rom with the serial GPS driver included and the whole signed correctly. i'm right ?!

liptonthe said:
I believe i have already read your post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's the one.
Actually, my GPS came with a board with regulator and pushbutton from SparkFun and it was still balky.
It's been discontinued since then.
I've never done the deep dive into LocationProvider to see how to make it work for real.
It seems that everybody just hacks into mock location providers, which is ugly.

Renate NST said:
Yes, that's the one.
Actually, my GPS came with a board with regulator and pushbutton from SparkFun and it was still balky.
It's been discontinued since then.
I've never done the deep dive into LocationProvider to see how to make it work for real.
It seems that everybody just hacks into mock location providers, which is ugly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not really cool, i guess you can find a low cost chinese gps (BN-180) for few dollars, it will work well too.
I'm totally agree with that, mock location is pretty ugly.
To be honest i have not your experience and knowledge on the Nook, but also on android itself i guess..
So i take this occasion to ask you if you can spend a bit of time to see how it look.

This might not be very helpful but since onboard chip inside NST does not support GPS (or to my sadness neither FM radio which would be cool and I presume less power hungry when used with Renate USB sound mod then using online WiFi radio) let's turn the table and use what is already there to our advantage. Aside GPS there is something called WiFi geolocation. Why am I mentioning this? Well if that can be enabled to be used on maps of your choice and work from NST that would be awesome and sufficient for majority of users. True it will not be as helpful on mountain hiking trip there you could use it only as a ordinary map augmented with old trusty brain Mk.1 processor but its better then nothing at all. Someone wanted and managed to create screensaver for this device as transparent screen so that it shows the page where are you stopped reading. That would be good thing to be added in implementing any map solution for NST. Let's be reasonable refresh time on device is to long for it to be used as car navigation device. I have yet to try Fastmode but I would not put my money on that will change something. Even on phones GPS can be sluggish (seen that) and I believe that processing power or the way the data are feed to processor is slowing thing to a crawl. For crawling on the ground that is good enough though. If you use WiFi geolocation and that works fine then you can try to sort issues with GPS. One thing at the time is best approach in my humble opinion. There are several WiFi geolocation services and few of them are open. Still we must have in mind that using WiFi geolocation have raised some privacy issues to the point that one of the largest proponents of its use Mozilla foundation is on a path of abandoning it. Therefore who knows for how long WiFi geolocation will be available. Just my two bits thoughts on this topic.