I have just bought the gTablet and am salivating at the new features the custom ROMS offer (market, no tap n crap etc)
But what are the risks?
Is there a recovery path to restore the stock rom if things don't work?
Thanks
Drew
mmsood99 said:
Is there a recovery path to restore the stock rom if things don't work?
Thanks
Drew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this is it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842000
The risks are:
1. You will not return it back to the store
2. You will not sell it
3. You will not toss it out the window
4. You will not get as much sleep, because you will be too busy modding it
5. You will have to apologize to your better half for less time spent with them
6. You will enjoy it more
etc... You get the drift....
I've decided to just go with the latest factory update (3588) and the generic enhancement pack. After loading Launcher Pro and assigning it as my home (and fixing the market and loading a bunch more apps), the tablet is fast, stable, and I'd never know that TapNTap was even on the thing. Now when Viewsonic sends an OTA Honeycomb update (Ha!) I will be able to download it.
scrinch said:
I've decided to just go with the latest factory update (3588) and the generic enhancement pack. After loading Launcher Pro and assigning it as my home (and fixing the market and loading a bunch more apps), the tablet is fast, stable, and I'd never know that TapNTap was even on the thing. Now when Viewsonic sends an OTA Honeycomb update (Ha!) I will be able to download it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain how you fixed the market?
Thanks
Drew
scrinch said:
I've decided to just go with the latest factory update (3588) and the generic enhancement pack. After loading Launcher Pro and assigning it as my home (and fixing the market and loading a bunch more apps), the tablet is fast, stable, and I'd never know that TapNTap was even on the thing. Now when Viewsonic sends an OTA Honeycomb update (Ha!) I will be able to download it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I had the enhancement pack installed I couldn't get OTA updates.
After the latest update I switched from the enhancement pack to the tnt lite rom.
Since the rom had the update and more already.
mmsood99 said:
Can you explain how you fixed the market?
Thanks
Drew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=865245
You try this?
mmsood99 said:
I have just bought the gTablet and am salivating at the new features the custom ROMS offer (market, no tap n crap etc)
But what are the risks?
Is there a recovery path to restore the stock rom if things don't work?
Thanks
Drew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go through any number of threads, you'll see probably the most troublesome issues are looping reboots, magic number errors and semi-bricking, I say semi because people have reported that the Gtablet is unbrickable with some work.
Personally, I also wanted to stay official but I recently moved to TnT lite 4.2.x out of wanting the updated market and not wanting to deal with multiple flashes and I've been very, very happy. So far the supplemental updates have been flawless.
There's a recovery path and I guess it generally works, but oy veh - it's a chore when you have the Tablet set up perfectly and then have it go down for any reason. With any 're-do' or switch from one ROM to another, you have to wipe your programs and settings. Some people do it without wiping, but in general that's a bad idea. So really, along with the few very pesky risks, the only other issue with venturing into ROMs is having to wipe and setup again if one gives unresolvable issues. If the typical path doesn't work, that's when you'll have to venture into APX mode and NVflash territory - that's where I dread and the reason I didn't want to get into alternative ROMs myself.
It takes a bit to put your trust into a ROM (and more so, it's author/s). So far, I have no issues at all with TnT Lite 4.2. I just went to 4.2.4. I don't ever update right away....just like I do with official updates, I let a day or 2 pass so any issues can come into the light.
At this point, I'm going to be waiting for a Honeycomb ROM, whether official or otherwise. TnT Lite 4.2.4 is perfecto so far for what I want my tablet to be/do currently, so I highly recommend it.
I'd start with TnT lite first (since I can say I have never had a problem with installing it or with it installed), if you don't like it then try the others, that is of course only if you get that undeniable urge to move forward (and you likely will).
Good Luck!
I would have to say, after flashing my gtablet at least 30 times - to try out new roms as well as make some tutorial videos, that there are so many advantages to doing so. Even nvflash and apx drivers to restore to stock is not that difficult if you are willing to take the time to get the neccessary files and read through the instructions a few times. Although I have gotten a few reboot loops (mostly through things I did wrong in my attempt to try new things and not following instructions), there is nothing that I haven't been able to recover from. The gtablet hardware is pretty darned good, and the custom roms that people here have posted are great and sooooo much better than running stock that it is night and day. I highly advise anyone who is wanting to have the best experience out of their gtablet to take the time to read up and then take the plunge - if you really mess up, there is plenty of help here on xda.
Yes, I definitely mean “wonderful” and “experts.” It is astonishing how much time, effort, and expertise the people who write the ROMs, etc., do for others, just to help us enjoy our cellphones. So, it is with no disrespect that I offer these comments on the instructions the experts give to us noobies to help us try to make our phones work better when they post “complete” instructions about how go to about this.
#1 – Odin.
There’s lots of advice to get Odin, but there are lots of Odin versions out there. Usually (generally in the computer world) what works when there’s a recommendation to get a program is to find the latest version. Even if a forum posting has a link to get a program, we figure that was the latest version available when the post was made and it still makes sense to get the currently latest version. That doesn’t work here. The latest Odin version I found was Odin 4.28. 4.28 totally fails to recognize my Samsung Droid Charge. But, if I use the ones referenced in the postings here (e.g. Odin3 v1.85) it recognizes my phone immediately. I understand the feeling that if we’re noobies we should just follow the directions exactly as written, but a little footnote about how this is different than everything else with computers would help.
I’m sure it isn’t true, but Odin seems to come from a mystical cloud location without any existence in our 3 dimensional universe. So, there seems to be no home website to explain that the latest version shouldn’t necessarily be used by everybody. And, there seems to be nobody on the forum who takes credit for upgrading Odin. Very mysterious.
Also – there’s at least three ways I’ve seen adamantly expressed as the proper way to connect a phone to Odin. #1 – simply attach the phone to the computer in the usual “download” mode, and Odin will find it.
#2 – Take out the phone battery for 5 seconds, replace it, then boot into recovery mode by holding down the up-volume, power, and home keys until “Samsung” flashes twice.
#3 – Take out the battery and don’t return it. Plug the phone into the computer, booting into recovery mode like #2.
As far as I can tell, #2 and #3 were needed for prior versions of Odin. Still, we noobies do Google this process, and it’s scary getting these conflicting directions about how to proceed. So, since you are obviously trying to make things less scary and confusing for us, you could mention this too.
Part of the problem is that there are various “Here’s how to replace your stock ROM with a better one” postings. Maybe each of them works perfectly, and there are many paths to enlightenment. Still, it’s worrisome for a noobie to try to figure out which of these paths to bet our phone on. (Of course, it’s also difficult for people trying to actually achieve spiritual enlightenment to decide on a path, so maybe this confusion is just an inevitable part of human experience.)
(cont. below)
#2 – CWM – Clock Work Mod.
I’m still confused about the need and timing of this one. Some sources say it’s entirely optional, just allowing other cool stuff done later. Others seem to say it’s important to install (flash through Odin) this before installing the new ROM. And, then there seem to be some ROMs that Odin can flash that do it all at the same time. And, then, there’s the issue of what order things are to be done in. If we just use Odin to flash a new Gingerbread ROM, can we, or should we, use Odin to flash in CWM?
As a noobie, I’m inclined to the “the less I mess with, the less chance I have of screwing everything up.” So, I think I’d like to skip the CWM while installing my new ROM, and wait to use CWM until I find some additional cool feature I can’t add without it.
#3 – ROM’s.
Where’s Consumer Reports when we need them? There are apparently various ROM’s we could use to improve our phones (e.g. Samsung Droid Charge). They are listed with somewhat cryptic explanations. Those explanations are probably perfectly explanatory for experts, but as a Noobie I don’t get a clear sense of direction from reading them. For example, Android 2.2 ROM’s (Froyo) are still listed, along with 2.3 (Gingerbread). Why would anybody want 2.2 if 2.3 is available? I assume there’s some reason I should be considering, but have no idea what it is. Among the 2.3’s, there’s also the “bloated” vs. “debloated” versions. Many of the unremovable (until rooted) stock apps seem to be both useless and resource drainers. But, I don’t know if I’m ready to give up all of them. And, the “debloated” versions are written by programmers, not people who want to devote their lives to writing up detailed commentaries about what is, and is not, debloated and why. Is there any reason not to just keep all the stock apps, and freeze or uninstall them with Titanium Backup later, as I identify the ones I do not want?
I feel anxious when I read somebody’s post about their newly released ROM, with lots of compliments, then comments that some feature now isn’t working. It’s hard enough to get answers about how to deal with the stock ROM.
I’m also confused about the difference between the “kernal” and the “ROM”. My impression is that “kernal” is which version of Android we use. “ROM” is broader, including extra’s like CDM and CDW, and Voodoo, etc. Or, not?
Part of the problem, obviously, is that the ROM writers have to do a different version for every [email protected]#$%^&*! phone that is made. Apparently even with the Samsung Galaxy family, there are enough differences that the ROM’s are customized for each one. (My prior phone was a Vibrant.) I am grateful that we have choices, and that these ROM’s are available, at all, but it would help to get a little more commentary (i.e. recommendations) about which ones are best for those of us just wanting a better ROM.
#4 – Voodoo. This is like the other issues. It seems like a great thing, to make the file system more efficient and do things like improve the sound system. But, it’s also confusing about when/if to install it in relation to the general ROM update.
So, maybe one of the wonderful experts will clarify these things here, or tweak their general instructions, for the benefit of noobies. Regardless, I again express my appreciation for all they’ve done for us.
There's a whole lot of "it depends" in this.
#1 - Odin may be up to 4.28, but Odin3 is newer than Odin. That's pretty self explanatory on its own.
#2 - You need CWM. Period. But, if you are flashing a full Odin ROM, it already comes with it, so you won't have to go into it unless you want to flash a theme or a new kernel. If you are installing a CWM ROM image, you need to flash CWM first.
#3 - Froyo (2.2) is still the only offical release for this phone. Gingerbread (2.3) is coming, but it's still in beta, and not officially released. The only GB releases we have are leaked and are not official final builds, therefore, they are not guaranteed to be of the quality or stability of Froyo, and, more importantly for us, there is no source available for the GB releases yet, so we don't have a lot of the cool tweaks available. So, it really does depend on what you are after.
#4 - All the current ROMs pretty much support it out of the box. If you are going with a stock ROM instead, you need a Voodoo enabled kernel to activate it. If you're ever in doubt of whether you have it and if it's enabled, install Voodoo Control and look at the lagfix section of the app.
I built a web page that has compiled all of the software you need to root, kernel update, ROM, and recover your Droid Charge with direct links to all of the software in one place.
http://www.toms-world.org/android
Plus it comes with very detailed instructions on how to do any one the activities mentioned above.
For those experts who do know how to do all of this, I'd like to see some collaboration and opinions on my directions. I'm only one person so I can't think of everything that could be added as far as a tutorial.
My idea is that a lot of us that know how to do this stuff should start a place where people can find the information they need for the Droid Charge all in one place without having to go from thread to thread, page to page, etc. Having it all in one place would benefit the Droid Charge community greatly.
Thanks for the replies.
Also, answering my own questions,
Not only is CWM necessary, but the remove battery 1st instructions, at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14692818&postcount=1
are correct. The other instructions I found that didn't include this stop didn't work -- Odin just sat there.
Also, at about page 11 of that xda thread, it says (correctly) that after ODIN says it's done, it's OK to unplug your phone, despite the large, brightly colored screen that says "Downloading... Do not turn off Target!!!"
Also, the kernal is different than the OS. So, first we find and install a rooted kernal (I guess this is like the most fundamental part of the phone's operating system), then pick a ROM (i.e. version of Android) to install.
Yes, now that you pointed it out, I agree it should have been obvious that ODIN3 is a later family version of ODIN, so no matter how high the version of ODIN we find, it's not going to be up the ODIN3 level. ...sigh
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel. The GummyCharged package contains an already rooted kernel (iMoseyOn's Lean Droid Charge Kernel) so basically if you load GummyCharged you have a kernel flashed along side it.
The only time you have to flash a new kernel is if you want to run a different kernel than the one contained in your ROM. Or if you want to update the kernel to a newer version of the kernel.
The kernel is the heart and soul of an operating system. It does all of the work in coordinating memory and process allocation. Think of it as a traffic cop.
trparky said:
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Your description of the kernel is much better than mine.
Another bit of noobie confusion:
The GummyCharged thread at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1163123
says to install through CWM, after rooting. So, I already installed a new kernal, so I could have root.
As I understand better, now, I hope -- even with GummyCharged -- I had two choices, as there are two GummyCharged versions available. One is the two-step process (new kernal, then new OS). The other is to do both at the same time, through ODIN, which would have been easier.
I did install a new kernal, through CDW, seeing that path more clearly.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104634
Just a note that when my phone rebooted, Titanium Backup said I did not have root privileges. On a hunch, I just rebooted again, and that solved the problem. TB is happy, and so am I.
Then install a new OS through CWM.
Another thread that might have some useful information for you can be found here -> http://rootzwiki.com/showthread.php?4643-HOW-TO-quot-Clean-quot-install-GummyCharged-FE-2.0. Theres a lot there (maybe too much?) but if nothing else there are a number of useful links. I hope it helps!
Off topic: trparky I tried to send you a pm yesterday but my computer was acting up - not sure if you got it or not.
Thanks for all the help. Everything seems to be fine. This is just sort of a summary & wind-up post of another noobie's experience and successful quest for cellphone happiness.
First, there seem to be three ways to do scary things to the e-guts of my cellphone.
#1 -- Odin3 (a.k.a. Odin, but Odin3 v.x is the one that works for Samsung/Verizon Droid Charge [SDC]). Odin3 runs on the computer, with the cellphone properly tethered to the computer, and can insert stuff, like CWM. So, mostly the first step is to use Odin3 to insert CWM (superseding the stock recovery program). From some post it seemed it's possible to skip this step and do everything from Odin3, but that post also said that approach wasn't for noobies, even though it seemed easier to me. Odin3 is an elegant program, but you have to find somebody's Betty Crocker instructions for how to use it.
#2 -- Use the ordinary SDC file tethering to put .zip files onto the SDCard, because CWM uses those to install things like kernels and OS's (versions of Android). Sometimes the kernel and OS come bundled. Sometimes not. I ended up flashing a kernel first, then an OS with a bundled kernel, and everything seems fine.
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
After I had my new root kernel, I used Titanium backup to freeze the bloatware. At that point I sort of chickened/burned out because there were too many choices of which version of Android to flash. I decided I didn't really need any of them, since my phone would be efficient enough without the bloatware running to give me everything I needed. What originally got me to start flashing my Android phone was when I would (repeatedly) receive calls on my old Samsung Vibrant, but the phone was so busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. With a more advanced phone (my new SDC), and frozen bloatware, I was confident I wouldn't have that problem, so just stopped there ... ... ... until I was horrified to receive another call which my SDC told me about but was too busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. OMG, it's happening again! At that point the choice of which version of Android to use because less important, because I was sure that nobody's custom Android would let that happen. So, I went with the GummyCharged Froyo [GummyChargedFE_2.0.zip]. At this point, I'd worked with CWM enough that it was all easy. Downloaded the file, copied it to my SDCard, booted to recovery, erased files & Dalvik cache, flashed the GummyCharged, and restarted. Lovely.
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before. It's kind of a hassle to have to re-do all that manually, so special chops/thanks to the GummyCharged team for that feature. My phone works fine. I've tried, and happily failed, to make it too busy to let me answer a call.
What's left? I have to make donations to the Gummycharged people, whose software I now use, and the person who tweaked CWM that I use. It feels like I should make a donation to the Odin3 trolls, but haven't seem a request for that, nor have any who they are or how to do that.
I'll also be keeping my eye on the developing Gingerbread kernels, occasionally, until it looks like those are so mature that there's no reason to not confidently install & flash (through Odin or CWM, both of which I not feel fairly comfortable with) the upgrade.
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Thanks, again, to the wonderful experts who've helped me and so many others through this.
angelsix said:
...
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the program is called Heimdall - this is more often associated with Mac users, as ODIN is a Windows program.
angelsix said:
...
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
angelsix said:
...
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can delete the file, but this is essentially the installer file - if you ever have need to re-install it later on, you will need that (or a more up-to-date one if such a thing exists) file again. I tend to be an electronic pack rat myself, but you can delete the file from your SD card without any immediate adverse effects. If I remember right, the "update.zip" of old was associated with some earlier variants of CWM - without it you would not be able to get to the "custom" recovery (i.e. CWM) to flash things. Seems like such things are no longer necessary anymore, at least not with the recent versions.
dwitherell said:
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct, and it's something that I strongly dislike, as I have installed plenty of things from the Market that I have since uninstalled and no desire to restore. If you skip account setup when you are first setting up the phone, and then manually go into Settings->Accounts & Sync, it will skip this, which is yet another reason to like aftermarket roms, as the stock roms will not allow you to get to the launcher until you set up a Google Account.
Good day all.
Last summer I accepted to install Google Now after some suggestion from Google. I quickly realized that this was extremely intrusive and overtook my pad time and again. At the time I blamed that on the fact that my pad was fairly new and was extremely buggy and unstable in every respect.
Now, after many updated and firmware fixes, my Transformer TF700 is much more stable. Lately Google Now has started popping up unasked overtaking the pad. It crashes whatever application I am using and just sits in the lower left corner as if waiting for me to use it. While my pad goes through these episodes, that can last from few minutes up to half an hour, my pad is completely useless.
I have uninstalled everything I can find that resembles Google Now but that does not seem to be enough. I simply can not do anything at all. Anything I try to do the Google Now crashes. I have been able to "force" my way into the app manager (meaning I just make continuous attempts to get into setting/Apps until successful) but there is no Google Now available under running apps.
I have installed all updates and am at version 4.1.1
Any ideas what I can do? This is just too annoying and just last night this behavior prevented me taking meeting minutes in a very important meeting.
Help! Please!
Ólafur
Olafur said:
Good day all.
Last summer I accepted to install Google Now after some suggestion from Google. I quickly realized that this was extremely intrusive and overtook my pad time and again. At the time I blamed that on the fact that my pad was fairly new and was extremely buggy and unstable in every respect.
Now, after many updated and firmware fixes, my Transformer TF700 is much more stable. Lately Google Now has started popping up unasked overtaking the pad. It crashes whatever application I am using and just sits in the lower left corner as if waiting for me to use it. While my pad goes through these episodes, that can last from few minutes up to half an hour, my pad is completely useless.
I have uninstalled everything I can find that resembles Google Now but that does not seem to be enough. I simply can not do anything at all. Anything I try to do the Google Now crashes. I have been able to "force" my way into the app manager (meaning I just make continuous attempts to get into setting/Apps until successful) but there is no Google Now available under running apps.
I have installed all updates and am at version 4.1.1
Any ideas what I can do? This is just too annoying and just last night this behavior prevented me taking meeting minutes in a very important meeting.
Help! Please!
Ólafur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google now should work fine on your tablet. You definitly have some issue with your OS, I suggest you should download the full firmware from Asus, do a factory reset then reflash the full firmware. This should fixed your Google now and anything else too.
Olafur said:
Good day all.
Last summer I accepted to install Google Now after some suggestion from Google. I quickly realized that this was extremely intrusive and overtook my pad time and again. At the time I blamed that on the fact that my pad was fairly new and was extremely buggy and unstable in every respect.
Now, after many updated and firmware fixes, my Transformer TF700 is much more stable. Lately Google Now has started popping up unasked overtaking the pad. It crashes whatever application I am using and just sits in the lower left corner as if waiting for me to use it. While my pad goes through these episodes, that can last from few minutes up to half an hour, my pad is completely useless.
I have uninstalled everything I can find that resembles Google Now but that does not seem to be enough. I simply can not do anything at all. Anything I try to do the Google Now crashes. I have been able to "force" my way into the app manager (meaning I just make continuous attempts to get into setting/Apps until successful) but there is no Google Now available under running apps.
I have installed all updates and am at version 4.1.1
Any ideas what I can do? This is just too annoying and just last night this behavior prevented me taking meeting minutes in a very important meeting.
Help! Please!
Ólafur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gather you are on the stock ROM? You cannot actually uninstall any system module on stock; you can only disable them (same result on the exterior, though).
You could give unlocking and installing a custom ROM a thought: they generally either do not include Google Now at all or only at your own discretion (with CROMI, for example, it is an optional install). Are you rooted? If so, you can try installing Titanium Backup and freeze system modules in the app list and hunt it down that way. It seems to be starting up now, missing some component or access. I do not have it installed at all anymore (I found it useless out of the box, and although people recommended it as becoming better with time as it 'learned' what to present me with, I didn't find any improvement on finding the info myself by hand, and it is too US-centered for us Europeans, anyway -- I have no use for yesterday's American Football results.
buhohitr said:
Google now should work fine on your tablet. You definitly have some issue with your OS, I suggest you should download the full firmware from Asus, do a factory reset then reflash the full firmware. This should fixed your Google now and anything else too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I will attempt this and try to choke Google Now after reflashing.
I found the firmware on ASUS web but now I do not know how to proceed. I will look for info about reflashing.
What is mu best option regarding backing the tablet up? I have rather a lot of stuff locally on the tablet that I wish not to loose.
Thanks.
Ólafur
MartyHulskemper said:
I gather you are on the stock ROM? You cannot actually uninstall any system module on stock; you can only disable them (same result on the exterior, though).
You could give unlocking and installing a custom ROM a thought: they generally either do not include Google Now at all or only at your own discretion (with CROMI, for example, it is an optional install). Are you rooted? If so, you can try installing Titanium Backup and freeze system modules in the app list and hunt it down that way. It seems to be starting up now, missing some component or access. I do not have it installed at all anymore (I found it useless out of the box, and although people recommended it as becoming better with time as it 'learned' what to present me with, I didn't find any improvement on finding the info myself by hand, and it is too US-centered for us Europeans, anyway -- I have no use for yesterday's American Football results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, I am on the stock ROM and I have not rooted yet. The tablet was so unstable in the first few weeks after I got it so I did not dare void the warranty yet. After it has stabilized I might root it if there is a reason to.
Google Now is WAY to intrusive and, like you said, to US-centric to be of much use to me.
Is there a usable backup solution that does not require me to be rooted?
Thanks,
Ólafur
Olafur said:
You are correct, I am on the stock ROM and I have not rooted yet. The tablet was so unstable in the first few weeks after I got it so I did not dare void the warranty yet. After it has stabilized I might root it if there is a reason to.
Google Now is WAY to intrusive and, like you said, to US-centric to be of much use to me.
Is there a usable backup solution that does not require me to be rooted?
Thanks,
Ólafur
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the full firmware from Asus, unzip the file then copy the unzipped file to the root of your micro sdcard, you should see a notification for update, tab on it and let it rip! BTW, without root, not much you can do even try to backup your device.(it's not going to be a complete backup but a half ass one).
buhohitr said:
Download the full firmware from Asus, unzip the file then copy the unzipped file to the root of your micro sdcard, you should see a notification for update, tab on it and let it rip! BTW, without root, not much you can do even try to backup your device.(it's not going to be a complete backup but a half ass one).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. ASUS has an Unlock Device App on its support page. If I get that and, backup, and reflash will I not be back to untooted? If that is so,will I not have trouble restoring my stuff?
As you realize I have not given this much time. I just want to use my devices and not have to be plagued by stuff like this. To me, my phone is a utility first, toy second. I do not have the time to play with it as much as I would like and therefore this kind of operation is all a bit blurry.
I am an IT manager and have been for over 20 years so I am technically aware but have not given my current Android platform enough time yet.
Many thanks,
Ólafur
Olafur said:
Hi. ASUS has an Unlock Device App on its support page. If I get that and, backup, and reflash will I not be back to untooted? If that is so,will I not have trouble restoring my stuff?
As you realize I have not given this much time. I just want to use my devices and not have to be plagued by stuff like this. To me, my phone is a utility first, toy second. I do not have the time to play with it as much as I would like and therefore this kind of operation is all a bit blurry.
I am an IT manager and have been for over 20 years so I am technically aware but have not given my current Android platform enough time yet.
Many thanks,
Ólafur
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Well, if you want your device to run really well, then you need to unlock your device and flash custom rom/kernel. Many ppl kicked themselves in the bud for not doing this sooner. Sure if you unlocked, warranty is voided, but it well worth the hassle. OK back to your topic, in order to root, without unlocking, you need to downgrade back to ICS version .30, root your device, install OTA root keeper, then do incremental upgrade back to JB. The only advantage with root is so you can install rooted backup app to backup all your apps (system apps, user's apps and all the settings), rooted will not improve your device performance at all, but if you unlocked and flash custom rom, you will see a huge improvement on performance.
Forgive me if this is the wrong section and I know there are some threads on it, but not specific enough in my opinion as to how this device works. I was going to go to General, but I figured this was important regarding possible impending doom to our phones should a critical update be released. I've seen a lot of confusion throughout some threads on disabling updates. While the process is mostly the same for almost any phone, there is still a lot of different information out there so I figured I'd explain it pertaining directly to i337 owners.
Let's get started, shall we?
1. You'll need to be rooted - see the thread on rooting your phone in original development by djrbliss
2. Once rooted, get Titanium Backup (yes I know there are other ways, but this is the most straight forward - feel free to add if you think there is a better way)
3. Once in Titanium Backup, go to the backup/restore tab at the top and find the following three items on the list:
-keychain
-fwupdater
-AT&T software updater
4. Click on each one individually and hit the "freeze" button at the top. I'm not positive that the fwupdater and keychain will need to be blocked along with the software updater, but it certainly wont hurt anything and it is a general prereq on most phones to disable ota updates.
5. As soon as you disable them (specifically the AT&T one), you'll notice that your postponed notification will be gone. If you did the OTA update already, you wont receive them anymore which is probably a good thing until the unlock is released.
I just figured I'd post this here to be safe rather than sorry. I don't claim to be a professional with these devices and am certainly not a developer so don't flame me, but I thought I'd post and try to be as accurate as possible for those questioning these updates.
Always know that when using root to modify system files, you run the risk of bricking your device. If you are willing to accept this risk and know that your device can be rendered unusable, then proceed with caution. See you all on the other side when we are unlocked!
Just an FYI, I posted this yesterday...
OTA Update now available! - Update: Instructions to block if desired
Using a slightly different method... But works all the same.
Moved to general forum, please pay attention to what forum you are posting to
Just found that actually. I'm sorry about that. I guess it doesn't hurt to have two of them, but I didn't mean to take over yours.