Custom-made android phone and software - General Questions and Answers

Im very sorry if this doesn't go here but since I couldn't find any forum related to custom-built phones I gave it a shot.
Ok the thing is I recieved a Custom-made android phablet a few months ago. It's a model made by a non-technological company in a political stunt to promote better education in Puerto Rico and to "modernize the classroom environment and how class is taught." And even though only public schools (I go to private) had these benefits I managed to get a hold of one and after months I decided to try it.
But the ugly truth is These "phablets" are just a somewhat mediocre 2011-12 technology with a custom android 4.3 slapped on top. The downside is that the Android version doesn't come with any of google's services and apps and because of it being custom-built No apps are compatible with it.
I managed to download the Google now and chrome apks but they don't run/aren't compatible.
After all that backstory What I mean to ask is:
-Is it possible to activate google apps and services from the phone without taking out it's original version? (After all it's running Jellybean)
If not:
-Is it possible to root the phone and flash another version of android that's a bit more "supportive" of apps?
Or do you simply have any other ideas as of how can I make it a normal android phablet? Im planning on giving it to my little brother after fixing it up.
Thank you in advance and again, I'm sorry if I posted this where it doesn't belong.

Related

Pls enlighten this Android newbie

Hi all,
Am a newbie to Android tablets/devices both in terms of hardware and software. So if my post is posted in the wrong thread or reposted pls pardon me. I just want to understand a few basics.
As you all may know, now the market is being flooded by those Chinese made Android tablets. And many of them looks good (at least on paper) and at a very good price. But the problem is most of the time when come to chinese goods, they don't usually do what they claims (if you know what i mean). and the best part most of the salesperson don't know anything about the products they are selling especially when comes to tech gadgets like the Android tablets.
So here i am seeking help from you gurus and hoping i can start my Android journey on the right step. Below are a few questions. Hope I can get answers (links to somewhere where i can read up or anything).
1. What are the conditions (CPU make, firmware, etc) to fulfill if i wan to upgrade/root/hack the original Android OS? Cos most of the chinese made tablets are running on Android 1.5. Hoping to be able to upgrade the OS whenever a newer one comes out. Like the latest 2.1 And be able to download new apps from the apps market.
2. Which CPU chip is better and what are the common CPU chips in the market now? I know there are the Rockchips, VIA, Telechips.
3. Can we tell what are the hardware (CPU make etc) and software (OS/firmware version, etc) that are being used in the device from the system setting or something?
4. I read somewhere that not all CPU chips can be upgraded to the latest OS. i.e. that any upgrade is determined by the CPU chip. Is it true?
5. As for custom ROM, is it also device dependable? Like is there a generic ROM for all devices?
For now these are the questions which are bugging me. Hope the gurus here can enlighten this Android newbie.
Sorry for the long winded post and thanks for any help.
Hmmm. Just check that it is upgradable to froyo and it has more than 500mhz cpu
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
if you are looking for a tablet just get an ipad. the android tablets i see floating around are just 1.5 or 1.6. even if you get a tablet that can do 2.2 (froyo)... i dont see how that can be any better than an ipad.
i just feel that 2.2 isnt meant to be in tablet form. if you can wait... wait for 3.0 before you decide. the main deterrent here is the maximum resolution for android (854 x 480 or something), and that the apps were made with phones in mind.
im very happy with my nexus one... i just cant imagine having a tablet running android as of the moment unless its very very cheap ($200 or so).
i for one will get an ipad next month. my nexus one with wifi tether + the basic wifi ipad will be gadget heaven. looking to get an ipad primarily for reading magazines (zinio) and comic books. android does not have zinio yet. the android comic viewer (ACV) i use on my nexus is ok... but not great. then theres the games. games on android are still so so with less variety and choices.
as a phone the android is great! better than the iphone (yes im an apple user through and through) even. but as a tablet... not quite yet.
Hp is going to release a tablet so is samsung with 2.2
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Hopefully start seeing some of these 2.2 tablets in the 3rd Quarter...

[Q] Garmin-Asus A10 2.x rom

Hi,
Sorry if this has already been answered, but I have looked in as many threads on here as I can find and none seem to answer my question.
I'm looking for a 2.x rom for a Garmin-Asus A10. I'm from New Zealand and the carrier branded handsets here are stuck on Android 1.6. I have a few colleagues who are having issues with this handset using exchange, and according to some research, 1.6 is a bit crap at handling exchange.
What I am hoping to do is flash a 2.x rom to one of our demo handsets and do a side by side comparison of the handset running 1.6 and 2.x. However I am unable to find a rom to do this with...is there anyone out there who is able to provide any kind of 2.x rom for it at all?
I'm not just looking for a quick fix for someone to do this for me, I'm interested in getting in to rom development but cooking roms is a bit over my head at the moment.
Any help would be awesome, and again, sorry if this is a noob question, I just can't seem to find this information anywhere.
Cheers
open market firmware update garmin asusu A10 eclair
Dear A10'ers,
The Danish site of garmin-asus left the front door open to get 3 firmware updates through their site.
One of them is the open market "softwareopdateringer". Click on the link and cancel 4 times and you'll get the install software, by unpacking it you can see that they use XML code to download the update file from the garmin site.
I hope that this information gives a true hacker the opportunity to make it possible to use the open market version for a branded telephone to be updated to 2.1.
Greetings and good luck to you all,
asdfghjklµ
Is this the only way to get a 2.1 rom? I figured all that would need to be done would be to extract the 2.1 rom (I know, probably not quite that easy) from an existing A10 running 2.1...
Can someone correct me if I'm wrong?
Edit: I just realised by "open market" you are probably referring to a rom without carrier branding. Do all A10s running 2.1 have carrier branding or have I completely missed the point here?
I was searching for this as well and it looks like they have updated it on there site but you have to do a bit of digging to find it. Its a Telecom rom as well so its official. I cant post urls as I am new here but got to garminasus dot com. then click the location on the top right making sure its set to NZ. Its then under support - software updates. Instructions there as well. Nice christmas present
Oh that must have been very recent, I have checked up on that regularly and it hasn't been there. I'll have to have another look, thanks for the heads up.
Almost the whole reason I haven't switched from WinMo yet is because of garmin mobile xt. I procured it in 2008 but they don't sell or update it anymore but the new maps still work albeit the .exe is 2.5 years old.
I asked a couple times about this and never got a competent response, but if that garmin android software that I can't buy because Garmin and Asus are retarded could be ripped from a ROM dump I'd commission it. Asus makes my mobos but HTC makes my phones. Also, in rural areas of the United States Navteq maps get me lost less than TeleAtlas does.And I like garmin's trip configurator, GUI, and routing engine. In before "use GMM...", usually when I need GPS I'm in an EDGE area or no service whatsoever, so it's nice to be able to navigate without worrying about AT$T's crappy network not existing properly.
Rooted Garmin Asus A10 Need ROM
Hi.
Got a few questions to a man with a bigger brain than my self.
First of:
Just got my Garmin Asus A10 rooted with SuperOneClick - Great tool btw.
I've installed setCPU, set the min+high freqz to 600mhz - hoping on a better benchmark with Quadrant but the result where actually lower then before the root and freq settings.
Second of:
What am i doing wrong?
Do i need a ROM? - If Yes, then what ROM should i use?
Third of:
What about my Kernel, do i need a stronger heart to my 2.1 Eclaire.
Hope to hear from someone.
System information:
Rooted Danish Garmin Asus A10 with a contract @Telenor - Denmark.
Firmwareversion: 2.1-update1
Kernelversion: 2.6.29 [email protected] #28
Buildversion: A10-V5.0.69-user-20101022
If you're wanting a higher clock speed you will need to flash a custom kernel. I'm not sure if there are many developers on here who have made kernels for this phone, but as far as I'm aware, that's the only way to overclock.
A custom rom may help with the quadrant benchmark score, but I have been unable to find any custom roms for this device. I don't know if I just have been looking in the wrong places or if rom developers just aren't interested.
I'd be interested to hear how you get on. I just updated one to the official 2.1 Telecom XT build today, definite improvement all round. Prior to about 2 days ago they were all stuck on 1.6, which inspired my quest to find custom roms for it lol.
DeathmonkeyGTX said:
Almost the whole reason I haven't switched from WinMo yet is because of garmin mobile xt. I procured it in 2008 but they don't sell or update it anymore but the new maps still work albeit the .exe is 2.5 years old.
I asked a couple times about this and never got a competent response, but if that garmin android software that I can't buy because Garmin and Asus are retarded could be ripped from a ROM dump I'd commission it. Asus makes my mobos but HTC makes my phones. Also, in rural areas of the United States Navteq maps get me lost less than TeleAtlas does.And I like garmin's trip configurator, GUI, and routing engine. In before "use GMM...", usually when I need GPS I'm in an EDGE area or no service whatsoever, so it's nice to be able to navigate without worrying about AT$T's crappy network not existing properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sMy Sentiments exactly! I bought my first winmo phone in 2008 and have been stuck with them purely because of the GMXT software that it can run. However, android OS has proven itself as a stable mobile system now, i would like to migrate to a green man platform, but am stuck with my Acer S-200 running GMXT on a modded rom. Can anyone extract the Android installer (CAB/APK) file out of the GarminAsus A10 rom, and post it? this would help us Garmin Mobile XT aficionados make the final plunge into the Android Phone Market.
up message
I agree. I have Garmin XT on my HTC. I was loving the idea with the Garminfone here, but couldn't afford the $899 price tag it came with retail. waiting for a bit for the prices to come down on TradeMe...
flyn_kiwi said:
I was searching for this as well and it looks like they have updated it on there site but you have to do a bit of digging to find it. Its a Telecom rom as well so its official. I cant post urls as I am new here but got to garminasus dot com. then click the location on the top right making sure its set to NZ. Its then under support - software updates. Instructions there as well. Nice christmas present
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole reason i bought a nuvifone is because it supports garmin maps - free for NZ.
The link to the official NZ ROM (Designed for telecom)
Link to the NZ Garmin Maps Downloads
where to find the Proper Data Settings
better yet, step by step Instructions For Androids

Why is Android so fragmented?

I purchased a Sprint Galaxy Tab to give myself an opportunity to get acquainted with Android (it came with ver 2.2 Froyo). After two months reading the xda threads I have basically learned that Android isn't just a few variations (Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, etc.) - but rather each device has its own flavor of Android within those larger general classes. Different ROMs, different kernels, different application compatibilities, etc.
This surely isn't good for Google and/or Android in the marketplace.
This has come to light most vividly while trying to get my Netflix subscription to work on my Samsung Galaxy Tab. Netflix promotes that they support "Android devices" which technically may be true. I suspect there are at least a handful of Android devices supported. Sadly my Galaxy Tab is not among the selected few. And based on the extremely long threads on this subject with such a wide variety of proposed possible solutions, it is not isolated to the Galaxy Tab. This should not be such a big deal. And yes, I realize it is likely the fault of Netflix themselves trying to be the DRM cops that complicate this issue. But dang - how hard can it be???
I've got to ask why? How is it that this same Galaxy Tab can display video from a variety of sources, but not Netflix? And why are there so many 'apps' that will not run on similar (but not identical) Android platforms?
Sorry for venting a bit. But dang....
It would be nice if phone hardware had more of a PC architecture so when a new version of Android was released by google, you could just go and download it, possibly with a Google installer that would auto detect drivers and such. But that's just a dream.
avrillapete said:
... with a Google installer that would auto detect drivers and such. But that's just a dream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
20 years ago it would have been a dream. But today? And a company as agressive as Google? WHY would it still be just a dream?
Google says they want to set an open source 'standard' and I think that is commendable. But it feels like the whole process of implementing and supporting the Android OS is stuck in the '80s - with the same problems and limitations that plagued the early CPM and MSDOS world. Surely Google has resources and smarts enough to do better!
Mostly I am surprised and disappointed that Google hasn't done a better job with this aspect of Android. Surely it will get better...
Google has acknowledged this issue, and it WILL get better. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will have even less fragmentation than honeycomb, and be on ALL devices from its release onward. many pre-existing devices will be upgraded to it as well, ending, for the most part, all android fragmentation.

[Completed] Please help me get this thing upgraded

Howdy,
So, I have a Toshiba AT200 tablet that uses android 4.0.3 and I'm disabled currently jumping through all the hoops for SSI. In the meantime I been using the usertesting app to make enough money to cover my rent & internet barely. Trouble is, they just discontinued support for android versions older than 5.0 so I need to upgrade it to android 5 or 6. Since I have no real clue how to do much of anything on android other than install and run stuff from the play store, I called Toshiba for help and was told that they don't offer a manufacturer update to higher android versions but that I could easily google an unofficial one that is completely legal.
Well, after the last 5 hours of trying, 3 system crashes, 21 removals of trojans by windows defender and malwarebytes, and I-have-no-idea how many 'surveys' & 'offers' completions trying to unlock downloads; I STILL don't have a working upgrade.
PLEASE help me! I need this done to continue earning enough money to pay my rent & internet.
Thanks,
Robert
50 views and no help? Is there a better place I should seek assistance?

Lenovo S898t+ Android Version 4.2.2

Hello great people, I am honored to be here.
This is my first real post and I am hoping that it gets a good response.
I recently bought a Lenovo S898t+ (aka Golden Warrior) with android version 4.2.2. I must confess there are quite a number great pointers to these cheap phone which is not limited the awesome 13MP from camera.
I understand that these version of phones were produced mainly for the Chinese, that means there are quite a number of limitation to the operations of the phone.
The major down side for me is that:
It doesn't have the Google Play service pre installed. This means that I can't use Play Store
I will really love some insight on how to root and install a custom ROM on this device.
Thanks guys
Rock on.:good:

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