Related
In the near future once an android tablet comes out that has GPS and dosnt cost me an arm and a leg i will be intergrating it into my bmw.
Since many tablets have usb host and on the web i can purchanse an ibus to usb adapter which people use when they make a car pc would this work with an android tablet? to control volume tracks and maybe even voice control/calls etc.
Does anyone know if anyone is working on the android software which would allow the tablet to recognise the ibus signal? this would be purfect for me.
Can anyone help?
I doubt that you'll get a helping answer soon, because there are not many people knowing about the IBUS.
For people who don't know what the IBUS is: It's a communcation bus used by BMW for controlling most of the cars electronics (light, radio, navigation system, electric window, ...). There are adapters for controlling all these things with a PC, so it should be possible to do this with an Android App.
But I'm affraid that there is none available at present. Also I think the app is not the only trouble: You'll need a working driver for your adapter, too.
So long
kadolf
Galaxy Tab. Since you have a Beamer I'm going to assume that you have some spare cash, the Galaxy Tab should have GPS, and I'm sure someone will make a car mount for it, or you could be the first .
If you havent gone to mp3car.com go there and check it out, ill be doing the same thing in my e36 pretty soon, although i have an external touch screen im going to try and link my g2 to
kadolf said:
I doubt that you'll get a helping answer soon, because there are not many people knowing about the IBUS.
For people who don't know what the IBUS is: It's a communcation bus used by BMW for controlling most of the cars electronics (light, radio, navigation system, electric window, ...). There are adapters for controlling all these things with a PC, so it should be possible to do this with an Android App.
But I'm affraid that there is none available at present. Also I think the app is not the only trouble: You'll need a working driver for your adapter, too.
So long
kadolf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im sure that eventaully someone will create the drive/app for this. If i can use my phone with a bluetooth obd2 connector and rear my cars information on my phone surely what im asking is do-able.
cheers for the reply
mswiss said:
If you havent gone to mp3car.com go there and check it out, ill be doing the same thing in my e36 pretty soon, although i have an external touch screen im going to try and link my g2 to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My initial plan was to do that with my htc desire but unfortunatly it dosnt have tv out or usb host (OTG).
318vert said:
In the near future once an android tablet comes out that has GPS and dosnt cost me an arm and a leg i will be intergrating it into my bmw.
Since many tablets have usb host and on the web i can purchanse an ibus to usb adapter which people use when they make a car pc would this work with an android tablet? to control volume tracks and maybe even voice control/calls etc.
Does anyone know if anyone is working on the android software which would allow the tablet to recognise the ibus signal? this would be purfect for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
old post, but i might be on the same wavelength as you, except with some changes.
android tablets will already do most everything you need, so my plan will be to ditch the head unit all together. in the spirit of the carPC and liliput touchscreens, my goal is to come up with a custom docking unity in the space of a double-din (which means i'll be required to use a 7 or 5in tablet). from there, the rest is relatively easy... or complicated.
the problem, so far, is i've yet to see any android tablets with a way to extract audio without using a headphone jack. so creating a docking station will be difficult in the sense of attempting to attach the audio.
so a couple things have been going through my mind;
1. you won't have to worry about power saving as much as a carPC. the tablet will be mostly safe to run off of the USB power (hooked directly to a 12v source) or maybe through a power inverter. removing the battery would eliminate concerns of dead battery, exploding battery from heat, etc., etc.
2. most built in FM tuners require the headphones to be attached to act as an attenna. can't be that hard to engineer the headphone component to work back into the car's radio antenna, it's just a matter if there's any benefit to be gained.
3. speaking of audio, once it's out of the device, it's just a matter of conditioning and amplifying the signal, which is all proven technology.
4. there's a huge probability that i'll skip an "in service" device in favor or a wifi only one, and then use tethering from my phone. still to be decided. i'd hate to add another cell line to my already high bill.
5. most, if not all, of the tablets will have some sort of hdmi out capability. attaching the device to external displays should be easy as pie. unfortunately, everyone will probably see what is on the main display, which may not be a problem. what might be a problem is accessing and using an SD card (of any size) to store movies, mp3s, etc. you're only so limited and it might be a little bit of a pita.
anyway, these were just some of my ideas. i know the interest is out there. the "dock" is going to be a little tricky. the tablet needs to be instantly accessible (easily removed), yet secure. i suppose you could fabricate something to where the audio cable is loose enough that you could attach it before docking.
Isn't Parrot working on single and double din headunits?
Sent from my Zio using XDA App
LiuAnshan said:
Isn't Parrot working on single and double din headunits?
Sent from my Zio using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you talking about the android-driven HUs about to be released? from my understanding, they're just utilizing it as a core OS and not in the format you're used to on a phone, etc. similar to how Ford/BMW uses MS in their systems. i don't believe it'll have access to the market, which is a negative IMO.
the HUs might be sweet, in relation to what's available, but unless it's a dedicated tablet, i doubt you'll get the functionality you'd want to expect out of Android.
If you had a phone with usb host (OTG) then i would think we could just connect a MIMO Touchscreen monitor to it and use the released drivers for it and then we would all have what we want . here is some of what i have found that might help . Lets make this happen !!!!
http://sven.killig.de/android/N1/2.2/usb_host/
https://github.com/magoroku15/DisplayLink-driver-for-android
http://www.mimomonitors.com/
http://libdlo.freedesktop.org/wiki/
I would be interested in the hardware install aspect.
have anyone tried using the IOIO for android: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10585
ypsmav said:
have anyone tried using the IOIO for android: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10585
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll bring this thread back to say that I have. Its an ongoing project but heres what I have so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBdQnFnXtgQ
any updated progress I have a 2007 335i and would be interested in getting a setup like this
Right now I'm working on making sure all of the commands work. Progress is slow since Java really isn't the best language for manipulating individual bytes (although that could also be my lack of experience). Unfortunately if you have a 335i, none of this will help you. I think all of the current generation of BMW's (those with iDrive) and most european cars for that matter use the MOST bus. This is based on a fiber optic physical layer. The supported transfer rates are in the 100's of MHz so you'd need more than a microcontroller to talk to it. That being said, if anyone wants to fund me for a couple weeks and lend me their iDrive equipped BMW, I'd be happy to crank something out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80a-T37amdE
Howabout this... video looks cool... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80a-T37amdE
Also...
{
"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"
}
Image stolen from here http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=839753
TunaCanyon said:
I'll bring this thread back to say that I have. Its an ongoing project but heres what I have so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBdQnFnXtgQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi TunaCanyon,
good to hear, that some other people are engaged with this topic.
I built a IBUS Bluetooth gateway half a year ago, last weekend I used to make the circuit look a bit more "professional"
I already built some piece of software based on the Bluetooth SPP example ("Bluetooth Chat") of Android SDK. It features logging ibus data (including simple packet recognition) and sending data to the ibus (with automatic checksum and length calculation). I just added CD changer emulation.
As I'm not experienced with Android programming and also didn't start with Java long ago, building a clean and working app is pretty hard for me, especially when it comes to services and threads... So after the easy datasheet reading and circuit routing part now the hard part follows.
Greetings,
kadolf
I am putting forward the following premise:
{
"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"
}
"You can enjoy the joys and wonder of Android without spending a fortune...!"
I now intend to see if this is true!
Thread Purpose:
Provide a discussion area for those of us who are financially impaired, like myself, but want to experience the joys and wonders that tablets and android might hold...
At the moment the thread may also touch on android on mini-tablets (which might also make calls...) and larger tablets (with keyboards...hdds...lcd monitors etc) simply because on a shoestring budget you have to make do with what you have.
I hope to explore ways in which you can use Android it in new and interesting ways without paying out massive amounts on expensive hardware.
I'm not sure if it is totally achievable or not, but I'm sure it will be interesting to find out what you can do for less compared to the expensive options which are out there.
Idea's, comments, thoughts, discussions are all welcome.
The more unusual and interesting the better!
Thread Structure:
This first post will provide an index and links to the main discussion points/topics on the thread.
[Will see how this works!]
Periodically I shall post a new topic to discuss.
23March2011 - Topic One : Show Me The Droid
Method One: Using your existing laptop or PC
Method Two: Using the android emulator (also on your existing laptop or PC)
Method Three: Using your existing phone
29March2011 - Topic Two : A Low Cost Tablet
Part One: Justifying the purchase
Part Two: Android From The Box
Part Three: Passing the grade? (A-E)
Part Four: Passing the grade? (Continued...F-J)
12April2011 - Topic Three : Low Level Basics
Part One: Oh ADB Debugger!
Part Two: The Root Of It All
Part Three: Backups, ROMs and Flashbacks
Part Four: First Time Flasher! (added 1stAug11)
27June2011 - Topic Four: Low Level Interfacing
Part One: Android RS232 I/O
22Sept2011 - Topic Five: Development Tools & Tricks
Part One: Screenshots & Remote Control
Part Two: Scripts & Shortcuts
Side Topics
04May2011 - Side Topic: The Future! Quad core and beyond
02June2011 -Side Topic: Multi-Touch Technology - with No Touch Screen!
Q&A:
crevlthe: Are most apps up-sized to fit the resolution of tablets?
[I'll keep updating this thread every few days]
- please post comments, thoughts and ideas anyway, particularly if topic related.
I would love to hear about peoples thoughts and ideas
(simply reference Topic X:Method X/Step X etc if you want to comment on one item in particular).
Enjoy!
Small Print:
For the following posts I shall try to reference the source websites where possible, however apologies if I get this wrong, please feel free to pm me or post on the thread with any corrections and I'll amend the entry. Regarding images, where possible I shall try to use my own images, but at times this may not be possible. If you find I have used your image and you do not wish it to be used, then simply let me know and I'll change it. Where possible I shall state where the images have come from.
Clearly, the details in the thread are purely discussion and while I try to make them as accurate as possible I can not guarantee this. Damage or loss may occur by following some/all of the instructions, so if you do, do with care and at your own risk, I take no responsibility for your actions.
Topic One : Show Me The Droid
Before you can do anything with Android, you probably want to see it!
This topic will outline various ways you can "get at the driod" without spending anything.
Method One: Using your existing laptop or PC
This was the first way I got to play with Android (a long while ago), and that is using an Android live CD. I used something similar to the live CD from http://www.android-x86.org/ (images taken from site), which allows you to boot your computer with Android.
You can burn the image on to a CD/DVD and boot it cleanly or you can use a virtual machine and boot within that.
With a little bit of legwork, and a compatible computer you can boot from a USB key so you can carry your droid with you.
You can even install it, even dual boot, if you are brave!
While this is a simple and very cheap option (at most it should cost a CD/DVD to burn on), there is one slight problem...most computers don’t have touch, gravity sensors etc etc!
You have a number of options if you are seriously wanting to use this more:
1. You can continue to use the mouse (at least they seem to have a cursor now!)
2. You could probably make use of a large touch-pad (can be expensive, but cheaper ones are around)
3. If you have a small screen you could try adding a touch screen (8-10” touch screen overlay can be quite cheap but you will need to install it yourself and that can be tricky and will risk damage).
Perhaps this method could be interesting to try out as a low cost GoogleTV platform, but there would need to be some work done regarding the control method. Someday I may look into this option in more detail...
Microsoft Kinect not been plugged into to android yet???
Anwser: Yes it has! Ok, shame I don’t have one.
Topic One : Show Me The Droid
Method Two: Using the android emulator (also on your existing laptop or PC)
Of course for the developers out there, there is always the Android emulator which comes as part of the Android development package. Each time Android update the SDK (software development kit) for the latest release of Android, the emulator is updated to run the newest version of Android (this is often the source of early ROMs).
This does allow you to play with the latest Android version as soon as it is out, so you can get a feel for what features are improved etc and you can try out different versions to get an idea about the differences between them. You don't even need to install anything more than the Android emulator SDK if you don't want to write any code, as you can run the emulator separately to the development environment.
However, not only does this have similar control issues (except maybe that you get “soft-buttons”) but it is quite slow even on a fast machine.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
The advantage of course is it opens up a whole world of development options. The google developer site provides instructions for getting set up. Once you’ve jumped through the hoops, you can try it out by having a go at the various tutorial applications.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
Again this is something I may look at in more detail another time (such as getting setup, exploring what you can do with it and perhaps some simple development steps).
Topic One : Show Me The Droid
Method Three: Using your existing phone
You might just have that elusive Android device already, you just don't know it yet!
Clearly this option will vary wildly on the type of device you have and how in-depth you are willing to go. I’ve not managed to find a full list of devices which do support running android but it is safe to say that the “list” is growing all the time.
For me, my Phone is a Windows Mobile Phone, the HTC Blackstone, it’s quite an old device (in relative terms) but it has a good screen (3.8", 480 x 800) and modest processor (528 MHz ARM 11).
Fortunately for me, the XDAndroid group support this device, so I was able to make use of one of the many Android builds on the forums. I’m not quite sure what the current status is of this project, it seems although device specific threads have stopped, there are Android builds going up to 2.2.3...which I’ve had working on my device.
For the blackstone, running android is fairly pain free, since you install the files to your sd-card and if things don’t work out, you just delete them. One key component I required, was ditching (swapping) my class-6 SD card for a slower one (yes, slower!), once I’d switched to a class-2 one, android was up and running nicely.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
However, don’t get too excited yet, as many of the builds will have features which don’t work yet, such as Bluetooth support, camera and in-call voice (you can spend a long time getting the right mix of files for your device to get all these working) and many 3D accelerated games won't work. A lot of progress is being made here (I’ll go into this in more detail another time). Some issues you can live with and some you can’t. Also, if your device (like mine) is not a total powerhouse then you can expect things to run at less than optimal speed. Overall, don’t expect to be replacing your OS with an all singing all dancing Android one this way, unless you have decent device to start with.
All is not lost! By using one of the many dual-boot apps (they simply show a splash screen as soon as possible on power up) allow you to quickly select between your normal Windows Mobile OS and the Android one.
i.e. Gen.Y DualBoot by yozgatg
(Click Image For Larger Version)
This means you can keep a build of Android (or several if you wish) on your SD card and have a play with Android from time to time.
Personally I think this is an excellent option, even if the results aren’t perfect and it’ll probably cost you a fair bit of time experimenting, but the results are totally worth it.
I might revisit this in more detail if people would like me to. Hopefully I can learn a little more about the internals of how it fits together and provide a post on that.
For HD2 users (and some other phones), who are just too spoilt for choice, they can also install Android to their NAND (internal memory). This means they can totally replace the Windows Mobile OS on their system with Android, and because the device is fast, it apparently runs well enough to do so.
Topic Two : A Low Cost Tablet
Part One: Justifying the purchase
First off, the most important bit for this topic, how much does it cost?
I managed to get (buy) it for $90 (£56), including free shipping (limited time special offer).
Note:
I would not recommend this tablet at it's "normal" price of $130, since there are other tablets in that price range which are clearly better.
However, for me, the lower price was key here.
To put it in perspective, the Samsung Tab 7 Inch was £500 here - or $800!
The specs:
Code:
Model: Haipad M701
CPU: Telechip Tcc8902, 800MHz (ARM11)
OS: Android 2.1
RAM: 256MB
ROM: 2GB
Screen: 7 Inch Resistive (800 x 480px)
Ext Ports:
9v Supply
3.5mm Audio
Mini Usb (OTG Host) - hopefully will support Mass Storage devices
HDMI
TF (MicroSDHC)
Size: 192 x 114 x 15mm
Weight: 330g
Extra Details:
Gravity Sensor
Android Market
Adobe Flash (not supported)
Camera 0.3Mp
Wifi 802.11 b/g
My thought process regarding the purchase is this:
1. I really want an Android tablet, I’ve been look at them for months (in fact probably just after the iPad came out). In all that time I’ve lusted after tablet after tablet, but each time it came down to the cost, and the fact that I simply did not have $200/$250/$300 laying around. Throughout that period the number of tablets available have ballooned, the capabilities and specs too. I found myself looking at the affordable tablets, and then looking at the next one up (hdmi), then the next one (10” screen) and then the next one (multi-touch), until I’d priced myself out of my purchase.
2. With the advent of the tegra chips and honeycomb, the price of admission has been bumped slightly (I’d say you are starting at $300 for a low end one (quality of the screen/touch is be compromised - Advent Vega)) - previous to that an A8 based tablet, such as the A81 for around $200-250 was a good deal. To be a serious contender for anything which comes after honeycomb (for the tablet branch), and gaming platform that is developing (of which Cordy is the thin end of the wedge), the power step provided by the Tegra family is a must.
3. Back when I first started looking at tablets, I was in fact considering a very similar device (the X10 and the G10, of which the Haipad M701 is fairly similar).
4. Aside from wanting to use the latest and greatest releases from Android and games etc, there is a need for more modest requirements to be met. Can a basic tablet do this, I intend to find out?
These "modest" potential uses would be:
A: Replace/supplement a poorly designed portable Toshiba DVD player for in-car use, which in my opinion was probably the worst product I’ve ever purchased (despite the quite promising spec sheet) - although obviously I may need to revise this status soon!
B: A Doodle pad, something which my phone gets commandeered for quite often by my off-spring. So a slightly larger screen would be useful for this.
C: Simple Web-browser, most of the time only a quick check on the web is needed, so this may be more helpful than firing up the laptop (which being a work one, dislikes my wifi and network most the time).
D: Music player, either from connected memory for in the car or perhaps from the network.
E: eReader, I’ve read a few books on the Blackstone’s 3.8" screen, so a larger screen would be helpful.
F: Require a device with camera and HDMI at minimum, since this will hopefully provide more options to experiment with (1st build of Android on the blackstone, didn’t have camera support which ruled out things like google goggles etc).
G: USB Host (mass storage), I am hoping that the device will allow me to use external storage devices via the usb, this would be very handy for dealing with camera pictures and videos etc.
H: USB Device keyboard support, I find it very annoying that the Blackstone has no h/w keys, this seriously limits what you can do with it (such as emulation programs etc) as there is no easy way to control things.
I: RS232 Support: Although I seriously doubt it, it would be really useful to get RS232 monitoring running on the device.
J: A development platform for writing android software on and to learn about android.
In Summary:
Overall, aside from the video/USB requirements, I hope that I am not being too ambitious for this device, but clearly I probably am. If/Once I get the device, I shall evaluate it against these requirements and also see what other uses I can put it to. I don’t expect the device to manage all of the uses above (particularly out-the-box), but hopefully it an fulfill at least some of them (even if it takes some custom firmware/modding or even some custom hardware to achieve this) I shall be happy.
For all I know, the tablet may well never turn up...and if it does it could be next to useless (i.e. next to that Toshiba DVD player...). As it happens, one review of a similar device was “expensive paper weight”, I’d estimate it about the weight of a medium sized cup of coffee (without the cup), so might be useful for when we get the fans out in the office this summer.
My purchase timeline:
Purchased tablet on 17th March (estimated delivery 10 working days).
Item shipped on 18th March (estimated shipping 15-20 days).
“Departure from outward office of exchange” 22nd March - Left the source country.
Received item 28th March!
Overall Delivery time: 11days (7 working days).
In return for the excellent shipping, I can say that the item was from PandaWill.
Out of the box review coming soon!
Thread has moved from "General" to it's new home in "Android Software and Hacking General". At first I didn't plan for it to be Android exclusive but as it turns out, it is, so hello to all on this thread.
I am very new to Android, so please be kind!
I hope this thread can be a beginners introduction of some kind, let me know if there are errors or if you would like more information on parts etc.
Regards.
Topic Two : A Low Cost Tablet
Part Two: Android From The Box
Packaged in a retail box:
(Click Image For Larger Version)
- Tablet (thankfully)
- 9volt 1.5Amp Output Power Supply (US plug)
- US to UK plug adaptor (a nice touch, clearly they take notice of the shipping address)
- 2x USB Cable (mini USB to USB male, short mini USB to USB female)
- Basic set of ear phones
- Product dimensions measure exactly as stated in the spec (I’d previously printed out picture of the screen to 1:1 scale based on the measurements).
Although I didn’t expect to get an HDMI cable, I didn’t expect the HDMI port to be a mini one, so it would have been helpful to have included one here (or at least an adaptor).
(Note: The USB car adaptor is not for it and did not come with it, but I thought it helps as a guide for size - it won’t charge by USB).
Charging:
(Click Image For Larger Version)
The first thing I did was to plug the tablet in for a charge, there are two reasons for this. Firstly to check that the power supply is functional and safe (i.e. does not over heat) and secondly for the battery.
If the battery is at a low level, you have to treat it carefully - particularly if was in storage (as it will gradually lose charge over time). Li-ion batteries if drained below their bottom limit, will “crash” their voltage, this causes a lot of damage to the battery and it may never recover fully (or in attempting to do so it may cause excess heat == bad news). You should always avoid switching any device on when the battery is in this state, so always charge just in case before trying to switch on (most electronics should refuse to turn on, but best not to count on it).
For this reason I was pleased to find that the battery was charged to approximately 60-80% (I guess) which is around the recommended storage/shipping level. Also the charger or tablet did not burst into flames, which was nice too!
Turned On:
Switching on the device, immediately the screen shows a colourful splash screen, then some linux penguin/mole, before displaying the normal android boot. Instantly I am pleased that the screen is working! I am also impressed that the screen quality, brightness and colour look quite good.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
60 Seconds later and Android has booted!
I would be interested to know if this is particularly fast or slow (my only comparison is booting the Blackstone Android from SD, which takes about 4 mins). For me, 1 min seems fast enough, certainly as fast as starting windows mobile. For normal use, the device can be put to sleep with the main ([]) button, which is instant on and off.
Screen was already calibrated, and the normal start-up wizard ran for Android.
Pre-Installed Software:
Aside from the standard stuff, you get ES File Explorer, Meridian Media Player, Skype (I’ve not tested that yet), SkyFire Browser, Aldiko eReader, QuickOffice, YouTube App and Android Market. The pre-installed Android Market worked fine, and I was downloading new apps in seconds. There are also some Chinese apps which I’ve not tried, but overall, there is everything to on there to get you started off and enough for you to use it directly out of the box.
Aside from some demo pictures and a video, there was also some video which I guess was taken when they tested the unit, it is a good sign that they appear to have taken the time to check the unit works, calibrate it, check things like the camera are functional etc (not sure if this was Pandawill or the manufacturer, but it was within an office so I suspect the former). At 0.3mp, the front facing camera clearly isn’t amazing, but in reasonable lighting it is good enough to see the subject in question quite clearly (one thing though is it is mirrored - guess for skype use (if that works)).
Out Of The Box Impression:
Overall initial impressions are, the screen appears to be pretty good for the money. Colours are slightly more washed out than a more expensive screen, but not overly so. The resistive touch screen does take a firm-ish touch to use, but again, not overly more than other resistive touch screens.
The size and weight of the unit appears to be nicely balanced, it is easy to hold in a single hand (for an adult) while using it with another (or thumb typing and holding either side). The outside bezel is just the right size that, if you need to, you can hold the edge with your thumb without touching the screen etc. The plastic housing, which is rigid and feels solid, makes the unit feel quite good quality. The piano black finish of the back (like a psp) does attract fingerprints however the screen itself doesn’t, which is great.
Although it was never going to be the fastest Android experience, however the unit does seem to keep up with the operating system fairly well, definitely fast enough to be usable.
The unit feels nice and appears to work well, so far excellent value for money.
Next time I shall evaluate the tablet against my requirements and see how it fares...
Topic Two : A Low Cost Tablet
Part Three: Passing the grade? (A-E)
Crunch time! How does the low cost tablet fare when lined up against my expectations and needs?
Meeting My Requirements:
A: Replacing A Portable DVD Player
Viewing photos, videos and listening to music from the pre-installed samples was easy and the units response was reasonable. There was good video playback of the 720p sample (I expect this was encoded to suit the device obviously), and the photo browser did a nice job of displaying and sorting through the photos. Sound was ok, by no means hi-fi standard but enough to listen to over moderate background noise (sound as good as the DVD player - but can’t really say this is hard). This will take a bit more investigation to determine what formats are supported and from where (local storage, microSD, flash stick, HDD, network, internet etc etc). However, even if videos need to specifically encoded as long as they can be played from a mass-storage device (or at a push the SD card), this should meet this requirement fine (did I mention the old DVD player is terrible...).
B: A Doodle Pad
It took no time at all for my offspring to try this, safe to say the unit passes this test with flying colours. One huge improvement is that the Blackstone touch sensitive call buttons etc were not in the way any more. Still to find the perfect app for this:
On Windows Mobile its My Note by MyLostBlog which is a good balance between clear interface and function (I still prefer 2.1 over 2.6).
(Click Image For Larger Version)
On the DS, Art Academy is favourite (although what it has in features, it lacks flexibility). Also Flip Note is worth a mention, I would love to find a similar app on Android.
Art Academy (art software) / Flipnote (animation program)
(Click Images For Larger Versions)
At the moment the star for Android is AutoDesk’s SketchBook Mobile (perhaps a little complex for younger children to fully do everything but easy enough for them to use and enjoy most of the features, excellent for adult use too!). AutoDesk’s app shows the quality that is possible with Android (although at the expense of lag free response on this particular device), I’m still very impressed and the 7 inch screen makes it all the more enjoyable.
C: Simple Web-browser
First off the lack of flash is annoying, but there is at least “some” flash support (I assume flash lite) from the Skyfire Browser, and even the google browser when it came across an embedded YouTube video it directed it to the YouTube app to play.
Browsing is reasonable, the wifi signal is probably below normal, but if you have a good signal, the browsing speed as comparable to my phone (for me the google browser appeared to be faster, but that might have been down to my wifi signal at the time). Here, multi-touch or at least the dual-touch of the later M701 models would be useful, as Pinch-to-zoom would be helpful. At least with the 7 inch screen the need to zoom in and out all the time is reduced (also I’m sure by experimenting with different browsers and settings the perfect balance will be achievable). It will never replace the desktop for web-browsing, but it is fine for quick searches etc.
Google Browser / Skyfire Browser
(Click Images For Larger Versions)
D: Music player
I’ll hold judgement on this until I find a more flexible app, since I had problems navigating around my music and playing it by folder unless it was on the SD card (I was only using some files I had available, I’m sure it is a lot simpler with correctly tagged albums). Once playing the music though, it managed ok (although it did experience issues if you attempted to “multi-task” and load apps etc while music was in the background - although that may have been the app I was using and/or fiddling around with the usb connections). The quality isn’t the best I’ve heard, but it is sufficient. I think overall, with the right app, the unit will perform this task without issue.
E: eReader
Just by trying the pre-installed Aldiko application, it is clear to see that this unit is great for reading. The text was very clear and easy to read with plenty of text visible and even on the smallest font setting (point 10) you can easily read without issue. The g-sensor rotates the screen as required (hopefully there is an option to turn it off - for reading while laying down [Yes, there is a setting for android generally]). The screen is slightly shiny so would suffer in direct sunlight, however it is reasonable for reading in average lighting. I also tested with a pdf, which displayed ok using QuickOffice, but features such as re-flow (available with Adobe’s reader) would definitely help to fit things on the screen.
[Update: Once I've installed Adobe reader, pdf's are very easy to read, although the lack of resuming where you left off means you have to keep track of page numbers yourself (this is no different to the Windows Mobile version).]
CONTINUED BELOW...
Congrats!
Really great post
enotar said:
Congrats!
Really great post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I should be adding some more later on today.
I'm open for suggestions for topics etc.
Topic Two : A Low Cost Tablet
Part Four: Passing the grade? (Continued...F-J)
Meeting My Requirements (Continued...):
F: Camera & HDMI
As I previously mentioned the camera is not very good, but since it is front facing (it’s located to the right side of the ([]) button) it clearly is not suitable for taking snaps etc. Using google-goggles, the images are just about usable, but it appears the google-goggles app can’t take the pictures directly (you can import pictures which then allows you to take photos using the standard app and open them).
(Click Image For Larger Version)
[Android Logo taken with camera]
I’ve just tested the HDMI (I’ve managed to get a mini-HDMI cable) and after enabling the output via the settings page and restarting, the screen correctly displayed on the TV. Films and games do look good on the TV, although some adjustment to the alignment would be useful. Although you can output in either 1080p and 720p, the resolution is matched to the device 800x480 (although I might be wrong for direct video output), also from first impression, 1080p is lower colour depth than 720p output.
G: USB Host
Ideally the USB connection for host/OTG would be it’s own full size female usb socket (i.e. a normal USB socket) but instead you need to use the USB cable provided which converts the miniUSB to a USB socket. Tested with microSD card reader, flash memory stick (4Gb Kingston), the Blackstone (in mass-storage mode) and even 2.5 HDD which worked even without extra power (I was surprised at this as it is only a generic enclosure with a random laptop drive, however I did not try this with a low battery just in case that did damage). All of which appear under the /scsi/ directory. So far I’ve been unable to find how to “unmount” the drives (you can unmount the sd-card and the internal nand memory via the settings but not the OTG device), so when you disconnect you get “USB Device unexpectedly removed” message.
H: USB Device keyboard support
Using the same OTG cable, plugging in a keyboard was easy and seamless (it just works straight away). In fact, I tested this using a Logitech wireless Keyboard and Mouse and both worked perfectly (aside from the fact the keyboard is about 5 times the size of the tablet). I also tried another USB keyboard, which in the past I've noticed does not work when within DOS on a PC (where the Logitech does), this did not work, but I suspect this is simply the keyboard being slightly unusual. Keeping an eye out for a small and cheap keyboard now.
I: RS232 Support
I attempted this just out of interest but not really knowing what to look for can’t be sure it did anything. I don’t expect this to work without some serious work, but will see what can be achieved if anything. The reason for this is that many low level electronics projects can be controlled/monitored using RS232. In addition to this, I’ve also tried a bluetooth dongle (it has no bluetooth built in), and LAN adaptor, clearly they didn’t magically start working (no doubt the build does not have the correct drivers installed etc), but this is something I will look into.
J: A development platform
At a basic level, I can copy over built APK (android application) files and install them, even the ones which I had issues with on the Blackstone work fine on the device. Developing applications and working directly with the tablet is possible (will look at this in more detail another time), as a development device it is ideal.
The not so good...
Hardware Interfaces:
The single OTG mini usb port is annoying, it would be help to connect more than one device etc and not need to use an adaptor cable.
The mini HDMI, again would be good not to need a special cable for this (at least would have been useful to know ahead of time).
Buttons...no physical home or volume buttons, this does make things difficult sometimes (I believe there are software solutions for this, or options to re-map the keys).
Out-Of-Box mapping is: ([]) is power/screen key, right-side of rocker (with Home Icon) is the menu key, left-side of the rocker (with menu icon) is the back key! Once you get used it, it may be the best layout anyway, will need to experiment.
No Usb charging, from a pure ease of use point of view this would be very helpful, but most tablets don’t support this.
Sticking out of the SDHC card (puts the card at risk of snapping) - later version of this tablet this doesn’t stick out.
Obviously multitouch, bluetooth etc would be nice, but we know that.
The Grey Grey market:
This device “IS” a fake...Real Haipad vs. Fake
I can’t work out though if the unit functions any worse than a real one, all I know is, this one functions better than I was expecting and I’ve not found anything which the originals (if it is a fake) did which this doesn’t (so far).
I've now confirmed this with Pandawill, that the tablet is OEM, not a HaiPad original (at least they 'fessed up to it!). Considering it was sold as part of their own "Fight Against Internet Crime" promotion due to their recent DOS hack attack, it is a little naughty but as you can probably tell by now, I am still very happy with the device, no matter it's origin (but glad it was discounted). Also, the device does function as described by the specs, so other than the manufacturer the rest of the listing is accurate.
The only real issue is that new firmware will be a problem since I can't be sure if it will work or not.
Not all joy and perfection (I’d be mad to expect it):
Most applications appear to work, however, I’ve found that Angry Birds has issues with the surface texture graphics (the text which shows the menus/scores - a pain, but the rest of the game is playable). Apparently later versions such as Rio work fine, this just appears to be a feature of the telechip processor and does this for all HaiPad M701. Since I am not obsessed about Angry Birds (I can stop any-time I want, no really I can...) I can live with it. Also Raging Thunder 2 isn’t playable since I can’t see the menu blocks to select anything, I guess for the same issue.
Most games appear to work fine, such as Air Control, TurboFly 3D (lags sometimes, but not surprisingly since its full-on 3D graphics), Waveblaster (works very nicely, with G-sensor working), Pacific Wings (no g-sensor control). The G-Sensor doesn’t work on some games, but fortunately most have alternative options if that is the case.
It's a mixed bag for games, but fortunately I never intended games to be it's main use and I am quite happy with decent puzzle games etc anyway.
Overall - "A solution for now, but not the future":
The unit runs an ARM11 at 800MHz, with 256RAM, lets face it, it will never do all the graphical gymnastics that the Nvida Tegra 2 processors will perform and doing all but the very basics will probably leave it out-of-breath. Such a device is no laptop or even netbook replacement, but much like the iPod touch, it is a media player with many bonus features (& on a much better budget).
I’m sure as time passes (probably not long either) more and more applications will leave this type of low cost tablet behind, with the pace of processor development at the moment this should really be no surprise at all. But for now, the market is open and the apps are flowing, so I’ll sit back and enjoy them!
Topic Three: Low Level Basics
Part One: Oh ADB Debugger!
One of the first steps in getting properly connected to your devices innards is to ensure you are able to use the ADB (Android Debug Bridge).
The ADB is command-line terminal which allows you to directly control the device and file system of the device (or emulated device) from a PC or MAC.
On the face of it you might wonder why the ADB is of much use, the answer is that it allows a direct route to the entire file system as well as providing debug access directly on target as well as monitor log outputs as programs run. Overall it is similar to ActiveSync for windows mobile. Another reason to have this working is that if your device fails to boot, something messes up your system or say the touch-screen fails, you can use ADB to access everything on the device and also re-flash it. Also you will probably need ADB to root your device (more on that later).
There are a number of guides available for setting up ADB, so I won’t go into detail on them. Personally I followed Google’s own developers guide for setting up the Android SDK (Software Development Kit) since I also intend to write Android software and the ADB is part of that.
However, after a quick search, the following guide appears to cover most of the details.
The UnLocker - How To: SetUp ADB/USB Drivers for Android Devices.
For my device, the ADB driver needed some fiddling around with, since windows would not accept the driver was for my device [Editing the ini file and adding the VID and PID of the hardware didn't help me].
Eventually I found the following (following a tip from SlateDroid): The app PdaNet appears to supply suitable drivers.
I also recommend adding the location of ADB to your system path, so that you can call it from any command-line location.
Once the drivers are installed, check that when the device is connected (and debugging is enabled via settings) that typing “adb devices” from the command-line shows a device).
C:\> adb devices
List of devices attached
0123456789ABCDEF device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to write software using Ecilpse you’ll also want to check that it can connect and deploy applications directly to the device for testing.
Within the Ecilpse, under the run menu select “Run Configurations...”, within the Target Tab, the “Deployment Target Selection Mode” must be set to “Manual”.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
This enables the “Android Device Chooser” to prompt when you attempt to run/debug from Ecilpse.
(Click Image For Larger Version)
Build and run your application or a test one and it should now run directly on your device.
There are also a number of GUI apps around which make use of ADB to provide easy ways to manage applications, transfer files etc all without needing to mount and unmount your sd cards to and from the device. At the moment I’ve started using DroidExplorer, even from initial impressions it is clear the features are quite extensive (you could probably write about 20 guides on how to use all of it correctly).
an excellent article overall.
question about the tablets: are most apps up-sized to fit the resolution, or are there a large variety of apps natively designed to run at the bigger resolution?
crevlthe said:
an excellent article overall.
question about the tablets: are most apps up-sized to fit the resolution, or are there a large variety of apps natively designed to run at the bigger resolution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting question!
Although my tablet is WVGA which is the same as the blackstone (so I can't test this directly!).
You'd need a much higher resolution device to go beyond the officially supported resolutions, (obviously Android 3.0 supports more).
From what I've read and from doing some app development, apps should scale to fit the screen (if programmed correctly). I've read that some apps don't scale for some tablets, what the root reason is for this, I wouldn't know, since the support is there in the API.
Basically, the android sdk provides various ways to describe the layout of your screens, and they encourage you to use ones which describe them in terms of proportional amounts (for the Linear Layout) or in terms of position of items i.e. to the left of item A (for Relative Layout) etc. The other layouts all work along the same lines, i.e. you don't worry about the size of the screen and calculate each position by hand like you do with windows mobile etc, it is all determined by the API.
You can see the different layouts code here and if you find the ApiDemo APK (I'll post if you like) you can view them. However, you can break all the rules and still use the Absolute Layout, where you return to the good old days of x,y co-ordinates. Even then you can use a values which are relative to the screen size and pixel pitch (see Difference of px, dp, dip and sp in android..) so there really is no reason to hard-code it.
As for graphics, I've not done this yet, but I know this handled if you use "9-patch" png files...they describe them here.
The idea here is that the black pixels around the edge allow the designer to say which bits are fixed size and which bits can be stretched to fit etc. It is a really tidy way to do it I think. Imagine how you'd have to do it otherwise if you created a button image with an icon on which would need to be resized to fit!
Oh, there are also provisions to provide low-res, med-res and high-res versions of the graphical resources, so again everything should scale nicely and look good without the need to scale everything all the time. There shouldn't be any need as such for "large" versions of apps, unless the developer wants to change how the app works by making use of the extra space or if they want ensure the "small" version takes up less space. I'm not sure how it determines which resource to use etc or if they all get installed etc, I've not looked into it.
So as long as the designer of the app has done all this correctly then it "should" scale correctly to whatever resolution. Of course, to claim this is true, they would need to test all resolutions. Fortunately you can manually create high-resolution emulated devices so it can be done but that is not the default.
[Now you mention it though, I shall ensure I test any apps I create at least once in high-resolution, it sounds like a good idea!]
I think this might have been why the retina display didn't make it to the iPad2, it would have required app developers to produce yet more app versions to deal with it and re-do the graphics yet again. Unfortunately I don't know anything about how iOS deals with these things, but you don't get the standard sized app in the middle of the screen or a x2 type option as you do with iPads.
Thanks for posting the question, hopefully it answers it (in theory anyway).
Topic Three: Low Level Basics
Part Two: The Root Of It All
I looked and looked for this information but I couldn't find the clear answers I wanted regarding rooting, so here is the info I was after.
What is ROOT, do I need it?
Rooting your device is not essential, for most the things you do with a tablet you will not need root access. Rooting is the process by which you enable “Root” access to the system’s low level files and hardware, this is achieved by enabling “super user” [Linux term for the highest level access which has higher level permissions to files than a normal user (like an Administrator)] access.
In most cases, apps will access hardware and files through the Android API, but in some cases they may need better control of the hardware than the API allows or access to files which are normally locked.
For this reason these applications require “root” access, typically apps which take screenshots (I assume to allow access to the screen data) and backup programs (I expect to allow access to all your files) are such programs.
Am I Rooted?
One thing I had trouble working out was working out if the device was rooted already or not. The quickest way to find out is to try to use an app which requires root access, if you device isn’t rooted it will tell you.
A good way is to download “Terminal Emulator” from the market (or direct from the author) . Then type: su which stands for Super User! (if your device is correctly rooted the “$” will change to “#” (ideally it will also prompt you for permission to enter superuser mode first - see SuperUser.apk below)).
Other signs you are rooted is to look for the “su” file in /system/bin/ but this will not confirm if the file is set to be executable correctly or in some cases different names are used to make it harder for unwanted apps to locate it.
Can I break/brick my device by ROOTING?
Actually ROOTING the device shouldn’t really cause any problems (since all you are really doing is installing a file which allows you to grant “Superuser” access). However, since ROOTING (by definition) allows entering into “Superuser” mode, this mode does allow you make much more serious changes to the system than you would in a “Normal User” mode (which is the whole point!), so clearly there are some risks involved while in this mode (and you may want to consider how this fits with your warranty). If your device isn’t open, then I suspect the main risk is getting your device into an unlocked state so that you can perform the root process first (since my tablet was not locked in anyway, I don’t know about this aspect).
Once ROOTING is complete, you don’t remain as a “Superuser” but any application is able to use it if they require. For this reason, the Superuser.apk application is typically installed, which detects when a request for “superuser” permissions are made and allows you to accept or reject the request.
The ROOTING process itself is reversible, which you may wish to do if you need to return your device for repairs etc.
How to root?
There are many guides and methods, but I shall take one specific to my tablet (posted by OffWorld on androidtablets.net) and explain each step in detail, since none I found explain what it is you are doing.
First you need to get the latest su and superuser.apk files from here.
Now, connecting the device to your pc, open a command prompt and type:
adb devices
Adb will respond hopefully with your list of devices:
List of devices attached
0123456789ABCDEF device
This confirms your device is attached and adb is able to communicate correctly.
Command 1:
adb shell mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
This runs adb (the terminal program to your device) and mounts the specified folders with read/write access.
Command 2:
adb push su /system/bin/
This sends the “su” program to the location on the device (note this assumes have the “su” in the same directory as you are running adb from). You can confirm this by navigating to the location on your tablet and see that the file has been transferred.
Command 3:
adb shell chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
This changes the permissions of the “su” file you’ve just transferred [details about chmod].
By using the command: adb shell ls -l /system/bin/su you can see the permissions.
We’ve changed the permissions from -rw-rw-rw- to -rwsr-xr-x, this allows the file to be executed.
Command 4:
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/
This installs the Superuser.apk package on the device. This is important since this app allows you to control superuser access, rather than just allowing any program to obtain “superuser” rights.
Command 5:
adb shell reboot
Restarts the device.
Following this process, you will have the SuperUser application installed and applications will request Superuser access if they require it.
Note:
You may find for screen capture programs you need to allow permissions automatically or you may only end up with screenshots of the permission screen! Yes that's how I got the above one...
Excellent topic ! i've got the same pad and was wondering if you did find out a good way to completely backup the firmware. I've used Titanium but that's not a complete dump.
JiePieWie said:
Excellent topic ! i've got the same pad and was wondering if you did find out a good way to completely backup the firmware. I've used Titanium but that's not a complete dump.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to Xda!
That was going to be my next topic.
I've just been focusing on my WM development stuff at the moment (new RSSTab in the works), but will return to the tablet after I am done.
I'm not quite sure the best way to back it up yet, I was planning on trying out the ClockMod route, trouble is I'm quite new to it, so a little cautious about doing it before holidays.
I hope to try out some low level interfacing using the usb at some point too, as I've got a development board to play with.
Side Topic: The Future! Quad core and beyond
This time next year, Rodney...
Just saw this, and thought I would share here!
ASUS planning quad-core Tegra 3 tablet
See the two videos which are on the linked page...
Yes that is 2560x1600 resolution, hopefully to go into a 10" retina display.
Simply said, the future of these chips look rather interesting to say the least (no doubt are related to Sony's NGP).
Looking at the video, what we will be able to do with mobile devices will be rather impressive. Combine that with the new touch and perhaps kinect type control technologies as well as improvements with battery capacity/recharge tech, improved clear & colourful screens and things are shaping up nicely.
Boy are we going to have some fun hacking the innards out of them!
It is easy to see that for me, I've made the right choice by not spending lots of money on an impressive and expensive tablet at the moment. Since I'm happy to wait for a better tablet and until then I can have fun playing with my basic one.
Let just hope that the manufactures come up with a decent device, that is able to be hacked and perhaps might even be half decent out-of-the-box.
What is next? Who knows!
It's interesting really since I think that phones are quite close to the point where they have about as much processing power as they need** (perhaps with the exception of ones which include extra connectivity to HDMI/pico projector, keyboards etc). When they are subjected to the confines of a 3.8"/4" screen, you start to hit the limits of usability rather than processing power. Tablets have given the hardware room to stretch it's legs a little and show us what it can do!
**I'm not saying they won't need more in future, but I think perhaps an upgrade won't be as essential or spectacular, as it once was, until they evolve to the next form of course. I suppose the ultimate progression though is the usability of something like a tablet or pc but packaged in the form of a phone or smaller device in some form or another.
The software needs to catch up now though, we need better multi-core programming techniques, far far better privacy protection, and better stability overall. Thankfully hardware gives us the grunt to do this, it just needs to develop and improve to the point where coding can be done at the highest level of abstraction (which allows time to be spent on creative aspects rather than low level code details).
If you want to look even further, the prospect of re-programmable hardware is getting closer. This is where all the single purpose chips (such as video decoders) are replaced/supplemented by ones which can be re-programmed. Not only does this allow for codecs etc to be updated while still keeping the advantage of hardware decoding/coding (i.e. realtime without loading the main processor or drawing lots of power), but some applications could in-theory call in dedicated processing for specific tasks allowing for some amazing performance when performing complex and processor intensive tasks.
Fun times are a-coming!
Bright things are ahead for our fondle blocks, I don't even care too much if they are android or ipad or something else, as long as we can buy it (without selling a leg or two - ok, not iPad then!), program it, play with it and push it to it's limits and beyond!
Side Topic: Multi-Touch Technology - with No Touch Screen!
ZeroTouch 'optical multi-touch force field' makes a touchscreen out of just about anything
I wonder how much this costs to produce, quite a nice solution and ideal as a add-on to current screens. Depending of the cost of each infra-red and LED module it hopefully won't be too much. Imagine getting it fitted to your coffee table at home!
Acer Iconia Dual-Touchscreen 484G64ns in Europe /
Acer Iconia 6120 Dual-Touchscreen Tablet in the US /
and in Japan it is the Acer Iconia F54E
View attachment 952865
Acer Iconia onscreen Keyboard
Blank Custome Keyboard Background:
http://www.xda-developers.ch/members/swiss420/images/kb_bg_by_swiss420.png
XDA Branded Keyboard Background:
http://www.xda-developers.ch/members/swiss420/images/kb_bg_by_swiss420_xda_branded.png
I hope I am not the only one with this device because it really is a fun and unique Gadget but even Acer abandoned it shortly after release. I believe there is great potential in this Device, if we work together and share our tweaks and customizations. Maybe even play around with some Linux Distributions and once it gets released off course Windows 8. Preview worked great and the Windows 8 Keyboards will be a much needed improvement.
View attachment 952866
Social Jogger / Acer Ring
I am really hoping to find others here that have not given up yet and believe there is more to be done with it. As it is similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note in terms of, being between classes I would appreciate it if this does not end in a discussion if a Dual-Touchscreen is useful or not. Obviously I feel it has its practical applications while I recognize it is not something for everyone. As a little Side note my 86 year old Grandma asked me if she can have it. She loved playing around with Microsoft Surface Collage and for me that was an amazing reaction I never thought possible. Only problem now my Grandma and my 6 year old Sister fight over who gets to play around with the Acer Iconia when I come over.
View attachment 952867
For example here with KiesAir but manual initiation.
Note: It is a very special device from Acer that probably should never have left R&D. That said I am thrilled they did decide to release it. Unfortunately with the release of Windows 8 getting closer and Apple/Google trying to secure patents, all creative startup Companies producing Multitouch Infterfaces have been bought up and disappeared into these big Companies. For Example Bump Top Pro. If you ever had the pleasure of working with it you would never want another Desktop Interface again.
All Graphics were made on the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Video is not done by me see Video on YouTube for more Information
Bottom Screen Disasembly Instructions
1. Remove back cover plate
2. Remove the screws and disconnect cables marked in the picture below
3. Carefully separate the bottom screen from the case to get access to additional screws required to get full access to the motherboard. In order to separate the screen use a small plastic tool to move around the edge starting at the front and unhook it. Be gentle so you don't accidently break the plastic clips.
4. Be mindful of the cable connecting from the screen to the power button circuit in the right corner. You don't want to accidently tear the small wires that it consists of.
5. Remove all remaining screws that became accessible once the screen is removed.
{
"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"
}
Reserved for Addons and Tweaks
In case there are others maybe we can collect the Licence free stuff here. Might come in handy for other Windows 8 Tablets comming up.
Drivers:
To fix the Ghost Touches on the Display use the Graphics Driver from Acer not Microsoft. Thanks to farinellobvom
Recovery:
Windows 8.1 Recovery (Thanks to Yogibar)
Tweaks:
Custome Blank Keyboard Background: http://www.xda-developers.ch/members/swiss420/images/kb_bg_by_swiss420.png
Custome XDA Branded Keyboard Background: http://www.xda-developers.ch/members/swiss420/images/kb_bg_by_swiss420_xda_branded.png
Social Jogger can be used on any Windows Dualscreen Computer (does not work on single Screens). Just copy the Folder under Program Files/Acer/Social Jogger make sure you got the newest Version
If you look at some of the DLL's for the Keyboard it is possible to reconfigure the whole Keyboard and its look. But it takes time.
Usefull Hardware Upgrades:
2x4GB = 8GB instead of the 2x2GB - There are some RAM hungry Apps.
If you dont need that much space or if you are rich enough go for a SSD. It will speed up things allot.
Sidenote: My previous statement about 16GB Ram was probably wrong. I just got informed that using 2x8GB will result in problems. So stay with 2x4GB and or if you got it to work please post how.
Recomended Applications:
Do check out the following post for the Hot Virtual Keyboard. A very customizable On Screen Keyboard: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54346346&postcount=35
Bump Top / English / German (3D Multitouch enabled Windows 7 Desktop Replacement - Sold to Google - IM me if you need help finding a good version)
InkSeine by Microsoft Research / Micosoft Research InkSeine Beta
Internet Explorer 10 Test Drive Webseiten (Not talking about IE10 just the Test Drive Websites)
Microsoft Origami Experience Pack v2 (Cool TabletPC Interface designed by Microsoft a long time ago)
Windows XP TabletPC PowerToys (most TabletPC tools for XP work fine under Windows 7 Multitouch)
SmartDraw 2012 (Touch Forms, etc)
ArtRage 3 (Cool Drawing Tool)
Kindle for PC (E-Book Reader)
Microsoft Education Pack
Betty Crooker Kitchen Assistant
SketchBookDesigner
TC Mania 3 VirtualDJ
Serene Screen (Photorealistic Aqarium Screensaver)
Roboform (Enter Passwords easely with your finger)
Research Materials:
Microsoft Research in 2002 "Inventing the TabletPC"
Microsoft Research in 2009 "Codex: A Dual Screen Tablet Computer"
Multitouch SDK:
Open Exhibits: http://openexhibits.org/
GestureWorks3 : http://gestureworks.com
In the Pictures I used a stand from a HP DockingStation for a HP NC4400
Reserved for Multitouch Gestures
With the Gesture Editor it would be nice to have some kind of list of common usefull commands that can be set or hopefully somehow importet. For Example
hi,
currently i'm using the acer iconia 484g64ns but somehow my acer ring doesn't work. i tried to check for the software on the net but couldn't find one. do you have any idea where i can get it?
thanks
swiss420 said:
With the Gesture Editor it would be nice to have some kind of list of common usefull commands that can be set or hopefully somehow importet. For Example
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this stuff.
I'm currently hunting one of these laptops. I plan to put linux on it to use as a primary coding system for school.
Maybe now I won't look so silly carrying my USB keyboard everywhere to avoid using the integrated keyboard on another laptop.
I see both displays are working under linux 3.2.
Anyone know anything about the touchscreen in linux?
barakyie said:
hi,
currently i'm using the acer iconia 484g64ns but somehow my acer ring doesn't work. i tried to check for the software on the net but couldn't find one. do you have any idea where i can get it?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ardentangel.com/iconia/OEM.rar
You must copy OEM folder on C: and run preload/autorunX/autorunX.exe application
I have found from ukrainean site the recovery image 16GB (PQSERVICE1....5). Is the russian version but with Vistlizator and english language pack I managed to have a new installation on my Acer Iconia.
edisk.ukr.net/?do=dir#cdir=shared
user name: iconia
password: 123456
Changing language pack tutorial:
youtube.com/watch?v=6lf8lAaop3c
Hi I need some help, I'm trying to set the ring gestures but the I can't no where to set my own gestures.
TIA.
i have just purchased one of these machines and after many firmware issues its finally up and running. One of the first programs i hope to install is traktor using the smithson martin emulator. When i have this completed i will upload pictures and videos for you.
I realise this post is fairly old now but im hoping there are still users of this iconia who are as into the whole dual screen technology as i am
Ghost touch
Hi guys! I got the answer!!!! DOWNLOAD from acer website the vga driver and install it. It wasn't a hardware problem it is a software problem windows installs vga drivers that are faulty so just install the acer one again and the ghost touch goes away. I have been a day with no ghost touch after I installed it. I used to have it at least once every 30 minutes. Happy day for everybody!!!!:good::good::laugh::laugh::good::good:
Where can you buy this device
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SVII using Tapatalk 6 Beta
AndroidSlave said:
Where can you buy this device
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SVII using Tapatalk 6 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is one of those Acer oddities where even Acer themselfes loose any and all interesst in the Product within 6 month of its release and there are good reason for this too. But the worst Thing is that you do not want to carry this Thing around. Any and all Drops would be fatal.
Acers newest odditie was the DA220HQL Smart Display with Android:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41769295&postcount=3
Acer is a creative Company but maybe sometimes a little to creative for their own good. I am just suprised that these Products even make it to the production line and dont end up as only prototypes, but for that I am very thankfull. I love these Gadgets just make sure you always wait for the Price to drop as soon as they realize they can never sell them all. Then you can buy them to Play around. Otherwise you pay a premium Price for a non premium Device/Toy.
farinellobvom said:
Hi guys! I got the answer!!!! DOWNLOAD from acer website the vga driver and install it. It wasn't a hardware problem it is a software problem windows installs vga drivers that are faulty so just install the acer one again and the ghost touch goes away. I have been a day with no ghost touch after I installed it. I used to have it at least once every 30 minutes. Happy day for everybody!!!!:good::good::laugh::laugh::good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you get on with this? Doesnt seem to of solved the ghost touch issue for me, but granted it is happening a lot less
hazza666 said:
how did you get on with this? Doesnt seem to of solved the ghost touch issue for me, but granted it is happening a lot less
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I installed the drive few days ago and no ghost touch until now. I did use the foam tape before and it still there maybe you should do both install the driver and and the tape as in senpa.us.
Good luck
ghost touch relieved with foam tape
I used the foam tape 4 months ago and the ghost touches are gone. I do occasionally suffer episodes of touchscreen keyboard non-responsiveness when awaking the machine from sleep, however. This Iconia rocks with windows 8 pro!
hazza666 said:
how did you get on with this? Doesnt seem to of solved the ghost touch issue for me, but granted it is happening a lot less
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
farinellobvom said:
Hi! I installed the drive few days ago and no ghost touch until now. I did use the foam tape before and it still there maybe you should do both install the driver and and the tape as in senpa.us.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Docta_J2H3 said:
I used the foam tape 4 months ago and the ghost touches are gone. I do occasionally suffer episodes of touchscreen keyboard non-responsiveness when awaking the machine from sleep, however. This Iconia rocks with windows 8 pro!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks guys for your Feedback. Dident expect that anyone else still using this device. It has been a while since last started it. It just Looks cool on the Desk for now.
Would you guys mind sharing which exact Version of the Driver that worked best for you?
swiss420 said:
Thanks guys for your Feedback. Dident expect that anyone else still using this device. It has been a while since last started it. It just Looks cool on the Desk for now.
Would you guys mind sharing which exact Version of the Driver that worked best for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the link:
http://global-download.acer.com/GDF...&Step3=ICONIA&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=EMEA_27
I would like to try win 8, but I am afraid it will not work properly. Any of you have any tips, or what version is better, or links for the drivers?
Other thing, I can not play some old games as age of empire or settlers, any idea if it is possible play them?
This is an fantastic device but there are not many information about it. So we all need to find solutions an share them.
:good:
If anyone is interested i do have service guides, firmware, touch engine, list of part numbers etc for this machine that i am willing to share.
hazza666 said:
If anyone is interested i do have service guides, firmware, touch engine, list of part numbers etc for this machine that i am willing to share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I am interested to have them, now that I don't have ghost touch any more I will try to get the best of it. I do love old games any of you know if there is a way to play age of empire 1 and 2 on this laptop?
Thanks
Think i am gonna have to bite the bullet and try the foam tape idea. Was the ghost touch happening on just one screen or both for everybody else?
farinellobvom i have sent you a pm
{
"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"
}
This is my first post here on the Surface Pro forums. I'm usually in the Nexus 4 forums so just a little out of place, haha.
Pretty much there's a lot of mixed reviews from tech journalists and the business world in regards to this tablet/laptop. If any of you haven't seen the review done on Penny Arcade, then I suggest you go there first if you want a full review of this product.
This thread is mainly to tell you guys about my experience as an artist working on this tablet.
My setup is as follows:
1. 128GB Microsoft Surface Pro
2. Logitech K360 Keyboard (wireless)
3. Logitech M510 Mouse (wireless)
4. Uspeed USB 3.0 4 Port Compact Hub
5. Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 6
I chose this setup to be as versatile as possible. The surface keyboard option was $130 dollars, and honestly, I think that's a load of crap. The keyboard was 40 dollars at best, and even if it attaches to the Surface Pro and acts as a protective cover, I still don't get that price point. Maybe if it was more like a dock (more USB ports) and possibly a bigger battery source, then I'd be more inclined. The wireless allows me to completely detach from the keyboard and mouse by simply taking the Surface Pro from my desk and immediately start using my pen. When I put the tablet back in the wireless keyboard/mouse range, it automatically detects it again and this is pretty much seamless, no syncing, no bluetooth pairing crap, it's awesome.
The 4 port hub is optional and rarely do I have it hooked up. It's for when I need to hook up a USB memory stick or a device such as a scanner or printer (which I have yet to use). It is powered so if I need to put in a hefty device, then it won't kill the surface pro. It is also very light and compact, barely bigger than a credit card. The cord on it is a little longer than I'd like, but it's not bad.
I've had it for about a week and I can tell you that this is probably the best drawing tablet on the market right now (minus the professional desktop grade tablets such as the Intuos and the Cintiqs). I've tried the iPad, Asus Transformer, Nexus 7 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Tab comes the closest with their pen option, however with Android, I don't get the same options I do where Windows 8.
For drawing I mainly have just the tablet and pen in hand. In fact 80% of the time, this is fine. Sketchbook Pro 6 is well designed for very minimal keyboard hotkeys and so I am able to navigate most of the interface with just the pen and finger gestures. I can't comment on Photoshop yet because WinTab has yet to be released at the time I'm posting, and so pressure sensitivity is still up in the air. However Sketchbook Pro 6 registers pressure sensitivity very well.
PROS
Screen lag is virtually non-existent, response is very good. I say virtually because, it will start showing up when the brush size is super super large and you have, say the airbrush tool selected. However this is an inherent problem with even my main rig, which has an i7 2600k and 16GB of ram. Most of the time, I use this tablet to get my roughs, and even touchups done, but if I'm going to work on a 50+ layer 300DPI/PPI image, then I'm switching back onto my main machine to do that kind of work. With that said, I would not recommend this tablet/laptop for any graphic designer wanting to only have just this to work on. This is a purely supplemental tool to an artist, in my opinion.
Multi-tasking is a breeze when I'm using it in tablet mode. I can draw sitting on my couch or outside, I can have my music playing in Spotify and I can quickly go in and out of my file browser, network as well as any USB devices I have very very quickly. If I need to FTP anything up to my websites, I can do so fairly easily as well. This is the true power of having Windows 8 rather than a tablet OS. You just can't beat the sheer amount of applications built for productivity on Windows and so it's highly evident when using this tablet.
CONS:
My biggest gripe with this tablet is that what makes it powerful.. Windows.. is also it's weakpoint. What do I mean by that? Well in essence, Windows is a desktop platform, and so interacting with buttons is very precision based (mouse) or in this case a pen. While practice will essentially get rid of this, it's still somewhat of a pain in the butt having to try and click a tiny button during installation or even minimizing or maximizing a screen.
Font size is the second problem. Even with large fonts enabled, there's still a lot of programs that don't take advantage of this. When I'm working in 3DSMax or Maya, the interface still looks very very small. Now someone may say, wtf are you doing working on a 3d program on a mobile device? Well honestly, when I'm traveling, I can model an object without rendering it. I don't need to be rendering out a high quality pass with V-Ray or Mental Ray activated and Final Gather on, lol. I'm simply saying that working in the interface, even though I'm used to most of them, I still have to squint a lot to enter values or read off values. There's probably mods out there or applications I can get to increase this, but with just a base stock install it is a pain.
------------
If you all have any questions on this tablet please feel free to post up.
WISHLIST
Some things I'd like to see in terms of accessories..
Adjustable cover... I find that when I'm drawing, I either have to lay it down on the table or go into "picture frame" style mode which isn't really usable for drawing. I will often just have it on my lap or laying on top of a three ring binder to get that angle that I'm looking for.
Grippier pen.. I have an Intuos 5 at work and Intuos 4 at home and the pen is much more comfortable and ergonomic to work with. Now the Surface Pen is by no means a slouch and I can definitely work with it.. but if they had different style pens for artists available, I'd definitely buy one.
I haven't heard of the intuos tablets but then I was never a graphic design person.
Are they Wacom digitiser based? If so then the stylus should work fine on the surface.
The surface stylus is just a wacom pen so that is probably why there are not additional styles available, you can already get them.
Note that I don't own a surface or drawing tablet etc.
SixSixSevenSeven said:
I haven't heard of the intuos tablets but then I was never a graphic design person.
Are they Wacom digitiser based? If so then the stylus should work fine on the surface.
The surface stylus is just a wacom pen so that is probably why there are not additional styles available, you can already get them.
Note that I don't own a surface or drawing tablet etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All lines of Wacom tablets have proprietary pens, even an Intuos 4 pen will not work for an Intuos 5, I've tried, lol. Although, I wish they would :-/
Argenist said:
but if they had different style pens for artists available, I'd definitely buy one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you wouldnt, they'd probably want $100 for it lol
Trig0r said:
No you wouldnt, they'd probably want $100 for it lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'd depend on the pen. Wacom makes an awesome airbrush pen for the Intuos that I would pay that much for. If they charged $100 for the same pen with a small amount of grip on it, then yeah I'd probably say no.
I'm surprised you hadn't tried the Samsung Note 10.1, which has an active digitizer like the S.Pro but at half the price. Sammy's multi-window scheme is more elaborate and functional than Metro Snap. Sketchbook Pro is of course also on Android.
The Windows font scaling problem you mentioned has long been a problem, and is why S.RT's low-res screen is actually more functional than S.Pro's 1080p one. A larger issue is that there is (yet) no independent scaling for different displays, so the Pro's 150% scaling would look horrible if you attach an external display. The current workaround is to compromise at 125% scaling, which is optimal for neither. MS has said this will be fixed, and I expect Blue will bring display-specific scaling.
The con mentioned--desktop elements being touch unfriendly--is the single largest problem that has crippled the Win8 adoption. Metro is not the way forward for Windows, not until it can subsume desktop functions, and it can't in its current state. It's not even v1.0. It's only for small-screen devices, and is unfit to be used in portrait.
The desktop was mainly ignored in Win8. I would think that any aid at all would've helped to ease the transition. For example, the magnifying tool in Accessibility could've been deployed by default to dynamically enlarge areas for touch. I expect to see something like this to arrive in Blue.
e.mote said:
I'm surprised you hadn't tried the Samsung Note 10.1, which has an active digitizer like the S.Pro but at half the price. Sammy's multi-window scheme is more elaborate and functional than Metro Snap. Sketchbook Pro is of course also on Android.
The Windows font scaling problem you mentioned has long been a problem, and is why S.RT's low-res screen is actually more functional than S.Pro's 1080p one. A larger issue is that there is (yet) no independent scaling for different displays, so the Pro's 150% scaling would look horrible if you attach an external display. The current workaround is to compromise at 125% scaling, which is optimal for neither. MS has said this will be fixed, and I expect Blue will bring display-specific scaling.
The con mentioned--desktop elements being touch unfriendly--is the single largest problem that has crippled the Win8 adoption. Metro is not the way forward for Windows, not until it can subsume desktop functions, and it can't in its current state. It's not even v1.0. It's only for small-screen devices, and is unfit to be used in portrait.
The desktop was mainly ignored in Win8. I would think that any aid at all would've helped to ease the transition. For example, the magnifying tool in Accessibility could've been deployed by default to dynamically enlarge areas for touch. I expect to see something like this to arrive in Blue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy Note 10.1 doesn't have access to all the apps he listed. Also, you can't beat full x86.
I've yet to find this to be a problem. You can set scaling to 125% for the environment and tell individual apps to not follow scaling if you need it to. Maybe it's just me, but my eyes are perfectly fine with 100% scaling.
I don't think you can blame that on MS. While I don't particularly use the metro ui, it is useful. I manage to use the desktop elements just fine in desktop mode. If you noticed, MS Office 2013 is touch friendly and other software developers are following up on making their applications more touch friendly (but you probably won't see a lot of them until touchscreen computers grab a bigger share in the market). Obviously if you come out with a new OS that is touch friendly when it never was, there would be problems with that...people never complained about this with earlier tablet pc's, so why are they starting to complain now? Because touchscreens are becoming more and more common. Obviously it will take some time to get there.
You're right. The desktop is mainly ignored and only used for legacy apps. I'm guessing MS hopes that most developers will try and switch to the metro ui (I'm suspecting this might take a few years). I still can't see myself using metro ui as my primary ui.
[For moderators : As there is no "General" forum on the "Custom Roms" section, I hope I'm not wrong posting it here. Feel free to move it where it should be!]
OXI - Beta versionHi everyone!
I would like to present something we have been working on for some time now !
For those who thinks their smartphone can perform the same tasks that a computer can, we would like to allow you to replace your computer with your smartphone, using it on any screen, TV, projector. Basically, it's like Microsoft Continuum but better with Android
{
"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"
}
OXI working on NexDock
What is OXI ?We're developing a desktop-like environment for Android, implying multitasking, resizing, notification support.
You can use it directly on your main screen but the most interesting is to use a second screen (with MHL/DP or Miracast for instance) to get a desktop environment on it and still use your phone meanwhile.
It might be more clear with some videos : https://goo.gl/6R6rcZ
Our code is now based on LineageOS 14.1, and we're ready to follow the next Android evolutions. We're using LineageOS for compatibility reasons, because we want to be able to try with multiple phones without spending much time on porting.
We're currently in a buiding process, and you can already download the A.2.3 (Nougat) OXI versions for :
- OnePlus 3 / 3T
- OnePlus 2
- OnePlus One
- Huawei Nexus 6P
- LG Nexus 5X
- LG G5 (we have issues with DisplayPort, let us know how is it working for you)
- Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos - herolte)
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Exynos - hero2lte)
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 LTE (gts210ltexx)
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 wifi (gts210wifi)
- Lenovo Zuk Z1 (ham)
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (kenzo)
- LeEco Le Max 2 (x2)
- ZTE Axon 7
Old versions, we still keep it here for the record
Our code is based on CyanogenMod 13, and I'm currently switching the dev branches to LineageOS 14.1. We're using CM/LOS for compatibility reasons, because we want to be able to try with multiple phones without spending much time on porting.
Right now we have several alpha versions
-> OnePlus 3 (oneplus3)
-> Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE Advance (ks01lte)
-> LG Nexus 5X (bullhead)
-> Galaxy tab S2 9.7 lte (gts210ltexx)
Next alpha-releases are going to be Galaxy Note4 (trltexx) and probably Redmi Note 3 pro (kenzo). Not sure right now. In our wishlist (from our french community), are also S6, S7, LG h850, angler, some Asus...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want OXI to be on your smartphone, tablet or other device, please tell us! If it's supported by LineageOS, it would be even easier for us .
To have a comfortable experience on OXI, you need to have a mid-range around (from experience, 40-50k score at Antutu is enough). But you need at least 2GB memory, 3GB is better. Basically : more RAM => more apps that can be opened simultaneously without slowing down the system. With 3GB, you can easily open 15 apps. We didn't had enough applications installed to crash our OnePlus 3 .
UsageI'm going to describe really quickly the basics of OXI. You'll find multiple apps preinstalled in the ROM :
OXI : Launch OXI on main display (phone)
OXI Remote : Launch OXI on the external display (Miracast, DisplayLink, DisplayPort, MHL, HDMI, Chromecast or other...)
For wireless, we recommand the Miracast adapters from Microsoft (Wireless Display v2) or from ActionTech. These adapters are fully compatible with OXI and eliminate completely the mouse lag that you might experience with other wireless adapters (such as Chromecast). Give us feedback, we didn't try everything !
OXI Control : A basic tool replacing keyboard and mouse. Two modes, "Keypad" is a simple touchpad/keyboard, moving the mouse from the phone, and the "Pad" mode is a mirrored touchscreen surface. Very cool to play multitouch games in OXI.
OXI Overscan tool : If you are using OXI on some TV you might notice a part of app missing. You can use this tool to crop the visible surface, adjust until you can see a red rectangle around the blue one.
How to launch an app in OXI :
Start OXI from launcher
Put the mouse in the bottom left part to see the menu button an click on it
Start your favorite apps !
How to connect in Miracast
In the notifications zone, select "Cast" and choose your miracast adapter.
If it's working, you should see your phone mirrored on the screen.
Launch OXI on a second screen :
Be sure you are already connected to another screen and mirroring.
Launch OXI Remote.
If needed, enable permissions
Location permission is just used to show the wifi networks
Overlay permission is mandatory for OXI remote, as we're drawing over a different surface than the main screen.
Click on start
OXI should appear on the other screen and your device should have a new notification with "OXI running". You can tap on this notification to shut down OXI.
Control tool usage
The control tool features two modes :
"Keypad" mode is a remote keyboard and mouse/touchpad
"Pad" mode allows you to interact with the active window (the touch surface is mapped to the active window)
Interface quick-guide
NOTE : this is not updated, the new interface is looking way better (check the videos ! https://goo.gl/6R6rcZ
RoadmapPlease tell us your remarks and wishes for next versions, so we can adjust our roadmap by most-wanted features.
Short-term
Screenshot tool
Full shutdown of the main screen when using OXI in remote (to save battery)
Customization options (font size, background...)
Medium/long-term
Inbuilt file manager
Multiple instance launching (ex : two Word instances)
Multiscreen support
Disclaimer
This is an alpha, quite stable but it's not 100% stable or secured.
Installing it is your choice and we're not responsible for any damage or loss of data.
However there's no difference between this and a CyanogenMod ROM for the installation, if you are confident all should be okay. We're using those devices for a long time now, and it works great.
Never forget the golden rule : ALWAY SAVE YOUR DATA, and do nandroid backup before any operation on your phone.
This is an alpha (again), so we might fix a lot of things between releases, so check regularly for updates
Installation/Download :Installation procedure : It's like LineageOS 14.1 nightlies. You might find better tutorial for your particular phone here . Basically, the way to do is :
1. (If not done yet) : Unlock bootloader
2. (If not done yet) : Flash custom recovery (TWRP or cyanogenmod classic recovery), with fastboot, odin/heimdall, spflashtool...
3. (If not done yet) : In recovery, remember to do a backup !
4. Wipe all the phone (Might not be mandatory if you're already running LineageOS 14.1 nightly)
5. Install the zip file
6. (Optional) Install Google Apps (Open GApps, android 7.1)
7. Restart the phone
That might sounds stupid but with my brand new account on XDA, right now I can't post ROMs in each device forum... I will do that as soon as I can...
For latest releases, check https://getoxi.com/download !
OXI A.2.3 (2017/06/22) - Nougat version !
OnePlus3/3T: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634781196 - md5 14e3d2b8339820e67bf8d40d89906da4
Nexus 6P (angler) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=673368273298969591 - md5 77a06b7e67028281c1efa14f73d39d61
Nexus 5X (bullhead) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634781195 - md5 631f4ad7e0c9dbccb3217bfe3b672d94
LG G5 (h850) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634781193 - md5 91253ff89726aaa50a8f28b280884934
OnePlus 2 : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=961840155545576971 - md5 8d8610d5efa789905bbc0d1997047b5c
OnePlus One : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=889764386195911027 - md5 e27152738b4de60fca08e280049eb48e
Samsung Galaxy S7 (exynos - herolte) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=745425885120744840- md5 d78b9a7ac25b99615a8b7d0c9c242f15
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (exynos - hero2lte) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634782269 - md5 f9b8afb0681d1e12ac7bb4b97a061a00
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 LTE (gts210ltexx) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=889764386195912098 - md5 eac4e7f670858c383e224bf0187f2b97
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 wifi (gts210wifi) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=961840155545578097 - md5 ec9addd2e34503c4878bd2ba90c23c2e
Lenovo Zuk Z1 (ham) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634782293 - md5 a9944f74678f6224b7610c8a46325533
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (kenzo) https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=745425885120744839 - md5 614ea7b4119ee4771d1d98bea7d050d8
LeEco Le Max 2 (x2) https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=889764386195913394 - md5 8ec7f1ff0a8bde53fcb5c902690968f1
ZTE Axon 7 (axon7) https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=961840155545579364 - md5 bb9a4f6173281fe0f2ab049405f4d411
OXI A.1.9 (2017/02/08) :
OnePlus3 : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634745003 - md5 463000a46067233f352fe24c4f3002ab
Nexus 5X (bullhead) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=673368273298929998 - md5 8f1bc2d74d0d3daccd8dab0e00a90d5c
Samsung S4 Advance LTE (ks01lte, I9506) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634745004 - md5 65f29339e55df4379d2c0e2ead029dfb
Samsung Galaxy Tab (gts210ltexx, SM-T815) : https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=817550096634745005 - md5 ff6ba0d94e4463c33467c71aeee53025
Known issues/Limitations- Chromecast is supported but won't have any optimization for the latency
- Google Play might be unstable on the desktop environment – the list of apps is not updated (will be fixed soon)
- Authorizing permissions might be difficult in some case. We advice that you also start your apps at least one on your phone screen before launching them in OXI
- You might experience some issues non-related to OXI, it might be related to CyanogenMod 13 :/
- Shortcuts on desktop are saved when exiting
- Bluetooth management inside OXI won't work (yet)
- Some applications (especially some games) won't resize properly. Unity-based games might crash if resized, we're working on it.
- Best experience is with 1920x1080 resolution on an external screen (TV or computer screen).
- Some TV screen won't report the correct real size, so the "size" inside the application might be larger than expected. We're working on allowing you to choose the dpi of each window
- Miracast is enabled up to 1920x1080 resolution and won't support 4K
- Only one instance of each application can be started on desktop mode.
- One application can be started on the phone OR on the screen but not both simultaneously.
- The overscan tool might need to be force-closed its overlay is shown above OXI.
- The ROM does NOT include any Google apps, so you should install them manually (We're usually using Open GApps).
FAQ- I'm an app developer and my app is not resizing correctly, why ?
-> That's a good question . Contact us and we'll see why !
- Are you using the Android Nougat multitasking/resizing ?
-> No, we are based on Android 6 Marshmallow. Our method is a bit different.
- Why do I need a special ROM for that?
-> We added and modified some parts of the Android system, to high and lower levels, to make OXI work.
- That's cool ! Can I use it everyday?
-> Sure, but keep in mind it's a beta right now, with stability and possibly security issues (still dev-code)
- Did you put any spy or anything ad inside the app or ROM?
-> No. Only love and required modifications for OXI to work. And for the app, we just added a crash-reporting library (Firebase).
- Can you make it compatible with [Phone/tablet model]?
-> We would like to make OXI available to the maximum of devices. Just keep in mind 2GB of memory is a minimum and 3GB is recommended. Let us know and we'll try to make it compatible if we can!
- Can you make it compatible with [application] that currently didn't work in OXI?
-> Give us information about the issue, we will investigate it asap.
- Can I install it with a multi-rom loader?
-> Probably... We actually haven't tried it yet. Let us know
- Who are you?
-> We're a small company called Auxens and we are in France (that's also why this text is probably full of mistakes, please put down the forks!). You can check our website, http://www.auxens.com
Sources:
Our code is currently based on CyanogenMod 13 (Apache 2) https://github.com/CyanogenMod and http://cyanogenmod.org (sadly down)
We're using kernels and device trees from official CyanogenMod repositories for ks01lte, bullhead, oneplus3 and gts210ltexx.
Kernels (GPL) are available here :
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_kernel_samsung_ks01lte
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_kernel_lge_bullhead
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_kernel_oneplus_msm8996
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_kernel_samsung_gts2
Very excited to see multiscreen support as a mid term goal.
Switching to Lineage OS could be a good thing. In particular Lineage OS x86 https://forum.xda-developers.com/lineage/general/unofficial-linage-os-pc-based-android-t3531145
Would allow for PC with multiscreen - great for app developers and app research.
Can you help me compile a lineage is x86 version with OXI for display link external screen?
Does it work OK on [email protected] displaylink DL6950 chipset(such as targus 160 dock)?
xda_nikita said:
Very excited to see multiscreen support as a mid term goal.
Switching to Lineage OS could be a good thing. In particular Lineage OS x86 https://forum.xda-developers.com/lineage/general/unofficial-linage-os-pc-based-android-t3531145
Would allow for PC with multiscreen - great for app developers and app research.
Can you help me compile a lineage is x86 version with OXI for display link external screen?
Does it work OK on [email protected] displaylink DL6950 chipset(such as targus 160 dock)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi !
I like the idea of having a vbox x86 OXI available for testing, we'll try to compile an OXI version on this platform
Then some test would be required but if the displaylink driver is enabled in the kernel, it should work for external screen (with USB bus capture by vbox).
For the [email protected] we don't have this kind of hardware here, but if Android supports it, OXI should also work (backgrounds might be slightly pixelated due to their lower resolution). Best would be to ask DisplayLink if they tested the DL6950 chipset on Android devices. And with a android-x86/LineageOS based OXI, it will also depend of the GPU capabilities of the virtual driver.
Its a shame about the 2GB ram Requirement
I would like to run this on my Motorola Razr Maxx XT912 (1GB) as it would allow me to used the laptop dock it was designed to originally use (I actually used the atrix dock as it was easier to get hold of) phone has both micro USB and micro HDMI ports.
I am running LineageOS 13 UTMS_ Spyder on mine and its great waiting for stable LineageOS 14 UTMS_ Spyder and then i will consider an update.
I dont need to run multiple apps at once but will allow me to get mail, open a web browser or an RDP session
So... Is OXI going commercial route?
Or did I read it wrong?
Bb
Hey. Would you add the op3t too? There are enoguh unified Roms, i think its not too hard to add like a New phone? U added the op3 already.
Really woule like to test this with my op3t, thanks!
Great work guys and good luck!
0x4A4A said:
Hi !
I like the idea of having a vbox x86 OXI available for testing, we'll try to compile an OXI version on this platform
Then some test would be required but if the displaylink driver is enabled in the kernel, it should work for external screen (with USB bus capture by vbox).
For the [email protected] we don't have this kind of hardware here, but if Android supports it, OXI should also work (backgrounds might be slightly pixelated due to their lower resolution). Best would be to ask DisplayLink if they tested the DL6950 chipset on Android devices. And with a android-x86/LineageOS based OXI, it will also depend of the GPU capabilities of the virtual driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant. Can't wait to test the vbox image with display link via USB bus capture.
The overall direction I would like to see OXI going is
An android version of https://youtu.be/KpYgOQekstQ
Scalable Adaptive Graphics Environment - SAGE SAGE2.
P.S. [email protected] works OK on Remix OS(android x86 based) but no multi monitor support or plans announced for it. The display link website has android drivers although I only managed mirroring vs the way more useful continuum that oxi provides. If I get my hands on the DL6950 based docks that can be daisy chained to 6 independent [email protected] external monitors I will post back results here or other auxens forums. :svetius
0x4A4A said:
Hi !
I like the idea of having a vbox x86 OXI available for testing, we'll try to compile an OXI version on this platform
Then some test would be required but if the displaylink driver is enabled in the kernel, it should work for external screen (with USB bus capture by vbox).
For the [email protected] we don't have this kind of hardware here, but if Android supports it, OXI should also work (backgrounds might be slightly pixelated due to their lower resolution). Best would be to ask DisplayLink if they tested the DL6950 chipset on Android devices. And with a android-x86/LineageOS based OXI, it will also depend of the GPU capabilities of the virtual driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to check if you guys are still commited to a vbox x86 image ? Is this still on
xda_nikita said:
Just to check if you guys are still commited to a vbox x86 image ? Is this still on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No news from them even on french forums (they are french)... Don't know what's going on. They've been pretty quiet.
Work on rr latest build?
Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of news. We've been mega-busy after the MWC...
We've been working on a new UI, on the Nougat port (the confectionery was harder than expected ), on a Miracast fix for Nougat/LineageOS, on bugfixes and security improvements.
We will try to share soon some other CM13-based (with new UI) OXI rom, while we are still working on Nougat .
For Android X86-port, it's not done yet, but we're working on it too (would be also very useful for debugging).
Any news for oneplus 3T?
I noticed there is a download for the Note 4 N910F on your website. Has that been confirmed working on a Note 4?
What devises would you like to see?
Hey dev team,
Could we possibly see versions for the nexus 6 and Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 2014 edition(WiFi)?
Appreciate all of your hard work!!! ?
So, we have been working hard, and finally we can provide you a beta version of OXI on several devices !
We're now based on LineageOS 14.1 (finally, nougat !) and we are currently building OXI with multiple devices. We'll add soon others devices officially supported by LineageOS.
The new version, A.2.3, is now available for Nexus 5X, OnePlus 3 & 3T (same package), OnePlus 2, OnePlus One, LG G5 (however we have issue with DisplayPort right know). Miracast should work.
You can watch new demos on our new youtube channel https://goo.gl/6R6rcZ and check our website https://getoxi.com which is the most up-to-date place to look up on OXI (but also our Facebook page and Twitter account )
His is awesome news. Im downloading it for try in my OnePlus One.
Do you have plans to add a range of cheap and mid level devices? Lets say, Doogee Mix for example. It has a good potential (it seems) but it's not a flagship. This would be nice for emergent countries.
Also, there's anyway to contribute for you guys? like a patron or something?
I have tried to install in my opo and Ive got error: 7 in twrp.
Wanted devices: Doogee MIX as soon it be launched.
ogabriel said:
I have tried to install in my opo and Ive got error: 7 in twrp.
Wanted devices: Doogee MIX as soon it be launched.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try with another twrp version and check the md5 of your download as well.
@Ox4A4A team,
Will try as soon as I can. But I have no more Chromecast.... It had a little "accident".
Looking forward to the Note 4 port.