Acer A500 Flashing

I had issues with the stock ICS rom until the point where Google Drive apps became virtually useless.  I couldn't edit spreadsheets and Hangouts was crashing crazy.  This post here is to list down resources from my attempted Linux only experience to getting from stock OTA ICS to TegraOwners Lollipop ROM.  A lot of the credit is from the hard-working folks at TO.  There's a huge amount of resources already in that forum so all you need is to search.  (They'll tell you the same thing!)  Since I don't dive in blind with these things, there was a tremendous amount of readings to be done just to get started.

My Eken Android Bootloop Fix

I want to keep this a little brief.  My Eken W70 was suffering from a bootloop issue after factory resetting the tablet.  This tablet had gone through a previous update to Jellybean although I suspected that the update was an unofficial one.  So, noting that if I don't fix this, I might as well toss this to the bin, I was emboldened into tinkering it in an attempt to fix it.

Asus ZenFone 2's Battery Life

I bought the Asus ZenFone 2 (ZE500CL) purely because I was drawn by its Intel Atom processor and it seemed like a decent device.  The one thing that really got to me was the woeful battery life.  I had the choice of getting the ZE550ML one which had a bigger battery (2500mAh vs 3000mAh). However, it has a bigger screen and houses a quad core processor.  I don't need a quad core phone and the 5" screen can barely fit in my palm so a 5.5" screen is way worse!

I've shut down a lot of services but I could barely get half a day out of my phone without needing a charge.  It got to the point where I was bringing my charger where ever I go.  Sometimes, a USB power bank as well.  Then, I discovered that I had GPS and location turned on.

I had not realized how much this thing sucks the life out of my phone battery.  Turning it off makes the phone last quite a bit!  What an amazing discovery and also a massive face palm on my part.

Android and GPS

So, I've been traveling way more frequently than I used to and I figured having the GPS on my Android devices could be handy.  However, I realized that my Acer Iconia Tab A500's GPS never actually worked.  Also, the MoveTab had GPS that worked really well and then suddenly stopped working.  If I remember, GPS never worked for my Samsung Galaxy Pocket either.  All of these nonfunctional stuff got me reading and investigating just how to use this equipment.  Read that after the jump!  Note that a lot of the focus of this article is on my poor Acer A500 and its horrible GPS.

Random Thoughts: Samba, Cinnamon and Android Insufficient Storage Space Error

So I've been using Linux Mint a lot and there's been some adjustment.  I find Cinnamon to be a total regression to Unity's dock.  I've complained a bit about this but fortunately, someone pointed me to Cairo which is a decent replacement.  It's not as slick as Unity's Dock, but it's functional and familiar enough.  I just cannot go back to that old Start Menu, Taskbar thing.  Feels cluttered and useless.

While we're in the subject of Cinnamon, when the laptop wakes up from suspend or sleep, sometimes, Cinnamon starts acting very weird.  None of my mouse clicks the menus, Cairo's task switching doesn't really work.  The only way I got to recover from it was to kill Cinnamon.  

killall -HUP cinnamon

Then, there's samba.  In the university I work at, we have some specific configuration and Cinnamon's connect Windows Share interface is a bit wonky.  Turns out when I specify the server name, I have to leave out the slashes (e.g. //).  Then specify the share to use.

Lastly, there's a common problem on Android where the storage space is always running out.  This usually manifests itself when attempting to install apps.  Google Play Store will complain "Insufficient Storage Available" which is a real pain especially when you own those Chinese OEM tablets.  I've learned since that Android will build up junk cache over time and can easily chew up GB of space after prolonged use.  You can use any cache cleaner app and run your device through it.  I use the Clean Master but I'm certain there are better lightweight apps available.  I ran my cleaner app and it showed me the junk I should clean up.  Tapped clean and I was able to install the apps I wanted just fine.

That's a wrap!  Ciao!

Google Play Books and Google Play Store

It was annoying that I could not clear my downloaded Google Books from the Play Store and recently, I discovered that to get rid of them, you had to download Google Play Books and then view your library.  You'll see all your books that you can then delete.  This clears up the recommended list that spams the Play Store.

Random Thoughts

This edition of Random Thoughts is regarding two things.  First is Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut and the Fast Travel feature.  I had made the mistake of fast travelling from Masyaf to Damascus and wondered of a way to fast travel to Acre.  Apparently, if you look at the map, there are icons for "To Kingdom" which when you leave the map through those points, you'll be asked for the option to fast travel.  This only works after Memory 3.

Second is researching on updating the Eken W70 firmware.  The tablet isn't listed in the Eken site anymore and the firmware update files are all bunched up together in the most confusing manner in their FTP site.  As far as I can tell, the W70 and W70+ are similar tablets but the W70+ has a rear facing camera.  I did some research with the Web Archive and this link to identify the proper firmware.  The correct firmware it seems is: W70-1.5.5-1680-NO-WIN8-1.10.zip and the ftp link isn't included as Eken seems to change ftp IPs all the time.

Here are the instructions for Firmware Updating:

1. Download the firmware file
2. Unzip the RAR file to a folder.
3. Open the zipped folder and copy all content in it to an empty SD or Micro SD card.
4. Turn off your device and then insert the SD or Micro SD card into it.
5. The upgrade process will get started automatically when you turn on your device.
6. When the upgrade is finished, remove the SD or Micro SD card from your device.
7. The device will automatically restart again.

That's it!

MoveTab MAQ71DX

So, I just got another one of these OEM tablets from MyView.  It's a bit pricier than the usual OEMs, but it's a dual core tablet which made me a bit leery considering the bad experience I got from the Thomson M-6. I checked the battery rating on this one and it's the same as the Eken which was 3000 mAh.  I gave the tablet a test run and it seemed fine and had Google Play Store so there was not much to complain about.  I double checked the Thomson battery rating and it was 2000 mAh which should explain the completely horrible battery life of that one.

The MoveTab has an 8 GB internal storage partitioned with around 1 GB for installation and the rest for data storage.  It seemed that several of its preinstalled stuff can actually be uninstalled which is a nice thing.  This seems to be a pretty new brand so it may get tricky down the road when the company vanishes, but as long as you get from a reputable store, they will take care of your issues.  Other than that, no real complaints.

GPU is PowerVR SGX531 and the CPU is MTK8377 ARM Cortex A9 which is a MediaTek SoC.  So far, works well with decent wifi and good touch screen functionality.  As an additional note, the website reports it as 2500 mAh but the box I bought had said it was 3000 mAh.  Please do not settle for anything less than that.

Google Play Install Error Code "919"

I had problems with the Thomson tablet with installing some applications and was getting this error message.  A little bit of searching and I found out that this was a network issue.  Clearing the dalvik cache and Google Play cache is commonly suggested but that doesn't help.  What helped in my case was to go to Settings and Data Usage, then turn off Mobile Phone Data.  This fixed the install problem.

Feedback on Thomson Tablet

I've been using this tablet for a while now and the final conclusion on this tablet is that people should not buy this one.  The dual core processor definitely looks attractive but the Infotmic SoC is not good at all.  It's incredibly underpowered and Real Racing 3 struggles to get a steady clip on it.  Overall response is not good when under duress which leads to input failure.  You're buying into this sort of tablet to get performance and you are getting none of that here.  This is just the tip of the iceberg though.

The touch screen performance under normal operations is touchy.  Dragging icons and removing them ends up being such a chore.  It constantly misinterprets taps and touch drag actions which brings the whole experience down.  Battery life is also very short.  I suspect the battery pack slipped into this is no different from other Chinese OEM tablets but the dual core SoC ends up sucking up more juice.  Lastly, the camera stopped working a week ago.  Everytime I try to use the camera app, I just get an error saying that it couldn't connect to the camera.

There's a lot of promise for cheap Chinese high performance tablets, but don't buy into it this fast.  I would advise sticking to a single core tablet as the performance on those are much more reliable.  While Thomson had good and loud speakers and the over all display is much better than the Eken, its several negative points really mar the experience.  This made me look into other tablets of similar nature like Polaroid tablets.  The lack of documentation is disconcerting and I've only found the SoC of only one of their models to be Rockchip.  That's a good manufacturer, but Polaroid tablets don't use Google Play which makes it a no-go almost immediately.  Do your homework and always be careful with these things, guys.

More Tablet Details

So, looking at the Thomson M6 made me curious to see what the SoC is.  Finding the means to unearth that information lead me to look for apps that do that.  There's lots available on Google Play and on SlideMe (for the unfortunate Coby Kyros).  I read the findings and here was what I found.

Random Thoughts: Wii U and the Thomson Tablet

I find myself surprised at how addictive Mass Effect 3's multiplayer is.  The singleplayer story has been a great ride, but I had no plans on ever dabbling on the multiplayer part.  It seems to be very well designed in that it makes the game very hard to put down.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about New Super Mario Bros. U.

For a Mario game, I found myself slowly loathing the game the farther I got into the game.  The levels turn into a total drag to play and the Luigi Super Guide is just not a fun way of pushing the game forward when you've hit your limit.  Alas, my nephew loves the game, so I am forced to tolerate this drivel of a game.

Just got a new Android tablet called Thomson M6.  Here's some pics of the box.

Specifications

Thomson M6

It seems to be a Chinese OEM tablet released in Australia and New Zealand.  After all, how else can the NZ Herald Times app be preinstalled in this?  For a cheap 7" tablet, I found the fact it was dual core very attractive.  The tablet is plenty zippy and it also comes with Google Play Store.  Strangely, it didn't have Google Play Services which seems to be required for apps like Youtube.  You can install it via Play Store though so it shouldn't be much of an issue.

There are two main downsides to this tablet.  First is the screen.  The touch is just plain weird as it sometimes registers incorrect gestures.  Dragging icons seems to be very difficult on this tablet.  The LCD screen also suffers from colour loss when viewed from an angle.  Truly not one of its shining moments.  The second is the battery life which really sucks up fast.

Over all, it seems to be okay.  Doesn't hit all the bells, but for a cheap price tag, that is to be expected.

Old Youtube Doesn't Work Anymore

I'll keep this brief.  Awhile back, I had issues with the Youtube android app as it always had the "An error occurred" error, making me downgrade back to 4.1.23.  Now, the old Youtube version doesn't work at all because it cannot seem to connect to the network.  So, I looked for a replacement and found TubeMate.  It works really well though beware of fake apps!  I have a new post regarding this issue, please look into that one!

My Autodesk Sketchbook Express Workflow

This entry is primarily for archiving my techniques for finger painting on my Android device using Autodesk Sketchbook Express which I have learned to really like.  It is a shame that my WIP files are lost with my tablet's demise, but I still have a few of my works saved.  More of the guide after the jump.

Dead Iconia Tab

So I got the stuck Acer logo on startup after the tablet froze on me while playing Magic 2014 (awesome game, by the way).  From the looks of it, for whatever reason, the boot loader cannot get ICS running so it's always stuck on the Acer logo.  I've read dozens of articles for resetting the tablet using the Volume Button +, Power button and then flicking the flip lock screen and the first time, it got through just fine but I still ended up with the stuck logo (strangely enough, I used the Volume Button - for my device).  Second time resetting only got stuck with the "Bootloader v0.03.12-ICS: Starting Fastboot USB download Protocol".  Well, ain't that nice?

I'm bracing myself for a busted NAND memory.  It sort of makes sense that if the data is truly corrupted because of hardware faults, then the machine is toast.  It also doesn't look like I'm the only one suffering from this.  I love my A500.  It's a splendid tablet, but this just has to be grating to experience.

Sad day.

Youtube Android Woes

So, on that old Eken tablet, the Youtube app started acting up.  I am treated with the "An error occurred" when attempting to sign in with the app.  If I try to play any video, I get the "Unsupported video format" error which doesn't make sense at all.

So, I started looking into a possible fix for it when I found this helpful link.  Turns out, it is the answer!  I used the Youtube 4.1.23 apk off the web and it works like a charm.

Android cpu usage and disk consumption

I came across an interesting topic on the matter of cpu usage being terribly high on Android tablets.  In my experience and via Watchdog Lite's monitoring, I've deduced that the media scanner in Android is a common resource hog.  I, however, didn't know how to deal with it until now.  Browsing through forums, someone pitched the idea of using a storage analyzer.  This will give you an idea which folders in your system hold the most number of files and which are eating up your space.

Using such tools and there are plenty on Google Play, I found that a lot of the Gameloft games have huge number of files and which ones have large disk space consumption.  Since the media scanner is such a darn plonker and has to scan your entire system, we need to make it stop from the insanity.

What I did was place a bunch of .nomedia files on the largest folders that I know shouldn't be scanned at all.  It seems to help with performance quite a bit!  As far as I can tell, the file also kills folder lookup recursion, so it should help the media scanner behave.  Try it!

Thought about the Pavizio X3...

For my mum, I thought of buying her another tablet and saw the low cost Pavizio X3 tablet.  It's this one.

Comparing it with the Eken W70 that we already own, most of the features are identical except for the 4 GB internal storage, which is really tiny.  What caught my eye though was that the processor was a "Boxchip A13 1.0 GHz" compared to the Eken's Cortex A9 1.5 GHz (WM8850), which got me digging deeper into it.

Turns out it's an Allwinner A13 SoC which contains an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU and a Mali 400 GPU.  So for a cheaper price, you get a crappier processor and less storage.  Good to know!

Eken W70 Tablet Boot Issues

Last night, the Eken tablet would get stuck in the ICS boot splash and refused to go to the actual tablet login screen.  It made me look to see how to get this thing into system recovery mode.  A little bit of Google helped, but documentation on this piece of machinery is hard to come by.  I did find it though so, here's how.

1. Make sure the tablet is off.
2. Hold down volume + button and the volume - button and then press the power button (to boot up the tablet).
3. Keep the volume buttons held down until you see the red text appear on the screen asking for confirmation.
4. Release the volume buttons and hit the power button to confirm.
5. The Android bot should appear with a revolving object.
6. The machine will automatically restart and boot to the restored settings.
7. All your apps are gone so you'll have to reconfigure everything.

Lessons on Android and Multimedia files

First off, if you're looking to skip folders from being scanned, put the .nomedia file inside the folder.  Second, using my A500 for music has lead to several particularly annoying issues.  Putting music in the micro SD card is just bad news.  Very, bad news.  My music players would pick up duplicate entries of the music files which is reminiscent to my problems with the original Google gallery.  That app would pick up and duplicate entries in its cache when the micro SD card needed to be reloaded.

Lesson learned.  Do not put music in the micro SD Card.

Cleaning up the crap takes a bit of time and effort, but if you've isolated your files in a folder, that's good.  Rename your folder and put the .nomedia file on it to keep Android from re-scanning and grabbing those poor files.  I then used Winamp to purge all the music in the library which just removes Android's internal mapping.  To be sure, load up each of your music players and make sure none of the music gets picked up.  Move your music folder to /sdcard and remove the .nomedia file.  Reboot your device and then run a music app which should begin re-scanning your device for media.

Hopefully, that will tidy up your music player.