60 replies to this topic

[Csharpe]

Hey,

I stripped down one of the latest AndyPad Pro roms, and it works 10 times better than the one mine got shipped with (first release).
What this rooted rom contains:

V1:

• Market (3.x)
  
• Latest SuperUser/su binaries - rooted
  
• Removed all useless libraries, fonts, libs, apps (only swiftkey is left)
  
• Stripped down < 100mb

V2:

• Uses newest Music.apk (supports Google Music) - has little font bug due to framework-res.apk
  
• Removed more libraries and ringtones (image's now 95mb)
  
• Market release from December 12

V3b:

• Based on 2.06 bootloader (flashtool will still report 1.65)
  
• Added hardware encoding for almost every format (no more software-decode on AVI, H264...) including streaming.
  
• Removed omx and opencore libraries
  
• Repartitioned mtd tables (now there's 440mb app-space!)
  
• Removed SwiftKey (incompatible with newer GL and libraries - sorry)
  
• Added patched ChainFire drivers (as an attempt to get Flash to work - still broken, but more games work now)
  
• Removed proprietary software (for extended video playback, install mx video player from market, codecs' already included)
  
• Smaller tweaks to boot procedure
  
• Reduced filesize drastically (to 88mb)

V4

• Converted images to ext3 & fixed the rootfs ro flags in init.rc (fully rewritable system now)
  The images became a bit bigger since they're uncompressed, but will be resized in next version.

Download:
Stripped ROM revision 4 (ext3)

Older releases:

Stripped ROM revision 3
Temporary Flash 10.3 fix: download latest apk from your AndyPad browser and install, or install trough adb.
Stripped ROM revision 2


How to install: (Windows only for now, sorry)

• Make sure the device is powered-off
  
• Keep volume-up pressed an plug the device into your PC's USB (make sure the volume-up is on hold)
  
• When the device is not recognized: install the drivers included in the package folder, for the correct architecture (x86 or x64)
  
• Open RKAndroidTool.exe (as Administrator)
  
• Make sure everything is checked except backup.
  
• When coming from an older v3 release (or stock), press Erase IDB and wait upon completion.
  
• Press Run
  
• Wait until the tablet restarts and says 'Charging', plug out USB and power it on.
  (if tablet doesn't respond anymore, you can try 'adb reboot' from commandprompt, with Android SDK installed)
  
• Wait until first boot and restart it to make sure everything's installed.

Still on my 'todo'-list:

• Add native flash libraries
  
• Update EGL drivers
  
• Get rid of the ugly AndyPad framework resources

Please report to me if you know how to fix one of these.
Thanks to:
- Lars (for testing newer .so libraries on his Teclast and just because he's a great guy)
- Oxygen-rom team
- The Odys-tablet guys
- Everyone who donated, thanks!


I hope you enjoy this ROM, leave any bugs/suggestions below! I'm sorry for update delays, but I've been really busy with work.

 andypad_stripped_3_market.png   366.35K   54 downloads    andypad_stripped_3.png   44.63K   75 downloads

 andypad_stripped_3_nandflash.png   77.08K   71 downloads    andypad_stripped_3_su.png   38.43K   47 downloads

Edited by Csharpe, 27 May 2012 - 07:03 PM.

[tumby]

Faster than the stock rom by a huge amount, and more hardware working than the CM7 builds. I recommend

[modacoste]

Agreed, a much better user experience. Thanks for your efforts.

[kokotron]

Good work

I was wondering... Would it be illegal to include an updated version of a bundled piece of (paid) software which has not been updated by Andypad itself? Here's why I ask:

There's a problem with the current Swiftkey version. You can't switch language layout (I write in Greek so that's a shame). This is fixed in later versions, so I asked Andypad by email and they replied that they would release a new Andy App from where you can download the latest Swiftkey Tablet version for free (obviously, since it's among the bundled software).  This never happened, so today after installing this rom I also installed an illegal copy of a November version (2.2.xxx) of Swiftkey Tablet. Unfortunately it doesn't update the installed swiftkey but installs side by side. But at least it works now.

Edited by kokotron, 25 December 2011 - 10:22 AM.

[Csharpe]

kokotron, on 25 December 2011 - 10:21 AM, said:

Good work

I was wondering... Would it be illegal to include an updated version of a bundled piece of (paid) software which has not been updated by Andypad itself? Here's why I ask:

There's a problem with the current Swiftkey version. You can't switch language layout (I write in Greek so that's a shame). This is fixed in later versions, so I asked Andypad by email and they replied that they would release a new Andy App from where you can download the latest Swiftkey Tablet version for free (obviously, since it's among the bundled software).  This never happened, so today after installing this rom I also installed an illegal copy of a November version (2.2.xxx) of Swiftkey Tablet. Unfortunately it doesn't update the installed swiftkey but installs side by side. But at least it works now.

Since I don't want any legal trouble, I only added the one provided on the original AndyPad ROM. If you know where to get the latest swiftkey.apk from Verticool, I'll be willing to add it, but this isn't really my decision to make.

[zurien]

Using V3b
Fast and responsive tablet, many thanks for this

Only thing that I've noticed that is not working is the camera. Force closes when starting the app.

[Csharpe]

zurien, on 28 December 2011 - 01:09 AM, said:

Using V3b
Fast and responsive tablet, many thanks for this

Only thing that I've noticed that is not working is the camera. Force closes when starting the app.

I'll look into that, it worked before so I must've broken some library. Didn't even notice since I don't use that crappy camera anyway


Edit: camera works fine? I've tested this myself. Could you provide me a logcat?
I'm running a 'little' newer rom than 3b, but haven't changed any libs so ...

Edited by Csharpe, 28 December 2011 - 08:17 PM.

[Jalfraag]

Using v3b and it works great.
One small thing, hdmi out now seems to output 1080p only. Stock rom would output 720. My acer pico looks all pixelated when fed with 1080.

[tumby]

It's still good

A few suggestions and things:

In /etc there are a few things you could remove to shave a bit more space off, including some .bmp files and some ethernet config directory. Also there are some unused firmware files for wifi.

If you switch over to ext3, you could mount it read only with no issues caused by writes. Not sure that this gives much benefit apart from allowing people to slipstream some extra .apk's, etc. Really it just makes my life easier as i'm using your stripped roms for the base of my cm7, and it's easier to overwrite things directly

Are you planning on replacing the filemanager with something better? I also noticed a few random rockchip.apk files in there but even after poking around them with a hex editor I am none the wiser as to what they do.

I also tried patching SystemUI and framework-res.apk to make things look nicer. Seemed to work quite well, and adding in the newer xml files fixes the font issue with the newer music player.

Keep up the awesome work!

[Csharpe]

tumby, on 28 December 2011 - 12:42 PM, said:

It's still good

A few suggestions and things:

In /etc there are a few things you could remove to shave a bit more space off, including some .bmp files and some ethernet config directory. Also there are some unused firmware files for wifi.

If you switch over to ext3, you could mount it read only with no issues caused by writes. Not sure that this gives much benefit apart from allowing people to slipstream some extra .apk's, etc. Really it just makes my life easier as i'm using your stripped roms for the base of my cm7, and it's easier to overwrite things directly

Are you planning on replacing the filemanager with something better? I also noticed a few random rockchip.apk files in there but even after poking around them with a hex editor I am none the wiser as to what they do.

I also tried patching SystemUI and framework-res.apk to make things look nicer. Seemed to work quite well, and adding in the newer xml files fixes the font issue with the newer music player.

Keep up the awesome work!

I haven't had time yet to work on framework-res & SystemUI, but if you got a newer version (AOSP alike) would you mind sharing it with us? Maybe the launcher needs some un-froyo'ing too, since they just threw in their crap from 2.2 builds...I haven't really tried removing the rockchip apk's, but do you think it'll run without? Thanks for the tips as for system mtd, I still have to try yaffs (kernel supports is there)...

EDIT: I did some 'decompiling' on the apk's,
RkApkinstaller_0710.apk: can be deleted, it's useless crap on top of the aosp apk installer.

Rockchipservice.apk: this has a listener & a receiver, the receiver does some logging stuff about HDMI and waits until boot is completed to start using a broadcastreceiver. It is also used for ROM updates? Not sure...

WiskyApkInstall.apk: Another poorly apk installer hacked together, but seems to have a lot of bloat to Speech calls even, and event when device's booted, will & can be removed.

Jalfraag, on 28 December 2011 - 10:27 AM, said:

Using v3b and it works great.
One small thing, hdmi out now seems to output 1080p only. Stock rom would output 720. My acer pico looks all pixelated when fed with 1080.

I have no idea sorry, but maybe I'll look into it later. I would even think this isn't a bug, but a feature.

Edited by Csharpe, 28 December 2011 - 08:43 PM.

[zurien]

Got the camera working.  
Installed V2 with restore option, then after checking the camera - making sure it was working, installed V3b with upgrade option.

Edited by zurien, 29 December 2011 - 06:22 PM.

[Tichy]

What a wonderful Xmas pressie.  Thanks, it works a treet and it's great to have a working Marketplace back again.

Question: Have you managed to APK the Andypad app?

Thanks Csharp, you gave me the like to the app on the AndyPad forum pages.

Edited by Tichy, 17 January 2012 - 02:49 PM.

[Tichy]

Hi, i went to plug my pad into my TV yesterday, only to find the HDMI option in settings was not there.

Any ideas?
followed the instructions to restore from stock AndyPad Pro ROM to v3b

Cheers.
Tichy

[eladobr]

In the instructions how to install this rom you wrote "- Open the flashtool". What kind of flash tool I should use?
Big thanks for making Andypad more usable.
Cheers

Edited by eladobr, 17 January 2012 - 09:28 AM.

[Tichy]

eladobr, on 17 January 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

In the instructions how to install this rom you wrote "- Open the flashtool". What kind of flash tool I should use?
Big thanks for making Andypad more usable.
Cheers

Hi, when you unpack the ZIP file, there is a Tool folder.  Inside the folder is the RK_Device_Tool.exe.  This is the Flashtool that Csharp is refering to.

Regards,
Tichy.

[eladobr]

Tichy, on 17 January 2012 - 02:48 PM, said:

Hi, when you unpack the ZIP file, there is a Tool folder.  Inside the folder is the RK_Device_Tool.exe.  This is the Flashtool that Csharp is refering to.

Regards,
Tichy.

Thank you for explanation.

Edited by eladobr, 17 January 2012 - 06:58 PM.

[Ben-IT]

Csharpe............ Thank you for the V4, I have just applied it!
yes system is r/w now, however when I plug my USB to the pad it keeps sayin Not Charging on the top, is this expected behaviour?
(it used to show the chargin percentage b4, but not any more)

am I doing something wrong here?

Once again thanks for the good work.

KR
Ben

Edited by Ben-IT, 18 January 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[Csharpe]

Ben-IT, on 18 January 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

Csharpe............ Thank you for the V4, I have just applied it!
yes system is r/w now, however when I plug my USB to the pad it keeps sayin Not Charging on the top, is this expected behaviour?
(it used to show the chargin percentage b4, but not any more)

am I doing something wrong here?

Once again thanks for the good work.

KR
Ben

This is common to the RK29 devices. When plugged in USB 2.0, the device only gets 500mA, as where the tablet itself is using more with screen enabled. It will still charge but slower than it charges when device is powered off. Personally, I use a 2.1A charger (it can take that much) and haven't had a single problem. This is not an issue on this ROM, but in entire architecture of bootloader & device itself.

[Ben-IT]

Csharpe, on 18 January 2012 - 03:23 PM, said:

This is common to the RK29 devices. When plugged in USB 2.0, the device only gets 500mA, as where the tablet itself is using more with screen enabled. It will still charge but slower than it charges when device is powered off. Personally, I use a 2.1A charger (it can take that much) and haven't had a single problem. This is not an issue on this ROM, but in entire architecture of bootloader & device itself.

Thank you for your response ... its reaaly helpful.

I have also just relaised that adhoc is not working for me... I have tried different wpa_supplicant but wouldnt work...
kindly could you please provid me with the right one.

Many thanks

Ben

EDIT: Never tried it before.. only got AndyPad recently so not sure about previous ROMs

Edited by Ben-IT, 18 January 2012 - 03:43 PM.

[Csharpe]

Ben-IT, on 18 January 2012 - 03:35 PM, said:

Thank you for your response ... its reaaly helpful.

I have also just relaised that adhoc is not working for me... I have tried different wpa_supplicant but wouldnt work...
kindly could you please provid me with the right one.

Many thanks

Ben

I think that's a kernel issue (methinks), I haven't been able to compile it myself yet though, but could change soon thanks to the Odys-dev guys.
The drivers for WLAN haven't changed since the stock beta releases from August, are you sure it worked before?

EDIT: it's because of wpa_supplicant in /system/bin, I'm looking into it requires some reverse engineering though.

Edited by Csharpe, 18 January 2012 - 04:55 PM.