Hudl 2 connects to wifi but Tesco update server not switched on

[Guest BuddyB]

Thanks for that. I'm trying to install an app to display soft keys, but for some reason all downloads from the Play Store are now stuck on pending. 

[Guest BuddyB]

I honestly don't know. Until yesterday I would have said no, but now I'm not sure. Hopefully someone will be able to help soon. 

[Guest stoicalm]

Just found out you can also update google and say "ok google launch apex launcher" and Google will launch it for you

[Guest stoicalm]

Stuck on pending ... go to settings >apps and uninstall updates for google play ... or you will be pending forever lol   

[Guest BuddyB]

Doh! The tablet had ground to a halt and wouldn't turn off. Just starting again with a factory rest... 

Is there a reason why you chose to install Apex as the launcher, or is it your preference? I use Nova on my other laptop, so I'm more familiar with that. 

[Guest Sdroidz]

I'm out at the moment, but are you guys talking about a hudl2 workaround with a 3rd party launcher. If it'll work on the hudl1 I'll try it tomorrow. I usually put nova on my devices anyway. 

[Guest BuddyB]

I've done it on a hudl1, but it's not there yet for me. Still fiddling. 

[Guest stoicalm]

Chose apex cos it begins with an A ... any launcher will do

[Guest Baldi80]

Annoyed now...

Just this morning got this from Tesco having had no information from them for ages (from [email protected]).

I have 3xHudl 1 tablets btw.

"Hi

I’m sorry you’ve had problems using your Hudl since performing a factory reset.

We’ve been working on a fix, and I’m happy to let you know that you’ll now be able to get your Hudl working again by following the steps below.

1. On the “Hello” start-up screen, select Start and then select your WiFi connection.

2. On the Terms & Conditions pop-up box, select Continue.

3. When asked if you’d like to add a Google Account or sign up for one, select No.

4. Untick both boxes in Google & Location and tap the arrow to proceed.

5. On “Have a Tesco Account”, select No.

6. On Register with Tesco, select Skip.

7. You’ll see Checking for Updates and Updating Apps progress pages.

8. When asked to update apps, select Not Now.

9. Select Finish.

10. You’ll now be taken to the Home screen of your Hudl and you’ll be able to use it as normal.

If you’ve any problems when following the above steps, please contact Tesco Technical Support on 0800 323 4060 (0330 123 4060 from mobile), letting me know which step is causing the issue.

Thanks for your patience while we fixed this issue.

Tesco Technical Support"

They talk as if it's all sorted now, but this is the same set of instructions posted a while back and having checked yet again, still does nothing to remedy the problems with my Hudl!

I'll email them later to explain my frustration.

Been looking at warranty issues and there may be recourse with sale of goods act that gives 6 years of cover to goods bought in UK, though information is all over the place and not always clear when it's useable in this sort of situation.

Worrying that this lands just on the right side of the six year mark for my purchased Hudl 1's...

Hope Tesco aren't playing for time on getting past that 6 years mark...

[Guest BuddyB]

It looks like the instructions from the 27th are being sent to everyone now, maybe in the hope it solves the problem for some people. 

After making a start last night (see p5), I'm happy to say my hudl1 is now working pretty well with only a couple of things that aren't right - 

1.  When you start it up you still get the original 'Let's get you started' screen, but if you wait the Apex launcher will kick in and take you to the homepage. I did try the Nova launcher too and it works fine, so as long as you add the launcher of your choice in Startup Manager then hopefully it will work too. 

2.  I got around not being able to pull down the notification bar by adding another user in settings (Google was my friend). If you then restart the device you should find the notification bar is working, plus the missing navigation buttons are now at the bottom of the screen too.  BUT the Home button does not work properly, so you have to get back to the Home screen using one of the other two buttons. 

After you get the tablet working for the first time, you need to stop Play Store automatically updating every app straight away otherwise it virtually grinds to a halt doing them all. I disabled unwanted apps in Settings and disabled auto updates for everything in Play Store. Later after I'd installed the apps I wanted I went back to Play Store and re-enabled auto updates for the pre-installed apps I wanted. 

It's a bit fiddly, but I got there in the end. Hope this helps. 

[Guest stoicalm]

Adding another user was a good idea .. to get the home button to work properly I had to set my apex launcher as default in android app settings now everytime I press Hudl home button it launches my own launcher

[Guest stoicalm]

Ok to get the Hudl home button to work set your launcher as device administrator .....

How to make app device administrator?

How do I enable or disable a device administrator app?

1. Go to Settings.
2. Do one of the following: Tap Security & location > Device admin apps. Tap Security > Device admin apps. Tap Security > Device administrators.
3. Tap a device administrator app.
4. Choose whether to activate or deactivate the app.
5. Getting there slowly 

[Guest BuddyB]

The device administrator app thing did not work for me. The only functionality choosing Apex was setting up a lock screen which I'm not bothered about on the hudl. 

[Guest Craigo1984]

Just found this thread, I'm also having issues with hudl2. Had a new router recently as I suspected that may be to blame. All of the useful info on here has allowed me to see that I am connected to WiFi, but as per others I am stuck in the checking for updates loop. I will email customer support too just to add another to the list.

[Guest stoicalm]

Ok try this when you setup the second user ... install your launcher under the second user too ... I've got four out of date hudls and this has worked on all of them for restoring the hudl home button .. also i have another three hudl 2 which update perfectly fine after reset and updating through tesco server...  so not all hudls act the same

[Guest BuddyB]

 

On 3/10/2019 at 7:01 PM, Craigo1984 said:

Just found this thread, I'm also having issues with hudl2. Had a new router recently as I suspected that may be to blame. All of the useful info on here has allowed me to see that I am connected to WiFi, but as per others I am stuck in the checking for updates loop. I will email customer support too just to add another to the list.

Have you tried working through the steps in Anna's post on p3? They've worked for some hudl2 owners, although they still can't upgrade to the next version of Android yet. 

I know there's a lot of information on here about trying to find a workaround, but it could be worth it to get a usable device. I've got a hudl1 and until Saturday night nothing worked for me, but with stoicalm's help my tablet is working pretty well - not perfect yet though! 

Send an email to [email protected] too because it could be a coincidence, but things seemed to be happening when we started contacting him. 

[Guest Sdroidz]

I got Nova installed on Hudl1.  Did not have time to google for adding another user. Any tips on this? After I repowered the tablet I was stuck in the setup again so I'd not added another user or managed to set Nova as the default desktop app.

[Guest Anna65]

I too received the emails with the same instructions, both from Lewis Gorrie and the strange Tesco.grocery mailbox. And I too have emailed Lewis Gorrie and tech support back to stress that the solution only works in a tiny fraction of cases. So far I've only got ONE of my 50 or so KitKat hudl2s to work by using them. I turned on a handful of random KitKat hudl2s that I hadn't tried before and all of them got stuck on the screen headed "Couldn't check for updates" instead of getting the screen described in Step 8 of the instructions. When I emailed them I attached a photo of the bunch of nice colourful hudl2 all sitting at that screen. So I'm certainly not yet happy at all.  

You all talk of rooting and launchers, all of which sounds like gobbledygook to me - anyone care to elaborate, or point me in the direction of something I can read in order to learn what all that is about?  

[Guest BellAlistair]

Thanks all for the information in this thread.

My contribution is to report that I've just come off the phone from Tesco Tech having received the "instructions" email that didn't work to be told that "sorry we don't support Hudl1 any more, tough".

I asked for that in writing and was sent an email that stated "we are no longer able to support the Hudl 1 with updates as it has reached the end of it's life." which is subtly different to the factory reset issue. I've asked for clarification and they are supposed to be getting back to me to confirm their position.

 

[Guest BuddyB]

 

Anna forget about rooting. A launcher is just an app from the Play Store that gives you more options to customise your phone. It's not a particularly technical matter and literally millions of people use different launchers. You can read about them here. 

[Guest BuddyB]

10 minutes ago, BellAlistair said:

Thanks all for the information in this thread.

My contribution is to report that I've just come off the phone from Tesco Tech having received the "instructions" email that didn't work to be told that "sorry we don't support Hudl1 any more, tough".

I asked for that in writing and was sent an email that stated "we are no longer able to support the Hudl 1 with updates as it has reached the end of it's life." which is subtly different to the factory reset issue. I've asked for clarification and they are supposed to be getting back to me to confirm their position.

 

Thanks for this. I have been expecting this to happen. In my reply on Friday to Lewis Gorrie I said the instructions were similar to the ones sent to some users on the 27th February. I also asked if the investigation was now closed for hudl1 users, but I have not heard anything back from him yet. It's ridiculous that posters on this board have come up with a workaround that results in a functioning device (not 100%, but close), yet Tesco and their business partners with all their technical expertise cannot. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by BuddyB

[Guest Sdroidz]

Tesco have implemented the HUDL range in a terrible way making them reliant on other services they can just switch off.  I have older, much cheaper, Chinese branded tablets that still boot up & are usable & allow me to reset them.  They're great at being home-automation terminals around the house running light-weight UIs.  Many industrial Android touch screen terminal solutions still run Android 4.  Ideally Tesco will release an app that can be executed to remove the rogue server checks to release us all from condemning the tablets to landfill.  If anyone has a step-by-step procedure to "almost" get the HUDL1 working I'd appreciate it.

[Guest BuddyB]

This is what has worked for me on my hudl1 - 

EDIT - NEW FACTORY RESET IS REQUIRED BEFORE BEGINNING!

EDIT - THIS ALSO WORKS ON HUDL2

1. Click 'Add network' on Select Wi-Fi page

2. Long press the mic key to select Google Keyboard Settings

3. Click on Send feedback

4. Clicking "privacy policy" starts Chrome

5. Search for Play Store and click to open it 

6. Click "Add An Account" and add your account 

7. Then you can access the Play Store

8. Install Apex Launcher and Startup Manager

9. Open Startup Manager. (When you open Startup Manager you're given a choice of installing its replacement which is part of a new app called All-in-One Toolbox or continue to use Startup Manager. I stuck with the Startup Manager - the 'old' option). Add Apex Launcher to start up apps using the customise option. 

10. Restart your hudl. You'll still see the 'Let's get you started screen', but be patient, wait a bit and then you're taken to the Homepage*. 

11. At this point the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen did not work for me and I could not pull down the notification bar at the top of the screen. To get around not being able to pull down the notification bar, add another user in Settings. 

12. In Settings select User and select Add User and click on the option to start the set up of the new user. Skip all the options to set up Google and Tesco accounts, updating apps and all the other options that appear until you get to the Homepage.

13. Restart the hudl and select your own account (the first one). You should find the notification bar at the top of the screen is working, plus two of the the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen work to too. The Home button does not work properly, so you have to get back to the Home screen using one of the other two buttons. This is not a big deal and you can always just switch it on and off again if you get stuck. 

14. In Settings, User delete the new user. 

 

*NOTE: As soon you get the tablet working for the first time, you are connected to the Internet and the hudl will start to update all the pre-installed apps. You need to stop Play Store automatically updating every app straight away, otherwise it virtually grinds to a halt doing them all. In Play Store I opened every app one by one to stop the update and disabled auto updates for everything. Later after I'd installed the apps I wanted I went back to Play Store and re-enabled auto updates for the pre-installed apps I wanted.  In the hudl settings I also disabled unwanted pre-installed apps in Settings. 

 

I did try the Nova launcher too and it works fine, so as long as you add the launcher of your choice in Startup Manager then hopefully it will work too. Unlike stoical I was unable to get the Home button to work on the main user account by adding the Apex launcher to the new user account, but it might work for others. You could just continue to use the new user account, but personally I found it too slow and I'm just using the main user account. TBH I muddled through this and there is bound to be a better way, but I got there in the end with the help of others. I've settled for now without the Home button working. I'm okay with navigating without it and occasionally having to restart the tablet. 

 

Hope this helps and Tesco doesn't abandon us before coming up with a more simple solution that includes being able to upgrade to later versions (I'm stuck with 4.2.2). 

Edited March 12, 2019 by BuddyB
1st edit - forgot to say you need to do a fresh factory reset before beginning. 2nd edit - Noticed a mistake at point 11. 3rd edit - Added note that this will also work on hudl2.

[Guest Bill_Door]

I've never been able to get beyond getting stuck at the "Couldn't check for updates" screen too. The only options are Check WiFi and Try Again.

Tesco just contacted me to offer a slightly re-worded but similar sequence to that posted in P2, but it's made no difference even though they claim...

Quote

 "Hudl Services which is back online"

Internet connection is categorically working (I can force a chrome browser session through a workaround, and it connects to the internet).

But just can't get past this. Tried many variations of instructions including adding accounts.

 

Thanks for posting an image Baldi80 - I also get stuck at this point......

Quote

On 3/4/2019 at 5:29 PM, Baldi80 said:

 

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by Bill_Door

[Guest BuddyB]

I have edited my instructions above to say you need to do a fresh factory reset set first. I should have said that I don't see why what I did to my hudl1 should not work on a hudl2. Of course, none of us will be able to upgrade to a later version of Android until Tesco sorts that. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by BuddyB
New sentence added