Advice for new owners

[Guest Bobby Elliott]

I thought I would share my experience of upgrading my new Vega with a new custom ROM. I used the Modaco R8 ROM (aka "Paul's ROM").

This is not a step-by-step guide. But it does explain some fundamental things you need to know and will give you the "big picture".

First thing I would state is that the supplied device is OK. Or, at least, the one that comes with version 1.09 of the firmware and with Flash pre-installed. It's limited but will do 90% of what most people want (web, e-mail, Facebook, YouTube). Everything worked for me, except YouTube. So, if you came here thinking you *must* upgrade, relax, you don't. And the battery with the stock ROM is outstanding (probably due to it not syncing with Google services).

You can "upgrade" the device without installing a new ROM. The device does not come with Android Market (due to licensing limitations) but you can install (most) Android apps simply by getting hold of the APK (that's the equivalent of an "exe" file) and manually installing each app. The device comes with a file manager that will install APKs. You will find most APKs via Google simply by searching for, say, "Google Earth APK download". I found *most* (not all) apps installed this way. The Market app itself will not install this way. But lots of apps do.

There is a way of installing the Android Market app, without upgrading the ROM, which then opens up the full range of apps (including updates) to you. I didn't try this but, I would say, stock ROM plus Market makes for a pretty good device, without any major upgrades.

But the "custom" ROMs do improve the device. For example, they include the Market app; they permit you to sync with Google to get the full Android experience; and they have many other improvements. Upgrading is not difficult, just deeply, deeply confusing...

Reading all of the messages on this forum will *not* help you. It will confuse you. Your head will be spinning with "recovery mode", "Android Bridge", "ADB" and "clockwork recovery". You don't need any of this. Here is what you need...

You need an old PC, running Windows XP. Windows Vista/7 tries to protect you from yourself and makes the process very difficult. Windows 7, 64-bit is a particular nightmare -- and is the OS on most modern PCs. You can do it on this OS... but good luck to you. I gave up.

The upgrade process is essentially very simple. Paul has packaged everything that you need. Just download his zip file. Ignore "kitchen versions". Just download the standard software. It's fine.

The problem is that, once downloaded, you don't just connect your Vega and select a program to upgrade the device. Well, you do, sort of. The problem is that you need the specific device drivers that are included in Paul's ROM. They are included in a folder in the download. It is this part of the upgrade process that causes all of the problems because, when you connect your Vega to your PC, Windows tries to install its own drivers. You have to force Windows to use the drivers in the download. This is not hard to do. But this is the "hard" part of the upgrade. Made harder by Windows 7 trying (very hard) to protect you from doing daft things (like over-riding its own drivers).

This problem is compounded if you have already connected the Vega to your PC since it will have already loaded the "proper" drivers -- and you now have the problem of removing these and installing Paul's. This can be done but it complicates the process.

Once the drivers are installed, the upgrade process is a breeze. You really do just run an exe file (actually, a bat file but it's essentially the same thing). The upgrade process takes 5 minutes. Just connect the device to your PC and go. You don't need to connect the device to a power supply (unless you're crazy and try to upgrade an exhausted device), you don't need to boot the device into recovery mode, you don't need to disable sleep mode on the device. Just run the bat file on your PC once the device is connected. Five minutes later, your Vega is upgraded (it takes around 10% battery).

I messed about for two evenings with a Windows 7 (64 bit) PC before giving up and using a different laptop running XP. If you use a "new" PC, one that you have not tried before, it will not have the drivers on it, which will make the upgrade process much simpler since the first time you connect the Vega it will ask for drivers and you can make it use Paul's. The whole process took me 10 minutes.

This device is almost unbrickable. I tried and failed many times. But every time, the device booted OK.

I think that the upgrade is worthwhile. But, with or without it, the device is brilliant.

[Guest WelshPhil]

Nice and clear post, I did find that when the bat started running and the command prompt came up all seemed well but seemed to be stuck, I 'awoke" the vega and everything started moving again.

[Guest Bobby Elliott]

Nice and clear post, I did find that when the bat started running and the command prompt came up all seemed well but seemed to be stuck, I 'awoke" the vega and everything started moving again.

Very early in the upgrade process, the device reboots, rendering any power saving settings irrelevant. The upgrade is PC to ROM, independent of any Android setting. So, it sounds like you were unlucky, Phil, and Android put your device into sleep mode just as it was about to reboot. Good to know that even this does not mess up the install.