Custom ROM for A7HTV2: Android 2.2 froyo.21

[hvdwolf]

Disclaimer: You apply this firmware on your own risk. For me these ROMs are stable. That doesn't guarantee that it works for you. This firmware is only for the A7HT Version 2!

7htv2_froyo.21 18 March 2012
Change log:

• -- Undo tomo123/twk memory/tcp tweaks: It made the tablet slower instead of faster. Next to that: the tcp tweaks introduced a boot error in the wifi settings.

You can download the rom here: 7htv2_froyo.21.zip
Note: On first boot: As applications can only be installed when the gui is running, the installation of the non-system apps begins and still continues when the gui is already visible. After about 1 minute after gui "appearance" all apps are available in the application grid. This only on the first boot.
(See Tips & Tweaks at the bottom of this post)


7htv2_froyo.20 patch 2 16 March 2012
Change log patch 2:

• - patch 2: My screen has by now so many dead spots that it can't be calibrated anymore. I always pack a calibration backup in my personal roms, which means I always make 2 roms: One for the world and one for me. For the patch 1 I forgot to take out my personal calibration file. Sorry It's time for a new tablet.

Change log patch 1:

• - patch 1: bugfix for version 20. Calendar, CalendarProvider and GoogleCalendarSync was missing.

Change log 7htv2_froyo.20 14 March 2012:

• - Fixed bug with the non-system apps (see previous rom). If you uninstalled an apk it was reinstalled on the next reboot. You don't want that of course
  - Wrote an "on first boot after flash" installer script for the non-system apps.
  - A larger number of applications are now installed as non-system apps. The rom is quite full but you can easily "make it smaller" by uninstalling these applications form Settings->applications->Manage. Non-system apps: Adhocable, Appslib-2, Connectbot, FBReader, GScriptLite, Gmail, QuickPic, Rebooter, TitaniumBackup, wifi-onoff, youtube player.
  - Updated winhelp hosts file (blocks 99,9% of the ads).
  - My rom comes without the MarketUpdater. That apk automatically updated the market. But the early 3.0.x and 3.1.y Market versions performed terribly on our A7HTV2 so that's why I removed it. The new Market aka Play Store 3.4.x versions perform much better. I now added a GScriptLite script that reinstalls the MarketUpdater and with the next "sync" (1-2 hours) you will have an updated Market (now called Play Store). Start GScriptLite, Menu -> Add script -> Load file: reinstall_marketupdater.apk (needs su).
  - Updated a few apps.
  - Added a few new system tweaks that should make the tablet perform (even) better and smoother.

Note2: I discontinued the tiny rom as well. As a lot of applications can now be uninstalled from the rom you can make your own tiny rom.

7htv2_froyo.19 04 March 2012
Change log:

• - Other way of installing some of the applications. Some of them are now installed as non-system app like I've done now for Titanium backup. Non-system means that they can be uninstalled.
  - Titanium now in all roms but as mentioned above: it can be uninstalled.
  - most apks updated
  - added "file manager" as file manager.
  - added the wifi on-off widget to the rom (long-tab screen, add)
  - no longer provide the small image. By now it is identicall to the normal rom as I skipped more and more applications myself.
  - Added scripts to easily connect to shares, but file manager does this perfectly as well.
  - No more lazy roms. It turned out that with updated apps you sometimes got non functioning apps as the way the app wrote it's data was changed between versions.

7htv2_froyo.18 14 December 2011
Change log:

• - Bugfix: swap space wasn't activated (possible cause for snapshots)
  - Updated hosts file to prevent adds in apps.
  - Updated some apps.

7htv2_froyo.17 20 November 2011
Change log:

• - Added new zoneinfo files (more countries, time zones, currencies, decimal separator notations, etc.)
  - Added latest Titanium Backup
  - Added latest hosts file from mvps.org
  - Updated Superuser.apk and su to latest 3.0.6 version.
  - Added Zeam launcher 3.1.7: fast, lightweight launcher.
  - Market set back to 2.3.6 as the 3.1.x versions don't synchronize correctly. Removed MarketUpdater.apk so that Market can't be updated to badly functioning 3.1.x
  - Removed go_launcher ex.

*** All previous versions removed ***


(1): Do not try to use the official Arnova G1 froyo rom directly on your A7HTV2. It will brick it and you need the RKBatchUpgrade route to reflash it with something else. Vice versa I assume that the Arnova7 will be bricked with this rom as the kernels are different.
(2): Get BirdbieNL's ROMSettings.apk from Birdiebnl's RomSettings.
(3): To get the market working:

• 1) start the market and wait till everything is synched. (wait for the sync icon to disappear in the status bar).
  2) go to settings->applications.
  3) Clear the cache of the Market, not the data! Then stop the Market.
  4) Clear the data of the Google Framework Services. Then stop the Google Framework Services.
  5) reboot immediately and go to Market, it should now fully work.
  When you are too fast you sometimes have to repeat step 3,4,5.

Tips & Tweaks
= Standard USB connection to Mac OS X/Linux/Windows.
After connecting the tablet to the pc, touch and drag the menu bar down. Select "USB connection". (This is the default way on Froyo and later).
= Wifi switching off

• Go into settings -> Wireless and networks ->WiFi Settings. Press the menu button again and select the option "Advanced". Here you can set the WiFi sleep policy.
  Sub tip:
  • * Set wifi to never switch off (note that with this setting it will now also drain power when in sleep mode)
    * Install one of the wifi on/off widgets from the market.
    * Switch wifi on when you need it and switch it off when you don't need it (reading, movies, etc)

= Switching between full screen and normal screen.
The android.policy.jar has been patched to enable this. You need to download Birdiebnl's ROMSetttings.apk to use it.
= Bricked tablet
This should never happen when applying these roms, but in case it does happen: read this wiki article (for windows) and this article (Mac OS X/Linux/BSD) on how to unbrick your tablet.
= Performance improvements
- Menu: Settings->display->animations->No animations

[Xlendi]

How is working flash in Skyfire? I mean online TV stream. In 22.01 it works, but not properly. Adobe flash is not needed.

[hvdwolf]

How is working flash in Skyfire? I mean online TV stream. In 22.01 it works, but not properly. Adobe flash is not needed.

It has not changed since the 22.01. I hope to get a rockchip 2818 froyo rom in my hands around the 20-25 of April with a supposedly working flash. I still have to see that as well, off course. But it is better to hope then to despair.

[Xlendi]

I hope to get a rockchip 2818 froyo rom in my hands around the 20-25 of April with a supposedly working flash. I still have to see that as well, off course. But it is better to hope then to despair.

Sounds good! So I will wait about 3 more weeks than to uprade to froyo again

[Cyberpunk]

Sorry, I made have missed this somewhere, but can you explain the purpose and benefit of the r/w partition or direct me to the thread that does?. Thanks.

[Admiral688]

Nice! Gonna see if I can upgrade this one tonight and see how it is.

[anwen]

Thank you so much! Small is exactly what I was looking for!

I can't wait to give it a try.

[moojin]

Hvdwolf,

Thank you, birdiebnl and others for your hard work on these ROMs.

Would you be able to modify the original post of this thread to be more specific on which thread you split from? I'm pretty certain that this is a continuation of "Custom ROM for A7HTV2: Android 2.2 (7HTV2_22.07)"? ( http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=49470 )

That would help tie the two posts together as well as the release history.

Thanks

[hvdwolf]

Would you be able to modify the original post of this thread to be more specific on which thread you split from? I'm pretty certain that this is a continuation of "Custom ROM for A7HTV2: Android 2.2 (7HTV2_22.07)"? ( http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=49470 )

That would help tie the two posts together as well as the release history.

You are right. done.

[hvdwolf]

Sorry, I made have missed this somewhere, but can you explain the purpose and benefit of the r/w partition or direct me to the thread that does?. Thanks.

It's not a really big deal, but the advantages of having a read-writable /system instead of a read-only /system are the following:
It enables you to copy extra's into the /system partition.

• * In my 2011.xy roms I added arabic, hebrew, thai and japanese fonts. They reside in /system/fonts. I just discovered yesterday evening that my 08 rom is missing the japanese font. In this case anyone can simply copy it in. Next to that: There are by now a multitude of special and "funny" fonts to use. I will never add them to the rom, but users can now simply copy them in.
  * In the first froyo rom (by birdiebnl) we had all Adobe fonts (30MB). We removed them. In case you want them back you can now copy them in.
  * In the 2011.12 rom I used aufs.ko which uses (in android a slightly unstable) method to make a part of a read-only partition read-writable by redirecting disk-write actions (for which I used /data). This allowed me to switch between the default android.policy.jar and a "fullscreen" android.policy.jar (by Gorth). Now, having a really read-writable /system I can switch them in a stable way, be it that I didn't manage yet to enable fullscreen in the modified froyo jar.
  * I use the hosts file from the MVPS project to remove all (well 99%) ads from the browser and applications. The hosts file resides in /system/etc. In case a new hosts file is released, or you make your own modifications, you can simply copy it in.
  * I maintain the "ro.build.fingerprint", identifying the phone to the market, in the "build.prop" file in the /system partition instead of in the "default.prop" in the boot image. The boot image can never be made read-writable. Maintaining the "ro.build.fingerprint" inside build.prop, which is in /system, gives me the option to change it in case I want another phone identification to the market. The Google nexus phones for example see other applications than the currently used samsung (in my rom). The samsung, just as the htc, shows almost all apps, so why bother, but you have the option.
  * In /system/etc are several configuration files. I would not advice to modify these in case you don't know linux and android. But you can modify them.

The mentioned options are done from the top of my head. However, the list is more extensive than the options mentioned above. I just can't recall them right now.


EDIT: The MVPS project just updated their hosts file. I now copied it in my 08 rom as that's possible with an rw /system.

[beniwtv]

Hey hvdwolf, great image! So far I am liking it .

I just have a small request: Would it be possible for you to include the tun.ko module from the kernel? If not, can I compile it separately?

[Jester42]

I found some modules (tun.ko included) here http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?/to ... l-modules/

tun.ko from the link on that post loaded against the kernel, but I think you still need some additional vpn binaries though.

[hvdwolf]

I just have a small request: Would it be possible for you to include the tun.ko module from the kernel? If not, can I compile it separately?

I found some modules (tun.ko included) here http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?/to ... l-modules/

tun.ko from the link on that post loaded against the kernel, but I think you still need some additional vpn binaries though.

Well, as the froyo.08 rom has a read-writable system partition, you can download the modules and copy them into /system/lib/modules. For the rest follow the instructions in the link posted by Jester42. I will do (try) the same tonight
note though that you can position the modules anywhere you like as long as you provide a valid path to insmod, like insmod <path_to_module_somewhere_on_sdcard>/whatever.ko

[beniwtv]

Jester42, hvdwolf: Many thanks, I got it to work

[moojin]

Android 2.2 Froyo.08 - Observations

I flashed 7htv2_froyo.08-full.zip to my A7HTV2 late last night. Here are some things that I encountered that may help other newbies like me. (I will say: READ THE WARNINGS BEFORE INSTALLING! The following is not advice telling you to flash your A7HTV2!)

1) After successfully flashing, the initial startup takes a long time. (I like the first new splash screen: "my" way - cool!) There are two splash screens. Don't worry, after this first long startup each startup afterwards occurs very quickly.
2) My browser kept on crashing when navigating to the default home page:
http://www.google.com/m?source=andoid-home
To get around this, I stopped the browser while it was loading the page and then selected the following as a homepage:
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&output=html&nomo=1
This is the "classic" view of the google webpage. For some reason, the browser doesn't automatically recognize that page as your new home page. So go to the original home page, let your browser crash and then your new home page will be recognized. (And yes, I even task killed it and it didn't recognize it.)
3) You should probably change your background image to a solid color. It seems to help with the performance.
4) The instructions for fixing the Google Market include a step for the Google Services Framework. This can be located at: Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->Running (Tab)->Google Service Framework.
5) The following does not work: Settings->About Device->Status
And displays the following error message: The application Settings (process com.android.settings) has stopped unexpectedly. Please Try again.
6) One of the icons on the top bar is for a cellular network. (It has an x with 4 graduated bars.) I'm not certain how to get rid of this.
7) I have had some reboots occur all of the sudden, but overall it is usable.
Task Killer is your friend. Use it often.

I hope this is helpful to those who try this out. (Again: Read the warnings before flashing. I am not advising you to flash your A7HTV2.)

Thank you hvdwolf for your hard work.

[hvdwolf]

Android 2.2 Froyo.08 - Observations
1) After successfully flashing, the initial startup takes a long time. (I like the first new splash screen: "my" way - cool!) There are two splash screens. Don't worry, after this first long startup each startup afterwards occurs very quickly.

That's correct. I forgot to mention that in my first post. Upon the first boot the 160MB read-write ext3 partition is created and formatted, followed by a full copy of all the data inside the "old" /system. That takes time. Upon consequent boots this is not neccessary. I updated the first post.

2) My browser kept on crashing when navigating to the default home page:
http://www.google.com/m?source=andoid-home
To get around this, I stopped the browser while it was loading the page and then selected the following as a homepage:
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&output=html&nomo=1
This is the "classic" view of the google webpage. For some reason, the browser doesn't automatically recognize that page as your new home page. So go to the original home page, let your browser crash and then your new home page will be recognized. (And yes, I even task killed it and it didn't recognize it.)

I never experienced that crash. Other users having the same experience?

3) You should probably change your background image to a solid color. It seems to help with the performance.

It certainly does help. I use a solid background as well.

4) The instructions for fixing the Google Market include a step for the Google Services Framework. This can be located at: Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->Running (Tab)->Google Service Framework.

But also under All applications. Or is it not for you?

5) The following does not work: Settings->About Device->Status
And displays the following error message: The application Settings (process com.android.settings) has stopped unexpectedly. Please Try again.

Correct. Has been mentioned before.

6) One of the icons on the top bar is for a cellular network. (It has an x with 4 graduated bars.) I'm not certain how to get rid of this.

You can't. Internally all Android versions have that. Froyo is the first to display it to the user. Honeycomb will be the first Android with a split phone and tablet setup and config. Froyo and earlier are developed for phones and "just happen" to run on tablets.

7) I have had some reboots occur all of the sudden, but overall it is usable.

Doing what? Was it reproducable when using an application or a combination of certain applications?

Task Killer is your friend. Use it often.

It used to be, that's right. But with the new lowmemorykiller settings I haven't touched it anymore. As everybody is talking about Angry Birds I installed it and could play it without using a task killer in advance to free memory.

[moojin]

Hvdwolf,

Here are some answers to your questions above from my list of observations:

moojin wrote:
4) The instructions for fixing the Google Market include a step for the Google Services Framework. This can be located at: Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->Running (Tab)->Google Service Framework.

hvdwolf wrote:
But also under All applications. Or is it not for you?

Yes, you are correct that both the Market and Google Framework appear in the "All" tab under "Manage Applications."

hvdwolf wrote:
(Reboots) Doing what? Was it reproducable when using an application or a combination of certain applications?

I've documented some instances below.

hvdwolf wrote:
(TasKiller) It used to be, that's right. But with the new lowmemorykiller settings I haven't touched it anymore. As everybody is talking about Angry Birds I installed it and could play it without using a task killer in advance to free memory.

Yes, you are correct. I've been running all day without using it once. There hasn't been a noticeable degradation of performance.

Used / Tested Successfully:

Places
Maps
Latititude
Clock
Calendar
Calculator
Aldiko

Issues:

GMail App - Accounts Setting
I added 3 accounts to the list. Sometimes when I tap one of the accounts the device will freeze. After about a minute the device will auto reset to the 2nd splash screen (with shooting colors). No error message appears, just the freeze.

Browser App
"The application Browser (process com.android.browser) has stopped unexpectedly. Please Try Again."
I received this when I clicked on the "find a store near you" button on the www.cvs.com website. This sent me back to the home screen. I tried it a second time and had the same result.

Root Explorer
I was looking around the "etc" directory and when tried to navigate to the parent, the device went into full reboot (first splash screen). (NOTE: I didn't answer yes to the "super user" question when the app started up, so that might be it.

Shelves
When I went to "browse the catalog" the screen went black except for the bar at the top. Although I could tap the buttons, nothing happened. The volume controls did work. So the Back, Home and Menu button did not. When I went to slide the power switch left, the device went back to the home screen when the "turn off / airport mode / silent mode" options appeared.

Question:
Is the YouTube application supposed to work? It works for me.

I do have one request / question: I read the Android 2.2.1 users guide ( http://www.google.com/googlephone/AndroidUsersGuide.pdf ) and it appeared that Google Voice was a standard app, but I didn't see it in the set of apps with the full Froyo.08. Will this app be included in the future, or is there an issue that might be blocking it?

I hope some of the information that I've written above is a help to you, your volunteer efforts and the efforts of others.

The more that I've used the device today with Froyo.08, the more stable it appears to be. Performance seems to be good for me as well.

Best Regards,

Andrew

[moojin]

About Google Voice on Froyo.08... I didn't see it in Android Market because I needed to redo the 5 steps (twice). I see many more apps now. I have downloaded Google Voice as well.

[hvdwolf]

About Google Voice on Froyo.08... I didn't see it in Android Market because I needed to redo the 5 steps (twice). I see many more apps now. I have downloaded Google Voice as well.

Unfortunately it doesn't work on this tablet. Not in the 2.1 Ecalir version and neither in the Froyo version. That is: I could not get it to work.

[cheeez]

i need to add arabic fonts, how to get fonts??