Ramos i9s Pro

[Billcnz]

I've bought a Ramos i9s Pro after I lost my Pipo P4 (left it in the seat pocket of a plane). The tablet is of very nice build quality and is dual booting Win 8.1 and Android 4.4.4. Over-all performance is good on both OS but there is a problem with the Google Play Services on Android. Google wants to update the play services in order for me to use the gmail app but it couldn't replace the original system app.

There was an OTA available when I first run the tablet that may have fixed the problem but it was over 300 Mb and downloading slowly and as I was impatient to explore the new tablet I cancelled the OTA. Now when I try to update it it says unknown error. I can't find where to manually download the OTA either, maybe the Ramos update server is offline.

I did manage to root it after trying various tools and removed the original google play services but it still wont let me install the new version.

I guess the tablet is still very new so no custom roms or recovery available yet. I'm also conscious not to do anything to mess up the dual boot as the Win 8.1 side of it is working well.

[Billcnz]

The Google Play Services issue is getting a bit annoying as it affects several Google apps such as music and YouTube. I tried to adb sideload gapps using stock recovery but it failed due to signature verification. I haven't tried to remove all of the gapp related apps yet and install the newer apks one by one in case I make it worse but may try that next. If anyone knows a solution let me know.

[Billcnz]

I found the original Ramos Firmware downloads here: http://www.ramos.com.cn/Download_list/List but don't click the English icon or the downloads will be hidden, you can use Chrome browser to translate instead.

It didn't really help as I already have the latest version but at least if I permanently delete something, I can get it back if I need to.

For rooting I used a tool called VROOT but you need to be careful which one you download as one package I tried was full of malware that hijacked browser home pages on Windows computer.

[Billcnz]

I eventually got Play Services and other Google apps working normally though there wasn't an easy way of doing it. I used Titanium to remove the existing Google related system apps and copied the replacement files in with root explorer and did a factory reset and cleared cache. I had some trouble with AOSP Keyboard crashing maybe due to my method or files used but that settled down after I installed Google keyboard. All my usual apps installed and running well.

[weldonpvg]

I have the same unit and same problems. What files did you delete, where did you get the replacement files, and where are these files located in the Android file system? Thanks so much in advance.

[weldonpvg]

I eventually got Play Services and other Google apps working normally though there wasn't an easy way of doing it. I used Titanium to remove the existing Google related system apps and copied the replacement files in with root explorer and did a factory reset and cleared cache. I had some trouble with AOSP Keyboard crashing maybe due to my method or files used but that settled down after I installed Google keyboard. All my usual apps installed and running well.

I have the same unit and same problems. What files did you delete, where did you get the replacement files, and where are these files located in the Android file system? Thanks so much in advance.

[Billcnz]

Nice to see someone with the same device

It was a trial and error with mine so not well documented but my basic step were:

install adb drivers and rooted tablet. I used Vroot which installed a different SuperUser that had an icon of a horse with a crown. Once rooted I replaced this with SuperSu from store that I was more familiar with.
I then installed Titanium Backup Pro and backed up everything including System Apps. I also installed ES File Explorer for root explorer functions.
I then used Titanium to uninstall system apps starting with "Google":
Google Play Services
Google Services Framework
Google Play Store
Google Account Manager
Google Calendar Sync

I then downloaded PA Modular Micro Gapps 4.4.4 from here: http://mirror41.downloadandroidrom.c...oken=314788391

I extracted the zip and copied the system folder to the tablet, then I opened ES File Explorer and turned on Root Explorer and mounted /system rw. Then using ES File explorer I copied each of the sub directories from the PA Gapps system folder into the devices /system. ...Edit: You don't need to overwrite files just copy in missing files and skip the existing files, this will avoid problems like I had with the AOSP keyboard in the paragraph below. Also to fix the calendar sync issue delete both the apk and odex files for CalendarProvider and replace with the apk from the Gapps.

I then booted into recovery and cleared the cache and did a factory reset

I then rebooted the tablet and let it upgrade the android files and set up my google account when the wizard opened. I had a bit of trouble here with the android AOSP keyboard crashing so had to plug a real keyboard in to complete the signin. Once the account setup was successful I installed Google Keyboard from playstore and disabled AOSP one. I haven't switched back to check if AOSP keyboard has stopped crashing but the google one works fine.

The above procedure was probably quite risky without a nandroid backup but I had downloaded the stock ROM so felt I could re-flash if needed.

[Billcnz]

Added some screenshots



Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

[Billcnz]

Reduce image sizes and re-uploaded from pc

[weldonpvg]

Nice to see someone with the same device

It was a trial and error with mine so not well documented but my basic step were:

install adb drivers and rooted tablet. I used Vroot which installed a different SuperUser that had an icon of a horse with a crown. Once rooted I replaced this with SuperSu from store that I was more familiar with.
I then installed Titanium Backup Pro and backed up everything including System Apps. I also installed ES File Explorer for root explorer functions.
I then used Titanium to uninstall system apps starting with "Google":
Google Play Services
Google Services Framework
Google Play Store
Google Account Manager
Google Calendar Sync

I then downloaded PA Modular Micro Gapps 4.4.4 from here: http://mirror41.downloadandroidrom.c...oken=314788391

I extracted the zip and copied the system folder to the tablet, then I opened ES File Explorer and turned on Root Explorer and mounted /system rw. Then using ES File explorer I copied each of the sub directories from the PA Gapps system folder into the devices /system.

I then booted into recovery and cleared the cache and did a factory reset

I then rebooted the tablet and let it upgrade the android files and set up my google account when the wizard opened. I had a bit of trouble here with the android AOSP keyboard crashing so had to plug a real keyboard in to complete the signin. Once the account setup was successful I installed Google Keyboard from playstore and disabled AOSP one. I haven't switched back to check if AOSP keyboard has stopped crashing but the google one works fine.

The above procedure was probably quite risky without a nandroid backup but I had downloaded the stock ROM so felt I could re-flash if needed.

I followed your instruction, and it worked very well. You saved me! Now I can enjoy the tablet. It's a well built tablet you can do so many things with. A really smart choice.
You are incredibly smart. I wish I could buy you a dinner or something. I will probably look for you in this forum if I run into problem with this tablet again.
Thanks again!

[Billcnz]

I followed your instruction, and it worked very well. You saved me! Now I can enjoy the tablet. It's a well built tablet you can do so many things with. A really smart choice.
You are incredibly smart. I wish I could buy you a dinner or something. I will probably look for you in this forum if I run into problem with this tablet again.
Thanks again!

You're very welcome. Glad it worked for you :-)

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

[weldonpvg]

You're very welcome. Glad it worked for you :-)

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

Looks like I have problems again. I use Microsoft Exchange account for contacts management. However, I can sync contacts. In my system, I don't have the system built in Contacts app, and there is no contacts storage either. What's your situation? Do you have those in your system?
Thanks!

[Billcnz]

Looks like I have problems again. I use Microsoft Exchange account for contacts management. However, I can sync contacts. In my system, I don't have the system built in Contacts app, and there is no contacts storage either. What's your situation? Do you have those in your system?
Thanks!

Yeah, I hadn't noticed as I'm using Gmail and I do get email addresses from my contacts to pick from when I start to type an email. It seems that the core contacts database com.android.contacts is missing from the stock ROM. I tried third party contacts apps but I can only sync with Google+ or Facebook contacts. I'm not actually a developer and just doing stuff by trial and error in the absence of a custom ROM for this tablet but if I do come across a solution I'll post it here.

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

[Billcnz]

I checked the original stock ROM files and there's no Contact app so it looks like Ramos never put it in. I tried the app from another KK ROM but it failed to install maybe due to incompatibility or missing support files. I didn't have any luck with third part contacts apps but a good work around I found is Microsoft Outlook is now available as an Android app. It can work with multiple accounts and it has a contacts icon!

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

[weldonpvg]

I checked the original stock ROM files and there's no Contact app so it looks like Ramos never put it in. I tried the app from another KK ROM but it failed to install maybe due to incompatibility or missing support files. I didn't have any luck with third part contacts apps but a good work around I found is Microsoft Outlook is now available as an Android app. It can work with multiple accounts and it has a contacts icon!

Sent from my Ramos i9s pro using Tapatalk

Thanks for the information. Actually I found a custom ROM from a Chinese website, with many nice improvements over the stock ROM. But fatally it conflicts with Google services, at least with my a few trials. The lucky thing is this ROM includes the contacts app and database the stock ROM missed. So I copied a few files from this ROM and transferred them into the stock ROM using the same method. Now everything works.
If you need these files, let me know.