[ROM] PMID4311 / EM543 - CM10, CWM, Root, PlayStore

[dolorespark]

I have a stock Polaroid PMID4311. Rather not hose it

There are no meaningful problems with the 4311. That's what I have and it works great. One of these days when I stop screwing around with it, I may actually start using it :-)

I've been watching this thread with hopes of a stable development

I'd say it's already arrived for the 4311. The same should be true for the 543 in a day or two.

'bricked' one of my two budget X-treme Mach Speed tablets with a CM10 upgrade, after which the touchscreen would never respond... not wanting to repeat that!

I can guarantee that won't happen with the 4311. It wouldn't have happened with the Emerson either had Southern Telecom released the correct ROM for that tablet. As it is, I'll probably have a fix for their stupidity before they do.

BTW... If that X-treme Mach Speed tablet uses an Allwinner chip, then I may be able to fix it - it really depends on which touchscreen controller it uses.

[CharredPC]

There are no meaningful problems with the 4311. That's what I have and it works great. One of these days when I stop screwing around with it, I may actually start using it :-)



I'd say it's already arrived for the 4311. The same should be true for the 543 in a day or two.



I can guarantee that won't happen with the 4311. It wouldn't have happened with the Emerson either had Southern Telecom released the correct ROM for that tablet. As it is, I'll probably have a fix for their stupidity before they do.

BTW... If that X-treme Mach Speed tablet uses an Allwinner chip, then I may be able to fix it - it really depends on which touchscreen controller it uses.

I've already returned the bricked tablet, but appreciate your offer. I'd heard that this build has resizing issues, camera not verified, ànd questionable stability... is that not the case? If not, I'd be happy to try it out. Hard to imagine a smoother, snappier experience, but I'm all for it

[dolorespark]

I'd heard that this build has resizing issues, camera not verified, ànd questionable stability

You may have missed the context in which some of those comments were made.

* The size issue was reported by someone who had installed a CM9 that included the Trebuchet launcher. It doesn't support LDPI (120 dpi) resolutions so everything is way too big. That's why I replaced it in this CM10 ROM with Apex, which handles 120dpi nicely.

* My camera works just fine. The only mention of no camera was from someone who tried the initial version on a 543. That version only loaded drivers for the specific chips used on the 4311. Loading 9 drivers in the hope that one will work offends my sensibilities.

* It's true that if you select Settings->Wireless and Networks->Mobile networks, then Settings will crash. I don't find that overly surprising. What I do find surprising is why that option is there at all. If I had compiled this stuff, I would have removed it - but I didn't.

If I'm mistaken on any of these points, please let me know so I can fix the issue.

[Magister]

I went to a local Big Lots store earlier and bought an Emerson, which is how I learned about the firmware stuff. I've just made copies of each partition and, after a well-deserved nap, I'm going to boot into Linux and confirm each can be mounted. If so, I can then start fixing things. With any luck, I'll have something by tomorrow.

Thanks you! I should have made a backup before installing stuff... I think my touchscreen got out of work after I installed busybox and fully restarted the unit, maybe it modified some init script.

I'm ready to test your firmware

EDIT: found a copy of the rc folder I made before bricking, in init.rc there is this line:

service sitronix /system/bin/busybox sh /sitronix_httu/sitronix.sh

and maybe because I re-installed busybox that it f*cked up something with shell script or whatever... the line is commented out in init.sun5i.rc

[Magister]

@dolorespark : do you think you can make a livesuit image of the stock firmware for the EM543? So at least before starting tweaking your CM10, people with a useless EM543 could restart to use it

[dolorespark]

do you think you can make a livesuit image of the stock firmware for the EM543?

I just finished uploading it. See this posting: http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...ll=1#post40766

[CharredPC]

Provided I can even get the file (8th attempt downloading the cm10 zip, keeps dying with a network error), is Livesuite absolutely needed, or can I use a CWM recovery app to install it right on the device itself? I use a mac here, so there's no tools available that I know of.

Edit: Finally got it to download fully after 26 attempts!

[dolorespark]

Provided I can even get the file (8th attempt downloading the cm10 zip, keeps dying with a network error), is Livesuite absolutely needed, or can I use a CWM recovery app to install it right on the device itself? I use a mac here, so there's no tools available that I know of.

Edit: Finally got it to download fully after 26 attempts!

You're certainly persistent. Congratulations! I'm really surprised you had any problems with GoogleDrive - I would expect them to be among the most robust of the download providers. Did their system allow you to pick up where you left off or did it start from scratch each time?

As to the misfortune of having to use Windows to get this installed, I feel your pain :-) I've used it more in the last 2 months than I have in the preceding 20 years combined. Unfortunately, this particular ROM requires LiveSuite so that it can repartition your NAND and provide a 384mb '/system' partition (CM10 won't fit in the stock 256mb partition). Future versions can be packaged as update zips but not this one.

[CharredPC]

You're certainly persistent. Congratulations! I'm really surprised you had any problems with GoogleDrive - I would expect them to be among the most robust of the download providers. Did their system allow you to pick up where you left off or did it start from scratch each time?

As to the misfortune of having to use Windows to get this installed, I feel your pain :-) I've used it more in the last 2 months than I have in the preceding 20 years combined. Unfortunately, this particular ROM requires LiveSuite so that it can repartition your NAND and provide a 384mb '/system' partition (CM10 won't fit in the stock 256mb partition). Future versions can be packaged as update zips but not this one.

Had to start from scratch every time. No idea what was going on with it.

Dug up a Windows laptop, used Livesuite, my PMID4311 is now running CM10! Setting up my apps... looks good so far

Edit: A couple of things I've noticed initially:

1. Is there any way to switch from the Apex launcher back to the default? I personally dislike Apex. Installed ADW and it's better, but would rather just have stock.

2. There is no way to clear the notifications, because the "X" is missing from the bottom right-hand corner. It's not just invisible, tapping there does nothing. Only way to clear seems to be clicking and opening each one :-p

3. The back, home, and recent icons (bottom left) are oversized, so when used in portrait mode and 'longways' only apps, it makes an overlapping mess at the bottom. The three-dot options menu can't be accessed since it's under the clock.

4. When waking up the tablet after sleep, both the clock and unlock animation itself are cut off- they appear to be overlapping.

5. "Settings -> About tablet -> Status" crashes settings.

I think the 2 & 3 may be caused by the theme- perhaps that could be edited smaller? The last one I assume is the crashes from leftover phone-fetching routines. I'll keep using it and report anything else, but my first impression is... if the above items could be fixed, this rom is great!

[dolorespark]

A couple of things I've noticed initially:

This ROM is an assemblage of other people's work. My contribution comes at the macro level: reformatting the NAND, cleaning up the clutter, and most important, providing a package that installs and runs without major issues (definitely not the case with the "raw materials" that went into it). Over time, I may be able to fix some of the blemishes at the micro level, but not yet.

1. Is there any way to switch from the Apex launcher back to the default? I [...] would rather just have stock.

So would I but I couldn't find a single Allwinner-based device that ships with JellyBean, so I couldn't purloin its launcher. Since this is all written in Java and run by the Dalvik VM, the underlying platform shouldn't matter. I'll test this assumption and if it's valid, I'll include the stock launcher in the next version.

2. There is no way to clear the notifications, because the "X" is missing from the bottom right-hand corner. It's not just invisible, tapping there does nothing. Only way to clear seems to be clicking and opening each one :-p

I slide them off to the side to get rid of them. I don't recall seeing an X.

3. The back, home, and recent icons (bottom left) are oversized, so when used in portrait mode and 'longways' only apps, it makes an overlapping mess at the bottom. The three-dot options menu can't be accessed since it's under the clock.

4. When waking up the tablet after sleep, both the clock and unlock animation itself are cut off- they appear to be overlapping.

These are certainly things I've noticed too. The problem in both cases is that the components used do not support LDPI (120 dpi) screens. The lowest res they offer is MDPI (160 dpi), so all the .PNGs used are too big. Just like the launcher, I'll see if I can substitute some other platform's copy of SystemUI.apk for this one.

5. "Settings -> About tablet -> Status" crashes settings.

That happened when I tried it on the Emerson EM543 using the (recreated) stock ROM. OTOH, on another A13 tab I have (from a higher-quality manufacturer), this displayed lots of phone-related entries - all of them saying "Unknown".

FYI... My next project is to recreate this ROM using a much newer build from another source. Perhaps that will resolve some of these issues.

[elektrik]

*deleted*

[dolorespark]

Here-try this. I've cracked open the compilation from dolorespark and replaced the apex launcher with a stock JB launcher from a generic JB system.

Let me know if that works...

I am really unhappy that you went monkeying with a package that has my logo on it. If you want to reverse-engineer it and make some good faith effort to modify or improve it, great - that's what the world of Android ROMs is all about. But leave my logo out of it - especially if you're going to break it like you did. This ROM has a 384mb /system partition but you formatted the disk image for 512mb, so startup just hangs.

If you really want to be helpful, post the launcher APK so anyone can try it without having to wipe out their whole tablet like I did. Better still, you could point us at the stock image this came from so we could fix other problems like the oversized status bar.

P.S. I'm painfully aware that I too have broken stuff - and will do so again. However, it won't be for lack of research and testing on my part. Mea culpa in advance...

[elektrik]

I am really unhappy that you went monkeying with a package that has my logo on it. If you want to reverse-engineer it and make some good faith effort to modify or improve it, great - that's what the world of Android ROMs is all about. But leave my logo out of it - especially if you're going to break it like you did. This ROM has a 384mb /system partition but you formatted the disk image for 512mb, so startup just hangs.

If you really want to be helpful, post the launcher APK so anyone can try it without having to wipe out their whole tablet like I did. Better still, you could point us at the stock image this came from so we could fix other problems like the oversized status bar.

P.S. I'm painfully aware that I too have broken stuff - and will do so again. However, it won't be for lack of research and testing on my part. Mea culpa in advance...

Interesting response, given the fact that by you re-signing my file in a different thread, you are, in effect modifying something with *my* name on it without my permission, not to mention the fact that you stated this is merely a compilation of other people's wotk. I realized you were trying to help so I overlooked it. this was my only intention as well by modifying this. I've removed the link per your request....

too bad you didn't pay attention to the freaktab motto of fun, learning, and mutual respect. I'll definitely hold up my side by apologizing and removing the file.

[elektrik]

Had to start from scratch every time. No idea what was going on with it.

Dug up a Windows laptop, used Livesuite, my PMID4311 is now running CM10! Setting up my apps... looks good so far

Edit: A couple of things I've noticed initially:

1. Is there any way to switch from the Apex launcher back to the default? I personally dislike Apex. Installed ADW and it's better, but would rather just have stock.

2. There is no way to clear the notifications, because the "X" is missing from the bottom right-hand corner. It's not just invisible, tapping there does nothing. Only way to clear seems to be clicking and opening each one :-p

3. The back, home, and recent icons (bottom left) are oversized, so when used in portrait mode and 'longways' only apps, it makes an overlapping mess at the bottom. The three-dot options menu can't be accessed since it's under the clock.

4. When waking up the tablet after sleep, both the clock and unlock animation itself are cut off- they appear to be overlapping.

5. "Settings -> About tablet -> Status" crashes settings.

I think the 2 & 3 may be caused by the theme- perhaps that could be edited smaller? The last one I assume is the crashes from leftover phone-fetching routines. I'll keep using it and report anything else, but my first impression is... if the above items could be fixed, this rom is great!

if you're intetested in the stock launcher, feel free to pm me.

[CharredPC]

This ROM is an assemblage of other people's work. My contribution comes at the macro level: reformatting the NAND, cleaning up the clutter, and most important, providing a package that installs and runs without major issues (definitely not the case with the "raw materials" that went into it). Over time, I may be able to fix some of the blemishes at the micro level, but not yet.


So would I but I couldn't find a single Allwinner-based device that ships with JellyBean, so I couldn't purloin its launcher. Since this is all written in Java and run by the Dalvik VM, the underlying platform shouldn't matter. I'll test this assumption and if it's valid, I'll include the stock launcher in the next version.


I slide them off to the side to get rid of them. I don't recall seeing an X.


These are certainly things I've noticed too. The problem in both cases is that the components used do not support LDPI (120 dpi) screens. The lowest res they offer is MDPI (160 dpi), so all the .PNGs used are too big. Just like the launcher, I'll see if I can substitute some other platform's copy of SystemUI.apk for this one.


That happened when I tried it on the Emerson EM543 using the (recreated) stock ROM. OTOH, on another A13 tab I have (from a higher-quality manufacturer), this displayed lots of phone-related entries - all of them saying "Unknown".

FYI... My next project is to recreate this ROM using a much newer build from another source. Perhaps that will resolve some of these issues.

One more question- are you or anyone else using this seeing a battery life problem? It would appear that mine isn't ever entering true sleep mode. I used to be able to leave it sleeping all day and come back to it, but now even if I ensure the power button is clicked / screen off, the tablet continues to drain and is dead 6 hours later. Not having standby would be a deal killer for keeping this rom in use.