[Dell Streak 7] mike_ekim:
Edit: this is about Streak 7 Honeycomb 514 installation tips, I fixed the tile :)

I have installed ROMs on my Viewsonic gPad. Piece of cake, the process is straightforward and there were no wild goose chases looking for drivers. I never appreciated how easy the gTab was until I dealt with this nightmarish Streak 7.

I started at 6 pm last night, gave up at 2:30am, woke up at 7:30 this morning, and now (at 8:15) it is HOPEFULLY going to reboot into Gingerbread. And it looks successfull!

Some tips:

The general process

I followed the general instructions on the 506 update thread, but I used a 514 ROM.

You can add the update.img file to your external SD card using windows explorer, but you can't use windows explorer to add the recovery file to the recovery partition. One way to do that, is with Fastboot. The whole fastboot process includes:

-placing the tablet in fastboot mode

-connecting the tablet to the computer via USB

-installing drivers (hopefully, first time only)

-running fastboot.exe

-using a command prompt to move the recovery.img file onto the tablet's recovery partition

Fastboot and the recovery file are where I had my problems, so I added a few tips here.

ROM and Recovery

Get the 514 ROM and recovery files from here: here

NOTE: I could not get the 514 US 4G recovery to work, so I used the US Stock Froyo recovery.img from the 506 update thread.

Fastboot Guide

Use this page as a general guide for installing Fastboot and Flashing/Updating, but it is by no means comprehensive.

Finding Fastboot Drivers

Drivers for fastboot were a big sticking point for me. To get Streak 7 drivers: I connected my Streak 7 to my computer, enabled USB sharing on my tablet, and then in Windows file explorer find the streak and do a search for 'drivers'. It will found the folder (using a search for 'drivers') on the Streak that contains the drivers I need. There are drivers included in the fastboot download but the fastboot drivers did not work for me.

My approach for setting up/using fastboot

Download fastboot (it's actually fastboot and adb)

Extract the zip (I put it in c:\android)

Enter fastboot mode on device

Connect phone pc with usb cable.

Install approporate driver extracted from your streak (or try the ones from fastboot, they didn't work for me but maybe they will work for you)

Note: I installed drivers in fastboot mode AND in regular android mode, but I spent a long time working on drivers so that might not be necessary

Note 2: I installed the free 'Nero' software from Dell because someone else with similar problems also installed that software, IDK if it helped either one of us but who knows. I recommend not installing Nero just for this task, because most people don't seem to need it.

Note 3: After driver is installed, the streak will still say what it always says in fastboot mode: some red text followed by some white text. The fact that you have installed fastboot on your PC will not cause a change on the screen of your Streak 7 when it is connected to the PC.

run 'fastboot.exe'

a black window will appear and disappear very quickly.

open a command prompt type c:\android>fastboot devices

the command prompt should return something like '? fastboot'

This step lets you know you have fastboot working properly.

Now that you know fastboot is working, it's time to move your new recovery file to the Streak's recovery partition. Type C:\android>fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

If you forgot how to use a command line: you will need to use the 'cd' command to navigate to the folder your recovery.img file is in. It will be easy enough to find on the internet, and I am too tired to explain now. If you happened to place your files in C:\android, you can get there by typing 'cd\' (no quotes) and hitting enter, then typing 'cd android' and hitting enter.

in the above text, 'C:\android>' is the prompt you will see after using the 'cd' command. If you have your recovery file somewhere else, you must alter this prompt with the CD command so it reflects the recovery file's location.

in the above text, 'fastboot' tells your computer to use fastboot commands. Make sure you ran fastboot.exe. There is also a way to change environmental settings/path so that it will work whenever you have an android device plugged in, but I couldn't find the thread that discussed it.

in the above text, 'flash' is a command to write a file to a particular partition.

in the above text, 'recovery' is the partition being written to is the recovery partition.

in the above text, 'recovery.img' is the name of the file being copied to the tablet.

in the above text, 'C:\android' is the location of the file being copied.

I know I'm overtired and I need to go back to sleep because I'm doing an anal-retentive job of explaining how to use functions that you can read by typing in 'fastboot help'. But I've lost a bit of rational thinking and I am compelled to work on formatting and adding bullets so it looks pretty.

The command prompt will give you a couple of lines saying how long it took to move the file.

Finished!

Make sure you have a new update.pkg file on your external SD card, boot into recovery, and install your update.