[General Topics] ragefury32:
Hacking the TelyHD...

You don't need to root it - the device doesn't seem to have any security in the last firmware verson.

So it turns out that the last version of the TelyHD firmware (the one with the annoying launcher that forces you to register but faceplants attempting to do so) is a downgrade. Its actually based on Froyo.

For a little bit of fun, plug a USB Micro-B cable (the usual one) into the USB MIcro-A port (and yes, it fits, TelyLabs probably did that to discourage casual messing around, because *oh no I need a special cable from the UK*. .not really, the standard USB Micro-B cable fits), and fire up your ADB (i used MacOS, but if you have Linux or a full ADB install on Win10, that should be fine as well. If you are on this forum and don't know how to use ADB, well, that's something you'll need to learn first).

As long as you install ADB and the usual drivers, pop open a shell/command prompt, and run:

adb devices (and press enter)

If it shows a device listed, you are golden. If it doesn't, make sure the cable is working and your drivers are installed correctly.

Okay, jump in using adb shell, and let's see what we have here:

Which version of Android?

# cat /system/build.prop (and press enter)
# begin build properties
# autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
ro.build.id=FRF91
ro.build.display.id=tely-eng 2.2 FRF91 20151217.143430 test-keys
ro.build.version.incremental=20151217.143430
ro.build.version.sdk=8
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.2
ro.build.date=Thu Dec 17 14:35:02 PST 2015
ro.build.date.utc=1450391702
ro.build.type=eng
ro.build.user=froyo
ro.build.host=ubuntu
ro.build.tags=test-keys
ro.product.model=tely
ro.product.brand=tely
ro.product.name=tely
ro.product.device=tely
ro.product.board=tely
ro.product.cpu.abi=armeabi-v7a
ro.product.cpu.abi2=armeabi
ro.product.manufacturer=telylabs
ro.product.locale.language=en
ro.product.locale.region=US
ro.wifi.channels=
ro.board.platform=tegra
# ro.build.product is obsolete; use ro.product.device
ro.build.product=tely
# Do not try to parse ro.build.description or .fingerprint
ro.build.description=tely-eng 2.2 FRF91 20151217.143430 test-keys
ro.build.fingerprint=tely/tely/tely/tely:2.2/FRF91/20151217.143430:eng/test-keys
# end build properties

#
# ADDITIONAL_BUILD_PROPERTIES
#
ro.config.notification_sound=OnTheHunt.ogg
ro.config.alarm_alert=Alarm_Classic.ogg
media.stagefright.enable-player=true
media.stagefright.enable-meta=true
media.stagefright.enable-scan=true
media.stagefright.enable-http=true
ro.config.sync=no
ro.media.dec.vid.wmv.enabled=1
ro.media.dec.aud.wma.enabled=1
ro.media.enc.hprof.file.format=3gp
ro.media.enc.hprof.aud.hz=44100
ro.media.enc.hprof.aud.ch=2
ro.media.enc.hprof.codec.aud=aac
ro.media.enc.hprof.aud.bps=128000
ro.browser.useragent=1
persist.service.mount.umsauto=1
ro.product.locale.language=en
ro.product.locale.region=US
dalvik.vm.heapsize=24m
ro.tely.revision=v5.0.2-2-g7e8360f
ro.kernel.android.checkjni=1
ro.setupwizard.mode=OPTIONAL
net.bt.name=Android
dalvik.vm.stack-trace-file=/data/anr/traces.txt

Alright, that's Froyo - So, to get rid of that welcome screen/registration app that you can't get rid of, type in the following in the ADB shell:

pm uninstall com.tely.device.telyAssets (and press enter)

You should see

Success!

And presto - if you have a screen connected to the HDMI port, you should see the stock Android Froyo screen. Feel free to list all the installed packages on the adb shell by typing in:

pm list packages (and press enter)

And then pm uninstall <name of the package>.

Oh. The TelyHD remote (if you still have it) can function as a mouse-of-sorts. Plug in a USB keyboard and you should be able to use it as a *meh* old Android device. Not much modern will run on it (unless someone goes ahead and port Android 6 or 7 to it), but the hardware (nVidia T20 Tegra 2 with 512MB of RAM and 2 GByte onboard) precludes it from anything too modern, so if you want to use it as a Microsoft Teams or Zoom device? Not going to happen unless you figure out how to build/port AOSP for Nougat or Oreo for to it. Also note that the device looks a bit questionable in terms of build quality/heat ventilation. If you bust it open, stick a heat sink on the T20 chip.

Oh, and if you are interesting in pulling it apart, it's covered as the camera component of the Purple SmartVP camera system on iFixit.