yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android General] nannycrick:
I figure it's possible to teach her how to use a tablet. After all...I taught her son, my caveman hubby, how to text using an embedded smartphone keyboard, AND use a GPS for work purposes! There's hope there!

---------- Post added at 05:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:48 AM ----------

I figure... I'll strip the rom of as many "bells & whistles" as I can so she won't be intimidated. Keep it rooted but hide the root access apps in the app drawer. ES File Explorer root access will be denied, I'll leave Facebook & Solitaire Collection on it, plus WPS Office and setup the printer interface...she already has a wireless printer. Setup her WiFi modem access, etc. It'll be easy enough for her to enjoy. She & my father in law still live independently. I hope she'll enjoy it!
[Android General] nannycrick:
Okay....still having problems debloating either of the lollipop builds. The appjar junk.... gone, no problem. When I get to the excess Gapps, namely Google+ and Hangouts, the boot locks up upon reboot. Had the same problem with lollipop in my last one. I wonder if they issued lollipop before it was stable!

Any ideas?
[Android General] Old faithful:
Funny you would mention that, I'm in the process of trying to get my tablet rid of all Google apps myself and I have found the process daunting and had to restore one of my backups a couple of times in the process.

You may want to look at microG, it's an open source library that is aimed at replacing essential system files you lose when you remove Google apps.
[Android General] nannycrick:
Thanks! I'll try that. I'm at the local McD's downloading the S000122-160505 build from Tzul's repository now...and the patched TWRP into the A8-5500 for transfer to my laptop. My phone has too small a memory storage for these big downloads....and it's an HTC w/ a Marshmallow custom rom!!

---------- Post added at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 PM ----------

If I can't get a lollipop build debloated, it's back to Kitkat for me! Grrrr!
[Android General] chris5s:
I've had no problems with debloating the latest Lollipop rom of unwanted Google apps including those you mention.

Maybe try wiping caches in recovery after you delete them. Or delete and reboot one at a time to see which one causes problems. Tedious, I know, but will help narrow it down.

Peace.
[Android General] Old faithful:
Right on! We too often forget the basics...

That being said, some apps will refuse to work even with microG installed; it's pretty much a work in progress at this time. I reverted to the standard configuration for now as Weather Underground keeps force closing even with microG fully installed with all its recommended ancillaries. Ah well...
[Android General] nannycrick:
Thanks Old Faithful. I may resort to making incremental backups to see how far I can "push the envelope". I have MicroGAPPS & NanoGAPPS from OpenSource.org for 5.0 & 6.0. I suffered similar issues with the Marshmallow update for my phone. MicroGAPPS for 6.0 is what I used to stabilize the MMDB rom in my HTC. I had forgotten it was in my laptop! LOL! (senior moment, sorry!)

Hey.... just wondering... is anyone having issues running Xposed ?
[Android General] Old faithful:
It may well be the source of my problems, as I had to install it to fake signatures for microG...
[Android General] nannycrick:
Well.. gave up on Lollipop but....since I kept the last backup of my last Tab2, I used it to restore my stuff after reverting to KitKat! Thank God for saved nandroid backups!
[Android General] nannycrick:
Got "Da Baby".....A8-5500F flashed with the original firmware, and ready for sale.

My mom in law will never use it, so I'm going to find it another home!

heavy sigh...... I'll miss it but the hubby's getting overwhelmed by the sight of my workroom!

Just don't look!!!

Still.... it's so very nice to have my spreadsheets back at 100% view!
[Android General] BoredDude:
http://www.xda-developers.com/team-...d-full-gpl-kernel-for-jiayu-mediatek-devices/

One step closer to having Nougat in this wonderful device!
[Android General] Old faithful:
Hahaha, my wife and your husband would have a lot to share regarding their better halve's habits :D :D :D

---------- Post added at 16:24 ---------- Previous post was at 16:21 ----------

Well I won't be jumping on that bandwagon - Not until I'm sure it won't be restrictive and root hostile like early reports seem to be saying

http://betanews.com/2016/07/20/android-7-0-nougat-root/
[Android General] nannycrick:
HAHAHA! Maybe it's a good thing they don't really know how far our digital "rabbit hole" goes!

And I agree about not jumping on the bandwagon TOO early. We're still dealing the last upgrade, and they want to skip 6.0 to go to Nougat?

I'm still hoping for CM/Blisspop to work in this thing. I know someone tried it but not sure about the issues!

My last backup worked perfectly. I had to make a nandroid for this tablet, then delete the folder contents, and paste in that backup I did in April. Both devices generated different names on the backup but were the same tablet. Had to update SuperSU, and all root apps but no glitches! Nice! Now have made a recent one since updating everything!
[Android General] Old faithful:
Isn't that great? I've made a few mix and matches myself, restoring only the system to correct a boot loop and it worked great :) For that Android reminds me a lot of the simplicity of early versions of Windows, when it was still a GUI for DOS and before that abomination that is the 'Registry' appropriated program control away from users and made programs subservient to Windows...
[Android General] nannycrick:
Old Faithful....if it wasn't for REGEDIT hacks...my Windows 10/old netbook conversions wouldn't work! (Display_DownscaleSupported hack is my fav!) The REG in Windows didn't take away control, it just takes a different "edit process" to make the same changes!) Although Microsoft's little "dirty secret" is still ongoing.....

The OS, out of the box, ISN'T unpacked, and all the helpful protocols aren't enabled. Even in W10! I'm constantly surprised at the number of "Windows complaints" are so easy to correct just by unpacking the OS!

And thanks for the tip on doing a partial flash. I didn't know that would actually work!

Thank you Teacher!
[Android General] Old faithful:
True enough, it's quite feasible, as a matter of fact I JUST resolved a stubborn issue of a software that was simply impossible to totally remove by editing the registry OUTSIDE OF WINDOWS, using Registry Editor PE from within MiniXP from Hiren's Boot CD, but I much preferred the directness and potency of directly editing INI files and the no-nonsense of the DEL and DELTREE commands... Those 'permissions' just drive me mad ;)

I figured I didn't want to reinstall all my new apps for a bloody system file problem and figured that should do it, that user apps *shouldn't* install anything in the system partition... As for being a teacher I think you give me a bit too much credit, I'm just a fellow tinkerer here ;)
[Android General] zwirc:
Lenovo Tab3 A7-10F

I tried step3 on Lenovo Tab3 A7-10F, and now it wont start at all. Any tip on how to recover it?

Ty!
[Android General] chris5s:
I think you have a different tablet?
[Android General] zwirc:
Yes, I noticed that xD Model number was the same, but i bought tab 3 instead of 2 i noticed after it didnt work xD
[Android General] chris5s:
Probably best bet is to try and flash stock ROM with flash tool?
[Android General] zwirc:
Trying Smart Phone Flash Tool, but nothing happens when i plug in the pad. Nothing happens when i try to turn it on or anything :P

Sad i bought it 1 hour ago xD
[Android General] chris5s:
I take it that you have tried power+volume up/down? No sound from PC when you plug in the tablet?
[Android General] zwirc:
Yes :/ But nothing happens. Its like its out of power (witch it isnt) But tnx for sugestions

---------- Post added at 11:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------

I get a sound when i connect device to computer now :)! thats a start
[Android General] chris5s:
It is indeed!

Check you have drivers installed etc etc then give flashtool a go!

Good luck :good:

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

Make sure you flash the right ROM :p
[Android General] zwirc:
I have drivers, but it does not do anuything in flash tool :/

When i disconnect device:

BROM ERROR: S_BROM_CMD_STARTCMD_FAIL (0x7D5)

[Brom] Can not pass bootrom start command! Possibly target power up to early
[Android General] zMILWAUKEE:
We ran across this very issue about about 100 posts or so back. The thing that worked for me when I "bricked" my device on purpose was to first, go to your device manager in Windows. When you are there make sure your tab is powered off all the way. Next watch the screen, unplug and plug in your tab to see if your tab gets recognized by device manager. If it does and the vcomm ports shows up for a sec or two your golden. Next open the scatter file in flash tools and get flash tools running. Next make sure you plug the tab into the same USB port that you did when you installed the drivers. This made a difference for me. Cause I had the same trouble myself. When I realized that when I first installed the vcomm drivers it was on my USB 3 port, and after I "bricked" my tab I was plugging into the USB 2.0 port and that's where I ran into the brom error myself, plugged into the USB 3.0 port and off to the races I went. Good luck. And hope I helped a little. Oh and make sure your running SPFT as administrator.

---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:06 AM ----------

Make sure you do not plug in your tablet untill after you press the download button in SPFT. The SPFT screen will dim a tad bit and when you plug in your tab everything should be good.
[Android General] zwirc:
Hi zMILWAUKEE, tried xxx times and all usb ports, same evertime.

Nothing happens when I connect it, only when i disconnect. I press Download before connecting tab. Ty.

---------- Post added at 01:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 AM ----------

It appears as MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM (Android) (COM5) when connecting it.

Could not find device in flashtool (tho never used flashtool, so maby i need to do some trick there?)
[Android General] chris5s:
Your device is definitely not dead! You have the drivers and the tool, hopefully the (right) ROM.

Sounds like the device is on before you're plugging in the USB cable, so try pressing the power button for around 30 seconds (disconnected from the PC) to power off, then start flashtool and get everything ready up to the "download" stage and plug in once you have pressed "download". From what I've read this can be a little tricky to get right, so may take a few tries but worth sticking at it!

Peace.
[Android General] MrRedwood:
RAR oem image [to ZIP?] to restore via SDcard?

I bought one of these nice tablets primarily to read news, blog posts and PDFs while sitting on the couch.

But since this is my first Android experience, I played around and managed to soft-brick it, so now it doesn't get past the "Android system recovery <3e> screen. I hadn't used it for anything really, yet, so I happily wiped the cache partition and the data/factory reset, but it still won't boot.

I seems like I should be able to load the OEM image onto an SD card and re-install the original KitKat, right?

But the download is in RAR format, which the tablet doesn't even "see" when I put it on the SD card. When I unRAR it and ZIP it, the tablet sees the ZIP but immediately after I see "Opening update package..." I get "Installation aborted".

That part doesn't make sense to me. The appropriate image file is A10-70F_S000021_150501_ROW_USER.rar, correct? It's what I got from the link in the OP.

What I missing, here?

[I don't have a functional Windows machine to use SP_Flash. I tried loading it onto the XP that I run in Parallels on my Mac, but XP wouldn't accept the Android USB Drivers and couldn't connect.]
[Android General] chris5s:
I don't know what the content of the rar file is, but have you tried just changing the extension to .zip? Without extracting and rezipping?

---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ----------

Or it could be that that file is only useful with flash tools. There are smaller zips available which are incremental system updates that may be flashable in the stock recovery...

Peace.
[Android General] MrRedwood:
I was pretty sure that shouldn't work, since ZIP and RAR are different formats, but having no other clues, I tried it. Nope, darn it; didn't work.

The original post has "Download Stock ROM" next to those files; there's nothing about being for flash tools other than context. Hmm. I'll see if I can hunt down any advice about updating via SD card for any device and see if they mention a difference, but that seems like a bit of a long shot.
[Android General] chris5s:
Maybe try one of the zips from here?

(from page 16 of this thread, courtesy of Tzul)
[Android General] MrRedwood:
I'll have to go back to that page and thank Tzul as well. The image I was trying to install is the same as the first one listed, under "Android 4.4.4 Kitkat » SPFT: S000021_150501 (1.4GB)", and the notes at the top of the page do say about "SPFT" that they "Must be installed with the MediaTek SmartPhone Flash Tool (SPFT) version 5.x".

But the items labeled "Type 1" looked hopeful, since that meant "Type 1 ( "completely"): large OTA update can be applied to all versions (?)", and the "completely" makes more sense than "incremental" when the entire system needs to be replaced. It does mean I have to stick with Lollipop (since there was no "Type 1" for KitKat), which I've heard sad things about, but that's better than a softbrick.

Sure enough, after popping that into the SD Card and trying that one, the installation started. After a long reboot process, it's running again.
[Android General] chris5s:
Good to hear you got up and running again.

Lollipop works fine for me on this tablet, although I never had KitKat installed so have no real comparison to make.

Peace.
[Android General] Tzul:
That's why you should read carefully. Your model is not the same. This thread is about the Tab 2 A10-70, a 10 inch tablet. Yours is 7 inch, and that's not the only hardware part that is different.

What tablet do you have exactly? There is no Lenovo Tab3 A7-10F, as far as I know. There is a "Tab 3 7" with MT8161 chip and Android 6 as upgrade; and there's a "Tab 3 7 Essential (TB3-710F)", with MT8127 and Android 5.0. Some places might call the TB3-710F a "Tab3 A7-10F", but that's not really Lenovo's designation.

Anyway, check what the actual model of your tablet is. If it's a Tab 3 7 Essential (TB3-710F), you're in luck, because I've dumped its firmware, and I'm working on a TWRP for it (you can't just use the Tab 2 A10-70 TWRP!).
[Android General] zwirc:
Noticed TB3-710F was the real name, it says "Tab3 A7-10F" from dealer ^^
[Android General] nannycrick:
I saw, as I was catching up with the progress of this forum, that there's a patched TWRP 3.0 and other lollipop goodies available in our repositories. I'm still on Kitkat but had issues debloating & permissions with Lollipop. Maybe I'll give 5.0 another try?!

Does anyone have a boot animation that works with the Tab2?

Oh....and thanks for the intel on "making" a scatter file for that A8-5500F. I bookmarked that website just in case. It worked! I also found the original firmware for it on androidmtk.com. A good resource!
[Android General] nannycrick:
Old Faithful.....

I found a great keyboard for the Tab2...and anything else. Logitech K480 Bluetooth keyboard. It has a switch to choose between three different connected devices. For me, it's the Tab2, and my HTC 626s. I can turn the dial, and send a quick text to one of my drivers while I'm dispatching. Then back to data entry on the Tab2. Perfect since I have an issue with "fat fingered" text, and hate Swype keyboard! It was on sale at my local Best Buys for $25.00. A definite good buy for me!
[Android General] nannycrick:
zwirc...if your Windows PC "chimes" when you connect that Tab3, you probably have the SPFT drivers installed correctly. I've hard bricked four MTK devices so far, my Tab2, it's little sibling the A8-5500F, an RCA Pro II, a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 10.1. All were brought back to life with OEM firmware and the SPFT. You only have a window of two seconds to flash after you plug the Tab3 in. Make sure it's powered off and NOT plugged in to charge or the PC. Fire up SPFT making sure your CORRECT firmware is IN the SPFT folder on your desktop screen. Load the scatter and all your firmware images are "found" by SPFT. Uncheck the preloader. Put your mouse ON that Download button. Plug in the Tab3, and hit Download as soon as you hear that chime. You should see it flash if we did it correctly. Tab3 rescued!
[Android General] bigrammy:
Hi nannycrick,

Tip: Not sure if your familiar with the xda system but If you wish respond to someone either "Reply" to their post using the reply button at the bottom of their post which will quote their post as I have done above with yours or use the "mentions" system with the @ sign directly infront of their username like this [MENTION=4717484]nannycrick[/MENTION] this way they get notified of your reply. :good:

You will now have 2 notification 1 mention and 1 quote

Apologies if you already knew this. :o
[Android General] chris5s:
You could try this one, based on MM animation. Unzip and place start.mp4 in /system/media.

Its not perfect but makes a change :)

Peace
[Android General] nannycrick:
My apologies! I knew this but wasn't paying attention. My bad!

---------- Post added at 07:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:47 AM ----------

Any permissions change...rw-r-r. ?
[Android General] chris5s:
That should work fine :good:
[Android General] chris5s:
This is better, tho still a bit off aspect wise..
[Android General] nannycrick:
Question for the wiser folks.... Lenovo has a power management apk that installed in more than a few of their devices , and on the A8-5500F but not on the Tab2. I really liked it as it gave me a night view mode. I still have the firmware for the A8. I wonder if it would work on the Tab2?!? Maybe I'll try next week when my Tab2 isn't "at work"!
[Android General] Old faithful:
It should if it's compatible with the ROM version you are running - conversely I wasn't able run the Lollipop version of Miravision on KitKat (still trying to find a solution to the excessive saturation prevalent on KitKat, especially the ruddy skin colors)
[Android General] chris5s:
OK, last one lol. Maintained aspect ratio, smaller but looks good. I'll stop spamming with boot animations now :good:

Peace out.
[Android General] nannycrick:
No go!

Tried all the boot animations that have been posed and none took.

Changed the file permissions too and nothing but a static Lenovo screen, then boot. I would love to have the Marshmallow boot animation I have in my HTC phone but I haven't found a copy that will work for this display. Oh well. Thanks anyway guys!

I also gave up looking for a version of the Lenovo Power Management apk. Found several but were for phones, and the one from the A8 won't load due to parsing error. I only wanted it for the dimming feature anyway!

I found by Richard Solano on Google Play. It dims my spreadsheets well enough and can be controlled thru the Notification drop down. It's small & light weight so no memory eating!

When I get past the next few weeks, (dispatch, then

grandkid sitting so my teaching daughter in law can work), I'll give Lollipop another debloat try!
[Android General] chris5s:
You unzipped the file and placed in system/media right? No idea why it won't work, plays fine on my tab..:confused:
[Android General] chris5s:
This one too "phoney"??

Lenovo Power Management app.
[Android General] nannycrick:
This is what I got when I tried it as unzipped startmp4.zip with permission changed to rw-r-r.

Just a static saying Android.

And I do have the same version of Power Management. It works to manage the battery but doesn't have the dimmer feature I had in the A8.

Don't get it?!
[Android General] chris5s:
I should be named start.mp4 in system/media :good: (i.e. unzip the downloaded file)

---------- Post added at 03:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:21 PM ----------

This one seems to have a working dimmer feature?
[Android General] nannycrick:
Yup.. that's what I got. Here's a pic of the file in system/media
[Android General] chris5s:
Maybe there is some difference between KitKat and Lollipop boot procedure then? (I'm running the latter)
[Android General] nannycrick:
It does but not quite what I want for viewing white spreadsheets @ 1 AM. Those spreadsheets can be

as "rude looking" at 1 AM as having the bedroom light suddenly turned on at 1 AM! LOL.

And your probably right about the difference between KitKat and Lollipop.

I'll save the boot animation on my sd card to use in Lollipop. I do like the power savings from Power Management. I get about 8 hours of battery. Of course I also run a Bluetooth connection keyboard thru my shift too! Still not bad!
[Android General] Old faithful:
BIG difference indeed and the most likely reason I can't run the Lollipop version of Miravision on KitKat ... KitKat uses the original Dalvik runtime system wheras Lollipop uses the new ART...

---------- Post added at 11:59 ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 ----------

I agree 100% about the unbearable whiteness of most apps and themes since Android abandoned the soothing blackness of Holo... I refuse any apps that don't have a white on black mode, my eyes just can't tolerate it!

As a matter of fact I compose most of my work on my PC using Metapad, a text editor that allows black background with white text, only transfer to the word processor for formatting and composting.
[Android General] chris5s:
The system is very fussy about the encoding of the mp4 start video, so I wouldn't be surprised if KitKat uses a different encoding altogether!

I spent far too much time on a 20 second video I'll see once in a blue moon lol. I must get a life...

Peace.
[Android General] nannycrick:
I think most apps now offer a choice of background.

I also use the new version of Google Keyboard as a

system conversion app which offers size & background theming. I run the dark theme, and I uninstalled the Flat

Style keyboard Xposed module since Google Keyboard upgraded. Works for me. Now if I could only get my brain

to work as well @ 1 AM!
[Android General] Old faithful:
I just realized I tried a couple of apps that may do the trick for you - Screen Adjuster has a "below lowest" intensity setting and CF Lumen has color temperature mods (whites turn dim orange), if you like that type of glare control. I'm using CF lumen for its ability to color correct (by way of applying a software "filter" overlay) and skin tones aren't as ruddy now, it just can't do anything about excessive saturation.
[Android General] nannycrick:
Awww chris5s..... that's all part of the adventure....

the joy of "tearing" them down, modding, bricking

them, and rebooting them back to functionality!

It's what we love..... remember?!
[Android General] nannycrick:
Dimly by Richard Solano has both a variable translucent

smoke colored filter, and a "blue light" filter which looks translucent tan! Both work for me, and very little memory impact. It can be hidden from the Apex launcher app drawer and accessed thru the notification pulldown, and has an adjustment slider. Quick & easy!

A definite plus when dispatch is hopping!

Here's that spreadsheet w/ the Dimly slider shown...
[Android General] A$h x:
I've seen an OTA update notification pop up - version is A10-70F_S000122? Is it worth updating from the lollipop nandroid in the 2nd post?
[Android General] dirlan2001:
Good call, young paduan.... this update fixes some glitches of the previous update. Anyway, this 'fix' is already since the merry month of May available :p

cheers