Coby 7015 - Newbie Experience and a few questions

[watsonaka]

Coby 7015 Experience and a few questions

I'm a relative newbie to the android OS. I have had very good luck with this tablet and thought I would share the procedure I used with other newbs and experts alike. I did the following.

Root & Market via Phase3d Method : Rooted and installed the google apps with phase3d's method on youtube. Search "MID7015 step by step". Phase3d clearly explains how to 1) download all the needed files, install Z4 Root, Terminal Emulator, ClockWorkMod, google apps, ADW Launcher EX, etc. When following his video I did initially have the "missing file error (file not found error)", but Phase3d's youtube video clearly explains what to do if that happens. Just follow his syntax to the letter. If you get the missing file error you must Click "Show More" under Phase3d's video description to follow the secondary method. I really like the ADW Launcher EX.
The only problem I encounter after rooting and installing via this method was I can not calibrate. The calibration app tries to open then just closes by itself without a FC dialog box. More on that later.(Later fixed per popeye1128's suggestion in post # 2. Re-installed calibrate.apk from the update.zip)

Graphics Fix : Installed the Graphics fix using CobyMID7015_GPU_Fix_Universal.zip as described in post 1 of http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...-mid7015-graphics-fix-angry-birds-others.html
To install the fix, I just powered down and booted to ClockWorkMod by holding down the Power Button and the Silver Back button. Held them till I booted to clockwork Then "install zip from sdcard" and select the GPU Zip you downloaded to your sdcard. After the GPU fix Angry Birds and Raging Thunder 2 played without issues. I did this right over the top of everything above with no adverse issues.

Unwanted Wake from Sleep : I have tried some of the recommended fixes for the wake from sleep issue, without satisfaction. I tried both softlocker & mylockforandroid. I found while they sort of solved the wake from sleep issue, they created other deep sleep issues.

Tonight I plan to test a different method of dealing with the unwanted wakeup issue. I have installed the Battery Widget from geekyouup. It's an attractive battery widget and once on the home screen it allows me quickly turn off wifi. I also installed Brightness Level Widget from Curvefish, and put the widget on my home screen. Before bed I plan to click Battery Widget, disable wifi, and click the Brightness Widget and click Zero brightness. I will report my findings on this thread tomorrow.

Calibrate Closes instantly after opening (Since Fixed) : This has not bothered me too much, as the tablet seems well calibrated from the factory, but I can't help thinking that it will become an issue later. I tried to return to stock to fix it using Phase3d's method described at http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...clockwork-recovery-coby-kyros-mid-7015-a.html He says "just install the update.zip from Coby's website, and choose wipe data factory reset.". I tried to install the update.zip, but I got some kind of error when I did so (can't recall the error). I did it in the order described. Should I have selected "wipe data factory reset" before installing the update? ANSWER (Later fixed per popeye1128's suggestion in post # 2. Re-installed calibrate.apk from the update.zip)

Mounting USB. I initially made the mistake of mounting the internal rather than external memory. To newbs, don't forget that the internal is the Nand, the external is the SDcard. Be sure to "safely remove" and "unmount" the USB before unplugging your USB cord. Thanks to Popeye1128 for his help on this.

Video Playback: I am using MVideoPlayer and have played AVI & MKV successfully. Rockplayer playback sucked for me. The MVideoPlayer path to the sdcard is /sdcard/foldername

Screen Locker : I hate the screen swipe unlocker. Is there any way to remove this?

Conclusions : I really like this tablet. I bought the 7015 over the 7024 because of 1) Price 2) the availability of ROMs and existing hacks 3) I didn't like the hardware buttons on the 7024, as I have big clumsy fingers and heard they are overly sensitive and easy to accidentally bump 4) there appeared to be a number of 7024's that were DOA on arrival (see reviews). I am overall very happy with the 7015. It's a good cheap tablet with the described enhancements.

HELP : Any advice on my described Calibrate issues is much appreciated. Should I retry the 7015A update.zip as described above? Did I do it wrong? See "Calibrate Closes" above. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Disclaimer ; I am a virtual newb. If I have misspoken or made any mistakes here, I welcome corrections. Thanks to the forum and forumites for all their wisdom and efforts.

[FONT=&quot]Thanks to everyone ere especially Phase3d for his youtube video.
[/FONT]

 

[popeye1128]

Watsonaka, nice post! On the calibrate issue, yes you should wipe everything before installing a complete ROM unless it is a patch like tipstir puts out. Of course you will lose any customizations.
You could try pulling the calibrate.apk from the stock update and reinstalling it. Always backup first!

 

[watsonaka]

Popeye1128, That did the trick. When I installed the APK, and then tried it before a reboot, it just went in an endless loop without giving me the "Long touch anywhere to exit" dialog, But after a reboot it seemed fine. Thanks for the tip. I will show the fix in my original post. Thanks for saving me the loss of my customizations.

 

[popeye1128]

Wow! Glad it worked, you're welcome. It was just one of those 'give it a try' things.

 

[tipstir]

I never use the Calibrate run fine using the OEM default settings. Patches do work leaves you settings alone.

Wake-up Lock issue is known by Android but what they do is they just come out with Android OS 2.2 then finally Android OS 2.3. That's how they solve issues but you can clearly see all the issues with all the OS. New KYROS running Android OS 2.2, I'll skip over to Android OS 2.3 model when it comes out. But in all even Android OS 3.0 has some glitches too. This is open-source OS except for OS 3.0 but still none of these OS is 100% glitch free. I try working on ways to solve some of these issues. The Green app can fix the Wake-up Lock but it can mess up your tablet configuration if you try to remove it. Then the tablet never goes to sleep and just dim the panel.

Best Video player has been the 2010 Meidian Player. The one that is available today is poorly written code where dirty private memory is not releasing memory block allocation correctly thus the FC (force closes) Apps that do this should be avoided. Memory on these tablets are not setup correctly either. I would like to meet the guys who had written the memory allocation tables and say what were you guys thinking? FSB is slow on all tablets even with the fastest Dual Core CPU ones. They have to fix that issue. Live Wallpaper even on Tegra2 can be sluggish too.

In all the 7015 is very good tablet, it's a shame COBY didn't use the OEM LonPad again to make the newer ones. 7015 at LonPad D7 has CTS, 3G, BT and more. Still what we have is still great. With my HCV12.0 B18 really nice.

 

[watsonaka]

Yup popeye, the calibrate worked once, now it is closing again Only tried it two or three times though, as the calibration is just fine as tipster says. I think it might work again on a reinstall and reboot if ever needed. Tipster, thanks for the input and all the tips. Getting the Meridian Player now.

Wake Issue : Before bed I did the following: Tapped Advanced Task Manager and tapped End All, Tapped the battery widget from geekyouup, tapped wifi to turn off. Tapped Brightness Level Widget from Curvefish. A total of Six quick taps and the result was

11:40 PM put tablet to sleep, 98% Battery
9 AM Woke tablet, 70% Battery

The six taps is not really a hassle once before bed, but I would probably never remember to do it during the day. The best suggestion I have heard yet is just turn it off at night. I mean how hard is it really, to just turn the tablet back on in the morning. I think the sleep issue is just a minor niggle. I do agree with you tipster, they all have issues, and this is looking like a great tablet after playing with it over the weekend. I'm seriously thinking about renaming a few of the unwanted telephony apps from .apk to .bak but I don't want know much about using the command line. I assume this should be done from ClockWork. Any tips what files to try renaming, directory structure and on syntax would be much appreciated.

Thanks Jack