Pandigital SuperNova Wi-Fi Stopped Working

[robang13]

ok, but if you remove the you tube player, did you install another one? The kids all need you tube. If so, how did you go about doing all this? I am computer knowledgeable but know nothing about tablets
!

Hi,
I figured out a fix for the supernova wifi issue and it doesnt requre a firmware update/rewipe

I noticed after installing google market that my wifi stopped working after next bootup
Using root explorer i noticed the root area (/) had 196.86 used, 4kb free
(Keep in mind that my pandigital is rooted so this fix will probably only work on a rooted device.)

Using Titanium backup, i uninstalled one of the aps that is factory installed in the firmware. I decided to remove the old version of youtube player
but you can remove any of the factory installed aps that you dont need to have on there, just make sure its nothing that is system dependent and it should be listed in red.

After removing the youtube player, i noticed the root was 192.6MB used, 4.21MB free and after reboot, my wifi was working again and has remained working
so it appears that when the root folder is full that it messes up the wifi, perhaps cause there isnt enough room to write an ini file or something, dunno

I would take this method as a last effort before re-doing firmware; it saved me the hassle of wiping everything so i hope this will help others too.

 

[JamesDroid]

When you re-install a newer youtube player, it doesnt install it to the root folder, as long as you can free up some space on the root the wifi should work without fail.

I actualy had to change my firmware because the firmware that it came with wouldnt allow me to root it.

I wasn't really trying to provide a guide to do this, i was just merely pointing out that when the root folder gets full it causes the wifi to stop working. I cant confirm that
this fixes it but i rebooted many times and all failed to turn wifi on properly, after freeing up space on the root, all the subsequent reboots provided working wifi

 

[robang13]

ok, I hear you. So, the main thing is to free up space in the root folder. Guess I will have to figure it out on my own and try it.

When you re-install a newer youtube player, it doesnt install it to the root folder, as long as you can free up some space on the root the wifi should work without fail.

I actualy had to change my firmware because the firmware that it came with wouldnt allow me to root it.

I wasn't really trying to provide a guide to do this, i was just merely pointing out that when the root folder gets full it causes the wifi to stop working. I cant confirm that
this fixes it but i rebooted many times and all failed to turn wifi on properly, after freeing up space on the root, all the subsequent reboots provided working wifi

 

[onykage]

Ok...found the fix!!!! ok, so here's the fix: go to I love Pandigital Planet on facebook, like it, go to forums on the left side of the page. There is then a fix to this!! Too bad I sent mine back already!! I was reading the reviews on their website and a woman posted this. I went to it and it is indeed there!! If anyone does it please let me know if it works!!!

DO NOT .. I repeat DO NOT do that. First, you don't have to like them, and right now, Im not liking them at all. Second when you click on the forums and then the thread just to get this redonculous explanation of how your computer needs to be updated and you have to have dotnet 4+ and blah blah blah ... just to download a file to your sd card so you can apply an update that is not even for the 8" e-reader from the sd card that is not even in your computer at the time of the update.

I am not blowing Pandigitals Horn right now either, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to read a little bit and see through the BS here, and this is the exact type of garbage that gives decent companies a bad rep.

So on to how to fix this. Well right now there is no fix, probably wont be a fix until sometime in feb. The issue at hand is the device looses the MAC Address on system bootup. So rooted or not makes no difference. An immediate and sure fix is yes just do a factory reset. That will reset the boot image and more importantly the init.rc which is where the problem is. So In the mean time, copy the 'apk' of all your apps to your sd card. Perform the factory reset, and reinstall the apps. I know its a pain in the rear to go through and re-customize your device again, BUT.. atleast it works. The youtube trick is a mere fluke. And the problem will reoccur at a later date even with the different youtube app installed on the sd card.

Now.. if you have some patience, you dont have to do anything. All you have to do is shutdown the pad, remove the sd card, and turn the device back on. It may take a few tries but it should eventually reboot correctly and when it does it will instantly get back on the correct wireless network and you will get email notifications and so on. If it refuses to boot correctly then just default it. Just make sure to backup your files in the mean time. And dont reboot it very often(or shut it down), just put it to sleep and plug it in. Mine ran for almost 3 solid weeks before it did it the first time, which is what lead me here in the first place.

For those who like to do their own research Ive provided links to backup my claims.

https://apps.facebook.com/forumforpages/233524943330443/9b1a7e63-4a08-4d36-84d4-2bc63b658f74/0

 

[robang13]

Are you talking about me??!! If so I am only passing along what is on a Pandigital website. I was on the QVC website first reading the reviews of others for this product and one of the owners, (countrylife) SuperNova DLX 8" Touchscreen Color WiFi Tablet by Pandigital - QVC.com posted this and how it worked for her. It was a better answer than I received from Pandigital themselves! They told me how to hook up my wi-fi after waiting 2 hours on hold and then 7 days for an email!! They don't even acknowledge it on their website that there is a problem and they are working on it! nothing!! And I was only trying to help!! Maybe YOU should be banned for being an inconsiderate person!! Oh and I am a SHE not a HE!! And I did do what you are suggesting and it worked for a whole 2 hours! Maybe we should just keep rebooting something instead of actually fixing it because YOU think that it the thing to do?! Who gives you the right to think that your answer is better than mine? If you don't agree with what I'm saying then don't do it! Unless you are a tech for Pandigital you really know just as much or less than the rest of us. Take YOUR nastiness elsewhere please.....

CALLING ALL MODERATORS AND ADMINS.... if you have not done so already... ban this guy, these are the people we need less of on the Internet. Please help this individual to find a new home and false advertise there instead.

Everyone else.. DO NOT .. I repeat DO NOT do that. First, you don't have to like them, and right now, Im not liking them at all. Second when you click on the forums and then the thread just to get this redonculous explanation of how your computer needs to be updated and you have to have dotnet 4+ and blah blah blah ... just to download a file to your sd card so you can apply an update that is not even for the 8" e-reader from the sd card that is not even in your computer at the time of the update.

I am not blowing Pandigitals Horn right now either, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to read a little bit and see through the BS here, and this is the exact type of garbage that gives decent companies a bad rep.

So on to how to fix this. Well right now there is no fix, probably wont be a fix until sometime in feb. The issue at hand is the device looses the MAC Address on system bootup. So rooted or not makes no difference. An immediate and sure fix is yes just do a factory reset. That will reset the boot image and more importantly the init.rc which is where the problem is. So In the mean time, copy the 'apk' of all your apps to your sd card. Perform the factory reset, and reinstall the apps. I know its a pain in the rear to go through and re-customize your device again, BUT.. atleast it works. The youtube trick is a mere fluke. And the problem will reoccur at a later date even with the different youtube app installed on the sd card.

Now.. if you have some patience, you dont have to do anything. All you have to do is shutdown the pad, remove the sd card, and turn the device back on. It may take a few tries but it should eventually reboot correctly and when it does it will instantly get back on the correct wireless network and you will get email notifications and so on. If it refuses to boot correctly then just default it. Just make sure to backup your files in the mean time. And dont reboot it very often(or shut it down), just put it to sleep and plug it in. Mine ran for almost 3 solid weeks before it did it the first time, which is what lead me here in the first place.

For those who like to do their own research Ive provided links to backup my claims.

https://apps.facebook.com/forumforpages/233524943330443/9b1a7e63-4a08-4d36-84d4-2bc63b658f74/0 <-- supposed facebook page with answer
Pandigital » Pandigital Novel / ANDROID Tablet Firmware Update <- Pandigitals page with the 7" novel firmware download which says in red letters for 7" Novel only.

Lastly, just bare with it. They will fix it im quite sure. No need to send it off or back or return it or what have you. I just dont want to see 100 people brick their perfectly good tablet because they didnt know any better and followed the advice of some fool throwing false advertisements on a forum that is supposed to help people find answers to problems.

 

[Giterdone]

When I first got my Supernova I was having problems with WiFi cutting out for no reason and finally it just wouldn't come back on at all.
I'm not sure if this is what fixed it but WiFi has not been an issue for about two weeks of constant use. I just made sure regulatory domain was set at 14 channels and WiFi sleep policy was set to When Screen Turn Off. Then I went into my router settings and released and renewed DHCP, changed both 2.4 and 5Ghz channels. Rebooted booth and bingo wireless was back and still working great. Might be just a coincidence but something I did worked.

 

[onykage]

Robang13: Picking a fight was not my first order of business. I will admit I am short with people who pass along bad information with apparent gained intent. You stated that you sent your pad back, then further discuss the issue with other members then go on to state that you tried what I suggested and it didnt work after 2 hours with 100 minutes between timestamps. So I will just leave it at that.

Now im not going to restate my entire post and expaination. I never stated there was a 'fix' for this. Just a workaround which I also mentioned directly after the workaround that if it continued to default the device.

So if I hurt your feelings, my bad. I will usually come out and tell someone what others with my background are just thinking or yelling at the monitor. Packing other peoples feeling around on my shoulders is not my forte. Speaking my mind is. In lamin's terms, I appologise.

Now, even tho my pad works without a hitch currently, im going to decompile the init.rc and see if I can figure out the specifics and what is causing the device crash on startup.

In the mean time the only working advice I have is mostly what I already stated. Shutdown the pad, remove the sd card and boot the pad back up. Do not put the sd card back in the pad if the wifi drops after this has started.

If your reading this forum right now and you have this pad (Pandigital supernova DLX) then you probably purchased the pad off of the same telethon aired on QVC the night of Dec 18. Hense. These are pretty much exclusive to QVC right now and there for we all have the same warranty which hasnt expired yet.

I will do some serious digging into the cause of this issue and.post my results here.

In the meantime, check out my blog onykage dot com. Default your pad and follow the market directions ive listed. I have no idea whats different and or similar with all of our pads. I do know that we all have identical hardware and firmare on a pad that was released for sale in the us literally 30 days ago, and I have had far less trouble then most people experiencing issues. The only difference is what i did to mine to unlock it, and the files I have posted are the exact files that are running on my pad right now.


Sent from my PD_Supernova using Android Tablet Forum App

 

[onykage]

Hold onto your pants folks, i think i found both the cause and the solution to this problem. I want to further test out my findings and narrow down the exact cause before i post a viable solution. I am out of time tonight, 5am comes early, so I will exstensively test my findings and post up the results tomorrow evening.

I can tell you that i did not find the answer in the init.rc but actually the solution. I found the cause in the logs. Makes perfect sense to be honest. Like i said, let me trigger the problem tomorrow evening, and see how many ways i can exploit the issue, and then test the solution.

Ps.. no factory default will be requred for this solution and i will notify QVC of the workaround as well as pandigitals dev team.

Cheers and good night

 

[robang13]

I HAD done what you suggested BEFORE I sent mine back and I am getting another one because I was told the new batch might not have the same issue. I in fact received a call from Pandigital a few minutes ago with the actual fix. I would not have posted the original post if I had not thought it would work and had worked for others. I try not to pass on bad info. I'm not a kid and have a pretty good knowledge of computers. Here is their answer:

Thank you for contacting Pandigital Customer Support regarding an issue connecting to your wireless network. To correct this issue we recommend re-installing the firmware for your SuperNova Deluxe from the micro SD card. Please follow the steps below to download the firmware file and re-install it to the device:


1. Downloading FW from Pandigital&#8217;s hosted Internet server
User can download FW file using the link:
http://data1.pandigital.net:8080/Support/FW/Tablets/R80B455/IR80_S_AZ_W_A_A_01022012.zip

2. Copy the FW update file onto a microSD card

3. After the file has completely downloaded, remove the memory card from the card reader

4. Turn your Pandigital device off

5. Charge your eReader to 100% or FW update will not be successful

6. Insert the memory card into your Pandigital device

7. Press and hold the power button and the volume up key at the same time

8. Once the Pandigial logo appears and the home now button lights up blue, then release only the POWER Button while still continuing to hold the volume up button

9. Once the FW automation progression status bar appears, release the Volume up button

10. The FW update is performed and the device restarts automatically


During the update process, you should see the Android robot and update performance status on the screen. If the device started without displaying these turn the device off and repeat step 4 again.

If you still cannot connect to Wi-Fi after the firmware update is complete, perform a factory reset through Settings>Privacy>Factory data reset, NOTE; After a factory reset you will need to re-set up your personalized data, account login information, and re-download media files.

My question to you which may sound stupid, I am supposed to open the zip right? then just transfer the whole folder onto the sd card? Oh and I actually bought mine before the tv broadcast. Almost wish I never did!! I am waiting for my new one to come, so If you do this can you let me know if it actually works? Thanks!

 

[JamesDroid]

yes, make sure the R80B4...........................ZIP file is on the root of the sd card and still in .zip form and the update process should go without a hitch. It will take a few minutes so be patient and don't interrupt it.


Getting back to the wifi problem, i discovered if i keep the internal root area set on r/o (read only using Root Explorer), it doesnt shrink in size and as long as i dont allow it to fill it up, my wifi seems to keep working after reboots and i can still install aps and move installed aps to sd/back to device with no faults.

This is not a solution to the problem, I have just found a way to control it.

 

[onykage]

Ok

I have not found the exact cause of the issue as of yet, but i found the direct cause. The cause of this issue is the pole info is stored in the system cache. To decrease boot time the cache is used to boot the system in conjunction with init scripts. At some point the cache is overwritten or partially deleted and for some strange reason the sd slot address is used in place of the internal wifi address. Thus when the device boots and the sd card is inserted, the address of the sd card is sent to the wifi controler script. But the sd card also has the same address so because the sd card is initialized after the wlan, the address is removed by the system because of the dupe. Which causes the issue of not having a mac address.

SOLUTION

If you have already rooted your tablet then open the market and install 'system tuner'. Once installed, run it, goto settings, active tweaks, and enable 'clear cache' at boot. Power cycle the device and viola. You can go back once rebooted and disable the tweak or just leave it active. Cant see how it would hurt either way.

If you have not rooted the device, please goto http://www.onykage.com/?p=245 and follow the directions on how to root and install the android market.

Once installed go back to installing system tuner and viola. Problem solved without a factory reset or data lose.

As far as the firmware goes, i will wait for the official release of the firmware thx.

Thanks to the guys over at xdadev forums for the apps needed to root the pad with android market.

If anyone has further issues after using this fix, please post your findings here. I will keep a close eye on this thread over the next few weeks and help were i can.

 

[robang13]

Ok

I have not found the exact cause of the issue as of yet, but i found the direct cause. The cause of this issue is the pole info is stored in the system cache. To decrease boot time the cache is used to boot the system in conjunction with init scripts. At some point the cache is overwritten or partially deleted and for some strange reason the sd slot address is used in place of the internal wifi address. Thus when the device boots and the sd card is inserted, the address of the sd card is sent to the wifi controler script. But the sd card also has the same address so because the sd card is initialized after the wlan, the address is removed by the system because of the dupe. Which causes the issue of not having a mac address.

SOLUTION

If you have already rooted your tablet then open the market and install 'system tuner'. Once installed, run it, goto settings, active tweaks, and enable 'clear cache' at boot. Power cycle the device and viola. You can go back once rebooted and disable the tweak or just leave it active. Cant see how it would hurt either way.

If you have not rooted the device, please goto Onykage's Personal Sandbox and follow the directions on how to root and install the android market.

Once installed go back to installing system tuner and viola. Problem solved without a factory reset or data lose.

As far as the firmware goes, i will wait for the official release of the firmware thx.

Thanks to the guys over at xdadev forums for the apps needed to root the pad with android market.

If anyone has further issues after using this fix, please post your findings here. I will keep a close eye on this thread over the next few weeks and help were i can.

So, seriously, I should ignore what they emailed me and wait till they put it on their website? I'm not being nasty, I'm seriously asking.

 

[onykage]

The email is fine, and flashing the rom on your device is completely at your discression. That firmware you posted has the exact release number the firmware on this PD SuperNova has. They dont list a change log. And me personally, i fixed the issue with the wifi mac address. I would.just rather wait and let the fw update app do its job. And if bugs like this wifi thing are going to happen here and there, then i would never update the firmware. It works fine now, and i really dont want to be searching for anymore gremlins.

Besides I currently have,

Netflix,
Google docs,
Pandora,
Facebook (the app not the dinky url link that comes with it),
Im+,
Gmail,
Google Calander,
Android Market,
Several popular games like cut the rope and a-birds,
Several emulators,
Dolphin 3d and opera mobile,
And the e-reader apps that came on it.

What more could i want outside of full honeycomb integration? And I already know that part will never happen on this PD pad. Possibly their next model, but i don't foresee this model ever getting it. And im perfectly fine with that.

 

[oldgarn]

I have had the same problem off and on with my Supernova. I have watched how I shut it off. If it is unlocked when I shut down
it seems to be okay. If it is locked the wifi doesn't activate. Just tried it again and it worked. I do like this little tablet, for the price it works really
good and it didn't cost $500.00

 

[kentsylv]

Pandigital gave me a link to an update which I download to the minisd and installed and and it worked until I added music and pics to the minisd then the MAC address is lost again. Seems when ever I put pics or music on it loses the wi-fi. Spoke to a rep on Friday 01/13 and he is having it escalated so we will see what happens. Otherwise if I dont have an answer next week it will be returned. FYI I have the Supernova from QVC R80B400 with Barnes Noble NOT the dlx version.