Summary of the new HaiPad M701-R Firmware (1022)

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Matt262

Member
Nov 8, 2010
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This is to summarize my thoughts in my other thread into one post for ease of reading, the lesser need for searching for specifics, etc etc. I'm going to describe everything I've done to get each firmware workable (for my taste)


First, my issues with the old firmware (#131)

1. An obnoxious amount of temp files on the SD card
-Nothing to do except pull out the SD card unless I wanted to use it REALLY bad
2. Terrible battery life and a not very accurate indicator
-Was a fiend for keeping Airplane mode turned on unless I was using WiFi
3. Frequent launcher failures
-Rooted and installed Autokiller and set to Optimum and switched to Launcher Pro and used keep in memory feature (this didn't solve the issue, but it made it happen less often)
4. Intermittent lag
-Cache Cleaner (root required) from Market, Autokiller, religiously exiting apps, not just backing out
5. Angry Birds doesn't play right (nor do any 3D games...I've seen videos of this tablet playing
-Cry and play on my iPod touch


Thoughts on the new firmware in comparison to #131's issues I experienced

1. No more temp files on SD card
2. Battery life was already noticeably better, but to icing the cake I installed Clockwork Recovery, charged to 100% (difficult to truly tell, but I figure the light comes on while it's charging, and when it's off I assumed 100%), did adb reboot recovery from the SDK, wiped battery stats, unplugged and now my tablet is still on standby with WiFi on (WiFi on for about half the time) for just over 6 hours (and brightness set to 100% while using it)
*IF YOU USE THIS METHOD MAKE SURE YOU 100% COMPLETELY DRAIN THE BATTERY TO THE POINT IT KILLS ITSELF BEFORE TURNING IT OFF OR CHARGING IT, OTHERWISE THE CALIBRATION WAS POINTLESS*
3. I've had one launcher failure, not enough yet for me to justify going back to LP...I am using Autokiller set to Optimum still, and the one failure I did have was while mass downloading all my apps again, so who knows...
4. I haven't noticed any intermittent lag, if anything I noticed my tablet moves just a tad swifter than before
5. I still cry and use my iPod touch......:'(

Remember, this is MY account -- your results may vary...some devices, though the same build, etc, take to changes differently. Hope this gives some insight -- I didn't notice "JUST" smaller fonts as advertised.
 
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Nice! Thanks for your efforts, and for sharing them online with noob enthusiasts such as myself!

I'm going to look into the apps you mentioned, but I'm going to hold off on the firmware for now until I get to know the system/OS a little better.

I see you are looking to keep memory clear, but I've also read that leaving stuff running is what is supposed to happen with Android OS.
Is what you are doing specific to the M701-R, or is it a general philosophy about how you run Android devices?

I ask this in an attempt to know the OS and our killer little tablets a little better. :)
 
strider_mt2k said:
Nice! Thanks for your efforts, and for sharing them online with noob enthusiasts such as myself!

I'm going to look into the apps you mentioned, but I'm going to hold off on the firmware for now until I get to know the system/OS a little better.

I see you are looking to keep memory clear, but I've also read that leaving stuff running is what is supposed to happen with Android OS.
Is what you are doing specific to the M701-R, or is it a general philosophy about how you run Android devices?

I ask this in an attempt to know the OS and our killer little tablets a little better. :)
Click to expand...

In the Q&A section I posted a shallow description of how Android manages memory...it runs on the Linux kernel, and Linux manages memory more efficiently than Windows...generally, having stuff open in the background DOES make it open up faster, but part of how Android is structured (specifically for the Telechips *I have experience with them, not the others -- this may also apply to them*) with the memory killoff points, whenever the device starts running low on available RAM (you WILL notice lesser performance), it starts gracefully shutting down the least needed/used processes to get it back on it's feet. By using Autokiller and increasing those killoff points, you essentially tell Android to be more aggressive on how much memory it keeps on the backburner. More available RAM = better device performance.

My THEORY is that the stock points being so low is what results in the launcher restarting, to clear its cache and recycle itself. Also my THEORY that using Autokiller with higher settings will make this recycle less likely due to telling Android it needs to be more conservative with its memory usage.

The point about keeping things open in Android is valid, but that pertains to DON'T use task killers -- a task killer just kicks a process out without letting it do its proper shutdown procedure, which is what the killoff points do. If you increase the killoff points, you're keeping the Androidy goodness, just making it do its job a little better.

If there was more RAM in these devices this action wouldn't be necessary, but realistically if you multitask a lot, stuff is going to close off anyway, so you might as well make it a little more efficient IMO
 
[Official] Custom Clockwork recovery for Telechips-based android tablets.

That has everything you need...the batch file didn't work for me, so if you already have the Android SDK installed just put the recovery.img file into the tools directory (IE if on Windows, and the SDK is on the root of C, the path you want to put this in is C:\android-sdk-windows\tools), and run these commands from ADB (same ones the batch file runs -- make sure you're rooted, or it won't work):

adb push recovery.m701.img /nand/recovery.m701.img
adb shell sync
adb shell flash_image recovery /nand/recovery.m701.img
adb shell sync
adb shell reboot recovery

And you should now be in Clockwork Recovery where you can Nandroid (complete bit-for-bit backup), Restore, wipe and install custom ROM's, etc etc
 
Mine shipped with the #181 firmware on it, and while I had some of the problems others reported experiencing with this tablet, I seemed to be in better shape - but there's always room for improvement. Did the update to this new firmware today. The hardest part is pushing the buttons properly to get it into "Update Mode" but once I did I was able to flash it without issues. I did have to tell it to stop using the keyboard that has Chinese characters on it (not all of them, just some) even though the rest of it was in English. I haven't recalibrated my battery, but it does seem to last longer now. No endless temp files being written to my SD card. It now reports system specs correctly. My camera's picture was very, very dark (low contrast) and washed out. It is now a little better on both counts, possibly as good as a 1.3 MP camera can be without a flash, but still pretty crappy.

I'd recommend this update to anyone who has one of these tablets, it's definitely worth it considering we may be waiting a while for an official "Froyo" release.
 
I did have to tell it to stop using the keyboard that has Chinese characters on it (not all of them, just some) even though the rest of it was in English..
Click to expand...
Long press on TXT area and choose input metod, Android input (or similar) and no chinese character.
 
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I've installed Autokiller and set for optimum, and while mine isn't rooted (yet), I'm already seeing improvements in browsing and greatly reduced lag when typing.
 
Autokiller requires root in order to write the memory changes to the /system folder...not sure what else Autokiller could've done to speed it up but I think that's coincidence....or, you were already rooted and didn't know
 
You are so right. I wasn't aware until I started fiddling and saw the notice about having the device rooted.
I'm planning on trying this weekend, although all my PCs are running windows 7 right now.
I found some instructions.
 
Great! Hope your experience is as good as mine...let us know and spread the word!
 
Hi Matt,

Thanks so much for summarizing - it was really useful.

I am trying to see which firmware to upgrade to and really am lost - I want to play the 3d games and it doesnt work correctly (axis is inverted and tilted) - please could you provide your insights.

Thanks and regards,

Piyush
 
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