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March 18, 2012 By: Ian Stacy
A common method for delivering mods from devs to users the use of scripts, which are a set of instructions for an OS to run. Writing a script for Windows or Linux can simplify the root procedure for a device, quickly apply patches and modifications, and in general, make life easier for the end user. Often packaged as ‘one-click’ solutions, a well developed script can make even the most difficult operations manageable.
XDA Forum Member epic118 has created a program that allows the use of these one-click modifications to any device. This is accomplished through ‘toolkits’ that power users and developers alike can create and use. The toolkits currently available include the Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830, Motorola Xoom, and a universal toolkit with proprietary functions for all devices.
The number of modifications and tweaks available in these initial toolkits is impressive. Some of the features already available include enabling root access and bootloader lock and unlock for the Motorola Xoom, flashing ClockworkMod Recovery for the Samsung Galaxy Ace, and standard ADB functions like pushing/pulling of files, remounting the file system as r/w, and rebooting into fastboot or recovery for all devices.
If you’d like to have a look at this new and unique tool or take a swing at developing your own toolkit, check out the original thread, and be sure to thank epic118 for his hard work!
February 15, 2012 By: PoorCollegeGuy
Tools are useful, that is why we have them. It is in the nature of humanity that our tools evolve with our needs for them, and while some tools deliver everything we want and more, some tools bring features to the table that are just plain cool.
Such is the case with an AIO (All-In-One) tool that users of the Motorola Xoom can now use called Lord AIO Tool. XDA Senior Member XxLordxX has devised a script that offers a plethora of features for Xoom owners, including:
1.Complete Backup Tool
2.Bootloader Unlocker Tool
3.Bootloader Locker Tool
4.Install CWM
5.Restore Tool
6.Root Tool
7.Unroot Tool
8.App Install
9.Unbrick Xoom Tool
10.Dual Recovery Tool (Testing stage now!)
The newest feature, the Dual Recovery, as you can see is still in beta testing at this time, but promises to be among the cooler features of Motorola Xoom tools. The process for using the tool is pretty easy, but they are .bat files so unless you know how to convert them to .sh files, the only OS this is compatible with right now is Windows. Otherwise, just grab the file, place it in the proper directory and run the .bat file to start using. Of course, it is recommended that everyone make a backup before attempting anything, just in case something goes wrong.
For more information, download links, change logs, shout outs and features, you can find everything you need in the original thread.
February 9, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
About a month ago, we wrote about Team EOS, and the impressive work they have done for the previously neglected Motorola Xoom tablet. Despite already having many “firsts” under their collective belts thanks to their previous releases, their newest offering brings a couple of new highlights not yet seen in the Xoom Development Community.
Thanks to the laborious efforts of XDA forum members Solarnz, Nusince, Bigrushdog, GPstar, kcrudup, and phokus; the fully open source, AOSP-built, and heavily-modified EOS Ice Cream Sandwich releases have finally shed their nightly tag. Growing up to full release status, this ROM has a few more “firsts” of its own. In addition to offering a nearly fully customizable UI and their usual performance enhancements, they have included user-friendly overclocking support that automatically disables itself in the event that you were a tad over-zealous in your clock speed ambitions. Furthermore, this is the first custom ROM on the platform to support all four variants of the device—no matter if it’s a WiFi-only, 3G GSM, 3G CDMA, or 4G LTE device.
The feature highlights, according to the developers, are as follows:
Xoom owners of all flavors can get their fill by visiting the ROM thread.
January 21, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
Wireless network connectivity is a wonderful thing. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had to connect our mobile devices via Ethernet every time we wanted to send an email, check a stock quote, or even browse our lovely forums? Calling that inconvenient would be a gross understatement. That said, there are still situations in which in which we must rely on wired connections in order to get online.
To get connected without a WiFi hotspot, XDA Forum Member clotai has written drivers for the Motorola Xoom that allow the use of any USB Ethernet adapter based on the popular DM9601 chipset.
The driver was originally intended for the previously covered Team EOS Ice Cream Sandwich ROM, but clotai has also compiled a version for the Rogue kernel. To get started, proceed to the kernel module thread.
January 18, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
Just a few days ago, we wrote about how the IML77 update was already rolling out to select Motorola Xoom users who had opted in to the Motorola Feedback Network. After a week’s worth of observation, the update has now been cleared for public consumption!
If you’re a rooted user who would prefer a pre-rooted stock build, XDA has you covered. Alternatively, if you’re looking for one of the two most prolific custom ROMs currently available, that’s a possibility as well. Now, however, users who haven’t yet rooted their devices can join in on the Ice Cream Sandwich party.
Unfortunately, this OTA is still nine days after Ice Cream Sandwich was rolled out to the Asus Transformer Prime—a device that is neither a Google Experience Device nor the Honeycomb reference tablet. While this may be a little discouranging for Motorola-wielding forum members, the update’s arrival is still a more than welcome addition to the tablet’s arsenal.
Looking to get in on the discussion? Continue on to the original thread.
[Thanks to F14Scott for sharing.]
January 14, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
Just a couple of days ago, we wrote about how CyanogenMod 9 had triumphantly been kanged for the Motorola Xoom tablet. However in writing this, we largely (and unintentionally) ignored some of the most important developers and releases for Google’s reference tablet.
Anyone following the Xoom development timeline has surely noticed that the Team EOS, the evolution of TiamatXOOM, has racked up more than a few “firsts.” From the first true custom ROM to the first the first 4G-enabled release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, EOS is a staple of the Xoom development community. In fact, although the Ice Cream Sandwich update for the WiFi-only Wingray has already started making its way to select WiFi-only devices, the 4G-enabled Stingray’s update release schedule is still unclear.
So who are they, and why do they do what they do? Simple. The EOS team—comprised of XDA forum members Solarnz, Nusince, Bigrushdog, GPstar, kcrudup, phokus, and MADIndustries—feels that although the Xoom is a “very capable hardware platform,” Motorola’s tablet “has been plagued from day one by short sighted decisions made in an attempt to rush to market a much needed answer to a competitors growing titan.” The result? The Xoom has become the “red-headed stepchild of the Android development community.” Naturally, it has been the goal of EOS to help alleviate this—and this, they have achieved.
Through laborious efforts centered around AOSP-based builds of Ice Cream Sandwich, their offerings have “received a number of enhancements and modifications, based primarily around usability and function. It is also the only ICS build currently available that fully supports LTE data services thanks in no small part to the efforts of Bigrushdog. Features are being added every day as we push ahead towards a release candidate and our first official EOS release.”
Those looking to sample some of the most recent EOS offerings should continue on to the Wingray and Stingray ICS nightly threads.
[Thanks to Solarnz and Nusince for all of their help in putting this together!]
January 13, 2012 By: liwen
Motorola has begun rolling out a supposedly secret update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the XOOM tablet. It will go out only to those who signed up to participate in the “Motorola Feedback Network” program, and will presumably become available for mass consumption shortly after those testers approve of the update.
But of course, you don’t have to wait if you don’t want to, thanks to solarnz who has posted a link to the update package. Since it’s a regular update.zip, you can simply follow this guide to flash it – just keep in mind that you’ll lose root access. Otherwise, people are reporting that it behaves just like any other OTA update, so it’ll leave your data intact.
However, before you get too excited over the prospect of running some official Ice Cream Sandwich on your XOOM, don’t take our words for granted. Instead, read up in the forum thread to see what other people have reported with this update.
Image credit: AndroidCentral
January 10, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
To my fellow Motorola Xoom owners out there, you can breathe a sigh of relief—we now have a taste of what we’ve been waiting for. Thanks to the hard work by the Rogue developer team, an incredibly highly functioning port of Cyanogen-infused Ice Cream Sandwich is now available for public consumption.
According to XDA forum member Steady Hawkin, the ROM is nearly fully featured. And aside from face unlock, everything seems to work perfectly. This even includes full Camera, HDMI, and video acceleration support—all of which were snagged from the leaked 4.0.3 update. Bundled with the kang is the Rogue XM kernel, which features an overclocked CPU and GPU.
Reception to the release is similarly stellar, with users commending the ROM’s speed and stability. I’ve been running the release myself for the past 7 hours, and have found it to be nothing other than an absolute dream. The release is technically intended for the WiFi-only Wingray Xoom. That said, the ROM works on the mobile data-enabled Stingray models as well—just without mobile data support.
Includes:
+Source from CyanogenMod 9 (1/9/11)
+Full support for Camera, HDMI and Video acceleration (from the leaked 4.0.3 ROM)
+Rogue XM Kernel 2.0.1
+Disabled lockscreen rotation
+Allow apps to write to SD card (thanks kcrudup)
+Tweaked ICS boot animation (thanks Sardo Numspa)Known issues:
-Face unlock does not work
If this isn’t enough to take your mind off of the Transformer Prime, the Prime’s official ICS OTA update, and the recently announced 1080p variant, I don’t know what is. Head over to the usual place to get the goods. You know you want to. While you’re there, be sure to click the thanks button a few hundred times.
December 28, 2011 By: PoorCollegeGuy
XDA Member epic118 has just released Xoot for the Xoom. Not only is it fun to say, but it’s actually a pretty useful little tool for Xoom owners. He doesn’t mention OS compatibility, but the .rar file contains .dll, .bat and .exe files so it’s safe to assume this will work on at least Windows.
The functionality of it is quite nice and includes the following:
Bootloader lock/unlock
Root your XOOM (thanks solarnz)
Convert from a region XOOM to a GED XOOM
Flash non-flashable boot animations
Includes ADB and FASTBOOT for all your Android developing needs!
For those who don’t know the difference between the regional Xoom and the GED Xoom, epic118 offers an explanation:
A region XOOM is one that’s not in the US. It may have changes made by Motorola, and get updates slower. A GED XOOM is a XOOM that’s in the US. It’s known as a Google Experience Device, and cannot be modified my Motorola.
So if you have a Xoom and want to have some fun tinkering with it, you can read more details, get the download links and instructions from the original thread. Since root is involved along with some other heavy mods, remember that this can harm your Xoom if you’re not careful and no one is responsible for your device but you.
December 17, 2011 By: liwen
XDA member razorbladex401 has managed to get Android 4.0.3 working on the Motorola Xoom WiFi just a short time after Google made the new software available. The port lacks camera functionality, plus there are certain issues with green coloring on the screen at times. For download links and instructions, hit the discussion thread. Or, if you have the 3G/4G version of the Xoom and want to try 4.0.3, check out this ROM from xxspark89xx.
December 11, 2011 By: Will Verduzco
If you thought that simply because you weren’t buying a Verizon-bloated Galaxy Nexus that you would be privy to a true Google Experience, guess again! As first noted by XDA forum member Luxferro, who discovered that his GSM Samsung Galaxy Nexus‘s build.prop fingerprint didn’t quite match up to the expected, not every Galaxy Nexus is a Galaxy Nexus.
What is “Nexus?”
Let’s take a few steps back and figure out what’s going on. To do so, we must take a look at what a Nexus device is, and what the term has come to mean. According to Andy Rubin himself, a Nexus device is, “the pinnacle of what we can achieve when integrating Android onto a piece of hardware.” In other words, a Nexus device should represent Android done right, i.e. the absolute zenith of technology—in both software and hardware.
The mere existence of the Nexus program is a tacit admission by Google that although Android’s fundamental distribution model has lead to industry-leading platform adoption, carrier and OEM control is hardly ideal. Instead, Nexus gives Google a chance to “take back” their OS and show the world Android in its full glory.
Previous Nexus Devices
The Nexus line began with the HTC-built Nexus One, the phone which ushered in Android 2.1 Éclair. Barring a select few carrier-controlled versions, this device featured pure Google software in the majority of its configurations. The hardware was great, too—a Samsung-sourced AMOLED panel here, 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz Snapdragon SoC there. Just a few months later, Froyo came; and naturally, the Nexus One was the first phone to receive the JIT- and Flash-enabling goods.
Next up was the Samsung-built Nexus S, which brought the first taste of Android 2.3 Gingerbread to the masses 11 months and change after the arrival of the Nexus One. While not quite the latest in hardware—as the Samsung Hummingbird and Super-AMOLED panel had been seen in the Galaxy S roughly six months earlier—the software in the most markets was still controlled directly by Google. While not bearing the moniker “Nexus,” the Motorola XOOM, which delivered Android 3.0 Honeycomb for us on a Aluminum-backed platter, was also a Google-controlled device in its home turf.
Galaxy “Nexus”
When the Galaxy Nexus was officially unveiled on October 19th in Hong Kong, the hardware and software evoked a visceral lust many had not experienced before towards a phone. Packing a 720p Super-AMOLED HD display, a powerful dual-core OMAP4 SoC, a full GB of RAM, and—most importantly—Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich; the Galaxy Nexus was a show-stopper.
A Fly in the Ice Cream-Flavored Ointment
Unfortunately, not all is perfect in Android’s latest tasty treat. Reports quickly surfaced about how Verizon’s 4G LTE variant would feature both VZW branding and a short order of mild bloatware. Bloatware on a Nexus device? BLASPHEMY!
At least unlocked GSM owners were safe… Right? Wrong.
As quickly discovered by community members who failed to receive the 4.0.1 update, and subsequently weren’t able to perform a manually install, there are several software configurations of the GSM Galaxy Nexus. The true, Google-controlled version is yakju—the rest being Samsung-controlled variants, thereof. All carry the hardware code name maguro, so it is plausible that they can be flashed to yakju. However, according to Android software engineer Jean-Baptise Queru, it is unclear at this time whether this is actually possible.
yakjusc and yakjuxw are indeed the two Samsung-prepared builds I’m aware of at the moment, but I’m discovering them as they get released. I only have some visibility over the builds that are prepared by Google, i.e. yakju. Everything else comes from Samsung and I don’t know what their schedules and release plans are. I can’t guarantee that flashing the yakju files that I posted would work on a device that originally shipped with yakjuxw, as I don’t have access to such devices. The hardware is supposed to be close, but I don’t know for sure that it’s close enough. JBQ
Where Does This Leave Us?
All builds other than yakju are not controlled by Google themselves, leading to the very real possibilities of update delays and carrier- and/or OEM-installed bloatware. This doesn’t taste like “Nexus” anymore, does it? Since Nexus represents Google’s regain of platform control, anything other than unfettered Google is no longer Nexus.
To answer the question in the title, those lucky enough to own yakju devices can breathe a sigh of relief because they are able to enjoy a true, Google-controlled Galaxy Nexus. However, all other Galaxy Nexus owners better start getting familiar with fastboot and adb in order to get the unadulterated Android experience.
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below, or drop in to the discussion in the original thread.
Oh, and… SamSONg, I AM DISAPPOINT.
[Thanks to my fellow XDA Moderators xHausx and M_T_M for the tip!]
August 31, 2011 By: Will Verduzco
The development world never sleeps, at least not on XDA. Immediately after receiving the 3.2.2 OTA yesterday, XDA forum member AceXMachine promptly provided the stock images to fellow XDA forum member solarnz. Does that name sound familiar to you? It should. The Tiamat team member has plenty of ROM, kernel, and recovery work under his belt.
Now, the developer provides us with a pre-rooted version of the stock images that can be applied to any device regardless of model or country of origin. One caveat to keep in mind is that for devices that have not yet been upgraded to 4G hardware, only WiFi connectivity will be operational. In order to streamline the process for everyone, the installation procedure weighs in at just 5 simple steps.
Straight off the 4G Xoom devices this morning (Thanks to AceXMachine for grabbing the images for me), I present to you the 3.2.2 Stock + Rooted rom!!! I haven’t had a chance to figure out what is actually different yet with 3.2.2.
NOTE: This can be flashed on any device, however the 3g/4g network connectivity will ONLY work on the 4G xooms. Everyone else will be on wifi.
And yes, this comes pre-rooted.
Instructions:
- Download the rom
- Place it on the sdcard
- Reboot into recovery
- Perform a factory reset (wipe data+cache)
- Install the zip file.
For those looking to get some 4G action or just update to the latest rooted version of your favorite tablet OS, continue on to the development thread.
August 15, 2011 By: Will Verduzco
As part of our regular Q&A session here on the XDA-Developers Portal, I’ll be covering some questions and issues frequently seen here in the world of XDA. This week, we’ll concentrate on everyone’s favorite large-screened devices–Honeycomb-powered tablets!
Q: Is it possible to turn the a500 display off when connecting to a TV using HDMI out? If you try to lock the device (hit the power button), it halts the device completely. There is not brightness option for “completely off,” so that’s not an option. Ideally, I’d like to save battery if I’m watching a movie via HDMI. Does this require a 3rd party app, if so, do you know of any? [Question originally seen in the Acer Iconia A500 Q&A Section.]
A: “You could conceivably use Widgetsoid or something similar to reduce screen brightness to 0%.”
Q: Have a wi-fi only version i bought and it says no updates available but i dont have touchwiz…any ideas as to why i dont get the update or how i can get it? [Question originally seen in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Q&A Section.]
A: “In order to prevent network or server overload we are limiting the number of Tabs that can download the update. You can either keep trying, or wait for your Tab to receive a push update notification.”
Q: Need to run two reader apps (two parallel texts for reading the original literature) on one screen. Two copies of the same program like Moon+ would be even more nice.? [Question originally seen in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Q&A Section.]
A: This is not possible with the stock Honeycomb OS. However, custom UXes such as TouchWiz on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 allow for multiple applets to run simultaneously on the screen. Additionally, there are UIs in the works that rethink application management altogether.
Q: My bookmarks won’t sync from my PC to transformer. Is this a known problem if so is there a known fix/workaround ? [Question originally seen in the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Q&A Section.]
A: “I had the same problem on my Asus Transformer 3.2,but found the solution. From your home screen.go to settings/manage applications /all/browser then clear data.go back to the browser and it should automatically sign you back into your gmail account. Then go to your browser settings/ general / sync to chrome. In a few minutes they should be back. Also make sure your gmail account/browser are in autosync in settings/accounts and sync. This worked for me and if this helps you please let me know.”
Q: For the last few months I’ve been unable to update/install Facebook on a500. App does not show in marketplace app, does show on web android market but shows as not compatible with Acer. I’ve got factory install (of honeycomb) and received latest updates—though I had the problem prior to 3.1. Note I already have older version of Facebook when I was able to install (when I first got a500…just after release). I’m not interested in rooting if possible and believe issue must be related to configs on marketplace in my profile? [Question originally seen in the Acer Iconia A500 Q&A Section.]
A: For Facebook access, you should give the locally-developed Friend Me a shot. As for Netflix, once you load a certain patch that can be found right here on XDA, the side-loaded APK (also available in the aforementioned thread) will work just fine.
That wraps it up for this week’s session. Stay tuned for more news and Q&A sessions! As always, if you have any suggestions for stories or questions that we should cover, please feel free to send me (or any other News Writer) a private message.
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