Upgrade tablets Herotab C8 and Novo 7 Advanced to Android 4.0.3

Please make sure back up your data because it will wipe out your data. You can use back up or restore or external tools: I am using Titanium. After finished upgrade just need to restore, it will save a lot of time instead of trying to remember which apps to install again. It is your own risk to do the upgrade, I have no responsible whatsoever regarding this upgrade.

Herotab C8: 

ROM F/W http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/37733-rom-updated-0809-ice-fusion-v02/ Instruction: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/38255-rom-updated-0809-jol-cm10-alpha2/
1. Extract the zip file to the external SD, or copying files, root.tgz, zImage, recovery, utscript ...... to external SD.
2. Press power + menu to boot midRecovery. JellyBean need a larger system partition, if you are upgrading from another Rom necessary. repartition the internal SD, for this go to step
3, if you already have the correct partitions at step 4. 3. Go to Advanced, "Partition SD card", size of cache 256, size of data 1024, size of system 512. When partitioning the SD erase all data and cache, no need to step
4. go to step 5. 4. For maximum compatibility and that installation is clean with no trace of other Rom, is necessary, "Wipe data \ factory reset" and "wipe cache".
5. Now it's time to install the Rom, go to "Flash ROM", select "(Select this directory)".
6. If the ROM does not include Google applications, you need your installation. Go to "Apply patch \ update" and select the zip file. This step also applies to patch, just zip files, provided for our tablet.
7. If a new kernel can update it. Go to "Partitions and Storage" and "kernel update", select the file zImage.
8. Optionally you can flash the boot logo, Go to "Partitions and Storage" and "Update Logo", select the file logo.bmp.

Ainol Novo 7 Advanced

ROM F/W: http://www.flashmyandroid.com/forum/showthread.php?379-ROM-Ainol-Novo-7-Advanced-Official-ICS-Firmware-v4-0-3v1-0
or http://www.bergfiles.com/i/bf535ed4e1h32i0
Please note this ROM is from manufacture, it is rooted(good thing) and its default language is Chinese after finished upgraded you need to change the languages & input to your language i.e. for my case I change to English but you can guess where is language & input menu from the above picture. It is number 6th from the bottom up.
09/17/2012  07:15 PM    <DIR>          ..
03/08/2012  04:11 PM       331,604,992 Novo7Advanced_0308.img
Imstruction: http://gadgetfreakz.co.uk/downloads/gfz-novo7/Ainol_Novo_7_Firmware_Update_Guide.pdf

You need LiveSuit to connect device to PC to upgrade. Details as follows:

Ainol Novo 7 Advanced Official ICS Firmware v4.0.3v1.0
Download Link: will update soon
Original download: http://115.com/file/bedviw81
Original post: http://bbs.imp3.net/thread-10621519-1-1.html

Installation:
LiveSuit V1.07 http://www.mediafire.com/?idmeiyvr8xbt6rd
Ainol_usb_driver http://www.mediafire.com/?oo4fo44mbkpbz4i
Open LiveSuit then follow instructions.

- After upgraded you may experience with wifi problem, you may see
Under WIFI it says " obtaining IP address from WIFI NAME" then "scanning" then "connecting" then "disconnected." this cycles over and over.
http://androidforums.com/le-pan-tc-970/469573-obtaining-ip-address.html
It is easy to fix there is no thing wrong with the upgrade for some reasons it does not work with WEP security mode in 4.0.3 it prefers WPA or WPA2 Personal. Probably WEP is the least secure enscript.
In my case I just need to login into my router and change from WEP to WPA2, WPA Algorithm to TKIP, WPA Shared Key and pick up a password. For all the wifi devices need to disconnect and connect again for them to work with the new setup if you keep the same password then all you have to do is disconnected/connected. That's all.

- After upgraded if you experience some strange problems like the tablet is reset itself, please go to setting and do Factory/data reset it will stable again need to back up your data first. I was so disappointed after the upgrade and it kept reset itself, to wipe out erase all the data of the tablet and it did the treat.

- If you run into the problem with linux you need to remove network-manager and install wicd, it works for your linux wifi. See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1560502

Re: Wicd + WPA = Connection Failed, Bad Password?

---

That fix didn't work for me.

What worked for me was uninstalling network-manager and network-manager-gnome and then rebooting.

I have all above problems. I posted here to share it may save you a lot of time. Sometimes we forget how to upgrade if it was done last year so this post will help for anyone owns a tablet Herotab C8 or Novo 7 Advanced, both of them are ok to use. Herotab C8 has problem with wifi I basically sit in the same room for it to work but it has its own reset button make the upgrade easy but it only has one camera at the front but it is heavy but a solid tablet. Novo7 has both front and back camera but it is not solid as Herotab. Both of tablets have a problem with the battery, they won't last long. They are good for experience since they are so cheap and Android, I am using them to lean and develop Android it is the same that we learn Linux before.

There is no much different from 2.3 to 4.0.3 basically the same except the layout and more stable just a bit/less CPU resource just a bit. I am disappointed on Google for this ICS 4.0.3  release. They should implement something brand new like peek/hub/flow concept of Blackberry 10. I have my phone 2.3 and will keep as it is. Most people thinks that Android is always having the problem because the apps are running Java. I agree Java is slow because it is interpret languages through JVM....so maybe no need to upgrade I see no different from ver. 2.3 to 4.0.3 except some cool layouts. 

 

Document with Scribd is better Google docs

If you are the user want to read a document from this blog and if it is stored in google docs you can link with the document but the user needs to login to read the document. With Scribd you don't need it displays as it is. For example my test code doc. Just need go to HTML instead of compose and paste the Embed code into the blog like add youtube video. At Scribd select HTML for embed. To display tablet or Smartphone needs flash and it comes on the old version of Dolphin < 8.5, the new version will no longer support flash.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1787595
Test Code Result

My New System

I can do more things and faster with my new system it is i7
Acer Aspire Desktop Computer featuring Intel Core i7-2600 Processor (AM3970-EB12P)
I know ACER is not that good but it is on sale for $649.00. At work I am using the same system i7 with 32 GB of RAM and I fall in love with the machine this is the reason I bought this machine. At work the linux kernel compile time for the target is reducing from 2 hours to 30 minutes. This system is only 8 GB of RAM can be upgraded to 16 GB. I will even do it later ideally 16 GB is the best but wait to make some money first. I can run 2 VMware and VirtualBox and Photoshop...it is great machine except it is ACER hope that it will last for 2 years, my last ACER monitor was only last for 2 years and died.

  

It came with 1.5 T so I am using 600 for C drive using win 7 with VMware. I was using VirtualBox and start using VMware for the new project which I find VMware is better performance than Virtualbox but Virtualbox offers many tools to convert or clone hard drive. The new system I am using VMware and my old system is using Virtualbox. No need for dualboot machine everything runs from Win 7 as Host since win 7 is much stable now. All linux systems run as Guest. It makes like more easy now with the fast system I just bought. For some reasons I have a Quad AMD 2.4 GHz it runs slow like hell compare to this system i7 this is other reason I bought this system. I built my old system last year for about $350, it is no good to build it is much better to buy the system when it is on sale. To build the system sometimes end up costs more than buy the system when it is on sale.

The new system goes well with 24" inches SamSung S24B350H Monitor for $199, 1/2 of the screen is using for windows and 1/2 of screen is using for linux. With the set of wireless keyboard and mouse from Logitech I am using EX100 wireless keyboard + mouse.  The ACER's keyboard comes with the system is sucked it is small like laptop keyboard, cannot use for the real work. From the net people tells the same thing. This machine also has a lot of USB ports from and back and Multi-in-1 Card Reader which makes so easy to take pictures and upload into the blog.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-desktop-computer-featuring-intel-core-i7-2600-processor-am3970-eb12p-am3970-eb12p/10190543.aspx?path=153d5544e3b964502ef2ad79b07960dden02

http://www.samsung.com/sg/consumer/pc-peripherals-printer/monitor/led-monitor/LS24B350HS/XS

http://flexequinox.blogspot.ca/2012/09/how-to-bridge-networking-in-vmware.html

http://flexequinox.blogspot.ca/2012/09/how-to-bridge-networking-in-vmware.html

GParted to resize your existing hard drive

I am using VMware as my Virtual Disk but it is the same as standalone or dualboot machines.
First you need to ISO image I am using linuxmint-13-cinnamon-dvd-64bit.iso which can be downloaded from Linux Mint. You cannot resize the hard driver unless you load from LiveCD or ISO image. i.e.
kubuntu-14.04-desktop-amd64.iso. VMware setting and expand the hard drive you want it.

You need to hit F2 to go to BIOS setup and setup CD as 1st boot. In VMware there are 2 variables on VMX file locates in your Virtual Machines -> Name of  your Virtual Machine.VMX.
If these variables are exist you can add as follow to let VMware knows. The string name are exactly as you see.
bios.bootDelay = "5000"
bios.forceSetupOnce = "TRUE"
The 1st option delay boot time so you have enough time to hit F2 and 2nd option it boots into BIOS or ESC to choose the device to boot up. This is one time boot selection.

This is BIOS of VMware and not BIOS of the system. VMware creates a BIOS similar to BIOS system to handle Boot and other things. VMware using PhoenixBIOS. My system BIOS is ACER.
To distinguish between 2 BIOS. I call system BIOS and VMware BIOS.
When load into this VMware BIOS you need to change CD/DVD file points to ISO that you want to run.
With the virtual machine powered off, open the Configuration Editor (choose Settings then Configuration Editor), and select the DVD/CD-ROM. If not, it won't boot from this iso even you hit ESC to choose CD/DVD boot. This is a virtual CD/DVD drive not physical CD drive !!!. no need to put CD in the physical drive if choose ISO option instead of physical drive. The default of ISO image is pointing to C:/Program Files(X86)/VMware Player/linux.iso all you need to point this to right ISO.
Using edit VMware Hardware then Click on ISO image instead of physical CD/DVD. My case is  linuxmint-13-cinnamon-dvd-64bit.iso the iso just downloaded into Downloads directory.
In this CD/DVD setup choose use ISO to boot and device status select connect at power on so it can boot.
 Remember the new size is only good to VMware but Linux-Mint won't know until you change the size using GParted. YOU CANNOT RESIZE IF IT BOOTS FROM THE SAME HARD DRIVE for example /dev/sda1 if you drive to resize it will prompt that device is busy it needs to umount first and this is the reason we boot from LiveCS ISO image. After it boots we can go change the hard drive of /dev/sda1 because it is umounted.
When ISO boot up choose demo and run from there. Do not select installation all we want is to use Gparted.
If GParted in not installed in this live CD need to install: sudo apt-get install gparted. The ISO is stored from disk or USB, the demo runs from RAM so gparted in run from RAM when it is shut down gparted is gone and it does not write into ISO file. Since the disk expand is rarely using so to issue the command sudo apt-get install gparted is a small thing.

Ref.
http://communities.vmware.com/message/1061677 
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=102

This is system BIOS. It is different with VMware BIOS above.
If you have a problem to install Win 7 with RAID then Disable RAID in BIOS and enabled native IDE.
RAID (redundant array of independent disks)

Clone VDI or Convert VDI (Virtualbox) to VMDK (VMware)

CLONE VDI
This is the case you want to move VDI to the other machine, Create VM and using existing VDI
C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage.exe clonevdi "C:\Users\HP\VirtualB
ox VMs\ubuntu1\ubuntu1.vdi" D:\ubuntu1_test.vdi
0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Clone hard disk created in format 'VDI'. UUID: 9199a774-2d26-4a60-b186-63eb2d212
831
CONVERT VDI ->VMDSK
This is when you want to move from Virtual disk from VirtualBox to VMware because the new UUID in the VMware setup create the VMware and choose later option. Then delete the Hard drive and create a new Hard driver with the existing VMDK just converted and select option keep existing format. This way the new UUID of VMDK is created in VMX file. See Ref. 3

1. http://www.leonardoborda.com/blog/easily-convert-vdi-to-vmdk-images/
2. http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=videos/vmwareplayerlivecd
3. http://www.aztcs.org/meeting_notes/winhardsig/virtualmachines/vmware/Using_VMDK_File_to_Create_a_VM_in_VMwarePlayer--Windows.pdf

c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage.exe clonehd J:\ubuntu1_test.vdi J:
\ubuntu1_test.vmdk --format vmdk
0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100%
Clone hard disk created in format 'vmdk'. UUID: fd4474c9-199f-4a9e-880a-b312ff175e35

c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage.exe showhdinfo "j:\ubuntu1_test.vdi"
UUID:                 9199a774-2d26-4a60-b186-63eb2d212831
Accessible:           yes
Logical size:         42756 MBytes
Current size on disk: 34306 MBytes
Type:                 normal (base)
Storage format:       VDI
Format variant:       dynamic default
Location:             j:\ubuntu1_test.vdi

c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage.exe showhdinfo "j:\ubuntu1_test.vmdk"
UUID:                 fd4474c9-199f-4a9e-880a-b312ff175e35
Accessible:           yes
Logical size:         42756 MBytes
Current size on disk: 32899 MBytes
Type:                 normal (base)
Storage format:       vmdk
Format variant:       dynamic default
Location:             J:\ubuntu1_test.vmdk

Problem: If you are running into GRUB rescue> 
Then either the VMDK just converted is corrupted or UUID does not match with the new VMDK created.
If there is an error Syntax error line 1 of VMDK probably something to do with the setup as well.
In the VMX there are 
ide1:0.fileName = "\ubuntu1_test.vmdk"
uuid.location = " make sure it matches with uuid of ubuntu1_test.vmdk"
uuid.bios = " make sure it matches with uuid of ubuntu1_test.vmdk"
make sure they are matching you can use VBoxManage.exe showhdinfo to get UUID.

VirtualBox vs. VMware
VMware performs better Virtualbox. VMware takes less CPU resources than VirtualBox however, for tools as mentioned above, VirtualBox offers more flexible than VMware. I am currently using both VirtualBox and VMware and because it is faster I feel comfortable to use VMware for my future development my trend toward VMware. I have been using VirtualBox everyday for the past 3 years when switch to VMware you definitely see the difference in the performance right away. It is very easy to setup: I have 2 identical virtual disks kubuntu_64.vdi and kubuntu_64.vmdk (using VBoxManage.exe to clonehd) with VirtualBox is running the CPU usage is 50% and with VMware is running the CPU usage is currently 20%. Same hardware and same win 7 is the host. This is how I test. I don't know but this is what I see on my 2 systems: I7@3.4 GHz with 8 GB of RAM and AMD Quad@2.4 GHz with 6 GB of RAM. When it takes less CPU resources you can do more work because you don't have to wait. In order to run VM CPU needs to have VT supported at least Dual Core. 
Even the size of Virtual disk, VMware takes less space for the same image, the difference is 2 GB.
Below is some vdi have been converted to vmdk
09/28/2012  09:59 PM    36,121,522,176 ubuntu1_test.vdi (VirtualBox)
09/28/2012  09:54 PM    34,666,905,600 ubuntu1_test.vmdk (VMware) 

09/27/2012  08:48 PM    30,775,869,952 Kubuntu-64bit.vdi (VirtualBox)
09/27/2012  10:31 PM    28,886,237,184 Kubuntu-64-bit.vmdk (VMware)
continue 

 

Kernel