When I first received my new S3, the Google Gmail and Google Calendar did not work. In addition, the stock system recovery did not have all the functionality of CWM or TWRP custom roms. These were the things that I would like to improve.
I found out from my research on the internet that JiaYu has an apps on Google Play Store that would allow the system rom update and installation of custom roms. I first task was to download and install this apps - Jiayu.es (es stands for Spain and most of the apps support are in Spanish even though it is a Chinese phone manufactured in China - must have something to do with government regulation and their marketing strategy).
This apps has 3 sections: Downloads, Drivers-Tools and Tool ROMs. According to the apps description, it allows the user to do the followings:
"Formal implementation of Jiayu, with this application you can identify
your Jiayu and access all the available downloads for your phone within
www.jiayu.es, you have roms, tutorials, recoverys ...
With this application you will have to update your terminal Jiayu:
- Access to individual downloads for your device
- You can download and install roms from this application with just 3 clicks.
- You can install or change the recovery
- Install downloaded applications
- Backup and restore your IMEI
- Access to video tutorials youtube
- Get the support forum
- Access the web
- Get in touch with us "
After the successful installation of Jiayu apps, I then downloaded TWRP v2.8.4.0 custom recovery. I also downloaded ROM MANAGER from Googly Play Store to install TWRP. After the TWRP was installed, I then created a complete system backup of the phone onto the sd card before I attempted to make any further changes to the phone.
I then searched and downloaded the latest Google Apps (pa_gapps-modular-full-4.4.4-20150215-signed.zip) for my stock Android 4.4.4. After the installation of the Google Apps using TWRP, the Gmail is now working. However, the Google Calendar still doesn't work. I think I will fix this when I do the Android 5.0 update when JiaYu releases it.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
My First China Phone - JiaYu S3
A year has gone by since my last post. It's unbelievable fast!
This post is about the new phablet I bought to replace the Nexus 4 which I have used for 2 years. Although it has served me well over the years, I try to replace my cellphone every 2 years just to keep up with newer hardware and software. LG Optimus One was the first smartphone I bought in April of 2011 (see my older post) followed by LG Nexus 4 in 2013.
For details of this phone, follow the link below to manufacturer website:
JiaYu S3
First, here are some screen shots of my 5.5" phablet (volume down+power - an Android 4.4 feature):
This post is about the new phablet I bought to replace the Nexus 4 which I have used for 2 years. Although it has served me well over the years, I try to replace my cellphone every 2 years just to keep up with newer hardware and software. LG Optimus One was the first smartphone I bought in April of 2011 (see my older post) followed by LG Nexus 4 in 2013.
For details of this phone, follow the link below to manufacturer website:
JiaYu S3
First, here are some screen shots of my 5.5" phablet (volume down+power - an Android 4.4 feature):
I bought this phone pre-ordered for $177.93 USD from Aliexpress on January 10, 2015 and received it six weeks later in February 2015. I chose free shipping by Singapore Post and it did not cost me any duties or taxes. Together with the phone, I also bought a glass screen protector for $7.59 and a clear silicon soft back case for $4.99. So far, I am very satisfied!
From what I know, all Android phones purchased from China do not have any Goggle apps installed! Fortunately, the reseller I bought the phone from had pre-installed Google Play Store which made my subsequent works on the phone so much easier.
There are a few things I want to put on this phone, namely:
1. Gmail (the installed Gmail could not be started becasue of Google Services problems);
2. Custom recovery either TWRP or CWM (stock Android Recovery System is not good);
3. New Google Calendar (I do not like the installed older version Google calendar).
I will talk about these changes in my next post.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Upgrading harddrive to SSD drive under Windows 8 on Lenovo IdeaPad S210
Every time when I work with a new laptop, I always like to prepare an image of the system partition using a DOS-based Ghost program. The reason is simple: restore the system with a clean image in case of any problem. When I worked with a Lenovo Thinkpad E420 laptop last summer, I also had to prepare a set of recovery dvds as recommended by Lenono during the initial setup.
Last week, I had an opportunity to work with a Lenono IdeaPad S210. This new laptop did not come with any dvds or recovery program to prepare recovery dvds. Several phone calls to Lenovo could not get me any free recovery dvds; if you need a set, you have to pay $59 which I think is a rip-off!
My initial plan was to recover the Windows 8 product key on the laptop using a free product key finder - Belarc. I then used my own upgrade copy of Windows 8.1 to do a clean install. I did not know it was the beginning of several days of horrible nightmare until I eventually got it done.
My first obstacle was UEFI boot mode with secure boot enabled. After I swapped in a SSD drive, I tried to start the install with an external usb dvd drive containing Windows 8.1 install disc. It just could not boot up even I changed the Boot Mode from UEFI -> Legacy Support and Boot Priority from UEFI First -> Legacy First in the BIOS setup. After some research on the net, I then realized Boot Mode and Boot Priority were not the problem. The problem was the boot up device - dvd drive. I got messed up because I didn't understand the whole UEFI thing initially! As a matter of fact, that was the first time I heard about UEFI.
DVDs are formatted in NTFS which isn't compatible with UEFI for booting purposes (how strange). If you like to use UEFI secure boot, it requires the boot media to be formatted in FAT32 with all Windows 8 install files copied onto it - a usb thumb drive.
I then went into the BIOS setup and changed the Secured Boot from Enabled -> Disabled.
During booting up, I changed the boot-up order to USB thumb drive using Fn+F12. I then came to product key input. First I tried the OEM key; it didn't work. I then tried my upgrade copy product key which also didn't work. I then found out you had to create a file: ui.cfg and put it under the "Sources" folder. The ui.cfg should have the following lines:
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0
I wasn't sure if because of Retail under Channel section above, I had to use my upgrade copy product key instead of OEM key. By this time, I was so mentally exhausted just to get the installation done and couldn't be bother to try any further.
Windows 8 drivers had to be the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me after the installation was completed. It recognized all the drivers except one "unknown device" which turned out to be "Lenovo Power Management for Windows 8.1". For those who are curious, the boot-up time is now 7 seconds!
I might have missed some small steps here and there, but hopefully this covers the important steps that can help someone quickly do a clean install. I myself certainly learn a little more by going through all this and that's never a bad thing.
Last week, I had an opportunity to work with a Lenono IdeaPad S210. This new laptop did not come with any dvds or recovery program to prepare recovery dvds. Several phone calls to Lenovo could not get me any free recovery dvds; if you need a set, you have to pay $59 which I think is a rip-off!
My initial plan was to recover the Windows 8 product key on the laptop using a free product key finder - Belarc. I then used my own upgrade copy of Windows 8.1 to do a clean install. I did not know it was the beginning of several days of horrible nightmare until I eventually got it done.
My first obstacle was UEFI boot mode with secure boot enabled. After I swapped in a SSD drive, I tried to start the install with an external usb dvd drive containing Windows 8.1 install disc. It just could not boot up even I changed the Boot Mode from UEFI -> Legacy Support and Boot Priority from UEFI First -> Legacy First in the BIOS setup. After some research on the net, I then realized Boot Mode and Boot Priority were not the problem. The problem was the boot up device - dvd drive. I got messed up because I didn't understand the whole UEFI thing initially! As a matter of fact, that was the first time I heard about UEFI.
DVDs are formatted in NTFS which isn't compatible with UEFI for booting purposes (how strange). If you like to use UEFI secure boot, it requires the boot media to be formatted in FAT32 with all Windows 8 install files copied onto it - a usb thumb drive.
I then went into the BIOS setup and changed the Secured Boot from Enabled -> Disabled.
During booting up, I changed the boot-up order to USB thumb drive using Fn+F12. I then came to product key input. First I tried the OEM key; it didn't work. I then tried my upgrade copy product key which also didn't work. I then found out you had to create a file: ui.cfg and put it under the "Sources" folder. The ui.cfg should have the following lines:
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0
I wasn't sure if because of Retail under Channel section above, I had to use my upgrade copy product key instead of OEM key. By this time, I was so mentally exhausted just to get the installation done and couldn't be bother to try any further.
Windows 8 drivers had to be the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me after the installation was completed. It recognized all the drivers except one "unknown device" which turned out to be "Lenovo Power Management for Windows 8.1". For those who are curious, the boot-up time is now 7 seconds!
I might have missed some small steps here and there, but hopefully this covers the important steps that can help someone quickly do a clean install. I myself certainly learn a little more by going through all this and that's never a bad thing.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
How To Remove Black Spots on Exterior Wood Door
Materials Needed:
1. Mohawk Professional Furniture Stripper
2. Mohawk Oxalic Acid
3. Old Master Oil-based Exterior Finish Spar-Marine Varnish
Tools Required:
1. Cheap, small, natural paint brush
2. Scrapper
2. Used toothbrush
3. Fine sandpaper
4. Lint free rags
Procedures:
1. Pour small quantity of paint stripper onto a small plastic container;
2. Use paint brush to apply paint stripper on the affected area;
3. Use a scrapper to remove lifted varnish after about 5 minutes;
4. Repeat the step 1-3 several times until the varnish is removed, slight sanding before each repeat;
5. Mix 4 oz Oxalic Acid crystals with 500ml of warm water in a small container;
6. Use a toothbrush to apply the bleach solution to the black spots and brush off the black spots;
7. You might have to repeat step 6 several times until the black spots are removed;
8. Let the door dry overnight
9. Apply varnish to the bare wood using a lint-free rag several times; allow to dry and sand between each application
1. Mohawk Professional Furniture Stripper
2. Mohawk Oxalic Acid
3. Old Master Oil-based Exterior Finish Spar-Marine Varnish
Tools Required:
1. Cheap, small, natural paint brush
2. Scrapper
2. Used toothbrush
3. Fine sandpaper
4. Lint free rags
 |
| Black Spots Before Removal |
1. Pour small quantity of paint stripper onto a small plastic container;
2. Use paint brush to apply paint stripper on the affected area;
3. Use a scrapper to remove lifted varnish after about 5 minutes;
4. Repeat the step 1-3 several times until the varnish is removed, slight sanding before each repeat;
5. Mix 4 oz Oxalic Acid crystals with 500ml of warm water in a small container;
6. Use a toothbrush to apply the bleach solution to the black spots and brush off the black spots;
7. You might have to repeat step 6 several times until the black spots are removed;
8. Let the door dry overnight
 |
| Bare wood after stripping, bleaching, cleaning & sanding |
9. Apply varnish to the bare wood using a lint-free rag several times; allow to dry and sand between each application
 |
| Varnished exterior wood door after black spots removed |
Monday, January 28, 2013
Two Routers and uTorrent
Because of frequest crashing of my computer lately, I decided to reload my basic Windows 7 image and re-installed all software.
One of the applications I use from time to time is uTorrent. After the quick installation and did a test on a torrent file, I noticed my incoming port used by uTorrent was not open to incoming traffic.
Problem Solving:
1. I went to Windows firewall in System and Security under Control Panel, uTorrent was correctly included as one of the allowed programs through Windows Firewall;
2. I logged in to the 2nd router where my computer was connected to and put in a port forwarding entry but test in uTorrent still indicated the port was not open;
3. I removed the port forwarding entry in the 2nd router and put that in the 1st router and subsequent test in uTorrent now indicated the port was open.
It should be pointed out the 2nd router has a static ip address outside the range of ip address set up in the 1st router. Also the wireless lan is disable in 1st router but enable in 2nd router. In addition, the dhcp is turn-off in 2nd router so the ip address of any computers connected to the 2nd router, wired or wireless, will be assigned by the 1st router.
One of the applications I use from time to time is uTorrent. After the quick installation and did a test on a torrent file, I noticed my incoming port used by uTorrent was not open to incoming traffic.
Problem Solving:
1. I went to Windows firewall in System and Security under Control Panel, uTorrent was correctly included as one of the allowed programs through Windows Firewall;
2. I logged in to the 2nd router where my computer was connected to and put in a port forwarding entry but test in uTorrent still indicated the port was not open;
3. I removed the port forwarding entry in the 2nd router and put that in the 1st router and subsequent test in uTorrent now indicated the port was open.
It should be pointed out the 2nd router has a static ip address outside the range of ip address set up in the 1st router. Also the wireless lan is disable in 1st router but enable in 2nd router. In addition, the dhcp is turn-off in 2nd router so the ip address of any computers connected to the 2nd router, wired or wireless, will be assigned by the 1st router.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
iMito MX1 - the mini pc
Upon the advice of my buddy - Roy, I purchased a TV stick online while I was traveling in the Silicon Valley visiting my son. I didn't know much about this gadget and I was simply tempted by the headlines which said: " iMito MX1 Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Dual Core TV BOX RK3066 1.6Ghz Cortex A9 1GB RAM 8G ROM HDMI Silver ".
Two and half weeks later, this gadget was delivered registered to my door. I had to say I was surprised to receive it in such a short time considering the unit was shipped all the way from Asia. The TV stick was nicely packed in a hard-box, very much like an iphone box.
The TV stick is not much bigger than an thumb drive. It has a hdmi out at one end, an extension cable is provided, just like an usb out on an thumb drive. The other end it has an micro-usb port for power and an regular usb port for attaching accessory like a mouse. On one side of the stick it has a micro sdhc slot which can accept up 32gb card and another micro-usb port. It should be noted that there is a conversion cable from micro-usb to regular usb is also provided.
The following is a log of what I have done to this device so far:
December 13, 2012 - Firmware Update
I remember when I was browsing on the vendor's website, there was an new update from the manufacturer on Nov.29, 2012. So this became my first task. The update can be downloaded from here:
http://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2012/11/30/imito-mx1mx2-new-stock-firmware-release-on-29th-nov/
The installation procedures of the update was explained on the webpage.
For some reasons, the update couldn't finish from image stored on the micro sd card. Before I tried for the third time, I decided to reformat the micro-sd card using FAT32 file system and then put the image on the card again. This time the update did finish and the device was updated to Android 4.1.1
December 16, 2012 - Rooting The Device
Rooting iMito MX1 requires a pc/laptop connection. If a pc is used, it would be much easier if the pc is connected to a separate monitor rather than sharing the tv that iMito is connected to so you don't have to keep changing the input which can be confusing at times.
The instructions in rooting the device can be found at the following website:
http://yourdeal12.blogspot.ca/2012/11/how-to-root-imito-mx1-android-tv-box.html
In a nutshell, you download two files:
MoboroboSetup_V2.0.7.501(Moborobo_En_official).exe and
TPSarky-VonDroid-Root.rar which you unrar into a folder.
My pc is installed with Windows 7 64bit O/S. When I ran MoboroboSetup, it found the android device but fail to connect! Instead when I connected iMito MX1 to my pc, Windows 7 installed the drivers automatically.
Also, when I ran TPSparkyRoot.bat, iMito MX1 indeed rebooted 3 times but each time I had to click the mouse to boot up the device => Rebooting is NOT an automatic process.
Finally, "SuperSu" app had to be installed from Play Store but "Root Explorer" was installed by TPSparkyRoot.bat
Installing XBMC
After firmware updated and the device is rooted, now is the time to install some useful apps to enjoy this TV stick device. The most interesting app that come to my mind is XBMC which is something I heard a lot but don't know much about. Here's the link:
http://www.xbmcandroid.com/2012/12/10/how-to-install-xbmc-nightly-with-external-player-on-the-mk802-stick-or-other-android-tv-devices/
The article has very detail step-by-step instructions. By following 51 steps in total, I was successful in installing XBMC on iMito MX1.
Two and half weeks later, this gadget was delivered registered to my door. I had to say I was surprised to receive it in such a short time considering the unit was shipped all the way from Asia. The TV stick was nicely packed in a hard-box, very much like an iphone box.
The TV stick is not much bigger than an thumb drive. It has a hdmi out at one end, an extension cable is provided, just like an usb out on an thumb drive. The other end it has an micro-usb port for power and an regular usb port for attaching accessory like a mouse. On one side of the stick it has a micro sdhc slot which can accept up 32gb card and another micro-usb port. It should be noted that there is a conversion cable from micro-usb to regular usb is also provided.
The following is a log of what I have done to this device so far:
December 13, 2012 - Firmware Update
I remember when I was browsing on the vendor's website, there was an new update from the manufacturer on Nov.29, 2012. So this became my first task. The update can be downloaded from here:
http://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2012/11/30/imito-mx1mx2-new-stock-firmware-release-on-29th-nov/
The installation procedures of the update was explained on the webpage.
For some reasons, the update couldn't finish from image stored on the micro sd card. Before I tried for the third time, I decided to reformat the micro-sd card using FAT32 file system and then put the image on the card again. This time the update did finish and the device was updated to Android 4.1.1
December 16, 2012 - Rooting The Device
Rooting iMito MX1 requires a pc/laptop connection. If a pc is used, it would be much easier if the pc is connected to a separate monitor rather than sharing the tv that iMito is connected to so you don't have to keep changing the input which can be confusing at times.
The instructions in rooting the device can be found at the following website:
http://yourdeal12.blogspot.ca/2012/11/how-to-root-imito-mx1-android-tv-box.html
In a nutshell, you download two files:
MoboroboSetup_V2.0.7.501(Moborobo_En_official).exe and
TPSarky-VonDroid-Root.rar which you unrar into a folder.
My pc is installed with Windows 7 64bit O/S. When I ran MoboroboSetup, it found the android device but fail to connect! Instead when I connected iMito MX1 to my pc, Windows 7 installed the drivers automatically.
Also, when I ran TPSparkyRoot.bat, iMito MX1 indeed rebooted 3 times but each time I had to click the mouse to boot up the device => Rebooting is NOT an automatic process.
Finally, "SuperSu" app had to be installed from Play Store but "Root Explorer" was installed by TPSparkyRoot.bat
Installing XBMC
After firmware updated and the device is rooted, now is the time to install some useful apps to enjoy this TV stick device. The most interesting app that come to my mind is XBMC which is something I heard a lot but don't know much about. Here's the link:
http://www.xbmcandroid.com/2012/12/10/how-to-install-xbmc-nightly-with-external-player-on-the-mk802-stick-or-other-android-tv-devices/
The article has very detail step-by-step instructions. By following 51 steps in total, I was successful in installing XBMC on iMito MX1.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Connecting 32bit Windows XP to 64bit Windows 7
It has been very frustrating in the past couple days trying to make a 32bit Windows XP pc talk to a 64bit Windows 7 pc. The first objective to accomplish by talking to each other is to share a common printer and the secondary objective is to share files.
As it turned out, the fix was quite simple. Besides the usual same workgroup name and file sharing feature was turned on for those folders you wanted to share, the Node Type of the 64bit Windows 7 pc has to be "Hybrid".
To find out the Node Type, open a command terminal and type "ipconfig/all|more" on the Windows 7 pc. If the value is not Hybrid, then you have to change it using regedit. From the Start button, type "regedit" in the search box. Navigate to "\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT" and change the value to 8. That's it.
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