roebeet wrote:Should only take 5 seconds to run - probably re-check to see if cwm is there (recovery again). You'll see the title if it's there.

You've probably already answewred this, but where is the reinstall flash instructons? Got vegan finally.

runner1717 wrote:These applications (Angry Birds, etc.) were added at the factory along with the browser history info, etc. They just didn't clean things up too well before imaging them.

I'm impressed with the quality of the build for a $280.00 unit. Yes, the screen viewing angles kind of sucks but you'll get used to it.

Already rooted, Clockworked and installed Vegan 5.11. Nice rom and it works well.

In summary it's not as nice as my Xoom 3G but it was $500.00 cheaper! Motorola must hire more expensive and more competent Chinese to do there builds......

Mike

i installed the same things, now can the tnt rom be installed the same way? Meaning can i just switch roms through clockwork as i wish. I guess all data gets wiped each time though. Maybe titanium can back up the settings for each rom and you can just switch and play with each and the settings only need to be entered once.

roebeet wrote:This is an excellent point - they've customized the device outside of Viewsonic's stock ROM, somehow. Apps like Kindle and Flash are NOT in the stock ROM, and after you do a factory reset, they are gone.

I honestly don't know if there's a "Woot stock ROM" to go back to a Woot-baseline, as I don't have one of these. We won't know how their distributor customized this. Ideally, you'd have a user apks on your sdcard to sideload, but no idea.

Anyone in staff want to chime in? If a Woot user does a factory reset and loses Flash, what's the "best" way to get it back? Is there a process that distributor has created?

Btw, if there's not, ROMs like TNT Lite and VEGAn have Flash pre-installed, and the Google Market does the rest.

Thanks for this response. I did do a successful flash to TNT Lite and was messing around with the tablet again and found the files. I opened Sniffer>Tablet Memory>Master>Apps and there are at least some, if not all, of the apps that came on it originally. (Flash, angrybirds 1.4.2, kindle, pandora, colornote, twitter, and the weather channel) I seem to have gotten most everything working the way it should, but I'm hoping that finding this will help you figure out how they added these programs.

jetguy35 wrote:Hopefully those who have received theirs will let us know of the condition. I should have mine in hand tomorrow so I will report back then. It seems to me though that plenty of buyers are reporting back to Woot and XDA on how to alter software loads so this would lead me to assume that the device was considered "new" to them when they opened it up before toying with software loads. All I know is if mine is scratched or has other people's personal info on it already, I will not be messing with the software. First thing would be to report it to Woot and then on the forum. I have faith that mine will be new though like I inferred from other posts.

Mine was used.

Don't care. You couldn't pry it out of my hands.

Hey all, just wanted to give a quick rundown. My Coworker got his today and I had the chance to play with it/flash custom rom.

First about the stock ROM. His had angry birds and flash preinstalled, there were some funny directories setup on the internal storage which included a few apps (angry birds and flash amoungst them). I suspect they did some funny business at the factory with our units, but it did not in ~ANY~ way appear to be used/returned etc. The directories I remember were "Master", which I believe had apps and ... Oh hell it's too long now, something else. Anyways it didn't appear to be anything other than new is my point.

Next, the screen. It was definitely a TN panel and did have some odd viewing angles, and while not ideal it was certainly not anything that was preventing one person from enjoying it, vertical or horizontal. It was difficult for others to gather around and see videos well, so if that is a large concern for you then be concerned I suppose.

The stock ROM. It came with 1.1-3381 (or whatever the 33 was). It really does suck. They disable the menu button in most locations with the stock ROM, and it was slow/sluggish just like everyone has been saying.

Now I hope this crash course is of some help to anyone with their new toy. First to check your ROM version, you can go tab the Gears icon at the side of the screen, then choose About in the left menu. In here you'll find the rom version (should be something like 1.1-3389, 1.1-3588 or 1.2-something). Here's what I did to get his updated. Get familiar with XDA, it'll be a great friend and resource.
1.) I loaded the 1.1-3588 stock recovery, an upgrade from the 1.1-3389 recovery. It was possible to do this by going to this page (don't forget to thank Roebeet for putting all of this together), downloading the "3588 Recovery Pack v1.0".
2.) Unzip the 3588 Recovery Pack v1.0 then connect your tablet to your PC and enable USB mode (when you plug it in, you'll need to click the Yellow/Orange circle in the upper-right, then choose to enable USB tethering). Copy the "recovery" folder, and the update.zip to the root (what opens when you double-click the tablet drive) of the tablet internal memory (Probably D: or F.
3.) After the files copy to the tablet, turn off USB tethering, then turn off the tablet. You'll be restarting it in Recovery, which will automatically load the new recovery.
4.) To start the tablet in recovery, have the tablet turned off, then press and hold the power button and volume + button. You'll see a small message in the upper-left to indicate that it is starting in recovery. You can release the buttons now.
5.) After the update finishes installing the tablet will automatically reboot to Android once again, with the ugly Tap And Tap interface. This is OK, you're two steps from fixing it.
6.) Turn on USB tethering again, then open the tablet folder and delete the recovery folder and update.zip.
7.) Go back to this page, and once again thank Roebeet, and download "clockworkmod .8 bekit". Once downloaded, unzip it, then copy the recovery and update.zip to the root of the internal memory again. Turn off the tablet.
8.) Start the tablet in Recovery again by holding power button and Volume + at the same time. Once again you'll see a message in the upper-left and you can release. It'll do its thing and reboot to Android when it completes.
9.) After you get into Android again, start USB Tethering then delete the recovery folder and update.zip.
10.) At this point you can load what ROM you want (within limits, BE SURE TO READ THE ROM THREADS FIRST). I installed Vanilla AOSP Gingerbread ROM. Go download the file from that thread, then place it into the root of your tablet internal memory. Be sure to thank kornyone for their work. Also be sure to download the "gapps" available on this page as well, for you will have to install it to have the Android Market, GMail, etc.
11.) To install it, turn off the tablet, reboot into Recovery (Power button & Volume + at the same time..). You'll now be in Clockworkmod, a custom recovery. You can navigate the custom recovery by using the volume rocker to go up and down, the power button to go back a menu, and the Home soft key to press enter.
To properly install a ROM you should always first clear the data/system/cache. It's been a while since I've used clockworkmod, but I believe the option you are looking for is Factory Data Reset, choose Yes on the next screen. Then delete cache just to be sure.
Now you can go to "Install ZIP from sdcard", then "Choose zip" or something akin to it. Navigate to the file you copied, and tell it to install. Wait a short while and you should see that it successfully installed. Now just press the power key a few times to get back to the main menu and then choose to Reboot (whatever the top option is).

Enjoy your Gingerbread Android

A few app recommendations: I use LauncherPro. It's available in the Android market and it's a "Home" replacement. Try it out, it's smooth and it has a bunch of extra widget if you purchase the program (1.99). Also check out Dolphin Browser HD. The last word of advice I can give is to get familiar with Long Press, it's basically right-click in Android. To do a long press just hold down on an icon or a blank area and see what happens.

Also if I've offended anyone just tell me and I'll be happy to delete this post.

Thanks again Roebeet for all of your assistance with this tablet! Your documentation on XDA is amazing!

Anyone checked battery life before modding their tablet? I'd like to know the difference before and after.

Also if I ended up modding my tablet, is it rational to say I should root it first, install titanium backup, back up angry birds and then mod?

I've only been skimming posts about the subject but I'm now feeling the urgency to learn about it since the tablet is a day or two away.

dlevasseur wrote:For those talking about the screen upside down, it isn't installed upside down. It's just a poor screen.

Think about this... They probably used an off the shelf screen that would have gone into a netbook or something. When you view a netbook you don't look at the screen from that angle. However, you do see it from top down.

That is probably why the viewing angle is better from the top than the bottom.

As for the browsing history and water background and such, I'm betting a not very clean image, doesn't mean the device is *used*.

EDIT: Installed Vegan, Supplement, Clemsyn's kernel and the thing was ROCK solid all day today. I used and abused it today. Wish my protectors would get here...

Agreed. Otherwise that means everyone's screen is upside down. It was also probably a design choice to install it "upside down". I believe many people intend to get the folio case with built in keyboard. Using those cases you'll probably be at an angle above the screen. If the screen were flipped the other way it would be unusable with those folio/keyboard combos. Also I don't know who decided/standardized the whole computer office workspace ergonomic thing, but the screen is supposed to be below eye level. (i.e. Slightly downward gaze when typing)

gooberedup wrote:Now THIS response should get a "Quality Posts" rating.

Welcome to Woot!

This is a very funny response, but if you hang around the forums for a while, especially the popular ones, like Bag Of Crаp threads - you'll see that this joke and its varieties ("She is reported to have said that" and such) is very common and almost imminent, whenever somebody talks about any "package" metrics or related activity...

Stick around beyond this tablet, it's fun around here...

bschrib wrote: Hey all, just wanted to give a quick rundown. My Coworker got his today and I had the chance to play with it/flash custom rom...

...Thanks again Roebeet for all of your assistance with this tablet! Your documentation on XDA is amazing!

Woah, thnx. I'm going to copy pasta your post into textedit and use it as a guide in the coming days.

First off, many thanks to roebeet and all the folks at xda.

I settled on VEGAn as the ROM of choice for now, and I must say I have had fun tinkering with this nerdy project.

I thought my screen was wonly at first to, but the calibration.ini seemed to help.

All in all I am pretty happy. I'm not blown away with the gtab, and part of me wishes I had just bought the xoom, but I keep telling myself this was only $285 (of course I bought the ST warranty and a sleeve, so now I'm closer to $340).

I can't say I have buyers remorse, but if woot had a deal on the xoom and it was @ $400 ish than I might feel differently.

I still have one small issue where a flash app that my company website uses will not run. It just times out. I see the same thing on my xp laptop when using chrome, so it's hard to blame this on anything other than my company's web developers.

jgiannon wrote:You are all seriously worrying over nothing. These systems have obviously been imaged identically which includes the same browser history, Wifi config etc... If the packaging looks good, cables placed in box correctly it should be good to go barring there are no scratches. Smudges can be cleaned. Woot has no control over what was done at Viewsonic, I agree that they should be cut some slack. Its just alot of whining, you bought a tablet that out of the box was known not to work, what the hell do you want!

Did you see my post after that? I am not blaming woot man. If you spend money, you have the right to be frustrated if what you purchased didn't work. I Said...if you want me to quote my previous post I will...that this is definitely a viewsonic issue. You pay money for a service/product, you don't get the service/product you pay for, you have the right to get the service/product you pay for.


I am sure this isn't astrophysics or that I am having this huge Descartes-like Revelation. All i was saying is that you deserve to get what you pay for, regardless of who is to blame.

jgiannon wrote:Les hope the storm coming doesnt delay it more, I am in CT and suppsoed to get it Friday as well.

Im in CT and getting it in the AM. How did that happen???

gnarowski wrote:Im in CT and getting it in the AM. How did that happen???

Both my coworker and I are located in CT. He ordered two of them a few hours before me and they arrived today. Mine is scheduled for tomorrow...I'm patiently waiting and just lurking this Woot thread and reading through the XDA forum.

Mine has been charging since I got it. It is from the first batch shipped and it was 100% new / mint when I opened it. Just wanted to touch on that since I see it has become a concern.

arnott wrote:I think, the upside down screen is a feature of the gtablet.

I will receive mine tomorrow. Just a quick question ... whats the problem with using it upside down (the UI rotates, right?). The only issue then would be the upside down logos in the back. A silicone cover or some bumper sticker kinda stuff should take care of that right ?

Hey, Roebeet,

I just installed TnT Lite 4.4.0.

Nice work! This is gorgeous -- elegant. And yes, enough like my G2 that my insecurities are pretty minimal.

One suggestion for your otherwise ideal instructions -- you may want to remind folks that it may take a few reboots for the tablet to reach the home screen. I think it took three for me -- I remembered seeing that here, but there are going to be soooo many people even n00ber than me. (I've at least got a couple of hackintoshes under my belt. While watching the honeycomb animation loop for a while, I did have a "ruh roh" moment until I remembered the multiple reboots mention.) I'd installed CWM .8 if that matters.

I do have some generic icons on a few apps -- ES File Explorer, Facebook, Weather, News, Photos. I'll see if deleting those shortcuts and creating new ones fixes that.

As a data point, as an existing user, Market worked fine from the first launch; I was a little disappointed that it separates my two machines (the Gtab and my G2) to the point where I can't get a list of what's on my phone to install on the tablet. Minor inconvenience, though, since I'll want to test apps as I install anyway.

Thanks again for your fantastic work. It's been a long time since I've shipped my own code (about 20 years -- ack!), but your stuff is really nicely thought out and polished. Kudos from someone who used to know what he was doing and can still spot quality.

ryan04 wrote:To shed some light on some of you who think the tablet is used...

I just got one from JR Computer world 2 weeks ago that came in mint physical condition, but had the dlink network saved, angry birds installed, previous browsing history etc.

For a minute I thought someone else already used it first, but the tablet was in such pristine condition I didnt worry about it much. I mean no finger prints scratches or anything.

My GF just got one from woot, and had the exact same network saved, browsing history, etc, and hers is also in mint condition.

IMO that is too much of a coincidence. I bet they come from the manufacturer that way.

Perhaps Viewsonic outsourced that work to some chinese firm but never paid them ... so the workers decided to set it up with the browser history pointing you to websites ending in apple.com

So I guess now we start recommending apps? My favorite game is Glow Hockey and it scales really nicely to the tablet screen. Free, ad-supported when you pause.

(If you link to an app please do say whether it's free and/or ad-supported. It's a nice convention for comparison shoppers.)

editorkid wrote:Hey, Roebeet,

I just installed TnT Lite 4.4.0.

Nice work! This is gorgeous -- elegant. And yes, enough like my G2 that my insecurities are pretty minimal.

One suggestion for your otherwise ideal instructions -- you may want to remind folks that it may take a few reboots for the tablet to reach the home screen. I think it took three for me -- I remembered seeing that here, but there are going to be soooo many people even n00ber than me. (I've at least got a couple of hackintoshes under my belt. While watching the honeycomb animation loop for a while, I did have a "ruh roh" moment until I remembered the multiple reboots mention.) I'd installed CWM .8 if that matters.

I do have some generic icons on a few apps -- ES File Explorer, Facebook, Weather, News, Photos. I'll see if deleting those shortcuts and creating new ones fixes that.

As a data point, as an existing user, Market worked fine from the first launch; I was a little disappointed that it separates my two machines (the Gtab and my G2) to the point where I can't get a list of what's on my phone to install on the tablet. Minor inconvenience, though, since I'll want to test apps as I install anyway.

Thanks again for your fantastic work. It's been a long time since I've shipped my own code (about 20 years -- ack!), but your stuff is really nicely thought out and polished. Kudos from someone who used to know what he was doing and can still spot quality.

That first reboot can be a killer, especially after a data wipe (2-3 minutes, it's caching everything). Two reboots, tmk - one flash for the actual firmware uupdate, and then a second quick one for the bootloader update (if you're using standard recovery). Other than that it should be just that looonnng first boot.

I happen to be a perfectionist. And I'm not a dev - most of this is just throwing things togther and seeing what works best. ;)

prUsP69E wrote:I will receive mine tomorrow. Just a quick question ... whats the problem with using it upside down (the UI rotates, right?). The only issue then would be the upside down logos in the back. A silicone cover or some bumper sticker kinda stuff should take care of that right ?

Have not received mine yet. The apps will rotate, but the buttons will not.

topsun wrote:Does anyone know the dimensions of the Gtab compared to an iPad? I get mine tomorrow, but I've been looking for some nice book cover type cases and there is not much of a choice. If the Gtab has similar dimensions to the iPad then I'm thinking I can use some pretty iPad accessories.

* Width: 10.5"
* Height: 6.8"
* Depth: 0.54"
* Weight: 1.55 lbs.
http://www.viewsonic.com/gtablet/spec.htm
This is a link to specs.

Peace. Mine comes Friday!

So does anyone have any input on how long of a battery life I can expect? With mods/without?

I mean, I know what's advertised, but what's it really like?

dedpetls wrote:Interesting.. mine says

Service type FedEx Home Delivery
Weight 4.1 lbs/1.9 kg

why is my box so damn heavy? did I get 2? ;)

Mine too weights 4.1 pounds. Awesome I should get it Friday in So Cal

It seems like everyone who is supposed to get the Gtab tomorrow has to wait until Friday.

Damn thunderstorm!

@roebeet

did you get a copy of the 3389 update.zip file you asked for earlier? i have a copy if you still need it. just let me know where you want me to upload to. i'm a member at xda if that helps.

jeffwees wrote:@roebeet

did you get a copy of the 3389 update.zip file you asked for earlier? i have a copy if you still need it. just let me know where you want me to upload to. i'm a member at xda if that helps.

No, I don't have it - if someone could post that update.zip, that would be great.

I'm 95%+ sure that it's 3389 stock, but I won't know for sure until I rip it open - thanks in advance!

dmorton357 wrote:Mine too weights 4.1 pounds. Awesome I should get it Friday in So Cal

im in norcal and i got mines today.

just flashed to the vegan rom. very easy to install clockwork mod and install custom roms.it took longer to download the rom itself. this is my first android device. i updated the stock rom to 3588 first. now its nice and quick. going to try out the tnt lite rom after playing around with vegan for a few hours

roebeet wrote:No, I don't have it - if someone could post that update.zip, that would be great.

I'm 95%+ sure that it's 3389 stock, but I won't know for sure until I rip it open - thanks in advance!

It's 123mb in size. Can you recommend a site where I can upload it?

Sweet!! My fedex tracking finally changed from the initial shipping update to a city in my state. I guess mine is arriving home tomorrow!

ekcoluffy wrote:It seems like everyone who is supposed to get the Gtab tomorrow has to wait until Friday.

Damn thunderstorm!

They just pushed mine out another day. Trust me - there's no thunder storms around here.

jeffwees wrote:It's 123mb in size. Can you recommend a site where I can upload it?

megaupload should work - no ID needed to upload. Thx again.

Jatravartid FedEx pushed me back to Friday, so instead of arriving on my day off work when I'd be home all afternoon/evening, it'll be dropped on my door and left there for 6+ hours until I get home from work friday night :-(

yuusou wrote:Sweet!! My fedex tracking finally changed from the initial shipping update to a city in my state. I guess mine is arriving home tomorrow!

Mine Too! It's still a few hours away, but with any luck I'll have some sweet, sweet tablet action going on tomorrow afternoon. Here's hoping!

roebeet wrote:How to tell a new device from a used / refurb:

(Note: I've owned both, so wanted to pass this on) --

1- The box should be shrink-wrapped. That's how they were in SEARS, when I got mine.
2- The device should be in a slip cover. It probably won't have a screen protector, that was only for the first run of 1,000 devices back in November.
3- Check for scratches on the front, and especially the back (as the back scratches very easily). Also check for smudges or fingerprints, as the device is a fingerprint magnet.
4- The USB cable should not be in the box, freely moving around. It should be in the cardboard placholder that the device sits in.
5- Same for the AC adapter. Also, the adapter is in two pieces, not one. The plug snaps on, but OOTB it should be detached.
6- You should have all the manuals and the cleaning cloth, as well. I believe that was advertised, too.

We know that the device seems to have a custom build, so the software is not a clear indicator to me - it could have just been re-imaged at the distributor. The packaging and device's cosmetic condition is more of a giveway, imo.

I disagree. Refurbished items are items that have been 'restored' to working condition. This may have require hardware or software replacement, but some action was taken to correct a definicency of some kind.

To recieve a scratched and dirty item as 'refurb' is unacceptable, because that item is 'used'. The refurb process should have put that item in a new case/frame iof only the case was damaged/dirty.

Also, companies that work with a lot of refurb items normally include a sticker indicating the item is refurbished, and a note of how they generally process items during the refurb process.

Can a reseller accept a return and then sell that same item, 'as-is', as refurb? If it works as intended, then they can get away with it... But it's still not proper. Ensure proper customer support, warranty, and/or return policy is available before buying a questionable 'refurb'.

Got two tablets today, one for myself, one for my wife. Once works fine and the other is just a white screen, no logo, no nothing... Anyone else seeing this? A quick search seems to indicate a hardware failure.

Thx.

roebeet wrote:I wish I had metrics for everyone, but so far there seems to be some inconsistencies with what's being received. At least a few are used, a lot are new (at least via this forum).

The Angry Birds black screen is a major concern - that should NOT happen with build 3389, it was actually the first build that fixed that problem. If you are seeing this issue, I would recommend checking your build number and report it here, please. If some of you have 3389 but others have 2967 or 2963 (and I hope you don't) then the 296x users definitely want to upgrade to the latest stock right way. 296x builds are also more prone to FC's, acore issues and just plain old failure to boot - that build stunk big time.

Sorry that these don't seem consistent, but don't shoot the messenger. I don't even work for these companies, I'm just a GTAB owner like the rest of you!

I had the black screen on angry birds before the ota update too...and then after a force-close fest with the browser, i rebooted and got the setup...funny it didn't run the setup OOTB but did after the update to 3588 and a couple of reboots....i'm ready to mod this thing or ebay it.....and now no angry birds

roebeet wrote:megaupload should work - no ID needed to upload. Thx again.

That's good to know about megaupload. Goes to show you do learn something new every day.

I was going to pm it to you at xda but the message portion of the screen wouldn't load. I imagine the site is really getting hammered tonight. The link to the update.zip file is http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AKIQXM00

Let me know if I can do anything else to help. I'll pm you tomorrow so you have my xda ID.

Could someone kindly explain why the term is to "flash" a rom? Apologies if someone already did -- I can't find it in my 37(!) pages of clippings from this thread and XDA and Sean's blog and ... and ...

By now, I have a pretty good idea of what a rom is (as opposed to the old ROM), and I know where to find the rom(s) and where to find what to do with it/them, but I seem to be lacking something in the concept department.

It's not synonymous with "to install", iiuc, but why not just say "put a new rom in", or " -- on"?

(Needless to say, my gTab hasn't arrived yet, or I'd be finding more fun things to think about.)

Anything on battery life? Before I go to sleep? Pretty please?

Wow...reading all the negative comments really got me worried. But buck up Wooters! For every horror story you are reading (used tablets, bad screens, boot loops, etc.), there are probably more than 100 success stories, of which I am luckily one!

My gtab looked new out of the box, and sure it had some browser history and other oddities mentioned by others...but I think we are all realizing that doesn't mean it was a refurb/used unit. I charged it up until the light went from red to green, and then turned it on. First thing I did was to connect to my home network. No problems there. Then it did the auto update to 3588 over the air. Things looked great...no Angry Bird black screens, no reboot loops, no bad pixels or poor touch screen performance,etc. The screen looks awesome straight on, and pretty worthless at even moderate angles...but that doesn't bother me. I played around a bit, then decided to take the plunge and install TNT lite 4.4.0, just updated by roebeet today (THANK YOU ROEBEET!!!): forum.xda-developers

I was certainly nervous about bricking my $300 investment, but things couldn't have gone smoother! I followed the instructions exactly, and it did take every bit of 4-5 minutes to load...and at one point I was watching a "honeycomb-like" animation that kept repeating and repeating...it seemed like things were stuck...but it came out of it just fine. The increase in speed is amazing!! I don't know what the downsides are to moving away from the stock ROM, but things are looking OK at this point. One thing did bug me a bit, as touched on by editorkid:

editorkid wrote:Hey, Roebeet,
I do have some generic icons on a few apps -- ES File Explorer, Facebook, Weather, News, Photos. I'll see if deleting those shortcuts and creating new ones fixes that.

I have the same "generic icons" for the same 5 apps: ES File Explorer, Facebook, Weather, News, Photos. When you click on them, a pop-up says "Application is not installed on your phone" and nothing runs. Not a big deal...just wondering if you can explain that, roebeet?

All in all, this has been a great experience so far. Hopefully, your experience will be like mine and not like some of the other less fortunate ones...who hopefully are in the minority and will be taken care of by Woot.