[Bruce Atkinson]

PLEASE READ THIS - http://www.slatedroi...-flashing-roms/
Before asking questions about Firmware Upgrades (Flashing roms)

Not long ago Zenithink changed their FTP-server, and the American Court closed http://www.megaupload.com; with the result that all links were invalid...
This has now been corrected.

Introduction
Hi all, this is a simple guide for the average user wanting to upgrade to the latest firmware. Just want to add that this is FASTEST and MOST STABLE of all the firmwares I’ve used to date! THANK YOU ATP! If you find your tablet is crawling, you did not install correctly. I’ve complied these notes from posts by all the great guys here at slatedroid, thanks dudes! You guys are the best! Sorry if I haven’t mentioned you by name, there are simply too many. My notes should be fairly easy to understand, but please keep in mind… you do this all at your own risk!

ATP’s (the Zenithink engineer) changes since 0524
Renewed 2d/3d/video library
Fixed certain 3G dongle multi-disk cause mount service abort (similar to the india cdma2000).
Fixed android loop bug
Rebuilt 8188/8192
Lost wallpaper bug fixed
New kernel with a new memalloc driver that uses the system reserved memory (previously this was manually reserved). ZT_boot altered for new change in memory size. Not sure of the details as I haven’t got source code.
Reports memory size change for Memalloc driver
Renewed memalloc library
Increased the battery downtime level for low short to protect against rtc loss

Before you install

Links to files (see install instructions before downloading)
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...d/system.tar.bz
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...s/zImage_update (update, for initial flash/wipe; option 1, 2)
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...s/zImage_update (usr, for system revamps; option 3)
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...clear_data_part
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...e_system_module
Atp says that these files will work on both, the 1024_600 at the end doesn't matter. Cpu not overclocked.
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...DUAL/ZT_Bx.boot
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._DUAL/ZT_Bx.spl
Atp says that these files may or may not work on your device. Cpu overclocked to 1056. If apps freeze, reflash with the above.
ftp://zenithink.cn/d...DUAL/ZT_Bx.boot
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._DUAL/ZT_Bx.spl

1024x600
If you have opened up your tablet and physically removed the battery reset IC
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._600_GPS/zImage
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._GPS/zImage_adb
If you haven’t done anything to the battery, ie, a normal tablet (most people use this)
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._600_GPS/zImage
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._GPS/zImage_adb

1024x576
If you have opened up your tablet and physically removed the battery reset IC
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._576_GPS/zImage
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._GPS/zImage_adb
If you haven’t done anything to the battery, ie, a normal tablet (most people use this)
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._576_GPS/zImage
ftp://zenithink.cn/d..._GPS/zImage_adb

Third-Party Mirror
http://www.mediafire...p#a3r96z2eoheza

Installation Instructions
After placing the "zt-update" directory on the root of your SD-card (see below), boot up while pressing the left action button on the top (same side as the power button). If you haven't flashed from the SD-card before, please first install the 0324 rom as per these instructions http://www.slatedroi...froyo-rom-0324/

Option 1. Fresh install; a complete wipe of all files and settings. For all roms. This is recommended by ATP, as the wifi might not work correctly if a partial flash is done. This firmware has numerous bug fixes, and although a pain, I also did a fresh install myself.

Create a folder named “zt-update”, and place it on the root of you SD card. Then download (see links above) and copy the files mentioned below to the folder.
zimage
zimage_adb
zimage_update (update)
system.tar.bz
update_system_module
clear_data_part
ZT_Bx.boot

If you do not yet have SD-card flash support , then you will need to add ‘ZT_Bx.spl’ to the update folder in addition to the prior mentioned files. IMPORTANT: Be aware of the dangers of an SPL update, the SPL has the initial boot code, if you flash it and there is an exception/problem (no power etc), it will brick you device. I did this SPL to make sure that everything installed correctly as some were reporting performance issues when the SPL is not done. Just make sure that you have plugged in the charger and all should be fine. Do it at your own risk. If you want the cpu to be overclocked to 1056, then the spl will need to be flashed, otherwise (providing you have SD-card support), you can leave it out.

Option 2. Update your existing firmware without wiping user apk’s. Might give issues. It will still replace all stock apps, so if you have removed any of them, you will have to do it again (don’t worry about this if you are a normal user and haven’t fiddled with the system/apps directory on your aPad). If your wifi gives issues, please try the fix at the bottom or use option 1.

Create a folder named “zt-update”, and place it on the root of you SD card. Then download (see links above) and copy the files mentioned below to the folder.
zimage
zimage_adb
zimage_update (update)
system.tar.bz
update_system_module
ZT_Bx.boot

See note about “ZT_Bx.spl” above.

Option 3. Restoring settings if things go haywire; for revamps of previous 0603 installs. This will not touch any of your apps, system or otherwise. You should also be able to update from 0415+

Create a folder named “zt-update”, and place it on the root of you SD card. Then download (see links above) and copy the files mentioned below to the folder.
update_system_module
zImage
zImage_adb
zImage_update (usr)
ZT_Bx.boot
Create a "system" folder inside the "zt-update” folder. Extract the contents of "system.tar.bz" to your newly created "system" folder; you should have a ton of folders and files inside if this is done correctly. Delete the "/zt-update/system/app" folder.

Optional fixes/tweaks/extras (fixes with a * will need to be reapplied every time a firmware flash is undertaken)
*To root the device
Download and install Universal Androot 1.6.1 (http://www.zt180apps...versal-androot/).
Once installed, select the "Do not install Superuser" option and click ‘Root me please’; ignore all warnings.

*To install flash
Download and install Adobe Flash Player 10.1 (ftp://zenithink.cn/d...forAndImage.apk). Once installed, open “Browser” and press the menu key. Select “android mode”. ATP says that html5 (i-pad mode) might not work properly with the ZT-180 firmware as it doesn’t support the m3u8 video format.
You can also try Adobe Flash Player 10.2 ( http://forum.xda-dev...1155538&page=14 )

To get 3D games working (you will need to be rooted to do this)
Download and install Chainfire3D (ftp://zenithink.cn/d...nfire3D_1.7.zip). Do not install the pro version, rather first install “eu.chainfire.cf3d-2.apk”. After this is completed, open the “Chainfire3d” app. Install the CF3D driver (make sure you are plugged in to the mains), it will reboot automatically. After reboot, reopen “Chainfire3D”, click ‘Install plugin”, it will scan your SD-card for the bundled “Plug-ins” folder. Select “libGLEMU_QUALCOMM.zip” and install. Now go to the main Chainfire menu and click ‘Default OpenGL settings”, then click “Use plugin”, select “QUALCOMM” and exit.
Now download and install NFS Shift to test ftp://zenithink.cn/d...8B%C3%99%29.apk

*To fix media scan of “Gallery” and “Music”
Go to "Settings" and then click "Storage". Unmount the first-listed SD card. Remove when you are notified that it is safe to do so, then simply reinsert.

*To improve touch screen response (advanced users, must be rooted)
Navigate to /etc/ts.conf and alter the preceding lines:
module variance delta=1
module dejitter delta=250

To fix faulty wifi.
Should work for users upgrading from 0324-0415 that do not want to use clear_data (option 1). Make sure that your device is rooted. Open "/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf," and edit "ctrl_interface=wlan0".

To speed up SD-Card
Download and install "SD Speed Increase" from market. Open it and select preferences (most use the 2048 KB option).

To use the latest VTL launcher.
Go to http://vegantab.goji...s/vtl-launcher/, download and install.

To change initial "e-pad" boot logo.
Place "boot.logo" in zt-update file and flash. Read http://www.slatedroi...stom-boot-logo/ for details on how to make your own.

To customise your android GUI (new, be careful)
Go to http://uot.dakra.lt/kitchen/ and customise to will. Extract system.tar.bz, upload "system/framework/framework-res.apk". Wait for file to be 'cooked'. Download, unzip and place contents of the UOT-***.zip into an empty "zt-update/system" (don't place 'META-INF' inside). Copy "update_system_module" and "zImage_update" (usr) to "zt-update". Mine is working perfectly, although I did have install SU and then uninstall it to root again. If things go awry, do option 2.

To make Market display all apps
1)First, make sure Market is running, and browse around in it for a few seconds. If you don't do this, there may be no cache to clear and the market fix may not work. Go to "Settings", "Applications", "Manage Applications", "Running" and scroll down to "Market". Select "Clear Cache", followed by "Force Stop" (DO NOT CLEAR DATA FOR MARKET, JUST CACHE). Go back and scroll down to "Google Services Framework", hit "Clear Data" and then "Force Stop".

2) Now start Market again; an error will come up. Reboot. Wait for Wifi to connect before doing anything (or you may have to reboot again and wait for the wifi to connect).

3) Open Market again. Searches for previously missing apps should now show up.

This post has been edited by Bruce Atkinson: 01 February 2012 - 01:39 AM

[lmemperador]

thanks bruce, your post is very detailed and helpful i think

well...i have updated to 0603 and everything is fine till now, angry birds seasons is more fluid? it seems to run better the graphics
but i could be wrong,

about the battery low level, still not tested, but good feelings with this rom (remember i have removed the reset ic)

[lowsum]

What about Chainfire3D plugin? Is it something we had before and needs to be installed seperatly this time or is it a new driver/plugin? Because for me a lot of 3d games worked before.

[Bruce Atkinson]

lmemperador, on 07 June 2011 - 03:01 PM, said:

thanks bruce, your post is very detailed and helpful i think

well...i have updated to 0603 and everything is fine till now, angry birds seasons is more fluid? it seems to run better the graphics
but i could be wrong,

about the battery low level, still not tested, but good feelings with this rom (remember i have removed the reset ic)

Yes, am very happy with battery/graphics performance... much more fluid! Touch response better too!

In terms of Chainfire3D, it is a new driver that enable NFS Shift and new, future games. It's a form of openGL. Angry birds, etc, are flash, although this might imporve things slightly.

[lmemperador]

yes i have better touch response, in angry birds the bird is not trembling too much like in the old rom...lol
what games do you think we could play that don't play before? (just for curiosity)

[HAL9000]

Bruce Atkinson, on 07 June 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:

Yes, am very happy with battery/graphics performance... much more fluid! Touch response better too!

In terms of Chainfire3D, it is a new driver that enable NFS Shift and new, future games. It's a form of openGL. Angry birds, etc, are flash, although this might imporve things slightly.

Not exactly. First of all, Angry Birds and other games are not Flash they are native Android applications, some build entirely on Java and some using native ARM code to speedup some processes, but definitely not Flash.

As for Chainfire3D, to say it the easy way it's a "fake" 3D GPU. It "fools" the OS exporting itself as a GPU which we can select from the installed plugings (in the package on FTP we have emulation for Nvidia, Qualcomm and PowerVR GPU's) and then when the OS make calls to that "fake" GPU the application catches these commands and forward them to the actual accelerated GPU or emulate the commands by software.

This way we have for example a "fake" Nvidia GPU, which is slower than the actual Nvidia GPU would be, but at least let us execute games or other software that requires a Nvidia GPU to execute.

This post has been edited by HAL9000: 07 June 2011 - 04:06 PM

[claro966]

HAL9000, on 07 June 2011 - 04:05 PM, said:

Not exactly. First of all, Angry Birds and other games are not Flash they are native Android applications, some build entirely on Java and some using native ARM code to speedup some processes, but definitely not Flash.

As for Chainfire3D, to say it the easy way it's a "fake" 3D GPU. It "fools" the OS exporting itself as a GPU which we can select from the installed plugings (in the package on FTP we have emulation for Nvidia, Qualcomm and PowerVR GPU's) and then when the OS make calls to that "fake" GPU the application catches these commands and forward them to the actual accelerated GPU or emulate the commands by software.

This way we have for example a "fake" Nvidia GPU, which is slower than the actual Nvidia GPU would be, but at least let us execute games or other software that requires a Nvidia GPU to execute.

How may be installed the Chainfire3D, step by step?
Thx

[lowsum]

claro966, on 07 June 2011 - 05:13 PM, said:

How may be installed the Chainfire3D, step by step?
Thx

Look at first post

[gianluca.tomat]

Thanks bruce for topic.. i was thinking about making it too but than i thought it wasn't really needed.. anyway it's really well made..
By the way maybe it would be nice to make a topic without release numbers for all this betas to keep it simple, and make a new post only when an official fw is released.. what do you think about that??

Sent from my zt180

[fargo]

Thank Bruce for the detailed post.

I installed the flash plugin and tried both modes, ipad & android, but still cannot play embedded youtube videos. Did you experience the same Bruce?

[Bruce Atkinson]

HAL9000, on 07 June 2011 - 04:05 PM, said:

Not exactly. First of all, Angry Birds and other games are not Flash they are native Android applications, some build entirely on Java and some using native ARM code to speedup some processes, but definitely not Flash.

As for Chainfire3D, to say it the easy way it's a "fake" 3D GPU. It "fools" the OS exporting itself as a GPU which we can select from the installed plugings (in the package on FTP we have emulation for Nvidia, Qualcomm and PowerVR GPU's) and then when the OS make calls to that "fake" GPU the application catches these commands and forward them to the actual accelerated GPU or emulate the commands by software.

This way we have for example a "fake" Nvidia GPU, which is slower than the actual Nvidia GPU would be, but at least let us execute games or other software that requires a Nvidia GPU to execute.

Thanks man! You're 100% right! Thought Angry Birds was flash as I had issues with it beofre it was installed. Went trawling some zenithink forums (before I found slatedroid), and some of the dudes said that it was. Know better now. Knew about the gpu faking; does not the ChainFire driver not support a form of openGL as well?

[Bruce Atkinson]

gianluca.tomat, on 07 June 2011 - 06:10 PM, said:

Thanks bruce for topic.. i was thinking about making it too but than i thought it wasn't really needed.. anyway it's really well made..
By the way maybe it would be nice to make a topic without release numbers for all this betas to keep it simple, and make a new post only when an official fw is released.. what do you think about that??

Sent from my zt180

Probably a good idea, although build specifics and experiences would then not be isolated to the relevant builds.

[Bruce Atkinson]

fargo, on 07 June 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

Thank Bruce for the detailed post.

I installed the flash plugin and tried both modes, ipad & android, but still cannot play embedded youtube videos. Did you experience the same Bruce?

That's weird! Mine is working correctly. It should automatically open the youtube app for imbedded vids... you didn't uninstall phone.apk or youtube.apk did you? The youtube updates also break it.

[Steppenwolf82]

Thanks Bruce for detailled Post.

Is there another source for the files? The original zenithink source is very slow. I need over 90 minutes for a files with 8.6mb.

[Bruce Atkinson]

I will try to add a mirror for the 1024x600 and the files it and the 567 have in common. Could any other mirrors please post, I'll add them to the top. Atp just updated the readme, so I'll also have a check through that and add changes. Please note and post any mistakes and I'll fix them as well.

[claro966]

Thanks Bruce for your post,well done!

Rom0603 flashed successfully using the first method (clear data part) and the pad runs quite smooth, responsive and all apps do not crash as far as I have tested until now.
Very good rom, thanks atp!

I flashed both boot files - spl included - and can confirm that 1024_600 version is not overclocked. I also tried to flash the 1056 spl boot but it did not work, making the pad freezing during the next flash of the rom files. Flashed back to the right spl and works like a charme!

@atp: hope you are going to upload the 1056 for B0 1024_600 boot too!!! Thanks of course *-*

[Bruce Atkinson]

claro966, on 08 June 2011 - 01:39 AM, said:

Thanks Bruce for your post,well done!

Rom0603 flashed successfully using the first method (clear data part) and the pad runs quite smooth, responsive and all apps do not crash as far as I have tested until now.
Very good rom, thanks atp!

I flashed both boot files - spl included - and can confirm that 1024_600 version is not overclocked. I also tried to flash the 1056 spl boot but it did not work, making the pad freezing during the next flash of the rom files. Flashed back to the right spl and works like a charme!

@atp: hope you are going to upload the 1056 for B0 1024_600 boot too!!! Thanks of course *-*

Maybe I misunderstood his readme... it seems that the new spl and boot will work on both devices.

EDIT: I just tested and am running the 1056 SPL... working perfectly! I have a 1024x600 as well.

This post has been edited by Bruce Atkinson: 08 June 2011 - 02:24 AM

[Bruce Atkinson]

lmemperador, on 07 June 2011 - 03:01 PM, said:

thanks bruce, your post is very detailed and helpful i think

well...i have updated to 0603 and everything is fine till now, angry birds seasons is more fluid? it seems to run better the graphics
but i could be wrong,

about the battery low level, still not tested, but good feelings with this rom (remember i have removed the reset ic)

Would you mind posting some pics of the process... I would love to do it myself but don't want to mess things up.

[gianluca.tomat]

as for freezing during flash happened also to me with 1056 (i have a *576 screen) just turn of the pad and reflash (without the spl) and you should be fine!!

[gianluca.tomat]

bruce the link for nfs is not working nor i can download the apk from zt server manually.. can someone mirror it?? thanks everybody..