[DLung]

UPDATE & WARNING

If you receive a new M11 with the 09228 firmware, DO NOT upload the 0805 update from Merimobiles. Once I loaded it I lost audio (dmesg reports alsa: No device found) and the portrait display is always upside down. This implies there may be some hardware changes in the newer Meiying M11 units.

I'll be working with the backup files I saved to see if there is anyway I can get the audio and correct display back and would appreciate any help.

...Doug


I just received my Meiying M11 16GB tablet from Merimobiles. I'm very pleased with the display, wifi and overall performance. It appears to have a newer version of firmware than I've seen on Merimobiles or elsewhere on the web.

# begin build properties
# autogenerated by buildinfo.sh
ro.build.id=GINGERBREAD
ro.build.display.id=rk29sdk-eng 2.3.1 GINGERBREAD eng.hey.20110928.190910 test-keys
ro.build.version.incremental=eng.hey.20110928.190910
ro.build.version.sdk=9
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=2.3.1
ro.build.date=2011年 09月 28日 星期三 19:10:11 CST
ro.build.date.utc=1317208211
ro.build.type=eng
ro.build.user=hey
ro.build.host=ubuntu
ro.build.tags=test-keys
ro.product.model=M11
ro.product.brand=rockchip
ro.product.name=rk29sdk
ro.product.device=rk29sdk
ro.product.board=rk29sdk
ro.product.cpu.abi=armeabi-v7a
ro.product.cpu.abi2=armeabi
ro.product.manufacturer=unknown
ro.product.locale.language=zh
ro.product.locale.region=CN
ro.wifi.channels=
ro.board.platform=rk29
# ro.build.product is obsolete; use ro.product.device
ro.build.product=rk29sdk
# Do not try to parse ro.build.description or .fingerprint
ro.build.description=rk29sdk-eng 2.3.1 GINGERBREAD eng.hey.20110928.190910 test-keys
ro.build.fingerprint=rockchip/rk29sdk/rk29sdk:2.3.1/GINGERBREAD/eng.hey.20110928.190910:eng/test-keys
# end build properties

#
# ADDITIONAL_BUILD_PROPERTIES
#
keyguard.no_require_sim=true
ro.com.android.dateformat=MM-dd-yyyy
ro.com.android.dataroaming=true
ro.ril.hsxpa=1
ro.ril.gprsclass=10
ro.config.notification_sound=OnTheHunt.ogg
ro.config.alarm_alert=Alarm_Classic.ogg
ro.opengles.version=131072
dalvik.vm.heapsize=48m
wifi.interface=wlan0
wifi.supplicant_scan_interval=15
persist.webview.minscale=0.5
persist.webview.maxscale=2
persist.webview.wml=disable
product.version=rk29_gingerbread_v1.33.03
EXTERNAL_STORAGE_STATE=removed
persist.sys.timezone=Asia/Shanghai
ro.sf.lcd_density=200
ro.sf.hwrotation=270
ro.kernel.android.checkjni=1
ro.setupwizard.mode=OPTIONAL
dalvik.vm.dexopt-flags=m=y
net.bt.name=Android
dalvik.vm.stack-trace-file=/data/anr/traces.txt

The image files in the downloaded rockdev/image folder in the firmware on the Merimobiles site (http://www.yousendit...RNDQ5NVh2Wmc9PQ) have file dates no later than August 5, 2011.

I'm going to take a chance and install the older Merimobiles firmware and use the tools Roman was kind enough to post to fix build.prop and get root access. The 0928 factory image does not allow installation of Google Maps (at least from Market), the keyboard sometimes shifts back to Chinese (putting out multiple Chinese characters for each English character I type) and of course without root access I can't install Better Terminal Pro or backup my system (or restore settings from my old tablet) using Titanium Backup Pro.

I've made copies of the 20110928 MTDs on my M11 16GB using ADB (both with cat and dd, just to be safe) and will play around with them when I get some more time if the 0805 firmware doesn't work as well as the 0928 version. If any of the developers here are interested in these files, I can compress them (rar, gzip, bzip2 -- your choice) and post them on my server for you to download. Because I'm not sure if any of the files have my Google account info in them, I don't want to make them available for general download just yet.

Does anyone have any additional information on this apparently new firmware or a link to a clean version of it, in case my backups won't work?

This post has been edited by DLung: 11 November 2011 - 10:26 AM

[Cactus John]

DLung, on 10 November 2011 - 08:16 PM, said:

UPDATE & WARNING

If you receive a new M11 with the 09228 firmware, DO NOT upload the 0805 update from Merimobiles. Once I loaded it I lost audio (dmesg reports alsa: No device found) and the portrait display is always upside down. This implies there may be some hardware changes in the newer Meiying M11 units.

I'll be working with the backup files I saved to see if there is anyway I can get the audio and correct display back and would appreciate any help.

...Doug


The image files in the downloaded rockdev/image folder in the firmware on the Merimobiles site (http://www.yousendit...RNDQ5NVh2Wmc9PQ) have file dates no later than August 5, 2011.

I'm going to take a chance and install the older Merimobiles firmware and use the tools Roman was kind enough to post to fix build.prop and get root access. The 0928 factory image does not allow installation of Google Maps (at least from Market), the keyboard sometimes shifts back to Chinese (putting out multiple Chinese characters for each English character I type) and of course without root access I can't install Better Terminal Pro or backup my system (or restore settings from my old tablet) using Titanium Backup Pro.

I've made copies of the 20110928 MTDs on my M11 16GB using ADB (both with cat and dd, just to be safe) and will play around with them when I get some more time if the 0805 firmware doesn't work as well as the 0928 version. If any of the developers here are interested in these files, I can compress them (rar, gzip, bzip2 -- your choice) and post them on my server for you to download. Because I'm not sure if any of the files have my Google account info in them, I don't want to make them available for general download just yet.

Does anyone have any additional information on this apparently new firmware or a link to a clean version of it, in case my backups won't work?

The firmware posted on Merimobiles for the 16GB M11 is indeed 0805 (although mislabeled on the initial DL link as "0825"), the same as had been installed on my M11 when delivered. I successfully used the Merimobiles version to root my tablet (replacing system.img) without a hitch. I hope you're wrong about hardware changes as that would leave those of us with older units at a dead end.

For those with the 8GB M11, Merimobiles now has firmware for your device as well, carrying the date 0816.

I'd love to hear of another source of Meiying firmware if anyone knows of it. The mfr's website does not provide support.

[DLung]

Cactus John, on 11 November 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

The firmware posted on Merimobiles for the 16GB M11 is indeed 0805 (although mislabeled on the initial DL link as "0825"), the same as had been installed on my M11 when delivered. I successfully used the Merimobiles version to root my tablet (replacing system.img) without a hitch. I hope you're wrong about hardware changes as that would leave those of us with older units at a dead end.

For those with the 8GB M11, Merimobiles now has firmware for your device as well, carrying the date 0816.

I'd love to hear of another source of Meiying firmware if anyone knows of it. The mfr's website does not provide support.

After contacting Merimobiles and looking at the differences in the firmware, my unit appears to be different hardware as well. It came in a box labelled "M11 HD" and while most of the label is Chinese it says "1G ROM, 1G RAM, 1.2GHz CPU". The older versions had 512 MB of RAM, this one has 1 GB of RAM.

The camera appears to be slightly different, which is why I get random red and blue lines in it with the old firmware. The dmesg on ALSA is "WM8900 0-001a: Device is not a WM8999 - ID 0". It then says "ALSA device list: No soundcards found." The sensor is obviously different, although that may only be its physical mounting, because the portrait mode is upside down.

Merimobiles is contacting Meiying to get the 0928 version of the M11 HD firmware. Once I have that reinstalled, I hope I'll be able to provide a better list of the differences.

I realized there was a risk when I "updated" the firmware with 0805, but without a copy of the 0928 firmware to root and switch build.prop to English and "US" it was very limited -- Market wouldn't even let me install Google Maps! So, over all, even with your slightly older hardware you've got a unit that's functioning better than my shiny new one, either with the unmodified factory firmware or the rooted older firmware.

...Doug

[Roman2025]

DLung, on 12 November 2011 - 01:17 PM, said:

After contacting Merimobiles and looking at the differences in the firmware, my unit appears to be different hardware as well. It came in a box labelled "M11 HD" and while most of the label is Chinese it says "1G ROM, 1G RAM, 1.2GHz CPU". The older versions had 512 MB of RAM, this one has 1 GB of RAM.

The camera appears to be slightly different, which is why I get random red and blue lines in it with the old firmware. The dmesg on ALSA is "WM8900 0-001a: Device is not a WM8999 - ID 0". It then says "ALSA device list: No soundcards found." The sensor is obviously different, although that may only be its physical mounting, because the portrait mode is upside down.

Merimobiles is contacting Meiying to get the 0928 version of the M11 HD firmware. Once I have that reinstalled, I hope I'll be able to provide a better list of the differences.

I realized there was a risk when I "updated" the firmware with 0805, but without a copy of the 0928 firmware to root and switch build.prop to English and "US" it was very limited -- Market wouldn't even let me install Google Maps! So, over all, even with your slightly older hardware you've got a unit that's functioning better than my shiny new one, either with the unmodified factory firmware or the rooted older firmware.

...Doug

Meiying has done a rather poor job of providing firmware for this device (specifically the M11, not the M11+). They made such a nice device it is a shame they have not been as good with after sales support

[DLung]

Roman2025, on 16 November 2011 - 10:30 PM, said:

Meiying has done a rather poor job of providing firmware for this device (specifically the M11, not the M11+). They made such a nice device it is a shame they have not been as good with after sales support

Hi Roman -

Merimobiles apparently got the firmware I need late today. Their support has been very helpful and I'm hoping I'll have it tomorrow, but Monday is more likely. If it works with Wendal's tools, I should be able to get root and change the build.prop to allow Google Maps to install, the one thing that led me down the path to ruin with the 512 MB firmware. I'll let the forum know how it goes. I had no luck restoring the original firmware from the MTD images I made before doing the upgrade. None of the programs I had (or found) were able to decompress or unarchive the boot image, which appears to be where the problems are coming from. To make matters work, the 512 MB firmware/loader wrote partitions to different MTD's than the original firmware. A straight "dd" or flash_image write to the MTDs didn't work. I'd probably need to do it at a lower level -- wiping out the lower NAND. I didn't want to take that risk.

I'm beginning to think I should have gone with the Bmorn 8". They have a web site in English and the price is right, although it does have less RAM. We'll see after I get the replacement firmware.

...Doug

[DLung]

UPDATE:

I received the 16 GB / 1 GB RAM firmware from Merimobiles and was able to get my M11HD back to its original condition after installing it using RKBatchTool V1.4. Everything now works as it did originally -- build.prop puts me in China with Chinese (zh?) as the default language. Market is very limited == many popular apps, including Angry Birds, show up as incompatible with the device and won't install. These applications (including Google Maps) install fine using a downloaded APK.

Now I'd like to see if there is any way to modify build.prop and, if possible, root the firmware. The problem is that unlike the earlier RK2918 updates, this one has only one file, M11_#22.img and I can't find anything to unpack it. None of the programs in Roman's package (from Wendel) seem to work on it.

unyaffs doesn't work in Windows or Linux, but provides some info in Windows that might be helpful:

T:\M11>unyaffs.exe M11_#22.img
      0 [main] unyaffs 7344 _cygtls::handle_exceptions: Exception: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION
   1323 [main] unyaffs 7344 open_stackdumpfile: Dumping stack trace to unyaffs.exe.stackdump
  23455 [main] unyaffs 7344 _cygtls::handle_exceptions: Exception: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION
  24658 [main] unyaffs 7344 _cygtls::handle_exceptions: Error while dumping state (probably corrupted stack)

Let me know if the stackdump file would be useful.

AFPTool.exe fails at "check file" and cramfs can't find the superblock magic. rkDecrypt.exe ran without errors but it didn't appear to do anything. Under Linux, when trying to mount it as a loop device it wants a file system type. Neither ext2, ext3, ext4 and vfat work.

Anyone have some other ideas for me to try or links with possible solutions?

Thanks!

This post has been edited by DLung: 22 November 2011 - 01:49 PM

[carloseduardomoura]

Hi, I have one M11 16gb with 512ram, I tried to do the update becouse my m11 wifi is very poor, I change the antena of my router but nothing happen to the signal.

When I conect my device to my computer the usb driver is not found, do you know where I can find it? Merimobilis suport said to me it is find in the 8GB version , but I dont't find anithing.

Can someone help me?

Thanks

Carlos

[DLung]

carloseduardomoura, on 03 December 2011 - 04:28 PM, said:

Hi, I have one M11 16gb with 512ram, I tried to do the update becouse my m11 wifi is very poor, I change the antena of my router but nothing happen to the signal.

When I conect my device to my computer the usb driver is not found, do you know where I can find it? Merimobilis suport said to me it is find in the 8GB version , but I dont't find anithing.

Can someone help me?

Thanks

Carlos

The USB driver should be in the "rockdev" folder of the Merimobiles download -- rkusbComm.dll. It was in the 16GB / 512MB ram firmware archive that I downloaded (and incorrectly applied to my 1 GB ram unit).

This link from Roman at TopNotchTablets.com, while targeted at the Wopad, has some good information on firmware upgrades for RK2918 devices -- you might find the instructions helpful:
http://www.slatedroi...pad-2-firmware/

I installed the USB driver from Roman's file when working with the Wopad i8 and it worked fine for the Meiying M11.

By the way, this unit is very easy to open, so if the upgrade doesn't work, you may want to pop the back off and check the antenna position. I had to open mine to reattach the camera cable after seeing a lot of noise on the cameras. I'll post instructions on this with photos when I get some time.

...Doug

This post has been edited by DLung: 05 December 2011 - 07:58 AM

[carloseduardomoura]

DLung, on 05 December 2011 - 07:57 AM, said:

The USB driver should be in the "rockdev" folder of the Merimobiles download -- rkusbComm.dll. It was in the 16GB / 512MB ram firmware archive that I downloaded (and incorrectly applied to my 1 GB ram unit).

This link from Roman at TopNotchTablets.com, while targeted at the Wopad, has some good information on firmware upgrades for RK2918 devices -- you might find the instructions helpful:
http://www.slatedroi...pad-2-firmware/

I installed the USB driver from Roman's file when working with the Wopad i8 and it worked fine for the Meiying M11.

By the way, this unit is very easy to open, so if the upgrade doesn't work, you may want to pop the back off and check the antenna position. I had to open mine to reattach the camera cable after seeing a lot of noise on the cameras. I'll post instructions on this with photos when I get some time.

...Doug

Thank you, it works fine,

But the wifi still poor, , please post your pictures to show us how open the tablet, maybe the antenna is out of it position, this tablet travel around the world to arrive to me in Brasil!

Thank you,

Best regards,

Carlos

[DLung]

Hi Carlos -

I'm traveling this week so it might be a while until I can get photos up. Here is a text description.

First, put the power switch slider in the up, locked position.

To open your M11, holding the unit face down on a soft surface (towel or cloth so you don't scratch the screen) push a strong thumbnail (or perhaps other fingernail if sturdy) into the gap between the front panel, holding all of the electronics, and the back cover. The best spot to start this is behind the volume/menu/esc keys at the top of the unit where the front bezel is thin. The back panel should release at this point and pop up. Work the thumbnail around the unit, counter-clockwise (to the left looking at the back, around the side and right across the bottom of the M11), releasing the tabs holding the back.

Getting it separated on the side with the connectors takes more care. Using your fingernail, try to unlock the tabs on this side and gradually lift the back up until you can clear all of the connectors. There are no wires on the back to worry about, but DO NOT FORCE IT -- just be patient and keep gently moving it around and working it until it clears. The push buttons for the switches will likely fall out somewhere during this process so don't lose them!

The Wi-Fi antenna on mine was a grey wire stretching across the top of the tablet from the left to the right where the buttons are. Mine had a metal piece on the right end of the wire but it didn't appear to be connected to anything else -- floating free. It might touch the back panel when it is in place. Make sure the metal piece isn't touching any bare metal on the main board (front) and the solder connection on the right side Wi-Fi board is solid. Mine runs right over the connection to the camera board, in the gap between the main board/batteries and the camera board. It should be as close to the top of the unit as possible. If it is squashed between the batteries and the metal back of the case that would explain the weak signal.

When putting the back on the unit, make sure the small slot in the power slider matches up with the tab on the power switch before pressing the back in place. If not, you'll be taking it apart again. It took me two or three tries to get it in place. While watching this, you'll also need to watch that the button strip doesn't fall out of the holes on the bezel.

Hope this helps! My M11HD is a bit better on Wi-Fi than my no-name Cortex A8 (FR805) tablet and Coby 7015 and much better than the Wopad I8. It is not as sensitive as my Lenovo Thinkpad, but the Thinkpad has a much better antenna around the LCD.

...Doug

[carloseduardomoura]

Hi Doug,

Thank you again, yor explain is very complete, but I think I am wait for the photos to do the operation.

Carlos

[carloseduardomoura]

Hi Doug, Here in Brasil , we have one speach "The curiosit Kill the cat", so, I didn´t resist, and I open my M11, I found the grey wire and the wifi antenna, I move a little to see if this change helps.
I think is a litlle better, but I think i broke my M11, the conector to power suply, almost get out, the hot glow escape from the mother board, and when the unit was open, i plug the conector to see if it is work, the led light turn on for one second, and then stops.
I closed the M11 and now it don´t charger more.
The big trouble to me is where I can find one Meiying tecnical center in Brasil!
I wil try to do something by my self, but, I don´t know what will happen!
Thanks about your instructions, it works well, just an acident happen.

Best Regards,

Carlos

[DLung]

Hi Carlos -

That's not good! I was worried about putting strain on the connectors when removing the back cover as I could see how easy it would be to damage one of them when lifting the back of the case away from the electronics.

If you bought your unit from Merimobiles, they have a person doing service in the U.S. You might look around to see if you can find an independent iPad repair shop -- likely a one or two person operation with someone who understands electronics and not just iPad. They will probably advertise that they can fix other devices like cell phones and perhaps laptops. Take a look at their workbench (do they have the right tools? They at least should have a multimeter) and have them show you some of their repair work.

It sounds like your unit is still working, just not charging, so that's good! It may just be a matter of replacing the connector or maybe as simple as resoldering the connection to the power in connector.

One thing I found with the M11 and its folding case is that one of the short tabs blocks the power in connector. You have lift the unit away from tab to get a solid connection, but since it was working before you probably already discovered that.

Sorry to hear about the glow. I hope you can get it all working again!

...Doug

[tkstaff]

Hello,
Here is a way to fix the market problem with 1GB Version of Meiying M11 and 0928 firmware:


Download the Root Tool
Remove the MicroSD card from your tablet if it is inserted, Go to Settings>Applications>Development
Make sure "USB debugging" is enabled.
Then, Connect the tablet to your PC with USB, Run the downloaded root_tools.exe and press the first button and wait for the second message. It should root your device and install Superuser with some other APKs. (In some cases your device may restart and restart may take longer than usual for the first time. But still the device should work, At least according to our test, It worked fine after the root)
After root you may connect your device to wifi and update the SU binary in superuser, But it is not required for this operation.
Now, Please download the freeES File Explorer and install it on your device. Then please download [url=http://www.t-kstore.com/download/build.prop] on your device, Open the installed ES File Manager, Press the menu icon or button, and go to
Go to Settings and under "Root Settpings" please check Root Explorer, Accept the warning from Superuser (Click Allow) and then click "Mount File System" (This should mount the system directory rw).

Now press the Back button/icon to exit the settings screen and return to the ES main screen, please long press the "Star" icon to enter the / directory of your device and go to the /system directory and rename the build.prop to build.prop.bak
Now, Copy the downloaded build.prop to the/system directory and restart your device. Now the market problem should be fixed. (Most applications are downloadable now)
Really hope this helps
Best regards,.

[DLung]

tkstaff, on 13 December 2011 - 11:22 AM, said:

Hello,
Here is a way to fix the market problem with 1GB Version of Meiying M11 and 0928 firmware:
...

Thanks tkstaff!

I'll give this a try and let you know how it works.

Do you see any reason I can't change the language and timezone in the build prop to EN and US? I've installed another keyboard so no problems with it dropping into Chinese the way it did before but it would be nice to have the right locale as the default.

...Doug

[tkstaff]

I guess you can change it, Probably won't affect the market. In fact I could not find the lines in the default build.prop of the M11 that prevented a lot of market applications from installing.
First I have tried to change the ro.product.locale.language=zh
ro.product.locale.region=CN
etc lines but that did not helped.
So I have simply replaced it with the build.prop above and after restart I could install all the apks in the market that had the "not compatible" message with the previous file.

[DLung]

Unfortunately, no luck with this.

I have the RK driver installed and the other RK tools work fine, as does ADB.

The Root_tool.exe doesn't seem to be detecting the unit. As soon as I press the first button, a message (rectangular box) with a /!\ yellow symbol at the top comes up. Clicking on that button gives a second message box (more square in size) with another /!\ yellow symbol at the top. I've tried this in conventional USB mode (just plugging in USB (message appears on the tablet) and in the mode I've used with ADB, holding down menu before plugging in the USB (RK29 device appears in "Devices"). I verified with root explorer that I don't have root access.

I wonder if this is an issue with device compatibility. My unit is the M11HD, with 1 GB ram and 16 GB nand. Is that what you tested with?

It would be nice to have root! If I knew what this tool was doing I could try to duplicate that in ADB.

...Doug

This post has been edited by DLung: 15 December 2011 - 08:11 PM

[tkstaff]

DLung, on 15 December 2011 - 08:05 PM, said:

Unfortunately, no luck with this.

I have the RK driver installed and the other RK tools work fine, as does ADB.

The Root_tool.exe doesn't seem to be detecting the unit. As soon as I press the first button, a message (rectangular box) with a /!\ yellow symbol at the top comes up. Clicking on that button gives a second message box (more square in size) with another /!\ yellow symbol at the top. I've tried this in conventional USB mode (just plugging in USB (message appears on the tablet) and in the mode I've used with ADB, holding down menu before plugging in the USB (RK29 device appears in "Devices"). I verified with root explorer that I don't have root access.

I wonder if this is an issue with device compatibility. My unit is the M11HD, with 1 GB ram and 16 GB nand. Is that what you tested with?

It would be nice to have root! If I knew what this tool was doing I could try to duplicate that in ADB.

...Doug

Hello,
I have tested it on Meiying M11 1024*768 1GB 16GB. But I have ran this tool on my laptop with Windows XP, Not tested on newer versions of Windows. I guess you can also try some other tool like Gingerbreak since it is Android 2.3.1. The last time I tried on some other device Gingerbreak could root 2.3.1 but could not 2.3.4 while the tool I posted could root both.

[tkstaff]

Maybe you need to try to remove the superuser you installed before running this tool? Also, It doesn't seem to work when MicroSD Card is inserted (You may still install MicroSD after the root)

[DLung]

tkstaff, on 16 December 2011 - 07:00 AM, said:

Maybe you need to try to remove the superuser you installed before running this tool? Also, It doesn't seem to work when MicroSD Card is inserted (You may still install MicroSD after the root)

No superuser installed -- just the stock 1G firmware from the latest update package. I saw your note on the MicroSD card and had removed it. I'm running Windows 7 -- that might be an issue. Do you know if it uses the RK USB Driver? I have that installed and working for ADB -- a possible conflict?

There is a post from db260179:
http://www.slatedroi...ng-linux-tools/
that should work for the Meiying M11HD. I was able to extract the firmware from the update package and mount the system.img for modification. While more complicated, that approach seems safer with more flexibility. The offsets look the same in that script but I need to change at least one of the sizes based on the Meiying parameters.