[mrsburnout]

I am going to stick this thread and consider it a help area for new users with the 2012 FW's.


Again, I have limited time online, and in order to prevent further instances of private help requests that belong on the board, and to benefit all, I am posting the contents of a PM (which under normal circumstances I would not do, but feel the content should be public and not clutter my pm's ... thanks for understanding)




PM sent to me titled "Can you point me the right way please"

HappyHopeOnline, on 21 September 2012 - 08:35 AM, said:

I have a Pandigital Novel (white) I've been reading up on the hack to expand it's options to Android. But in my readings I'm stuck on the firmware I should be shooting for. I picked this one up on Amazon and it's a referbish. My firmware is DPC1-20120214_B_pd_inx7e_eng_6410pop. I'm thinking SH20, and I dont have a locked bookshelf. Can you point me to the correct form I should be reading on please. I've spend a good chunk of the night reading that I'm going cross eye. Thanks in advance, Hope

mrsburnout, on 21 September 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

First of all it is wise to use caution, since the FWs and most information here refer to the 2010 S10 series / 2011 SH20 series FWs. There have also been a couple reports (unverified) of different volt charging adaptors that suggest possible hardware differences.

I hope you don't mind, but I am going to include mac1_131 in this message, since he has helped recover a couple devices with 2012 FW after they had attempted to revert to 2010/2011 FW. verified here - http://www.slatedroi...160#entry418160

Your FW is a 2012 revision. Are you sure you have the naming convention correct? Where did you purchase it and what is the Model number? This would be a first, since the first reports of 2012 FW's and bricks started here: http://www.slatedroi...s10-or-sh20-fw/

mac1_131 has C1SL20_20120224_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP discussed here - http://www.slatedroi...wwhf1-firmware/

Another 2012 FW help thread here: http://www.slatedroi...-2012-firmware/


Zeppelinman has reported compatibility with the SH20 FW's (also another wpdn "in a little black dress") but his revision is PDC1_20120214_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP here: http://www.slatedroi...7e-eng-6410pop/

Okay, I have a full schedule this weekend and hope this starts you reading in the right direction. Please clarify your details from the settings/about device menu and hopefully mac1_131 will have a chance to chime in.

Welcome to SLD.

HappyHopeOnline, on 21 September 2012 - 11:50 AM, said:

Thanks for the reply first off. I'm a day sleeper so I'm hearing to bed here in a bit. Any how, i picked this up on amazon obber cheap with full intention to tinker with it in and out. The model number looks to be PD_Novel, build number says 2012.02.14 but licences says its a open source license. Now this is a refurbished unit. I'm wondering if someone had the same thought as me and stared the tinkering. I hope I'm not playing catch up. Time to sleep catch you in a few hours. Thanks again

mac1_131, on 21 September 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

Mrs Burnout is correct on everything she is telling you.

There seem to be two versions of 2012 firmware that came out. In both cases, Pandigital has not released the firmware to the public that they used in these units.

In the past, they always released the firmware, and we could make modified ROMs knowing that you could always go back to the old firmware if you wanted to. Plus the unit had a copy of the firmware on it's internal sdcard when they shipped. That does not seem to be the case any more.

But now that they are not releasing the firmware, that makes putting any enhancements in these units a bit risky. Several folks bricked their units when they tried to install the 2011 or 2010 full ROMs on them, so whatever you do, don't do that as the old kernel will brick the unit and it will be a hassle to recover it.

We were able to recover a few of the bricked units, after I went to Walmart and bought one of them, and snatched the kernel out of one before any mods were done to it.

It probably is safe to put in kewlguy's a la carte flashes that add the android market (Gapps), several have done that successfully. If you do that, do it knowing the original firmware is not available, and you also need to put in my flash that reverts the framework back to it's original framework AFTER you get the market up and running. Right now, the revert flash I have is only for the 0224 firmware. You say you have 0214 firmware, which is a few days older and may or may not be different.

The safe bet would be to use ADB to pull the framework and build.prop out and store it in a safe place so that they can be reverted after the Gapps flash goes in. Like I say, I have it for the 0224 version but not for the 0214 version.

THESE ARE ADVANCED MODS - be careful and make sure you know what you are doing with these new firmware versions. Chances are good in time more info will come out. It would all happen a lot faster if Pandigital would release the original firmware.

DO *NOT* flash the SH20 full firmware on your unit - it will probably brick it.

I would also advise putting clockwork recovery on the unit before making any changes to it, which would assist in recovering it if things went wrong.

So now you can see, at least for the moment, this is a minefield.

What exactly are you trying to add, anyway? The only thing I could think of is the Android market.

HappyHopeOnline, on 22 September 2012 - 12:37 AM, said:

Just the android market at this time. I'll give it a look over after the weekend. I have more resources open to me at work. Thank you again, everyone

mrsburnout, on 22 September 2012 - 11:07 AM, said:

Okay then ... since I have limited time online these days and feel this type of content belongs on the forum to benefit all, I am taking the contents of this PM and posting it on the board in the (let's consider it ) the 2012 "new users" help thread (which I will pin) here: http://www.slatedroi...-2012-firmware/

Kind Regards, and good luck with your pdn's.

Edit: updated POST NEWBIE QUESTIONS HERE with a link to this thread.

This post has been edited by mrsburnout: 23 September 2012 - 04:46 AM
Reason for edit: *note

[Talya]

Want to know something weird and wonderful?

After a month of ignoring them (I never uninstalled them since they halfway worked), my Amazon apps are FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

I have the newest version of Kindle Android it is working fine. I can download Android read any book now.

Android most importantly- I have the CURRENT version of the Amazon Appstore. Thus far downloading and opening apps like it was born to do it.

[Talya]

Talya, on 24 September 2012 - 09:08 PM, said:

Want to know something weird and wonderful?

After a month of ignoring them (I never uninstalled them since they halfway worked), my Amazon apps are FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

I have the newest version of Kindle Android it is working fine. I can download Android read any book now.

Android most importantly- I have the CURRENT version of the Amazon Appstore. Thus far downloading and opening apps like it was born to do it.

And the only thing I did different today was to add an external SD card so I could play music. Perhaps that's all it needed- it was just too shy to say anything?

This post has been edited by Talya: 24 September 2012 - 09:15 PM

[LaSponge]

i see i am having the same proble as hippy i have the same fw it seems so to make sure i understand it correctly i should back up my fw just in case then i should flash the ?gapps? for the android market from kwelguy, am i correct or am i still missing something????

any help and feedback will be helpful, thank you


if you need it
Model number: PD_NOVEL

FIRMWARE VIRSION: SH20_20120214_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP

KERNEL VERSION: 2.6.29 eric@ubuntu #1 THU JAN 5 15:52:10 CST 2012

BUILD NUMBER: PD_NOVEL 2012.02.14

ON BACK SHOWS MODEL NUMBER AS : R7T40WWHF2

Mod EDIT:

CORRECTION: responded to your post in the newbie thread here: http://www.slatedroi...700#entry470565

I am uncertain how you came to your incorrect assumption regarding your firmware revision.

LET THIS BE NOTICE TO ALL: Be careful what you flash to your device and absolutely certain which FW you have before altering your wPDNs -- Downgrading FW's from 2011 FWs to 2010 FWs have created bricks without the proper precautions provided by SLD. Bricks have been reported downgrading from some 2012 FWs and some have been successfully modified as well - ymmv

There are no known stock SH20 Firmwares with a 2012 naming convention. <--@LaSponge- I have modified your sig line to reflect this as well.

//edit

This post has been edited by mrsburnout: 05 January 2013 - 09:48 PM
Reason for edit: Inserted my original reply, used to hijack the topic

[mrsburnout]

Talya, on 18 August 2012 - 05:10 PM, said:

Okay. I think I am falling victim to the curse of having too much info and I'm a bit lost....snip...

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Stay tuned 2012 FW pdn owners...

and my apologies Talya, but I am taking over and updating your topic. Your contributions, especially since you posted what worked for you, are appreciated and I have given you +1 for getting this topic started in the first place.

Topic being locked temporarily for updates to the first post. --

Thanks for your patience.

edit: Updated first post ... still under construction ... may be a day or two before I can finish. -topic unlocked -- http://www.slatedroi...-2012-firmware/

This post has been edited by mrsburnout: 10 January 2013 - 11:03 AM

[carjo24]

sainthooligan, on 02 January 2013 - 02:21 PM, said:

A bit more details can go a long way around here...and by providing as little information as you possibly could, the question should be a read only also...lol

The info in the guide may not directly apply to certain versions of experimental, almost working or mostly working versions of FW for this device.
At the time of the authoring of the thread, it was geared to the most solid FW version (the 3/2 FW at the time...and for the record, I'm still running the 3/2 FW with mods on this for the kids and this thing works just fine)and mods for this device.
So, that said, you simply cannot ask a general question without providing more useful information.
For instance, useful information includes such enlightening pieces of information such as:
Which device are you on?
Which FW are you using?
What did you do/what happened before the issue started?
What the hell is oucommand?
Did you try adb remount because it sounds like you are getting an error that says read only.

Hello,

I bricked my WPDN when trying to root it using a method intended for a "normal" PDN. The device actually worked for a while, but after I charged it for a couple of hours it didn't want to turn back on. The charge indicator light up when plugged in and I can connect through abd. I found this forum thread and am hoping one of the methods listed above will fix it.

I am also getting a read only error when trying adb push. I ran adb remount, it said it was successful, but I still get the read only error when trying to push the recovery.img and bootloader.img files. My WPDN is running as root. Do you know how to change to read/write so that I can push the files?

Thanks!

[mrsburnout]

carjo24, on 12 January 2013 - 04:30 AM, said:

Hello,

I bricked my WPDN when trying to root it using a method intended for a "normal" PDN. The device actually worked for a while, but after I charged it for a couple of hours it didn't want to turn back on. The charge indicator light up when plugged in and I can connect through abd. I found this forum thread and am hoping one of the methods listed above will fix it.

I am also getting a read only error when trying adb push. I ran adb remount, it said it was successful, but I still get the read only error when trying to push the recovery.img and bootloader.img files. My WPDN is running as root. Do you know how to change to read/write so that I can push the files?

Thanks!

What do you mean by a "normal" PDN?

Where did you get this method? Link Please.

[carjo24]

mrsburnout, on 12 January 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

What do you mean by a "normal" PDN?

Where did you get this method? Link Please.

Hi,

By normal PDN, I mean a white Pandigital Novel that was not purchased at Walmart. A couple friends of mine asked me to root their tablets. One was from walmart and the other they bought from amazon. I assumed they were both the same tablet and rooted them the same way. I had seen this tablet being rooted before by simply loading a zipped file onto the sd card, then turning on the tablet by holding the volume up button and the on switch for a few seconds. The file unzips and the end result is a rooted tablet. So this is what I did and here is the link to the file: http://www.mediafire...a8xa0fdsbzi5n1y
The one from amazon rooted just fine and I'm having no problems with it. I used the same method from the Walmart tablet and it no longer turns on, like I described before. I really didn't do as much research on the tablet as I should have and now I'm stuck with a bricked one.

[mrsburnout]

carjo24, on 12 January 2013 - 01:03 PM, said:

Hi,

By normal PDN, I mean a white Pandigital Novel that was not purchased at Walmart. A couple friends of mine asked me to root their tablets. One was from walmart and the other they bought from amazon. I assumed they were both the same tablet and rooted them the same way. I had seen this tablet being rooted before by simply loading a zipped file onto the sd card, then turning on the tablet by holding the volume up button and the on switch for a few seconds. The file unzips and the end result is a rooted tablet. So this is what I did and here is the link to the file: http://www.mediafire...a8xa0fdsbzi5n1y
The one from amazon rooted just fine and I'm having no problems with it. I used the same method from the Walmart tablet and it no longer turns on, like I described before. I really didn't do as much research on the tablet as I should have and now I'm stuck with a bricked one.

Make / model / FW revision is important.

Not sure where your root novel file is from? Please post a link to the site where the link to that file is posted.

You will want to carefully read through mac1_131's topic if it is an actual wal-mart pdn. here: http://www.slatedroi...641#entry415641

Good luck.

p.s. going to split these off-topic posts and send them to the 2012FW help thread...here:
http://www.slatedroi...-2012-firmware/

[wilks41637]

Why is there a difference in amazon and wal-mart? arn't they the same?

[mrsburnout]

wilks41637, on 18 February 2013 - 11:03 AM, said:

Why is there a difference in amazon and wal-mart? arn't they the same?

No. and IIRC... mac1_131's charger is different out of the box... [not sure what/if any other hardware differences there are]

sooo... be careful and read through the links in the first post...

Good luck and welcome to SLD.

[MisterT48]

I seem to be going round in circles reading and re-reading threads about the White Pandigital. I don't want to hack it or load different firmware versions (unless I can really help it!) - but need some answers relating to handling downloads via email. I don't want to hijack this thread but need to make a post so that I can post the real problem and maybe get some help.

Thanks.

[streetfarm]

mrsburnout, on 18 August 2012 - 05:10 PM, said:

First post under construction.... Talya's original quote from this topic that I am hijacking will remain below.

thanks for your patience

I am tired of reposting links and directing people who do not know how to utilize the forum or wiki to learn before attempting modifications to their devices. Then I get n00bs like LaSponge (my original reply below his quote is the post I used to hijack Tayla's) so I'm going to start this help topic off with some useful links for newbies. Please read and learn BEFORE you render your devices unusable.

Taken from my reply in the 2011 FW New User's thread here: http://www.slatedroi...post__p__473810

People - Please don't make us drag information from you. Like this guy http://www.slatedroi...ally-need-help/ -- please do not make the same mistakes. We need much more information since the 2012 FWs appeared..

Wiki - Introduction to the Pandigital Novel



White PDN Owners START HERE

REQUIRED Reading: PDN FW Development Board

POST NEWBIE QUESTIONS HERE

Announcement: ATTN: Pandigital Novel/Tablet Users


DO NOT FLASH PANDIGITAL'S S20 OPEN PLATFORM KIT! -- THIS WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR DEVICE -- IT WILL MAKE IT UNUSABLE!


Current 2012 FW discussions - Read the entire topics / Understand / RE-read / be certain your device is compatible / Use at your own risk.

mac1_131 - Walmart WPDN R7T40WWHF1 firmware

Zeppelinman_2000 - R7T40WBLF0 - PDC1_20120214_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP

general warning topic created when the 2012 FW's first appeared - Do Not Downgrade WPDN from SL20_20120224 to S10 or SH20 FW

Good luck (there is hope) if you screwed yours up.

Happy reading..



CORRECTION: responded to your post in the newbie thread here: http://www.slatedroi...700#entry470565

I am uncertain how you came to your incorrect assumption regarding your firmware revision.

LET THIS BE NOTICE TO ALL: Be careful what you flash to your device and absolutely certain which FW you have before altering your wPDNs -- Downgrading FW's from 2011 FWs to 2010 FWs have created bricks without the proper precautions provided by SLD. Bricks have been reported downgrading from some 2012 FWs and some have been successfully modified as well - ymmv

There are no known stock SH20 Firmwares with a 2012 naming convention. <--@LaSponge- I have modified your sig line to reflect this as well.

Just wanted to say hi, and what a great site you're running here. Unfortunately I discovered you just after I ran the 'Android Open Platform Kit' on my WPDN (R7T40WWHF2). It still seems to work, but it has changed the firmware from PDC1_20120214_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP to S20_09_30_B_PD_INX7E_ENG_6410POP, and no longer has a market app. (SamSlide is no longer present). I will read through your pages to see if I should recover the original firmware or go for an upgrade. Regards, Phil.