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Here is an easy to follow guide that will allow you to backup your system and data areas and build Custom Firmware to restore from.
This tutorial was written to allow you to backup your current Pandigital Novel and create a custom firmware file that you can use to restore (flash) your PDN back to its current state. The idea is to mod/hack your Novel and then install all of your Base and/or Preferred Apks. Tweak your system until you have it just the way you want it to be. Then you can backup your Novel creating current system.img and userdata.img (with or without dalvik-cache) files. With these you can create your own custom firmware files. This will allow for a Computer free restore from the SDCARD to your ideal setup. When a new firmware package is released you can use the userdata.img only and have a new system release with your ideal Apks installation.
Requirements:
Windows compatible PC
Android Drivers installed (one that recognize the PD Novel and work with adb)
mkfs.yaffs2 (for arm) http://jiggawatt.org/badc0de/android/mkfs.yaffs2.arm.tar.gz
My zip file with the correct batch files (see attachment)
7zip (Win32) Download 7-Zip from SourceForge.net
md5summer (Win32) http://www.md5summer.org/md5v12011.zip
The OEM release firmware file that is installed on your Novel.
Perform all of the desired modifications and install all of your desired apks on your novel. Make your system setting adjustments and apk configurations. When you have your Novel in your desired ?restore? condition proceed with the steps below.
Part 1: Backup Current Novel Data and System
Install 7zip for Windows on your computer.
Unzip my zip file to your desired location.
Uncompress (rar) the mkfs.yaffs2 to the directory you unzipped my zip file to
copy adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll & AdbWinUsbApi.dll to same directory
Copy the firmware file installed on your Novel into the same directory.
(I used 7_24_k firmware)
Run the FullBackup.bat (warning this will wipe your dalvik-cache after backing up)
This batch will perform the following:
copy mkfs.yaffs2 (arm) to the /cache dir of your Novel
back up your /data area to userdatabu.img
(it does this to the /cache area NOTE: 100M max avail, this means only 50M approx apks installation will work. I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the userdatabu.img file to the current Windows folder
delete the userdatabu.img file from the Novel
wipe the /data/dalvik-cache (freeing up a lot of space)
back up your /data area to userdatabunocache.img
(it does this to the /cache area NOTE: 100M max avail, this means only 50M approx apks installation will work. I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the userdatabu.img file to the current Windows folder
delete the userdatabu.img file from the Novel
back up the /system are to systembu.img
(I could not use /cache as the system size is 114M and cache has only 100M avail, this requires you to have 120M+ free in your /data area, I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the systembu.img to the current Windows folder
delete the systembu.img from the Novel
remove myfs.yaffs2 from the Novel
At the end of Part 1 you should have 3 files in the local directory all .img files. 2 of these will be inserted into the OEM firmware file to create your custom firmware flash file.
Part 2: Create Custom Firmware
decide which data backup you want (with or without cache)
rename the correct file to userdata.img
rename the systembu.img to system.img
run md5summer.exe and select the userdata.img and system.img files
add files and generate md5 checksum
save as cust.txt
open the cust.txt file with notepad
right click on the OEM firmware zip file, select open zip..
drag the system.img and userdata.img from the current directory into the open zip file window
select ok when prompted to replace files
in the open zip file window locate zip_check.md5, select edit file from menu
in the cust.txt file (open) select and copy the new md5 checksum for system.img
in the open zip_check.md5 select and paste the system.img checksum
in the cust.txt file (open) select and copy the new md5 checksum for userdata.img
in the open zip_check.md5 select and paste the userdata.img checksum
save and close the open zip_check.md5 file
7zip should prompt you that files have been changed, select ok to update/freshen
close 7zip (close the open OEM firmware)
this firmware file is nolonger OEM it now contains your custom restore
This resulting file can now be placed onto your SDCARD and flashed using the normal firmware flash procedure (power on + volume up)
Part 3: Creating updated firmware with newly released Firmeware updates
When a new firmware release is available from Pandigital the above process can be repeated omitting the system.img portions. You may use your userdata.img file created above, or create a new one using the backupdata.bat file I.L.O. The FullBackup.bat.
Obviously any system changes made will be lost, apks will be retained, dalvik-cache wiped userdata.img (userdatanocache.img) should be used.
thanks to roebeet for the mkfs.yaffs2 link and inspiration
This is a work in progress, the next tweak is to get access to /sdcard or /PD_Novel for image creations, removing the 100-120M limit for apk directory.
EDIT: Added backup to SDCARD capabilities.
EDIT: Added backup to PD_Novel (internal microSD) capabilities.
Added PermaLinks
This is a zip file with all the basic utilities needed. This was originally used to backup the system and data to the internal /cache area.
Everything in this zip file except the batch file is needed to perform the backups. The batch files have been replaced by the ones listed below.
Required files and batches for saving to cache: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackupDataSystemCreatecustomfirmware.zip
Current Batch files:
For the regular OEM based firmwares which have the PD_Novel volume accessible use the following:
For backing up to the SDCARD: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackuptoSDCARD.zip
For backing up to the PD_Novel: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackuptoPDNovel.zip
For the OP based firmwares where PD_Novel is mounted as /data/app (also mmcblk0 and mmcblk1 are reversed)
OP Utilities 1: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/PDN_OP_Stuff.zip
OP Utilities 2: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/PDN_OP_Stuff1.zip
This tutorial was written to allow you to backup your current Pandigital Novel and create a custom firmware file that you can use to restore (flash) your PDN back to its current state. The idea is to mod/hack your Novel and then install all of your Base and/or Preferred Apks. Tweak your system until you have it just the way you want it to be. Then you can backup your Novel creating current system.img and userdata.img (with or without dalvik-cache) files. With these you can create your own custom firmware files. This will allow for a Computer free restore from the SDCARD to your ideal setup. When a new firmware package is released you can use the userdata.img only and have a new system release with your ideal Apks installation.
Requirements:
Windows compatible PC
Android Drivers installed (one that recognize the PD Novel and work with adb)
mkfs.yaffs2 (for arm) http://jiggawatt.org/badc0de/android/mkfs.yaffs2.arm.tar.gz
My zip file with the correct batch files (see attachment)
7zip (Win32) Download 7-Zip from SourceForge.net
md5summer (Win32) http://www.md5summer.org/md5v12011.zip
The OEM release firmware file that is installed on your Novel.
Perform all of the desired modifications and install all of your desired apks on your novel. Make your system setting adjustments and apk configurations. When you have your Novel in your desired ?restore? condition proceed with the steps below.
Part 1: Backup Current Novel Data and System
Install 7zip for Windows on your computer.
Unzip my zip file to your desired location.
Uncompress (rar) the mkfs.yaffs2 to the directory you unzipped my zip file to
copy adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll & AdbWinUsbApi.dll to same directory
Copy the firmware file installed on your Novel into the same directory.
(I used 7_24_k firmware)
Run the FullBackup.bat (warning this will wipe your dalvik-cache after backing up)
This batch will perform the following:
copy mkfs.yaffs2 (arm) to the /cache dir of your Novel
back up your /data area to userdatabu.img
(it does this to the /cache area NOTE: 100M max avail, this means only 50M approx apks installation will work. I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the userdatabu.img file to the current Windows folder
delete the userdatabu.img file from the Novel
wipe the /data/dalvik-cache (freeing up a lot of space)
back up your /data area to userdatabunocache.img
(it does this to the /cache area NOTE: 100M max avail, this means only 50M approx apks installation will work. I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the userdatabu.img file to the current Windows folder
delete the userdatabu.img file from the Novel
back up the /system are to systembu.img
(I could not use /cache as the system size is 114M and cache has only 100M avail, this requires you to have 120M+ free in your /data area, I am working on a fix to use SDCARD or PD_Novel as dest)
pull the systembu.img to the current Windows folder
delete the systembu.img from the Novel
remove myfs.yaffs2 from the Novel
At the end of Part 1 you should have 3 files in the local directory all .img files. 2 of these will be inserted into the OEM firmware file to create your custom firmware flash file.
Part 2: Create Custom Firmware
decide which data backup you want (with or without cache)
rename the correct file to userdata.img
rename the systembu.img to system.img
run md5summer.exe and select the userdata.img and system.img files
add files and generate md5 checksum
save as cust.txt
open the cust.txt file with notepad
right click on the OEM firmware zip file, select open zip..
drag the system.img and userdata.img from the current directory into the open zip file window
select ok when prompted to replace files
in the open zip file window locate zip_check.md5, select edit file from menu
in the cust.txt file (open) select and copy the new md5 checksum for system.img
in the open zip_check.md5 select and paste the system.img checksum
in the cust.txt file (open) select and copy the new md5 checksum for userdata.img
in the open zip_check.md5 select and paste the userdata.img checksum
save and close the open zip_check.md5 file
7zip should prompt you that files have been changed, select ok to update/freshen
close 7zip (close the open OEM firmware)
this firmware file is nolonger OEM it now contains your custom restore
This resulting file can now be placed onto your SDCARD and flashed using the normal firmware flash procedure (power on + volume up)
Part 3: Creating updated firmware with newly released Firmeware updates
When a new firmware release is available from Pandigital the above process can be repeated omitting the system.img portions. You may use your userdata.img file created above, or create a new one using the backupdata.bat file I.L.O. The FullBackup.bat.
Obviously any system changes made will be lost, apks will be retained, dalvik-cache wiped userdata.img (userdatanocache.img) should be used.
thanks to roebeet for the mkfs.yaffs2 link and inspiration
This is a work in progress, the next tweak is to get access to /sdcard or /PD_Novel for image creations, removing the 100-120M limit for apk directory.
EDIT: Added backup to SDCARD capabilities.
EDIT: Added backup to PD_Novel (internal microSD) capabilities.
Added PermaLinks
This is a zip file with all the basic utilities needed. This was originally used to backup the system and data to the internal /cache area.
Everything in this zip file except the batch file is needed to perform the backups. The batch files have been replaced by the ones listed below.
Required files and batches for saving to cache: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackupDataSystemCreatecustomfirmware.zip
Current Batch files:
For the regular OEM based firmwares which have the PD_Novel volume accessible use the following:
For backing up to the SDCARD: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackuptoSDCARD.zip
For backing up to the PD_Novel: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/BackuptoPDNovel.zip
For the OP based firmwares where PD_Novel is mounted as /data/app (also mmcblk0 and mmcblk1 are reversed)
OP Utilities 1: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/PDN_OP_Stuff.zip
OP Utilities 2: http://www.timthegeek.net/nchntr/files/PDN_OP_Stuff1.zip