Hi All, On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 3:23 PM, Siarhei Siamashka <siarhei.siamas...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thu, 18 Sep 2014 09:36:55 +1000 > Julian Calaby <julian.cal...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> Earlier this year, HP released the following three tablets: >> (Australian store links due to the specifications listing the SoC's >> name) >> >> HP 7 Plus: >> http://h20386.www2.hp.com/AustraliaStore/Product.aspx?pdetail=P333853 >> HP 8: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/AustraliaStore/Product.aspx?pdetail=P327832 >> HP 10 Plus: >> http://h20386.www2.hp.com/AustraliaStore/Product.aspx?pdetail=P339093 >> >> All of which appear to be based around the A31s SoC. >> >> As they're pretty cheap for a "big name" brand's tablets, I'm planning >> to obtain one. >> >> Has anyone else laid hands on any A31s devices yet? And if so, has any >> work started on supporting them?
I bought a 7 Plus over the weekend, and apart from dismal battery life it's a significant improvement on my crappy A10 tablet (iNet 3FBT in a Kogan Agora) The Android install on it feels just like my partner's Asus TF300. It appears to be a disguised version of Allwinner's 4.2.2 (Jellybean) Android version as there's a couple of little details that remind me of my A10 tablet: The most obvious is the notifications for plugging, mounting and removing USB devices or microSD cards are very basic. More subtle is that if you hold either of them diagonally by one of their top corners, angled 45 degrees away from you, they do something weird: the Agora can't figure out it's orientation, the 7 Plus emits a long string of key presses that confuse Google Play Store. Processor: QuadCore-A7 Model Number: HP 7 Plus Android Version: 4.2.2 Kernel Version: 3.3.0 zhangaiguo@SzExdroid10 #44 Tue Mar 25 14:15:51 CST 2014 Build Number: 1.1.5_WW-ILEX-13 Shockingly, it can mount thumb drives connected through an OTG cable to the micro-USB port. Frustratingly, it can't decide if the volume down button is a back button or not. It's also not pre-rooted. > I also have started considering to get an Allwinner based tablet > since a couple of weeks ago. So far all my devices are just various > development boards and one Mele TV box, which is not very different > from a development board in terms of features. > > The first attempt was a failure. I tried to buy a relatively cheap 10" > no-name tablet (but with HDMI and 1GB of RAM), which was advertised > as Allwinner A20 by the seller. But it turned out to be in fact using > an Actions ATM7029B SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A5 CPU (disguised > as "Leopard Gen.I CPU core"). Big disappointment! And a total loss > of trust in this method of obtaining hardware. Though even if the > SoC was the right one, the build quality leaves a lot to be desired > and the screen is just horrible (colors and viewing angles). Maybe > other people had better experience, but I'm not going this route > again. > > So now I'm also trying the "big name" brand buying strategy for a > change :-) The HP tablets look nice, but they don't have a HDMI > connector, which is a deal breaker for me. Another alternative are > some nice tablets from MSI. More specifically, these ones: > http://www.msi.com/product/windpad/Primo_73.html#hero-specification > http://www.msi.com/product/windpad/Primo_81.html#hero-specification > On a negative side, just like HP tablets, they have no bluetooth and > no dedicated charger connector. Primo 73 has a TN display (potentially > worse quality) and the Allwiner A20 SoC (worse performance than A31s, > but better support in linux-sunxi and no PowerVR). > > HP provides nice service manuals for their tablets, for example > one can google for "HP 7 Plus Tablet and HP 7.1 Tablet Maintenance > and Service Guide". Which provides detailed instructions about how > to take them apart and replace components. It is interesting that > this HP 7 Plus tablet is supposed to be equipped with 1.0-GB > LP-DDR2 (!) memory. If anyone has this hardware and can extract > the FEX file, it would be extremely interesting. Sadly the instructions in that document aren't sufficient (or I'm not skilled / intelligent enough) to actually open the device. I followed the instructions but couldn't complete step 2 (prying up the display assembly) as it simply wouldn't lift and I am unwilling to bend the glass any more than I already have. I'll try to obtain a proper plastic opening tool and try again. The versions of that manual (one of which you can download from HP's own website) imply that this tablet is known by the following names: - HP 7 Plus 1301 - Compaq 7 Plus 1301 - HP 7.1 1201 - Compaq 7.1 1201 The 7.1 has a different back case and a TN LCD panel instead of an IPS one. > Regarding vendor firmware. MSI offers PhoenixSuite images for download > and also kernel sources from their website. This is very nice and > reassures the availability of FEL support for unbricking. > HP only provides updates as "update.zip" files to be copied on > the device and taken into use from the "android recovery" menu. > Not sure if this a bad sign and whether the FEL mode could be > locked out or not. Again, if anyone has an HP tablet, a > clarification about accessing FEL would be very much welcome. I'll be running through the NDH shortly and will report my findings on FEL mode here. > Now one more thing about MSI tablets. Google searches for > "Primo 73 discontinued" and "Primo 81 discontinued" find a lot > of web shops, which are out of stock with the "discontinued > by manufacturer" explanation :-( On a somewhat positive side, > the remaining web shops still having these tablets in stock, seem > to be offering significant discounts at the moment (probably they > want to get rid of the inventory ASAP). For example > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152486 > seems to offer MSI Primo 73 for $54.99. For the people from > Europe, some relatively interesting offers seem show up and > disappear on ebay.com rather quickly. > > I myself have already ordered both Primo 73 and Primo 81 tablets (yeah, > this was a little bit hard on my budget and probably will prevent me > from buying new fun gadgets for a while). The tablets are expected to > arrive later this week. And then I'm going to post more information > about them to the mailing list. > > Compared to plain development boards, tablets need properly working USB > OTG, touchscreens, WLAN and also power management features. This looks > like a lot of new fun :-) > > Also the "big name" brand's tablets typically don't have a separate > power connector. They are using MicroUSB for both charging and > plugging USB peripherals. But there are things called "accessory > charging adapters (ACA)", and "By using an accessory charging > adapter, a device providing a single USB port can be attached to > both a charger, and another USB device at the same time": > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#ACA > I don't know if > > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Port-Micro-USB-Power-Charging-OTG-Hub-Adapter-Cable-for-HTC-LG-S4-Galaxy-Tab-3-/371135899746 > is a proper compliant implementation of ACA or just has a switch > to enable the mode where 5V is provided on VBUS by the hub > (instead of feeding from VBUS). Either way, I'll try to see > if it can be used to provide power the tablet and allow using > USB peripherals connected to the hub at the same time. I'll try to build one of those cables and report what I find. > Overall, these Allwinner A20/A31s tablets do not look very competitive > nowadays in terms of CPU performance and screen resolution, but might > be still an interesting choice for linux-sunxi enthusiasts. My feeling, after playing with this tablet, is that they're being used as budget / entry level options. HP has two different 7" options on their Australian store: the 7 Plus and the Slate 7: the latter is 2x the price of the former and has a Tegra 4 SoC. If anyone has any experiments they'd like me to run that won't disturb the NAND storage or require an external display, please let me know. Other than that, my next steps are: 1. Enjoy it for a bit 2. Convince it to get into FEL mode (I'll try buttons then the SD card) 3. Root the stock Android distro 4. Open it 5. Complete the NDH Thanks, -- Julian Calaby Email: julian.cal...@gmail.com Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "linux-sunxi" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to linux-sunxi+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.