On Mon, 3 Nov 2014 09:52:03 +1100
Julian Calaby <julian.cal...@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.

The battery life is not great in my A31s based MSI Primo81 tablet, but
not bad either. It can stay idle for many days on a single battery
charge, and lasts enough hours (have not measured it, but maybe more
than 6?) when it is actively used.

Watch for WLAN power consumption, maybe try to disable it altogether to
see if the battery life improves significantly. The excessive waste of
power may be a purely software issue.

> 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.

Well, discussing the usability of the stock Android firmware is not
the primary topic of interest in this mailing list ;-) But thanks for
sharing your experience.

> 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.

This is pretty normal and expected from any hardware.

> Frustratingly, it can't decide if the volume down button is a back
> button or not.
> 
> It's also not pre-rooted.

My MSI Primo81 was also not pre-rooted. And it took a bit of effort to
search various Android community forums for a working method to root it.

> > 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).

BTW, if anyone cares, both of these MSI tablets have their own pages in
the linux-sunxi wiki:
    http://linux-sunxi.org/MSI_Primo73 (Allwinner A20)
    http://linux-sunxi.org/MSI_Primo81 (Allwinner A31s)

And patches exist to run the mainline u-boot with the mainline kernel on
them :-)

> > 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.

Don't worry too much about opening your tablet. IMHO it is not the most
important part of NDH.

> 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.

Have you made any progress with this? Do you maybe need some help?


> > 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.

Regarding this old link. Right now MSI Primo 73 seems to be all sold
out everywhere and only some used or refurbished offers remain on ebay.

I think that MSI Primo81 is also about to disappear very soon. So if
anyone is interested in getting an A31s tablet, this may be the last
chance to buy one. MSI Primo81 seems to be sold for 79 EUR (in Europe):
    https://www.notebook.de/msi-primo81-g-3058?atyp=tb

And also MSI Primo81 still can be found on amazon.de and ebay. It is
unlikely to get any cheaper. I believe that it will just disappear
altogether, as soon as the remaining shops run out of stock.

PS. I don't have any connections with this particular shop. Just thought
that some people might be interested in a reasonably good A31s tablet.
And the time is running out.

> > 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.

Hmm, looks like I totally forgot to provide this status report in the
mailing list. And only kept the linux-sunxi wiki pages updated.

> > 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.

I have created a page in the linux-sunxi wiki about this:
    http://linux-sunxi.org/USB_OTG_Charging_Hub

I'm not sure if it is strictly compliant with the USB standards, but
still can be used to do the job.

> > 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.

My biggest complaint about these A31s tablets is insufficient screen
resolution, even though the IPS display has great colors and viewing
angles. The 1024x768 screen resolution is just not good enough by
today's standards. But the price seems to be reasonably low.

For a somewhat higher price, one may probably consider the Jolla Tablet
with 2048x1536 screen resolution. Or some similar hardware.

By the way, it looks like the HP A31s tablets used to be available in
the local brick and mortar store here. But now have disappeared. So
I'm afraid that the HP tablets may also had been discontinued just
like MSI Primo81.

> 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

You can start by just creating a page for your tablet at the
linux-sunxi wiki and populate it with some pictures.

And we need a FEX file from your tablet. If we had it in the
sunxi-boards repository, then we could for example see whether
its LCD display is likely to be easily supported by the latest
u-boot LCD patches:
    http://linux-sunxi.org/LCD

-- 
Best regards,
Siarhei Siamashka

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