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    Posted on 19-04-28, 02:18 (revision 2)
    Dinosaur

    Post: #268 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

    Last post: 3 days
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    Just like everything in this country, I'm forced to coexist with stuff that actively pisses me off every day:
    - banks
    - public transportation
    - other Venezuelans
    - web browsers
    - faulty basic services (water/power/Internet)
    - smartdevices

    But like everything in life, all turns out to be a learning experience, or something. So take this thread not as a rant (although it will be!), but more as a log of useful notes for others when the need to tinker with broken-by-design devices arise.

    Mom's shitty noname Allloser craplet keeps breaking every now and then. The failure pattern is the same in all cases:
    - After a fresh reflash and reinstall, everything works (mostly) smoothly
    - After 3-4 months of light usage (basically Chrome and WhatsApp, nothing else), apps start crashing at random. Wiping cache often brings some quick relief
    - After a few days of this, the condition of the firmware takes a deep nosedive: bootloops, sudden reboots, being unable to power down the thing because it will power up again on its own, inability to even enter recovery mode! At this point, blood is boiling and the tablet is about to hit escape velocity

    For the good of our sanity, I've already devised a routine for this:
    - Use PhoenixSuit (yes, those Chinatards™ intentionally missed the final "e" there because they're edgy or something) to reflash a stock ROM (doesn't really matter which one as you will NEVER find the original ROM for your specific noname tablet; just pick one that ships with the basic Google spyware framework and no Central Communist Party spyware other than the Allshitter services). When asked to do a "Normal format" (or whatever), say YES to properly wipe everything and start from scratch
    - At the first boot of your brand new firmware, don't connect to WiFi just yet. Install Kingo Root and root the fucker, then take a look at my thread at the old board to follow that XDA thread on how to replace Kingo crap with a proper SuperSU setup (consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky if your specific hardware DOES have a port of TWRP you can flash to it - if that's you, simply use that to install SuperSU and completely ignore Kingo). Use SuperSU 2.79, not the latest 2.82 as it will not work properly and you will have to re-root again! (You can always upgrade to 2.82 through Play Store later)
    - My app manager of choice is Apps2SD (the one by "GSTMaid", app ID: in.co.pricealert.apps2sd). Very easy to use, yet extremely powerful. Used to have really obnoxious and extremely intrusive ads, but apparently even the developer got fed up with this so he (?) made the Pro version completely free a few months ago. Go buy that guy a keg of beer, he deserves up to the last drop of it! Go find an APK (since you can't use Google Play just yet! And watch out for malware-laden repacks!) and sideload it. Take this chance to trim the fat (remove bloatware/useless preloads, do some cleanup), then reboot
    - adb shell pm set-install-location 2, or you will quickly run out of the precious scarce internal memory for apps! (Whoever decided to leave <1GB for the internal storage partition while having a 4GB partition disguised as a "internal SD card" and a USELESS external microSD socket should be sent to the worst forced labor camp in the coldest part of China)
    - Now you're ready to let this thing smell the rotten stench of the wide open Internet. Let it join your WiFi, logon with your Google credentials, and proceed to install updates and reinstall your apps. Google Play will be extremely stubborn when it comes to update preloaded Google crap, so it may need a helping hand...
    - DISABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES ONCE YOU'RE DONE INSTALLING SHIT! The last thing you want to listen is to Granny bitching and moaning because her Chrome rearranged all the icons ONCE AGAIN because some UXtarded Silly Valley art school dropout had yet another epiphany when drinking a bubble tea while driving his Tesla!
    - Once all updates are done, use Apps2SD to merge all updates to stock apps back to the system partition, in order to free some space on the already critical internal storage partition. Be prepared to do this every now and then each time Google Play Services gets an update (because you can't disable automatic updates for this one). Don't rush, do it on stages, and leave the heavyweight ones (Google Play Store / Google Play Services) for last. It may help clearing data for those prior to the merge (whatever data Google uses there will be downloaded again anyway, so don't worry). Reboot several times just to be on the safe side
    - This leaves us with the final challenge: reactivating WhatsApp on a device where you're not supposed to run WhatsApp (i.e. a tablet without a cell modem). This part is simple: they will send you a SMS to whatever phone number you've used to register. Except that this is Soviet Venezuela, and your cellphones have been without signal since the last blackout! Have fun~~~ [insert sinister laughter here]

    Rinse and repeat every 3-4 months. I don't care why it breaks, now that I have my routine for dealing with the fallout when it happens.


    And since being "the computer guy" on this family (the one that actually went to college, where we weren't taught about how to format computers, much less reflash cellphones), I've been forced to deal with broken smartshits. Here is another case I've just got: my cousin just bought a (hopefully non-flammable) Samturd Galaxy J-something (because her career as a dentist is one of the few ones in this hellhole where people can actually make some money to buy things other than food) to replace her highly abused Blu Dash X. She never treated well that poor phone: neglected backups/updates for years, and the phone finally died a few weeks ago after a "visit" to the "friendly cellphone chop shop" at the nearest mall for a reflash. Except that it didn't really died, it just got stuck on a bootloop because like every software piece made nowadays, these Android firmwares are of absolutely ZERO quality, fragile as fuck, and it only works because of sheer luck (and most likely whatever moron "serviced" her phone just scammed her instead of properly flashing this thing wile being aware of its flaws). So, let's get this brick out of my workbench ASAP!

    First things first: this thing is based on a Mediatek chipset (MT6580). You know, the same Mediatek that has been "borrowing" IP making your favorite ODD chipsets since late '90s. They bought Ralink for their Linux-friendly WiFi chipsets, started making TERRIBLE dumbphone chipsets... but suddenly they're now a large player on the budget smartdevice arena. The "Linux-friendly" bit is somewhat relevant, because this is one of the rare OEMs that actually has official flashing tools for Linux! A rather nice (if very Engrishy, as expected) Qt4 app that works both on Linux and Windows (yes, XP included). In fact, it's actually much easier to flash under Linux since under Windows you have to deal with a messy device driver situation - under Linux all you need is already part of whatever kernel you're running.

    - Forget about flashing this thing from Windows (driver install will be a waste of time, considering the brief time window where the device exposes the required serial port for the bootloader). Man up and install Linux on your Real Computer™! Not everyday you get a chipset maker that actually gives a damn on your OS of choice!
    - Find the firmware for your phone. In the case of the Dash X, the situation is kinda tricky, as there are like 3 revisions of the same model (D010, D010U, D010L). Look at the barcode/IMEI label under the battery! (YES, THIS THING FEATURES A REMOVABLE BATTERY, JUST AS GOD INTENDED!!!!), because the firmwares are most likely not interchangeable! (all of them feature the same chipset so flashing with wrong firmware may not brick anything but you risk breaking stuff or getting stuck at a bootloop). This one turned out to be a D010U, and after a long search I ended with a ~1.7GiB (uncompressed) folder named BLU_D010U_V10_GENERIC (V10 is the last build available from Blu for the D010U, as this phone has been hopelessly abandoned by their OEM shortly after release)
    - Run the flasher tool. Curiously enough, the Linux binary is dynamically linked to libpng12.so... which is the same lib required by lxdream! Good for me I still have that Jessie .DEB handy. Aside of that, the flasher works fine under Debian Stretch. I don't know if you have to be a sudoer, but I didn't had to run it with special privileges just to let it access the CDC ACM serial port exposed by the phone when it boots on the required bootloader mode
    - You need to point the flasher to a "scatter file" on the Download tab. This is Mediatek-esque for "firmware flash layout file", a TXT that should be on the same folder of your firmware, and that describes how are those flash partitions laid out. Don't plug the phone yet (if it's already plugged in, unplug it now!), but hit "Download" on the Download tab. The flasher will sit there, patiently waiting for your phone to come up
    - Pull the battery, then put it back. Now connect the phone to your PC. The flasher should recognize it and flashing will begin (if it doesn't, try holding up Vol+ when plugging in the data cable). Flashing will be reasonably quick - it will be done in 3 minutes or so. Nothing will display on screen during or after the process, so don't panic!
    - Once you're finished flashing, unplug the phone and power it up. Yay, bootloop is gone~!
    - OPTIONAL (but highly recommended if you're planning to debloat the ROM): Rooting this thing is way easier than dealing with those Allcrapper tablets, because we DO have the luxury of having a native TWRP recovery ROM for it!. You will also need the flashable SueprSU - once again, 2.79 is the suitable one as the 2.82 package will cause the phone to "optimize apps" on each and every boot due to some bug on the installer scripts that break things that aren't supposed to break!. To flash TWRP, repeat the procedure to flash the phone, but prior to the firmware download, deselect all partitions but "recovery", then doubleclick the file name for the recovery partition and replace it with your TWRP build (very handy feature, thanks Mediatek!). Follow the usual procedures on how to flash SuperSU from within TWRP afterwards.
    - Refrain from ever doing a factory wipe on this thing. Seriously, DON'T: the firmware is so fragile that most likely you will get sent straight to a bootloop after wiping the data partition (not only it happened to my cousin, I actually managed to replicate it by myself after a fresh flash, TWICE). If you're ever going to sell your Dash X (or whatever other Blu phone built on the same chipset), just reflash it. You were going to do it anyway no matter what.


    Nothing beats flashing a good ol' Motorola phone, though: pick suitable firmware, boot phone in bootloader (#+*+END), connect, hit Start,
    , done.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-04-28, 05:30 (revision 3)
    Post: #41 of 77
    Since: 10-31-18

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    >Nothing beats flashing a good ol' Motorola phone, though

    I have experience flashing Moto G4-5 plus phones. I think you need to:

    - get its IMEI
    - submit it to the Moto website to get a "flash unlock code"
    - (which may/not void warranty... manufacturers voiding warranty for unofficial repairs is illegal in the USA, unless you break your phone doing the repairs... Is warranty is useless in Venezuela?)
    - Hold power+volume down (not up) for 4 seconds to reboot to bootloader mode
    - PC: fastboot unlock
    - enter the "flash unlock code" into cmd
    - phone wipes data, and you can install twrp

    Also Magisk (not supersu) is the newest Android rooting standard, based off systemless rooting AKA instead of modifying the system partition, use union-mounts to add/override files and folders at boot time. You should research Magisk, I heard they're adding support for older Android versions like 4.4.
    Posted on 19-04-28, 05:53
    Custom title here

    Post: #417 of 1150
    Since: 10-30-18

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    Posted by tomman

    - DISABLE AUTOMATIC UPDATES ONCE YOU'RE DONE INSTALLING SHIT! The last thing you want to listen is to Granny bitching and moaning because her Chrome rearranged all the icons ONCE AGAIN because some UXtarded Silly Valley art school dropout had yet another epiphany when drinking a bubble tea while driving his Tesla!

    Word, though the guys doing the Chrome interface probably can't afford Teslas.

    I moved off Chrome on Android because I was sick of the interface changing without warning every time I looked away. Don't remember what the last straw was anymore.

    --- In UTF-16, where available. ---
    Posted on 19-04-28, 12:52
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #222 of 717
    Since: 01-26-19

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    Posted by tomman
    - Now you're ready to let this thing smell the rotten stench of the wide open Internet. Let it join your WiFi, logon with your Google credentials, and proceed to install updates and reinstall your apps. Google Play will be extremely stubborn when it comes to update preloaded Google crap, so it may need a helping hand...
    - Once all updates are done, use Apps2SD to merge all updates to stock apps back to the system partition, in order to free some space on the already critical internal storage partition. Be prepared to do this every now and then each time Google Play Services gets an update (because you can't disable automatic updates for this one). Don't rush, do it on stages, and leave the heavyweight ones (Google Play Store / Google Play Services) for last. It may help clearing data for those prior to the merge (whatever data Google uses there will be downloaded again anyway, so don't worry). Reboot several times just to be on the safe side

    What about the FOSS Google Play re-implementations? I think they should be much less bloated. There is (was?) a version of the Play Store as well, and I can't remember having any trouble with it except that you couldn't install paid apps (which I wasn't going to do anyway). The GCM stuff worked fine, although some apps complained. Usually, "you don't have Play Services installed" warning, hit OK, everything works as usual.
    - This leaves us with the final challenge: reactivating WhatsApp on a device where you're not supposed to run WhatsApp (i.e. a tablet without a cell modem). This part is simple: they will send you a SMS to whatever phone number you've used to register. Except that this is Soviet Venezuela, and your cellphones have been without signal since the last blackout! Have fun~~~ [insert sinister laughter here]

    Can you switch phone numbers to something more reliable, like to VoIP?

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-28, 13:37
    Dinosaur

    Post: #269 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    Gotta love sureanem's non-solutions just because...

    1) I don't care about non-Google Play replacements/app stores. This tablet only uses the Google search app, Chrome and Whatsapp. $MOM is NOT INTERESTED into learning replacements, so neither I.

    2) Ever been here, really? If you were, you would learn that VoIP is NOT AN OPTION, just like everything else.

    Look, the only reason I've endured dealing with broken smartdevices is because I have a family where everybody stopped using Real Computers™ years ago (some of them never did in first place). I still don't want those pieces of carcinogen shit in my personal life, and it's pretty much obvious that the way of working for those devices is not compatible with 3rd-world shitholes, but that's what we have. I AM NOT INTERESTED INTO LEARNING ABOUT THOSE THINGS AT ALL, yet I've been pretty much forced to! As comparison, my Real Computers™ obey me (almost always), and I've been in total control of them (Microsoft/Google spyware notwithstanding... and even then I don't use non-Mozilla browsers or Windows 10)


    > Magisk
    Will investigate about that one, thanks for the suggestion.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-04-28, 15:38
    Dinosaur

    Post: #270 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    SuperSU 2.82 definitely breaks shit on this Blu thing. Updating it through Google Play then letting it updating the su binaries will cause the phone to "optimize apps" on each and every boot, delaying boot forever. So I decided to start over and try Magisk.

    ...except that this time I couldn't skip the "Select WiFi network" display on the initial setup wizard because of this security theater bullshittery just because I had activated the phone with a throwaway Google account (otherwise no updates for your apps!). Gee, thanks for nothing, Google! Not only a factory reset would not help (surprisingly I didn't got a bootloop this time), the lock even survived a full reflash because Google and Mediatek believes I have stolen the device (I didn't!).

    The proper way to dispose of an used Android phone nowadays is to delete all Google accounts from the device prior to a factory wipe (a procedure that it is anything but straightforward: you have to turn off all sync first, THEN figure out where the "Delete account" option is!) - othewrise you will be forced to logon to the last Google account used on the thing, which means no way to bypass the WiFi select display (unless if you somehow can reflash a custom recovery thing where you can edit a pref on whatever .prop file is it). This also means that if you're far from a WiFi network (or without Internet access in general), your phone is effectively bricked for all and any purposes.

    Look, I understand that phone theft is a serious problem (much more in hellholes like this one, where you can't own nice things), but this does absolutely NOTHING to curb the problem (your phone is still good for spares, after all). Kill switches have to be strictly OPT-IN, with all sorts of disclaimers and user controls! But hey, I am of the understanding that I'm not the target for the "smarter-than-you-phone" generation.

    FUCK GOOGLE FOREVER. And anyone that is on the "smart bullshit" business too.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-04-28, 16:10
    Dinosaur

    Post: #271 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    Oooooh, so Apps2SD didn't became free out of a plain goodwill gesture, but more as a "fuck you Google" move: Google banned the application from the Play store just because the app description had instructions on how to root your device! (which considering the purpose of the app is completely expected - it's like a bank telling you that in order to make a withdrawal you have to deposit funds on your account first. But Google knows what's best for you, dear citizen)

    This had the following consequences:
    - The pro version became free for everybody. Yay~!
    - FUCK YOU IT'S CANCELLED. Yes, the app is now officially discontinued. Boo!

    Google did relisted the app on the Play store after this mamadrama, but the damage is now done. I would not blame this guy/gal if (s)he never ever codes stuff for Android (or smarturds in general)

    My total inconvenience is your satisfaction. Thanks Google!

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-04-28, 16:25
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #223 of 717
    Since: 01-26-19

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    Posted by tomman
    1) I don't care about non-Google Play replacements/app stores. This tablet only uses the Google search app, Chrome and Whatsapp. $MOM is NOT INTERESTED into learning replacements, so neither I.

    To me, they were entirely seamless replacements. You could still download Google Play-hosted applications and use them, but you didn't have to have a Google account or install Google Play Services. But yeah, it might be pointless if you're not limited by storage.

    To be clear, I'm talking about stuff like microG and Yalp Store, not poor imitations like {whatever Amazon's Android devices use}.

    Posted by tomman
    2) Ever been here, really? If you were, you would learn that VoIP is NOT AN OPTION, just like everything else.

    No, I mean you could switch over WhatsApp's registered phone number to a VoIP number, not that you should use it for any actual communications. I've used VoIP to register accounts before, and it worked fine, except for some services like Google who didn't accept it. Maybe WhatsApp is one of them. In that case, you could try to copy over the app's internal data wholesale and pray it doesn't complain.

    the way of working for those devices is not compatible with 3rd-world shitholes

    This is the case no matter where you live in the world (unless you live in Africa (maybe) or Dubai). I live in a first world country, and I haven't seen or heard of anyone using them for anything productive, save perhaps for social media influencers, prostitutes, and the like. It's neat to be able to Google stuff while you're outside, and you get a slightly nicer keyboard to type on, but that's about it. I guess you can read books on them, but a proper reading tablet (e.g. Kindle) or real book is much nicer and cheaper.

    They are the fast food of electronics. Sure, you might theoretically be able to construct a balanced diet from only the "dishes" sold at McDonalds, but it'd be extremely clunky and realistically you would just end up eating junk food and falling ill rather quickly.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-04-28, 16:50
    Dinosaur

    Post: #272 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    FWIW I'm liking Magisk.

    Too bad there are no CWM/TWRP recovery mods for most Allshitter tablets (the other way would be figuring out how to craft and flash a custom boot partition as explained on the setup instructions), otherwise I would switch to it on Mom's tablet in a heartbeat. On this Blu it's working seamlessly. The systemless part is nice, but then you have to modify /system anyway for debloating purposes :/ (not related with rooting BTW, it's just a reason of why you would want to root in first place)

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-20, 01:24
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #303 of 717
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    Posted by https://www.reuters.com/article/us-huawei-tech-alphabet-exclusive/exclusive-google-suspends-some-business-with-huawei-after-trump-blacklist-source-idUSKCN1SP0NB
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world.

    The move could hobble Huawei’s smartphone business outside China as the tech giant will immediately lose access to updates to Google’s Android operating system. Future versions of Huawei smartphones that run on Android will also lose access to popular services including the Google Play Store and Gmail and YouTube apps.

    “Huawei will only be able to use the public version of Android and will not be able to get access to proprietary apps and services from Google,” the source said.


    What next? Huawei's business is 51.6% China, with EMEA (presumably mostly Europe) and Americas (presumably mostly USA) clocking in at 6.6% and 28.4% respectively. And the brand damage could be quite bad, if people become unsure as to whether their phones will keep getting updates or not.

    The US could fuck them up real good (FCC hard blacklist of phones from 4G network) if they felt like it, but probably they won't do that. And Huawei could also undertake drastic measures as long as the Chinese government backs them.

    Could Huawei rely solely on Chinese/allied technology?

    How far will the Americans go in trying to stop them?

    What will Huawei do in response to this?

    [politics] Are they going to trigger the recession as they allow him to do this so they can blame it on protectionism and attempt a rerun of 2008?

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-20, 02:51 (revision 1)
    Dinosaur

    Post: #330 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    I'll reply this while I reload the software on Mom's Allfucker tablet for the THIRD time this year:

    I hope this kill smartdevices for good.

    I won't side with either 'murica or "das evil China".

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-20, 03:16 (revision 1)
    Dinosaur

    Post: #331 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

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    So this Alloser tablet creamed its diapers once again.

    This time I went EASY MODO, and got some surprising finds:

    - You don't need to do a full format on PhoenixSuit, after all - just do a regular upgrade (which in terms of the preloaded apps will be a "downgrade"). This will save A LOT of time since you will not need to reinstall anything, except for upgrading the system apps. Oh, you will have to re-root too, since the /system partition got restored by the update.

    - After upgrading GBoard, it will start bitching and moaning because your Google Play Services are OOOOOOOOOOOLD!!!!, so you get no keyboard until those get up to date. The most effective way is to sideload the update, but if you want to go the official way, let your tablet update the Google Play Store app first, THEN use Apps2SD to visit the Google Play Services app page on the store (yes, there is one, and it will not open if your Play app is too old for whatever reason). THEN you will be able to take the update.

    - Something is seriously fucked with the final SuperSU release (2.82). More concretely, its APK. I've got the tablet to reliably crash and bootloop if the APK gets integrated to /system, but if I delete it from there, the bootloops and crashes are GONE! I don't even WANT to know why in the hell this shit happens after so long, but at least I've found something. I guess SuperSU will live from now on as an USER app, so no biggie. Once again, too bad there is no TWRP for those Allshitter tablets (none of the ports I found were compatible with the hardware of this noname "e131h" junk), otherwise I would have already installed Magisk on this thing.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-20, 09:41
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #304 of 717
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    What tablet do you have? Usually they're most known as "Allwinner ___ tablet" instead of by the actual model name, which is just made up on the spot.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-20, 13:07
    Dinosaur

    Post: #333 of 1282
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    "e131h" is actually the PCB marking on this thing (also referenced in the build.prop file), and the only bit of data that allowed me to find compatible firmware on Bai-duh. This specific speciment was sold as a "Prontotec 10.1", but it's also known as Aoson (the current ROM I'm using, as the original Prontotec ROM is nowhere to be found), among other non-brands.

    When plugged to a PC, they identify as whatever name the reseller wanted to put, or simply as "softwinner". SoC is an quadcore A31s. There were only Jelly Bean and KitKat releases for those things, as GPL-violating, anti-consumer Allcrapper never bothered releasing the required sources for Lollipop (they had already moved onto bigger pieces of shit, just like everybody else in the industry). I've seen TWRP ports for other A31-based tablets, but no way to know if they're compatible (usually the release forum threads reference to broken features or another bunch of gotchas, so I'm wary of testing).

    If anything, those things are unbrickable and can boot random ROMs from a SD card instead of eMMC (making testing MUCH easier), but once again, I have no interest. I own no smartdevices, and my interaction with those are far from joyful, despite what other nerds may think.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-20, 23:51 (revision 3)
    Dinosaur

    Post: #337 of 1282
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    The world surely hates me, eh?

    $UNCLE came visting with a surprise of the nasty kind: a hand-me-down ZTE Maven 3 because he bought a Samturd, all just because $MOM had to tell my family that my Motos are on its last legs.

    "Here, it's yours, EMBRACE THE PROGRESS!"

    FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

    They could have brought food, maybe computer parts or even hard currency, but nope, here in Soviet Venezuela, a cellphone is everything, and without one you might as well be dead. And it has to be smaaaaaaaaart because we can't be assed to use our collective brains for overthrow the commies, no sir, posting shit to Whatsapp is way more important than actual freedom!

    The phone is still resting on its cute black AT&T box (yes, it's carrier-branded - the guy used it for a few days while he waited for his Samturd). I have ZERO desire from bringing it out outside its box, but my family will keep pestering me for a while (I already told me specifically that I'm not doing Whatsapp like, EVER - text me or GTFO). Plus, as it was a family gift, I can't really sell this thing without pissing anyone. Oh, and this shit uses micro SIMs, so I can't just slide my ol' fashioned Movistar mini SIM on it.

    Ah, it's a Qualcomm device. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
    No Mediatek multiplatform fun, just good ol' Qualcomm prorpietary junk with whatever ZTE uses for flashing their phones (which I guess it must be as terrible as Allwinner or all other China OEMs)
    There is no TWRP for it, yet. But from what I've heard, there are modified recovery images for rooting with Magisk, although it depends on the ROM version on it, and the procedure is somewhat risky (apparently gray-market Maven 3s are popular over here since the XDA guide was written by a fellow Soviet Venezuelan, despite being a Deathstar-exclusive model). Even worse: you only get a partial root (i.e. no rw access to /system, so no way to debloat carrier crapware) since noone gives a fuck on this model because either it's not a Samsung or it's a Qualcomm phone, or there are plenty of cheaper and more moddable phones out there. Basically, I got your usual turd (a smartdevice) with a extra coating of suck.

    The thing has a removable battery, at least. Too bad it's a smartdevice with no buttons, the UXtarded smartdevice disease, Chinese spyware AND double ration of American spyware.


    I still don't lose the hope for getting my Motorolas fixed. At least the V9x, since it does UMTS.

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-21, 00:42
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #310 of 717
    Since: 01-26-19

    Last post: 1525 days
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    Phone but no food. It's like something out of a bad movie or something.

    Maybe you can use it as a NAS?

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-21, 01:20
    Dinosaur

    Post: #339 of 1282
    Since: 10-30-18

    Last post: 3 days
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    Posted by sureanem
    Phone but no food. It's like something out of a bad movie or something.

    This comes from the country which was the last stronghold for RIM's BlackBerry, once its largest market outside North America (back in 2009, one out of 3 BBs sold in Latam was in Venezuela, while the rest of the world was already leaving in droves to Android or iPhone, Canada included)

    In fact you can still find quite a few of those junks still working over here, despite BB having shutdown nearly every service to them, and with next to no 3rd-party app support: Whatsapp killed its BB app two years ago, and the only ones that cried, bitched and moaned were people from this very country. Android had a HARD time breaking BB's iron grip on both carriers and users, and it wasn't until 2013 or so when the Google platform finally overthrow the king (although it was long after the subsidized phone model died thanks to the looming political/economical collapse that hit the country). iPhones were never a contender, initially due to its AT&T exclusivity, and after that ended, limited availability (Movistar and Digitel sold them in very limited quantities, and only after choosing who would own one in a lottery draw due to "high demand") and high price tags ensured that the land of the Sovereign Bolivar would be a (mostly) Apple-free zone. I DO know a few people using iPhones over here, but those are usually Applefags with too much money for buying a phone, but not enough for committing to a Mac lifestyle (despite wishing for one). $FORMER_BOSS was one, but the crisis forced him to stop upgrading after the iPhone 6.

    And yes, traditionally, to the average Soviet Venezuelan, "shiny new phone" >>>> basic necessities.
    This hasn't changed since prepaid phones became a thing in late '90s, and still persists until today - just ask anyone that sells unlocked phones (Before cellphones it was "a new car every year", but that fad died sometime around late '00s)

    Licensed Pirate® since 2006, 100% Buttcoin™-free, enemy of All Things JavaScript™
    Posted on 19-05-21, 15:16
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #312 of 717
    Since: 01-26-19

    Last post: 1525 days
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    Posted by https://web.archive.org/web/20190521090836/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/21/us-eases-restrictions-on-chinas-huawei-to-keep-networks-operating.html

    * The U.S. government on Monday temporarily eased some trade restrictions imposed last week on China's Huawei, a move that sought to minimize disruption for the telecom company's customers around the world.
    * The U.S. Commerce Department will allow Huawei Technologies to purchase American-made goods in order to maintain existing networks and provide software updates to existing Huawei handsets.
    * Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the new authorization. The Wall Street Journal reported, however, that a person familiar with the matter said Google would be halting its plans to cut Huawei's access.

    Posted by me two days ago
    How far will the Americans go in trying to stop them?

    Apparently, they won't go anywhere at all, because of course it's a major American policy goal that China take over the technology market.

    Not satirical about that last one. They're giving China aid, even today.

    Well, I suppose they'll have whatever happens coming, so it doesn't really matter what that is. Still sad though.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
    Posted on 19-05-22, 08:07 (revision 1)
    Post: #45 of 77
    Since: 10-31-18

    Last post: 951 days
    Last view: 878 days
    You could write your own Magisk module.

    Magisk modules can modify /system/ paths by replacing the /system/ mount with a union(system partition, all modules combined as magisk.img) mount.

    They can add or overwrite files (eg. with 0 bytes), delete files (apparently complicated or slow), or add/erase folders? idk.
    Posted on 19-05-22, 13:25
    Stirrer of Shit
    Post: #315 of 717
    Since: 01-26-19

    Last post: 1525 days
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    Maybe a good ol' fashioned mount with shadowing?
    * Make directories a and b somewhere
    * Bind-mount /system into a
    * Bind-mount b into /system
    * Put in whatever you want to add to /system in b
    * Hard link whatever you want to keep from old /system from a to b

    Still wastes storage though.

    There was a certain photograph about which you had a hallucination. You believed that you had actually held it in your hands. It was a photograph something like this.
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