Nexus 7

2015-May-22

About a month ago I removed CyanogenMod 10 and installed the latest Google image (Lollypop aka 5.1). Lollypop is so-so, nothing strikingly different, but the battery now runs down every day, and things that used to work fine (like the browser) are now painfully slow.

I suspect the battery problem might be due to running a SIP application that keeps the WiFi lit up all the time, I can uninstall that, but it won't fix the speed issue.

So I am loading CyanogenMod back in. I tried CM12 around Dec 2014 and it was awful... I guess I will try again. I did recover the Nexus 7, see "Bricked Nexus 7" below. Yes CM12 WORKS NOW! And it's snappy!

Ditching Google Apps

With CyanogenMod installed, do I really really have to install Google Apps? Please say no! The biggie is that I lose the "Play Store". I don't DO much with the tablet these days anyway other than read web pages.

Plan A - work around Play Store to get the apps I want.

https://sufficientlysecure.org/index.php/2013/11/26/an-android-without-google/

or Plan B - do what this guy suggests - http://www.itworld.com/article/2832391/mobile/can-an-android-phone-run-without-google-.html

What apps do I really need?

The list is very short. Currently there are a couple dozen apps that Google installed when I put 5.x on. They are on my phone so Google assumed I wanted them on the tablet too. Many don't make sense or don't work on a tablet.

• Aldiko -- Book reader
• A file manager (Astro is the one I have used the longest) CM12 comes with a usable file manager so this is taken care of.
• Firefox

Also nice to have

• Bluetooth GPS Provider - lets me use a Garmin GLO (if I don't eBay the Glo!)
• Dropbox - I will try out ownCloud to replace this. Dropbox on a tablet was never stunning anyway.
• Overdrive - so I can check out and read library books

Cyanogenmod on the Nexus 7

The instructions for my Nexus 7 "Tilapia" are here: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_tilapia

I am trying to install CM12 using sideloading. Having successfully transferred the file to the tablet, I am waiting patiently. It says:

detected filesystem ext4 for /dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.4/by-name/APP
Patching system image unconditionally
detected filesystem ext4 for /dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.4/by-name/APP

I wonder how long this takes... OH. It says "you can tell it's complete if you have regained control over the menu." and I have! Rebooting... it says "Google". Ahhhh it's booting CM12!! Ohhhhh!!! Now it's doing that "optimizing apps" thing. Hope it works better this time! Recovery from the bad version was painful.

Living without Google, Plan A

These are roughly organized in the order that I installed them.

Browse to http://f-droid.org/ and download their APK. Enable APK's from Unknown Sources (scary!!!) and install f-droid.apk Open it.

Now use the F-Droid app to install these:

• Fennec FDroid will replace Firefox. (It's a Firefox version with security tightened up.)
• EPub3 -- instead of Aldiko or FBReader
• BlueGps -- to get GPS from Bluetooth
• Squeezer -- to control our Logitech Squeezebox
• NFC Reader -- to read any NFC tags. Just gives tag info, nothing fancy.
• FareBot reads transport NFC cards. Cool it reads my Clipper!! I will put this on my phone, too.
• Sensorium - reads sensor data. Note: Runs at startup Great way to see what your tablet sees, and why is that darn GPS turned on again?

Apps in the "Play Store" that are not available in F-Droid can be gotten via http://apps.evozi.com/ if you know the right name. (Copy it from the URL in Google Play Store)

• Overdrive Media -- package: com.overdrive.mobile.android.mediaconsole
• Bluetooth File Transfer -- package: it.medieval.blueftp so I can copy and post screenshots (Ad suppported)
• MapQuest - package: com.mapquest.android.ace

Of course I need MAPS, so I am looking at OpenScienceMap, because it is built on OpenStreetMap and it's using vector tiles. Download the APK directly from their site: http://www.opensciencemap.org/?page_id=76

Failures:

• Barcode Scanner -- (that's the app name) does not work, the camera can't focus close enough.
• Mifare Classic Tool -- only reads "Mifare Classic" cards - won't read my Clipper card.
• NFCard -- does not show card info! FAIL!

How can I grab screenshots?

Press power button. There SHOULD be an option there to take a screenshot. If not, go to Settings->Buttons->Power button and you should be able to enable it there.

Once you have a screenshot, it will be saved on the tablet in /Pictures/Screenshots. How do you get it onto your Mac???

1. Pair the tablet and the Mac.
2. Install Bluetooth File Transfer and run it. Let it open port 30.
3. On the Mac, in the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar, select "Browse Files on Device" and select Nexus 7. A dialog will open.
4. Now you should be able to navigate to the Screenshots folder and pull your file across.
5. Once you have the file, shut down Bluetooth File Transfer on the tablet by using the "Back" button and selecting "Just Close".

Installing Google Apps later

About an hour after installing CM10, I discovered that there was no Play Store. At that time I was not willing to devote the energy to figure out how to install apps without it, so I relented and installed Google Apps.

Go to the link about to find the Google Apps zip file, and download it to your computer. (I use a Linux virtual machine on a Mac).

On the tablet, I booted into the ClockworkMod by opening a terminal window and typing

su
reboot recovery

Then I was able to use this to copy the zip up to the tablet

adb push gapps-jb-20130813-signed.zip /sdcard/

Do NOT leave off the last /, else you will remove the symbolic link and replace /sdcard with your zip file. This gives you shell access so you can fix things like this...

adb shell 

Then I used Clockwork to install it.

Bricked Nexus 7

1. Tried to install CM12. Continuous crashes of Trebuchet, Google Services, Google Play Store, Messaging.
2. Powered down.
3. Black screen. Won't start.

I found I could hold down power button for a LONG time and it would boot. I can't get into recovery mode from the device and when I boot into CM12, where once again my apps just crash over and over.

I think I might be able to connect via ADB.

Copying map files for c:geo

1. Download from http://ftp.mapsforge.org/maps/north-america/us/
2. Plug in and detect Nexus, you should see it with "adb devices"
3. Explore "adb shell" and make a directory to hold the maps. "mkdir /sdcard/osmmaps/"
4. Copy with adb push oregon.map /sdcard/osmmaps/

Switching to Ubuntu

Each time I try, Ubuntu is better and there are more reasons to switch. I tried 3 times. There are still no apps.

I am keeping my files here: Projects/UbuntuTouch

Ubuntu Tablet Install

To make Ubuntu Touch development easier I have already switched my desktop to run Ubuntu instead of Mint.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phablet-team/tools
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install phablet-tools android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot
sudo apt-get upgrade

Make a backup

This apparently works to back up my data. Anyway a "full backup" screen came up on the Nexus, and it took a long time.

adb backup -shared

Android 4.2.2
Baseband 1231_0.17.0_1205
Kernel version 3.1.10-g05b777c
Build JDQ39

Download and save a copy of the stock image from Google. NakasiG Nexus 7 Mobile 32 GB

Download Ubuntu image from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-touch-preview/daily-preinstalled/current I found the names of the devices by looking on the http://cyanogenmod.com site, I have a Tilapia. Maybe I will try a different version of Android soon. There is no Tilapia Ubuntu build so I am using Grouper

-rw-rw-r-- 1 bwilson bwilson 33964483 Nov 17 10:02 saucy-preinstalled-armel+grouper.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bwilson bwilson  5304320 Nov 17 09:05 saucy-preinstalled-boot-armel+grouper.img
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bwilson bwilson  7288832 Nov 17 10:02 saucy-preinstalled-recovery-armel+grouper.img
-rw-rw-r-- 1 bwilson bwilson 69844256 Nov 17 09:05 saucy-preinstalled-system-armel+grouper.img

See also http://download.cyanogenmod.com/?device=tilapia&type=nightly

• grouper = Google Nexus 7 (WiFi)
• maguro = Google Galaxy Nexus
• mako = Google Nexus 4
• manta = Google Nexus 10
• tilapia = Google Nexus 7 (GSM)