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Hi,
My Nexus 7 2012 (very first batch) is quite often behaving really slowly. It is common for the settings screen to take 15-20 seconds to open. From the homescreen. With no running app.
Here is a video after I've reset everything to factory defaults, let it run and index things on its own for an hour and then manually upgrade a small app:
At other times, the speed is pretty decent for such a tablet. I just can't figure out why this difference. I've tried to check for wakelocks, tried a logcat and many other things. I can't make any sense from it.
Rebooting the tablet seems to have 50% chance of fixing the problem. So it's probably not a memory leak.
The tablet is rooted, on the latest build and I noticed that App Ops X survived the reset but no funky software is installed and the behaviour predates the installation of App Ops X. The network is not a problem here. The 2013 Nexus 7 of my wife works just fine and so does the Nexus 5 taking the above video.
How can I investigate this ? Is there an app that can run various reliable diagnostics to find out what kind of activity is causing trouble ? I tried to use logcat but the result is quite verbose and nothing rings a bell. I would really like to understand rather than just return it and wait or, worse, buy a new device.
Thanks.
Let me know if you find a solution my Nexus 7 has been really slow, Im rooted with CM11 M6 & KK GAPPS, TWRP 2.7.0.0 I dont know what happened to this tablet.
edarchis said:
Hi,
My Nexus 7 2012 (very first batch) is quite often behaving really slowly. It is common for the settings screen to take 15-20 seconds to open. From the homescreen. With no running app.
At other times, the speed is pretty decent for such a tablet. I just can't figure out why this difference. I've tried to check for wakelocks, tried a logcat and many other things. I can't make any sense from it.
Rebooting the tablet seems to have 50% chance of fixing the problem. So it's probably not a memory leak.
The tablet is rooted, on the latest build and I noticed that App Ops X survived the reset but no funky software is installed and the behaviour predates the installation of App Ops X. The network is not a problem here. The 2013 Nexus 7 of my wife works just fine and so does the Nexus 5 taking the above video.
How can I investigate this ? Is there an app that can run various reliable diagnostics to find out what kind of activity is causing trouble ? I tried to use logcat but the result is quite verbose and nothing rings a bell. I would really like to understand rather than just return it and wait or, worse, buy a new device.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
droid4lif3 said:
Let me know if you find a solution my Nexus 7 has been really slow, Im rooted with CM11 M6 & KK GAPPS, TWRP 2.7.0.0 I dont know what happened to this tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine too. Nexus 7 2012 16GB running PA 3.99 (JB4.3). PA Kernel and GAPPS, PA launcher or whatever one came with stock PA.
It takes upwards of 10 seconds to unlock frequently, even from a fresh boot, and without any security just a simple swipe unlock.
App drawer can take 10-15 seconds to open.
If I touch too much during these lag times I will often get a launcher not responding error.
I've about given up myself and am looking at other ROMs. Before I reflash though I may try a different kernel.
I'm downloading a few right now and I'll hopefully remember to report back my results.
Mine is suddenly unbearably slow too. It's a 2012 edition and I'm not rooted, running the stock software. I've tried clearing caches (app and system), doing a factory reset, flashing the factory image, but it just runs like a dog. When I switch it on it takes a few minutes to become responsive, and apps regularly say they will take upwards of 20 minutes to download updates - small apps too, about 3MB. The download issues are nothing to do with my wifi as the tablet is slow wherever I use it, and my Nexus 5 downloads the same things in a matter of seconds. Would love to know what I could do to fix my N7. I don't want to root it or flash a custom ROM - don't want to go down that route - I just want the great performance that I had from it before.
I was having the same issues described here as well after owning the tablet for awhile, and tried every custom ROM, kernel, and android version I could find for our device along the way, in the hopes of finding a solution.
The one thing that finally helped for me, was formatting the device to use F2FS file system format on all partitions. The initial setup is a bit tedious, as you will lose ALL data on the device, so first must back up everything, then restore it all once the device has been reformatted. But the payoff has been huge for both me and my wife.
Making this switch has made both of our tablets usable again, even enjoyable! It's well worth the effort put in to make the switch.
See this thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2678140, which has the modified recovery, files, and instructions needed to convert. It also helps to first make sure you can successfully use fastboot/ADB commands from your PC to the device, in case you get into any trouble along the way.
There's also an app now available for converting any rom to all-f2fs (prior to flashing), it's cheap and well worth the cost (about the price of a cup of coffee) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runnerway.converttof2fs&hl=en.
OK, I know this is a pretty old tablet but I'd at least like to be able to get a smooth browsing, email, and streaming experience out of it; I'm not looking to be able to play games or multitask on it.
I'm running the latest version of lollipop and the N7 is rooted. Experiencing frequent serious intermittent lags/crashes, I mean like 60+ seconds can pass before the screen responds, apps hang, and the device occasionally will reboot itself. Other times, the tablet runs smoothly. Was hoping that update to lollipop would resolve some of this but, if anything, it's gotten worse. I've tried the usual "fixes" of clearing the cache, forcing TRIM, closing apps manually, and even did a factory reset + cleared all caches and still the problem persists. The problem seems to occur more frequently when I run apps like the Chrome browser, which I now avoid using. Not really sure if there is a decent process documented on how to troubleshoot these types of issues to find the root cause but the tablet is presently very annoying to use at best.
What I'd like is either: a) getting some help in determining what the root cause of the issue is, or b) switching to a ROM that doesn't have these problems.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or pointers to an in-depth troubleshooting article/thread?
If you find a solution, let me know.. I've tried combos of lollipop and kernels, kit Kat and kernels.. f2fs etc.. I keep mine as a docked alarm clock and ereader for bed.. but even that takes forever.
- Sent from Spaaaaaaaaace
I don't know if this will help, but I book marked it for when I update.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nex...ndroid-5-0-t2999635/post58567333#post58567333
I gave up and went back to 4.4.4. I can FINALLY use my tablet again...
It's the flash memory in them. It's just degraded over time. I went back to 4.4.4 and it was excellent for about a week. Then it turned useless again.
That guide posted above seems to be a placebo other than the animation's being turned off. The n7 is absolutely fine after a fresh wipe, or a factory reset. For a week... I went through the guide and the only things it had that would make a real difference was animation speeds. I'll see how it does in a week.
- Sent from Spaaaaaaaaace
hi! I was having the same problem, my n7 was super laggy and sometimes rebooted itself. that was just after uprading to lollipop 5.0.2. it kinda solved after rooting, doing a factory reset and installing lollipop 5.1. I hope it helps!
4.4.4 stock with all-f2fs rom. M-kernel r69. Both can be found here on xda.
This is how I got mine running smoothly again, even after trying several lollipop roms including 5.1.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app
CM12 is not doing any better, I hope 5.1 could make a difference.
Stock 5.1 + Franco kernel with /data and /cache formatted to f2fs works beautifully for me. No problems at all.
I had all the same problems (and more) you and other spoke about when (a structure that holds back water and sounds like Ham) Google hounded and hounded me to install LolliCrap 5.02 (I ignored 5.0, which somehow disappeared). I HATED my #1 Nexus 7 16GB v2012. I also have a #2 Nexus 7 32GB v2012 (running HAPPILY 4.4.4) which I am still ignoring for "ham" good reason to install 5.02, an I never will install it or the latest 5.1!!
I have been exploring reinstalling the stock 4.4.4, but first I want know how to turn OFF future Google OEM Android updates and stop the "ham" badgering that there is a "new update available. But in the mean time, want to make #1 N7 useful again, I bite the bullet, backed up everything and did a factory reset and reinstalled everything. Even though I still HATE LolliCrap, my #1 N7 16GB is running pretty snappy again though some apps absolutely DON'T LIKE LolliCrap OS and are hanging and hanging and slow and crash (lazy Devs that aren't fixing whatever is causing that with 5.x). Apps I've noticed that are horribly slow with 5.x are Outlook, Skype, Yahoo Mail, Weather Underground, Drop Box, others
So, do a full reset and reinstall after backing up your data. You're gonna lose everything anyway when you Root and Boot Unlock to install an older version of Android or a custom ROM.
Hope this helps.
Glad to see another post here on the very topic I'm looking for. I'm currently running stock 5.1, completely stock, and it's just as bad as 5.0 was. I've read up enough to realize the issue is a flaw with the device, but am going to try and devote an evening or 3 to making this thing work before I completely give up on it. My goal is a minimal, feature poor but reasonably fast device for browsing, email, and some specific apps (a game or 2 and the Harmony Remote app)
Below are the areas I'm looking at, if anyone has advice or tips on any of these I'd really appreciate it:
Custom Kernel- Franco or MKernel r69? Need to investigate
F2FS - This is probably the best shot
Custom ROM - May stay stock, but if anyone knows of a lean, limited feature bloat ROM let me know!
Lightweight Browser - Can we get the original "Browser" App to install? Other options?
Basic EMail Client - not sure about this one..
The moment I saw the thread title, I knew I was not alone on this.
I remember the behavior first started with 4.4.4 actually, refusing to turn the screen on sometimes etc. I tried CM12+f2fs+mkernel 69 and it went well for a few days, then stuff broke again. I first suspected it's a RAM issue because I have two users running, but it constantly has about 150-200MB free (counting the cached apps, 400+ otherwise).
I guess I'll try slimkat 4.4.4 + f2fs modification, hope it can get the tablet running again.
Reapman said:
Glad to see another post here on the very topic I'm looking for. I'm currently running stock 5.1, completely stock, and it's just as bad as 5.0 was. I've read up enough to realize the issue is a flaw with the device, but am going to try and devote an evening or 3 to making this thing work before I completely give up on it. My goal is a minimal, feature poor but reasonably fast device for browsing, email, and some specific apps (a game or 2 and the Harmony Remote app)
Below are the areas I'm looking at, if anyone has advice or tips on any of these I'd really appreciate it:
Custom Kernel- Franco or MKernel r69? Need to investigate
F2FS - This is probably the best shot
Custom ROM - May stay stock, but if anyone knows of a lean, limited feature bloat ROM let me know!
Lightweight Browser - Can we get the original "Browser" App to install? Other options?
Basic EMail Client - not sure about this one..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. For some reason Franco never boot my tablet for me...I've been using mkernel r69 and that's working really well.
2. Yep, a must.
3. Tried several custom roms and came back to stock.
4. Opera
5. Stock email, the one can be downloaded via playstore?
Rastapop with Franco kernel runs great to me. Keeping this thing alive.
VintageGuitarz said:
[...] I have been exploring reinstalling the stock 4.4.4, but first I want know how to turn OFF future Google OEM Android updates and stop the "ham" badgering that there is a "new update available [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To remove the update questions you got to root the device and disable the SystemUpdateService service of Google Service Framework and Google Play Services applications (don't know, maybe only Play Service one is really required, but better block both of them).
To do that use this application http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.wq.disableservice
Reapman said:
Glad to see another post here on the very topic I'm looking for. I'm currently running stock 5.1, completely stock, and it's just as bad as 5.0 was. I've read up enough to realize the issue is a flaw with the device, but am going to try and devote an evening or 3 to making this thing work before I completely give up on it. My goal is a minimal, feature poor but reasonably fast device for browsing, email, and some specific apps (a game or 2 and the Harmony Remote app)
Below are the areas I'm looking at, if anyone has advice or tips on any of these I'd really appreciate it:
Custom Kernel- Franco or MKernel r69? Need to investigate
F2FS - This is probably the best shot
Custom ROM - May stay stock, but if anyone knows of a lean, limited feature bloat ROM let me know!
Lightweight Browser - Can we get the original "Browser" App to install? Other options?
Basic EMail Client - not sure about this one..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience best custom ROM is Resurrection Remix.. I tried all tilapia Lolllipop ones except AICP, which now I'm very curious to try.. but I flashed Paranoid Android 4.6 BETA 6 yesterday and I will not change it until Google releases 5.1 firmware for tilapia too and people say this build is finally smooth and nice (well, too much hope, I know.. Lollipop will never be smooth on Nexus 7 2012, I fear )
Sofar I'm about 24 hours in using SlimKat with F2F2 (followed this post here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2678142) using "Browser" that it comes with, and so far just GMail. Initial findings are very positive, it's quite fast, but I'm sure that could change.
Next steps (thanks for the ideas all!):
Install Opera
There's actually an update to SlimKat, but i'm waiting to see how the tablet performs as is without touching anything
Install and configure EMail client from Play store
Kernel - looks like this version of SK already uses the M Kernel so should be good there
There is an updated, F2FS modified version of Slimkat in that thread around page 90 or something.
I'm using that at the moment and it's been fine I guess.
Word of warning: recents menu is bugged to secondary user acounts. Only shows apps if they have been also installed for the primary user.
Yeah, I'm going to give myself a week or so on this older build and make sure it's stable before doing that. Definitely some stuff I miss from Lollipop in this, but if this is enough to breath new life into the tablet.. I'm willing to accept that loss :good:
Hello.
I enjoy my Nexus 7 2012 (Wi-Fi 32GB) tablet very much, when it is working properly and, unfortunately, that hasn't been often for some time. Android 5.02 helped a bit and the tablet is currently running 5.1 from a OTA update, which seemed to help a bit more. Android 5.1.1 has been mentioned however, I am not sure my issues will be helped by an update. For this reason, I am here to ask for advice or suggestions as to what I should do next (if anything!)
My first issue was the battery. The battery only lasts four hours per charge and since it is the original from 2012, I have ordered a new one and am awaiting its arrival. This tablet was a gift and whatever warranty it had has most likely expired so I am not concerned about invalidating a warranty. I hope that a new battery will make a big difference.
However, it is the second problem that is really annoying. The screen on my tablet freezes often, in any program and at any time. After charging the tablet, I've learned that it is best to restart the tablet to prolong the amount of time before the tablet freezes for the first time. Reading an article, for example, is a problem as I can read the first page but when it is time to slide the screen up to scroll to the next page, I am at risk of the screen freezing and it definitely freezes before page three. When typing a comment on Facebook or Twitter, etc. either they keyboard freezes while typing or if I can type the comment, the screen freezes before I can press the send key. I have other ways that are less portable to access these types of programs however, portability is the reason for a tablet. Using the tablet as a reader, I usually do not have any problems swiping page to page for usually as long as I'd like (although the swiping motion is a potential problem outside of the reading app.)
I backed up the tablet just prior to the 5.1 update and reset it to factory settings and for almost a week the difference was amazing. However, even with 5.1, the tablet is back to freezing again. Regarding the 32 GB internal storage; the actual available space after the OS is 28.17 GB and my available 23.90 GB. Due to the tablet's lack of response, I only reloaded a small number of apps and then, with the screen freezing multiple times in the four hours the battery allows, I uninstalled even more apps to get where I am now; I have never exceeded 50% at any time. In a browser, I often have more than one window open, yet it is the only program open. Sometimes, Facebook and Messenger are open at the same time but not always. If I get an incoming update, such as CNN, etc. if I open that for a few minutes, I'm risking another freeze. I am continuously aware of what programs are open and close them with the bottom square icon on my tablet. I have two frequent errors: SYSTEM UI is shutting down and the Process System is shutting down and they happen often. I am using Nova Launcher and the other Launcher on the tablet has been force stopped. I should probably note that I did the cache cleaning process two different times before I reset the tablet to factory settings.
Would going to something like the Cyanogen Mod be of assistance with this situation? There is an Official CM12 Mod available for this tablet however, the article I am referencing is from January 2015, written by Vinod Yalburgi titled, "Update Nexus 7 2012 (grouper) to Android 5.0.2 with CyanogenMod 12 official ROM." The tablet is already at 5.1 though and, as you have surmised correctly, I am not fluent in Mods of any type so I am unable to determine which mod is the best in this situation or if a mod is not going to be the right answer. I am open to rooting the tablet; the huge benefit I'd appreciate is the ease of creating a full back-up.
Is there another, more appropriate solution? My main concern is that if I wait for Lollipop 5.11, whenever that might be, it will not improve the issue with the screen freezing and I will have waited longer and ultimately gotten nowhere. Going back to KitKat 4.4 as I have read others have done is not appealing but if is the best solution . . .
Thank you for your patience with all of these details. I am hoping that with this info and all of the experience here, you can help me move in the right direction. Your time and any and all of your helpful suggestions are appreciated! This tablet can still work very well and as it was a gift, I want to make it work (on the days I do not want to hit it with a hammer!)
CShirey
I had the same freeze ups after the 5.1 update. I reset it 3 times to no avail! So I went back to KitKat 4.4.4. This lollipop is a big SUCKER, if you ask me... Google has screwed the pooch on this one.
? Take me to your Leader ?
Not the option I was hoping for but maybe the solution!
eLCruz said:
I had the same freeze ups after the 5.1 update. I reset it 3 times to no avail! So I went back to KitKat 4.4.4. This lollipop is a big SUCKER, if you ask me... Google has screwed the pooch on this one.
Take me to your Leader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestion! Does your tablet work well with KitKat 4.4.4? Any problems with freezing and battery drain? I have continued on with my research on this trying to determine what other owners have done in a similar situation. Lots of complaints but not a lot of answers, so far!
CShirey
General surprise at the lack of helpful replies!
I am grateful for the reply I received however, I am disappointed in the general lack of interest. Whenever I come to review posts here, I see that generally, most posts receive multiple answers. I am in the right forum . . . Is my question considered to be too simple . . . or did I miss an unwritten rule? Thanks.
CShirey
Sorry, had turned notifications off and forgot. It's working smoothly on 4.4.4! Should have never updated, IMO. I believe lollipop will be Google's windows vista... Hope every thing works out.
?Here, there be Whales...?
I got mine from Amazon yesterday, I already bricked it a few hours ago by messing with the recovery. It should be an easy fix once I get hold of the stock firmware. I got another one coming tomorrow, so I'll focus on just extracting the rom from that one
Bricking aside, I got 20/10mbs down/up on speedtest using my T-mobile US SIM, and the signal indicator showed LTE. Forcing it off LTE I got 10/5mbs down/up.
Battery life is awesome, I used it constantly for 8hrs and only got down to 50%, my note4 would have been dead after that much use with the screen on. The overall feel of Android 6.0 was smooth, no stuttering. There is no bloatware, just a few utilities for fancy wallpapers.
The phone charges faster than any other phone I have. The included TPE case doesnt increase the thickness of the phone too much and I like that It keeps the camera lens off the desk when I set the phone down.
Dual SIM functionality works nice. It was one of the main features I was looking for, though I will miss T-Mobile wifi calling.
Some notes:
I used adb & fastboot in my attempts to root. After running
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot reboot
the display now showed
Code:
Orange state
Your device has been unlocked and can't be trusted
Your device will reboot in 5 seconds
So it appears that it is best to oem relock it when you're done updating, as the message goes away if you relock.
Backing up the ROM
I found SP Flash Tool v5.1632 for Linux and I've been practicing saving chunks of ROM from my bricked phone. I should be able to grab the recovery portion of the new phones' ROM tomorrow.
Based on the scatter.txt file I've found for the Gionee S8 AmigOS Marshmallow ROM, recovery starts at 0x8000 and is no more that 16Mb is size. So, in theory, I should be able to grab that range of the ROM and flash it using fastboot back to my bricked unit. I'm using the word "bricked", but its far from that, I should just say "unbootable" to be more clear.
Earlier today I was trying to get MTK droid tools to detect my Blu Pure XR so I could extract the scatter file, but It never was detected. All the drivers installed ok, so maybe its not compatible, I'm not sure yet. I'll get back onto that after my first unit is back up and working, hopefully tomorrow.
Edit: I just found a modified MTK Droid Tools for 64bit cpu phones, I'll give this a try too.
Edit next day: I got the second phone this morning. I used SP Flash Tool to grab the recovery.img portion of the new phone, then I used fastboot to flash it to the damaged phone, and it worked fine. The bootloader unlock/relock caused the phone to wipe itself and then re-encrypt the file system, so I lost a few test photos, no big deal. FWIW, I could have flashed the recovery back to the damaged phone using SP Flash Tool, but I wanted to make sure it worked with fastboot, which it did.
Heres the recovery.img for those that may need it and don't have two phones
View attachment xr-recovery.zip
Monday or so my mom gets her phone, so I'll be able to test LTE on AT&T with her SIM card. I just got 34Mbs download on a speed test (T-Mobile), which is is fine, considering all the naysayers reviewing on Amazon who didn't have the guts to buy the phone, saying LTE wouldn't work at all.
I just heard of this device today. I wonder how quick Android 7.x can be flashed over to this, but for $299 it's a good looking phone.
It may be a while since there's not much activity happening on this device yet.
I'm focusing on creating a rooted boot.img right now, as I'll be happy with 6.0 and root. I plan on having this done today. I've never created a custom twrp recovery, but I may try that next.
I need to figure out how to prevent the full wipe after oem unlocking/relocking, that's a real pain having all my setup deleted after every test, as it makes it hard to use the phone while developing.
Got root
Firstly, I'm still learning about Mediatek based devices, so I feel like a noob again. I haven't edited a ROM in several years and there's a lot of crap info on the internet. Most articles that write up "how to root a phone" basically say "Install twrp, then supersu", yeah, thanks
After struggling with all the selinux controls in 6.0, I switched to hack mode. As per phhusson's super-bootimg script, I used his sed technique to force the init in boot.img to not enforce security policy and added his bits to init.rc to load su. I put su and in system.img along with a suid root shell just in case. Its working, I have SuperSu installed, and it pops up to ask me to grant permissions. It won't update its su binary, I've got some permission problem there, but it's not a show stopper. Also,I found its easiest to just leave the bootloader unlocked while testing, I just have to get used to the annoying boot message and 5 second delay.
This week I'll start from scratch and document the procedure I used and hopefully make it repeatable for anyone else who may want to try it. Maybe someone will just port twrp and save me the time of learning how to do it
Some notes on the software I used:
Windows:
* SP Flash Tool with a bogus scatter file to grab the stock ROM sections of my phone as the Linux version would timeout reading large ranged of flash.
Linux:
* mktool to unpack/repack the boot.img
* loopback mounted the system.img to add su to it.
* used img2simg to convert system.img to a sparse image
* fastboot to flash the boot & system images to the phone.
AT&T Speed Tests
No good, ~500kbs up/down, even though signal strength showed 4 bars on 4G. No LTE at all. Changing the band set to 3g/4g had no real effect either way. Don't buy this phone I you plan on using it with AT&T, although my mother hasn't noticed the ****ty 4G in actual use yet (I'll switch her to T-mobile soon).
Update: After using the phone for 1 week, I am extremely pleased with it. I chuckle when I read the negative reviews on all the big phone web sites. Reviewers hate the wiggly button, LOL, but it doesn't bother me as I'm used to it on my Samsungs. Other than the wiggly home button, its a solid phone. I prefer the metal back as opposed to glass. By the way, who's brilliant idea was it who thought an all glass phone was a good idea?
It's not AOSP, but I find it's AmigOS Carefree launcher very pleasant to use, and I've used countless launchers over the years. It's got way better specs than the Nexus 5X and after struggling with the security in 6.0, I'm not in any rush to find out what security bull**** awaits me in 7.0 (for my benefit of course).
On the flip side, I don't use NFC payments, Google Pay, Google Play, no Google anything. All Google stuff disabled. I run my own calendar/contacts/tasks sync server, use oandbackup to save/restore all my apps and settings, the majority of my apps come from f-droid. I don't play games. So I'm not an average user. I've been using Android devices since the Nexus One and I have a pile of phones in front of me. Blu (or Gionee) has shown it can make quite a competitive device that I enjoy using all day, (though I wouldn't be using it at all unless it was rooted, so luckily for both of us that is the case).
Rant: Things that are actually more annoying than a wiggly button:
* Dozens of phone review websites that all publish a review of this phone within 2 days of each other after the phone was released on Aug 29th ,with all the same content. It's like they are all run by the same hack, just to get advertising dollars.
* Websites like rootoreviews.com that use a template on how to root this particular phone using twrp, when twrp doesn't exist yet for the device. WTF is that? Why would someone think this is a great idea? They have the same instruction set for every phone on the site with the make/model info swapped out. Are they just hoping twrp becomes available soon so they have the first post on the topic by default? Lame!
rotohammer said:
No good, ~500kbs up/down, even though signal strength showed 4 bars on 4G. No LTE at all. Changing the band set to 3g/4g had no real effect either way. Don't buy this phone I you plan on using it with AT&T, although my mother hasn't noticed the ****ty 4G in actual use yet (I'll switch her to T-mobile soon).
Update: After using the phone for 1 week, I am extremely pleased with it. I chuckle when I read the negative reviews on all the big phone web sites. Reviewers hate the wiggly button, LOL, but it doesn't bother me as I'm used to it on my Samsungs. Other than the wiggly home button, its a solid phone. I prefer the metal back as opposed to glass. By the way, who's brilliant idea was it who thought an all glass phone was a good idea?
It's not AOSP, but I find it's AmigOS Carefree launcher very pleasant to use, and I've used countless launchers over the years. It's got way better specs than the Nexus 5X and after struggling with the security in 6.0, I'm not in any rush to find out what security bull**** awaits me in 7.0 (for my benefit of course).
On the flip side, I don't use NFC payments, Google Pay, Google Play, no Google anything. All Google stuff disabled. I run my own calendar/contacts/tasks sync server, use oandbackup to save/restore all my apps and settings, the majority of my apps come from f-droid. I don't play games. So I'm not an average user. I've been using Android devices since the Nexus One and I have a pile of phones in front of me. Blu (or Gionee) has shown it can make quite a competitive device that I enjoy using all day, (though I wouldn't be using it at all unless it was rooted, so luckily for both of us that is the case).
Rant: Things that are actually more annoying than a wiggly button:
* Dozens of phone review websites that all publish a review of this phone within 2 days of each other after the phone was released on Aug 29th ,with all the same content. It's like they are all run by the same hack, just to get advertising dollars.
* Websites like rootoreviews.com that use a template on how to root this particular phone using twrp, when twrp doesn't exist yet for the device. WTF is that? Why would someone think this is a great idea? They have the same instruction set for every phone on the site with the make/model info swapped out. Are they just hoping twrp becomes available soon so they have the first post on the topic by default? Lame!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi theer just curious on how you get it to root then??
Thanks for potentially inspiring some activity here regarding this phone. It looks like an impressive device, but I won't pull the trigger until there're some solid rom options.
Hey brother hope you r doing well. Glad to see this thread with the smartphone similar to mine. My phone is symphony helio s20, mtk6755 helio p10 processors, 4gb ram 64gb rom with the similar system.img and boot.img of gionee s8 & blu pur xr.
I was desperately looking for a pre rooted rom or a custom, custom recovery and rooting tool for almost 2 months, requested so many times all around this site, but unfortunately didn't get any respons (really frustated). I just badly need to root my device but I'm just a noob on modding and tweaking with Roms. I got my stock rom from Service Center, when I bricked my phone flashing a custom recovery. Later I tried all the method found all over the website but non of them are working only misleading. Bricked my phone several times but luckily I managed to reflash the stock rom by sp flash tool. Please keep this good work up and help us root our devices without any hassle. You are doing a really great work so keep it up bro!
Here is the link of my stock firmware with sn write tool if you need it for anything bro.
Best regards
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BywTv6KKZO4jX3BMMGRGVUFRa28
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7...N_Writer_tool_exe_v1.0_1604.00_All_In_One.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/pa2f3wqpf24t0db/Helio_S20_flashtool.zip
thanks in advance
Hey guys, thanks a lot for all your info and everything you posted Could you be so kind to describe how did you root your Pure XR devices??? Big hug from Cuba
I'm going to guess something with KingRoot. This is a rebranded Gionee S8, so China is already no stranger to this phone.
Not surprised about AT&T performance considering I've never seen an unlocked phone support so few LTE bands (2, 4, 7). Ridiculous. It supports less than half of all the LTE bands AT&T uses. Unless your area uses primarily band 2 or 4 you're screwed if you're on AT&T. Even worse if you're on T-Mobile. It only supports ONE band on T-Mobile. Does Blu even realize it's 2016?
bailsafe said:
I'm going to guess something with KingRoot. This is a rebranded Gionee S8, so China is already no stranger to this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried every rooting tool, including KingRoot, none worked. There's an OTA update for the stock firmware, but I wont be able to install it until after I un-root. I probably retrace the steps I did the first time: backup all my apps, flash the stock firmware, do the OTA, then save/edit it to have root, then flash the result. The phone works so good right now that I'd hate to mess it up.
Tikerz said:
Not surprised about AT&T performance considering I've never seen an unlocked phone support so few LTE bands (2, 4, 7). Ridiculous. It supports less than half of all the LTE bands AT&T uses. Unless your area uses primarily band 2 or 4 you're screwed if you're on AT&T. Even worse if you're on T-Mobile. It only supports ONE band on T-Mobile. Does Blu even realize it's 2016?
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Click to collapse
This was a Gionee S8 originally, which only supported FDD-LTE bands not in use in the USA. It's a miracle they got FDD-LTE in here at all, I guess, but if you're gonna sell in the US market... they really need more bands.
Rotohammer said:
I tried every rooting tool, including KingRoot, none worked. There's an OTA update for the stock firmware, but I wont be able to install it until after I un-root. I probably retrace the steps I did the first time: backup all my apps, flash the stock firmware, do the OTA, then save/edit it to have root, then flash the result. The phone works so good right now that I'd hate to mess it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably your best bet. I'm surprised KingRoot wouldn't work, even on the newer updates...
hey I was wondering for some reason my blu pure xr does not receive notifications at all except for certain apps and it keeps on disconnecting from messenger and such is there any remedy for this?
orlandotisk said:
hey I was wondering for some reason my blu pure xr does not receive notifications at all except for certain apps and it keeps on disconnecting from messenger and such is there any remedy for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Press left button to bring up the running apps list, long press the button with 3 rectangles in it, then press "Clean white list". Here, you press"Add into white list" and choose "messenger" and any other apps you don't want "auto cleaned".
For example, my white list includes Alarm Klock, K-9 mail, CSipSimple, Silence (all apps that I want running all the time)
rotohammer said:
I got mine from Amazon yesterday, I already bricked it a few hours ago by messing with the recovery. It should be an easy fix once I get hold of the stock firmware. I got another one coming tomorrow, so I'll focus on just extracting the rom from that one
Bricking aside, I got 20/10mbs down/up on speedtest using my T-mobile US SIM, and the signal indicator showed LTE. Forcing it off LTE I got 10/5mbs down/up.
Battery life is awesome, I used it constantly for 8hrs and only got down to 50%, my note4 would have been dead after that much use with the screen on. The overall feel of Android 6.0 was smooth, no stuttering. There is no bloatware, just a few utilities for fancy wallpapers.
The phone charges faster than any other phone I have. The included TPE case doesnt increase the thickness of the phone too much and I like that It keeps the camera lens off the desk when I set the phone down.
Dual SIM functionality works nice. It was one of the main features I was looking for, though I will miss T-Mobile wifi calling.
Some notes:
I used adb & fastboot in my attempts to root. After running
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot reboot
the display now showed
Code:
Orange state
Your device has been unlocked and can't be trusted
Your device will reboot in 5 seconds
So it appears that it is best to oem relock it when you're done updating, as the message goes away if you relock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bro how are you? How's family? I hope that everything is well for you and yours. Basically I just wanted to say thanks for sharing such great info. And I'm really glad that there's someone who's onto something like einstein. I just hope that you can figure out a way to get root with your own custom build of twrp recovery using chainfire's supersu to work with this smartphone. Cos that'll be super-awesome right? But I'm just a noob so all I can do is just wish you the best of luck. So best of luck until you crack the code. And I have complete faith in you. You will achieve it I know that for sure. Wish you and yours all the best. And thanks again in advance. Peace!
Does anybody succeed rooting ?
Please share the method!!
so no one knows how to root?
rotohammer was able to achieve root and said he would get back to us with the method on how it was done, but he hasn't posted it yet...
Before I go over this. Let me explain what I'm trying to achieve. My Lenovo Tab 4 is old and slow and I'm replacing it. I have no personal info on it or anything that I care about. I don't care that much what happens to it. What I want to do is put a super lightweight linux distro just to use a command line interface with. I don't even intend to use the touchpad anymore. I want to hook up a mechanical keyboard and use it for little programming projects as a distraction free environment that doesn't have the noticible input lag that termux does, and isn't full of a bunch of apps I don't intend to use anymore. I originally intended to completely disconnect the screen and hook it up to a rasb pi, but apparently monitor controllers cost more than monitors and don't always play nice with tablet screens. I do not want to install Linux on top of Android. I tried using Termux but found it too slow and limiting.
My plan was to root my tablet and install Linux on it. I used this tutorial:
I successfully unlocked the bootloader but had a hell of a time finding firmware. I tried using this site as that's what gets' recommended here but the link always throws an error saying "too many users have downloaded this file" so I cannot download it. So I tried some somewhat sketchy site called romprovider. maybe not the best idea but I was doing this in a Linux VM on a tablet that had no personal info on it (still not great I know) Anyway the firmware actually worked and I rebooted my tablet, checked Magisk and saw that my device was successfully rooted, but now my tablet's 'wifi' option will not turn on. The slider just doesn't move to the right. I've tried rebooting and factory resetting it but to no avail. My guess is the rom I got was just crap.
Is there any way I can do this without having to find factory firmware? Could I say, install Lineage OS or something else now that my bootloader is unlocked? or do I need a rooted factory image on my device to continue? I have no idea what the hell I'm doing here in case you can't tell.
I've been having the same issue with my tab 4 8 after a similar occurrence. not with rooting but with firmwarefile.com and I'm stuck where you are. wish I could help but just so you know. You're not alone!