Anybody have the 3.1 update yet?

[taichimaster]

It's started. People are walking up to the scales with something that looks like a fish but isn't the REAL fish.

I don't believe that honeycomb 3.1 is RELEASED anywhere right now, leaked maybe.

The source that people are using is from China. (I'm using the info from others to deduce this). Maybe it's great, maybe not. The key word for me is MAYBE.

I personally am going to wait a couple of more days. I don't want to root to have to install anything.

Now the other side of the coin. From what the bold people who root are saying about the 3.1 that they have installed, it sounds like it's a lot tighter than 3.0.

Side note: Rooting a tablet (and I haven't done this) is like playing with the registry in windows (to me). I've played with the registry and have looked at the "blue screen of death" on my home computer. Like they say, easy if you know what you are doing, but a mistake can be a "brick".

back to the main topic:

Tell me if I'm right on this one. Isn't the honeycomb 3.1 from Acer suppose to have the tweeks for the A500 that a generic honeycomb 3.1 will not have?

If that is true, then won't the hc 3.1 from Acer be even better than the leaked hc 3.1?

All of the above is not meant to be all that deep, just some ramblings of a tablet user.

Ken

 

[gabrielbcn]

It's started. People are walking up to the scales with something that looks like a fish but isn't the REAL fish.

Tell me if I'm right on this one. Isn't the honeycomb 3.1 from Acer suppose to have the tweeks for the A500 that a generic honeycomb 3.1 will not have?

If that is true, then won't the hc 3.1 from Acer be even better than the leaked hc 3.1?

The leak is 3.1 from Acer, it does have the Acer tweaks.

As for the question, its reasoning is incorrect.

What we don't know is whether the leak is the final version to be distributed OTA or not. If it is not, some improvements are still pending and thus it will be updated again since it will have a bigger build number. If it is, the folks who have updated are already updated. In any case, by updating you can only improve, no harm done. The tablet is much more responsive.

 

[taichimaster]

Hey, thanks for the clarification. I was under the assumption that the honeycomb 3.1 that everyone was jumping on was one from google that wasn't ACER specific.

I'm hoping that within a week we will all be talking about how hc 3.1 has improved things.

Actually my tablet isn't running bad right now with 3.0. No complaints.

Thanks for the info on where hc 3.1 leak came from.

Ken

 

[TBone]

Icebike, I'm NOT going to get into some war with you. I'm sure you are a fine person, but fighting seems, by the nature of your posts, your goal. You don't want 3.1 early, awesome. You want it early, awesome. Why would I care? You just come across as very disrespectful of others, for reasons I can't see. I think you'll really like 3.1 when you get it. Some really nice additions that make the HC experience all the much better.

Sent from my A500 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[ScottW714]

1) XDA developers have given the leak a luke warm review at best. It causes a LOT of problems. Go read the thread. Its not been dissected to any great degree, they are far too busy trying to get it to run reliably without bricking the tablet and providing a way back out if it does. They have no real clues on what is going on inside.

Agreed, when I was writing it, I was going back and forth between good and OK.
I went with good just because I like it, but then again I have one of the custom ROMs. If the release was the actual Acer release... Since I don't know, I won't finish that sentence, but let's hope Acer does better that OK or good.

Now the custom ROM (XDA modified update) reviews are outstanding for three most popular ones.

2) XDA does not consist of thousands of developers, and none of them have the level of access to Google that Acer does.

I never said developers, my point was their test subjects (like me) are many, some knowledgeable, some not. My point, which I wasn't real clear with, is they have access to a more realistic test set than Acer. I doubt Acer is testing hacked tabs with literally thousands of mods. To me that's a huge advantage, Acer test set is probably pretty sterile running approved apps operated by fairly knowledgeable people. Which to me isn't representative of actual users.

You may disagree, and I may be wrong, but I will say that manufacturers are extremely slow in responding to known issues. They are often pushed into releasing 'not quite finished' products to meet deadlines. For example, I don't think Acer planned to release a tab w/o access to the SD card, or the 3G/battery drain problem, or even a really weak GPS, but they promised a tab, and they delivered. We wait months for the fixes, the XDA guys had those issues and many more solved within days.

3) There are no more than 20 developers in XDA that can do this level of work, the rest are posers. Of those 20 maybe two are spending any significant time on this particular tablet. There are a lot of other devices in their candy store. If you think two (or even 20) developers from XDA are better than the Professionals as ACER then why in hell did you buy this tablet?

I agree with the numbers, maybe even fewer, but in reality, one is all it takes. I never said they were better, but every known issue has been resolved, tested, and approved by thousand of users, myself included. Not to be crass, but who's waiting on 3.1 ? I, like thousands, if not tens of thousands have it. I think your assumption that the Acer release is going to be better is misplaced, the proof is in your hands, they are not perfect. Neither are the guys at XDA.

As far as buying the tablet, I bought it because I wanted to. I really hope that is a satisfactory answer to your rather rude question. Not really sure why that concerns you, but apparently it does.

Here's a pretty good analogy, not perfect but close. I buy a motorcycle that suits my needs, then I go online and realize the manufacturer put a certain chip in it to meet emission guidelines. Turns out another company makes a chip that will give me more power. Ditto with the exhaust. So I buy the aftermarket products knowing that they will effect my warranty. The risk to me is worth the reward. Doesn't mean I hate the manufacture or think thier people aren't smart, just means that i realize there are limitations, be it governmental, legal, or just a manufacturer's decision.

I suspect there are all kinds of contractual legalities and corporate non-sense in regards to the software Acer puts out (similar to emissions). The folks over at XDA are free to think outside the box, for better or worse.

I'm not pushing XDA, just putting my thoughts down for others to read. I like them and it comes through, but I have no stock in anyone going there or not going there, I happen to think the risk is worth the reward, you don't, and that's fair.

 

[Icebike]

A well reasoned response Scott.

I have no problem with people wanting to experiment, run new stuff, etc. I beta test for a few
companies, some of which don't even have their software in the market yet, and I have to
side load these.

My only concern is when folks post links to leaked software and in gushing terms suggest installing it without
a single word or warning to the new users that read this forum, and without even a
suggestion of the steps these new users should take ahead of time to make sure they can recover their
devices when things go wrong.

 

[taichimaster]

To everyone who has contributed to this thread:

Thank you.

I think we have given all the angles on honeycomb 3.1 and whether to install it now or later.

I know that I only saw a couple of the angles when I got into this thread, and thanks to Icebike, Scott and others I now see the whole picture.

Let me try this:

1. if downloading apps from the market is difficult for you, then maybe you shouldn't try to root and download honeycomb 3.1.

2. If on the other hand, you have beta tested other software and have an understanding of what is involved "read know how to get back out when there is trouble" then go for it.

Remember hc 3.1 now or later, the final decision is yours and THE FINAL RESPONSIBILITY is also yours.

Icebike and others who have hc 3.1 already, my hat's off to you. The trophy for the hc 3.1 goes to you.

Bottom line, great thread. Lot's of info.

Ken

 

[ScottW714]

... looks like a fish but isn't the REAL fish.

It is without a doubt from Acer, it has their signature, which allows anyone to install.
To install a non Acer update (ROM) you have to root because they can't replicate the Acer signature.

Since Acer has announce a July 5th release, even if it isn't an actual release, but a leak, the difference are going to be very slight. It's not like Acer is going to be working on the software on the 4th. I don't know what the lead time is for updates, but it's got to be put on a lot of servers and tested. So the leaked copy or updates is at most a couple weeks behind the real deal. Plus once the real deal is out you can update to that.

I don't mean any offense, but it's obvious you don't know what root means so I will explain:
Root is very similar to windows hidden files, except it's an entire directory. This is an educated guess, but I think the root concept was designed for phones, so no matter what you did, it's core functions wouldn't be effected, namely the phone. So the core directory, or root directory is locked down tight to prevent people messing with it. It's where they store all the good stuff, and that is why people want in.

IMO opinion, it should come with a program to root. PC's aren't rooted and hidden files can be made visible. I have access to every file on my PC and these tabs are essentially portable PC's. I understand the logic of locking down a phone, but not on the tab.

The process of rooting is beyond my expertise, but the people who do know have designed a fail safe app to gives the user access, it's available on the Market. Once activated (takes 30 seconds and a reboot), it allows you to give apps SuperUser access (similar to Admin rights a PC). When a program is opened that wants access to the root directory, it asks, like Windows, if you want to grant the app SuperUser status. Nothing is getting into the root directory without the users permission and if you want to remove the permission, open the app, and turn off the permission. It also allows you to unroot. Beside the safety aspect, if a rooted tab needs to go to Acer, all traces of the root can be removed. So technically you void the warranty with root, but unrooting removes all traces of the root.

The other app people install is for recovery. Again, found in the market, 30 second install,and reboot.

This program allows you to access your tab before the Droid software is loaded. The tab is turned off, then the power an volume keys are held down when starting (like access BIOS with the F2 key on a PC). And like BIOS, it's text menus. This is where a backup of your tab is made, it puts it on the external SD card. I always back out of the program and reboot. Like Windows, if the keys aren't pressed it boots normally. I always make a copy of my back up and sent it my PC just in case. The ROM (moded update) file is a .zip file and needs to be on the external sd card.

Then reboot and hold down the keys to get back into the Bios like menu. You clear your tab using the menu controls and then select the install .zip. Like any updates, takes about 7 mins and that's it. That is flashing a ROM. Don't like it, reboot into the BIOS like menu, clear tab, install another ROM or install the back-up you made minutes ago if you want your old configuration back. 7 mins later you are right as rain.

I am not pushing this, it's why I didn't include the app names, nor is this a guide. There are step by step guides and videos at XDA. I read a bunch of guides, watched several videos and when I felt confident enough in the process I went for it.

Keep in mind, rooting voids the warranty and although many people have done this without a problem, some have had issues, and few have bricked their devises. But because we can connect the tab to a PC via USB, a brick is no longer a brick. They can be revived, but since I haven't dealt with that aspect, I can't comment on the complexity.

The reason people do this is because developers take an update or a backup and tweak it. All the custom ROMS have different video start ups when booting, which is neat, but serves no real purpose. Many remove all the useless apps most people don't want, bloatware. The differences are subtle, like 3.1 form 3.0 things that definitely improve the experience. Just read the developers lists of changes.

And lastly:

From what the bold people who root are saying about the 3.1 that they have installed, it sounds like it's a lot tighter than 3.0.

I don't know because I have one of the moded versions. It's really smooth when scrolling, more responsive, and just overall it feels really refined and faster. It has several new apps, Google Video, one tab has your movies, the other takes you to the rental store, not sure if the photo and video editors are part of 3.1 or just in the mod I have, the video camera is in 720p, Google widgets are sizable. The stock browse has a cool thumb wheel feature and runs much better. Gps is better, but still takes more time that I would like. New honeycomb Wallpapers.

Overall there's no real big differences, but IMO it didn't need a face-lift, just some good old refining of the original release. There's more but I am not at home, so this is all from memory. Oh ya, ES Explorer came with it.

Ken I hope this clears up some things.


I am not a programmer or an expert, so if my terminology or process is incorrect, please comment and I will edit so I'm not handing out bad information.

<<<------ If you find this information useful, hit the thanks button to the left.

 

[taichimaster]

Scott,

Thanks a milliion. Playing with "hidden files" is a whole different idea than messing with the bios.

All right everyone out there, was I the only one that had this concept messed up?

Backup and restore concept, that's something I can get my mind around, playing with the bios (I've blue screens a couple of laptops and had to get professional help) has really bitten me in the butt.

Everyone, re-read what was in Scott's post, it's really good stuff.

Thanks again.

Ken