New WonderMedia WM8650 Android Tablet PC

[ksng_android]

I've proceeded to flash my 8" 8650 with a v1.2.2 ROM, but the experience was a bit scary and my tablet almost became a brick! I don't have the original factory ROM and the new ROM got hang up at a certain point during rebooting. Worst was that there's no other 8" ROM available for download for further trial. I finally got a 7" factory ROM (M009) and it successfully boots on my tablet. One thing good about such ROM is that there're some text files controlling the working environment of the tablet and they're quite intuitive. I could easily modify some environment variables to make it suit for 8" (resolution 800x600). Then there's a problem that touchscreen calibration doesn't work. I resolved this problem painfully by modifying the environment variable wmt.io.ts.2dcal to find out the best setting - I need to flash the ROM again and again for trial and error. Now my touchscreen is very accurate and the tablet is in very good condition. I've modified the ROM to make it rooted, remove some apps such as the Shenzhen weather/time widget which take up much resources, and the touchscreen response of my tablet is now very fast!

There's still 2 outstanding issues which I'm still trying to resolve:
1. There's "Settings -> Security" instead of "Settings -> Location & Security" which it should be, as in most other Android tablets. Impact is that most 'map' apps e.g. bigplannet Tracks would crash. Crash log shows that the crash occurs when trying to start a 'location service' instance.
2. Apps can't be moved to SD

I've made two interesting changes:
1. remap the physical 'volume+' key to become 'menu' using the buttonremap app (requires root). I regard this as being more useful to me.
2. Changing the file /system/wmtapp/launcher-res/customizable/launcher_cfg.xml to increase the no. of icons per home screen to be 5 x 5 (from the original 4 x 4).

There's yet another issue - external bluetooth adapter doesn't work, but this is not wondermedia specific.

I've tried replacing Android with the respective files from the Android SDK files ... result was that I got a successful booting and the "Settings -> Location & Security" works! However there're things not working - wifi not working, soft keys (menu, volume + -, etc) missing on the task bar, etc. Maybe some files are missing in my process, and I'll further proceed with my experiment.

 

[p3k]

Well I've had my WM8650 now for a couple of weeks, and it's OK... you sure get what you pay for. Maybe I'm just expecting more.

One of the biggest discouragements is how easy the screen scratches. I was using a stylus from my PDA (which is also a resistive screen) and not preaaing all that hard, and that, with a combination of regular light finger/fingernail sliding use, the screen is alarmingly scratched up for such a short time of use. I thought of looking into a screen protector, but those usually make things look so blah, and I'm already dealing with low-vision problems.

This may be a stupid question (nore noob questions to come), but on the 'desktop' screen (is that what they call it on these?) the far right has a thin (about ¾" wide) vertical darkened area with a few icons in it... what is special about this area? Do I need to keep icons outta it?

Also, I've read talk that with Android 2.2, a person doesn't need to kill/stop/close programs that may be running in the background. I'm a bit confused about this. Say I just finish using the browser, and then go to do somenting else, and open another program. I can go into task manager, and there is the browser listed... is it using up resources? Should it be closed there?

Speaking of closing, is there any real way to 'close' a program when you're done with it?

Man, try typing an email on it an I suffer from finger cramps it takes so long!

Oh well, anyway, if someone can anwser my questions I'd sure appreiate it (I searched the forum but didn't find answers).

Tks

 

[VonSpyder]

Well I've had my WM8650 now for a couple of weeks, and it's OK... you sure get what you pay for. Maybe I'm just expecting more.

One of the biggest discouragements is how easy the screen scratches. I was using a stylus from my PDA (which is also a resistive screen) and not preaaing all that hard, and that, with a combination of regular light finger/fingernail sliding use, the screen is alarmingly scratched up for such a short time of use. I thought of looking into a screen protector, but those usually make things look so blah, and I'm already dealing with low-vision problems.

This may be a stupid question (nore noob questions to come), but on the 'desktop' screen (is that what they call it on these?) the far right has a thin (about ¾" wide) vertical darkened area with a few icons in it... what is special about this area? Do I need to keep icons outta it?

Also, I've read talk that with Android 2.2, a person doesn't need to kill/stop/close programs that may be running in the background. I'm a bit confused about this. Say I just finish using the browser, and then go to do somenting else, and open another program. I can go into task manager, and there is the browser listed... is it using up resources? Should it be closed there?

Speaking of closing, is there any real way to 'close' a program when you're done with it?

Man, try typing an email on it an I suffer from finger cramps it takes so long!

Oh well, anyway, if someone can anwser my questions I'd sure appreiate it (I searched the forum but didn't find answers).

Tks

some people will tell you that killing apps is harmful and that leaving them running doesnt use up system resources...

those people are WRONG.

First of all Android is a Linux based OS and as such is VERY resilient. Killing an app will do no harm whatso ever as long as it isnt a system app (most app killers wont even list system apps anyway)

Secondly, while apps not in use do not use up CPU allocation (which is usually what they mean when they tell you it doesnt use system resources) they DO use up MEMORY (or RAM if you cant differentiate MEMORY from DISK SPACE from PROCESSOR SPEED) our tablets generally only have 256 Megabytes of RAM (some even have as low as 128) and as such we need every ounce of that memory we can get...as when we run low, apps run slow. background non-running apps use up available memory and therefore it becomes needed to kill these apps so as to not lag when you run the next app you wish to use.

Now some apps use a negligible amount of memory and as such you are probably safe leaving them open, but if you dont need it running then its probably wise to kill whatever apps your arent using.


as for your first question...that dfark vertical bar is the quick access bar, think of it like you think of the quick launch icons on the windows task bar. Just a handy little thing to have and you can add or remove icons from it at your leisure.

 

[p3k]

Thanks for your help Vonspyder. I'm slowly getting the tablet customized into what I want. 2 main problems now bugging me;
- I can't seem to get anything from Android Market to install. When I go thru their website using the tablet, I get a "there is no android phone associated with this account. Please sign in with a different account."
- So I see Flash is supposedly installed by my looking in the list of programs, yet when I go to a website [using the default browser] to a site with a flash object, I'm greeted with a small box, and when I click on it, I get a 'click' but nothing happens. I see that it's an 'evaluation' copy, but how do I even get to use it?!

 

[Dajo]

Thanks for your help Vonspyder. I'm slowly getting the tablet customized into what I want. 2 main problems now bugging me;
- I can't seem to get anything from Android Market to install. When I go thru their website using the tablet, I get a "there is no android phone associated with this account. Please sign in with a different account."
- So I see Flash is supposedly installed by my looking in the list of programs, yet when I go to a website [using the default browser] to a site with a flash object, I'm greeted with a small box, and when I click on it, I get a 'click' but nothing happens. I see that it's an 'evaluation' copy, but how do I even get to use it?!

Did you read this thread?

http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...ps-do-you-use-general-your-wm8650-tablet.html

Have 4 alternative markets!!!! No excuses for have your favorite apps

 

[p3k]

OK, thanks, I'll look at them. I have found a few other sites already and downloaded a few things, but they don't have some of the unique apps that I found that only A.M. seems to have... so there is no [easy] way to put it on? And... any input on the flash question?

Thanks for your help

 

[Dajo]

Try to search this apps on google, like nameoftheapp.apk , maybe you can find

 

[VonSpyder]

OK, thanks, I'll look at them. I have found a few other sites already and downloaded a few things, but they don't have some of the unique apps that I found that only A.M. seems to have... so there is no [easy] way to put it on? And... any input on the flash question?

Thanks for your help

The Android OS that comes stock on our tablets is not an authorized version, ergo the regular android market will not function. If you want it to work tyou will need to flash your tablet and install a new rom. this can be risky as if you install the wrong rom you can potentially "Brick" your device. I myself worked up the courage to do it and got it right on the first try (pretty easy to do actually) and now have access to the original android market...though what I am finding is that all the apps there are available on one of the five alternative markets. Ive yet to find one on A.M. i couldnt find on the others. Also...you need a gmail account to make it work as well in addition to that. if you wiszh to attempt this we will need to know everything about your tablet. (color of the led, color of the audio jack, does it vibrate when you start it? pictures of your tablet. size of your screen. what kind of camera? is it 0.3 MP or 1.3 MP? is your screen one point touch or two point touch? (this means that you can pinch zoom pictures and web pages)) with that information we can direct you to a ROM that "Should" be compatible with your device and will enable android market..youll even get a slight speed boost...but again you still run the risk of getting it wrong. if its worth it to you then let us know and we will try to help. if not then i suggest just working with the alternative markets

 

[p3k]

Thank you for the answer! I am somewhat leary of trying to flash the rom on this. I have flashed the rom on my [older] Dell PDA with no problems (and got a much better machine in the end!), so maybe flashing [eventually] will be the answer, especially if it gives a slight speed boost... this thing is aggravatingly slow (and I've tired all the recommended stuff like wifi control, killing unneeded programs, etc.), but maybe I'm just spoiled with my faster tower & netbook computers. Maybe I need to remember the days of my first 286 computer with 28k dial-up modem!

Aaand... can someone tackle my flash question (without recommending skyfire)? I know flash will be slow, but it would be nice at times.

Thanks again

 

[VonSpyder]

Despite the popular flash should still work...though be it slowly.

Sent from my WM8650 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[blaide]

I am in Beijing right now and today I bought a Wondermedia WM8650 for $120.00 USD. I want to root it to get the Android market, flash and in general streamline and improve performance on the device. It is running Android 2.2 and the build is: generic-eng 2.2 Froyo v1.2.0-20110321.152349. The kernal version is 2.6.32.9-default and it is a 9.7 inch tablet with a camera that i think is 1.5 megapixels, but can't find documentation on that. The tablet looks almost identical to the ipad2 and even says ipad2 on the back with the Apple logo and says made in Japan on the bottom. (gotta love the Chinese for imitating everything). The tablet also came with a little plastic box that plugs into the 30 pin port and it has 2 USB ports and a Ethernet conector on it.

I've looked, but can't find a step by step guide to root and set up the way I did for my Coby Kyros MID 7015. Can anyone help? Also, once everything is set up, is there a way to display the screen image of the tablet on a TV? The tablet itself does not have a HDMI port, but I was wondering if there is a way to use the 30 Pin or USB port or even WiFi or USB to a all in-in one PC or TV. I know the Ipad 2 has a special little cable you can buy that sends signal to a TV, but I think they also have specail software that works with the Ipad2 and cable to make that work?

 

[VonSpyder]

I am in Beijing right now and today I bought a Wondermedia WM8650 for $120.00 USD. I want to root it to get the Android market, flash and in general streamline and improve performance on the device. It is running Android 2.2 and the build is: generic-eng 2.2 Froyo v1.2.0-20110321.152349. The kernal version is 2.6.32.9-default and it is a 9.7 inch tablet with a camera that i think is 1.5 megapixels, but can't find documentation on that. The tablet looks almost identical to the ipad2 and even says ipad2 on the back with the Apple logo and says made in Japan on the bottom. (gotta love the Chinese for imitating everything). The tablet also came with a little plastic box that plugs into the 30 pin port and it has 2 USB ports and a Ethernet conector on it.

I've looked, but can't find a step by step guide to root and set up the way I did for my Coby Kyros MID 7015. Can anyone help? Also, once everything is set up, is there a way to display the screen image of the tablet on a TV? The tablet itself does not have a HDMI port, but I was wondering if there is a way to use the 30 Pin or USB port or even WiFi or USB to a all in-in one PC or TV. I know the Ipad 2 has a special little cable you can buy that sends signal to a TV, but I think they also have specail software that works with the Ipad2 and cable to make that work?

sounds like its still too new for a ROM to be out thats compatible with it just yet. You might just have to hold tight, or try ZD4Root app and see if it can root it.

 

[Dajo]

Be sure the ROM will work before flashing the tablet, or you will brick it. The right decision it's wait

 

[VonSpyder]

Be sure the ROM will work before flashing the tablet, or you will brick it. The right decision it's wait

well it wont neccessarily brick the tablet, could just not work in which case you flash a different rom...just a possibility thats all.

 

[Dajo]

Do you know this fw?

Firmware update ( release 05-05-11 versie 1.2.3 )