I wanted to play with the Recovery and the Rom of my Nabi 2 and I ended with a bricked tablet. Trying to boot the OS, I was stuck for ever on the screen with a freezed Nabi logo. Trying to boot the Recovery, I was stuck on a screen with a dead android and an exclamation mark. Here is how to solve that situation.
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
Prerequisites
First, be sure that the “Universal ADB Drivers” are installed. To be found here or here. the ADB command is available here. ADB documentation exists here. ADB won’t work if “USB debugging” was not enabled on the device. But it was, for sure, if as me your bricked it…
Then, get a TWRP Recovery image from here that can be installed without the need for a previous version. I took the TWRP 2.2.2.1 which is the only one that works fine with my Nabi 2 due to a Calibration issue with the other versions. As not available anymore from the page mentioned above (with all versions for Nabi 2), I had to take it from the Auto-Installer mentioned here (from the subfolder twrp/old).
Restore a Recovery
Now, connect the Nabi 2 on the PC and reboot the Nabi 2 in “Fastboot” mode:
Press volume + and hold it while pressing also Power.
Use Volume – to select “Fastboot” and select it with Volume +
Next, open a command prompt as admin on the PC and type:
fastboot flash recovery.img
Wait for the image to be loaded and reboot the device by pressing Volume + (to Select Bootloader) and next twice Volume – and once Volume + (to Select “Recovery Kernel”). The “Recovery” should now load (not be blocked anymore with a dead android) !
Upgrade to the most recent Recovery
One can now upgrade TWRP to a version which may only be installed on top of an existing one, such as the TWRP 2.8.5.0. I took the TWRP 2.8.5.0 v2 for KitKat here.
I went again into the “FastBoot” mode and uploaded the new Recovery image (TWRP 2.8.5.0) before restarting to enter the new Recovery Kernel.
Flash a stock Rom
And once in TWRP, I did “Backup” it on the SD card!
I moved next the SD card into my PC, I went to the folder \TWRP\BACKUPS\<id of my table>\<current date> and delete all the files in there.
Then, I downloaded the stock Rom 3.0.13 for KitKat (3013stock.zip) here and did unzip it in the backup folder before moving the SD back into the tablet.
I did reboot again the tablet in the Recovery and once there I did a “Restore” (keeping all items selected).
Once flashed, I did reboot the System (without installing SuperSU). After ~1 minute, the Logo started to spin and after ~2 other minutes the system started to initialize. After ~5 minutes, it was asking me to pick a language and configure the Wifi.
Et voilà FIXED !!!
Android is now 4.4.2, Build Bumber KOT49H, Product Version 3.0-release-keys.
The only version of TWRP that was previously compatible with my tablet Fuhu Nabi 2 was TWRP 2.2.2.1 due to a calibration bug (See Here). But I just found that TWRP 2.8.5.0 works fine!
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
My tablet was running:
Fuhu Nabi 2-NV7A-US
Version Android 4.1.1
Kernel 3.1.10-g160ecc9-dirty
Build JRO03C
Product Version 2.3-release-keys
As I still have Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) on my Nabi 2, I did get the Jelly Bean version of TWRP 2.8.5.0 mentioned here as I still have Android 4.1.1 on my Nabi 2.
Then, I did unzip the “Twrp-recovery-JBNV7AUS-285.zip” into the Auto-Installer’s subfolder “twrp\new” and renamed it from “twrp-recovery.img” into “recovery.img” (replacing the existing img file).
Finally, I run RecoveryUpdater.bat and pick the option 1: “1. Install TWRP 2.3.3.0 for Nabi versions 1.9.37 (recommended)“.
It pushed the image I just copied into the subfolder “twrp/new” on my Nabi 2 and Bingo 😉
In the part titled “Debugging”, tick the option ‘USB Debugging’ and answer OK if prompted to confirm
Now Plug the tablet into the PC and Run “Kingo Root” on the PC:
Kingo Root starts with the message “Not Connected”.
Then it immediately continues with “connecting…”
And finally it displays the name of the connected device “LENOVO A5500-F” with the messages “Mode Normal”, “Root Status : No”
On the tablet, you see a picture with “Kingo Root” and the message “USB connected”
If you have a prompt from the tablet to authorize the PC to connect on the tablet, accept it 😉
You are ready to start rooting the tablet!
Press the Button “Root” in “Kingo Root”.
It starts to root the device. On the tablet, you see the message “Rooting…”
After a few minutes, the tablet will reboot automatically a first time (you will hear the sound of disconnection/re-connection on the PC). Wait until “Kingo Root” redetect the tablet. As soon as rededected, it will check that it’s well rooted. During that operation, the picture with “Kingo Root” reappears on the tablet.
If you see a prompt from Google on the tablet, to check that the device has no security issue, just refuse it.
After the first reboot, “Kingo Root” saw that my device was not yet rooted and it continued with installing more stuff… Soon later, the tablet rebooted again automatically and “Kingo Root” restarted the same process. Concretely, it did the same routine 5 times (I.e. it rebooted five times) before announcing that the device was successfully rooted.
Something weird however… Although Kingo Root” pretended that the device was rooted, “Root Checker” told me it’s not the case ?!
I did restart “Kingo Root” and pressed “Root Again”. It did some updates but didn’t reboot automatic and Bingo ! “Root Checker” now confirmed that it was rooted.
NB.: you should be prompted to confirm that “Root Checker” may be granted Root Access by KingoUser.
It took me a bit more than 30 minutes.
NB.: Later, I did update the device with Build Number A5500F_A442_000_027_141207_ROW to Build Number A5500F_A442_000_029_150408_ROW and I had to re-root the device! It went fast and without any reboot. (NB.: I had to accept again to grant Root Access to Root Checker for KingoUser).
I just bought the new Raspberry Pi 2 to run Rasplex (Plex + OpenElec) within my Home Theater System. The only question I had was: would I be able to use the remote of my amplifier to control Rasplex. The answer is yes, it works !
Yamaha-HTR-4067
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
My Home Theater System includes:
A amplifier Yamaha HTR-4067
Speakers Eltax Monitor 91 HC with
two floor-standing speakers Eltax Monitor IX
two speakers Eltax Monitor I
one speaker Eltax Monitor Center
A subwoofer Yamaha NS-SW200
A projector BenQ W1070+
A Raspberry Pi 2 with RasPlex
NB.:
The Raspberry is connected on the “HDMI 1 (BD/DVD)” input.
I had to change the HDMI cable to use one certified “High Speed with Ethernet”.
I had to turn on first the Amplifier, next the projector, and finally the Raspberry.
When starting, Rasplex :
Detects the “Pulse-Eight CEC adapter”
Updates the CEC adapter configuration
And finally displays a message: “connected: TV-HTR-4067”
Within Plex:
I went to “> Preferences > Change Preferences for System”
I selected “Input Devices” and then “Peripherals”
There, Plex displays info about the “CEC adapter”. I did click on “Ok” to enter the settings of that adapter. There, I have the following settings:
Enabled is ticked
Make XBMC the active source when stating is not ticked
“Device to power on…” is none
“Device to pwoer off…” is none
“Send inactive source…” is ticked
“Put device in standby…” is not ticked
“When the TV is switched off” is “Ignore”
“Put device in standby” is not ticked
“Use the TV’s language setting” is not ticked
“Pause playback” is ticked
“Physical address (overrules HDMI port)” is 0
“Com port” is –
Notice: when the amplifier is switched off (standby), the video is still forwarded to the projector, as well as the sound. But what’s great is that the remote control still works too via CEC !!!
From time to time, the torch of my One Plus One (running Cyanogen) was turning on “by itself”, although the screen was switched off. I finally figured out why and how: it was due to a “Gesture shortcut” that was enabled…
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
I never enabled this Gesture feature explicitly, so I presume it was on by default. But when enabled, drawing a V on the screen, even if this one is turned off, switches the torch on (or off is already on)…
This gesture (as well as other gestures) can be disabled via: Settings > Gestures
I recently noticed that chrome was not rotating anymore when I was turning my mobile, a One Plus One (running Cyanogen). I tried to disable and re-enable the feature “rotate” via the upper Menu Bar, without success. The trick is to authorize all the rotation angles: only 0° was enabled…
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
No idea how 90°, 180° and 270° were disabled, but that was my issue. Clearly, enabling the feature “rotate” with only the angle 0° is totally useless…
To authorize various rotation angles, go to: Settings > Display and lights > Rotation. And there, enable the various mode.
“ACPI-On-Lan” is a package I have created for my Synology DS 713+ (also tested on my DS 3612sx).
It installs a website that list all your network devices. Depending on the OS, you can possibly send a sleep, shutdown or hibernate command to the device. ACPI-On-Lan tries also to reach each device (using a ping) and checks if there is a default web page accessible on the device (Ex. a configuration or administration page). Finally, it can send Wake-On-Lan magic packets to wake-up devices currently switched off.
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
Disclaimer
This package is a prototype made for learning purpose. I did test many development techniques and libraries I never touched before: ajax/jquery, boostrap, .Net click-once deployment, creation of Synology spk packages, WebAPI/Microsoft .Net Owin, Newtonsoft.Json, running shell commands from php, etc… So don’t expect the most amazing bits out of there. It’s just this well known Big Ball of Mud 😳
This is not a beta version (even not an alpha), which would be well designed. My prototype is a Quick and Dirty App made of various pieces of code dropped together. It must be complete rewritten properly or at least deeply re-factored. Briefly said, I don’t want my name to be associated with this ugly mess (even if most scientists seem to produce such a code :D).
Nevertheless, and although still really incomplete (as most prototypes), it works on my own NAS and I have already been asked to share it. So, here it is:
Some details
A few details on ACPI-On-Lan’s basics first:
it reuses the login cgi module of the Synology to authenticate the user
it parses the ARP table of the Synology to find the devices available on the LAN.
it pings the devices using the “inetutil” library (from ipkg)
it does not use any database
it stores all the details about the network devices in a file with json format. If you plan to uninstall the package, you must backup those files manually first.
for hibernate, sleep, standby, restart Windows PC, it talk to a Windows Service hosting WebAPI services.
this Windows Service was intended to be deployed via click-once. Because I didn’t want to resign the click-once setup for each new deployment url, the Windows Service is installed now via MSI. However, the Windows Service is still self-installing (simply run the exe once and it will do the complete setup)
all commands (ping, WOL, …) are executed server side (by the NAS). So the Web UI can be used from the WAN without requiring direct access to each devices on the LAN.
Notice also that:
the web UI doesn’t render well on mobiles.
there is not support yet to shutdown MAC, LINUX or ANDROID devices. I am planning to look how to use RPC commands (later this year 😉 )
Windows mobiles are not yet supported.
there are still some bugs when refreshing the status of some devices and a wrong state can sometimes be displayed. Also an action to “shutdown” the NAS is displayed although not yet implemented.
it’s not possible to define a specific port for the website possibly hosted on a device (Ex.: a custom local port of a port forwarded from the modem/router in order to access the device from the WAN)
I have to yet filled the spk’s “texts” files to translate the package.
Prerequisite:
You will have to install the package ‘inetutil’ on your NAS. This is required to be able to ping the devices while not running as super user (i.e.: ‘root’).
The package ‘inetutil’ can be easily installed via the graphic interface “IpkgGUI” once IPKG is installed. And there are many tutorial on the web to install IPKG. If you are not afraid, you can try my own installation script*, described here (“IpkgGUI” is a graphical interface to manage IPKG packages. It is available as a Community Package for Synology on https://www.cphub.net)
(*) Notice that you can install the package “ACPI-On-Lan” first and than connect on your NAS via telnet. The script to install IPKG is deployed with “ACPI-On-Lan”. Once connected, run: sh /var/packages/AcpiOnLan/target/application/service/installipkg.sh
If you want to be able to send Sleep/Restart/Hibernate/shutdown command to Windows PC, you will need the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5. This service is not required if you only want to send WOL commands to Windows machines.
Setup:
1) Download the package attached at the bottom of this page and install it manually via the “Package Manager” of Synology. 5 clicks and ~that’s it~.
Manual Installation of ACPI On Lan
2) It can theoretically be installed on any volume (if you have several).
Install On Any Volume
3) And you can “run it after installation”
The setup of the package will mainly:
deploy the sources under /var/packages/AcpiOnLan/
the web application will be in /var/packages/AcpiOnLan/target/application
all the data of AcpiOnLan will be stored next to the web application in a file named Computers.json
create a php alias AcpiOnLan to “redirect” the http calls into the folder here above
force open_basedir = null for the new web site “AcpiOnLan”
add an icon into the DSM Start Menu
Acpi On Lan Icon
4) Once ACPI-On-Lan opened in a browser, you will have access to a menu “install srvc”. Click on it to download the MSI which installs the Windows Service (Do this on Windows only!).
Install AcpiOnLan Windows Service
5) The download of AcpiOnLanInstaller.msi will most probably be blocked by your browser/antivirus as it’s not a common download. If you want it, you have to accept the download (“Keep” within Chrome)
AcpiOnLanInstaller Blocked
6) Once you run the msi, recent version of Windows will also prevent its execution
AcpiOnLanInstaller Stopped by Windows
7) You will have to approve the installation by clicking on “More Info” here above and then “Run Anyway”
AcpiOnLanInstaller Forced
8) Once the msi is running, it will copy the required files and do a first run of the service. When the service is run interactively (it’s the case when run by rom the msi), it install/uninstall itself instead of starting WebAPI Services. But it means that the antivirus will again react. Due to installation timeout this could disturb the setup…
AcpiOnLanInstaller AntiVirus
9) The Windows Service will be installed and will register itself the port the url where it will run its WebAPI services (It uses ‘netsh’ for that purpose)
Installation
Et voilà, the Windows Service should now be running.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 1: as the Windows Service was designed to be deployed via Click-Once, it was not assumed to be launched “As Administrator” directly (An exe “run” via Click-Once can by the way not require elevated rights). So, if run without such rights, the exe of the Windows Service will stop itself automatically and restarts “As Administrator” (You could be prompted to provide adhoc credentials).
Previledge Required
IMPORTANT NOTICE 2: when the Windows Service is installed via the msi, NEVER run the exe yourself from a command prompt of from the Windows Explorer. Again because the service has not been designed to be installed via a msi (with ‘installutil’ tool or with an installer class) a “self-installation/uninstallation” process has been foreseen if and only if the exe is run “interactively”. So, if you run the exe after the installation of the msi, it will do a self-uninstallation of the service.You have to run it once more to reinstall it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE 3: The worst wase occurs if you run the exe once ad then uninstall the msi via the Control Panel > Add & Remove Programs. Indeed the msi will simply run the exe which will actually do a self-reinstallation of the service. So you will still have the service defined in the “Local Services” but neither the exe nor the entry in “Add & Remove Programs” anymore. To fix this, Quickly reinstall the msi, which will do a self-uninstallation of the service. Than run the exe interactively (from Windows Explorer) to redo a self-installation of the service. And you will end with the service defined in the “Local Services”, the exe available and the entry in “Add & Remove Programs” (which can now be used to safely uninstall the service). Sorry for that. I will improve the process to prevent the msi to put such a mess asap.
Quick guide:
1) When you access Acpi-On-Lan, you have to log in with a DSM account
AcpiOnLan Login
2) When you run Acpi-On-Lan for the very first time, it will search for your LAN (possibly one per Ethernet port on your NAS)
AcpiOnLan Looking For Network
3) Next, it will scan the LAN(s) (look into the ARP table)
AcpiOnLan Scanning Network
4) Finally, it will display a list of network devices found. For each device, you will have to “Set the OS” and “Set an Icon” (Except if you are happy with the default icons).
AcpiOnLan Set OS and Icon
5) If there is an hyperlink symbol next to a device, it means that there is a we page available. You can click on it. Also to refresh the status of a device, you can use the menu “Check”.
6) Depending on the OS:
if the device if on, you will have actions to Hibernate, Sleep, Standby, Shutdown or Restart the device.
Once you have clicked on an action, an Abort action is made available for a few second.
If the device is off, you will only have a Wol action.
The recycle bin can be used to hide a device and you can edit the name of the device.
AcpiOnLan Actions
7) Finally, you have various menu
AcpiOnLan Menu
Reload: will reload the list of devices (and add newly detected ones if any)
Flush: will empty the ARP table and reload the list of devices (you will have to ‘reload’ again until all the devices appear. Possibly ping manually your devices from a telnet session to populate the ARP table… I will possibly add such a feature in the UI soon or later)
Check: check the status of all the devices displayed in the list not checked since 5 minutes. Notice: up to 3 devices are checked simultaneously by the UI (limitation for mobile devices slow to execute jquery)
Forced Check: check the status of all the devices displayed in the list even if checked within the latest 5 minutes.
Reset All: delete all the devices from the list (including your customization like icons/OS/hostnames). The network will net be rescanned. Notice that your previous data will actually be backuped in a subfolder “backups” and named Computers.x.json. You can manually restore them.
Show All: will show all devices previously hidden by clicking on its recycle bin. Clicking again on its recycle bin will un-hide the device.
Hide: Hide all devices marked to be hidden (to be used after the menu Show All)
Log Out: guess 😉
NOTICE: your devices will be listed only if they have been switched-on at least one and in touch with the NAS during that time (I.e.: if they have been added into the ARP table). Some devices although switched-on are never in touch with the NAS. EX.: power lines Ethernet adapters, … I will plan a procedure to ping all the IP in the LAN so all such devices are touched (if switched-on). In the mean time, you will have to ping them yourself from a telnet session. Ex.: ping -c 1 192.168.0.1
I was close to bite my keyboard when I found the reason why I was not able to type characters like \, @, .. on my AZERTY keyboard on Windows 7 (Belgium/french) : it was due to the Remote Desktop window.
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
When there is an application opened on your desktop that handles keys pressed to forward these events, you can sometimes not type some extended characters anymore (I.e.: characters that require special key combinations). It happened to me for characters to be typed with Alt-Gr.
This happens with applications like Remote Desktop (RDP)/Terminal Services and Virtual Box (VirtualPC/VMWare/Hyper-V/…)… Those applications handles indeed the key combination to possibly forward them to the Virtual Box/Remote PC.
For some users, it happens when the application is in full screen or minimized. In my case, RDP was windowed (i.e. neither maximized nor minimized)…
As soon as I closed RDP, the key Alt-Gr came back.
An alternative could have been to use CTRL-ALT instead as this is another shortcut for Alt-Gr !
In some cases, I want to use a headset to watch TV, the movies being played either by my HTPC, by the TV itself (internal receiver) or an external TV decoder. In some case, there is a sound-bar connected to the TV (via HDMI-ARC) or between the player and the TV. Where to connect my headset has been a source of headache until a professional audio dealer gave me the “universal” solution: a “Digital to Analog Audio converter”.
Click to Read MoreClick to Close
Why this question is such an issue?
First, because the sound-bar I am using has no audio out for a headset (i.e: a “AUX” connector). Otherwise, that would have been the logical place to connect the headset.
Next, because I gave up to use the TV “AUX” audio out for headset:
If a sound-bar is connected between the player and the TV, this last one automatically mutes its speakers and I don’t get any sound via the headset. It’s maybe possible to force the sound on the TV, but I didn’t find any such option (neither on the TV nor on the sound-bar).
If the player is connected directly on the TV (when I don’t use a sound-bar), I have to unplug the headset each time I don’t use it. The headset is indeed automatically detected by the TV if it is plugged and the speakers are muted. This is really not practical.
I didn’t try with the player connected directly to the TV and the TV connected to the sound-bar via HDMI-ARC (which could maybe work: i.e.: have sound via both audio output) as I gave up trying to use the TV audio “AUX”. Indeed, I have a Samsung TV with a really crappy audio “AUX” connector. The signal coming out is so poor that my wireless headset regularly switches off as detecting no good signal anymore.
Finally, because using the HTPC audio “AUX” connector is far from practical.
To use the headset, I have to reconfigure the Audio Device in Windows which is set by default to use the HDMI audio output (specific graphic drivers being used to send the sound via the HDMI connector).
And when I unplug the headset, I have again to reconfigure the Audio Device to used the HMDI otherwise I get no sound anymore.Switching back to HDMI is indeed not automatic.
Also, this solution only works when watching a movies with my HTPC, not when watching a broadcast on the TV itself or from any other external player…
The best solution is to connect a “Digital to Analog Audio converter” on the optical output of the TV.
Analog to Digital Audio Converter
Albeit using a player directly connected on the TV, or when watching a broadcast directly received be the TV tuner, I simply have to mute the TV Speakers (or the sound-bar when one connected via HDMI-ARC). The sound continues to be flowed through the Optical output and I can regulate the volume directly on my headset.
I didn’t try yet and will do so asap… but if the sound-bar is used and connected between the player and the TV, the sound should also still be flowed from the sound-bar to the TV though HDMI and next to the Optical Audio output. Only the Speakers and the Audio “Aux” should be muted… [to be continued]
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Choose a Converter supporting all compressed audio formats such as Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS 5.1. Some don’t fully support e.g. DTS and this could be very disappointing. Ex.: When using Smart Apps such as Plex or DS Video (from Synology) on a Samsung Smart TV, playing direct sound, the Converter will have to support correctly all the formats also supported by the TV and therefore not transcoded by Plex or Synology.
To have sounds via both the HDMI-ARC and the Optical output, you may have to reconfigure some TV parameters. Ex.: on my Samsung Smart TV I had to set “Audio Output” = “Receiver” (instead of “Speakers”, …) and maybe set “Audio Format” = “PCM” (instead of DTS Neo 2:5). NB.: When using a Smart App, this one is able to change the “Audio Format” (via the Samsung API). I.e.: if you set “PCM” because “Dolby” is not supported by your Converter, an App like Plex could set it back to Dolby when direct playing a movie using that format…
I have tried a KanaaN (Digital to Analog Audio Converter): it was really not great… No support of DTS and continuous “noises” within Smart Apps (until one starts a movie)
I have now a Fiio DAC Audio USB D07. It supports both DD and DTS with great quality, works with all my TV channels (including HD such a TF1 HD in France) and produces no “noises” when using Smart Apps (like Plex, DS Audio, Youtube, Netflix, …) even with the volume of the headset at a high level.
