[ROM][INFORMATION] Craig CLP281 Android Netbook

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Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
INFORMATION

DEVICE
Craig CLP281 Android Netbook
Via Wondermedia 8650 based chipset / 800 mhz / wifi / 3 standard usb / ethernet!

PROS
Original firmware available
Original firmware unlocked
Unique form factor
Inexpensive

CONS
No obvious upgrade path
No sources posted
No officially supported flash player
Lower end hardware

HOWTO
unzip to sdcard
start device with sdcard plugged in
wait for everything to be wiped out

ROM

OVERVIEW
This is a modified version of the official firmware. The focus is on removal of bloatware and unneeded proprietary software.

INTEGRATED SOFTWARE
su
Superuser
Terminal Emulator
ConnectBot
Total Commander with ftp and lan plugins
Gapps
Zirco Browser
Yaxim Jabber Client
Jota Text Editor

DO IT YOURSELF
See the README to deduce how to modify the ROM yourself. The changes are documented thoroughly so that many people can use this release as a kitchen of sorts.

LINKS
R1
ROM: http://www.mediafire.com/?dsf11zm7jik9f63
SOURCE: http://www.mediafire.com/?8juzj5qb5jme1ud
ROM: http://dev-host.org/xcz68h384fe8/clp281_firmware2.2_HACK9_R1.zip
SOURCE: http://dev-host.org/ekni2eg4td3i/SOURCES_1.zip
R2
ROM: http://dev-host.org/gm3c1mrdeai3/clp281_firmware2.2_HACK10_R2.zip
ROM: http://www.mediafire.com/?4tpli2998g10to4
R3
ROM: http://dev-host.org/qyo428ewrgvl/clp281_firmware2.2_HACK11_R3.zip
SOURCE: http://dev-host.org/w8p6gotfisnb/SOURCES_2.zip
ROM: http://www.multiupload.com/V5MKGW7X5V
SOURCE: http://www.multiupload.com/KG7KJJKT8U

R4 (Latest)
ROM: http://dev-host.org/b1ufq9iixe9k/clp281_firmware2.2_HACK12_R4.zip
ROM: http://www.multiupload.com/IJWDECP8WF

chroot Repository
References:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=486247
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1172504

Please choose one of the following 2 methods!

USB Control Script (1st method):
DEBIAN_CONTROL - see bottom of post for script

MicroSD Control Script (2nd method):
DEBIAN_CONTROL_SD - see bottom of post for script

You will need this image unless you plan to put your own together.

Debian Squeeze Image:
http://www.multiupload.com/C9RDP4ODZX

The image can be flashed to your usb drive or sd/microsd card with dd on your fullsize computer. Please be aware that I have not tested running from a fullsize SD card.
dd if=~/nameofimage.img of=/dev/nameofdevice

Operation
1.Run the control script to start the chroot. You can run console commands here. The screen command is useful here also.
2.Run ./vnc to start the vnc server which itself starts xorg and the window manager. The script is not totally failure proof.
3.Login with your vnc client. I use Android vnc viewer. Password is testing.
http://code.google.com/p/android-vnc-viewer/

Window Managers
lxde
icewm
xfce
check /.vnc/ for the xstartup scripts. just rename the one for the window manager you want to xstartup and reboot your chroot.

BUG:
chroot will not cleanly unmount
SOLUTION:
keep chroot running in the background - it should only take up memory not cpu

Stock ROM Repository

Images contain stock system, stock boot, and CWM recovery.
vm670 recovery image is for the new screen version so it should work for all vm670.

LG vm670:
http://www.multiupload.com/LG1JCZ5CMD

Samsung i9023:
http://www.multiupload.com/KX1LIAASH3

Craig clp281:
http://www.multiupload.com/9XUQA7SEF1

Asus tf101:
http://www.multiupload.com/XMRO9AI4KC

Samsung p6210:
http://www.multiupload.com/L702W2MA7J
 

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Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
FAQ POST:

Does Flash work?
I am not holding out much hope for flash on ARMv6. It seems like a long complicating debugging process for what is in the end slow and buggy results.

The browser is slow?
Right now, it seems that javascript performance on the stock browser is much worse than I expected. For now, try turning off javascript and images if you use the stock browser.

Stock ROM?
The link for the device on Craig's website is:
http://www.craigelectronics.com/site/pdetails.php?id=314
You can download the completely stock ROM from here.

ADB?
I tried ADB with a male to male USB that I had laying around with no success with a GNU/Linux PC and a different Windows PC. All 3 USB ports were tested. But you can connect with adb connect ipofdevice over your LAN if you see what address your router is giving the device. Or of course you could set a static IP.

Minimize application?
You can return to the home screen at any time by pushing fn+home.

Sources for the binaries you have added?
Try the sources link on the first post. The zirco apk is unchanged and their website is here: http://code.google.com/p/zirco-browser/ . The Gapps are straight from my VM LG Optimus V.

Mount an ext2/3 formatted USB drive?
mount -t ext3 /dev/block/sda1 /mountpointofyourchoice

Enter key not working in some terminal applications?
Use Ctrl-m instead.
References:
https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator/issues/21
http://code.google.com/p/terminal-ide/issues/detail?id=6
 
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wgallt

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
55
7
Just wanted to thank you for taking this project on. This device could be much more and for the price you just can't go wrong. Good luck and I'm off to root.
 

Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
wgallt:
The root situation on the ROM and my current devices in general is a little complicated. For this device in general, it comes ADB rooted out of the box. I have added another su to the rom that will allow console root. Unfortunately, because it is an older version of su, it does not seem to work with Superuser.apk. I am waiting on a response in the Q/A forum on errors I am getting compiling the current version of su. I have been able to compile Superuser.apk successfully but it is not much use without the current version of su. I am of course preferring to include source and source-compiled binaries wherever possible in the ROM.

celltimemb:
Market added.
See above for ADB info.
Regular Windows XP does not run natively on ARM CPUs. From Craig's website it appears that they have an identical model running Windows CE. You should look into any running a lightweight GNU/Linux chroot with QEMU or VMWare and then booting something like Windows 98. I would be amazed to see it, especially with the limited RAM we have available.

I am releasing a new ROM with integrated Google Apps and a open source browser named Zirco which seems to run very well. Compare the stock browser with stock settings to Zirco on xdaforums.com to know what I mean. Be sure to read the README.

This ROM may end up becoming a different series entirely. One with the market and one without.

I have updated the first post with the links and README.
 
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Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
If I get around to compiling AOSP that should come with live wallpaper.

I tried copying the live wallpaper apk and what I thought to be their dependencies from my Optimus V. Unfortunately, the switcher crashed and the logcat just said the wallpaper switcher would not start.
 

celltimemb

Member
Feb 11, 2011
47
16
Myrtle Beach, SC
lot of apps run real slow and lag i tried some games like that bird game where you flick it to the target, i get like 1 frame every 2-3 seconds for the animation, soo slow, they claim 800 MHZ processor but damn this thing is soooo slow. even the fake chinese android phones the star A5000 runs and performs better than this.

2d games lag real bad so I dont see any 3d gaming at all on this machine. unless some elite hacker and coder can make a fully optimized rom for this thing.
 

Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
Thanks for reporting your results. I have had mixed successes with games. The drag racing game works decent and another rice-can type racing game worked ok too. But many games instantly crash also. The live wallpaper would probably run slow anyway.

Web browsing
Remote administration
Network administration
Note taking
Light media playback
VOIP
Chat

These are all the uses I can think of it for the moment. It gives me an idea to include a note taking application at some point.
 

Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
Merry Christmas!

After a productive night the R3 ROM is out.

The changelog and sofware list highlights:
removed zirco integration
init.rc changes to support zirco
holiday wallpaper
added OPTIONAL on localdisk with:
yaxim jabber client - open source
zirco browser - open source
jota text editor - open source
su - compiled from source
superuser - compiled from source

For security reasons, you should probably choose allow once instead of always for su.

As usual be sure to read the README.
 

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AngieR

Member
Dec 26, 2011
16
0
Just got a Craig Netbook. I hate the Android stock install. I found this thread and it seems like the answer I'm looking for. If I understand you correctly, the description you give for the Rom"

"OVERVIEW
This is a modified version of the official firmware. The focus is on removal of bloatware and unneeded proprietary software."

is the first hack? (clp281_firmware2.2_HACK9_R1)

Also, if I do this and screw it up, can I reinstall the original Android from the Craig website?

Thanks.
 

Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
Yes that is the first release. I would recommend trying the third as it is the latest version as of this post.

Yes you can reinstall the original firmware.
 

AngieR

Member
Dec 26, 2011
16
0
Hey Jason. I just installed it. Had to download a new adobe flash player to watch a youtube video.

When it comes to this operating system I am a total newbie. So, in order to do a "do it yourself" install (since I still can't install some pre installed apps like "Dialer" and other things) are there simple instructions to do a "do it yourself" or do you have to be a techy to do it? I know Windows OS well but Android is so foreign to me. Just had this thing for a few days and I am ready to throw the netbook against the wall and then stomp on it. Your root was my last hope.
 

Jason_25

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2007
95
13
Well first off, were you able to actually play flash in the browser? That would be a nice new development. Alternatively, you could try the included Youtube player.

I would be glad to help in any way I can. For a do it yourself ROM, you would just take the factory firmware RAR file and edit it yourself. You would start by unRARing the file with something like WinRAR on Windows. But I would recommend trying GNU/Linux instead if you are at all interested in development. You can use the README file and this thread as a reference along the way.

Why are you interested in installing the dialer anyway? I noticed some phone components are installed but there seems to be no way to access them.
 

AngieR

Member
Dec 26, 2011
16
0
You're a doll Jason. Thanks for your willingness to help.

I didn't know about the Youtube player. Thanks for the tip. On the original install I was able to play flash in "Browser" (at Youtube at least) but not with "Browser" in this install. Although, maybe "Browser" opened "My Browser" in the original install and that's the one that had flash support. (I'm still learning). So since I didn't get around to installing your included browser maybe that's why it wouldn't play. Anyhow, I couldn't install the flash update via the link Youtube provided. The little download arrow on the top left hand of the screen just never went away. I had the unit on for about 3 hours and the arrow remained with no confirmation that the download was complete. I searched the system and the SD card for the download but couldn't find it. This is not the first time I had this problem with downloads so maybe it's something with my particular device. This is actually my third. Last two were defects.

About the Dialer... it was a typo. I meant to say I want to UNINSTALL it from the unit, but Android won't let me. It just seems useless to have this app since I have a netbook and not a phone. Plus, I think it may be eating up my battery usage as it could be the app responsible for the cell standby thing I have in Battery Usage which is using up 80% of my battery. Like I said, I am a newbie to this OS so, I'm looking at things like Dialer, Telophony etc. I may be wrong about this though. It may be some other application seeking Cell Radio signal as reported in Battery Usage.

I just did a side by side comparison of the unzipped install I got from Craigs website (by the way, thanks for that link) and your version to see if I could learn and do my own hack. I did notice a few differences.

Ok first I saw the Optional folder with some apps and Browser fix as you mentioned in the Read me

Then there was the app folder where you removed some apps from the original install and added others. Is it as simple as that? To just delete the apps you don't want from this folder of the original install? Unfortunately I don't see Dialer in that folder. I'd like to get rid of that too. I guess you can't get rid of every app.

Another difference was that I saw "su" in "bin". and I noticed SuperUser.apk in your app folder. Does that app make you the administrator of the device giving you access to system files to delete them if you want to? (I looked it up on WIKI) Cause maybe I can include that in my hack.

Also I see another difference in this folder:
\FirmwareInstall\packages\fs_patch\root_patch\system\lib

In your readme you said these are shared libraries but I don't have a clue what that means. Do I need these files?

Thanks again for taking the time with this. I would love to do my own hack. It would give me great satisfaction after the countless hours of stress trying to do stuff they won't let me do.
All the best,
Angie
 

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