[ROMs][JB][CM][PAC][TWRP] ZTE SmartTab 7/10/Optik (V71A/V11A/V55) Development

This thread is my attempt at creating a comprehensive, well-formatted index for current android development on these devices.

This thread, while significantly outdated, is the source of some of the information below. It's terribly formatted and difficult to follow, but may assist you if you get stuck on something here.

IMPORTANT KERNEL INFORMATION​

I have been receiving a number of private messages offering links/information related to the Honeycomb kernel source for these devices, which I already have. What I need is the kernel source code for Linux 3.0.8 for Ice Cream Sandwich on the ZTE V9S. So far as I am aware, that is the newest kernel version available for any ZTE device with the msm8660 SoC. Any source code for Honeycomb (kernel version 2.6.35.x) is what I already have and really woon't help me any.​

Rooting/Recovery​

WARNING: There is no easy path back from this. If you have even the slightest doubt about switching ROMs, make a backup of all partitions first thing after installing recovery.

TWRP

It's TWRP.

Note: When using ADB sideload, make sure the cable is unplugged when you 'swipe to enter sideload'. If you leave the cable plugged in adbd doesn't restart properly for some reason and it either shows up as recovery but won't communicate or doesn't show up at all. So long as you properly observe this quirk, sideload is 100% functional and reliable.



Older Versions:

Thanks to TWRP's new built-in rooting functionality, rooting is beyond easy.

Root via TWRP:

1. Download the latest TWRP from above
2. Reboot into fastboot mode with:
   Code:

   adb reboot bootloader

   or by powering on the device while holding volume up
3. Run (as root/with administrator privileges):
   Code:

   fastboot flash recovery <your twrp image>

4. If the command is successful, press and hold volume down and run:
   Code:

   fastboot reboot

   (still with admin rights) to reboot into recovery.
5. If the flash command is unsuccessful, you can also boot the recovery image without flashing it with:
   Code:

   fastboot boot <your twrp image>

   From there, you can make a backup and flash a ROM just as you normally would, though TWRP will not be written to the recovery partition.
6. If you have not installed a ROM that has root access, TWRP will ask you if you want to root the device when you reboot.

Installing TWRP on an already-rooted device:

1. Download the latest TWRP from above to your device
2. Open a root shell on your device
3. Type:
   Code:

   dd if=<your twrp image> of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18

4. Re-read it. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IT TYPED EXACTLY, YOU CAN SERIOUSLY SCREW THINGS UP IF YOU MESS UP THE PARTITION NUMBER.
5. Hit enter. You now have TWRP installed.

If you intend to stay on stock, you must keep TWRP from getting erased by deleting '/system/etc/install-recovery.sh', which overwrites the recovery image on boot. If you boot the system without doing this, TWRP will be overwritten and you'll have to redo the process.


The bootloader preloaded on most V55 devices has a silly "security" measure enabled, by way of blocking the fastboot flash command. It also includes a remote management/updating framework called redbend, which I'm inclined not to trust. Luckily, the same bootloader appears to be used between V11A, V71A, V66, V68, V55, and V9X. While I am unsure about images from anything other than V71A, I can confirm that the bootloader image from joestone's V71A stock restore zip is fully compatible with the V55. As it does support fastboot flash, and does not include redbend, I feel that this bootloader is a worthwhile "up"grade for all V55 developers/flashers. It is not a necessary component, but it does simplify installation of things such as recovery and test boot images. Just flash the zip in TWRP to downgrade your bootloader!

Kernels​

Currently, the only kernel worth offering as a package of its own is joestone's kernel #60. This kernel is for honeycomb ONLY. Do not flash on any AOSP ROM. More information in the old thread, see top of this post. 4shared

ROMs​

joestone's ROMs (DISCONTINUED)​

For a good while these were the only custom ROMs available for these devices. While they work admirably well, they are very out of date and somewhat problematic. If you need 3G data on your V11A or V71A, these are the only CM builds that work at the moment. For V55, I now recommend my CM10 builds (below) above these, as they are much newer and better-optimised.

ZTE V9S Stock ICS Port​

I have found this to be amazingly functional on the V55, with all hardware (possibly even 3g) working. However, there are problems with Google Play and related frameworks, which aren't included in this ROM. Unfortunately, the device boots up set to Chinese with a Russian keyboard, but it is simple to correct this in the setup wizard and keyboard settings.

Download: AndroidFileHost

My Work​

PAC 4.1

This is my fork of the PAC4.1 project. Due to the complete lack of development (or interest) from the PAC team, I have chosen to take things into my own hands. My primary goals are as follows:

• Integrate newest available PA, CM, and AOKP source
• Finish basic device support for devices stuck on 4.1
• Organise features better, add more?
• Maybe convince PAC maintainers to re-adopt it?

My changes since forking the project: PAC4.1 Changelog


Older Versions:

ParanoidKANGdroid

This is an ancient ParanoidKANGdroid build based upon my CM10.1 build, for V55 only. It's a relic of my first attempt at 4.2 support, and I only leave it here because it's the only build of its kind. It will be replaced by PAC as soon as possible.


CM10.1

This is a stock CM10.1 build. It is based heavily upon hardware support from Team-Hydra's git repos. Unfortunately, as of now it's not particularly easy to enable the old tablet layout (the real tablet layout) an Android 4.2. As a result, the device is laid out in the Nexus 7's "phablet" mode, and DPI is set to 213 (the actual physical DPI of the device).

Known Working:

• Display + 2D/3D Acceleration
• Audio
• Video Playback
• Input (Buttons+Touch)
• LED (no configurability yet)
• GPS
• Storage
• Sensors

Known Partially Functional:

• WiFi (scans and connects when first turned on, will not scan after that. logcat is full of 'failed to initiate ap scan'.)
• Bluetooth (turns on, scans, and will attempt to pair, will not actually pair)
• USB (ADB is functional, MTP is not)

Known Broken:

• 3G
• Camera
• Tethering of any kind
• Lots of little things

Untested:

• FM (not supported in stock, very low priority)
• HDMI (I've not found an HDMI adapter for this device)

Older Versions:

CM10

Screenshots:

This is a stock CM10 build. I have not made any cherry-picks or other modifications, though the screen DPI is set to 160 for tablet mode. My intention is to create a stable and functional CM10 ROM that improves speed, stability, and efficiency over joestone's builds. I am extremely glad to say that I have reached approximately the same level of hardware support as joestone's CM10 builds on V55, and V11A and V71A are close behind. This is highly usable as a daily driver.

Known Working:

• Display + 2D/3D Acceleration
• Video Playback
• Audio
• Input (Buttons+Touch)
• LED (no configurability yet)
• WiFi
• GPS
• USB
• Storage
• Sensors

Known Partially Functional:

• Bluetooth (A2DP, HID, and OBEX work fine, PAN causes a reboot)
• Certain apps (Chrome and the new Maps, mainly) flicker, sometimes unusably (this seems to be somewhat minimal now, i'm not sure why)

Known Broken:

• 3G
• Camera
• Tethering of any kind
• Let me know what else, if anything

Untested:

• FM (not supported in stock, very low priority)
• HDMI (I've not found an HDMI adapter for this device)

Older Versions:

Sources​

The device configuration I continue to improve for these SmartTabs can be found on my github here.
Cyanogenmod's sources are available on github here.

mykeyvee said:

This may be a stupid question but are there any stable ROM's out there yet for the optik?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

that depends on how you define stable. both joestone's 4.0 and 4.1 roms, as well as my 4.1 and 4.2 roms are stable enough for daily use, but there is missing hardware support. the biggest obstacle to properly functional 4.2 is zte's hacked-together and outdated kernel. i am currently working on getting the code aurora forums 3.4 kernel working on the optik, but it's going slowly because i'm not a very experienced kernel developer.

mykeyvee said:

Cool, thanks for the info. I actually took the dive and installed the paranoid rom and it's running pretty good! Well, if you have any ROM's I'd like to try them out! Just pm.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i'm currently working on my build of paranoidkangdroid, it's just about release-ready (same hardware issues as cm10.1). once i can get my file hosting issues figured out, i'll upload it.

SethNkC said:

Can you build a AOKP rom since its based off cm source? just wondering i would try my self but my skills go about as far as syncing and building nothing more!

thanks

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i have no plans to build an aokp-only rom at this time, though paranoidkangdroid (what i'm currently working on) includes all the features of aokp.

jjsh1989 said:

sorry, could you port your rom, for V71A and V11A devices. As he did joe.stone, so we can all enjoy the latest version of android, in our devices, we would also more people to try your rom and you could help fix bugs before hand thank you very much

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

disculpa, podrias portar tus rom, para los dispositivos v71a y v11a. Igual que hizo joe.stone, para que todos podamos disfrutar de la ultima version de android, en nuestros dispositivos, ademas seriamos mas gente para probar tus rom y te podria ayudar a corregir fallos muchas gracias de ante mano

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i will ask joe.stone if he's willing to maintain those versions. i myself do not intend to support such devices.

larry0987 said:

Any update on wifi or audio?

Sent from my V55 using xda app-developers app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i recently moved, so my development was paused for a couple of weeks. i continue to work on getting a new kernel ported (essential for wifi), and i couldn't tell you about audio at the moment.

larry0987 said:

Been trying to compile cm10.1 and I get stopped at the following, any thoughts?

target R.java/Manifest.java: SettingsProvider (/android/cm10.1/out/target/common/obj/APPS/SettingsProvider_intermediates/src/R.stamp)
vendor/cm/overlay/common/frameworks/base/packages/SettingsProvider/res/values/defaults.xml:25: error: Resource at def_notif_count appears in overlay but not in
the base package; use <add-resource> to add.
vendor/cm/overlay/common/frameworks/base/packages/SettingsProvider/res/values/defaults.xml:27: error: Resource at def_qs_quick_pulldown appears in overlay but n
ot in the base package; use <add-resource> to add.
vendor/cm/overlay/common/frameworks/base/packages/SettingsProvider/res/values/defaults.xml:29: error: Resource at def_lockscreen_targets appears in overlay but
not in the base package; use <add-resource> to add.
make: *** [/android/cm10.1/out/target/common/obj/APPS/SettingsProvider_intermediates/src/R.stamp] Error 1
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....

Sent from my V9S using xda app-developers app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

try repo sync first, if that doesn't work look around in your device overlay folder for that xml file and see if it contains those keys. if so, comment them out and try again.

dtriguero said:

Hi was wondering if in future do you plan to support 3g in your roms

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

i will happily work on it if i have the assistance of someone more experienced in the matter.

SethNkC said:

How's the next update coming? Hope your making progress, this thread is the only reason I'm keeping my Optik.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

it's coming, though i'm making slow progress with the new kernel. i still need the assistance of a more experienced developer.