Instructions for Root/Flashing the Gtablet From Blendblog.net

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First let me introduce myself, my name is Sean Cullinan and I posted a very detailed set of instructions on my blog blendblog.net on how to take a stock GTablet and get it going with a custom ROM. I used Vegan for my instructions.

After the woot deal blew up a ton of traffic came to my site and there was some concern over using my instructions versus the ones here and also with the sources of the binaries I posted. I posted the binaries because I wanted to rename them with "number coding" to make them easier so that new users wouldn't install them in the wrong order.

Anyway, after talking with Roebeet and a few others I thought it would be good to post the instructions here as well. I wasn't trying to steal any of XDA Devs thunder, everything I learned I did through this site.

So here is the original blog post in it's entirety.. Note that I still pointed the links back to my server, you can find the same files linked from the devs at XDA if you don't "trust" me. Also, if you want to use TNT Lite 4.40 I posted a second tutorial to my blog, I kept it separate to keep things simple.

Please feel free to checkout my site as well if you find this useful,...and if enough people find this useful maybe this is "Sticky worthy?"

Verifying Installed ROM Version
The first thing you have to do is verify that you're GTablet is on ROM 3358 or lower before doing this procedure. If you have a newer ROM version on your device you cannot do this procedure at this time!
1) On the GTablet go to Settings->About Device
2) If the version is anything higher than 3588 STOP NOW! According to this thread it is easy to "softbrick" your device if you proceed. So again, STOP NOW! I hope to have instructions on how to get around this posted in the future.

Introduction
We bought a GTablet for work and our software partners also bought one to test the development we were doing on it. As such I had to write up instructions on how to flash the GTablet with the VEGAn ROM and a custom Kernel. I was told the instructions were very good so i decided to post them here. Disclaimer: First, flashing your tablet means you will lose any applications that you have installed previously or that came with the stock ROM. You will have to reinstall them. If you search around on XDA you will find other separate instructions on how to take backups if this is important. Second, please note that the developers at XDA Developers are not responsible for these instructions!! I put them together myself to help a vendor partner of ours whom I am developing software with. Many people have informed me that these instructions work great but as always with these things, you are doing something that is highly technical and something can go wrong...at which point you will have to figure out how to recover!

Installing Clockwork Mod Recovery
The first thing you have to do is install Clockwork Mod Recovery. The GTablet goes into “recovery” mode whenever you power up by holding the volume up key along with the power key. Clockwork Mod Recovery gives us a low level UI with which to work which the default “Recovery” mode does not do. To install Clockwork Mod Recovery do the following:

1) Attach the GTablet to your PC so you see it as a drive
2) Download and unzip the 1-cwmod_internal.zip file from the website on your PC.
3) Place the recovery folder and the update.zip file on the root of the disk drive that represents the GTablet on your PC from step 1. If there was already a recovery folder and update.zip you can delete them and replace them with this one.
4) Safely remove the GTablet
5) Power down the GTablet (hold power button and use the Power off option).
6) Hold the volume + key down while holding the power button. Release when you see “Detecting recovery key pressed” on the screen.
7) It will now install clockworkmod and the device will boot again.

Repartitioning GTablet storage
For some reason Viewsonic used an odd partition set when they shipped the GTablet. While repartitioning the storage wasn’t totally necessary it has been recommended on the forums so I did it. Here’s how:
1) Power down the GTablet
2) Boot into Clockwork Mod recovery by holding the Volume + key down while holding the power button. Release when you see “Detecting recovery key pressed” on the screen.
3) You will be presented with a menu, this is Clockwork Mod Recovery. To navigate the menu use the volume up and down keys. To select a menu option use the home key. To go back press the back key.
4) Navigate to Advanced->Partition SD Card (FYI, SD Card refers to internal storage, not the MicroSD card).
5) Choose 2048M for EXT size on the first screen
6) Choose 0M on the second screen.
7) You have now repartitioned the GTablet

Copying the ROM and Kernel files to the GTablet
Now that everything is formatted we have to copy the ROM files to the GTablet that we are going to use.

1) Navigate back to the root menu of Clockwork Mod by using the back key or by powering off and powering on with the Volume + key held down as above
2) Plug the GTablet into your PC
3) Choose mounts and storage->Mount USB storage. The Gtablet should now show up as a drive on your PC.
4) Create a directory on the drive called ROM’s.
5) Download and copy 2-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.1.user.final.zip from the website to the ROM’s directory. Note that this file is 88mb (rather large). DO NOT UNZIP, just copy
6) Download and copy 3-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.11.suppl.zip from the website to the ROM’s directory. DO NOT UNZIP, just copy
7) Download and copy 4-boot-cm_2632.32-xtra-vfpv3_fp-030711.zip from the website to the ROM’s directory. DO NOT UNZIP, just copy
8) You can now “safely remove hardware” from windows and select “Unmount” in Clockwork Mod. You can unplug the GTablet from your PC.


Installing the Vegan 5.1 ROM
Now we are ready to actually start installing stuff!
1) Navigate back to the root menu of Clockwork Mod by using the back key or by powering off and powering on with the Volume + key held down as above
2) Choose install zip from SD Card->choose zip file from sdcard
3) Navigate into the ROM’s directory and select 2-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.1.user.final.zip
4) When prompted choose “Yes- Install 2-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.1.user.final.zip”
5) Let the installer do its thing.
6) When installer completes go back to the root menu in clockwork mod.
7) Choose “wipe data/factory reset.” When prompted confirm that you want to wipe.
8) Choose “wipe cache partition”
9) Navigate to Advanced and choose “wipe davlik cache”
10) Navigate back to the root menu and choose reboot system now. The device should boot into Vegan 5.1. Let this happen.

Installing the Vegan 5.1 ROM supplement
There was a small update to Vegan 5.1 that was posted as a supplement that is installed exactly the same way that Vegan 5.1 was installed:
1) Power down the GTablet
2) Boot into Clockwork Mod recovery by holding the Volume + key down while holding the power button. Release when you see “Detecting recovery key pressed” on the screen.
3) Choose install zip from SD Card->choose zip file from sdcard
4) Navigate into the ROM’s directory and select 3-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.11.suppl.zip
5) When prompted choose “Yes- Install 3-gtab.VEGAn.1.00.beta5.11.suppl.zip”
6) Let the installer do its thing.
7) When installer completes go back to the root menu in clockwork mod.
8) Choose “wipe data/factory reset.” When prompted confirm that you want to wipe.
9) Choose “wipe cache partition”
10) Navigate to Advanced and choose “wipe davlik cache”
11) Navigate back to the root menu and choose reboot system now. The device should boot into Vegan 5.1 with the supplement. Let this happen.

Installing Pershoot’s kernel
Pershoot is a fantastic Android dev who has written superior Kernel's for several devices including the GTablet. You can check his site for the latest builds. This kernel fixes several more bugs in the default Kernal that comes with Vegan 5.1. It is installed the same way that you install the Vegan ROM/Supplement:
1) Power down the GTablet
2) Boot into Clockwork Mod recovery by holding the Volume + key down while holding the power button. Release when you see “Detecting recovery key pressed” on the screen.
3) Choose install zip from SD Card->choose zip file from sdcard
4) Navigate into the ROM’s directory and select 4-boot-cm_2632.32-xtra-vfpv3_fp-030711.zip
5) When prompted choose “Yes- Install 4-boot-cm_2632.32-xtra-vfpv3_fp-030711.zip”
6) Let the installer do its thing.
7) When installer completes go back to the root menu in clockwork mod.
8) Choose “wipe data/factory reset.” When prompted confirm that you want to wipe.
9) Choose “wipe cache partition”
10) Navigate to Advanced and choose “wipe davlik cache”
11) Navigate back to the root menu and choose reboot system now. The device should boot into Vegan 5.1 with the supplement and this kernel. Let this happen.

Last Steps
You now have Vegan 5.1 installed on your GTablet! What is left to do? The launcher that comes with Vegan is kind of weak, it doesn’t rotate to portrait so I chose to install Launcher Pro which is much nicer. You can get this in the Android Market which is built into this ROM. Launch the Android Market and you can either use an existing or create a new Google ID. Do a search for Launcher Pro. If you don’t see it you may need to “fix” the Android Market which is common when doing a ROM upgrade. Here is the procedure to fix it.
1) Navigate to the Android settings->Applications->Manage Applications
2) Choose the all tab
3) Select “Market” from the list
4) Press “Clear Cache”
5) Press “Force Stop”
6) Press the back button to navigate back to the list of applications
7) Select “Google Services Framework”
8) Press “Clear Data”
9) Press “Force Stop”
10) Exit the settings. Try to launch the market
11) You should receive an error, this is expected.
12) Power down the GTablet (I’ve been told not to use the reboot option instead powering down and using the power button to bring it back up).
13) Power on the GTablet
14) Once everything is loaded go back to the Market. If you get an error wait a minute.
15) Search for Launcher Pro and hopefully it is found. If not repeat this fix process again (I’ve had to do it twice sometimes).

Once you have Launcher Pro installed you can make it the default using the “Home Switcher” application. You can customize Launcher Pro quite a bit, it’s a nice launcher app.

Note You can safely delete the ROM’s directory after doing this if you desire to do so, although its sometimes handy to have it on there if you want to re-flash for some reason.

You should now have a pretty rock solid GTablet that gives you a very good, stock like Android experience.

Awsome Tutorial!,, Truly Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to write this. My Tab is currently OUT FOR DELIVERY. I can't wait to get it and try this! Thanks again.

I noticed on your website that you felt that the Archos 101 is a better device than the gTab. With the recent updates in ROMS and kernels do you still think the Archos device is superior?

What did you use for rooting? That is the one thing I see missing in your post.

Thanks for the comments and compliments!

I didn't use the term "rooting" but this is what you are doing when you install CWM and then flash your own ROM. So following my instructions "roots" the devices.

Here's a link to my article pr0cs is referring too. I wouldn't necessarily say that I thought the Archos was better, just different. My comparison was made with Vegan 5.1 so the review is still relevant. Now when/if Honeycomb gets running on the GTablet (which is far more likely than the Archos) it may change the equation a bit!

Sean

I've read other articles that specify rooting the device first then installing CWM, and I've seen articles like yours that don't mention getting root access, so thanks for that clarification.

And wonderful step-by-step guide.

Nice write up. I'll have to search the forum for information about this ROM.

Sent from Captivate, Cognition 4.1.1

Thanks for the step-by-step!

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Just got my gtab last night.

Followed your instructions to the letter. Everything worked perfectly, thanks for your easy to use guide.

And thanks to all the Devs that made it possible. This tablet screams with a different ROM on it! My iPad toting friends are already jelly...

I just followed these instructions today from Sean's site, in order to upgrade my VEGAn 5.1.1 kernel to Clemsyn's v7 kernel.

It took me a bit to find Sean's blog location, so I am glad to see this here. I would encourage anyone who wants to mod their ROM and kernel revs to use this as a baseline.

I nominate this thread for a sticky.

Thanks OP! I just got my gtab today... someone mentioned in another forum that you should get nvflash in case you mess something up... is clockworkmod acting as a replacement for nvlflash here?