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Phandroid

Android Phone and Tablet Stuff

for Relatives



OK. Nothing to do with family history. But everything to do with helping relatives out with the new fangled smart phones and tablets. Focus is on configuration options, not coding new applications. Usually best to search the web for forums with the latest information. But sometimes it takes you hours to days to find the right thread and answer — there is a lot of noise out there. For pages that seem really useful, containing longer lived information ,and might be hard to find — well they are are bookmarked here. And concepts that might not be apparent are explained to make the found information useful; that is here also. Somewhat of a focus on Sprint HTC EVO 4G and Archos 101 G8 as that is what I have. Will try to highlight dependencies.

Themes, Launchers and Such for Android

You do not need root or a new Custom ROM to greatly modify the look and interface. Much of this can be done with the Stock Android Launcher or one of the many alternate launchers available. Either simple themes to change backgrounds and icons are available or whole new custom widgets that provide much greater flexibility.
After booting, to switch launcher, go into settings/app/manage app/ and find Sense. Clear default. Then, click on the home key and it will give you options. Or load HomeSwitcher app.

Root, Software Upgrades and all that stuff for Android

Why did I root? Because they made it as simple as loading an App with Unrevoked. And it brought me WiFi tethering, ability to remove the annoying, loud music on boot, and the ability to remove stock-delivered apps that I would never want but take up memory footprint and battery power (due to background refreshing of information for news, weather, mail, etc). On my Sprint HTC EVO, it comes with Sprint, HTC, Google and then basic Android apps — sometimes 3 or 4 ways to do the exact same thing.

Root? What is it?

Called Jailbreaking on Apple iPhones, this is the action to remove protections put in by the carrier or manufacturer to prevent you from modifying your phone. The equivalent of giving you administrator access on your Microsoft Windows Desktop. In Unix and now Linux terminology, unlimited administrator access has traditionally been identified with the Super-user "root" login account and hence the name.

There is an additional nuance of rooting that is termed NAND protection. This is changing the phone's memory protection so that you can permanently have root and unrestricted access to memory. This as opposed to temporarily getting it through a hack after every reboot of the phone. This is also termed root forever.

They have not figured out how to provide Root nor Root Forever on all makes and models of phones. Also, an update, especially in the cellular radio firmware, could prevent the root hacks from working.

Some Helpful Terminology

[+]

How to Root


How to unRoot


Maintaining Root

You need to usually decline Over-the-Air (OTA) updates suggested by your phone carrier. This because an update may replace the code needed to keep the root access. Wait for the stock update from the carrier to be released with the root access code integrated in. Then update from that.

Custom ROMs

Want more features not provided by Google, your phone manufacturer or cellular service provider? Because Android is open source, there have been many modifications and extensions to the Operating System by people out there. They then provide these in the form of a compiled binary image to replace your phones pre-installed one. That is, a Custom ROM.

See the Glossary entry for ROM's. Basically, it is the term used for the image of the Android Operating System (OS), device specific firmware, and similar chunks of code. You can either load a Stock ROM from the phone manufacturer or a Custom ROM with features added (or removed). A ROM often has many of these different components in it, or maybe just one. Unlike an Application, they replace a whole directory tree in the root directory of your phones file system. (That is, in Windows terminology, instead of just adding a directory into your Program Files, it replaces a whole directory at the top level like the Windows directory.)


Removing Pre-installed APPs once Rooted

[+]

APPlications or APPs

Just listing some of our favorite applications used.

Games

[+]

Multi-Media

[+]

Sensor-based

[+]

Utilities

[+]

Social

[+]

Non-carrier calling (VoIP, SIP)

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Skype, GoogleVoice, FacebookTalk — a constant see of changing buzzwords and services. We look at the options available here and cut through the hype and misinformation. Especially around Skype and GoogleVoice on a mobile device.

Have switched to using GoogleVoice with GrooveIP solely as my IP calling solution. No video calling but incoming and outgoing IP-only calling works reliably. Bluetooth is also supported.

Skype added video calling to select devices including the HTC EVO 4G. But even on high speed WiFi or 4G, the quality is pretty poor. Lag, jumpy updates. And Skype Mobile does not support conference calling like the desktop. So not much use for the service here. Not to mention no support for Bluetooth headset while using Skype on the mobile phone.

Had been using a SipDroid / pbxes / sipsorcery / sipgate stack with Google Voice. But could never get the call out working properly. Not to mention the call quality, even on Wifi, was spotty. Video calling is supported but only with limited other devices. Guides tried to follow but could never get to work as stated: Gurnted, GoogleDocs, GoogleVoice/SipSorcery Dialplans

Could never get Fring to work from California. Too many delays through IP network to their servers to make it work. (note: last tried in early 2011)

Screen Shots

There is a file gallery setup to support this page. Many of the entries are likely albums of screen shot collections to give you ideas of what various setups look like.

Playing movies

Sure, you can use your phone as a video camera. But what about watching released movies?
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But the bandwidth would likely exceed your carrier's allotment (3G) anyway. So what about storing a movie on your SD card and showing them while on planes, in the car and such. It's actually quite easy if you phone already plays Youtube or similar movies well. Just convert a movie to 3GP or MPEG4 (.mp4 or .mkv) and they will play.

The Netflix and Blockbuster apps on the Android Market to date had simply let you peruse the database and maybe manipulate your queue. Some have tried to hack the versions available on tablets that stream video to then run on their phone. They seem to work for awhile until the carrier figures this out and blocks it. Basically, instant view over the phone is not quite there yet.

UPDATE: Netflix is allowing instant play on select devices (EVO 4G if running 2.3.3 update from 6/20/2011). Amazon.com is introducing streaming service soon as well.

Often, the default built-in Android video player is not the best. To get better codecs to play more varieties of digital formats of movies, it is best to install a third party player. The best player keeps changing with platform and Android version. In 2013, finding MX Player on Android and MoviePlayer Classic on MSWindows seem to work best.

Converting Movies to "digital" format for phones and tablets

There are a number of distinct things that have to be done to get movies into a single file, mp4/mkv container for Android phones and tablets (also iPhones and iPads). They are:
[1] Decrypt encoded portions meant to prevent using the image content off the disk,
[2] get the image or data off the optical disk,
[3] converting from the native optical disk folder format to a single, modern file container format (i.e. MP4/MKV), and
[4] transcoding the movie video and sound to something more usable on the phone or tablet players. These numerical labels are identified with each tool or process step below.

It is only this latter step [4] that dramatically reduces the size from the DVD 4+GB or HD-DVD/BluRay 20+GB down to 1-2 GB. This because you are typically going from 1920x1280 screen resolution down to 800x480 and from 7.1 surround sound down to stereo. (Although DVD is already 800x480 to start with, more modern wavelet compression lends to smaller sizes.) The MP4 / MKV target file container format can contain the original optical disk including menus and such. But often you strip all that out to leave just the basic movie. ISO is an optical disc image file format used to write the contents of any optical disc (movie, audio CD, etc). It is independent of the media/movie contain format as it can simply be folders of arbitrary computer data files, an Audio CD, a Video CD or other. For reference, here are the pixel resolutions of the source formats and final planned player screens being targeted:
Format / Player BluRay,
HD-DVD 		HDTV (std) DVD (home) VHS
VCD 		Achos 101 HTC EVO 4G iPhone 3x
iPhone 4x 		iPad
Pixel Resolution 1920 x 1080p 1280x720p
& 1080i, 480p 		720x480p 320x243i 1024x600 800x480 480x320%%%960x640 1024x768

Note
VirtualCloneDrive, used to mount ISO images of disks, has not been updated and does not work under Win8. DAEMON Tools Lite is a possible replacement that MyMovies now understands also (to use for automounting ISO files). But to mount 15 images simultaneously (for Handbrake or MakeMKV batch runs), you need to purchase the Pro version. Lite only allows a few at a time.

My process to do all four steps for each format is:
DVD
Slysoft AnyDVD to do [1] and [2]; process to .iso image file on hard disk (~30 mins; no batch). ImgBurn rarely required to read disk first; required once before sending error log to Slysoft for fix (1 out of 300+ discs).
Handbrake to do [3] and [4]; use custom Preset of 720x480, stereo; select the mounted DVD/ISO image and it will scan and usually find the movie; see Backgrounder. May have to select the appropriate title for the main feature. (~120 mins; batch)

BluRay
Slysoft AnyDVD to do [1] and [2]; process to .iso image file on hard disk (~45 mins; no batch)
Handbrake to do [3] and [4]; use custom Preset of 720x480, stereo. If simply selecting the volume does not find the correct title, then select the largest .m2ts file in the BDMV/Stream folder (see DVD-Guide). If no single largest file, use MakeMKV route shown below for HD-DVD's to do [3] (~120 mins) then use Handbrake to finish by working off created MKV container file.

HD-DVD
MakeMKV for [3] (sometimes on original optical disc to do [1] and [2] also) and AnyDVD for [1] and [2] like normal. Select .vt1 file in HDDVD_TS folder in MakeMKV. Deselect all except desired audio track (2/0 stereo if available) inside main feature video. (~10 mins; if on hard disk; 30 min if on optical; no batch). Be careful not to select director's commentary audio track.
Handbrake to do [4]; use custom Preset of 720x480, stereo. Takes it from 20GB down to 1-2GB (~120 to 180 mins; batch).
Handbrake nor MakeMKV can process HD-DVD's (sometimes). In this case, you need to drop down to eac3to and tsmuxer to do [3] then Handbrake as normal for [4]. More information in this tutorial.


Batch implies you can setup multiple jobs and leave running (e.g. overnight). No-batch means each movie has to be done one at a time in the GUI.

There is not a consistent, universal way to get subtitles from BluRay titles yet. Seems the format allows for many mechanisms; some that Handbrake cannot process or recognize. This does not just apply to foreign language titles. Some English-mastered movies have sections of foreign language with "forced" English subtitles that do not carry over. More as I discover the full process on the 10 or so titles causing problems.

Note: Few desktop computer media players process HD-DVD format anymore and none advertise that they really do. TotalMediaTheatre is one of the few that can play the format in addition to DVD and BluRay. Just like you need a special BluRay hardware player in addition to a DVD player, you need an HD-DVD player as well. Luckily there is an LG GGC-H20L/N that is the only internal BluRay and HD-DVD combo player as well as DVD reader/writer. Unfortunately it is out of production since 2007 but still usually available on E-Bay; often used and for more than it cost initially. Have picked up three of them for my media center computers as a result.

"Note: TotalMediaTheatr( ver 3 is the last one that is working reliably with all video formats for me. ver 5 and 6 seem to have gone backward in that they cannot process many BluRay and HD-DVD titles that the earlier version could. Arcsoft seems to blame the graphic chip manufacturer and their driver. But TMT3 on the same platform works fine. And I have the latest CPU and GPU's in new machines."

Some titles come with the movie split across disks or sides. This necessitates two .iso files and two .mp4 files representing part1 and part2. Freemake Video Convertor is a free tool that can join multiple .mp4 video files together so at least the tablet/phone version will play through.

Discovered the MediaHouse App which works well for playing the movies off the ReadyDLNA available "digital" movie files available to tablets and phones. Works well at being a MyMovies-like interface to browse and select movie titles on Android. Automatically finds most movie title posters and other information. Easy to manually search for those it cannot find or incorrectly matches.

By using EDS Lite with 500GB TrueCrypt container files, can carry around an encrypted disk of the movies and use a tablet to peruse the encrypted volume and copy off a selection to the local store for play. Note that large containers should have as large a block size as possible (64K), use SHA-512, and be FAT. Experience shows that larger external USB disks (500GB or greater) need 1 amp of power. Older USB interfaces / standard only provide .5 amp per port. This applies to desktops and tablets. On an Asus TF300 with attachable keyboard, both batteries are not enough to power the disk. You need to have the charger plugged into the tablet keyboard to use the disk. On Android 4.2 at least, USB disks appear in the Removable folder at the top level — not mnt, storage or similar.

I had done the copy to hard disk as .iso files onto my media center to play with MyMovies a few years ago. May change the stored format over to .mkv instead of .iso on hard disk (but retain all menus, features, etc). Not sure if TotalMediaTheater can play all three formats from an .mkv file like it can from the mounted .iso. MyMovies knows how to auto-mount .iso files but not sure if it knows about .mkv's. My next steps to investigate.

Here are the reference tutorials and links found to accomplish the above:
  • Tool Review (with focus on simply copying to desktop for playback in same format though)
  • Handbrake — FREE, [3] [4], the best, does batch multi-job, fast
    • No encryption break capability; must first use SlySoft AnyDVD or similar to make protection free copy to hard disk
    • Handles BluRay DVD-Guide) and DVD Backgrounder just fine.
    • Not handling HD-DVD? Thought it did. Cannot seem to get it to work again though. Use MakeMKV to create the MKV image (step [3]) and then Handbrake here to do the final transcode [4] step.
    • Fastest conversion. Only 1 to maybe 2 hours for DVD or BluRay. RipBot is taking 10+ hours per HD-DVD. Also near instant read of format and thus add to queue. Can add to queue while processing other jobs in queue.
  • Slysoft — $$$ but free, full featured test period; [1] [2] [3] [4] with limits, most robust at decrypting
    • AnyDVD for breaking encryption and making exact images of DVD's, BlueRay and HD DVD's for backup, conversion to MP4, and such. Other useful features to make disc images more playable as well. Will create folder image as shown on disk when inserted or .iso file to reburn to new disk or mount with their VirtualCloneDrive. Considered the most robust encryption breaker but still has occasional problems with some disks. [1] [2]
      • On Desktop, integrated with MyMovies which is to have an Android client soon; Android supports Windows Share mounts as well. See MyCuz,:::::.us/MyMovies Tutorial" rel="">MyMovies Tutorial for a little more info.
    • CloneDVD and CloneDVD Mobile for transcoding to single file, smaller formats for portable device playback. [3] [4]
  • MakeMKV — $$$, free for 60 days, [1] [2] [3] only
    • Encryption break and encoding to MKV single file all built in; supports DVD, HD-DVD, and BluRay
    • Supposedly based on same GPL licensed (freeware) tools as RipBot: eac3ts, tsmuxer, etc.
    • Encryption break code has a lot more problems (less robust and fixed with the exception cases) than AnyDVD
    • Very fast (5 minutes for a 20GB HD-DVD image); no Queue mechanism to batch up multiple jobs
  • ImgBurn — FREE, [2] only
    • Simply copies disk image to .iso file for making a duplicate of a disk. Does not break encryption / copy-protection schemes. Sometimes needed / recommended by Slysoft AnyDVD and others when they have trouble reading a protected disk. Their software can then work on the mounted .iso file created from ImgBurn (see AnyDVD's VirtualCloneDrive) .
  • RipBot, RipBot more — FREE, [3] [4], very slow
    • No encryption break capability; must first use SlySoft AnyDVD or similar to make protection free copy to hard disk
    • For HD-DVD, select largest .evo file in HDDVD_TS folder. Select iPad for video profile and 2 ct (stereo) for audio profile. Make sure to set the output file name.
      • Note: takes ~20 minutes to initially scan and then Demux the video and audio streams of the selected title. Then 10+ hours per HD-DVD to transcode. So spend a few hours to setup a queue of many movies to process. If one uses VirtualCloneDrive (from Slysoft also), can mount many movies at a time to allow a larger queue for overnight runs.
    • Can be used for DVD and BluRay also although seems easier and quicker with Handbrake
  • DVDFab (also DVDFab2) — $$$, [1] [2] [3] [4]
    • Backup for AnyDVD(as the encryption break is a freebie in this tool. Otherwise has encryption break and transcoding built in but for a cost.
    • Not fully tested yet (thought I had purchased at one point but cannot find registration key)
    • Required this tool along with FixVTS and then DVDShrink to handle Ultraviolet DVD which had a purposely corrupt VOB thrown into the mix that would not normally be selected during play (it seems). See Ultraviolet thread and Special Guide for more details — from 2006 mind you. VobBlanker not needed in this case — most links were not updated as original site referenced is gone. DVDFab was smart enough to recognize extra VOB was not needed and did not try to copy (unlike ImgBurn and AnyDVD).
    • Does not supposedly do HD-DVD directly. See special forum note on HD DVD conversion. Private message yielded the following for handling HD DVD with this tool:
      • Install all items:
        • DVDFab
        • Eac3to (install to c:\eac3to)
        • TsMuxerGUI
        • AnyDVD HD
      • Enable AnyDVD HD, Insert Disc
      • Open TsmuxerGUI. Add *.evo file. If more than 1 evo feature file then press join button to add 2nd. Identify the english audio and untick the rest. Tick downconvert HD audio if available. If pulldown is detected, tick "remove pulldown" and change fps to 24000/1001. Choose demux and save to a folder. Completion takes 50m-1hr
      • Open folder where saved and take the audio file, rename to INPUT and move it to c:\eac3to folder. Press start button and type: cmd. Now cd.. till you get to c:\ then type cd eac3to. Type: eac3to INPUT.XXX OUTPUT.ac3. Wait 5min then Move OUTPUT.ac3 back to saved folder and delete INPUT.XXX
      • OpenTsmuxer and add video file you made earlier and add the new OUPUT audio file. Choose Bluray opton as output and save. Wait 20min
      • Open dvdfab and convert as normal w/ blu2mkv.(or whatever u want). Wait 1h45m approx and done. MKV 1080p ready file!!

Device Specific


HTC EVO 4G (aka Supersonic)


Archos 101 G8 Tablet

To play out from the Archos (or HTC EVO 4G) to a TV that does not support HDMI, then there are limited boxes available to do the conversion of the digital HDMI to VGA. (They are generally considered illegal in the USA due to DCMA and so tough to find there.)

Trent IMP1000 External Battery Re-charger for phones and tablets: 11,000mah compared to the Evo's 1400mah standard and about 3000mah in the Archos.

Glossary


ROM
Historically, stood for Read-Only Memory and was traditionally hard-wired at the factory and could not be changed. On a desktop, this traditionally was the BIOS and more recently external USB Memory, Memory Cards (SD, CompactFlash, etc) and such you might plug in. Did not include traditional static disks (like hard, magnetic or optical) or dynamic RAM (Volatile DRAM). In phones, it is all in Non-Volatile ROM memory similar to what is in USB sticks and microSD cards. This is where the Android Operating system is stored, all your applications, and firmware to run the phone operations. But, unlike historical traditions, this is also where the dynamic memory of the phone is stored.

When you here people talk of custom or stalk ROMs, they mean the image of the operating system, device drivers and such stored on your phone — either custom built or stock from the manufacturer. The analogy is borrowed from the automobile lingo of the 1950's.

Historically, Read-Only Memory was truly manufactured to be read-only. This as compared to DRAM)which requires constant power and refreshing to store information. Then Programmable ROM (PROM), based on little metal fuses just like in a car, came out that could be programmed once in the field. Then Non-Volatile RAM first named EEPROM for Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM, that could store the data indefinitely but be changed. The erasing and reprogramming in both these had to occur in a special machine external to the circuit the memory circuit was in, originally. But improvements brought the capability of reprogramming inside the memory circuit itself. USB Memory Sticks and SecureDigital (SD) cards are typical examples of NV-RAM that is in common use today. Meaning, it acts like RAM memory in that it can be simply read and written at will, but retains the state without power or "refresh" cycles being required. In Phones, there is no RAM. All storage is in this NV-RAM. But as some of it is secured from normal users changing it (mounted as read-only disk partitions), it has taken on the misnomer of being called ROM.


Created by Randy. Last Modification: Monday 22 of January, 2018 21:28:16 EST by admin. (Version 47)
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