jeudi 17 avril 2014

Mele V2.0.5_2 en_US firmware fixing netflix issue

This firmware is supposed to fix the Netflix issue, thanks to Martinei Gregorio da Silva message, that found that Mele v1.2 version of CedarX libraries were compatible with this firmware.
It is based on Mele V2.0.5 en_US firmware
Same fixes apply, with these additions:
- reverted to Mele_v1.2 CedarX libraries
- added some optimizations in /system/build.prop thanks to
- updated ES File Explorer

Here are the firmware versions:
Customised en_US version: v2.0.5_2_en_US.img
md5sum a9232708517a672e8786cbf2615e5d6d  v2.0.5_2_en_US.img
You need PhoenixCard for this image: PhoenixCardV306

dd-able imgv2.0.5_2_en_US.ddimg.bz2
md5sum 6a23582be63de37b1a4d0ddb06d4e890  v2.0.5_2_en_US.ddimg.bz2
Under linux, to burn it, just perform:
  bzip2 -cd v2.0.5_en_US.ddimg.bz2|dd of=/dev/sdX bs=4096
  sync
Under Windows, use Win32 Disk Imager
sdcard version (sort of live-cd version): v2.0.5_2_en_US.sdcard.tgz
a2b5b32a14c413b859cf229b066a4a6b  v2.0.5_2_en_US.sdcard.tgz
By default, it uses a 4GB sdcard; under linux, uncompress and as root: make DEV=/dev/sdX (X is the device letter of your sdcard)
If you want to change for a 8GB sdcard (you get more space for /sdcard), just change the symbolic link 'partitions.txt' to point to partitions_8GB.txt (rm partitions.txt && ln -s partitions_8GB.txt partitions.txt) before make.

samedi 18 janvier 2014

How to install applications without Google Play support

... with the help of ES Explorer and a Google Play-enabled device.

Google Play can be a pain to install on Mele (and other Google non-supported devices), and if you don't need to have your Mele device in sync with your Google account, there is a simple way to install simple applications.

ES Explorer has a very useful tool: the App Manager. It allows you to send from an Android device (with Google Play) to another Android device (without Google Play) an application package provided that each one has launched ES Explorer and both are connected to a local network.
The main drawback is that the installed applications are no more connected to your Google account (no update notification, no Google account support)
Here is a step-by-step howto, to install Mount Manager app on the Mele device without having Google Play installed.
I took my Android phone, and installed Mount Manager.

On the Mele device, simply launch ES Explorer.
On the Android phone, in ES Explorer, go to Tools->App Manager:
Long-press on the required application:
Then press 'Send' action, ES Explorer will look for available devices on the network:
Once done, you have to check 'Mele HTPC', and press 'Send':
On the Mele device you will get a notification:
Confirm and select a destination directory, for example '/sdcard/Download'. Finally, ES Explorer gives you the choice to 'Open' the package, in other words to install it:
Click on 'Open' to install the application:
That's all!