My Nexus 7 (2012) is online again (with lineageos and external battery)

In 2014 i did the last update for my Nexus 7 (s. here).
It was the last update which was provided by Google for this device:

• Android Update 5.0 (11.2014)
• Android Update 4.4.3 (6.2014)
• Android Update 4.4.2 (12.2013)
• Android Update 4.4 (11.2013)
• Android Update 4.3 (8.2013)
• Android Update 4.2.2 (2.2013)
• Android Update 4.2.1 (12.2012)
• Android Update 4.2 (11.2012)
• Android Update 4.1.2 (10.2012)

I bought the Nexus 7 seven and a half year ago and on the weekend i found the tablet in the back of the cupboard. It did not work, because the battery was completely discharged and the device refused to charge it.
Without a battery it is not possible to startup the device - only power over USB is not enough.

So i disassembled it like described here and added some cables to connect a battery from outside:

And with that modification i was able to start it  - but running Android 5 with 8GB disk space is no fun.
So i booted TWRP onto this device:

root@zerberus:~/bin# fastboot oem unlock
                                                   (bootloader) erasing userdata...
(bootloader) erasing userdata done
(bootloader) erasing cache...
(bootloader) erasing cache done
(bootloader) unlocking...
(bootloader) Bootloader is unlocked now.
OKAY [193.432s]
Finished. Total time: 193.433s

root@zerberus:~/bin#fastboot boot  ~/Downloads/twrp-3.0.2-0-grouper.img

After that i was able to install lineageOS via adb sideload.

 adb sideload  ~/Downloads/lineage-14.1-20171122_224807-UNOFFICIAL-aaopt-grouper.zip 
 adb sideload  ~/Downloads/open_gapps-arm-7.1-pico-20200415.zip 

Now the device has nearly 6GB space left:

 

 I can use the play store and the device runs on Android version 7 - and it runs youtube movies without any interruptions...

Android Update: 5.0

Today my Nexus 7 got the upgrade to Android 5.0:

 After this upgrade, many things changed, like the system settings:

But everything is slower than before.... ;-(

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Android Update: 4.4.3

After nearly everyone upgraded to 4.4.3 my device came up with the icon for upgrading android to its next version:

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Android Update: 4.4.2

Only two week after upgrading to Android 4.4 the next update was available:

 

 

And like all other minor upgrades: no information about the updates....

 

If you compare the information you notice the kernel upgrade from 3.1.10-gee1a0b2 to 3.1.10-g4776c86.

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Android Update: 4.4

After nearly everyone got the update, my device came up with this tiny icon:

And here we go:

 If you follow the link you will get the following information:

• KitKat 4.4: Smart, simple, and truly yours 
• and several other enhancements of version 4.4

And here the system information after the update:

For a complete history of all updates visit this posting.

Android Update: 4.3

This week my Nexus 7 came up with this notification:

I read about that Google launched 4.3, so i tapped on this notification and:

And this time Google provides some information about this release.
One really nice thing is, that with 4.3 it is possible to create restricted user accounts and you can grant these accounts access to specific apps, which you already installed. This is exact the thing you need, if you want to create accounts for your children without app store access and without creating them e-mail accounts....

Nexus 7: Encrypting all data

After loosing all data on a completely discharged Nexus 7 (look here), i decided to encrypt the storage with my own password, so that i should be able to give the right pin into the "type password to decrypt storage"-question (hopefully).

• Advantage:
  never loose my data again
• Disadvantage
  on every bootup i have to enter my new pin....

First step: go to ->settings:

select "Encrypt tablet". If your tablet is not plugged in and not completely charged you get:

After plugging in and charging you get:

Tapping on "Encrypt tablet" leads to:

And then:

Ok... Irreversible and many reboots... Scared? ;-)
GO!

And after some reboots i had to give my password to decrypt storage for bootup:

(This is exactly the same screen, which was shown after rebooting the completely discharged Nexus 7. So hopefully after next complete discharge, i can start the Nexus without loosing all data)

Nexus 7: "Type password to decrypt storage" after completely discharged

After not using the Nexus 7 for some weeks, i got the following screen:
No password worked... Switch off/on... same screen again.

How to get out of this loop?

1. Switch the device off (press and hold power button)
2. Press and hold all three buttons. You will see the following:
   
3. Use the volume buttons to navigate to Recover Mode
   
4. Press the power button the confirm
   Now you will see the Android with a red triangle
   
5. Now while holding the power button, press volume up
6. Use the volume keys to navigate to wipe data/factory reset
   
7. Press power button to select this option
8. Go to Yes, erase all user data and press power button
   

And the "Type password to decrypt storage"-screen is gone... (and all data, too ;-)
[The official documentation can be found here.]

Google indoor maps: How to use...

Yesterday i read at heise.de about Google indoor maps were released for Germany. So i tried to take a look at the indoor map of Frankfurt Aiport but i only got:

No indoor map. Was this headline wrong? I searched around and found http://www.google.de/mobile/maps/:

Newest Android version is installed on my tablet... Why does this not work? So i zoomed that the map scale showed 50m:

No indoor map at all... but there are some numbers... maybe levels? (and no public plans for level 0?)

Android Update: 4.2.1

Two weeks after the upgrade von Android 4.1 to 4.2 my devices was updated to Android 4.2.1.
There is no official statement about the bugfixes or changes in this version. The only information is the confirmation screen before the update:

(The webpage http://www.android.com/whatsnew/ only contains a description about 4.2. No information about 4.2.1).
After the update:

The size of the update was only 1.1 MB. So it is not really suprising, that the kernel version for 4.2.1 is the same as for 4.2...
After the update several applications hung and the Nexus 7 was not really responsive -> but after a additional reboot everything was fine again....

Android 4.2: Developer Options

If you try to build your own Android applications, you have to enable "Developer Options" on your device. After upgrading my Nexus 7 to Android 4.2 there is no entry "Developer Options" inside the settings menu. Google has hidden this entry in order to do not confuse normal users...
This is the way to enable Developer Options (again):

go to settings->about tablet
tap 7 times on "build number"

After four times you will see:

and after seven times:

Now you can enable "show touches" and "pointer location" and get the following:

Android: Running my first application on my Nexus 7

After running the android application in an emulator, it is time to install the application on a real device. If you want to install the application on your Nexus 7, you have to follow this steps:

• put your Nexus 7 in USB debugging mode
  (Settings -> Developer Options {} -> USB debugging)
  (Android version >4.1 you have to use this instruction)
• change USB mode to PTP
  (take a look here to do this)
• check connectivity with adb command:
  

  schroff@hades:$ ./adb devices
  List of devices attached
  0XXXXXXXXXXXXX        device
  
  schroff@hades:$
  
  

After this: start eclipse and open your project (how to create a project look here) and change "run"->"run configurations" -> "target" to "Always prompt to pick device":

and after hitting run:

Now on the Nexus 7 the icon appeared:

and the app started like in the emulator:

Android 4.2 for Nexus 7 rolled out...

Today i was notified with this little icon:

Two week ago i already wrote a posting about the new features of Android 4.2 and not only new devices got this version. Here some screenshots of the update:

And here we go: