Develop Bugs

[Suggestion] "Off-brand" Android Phone and Tablet Forums

It seems like there are a dozen new Android phones and tablets coming out every week from unknown manufactures. Most of these are cheap Chinese devices, but they're not all junk, and smaller manufacturers from other countries get thrown into the mix as well. Right now, any discussion of these devices ends up in the Android General forums for lack of a better home. This makes these forums quite crowded with orphaned-device-specific posts, and useful general posts hard to find.
I suggest an new forum section for off-brand or generic devices. This section should have four sub-forums: phone general, tablet general, phone development, and tablet development. This would give these low-volume devices a home and declutter Android General significantly. It may even cut down on the requests for dedicated forums for obscure devices.

Not a bad idea actually. I like it, though not sure what the admin will think. I've suggested your idea to them and linked here, so we'll see what they say

Yea, I'm going to go ahead and throw my support behind this as well. Considering there's a new Android device released every week, it seems prudent to give those few users a spot to call there own.

I also support this, especially since I'm unable to afford larger-brand products, so I own a Coby MID1125 Kyros tablet and would love for there to be space specifically for it.

Thrade said:
I own a Coby MID1125 Kyros tablet and would love for there to be space specifically for it.
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Just to clarify, it would be a space for your Coby and other low-volume devices as well. It should be easier for you to find coby-specific posts there though.

Nice idea. If there were any type of voting going on then I'd be raising my hand straight away. This would surely benefit both the users without specific forums and the general lurkers, like myself.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

Support cost-effective products

This is a great idea, many "off-brand" or "cost-effective" device development ends up in the Android OS fora scattered randomly.
this would be a great organizational addition for future posts and back-cleaning other forums.

XDA has always been a developers forum. We add devices depending on the amount of development and how good the device is. We don't support Chinese knock devices at all as they are not official devices with official firmware versions. Half the time a Chinese knock off will state it has certain hardware and it really doesn't. Remember only recently have we even added non HTC devices.

Well the admin thought this was a good idea and will be implemented in a day or so

We all need to band together on this

The nvidia shield tv, the most powerful android device available, which has root, twrp, and custom roms available, along with tons of support keeps failing to get its own proper forum. The discussion page we currently have is unacceptable. There is tons of people doing development on other sites as well that have no proper place to post it. Please everyone, take a few minutes a day, and request that we get a proper forum added for this device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660354

I agree. Thank you for taking the time to remind us about this.

More than anything, this device is missing developer support. It seems that a lot of people didnt want to see this happen. Google for one, with the restrictive OS, how easy it could have been to include an option to switch between regular Android and the mode thats been stripped of or had so many classic Android functions hidden. It blows my mind the hdmi blocks, drm, and other capabilities that get removed for the sole purpose of corporate greed. I know I'm not supposed to rant here, so consider this a rally to Nvidia TV owners to let others know how awesome of a device this could be and so hopefully the user/developer base can grow and get some proper treatment from the cable companies and others who refuse to support powerful devices like this

You guys ha e to remember 2 things
1. We are mainly a mobile device forum.
2. It would not take much for a modded TV to be blocked.
Also a forum will not bring developers. People develop for devices they get and many have no interest in android TV and see them like 3d screens. A fad that will fade away after some time.

zelendel said:
You guys ha e to remember 2 things
1. We are mainly a mobile device forum.
2. It would not take much for a modded TV to be blocked.
Also a forum will not bring developers. People develop for devices they get and many have no interest in android TV and see them like 3d screens. A fad that will fade away after some time.
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Why do other Android TV devices have a proper forum then? Maybe devs would take the device seriously, if XDA took the device seriously. I would understand that argument if it wasn't proven to be untrue with the various other forums that have been created for other tv boxes.
- Nexus Player (Android TV)
- Amazon Fire TV (Fire OS - Even more limited than Android TV)
- Mad Catz Mojo
- Ouya
Just to name a few...
I'm not trying to start a problem. It just seems like we're presented with a different argument ever other day stating why the device doesn't have or deserve a proper forum. Not too long ago, the argument was the lack of interest. Then it was the lack of development, even though we currently have custom AOSP and CyanogenMod ports, Root, TWRP and Ubuntu.
If you search for the device in the device search, you will find not one, but two separate "places" to create topics for this device. One isn't a forum. It's just a list of threads that use the shield-tv tag. If a thread is created here, it will actually post in the Android Development and Hacking > Miscellaneous Android Development forum.
The other is a sub-forum of Android TV and Stick Computers. It isn't a proper forum and it is also buried. The device isn't listed in devdb, so there's no way to add projects.
There is active interest in the device and there are a ton of users. At the moment we're using nVidia's website/forums, but we'd prefer to use XDA. Why not give in to demand? You could make a lot of XDA users happy.

zelendel said:
You guys ha e to remember 2 things
1. We are mainly a mobile device forum.
2. It would not take much for a modded TV to be blocked.
Also a forum will not bring developers. People develop for devices they get and many have no interest in android TV and see them like 3d screens. A fad that will fade away after some time.
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The joke is on you and I don't care that my response will get on your nerves. You were better off keeping it hush hush than to fail at manipulative excuses.

zelendel said:
You guys ha e to remember 2 things
1. We are mainly a mobile device forum.
2. It would not take much for a modded TV to be blocked.
Also a forum will not bring developers. People develop for devices they get and many have no interest in android TV and see them like 3d screens. A fad that will fade away after some time.
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Click to collapse
@ 1. So just because the shield is tied to a wallsocket and uses an external screen it is not entitled to a forum? That's a rather peculiar argument....?
@ 2. I don't think you understand the Nvidia Shield Android TV, it is just as moddable as any Android device...
And last but certainly not least you claim people don't have interest while we have proved this by the community development for the device so far. BTW the interest in the device might be bigger than you think. For instance on the Nvidia forums there are already over 10k comments in the shield tv subsection, this is over 25% of the shield portable's total comments and over 20% of the shield tablet's total comment. Considering the device is only available for a short period and is only available in the US, this means public interest is huge!
So in other words, please come up with better arguments or just add one device forum, how much harm can it possibly do?

That would be a game changer for this thing.... ... I'm in!!!!!!!!!!

Look guys. I'm just offering up ideas. The mods don't add the forums the admins do. You have asked in to proper forum and now it's up to them. They may or may not decide to give it a forum. Why or why not is their choice.
As for your statements. Just ask Linus what he thinks of Nvidia? Not the best to work with on an open source project.
The 10k posts? While might seem alot is not a whole lot on a site that sees that many every few hours.
If interest is deemed bug enough then it will get a forum. If not then it won't. No point in making thread after thread about it really.

didn't know..
XDA is some kind of mafia... I thought it's free and open, really sad.

They have proper forums for the Moto 360! A watch forum??? Give me a break. Android wear is even more restrictive then Android TV!
I think XDA admins have a bug up there arse about Nvidia. Pure and simple. If it was AMD they would already have everything.
Stop defending them.

I too, would like to register my interest for such a forum.

While I am a newcomer, I would like to register my support for this movement too. It would be nice to have singular outlet to use.

zizika said:
XDA is some kind of mafia... I thought it's free and open, really sad.
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XDA is a privately owned, membership based site.... Just to correct you.
And the Admin here decide things like forum sections.
Perhaps they'll add a full section, perhaps not. Getting angry about it isn't going to help at all.
As said, if developers are actually holding back work because of a lack of a full forum, they are only making you guys suffer. Seems a little backwards.
Let's remain respectful everyone, please.
Darth
Forum Moderator

The Nexus Q has it's own forum here and NOT the Nvidia Shield Console? That's just stupid.

zelendel said:
Look guys. I'm just offering up ideas. The mods don't add the forums the admins do. You have asked in to proper forum and now it's up to them. They may or may not decide to give it a forum. Why or why not is their choice.
As for your statements. Just ask Linus what he thinks of Nvidia? Not the best to work with on an open source project.
The 10k posts? While might seem alot is not a whole lot on a site that sees that many every few hours.
If interest is deemed bug enough then it will get a forum. If not then it won't. No point in making thread after thread about it really.
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I knew somebody was gonna say something like this. Linus Torvalds made that comment about Nvidia years ago while thwy were developing software for proprietary devices. Nvidia has already made it known how thwy feel about their Android devices. "Once you buy it its yours" and all the drivers and images are provided on their developer website so.... I still manage to find what Im looking for anyway so I can really not care very much less but this really seems like a major shrug off for some ridiculous and arbitrary reasons. Im surprised

ElwOOd_CbGp said:
I knew somebody was gonna say something like this. Linus Torvalds made that comment about Nvidia years ago while thwy were developing proprietary processors. Nvidia has already made it known how thwy feel about their Android devices. "Once you buy it its yours". I still manage to find what Im looking for anyway so I can really not care very much less but this really seems like a shrug off for some ridiculous and arbitrary reasons and Im surprised
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And it still holds true. Due to lack of any proper documentation it is really difficult to develop for these devices. Why do you think only a few even use their stuff and they had to look at other options. Yeah it's users. Do what you will with it. Doesn't mean they will help you along with it.

zelendel said:
And it still holds true. Due to lack of any proper documentation it is really difficult to develop for these devices. Why do you think only a few even use their stuff and they had to look at other options. Yeah it's users. Do what you will with it. Doesn't mean they will help you along with it.
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All the more reason for hackers to teach them a lesson? How many manufacturers post steps to unlock bootloader on their own website and encourage tinkering with their ROMs making most all source code available? Sounds more like someone has an axe to grind and doesn't care how juvenile it may look. I personally can't wait for more ROMs to get released (including CMs) while making those who want to curb down the development, look foolish. I am half surprised discussion about evil nVidia is not banned already
,

loonix said:
All the more reason for hackers to teach them a lesson? How many manufacturers post steps to unlock bootloader on their own website and encourage tinkering with their ROMs making most all source code available? Sounds more like someone has an axe to grind and doesn't care how juvenile it may look. I personally can't wait for more ROMs to get released (including CMs) while making those who want to curb down the development, look foolish. I am half surprised discussion about evil nVidia is not banned already
,
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More then you think. Why do you think Qualcomm devices are so popular among modders? Because there is all the proper documentation for working with the chip. Same reason that mediatech and exynos chip are not popular. As for unlocking the bootloader. Heck most oem show you how to do it.
As for CM. I would wish that on my worst enemy.
Now if people want to develop for it then do it. Having a forum or not will not bring more or less development.

I'm amazed that this is even an argument. A forum that generates revenues from page views doesn't want its users to have a place to view one of it's valued devices. Baffling really. Someone definitely is bitter about something. What harm is there in creating a section?

GPS Navigators - Discussion Subforum?

Not sure if it's due to popularity or knowledge but there doesn't seem to be a lot, if any, about stand alone Android based GPS Navigators. Brands under the name Jusun and U-Route with Android 4.4.2 or lower as the OS version. I'm speaking of something resembling the devices that came out in the beginning from TomTom and Garmin and are still available but somewhat diminished in popularity.
I'd appreciate it if a Mod or other member(s) could point me to the right forum. I'd like to see if anyone else would be interested or has had progress in hacking and or developing with those particular type of devices.
TIA

plans on having alternative OS subforums

are there plans on adding more subforums regarding other alternative OSs? i just had a quick look at general development and saw it was pretty chaotic, but it is a good start and has subforums for a bunch of the mainstream alternatives. it would look nicer if it were as organized like the new PC subforum recently launched.
while many may argue that there are more specialized forums out there, having XDA trying to vie for the top of phone forums may not be too far...

fonzacus said:
are there plans on adding more subforums regarding other alternative OSs? i just had a quick look at general development and saw it was pretty chaotic, but it is a good start and has subforums for a bunch of the mainstream alternatives. it would look nicer if it were as organized like the new PC subforum recently launched.
while many may argue that there are more specialized forums out there, having XDA trying to vie for the top of phone forums may not be too far...
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You mean for like OxygenOS, ColorOS, etc? Which operating systems did you have in mind?

among the more mainstream ones like ophone, wandows, blueberry (IIRC ages ago there was a symbion subforum here).
i was thinking of the more unique ones like ubuntu touch, sailfish (already here) and postmarket (not yet). with the release of the PC subforum and the rise of linux on phones (librem and pinephone) might also be a nice launching as well. while they do have more specialized forums out there, having a home on the XDA sounds nice.
im more active on PCs than phones, but still couldnt escape the fact that literally everyone needs a phone. the librem and pinephone launched at +$600, whereas droids can be had for ~$100, but with a tried and tested guarentee. add to that currency conversion, tax and a bunch of other transfer fees, yeah, i went with a droid.
the ARM CPU archetype is going through a huge surge in many distros. its like an an ARMs race *ba dum tsk*

Very laggy MTCD PX5

Hi all, I've got a PX5 (MX) in my Hyundai i30, unfortunately it's just very slow. Particularly swiping to type. I know my one only has 2gb of ram, but it's definitely much slower than android phones with similar specs.
Everything just takes long to load. For example Google assistant takes about 3 seconds from when I press the button to when I can talk to it.
I'm currently running a custom Magisc ROM with Android 10, but this problem has definitely also been around when I had stock ROMs installed and across android 8, 9 and 10.
I've done a search and there are some posts from a few years ago, but other than uninstalling all Google services, there weren't really any suggestions.
Given there aren't many people complaining about almost unusable slow units, I'm thinking maybe mine is slower than others.
Any suggestions?

Would love to hear others, and would love if somebody contradicts me, but my unit also became laggy with time. Most noticeable when interacting Google Maps (to the point of becoming annoying) mainly when I need to input a new address. Music works OK, and I do not really use assistant. I went back to Android 8 (Hal9K) but that did not help much.
I think is just the HW and the fact that apps (not only the OS) become more and more resource-hungry with newer versions. I'd challenge that you can find a phone with the same old specs of PX5, and I know Google has launched a web-based "Google Maps"(reduced) to solve complains in old phones.
But would love if somebody can contradict me and provide some hints for a deep-cleaning
In the meantime, praying that some china company will launch new devices on 2022 based on the latest RK with 4xA76 (yea, I know, too new...will taje some time)

maxiauer said:
Would love to hear others, and would love if somebody contradicts me, but my unit also became laggy with time. Most noticeable when interacting Google Maps (to the point of becoming annoying) mainly when I need to input a new address. Music works OK, and I do not really use assistant. I went back to Android 8 (Hal9K) but that did not help much.
I think is just the HW and the fact that apps (not only the OS) become more and more resource-hungry with newer versions. I'd challenge that you can find a phone with the same old specs of PX5, and I know Google has launched a web-based "Google Maps"(reduced) to solve complains in old phones.
But would love if somebody can contradict me and provide some hints for a deep-cleaning
In the meantime, praying that some china company will launch new devices on 2022 based on the latest RK with 4xA76 (yea, I know, too new...will taje some time)
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Thanks for your reply, glad I'm not the only one. Do you mind telling me the specs of your one? 2Gb of RAM as well?

Have you both observed px5 temps?

GnFgr said:
Have you both observed px5 temps?
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Between 42°C and 67°C when I had a look, but changing very rapidly.
Ambient temperature around 28°C, car cabin temperature maybe 24°C.
I know for a PC CPU this would be considered running very cool.

spludgey said:
Hi all, I've got a PX5 (MX) in my Hyundai i30, unfortunately it's just very slow. Particularly swiping to type. I know my one only has 2gb of ram, but it's definitely much slower than android phones with similar specs.
Everything just takes long to load. For example Google assistant takes about 3 seconds from when I press the button to when I can talk to it.
I'm currently running a custom Magisc ROM with Android 10, but this problem has definitely also been around when I had stock ROMs installed and across android 8, 9 and 10.
I've done a search and there are some posts from a few years ago, but other than uninstalling all Google services, there weren't really any suggestions.
Given there aren't many people complaining about almost unusable slow units, I'm thinking maybe mine is slower than others.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Consider FYT uis7862 unit instead

marchnz said:
Consider FYT uis7862 unit instead
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Click to collapse
I have been looking at them... but I understand they forcefully remove Google Assistant to use their own assistant, and that is a blocking point for me on two accounts: first I have most of my data on Google (for good or bad), second I am not sure I can trust a HW provider which blocks SW / wants to decide which SW I am allowed to use...
But thanks for the advice. I have heard they are good units and not everybody is aware of them. Other people looking at this thread could benefit by taking a look at them

Hi all, I'm pretty new to this scene and was hoping for some support and guidance from the community. And apologies if I'm hijacking the post but all other threads seemed dead with old replies. I have recently purchased a 2nd hand car which had a PX5 head unit. I will post the device details below, but I was hoping you could point me in the right direction to download a newer and compatible firmware/mcu for my unit. I'm used to flash custom rom/firmwares on android mobile phones so I do understand the process itself quite well, it's just the firmware/mcu compatibility with this device that I'm unsure of. Thank you in advance for the support.

ravipe said:
Hi all, I'm pretty new to this scene and was hoping for some support and guidance from the community. And apologies if I'm hijacking the post but all other threads seemed dead with old replies. I have recently purchased a 2nd hand car which had a PX5 head unit. I will post the device details below, but I was hoping you could point me in the right direction to download a newer and compatible firmware/mcu for my unit. I'm used to flash custom rom/firmwares on android mobile phones so I do understand the process itself quite well, it's just the firmware/mcu compatibility with this device that I'm unsure of. Thank you in advance for the support.
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Click to collapse
I am not familiar with KGL Units, but according to this post they are compatible with Dasaita/HotAudio SW, and there is a thread on the MTCD General Questions subforum with links to the latest firmware for the Dasaita/HA MCU (although I haven't really seen any advantage of updating the firmware for several years... I think that since 2018 they have focused more on fixing bugs for MTC-E mainboards and newer ones rather than MTC-D). If you do not know if you have a MTC-D or a MTC-E, check if the board has an actual DSP-daughterboard or not (the "MTC-E" version that is reported on settings indicates that you have a MTC-D/MTC-E SW release and not that your board is really MTC-E)
As for Android itself, I wouldn't recommend to update it to Android 9. I have noticed SOME responsiveness improvement with Hal9K mod in Android 10, but you might loose the Bluetooth as Android 10 is not compatible with some old chipsets (check on the discussion about that in HW-Development, and the proposed solution)