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Old 09-07-2013, 11:33 PM   #166
Midnighthyperion
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Difflugia, seeing how you know how to root this, I'm guessing that you're not just the average joe in programming. do you think there is any way to put vanilla android with a custom rom that allows overclocking? so far the root has been working great. thanks a lot
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Old 09-09-2013, 10:58 PM   #167
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so is this possible to do through windows
It's possible, but you still need to mount the filesystem somehow. I know that tools exist to mount Linux filesystems in Windows, but I've never used any of them.

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Difflugia, seeing how you know how to root this, I'm guessing that you're not just the average joe in programming.
I do embedded software development for a living and I kind of have a fetish for anything that fits the description of "small computer". Additionally, most of the information that I included in my previous post already existed earlier in this thread, so I wasn't exactly starting from scratch.

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do you think there is any way to put vanilla android with a custom rom that allows overclocking? so far the root has been working great. thanks a lot
Possible and likely are two different things. If someone wanted to port something like CyanogenMod to the Vox, nothing's stopping them. Since nobody seems to have done that (I've looked) and the Vox hardware was obsolete almost as soon as it hit the market, I don't expect that anyone will feel motivated enough to do so.
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Old 09-10-2013, 04:25 PM   #168
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Cyanogen for the nook color might be a good base for the kobo vox. they have the same specs as in ram, cpu (arm cortex a8), and display. do you think you could port it to the vox some how by editing the rom so that it works on it? Maybe cyanogenmod 10 for the nook color (4.1) could be the base so it's not too laggy and it still has all the features. if possible, allowing the cpu to overclock up to 1.3 ghz (but still have the choice to clock it lower) would be awesome

this is the system on chip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX51_family
the imx51 for the vox, the nook however has the ti omap 3621.

the vox has the adreno 200 while the nook color has the PowerVR SGX 530

if possible please consider making this rom. could you tell me if you are willing to make this? thank you

Last edited by Midnighthyperion; 09-10-2013 at 07:30 PM. Reason: if I got a dollar every time I edited I would be rich
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Old 09-11-2013, 10:37 AM   #169
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Cyanogen for the nook color might be a good base for the kobo vox. they have the same specs as in ram, cpu (arm cortex a8), and display. do you think you could port it to the vox some how by editing the rom so that it works on it? Maybe cyanogenmod 10 for the nook color (4.1) could be the base so it's not too laggy and it still has all the features. if possible, allowing the cpu to overclock up to 1.3 ghz (but still have the choice to clock it lower) would be awesome

this is the system on chip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX51_family
the imx51 for the vox, the nook however has the ti omap 3621.

the vox has the adreno 200 while the nook color has the PowerVR SGX 530

if possible please consider making this rom. could you tell me if you are willing to make this? thank you
I guess you'll just have to trust me that it's not as easy as it sounds to you. I bought a NOOK HD (which will boot CyanogenMod 10 from an SD Card) instead.
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Old 09-11-2013, 04:24 PM   #170
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could you make a custom kernel that allows overclocking up to 1.3ghz for the vox? I think if we used kernel manager I could add it pretty easily. do you think creating a kernel is do able? I'm not very good at programming so I don't really know how

this may be of use

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Old 09-12-2013, 01:14 AM   #171
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could you make a custom kernel that allows overclocking up to 1.3ghz for the vox? I think if we used kernel manager I could add it pretty easily. do you think creating a kernel is do able? I'm not very good at programming so I don't really know how
If you're asking if it's possible, then probably. The kernel source, the configuration at /proc/config.gz on the Vox and an ARM gcc toolchain should be enough for someone to build a working kernel. I occasionally use the toolchain with the Ångström SDK along with Scratchbox2 to build executables that run on Android systems, so that might be someplace to start. I haven't tried building a full kernel and I'm really not an ARM expert, so I've no idea how well it would work. The source for the hardware driver modules may or may not be available, but if you want to use the same kernel version, you can use the module binaries that have already been built. If overclocking requires modifying a closed-source module, though, you're probably stuck.

If you're asking if I will personally do this, then no. I've already invested as much time in the Vox as I care to.
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Old 09-15-2013, 01:37 PM   #172
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which system apps can you safely remove from the vox? I'm talking about things like google maps and those kind of stuff
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Old 09-16-2013, 11:18 PM   #173
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which system apps can you safely remove from the vox? I'm talking about things like google maps and those kind of stuff
Here are the ones that I remove:

FacebookStub.apk
Gallery3D.apk
Gallery3D.odex
Gmail.apk
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
INQFacebook.apk
INQWidgets.apk
Kobo.apk
KoboTimeTracker.apk
KoboTimeTracker.odex
KobobooksLauncher.apk
KobobooksLauncher.odex
MerriamWebster-1.1.1.apk
Music2.apk
People.apk
PlusOne.apk
Rdio-v2.1.2.apk
ScrabbleFree.apk
Talk.apk
TwitterStub.apk
Videos.apk
YouTube.apk
ZinioReader.1.06.4097.Regular.apk
ZinioSettingsProvider.1.06.4257.Kobo.apk
globe2go_10.15.11.apk

Obviously, if you want to use Gmail, leave that one alone. I've been told that Maps.apk is required for the DRM on some Google Play apps to function, so I specifically leave that one alone and I don't bother removing the ones that don't load automatically on startup. There are almost certainly a few more that could be removed, but removing some combination of the others caused my Vox to do a factory reset. After removing the above list, though, everything (including Google Play) seems to work as it should. I'd recommend keeping a backup somewhere, though.

After removing Kobo.apk, you can sideload the current version of the Kobo app. You have to find another way to download it, though, because the Vox isn't listed as a compatible device. I downloaded it to a different tablet and copied the APK file over.
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Old 11-27-2013, 02:33 PM   #174
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anyone else's kobo vox no longer got access to google play services?

Mine states not compatible please contact manufacturer.

Code:
curl -O http://download.kobobooks.com/vox/images/eng.CAN.20111117.182539.40022/x[000-122]
Easiest way to grab that 2011 firmware.

Code:
 cat x* > update.zip
easy way to change into zip file.
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Old 12-03-2013, 11:14 PM   #175
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anyone else's kobo vox no longer got access to google play services?

Mine states not compatible please contact manufacturer.
I can run Play Books and Play Store. My Vox reset after the latest update, but it seems to be working fine now and I haven't seen the "not compatible" message.
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Old 12-18-2013, 12:17 PM   #176
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Unfortunately, the long boot time is just a feature of the Vox. Equally unfortunate is that the stock internal card (8GB SanDisk class 4) is probably optimum for speed. Higher speed cards (class 6, class 10) tend to be optimized for read/write of larger files and are good for secondary storage, but are actually slower when the OS is running from them. You could upgrade to a 16GB or 32GB class 4 SanDisk card, though.

The biggest problem with running speed on the Vox is just that the processor is a little slow and outdated (800MHz compared to the 1.3GHz dual-core in the NOOK HD, for example). The Kobo software itself is kind of a dog, too. There's a little bit of bloatware that can be removed, but the speed improvement was much less than I'd hoped (and some of what I thought was "bloatware" turned out to be needed). The Vox's Android build seems a little glitchy as well and I've noticed odd screen artifacts on a few games (Bad Piggies, for example).

The two things that ultimately improved speed didn't actually require rooting. First, I removed all the widgets (particularly the one that shows your library and suggestions) from the launcher screen. I also switched launchers (to GO Launcher Ex, but there are others; search Google Play for "launcher"), but I don't think that affected speed.

The second speed enhancement was just switching to Mantano Reader Lite. I find that it performs much better than the Kobo software does and nearly all Kobo books can be downloaded in EPUB format using Adobe Digital Editions and transferred to Mantano Reader. Mantano also has the benefit of allowing you to keep files on the secondary card if you like, so the 8GB internal card isn't as big of a limitation. As an aside and if you don't already, you may want to consider using Calibre on your PC along with Apprentice Alf's tools to maintain your library. Lots of Calibre information is available on Mobileread and Googling for "Apprentice Alf" should get you to the tools.

Here are the main reasons/benefits I've found for rooting the Vox:
  • Because I'm a hardware nerd and enjoy that sort of thing
  • I switched the sdcard directory (where the apps store most of their data) from the internal to the external card
  • I use Titanium Backup to maintain backups of my Android devices and it requires root for some of its functions
Hi Difflugia, if the offer still stands, I would like to try rooting my Kobo Vox and perhaps increase it's storage capacity at the same time. What would I need to have ready in advance? Is there a particular SD card (size /speed) that you would recommend, and what programs would I need to have downloaded onto my PC (The only Apple product I have is an I pad4, but I have a Vista pc with an SD card reader, a pc running on XP, and a new laptop with Windows 8, if there is a sytem of choice.
Thanks, Rob.
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Old 12-18-2013, 02:20 PM   #177
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Hi Difflugia, if the offer still stands, I would like to try rooting my Kobo Vox and perhaps increase it's storage capacity at the same time. What would I need to have ready in advance? Is there a particular SD card (size /speed) that you would recommend, and what programs would I need to have downloaded onto my PC (The only Apple product I have is an I pad4, but I have a Vista pc with an SD card reader, a pc running on XP, and a new laptop with Windows 8, if there is a sytem of choice.
Thanks, Rob.
If you're willing to open your Vox (which you'd need to do to increase internal storage), then rooting's pretty easy.

I recommend a Class 4 SanDisk SD Card of whatever size you want (anything up to 32GB should work). Faster cards (class 6, class 10) seem to run slower in the Vox, at least with some brands.

The rooting is easier if you have Linux at your disposal. Part of the rooting process involves changing file permissions, so without Linux, you'd need a Windows program that will let you mount a Linux partition and modify the file properties. I'm sure they exist, but I've never used one. Booting to Linux from a Knoppix live CD won't hurt your PC and is probably easier than finding Windows tools to do everything.

The instructions here should allow you to create a rooted SD Card. If anything there starts giving you problems (or you're having trouble getting that far), feel free to ask. Some of the commands can wipe your hard drive if you aren't careful, but it isn't hard to be careful.

These result will still act like an 8GB card even if it's bigger, but that can be fixed. I'll just need to get my Vox out and figure out which partition to change.

Edit: I just reread the instructions and realized that the backup portion won't work with a live CD and I didn't flesh out how to do the initial copy of the card. I'll try to come up with some instructions that are easy to follow.

Last edited by Difflugia; 12-18-2013 at 02:30 PM.
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Old 12-20-2013, 12:44 AM   #178
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It's also very easy to run Linux from within Windows using a VM. If you plan on mucking about with Android devices but don't want to install it on one of your machines then simply download Virtualbox and use that to host a virtual linux install on your Mac or Windows machine.

Linux is just much better suited to the task. If anyone needs help getting a VM set up just PM me and I can walk you through it.
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Old 12-30-2013, 06:35 PM   #179
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Rooting the Vox.

Thanks for your advice and help so far. I now have a 16GB Speed 4 Sandisk micro sd card and reader. I have installed virtualbox onto my Vista PC. If anyone is able to give me a few pointers to backing up my internal sd card onto the pc and then putting it onto the new card, with superuser status, I would be most grateful. Please let me know if I have forgotten anything obvious, or if there is a better programme out there for doing this sort of thing.
Cheers,
Roberto.
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Old 01-08-2014, 07:18 AM   #180
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Following my last post, I have now installed Ubuntu 12.04 and GParted on my computers. Still looking for the terminal command though, before I can move on to the next step. Totally out of my comfort zone, but willing to learn.
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