January 27, 2011

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Wiping your data from the Augen Gentouch78

I decided to return my device, so I needed to remove all my personal data from it.

First off, I tried the Factory Reset (after having previously updated to v3 of the device’s firmware), which is found by going to the Settings app, then clicking Privacy, and finally Factory data reset, then Reset Tablet-PC, then Erase everything.

After getting through the screens mentioned above, the device powered off. I then pressed the power button to restart it, after which it booted up and then showed an error:

Application Android keyboard (in process com.android.inputmethod.latin) is not responding.

With 2 button options of “Force close” and “Wait”. Unfortunately, I was unable to click anything, so I had to use the Reset button.

After the rest it came up with the calibration screen. I dutifully clicked the 5 green icons and then it asked me to “Complete action using” either com.android.provision.DefaultActivity or Setup Wizard. I went with Setup Wizard, and that launched the same setup screen I had seen previously, requiring me to “Touch the android to begin.”

In order to be sure it had in fact wiped my info, I went through the setup process and entered my Google Account info once more, however since it had no way to get on my wireless, it couldn’t connect. I then used the Home button to check the desktop. Surprisingly all was gone. I decided to wipe my SD card as well, and had it format that and then I unmounted the card, and ejected it (getting the card out required pliers to gently grasp it). It left one folder (LOST.DIR) on it, but other than that it was clean.

At this point, I ran the Factory Reset again. Once more an error popped up, this time for Process com.dataviz.docstogo is not responding. I decided to Force close it. At which point, I again had a locked up device. I reset the device once more, and then did the calibration screen, and when I saw the Android setup screen, I powered off the device and considered it ready to be returned.

augen gentouch gentouch78 reset tablet

How to patch/update the Augen Gentouch78 Tablet PC

January 25, 2011

I recently acquired an Augen Gentouch78. The model I got: NBA7800ATP When I took it out of the box, it was basically unusable as the touch screen was way off, and the built in calibrator did not work. Also, I was unable to connect it to my google account (the gmail app wasn’t there), and the android market was also MIA. Fortunately, I found a patch and the instructions (which of course weren’t bundled together).

iPad vs Windows Pad (Dell XT2)

October 8, 2010

We’re trying to standardize onto Ubuntu at work and we need hardware that works really, really well. One thing that I thought might be nice to have in the office was the Dell XT2 tablets. Not that I expect everyone to have one, but I thought there might be at least a handful of users that would appreciate them. Especially those at the office that use iPads (albeit there are only a couple). Yesterday, we got in the XT2 for evaluation and I excitedly started carrying it around with me (I’ve always, always, always wanted a tablet). I’ve not had time to put Ubuntu on the machine, but I thought that the comparison to the iPad might be interesting.