Yarvik Jellybean on original Gingerbread Excel

[Trashcooky]

I stumbled across this modified JellyBean 4.1 rom released as stock by Yarvik for their TAB 364 which is an 8" 4 x 3 screen ratio tablet. Apart from the fact that the Yarvik TAB 364 is an 8" tablet the base specification for hardware is identical to the original Excel and a Polish Dev has made some screen ratio adjustments from the original 4 x 3 ratio to allow it to function on the 16 x 9 ratio screen of the TAB 264 which is also essentially an original Excel.

It is claimed by the Polish Dev that this rom is compatible with the entire Yarvik range TAB 260 through to TAB 364 models however, I doubt this to be the case as the TAB 260 was equivalent to the original Scroll Essential which had resistive touchscreen and hence resistive drivers whereas the TAB 264 onward to TAB 364 are all capacitive screens.

I decided to give this modified Yarvik rom a go on my now aging Scroll Excel which originally came with Gingerbread 2.3.4 installed as stock. My original Excel has been spoofed as many things whilst running variously flashed ICS roms from a Samsung i9000 through Tablo, Yarvik, and several variants in order to try and improve performance and also gain access on what was originally Google market (now Playstore) to many otherwise alledgedy incompatible apps.

I even managed to get my original Excel spoofed as a Nexus for a while by flashing CM10 with MOBO compatibility which gave me particular access to some Amazon apps that otherwise would not have been available,but eventually after many hair raising moments wondering if this time I had finally bricked it I settled for long term with the stock release Yarvik rom ICS 4.0.4 available here which has been remarkably obliging for my particular needs of watching TV catchup and BBC iplayer without any sync issues.

When I saw this modified Yarvik 4.1 JellyBean rom I nearly didn't bother with it as I am now running a Windows 8 64 bit laptop and since changing to this tablet from a Win 7 32bit desktop I have found it impossible to install the Livesuite USB drivers on it in order to flash my Excel. A little research into the error codes I kept producing on the laptop soon lead me to realise that I needed to imobilise the default Windows 8 setting of rejecting all unsigned drivers. At least on XP you got a warning telling you the driver was unsigned but you could just choose to install anyway but Windows 8 is designed a bit like an un-rooted tablet and wont easily let you under the bonnet.

So anyone out there with Windows 7 who also has this problem this is how you go about disabling the requirenment to have drivers digitally signed before the system will allow you to install them:

How to disable signature verification of drivers in Windows 7:

Go to Start Menu > Run and type the following command:

bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON

Restart the PC and install the unsigned driver

It is recommended to re-enable the signature verification of drivers when you have finished installing the unsigned drivers

Go to Start Menu > Run and type the following command:

bcdedit /set nointegritychecks OFF
Restart your PC

For those with Windows 8 - 64 bit who want (don't forget that for 64 bit OS's Livesuite 1.09 is the recommended version) to be able to flash their tablet this is how you go about disabling the digital driver signature requirement embedded in Windows 8 which will then allow you to install the unsigned Livesuite usb drivers required to flash your tablet.



So I installed the rom and so far I am quite pleased with it. In all honesty its not a million miles away from the Yarvik ICS stock rom but it does appear (unexpectedly) that the battery life is much improved over the ICS ROM. There is a sacrifice to be made if you want to try this rom yourself and that is that after flashing - my tablet was no longer rooted - and so far has resisted all my efforts to get it rooted. This is not a major issue but it does stop me from running my ad blocking software which kept things nice and clean but is not a big issue. It just takes a little longer to get past adds by closing them manually when they appear but so far I am happy so anyone who wants to try it for themselves can download it using the link below.
NB: although everything seems to work OK there is an oddity which does not effect performance which is the running apps stack on the left of the screen where you swipe them closed is still in 4 x 3 format but everything else works in 16 x 9.
Use this rom entirely at your own risk
Yarvik 4.1 works on original Excel EDIT link now points at correct download, sorry for any previous confusion .TC.

[tony0204]

Thanks Trashcooky for write up, will have a play.

[spooky]

Hi,

I have installed this ROM and it is certainly running a lot smoother than the Yarvik 4.0.4 but I have discovered it does not seem to like a lot of the apps that did run previously on 4.0.4

So far I have had "Your device isn't compatible with this version" message with:

Chrome Browser
Angry Birds (Original, Star Wars and Space)
English Heritage
National Trust
GO Contacts EX
AirDroid
fring
PayPal
Amazon
Google Earth
Glow Hockey
London Underground Tube Map
AVG Antivirus Free

So I think I will be going back to 4.0.4 as I think knowing that the apps will work on there and not on this one will just bug me.

[spooky]

Just thought I might add that link you have posted to the Rom is for a Tablo 4.0.3 ROM (97F2-D1-H1-H01-1950.20120424img) and not the Yarvik 4.1 (TAB260-364_A411.img)

I was curious as to why yours was half the size, thinking I had put the wrong one on, and now I know why after applying it.

[Trashcooky]

Just thought I might add that link you have posted to the Rom is for a Tablo 4.0.3 ROM (97F2-D1-H1-H01-1950.20120424img) and not the Yarvik 4.1 (TAB260-364_A411.img)

I was curious as to why yours was half the size, thinking I had put the wrong one on, and now I know why after applying it.

Thanks so much spooky for pointing out that enormous clanger I seem to have dropped....
I need to go out now but I will correct this when I get back later, meanwhile thanks for your good catch there.
Was it definitely the JB that gave you so many incompatibles or was it actually the Tablo 4.0.3?

Sorry once again for making such a huge error.

EDIT: Link is now corrected.

[spooky]

Hi,

I had downloaded the jelly bean rom from the Polish forum so that was the one with the incompatibilities for me.

I tried your link after as was curious as to what it was and as I was going back to 4.0.4 anyway I didn't have much to lose.

Am sure you are forgiven after all the effort you put I round here.

[Trashcooky]

Hi,

I had downloaded the jelly bean rom from the Polish forum so that was the one with the incompatibilities for me.

I tried your link after as was curious as to what it was and as I was going back to 4.0.4 anyway I didn't have much to lose.

Am sure you are forgiven after all the effort you put I round here.

Thanks for your comments spooky, regarding your incompatibles you might like to read my mini review on the Scroll Excel III
here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3466 as this also has app incompatible issue.

[spooky]

Doesn't sound promising for the future of Excel and Jelly Bean does it.

I won't hold my breath for Key Lime Pie