This section deals with known hardware and software issues faced by ADAM owners. This section also details the verified permanent/make-do solutions provided by the community or officially by Notion Ink.
Issue Raised on: January 16, 2011
Explanation: One of the earliest and most hotly debated issues about the ADAM was that of the nature of the display. As per earlier official statements and CES 2011 videos, the screen was made out to be a pure matte display. But emails from the company to some customers claimed that the ADAM has a glossy display and comes standard with a Matte Screen Protector. The official unboxing from Notion Ink also indicated a glossy screen. So, What is it, huh?
Resolution: Mr. Rohan Shravan, Notion Ink's CEO, responded on January 16, 2011 with the following statement:
“Adam comes with 2 layers of Matte Surfaces, one on the PQ LCD screen, other through the Matte Screen protector on the outside Glass. Inside layer cuts the gloss on the LCD layer and colors are not washed out. For the outside glass we are using specially designed matte covers which users at their end can decide to use or not. It is finger stain resistant (oil component) and has same matte properties as on the LCD. The glass in itself is further scratch resistant.” |
The PixelQi/LCD panels have a matte finish, atop which there is a glass panel which is low on gloss, but is still, GLOSSY, as many would have it. With the matte screen protector on, it results in a "pure matte" finish.
Words confuse and pictures speak louder than words, so here goes. Here are two images-On the left is an ADAM display without the screen protector and on the right is an ADAM with the screen protector.
ADAM without the screen protector |
ADAM with the matte screen protector |
Related Links: Notion Ink Adam display neither matte nor scratch-resistant?
Issue Raised on: January 24, 2011
Explanation: The display of the ADAM is largely agreed upon to be a glossy one, and the ADAM comes standard with a matte screen protector. The problem is, the screen protector does not come factory-applied and the buyers have to apply this themselves. It requires a fair amount of knack and patience to apply the screen protector without any air bubbles.
Resolution: On January 25, 2011, Rohan Shravan sent in a video to Greg at Notion Ink Fan, demonstrating the correct procedure of installing the screen protector.
Demonstration of the correct way of applying the matte screen protector
Related Links: How to install screen protector on Adam
Issue Raised on: January 24, 2011
Explanation: Notion Ink announced on their official blog: My Box! (with more photos) that the first over-the-air update for the ADAM would be available for the first shipments at the time of delivery. But the earliest reports from users indicate some problem with the update on the server end. The download does not complete and the ADAM is essentially "bricked" and is unusable when the update fails. The OTA is said to be largely responsible for system-wide improvement in performance, stability and smoothness of the UI.
Resolution: Notion Ink have followed a 3-step procedure in crisis management for the issue at hand:
Step1: On January 24, 2011, immediately upon being informed of the situation, have pulled the update from their servers.
Step2: For those affected, Notion Ink offers detailed instruction to restore the "bricked" ADAM into the factory default state. This procedure is also referred to by many as "flashing" the device. These details can be found at Notion Ink Fan, at WARNING - Do Not Update Your ADAM!, reproduced here below:
"How to flash your Adam and get it working again |
Step3: An updated version of the firmware is has been developed. The ROM that has been provided by Notion Ink has the newer version of the firmware. Notion Ink has also commented that the devices in the next shipments will come preinstalled with the updated version of the firmware. Many users have reported a more stable and smooth system after flashing their ADAM using the above method with the provided ROMs.
Related Links: WARNING - Do Not Update Your ADAM!
Issue raised on: 25 January, 2011
Explanation: "renny00", at NotionAddicts complains that after roughly half an hour of usage, when he tried to turn the ADAM back on, the screen simply showed the Notion Ink logo and went blank. This seems to be an isolated incident, and there haven't been many user reports to corroborate. To quote renny00:
"I just got my Adam and was using it for the last half hour or so. When I went to turn it back on it wouldn't boot. It shows the "notionink" screen and then it goes black, but the screen is still on. I tried it a number of times. I also tried reset a number of times. I'm lost... : : Just to be clear, I did not update my Adam at any point. Whatever caused it to stop booting is still a mystery. For now, it seems flashing it has worked. We'll see how it proceeds. : : No reply yet from NI. So, I decided to 'explore' the device. I got into a boot menu by holding up volume and power. I selected delete all user info. After that I was able to boot. It is working better now, but I think there's still a problem. I'm not sure if the modes of operation are working correctly. Sometimes it needs a full reboot after the screen has gone off or I hit the power button. Sometimes the screen immediately comes back on. I'm not sure what modes it actually has. It could be user ignorance or something else. For example, if I leave it for 10 seconds after the screen goes off I can turn it back on immediately without a boot. If I leave it for 30 seconds and try to turn it back on it seems to need a full reboot. I would appreciate if someone would put up a video showing how theirs is operating it would be much appreciated." |
Issue Status: Resolved (Most Likely)
Resolution: Notion Ink have contacted "renny00" and detailed the following procedure , following which, the problem seems to have been solved at least for "renny00", To quote renny00:
"Below is the response email from NI. Coincidentally, I had done what they suggest before receiving the email. I'm enjoying the device; however, I'm still unsure about its stability. . . Well, I just tried to turn the device on again and it went back to the same booting issue. I've wiped the data again and now it seems to be working. This instability is very frustrating. I would like to know who else is having this issue..." |
Related Links: No Longer Booting
The Ericsson 3g card shipped with the ADAM is not capable of placing phone calls. HOWEVER using the Wi-Fi connections,
Skype and Google voice do work.
Check out Amazon. Click here for ones by Tactus Labs.
Issue Raised on: January 26, 2011
Explanation: "BlueAlien", one of the members of the NotionAddicts community and one among the first owners noted an issue regarding failed playback of videos on the ADAM. To quote him,
"I have my adam and I have tried to play mkv's and avi's on it but neither will work with the built in video player, rockplayer, and mVideoplayer. Has anyone had any luck getting videos to play? " |
Issue Status: Unresolved
Related Links: Adam video formats?
« 5- WARRANTY and REPAIR | NI FAQ Front Page | 6- THIRD-PARTY GEAR » |