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5a - HELP!

Page history last edited by cx650t 13 years ago Saved with comment

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.



 


Resolved Issues

 

Issue 1: "Gosh! That is one glossy screen..."

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 2: "Aaargh..... How am I supposed to get this Screen Protector on?"

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 3: Failed first over-the-air (OTA) update 

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

WARNING
This fix is recommended only if your Adam has stopped booting up after installing the over-theair
system update on 24 January. Please don't use the method indicated to flash your Adam
with any ROM not from Notion Ink, as it would probably damage your Adam irreparably.

Please read this whole document before proceeding.

PRE-REQUISITES
You need to have the following items
1. A Windows or Linux PC
2. The Notion Ink Adam you wish to flash
3. A mini-USB to USB cable for connecting the two
(It's not included in the Adam package, but you
might have one lying around. If not, it's readily
available in any electronics shop)
4. The appropriate Adam Recovery Kit which you
can download from the URLs below. (About
80MB)

DOWNLOADS
1. Windows PC, LCD Adam http://api.notionink.com/fix/windows/LCD.zip
2. Windows PC, Pixel Qi Adam http://api.notionink.com/fix/windows/PixelQi.zip
3. Linux PC, LCD Adam http://api.notionink.com/fix/linux/LCD.zip
4. Linux PC, Pixel Qi Adam http://api.notionink.com/fix/linux/PixelQi.zip

OVERVIEW
Here's a summary of what you'll be doing:
1. On your PC, extract the Adam Recovery Kit.
2. Restart your Adam in “Force Recovery” mode and connect it to the PC.
3. If you're on Windows, install the USB drivers from the Recovery Kit.
4. Run the ROM flash utility from your PC, and wait for it to complete.

1. EXTRACT
Using your favourite ZIP extraction tool, uncompress all the files in the Adam Recovery Kit to
any folder on the hard drive of your computer. 

2. RECOVERY MODE
Before proceeding, ensure that your Adam has at least 50% battery charge or is connected to
power and charging. Also make sure that your computer will not turn off during the flashing
process.
Turn off your Adam and enter force recovery mode by pressing and holding both the Volume
Down (-) and Power buttons for two seconds. The orange (charge) and red (CPU) indicators on
the right side of your device will light up, indicating that your Adam is in force recovery mode.
Release both buttons, and connect the mini-USB port on your Adam to any free USB port on the
PC using your cable.

3. INSTALL DRIVERS (Windows only)
Your Windows PC will show a notification that a device “APX” has been detected. If you get a
“Found new hardware” dialog box asking where to install drivers from - choose “list or specific
location”. If you don't get this dialog, open the Device Manager via System in the Control
Panel, find and double-click the “APX” device, and click the update driver button.
Select the “usbpcdriver” folder inside the extracted Adam Recovery Kit as the driver location.
You may receive a warning that the driver is not certified or signed by Windows – choose to
install it anyway.

4. FLASH
You're now ready to flash your Adam. Make sure that the USB cable is connected securely. To
begin the process under Windows, run the “download.bat” batch file from the folder where you
extracted the Recovery Kit. If you're using Linux, open a console window at the folder
containing the extracted Recovery Kit, and run ./download.sh. Your device screen will show that
it is being updated, and the console window will show the progress.

IMPORTANT: Do not close the console window or stop the update before it is complete. If the
update is interrupted mid-way, your Adam will be damaged irreparably.

Hopefully all goes well, and in a couple of minutes your Adam will boot up with the new
software. Congratulations! If at any point you find that things aren't going according to plan,
please send an email to support@notionink.com rightaway.

Thanks for your continued support
Team Notion Ink"

 

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 4: ADAM goes blank after a while of usage 

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.
__________________________________________________
Greetings form the Notion Ink Support Team !!

Try pressing volume up and power button, enter recovery mode and wipe your data, then restart.

Please let us know the status of your Adam after you have tried the above procedure. Also, please let us know if you are still facing the same issue so that we may be able to assist you.

Thank you for your continued support to Notion Ink!

Warm Regards
Alan
Notion Ink Support Team

.

.

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

 

Issue 5: Can ADAM 3g make phone calls? 

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.

 

Issue 6: Where can I buy replacement screen protectors? 

Check out Amazon. Click here for ones by Tactus Labs.

 


Unresolved Issues

 

Issue 1: Failed Video Playback

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?


 

 


To Be Determined (TBD)

Will USB to Ethernet adapters work? 

Where can I buy replacement Batteries?

Will Notion Ink support "Advanced Replacement" for defective units? 

What is CALL STANDBY and why is it eating my battery? 

Is the headphone jack on ADAM a three conductor or four conductor model? e.g. just left and right audio or does it support a fourth ring for Microphone audio too? 

 

 

« 5- WARRANTY and REPAIR NI FAQ Front Page 6- THIRD-PARTY GEAR »

 

Comments (1)

Nishaad said

at 6:00 am on Feb 11, 2011

Is it possible to use ethernet usb adaptor as Adam has USB host port ? Are any divers required ?

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