Sunday 15 September 2019

Upgrading an Android OS

My Argos Bush android tablet is running Android 6.0  which is Build Number MRA58K@ARCHOS.20160617.013735.Catalpa.

I have recently tried to install a couple of Apps and been told that they were not compatible with my tablet.

Can I rebuild a later Android OS for my tablet?                                                   15/9/2019

The Archos site is no use: https://www.archos.com/gb/support/downloads.html?type=tab

https://www.androidauthority.com/build-custom-android-rom-720453/
The two things that I would need help obtaining:
Grab the source – This is an easy step, however it takes a long time. For me it took over 24 hours. Such a large download only happens once, further syncing with the main source tree will be incremental.
Obtain proprietary binaries – The binary drivers should be unpacked in your working directory.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99LUjX63LhU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pAr5VzpxyY

17/9/19 emailed Archos:
This Android Tablet is running Android 6.0 and I am now finding Apps that won't run on it. How can I upgrade it to a higher version of Android?
I am happy to try and build the OS myself if given the source and binaries neede, and possibly some instruction.

This would lead to the question - How to export/backup the current OS before attempting any updates, in case of failure.

Thank You, Peter Merchant

21/9/19 No response from them yet, but look what I found:
https://source.android.com/
This will be quite a learning experience

2/10/19 Suggestion from LUG www.xda-developers.com  which is on topic but only seems to cater for popular devices.



Saturday 14 September 2019

Build your own Electric car

If I wanted to build my own car, real not toy,  where would I start?
What components would I need? I would probably like to start with an old mini, because it is small and light.

Recently I have seen this  new motor design:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gO60bt6rqk&feature=youtu.be

But in the past I saw a mini with individual motors in each wheel which I liked.
https://www.treehugger.com/cars/electric-mini-0-60-in-4-seconds-it-has-motors-in-its-wheels.html
It might have used these:
https://www.proteanelectric.com/


You need power for the motors, and a power control system,. You also need all sorts of computers to feed information to the driver, look after safety details, and react to the driver to perform operations on the car, such as signalling. Do these computers need a seperate power source?

As with anything you also need a braking system.

More thoughts to be posted as they arrive, and then I'll sort them and rewrite this.

Other people have already done this:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-Electric-Car/

https://www.designboom.com/technology/low-cost-diy-electric-car-made-from-recycled-parts-380-mile-range-06-17-2017/

25/10/2019 On BBC. It mentions Protean (above)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49958457