I have been getting hundreds of e-mails a day mostly about ViewSonic G-Tablet flashing, rooting, market access, recovering from a brick, etc. It sucks that the device doesn’t come this way out of the box; but no worries droidpirate.com is hear to walk all the beginners/noobs through the process of flashing a rom, rooting and getting the market place to install on the ViewSonic G-Tablet.
First things first, users that are still on the original ROM (tap ‘n’ tap), theres really nothing you can do your stuck with everything thats on the device which is only news, weather, browser, music, gallery and some other applications. You are also stuck with ViewSonic’s android marketplace which sucks. No angry birds, no installing your favorite mobile applications etc. The first step is to free yourself from the stock tap’n'tap ROM and installing something much more nicer such as TNT Lite v4.51. The ROM will allow your tablet to run like an Android smartphone; now for those who have never used an Android smartphone. You might not even know the full possibilities of your Android tablet you’ve just purchased. The TNT ROM in my own opinion is amazing, I use it all the time with out any problems ever! I’ve used tons of other ROMs in the past and pretty much nothing compares to the TNT build.
The first step is to flash a custom ROM I’m going to assume you are using TNT Lite v4.51. IF your g-tablet is fresh out of the box or has never had any modifications done to it, that’s perfect! The instructions should be a lot easier to follow and comprehend.
Step 1. Download the TNT Lite version or which ever ROM you are going to install.
Step 2. You must make sure that the ROM you are installing is for Stock Recovery or ClockWorkRecovery. This is very important. So if you are a new beginner you are running the stock recovery console that came installed on your gtablet.
Step 3. Now that you have the file downloaded, you have to extract the contents of the .zip file using WinZIP, 7Zip or WinRAR. YOU DO NOT WANT TO EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF “update.zip“! You should now see that you have (2) files, well (1) file and (1) folder called “Recovery” and “update.zip“.
Step 4. Connect the USB cord that came with your G-tablet to your computer, and connect to other end to the gtablet device itself. On your gtablet device you need to click on the notification icon up at the top so you can Enable USB Mass Storage mode (this allows you to transfer files back and forth, between your computer and device).
Step 5. Now on your computer click on My Computer, and find your G-tablets SD-Card and double click on it. Copy the (2) files “update.zip” and the folder “Recovery” to your sd-card. DO NOT PLACE THEM IN A DIFFERENT FOLDER, make sure its on the root of the sd-card.
Step 5. Ok so now all the files are in the correct place on the gtablet, it’s time to completely power off your g-tablet device and remove the USB cord connected to the computer. We are now going to preform the custom ROM install. Press and Hold on the VOLUME UP (+) button on your g-tablet while holding that hold the Power On as well. You should see the ViewSonic TapNTap boot image and black text up at the top that says “Recovery Key Detected” you can now release both buttons. Let the device do everything from here it should say finished at the bottom of the screen or your device may reboot automatically (if it doesn’t just power it off and power back on). You should now notice a different boot image. Welcome to TNT.
Notes: It’s pretty much impossible to brick your device on the first fresh install of a ROM. Well not every ROM but TNT v451.
- Full Android marketplace access
- Removes all the junk from the stock tap’n'tap OS
- NetFlix & Hulu – Smooth, crisp no lag playback
- More options for your device
- Install any android application on your device
- Improves performance
- No Random device rebooting
When you install TNT Lite v4.51 you will also automatically receive the following applications on your device by default. Angry Birds, Angry Birds Season, Angy Birds Rio, Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Email, Gmail, iFile Manager, Maps, Android Market, Music, NetFlix, News & Weather, PLaces, Sound Recorder, Sniffer, Google Talk, Web (Browser), YouTube, all of ADAM apps (view list).
Bugs: I have yet to find a bug in this build, a lot of questions came in asking if the Camera will work on this release Yes it will. If you find or run into a bug with the v4.51 please leave a comment.
Alright here are the easiest steps for rooting your G-Tablet device or gaining Superuser permissions on your gtablet. Root access can be installed on your device with the stock tap ‘n’ tap ROM, or any other custom ROM you are flashing to the device- it doesn’t matter and will work throughout all 2.+ versions.
Step 1. The first thing you need to do is download or root application for your gtablet device you can do so by Clicking here.
Step 2. Now that you have the file downloaded the next thing you want to do is connect your gtablets USB cord to your computer as well as to the g-tablet. Click the notification icon up at the top on the gtablets screen and choose “USB Mass Storage Mode” (so you can transfer files back and forth from your PC to your Gtablet). The file you downloaded should have been a .ZIP file, so you need to extract the APK from the package using WinZip, 7ZIP or WinRAR. So now you should have the root.apk file. Copy or Drag the apk file to your SD-Card of your Gtablet device (just remember what folder you placed it in, you are going to need it later).
Step 3. Ok so now the root apk (application) has been moved over to your g-tablet you must disconnect the device from the computer. Open up the application that comes preinstalled on every gtablet called “ES File Manager” locate the root apk you placed on your device earlier, press on it and choose “Install“.
Step 4. Now that the root apk has been installed on the device, simply open up your Application drawer and find the root app in your application list. Once it loads simply click on the “Root Now” button sit back and wait roughly around 3-5 minutes your device should reboot itself automatically. Once your device reboots itself you should now see an application in your app drawer called “SuperUser“. You have successfully rooted your ViewSonic G-Tablet.
All the users trying to get the FULL Android marketplace running on their G-Tablet. For the new users that are just unboxing their g-tablet or still running the stock tap’n'tap this WILL NOT work for you. You need to be on a custom ROM such as TNT Lite v4.51 or any other custom ROM. You also need to have your viewsonic g-tablet rooted for this to work. This is why I posted everything in this particular order.
Step 1. You need to be running any of the TNT builds
Step 2. You need to have your g-tablet rooted (more information)
Step 3. Download this file, follow the instructions.
