 |
Rooting the M-150
 |
The original OS on the M-150 was so slow that I was about to use it
for parts. |
|
Then, I read about the Tipstir
site where you can get new ROMs for it. It now works very
well! |
|
Note: Do this at your own risk! It's easy to make a
mistake and "brick" your device. And, I don't think there's any
way to make it work again after that. |
|
Here's some notes on the ROM update process:
 |
Make sure you're battery is charged and/or you're plugged into
wall power or you'll brick your device! |
|
You'll need a micro SD card (some call it a TF card).
Instructions mandate 4GB min, but I used a 2GB card formatted as
win32. I also used a 16GB uSD card and that worked too.
|
|
The actual ROM files aren't on the Tipstir site, he just
provides links to them. The downloads are free, but they make
you wait to gain access. |
|
I think you need to register to get access to the ROM lists.
|
|
You'll need to know your serial# and your build # to get the
correct ROM. The serial number is printed on the back of the
device. (It's not a unique per device number). Mine is
M150101. You get the build# from the system properties app
(scroll down to the bottom). I think mine was WMT2.1.1 (but I
didn't write it down). You should write down your build#!
|
|
Finding the correct ROM can be a challenge. They're on
this page:
http://tipstir.the-talk.net/f145-rom-builds-wm8505-wm8505
The 2.1.1 ROM didn't work for me (touchscreen didn't work).
But the
WMT2.0.0_050 ones did. I think these are actually the
fastest anyway. But, they may only work with the M150101
serial number devices. |
|
The ROM files are zipped in 7-Zip (7Z extension) format and
you'll need to install either 7-Zip or WinRAR to extract the
content. |
|
The actual files that worked for me (again, only applies to
M150101 devices) are:
|
WMT2.50_RSX_TS_A_SPEC_V2_script.7z (maximum
performance, some functions disabled) |
|
WMT2.0_000_RS_V1.0_script.7z
(everything, including camera, works) (I'm using this one
currently) |
|
|
Just unzip the file to the uSD card. It should then have a
single directory called "script" with a bunch of stuff in it.
|
|
Then, just turn the M-150 all the way off, insert the SD card,
and turn it on. You'll then see a message that it's about to
start updating in 7 seconds or so. |
|
After a long time, the green android animated icon appears and
after that just the word "android" shows on the screen. It
takes about 5 minutes or so and then it boots up. |
|
It seemed to assume I was already connected to the internet and
wanted me to sign in, but I just skipped out of that and set
everything up. |
|
KNOWN ISSUES:
|
Hibernate doesn't work right, the unit powers itself back up
after 10 minutes or so. |
|
YouTube app crashes. Tipstir has recommended using a
different app to access the YouTube site. |
|
|
|
