The ViewSonic G Tablet is an Android tablet that has some great hardware perks like a 1 GHz Dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor, Ultra-low power GeForce GPU, long battery life, etc. Unfortunately, the Tap ‘n Tap software that overlays the Froyo OS is complete junk, there is no Android Market, and none of the Google Apps like Gmail are included. Here’s how to root the device, install a custom ROM and get all of the Google apps (including Market) working like they should.
First, we need to root the device.
1. We will use Z4 Root to accomplish the task. Use your computer to download the software from here.
2. Connect your G Tablet to your computer using USB. You need to have USB debugging enabled on your G Tablet (Go to Settings, Applications, Development, and check the USB debugging checkbox).
3. Turn on USB mass storage when prompted by the device.
4. Copy the Z4 Root file (z4root.1.3.0.apk) from your computer onto the G Tablet.
5. Turn off USB mass storage on the device.
6. On the G Tablet, open ES File Explorer and browse to the copied .apk file. Install Z4 Root.
7. When the application has finished installing, run Z4 Root and tap the Root button.
After a reboot, you have root access!
Now we need to download and install the TnT Lite custom ROM.
1. On your computer, download the latest TnT Lite from here.
2. Unzip the downloaded file. Reconnect your G Tablet to your PC and turn on USB mass storage.
3. Copy the two extracted files to the root of your SD card (update.zip and restore).
4. When the files are finished being copied, turn off USB mass storage. Disconnect your device from your computer and turn off the G Tablet.
5. Press and hold the volume up button and the power button simultaneously until after you see the screen go black and then an ‘android’ screen show up. Release the buttons.
6. Once you release, you will see the ROM installing. It will take a few minutes to accomplish this. The device will reboot on its own and a boot animation will appear. The animation will run for a few minutes more. When the animation finishes, the familiar interface will appear.
TnT Lite gives you fully functional Gmail, Calendar, etc. All of the Google apps work like they should. The only problem you have now is that Market is rather crippled, it doesn’t display all available applications in the Android Market.
To fix Android Market and gain full access to all available applications:
1. On your computer, download the free version Titanium Backup from here.
2. Reconnect your G Tablet to your PC and turn on USB mass storage.
3. Copy the .apk file from your computer to your SD card on the device. Once copied, turn off USB mass storage.
4. On your G Tablet, use iFileManager to browse to the .apk file. Install Titanium Backup.
5. Open the Market application to make sure that it will connect using your Google credentials. Close Market.
6. Go to Settings. Select Applications, then select System Applications.
7. Select Market from the list of applications. Tap the Force Close button.
8. Go back to the list of apps and select Google Services Framework. Tap the Force Close button.
9. Exit out of Settings.
10. Open Titanium Backup.
11. At the top of the application, tap Backup/Restore.
12. Locate Google Services Framework 2.2.1 and tap it.
13. Tap the Wipe data button.
14. Exit out of Titanium Backup.
15. Try to open the Market application. You should receive an error message.
16. Reboot the G Tablet. Wait a minute or two after it has finished rebooting before opening Market.
Now when you open Market, you will have full access to download all of the apps that are available in the Market, plus you will also have access to download already purchased apps.
Your G Tablet should now run amazingly well, performing like it should.
