[Arm-netbook] going to try and build CM9 for my new A10 9.7" tablets

[simon at koala.ie]

not sure if this is relevant to this list, but here goes...

i am involved in a startup which requires us to use android tablets with  
some custom applications.
after a lot of (faulty) research i bought some samples from china. i  
thought i knew what i was doing.
turned out that i did not. ha ha ha.

i bought a couple of 9.7" [16GB, IPS screen] devices and a couple of 7"  
[3G] devices from the same manufacturer. being out of work for the last 5  
months that was a big deal for me. fyi, it cost 580 yoyos for the 4  
including shipping to ireland and vat. roughly 150 each.

then i asked for the linux kernel source so that i could modify it to add  
the device drivers that i needed.
no such luck. seems that the manufacturer is just getting a .img from  
their supplier and have no knowledge of what is in it or how it was  
created.

i have been doing all the work on one of the 9.7" tablets. i installed CWM  
and bricked it trying to install CM9. that was 48 hours ago. since then i  
have been trying various .img files in an attempt to get the device  
working again. from a cost/benefit point of view this makes absolutely no  
sense whatsoever. but i am determined to get this tablet working again. if  
for no other reason than i want to be able to build my own kernel (with my  
precious device driver) so that i can run my custom app.

so i have decided to embark on the process of building CM9 from the ground  
up for these tablets. i will share what information i gain along the way  
and will be happy to answer any questions that come my way.

to get me started i am using sztupy's tutorial on build gingerbread. at  
least if i can get that to work then that will be the first step on the  
ladder.

at first i was very angry with the vendor. but after a lot of digging over  
the last few days i have come to realise that they are just a small cog in  
a very large machine. they are probably making sod (it seems that swearing  
is allowed on this list :-)) all money.

my request in this long rambing email is that if anyone can offer any  
advice and guidance i am all ears. please don't tell me that i should have  
done better research. i think i know that all to well at this stage.

you live and learn.
-- 
simon

Simon Kenyon
e: simon at koala.ie
m: +353 86 240 0005