Update on this. It’s honestly a phenomenal Squeezelite endpoint with this ROM on it. Set up SB Player to run at startup and launch the LMS app for frontend. You could also just use this as a controller for dirt cheap for a room with already existing LMS based audio.
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thats awesome to hear, i saw a post, possibly by you @ctjameson about squeezelite. i dusted off some of my single board computers. I re-discovered that i have 2 next thing co CHIP that i immediately re-flashed and installed squeezelite. squeezelite + logi LMS is the GOAT!
I have few sonos, but I always prefer LMS and squeezelite combo for number of good reasons.
paired it with my old great sounding bose soundlink mini
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Sorry for maybe an obvious question, but what is GSI? Is there a specific ROM you are using successfully (I see the wifi fix) and is there a guide to be able to flash the device with this ROM instead?
I’m keen to explore the assistant features and replace Google Home 
Android Generic System Images (GSIs) are for app developers to perform app validation and for development purposes.
I will be converting from Sonos to fully Squeezelite and LMS based endpoints when we move next. It’s really such a pleasant platform to use. I wish I wouldn’t have waited to long to check it out.
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Copied verbatim from Deadmans post on the retrogaming discord channel, here is his latest Android 11 firmware. He’s baked a lot of bug fixes into this rom, and it is a 1-step flash procedure with QFIL that can be flashed without reverting to stock or debug roms. Pasting it here for HA users, this was a fairly painless setup and includes google play so it should be doable for even the non-tech inclined like myself.
A11 Go Gapps Kingston firmware package
From testing you don’t need to flash the debug firmware before doing these steps, it was tested on a fresh out of box unit as well. Install instructions:
- Unplug power and then hold vol + and - before plugging it in to boot to edl directly or
adb reboot edl - Flash the combined firmware with qfil (Same instructions as flashing debug firmware just use
rawprogram0.xmlinstead ofrawprogram_unsparse.xml) - Unplug power and then hold Vol+ before plugging it in to boot to recovery directly
- Use volume keys to navigate to the factory reset option and select it
- Reboot and after a few minutes you will see the duck boot animation and then the Google setupwizard Features/changes:
- Kernel with GPU OC (850mhz), Wifi fix, selinux permissive enabled for now
- a11 gogapps GSI with gsm/ims permissions removed
- Vendor with updated wifi module, edited fstab to remove resource partition mounting, removed qcom-factory permission
- New rawprogram0, patch0, gpt_main0/gpt_backup0 from @mrhand for larger system and userdata partitions
- Userdata_1.img as just userdata.img
- Stock recovery pulled from newer firmware so volume keys work to move/select Bugs (If you find some let me know and I’ll add): No Auto Brightness currently (Needs a treble vendor overlay to turn it on WIP) Recents button doesn’t work (Needs a treble vendor overlay to turn it on WIP) Download: https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com/filestash-buk/lenovo-thinksmart-view/combined_kingston_a11_gogapps.7z Qfil flashing instructions CD-18781Y (Lenovo ThinkSmart View) Bootloader, Firmware, Zoom/Teams Conversion, Normal Android | XDA Forums If you don’t want Go gapps you can replace the system.img with a different gsi. Also be aware this can easily be reversed by flashing the debug firmware again. It will repartition your device back to the stock layout.
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Also copying another recommendation from the discord which I found useful:
unlock developer options → find “smallest width” → set to 600dp to make the keyboard not take up the full screen and to make the UI elements smaller
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Does this solve any of the known issues? ie. screen timeout, sound not working in HA/other apps.
Can this be done with a unit that has the 8.1 rom installed?
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Thanks @Endlessvoid! So it sounds like the only known issue with this ROM is that auto brightness does not work?
@mattmon - do you think this is ready enough for the HA community to use this for your wiki post at the top of this thread?
Unfortunately it is not a wiki post. @mattmon would you consider moving this thread to the wiki system in the forum? Or start a new one there with the GSI instructions?
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Thanks so much for this @Endlessvoid! Also curious about any significant improvements with Android 11 and whether it solves any of the outstanding issues.
Here are mine:
-
Video playback seems hit or miss on the current ROM though that may be fixable - haven’t investigated yet.
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Screen timeout / Sleep/Wake issue
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Can’t get dark mode working on Fully Kiosk (I think THAT is an OS Issue). HA in Dark Mode does work/look great in Firefox though
Any downside with the newer firmware?
I may be able to answer all of these questions myself since I hate a 2nd device that I haven’t touched yet so I can do a side by side comparison. May not get to it until this weekend though.
Loving this thing as a replacement for my Lenovo M8 tablet which looks great and was working Ok until a recent update (OS I believe) - now it seems to freeze / need a reboot like once a day or more.
The screen timeout/sleep/wake issue is semi-fixed by repurposing the camera shutter as the power button. Not ideal, but at least it can be woken up easily now. Still no tap to wake though.
I haven’t seen any issues with the video or sound playback yet, but I’m not primarily using it for media playback.
I also don’t use fully kiosk so I can’t speak to any bugs there, but setting the UI to dark mode doesn’t seem to cause any issues.
It can be flashed right over the current 8.1 rom in the top post.
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Is the Auto Brightness issue is related to sensor drivers? From what I understand that Adaptive Brightness can be controlled using Google’s Device Health Service app that comes pre-installed on most Android phones.
With GSI A11, can the HA app still wake the screen by receiving a command? That’s currently what I do with A8 in the rare scenarios that the screen actually does go to sleep. I rarely have a need to wake the screen physically on the device, so the shutter option is plenty good for my use case.
im sticking on 8.1 for now as it seems to be working fine (at least for my own requirements)
i installed fullykiosk using the apk
i logged in to Teams app (kinda handy because of my work is fully working on MS teams)
kinda a dual purpose device.
no screen issue, no wifi issue, auto brightness seems to work without issue too.
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No, IMHO, the gsi is not yet at a point where I’d recommend it over the 8.1 rom.
(For most people)
It’s an awesome development and it is, for the most part, usable.
Until the gsi attains functional parity with the 8.1 rom, I’ll leave it as an experimental exercise for those interested and/or motivated to use it.
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Anyone know of a reasonably priced way of getting a few of these in the UK? Seems like the seller on Amazon isn’t available any longer and most sources I found won’t even ship to UK.
I agree with this, its why I haven’t posted a full proper thread for it. Till we fix some of the remaining issues. But development is moving quickly.
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Everyone, rest assured, there will be a prominent link to @deadman96385’s thread in OP once he feels the GSI is ready for GA.
Sure would be cool to have an improved boot animation for the new rom…
(With the new HA logo)
Anyone with animation skills want to contribute?
Here’s your chance to be on on countless kitchen counters, haha.
@KTibow posted this on reddit.
Good start, but wish it had more of an organic feel like the one by @andyfitz
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Do you mind pointing out which rom you used exactly and what are the steps you followed? Appreciate your help, thanks.