Android 8.1 for the Gemini to be available later this week

[rodgos]

Ah, me. Still no update. This time I'd try again, this time going through planetcom's own manual update instructions. Entirely on the Gemini. All, once more went entirely according to plan. Except the actual update. All the usual measures taken, and a new ota.zip downloaded, and moved to the required destination. The update went exactly as before. All seemed well until the update was 18% complete. As before. Then the screen went dark, there was a longish wait until the now familiar Android Recovery menu came up once more. So, again back to 7.1.1.
It's getting to the point of considering putting the whole thing in the upstairs cupboard with the chocolate teapot and the set of rubber knives and forks, and getting back to my old and faithful Psion netBook.

[rodgos]

Ah, me. again. The latest. I decided to grasp the nettle and go for a factory reset, throwing away all the stuff I'd spent ages installing, and the screens I'd spent similar time re-arranging. To no purpose the 8.1 update ran exactly along the lines of all the previous updates, ending in the same abort install message on the Android Recovery menu, and back to 7.1.1. I've very few options left, as far as I can see. I might try the multi boot option, which would appear to give the whole system a good kicking, and in fact, from the previous attempts to get a rooted Android, the present problems might have arisen.

[Murple2]

Ah, me. again. The latest. I decided to grasp the nettle and go for a factory reset, throwing away all the stuff I'd spent ages installing, and the screens I'd spent similar time re-arranging. To no purpose the 8.1 update ran exactly along the lines of all the previous updates, ending in the same abort install message on the Android Recovery menu, and back to 7.1.1. I've very few options left, as far as I can see. I might try the multi boot option, which would appear to give the whole system a good kicking, and in fact, from the previous attempts to get a rooted Android, the present problems might have arisen.

You can flash 8.1 with the flash tool (ie  fresh install,  not upgrading). Firmware can be found here http://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Gemini_Firmware

[rodgos]

Flashing is going to be the next step. having done a factory settings reset, there's nothing on the machine, now, to lose.

[Daniel W]

Flashing is going to be the next step. having done a factory settings reset, there's nothing on the machine, now, to lose.

Well, perhaps I'm Captain Obvious today, but just in case; from the error message you posted earlier, it seems the updater is unhappy with the partitioning of your Gemini, so unless that can be restored to whatever state the updater expects, flashing might be your only option.

While I'm out of my depth here, and thus can't be too sure, I do seem to recall reading about horrible things that can go wrong with flashing, such as, but not limited to, wiping the NVRAM, after which the Gemini, if I've understood things correctly, no longer has any IMEI number and thus can't be a phone. As I'm already beyond my comfort zone here, I can't really provide much advice. Just beware that a botched flashing can be really bad. While I presume that isn't news to you, it's still something to keep in mind. Perhaps it might be worth, lest you've already tried that, to try e-mailing the Planet Computers support regarding the "Partition table not match" issue, and see if they have any suggestions.

[greguu]

Flashing is going to be the next step. having done a factory settings reset, there's nothing on the machine, now, to lose.

Well, perhaps I'm Captain Obvious today, but just in case; from the error message you posted earlier, it seems the updater is unhappy with the partitioning of your Gemini, so unless that can be restored to whatever state the updater expects, flashing might be your only option.

While I'm out of my depth here, and thus can't be too sure, I do seem to recall reading about horrible things that can go wrong with flashing, such as, but not limited to, wiping the NVRAM, after which the Gemini, if I've understood things correctly, no longer has any IMEI number and thus can't be a phone. As I'm already beyond my comfort zone here, I can't really provide much advice. Just beware that a botched flashing can be really bad. While I presume that isn't news to you, it's still something to keep in mind. Perhaps it might be worth, lest you've already tried that, to try e-mailing the Planet Computers support regarding the "Partition table not match" issue, and see if they have any suggestions.

Flashing Oreo is fine if you follow the guide on the official Planet Computers Wiki page.
Personally, I would recommend using the Windows based Flashing Tool, if you are not very familiar with Linux as there can be some odd complications.
All user and system data will be wiped in the progress though in any case.

Multiboot is not yet available for the Oreo based bootloader, so hold back if you need that.

[Jos]

Did a normal update on 14-5 on the Gemini, non rooted. It went smooth, no isues at all. It now says 8.1.
However, it doesn't takes the installed 512Gb SD card. Tells me to insert the card again. I did, and it showed in the file manager and the on the card installed apps worked fine
At night it shuts itself down like i want to, but this mornig, no SD card. and i have to insert again. So obviously thats a bug.
Or does anyone know a solution? Or has the same problem?

[ctrlD]

Will there ever be an upgrade available for the WiFi only models ?

[Lyall Pearce]

OTA update, took a while to get moving (a few days) but eventually downloaded and installed successfully.
No user interaction at all, actually, opened it up and the update was up and running.
 

[Kero]

Just noticed on http://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Main_Page that 8.1 is also available for the Wifi-only model; partition tool updated, also with dual/triple boot.

Will have to try, soon.

[jornada720]

Just noticed on http://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Main_Page that 8.1 is also available for the Wifi-only model; partition tool updated, also with dual/triple boot.

Will have to try, soon.

I just got a firmware update notification and am afraid it would cause me to not have a rooted device any more. Has anyone who's rooted ever done the 8.1 automatic upgrade?

[Eldkatten]

Hello jornada720,

don't.
The upgrade for rooted devices isn't released yet, and as far as I know it wouldn't work Over-The-Air (OTA) anyway, which means we rooted guys have to use the flashtool.

I decided for myself, though, not to upgrade, because there are too many critical problems published here with 8.1 on the Gemini.

Kind regards

[jornada720]

Thank you for the advice, Eldkatten. I will hold off for now.

[Kero]

Resized my partitions, Changed to rooted version and rooted. Wifi-only model.

8.1 seems to work fine (rooted for wifi-only caused problems on the previous update for me - and I wasn't the only one).

Pro:
 - somewhere in the settings, I found a "hide navigation bar" which is awesome. More screen space for apps, yay! I mean, seriously, with any small screen, this is important to me.

[Paul H]

I have the WiFi version but I’m still being told there is no update. Is there a way to coax it to find the update?