[Update] Arnova 7 G2 custom firmware now with Root, Android Market, 3G, Bluetooth (USB dongle), GPS, CIFS, ext4, NTFS and OpenVPN support

The mighty fenice57 from our forum has cooked a very nice custom firmware for the Arnova 7 G2.
This firmare brings root access to the device, Android Market, together with great additions such as CIFS (SMB/Windows shared drives), NTFS, ext4 , OpenVPN, Bluetooth on supported USB dongles, GPS support thru Bluetooth.

This is by far the best custom firmware we’ve try on the Arnova 7G2, that provides, according to our initial tests a quite stable Android Market and general system. We’ll publish updates in this article and a firmware flashing tutorial as we make progress with these tests. Feel free to come and discuss about this firmware on our forum.

Latest news:

[Edit 2012/02/09] Fenice57 continues to improve his Arnova 7 G2 firmware and brings a new boot and recovery system with I/O speed improvement on the ext4 filesystem.
IMPORTANT:
If you take this update, after flash new system recovery will start on boot and delete your data.
Take a backup
Remove your SD Card or all data will be lost
Whats New
Best performans and I/O improvement

Download Link: fenice57_Firmware_Arnova_7G2_V3.1.zip

Original link from fenice57: http://www.fileserve.com/file/hvTkY3p

He has used HOTO Benchmark before and after update, see jpg

Before	After

If you haven’t flashed Fenice firmware, you’ll need to merge the contents of this update with the one in the firmware download link below.
If you already have Fenice firmware installed, you can just flash using the preconfigured Flasher in the archive from the file download above, you system and data should be preserved.

[Edit 2012/02/04] Now with ext4 file system support !

[Edit 2012/01/31] Now with (bluetooth) GPS support !

UPGRADING 01/31/2012
Here is the latest ROM update
Flash only the boot.img and system.img
The personal data will not be lost but for safety Always have a backup.
Updates:
Editing init.rc to improve the recognition and Bluetooth to use external Bluetooth GPS
Insert other commands in /system/xbin/ for bluetooth debugging and management.
Modified build.prop with several improvements for the system
Added GPS Bluetooth provider in /system/app
Now its possible to use usb bluetooth with active USB debugging and mock locations.
I remember that for the correct recognition of an external Bluetooth dongle, the tablet goes on with the key inserted.
If you physically disconnect the key and if then reconnect, the tablet must be restarted.

Firmware Flashing procedure:

Firmware download
Full firmware latest 3.1 update (erase personal data, applications and files) : fenice57_Firmware_Arnova_7G2_V3.1.zip Original files from fenice57 (fileserve.com hosted): New Boot and Recovery System 3.1.zip   Firmware Arnova_7G2_V3.zip
This firmware is specific to the Arnova 7 G2 and should not be installed on other devices. WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICE. THIS FIRMWARE UPDATE IS USED AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE RECOMMEND TO FLASH THIS FIRMWARE ONLY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO RESCUE A BRICKED DEVICE USING ROCKCHIP FLASHING TOOLS.

Restoring Arnova 7 G2 default firmware

In case you don’t like this firmware or if you just want to go back to the default stock firmware:

• Get the original firmware update image
• Follow the firmware update procedure described earlier in this article

From the custom firmware author

Quoting fenice57, the custom firmware author (from on forum :

External Installed APK
Bluetooth File Transfer
Bluetooth GPS Provider
Bluetooth on/off widget
Color Notepad
Cfs Manager
Titanium Backup
GScriptLite
Openvpn Settings
Superuser
Market

Full EXT4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext4

Changed All System framework
Increased file system app to 680 MB free
200 MB free RAM after first flash

After first flash boot in 15 Seconds

Market Configuration:
Start the Market, configure your google account and login.
If you should see a few apps, exit to the market, go to settings, applications, manage applications, click on “All” tab, select Market and delete Market Data.

3G
Complete support with USB OTG for Hauwei 3G key models E1550 E1692 E1750 E1820

NTFS Support
I made the necessary changes in order to see external drives formatted with NTFS file system.

Mount NTFS disk – what to do:
Automatically at boot time the system will create a folder called win inside the mount point /mnt
Run GScript and add a new script, call it – mount-ntfs –
Enter the following command: /system/bin/ntfs-3g /dev/block/sda1 /mnt/win
Save
Connect via usb otg the disk, start the script and entire contents of the disk will appear in /mnt/win
I did a test with a 1TB drive with my mkv and I was able to see to 1080p without any problems.
To umount the disk, create a new script, call it umount-ntfs and enter the following command:
/system/xbin/umount /mnt/win
Save
WARNING:
During umount, all applications that are taking up the mount point /mnt/win SHOULD BE CLOSED.
If you do not, the script does not umount the disk and if the disconnected abruptly, you may lose data.

Bluetooth
Entered all necessary kernel modules to support external USB Bluetooth to connect to the USB OTG cable.
Obviously the Android drivers are a bit limited, look on the various forums to see what sticks are compatible.
Of course, Bluetooth file transfer has been included to turn off and turn on and manage the Bluetooth

CIFS support
Added kernel modules in order to see share external network via the CIFS protocol

Full support for OpenVPN
Added kernel module tun.ko to use encrypted connections with OpenVPN server.

Further changes:
Inside /system/xbin directory has been added to the latest version of busybox
The openvpn binary was always placed within this directory.
All kernel modules are loaded at boot time

Bugs
Bluetooth Bug
When the Bluetooth is on and the display goes to time out, the internal POWER signal is sent to tablet

Sorry NO update, you must flash all again
Firmware download link: http://www.fileserve.com/file/mP6wFGY

Bye