Important Message for HUDL2 owners
Do you own one of the Tesco HUDL2 tablets ? Are you considering factory resetting it for any reason ?
If you are….DON’T., at least not without checking which Android version it is using.
If you do reset, you may render it useless.
Here’s why:
First, some background. There's a more detailed history of the HUDL’s development on my HUDL1 page which will give you more insight into the problem. The following is a brief summary of key events.
Tesco brought out their flagship 7 inch HUDL1 in the early years of the 2010s and followed it with a larger model with an 8.3 inch screen a year or two later. Suffice it to say the HUDL 'project' as a whole wasn’t well managed by Tesco, and their key mistake was to build into their tablets’ setup routine a compulsory visit to their server. This was designed to 'capture' a cohort of new online shoppers, and may have seemed like a clever marketing ploy in the early years of the 2010s. The retail landscape changed rapidly in the mid teens, however, and Tesco quickly 'tired' of tablet retailing, ceased selling HUDLs in 2015 and eventually withdrew server support in 2019, thus preventing any device that whad been reset from setting up again. In the event, this has created major headaches, both for their users, and for Tesco themselves.
Dedicated tablet users are an inventive lot generally, and various successful workrounds were developed from early-2020 and proved quite successful. The 'Achilles heel' however was the HUDL2 – unlike the HUDL1, access to the bootloader of this device was locked and it hasn’t (to my knowledge) therefore been possible to develop a custom ROM similar to to the HUDL1's which cuts out the offending server visit during startup.
This wasn’t a problem until very recently, since the ‘Date’ method we developed for the HUDL1 could still be used to fool the server into accepting a setup request for the HUDL2, despite the server’s certificate having expired way back in 2020. However, when Microsoft changed their communication protocols for server interaction and engagement recently, this caused server communication to fail during setup because the old server wasn’t compatible with the new protocol.
Since Tesco washed their hands of server maintenance in 2020, this server connection is never likely to be upgraded, even if the URL remains available. The upshot of all this is that there is now no published method for reactivating a 'stuck' HUDL2.
If you factory reset (FR) your device, you will thus render it effectively useless 'at a stroke'.
Why perform FR at all, and what are the alternatives ?
Many people reset prior to selling on their device on the assumption that it will clear all personal data. This is not completely effective, since the system partition is left untouched and therefore any personal digital 'footprints' left there will remain. Clearance of personal data can be achieved just as effectively by deleting any accounts you’ve created and clearing the contents of directories manually.
Another common reason for performing FR is apps running chronically slow or complete screen lockup - there is no reset button as there is on the HUDL1, but if your device locks up, you can usually return it to life using the recovery menu to reboot (Press Power and Volume Up keys together for 20-30 seconds until the recovery menu appears, then use the volume up and down and power buttons to select the reboot option).
For those unfortunate enough to have already reset their HUDLs and found they are well and truly 'stuck', help may be at hand. I am currently working on a ‘get out of jail’ method designed to bring a HUDL2 back into use without reflashing the ROM or adjusting the date, and will publish it if successful.
One other word of warning - if you've recently reset prior to selling on eBay or elsewhere, and weren't aware of this problem, check your device to see if it will set up again. If you're fortunate, it will have been upgraded to Android 5.1 at some time during its life and all will be well - if not, you'd be advised to sell as 'Parts Only' to avoid an expensive return request from an irate buyer wanting to know why you've sold them a dud.....
Watch this space for news…..
Update 23.5.23:
Good news - A new work-round method has been developed and is available for HUDL2 (Beta version). For detailed content and instructions, see below.
If you experience any problems with the procedure, please provide feedback via the contacts page so I can refine the method as necessary..
You may also find the mini-guide on 'Managing your Android apps' useful - this provides a step by step guide to app management as an alternative to Play Store, now that Google no longer support Android version 4 or earlier - you can download it from my Downloads page
Update 19.9.23: Oh no, not again.....it looks as though Google have it in for the HUDL2....I'm hearing reports that GAPPS are not auto-updating in step B of the procedure, and a quick check suggests Google were indeed planning to withdraw support for A4.4.x in August, which would fit. It should be possible to update Play Store and Play Services manually, as has been necessary for 'stuck' HUDL1s for some time now - I'll confirm this when I've had a chance to check version compatibility, etc. - Watch this space...
Update 15.10.23: Google have indeed withdrawn support for A4.4.x. I have therefore:
a) Revised the guide to include more details of how to use ADB to install a file manager.
b) Added a new GAPPS directory to my BOOKS page for download. This contains HUDL2-compatible versions of Play Store, Play Services and Chrome .apks, and a suitable file manager (SolidExplorer.apk).
Download these, install Solid Explorer via ADB as described in Appendix 3, and use it to install the other 3 apps. You should then be able to complete set up.
No doubt Google will now have their sights set on withdrawing A5.x - hopefully they'll leave it for a few more months yet...
You can download a .pdf version of the latest version of the guide (Tesco HUDL2_Post Factory Reset Workround.pdf) from my downloads Page.
Please note one important caveat regarding future changes - to get the HUDL2's A4.4 operating system to work properly it is necessary to update Google apps such as Play Services, Play and Chrome to versions that are compatible with A4.4 but still work with Google digital infrastructure. At some point Google is likely to update its infrastructure such that these versions no longer work, and it may then not be possible to continue using the HUDL2.
First Published 21.5.22
Update 4.2.24: For those of you who are devotees of offline mapping and have discovered the excellent Osmand app, please note that the free download facility within the app no longer works. Map downloads are still available (see HUDL1 page for URL details. This procedure also works for HUDL2 in Guest user mode, but there is a slight problem in that a USB wired connection to pc will not display the guest user internal storage partition. If you have an SDHC card, you can use this to transfer the map files from pc to external SD, then move them to the Osmand maps directory, as suggested for the HUDL1.
Revised 4.2.24