Downgrading My Huawei Honor Non Cam to Gingerbread

I have upgraded my Huawei Honor Non Cam a few weeks back to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), hoping that it will be able to improve my user experience on the phone. Things did not turn out the way I wanted it to, so now I want to downgrade my phone back to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Reasons why I did not like the Honor's ICS:  

• Battery life; lasted even shorter than my old iPhone 4S on a full charge.
• Memory management; horrible multitasking ability that causes my music player to crash while web browsing.
• Missing flash player; had to search for flash player 11 for Android via the web browser to find and install before I could get flash to work in the stock browser.  
• Comes with locked boot loader; requires a patch to allow flashing to other ROMs.

At the point of writing, Huawei Singapore did not provide access for the stock Gingerbread ROM meant for the Non Cam version of Honor to the public. Therefore I will be using the general version of Gingerbread meant for the Honor.

Files required: 

• Patch which will allow downgrading (mirror)
• General version of Gingerbread meant for Honor (mirror)

  Prerequisites:

• Huawei Honor Non Camera phone
• MicroSDHC memory card slotted into your Huawei Honor
• A Mac or a PC that can access the root directory of the memory card through your Huawei Honor
• Ability to follow simple instructions

Instructions:  

1. Patching the Honor

• Extract the zipped patch file you have downloaded
• Place the "dload" folder to the root directory of your memory card
• Perform the software upgrade via settings

2. Downgrading to Gingerbread

• Extract the zipped Gingerbread file
• Place the "dload" folder to the root directory of your memory card
• Perform the software upgrade via settings 

 

Rooting My Huawei Honor Non Camera

With my Huawei Honor Non Camera updated to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), it is a lot more easier to root the device compared to when it was running on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).


Before you root your device, you should take note of the following.

• Rooting your device voids your warranty
• Only root the device at your own risk
• I am not responsible if your device got bricked in the process of rooting
• This guide is meant for Singapore Huawei Honor Non Camera running on Singapore's version of ICS

Prerequisites:

• Huawei Honor Non Camera phone running on ICS
• A PC with administrator permission to run batch file
• HiSuite properly installed on your PC
• Ability to follow simple instructions
• The need or curiosity for rooted Android applications

Instructions:

• Download the tool required for rooting your device here (mirror)
• Extract the file using a file archiver 
• Enable USB debugging on your Huawei Honor

• Connect your Huawei Honor to your PC
• Run "root-me.cmd" with administrator permission
• Press any key to continue with the rooting process

• Reboot your phone and enjoy your rooted Huawei Honor!

Upgrading My Huawei Honor Non Camera

The Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update for Singapore's Huawei Honor Non Camera is finally out!

Download it here from Huawei's official website!

I am going to go through step by step on how to proceed with the upgrade.


Prerequisites:

• Huawei Honor Non Camera phone


• MicroSDHC memory card slotted into your Huawei Honor


• A Mac or a PC that can access the root directory of the memory card through your Huawei Honor


• Ability to follow simple instructions

Instructions:

1. Backing up your system data and applications

• Navigate your way to "All backup" and backup your desired system settings and applications.


• Use "Backup to SD" to backup your system settings


• Use "Applications" to backup your applications

2. Downloading the required files for the update

• Either download the required files from the official Huawei website or download it from the dropbox link Huawei provided


• Extract the content using a file archiver

3. Placing the correct files in the correct place (Part 1)

• Copy the "dload - Part 1 (Main package)" folder onto the root directory of your memory card


• Rename "dload - Part 1 (Main package)" to "dload"

4. Running the update on your phone (Part 1)

• Note: DO NOT INTERRUPT THE SOFTWARE UPGRADE AT ANY POINT OF TIME


• Navigate to "System Settings" > "Storage" > "Software Upgrade"  > "SD card Upgrade" > "Confirm"


• The phone will reboot itself once the update is completed

5. Placing the correct files in the correct place (Part 2)

• Delete the existing "dload" folder in your memory card


• Copy the "dload - Part 2 (Vendor Package)" folder onto the root directory of your memory card


• Rename "dload - Part 2 (Vendor Package)" to "dload"

6. Running the update on your phone (Part 2)

• Note: DO NOT INTERRUPT THE SOFTWARE UPGRADE AT ANY POINT OF TIME


• Navigate to "System Settings" > "Storage" > "Software Upgrade"  > "SD card Upgrade" > "Confirm"


• You will see a "OK!" once the update is completed


• Remove the battery from the phone


• Place it back in and boot it up

7. Restoring your system data and applications

• Navigate your way to "All backup" and restore your desired system settings and applications

Congratulations! You have completed upgrading your Huawei Honor to Android 4.0!

Before:

After:

Tired of Maintaining My Music Library

I am sure there is a point in time where one is just too sick and tired of maintaining their own digital music library collection. It could be due to limitations such as storage space and many others.

For my case, it is mainly due to the lack of time. I am serving NS, WHERE GOT TIME?

The solution to the problem? Simply listen to what everyone else is listening to by tuning to the local radio station! The thing is, Singapore's local radio stations are horrible. I am sure fellow Singaporeans will agree to this statement. They loop their playlist for like a whole month. I still remember listening to The Boys by SNSD every morning on 98.7FM during my internship period.

In order to find a playlist which I liked and allowed me to have some sort of control over, I turned to internet radio. Some popular internet radio websites includes shoutcast, jango and radio tuna. My internet radio of choice? 8tracks.

Here are a few of my favourite playlists:

Billboard goes Acoustic. from IanCarlo on 8tracks Radio.

mochimochi's oldschool CPop mix from MochiMochi on 8tracks Radio.

A Sword Girl, A Rock City Boy and A Basketball from The Sword Library on 8tracks Radio.

Best part of 8tracks? It has a android application which I can use on my Huawei Honor while I am in camp!

Smartphone users will be able to enjoy 8track's service on the go using 8tracks's mobile application which includes Android, iOS and Windows Phone support. Please do take note that the service uses mobile data. Since most of the new mobile subscription plans' data bundle by Singapore's service providers are limited to 2 GB per month, I do recommend keeping track of your own data usage to make sure that you do not exceed the amount of data entitled for your monthly subscription to avoid extra charges.

5570.4 MB out of the 12 GB data bundle used