Need help from an Android master for JW Library

[Justin Bailey]

Hi, so major problem with my step-father’s android tablet: The JW Library app will not work anymore since the update! Now when I open JW Library, I try opening up any book or magazine or bible and I get a blank screen with only the title header. I’m attaching some screenshots to show you what those look like. For example, I open up the Bible, I see all the books of the bible. I tap Genesis, I get the chapters. I tap chapter 1 and I get a blank screen. The same happens when I try to open any downloaded book. I see the table of contents, but when I tap a link, I get the blank screen.

 

These are the solutions I tried:

-power off/on the tablet

-check for latest operating system update (it was up-to-date)

-reinstall JW Library app

-delete JW Library app cache

-toggling full screen off and on in the app

 

These are the details of the tablet:

-Model: Transformer TF101

-Android version: 4.0.3

 

Any help would be appreciated!

[Musky]

Try clearing the cache partition.

Power off your device.
Boot in recovery mode by pressing and holding Volume Down and Power Button at the same time.
Release all buttons when the Asus Transformer TF101 screen flickers and in a few seconds the Recovery screen will appear.

 

Once in recovery, use the down volume key to scroll down to "Wipe cache partition" NOT "Reset device"

 

Highlight  "Wipe cache partition" and hit the power button to initiate it. Then when it tells you it is finished, scroll up the menu to "reboot device" and highlight that and press the power button to reboot.

 

See if that helps/ If not, you may have to reset the device and reload all apps. Do a backup first of course. 

 

[Tortuga]

Wow, the Borg are android masters...

Go figure....

[Justin Bailey]

29 minutes ago, Musky said:

Try clearing the cache partition.

Power off your device.
Boot in recovery mode by pressing and holding Volume Down and Power Button at the same time.
Release all buttons when the Asus Transformer TF101 screen flickers and in a few seconds the Recovery screen will appear.

 

Once in recovery, use the down volume key to scroll down to "Wipe cache partition" NOT "Reset device"

 

Highlight  "Wipe cache partition" and hit the power button to initiate it. Then when it tells you it is finished, scroll up the menu to "reboot device" and highlight that and press the power button to reboot.

 

See if that helps/ If not, you may have to reset the device and reload all apps. Do a backup first of course. 

 

 

Thanks. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get to recovery mode. When I power-up with the volume controls, I get a screen with an android, then it switches to a screen with the android fallen over and a triangle warning sign coming out of his opened chest. I've Googled around for the last hour and it seems I have to root the tablet. This looks like it requires some serious computer hacking that I'm not up for at the moment. I'm trying to find an app in the Google Play store that will allow me to get to recovery mode without root, but without success.

[carlos]

Ray, you will finish more quickly if you make a backup of all your important data and factory reset your tablet, then restore the backup.

[Musky]

That's strange. Holding the power button and down volume buttons at restart should take you to the recovery console menu. Sometimes it can take a while to come up.

Edit: also, you don't need to root the tablet just to wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset.

[jwhess]

Which update started the problem?  There is a brand new update on Google Playstore this evening (version 9.0.14111).  It has some bug fixes.

[RichardPNZ]

Just because its android and some devices differ turn off tablet try above instructions but with colume down.

[RichardPNZ]

Sorry meant Volume up  and my spelling was bad.

1. Press and hold the Power key and the Volume down or up key. You should see the Android mascot on his back, a bunch of information about your device, and Start at the top of the screen.
2. To navigate through the menu options, you use the Volume up and Volume down keys. The Power key is used to make a selection. Press Volume down twice, and you should see Recovery mode in red up at the top right. Press the Power key to select it.
3. The white Google logo will pop up followed by the Android mascot on his back again with the words No command underneath.
4. Press and hold the Power key and the Volume up key for around three seconds, and then let go of the Volume up key, but keep pressing Power.
5. You should see the Android system recovery options pop up at the top of the screen. Use the Volume keys to highlight the options and the Power key to select the one you want.

[GordonP]

You're running Android 4.0.  Is jw Library not limited to Android 4.4 and higher? 

[jayrtom]

Check your free memory. When you start to ran out of memory the program starts to behave abnormally. Several friends had strange problems due to this fact that we're solved since they deleted lots of stuff

[DavidMc]

The Asus Transformer TF101 was released April 2011 with Chipset: Nvidia Tegra 2 T20. CPU: Dual-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9. This tablet has been discontinued. In it's day it was highly rated by some reviewers, however it is now six year old technology that understandably will struggle with the latest versions of many apps.

 

One of my nephews has a five year old Android tablet that has served him well. Alas recent app updates are proving too demanding for this older hardware. He has now obtained a previously owned two year old iPad Mini that copes well with the latest JW Library.

 

I'm not saying there isn't a workaround for the Asus Transformer TF101's problem this time around. I am saying the day maybe fast approaching when obtaining a more recently made tablet maybe prudent.

 

It's always sad when a piece of much loved hardworking equipment starts struggling. Even sadder when we have to say 'Good Bye' to it. Maybe it can be re-purposed. I have an old smart phone I use as a reference resource. I've loaded it with dictionaries and other reference works.

[ChrisC]

3 hours ago, GordonP said:

You're running Android 4.0.  Is jw Library not limited to Android 4.4 and higher? 

The help page says 2.3 and higher.

https://www.jw.org/en/online-help/jw-library/android/

[pnutts]

2 hours ago, DavidMc said:

I am saying the day maybe fast approaching when obtaining a more recently made tablet maybe prudent.

Try finding new android system for tablet.  I just updated my Samsung S4 i337M phone to Nougat ( 7.1.2 ) - last official was lollipop ( 5.x )

Then reinstall and see if that fixes things.   Took me trial and error to find Nougat for my version of S4 ( several S4 models ) that would work.

[pnutts]

He is screen shot of my Samsung S4 ( model i337M ) phone showing Nougat 7.1.2 installed

[Hannutoy]

I had the same problem with my Android 4.0. But my wife's Android 4.2 works perfectly with JW LIbrary 9.0. After a week of experimentation when I tested all the solutions, I chose to buy a new Android 5 tablet (Lenovo). JW Library worked perfectly but the tablet asked day after day for permission to upgrade the system. I gave permission and discovered next morning that I now have Android 6 on the tablet. Unfortunately, it crashed immediately every time I clicked on publications, so I had to to reinstall JW Library and all vintages and other publications. In short: JW Library 9.0 will work on  Android 4.2 or higher , or maybe even with Android 4.1 but my Fujitsu with Android 4.0 will probably never work.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Hannutoy
Clarification, I'm better in Swedish and Finnish than English

[Justin Bailey]

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 6:29 PM, carlos said:

Ray, you will finish more quickly if you make a backup of all your important data and factory reset your tablet, then restore the backup.

I suggested this to my step-father but he's convinced the tablet is too old and it's not worth the trouble. He said that even when it was working, it was so slow that the scripture wouldn't load in time to read along with the speaker.

 

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:05 PM, jwhess said:

Which update started the problem?  There is a brand new update on Google Playstore this evening (version 9.0.14111).  It has some bug fixes.

It was the update that included the ability to take notes. I tried downloading the second update after that but it didn't fix the problem.

 

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 7:42 PM, Musky said:

That's strange. Holding the power button and down volume buttons at restart should take you to the recovery console menu. Sometimes it can take a while to come up.

 

 

 

Edit: also, you don't need to root the tablet just to wipe the cache partition or do a factory reset.

 

 

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 11:53 PM, RichardPNZ said:

Sorry meant Volume up  and my spelling was bad.

1. Press and hold the Power key and the Volume down or up key. You should see the Android mascot on his back, a bunch of information about your device, and Start at the top of the screen.
2. To navigate through the menu options, you use the Volume up and Volume down keys. The Power key is used to make a selection. Press Volume down twice, and you should see Recovery mode in red up at the top right. Press the Power key to select it.
3. The white Google logo will pop up followed by the Android mascot on his back again with the words No command underneath.
4. Press and hold the Power key and the Volume up key for around three seconds, and then let go of the Volume up key, but keep pressing Power.
5. You should see the Android system recovery options pop up at the top of the screen. Use the Volume keys to highlight the options and the Power key to select the one you want.

When I do the power-on with volume-down button, it says, "Press Volume Up to enter RCK." When I press Volume Up, I get a screen with the Android that seems like it's loading something for a couple seconds, then it switches to a screen with the android fallen over and a triangle warning sign coming out of his opened chest. The tablet freezes at this screen and does not respond to any commands. Then it loads the tablet normally. I cannot get to any recovery options.

 

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:50 PM, DavidMc said:

The Asus Transformer TF101 was released April 2011 with Chipset: Nvidia Tegra 2 T20. CPU: Dual-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9. This tablet has been discontinued. In it's day it was highly rated by some reviewers, however it is now six year old technology that understandably will struggle with the latest versions of many apps.

 

One of my nephews has a five year old Android tablet that has served him well. Alas recent app updates are proving too demanding for this older hardware. He has now obtained a previously owned two year old iPad Mini that copes well with the latest JW Library.

 

I'm not saying there isn't a workaround for the Asus Transformer TF101's problem this time around. I am saying the day maybe fast approaching when obtaining a more recently made tablet maybe prudent.

 

It's always sad when a piece of much loved hardworking equipment starts struggling. Even sadder when we have to say 'Good Bye' to it. Maybe it can be re-purposed. I have an old smart phone I use as a reference resource. I've loaded it with dictionaries and other reference works.

I think we may have reached the limits of this tablet.

 

On ‎5‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 5:19 PM, pnutts said:

Try finding new android system for tablet.  I just updated my Samsung S4 i337M phone to Nougat ( 7.1.2 ) - last official was lollipop ( 5.x )

Then reinstall and see if that fixes things.   Took me trial and error to find Nougat for my version of S4 ( several S4 models ) that would work.

I can't update the tablet  past Android version 4.0.3.

 

Thanks everyone for the help anyway. It was appreciated.

[Hannutoy]

Latest news: Now JW Library works on old Android 4.0.4!

JW Library uppdated on my new tablet to version 9.2.14159 a few days ago.

I updated it in my old tablet (Android 4.0.4) And now everything works! Now I have 2 tablets with working JW Library, one with Android 4.0.4 and one with Android 6.

[SUNRAY]

I am helping a sister with her 8" Android (Insignia) tablet. When tapping a video in the JW Library App to play it, the screen is black and only the sound plays! Any helpful suggestions are appreciated!

 

The sister is Italian, and many publications are in 3 languages..thus major time consumption to delete app and start over!

[leoperales]

4 hours ago, SUNRAY said:

I am helping a sister with her 8" Android (Insignia) tablet. When tapping a video in the JW Library App to play it, the screen is black and only the sound plays! Any helpful suggestions are appreciated!

 

The sister is Italian, and many publications are in 3 languages..thus major time consumption to delete app and start over!

What happens when you delete the video and download it again? Does it do the same thing? 

[SUNRAY]

2 hours ago, leoperales said:

What happens when you delete the video and download it again? Does it do the same thing? 

Yes..playing videos from the app show black screen. I downloaded the July broadcast today abd the same thing happened!

[Qapla]

What resolution did you try to use? It may be that the tablet cannot display the 720 and may need something with a lower resolution.

[SUNRAY]

9 hours ago, Qapla said:

What resolution did you try to use? It may be that the tablet cannot display the 720 and may need something with a lower resolution.

First, I want to thank you all for trying to help me! Resolution is 360..I deleted the app and reinstalled..Then I downloaded a small video in the app to see what would happen..same thing..plays sound but black screen. I am thinking now that maybe I should have gone to settings/apps/jw library and erased data in app before uninstalling it.?? Downloads under media shows what she had before..what do you think?

[Myew]

On 5/18/2017 at 4:42 PM, richterbelmont10 said:

When I power-up with the volume controls, I get a screen with an android, then it switches to a screen with the android fallen over and a triangle warning sign coming out of his opened chest.

At this screen, is it saying "No command"? If it is, you need to hold the volume up key, press the power button, and the recovery options should appear.

[pgwenlan]

On 7/22/2017 at 8:51 PM, SUNRAY said:

I am helping a sister with her 8" Android (Insignia) tablet. When tapping a video in the JW Library App to play it, the screen is black and only the sound plays! Any helpful suggestions are appreciated!

Hi all, especially @SUNRAY

A brother in our Cong has just had this same problem occur.

Did you manage to fix it?

I've cleared the cache, cleared the app, and nothing changes.

Thanks,

Peter