[Q] Android or Prime Test/Debug Software - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

I'm trying to help out my sister who bought one of these (against my recommendation as the thought of new hardware (Tegra 3) running with new software (ICS) in the hands of a non-tech person makes me break out in a cold sweat). She is well beyond the return window, other than to ASUS. However, after playing with this thing (for test purposes only) for the last few days, it is pretty sweet! So, before I try the return route with ASUS, I decided to try and find out what issues it really has.
I've read most everything I could find on this and several other forums but unfortunately, I haven't seen any mention of any test software or something I could run that would let me get low level sensor readings, grab crash logs etc.. There appear to be numerous reported issues, but I haven't seen the results of any controlled testing that has been done (ie many problems could be the result of some apps themselves and/or the particular tablet setup.
I've installed the Android Dev package and it appears I can link the debugger with the tablet though ADB. I was running the debugger trying to get a lockup to occur prior to the .13 update, but the damn thing ran fine! Crashed as soon as I disconnected it from the debugger!!!
So, my questions are:
- Is there an app that would allow me to directly read sensor values and/or perform any very low level diganostics? Save and grab crash dumps, etc?
- Do I need to be rooted to run this kind of stuff? Or worse, wait for the bootloader unlock tool?
- Has anyone here already done something like this?
- Can anyone point me to some other site that might be able to help me?
I have confirmed that the GPS is useless, but she does not care about that.
The WiFi "seems" weak but I have not yet tested it in a controlled environment. She was OK with the performance she was getting at home, but she had not yet taken it out on a "date" to see if it would perform!
The occasional random reboots appear to be gone since I updated it to .13
There have been several occurrences of the tablet going into a coma while sleeping that require some extraordinary measures to wake it (hopping on one leg while scattering chicken feathers to the wind, etc).
I am going to wipe the thing clean to remove any potential rogue apps, but I don't even trust the pre-installed stuff which is why I am looking for some low-level diagnostic stuff.
Any technical help would be greatly appreciated! I do low-level stuff with microcontrollers, but very little OS based development stuff, so be gentle with me.
Please send all "just return it" or "my tablet works fine so you must be doing something wrong" responses elsewhere. I doubt ASUS will refund her money along with the taxes she paid on it and the there are definitely issues with it. I am just trying to determine whether it is mostly software related issues (which could eventually be resolved) or whether the hardware, especially the WiFi is truly an issue.
Thanks, and sorry for the excessively long post.
George O. II

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For sensors try elixir 2 it allows you to test all the sensors light gyro ect...
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

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Wordlywisewiz said:
For sensors try ecliar 2 it allows you to test all the sensors light gyro ect...
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We on the same page. I was just about to recommend the same thing. I have it n love it.
Its actually called Elixir2..its a free app...then you should get elixir widget also n have a great monitoring widget like this on my prime.
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From a terminal emulator ( https://market.android.com/details?id=jackpal.androidterm )
Try this:
Code:
# cat /proc/kmsg > /mnt/sdcard/some-clever.name
This should continuously log kernel messages, but I haven't tried it myself.
Woops, forgot you need root for this.

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Elixir 2 looks like a good tool. I think I'm getting info overload already!
Thanks..

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Try this:
Code:
# cat /proc/kmsg > /mnt/sdcard/some-clever.name
This should continuously log kernel messages, but I haven't tried it myself.
Woops, forgot you need root for this.[/QUOTE]
Is the kmsg logfile created new everytime the tablet boots? If so, the your method would preserve the pre-crash log yes? That would be useful! Looks like I need to learn how to root this thing.
Also, do you know if there is a list of available console commands somewhere?
Thanks for the info

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Rooting is very simple n easy. Just check out the developement section.

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It looks like someone created an automated root tool. Might give that a try.
Before I do, does this thing have a recovery mode in case some idiot (me) does something stupid while rooted? Can I just re-install the current OS version from a file on the sd card?

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GeorgOrwel said:
It looks like someone created an automated root tool. Might give that a try.
Before I do, does this thing have a recovery mode in case some idiot (me) does something stupid while rooted? Can I just re-install the current OS version from a file on the sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a recovery yet for prime. Other than Asus one. If anything goes wrong, you can just manually install the firmware from Asus website with prime hooked up to a PC. Or from putting zip file on root of SD card. The root method here is pretty safe though. Once you rooted, get voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to back up n save your root. So once a new update comes out n breaks root, you can just restore root through this app. Its free.
Happy Rooting!

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Great! I'll do a little more research then give it a try.
I'm starting to like this tablet. It is mostly stable now, other than the occasional comatose state that occurs. It never did that before the update, but until I rule out the apps, I can't point a finger at it. The WiFi is my biggest concern at the moment, but there could be other things causing issues with that as well. Until I can control more of the variables, any testing is really subjective.
Again thanks for the info! Gives me a good starting point to do some further analysis.
George

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GeorgOrwel said:
Is the kmsg logfile created new everytime the tablet boots? If so, the your method would preserve the pre-crash log yes? That would be useful! Looks like I need to learn how to root this thing.
Also, do you know if there is a list of available console commands somewhere?
Thanks for the info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kmsg is a process that runs all the time on the OS, so when you point the output to a text file, it will constantly write the kernel messages to it (just run the command in terminal, and continue about your regular use... it should continue to run in the background).
When the system locks/freezes up or reboots, you'll be able to see what the last kernel message was, which should help you narrow down the issue.