(7-14-13) Note: I have done a major rewrite of the guide to eliminate problems, improve flow, update broken links, etc. I need your feedback to know if the edits corrected the problems or not.
Warning: Do not attempt to use the firmware update for the LT7033 currently posted at the Curtis International web site! The tablet will be left without touchscreen response. Curtis International has not responded to the demands of it's customers to provide support for it's products! (warning posted 6-28-13 This warning refers to the LT7033 firmware update only. I do not know about any of the other tablets. This warning will be removed if & when Curtis Int. decides to support it's Klu LT7033 product with working firmware and driver updates the way any real manufacturer would.
History:
The Curtis Klu LT7033 is really a nice piece of hardware that was obsolete, and discontinued from the Asian market before Curtis International ever put it's name on the product. A black Friday 2012 marketing blitz was conducted by H.H. Gregg, and due to what appeared to be an incredible deal for a tablet, the entire excess supply from the Asian market was quickly eliminated. Because demand exceeded the supply of the original Klu LT7033, Curtis & H. H. Gregg continued the black Friday blitz with a different tablet calling it the Klu LT7033D.While the two tablets are identical in appearance, they have significant hardware differences inside. Another difference between the two tablets is that the LT7033D shipped already rooted, whereas the LT7033 was not rooted.
The easiest way to determine which model you have is to read it from the box it shipped in. Most of us threw out those boxes a long time ago. There may be other ways to determine which model you have, but if you don't know for certain then you should not attempt any firmware update from Curtis. Even if the firmware updates for both models were known to be good, switching one for the other would almost certainly be disastrous. I know which unit I have, and the firmware update for the LT7033 left my unit with no touchscreen response. If this has already happened to you too, don't give up hope. Charge up the battery, store the unit, and check back here every so often to see if somebody has come up with a solution. (My wife's tablet still works, but I digress.)
The main problem with both models was that the two preloaded market apps weren't very good. The first one, Getjar didn't work at all. The second one SlideME is nice, but it has a very limited selection of apps available, and it requires you to establish an account with them before you can use it. So, what this tablet really needed was to have the two major app markets, Amazon Appstore, and Google Play available. At the time this guide was first written Amazon's Appstore app had a really annoying glitch in it that made it maddening to use unless you understood how to work around it. Fortunately this problem has been eliminated so if you are still experiencing the problem all you have to do is update the app to eliminate the problem.
The second major limitation of the LT7033 was that the device shipped without root access. This device must be rooted to allow the addition of the Google Play market. The LT7033D shipped already rooted which would have made the addition of Google Play really simple except for one thing, the lack of identification on the unit itself. The lack of identification had many people trying to root an already rooted device. To eliminate both of these problems I'm going to ask you to use Amazon's appstore to download a free root checking app called Root Analyzer. This will allow you to update Amazon's appstore and check for root before and after using the RK29 Root Toolkit.
Your continued feedback is the only source of information I have for maintaining this thread, so if you find yourself frustrated you need to express in detail what went wrong.
Now on to the next post, and let's pick up the Root Analyzer.
Warning: Do not attempt to use the firmware update for the LT7033 currently posted at the Curtis International web site! The tablet will be left without touchscreen response. Curtis International has not responded to the demands of it's customers to provide support for it's products! (warning posted 6-28-13 This warning refers to the LT7033 firmware update only. I do not know about any of the other tablets. This warning will be removed if & when Curtis Int. decides to support it's Klu LT7033 product with working firmware and driver updates the way any real manufacturer would.
History:
The Curtis Klu LT7033 is really a nice piece of hardware that was obsolete, and discontinued from the Asian market before Curtis International ever put it's name on the product. A black Friday 2012 marketing blitz was conducted by H.H. Gregg, and due to what appeared to be an incredible deal for a tablet, the entire excess supply from the Asian market was quickly eliminated. Because demand exceeded the supply of the original Klu LT7033, Curtis & H. H. Gregg continued the black Friday blitz with a different tablet calling it the Klu LT7033D.While the two tablets are identical in appearance, they have significant hardware differences inside. Another difference between the two tablets is that the LT7033D shipped already rooted, whereas the LT7033 was not rooted.
The easiest way to determine which model you have is to read it from the box it shipped in. Most of us threw out those boxes a long time ago. There may be other ways to determine which model you have, but if you don't know for certain then you should not attempt any firmware update from Curtis. Even if the firmware updates for both models were known to be good, switching one for the other would almost certainly be disastrous. I know which unit I have, and the firmware update for the LT7033 left my unit with no touchscreen response. If this has already happened to you too, don't give up hope. Charge up the battery, store the unit, and check back here every so often to see if somebody has come up with a solution. (My wife's tablet still works, but I digress.)
The main problem with both models was that the two preloaded market apps weren't very good. The first one, Getjar didn't work at all. The second one SlideME is nice, but it has a very limited selection of apps available, and it requires you to establish an account with them before you can use it. So, what this tablet really needed was to have the two major app markets, Amazon Appstore, and Google Play available. At the time this guide was first written Amazon's Appstore app had a really annoying glitch in it that made it maddening to use unless you understood how to work around it. Fortunately this problem has been eliminated so if you are still experiencing the problem all you have to do is update the app to eliminate the problem.
The second major limitation of the LT7033 was that the device shipped without root access. This device must be rooted to allow the addition of the Google Play market. The LT7033D shipped already rooted which would have made the addition of Google Play really simple except for one thing, the lack of identification on the unit itself. The lack of identification had many people trying to root an already rooted device. To eliminate both of these problems I'm going to ask you to use Amazon's appstore to download a free root checking app called Root Analyzer. This will allow you to update Amazon's appstore and check for root before and after using the RK29 Root Toolkit.
Your continued feedback is the only source of information I have for maintaining this thread, so if you find yourself frustrated you need to express in detail what went wrong.
Now on to the next post, and let's pick up the Root Analyzer.
say so.
say so,
