It’s been about two years since HP discontinued the HP TouchPad tablet, slashed prices, and cleared out inventory. For almost as long, bargain-hunters and hackers have been making lemonade out of HP’s lemons by installing Android on the tablet and using it as a low-cost, all-purpose tablet.

At this point nearly everything works — it took a while to add Android support for the tablet’s front-facing camera, but eventually developers figured out how to do it.

Now developer JC Sullins has worked another minor miracle, and added Bluetooth support to his latest build of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean for the HP TouchPad.

HP TouchPad with Bluetooth

I don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse or headset handy, but I took the software for a spin on my HP TouchPad and I can confirm that I can now send files between my phone and tablet using a Bluetooth connection.

JC Sullins still calls this an experimental build, but at this point the HP TouchPad can run Android with a semi-functional camera, working Bluetooth, and hardware video acceleration.

The tablet landscape has changed quite a bit over the last few years, and it’s not as hard to find a $100 tablet as it was in 2011 — and the TouchPad’s 1024 x 768 pixel display and 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor are starting to look a bit dated. But it’s still not a bad tablet, even by today’s standards.

The TouchPad has wide viewing angles, a sturdy design, decent speakers, and most importantly — if it’s the tablet you already own, there’s not much reason to replace it with a newer model when hackers keep bringing new software updates.

You can download JC Sullin’s latest builds of Android for the HP TouchPad from his goo.im page. The ROM I tested is called cm-10.1-20130804-EXPERIMENTAL-tenderloin-BLUETOOTH_TEST.zip.

Update: There’s a new August 8th build with a few bug fixes and support for the official HP TouchPad Bluetooth keyboard. It’s also available from goo.im.

If you already have Android, Moboot, and a custom recovery on your HP TouchPad, you can just download the file and perform a clean or dirty flash to update your tablet — I did a dirty flash (which means I didn’t wipe my system partition), and the update worked perfectly without wiping my apps or data.

If you have an HP TouchPad running webOS and you have yet to install Android on it, you can follow our step-by-step guide for installing Android on the HP TouchPad.

via RootzWiki, xda-developers, and thanks Andrew Foster!

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63 replies on “HP TouchPad gets unofficial Android 4.2 update with working Bluetooth”

  1. What a terrific solution to keeping the TouchPad alive. My 3 devices were in great condition. All devices are now humming along. While it will always be disappointing to see the end of an innovative solution built by a lot of creative people, another bunch of creative people have enabled me to recycle hardware to extend its life.Thank you Pre-people,HP people and WebOS People and everyone who has kicked this along.

    PS: If the file links don’t work to bring up a file for download – there is always Google by exact file name search to download from a reputable url. The final builds of HP webOS(R) Doctor(tm) Build and UniversalNovacomInstaller may need to remain accessible for a while longer.

    Much thanks and best wishes.
    Bob

  2. Thank you. i have been updating this for the part 3-4 years and it has been great so far. changing a completing boring device to like and “android”. thanks a lot

  3. Hey guys,

    I have a problem and I figured I’d ask here first. I just installed the 20130804 update with working bluetooth (the newest one) via dirty flash from my touchpad, no computer involved (it had a previous version on it). It seems to be working almost entirely perfectly (except the occasional bug), but it will not charge on the Android OS. I have to reboot it and turn on webOS for it to charge. I checked for battery levels to change, and they do not on the Android when plugged in. I tried someone’s suggestion of changing the USB to MTP and it was no good. Any ideas? Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks!

  4. koi surat ma hp tablate rapir kra to no apo .to hu ae meet to u . plz

  5. hi i am jugal naik .i have hp tablate . i can not to upgrade and not a pc connect.. my teblate serrial no is 5CL1200WZ6. plz help me

  6. I can’t get google play to run with the build and whenever I try to do it 3rd party style (google the apk, download and install from there), it just doesn’t want to open. help 🙁

  7. I cant seem to find acmeinstaller3 that downloads as a zip file can anyone help please and

  8. Anyone who lives in orange county that can help me install this on my hp touchpad?

  9. hi guys. i lost my hp touch pad charger.i have tried different chargers but have not been able to get it powered on. i even bought one from amazon but it never worked eighther. can somebody out there help me find an original charger for my tablet.I really love to use it but cant .

    you can contact me via my email. [email protected]
    or cell.+254-728-481-207.
    Any help will be apreciated.

  10. Does the camera in Skype and google plus work properly?
    Also, does viber work in it?
    Thanks,

  11. I tried updating my HP Touchpad from WebOS to CM10.1. Something went wrong and my Touchpad is frozen. (I realized that I missed with Wipe Data/Reset? step). I have tried the 3-button hard reset and I’ve been unable to. Really appreciate any tips on bringing my touchpad back to life so that I can retry the install again.

  12. Help – I have been running Kang all-in-one but decided to try out J C Sullins build with Bluetooth. I have absolutely no problem with the Kang build but after installing this build my browser would not start, the home soft key does not respond and my wifi shows that it is connected but is grayed-out (as opposed to blue before) and would not connect to the internet. I tried going back to Kang build but the same issues persisted even after a clean install (data/factory wipe).

  13. HELP!!!!!
    I tried doing a first time install. Got to the part where all the text was scrolling quickly down the HP. I thought I was home free. Instead, the text stopped, I disconnected the USB and nothing happened. It is stuck like this! I cannot reconnect to my PC either at the PC is no longer reading the HP. None of the buttons on the HP are working either and the battery draing. I am afraid the HP will no longer recharge.

    ANY HELP APPRECIATED!

  14. Everything seems to work excellent but Google play!! Can’t find it. Can anyone help me?

  15. I install it but all the time there some errors about the apps why it is so?

  16. you can hear very well from this headset. I even use it in the house
    when talking to people for an extended period of time. I can understand
    through the headset better than I can using my cell phone. I would recommend this to other people.Bluetooth Headset

  17. Hi, I just flashed my virgin Touchpad with the following files;

    cm-10.1-20130808-EXPERIMENTAL-tenderloin-BLUETOOTH_TEST.zip
    moboot_0.3.5.zip
    update-cwm_tenderloin-1012.zip
    gapps-jb-20130301signed.zip
    ACMEInstaller3

    The problem I am having is this. When it rebooted into the multiboot menu it won’t boot CyanogenMod, it starts to, then restarts back to the menu and just loops like that. I can boot the WebOS ok. Anyone think I should try using mboot_038-tenderloin.zip? Any help will be greatly appreciated…

    1. I’m having the same issue except used gapps-jb-20130812-signed. any ideas? (newbie)

      1. Hi, I fixed mine by booting into recovery and doing a “wipe data/factory reset”. Then I reinstalled the rom with “install zip from sdcard”. Mine booted up fine after that. Went back into recovery and did the same to install the apps zip.

        1. thanks for the help. does that wipe the whole device or just the CM install? i have some things installed on the WebOS boot that i’d prefer to not lose.

  18. I am having problems getting camera working with HP TouchPad when booting Android 4.2.2. Does anyone know how to get round this?

  19. Went with the August 8th build, everything works like a charm, way better than the previous CM9 Rom I had on there. Installing, using the old moboot+manager I already had, took only a few minutes, and it even kept all the apps and settings I already had. I mostly use this tablet for browsing and Netflix, and they both work perfectly – finally with Chrome! HIGHLY recommended update.

  20. I have installed Android 4.2.2 on my TP, but there is no icon for camera. is there a reason?

    1. I would look for an app in the Play Store called “Nexus 7 Camera” or something like that. All it does is place an icon for Camera in the app drawer. I don’t know why you don’t see it; I don’t have a TP. Best of luck though.

  21. My cable company (Brighthouse Networks) has an app to stream live TV. The app runs but I get no streaming. Didn’t know if this was possibly something that can be fixed or if the touchpad just can’t handle it.

    Also, Bluetooth hasn’t worked in the past several updates.

    Thanks!

  22. Hello all,

    During the day today, I installed cm-10.1-20130804-EXPERIMENTAL-tenderloin-BLUETOOTH_TEST and gapps-jb-20130812-signed on my HP Touchpad 16GB and everything works including the camera but when I click on the Google app on the App page, it opens and closes quickly and when I click on Google+ I get a message stating “Unfortunately, Google+ has stopped.” On a positive note, when I click on the Google Globe browser link on the bottom of the home page, it works fine. In using both the TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project v2.6.0.0) and the GooManager app, I was able to delete and re-install the Google apps suite and the OS but still can’t get the Google browsers to work. Would like to know if this is a glitch with these versions of code or maybe I can try uninstalling the gapps-jb-20130812 and try another version without introducing other glitches.

    Thanks!

    1. Had the same problem with Google+, I simply uninstalled it using Titanium Backup (you can’t just uninstall it normally as it is a system app), and then I re-downloaded it from Google Play and it works like a charm. I don’t understand what you mean with “Google browsers”, I downloaded Chrome from the Play Store as well and it works just fine.

  23. I’m using CM9 atm. Will I be able to just flash this or will I have to start a fresh. I’ll nandroid it anyway if I do upgrade from CM9 obviously

  24. Some helpful websites for newbies…

    Main Cyanogen Mod website for TouchPad (referred to as Tenderloin): https://forum.cyanogenmod.com/forum/504-hp-touchpad/

    Main Wiki for TouchPad: https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Tenderloin_Info

    Main Wiki Install Instructions for TouchPad: https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_tenderloin

    Latest Cyanogen Mod 9 Nightly Release for TouchPad: https://get.cm/?device=tenderloin I would use 7/14/2013 – it’s the most stable imo.

    JC Sullins (he’s one of the main developers – pay attention to anything authored by him) Support Files for TouchPad (used with installation, backups): https://goo.im/devs/jcsullins/cmtouchpad/ NOTE: The files themselves are within subfolders. Things like ACMEINSTALLER 3 are there as well as CLOCKWORK MOD 6.

    Rootzwiki Forums for the HP TouchPad: https://rootzwiki.com/forum/217-hp-touchpad/

    TouchPad Forums at Android Central: https://forums.androidcentral.com/hp-touchpad/

    XDA Developers Forums for TouchPad Main Link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1245

    XDA Dev Forums JC Sullins CM 9 Thread (VERY IMPORTANT): https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1568685

    From those links, coupled with videos on YouTube by Roland Deschain79 ( https://www.youtube.com/user/RolandDeschain79 ) and Reverend Kyle ( https://www.reverendkyle.com/index.php/articles ) you should have no problem getting in the game with Cyanogen Mod 9. It’s how I learned. These links will save you much time and stress…

    You will install something referred to as GAPPS which is the Google PlayStore and Google’s apps. Once you get that installed and working you can download apps on the TouchPad. Something to note is that there is a 50 app limit when moving apps to the fake SDcard. Don’t get too hung up on moving apps to the SDcard. If you go over 50 apps without modifying it, it will dismount the SDcard. This is true in all versions of Android on the TouchPad. There are threads out there on how to work with this. I have way more than 50 apps on my TouchPad so if I can fix it, so can everyone. It did bite me in the butt though initially. So it’s something to research https://rootzwiki.com/topic/13277-fixes-for-sdcard-issues-for-all-versions-of-cyanogenmod/

    You will most definitely want to download and install a file manager for Android. I would STRONGLY suggest ES File Explorer 3 (it’s free from the PlayStore). There is version 2 also and if you come from a PlayBook tablet, you most likely will have used ES File Explorer 2. 3 is more graphical and interactive – easy.

    1. 1st step: Watch some install vids to see how easy it is to do this. Seeing is believing.
      2nd step: Obtain latest versions of files and make sure they’re named properly and a cminstall folder in lowercase is created on the TouchPad.
      3rd step: Follow along with an install vid of your choice.
      4th step: Once CM 9 is working, make sure you learn how to do nandroid backups. Seriously, do a baseline backup right away from a successful fresh install BEFORE you load it up with apps from the PlayStore and before you do anything else…This will be your go to backup ROM if you run into issues down the road. You can move nandroid backups to an external hard drive or computer hard drive and restore them later. I wouldn’t keep the backups ON the TouchPad as it will eat into your free space.

      5th step: Setup a Google Play Store account and pillage the Play Store for some basic free apps. ES File Explorer 3, your choice of web browser (Dolphin – I love this browser, Maxthon, Firefox, Chrome, Opera for Android – sucks, would skip it, highly unstable at this time).

      6th step: Watch a RolandDeschain79 video on how to download/install Flash Player 11 on the TouchPad.

      7th step: Make another Nandroid backup once you get to this stage.

      8th step: Then go to town with whatever apps you wish to install. You’ll always have a basic starting point to revert to if you get into problems.

      You’ll be addicted soon and the forums are where the answers are at if you run into problems. See my list above for links.

  25. I was waiting for this for ages. By this time I’ve already given my father the HP Touchpad and bought myself a Nexus 7. But this is good for those that still have theirs.

  26. Uhh is it just me? I’ve had bluetooth working fine on CM9 on the touchpad for a while know. Used it for file transfer and use it with the HP touchpad keyboard daily, no issues at all…

  27. Does this version include hardware enabled HD video support or would I still need to swap the vidc_1080p.fw file?

    1. Seems to have all the necessary video bits. I didn’t try any 1080p files, but Netflix works, and that usually fails unless you have hardware-accelerated video.

        1. I haven’t done it and everything seems to work just fine (Netflix, Youtube, etc.)

  28. I own two Touchpads. I looked into putting Android on it but from my perspective? It’s a confusing fragmented scene. It seems nearly impossible to figure out what version is what and the bugs in each one. Battery life? Bricking? Extra long charging when battery drops to a certain level? Standby issues?

    I’d love to install one of these but if you’re talking battery life issues? No thanks. Thing is there are many many threads out there about what is the best Android to install and then there are an equal number of snobby responses about them all being good. Like flavors of ice cream.

    So Bluetooth works on this, but what are the bugs? If you have to remember to shut off the touchpad at a certain level of battery, this hardly seems worth it. Does anyone know the battery life using this mod vs. what the original webos gets? I imagine people don’t know but I’d sure like to know.

    1. Well gman, I was in the same boat as you are but I went for it and took the plunge with CM 9 once I found out that BlackBerry lied about my PlayBook getting BB 10 and killed it off completely. I decided to go sleep with Android and I wonder why it took me so bloody long to do it. Though there are some pitfalls to be aware of with installation: (the ROM files themselves need to have the prefix “update-” attached to them (minus the quotes but including the dash) or else installation fails) and with a prevalent (faux) SDCard issue involving a 50 app limit (there are workarounds to expand the SDCard storage – considering the TouchPad doesn’t actually have an SDCard you can see where the problem lies using partitioned space from the ROM) all in all, I am VERY happy that I now use CM 9 on the device.

      For your first time with Android, I’d install CM 9 (Android 4.0.4) and most definitely follow Brad’s videos and instructions. I used these ones myself https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_tenderloin Having gone down the install path myself, I can answer your questions and help guide you if you wish. It was NOT a hard process. In fact the steps taken could be literally done in 15-20 minutes and most of that time is spent waiting for Android to actually install on the TouchPad. It is VERY easy to accomplish granted you have the files named properly and the most up to date versions of everything.

      I was resistant to upgrading myself but now that I have I won’t go back. I rarely boot into webOS now and barely use my PlayBook too. There’s no real point to. Boot times from OFF are less than 30 seconds and that includes pressing the power button for a good 5 seconds like you have to using webOS to get it to turn on. Wi-fi connects quickly, bluetooth works, camera works, sounds works, all the apps you could ever want work…ya, this is a MUST DO NOW kind of thing. Ask the Liliputing community here, we’ll help you out.

      1. Also, keep in mind the HP TouchPad wasn’t designed to use Android. It just so happens to have been hacked to use Android. It does a VERY good job at this thank goodness. So bugs are to be expected. I myself am very thankful that my old tablet has a new and useful life once more. It’s very fast and fluid in everything I’ve thrown at it. My battery life is amazing…literally better than it was on webOS. I was a very skeptical convert, but I am now a full-on thankful convert. If it can switch me, it can switch you too…

        1. Thanks! Honestly battery life to me is the biggest factor so I’m glad to hear what you’re suggesting. There is so much discussion about battery warnings needed, slow recharges, chances of bricking if battery goes to a certain level, etc that it stopped me from going ahead. I’m okay with bugs, but worrying about battery and standby battery issues is a pretty big negative. That said, I’ll take your word on this.

          1. I myself don’t let my TouchPad go below 20% by habit but that stems from the PlayBook and it’s complete and utter bricking if you let it discharge below 10%. I would just not let it ever get below that threshold and if it needs to, shut if off completely. I mean it only takes like 20-30 seconds to boot from completely off so it’s not bad to wait that long in an emergency. The boot times of CM are incredible…boot times on a PlayBook are 3 looooong minutes!

            I can tell you that the discharge rate of CM 9 nightly dated 7/14/2013 is awesome. It is actually quite stunning compared to my PlayBook considering the much bigger screen on the TouchPad. It works on the TouchStone without issue and charges fast! The barrel charger works fine too. The 7/14/2013 nightly of CM 9 https://get.cm/?device=tenderloin is the one you want to go with. Most stable wi-fi drivers and best battery life. It also has the Android Master Key exploit fixed…

          2. Just install an app called Llama (like the animal) or
            Tasker from Playstore. These programs can be configured to automatically shut down the tablet at what ever battery level you set.The latest roms have a safety mechanism built in anyway, where it shuts down at 3% so bricking because of battery is no longer an issue.
            It really isn’t difficult to install Android on the Touchpad, and once you do you will never look back. I haven’t booted in Webos since over a year and don’t miss it. I have the latest Jellybean 4.2.2 (CM10.1) installed and it runs fantastic!

          3. Gman, revisit this thread. I just put up a list of useful links which will help you out. Bookmark them all, they’ll come in handy.

      2. Hi Conception,
        Thanks for the advice. I am on the same boat as gman. i.e. I am still running touchpad with the original webos. Before I upgrade to CM 9, my question is do you guys feel the performance is getting much better after moving to Android from WebOS. As I noticed my touchpad runs slow when I watch the video, and the browser does run as fast as I get from my laptop from day one. Do you think there is big improvement after CM 9 is installed?
        Thanks again.

        1. Hello Yu. YES, performance is greatly improved in my opinion. I too ran into stuttering with the simple music player within webOS. That is a thing of the past now on Android. I’ve used multiple audio and video players (dice, vlc, mx player) and have yet to have stuttering. VLC is free and plays everything. Dice is good too.

          I rarely run webOS now. The audio issues when coming out of sleeping on the TouchPad drove me crazy. That simply doesn’t exist running CM 9. I haven’t personally run too many taxing games on CM 9 but I have watched Roland Deschain (a top contributor on Rootzwiki, YouTube and XDA Forums) who’se run all kinds of games with great success. No issues have been encountered in Android. It’s pretty amazing seeing Quake 2 and 3 amongst other games running in all their desktop glory on the HP TouchPad.

          I would most definitely go to YouTube first and watch some of his videos in his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/RolandDeschain79

          He’s very easy to follow…great radio like voice and very helpful. He has many videos on how to install, backup, maintain your TouchPad. I’ve used his videos on how to install Flash Player 11 on Android and it worked perfectly.

          He has game reviews and all kinds of stuff. Anyhow, get your feet wet by watching some install vids first and then follow along. I would most definitely pick CM 9 to start with. I have been running it for a few months and it’s awesome, stable and fast. You’ll be pleased when you get it up and running.

          1. Thanks Conception for the helpful information. I eventually installed CM9(07/24/2014 nightly build recommended by you) yesterday. The whole process was smooth and now I have many more applications than before I can run on the touchpad. The only downside looks to be the battery. In the past when I had webOS, I remembered I only need to charge it every several days if I only do web browsing. Now it looks like the battery can only last for about 7 to 8 hours. Is this just for me? Can you share your experience on the battery?
            Thanks again for the help.

          2. Another issue after I upgraded to CM9 from original WebOS. Looks like the battery only charges to 94% and it stops. This happens when I charge the battery when have the touchpad turned off. I was wondering if anyone has the same issue.
            Thanks.

  29. Sweet!!!! i love my tp. does a great job – i have it oc’d to 1.7 and for how much i paid two years ago if i drop lose fry kill or anything my tp, i have more than gotten my money’s worth. big thanks to liliputing, too. huge help in keeping up to date.

  30. When you can get a Nook HD+ for $150 and official CM10.1 support, the Touchpad starts looking like a bad tablet.

    1. When you can get a Hisense Sero 7 Pro for $149, the TouchPad IS A VERY BAD TABLET. But saying that, if you already HAD a TouchPad like I do, then this is a no brainer activity. It’s the only tablet out there that can run two OS’s (technically 3 with Ubuntu Touch) – granted one’s dead (webOS) but hey, I can and sometimes do boot into it to play some games. Anyhow, since you don’t already have an HP TouchPad you probably wouldn’t understand why this is so significant. I would NOT recommend that anyone go out and buy an HP TouchPad to hack Android on to it for their first go around. But if you already had a TouchPad, not doing this is just an exercise in being obtuse and resistant to change…think of it like training wheels for your next Android device.

    2. meh for what I paid for it it is still a very workable tablet even by today’s standards I mainly use it for comics and for the $200 I paid for it a few years back it does its job quite well. I even still use my Nook Color for travel… it is only worth about $40-$50 right now but it still has a long lasting battery and a nice screen and if I lose it I won’t be out too much money.

    3. The Touchy running WebOS is a very SAFE tablet, even without antimalware.

  31. What version of Android did you upgrade from? I am running 4.0 on mine and have been waiting for the right time to move on to 4.2 but I thought I remember reading something about needing a newer version of certain software (moboot or CWM?) when installing any version beyond 4.0. Sound familiar or am I loosing it? If that’s accurate, maybe you know of some good instructions for upgrading from 4.0?
    Love your site Brad, visit it daily!

    1. Just so you know, you can upgrade your moboot and clockwork mod at anytime you wish to a later version. DO A NANDROID BACKUP FIRST though from your ClockWork Mod to be safe in case things go wrong. The latest and best version of Tenderloin (CM 9 for the TouchPad) is 7/14/2013 from https://get.cm/?device=tenderloin latest version of moboot is 0.3.8 https://goo.im/devs/jcsullins/cmtouchpad/testing/moboot_038-tenderloin.zip The latest version of Acme Installer is 3 https://goo.im/devs/jcsullins/cmtouchpad/tools/ACMEInstaller3 The latest clockwork mod is 6 from JC Sullins Goo.im folder: update-CWM6_tenderloin-20121215.zip

      Also, 10 or beyond aren’t daily drivers yet. This article mentioned that BlueTooth was JUST being enabled and it does have some bugs still so if I were you I would NOT upgrade just yet to CM 10 from CM 9. But keep an eye out on what the community is doing. It won’t be long until BlueTooth will become more stable. Then it might be worthwhile upgrading…it’s not there quite yet in my opinion.

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