It’s been years since HP has released an official software update for the long-discontinued HP TouchPad tablet. But independent developers have been keeping the tablet up to date by porting various versions of Google Android run on the tablet for ages.
Now it’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow’s turn.
Developer Flintman has released an alpha build of Evervolv based on Android 6.0 for the HP TouchPad.
Android 6.0 brings a number of new features, including tweaks that should lead to reduced power consumption when a device is idle, automatic cloud backups for some apps, and more user control over the permissions used by apps.
The HP TouchPad tablet originally shipped with webOS instead of Android. But it’s perfectly capable of running Android… it’s just that HP never officially released Android software for the tablet, so it’s been up to independent developers to keep the 9.7 inch tablet up to date.
They’ve been doing that since 2011, when the first builds of Android 2.3 were released for the TouchPad. Every major version of Android since then has been ported to the tablet, including Android 5.1 earlier this year.
Development of the Evervolv version of Android 6.0 for the TouchPad is still in the early stages, so there are some features that don’t work as of early November, including Bluetooth, the camera, and mounting of the external_sd storage. In other words you can install the alpha build of Evervolv if you want to try Android 6.0 on a TouchPad or help search for bugs… but if you want a stable operating system you should probably stick with an earlier version of Android for now.
If you’re running an earlier version of Evervolv you should be able to flash the new build on top of it. If you’re using just about any other version of Android on the tablet, you’ll probably want to do a clean install first. And if you’ve got a TouchPad running webOS, you may want to use TouchPad Toolbox to set it up so it can run Android.
thanks Jack!
Leave a Reply
13 Comments on "Android 6.0 comes to the HP TouchPad (unofficially)"
Thank you, Brad!
I’d really like to wipe the dust of my Touchpad, and try this out, but mine wont boot up anymore.
Does anyone know any tricks for bricked Touchpads? I tried charging overnight, and holding Home + Pwr for 30 sec, and then 1 minute.
It might be just way too discharged, so protection on battery kicks in and prevent it from charging. Take it apart and check voltages on battery terminals and after protection PCB.
Im gonna try that out when I get home, thanks
Grant,
I had this issue awhile back. I unplugged the touchpad from the charger, left the power on, and let it drain down to nothing for 2 days. I then plunged the charger back in, and when it got enough juice it booted into the version of android I had installed on my touchpad at the time. Perhaps this will work for you too?
this has worked for me a couple times as well. i tried every trick in the book. i have 5 touchpads and have done the debrick on a couple, even replaced the battery on one (never again!). i would definitely try leaving it sit for a week or so and let the battery really and truly die, then plug it in as usual
I just remembered… I think I may have tried plunging it into my PC as well to see if I could at least see the drive. That may have jump started it too?
Grant,
I had this issue awhile back. I unplugged the touchpad from the charger, left the power on, and let it drain down to nothing for 2 days. I then plunged the charger back in, and when it got enough juice it booted into the version of android I had installed on my touchpad at the time. Perhaps this !at work for you too?
phew i thought that developers had given up the ghost on this tablet like they did the nook color..
A short video with a little info on installing the Alpha builds, go go HP TouchPad!
https://youtu.be/xjQ-dJxn8NU
@Grant Russell, @onemad scientist, @jimberkas, @Conception, @Wally Duke
When your Touchpad acts like a brick, use utility named tpdebrick. It was written by JC Scullins. It will restore a seemly dead Touchpad and it will also re-flash the A6 rom which seems to be a leading touchpad killer.
Go to xda-developers dot com to and look in the Touchpad General Dev area to find current links to tpdebrick.
WebOS users can use this utility. It does not damage WebOS.
I’ve been buying dead touchpads, de-bricking them, and installing Android. I have yet to get an TouchPad that was actually, physically dead, and it only had a dead battery.