How to Upgrade the HP TouchPad from CyanogenMod 7 to Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich

The HP TouchPad has traveled around the wheel of fate. It was an infamous webOS tablet that turned into one of the most sought-after tablets after Android developers were able to tear it apart and installed Android in its system. With an Ice Cream Sandwich ROM already available for this device, it will surely make consumers regret not having bought such a splendid tablet.

For some time, only Android 2.3 Gingerbread (via CyanogenMod 7) was available for the TouchPad, and now the CyanogenMod team has developed CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5, bringing Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich to your HP TouchPad. With ICS’ virtual buttons, the ROM perfectly fits the tablet because it doesn’t bear any capacitive or external buttons compared to most tablets and smartphone.

Considering it’s still an early version, we could expect a lot of bugs and glitches in CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5 for the HP TouchPad. The camera, hardware video acceleration, Netflix, HD YouTube videos, microphone, and audio are reportedly not yet working properly. Titanium Back-up and  some apps from the Android Market are not working, too.

Although the ROM needs a lot of work, its not stopping developers from patching things up and bringing the newest ICS experience on your HP TouchPad. This guide will help you to install the CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5, which brings a few bugs fixes from the first Alpha 0 version.

There are two ways to go about all these.  The first method uses ClockworkMod Recovery, but will erase all your data, apps, and settings.  The second method–the preferred method–is to use ACMEInstaller2.  The two methods work on HP TouchPad units running CyanogenMod 7 or another custom ROM for Android.

Flashing with ClockworkMod Recovery

Requirements

• Rooted HP TouchPad with ClockworkMod Recovery installed
• CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5 ROM update file.  Get the package from here or here.
• Google Apps package.  This is optional, but if you want to flash it, you can get the gApps package here.
• ClockworkMod Recovery — This is optional, but if you want to flash it anyway (especially if you have an older version).  Get it here.
• moboot package.  This is also optional if you already have this installed.  Otherwise, download the package from here.  This application allows you to select which OS to boot into upon starting up your device.
• Fix file for charger and SystemUI force close issue.  This is optional but strongly recommended.  Get it here.

Steps

1. Copy all the downloaded files into the root directory of your HP TouchPad’s SD card.
2. Turn off your TouchPad and reboot it into ClockworkMod Recovery.
3. In ClockworkMod Recovery, do a full wipe of all device data (i.e., Wipe data/factory reset, Wipe cache partition, Wipe Dalvik cache).  This is the part where all of your previous ROM’s data, apps, and settings are blasted off into oblivion (and this is also the reason why the second method–flashing with ACMEInstaller2–is preferred).  You will experience several problems if you do not wipe all data before you flash the update files.
4. With your device data completely wiped, start flashing the update files.  Select “Install ZIP from sdcard” in the recovery menu, then select the CyanogenMod 9 update file.  Confirm that you want to start flashing.  Wait for the process to finish.  Repeat this step for the other update files in turn.
5. Reboot your device.

Flashing with ACMEInstaller2

Requirements

• Install Java on your Windows computer.  Find the instructions here.
• Install the Palm Novacom drivers to your computer.  Get the Universal Novacom Installer (JAR file) from here.  Run the JAR file and follow the instructions for installation.  This will work only if you have Java on your computer, so make sure you install Java first.
• Download ACMEInstaller2 from here.This is needed to flash the ROM. style=”text-decoration: underline;”>DO NOT use any previous version of ACMEInstaller.
• CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5 for HP TouchPad.  Get the package from here or here.
• ClockworkMod Recovery — This is optional, but if you want to flash it anyway (especially if you have an older version).  Get it here.
• Google Apps package.  This is optional, but if you want to flash it, you can get the gApps package here.  style=”text-decoration: underline;”>DO NOT use a gApps package intended for CyanogenMod 7.
• moboot package.  This is also optional if you already have this installed.  Otherwise, download the package from here.  This application allows you to select which OS to boot into upon starting up your device.
• Fix file for charger and SystemUI force close issue.  This is optional but strongly recommended.  Get it here.

Steps

1. Copy ACMEInstaller2 into the same folder where “novacom.exe” is located.  This is usually in “C:Program FilesPalm, Inc”.
2. On your HP TouchPad, create a new folder called “cminstall” in the root of your TouchPad’s SD card.  (You’ll need to mount your tablet as USB Drive on your computer.)
3. Copy all the update ZIP files (i.e., CyanogenMod 9, ClockworkMod, gApps, moboot, and the fix file) into the “cminstall” folder on the TouchPad.
4. Reboot your tablet.  As it is powering down, hold down the Volume Up button until a USB icon is shown on the tablet’s screen.  At this point, your computer will try detecting your tablet.  (This also presumes that your tablet is still connected to the computer via USB cable.)
5. Open a command prompt on your computer.
6. Change directory to where “novacom.exe” and ACMEInstaller2 are located.
7. Run ACMEInstaller2 by issuing the following command at the command prompt:
   • novacom.exe boot mem:// < ACMEInstaller2
8. Your system will automatically reboot afterwards.
9. If the gApps package was not successfully flashed, you can manually flash it through ClockworkMod Recovery.
10. Also flash the charger and SystemUI fix through ClockworkMod Recovery.
11. After everything is okay, reboot once more and choose “Boot CyanogenMod” from the boot options in moboot.

Congratulations!  You have successfully moved on from CyanogenMod 7 (or another custom ROM) into CyanogenMod 9 Alpha 0.5, bringing Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich to your HP TouchPad.