HP Touchpad tips and tricks

MiketheMechanic

Hi folks,
I have a 64GB TouchPad running both WebOs and Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich CM9 from 2012.

What's a good stable version to upgrade to? What's good for battery, and is there a step-by-step guide on how to install?

Thanks,
MtM

nc6000

I'm running cm-11-20151116-SNAPSHOT-jcsullins-tenderloin and it's very stable. It's Android 4.4.4. I found Android 5.0 didn't run very well so went back to this version.

https://www.reddit.com/r/touchpad/comments/4ef5ue/hp_touchpad_running_cm121_snapshot_by_jcsullins/?st=iv2ayvjw&sh=21e840cb

Spocker

Would anyone have a Touchstone dock they might be willing to lend me for a few days? I have a TP with a dead battery/charging circuit and I'm not having any success with TPDebrick

The dock is only a last resort to see can I trickle charge the circuit before I concede defeat and chuck it in the bin, or give it to someone here for spares

I'll happily pay for postage+cost of a pint if anyone is willing, or I could collect if you happen to live in Waterford or Kilkenny...

MiketheMechanic

Thanks nc6000, i just put that jcsullins version on earlier and I like it very much!

MtM

nc6000 wrote: »

I'm running cm-11-20151116-SNAPSHOT-jcsullins-tenderloin and it's very stable. It's Android 4.4.4. I found Android 5.0 didn't run very well so went back to this version.

https://www.reddit.com/r/touchpad/comments/4ef5ue/hp_touchpad_running_cm121_snapshot_by_jcsullins/?st=iv2ayvjw&sh=21e840cb

daddy_boy

Spocker wrote: »

Would anyone have a Touchstone dock they might be willing to lend me for a few days? I have a TP with a dead battery/charging circuit and I'm not having any success with TPDebrick

The dock is only a last resort to see can I trickle charge the circuit before I concede defeat and chuck it in the bin, or give it to someone here for spares

I'll happily pay for postage+cost of a pint if anyone is willing, or I could collect if you happen to live in Waterford or Kilkenny...

i have a docking station send me a PM and we can meet up

Spocker

daddy_boy wrote: »

i have a docking station send me a PM and we can meet up

Sound, thanks - PM on the way

Spocker

I've had no luck reviving my Touchpad, would anyone here like it for parts? Screen, casing, etc are all perfect

Standard Toaster

I'll take it off you Spocker.

54and56

Can't believe how good these yokes were. $100 for a 32GB tablet which ran Android and charged wirelesly. Ridiculous value.

I gave mine away a few months ago including the wireless charging stand etc and its the only bit of tech I ever regret getting rid of. I had so much fun tinkering around with it, loading ROMs and figuring out how to get the most from it. I learned a lot using the TP.

We have faster, lighter and overall better tablets in the house now so it wasn't getting much use but looking back what a deal it was and what a piece of kit it was.

I'm sure it's still more than capable of serving lots of purposes if looked after.

I miss my TP

Rowley Birkin QC

Still have mine. Haven't updated Android in ages on it. What's the latest version that it will run smoothly?

Still use it on long haul flights for movies etc. Primarily used as a clock in the kitchen at the moment but could see a role for it if I go down the home-automation route. Wireless charging stand makes it a very neat piece of kit.

brevity

Mine is in a box somewhere but whenever I switch it on it works fine. Need to put a different version of android on it as the one I have doesn't perform very well.

I have plans of setting it up as a kind a family planer screen for the kitchen.

Would love to get my hands on the wireless charging stand.

Doodah7

Mine is in a drawer as the screen was unfortunately cracked. I was also never happy with the version of Android which was a complete battery hog.

Is it possible to get replacement screens?

MiketheMechanic

Can anyone remember, what is the best way to bring back a HP Touchpad with a drained battery?

MtM

oliver29

Just leave it plugged until it boots, can take a few hours. If my memory is right once the power is connected the light in the home button should start animating between left and right.

If it's been idle for a long time it's safer to charge it on a harder surface. Li ion isn't meant to like low charge states

brevity

This is a blast from the past. You might have a better chance of getting Elvis back from the dead.

I think leaving it plugged in will work. It could take days though

nc6000

Yes, a blast from the past alright. I seem to recall that only the original charger would bring it back to life once it goes dead. You may get it back using a third party charger but it needs to be 2.0 amp minimum.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/hp-touchpad/accessories/definitive-answer-charging-hp-touchpad-t3632550

Standard Toaster

Ha, 9years ago OP.

mp3ireland2

MiketheMechanic wrote: »

Can anyone remember, what is the best way to bring back a HP Touchpad with a drained battery?

MtM

I actually bought one in the past couple of years form ebay, thinking i could fix one somebody was selling as it wouldn't hold charge! I failed. I then deleted all bookmarks as I was like "I give up".

I remember the last hope was to boot to linux and i can't remember what you had to run, and there was something odd where it only worked TPDebrick is what to google, i think there may be a 005 version now! Hopefully a thread still existis. FIrst try leaving into the oringinal charger for a couple of days! Still can't get over the weight of these things, was using mine up to quite recently for sheet music reading but got something with a bigger screen!

BenEadir

What a blast from the past. One of the best tech bargains ever. Once you got Android on there it was a solid enough machine, three hardware specs were pretty good for the time.

Haven't flashed a ROM in years!!!

mp3ireland2

BenEadir wrote: »

What a blast from the past. One of the best tech bargains ever. Once you got Android on there it was a solid enough machine, three hardware specs were pretty good for the time.

Haven't flashed a ROM in years!!!

Remember how hard they were to get! I was entering competitions where the prize wasn't a HP touchpad...but the chance to buy one!
Eventually a sound friend of a friend got one for me in click.ie i tihnk, in Carlow, serious value at the time. Some amount of checking this forum to find one!

brevity

I reserved in in Argos and sent my mum to get it. The guy behind the counter said she was lucky to get one. She left the shop thinking she had the Crown Jewels.

It was a fun device, spent ages on xda developers flashing roms and dual booting with web os.

54and56

brevity wrote: »

It was a fun device, spent ages on xda developers flashing roms and dual booting with web os.

Same.

I actually remember being on Boards when someone posted a link to where HP were selling them off for $100 or something ridiculous so jumped in and bought mine on an impulse that it was too good a deal to pass up as the hardware alone was worth several times the discounted price and people were confident there works be a way to flash Android onto it.

The hours I spent flashing ROMs and re-flashing newer better ROMs!!

Think I got about 5 years use out of it and even then I passed it on to someone to use for their kids to watch Netflix etc on.

Squeeonline

It was €100 for the 16gb version and 150 for the 32gb version. I know the prices were that, but not sure if the memory was. Could have been 8 and 16 - twas a long time ago.

Queued outside a PC world from 2 hours before opening, to be 9th inline for 8 tablets.

But I managed to make a reservation at full price in Argos hoping that the price would drop. When it did, I popped in to pick it up. Felt like I had the steal of the century. Palm OS was something else! Android didn't have a tablet OS really (and arguably still don't)

What killed it was the lack of take up of the eco system. I remember the facebook app being amazing and looking completely different than on android or iOS at the time. I think it came from a time of hope that the browser could be all your apps, but it was just ahead of its time.

54and56

Squeeonline wrote: »

It was €100 for the 16gb version and 150 for the 32gb version. I know the prices were that, but not sure if the memory was. Could have been 8 and 16 - twas a long time ago.

Queued outside a PC world from 2 hours before opening, to be 9th inline for 8 tablets.

But I managed to make a reservation at full price in Argos hoping that the price would drop. When it did, I popped in to pick it up. Felt like I had the steal of the century. Palm OS was something else! Android didn't have a tablet OS really (and arguably still don't)

What killed it was the lack of take up of the eco system. I remember the facebook app being amazing and looking completely different than on android or iOS at the time. I think it came from a time of hope that the browser could be all your apps, but it was just ahead of its time.

The bigger one was definitely 32BG which was the one I got. I remember that being absolutely top end at the time and was what prompted me to buy it more than anything else.

The Mulk

I missed the original firesale but got the 32GB one with case and touchstone for €200 off someone who didn't use it after about a month.
The kindle app on the original OS was brilliant, along with the movie player.
I bought another one then for €50 and and 2 new cases a couple of years ago and let the kids have them.
I must dig them out and see if I can get them going again.

Squeeonline

The Mulk wrote: »

I missed the original firesale but got the 32GB one with case and touchstone for €200 off someone who didn't use it after about a month.
The kindle app on the original OS was brilliant, along with the movie player.
I bought another one then for €50 and and 2 new cases a couple of years ago and let the kids have them.
I must dig them out and see if I can get them going again.

I remember the movie player being great, if a little limited in the file types it could run smoothly. Or resolutions.

WebOS lives on in LG TVs I believe (the ones that aren't running Android TV anyway)

zinzan

My missus is still using ours (running Android) as a multimedia device to show various introductory videos.

Rowley Birkin QC

I actually only threw out the box (very premium!!) for my TP this week. Found it in the bottom of a drawer. The tablet itself calved a few years ago, looked like the battery or something gave up and blew out the screen.

Great little device at the time and actually really good for learning about flashing roms and all that craic.

Squeeonline

zinzan wrote: »

My missus is still using ours (running Android) as a multimedia device to show various introductory videos.

God I remember as tablets were still a bit of a novelty, that it was great for collecting signatures and contact details for people at student events.