Keeping it alive: Nexus 7 (2012) running lineageOS 14.1
At Hacklab.to's recent Junk Day, I managed to acquire the older model of the Nexus 7 (2012 WIFI, aka grouper). It's most recent vendor firmware was Android 5.1.1 and it ran like molasses. So I decided to take a look at getting LineageOS on it. Firstly to see if I could, second to have recent version of android, and three to remove any bloat by having a lean starting point. For those unfamiliar, the Company named Cyanogen, imploded, and so the community android distro of the same name, re-branded and are continuing the work under the name LineageOS. I've already been testing it on a nexus 4, and will likely move my OnePlus One to it in the foreseeable future. LinageOS 14.1 is Android 7.1 equivalent. After a look around the internet, I found a dev doing a not yet official build of lineageOS for the Nexus 7 (2012). And an official build of TWRP which is LineageOS's recommend recovery image. https://twrp.me/devices/asusnexus72012wifi.html http://www.lineageosdownloads.com/download-nexus-7-2012-lineage-os/ http://opengapps.org/ (ARM, 7.1, Pico) Modifying the general instructions (and having done this a few times, they really are all the same). https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/flo/install adb reboot bootloader fastboot oem unlock fastboot reboot fastboot flash recovery /home/scott/Downloads/twrp-3.1.0-0-grouper.img # reboot into recovery adb push /home/scott/Downloads/lineage-14.1-20170315-UNOFFICIAL-aaopt-grouper.zip /sdcard/ adb push /home/scott/Downloads/open_gapps-arm-7.1-pico-20170414.zip /sdcard/ # then install these ZIPs and reboot. Took a long time to get through initial boot, and then first time configuration. But when it was all done, while it is still a bit laggy to use, it noticeably better then before. Also by using the pico package all the stock google bloat is gone, basically just having the play store to install only the apps I need. It's now good enough to be a kitchen 'doohicky'. I know there are a number of folks with Nexus 7 (2013) in your community, but any earlier adopters of the 2012 might appreciate this. -- Scott Sullivan
On 2017-04-14 10:45 PM, Scott Sullivan via talk wrote:
At Hacklab.to's recent Junk Day, I managed to acquire the older model of the Nexus 7 (2012 WIFI, aka grouper). …
Dang! I'm impressed! That's definitely worth knowing about, as the tablet was utterly unusable. Thank you for documenting this! I may do this to my Nexus 4, and eventually the One+. I just wish there way of rooting some of this older Android hardware back to a stock Linux rather than an Android flavour and its locked-in UI.
Hmm, I know that TW stands for "Team Win", but is that a sly reference to the Canadian band TWRP? If you like electrofunk played by immensely talented musicians cosplaying from their own dimension¹, you'd love TWRP! cheers, Stewart ¹: I mean, who doesn't? https://twrp.bandcamp.com/track/pale-blue-dot
I have both models of the Nexus 7. Great tablets. Mk1 (2012 codename 'grouper') original owner Mk2 (2013 codename ' flo ') bought during a brief sale in '15 when they could be had for about $100. The Mk1 has a replacement ROM , which it badly needed . One of the official Android ROM updates introduced a bug that killed performance, apparently to do with the model's slow nvram drive. Most replacement ROMs, including LineageOS, and have fixed this (so long as you still run *fstrim* from time to time) , performance is reasonable but still a little sluggish. The Mk2 does not have this problem, so it still runs stock. ( K inda strange that my second-oldest active Android device is the only one running Nougat.) A few extra comments: - Only the Mk2 is officially supported by LineageOS <https://download.lineageos.org/flo> , the Mk1 version is unofficial <https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-7/development/rom-lineageos-14-1-nexus-7-2012-t3530261> but in my experience quite stable - D on't expect too much speed from the Mk1 , even at its best. Its Antutu score is 23259 (by comparison, the Mk2 is 40168 and my LG G4 is 44339). - Occasional use of the fstrim app <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fifthelement.trimmer> (about once a month) yields noticeable performance improvement. - Also of value are the official apps that alert you when updates are available for two major components of your replacement ROM, TWRP <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.twrp.twrpapp> and OpenGapps <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.opengapps.app>. - This who are both lazy and have access to Windows (any version will do) can take immense benefit from the Wugfresh Android Toolkit. It is IMO an amazingly intuitive tool for rooting and flashing ROMs and supports every device ever called Nexus. It can find and install any version of stock, and can even un-root a phone that needs warrant servicing now (a feature that is of diminishing value now that the Nexus brand appears to be supplanted by Pixel.) I still like the 2013 Nexus 7, and recommend it to anyone who spots it for less than about $125. But the ones I see now on eBay in new condition are $300+, that's freaking insane. For less than that, a superior modern alternative is the $200 Nvidia Shield tablet <https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/tablet/>. - Evan
On Fri, 2017-04-14 at 22:45 -0400, Scott Sullivan via talk wrote:
I know there are a number of folks with Nexus 7 (2013) in your community, but any earlier adopters of the 2012 might appreciate this.
-- Scott Sullivan
Scott: Thanks I have been struggling with my Nexus 7 2012 for a while and just used this to update my device. Much more 'fluid' in use now. Thanks! Charles
participants (5)
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Charles Profitt -
Evan Leibovitch -
Michael Hill -
Scott Sullivan -
Stewart C. Russell