Hisense Sero 8 RileyROM 1.0

[xrko]

Installed ROM today. Everything works great thank you. I had tried to root with twrp, but only got the stock recovery screen once rebooted . I then installed ROM 1.3 but still no twrp. How do I install custom recovery.

See post 208 & 209.

[charlienameless]

Thanks to Freaktab member YoungOne, this ROM is based on a ROM dump from his tablet.

This is a KitKat ROM.

This ROM is:

Rooted
Debloated of all of the Walmart/Sam's Club apps
Init.d/Busybox support added
Google Play Store fixes
Auto Install of apps in the external SD "autoinstall" folder.
Reboot App by Petrus
New Boot Animation

Since this is from a ROM dump, I've unpacked and repacked the boot.img and recovery.img files to make them the correct size. I've kept the stock parameter file, so you will have the same user app space, until I can figure out how to change it...there's a line missing in this parameter file...so I'm afraid to mess with it...I don't know how a change will react on your tablet. I believe that apps are being installed on the internal SD...so there's no need for other parameter files.

Just run the flash tool and plug in your tablet using the USB cable that came with it. Make sure USB debugging is turned off. The flash tool should see your tablet in Mass Storage Mode. Click reboot to flash and it will change to flash mode.

IMPORTANT: Uncheck the loader.bin at the top, it's checked by default. The reason for this is, we are going back with the same firmware. I don't know which loader.bin is currently on your tablet...so the one included in the kit will brick your tablet, if it isn't the same. It's ok to use the same loader.bin with the same firmware...so don't worry.

Erase IDB, then flash the ROM.

It will first boot to recovery and format everything. Later, if you want to flash CWM or TWRP recovery, you can just flash it instead of the stock recovery from the flash tool.

Here's the link:

Download v1.0

Here is a newer version based on an OEM ROM dump provided by Freaktab user steve&b.

This new version contains the same features listed above, with auto installation of TWRP Recovery (by Abdul_pt) on first boot. When you flash the ROM, you will see the stock recovery format the partitions. Wait a couple of minutes before rebooting on the first boot to system. Then when you reboot to recovery, you will have TWRP.

Download v1.1

Download v1.2 (based on a more recent ROM dump from FT member TRR.

Download v1.3 (based on an even more recent ROM dump from AndroidFanatic)

Download v1.3.2 (based on the same firmware as 1.3 with a script provided by AndroidFanatic to help with the installation process. See post #182 for instructions on how to use it. This script will help install the drivers and get your tablet into flash mode)

Enjoy!!!!!!
Donations Welcomed...please tip the developers.

Hey, tried your ROM. Nice. Thanks for that. The only issue I'm having is that GAPPS are jacked up. That's the reason I rooted and ROM'd in the first place. I can log into gmail and my google books all show up but i can't get to the play store and am always getting an error about hangouts not being signed in. Not a big deal because I won this tab at work for answering a survey but it would be nice if it actually worked as advertised. Hisense support said I should get a gift receipt from Walmart and send it in for service. Walmart pretty much assumed I stole it and almost wouldn't let me leave with it. lol Any advice would be awesome. Thanks

[MikeyLikesIt]

This new version contains the same features listed above, with auto installation of TWRP Recovery (by Abdul_pt) on first boot. When you flash the ROM, you will see the stock recovery format the partitions. Wait a couple of minutes before rebooting on the first boot to system. Then when you reboot to recovery, you will have TWRP.
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First off, I want to extend a HUGE Thank You to Randy Riley (rrileypm) for his work on this! I installed the 1.3 RileyROM without any problems. The RileyROM nicely gets rid of all the sketchy Walmart/Hisense stuff (some of which had *very* excessive permissions) and installs SuperSU for root access which is generally considered the best and safest option. No offense to anyone, but I don't really trust a lot of the Chinese-based root apps, ROMs and tools. Many have been caught accessing mysterious servers in China in mysterious ways. So it's great Randy is in the USA and SuperSU is from the Netherlands. Some donations might be in order.

I didn't see any reason to use AndroidFantatic's script as I had no problem installing the drivers and getting the flash tool to recognize the Sero 8. I also read about some issues (like the battery percentage being useless) with AndroidFantatic's modified 2.x ROM, and not many seem to have tried it, so I opted to go with the 1.3 RileyROM.

To others installing RileyROM, note the Sero 8 will display the spinning RileyRom logo longer than normal the first time it reboots after the flash. Just give it time and it will finish booting.

I also recommend *against* replacing the stock (roughly 4MB) recovery.img with the TWRP (roughly 12MB) version when installing RileyROM. When I tried that my Sero 8 wouldn't boot at all (it was stuck at the spinning logo). It appears RileyRom needs the stock recovery to properly set everything up on the first boot? Perhaps rrileypm can clear this up?

I also did not get an automatic install of TWRP as rrileypm noted in the quoted bit above. Was this removed from the 1.3 version? After RileyROM booted and did its thing, I powered the tablet down and used the flash tool to flash just the TWRP (12MB) recovery.img file without erasing first. That worked just fine.

I followed Randy's instructions in the PDF to auto install the open source Amaze File Manager and Turbo Editor as the Sero 8 doesn't come with any file manager. I used Turbo Edit to modify build.prop to defeat Over The Air updates (originally pointed to Rockchip.com). I also have attempted to spoof the Nexus 7 (2012) as it has the same screen resolution and hopefully open up more Play store options.

In general, I really like the Sero 8. The screen is IPS and looks really good. A lot of cheap no-name Chinese tablets have TFT screens that look really lousy off angle and when rotated. Some have a hard time rendering small fonts but everything looks crisp from any angle on the Sero 8. It works well on YouTube and playing HD video. The speaker is decent (about like the Nexus 7). It also has relatively small borders keeping it small for an 8 inch tablet, a nice grippy rubberized back, is reasonably light and the touch works well. Battery life and CPU speed both seem decent. It's really only lacking certain hardware features like vibration, a GPS, and high-end accelerometers. The camera is also pretty bad but that seems to be true of all the no-name cheap tablets. Most of us use our phones to take pictures anyway. For comparison, I have a DigiLand (DL1010Q 10 inch), an Insignia Flex 8 (aka iRiver NS-14T002 also Rockchip from BestBuy), Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and a Samsung Tab 10. The Sero 8 is much nicer than the DigiLand or Insignia.

The original 2012 Nexus 7 is a better tablet overall but costs significantly more and has a smaller screen. Plus any 1st gen Nexus 7s being sold now likely have 2 or 3 year old batteries sealed in them and probably won't have anywhere near their original battery life. The Sero 8 is a better option unless you need something only the Nexus 7 can do.

Thanks again to rrileypm for all his effort on a tablet he doesn't even own!

EDIT: I'm having the exact same battery indicator issues others reported with AndroidFanatics ROM. The battery status jumps all over the place. Mine just went from 50% to 20% in 5 seconds which is physically impossible. I hooked up the charger and it started to creep up normally from 20, to 21, 22, etc. then jumped instantly to 55%. Looking at the history, it has had other weird instant changes like 80% to 60%. Also, it shows only the screen has used any battery--all the other usual suspects like WiFi, the Android System, etc. are missing. Third party battery apps are also getting the wrong values from the OS. Both RileyRom and AF's ROMs are based on AF's supposedly stock ROM. I'm going to try RileyRom V1.2 which is based on a different stock ROM.

[rrileypm]

I'll have to check...if I get time...but the boot problem with the TWRP recovery may be due to the recovery partition not being large enough to hold the 12mb file. It could just take a little tweaking of the parameter file to enlarge that partition.

[np27np27]

Hi,

I am unable to get the ROM to boot. Keep getting a boot loop. I've currently got the AndroidFanatic ROM installed. Do i need to change the bootloader or something? I can reinstall the AndroidFanatic ROM again ok but i get battery percentage problems with that ROM so i wish to try the Riley ROM

Anyone know what i am doing wrong??


Edit..... Well i got it working. I installed the AndroidFanatic ROM again and then tried this ROM again and it worked! Not sure why!!!

[GartimusPrime]

Is there an available flashable zip of twrp for the sero 8? I am on cwm but prefer twrp. Thanks!

[GartimusPrime]

Edit

[dl1762]

I have a UNROOTED hisense sero pro 7 us version, , it had the stock rom on it, I am not sure what happened I started it one day and it was stuck, I cannot get past the the hisense screen or fast boot. I can get to the recovery menu . I am interested in stock rom with all the bloat taken off or actually any rom to get it working again , its really is a great tablet,
any help will be appreciated , I can provide whatever infor is required

[Hugh_AH]

I have a Hisense Sero 8 (purchased from Woot, October 2015). I've tried your instructions PDF in V1.3.2, but I cannot load the driver to Win7/64 because it insists on saying "Windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date." Yet the device is still "Unknown Device"!
I did the "don't install updates" thing, the tablet isn't in USB mode, and debug mode is off.

Is there an alternate flashing utility? Maybe one with drivers that will install? All I have is Windows 7! Shortly after purchase, I made the mistake of installing updates from Hisense and now apps launch themselves like the tablet is possessed. Is there a way to "RESET" this tablet? Like hold down power and down-volume or something?

[joedrt3]

wrong post.

[OneCan]

Hi, I've just got a Sero 8 tablet, I've rooted stuff before but having no luck. I've tried a few methods on here, but when I set up debugging it never asks my to authorise my computer. I've installed the rock chip drivers from one of your links, power and volume up doesn't do anything at all. Really struggling here. The usb debugging not asking to allow my pc is an odd one. Any ideas?

[lordroy]

EDIT: I'm having the exact same battery indicator issues others reported with AndroidFanatics ROM. The battery status jumps all over the place. Mine just went from 50% to 20% in 5 seconds which is physically impossible. I hooked up the charger and it started to creep up normally from 20, to 21, 22, etc. then jumped instantly to 55%. Looking at the history, it has had other weird instant changes like 80% to 60%. Also, it shows only the screen has used any battery--all the other usual suspects like WiFi, the Android System, etc. are missing. Third party battery apps are also getting the wrong values from the OS. Both RileyRom and AF's ROMs are based on AF's supposedly stock ROM. I'm going to try RileyRom V1.2 which is based on a different stock ROM.

I just recently got this tablet and installed this ROM, having the same issues with the battery indicator, has anyone come up with a fix for this?

Other than that this ROM is solid.

[yibudak]

I just recently got this tablet and installed this ROM, having the same issues with the battery indicator, has anyone come up with a fix for this?

Other than that this ROM is solid.

That issue about hardware, not firmware. If you want long tablet life you have to use it carefully (like full charge, full discharge and do not use tablet while charging)

Check this picture: http://goo.gl/Y95PNh

Sorry for my bad English...

[CogZog]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread but my Riley Rom 1.3.2 has corrupted. Does anyone have a working link to download it again please?