PLEASE BE ADVISED: THE AUTHOR OF THIS POST NO LONGER PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR THIS THREAD. HOWEVER YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOMED TO CONTINUE USING THE FILES AND METHODS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. GOOD LUCK!!
INTRO: For all those searching the internet trying to find answers as to how to gain root on your Nextbook8 Premium and also gain access to the wonderful android market from which we were greatly deprived (as is the case with many low-priced tablets these days), the wait is over thanks to a certain someone who goes by the name of DEVMONKEY. Of course I take absolutely NO CREDIT for this and only took the liberty to re-write it thus adding a little more detail to the process. Enjoy!!!
NOTE: If you have anything you care about (like apps, notes etc.) on your N8 make sure you back it up now.
Step 1: Turn your N8 off.
Step 2: Press both Volume buttons down and plug the USB cord into the N8.
NOTE: On your screen you should see a bubble pop up in the lower-right corner saying "Installing drivers". Most likely it will say it can't find the drivers. This is normal. Continue following the steps to install the missing drivers.
Step 3: Open the Device manager by typing mmc devmgmt.msc into your "Run" box on XP or search box in start menu on Windows 7 and hitting enter (you can also find Device Manager in your Control Panel options in Windows 7).
Step 4: With your N8 still in an off state and plugged in via USB you should see a yellow exclamation symbol somewhere next to "Unknown Device" in the list of devices in the Device Manager. Right click on it and select "Update driver software".
Step 5: Now it will prompt you to choose how you want to search for it. Select "Browse my computer for driver software" and it will bring up a window for you to navigate manually to the driver location which is in the "drivers" sub-folder in the NEXTBOOK8ROOT folder. Select which ever system you have (32bit or 64bit) and then hit "OK". You might go thru one or two prompts before it actually installs. Just "OK" everything and you should be fine.
Step 6: Once the drivers are installed you are ready to flash. Go into the root of the NEXTBOOK8ROOT folder and select RK29update.exe (right-click for Win7 users and Run as Admin).
Step 7: Now you should be at the interface of the program and at the bottom in bold words it should say "FOUND RKAndroid rock usb" (if it doesn't then it mean the drivers probably weren't installed correctly). This part is VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure all of the boxes on the left are checked (should look like the pic below). The one at top is the one usually missing a check and would need to be checked by you.
Step 8: Once all boxes on the left are checked you are going to click on "EraseIDB" at the bottom and let it complete. Once that finishes click on "Run" and you will see a series of commands running in the right window pane (see pics below). Give it some time as it will probably take a few minutes. When it's done it should look like the second pic below.
Once the process is finished your NEXTBOOK should reboot into the recovery and reflash the OS. Congratulations!!! You now have an affordable rooted tablet with access to the Android Market!!
OTHER ROMS YOU CAN FLASH INSTEAD OF THE ONE IN THE ABOVE GUIDE:
Pisteone - [SDK 2.1] EXT4 Bluetooth 3G Root [Basic FW 1.0.21] ICS Style - LINK
Fintadroid - [FULL ROOT & EXT4] [BT & 3G] [FW.1.0.21 PRESTIGE] - LINK
ALL ROMS FOR NEXTBOOK8 - LINK (Be very careful and read before you flash)
INTRO: For all those searching the internet trying to find answers as to how to gain root on your Nextbook8 Premium and also gain access to the wonderful android market from which we were greatly deprived (as is the case with many low-priced tablets these days), the wait is over thanks to a certain someone who goes by the name of DEVMONKEY. Of course I take absolutely NO CREDIT for this and only took the liberty to re-write it thus adding a little more detail to the process. Enjoy!!!
DISCLAIMER
***I HAVE NOT TESTED THIS PARTICULAR ROM WITH MY N8 WHEN I HAD IT BUT AS THE PROCEDURE TO FLASH IS STILL THE SAME ALL SHOULD GO WELL. HOWEVER, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAPPEN IF YOU USE THIS AND DAMAGE YOUR DEVICE. PLEASE FOLLOW ALL STEPS CAREFULLY***
[HOW TO] Root and install Market on your Nextbook8 Premium
UPDATE: This is post has been updated with a new rom to replace old one. Method of flashing is still the same so no worries. All those who want to upgrade to this rom from the one I previously posted in this guide when I first wrote it can just repeat the steps over again with the new rom package.
This rom is based on Samhain's release: SamDroid v1.13
Modifications (mostly GUI / cosmetic tweaks):
1.) cifs.ko / slow-work.ko / nls_utf8.ko are in /system/lib/modules and can be loaded using Mount Manager app from the market. This will let you mount CIFS/SMB shares to the device.
2.) Honeycomb-like launcher and updated GUI icons. (you can change it to any Launcher you want)
A couple of things to note once you have installed the rom:
- It starts up in Italian, so open Android settings "Impostazioni" and go to the "Lingua e tastiera" setting, and change the "Seleziona lingua" to your preffered language.
- I've put a few wallpapers in /system/media that you can set full screen by going into Live Wallpapers and using the "Multipicture Live Wallpaper" set them to the screen.
- There are a few things (widgets) on the homescreen that don't work after initial boot, just remove them and add back whatever you want to the homescreen.
- Sleep of death issues seem to be fixed, and the camera works (Camera app works, but Skype and Fring don't work yet...).
- You can also grab Adobe Flash 11 from the market and it'll work correctly.
- This release boots MUCH faster, and is even more responsive than before.
- There is a cell standby issue that drains the battery more in theory so if you feel like that is happening with you just delete the Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk from /system/app. You can use ADB or you can use Root Explorer to do so. You will likely have to force a reboot because you'll start getting repetitive force closes once you do so, but it won't hurt anything. Once you reboot, all is well.
VERY IMPORTANT: After installing custom roms that also flash a custom recovery your N8 may reboot into the custom recovery. If this happens hit reboot system and only reboot system.
Download new rom from HERE and extract (using winRAR preferably) to your desktop or anywhere you choose. Location doesn't really matter for this guide to work.Modifications (mostly GUI / cosmetic tweaks):
1.) cifs.ko / slow-work.ko / nls_utf8.ko are in /system/lib/modules and can be loaded using Mount Manager app from the market. This will let you mount CIFS/SMB shares to the device.
2.) Honeycomb-like launcher and updated GUI icons. (you can change it to any Launcher you want)
A couple of things to note once you have installed the rom:
- It starts up in Italian, so open Android settings "Impostazioni" and go to the "Lingua e tastiera" setting, and change the "Seleziona lingua" to your preffered language.
- I've put a few wallpapers in /system/media that you can set full screen by going into Live Wallpapers and using the "Multipicture Live Wallpaper" set them to the screen.
- There are a few things (widgets) on the homescreen that don't work after initial boot, just remove them and add back whatever you want to the homescreen.
- Sleep of death issues seem to be fixed, and the camera works (Camera app works, but Skype and Fring don't work yet...).
- You can also grab Adobe Flash 11 from the market and it'll work correctly.
- This release boots MUCH faster, and is even more responsive than before.
- There is a cell standby issue that drains the battery more in theory so if you feel like that is happening with you just delete the Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk from /system/app. You can use ADB or you can use Root Explorer to do so. You will likely have to force a reboot because you'll start getting repetitive force closes once you do so, but it won't hurt anything. Once you reboot, all is well.
VERY IMPORTANT: After installing custom roms that also flash a custom recovery your N8 may reboot into the custom recovery. If this happens hit reboot system and only reboot system.
NOTE: If you have anything you care about (like apps, notes etc.) on your N8 make sure you back it up now.
Step 1: Turn your N8 off.
Step 2: Press both Volume buttons down and plug the USB cord into the N8.
NOTE: On your screen you should see a bubble pop up in the lower-right corner saying "Installing drivers". Most likely it will say it can't find the drivers. This is normal. Continue following the steps to install the missing drivers.
Step 3: Open the Device manager by typing mmc devmgmt.msc into your "Run" box on XP or search box in start menu on Windows 7 and hitting enter (you can also find Device Manager in your Control Panel options in Windows 7).
Step 4: With your N8 still in an off state and plugged in via USB you should see a yellow exclamation symbol somewhere next to "Unknown Device" in the list of devices in the Device Manager. Right click on it and select "Update driver software".
Step 5: Now it will prompt you to choose how you want to search for it. Select "Browse my computer for driver software" and it will bring up a window for you to navigate manually to the driver location which is in the "drivers" sub-folder in the NEXTBOOK8ROOT folder. Select which ever system you have (32bit or 64bit) and then hit "OK". You might go thru one or two prompts before it actually installs. Just "OK" everything and you should be fine.
Step 6: Once the drivers are installed you are ready to flash. Go into the root of the NEXTBOOK8ROOT folder and select RK29update.exe (right-click for Win7 users and Run as Admin).
Step 7: Now you should be at the interface of the program and at the bottom in bold words it should say "FOUND RKAndroid rock usb" (if it doesn't then it mean the drivers probably weren't installed correctly). This part is VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure all of the boxes on the left are checked (should look like the pic below). The one at top is the one usually missing a check and would need to be checked by you.
Step 8: Once all boxes on the left are checked you are going to click on "EraseIDB" at the bottom and let it complete. Once that finishes click on "Run" and you will see a series of commands running in the right window pane (see pics below). Give it some time as it will probably take a few minutes. When it's done it should look like the second pic below.
Once the process is finished your NEXTBOOK should reboot into the recovery and reflash the OS. Congratulations!!! You now have an affordable rooted tablet with access to the Android Market!!
OTHER ROMS YOU CAN FLASH INSTEAD OF THE ONE IN THE ABOVE GUIDE:
Pisteone - [SDK 2.1] EXT4 Bluetooth 3G Root [Basic FW 1.0.21] ICS Style - LINK
Fintadroid - [FULL ROOT & EXT4] [BT & 3G] [FW.1.0.21 PRESTIGE] - LINK
ALL ROMS FOR NEXTBOOK8 - LINK (Be very careful and read before you flash)
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