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I am relatively new to rooting and stuff. I have just rooted my android tablet. It's a Chinese tablet, not much about it is available on the internet.

Can I install ROM for another device on my tablet? I saw many videos on YouTube showing "How to install any ROM on any Android device". Does 'any' here mean that I can install, let's say, a Nexus ROM on my tablet?

Is there some generic ROM which can be installed on all androids? If so, can I install this generic ROM and then upgrade to a ROM of another device?

If no, is there a way to do so? (If not, then how do manufacturers put their ROM for the first time?)

Matthew Read
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Plutonium smuggler
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  • You may want to look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2105692 which looks like it may be a custom ROM for those devices. Note the warning on the page regarding version 2 devices! – Dan Delaney Sep 11 '14 at 15:47
  • @DanDelaney . Thanks a lot. But I want to stress that the purpose of getting a generic ROM was to try out ubuntu on any android device without having the need to port it to every device. I dont think it will serve this purpose ? – Plutonium smuggler Sep 12 '14 at 01:19

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You won't be able to install a ROM from a different device, unless it is ported to your device - there are write-ups on the XDA forums on this. There isn't any generic ROM for all devices. Each device has its own chipset and hardware, that has its own firmware (software) design for it. In order for there to be a generic ROM, it would have to have the software and drivers for every device out on the market. The size of the ROM would be so large it wouldn't fit on most devices, let alone have room for anything else. Manufactures flash the ROM to their devices. From there we the can unlock the boot loaders, flash a custom recovery, install kernels and flash a custom ROM designed/made/ported for our device.

Check out this link and search for your device. http://forum.xda-developers.com/. There are other forums on the internet, but you can search Google for them.

HasH_BrowN
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  • Thanx. But as mentioned above, no ROM is there for my device, apart from stock one. However there are many devices with very similar configuration (same processor, RAM etc)for which ROMs are available. Can I install these ROMs on my device ? – Plutonium smuggler Sep 11 '14 at 04:53
  • @Plutoniumsmuggler what device do you have? Aside from that, have i answered your questions – HasH_BrowN Sep 11 '14 at 04:57
  • I have Karbonn ST8 (My purpose is not just rooting. Its a little more than that. So I need ROM for different device) – Plutonium smuggler Sep 11 '14 at 05:03
  • @Plutoniumsmuggler "Similar" isn't good enough most of the time. Phone hardware is much less standardized than, say, PC hardware. Specific drivers are thus that much more important. – Matthew Read Sep 11 '14 at 05:35
  • @Plutoniumsmuggler Google Ainol chipset based devices and find one to make a port from, with same specs. – HasH_BrowN Sep 11 '14 at 06:06
  • @HasH_BrowN . I am new to this area, so I know nothing about porting etc. That is the thing I am trying to avoid. I needed another device for something, because mine is less popular and no one has taken up my device in the project. Looks like I ll have to abandon the idea altogether.( Apparently, the guy in the links in question and my motto are same ; testing ubuntu). – Plutonium smuggler Sep 11 '14 at 08:53
  • @Plutoniumsmuggler if you are uncomfortable with all of that, how will you work with Ubuntu? I'm not trying to be rude. Are you wanting Ubuntu as a working environment or developmental. What are you trying to do? This is where your question tends to be a little vague. – HasH_BrowN Sep 12 '14 at 20:15
  • @HasH_BrowN . Ubuntu will be the permanent OS on which I will work. But I have just started learning ubuntu, its barely a week. – Plutonium smuggler Sep 13 '14 at 00:34