Getting into ROM development; is it possible to unofficially upgrade devices? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have a few devices that my family uses, namely a Dell Venue 7 3730 tablet with 4.4 KitKat & a Samsung Tab 4 SM-T230NU tablet with 4.2 KitKat. Both devices had received limited support from both their developers and the XDA community (due to both devices having a small market share). I figure that both these tablets aren't worth the money from selling them (the Venue 7 was free and the Tab 4 was a gift, yet neither are worth the little amount of money I could get).
My question is this: is there a way for me to get the source code for a "generic" Android device with Marshmallow or Nougat. And port it to these devices? If this is possible, what do I need to do, and are there conversion/porting guides out there that I can learn from?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

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[Q] Alcatel Tablets

Hi xda communities,
I would like to get an early expectation from you guys regarding on budget tablets that will be released by Alcatel soon. They are One Touch 7 and One Touch 7HD.
http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/tablets/one_touch_tab7.html
http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/tablets/one_touch_evo7hd.html
Will these two tablets get a wide community support from xda-developers? This will highly decide either i should buy this tablet or not. TIA

ZTE S7Q (Chinese Tablet)

Hi Everyone,
Not sure if this is the right place (did not find a specific ZTE tablet forum - but i guess all the chinese tablets are pretty much the same).
I recently got this device, It's pretty nice, not strong or anything (like the nexus 7 i initially wanted) but it was given to me for free.
My only problem with the device is the operating system version, android 4.2, I have also nexus 4 device and going back to 4.2 feels a bit how to say, laggy, old fashioned.
Can someone guide me please / link and also explain if it's possible somehow to get this tablet to android 4.4 or even 4.3.
Thanks you very much,
Anyone knows maybe? even a general answer not only to the zte tablet, regarding the chinese tablets and firmwares.
Tricepz said:
Anyone knows maybe? even a general answer not only to the zte tablet, regarding the chinese tablets and firmwares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am hacking this same tablet right now. ZTE is just a clone brand. Really, it is a Rockchip rk3188 processor, and some GPU. I hope this helps you find the right ROM. The bootloader is already unlocked, so that's not going to be a problem. Download this to identify your HW further:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Bfield.CpuIdentifier
Best of luck!

[Q] is it still worth getting the galaxy s3 in 2014?

Hi, I can get a deal offer for the s3 at the price of $233. But I have some questions
Is it still worth getting the galaxy s3 in 2014?
WIll it get official android L from samsung (there is already official kitkat right?)
if there's no official android L, does it have official Cyanogenmod support and so will it get android L cyanogenmod?
for future android L custom roms , will there be problems with some drivers? (e.g. my htc desure never got proper camera support on android 4.X roms as the drivers are not available). Are all drivers(and source code) released by samsung for the s3?
how does it compare with the galaxy s4? is the latter worth the price difference
how is camera (important for me) as compared to smarphones in the same price range available today (e.g. xperia sp, galaxy s4 mini)
thx for your time reading my long list of questions and waiting your replies and suggestions guys. Thx
No, no and no, yes and unlikely, yes and no, s4 is better but not by much, camera is good but only on stock rom.
is camera bad on custom roms? and there's no cyanogenmod official support?
yeahman45 said:
Hi, I can get a deal offer for the s3 at the price of $233. But I have some questions
Is it still worth getting the galaxy s3 in 2014?
WIll it get official android L from samsung (there is already official kitkat right?)
if there's no official android L, does it have official Cyanogenmod support and so will it get android L cyanogenmod?
for future android L custom roms , will there be problems with some drivers? (e.g. my htc desure never got proper camera support on android 4.X roms as the drivers are not available). Are all drivers(and source code) released by samsung for the s3?
how does it compare with the galaxy s4? is the latter worth the price difference
how is camera (important for me) as compared to smarphones in the same price range available today (e.g. xperia sp, galaxy s4 mini)
thx for your time reading my long list of questions and waiting your replies and suggestions guys. Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Absolutely no for the only 1 GB of RAM.
Actually on Amazon is very sold its Neo variant with 1,5 GB, but according to me it's a madness: a newer hardware is highly preferable and x64 architecture is coming.
2) Absolutely no and you are wrong: no KitKat official support for S3, why it should be extended to Android L? It's impossible!
3) Yes, it's promised by Cyanogen team, but never more the bull**** did with CM 10.2, working of course on a stable rom to switch to CM 11 nightlies as soon as possible.
When CM 11 stable is released, you can stay on CM 12 nightlies.
4) Samsung drivers are already released for custom rom, except for the 2-way call recording.
CyanogenMod prefers to use the hybrid and open source drivers, but with a specific BOEFFLA kernel, actually experimental, you can get the official and proprietary drivers, much better than first.
5) Galaxy S4 is obviously greater than S3 under any aspect, its price is about €300-350.
6) S3 has an excellent camera, but in AOSP roms it's not provided of a good stabilization, so pictures are a bit more moving than in stock rom.
Yup I know there are better hardware (obviously.. it is 2 yrs old) but for the price of $233 is it worth it? I don't want to spend more than $300 on a phone.
yeahman45 said:
Yup I know there are better hardware (obviously.. it is 2 yrs old) but for the price of $233 is it worth it? I don't want to spend more than $300 on a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG G Pro Lite [emoji106]
Simone98RC said:
LG G Pro Lite [emoji106]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will check this out... if the community of custom roms is active (but 5.5" is a bit too big for me and i hope it has sdcard and removable battery)
edit: are you sure it is better than the S3? looking at the specs, it does not look that great and it's a mediatek cpu ... )
yeahman45 said:
will check this out... if the community of custom roms is active (but 5.5" is a bit too big for me and i hope it has sdcard and removable battery)
edit: are you sure it is better than the S3? looking at the specs, it does not look that great and it's a mediatek cpu ... )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the Mediatek reputation, LG G Pro under many aspects is the ideal phone for your budget.
On Amazon.it its price is about €250, I think less on a bigger store such Amazon US or DE.
As me you want to root the device and flash a custom rom... LG is the only trademark who guarantee warranty also under root permissions.
Please can someone get me the quaraqumus QS-i9300-KK-v2.6 resumable link

what about an android 10 port for nexus 9 wifi

hello iwas just wondering if ther e could be abring up ofan android 10 port for nexus 9. as hte are other port bring up for ohte older devices and tablets. Jus twondering if its possible ornot.
Vartom had commented that there are driver issues with the Nexus 9 as it is and making it work fully with Android 8.1 is difficult as it is. It's likely it would be even more difficult to get things working with later versions without Treble
It would actually be fairly easy to build a recent AOSP for N9. In particular, the master branch of AOSP has some really cool pieces in place -- recent version of mesa3d, drm_hwcomposer, gralloc_gbm.... the only parts of the N9 that likely would create trouble would be the cameras. But you can't really use the cameras on a tablet anyway because you look like a moron doing so.
Note that Treble is NOT a requirement for building AOSP for N9. Previous poster is confused because its a requirement for devices that FIRST SHIP WITH certain versions of Android, in order to qualify for inclusion of google blobs. This requirement does not apply at all to N9 for THREE reasons;
1) No need for certification because you aren't trying to sell it.
2) N9 first shipped with Android 5.
3) Nothing applies to custom firmware.
Or now Android 11 for Nexus 9 ???!!!!

SUGGESTION: Best cheap android phone with custom rom and working camera+radios

Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
alexenferman said:
There are no *NEW* cheap phones that have custom ROM support unfortunately. But used phone are an option : ) If you want official ROM support (Even to this day!), you can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 for 50$, an S5, Note 3 (Android 9 - 10 support!).
If you want a used phone at 100-150$, you can get a A5 2017, Google Pixel 1, Nexus 6 (Don't buy the 6p)
If you want to get a Brand new phone: Moto G7 and G6 Plus (200-250$). (Theese phones have a more complicated process of modding)
You can check the Lineage OS download Page here: https://download.lineageos.org/ Theese are all of the supported devices.
If you don't want to have any difficulties, you can get a Samsung but be careful with the variants! Get the international or Canadian variant because if you get a US variant, there are no methods of unlocking the device (except for the S5 and less) You can also get the Google Pixel, but do not buy the US variant. Same for the nexus devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bizzzle said:
Your knowledge and help are much appreciated.
Can you offer advice on USB OTG Compatibility with various phones on Lineage? I've had mixed results in the past with stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the phones I mentioned have OTG capability
Probably almost all phone supported by lineage have OTG. Don't worry about that.
bizzzle said:
Hi All,
I'm an engineer looking to upgrade a product which uses an old Altel smartphone. I'm experienced in Unlocking and flashing. I have already done a search, but now in 2020, there may be new info.
Looking for suggestions for the best CHEAP android phone which has good custom ROM support for android 7+ (ish).
I need to use the back camera, and connect via wifi, bluetooth, or Cellular Data. It will be tested in the US, but may benefit from support for many globally common 3g and 4g bands.
One last thing. Would love to find something I can still buy a few dozen of NEW, or at least MFG REFURB.
Can anyone suggest suitable phones? So far, been considering late nexus line and early pixel line, knowing they're flash unlockable.
Thank you for reading! Apologies if I hit the wrong section of the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 Samsung Galaxy S3 ( circa 2012 ) and while they are far from new, they are great phones to play around with.
I am far from experienced, but I have enjoyed flashing Custom ROM's , from CyanogenMod, thru various versions of Lineage, and now CrDroid. The newest O/S that I flashed is CrDroid 3.8.9 ( based on Android 7.1.2 - I think! ). Runs great. Stable. Long battery life. Ran ( 'right out of the box' ) without any need to install Gapps.
The nice thing is the Samsung Galaxy S3 is so darn abundant. Seems that everybody has one collecting dust in a drawer. And that means they are cheap ( as in give it away ). All the Samsung Galaxy S3 came with unlocked bootloader ( I think that is the term ) except for the Verizon model.
Icing on the cake is, a fellow from Montreal, alexenferman, is the genious authour of the CrDroid Custom ROM.

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