Upgrading the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 to Jellybean (K1_JB_AOSP) Newbie Guide with Pictures

Remember when the news came out that Lenovo decided to release a Ice Cream Sandwich stock Vanilla for the Lenovo Ideapad. Everybody was happy. Then they found out that the stock ICS did not have Google Play Store! They've also advised mainstream users (and those who aren't familiar with tinkering with their Android OS) to basically stay away from it.

Coincidentally, my Lenovo IdeaPad K1 dies out on me. I have not used it for more than a month because it didn't charge nor did it indicate any signs of life. So today, I just decided to give it a try and holy cow!

Before anything else, let me explain what I have in hand and what to expect...

1. My Lenovo IdeaPad K1 had the original Honeycomb OS...Android OS 3.1

2. I didn't have a microSD card (These first two reasons are why CWM's Jellybean version was out of the question).

Note: According to my understanding, CWM will only work if you have an external micro-SD card and you have the Clockwork Mod Recovery (a package included in Krook1's Android ROM).

3. I have an IdeaPad K1 tablet that's at least 70% charge.

4. Expect that all data will be wiped out, except for the one in your microSD card.

5. Expect that the signal strength for Wi-Fi is messed up. It doesn't show any signal even when you're already connected to a network

Issues I've come across while upgrading the IdeaPad K1 tablet to Jellybean...

1. I tried running NvFlash in Windows 7 by double-clicking the flash-win.bat (and even dragging the batch file to the command window and pressing enter), but nothing seems to happens!

Note: I already disabled my anti-virus and User Account Control (UAC) was off too.

2. I thought I got stuck during the "Formatting partition 12" but I waited a bit and it got to 13. Just in case you get stuck at "Formatting partition 12", just close it and repeat the process.

This is what I meant about getting stuck at Formattiing partition 12. No worries, all you have to do is close it and repeat IF you do get stuck.

3. Although my Lenovo IdeaPad K1 does not show itself in Windows XP, this was what I used to upgrade to Jellybean or Android OS 4.1.1

Once again, the reason why I am doing this is because I hope to help newbies like me.

Nvflash version 1. Download one of the packages above and extract it to a directory  2. Power off device 3. Press and hold both the Vol + and Vol - buttons 4. While holding both Volume buttons power the tablet on 5. The screen should go black and the two front LED's should remain lit. You are now in APX mode 6. Connect your device to USB 7a) Windows: Install the APX drivers from the 'drivers' folder Double click the 'flash-windows.bat' file 7b) Linux: run 'chmod +x flash-linux.sh && sudo ./flash-linux.sh' from the extracted directory Credit goes to Khanning. These instructions were taken from the Lenovo Community Forum on the [ROM][JB][AOSP].  Just in case you run through issues not mentioned in this post, don't hesitate to visit the forum. There's 26 pages worth of discussions about the K1_JB_AOSP

Step 1. Downloading the package... The one I used was the NvFlash version since I didn't have an SD card or the Krook1's Clockwork Mod.

K1_JB_AOSP 

This is that same link used on the forum. It's approximately 198MB in size with an MD5 of f15609a8bd98d0a39f838b29f0c6df59. MD5 is an attribute (checksum) given to a file so that others will be able to verify whether it was tampered with or not.

Step 1.1: The K1_JB_AOSP.zip should be extracted out, preferably to the Desktop.

As you could see, I extracted mine in the Desktop. Ignore the red arrows for now.

Step 2. Pretty self-explanatory. Long press the power button and wait for the "Shut Down" or "Power Off" message and press OK.

Step 3 & 4. Now that it's off, press the Vol + and Vol - button. Don't let go. Press the power button and wait for the lights on your IdeaPad K1 (beside the menu button) to remain lit. Once it's on, give it 5-10 more seconds and let go of the Power Button.

Note: I made a mistake of letting the power button go so soon that it booted to start up.

Step 5: Checklist for the IdeaPad K1 to be on APX mode.

-Black Screen (Check)

-Tiny Lights on Both Sides of the Menu Button ON (Check)

Step 6. Picture Time!

This is what APX mode looks like. I already took the liberty of attaching the USB  for the next processes.

Step 7. Look for the folder where you extracted the K1_JB_AOSP.zip. Assuming you clicked on Desktop without typing in a folder for it to be extracted to, the contents of the zip will be on the desktop.

Step 7.1: Double-click on the flash-win.bat file in that folder.

Double-click the flash-win.bat file to run it.

Step 8. Sit back and relax. Let NvFlash do its job.

Installing drivers...

Done with installing the NVIDIA USB Boot-recovery driver for Mobile devices.

What you should expect to pop-out in the command window (the black window) while it is flashing your Lenovo IdeaPad K1.

This is how it will appear on your Lenovo IdeaPad K1.

Step 9: Once it is done, you should be seeing this in your screen.

A Shiny X Glowing with Rainbow Colors!

Success! The fruits of your labor has paid off!

Once you've finished the prompts (about primary language and setting up your Gmail), you're good to go.

Now, both of us are enjoying our K1 in Jellybean.

Note: Good news! I was already able to upgrade my Android tablet so that the Wi-Fi signal is visible. If you're interested, please visit my Upgrading Lenovo IdeaPad K1 to CM10.