How to: Remove CynogenMod Android from your HP TouchPad

A number of people have been wondering how to get rid of CynogenMod Android from their HP TouchPad. There’s no “official” uninstall or remove guide, it’s alpha software and so easy removal wasn’t designed in. Some people have also asked if HP will be able to detect if it was installed, there’s no way we guarantee it can’t, and really if that’s an issue for you why did you install it? The following guide does remove the three CynogenMod partitions, boot loader and resize the main TouchPad Store partition back to factory defaults. If you know a better way or spot any mistakes, let EAT know!

UPDATE: It seems an uninstaller called ACMEUninstaller is now being provided on the Rootzwiki CyanogenMod page. We’ve not had chance to test it but you should try that before following this guide.

0. Warning

You follow these steps entirely at your own risk. This process involves removing partitions from your HP TouchPad and could lead to your device becoming non-functional. It also involves factory resetting the TouchPad and so you will lose any media or files stored in non-standard folders.

1. Start a terminal

You need a way to access the WebOS Linux terminal, so we can interrogate the partitions and remove them. Most people say download Novaterm, and launch that from your desktop PC. We’d say the same but it refused to connect to our HP TouchPad for whatever reason. Alternatively we have Preware installed and can use Xecutah – a local Linux terminal – to run the commands below.

2. Check and remove partitions

Once you have a terminal open type lvm lvscan and press Return. This will list all of the existing partitions on the HP TouchPad, the three we’re interested in are:

/dev/store/cm-system [304 MB]
/dev/store/cm-cache [200 MB]
/dev/store/cm-data [1.50 GB]

To remove each one type the following lines and press Return after each one:

lvremove /dev/store/cm-system
lvremove /dev/store/cm-cache
lvremove /dev/store/cm-data

3. Back up and get ready

It’s best practise to back up your HP TouchPad, go to Settings > Backup and click Back Up Now. Once that’s done, restart the HP TouchPad and as it first powers up hold the Up Volume button and you should see the white USB logo. Connect the TouchPad to your desktop PC.

4. Get the WebOS Doctor

Head to the WebOS Doctor site and follow the instructions. You’ll require Java installed and your HP WebOS account details, plus the device needs at least five percent charge. The entire reset process shouldn’t take more than half an hour. After which you should have a shiny new HP TouchPad installation. There will be some Android folders left in the Media folder, mount the HP TouchPad as a drive and remove these if you feel the need. As a starts the folders .android_secure, Android, clockworkmod, download and data can all go.