Update Nexus 7 (2013) to Android 8.1 Oreo Custom ROM

Feb 21, 2018

AICP ROM aka the Ice Cold Project is now available based on latest Android 8.1.0 Oreo for Nexus 7 (2013). Looking forward to the latest deliciousness of Android Oreo? You can now install AICP Nightly custom ROM on your Nexus 7 (2013). Following are the prerequisites and steps to update Nexus 7 2013 to Android 8.1.0 Oreo based custom ROM.

Prerequisites to update Nexus 7 to Android 8.1 Oreo ROM

Download and install USB drivers for Nexus 7 (2013) on your computer.
Enable USB debugging option by pressing Menu > Settings > Applications. Navigate and tap on Developer Options to ensure that USB Debugging is enabled.
Your Nexus device should be rooted.
Make sure that TWRP recovery is installed.
Ensure that your Nexus carries more than 70% of charge.

Please visit this developer thread for complete changelog, support, and bug reports.

Steps to update Nexus 7 to Android 8.1 Oreo AICP Nightly

Required files: Download AICP Android 8.1.0 Oreo for Nexus 7 (2013) from here.

Connect your Nexus 7 (2013) to your PC using USB cable and copy the downloaded files to the SD card of your device.
Disconnect your tablet and power it off.
Now boot it into the Bootloader mode: press and hold Volume Up, Volume Down and the Power buttons simultaneously. Follow onscreen instructions and go to recovery. Once here, use Volume keys to highlight and Power to select.
Data wipe operations (labels will differ between CWM and TWRP): go to wipe data/factory reset and confirm the operation. Also, wipe cache partition and finally go for wipe dalvik cache to clean it up too.
Now, select install and then choose zip from sdcard. Locate AICP ROM zip file and confirm its installation.
When the ROM installation completes successfully, repeat the above step for installing root file.
Once done, go back to main recovery menu and select reboot system now.

First boot may take over 5 minutes, so don’t be worried. The above are generic instructions; developers have their own list of warnings and installation tips available over at XDA. Please make sure to read those before flashing AICP on Nexus 7.