Once you have root access and a custom recovery image installed, such as TWRP Recovery or ClockworkMod recovery, you can start thinking about installing what custom ROMs are on offer for your device. The Ascend P2 isn’t the most popular smartphone in the world, and as such it doesn’t have the best developers catering to its needs. However, it is possible to update to a newer version of Android KitKat which your stock Android doesn’t have.

Here’s how to install Android 4.4.2 KitKat on the P2 thanks to a custom ROM known as Omni ROM.

REQUIREMENTS

  • You can only use this guide if you have the Huawei Ascend P2 smartphone. Do not try installing it on any other.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

  • Follow this guide at your own risk. It’s not a well-renowned third-party developer.
  • You should be an experienced Android user before following this guide just in case you want to get out of a soft-brick situation. Since you have already voided the warranty, you cannot get free assistance apart from online forums. Speaking of which, the best way to find help is heading to XDA Developers — you can find the original thread for this ROM here.

HOW TO FLASH A CUSTOM ROM ON THE HUAWEI ASCEND P2 BASED ON ANDROID 4.4.2 KITKAT

  1. Download the P6 flashable zip file here.
  2. Download ADB and fastboot to your Windows computer.
  3. Download the OpenRecovery you want from here.
  4. Extract the ADB, Fastboot and Recovery files to the desktop and transfer the recovery.img file over to the same folder as ADB and fastboot.
  5. In the same folder, open the command windows by holding the Shift key and right-clicking the mouse on a white space where there is no file and selecting the “open command windows here’ option from the new menu.
  6. Type the first command: “adb reboot bootloader”.
  7. Press Enter.
  8. Type the second command: “fastboot flash recovery recovery.img”.
  9. Press Enter.
  10. Type the third command: “fastboot reboot”.
  11. Press Enter.
  12. Press the “Power” + Volume Up + Volume Down” during the startup and select recovery from the menu.
  13. You are now about to wipe the data on your handset. You must take a NANDroid backup now, or backup using any other method of your choice, such as the Titanium app from Google Play.
  14. Select “Wipe” and swipe to the factory reset.
  15. Select ‘Wipe” format data.
  16. Select the “Advanced” and “ADB Sideload” and swipe to start the download.
  17. Transfer the flashable zip file to the same folder as ADB, Fastboot and the recovery image.
  18. Open the command windows again.
  19. Type “adb sideload “the-zip-name”.zip and substitute “the-zip” for the real zip file name.
  20. Download the homemade ROM here.
  21. Install the homemade ROM the same way you flashed the zip file above from the command line.
  22. Download the Omni ROM here.
  23. Install it the same way once again, using the command line.
  24. Wipe the delvik cache and other caching options to ensure a smooth process.
  25. Flash Google Gapps here via the command line again or you can upload Gapps from inside recovery by going to install > uploading the zip file.

You’re all done. Enjoy!