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Nextbook Ares 11 NXA116QC164 Root, Remove Encryption, and Downgrade to 5.0

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This is for the NXA116QC164. Not the 264 model. The 264 model has firmware updated to 6.0 on the nextbookusa.com site. Proceed at your own risk.

I bought an Ares 11 from Walmart and found out in short order that even though this tablet has good specs it is slow and with Android 5.1 installed it has a memory leak causing instability. After a bit of research I found that we can get root access, install a better recovery, downgrade to Android 5.0, and remove the encryption. After doing this, my tablet is much more responsive and stable. This also works for the Ares 8. Just use ares-8-boot.img instead of boot_noencrypt.img. everything else is the same.

This is just a more consolidated version of the information from HERE.

If you choose to continue following this tutorial, you acknowledge that performing these tasks may cause your tablet not to boot properly and that is your responsibility, not mine. All data on the tablet will be erased. You should backup anything you do not want to lose. With that being said, I have done this on two NextBook Ares 11’s without issue. So as long as you follow the instructions you should be fine.

What You Will Need

Concerning Linux

If you don’t have Ubuntu on a computer you can use a live disk. Download Ubuntu and burn it to a disk with imgburn.

Lets Get To It 

  • Make sure your tablet is charged
  • Turn off your tablet
  • Boot into Linux
  • Connect to the internet
  • Download  NXA11_root_kit.zip
  • Extract NXA11_root_kit.zip to the Desktop
  • Copy SuperSU246.zip to your micro SD card
  • Install the SD card to your tablet
  • Connect your tablet to the linux computer with the micro USB data cable
  • Open Terminal in linux
  • Install ADB sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb
  • cd /home/*user*/Desktop/ares11
  • (Tablet) Boot the tablet into the bootloader by pressing the Power button and the Volume Down until you see the boot logo then release the Power button and continue to hold the Volume Down until you see the bootloader.
  • (Terminal) sudo ./trigger 4 This will cause your tablets screen to look funny, just wait till its done.
  • (Tablet) Reboot to the bootloader
  • (Terminal) sudo ./fastboot flash recovery ./twrp_recovery.img
  • (Tablet) Reboot to recovery by powering off the tablet. Once the tablet is off, press and hold the Power button and the Volume Up buttons until you see the logo, then release the Power button and continue holding the Volume Up button till you see the recovery menu.
  • (Tablet) Using the touchpad on the attached keyboard click on Wipe
  • Click on Format Data
  • Type yes
  • Click Go
  • Click the Home Icon on the bottom left
  • Click on Install
  • Select SuperSU246.zip
  • Swipe to Confirm Flash
  • Reboot to the bootloader
  • (Terminal) sudo ./fastboot flash boot ./boot_noencrypt.img
  • (Tablet) Reboot to recovery
  • (Tablet) Click on Wipe
  • (Tablet) Swipe to Factory Reset
  • (Tablet) Power off and then power on normally
  • Enjoy!