[Q] another brick story - Acer Iconia A500

I have been working on this for the past few days and for the life of me cannot figure out the problem. I'll start by just laying out a sequence of events.
Bought A500 about a month ago. OTA'd to HC 3.1 4.010.13_com_gen2
Decided not to wait for OTA 3.2 and rooted with iconiabreak.
Did not do a backup (like an idiot, i know)
Flashed Taboonay 2.0 with Thor's 2.1 kernal.
Saw awesome post to get rid of cell standby by deleting phone.apk and telephony.apk....do i did that.
Realize i am an idiot and then run a Nandroid backup.
Was happy for a few weeks when i see that Vache had updated taboonay to 2.1b and decided i wanted to do that.
Downloaded the files and started to flash with CWM. Factory, cache, dalvik wipe. Run Taboonay zip.
Get stuck in bootloop at Taboonay boot screen. $#!t......
Think "it's ok, ill just do an update.zip and go back to 3.1"
Try almost all the files on Vache's full package and update thread.
I put each one on an ext sd card and throw it into recovery boot. The Android guy with gears shows up and it looks like it is going to work.
The progress bar gets about 90-95% of the way when everything just stops. Gears animation, progress, everything.
It then reboots and gets stuck in a bootloop at the android screen. Load a different update.zip and same thing happens each time.
I try to just do a normal recovery boot, but CWM isnt there anymore and i get the ! android.
Normal reboot gives me a bootloop.
So i am stuck and asking if it is the phone and telephony apks that caused everything? if that were the case, how would i be able to load them back up since im totally locked out. I havent tried adb since im out of town for a few days. Thanks for any help that anyone can lend me. Ill try to answer any questions for any information that might be needed.

bumping for great justice~
I've tried decrypting update.zip files and vice versa.
still no luck..

try the fall back to 3.0.1
Check under development section for iconia a500. You'll see a thread for going from 3.2 to 3.0.1.
As i readd about this rom, it seems it's used in difficult cases (it removes the locks created by 3.2 stock), so it could be worth giving it a try.

rorohajj said:
Check under development section for iconia a500. You'll see a thread for going from 3.2 to 3.0.1.
As i readd about this rom, it seems it's used in difficult cases (it removes the locks created by 3.2 stock), so it could be worth giving it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I don't think that will be a viable option for me since i'm not able to get my UID. i've plugged my tablet into the computer and gotten the "hardware found" bubble. It prompts me to look for drivers (which i havent be able to find) and, i assume because it's in a bootloop, wont show up on the computer.
Does anyone know why the update.zip files would fail at 90%? I think that's really the thing that boggles my mind and is most frustrating.

Did you at all have your A500 connected to your computer prior to this happening? If so then you can get the UID from by way of the Windows registry. Then you should contact SC2K and get him your UID he should be able to help you get your A500 back from the dead.

jeffw111 said:
Did you at all have your A500 connected to your computer prior to this happening? If so then you can get the UID from by way of the Windows registry. Then you should contact SC2K and get him your UID he should be able to help you get your A500 back from the dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no I never plugged my A500 into my computer.

quick update:
I was able to use a different computer and found something interesting.
While trying to transfer or open a decrypted update.zip file, i get an error message saying, "Please insert the last disk of the Multi-Volume set and click OK to continue". Clicking OK just brings it back and i am forced to click cancel.
Anyone have any idea what that would mean??? It doesnt happen when I open or transfer the non-decrypted file. Only the decrypted file using Thor's Acer Update Decrypter application on HC 3.1 and 3.2 files.
While loading the decrypted update.zip on the A500, it almost instantly shows the ! android guy, while the non-decrypted files go 90-95% and then reboot into bootloop.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

first off if you can get into recovery to flash anything.You are not bricked.
Take your SD card put in a android phone format it.
Put the card in your computer.copy a full update.zip file from dev section.likes on a post by Thor.put card.back in tab and flash.
If it stall fails repeat with a different SD card.seems smaller ones do best.
Good luck.

erica_renee said:
first off if you can get into recovery to flash anything.You are not bricked.
Take your SD card put in a android phone format it.
Put the card in your computer.copy a full update.zip file from dev section.likes on a post by Thor.put card.back in tab and flash.
If it stall fails repeat with a different SD card.seems smaller ones do best.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, first off.
I'm sorry I didn't make it clear that I had done all of those things during the events of the first post EXCEPT try a different sd card.
So I went out today and bought a PNY 2GB sd card as opposed to the SanDisk 4GB i was using. I formatted it in my Atrix 4G and threw a full update.zip file in there. The first file I tried (from Vache's http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878 thread) was Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1 (HC 3.1). Since I was able to open the .zip without decrypting it I loaded it only the sd card. It did the same thing as before (loaded to about 90% then freeze, reboot) except this time I got a "Boot verification failed..." message in bright red letters up at the top left of the Acer screen. Since it didn't work, I loaded Acer_A500_7.006.03_COM_GEN2 (HC 3.2) onto the sd card. Again, since I was able to open the .zip file, I assumed that there was no need to decrypt it. Loaded the sd card and put the tablet into default recovery (not CWM recovery which I no longer have). The same problem keeps happening: it loads to 90%, freezes then reboots. This time, however, it went into a bootloop at the "android" screen.
I've tried decrypted versions of those files, but I always get an error message while trying to open them and when trying to flash them in default recovery, it almost instantly goes to the ! android guy since I'm assuming those files are already decrypted and decrypting them again is bad.
Hopefully if I try enough files, I'll find the one that works...
Until then, if anyone has any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong or should be doing differently, please let me know!
Thanks.

there is a thread that has instructions on going from the OTA 3.2 to downgrade. To 3.1.look for that tthread and windows software. On that thread it talks about that error your getting.
Since I have not had this issue .can't say for sure if it will help.
Good luck sorry I can not do more to hhelp
Just a dingy blonde here.

erica_renee said:
there is a thread that has instructions on going from the OTA 3.2 to downgrade. To 3.1.look for that tthread and windows software. On that thread it talks about that error your getting.
Since I have not had this issue .can't say for sure if it will help.
Good luck sorry I can not do more to hhelp
Just a dingy blonde here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestion.
I was able to find my UID from an old CWM backup file and tried this method. I attempted it last night with no success. I was actually in the middle of making a reply saying how heartbroken I was and that I was basically giving up. I decided to try it one more time and made a slight adjustment from my method last night. In the UID file, I had my UID in there as 0x0blahblahblah and kept getting the incorrect UID error in the program. When I tried taking out the first 0x in the program, it gave me an incorrect format error. That is where I was messing up.
Instead of 0x0, all i needed was 0blahblahblah in the UID file.
Attempted the upgrade utility again, and viola! It worked like a champ.
So thanks again to all that helped out and offered suggestions and to all the Devs for their outstanding work. I've definitely learned a lot from this experience.

Related

[Q] Acer Iconia Stuck on "Android" screen

Pls help...after installing Acer_A500_4.010.40_COM_GEN1 through CWM...then i do factory reset, right now my acer iconia is stuck at "android" screen...I can't go to Thor CWM since its not installed...
how to solve this problem ? thanks
more info needed
Did you clear all date cache files before updstiong.did you confirm the md5 on the update.zip.these are a few diagnostic things.I would try taking your SD card inserting it into your computer using SD formater format the card to fat.redownload the update.zip file check the md5 to insure its not currupt.after moving it to SD card.the put back in tab and reflash.if this does not work try diffrent SD card. If that fails find a fifteenth download thee is prob a issue with that file
Now all of this is in the developer sections.You should have not tried flashing your device without knowing what to do if it went wrong.details about all I have mentioned are in the forum threads. OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Please stop and read to understand your device
Good luck
Problem solved by flashing stock rom...thanks
Same problem
I also tried to return my Iconia A500 to stock and now my Iconia sits at the Android screen and will flash the word Android every few minutes.
I tried flashing it with stock roms I got off this site. I used Acer_A500_0.000.00_4.010.10_COM_GEN1_1310535068612_9b84abb1. I did decrypt it like Thor posted to do.
After the flash the Cockwork Mod is no longer there. My problem is very much like the one posted here but no fix is listed. I hope some one can help me.
I have been poring over this site for a while trying to find the fix.
Darkfin said:
I also tried to return my Iconia A500 to stock and now my Iconia sits at the Android screen and will flash the word Android every few minutes.
I tried flashing it with stock roms I got off this site. I used Acer_A500_0.000.00_4.010.10_COM_GEN1_1310535068612_9b84abb1. I did decrypt it like Thor posted to do.
After the flash the Cockwork Mod is no longer there. My problem is very much like the one posted here but no fix is listed. I hope some one can help me.
I have been poring over this site for a while trying to find the fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno why that would happen, I see the file size was only 47mb don't sound right to me...
I had similar prob with update.zip, just couldnt get it to work - lost cwm in the process and ended up using timmydeans method http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1307539 to get cwm and rooted 3.2.1. This wipes all your data so be warned.
Method 2 here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1276227 supposedly keeps your data but installs an unstable 3.0.1 which you then use to root and install cwm. Its difficult to use due to the instability so make sure you have these apks on your external sd to make life easier:
acer recovery installer and iconia root, just do a search on the forums to find them.
To go back to full stock I used the EUU package from here yesterday http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878 to get back to 3.0.1 which worked real well, dunno if it wipes all your data coz i'd done a full format and wipe beforehand. I got all my OTA updates after the flash so now waiting patiently for the ICS OTA to roll out you will need a pc and your cpuid.
Surrender
Thanks I tried all these very good suggestions but still cannot recover my tablet. Looks like it is time for me to call Acer and find out what they will charge me to fix it.
Darkfin said:
Thanks I tried all these very good suggestions but still cannot recover my tablet. Looks like it is time for me to call Acer and find out what they will charge me to fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm, its rather unusual that none of those methods worked for you, without the system throwing up some sort of error unless you trying to revert to stock after trying one of the ICS leak roms - this involves a downgrade using an EUU but using a totally different method.
Did you remember to remove the update.zip from your external sd after you flashed the stock rom?
Are you saying it boots but just not all the way into the OS? i.e boot loop
sorry to ask all this but it may be of help to others experiencing the same thing
Flashing back to stock normally does the trick - if theres no SOS or LNX checksum errors - which you have not reported...

Stuck on HC Bootloader, won't update

*** SOLVED ***
Hey all.
So I've had my A500 for about a year now and it's been on several different ROMs and kernels over that time.
Most recently, I was running Flexreaper R12 (I believe) and ICS was running very smoothly.
At some point a few months ago (after a Flexreaper update), I was experiencing the Sleep Of Death and flashed an AntiSOD kernel to stop it (which it did). All this time, for some reason or another, I never updated the bootloader past the Honeycomb bootloader - and that's where I'm stuck right now.
I've tried using AfterOTA in every possible way to get anything else loaded.
I've tried Blackthund3r's A500 APX Flash Utility with at least 7 different APX packages, but no matter what I try, I'm still stuck with Flexreaper and the HC bootloader.
FWIW, both AfterOTA and the A500 APX Flash Util experience a problem with my A500 when it reboots. Most of the time I can get the device to be recognized by my OS (Windows 7 x64), but sometimes it doesn't and fails on driver install, even though I've installed the Google drivers direct from the SDK as well as Acer's drivers (USB_Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501).
I'm pretty sure this is a driver issue, but I'm unclear on how to fix it. I've uninstalled ALL drivers related to the A500, rebooted and reinstalled them, I've uninstalled them and then pointed the installer directly to the unzipped USB driver folder (from above), but it seems that at some point the device fails to be seen, only rarely - but it's this that I think is the main problem... or I'm missing something.
So, any advice for someone that's STUCK on the old 3.01 bootloader?
Psychlone
Psychlone said:
Hey all.
So I've had my A500 for about a year now and it's been on several different ROMs and kernels over that time.
Most recently, I was running Flexreaper R12 (I believe) and ICS was running very smoothly.
At some point a few months ago (after a Flexreaper update), I was experiencing the Sleep Of Death and flashed an AntiSOD kernel to stop it (which it did). All this time, for some reason or another, I never updated the bootloader past the Honeycomb bootloader - and that's where I'm stuck right now.
I've tried using AfterOTA in every possible way to get anything else loaded.
I've tried Blackthund3r's A500 APX Flash Utility with at least 7 different APX packages, but no matter what I try, I'm still stuck with Flexreaper and the HC bootloader.
FWIW, both AfterOTA and the A500 APX Flash Util experience a problem with my A500 when it reboots. Most of the time I can get the device to be recognized by my OS (Windows 7 x64), but sometimes it doesn't and fails on driver install, even though I've installed the Google drivers direct from the SDK as well as Acer's drivers (USB_Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501).
I'm pretty sure this is a driver issue, but I'm unclear on how to fix it. I've uninstalled ALL drivers related to the A500, rebooted and reinstalled them, I've uninstalled them and then pointed the installer directly to the unzipped USB driver folder (from above), but it seems that at some point the device fails to be seen, only rarely - but it's this that I think is the main problem... or I'm missing something.
So, any advice for someone that's STUCK on the old 3.01 bootloader?
Psychlone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was stuck to so i downgraded got the ics bootloader from the ota and then used afterOTA to get the unlocked version and it worked
gears177 said:
i was stuck to so i downgraded got the ics bootloader from the ota and then used afterOTA to get the unlocked version and it worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?
Psychlone said:
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your on the honeycomb bootloader simply flash a honeycomb rom and kernel no need to use afterOTA or anything else if i remember correctly
Psychlone said:
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you got a couple of choices....
with the HC Bootloader and ics rom...
full wipe and flash an HC rom or
nandroid restore an HC backup or
flash an update.zip
as a last resort - a complete downgrade/rollback use timmydeansv4 EUU - just be sure to follow the instructions in jazzyjames post on how to roll back - iu dont wanna get it wrong and end up stuck in apx mode. If it doesnt work first time....STOP...disconnect yr data cable and reboot tab and pc, use a different USB port and try it again....
Some folks have had issues with win64 so if you are able to then try on a different pc
sometimes a restore wont work unless you restore it with the recovery you used to back up with in the first place which may have been cwm 1.3.4 in your case....maybe???
as far as the MTP driver goes...that can be a pain...i had the same trouble a few days ago on ICS...took ages to get installed....and i still dont know why it did....or why it wouldnt....very frustrating!!!
dibb_nz said:
you got a couple of choices....
with the HC Bootloader and ics rom...
full wipe and flash an HC rom or
nandroid restore an HC backup or
flash an update.zip
as a last resort - a complete downgrade/rollback use timmydeansv4 EUU - just be sure to follow the instructions in jazzyjames post on how to roll back - iu dont wanna get it wrong and end up stuck in apx mode. If it doesnt work first time....STOP...disconnect yr data cable and reboot tab and pc, use a different USB port and try it again....
Some folks have had issues with win64 so if you are able to then try on a different pc
sometimes a restore wont work unless you restore it with the recovery you used to back up with in the first place which may have been cwm 1.3.4 in your case....maybe???
as far as the MTP driver goes...that can be a pain...i had the same trouble a few days ago on ICS...took ages to get installed....and i still dont know why it did....or why it wouldnt....very frustrating!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he's not on the ics bootloader though so couldn't he just flash the 3.01 unstable and get the OTA? or go back to a stock rom in general?
gears177 said:
he's not on the ics bootloader though so couldn't he just flash the 3.01 unstable and get the OTA? or go back to a stock rom in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh 2nd line of my post hc bootloader ics rom, and u correct use 3.01 buggy update,zip or stock update.zip I shoulda been clearer - thanks gears
Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the help, but I'm still having serious issues reverting back to HC.
I feel like an idiot, but I have to say that even though it seems so, I'm actually the owner of a computer repair business, have 28 years experience in PC/Mac repair, and have rooted and modded every android device I've owned (including some for friends as well) - all the way back to the very beginning with the D1. This, however, has thrown me for a loop. NOTHING with this A500 has been this complicated! Everything up to this point has literally been stupid-proof and I've actually been quite impressed at just how easy modding is on the A500...
Anyway...
Here's what's going on and what I've tried today:
I've tried unsuccessfully several times to get ANYTHING working on my laptop, but to no avail. Same story as last night, no progress whatsoever - however, I did note that with CWM 134, I was able to restore an earlier version of ICS 4.03 (Flexreaper R10 I believe) - but it wasn't easy... I ended up restoring the main image and then using parts and pieces (using Advanced Restore) from other saves to finally even get it to boot.
This clearly wasn't getting me anywhere, so I moved the entire operation to another computer - my main rig (also a Win7 x64 - in fact, I don't own a computer that's not Win7 x64)
Now I've got USB driver issues! I can't even install the standard USB drivers from Acer's website because the installer errors out saying that there's no version of Acer Iconia 3G Driver Install is installed. wtF? That's what I'm TRYING to do!
I did get a different USB driver installed - the USB Driver_Acer_1.06.1500_A30H_A500, but nothing wants to use it and Blackthund3r's APX Flash Util won't see it, AfterOTA won't use it, and it's basically useless anyway. AND I can't install the Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501 drivers no matter if I've got any others installed or not.
In my device mangler, there is no device with an exclamation, and in fact, sees my Acer Iconia A500 under USB Serial Bus Controllers as "Acer Picasso USB Boot-Recovery Driver", only when it's plugged in. NO other instance shows up at all.
I'm actually at the point of trying to follow through with the EUU (dibb_nz's "last resort"), but vache's website is down and I can't download anything for it. In fact, there's nothing from that guide that has a valid link...
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1632392)
So now where do I go? I understand IT really well, so you don't need to talk to me like a complete noob, but dang if I can't figure this one out!
If I can get valid links to all the downloads from the link above, I'd be more than happy to give it a go and see if that works, but I can't piece together all those things from random places. If either of you (or anyone else for that matter) has valid links for everything needed to follow the EUU guide, I'd be very grateful!
Any other advice would certainly be appreciated as well! I don't have to use either of these computers, but as mentioned, ALL of my computers have Windows 7 x64 on them. I suppose I could try one of my customer's computers for all this, but that's not morally right and probably something that I would prefer not to explore.
I feel as if I could get the USB drivers installed properly on EITHER machine, that I'd likely be in good shape. I think that's what my problem actually is on the laptop as well, even though they're all installed and shows as installed until I boot into any recovery - then I get the MTP Device Driver Fail. There's likely other Acer driver issues there though, since Blackthund3r's utils don't follow through for anything... everything just hangs. AfterOTA just hangs.
Advice please?
And thanks again for your knowledge!
Psychlone
Yeh I hear u m8, its taken me all nite and day to revert back to HC and then upgrade again....dam pesky Picasso drivers.....
why not do as gears suggested....boot to cwm do all the wipes and formatsand flash an HC rom, ezterrys has a rooted one...no drivers needed . or am I missing something?
D/l link for timmydeans euu in my cpuid thread
dibb_nz said:
Yeh I hear u m8, its taken me all nite and day to revert back to HC and then upgrade again....dam pesky Picasso drivers.....
why not do as gears suggested....boot to cwm do all the wipes and formatsand flash an HC rom, ezterrys has a rooted one...no drivers needed . or am I missing something?
D/l link for timmydeans euu in my cpuid thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I would but no matter what image I put on my SD or even internal SD, and no matter what recovery I use, there's always some type of fail - usually an MD5 fail, or just a fail without any error code at all (little android on his back with the red exclamation, but no code)
I'm clearly missing SOMETHING.
I'm about to try the EUU right now unless there's some other advice...
EDIT::
OK, so I'm really in bad shape here - now the EUU (PBJ20upgrade) comes back with the error:
Please download the newer image for the upgrade.
Current image version: Acer_AV041_A500_1,054.Acer_AV041_A500
New image version: Acer_A500_1.016.05_Com_GEN1
What now????
Psychlone said:
Well, I would but no matter what image I put on my SD or even internal SD, and no matter what recovery I use, there's always some type of fail - usually an MD5 fail, or just a fail without any error code at all (little android on his back with the red exclamation, but no code)
I'm clearly missing SOMETHING.
I'm about to try the EUU right now unless there's some other advice...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh hell now i'm confused, lol.....the little android dude is the acer stock recovery....i thought you had thors 1.7...oh well, nvm
Hopefully the EUU will install the right drivers for you....just be sure NOT to connect your data cable until u see the "cannot detect yr iconia tab" screen and it will give u instructions on how to get into apx mode...oh just before that window the EUU will try and scan your system image it will take a good 5 mins b4 it pops up the window to go into apx don't panic just let it do its thing....good luck m8!!!!
Oh and this will completely wipe yr system and user data.....
dibb_nz said:
oh hell now i'm confused, lol.....the little android dude is the acer stock recovery....i thought you had thors 1.7...oh well, nvm
Hopefully the EUU will install the right drivers for you....just be sure NOT to connect your data cable until u see the "cannot detect yr iconia tab" screen and it will give u instructions on how to get into apx mode...oh just before that window the EUU will try and scan your system image it will take a good 5 mins b4 it pops up the window to go into apx don't panic just let it do its thing....good luck m8!!!!
Oh and this will completely wipe yr system and user data.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the WEIRDEST stuff I've ever experienced - EVER.
Oh, the little dead android is when I'm using the stock recovery - I get different errors in TWRP and all the CWM Thor's that I've tried...(134, 71 and 712)
OK, so now PBJ20upgrade won't let me advance because apparently my CPUID isn't correct... it's the ICS version that's 13 characters long instead of 15, and my dmesg doesn't even contain the word "androidboot" at all (it does, however, contain a crapload of errors.)
What's going on?
OK, I'm an idiot. I really need help. I'm just glad that I'm 40 and don't lose my cool anymore, otherwise, I'd be freaking out about now.
Psychlone said:
Some of the WEIRDEST stuff I've ever experienced - EVER.
Oh, the little dead android is when I'm using the stock recovery - I get different errors in TWRP and all the CWM Thor's that I've tried...(134, 71 and 712)
OK, so now PBJ20upgrade won't let me advance because apparently my CPUID isn't correct... it's the ICS version that's 13 characters long instead of 15, and my dmesg doesn't even contain the word "androidboot" at all (it does, however, contain a crapload of errors.)
What's going on?
OK, I'm an idiot. I really need help. I'm just glad that I'm 40 and don't lose my cool anymore, otherwise, I'd be freaking out about now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cpuid = 15/16 chars go to one of yr cwm nandroid backups theres a uid.txt file in the folder all the other methods rely on adb??? if not try usbdeview thats in the thread too
THANK YOU!
dibb_nz said:
cpuid = 15/16 chars go to one of yr cwm nandroid backups theres a uid.txt file in the folder all the other methods rely on adb??? if not try usbdeview thats in the thread too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much dibb_nz... I've currently got PBJ20upgrade doing *something* (says it's going to take 10 minutes)
Thing is, I didn't get to this point by any conventional means - I followed the destructions several times over but ended up having a newer image than PBJ wanted, or the wrong CPUID.
I finally got this far by unplugging the tablet while PBJ was running, waiting for it's long error and instructions on how to get into APX (which I've clearly done at least a couple dozen times by now) and for some reason when I plugged it in, it shot forward.
We'll see how this goes - I'll keep you posted. I do VERY MUCH appreciate the help. I just might still need it, but hopefully not.
EDIT: Just rebooted and saw a "PASS" on the screen, followed by the "android" loading screen.
EDIT 2: It rebooted all the way in, I signed in (did the entire sign in process) and I'm BACK TO STOCK!!!!
Ok, so thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the help - just being a sounding board is all I need sometimes.
Last questions to get me set up for the future:
What recovery should I create a restore with?
Then after creating a restore, should I use Blackthund3r's utility to flash an unlocked ICS bootloader, and if so, which package should I use to be able to test JB but still be able to go backwards to an ICS (preferably CM9)?
Anything else that I might need to know? (keep in mind that I've read on the order of 30 different threads pertaining to this adventure since it began a couple days ago, but I really appreciate the advice you've given and clearly you know what's up with the A500 - AND, it's hard to disseminate info from all the random threads everywhere. Speaking of which, why is it that there can't be a single thread with most everything that an A500 owner would need? Seriously!!)
Thanks again,
Psychlone
With what I went thru use Civs nvflash and rom and I'd stick with third cement until your safely patched and on ics.do all the wipes and follow instructions to the letter ...I'll check back in shortly
EDIT wtf "third cement" dang auto correct ... should read thors recovery
Wow - what a journey.
I'm now running CM10 and loving it.
I really can't believe the process that I went through over the last couple days - I've rooted and modded two dozen devices in the last year alone, and have been playing with root and modded ROMs since the very beginning, and nothing comes close to what I just did.
I actually have to blame not having everything I need in one place. Mis en place means to have everything you need before you even start - and that used to work back in the day, and still does to an extent for some devices, but anymore, the download links and information are found scattered across many different websites and forums and threads - so much so that it's apparent that this is a product of Google's lack of grip on their hardware and OS.
I do, however, see that you and a couple others have done a KILLER job of getting most everything together in one place to make it easier for those that are searching. I really appreciated your threads that I've read - the way you've written your guides is very intuitive and easy to follow, even if they didn't initially work for me.
Anyway, thanks again. I'm not going backwards now, but if I ever need to for some reason, at least I'm a bit familiar with the "worst-case scenario"!!
Take care man,
Psychlone
excellent news glad it worked for ya
Psychlone said:
Thanks so much dibb_nz... I've currently got PBJ20upgrade doing *something* (says it's going to take 10 minutes)
Thing is, I didn't get to this point by any conventional means - I followed the destructions several times over but ended up having a newer image than PBJ wanted, or the wrong CPUID.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if its referring to newer image then the data cable is connected!
and it will spit this error at you....
I finally got this far by unplugging the tablet while PBJ was running, waiting for it's long error and instructions on how to get into APX (which I've clearly done at least a couple dozen times by now) and for some reason when I plugged it in, it shot forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup now you're cookin
We'll see how this goes - I'll keep you posted. I do VERY MUCH appreciate the help. I just might still need it, but hopefully not.
EDIT: Just rebooted and saw a "PASS" on the screen, followed by the "android" loading screen.
EDIT 2: It rebooted all the way in, I signed in (did the entire sign in process) and I'm BACK TO STOCK!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh yeahhhhh!!!!
Ok, so thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the help - just being a sounding board is all I need sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nps glad to be of assistance -
Last questions to get me set up for the future:
What recovery should I create a restore with?
Then after creating a restore, should I use Blackthund3r's utility to flash an unlocked ICS bootloader, and if so, which package should I use to be able to test JB but still be able to go backwards to an ICS (preferably CM9)?
Anything else that I might need to know? (keep in mind that I've read on the order of 30 different threads pertaining to this adventure since it began a couple days ago, but I really appreciate the advice you've given and clearly you know what's up with the A500 - AND, it's hard to disseminate info from all the random threads everywhere. Speaking of which, why is it that there can't be a single thread with most everything that an A500 owner would need? Seriously!!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
becoz then you'd have thousands of posts to look thru and no-one would bother reading it all....i try to keep my cpuid thread updated with things 'unbricking' but its too hard to put 'everything' in one post unfortunately
---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 PM ----------
Psychlone said:
Wow - what a journey.
I'm now running CM10 and loving it.
I really can't believe the process that I went through over the last couple days - I've rooted and modded two dozen devices in the last year alone, and have been playing with root and modded ROMs since the very beginning, and nothing comes close to what I just did.
I actually have to blame not having everything I need in one place. Mis en place means to have everything you need before you even start - and that used to work back in the day, and still does to an extent for some devices, but anymore, the download links and information are found scattered across many different websites and forums and threads - so much so that it's apparent that this is a product of Google's lack of grip on their hardware and OS.
I do, however, see that you and a couple others have done a KILLER job of getting most everything together in one place to make it easier for those that are searching. I really appreciated your threads that I've read - the way you've written your guides is very intuitive and easy to follow, even if they didn't initially work for me.
Anyway, thanks again. I'm not going backwards now, but if I ever need to for some reason, at least I'm a bit familiar with the "worst-case scenario"!!
Take care man,
Psychlone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hell, i havent got round to cm10 yet!! i'm trying to get there but i have too much fun helpin peeps get to grips with flashing BL's...have to really thank the devs they did an awesome job unlocking ICS so everyone can enjoy the custom ICS/JB/CM roms- they've extended the life of our little iconia an extra half year or so if not longer.....imagine if we had to put up with stock 'anything' lol, i'd have traded it in long ago!!
was about to suggest the apxflash bundles as there are alot more options as far as recovery's go but you're all sussed now so thats fantastic....
can u add "SOLVED" to the title in case someone else is looking for help. thanks m8:good:
dibb_nz said:
excellent news glad it worked for ya
hell, i havent got round to cm10 yet!! i'm trying to get there but i have too much fun helpin peeps get to grips with flashing BL's...have to really thank the devs they did an awesome job unlocking ICS so everyone can enjoy the custom ICS/JB/CM roms- they've extended the life of our little iconia an extra half year or so if not longer.....imagine if we had to put up with stock 'anything' lol, i'd have traded it in long ago!!
was about to suggest the apxflash bundles as there are alot more options as far as recovery's go but you're all sussed now so thats fantastic....
can u add "SOLVED" to the title in case someone else is looking for help. thanks m8:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM10 is SLICK. Think CM9 on graphics steroids and you're close!
I appreciate your position more than most. I get a lot of enjoyment out of helping others as well - I've written overclocking guides for AMD systems that was written years ago, revised a couple/three years ago and is still used to this day, even though I've long since moved over to Intel's "dark side". I also participate pretty deeply in helping others at a couple PC hardware forums pretty much daily, even though that's my actual job - I own 2 computer repair businesses in my hometown, and with well over 20,000 computers to fix, I'm ALWAYS busy but still always find time to help others in need.
As for adding ***SOLVED*** to the title, I'd love to...but it won't let me. Perhaps it's because I don't have a high enough post count, or because it's reserved for Mods, but I can't do it.
Thanks for everything once again - it's quite refreshing to be on the receiving end!
Psychlone

Acer 500a Rooted and unable to update

I have an Acer 500a I just bought off carigslist. Initially I thought it would be fine but then I realized I was inheriting someone elses problems. I hope someone may be able to help.
Within the first few hours I was noticing google Play crashed a number of times and struggled to update from Market. Somehow the update went through but now there is a system update that won't go through. I'm able to down load it and when i restart the computer to complete installation the screen goes black and says: booting recovery kernel in the corner. I then see a picture of an android and a load bar which after 2-4 seconds the android is on his back and an exclaimation mark is coming out of his belly.
My android version is 3.2
Kernel version
2.6.36.3+
Build number
Acer_a500_7.006.01_COM_GEN2
I'm pretty sure its rooted and i think that might be why its not playing nice with google market and system updates. I called the old owner and explained the problem and he just said he had it rooted and he thought he unrooted it. There is an ap called superuser in aps. (although if it were rooted would'nt I be able to uninstal some of thecrap software it comes with like GOLF HD? -- it won't let me).
The system update is for Acer_a500_7.014.01_COM_GEN2 8.88mb
My problem is all of the force closes I'm getting and the inability to update the system. Any thoughts? I don't have a usb cord to connect it to a desktop either =(
I am a bit out of practice, but...
Should be pretty simple to fix. From what I am seeing, you are running a stock rom. Just because the superuser.apk is installed on the system does not mean it is rooted, but it probably is.
Hit the market, grab "Root Checker" - simple tiny program to let you know for sure if your tab is rooted or not.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=burrows.apps.rootchecker&hl=en
From what I understand - automatic system updates will fail when trying to apply them to a rooted or modded system. Probably why you cannot auto-update.
My advice at this point would be to:
1) Since you just bought it, just do a factory wipe on it. That will remove all the stuff the prior owner had running on it and will result in a unrooted tab that should be able to get auto updates without a problem.
2) Un-Root it. Once the tablet is unrooted, the system should update without any issue.
As for your Play Store issues - I have never heard of or personally seen any issues caused with installing apps from the store on a rooted device. I have seen a few apps that will refuse to run on a rooted device - but that does not sound like your problem.
I would go with option 1 - just factory wipe the thing. Prior owner may have made tons of changes to the OS that we will never know about, and may have handed you a unstable system. Start fresh. Wipe it out.
Hope this helps you out! Let me know if I can answer any questions.
k thank you so much for the quick reply! I downloaded the root checker and it Is rooted. I did a factory wipe as found in the settings privacy tab when I bought it. That factory reset did not unroot and only cleaned out some of the aps on the device. Is there a better or more surefire way to unroot it? If I reset with the volume down key will it hard reset it?
Thank you for you help!
Draight
Okay.
I am about a year out of practice with my a500 - but from what I am think, if a factory reset still results in a rooted device - the prior user installed a stock ROM that comes pre-rooted.
I highly doubt being rooted is causing the issues you are running into.
At this point if you just want to get back to stock you can probably just install the Acer Recovery Manager from the market and use it to reflash a stock unrooted ROM. Or I see a few guides about how to manually restore back to stock over in the dev section for the a500.
Others will correct me if I am wrong, but I think Acer Recovery Manager should take care of your problem.
Hope this helps!
(Edit: Or you can just download the official stock 4.x rom (ICS) from the dev section and flash that. 3.2 is pretty slow and wonky in my experience, you should be able to just download a 4.x ROM and flash, since you are rooted. Again, I am way out of practice. Don't do anything before reading up!)
(Edit again: I think I was making this harder then needs be. Just flash any stock 3.2 unrooted ROM, done. After you do that the automatic on the air update should kick in for you and update you to ICS)
Thanks for taking the time to work with me on this. I downloaded the program you suggested and tried to use a stock rom. When i went to reboot I had a picture of an android looking up at an exclaimation mark. It was froze like that until I restarted it. Now its back to the way it was, rooted and unupdatable.
I'm probably going to try to just wipe it all over but do i need to plug it into my computer somehow? I dont have a usb connector for the tablet, just the wall charger plugin. can i just download a rom and use the utility to try install it? when I reboot it am I supposed to be pressing the volume button?
I've read a few other forums but usually they sound pretty intense...
draight said:
Thanks for taking the time to work with me on this. I downloaded the program you suggested and tried to use a stock rom. When i went to reboot I had a picture of an android looking up at an exclaimation mark. It was froze like that until I restarted it. Now its back to the way it was, rooted and unupdatable.
I'm probably going to try to just wipe it all over but do i need to plug it into my computer somehow? I dont have a usb connector for the tablet, just the wall charger plugin. can i just download a rom and use the utility to try install it? when I reboot it am I supposed to be pressing the volume button?
I've read a few other forums but usually they sound pretty intense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm..
Try the thread I linked two in my second edit of my last post. You just need to grab the stock and unrooted 3.2 - put it on a MicroSD card as update.zip - then reboot with vol rocker and power switch to get the system to flash the update.
That *should* work just fine.
(Edit: Forgot the link! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839313 - there you go)
Thankw, I am going to try it after readingna bit more. Do I need to have clockworkmod installed for all of this?
draight said:
Thankw, I am going to try it after readingna bit more. Do I need to have clockworkmod installed for all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Just snag the stock unrooted 3.2 ROM - place it in the root of the MicroSD card as update.zip
Power down.
Power up with VOL + and POWER key held at the same time (you can let the vol rocker go when you see text appear in the upper left corner)
Should be all you need to do. Worst case; it does not work and returns you back to where you are now. Worth a shot.
If that does not work, let me know so I can do a few mins of homework and help you further. Been a long time since I have changed ROMS or had any issues with my a500.
I have bricked it twice by not following directions all the way or just making simple mistakes, but from what I have found there is always a way to recover.
Just tried it. I copied the boot zip to sd card and renamed update.zip and reset..It looked like it was going to download after showing some text in the corner and then an exclamation mark appeared above the androids head... I left it and after a few.min it rebooted back
draight said:
Just tried it. I copied the boot zip to sd card and renamed update.zip and reset..It looked like it was going to download after showing some text in the corner and then an exclamation mark appeared above the androids head... I left it and after a few.min it rebooted back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. Odd.
Like I said, I am rather out of practice.
Someone more experienced them me: please help me point Draight in the right direction here?
Thanks for trying to help. =(
I wish that my tablet wasn't having such issues. I;m going to try to scramble around the forums and see if I can find some advice...If anyone has a suggestion please let me know.
Thanks again entropy,
Draight
Update:
So I've been tinkering around with it a bit more and I found a usb cord that plugs it into my computer. I keep finding boken links on this site so Im struggling to find an update I can use to flash to. I downloaded a different super user program which allowed me to temporarily unroot my device. I then restarted it and no root checker says its no rooted and I cannot find the superuser program. I think I have somewhat unrooted it -- but I think the real issue now is the recovery tool. I keep reseting it - hard reset, or factory reset and it wipes everything away but when i try to update it gets about 1/3 of the way up the bar then it stops with an '!' Mark above the droid. Im kind of annoyed at this point and hoping for some new links or some ideas on how to repair the recovery piece.
Draight
Go to the Dev section, and grad a couple of the ICS Update roms. You will see them listed for the a500. Make sure they are the FULL update roms. Should be about 3-400mb. These contain a FULL ICS Update Rom, and not a patch file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
Then, go to the Themes and apps forum. You'll see a sticky that has the Acer Update Decrypter.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869505
Now, unpack the decrypter, and select one of the ICS Updates. Then hit Start. Take a couple minutes, but you will have a duplicate file with the word "decrypted" added to it.
Wait, you are not done yet.
Using a program like 7zip, or even Winzip, open the decrypted file. DO NOT EXTRACT, just open it and pull the update.zip to your PC's desktop.
Copy that update.zip file to your Ext SD Card of the tablet. Don't be putting it in any folder, just copy it to the root of the card.
Now, you still ain't done.
With the tablet off. Press and hold Vol+ and then PWR. Hold them both untill you start to see text about installing blah blah blah, then release the buttons.
If it completes, and you can reboot into ICS, then you are good to go.
If something fails during installation, then decrypt the other update Rom file you downloaded, and do the same procedure. Usually one of the 2 or three should work for you.
Note these are for the a500, and not the a501.
One more thing. It's advisable you get your UID number before doing these things. You probably won't need it, but it's nice to have written down in case you need it in the future. Inf to get it is at;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1624645
MD
Thanks! I am downloading a few of the FULL ICS roms:
*Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1 : http://d-h.st/uAy
Acer_A500_1.031.00_PA_CUS1: http://d-h.st/idO
Acer_A500_1.041.00_WW_CUS1: http://d-h.st/Yt5
*Acer_AV041_1.054.00_WW_GEN1: http://www.theandroidcollective.org/...00_WW_GEN1.zip
*Acer_A500_7.014.16_041.206.01_COM_GEN1: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_bk...hVc1RVcHc/edit
The I downloaded the ones ending with Gen1. Once they are downloaded I will continue with the instructions. Thank you so much for your help! I will post how it goes later tonight.
Draight
I just decrypted both:
*Acer_AV041_1.054.00_WW_GEN1:
*Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1
Both get get to the third bullet quickly and the bottom says DONE! It takes like 4 seconds. I don't think the Decryption key of $12 is working
[*] Opening file: Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1.zip
[*] Decrypting using key $12
[*] Writing decrypted file: Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1_decrypted.zip
I try to extract something from the decrypted file and it says the file was not downloaded properly and I should try redownload it...it says its not a proper archive
wahoo!
So that worked! I down loaded the file Acer_AV041_A500_1.033.00_PA_CUS1 and extracted the update. I palced the update on the sd card and booted with the power and sound volume pressed down. it went through the installation procedure and restarted twice before saying it was upgrading my aps and BOOM its got ICS and everything looks great. Thank you so much for your help and I hope that this paper trail is able to help someone in the future
My problem is that I'm on ICS and I'm rooted, but I just can't download a custom recovery. I've tried, and I haven't gotten anywhere
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Bricked A500 in Houston area will pay you to fix

I live in the Houston area. Bricked my A500 will pay you to fix email me . I went from CWM v5 1.3.4 to 1.7 and now I can only go into boot loader but nothing can be applied , tried different ROMS wipe everything still nothing
[email protected]
If I lived in Houston I would try to help you, can't you get into recovery? What happens when you connect to your PC ?
twistedknickers said:
If I lived in Houston I would try to help you, can't you get into recovery? What happens when you connect to your PC ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No kidding, I don't live there either, but to help, we need some more information.
You are probably on the HC bootloader, which is why your roms won't install.
Check the bootloader Install sticky in the dev forum. You need to upgrade it to the V8 bootloader.
Then you can install the ICS and CM10 roms.
MD
Moscow Desire said:
No kidding, I don't live there either, but to help, we need some more information.
You are probably on the HC bootloader, which is why your roms won't install.
Check the bootloader Install sticky in the dev forum. You need to upgrade it to the V8 bootloader.
Then you can install the ICS and CM10 roms.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a similar problem. Bootloader V8 installed fine. But when I flashed different ROMs through CWM (install zip from SD card inside recovery), it hung at the screen "CZ's Bootloader V8, booting primary kernel" forever. Scratched my head for a couple of nights now, wondering what the glitch was. I even tried Bad Sector's V8 green. Same result. Help!!!!
Edit: I can still downgrade by flashing EUU (though not TD's V4, which installs fine but won't boot back up once I turn it off and on again???). Anyway, running HC 3.0.1 does make you feel like a Neanderthal. A clear instance of cruel and unusual punishment, I'd say. Even HC 3.2 won't stick! WTH?
Quandary unsolved
Moscow Desire said:
No kidding, I don't live there either, but to help, we need some more information.
You are probably on the HC bootloader, which is why your roms won't install.
Check the bootloader Install sticky in the dev forum. You need to upgrade it to the V8 bootloader.
Then you can install the ICS and CM10 roms.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. Anyone? How about Mockba the Great? I'll do more than thank. I'll grovel at your feet (lol); or fly to your city vodka bottle in hand. Be compassionate and tell me something. Anything. Like my tablet is shot beyond salvage, so I can put it to rest. Why is it that I can flash EUU and use without problems but not any other upgrades? Is it possibly because of physical bad sectors lying in the path of data from the new roms (sizably larger than HC)? Or automatic remapping of NAND shot to hell? There's got to be some explanation.
graphdarnell said:
Hello. Anyone? How about Mockba the Great? I'll do more than thank. I'll grovel at your feet (lol); or fly to your city vodka bottle in hand. Be compassionate and tell me something. Anything. Like my tablet is shot beyond salvage, so I can put it to rest. Why is it that I can flash EUU and use without problems but not any other upgrades? Is it possibly because of physical bad sectors lying in the path of data from the new roms (sizably larger than HC)? Or automatic remapping of NAND shot to hell? There's got to be some explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure, but, I have the same problem. If I flash the EUU (Acer stock 3.01) , I can spend a couple of hours following the upgrade path all the way to ICS 4.03, then it seems no matter the boot loader/recovery combo I flash, I either end up stuck in APX, or I get the new boot loader/recovery, and the original Rom boots fine, but when I try to flash using fast boot I end up with the android on his back with the red exclamation.
It may or not be related, but the very first time I tried flashing a new ROM, I ended up stuck in APX, & the only way I could find to get out was to use Badsector. The next Rom I flashed left me again in APX, so, the first thing I went back to was BadSector, & it would not work. (Can't remember what the error was, but it wouldn't get far before stopping.) So, I tried APXFlash & it worked perfect. (Before I ran BadSector the first time I could not get APXFlash to work at all.)
Now I can flash as often as I want, but still can't get anything to work right. (Except Stock stuff????)
Danny2 said:
I am not sure, but, I have the same problem. If I flash the EUU (Acer stock 3.01) , I can spend a couple of hours following the upgrade path all the way to ICS 4.03, then it seems no matter the boot loader/recovery combo I flash, I either end up stuck in APX, or I get the new boot loader/recovery, and the original Rom boots fine, but when I try to flash using fast boot I end up with the android on his back with the red exclamation.
It may or not be related, but the very first time I tried flashing a new ROM, I ended up stuck in APX, & the only way I could find to get out was to use Badsector. The next Rom I flashed left me again in APX, so, the first thing I went back to was BadSector, & it would not work. (Can't remember what the error was, but it wouldn't get far before stopping.) So, I tried APXFlash & it worked perfect. (Before I ran BadSector the first time I could not get APXFlash to work at all.)
Now I can flash as often as I want, but still can't get anything to work right. (Except Stock stuff????)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my guess: I was able to get someone with the right equipment to probe into the NAND and scan. The result shows random bad sectors all over the place. The scan lasted for more than a day without finishing, so eventually remapping could not be executed. If the capability of the NAND to remap is exhausted then depending on your luck, if the ROM data fits into good sectors, you get to use the unit. If the cache partition has black holes in it, you'll get errors and operational aberrations. If I'm right, then this is purely a hardware issue which will come back to haunt sooner or later. Makes sense?
Since the NAND is soldered onto the Main Board, there is little chance of replacing the NAND, if you can find one, that is. Darn it!
graphdarnell said:
I have a similar problem. Bootloader V8 installed fine. But when I flashed different ROMs through CWM (install zip from SD card inside recovery), it hung at the screen "CZ's Bootloader V8, booting primary kernel" forever. Scratched my head for a couple of nights now, wondering what the glitch was. I even tried Bad Sector's V8 green. Same result. Help!!!!
Edit: I can still downgrade by flashing EUU (though not TD's V4, which installs fine but won't boot back up once I turn it off and on again???). Anyway, running HC 3.0.1 does make you feel like a Neanderthal. A clear instance of cruel and unusual punishment, I'd say. Even HC 3.2 won't stick! WTH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had similar issue in the weekend, flashed Thor's JB romv17.....stuck on same screen as you, had a heck of a job getting things working again.....
So tdv4 installed without errors but wouldn't boot, is that correct? What screen did it get stuck at? With the earlier versions of timmydeans EUU u must boot straight to cwm and "fix permissions" in the "advanced" menu options (I think its in that option)
Other than that I can't offer u any further suggestions I'm afraid....
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2
Danke schoen dibb nz
dibb_nz said:
I had similar issue in the weekend, flashed Thor's JB romv17.....stuck on same screen as you, had a heck of a job getting things working again.....
So tdv4 installed without errors but wouldn't boot, is that correct? What screen did it get stuck at? With the earlier versions of timmydeans EUU u must boot straight to cwm and "fix permissions" in the "advanced" menu options (I think its in that option)
Other than that I can't offer u any further suggestions I'm afraid....
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This gives hope. With TD V4, it stops at power on - power lights on (white LED), but screen remains dark. Thanks for sharing your experience, I will definitely try when I get back to it at the end of the month. So if I'm slow in posting the outcomes, you know why. One more favor to ask: what do you do after fixing permissions while on earlier EUU (I remember seeing that option somewhere in the recovery menu)? Should I proceed to flash V4, then move up from there? If I install V8 Bootloader while on V4's ROM, would that hinder further flashings in any way? Many thanks again. And what is going on now with your JB ROM? And Happy Thanksgiving to all the Yanks in here!
Ok, so here's a little info for you folks. Not sure if it helps you or not, but might clear up some of the mess that's been going on concerning bootloader versions VS Roms.
So you run one of the RUUs files. That's fine. Essentially you should be back on an HC bootloader running an HC rom. At this point, all your partitions should be back in place, especially if you used TD's tool.
While you are in HC, and everything is running fine, you should make a note of your current UID number. Because, after upgrading to ICS, your UID number will probably change. (the converted SBK number should be the same with both). But the RUUs seem to mostly want an HC UID number.
The issue, is when upgrading to ICS. If you do this the normal way via OTA, you should eventually get to ICS with a stock ICS bootloader. At this point, I would leave it alone for a few days, just to make sure it runs normally. Again, get your new UID number.
Now, here may be what you folks are missing.
With the introduction of ICS, Acer pulled a fast one on us. They introduced a little file called recovery-boot.p, and also a recovery.sh file.Both reside in /system (not sure exactly which folder for one of them, might be /system/etc or /system/bin.)
The issue, is that if you NVFlash V8 bootloader, and let's say Thor CWM 1.7.2 or 1.7.3, without deleting those aforementioned files, when you boot your tab, guess what? Hasta La Vista CWM, and mr android is on his back deader than a doornail. Not to mention you might screw up a partition or 2 along the way. And then it's back doing the whole thing again, sorta like groundhog day.
If you get Skrilax_CZ's bootloader running, then there's no real reason why you can't load a compatible CWM to flash roms.
Personally, I don't like the little 1-app-does-all. I prefer the old fashioned way. NVFlash from a command line. This way, you can see if there's errors coming up. Also, you may have better luck trying one of the older packages for the V3 or V4 bootloader. If you guys are interested, I can research my other drives in a day or so, and come up with one of the original packages. Am sure I saved it somewhere.
But if you get the V8 loaded, then you can boot it into fastboot mode. From here, you can fastboot a good CWM image. And at this point, I strongly advise CWM 1.7.2 or 1.7.3. After you fastboot it, boot immediately into CWM recovery. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and do your wipes and formats and immediately install a custom rom. If you boot back into your stock rom, sianara..... This is why it's best to already have your custom rom.zip on your SD card.
Now, roms, kernels and bootloaders. The rom you choose to install, is pretty important. It needs to be recent, and designed for the ICS bootloader (V8). Using some of the earlier roms with kernels is asking for trouble. HC based roms WILL NOT run on an ICS bootloader. Remember that also, and vica-versa.
It's possible, however unlikely, that one of you may have unrecoverable corrupt data on your chipset. It has happened, but it's rare. Generally, you will find this when you can't get anything running. Period. Or in the case I know, the user could not migrate from HC to ICS. But only 1 or 2 people I know have had this. Oh, 3. I forgot Civato who totally cooked his internal memory (more than likely while inventing his own version of TWRP)
Wipes and formats. Again, I can't stress this enough. There have been issues using TWRP when it comes to wipes and formats. It seems, sometimes, things don't get fully wiped. So, as I always do with CWM, remember those versions I quoted), always
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvak
Wipe battery stats (optional)
Goto Mounts and Storage
Format System
Format Flexrom
As we say, be nice, wipe twice.....
Then install the custom rom (not a stock rom, remember the 2 recovery files?)
MD
Thanks MD
Moscow Desire said:
Ok, so here's a little info for you folks. Not sure if it helps you or not, but might clear up some of the mess that's been going on concerning bootloader versions VS Roms.
So you run one of the RUUs files. That's fine. Essentially you should be back on an HC bootloader running an HC rom. At this point, all your partitions should be back in place, especially if you used TD's tool.
While you are in HC, and everything is running fine, you should make a note of your current UID number. Because, after upgrading to ICS, your UID number will probably change. (the converted SBK number should be the same with both). But the RUUs seem to mostly want an HC UID number.
The issue, is when upgrading to ICS. If you do this the normal way via OTA, you should eventually get to ICS with a stock ICS bootloader. At this point, I would leave it alone for a few days, just to make sure it runs normally. Again, get your new UID number.
Now, here may be what you folks are missing.
With the introduction of ICS, Acer pulled a fast one on us. They introduced a little file called recovery-boot.p, and also a recovery.sh file.Both reside in /system (not sure exactly which folder for one of them, might be /system/etc or /system/bin.)
The issue, is that if you NVFlash V8 bootloader, and let's say Thor CWM 1.7.2 or 1.7.3, without deleting those aforementioned files, when you boot your tab, guess what? Hasta La Vista CWM, and mr android is on his back deader than a doornail. Not to mention you might screw up a partition or 2 along the way. And then it's back doing the whole thing again, sorta like groundhog day.
If you get Skrilax_CZ's bootloader running, then there's no real reason why you can't load a compatible CWM to flash roms.
Personally, I don't like the little 1-app-does-all. I prefer the old fashioned way. NVFlash from a command line. This way, you can see if there's errors coming up. Also, you may have better luck trying one of the older packages for the V3 or V4 bootloader. If you guys are interested, I can research my other drives in a day or so, and come up with one of the original packages. Am sure I saved it somewhere.
But if you get the V8 loaded, then you can boot it into fastboot mode. From here, you can fastboot a good CWM image. And at this point, I strongly advise CWM 1.7.2 or 1.7.3. After you fastboot it, boot immediately into CWM recovery. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and do your wipes and formats and immediately install a custom rom. If you boot back into your stock rom, sianara..... This is why it's best to already have your custom rom.zip on your SD card.
Now, roms, kernels and bootloaders. The rom you choose to install, is pretty important. It needs to be recent, and designed for the ICS bootloader (V8). Using some of the earlier roms with kernels is asking for trouble. HC based roms WILL NOT run on an ICS bootloader. Remember that also, and vica-versa.
It's possible, however unlikely, that one of you may have unrecoverable corrupt data on your chipset. It has happened, but it's rare. Generally, you will find this when you can't get anything running. Period. Or in the case I know, the user could not migrate from HC to ICS. But only 1 or 2 people I know have had this. Oh, 3. I forgot Civato who totally cooked his internal memory (more than likely while inventing his own version of TWRP)
Wipes and formats. Again, I can't stress this enough. There have been issues using TWRP when it comes to wipes and formats. It seems, sometimes, things don't get fully wiped. So, as I always do with CWM, remember those versions I quoted), always
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvak
Wipe battery stats (optional)
Goto Mounts and Storage
Format System
Format Flexrom
As we say, be nice, wipe twice.....
Then install the custom rom (not a stock rom, remember the 2 recovery files?)
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't thank you enough MD, and dibb_nz too. Can't wait to get back to the tablet. Hopefully things will work out. When they do, I'll post the results for the perusal of similarly situated members.
graphdarnell said:
This gives hope. With TD V4, it stops at power on - power lights on (white LED), but screen remains dark. Thanks for sharing your experience, I will definitely try when I get back to it at the end of the month. So if I'm slow in posting the outcomes, you know why. One more favor to ask: what do you do after fixing permissions while on earlier EUU (I remember seeing that option somewhere in the recovery menu)? Should I proceed to flash V4, then move up from there? If I install V8 Bootloader while on V4's ROM, would that hinder further flashings in any way? Many thanks again. And what is going on now with your JB ROM? And Happy Thanksgiving to all the Yanks in here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well after u fix permissions u boot straight back into cwmand flash the v8 and civatos cm 10 flex, which is exactly what I did after getting it up n running again. edit: no, u need the latest tdv4 - ...I'll post the link for it shortly....
I'd definitely uninstall the Acer drivers and reinstall them. When u connect to yr PC , windows will try to install the drivers....don't let it search windows updates, u have to be quick to cancel it....then it should install the drivers from the acer folder on yr PC which u just reinstalled....is that clear as mud, lol???
One more thought, u could get round all this driver business if u know linux at all....
But will w8 till u get a chance to spend some quality 'tab time'
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2
Moscow Desire said:
Ok, so here's a little info for you folks. Not sure if it helps you or not, but might clear up some of the mess that's been going on concerning bootloader versions VS Roms.
Now, here may be what you folks are missing.
With the introduction of ICS, Acer pulled a fast one on us. They introduced a little file called recovery-boot.p, and also a recovery.sh file.Both reside in /system (not sure exactly which folder for one of them, might be /system/etc or /system/bin.)
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, this might seem kind of obvious, but I want to be sure. I found the Recovery-from-boot.p file easily enough, and I found a file called "Install-recovery.sh" in the etc folder, which seems to call another file called "system/bin/sh".
So, do I delete (or possibly just re-name??) "recovery-from-boot.p" and "Install-recovery.sh"? And do I need to do anything with the "SH" file in "system/bin"? (Like delete or re-name?)
Thanks for this much clearer (but still not 100% clear) info about these files. I had read mention of "recovery-from -boot.p" in another post, but it didn't make clear where to find it, just that you needed to deal with it. This excellent post makes it much more obvious which files & where to find!
Danny2 said:
So, this might seem kind of obvious, but I want to be sure. I found the Recovery-from-boot.p file easily enough, and I found a file called "Install-recovery.sh" in the etc folder, which seems to call another file called "system/bin/sh".
So, do I delete (or possibly just re-name??) "recovery-from-boot.p" and "Install-recovery.sh"? And do I need to do anything with the "SH" file in "system/bin"? (Like delete or re-name?)
Thanks for this much clearer (but still not 100% clear) info about these files. I had read mention of "recovery-from -boot.p" in another post, but it didn't make clear where to find it, just that you needed to deal with it. This excellent post makes it much more obvious which files & where to find!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just those 2 files
This will prevent overwriting your custom recovery on boot.
MD
Moscow Desire said:
Just those 2 files
This will prevent overwriting your custom recovery on boot.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, Thanks
Progress report
dibb_nz said:
I had similar issue in the weekend, flashed Thor's JB romv17.....stuck on same screen as you, had a heck of a job getting things working again.....
So tdv4 installed without errors but wouldn't boot, is that correct? What screen did it get stuck at? With the earlier versions of timmydeans EUU u must boot straight to cwm and "fix permissions" in the "advanced" menu options (I think its in that option)
Other than that I can't offer u any further suggestions I'm afraid....
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to follow MD's instructions and installed Re-Flexxx Rom. As to dibb-nz's advice, I couldn't find earlier versions of TD (there was a link that led to some silly software instead - hijacked?). So I reflashed V4 which after the first reboot took me to the setup part fine. However, a second reboot resulted in a dark screen with nothing doing. I tried accessing recovery in vain. I'm not sure earlier TD versions would yield differently. If I recall correctly, V4 only differs from V3 in that TD added XP drivers. Why the tablet behaved thus is beyond me. I intended this superfluous info as a warning to such possibility, however absurd it might appear.
Anyway, thanks to those who came to the rescue, and Merry Xmas to all.
graphdarnell said:
I was able to follow MD's instructions and installed Re-Flexxx Rom. As to dibb-nz's advice, I couldn't find earlier versions of TD (there was a link that led to some silly software instead - hijacked?). So I reflashed V4 which after the first reboot took me to the setup part fine. However, a second reboot resulted in a dark screen with nothing doing. I tried accessing recovery in vain. I'm not sure earlier TD versions would yield differently. If I recall correctly, V4 only differs from V3 in that TD added XP drivers. Why the tablet behaved thus is beyond me. I intended this superfluous info as a warning to such possibility, however absurd it might appear.
Anyway, thanks to those who came to the rescue, and Merry Xmas to all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can u provide a link 2 the tdv4 u used i will check it.....seems couple folks having yr issue, i wanna make sure the zip isn't corrupt...
ALSO: there are 2 ways to use the EUU -
1) as an upgrade tool - used to upgrade from one HC build to the next - just open and run with usb connected and
2) as a downgrade too - used to downgrade from the ICS back to HC - you run it by not connecting your usb cable and force apx mode
Im curoius as to why folks are getting stuck with the black screen - this happened couple months back too
and tho i have been stuck with it myself - i have never been able to replicate the issue..and believe me when i say i've done some crazy things with my tab in the process of trying... so would like to rule out a bad file...just in case its me causing all the problems, lol....feedback would be appreciated....
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Possibly corrupt V4?
dibb_nz said:
can u provide a link 2 the tdv4 u used i will check it.....seems couple folks having yr issue, i wanna make sure the zip isn't corrupt...
ALSO: there are 2 ways to use the EUU -
1) as an upgrade tool - used to upgrade from one HC build to the next - just open and run with usb connected and
2) as a downgrade too - used to downgrade from the ICS back to HC - you run it by not connecting your usb cable and force apx mode
Im curoius as to why folks are getting stuck with the black screen - this happened couple months back too
and tho i have been stuck with it myself - i have never been able to replicate the issue..and believe me when i say i've done some crazy things with my tab in the process of trying... so would like to rule out a bad file...just in case its me causing all the problems, lol....feedback would be appreciated....
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm almost sure I downloaded from the link provided in this thread, though I'd appreciate your not quoting me on it (lol). I remember downloading twice but cannot tell now which is which. Either way, I "upgraded" from HC 3.1 to 3.2, which is the version included in V4. Beyond that, I'm not sure what other information would help sort things out. Oddly enough, the first automatic reboot after flashing works fine and takes me through the whole setup process glitchlessly. It only happens on the following reboot. You can get into recovery 1.5, but fixing permissions won't do.
graphdarnell said:
I'm almost sure I downloaded from the link provided in this thread, though I'd appreciate your not quoting me on it (lol). I remember downloading twice but cannot tell now which is which. Either way, I "upgraded" from HC 3.1 to 3.2, which is the version included in V4. Beyond that, I'm not sure what other information would help sort things out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok thanks for that - the v0-v2 required all sorts of jumping thru hoops to get root/cwm installed....when u finished the first flash you would end up with a LNX check sum error in red text on your tab and have to boot straight to recovery and fix checksum errors (not permissions as i said earlier)
v3/v4 now comes pre-rooted with cwm 1.5, which is what may be corrupting things if you are still have the v8 bootloader - altho in saying that, a few of us have been on HC3.01 with v8 and had no probs flashing a compatible ICS v8 rom from there...maybe it was just a fluke who knows...One thing I do know is you should really have a compatible recovery with the v8 - which is why all the flash packages come pre-loaded with a custom recovery....as MD said above you need to make doubly sure your rom/reocvery/bootloader are all compatible with each other. this applies whether they be stock or custom 'whatevers'....
Oddly enough, the first automatic reboot after flashing works fine and takes me through the whole setup process glitchlessly. It only happens on the following reboot. You can get into recovery 1.5, but fixing permissions won't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and you have completed all the wipes as MD suggested, including toggling /data/media erase in cwm?
I realise you may have done everything correctly, this is more for the benefit of those folk "trying" to follow along
this is on 3.2?? you run the EUU ok, boot to android, and run thru the setup wizard, then the next reboot goes awry??
dibb_nz said:
ok thanks for that - the v0-v2 required all sorts of jumping thru hoops to get root/cwm installed....when u finished the first flash you would end up with a LNX check sum error in red text on your tab and have to boot straight to recovery and fix checksum errors (not permissions as i said earlier)
v3/v4 now comes pre-rooted with cwm 1.5, which is what may be corrupting things if you are still have the v8 bootloader - altho in saying that, a few of us have been on HC3.01 with v8 and had no probs flashing a compatible ICS v8 rom from there...maybe it was just a fluke who knows...One thing I do know is you should really have a compatible recovery with the v8 - which is why all the flash packages come pre-loaded with a custom recovery....as MD said above you need to make doubly sure your rom/reocvery/bootloader are all compatible with each other. this applies whether they be stock or custom 'whatevers'....
and you have completed all the wipes as MD suggested, including toggling /data/media erase in cwm?
I realise you may have done everything correctly, this is more for the benefit of those folk "trying" to follow along
this is on 3.2?? you run the EUU ok, boot to android, and run thru the setup wizard, then the next reboot goes awry??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was initially on 3.1 stock. I went to stock recovery which proceeded to erase whatever, then showed the android belly up with the triangle exclamation mark and so forth (The sd card contained no ROM at this point). I rebooted, then flashed V4 directly from inside 3.1 with debugging on. It "PASS" uneventfully, rebooted on its own to the setup wizard. Things function normally within that capsule (it showed HC 3.2 I believe). I turned it off after setup was done, then on again to experience the black SOD. I then went to Recovery 1.5, erase everything a few times, then rebooted. Same result. Eerily dead.
Then came the V8 Bootloader and Thor V20, and the tablet was resuscitated. Works fine now.

[Solved]ACER Iconia A501 3g/wifi TAB - Help with root/ROM install (TimmyDean method)

Hi everyone.
Just repeating again - the model I have is A501 on stock 3.2.1 Honeycomb - a more USEFUL tablet with 3G and WIFI capabilities...One would think it would be a much more popular model, but the A501 doesn't have its own board on XDA; its merged with this board for the less practical A500. Basically, I have created this thread as I don't want to take any 'extra' risks in successfully installing ROOT with the CORRECT ROM with the most updated version of Android available for this tab, for example Jellybean...
Another A501 user, beny9 posted:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1745550
Following TimmyDean's method (thank you) I have now managed to install 3.2 Honeycomb A500 ROM with success after completing steps 1-15 inclusive from his README file. As you will know, I don't have 3G or GPS functionality, so I need a stock A501 ROM to install.
I have found:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878
Is my best bet to install Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1 : http://cdn.a1.futuredial.com/Acer_A5...2_35b68c5d.zip from that above link, which will keep me on HC 3.2 but now, it will be the ROM for the A501? As it seems the only other NEWER Acer updates for ICS are A500 only...
Can someone link me the a fully detailed video or post on here on installing the ROM i mentioned above (if that's the best one to go with, given what I'm on now; A500 3.2 and still keeping root), or to install some other A501 ROM which is for at least Jellybean or ICS?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1828876
Per this link, shoukd i just use the update.zip (for the 3.2 HC A501 ROM) put it on the SD card then boot up holding POWER + VOL DOWN until the file auto-installs?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1099673
Before I can try the above, I also have trouble after i download the ROM's zip file when I try to unzip. I have downloaded the Acer Update Decrypter, but AVG antiVirus will not allow me to run the EVE file even as an administrator. What should i do?
Thanks
RoOSTA
Your best bet is to install a good 501 HC 3.2 and get on HC for your 501.
The files are available. What you'll probably want is a full HC Update rom for the 501. Note that some of these Acer roms are encrypted, so you'll need to decrypt it first. You can find the decrypting tool in the Themes and Apps forum, as a "Sticky". After decrypting, you can pull the update.zip out of it, and copy to Ext SD (do not extract, just pull the update file out). Boot the tab holding Vol- and PWR I believe. Might be Vol+ but I can't remember. This should force the tab to look for update.zip on your SD and install it.
I would use this one;
Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1
After it installs, and you get it set up, you need to get Acer Update Enhancer from the Play Store. This will allow your tab to get the ICS OTA.
Keep in mind, there is only 1 official ICS OTA update for the 501, so don't expect more. It may do it in 2 steps though.
If you want root on ICS, there is really only 1 way to get true root and adb system remounts. And that's to flash the V8 unlocked ICS Bootloader, and flash an insecure boot.image. There's currently a small package that'll give you somewhat root, but it's a pain and really doesn't do a good job. So it's better to get the V8 and unsecure boot image. Might be a good idea to also install CWM Recovery at the same time.
Get the correct rom installed first, then check back if you need help.
Oh yeah, one more thing. When you are on HC 3.2, get your UID number and write it down somewhere. You need this as a safety precaution. There's a good sticky thread on how to do it. Pretty simple really.
MD
Ugh. I have a pain in the A$$ version of AVG...even under advanced settings there was no disable options. Managed to figure it out to run the Acer Decrypter EXE and fix the image you have advised I should download and flash. Will give that a go now...
Thanks again!
Just to fill you in, this issue is solved.
1. Used TimmyDeans rollback V4 tool to a 500 rom
2. SD card was not recognized in CWM or Stock recovery. Was however recognized in the HC OS.
3. Formatted SD Card using Mini Tool formatting app. Format primary partition only to fat32 (defaults)
4. Decrypted and pulled update.zip from this 501 HC full update rom
Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
5. Did OTA update to 3.2.1
6. No more OTA available, even after installing Acer Update Enhancment tool.
7. Downloaded and used Blackthund3rs Bootloader management app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622425
8.Downloaded V8 and CWM package, unzipped to the same folder as the tool
9. Ran the 500NVFlashapx app.
10. After completion, booted to CWM recovery, wiped and formatted, and install Moscow Desire's RaptorX almost stock ICS rom.
Works as advertised.
MD
Yep. All thanks to MD's patience and assistance throughout these steps..
Moscow Desire said:
Just to fill you in, this issue is solved.
1. Used TimmyDeans rollback V4 tool to a 500 rom
2. SD card was not recognized in CWM or Stock recovery. Was however recognized in the HC OS.
3. Formatted SD Card using Mini Tool formatting app. Format primary partition only to fat32 (defaults)
4. Decrypted and pulled update.zip from this 501 HC full update rom
Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
5. Did OTA update to 3.2.1
6. No more OTA available, even after installing Acer Update Enhancment tool.
7. Downloaded and used Blackthund3rs Bootloader management app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622425
8.Downloaded V8 and CWM package, unzipped to the same folder as the tool
9. Ran the 500NVFlashapx app.
10. After completion, booted to CWM recovery, wiped and formatted, and install Moscow Desire's RaptorX almost stock ICS rom.
Works as advertised.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Acer A501 OS refreshment
Moscow Desire said:
Your best bet is to install a good 501 HC 3.2 and get on HC for your 501.
The files are available. What you'll probably want is a full HC Update rom for the 501. Note that some of these Acer roms are encrypted, so you'll need to decrypt it first. You can find the decrypting tool in the Themes and Apps forum, as a "Sticky". After decrypting, you can pull the update.zip out of it, and copy to Ext SD (do not extract, just pull the update file out). Boot the tab holding Vol- and PWR I believe. Might be Vol+ but I can't remember. This should force the tab to look for update.zip on your SD and install it.
I would use this one;
Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1
After it installs, and you get it set up, you need to get Acer Update Enhancer from the Play Store. This will allow your tab to get the ICS OTA.
Keep in mind, there is only 1 official ICS OTA update for the 501, so don't expect more. It may do it in 2 steps though.
If you want root on ICS, there is really only 1 way to get true root and adb system remounts. And that's to flash the V8 unlocked ICS Bootloader, and flash an insecure boot.image. There's currently a small package that'll give you somewhat root, but it's a pain and really doesn't do a good job. So it's better to get the V8 and unsecure boot image. Might be a good idea to also install CWM Recovery at the same time.
Get the correct rom installed first, then check back if you need help.
Oh yeah, one more thing. When you are on HC 3.2, get your UID number and write it down somewhere. You need this as a safety precaution. There's a good sticky thread on how to do it. Pretty simple really.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am embarking on a very crucial mission for my Acer A501 . Its tablet OS refreshment. I have spoken and written to Acer but all my pleas have fallen on deaf ears. At last i stumbled on this site and WOW ! I am downloading the Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1 and will flash as per the instruction. But I am finding difficult to locate the "sticky" software for the decryption the above. can you please help me locate the same.
I really appreciate your help and thank you in advance
jonnybrave said:
I am embarking on a very crucial mission for my Acer A501 . Its tablet OS refreshment. I have spoken and written to Acer but all my pleas have fallen on deaf ears. At last i stumbled on this site and WOW ! I am downloading the Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1 and will flash as per the instruction. But I am finding difficult to locate the "sticky" software for the decryption the above. can you please help me locate the same.
I really appreciate your help and thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the decryption tool. Located in themes and apps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869505
Good Luck!
MD
Trouble installing update.zip for A501
Moscow Desire said:
Here is the decryption tool. Located in themes and apps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869505
Good Luck!
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi MD,
I have Acer Iconia A501 tablet. My tablet suddenly showed andriod logo with exclamation mark when it was being used. Upon looking at your posts, I found the resolution which I tried. I am not expert in this all, but I tried running your ROM "41-124-01-A500-update" from one of your posts which was actually meant for A500. This resolved the issue successfully and tablet was up and running.
Then further I found full ROM for A501 as mentioned below and thought that I should try the ROM meant for the model of my tablet.
I successfully decrypted the ROM that you mentioned "Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1"
When I tried to update it with the mentioned ROM update.zip, it did updated it from SD card and passed android symbol with those gears running. However, when it restarted the tablet by itself, it showed ACER logo and then it showed "ANDROID" (spelling in blue color) which kept on flikering slowly for long long time....for more than 30 minutes and did not moved further. Can you please let me know whats could be wrong?
I also tried ICS ROM, but that didn't worked (it failed). So after couple of trail and error, I moved back to A500 ROM update.zip which I knew that is installing successfully.
Can you please let me know what shall be done in case I want update.zip for A501? It will be highly appreciated if you can upload update.zip directly that I can use and that gets installed successfully.
Regards,
Muk
mukapril said:
Hi MD,
I have Acer Iconia A501 tablet. My tablet suddenly showed andriod logo with exclamation mark when it was being used. Upon looking at your posts, I found the resolution which I tried. I am not expert in this all, but I tried running your ROM "41-124-01-A500-update" from one of your posts which was actually meant for A500. This resolved the issue successfully and tablet was up and running.
Then further I found full ROM for A501 as mentioned below and thought that I should try the ROM meant for the model of my tablet.
I successfully decrypted the ROM that you mentioned "Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1"
When I tried to update it with the mentioned ROM update.zip, it did updated it from SD card and passed android symbol with those gears running. However, when it restarted the tablet by itself, it showed ACER logo and then it showed "ANDROID" (spelling in blue color) which kept on flikering slowly for long long time....for more than 30 minutes and did not moved further. Can you please let me know whats could be wrong?
I also tried ICS ROM, but that didn't worked (it failed). So after couple of trail and error, I moved back to A500 ROM update.zip which I knew that is installing successfully.
Can you please let me know what shall be done in case I want update.zip for A501? It will be highly appreciated if you can upload update.zip directly that I can use and that gets installed successfully.
Regards,
Muk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Muk, I can probably guess the ROM you installed doesn't do data wipes and such, so it caused an animation loop.
Try this one. It's an SD ROM, so it "should" wipe your Data, along with installing the ROM.
https://mega.co.nz/#!NZBlBSLQ!mOHICp7gbinkYeHCvrEz7aKXsWQjjquAWq_XC_lSQzk
As you probably discovered, Acer has pretty much removed almost all tablet ROMs. I snagged a few the other day, then checked yesterday, and they removed all from their support site.
I would guess they are getting out of the tablet business.
Also, they shut down their OTA Update servers for a few months now.
Acer A501
mukapril said:
Hi MD,
I have Acer Iconia A501 tablet. My tablet suddenly showed andriod logo with exclamation mark when it was being used. Upon looking at your posts, I found the resolution which I tried. I am not expert in this all, but I tried running your ROM "41-124-01-A500-update" from one of your posts which was actually meant for A500. This resolved the issue successfully and tablet was up and running.
Then further I found full ROM for A501 as mentioned below and thought that I should try the ROM meant for the model of my tablet.
I successfully decrypted the ROM that you mentioned "Acer_A501_1.309.02_4.031.24_COM_GEN1"
When I tried to update it with the mentioned ROM update.zip, it did updated it from SD card and passed android symbol with those gears running. However, when it restarted the tablet by itself, it showed ACER logo and then it showed "ANDROID" (spelling in blue color) which kept on flikering slowly for long long time....for more than 30 minutes and did not moved further. Can you please let me know whats could be wrong?
I also tried ICS ROM, but that didn't worked (it failed). So after couple of trail and error, I moved back to A500 ROM update.zip which I knew that is installing successfully.
Can you please let me know what shall be done in case I want update.zip for A501? It will be highly appreciated if you can upload update.zip directly that I can use and that gets installed successfully.
Regards,
Muk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A big thank you to Moscow. I have tried the above link but still no go.. I have seen on Acer website they have updated the OS but all Android 4.0 ICS and nothing with Honeycomb. The tablet was initially with Honeycomb. Please advice. Thank you and Best Regards.
Trouble installing ROM for A501
jonnybrave said:
A big thank you to Moscow. I have tried the above link but still no go.. I have seen on Acer website they have updated the OS but all Android 4.0 ICS and nothing with Honeycomb. The tablet was initially with Honeycomb. Please advice. Thank you and Best Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi MD,
Thanks for your super fast response. I am downloading the ROM for A501 from the link provided by me. I will update you if it works in my tab.
I forgot to mention you about one message that I received once tablet is restarted. So, once ROM for A501 from SD card has performed its job successfully....that is that android symbol with gears in its tummy is successfully finished and tablet restarts. It shows "Acer" (spelling logo) and then after it gets stuck at "android" (spelling logo). Between these two, it displays two lines messages on top left corner for 2-3 seconds that the "blob is illegal - abort" and then gets stuck at "android" (spelling logo). I think this might be useful for you to identify something.
Another thing about wiping out the data, in starting when we press volume down and power button, it does display message about SD card (still not not sure about whether it might be wiping out the data or not....I believe you might be correct that it might not be wiping out the data).
Another thing, that I found in my backup is that when I purchased this tab (A501), I downloaded HoneyComb 3.2 Kernel Source Code from the Acer support site. Is this something that you can do magic with and provide me with update.zip? Please let me know....if you can do magic with this, then let me know how shall I share it with you.
Regards,
Muk
Trouble installing ROM for A501
Hi MD,
Thanks for your super fast response.
I tried downloading the ROM for A501 from the link provided by you. It downloaded it from the cloud, but at the very end it displayed message "Decryption Error". Still I tried extracting "update.zip" from the zip file, but it displayed message that the archive is corrupt and file is corrupt. Can you please check at your end and provide me with fresh link or directly with update.zip? For your reference I have attached screenshots of errors.
I forgot to mention you about one message that I received once tablet is restarted. So, once ROM for A501 from SD card has performed its job successfully....that is that android symbol with gears in its tummy is successfully finished and tablet restarts. It shows "Acer" (spelling logo) and then after it gets stuck at "android" (spelling logo). Between these two, it displays two lines messages on top left corner for 2-3 seconds that the "blob is illegal - abort" and then gets stuck at "android" (spelling logo). I think this might be useful for you to identify something.
Another thing about wiping out the data, in starting when we press volume down and power button, it does display message about SD card (still not not sure about whether it might be wiping out the data or not....I believe you might be correct that it might not be wiping out the data).
Another thing, that I found in my backup is that when I purchased this tab (A501), I downloaded HoneyComb 3.2 Kernel Source Code from the Acer support site. Is this something that you can do magic with and provide me with update.zip? Please let me know....if you can do magic with this, then let me know how shall I share it with you.
Regards,
Muk
Trouble installing ROM for A501
Hi MD,
Please read my earlier message and then read this one.
Thanks a lot....your answer about my first problem resolved everything.... (your answer was "that the ROM that I am trying to install is not clearing the data"...I verified that the ROM is clearing the cache, but not the user data. I can confidently say that you correctly identified the issue as when the ROM installation was stuck at "android"....I switched off my tablet and tried installing again the old ROM for A500 which I knew that it is working and instead of asking me to configure the tablet (i.e. time zone, date & time setup, etc.) after installation, it simply logged in and started my tablet as usual....that means that when I was trying to install ROM for A501, it was not clearing user data and was then hanging).
Now coming back to the link that you sent me in previous message, I was able to download the zip file successfully in the second attempt. I extracted the update.zip and it did not work. It showed the similar problem of getting stuck at "android". However, with your great answer that you gave me, I cleared the user data and cache manually by pressing vol up + power buttons simultaneously and then when "acer" symbol displays, releasing only power button and turning on and off the lock button. This cleared user data and cache. After that, since update.zip (that you provided) was already in my SD card, it installed the ROM and tablet works perfectly. Thanks a lot....:good:
One question, when it asked me about the zone, it had only few countries like US, UK, etc. I couldn't find Australia...is it because this ROM not for Australia? I understand that this is not an issue, but if you find anything for Australia, do send me.
Another thing, is this HoneyComb 3.2? Will 3G and GPS work in this one?
Do let me know if you can do some magic with HoneyComb 3.2 kernel source code that I have as mentioned earlier.
Regards,
Muk
mukapril said:
Hi MD,
Please read my earlier message and then read this one.
Thanks a lot....your answer about my first problem resolved everything.... (your answer was "that the ROM that I am trying to install is not clearing the data"...I verified that the ROM is clearing the cache, but not the user data. I can confidently say that you correctly identified the issue as when the ROM installation was stuck at "android"....I switched off my tablet and tried installing again the old ROM for A500 which I knew that it is working and instead of asking me to configure the tablet (i.e. time zone, date & time setup, etc.) after installation, it simply logged in and started my tablet as usual....that means that when I was trying to install ROM for A501, it was not clearing user data and was then hanging).
Now coming back to the link that you sent me in previous message, I was able to download the zip file successfully in the second attempt. I extracted the update.zip and it did not work. It showed the similar problem of getting stuck at "android". However, with your great answer that you gave me, I cleared the user data and cache manually by pressing vol up + power buttons simultaneously and then when "acer" symbol displays, releasing only power button and turning on and off the lock button. This cleared user data and cache. After that, since update.zip (that you provided) was already in my SD card, it installed the ROM and tablet works perfectly. Thanks a lot....:good:
One question, when it asked me about the zone, it had only few countries like US, UK, etc. I couldn't find Australia...is it because this ROM not for Australia? I understand that this is not an issue, but if you find anything for Australia, do send me.
Another thing, is this HoneyComb 3.2? Will 3G and GPS work in this one?
Do let me know if you can do some magic with HoneyComb 3.2 kernel source code that I have as mentioned earlier.
Regards,
Muk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm mobile right now, so can't go into big detail.
In your settings, about tablet, you can always find info on which specific OS you have. If you indeed have an A501 and the settings tells you that your tablet is a 501, then your 3g and GPS should function.
The only 2 differences between an A500 and an A501 is of course 3g. Also, they use different GPS radios. So you can install 500 Roms on a 501 and vice versa. Just the above 2 items won't work. Also, I believe I gave you a 3.2.x ROM. Getting it to ICS 4.0.4 may be a problem.
I revived my own 501 last night by putting the motherboard in the oven, but now it doesn't read my ext SD card, so I may be stuck on 3.2. Eh, no problem.
mukapril said:
Hi MD,
Please read my earlier message and then read this one.
Thanks a lot....your answer about my first problem resolved everything.... (your answer was "that the ROM that I am trying to install is not clearing the data"...I verified that the ROM is clearing the cache, but not the user data. I can confidently say that you correctly identified the issue as when the ROM installation was stuck at "android"....I switched off my tablet and tried installing again the old ROM for A500 which I knew that it is working and instead of asking me to configure the tablet (i.e. time zone, date & time setup, etc.) after installation, it simply logged in and started my tablet as usual....that means that when I was trying to install ROM for A501, it was not clearing user data and was then hanging).
Now coming back to the link that you sent me in previous message, I was able to download the zip file successfully in the second attempt. I extracted the update.zip and it did not work. It showed the similar problem of getting stuck at "android". However, with your great answer that you gave me, I cleared the user data and cache manually by pressing vol up + power buttons simultaneously and then when "acer" symbol displays, releasing only power button and turning on and off the lock button. This cleared user data and cache. After that, since update.zip (that you provided) was already in my SD card, it installed the ROM and tablet works perfectly. Thanks a lot....:good:
One question, when it asked me about the zone, it had only few countries like US, UK, etc. I couldn't find Australia...is it because this ROM not for Australia? I understand that this is not an issue, but if you find anything for Australia, do send me.
Another thing, is this HoneyComb 3.2? Will 3G and GPS work in this one?
Do let me know if you can do some magic with HoneyComb 3.2 kernel source code that I have as mentioned earlier.
Regards,
Muk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello mukapril .. may you provide me with the Honeycomb ROM which I might try ?
Thanking you and Best Regards
Trouble installing A501 ROM
Moscow Desire said:
I'm mobile right now, so can't go into big detail.
In your settings, about tablet, you can always find info on which specific OS you have. If you indeed have an A501 and the settings tells you that your tablet is a 501, then your 3g and GPS should function.
The only 2 differences between an A500 and an A501 is of course 3g. Also, they use different GPS radios. So you can install 500 Roms on a 501 and vice versa. Just the above 2 items won't work. Also, I believe I gave you a 3.2.x ROM. Getting it to ICS 4.0.4 may be a problem.
I revived my own 501 last night by putting the motherboard in the oven, but now it doesn't read my ext SD card, so I may be stuck on 3.2. Eh, no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi MD,
Apologies for very long replies. Wanted to convey the message in detail how I did it so that it might help someone else like me.
Thanks for your response. I have tested it, 3G and GPS is working fine. I believe, before my tab encountered this problem, it was having version 4 which should be ICS. At that stage I didn't had any problem with my tab...I believe it was there for long time.
If you have good known ROM for ICS, please forward me I can try on my tab. If it doesn't work, then will re-install the Honeycomb that you sent earlier.
One more question....when I try to update the system from "About Tablet" in Settings, why it displays message the the "network is poor" and advices to move to better coverage? Though, I am just besides my WiFi modem and coverage is almost 100%.
And @jonnybrave: If you are referring to the ROM that I successfully installed which was sent by MD earlier, then it does not need any decryption. So you can use the link sent by MD earlier in this post. And if you are referring to the KernelSourceCode that I mentioned earleir, then it needs some kind of processing in Linux machine and then you can create some image.....this is was I know about it....sorry not an andrion guru. Please let me know what you are referring to.
Regards,
Mukesh
mukapril said:
One more question....when I try to update the system from "About Tablet" in Settings, why it displays message the the "network is poor" and advices to move to better coverage? Though, I am just besides my WiFi modem and coverage is almost 100%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get the message as do all 500/501 owners (it can change depending on version of Rom).
Acer no longer gives updates to any of their devices (regardless of age). These are otherwise known as OTA Updates. So they have closed their update servers, so now we get some "message" that absolutely means nothing.
I suppose Acer is getting out of the Android business and no longer supports anything. Nice job Acer.
As for updating to ICS (or any other version), I have a few update files. Generally though, the update files must be matched to the current version of your tablet. Sometimes you can run a "full update" and it will work.
The problem, is these tablets are getting old, and the nand memory can go bad. Running an update can cause a variety of problems such as "Stuck in APX" mode, stuck at bootloader, stuck at boot animation. Then we have to go back to the EUUS file, or an old SD ROM file. So you run the risk of doing things all over again, and the risk that it just won't work again. (I spent a couple hours last night, and was almost ready to throw it in the garbage)
For example, I'm pretty much stuck at 3.0.x or 3.2.x. I've already disassembled the tablet and put the mainboard in the oven, just to get it back to life! And after numerous attempts to get ICS on it, I've pretty much given up before it hard bricks again. In fact, I can't get a 3.2.x EUUS to work on it, so it is stuck at the 3.0.x ATT EUUS. Eh, it's my little girls tab, so as long as it gets You Tube and browser, it's pretty much ok.
Trouble installing A501 ROM
Hi MD,
I am in the same boat as you...lol...This tablet is mostly used by my daughter and as long as it is solving my daughter's purpose, we are happy
I was just curious about that message as to why that is happenning, but after your clarification, it is clear to me as to why it is happenning.
My tablet is working as normal and everything is working fine...so we are happy with what we have.
Thanks a lot!
Regards,
Muk
---------- Post added at 03:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 AM ----------
jonnybrave said:
Hello mukapril .. may you provide me with the Honeycomb ROM which I might try ?
Thanking you and Best Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Jonny,
If you are referring to the ROM that I successfully installed which was sent by MD earlier, then it does not need any decryption. So you can use the link sent by MD earlier in this post. And if you are referring to the KernelSourceCode that I mentioned earleir, then it needs some kind of processing in Linux machine and then you can create some image.....this is was I know about it....sorry not an andrion guru. Please let me know what you are referring to.
Regards,
Muk

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