Hey guys,
I was wondering if there is some kind of trick or way to know when a newer firmware is out.
That's a good question. Besides finding out here in the forums, if there is a new official firmware will it download automagically?
One known source is www.samfirmware.com
It is not official and should be taken carefully but very useful.
There is a guy called Quattrofromagi who (we think) is a Samsung insider who posts details of new ROMs on Twitter, but if you're not experienced with flashing it's probably better to wait until one of the guys who know what they're looking at have a look and then post about it on here. A great many people got caught out with the signed bootloaders when JM6 came out because of rushing to flash from downloads from FUS or Samfirmware.
Well, if you are looking for stock ROMs or firmwares from Samsung, you can always connect via Samsung Kies to see if you have an update. But trust me its very very late/old and Kies is not really updated that often. Samsung thinks its too much work.
Samfirmware.com is more upto date with the latest official release of firmwares for each continent. However, because they are official releases they also contain the 'bootloader protection' gimmick that Samsung is pushing out. This was a headache at the start of 2011 but thanks to Chainfire and Rotohammer there is a solution to remove the bootloader lock now. Basically, they are locking down the bootloader so people can't install their own ROM unless they are from signed by Samsung and you get it from Kies. Obviously, this is due to carriers complaining (north american carriers) that people are activating the phone features of the tablet by updating their firmware to another continents' firmware, like Europe or Asia where they allow customers to make calls on their tablet.
Your best bet is to follow the forum here and look at what others are putting on. The best part is obviously, there are going to be a lot of posts about people testing the latest firmware, their experiences and how they worked out the kinks. I know it's daunting going through the posts but it can be quite informative in case you meet the same problems as others.
For your info, the best ROM right now that is stable and well tested is JMEv4 by Rotohammer.
The next ROM people are working on now is MoDaCo's kernel and ROM running ext4 filesystem because of its speed. And the overclocked 1.2Ghz kernel is also available for EURO tabs made by richardtrip to mix with any other ROM of your choice. These are currently still not stable but are working and will be ready very soon.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the info. Very helpful.
OK, after reading a bunch of posts today, I'm dizzy as h3ll, and very confused.
We have two updates that came out OTA in the past couple of days.
1.139.04_4.010.40_COM_GEN1
And then we have
1.141.07_4.010.13_COM_GEN2
I bought my Tablet at Walmart in Watertown, NY, and it was a GEN1 with HC 3.01 on it.
Now some are saying that Acer switched over to GEN2 for US tablets as of the 3.1 update. (I'm not naming names).
I've run multiple custom ROMs on my tablet, and recently went back to see how stable the Acer releases have been. I downloaded both of the files listed above, (actually 11 GEN2 then OTA update to 13).
One person stated that the GEN1 was an Australian release, and that the GEN 2 was the US release. I can confirm what someone else said, that they both have GPS.conf files for north America, not Europe, nor Australia. Now I've seen many custom ROMS with different GPS.conf files in them ie: Europe, North America, etc.
Here's my question, how can we know for certain #1 which update is indeed for which country, as they're both seemingly configured for use in North America, unless Acer is really messing things up and issuing updates for Australia with the GPS configured for north America, and it certainly wouldn't surprise me.
And #2, which update is the newest, as someone else stated that the prefix with the highest number is the latest version, and yet another said it was the one with the higher end number is the latest!
If someone knows the real answer to these two questions, please stand up!
Otherwise it's going to get very confusing when trying to give advice to others asking questions about updates if they don't like waiting on Acer to get their act together.
TIA
XBoxD00D said:
OK, after reading a bunch of posts today, I'm dizzy as h3ll, and very confused.
We have two updates that came out OTA in the past couple of days.
1.139.04_4.010.40_COM_GEN1
And then we have
1.141.07_4.010.13_COM_GEN2
I bought my Tablet at Walmart in Watertown, NY, and it was a GEN1 with HC 3.01 on it.
Now some are saying that Acer switched over to GEN2 for US tablets as of the 3.1 update. (I'm not naming names).
I've run multiple custom ROMs on my tablet, and recently went back to see how stable the Acer releases have been. I downloaded both of the files listed above, (actually 11 GEN2 then OTA update to 13).
One person stated that the GEN1 was an Australian release, and that the GEN 2 was the US release. I can confirm what someone else said, that they both have GPS.conf files for north America, not Europe, nor Australia. Now I've seen many custom ROMS with different GPS.conf files in them ie: Europe, North America, etc.
Here's my question, how can we know for certain #1 which update is indeed for which country, as they're both seemingly configured for use in North America, unless Acer is really messing things up and issuing updates for Australia with the GPS configured for north America, and it certainly wouldn't surprise me.
And #2, which update is the newest, as someone else stated that the prefix with the highest number is the latest version, and yet another said it was the one with the higher end number is the latest!
If someone knows the real answer to these two questions, please stand up!
Otherwise it's going to get very confusing when trying to give advice to others asking questions about updates if they don't like waiting on Acer to get their act together.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow no answers to this post. Especially with everyone knowing everything in other threads.....amazing!
Here we go...This is from Acer's patch documents and best shows the current separate code trains...
A. Countries: UK/France/Italy/Spain
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.22_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.30_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.38_7.006.01_COM_GEN1 (3.2)
B. Country: USA
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.07_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.08_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.09_COM_GEN2
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.10_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.11_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.13_COM_GEN2 NEW
C. Countries: Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Philippines/India/Vietnam/
Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.12_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.24_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.40_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.40_7.006.03_COM_GEN1 (3.2)
D. Countries: Taiwan/Hong Kong
- Affected OS version:
Acer_A500_4.010.23_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.39_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.41_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.41_7.006.01_COM_GEN1
I'm trying to sort through them to perhaps find/explain some differences.... other than the wifi driver (different countries allow different channels).
The one thing I can tell you is that no matter which rom i've looked at, all of the roms have the following lines in build.prop..
ro.product.locale.language=en
ro.product.locale.region=US
That said, we can add LAZY to the description of ACER. The thing that makes this most murky is the fact the people like us are more inclined to find instant gratification. That is, we download the newest version of the rom (or so we think) rather than the newest regional version. If you look at the above listings and you are on one of the lower versions for any of the above regions, looking for the OTA on the tablet itself will lead you through the upgrade paths listed for each region.
In all honesty we should have a mod sticky a thread for this so all inbound noobs can see it and avoid some grief.
dottat said:
In all honesty we should have a mod sticky a thread for this so all inbound noobs can see it and avoid some grief.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree! It's tough enough as it is helping ppl with the current naming process by Acer, or lack thereof!
Should, could, would, good luck!
Moving to Q&A.
PS: Every Q? thread should be posted in Q&A.
Of course the naming convention is only confusing if you're going off the rails with your tab - those of us who just leave them stock and install OTA's don't particularly care or pay attention to the update names.
Buy tablet > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet > get 3.1 > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet...
I'm waiting until the life cycle on this puppy nears its end before I do any ROM'ming. I'm a little paranoid that way but mostly I'm happy with vanilla. I also get confused by all the different steps - update, backup, clear this, clear that, install this, then update with that... I know, it can't be that complicated but I'm easily ditractac....
Oh look, a butterfly!
...
As I was saying, when you spread the peanut butter over the toast you could have added the honey first, thereby eliminating the danger or bread-breakage and...
gammaRascal said:
Of course the naming convention is only confusing if you're going off the rails with your tab - those of us who just leave them stock and install OTA's don't particularly care or pay attention to the update names.
Buy tablet > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet > get 3.1 > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet...
I'm waiting until the life cycle on this puppy nears its end before I do any ROM'ming. I'm a little paranoid that way but mostly I'm happy with vanilla. I also get confused by all the different steps - update, backup, clear this, clear that, install this, then update with that... I know, it can't be that complicated but I'm easily ditractac....
Oh look, a butterfly!
...
As I was saying, when you spread the peanut butter over the toast you could have added the honey first, thereby eliminating the danger or bread-breakage and...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah bro, you best stick to OTA, you don't want to get too confused, and overtax yourself lol
Now... if we could get custom rom devs to make a couple different versions we'd be in business too...
Please tell me where to get the kernel module tun.ko 2.6.36.3Hoeyillian-3.4 +
shurpa said:
Please tell me where to get the kernel module tun.ko 2.6.36.3Hoeyillian-3.4 +
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't try to get that as a standalone file unless you *really* know what you are doing, like an experienced linux sysadmin/developer. The simplest thing to do would be to just install the latest HoneyVillain kernel, currently at 3.6.
Frankly, I'd like to see something (preferably from Acer) about what each update actually provides us PRIOR to accepting the OTA. Heck, I can't even find that information when upgrading custom ROMs from like v3.2 to v3.2.1. I'm the type of person who always waited to see how much (for example) SP3 would break Windows XP before installing it myself.
are these ics or hc if they are ics check out my article on how to unbrick your tablet(also how to manually update to ics) PS: if you have already upgraded to ics via custom rom or acer you probably wont be able to go back to HC
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699277
using custom rom is more simple.
Advice for interested Newbies for updating
gammaRascal said:
Of course the naming convention is only confusing if you're going off the rails with your tab - those of us who just leave them stock and install OTA's don't particularly care or pay attention to the update names.
Buy tablet > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet > get 3.1 > use tablet > get incremental > use tablet...
I'm waiting until the life cycle on this puppy nears its end before I do any ROM'ming. I'm a little paranoid that way but mostly I'm happy with vanilla. I also get confused by all the different steps - update, backup, clear this, clear that, install this, then update with that... I know, it can't be that complicated but I'm easily ditractac....
Oh look, a butterfly!
.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty Butterflies.
Seriously, I took the same tact with you use stock...use stock..., however, I broke down about a month ago, after installing android 4.2 on my wife's HP Playbook (the dead Palm version...)
I got jealous, so used afterOTA to install a new recovery ROM, and root the tablet (also used blackthunder's ap500apx flashing tool), and between the two of them got jb (4.1.2 up and running very smoothly). Now that I installed the skrillex clockwork mod 9.x I now have a great recovery tool, and just installed
4,2.2 on my tablet, with less then 30 minutes to take care of it.
updating rules:
a) read the ENTIRE thread (use multiple tabs.
a1) use a new window for each new topic or sw you investigate.
a2) download all the sw to ONE folder so you can find it.
b) READ the ENTIRE thread (oh, did I say that already?... I mean REALLY read EVERY thread to the END!!
b1) open the first page. open the last page in a new tab, or work your way backwards. yes, 42 pages of updated discussion is difficult, but so is
repairing a bricked tablet.
anyway that's my 25cents worth.
good luck
need to reinstall original os A500
XBoxD00D said:
OK, after reading a bunch of posts today, I'm dizzy as h3ll, and very confused.
It was during an update (and my forgetting pattern) when my A500 failed. I am also dizzy from all this and Acer isn't any help AT ALL. Just added insult to injury as far as I'm concerned. One has to jump hoops just to find a contact number or email.
So, vent over, does anyone have the original OS for the A500 that I can easily (with instructions) get my tablet up and going with again? I did learn that when using the paperclip method, one has to release the power switch and repress again. Just looking for some assistance yet once again. Thanks - if there were a pill for this, I'd take it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ivibre said:
OK, after reading a bunch of posts today, I'm dizzy as h3ll, and very confused.
It was during an update (and my forgetting pattern) when my A500 failed. I am also dizzy from all this and Acer isn't any help AT ALL. Just added insult to injury as far as I'm concerned. One has to jump hoops just to find a contact number or email.
So, vent over, does anyone have the original OS for the A500 that I can easily (with instructions) get my tablet up and going with again? I did learn that when using the paperclip method, one has to release the power switch and repress again. Just looking for some assistance yet once again. Thanks - if there were a pill for this, I'd take it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same problem and really will do anything to get it working again. You can use timmy dean's rollback tool, if you can get the 7z open. Neither lubuntu nor Windows XP will open it. So far I flashed a V8 bootloader, but I can't use blackthunder's tool for some stupid reason, and when I contacted Acer (more like called them out on Facebook with a rant for thousands of people to see) they said they'd fix it under warranty conditions even though mine ran out.
They then proceeded to tell me when I went to double check that the case would be valid before I sent it to them, they said it expired and that I would have to pay $160 just to send it to them and not including parts. About a year before it stopped working, I sent it in to get the light board fixed (it was broken when I woke up one day) and I never opened the back of before. Three days ago I opened the back only to see that a cord was unplugged (promptly plugged it back in) and that multiple screws were missing. I nearly "contacted" them again, but decided to continue my search for a solution on here.
Unrooted my tab and trying to get it back to the latest official version, but I'm having loads of trouble. Please help. Thanks!
My model number is A500, Android version is 3.0.1, kernel version is 2.6.36.3-00001-g44a8bac and build number is Acer_A500_1.145.01_COM_GEN2
This is the tab that best buy had on sale a few weeks/months on sale. Only 8GB of on board storage.
I have found threads with official updates, but don't know which is safe to install. They are all the same version but have different build numbers so I don't know which build number corresponds with my tab
I think I know the answer to this already, but can I jump from 3.0.1 to 3.2.1?
Anyways please help. I do appreciate it.
Thanks!
EDIT: 99 views and no replys? Do you guys not know the answer or are just being jerky? This is seriously my first post let alone question on the acer threads. I usually get things pretty easily, but I am having trouble on this one so it's not like I'm being lazy or asking a stupid question. Can someone help either by providing some answers or let me they don't know how to fix this??
Thanks
EDIT 2: Close mods
Not sure if you're still with us -
interested in knowing why you have not rec'd any OTA before now -unless you've been rooted from the start like i was when i got mine!!!
you also have to be stock, as in factory stock! the update checks a whole lotta stuff before it will install . If the system doesnt stack up the update will fail. So if you have deleted or frozen bloatware apps they will need to be restored, along with modded build props etc. factory data reset and full wipe fixes that problem, but Most people want to keep their data if they can and isn't an option. The update itself should leave everything in place. Mine did.
u need a Gen_2 build. I'm not familiar with your build number or upgrade path for 1.145, but you should receive an OTA for 3.1, 3.2 and the latest 2 for 3.2.1.
if u just wanna install one of the updated custom stock roms with root or cwm, you should be fine with any build and yes you can go straight to 3.2.1 from 3.0.1, but no OTA with these roms
ACis0014 said:
Unrooted my tab and trying to get it back to the latest official version, but I'm having loads of trouble. Please help. Thanks!
My model number is A500, Android version is 3.0.1, kernel version is 2.6.36.3-00001-g44a8bac and build number is Acer_A500_1.145.01_COM_GEN2
This is the tab that best buy had on sale a few weeks/months on sale. Only 8GB of on board storage.
I have found threads with official updates, but don't know which is safe to install. They are all the same version but have different build numbers so I don't know which build number corresponds with my tab
I think I know the answer to this already, but can I jump from 3.0.1 to 3.2.1?
Anyways please help. I do appreciate it.
Thanks!
EDIT: 99 views and no replys? Do you guys not know the answer or are just being jerky? This is seriously my first post let alone question on the acer threads. I usually get things pretty easily, but I am having trouble on this one so it's not like I'm being lazy or asking a stupid question. Can someone help either by providing some answers or let me they don't know how to fix this??
Thanks
EDIT 2: Close mods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a known issue and too many reasons to list. But, basically you are not 100% or it thinks that (checksums different) etc.
So, just flash directly to 3.2.1 GEN2
Mods please close. I was able to fix the issue
I was rooted and had to flash to 3.0.1 or 3.1 before unrooting with the iconia apk. Then I used the acer recovery tool to flash stock recovery. But after flashing stock recovery and unrooting I couldn't get any OTA updates. I re-read some the posts and manually updated to 3.2 after decrypting the zip. After updating I checked for new OTA updates and sure enough found both. Now I'm back to stock 3.2.1. Patiently waiting for ICS
Glad you got it working.
Holla guys I've recently have an s3.. wonderful device, seriously, but I'm very regretful as regards the SDS issue.. unfortunately my device seems to have the "affected chip" but I love Android world and I can't stay without modding something! the problem, as I have seen, seems to be solved until fws released from 4.1.2... To be more sure, I upgraded my phone to 4.3 stock yesterday and now the fw mounted is the XXUGMK6. My phone is NOT rooted and it is branded Vodafone. In this situation the device should be "covered" (hopefully, this damned issue it's a very bad thing )... however, as I said upon, I want to install something new to speed up this wonderful device.
So let's go straight to the point: what are the bootloader, recovery and rom that have the fws fixed for SDS? What are the best ones IN THIS SENSE? (not in absolutely sense, obviously, because each bl, rec & rom is simply best until it's cooked in my opinion )
Moreover, should I remove brand before installing something? Could you tell me precise steps to do kindly?
I'll be very grateful to everyone can answer my question, really
Ops, I just realized that I didn't write in right section. I'm really sorry. If is it possible may it shift to Q&A topics?
My excuse mods!
-----EDIT-----
I provide soon myself to post in the right place... this one can be closed or deleted sorry for my mistake!!!
So my tablet the SM-T280 has a NOOK version, but all the specifications are matching properly. The NOOK edition, called the SM-T280-NOOK has been upgraded to Marshmallow though, where as the non-NOOK edition only stops at 5.1.1, and I would like to attempt to swap the firmware out for an updated version of Android. I'm reaching out for help finding it as my Google-Fu may not be mastered enough because I was having difficulties and thought this would be the right place with the right people to ask. If you can assist me in finding it, it would be deeply appreciated, and probably from more than just me. Thanks for your time.
zenful said:
So my tablet the SM-T280 has a NOOK version, but all the specifications are matching properly. The NOOK edition, called the SM-T280-NOOK has been upgraded to Marshmallow though, where as the non-NOOK edition only stops at 5.1.1, and I would like to attempt to swap the firmware out for an updated version of Android. I'm reaching out for help finding it as my Google-Fu may not be mastered enough because I was having difficulties and thought this would be the right place with the right people to ask. If you can assist me in finding it, it would be deeply appreciated, and probably from more than just me. Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that is just a fallacy. I realise that some sources on the Web report it has, but I feel this information is incorrect.
I have attempted to find such firmware and it doesn't exist and neither can you purchase a nook with this firmware.
It even states on the software update page the last update was only a security update.
https://help.barnesandnoble.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3728
Thank you kindly @ashyx that was the fear lol Just going to go ahead and look into buying a new device that has more development here, probably would work out better in the long run