Database Users

[Q] another brick story

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.

Bricked?

A good friend of mine supposedly shut off his A500 during a upgrade/update. The unit still powers on but all I can get it to show is "boot verified failed..." in the upper-left corner of the Acer screen. I've downloaded several ROMs and tried reflashing from the SD card but no luck in reviving this. All I get is the Android triangle. I've reformatted the SD card. I've tried the Vol + power + screen lock stuff, too. I can't get to any other screen to change any settings... period. Many of the ROMs that I would like to try are dead links now that the government has shut them down. This is a US unit. Would someone be kind enough to direct me to where I can get the right stock ROM so I can at least get this thing running for him?

Hi ..
Not sure what he done.But it sounds like this will fix this issue for you..
Just follow this link good luck
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1307539#

erica_renee said:
Hi ..
Not sure what he done.But it sounds like this will fix this issue for you..
Just follow this link good luck
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1307539#
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response and it DOES look like it would work... IF I could access anything on the tablet - like enabling USB Debugging, etc. I can't get to it. What I need is something I can flash or boot right from the SD card as that's the only thing I have access to.

with this you do not need to have access to nothing. Download the file From the thread above to your windows pc. OPEN THE Zip file. it will have all the tools and A VERY DETAILED set of instructions. Find the instruction file and fallow it.
Many people have used this with ease. If you want help just flashing another.zip file. post the rom that was on the tablet . the recovery installed as well.

erica_renee said:
with this you do not need to have access to nothing. Download the file From the thread above to your windows pc. OPEN THE Zip file. it will have all the tools and A VERY DETAILED set of instructions. Find the instruction file and fallow it.
Many people have used this with ease. If you want help just flashing another.zip file. post the rom that was on the tablet . the recovery installed as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I tried it out and it doesn't pick up the tablet as I don't think USB debugging is enabled and I have no way to enable it. That's why I'm asking for a method to flash it from the SD card.
BTW, I found the S/N inside the SD card door.

You could try decrypting one of the update roms;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878
Note that some are encrypted, and you have to de-crypt with the tool listed there.
Extract and copy the update.zip. Copy to SD.
Boot by vol- or vol+, and see if it will install.
There are a couple of other tips in the threads, like toggling the button for Portrait lock, to force the tab to start formatting.

Moscow Desire said:
You could try decrypting one of the update roms;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878
Note that some are encrypted, and you have to de-crypt with the tool listed there.
Extract and copy the update.zip. Copy to SD.
Boot by vol- or vol+, and see if it will install.
There are a couple of other tips in the threads, like toggling the button for Portrait lock, to force the tab to start formatting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks VERY much! I swear I must have tried these before and they didn't work. However, I missed one important step - unzipping the update.zip from the file! DOH! I feel really stupid but the tablet is running 100% perfectly.
Again, my most sincere thanks!

gjtoth said:
Thanks VERY much! I swear I must have tried these before and they didn't work. However, I missed one important step - unzipping the update.zip from the file! DOH! I feel really stupid but the tablet is running 100% perfectly.
Again, my most sincere thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, really, it's no problem. Glad we all could help get you up and running.
No, I haven't used that method, since my HTC desire. Same principle though.
I'd tell you the principle behind it, but it's rather long.
Glad you got it going.
My pals and I, are launching a new site. Hopefully it will be for people not so technically PHD'd with android. Not quite so technical as XDA. You're more than welcome to place some info, when we launch. It's more community orientated, so a different venue.
XDA, is, and always will be the place to come for the really technical stuff. As you see, there are users here, which will give you what they know. May not always be the fix, but, some people here "do" care.

Moscow Desire said:
Hey, really, it's no problem. Glad we all could help get you up and running.
No, I haven't used that method, since my HTC desire. Same principle though.
I'd tell you the principle behind it, but it's rather long.
Glad you got it going.
My pals and I, are launching a new site. Hopefully it will be for people not so technically PHD'd with android. Not quite so technical as XDA. You're more than welcome to place some info, when we launch. It's more community orientated, so a different venue.
XDA, is, and always will be the place to come for the really technical stuff. As you see, there are users here, which will give you what they know. May not always be the fix, but, some people here "do" care.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be happy to check it out. While I don't have a lot of tech savvy in Android, XDA has been my "go to" for almost all things Android for MY A500. While I can't contribute much (if anything ), I have sure picked up a wealth of help/tips here.

gjtoth said:
Be happy to check it out. While I don't have a lot of tech savvy in Android, XDA has been my "go to" for almost all things Android for MY A500. While I can't contribute much (if anything ), I have sure picked up a wealth of help/tips here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, we all start "somewhere".
Androidtabletgeeks.com And remind you, it is not competition. Just an alternative.
Officially, it has not launched. Still working on tutorial videos and such. Like I said, it's a different venue.
We all start somewhere......

Moscow Desire said:
Hey, we all start "somewhere".
Androidtabletgeeks.com And remind you, it is not competition. Just an alternative.
Officially, it has not launched. Still working on tutorial videos and such. Like I said, it's a different venue.
We all start somewhere......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I peaked very nice.hope you don't mind.
Did not reg.

erica_renee said:
I peaked very nice.hope you don't mind.
Did not reg.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. Still have tons of video tutorials to make.

Moscow Desire said:
You could try decrypting one of the update roms;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878
Note that some are encrypted, and you have to de-crypt with the tool listed there.
Extract and copy the update.zip. Copy to SD.
Boot by vol- or vol+, and see if it will install.
There are a couple of other tips in the threads, like toggling the button for Portrait lock, to force the tab to start formatting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MD, i was unable to download any of the 3.0.1 update files. When i click on the link it takes me to some xml tree. is there any other place where i could download?

Bricked??
Hello All,
I was running ICS ota on my a500, I am trying to boot with recovery, and it gives me an icon of android with gears and reboots, with the following error:
Not legal! Abort
The blob package is not official ~Abort!
After which it just shows the word android and blinks every few seconds.
My a500 was not rooted.
I tried afew things posted on the forums, civato method, downloading a previous OTA and running it. nothing works.
Please help....

When i start up normally the screen shows the word ANDROID and stay`s on that.
volume down and power android puppet with exclamation mark.
Volume up and power give`s me the menus skrilax bootloader V6 reboot- fastboot mode – Boot recovery – Set Boot secondary Kernel image – Set Debug mode on – Wipe cache.
I have tried all options.
Finally holding reset and power button down and after 3 sec release power and 1 sec after that the reset
When I use Blackthund3r`s flashtool v0.4 I get the message no APX mode devices are connected.
Can you help me out? Preferably whit a Dutch recover.
Many thanks in advance

[Q] bricked a500 - vibrating black screen

Okay... so the other day in class I was thumbing through the intrawebs and noticed the leaked ICS had came out for the A500... I tried flashing the ROM to my tablet, thinking it would be a cinch if I just followed the directions. No go, just stuck on Android boot logo. That's fine and all, made a back up with CWM (which i think was my initial problem with the ICS version.. correct if I'm wrong please,) but... my back-ups check sums were mismatching for everything. Couldn't get them to match and couldn't figure it out so I decided to just flash root stock version back on to the tablet and go from there using my titanium backup.
I flashed, and bam... vibrating black screen, no CWM recovery anymore no matter what I do. I've been using the SDK manager / ADB terminal thinger / EUUS Acer Iconia Tab Software Upgrade Utility. I cannot for the life of me find my CPUID, or at least the RIGHT CPUID. I understand to use software to find it but I don't think my tablet is giving the correct info, or something??!?! When I run adb devices in CMD in the platform-tools directory it doesn't list any devices available. If anyone could help it'd be greatly appreciated. Could possibly upload a screenshot of my usb devices with the USBdeview software?

GermanDoerksen said:
Okay... so the other day in class I was thumbing through the intrawebs and noticed the leaked ICS had came out for the A500... I tried flashing the ROM to my tablet, thinking it would be a cinch if I just followed the directions. No go, just stuck on Android boot logo. That's fine and all, made a back up with CWM (which i think was my initial problem with the ICS version.. correct if I'm wrong please,) but... my back-ups check sums were mismatching for everything. Couldn't get them to match and couldn't figure it out so I decided to just flash root stock version back on to the tablet and go from there using my titanium backup.
I flashed, and bam... vibrating black screen, no CWM recovery anymore no matter what I do. I've been using the SDK manager / ADB terminal thinger / EUUS Acer Iconia Tab Software Upgrade Utility. I cannot for the life of me find my CPUID, or at least the RIGHT CPUID. I understand to use software to find it but I don't think my tablet is giving the correct info, or something??!?! When I run adb devices in CMD in the platform-tools directory it doesn't list any devices available. If anyone could help it'd be greatly appreciated. Could possibly upload a screenshot of my usb devices with the USBdeview software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get your old uid number, look in one of your cwm backup folders on your SD card.should say uid.txt.
Then you can either use the photo tutorial at androidtabletgeeks.com, or there is text instructions here at xda.
Also, sounds like you may need to load the a DB drivers for your tab.

Help ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've got a similar problem. My A500 are with the Boot "Verified Boot failed" and no way I can make it work again. He was with the ICS ROM'm trying to make it back to the Stock ROM but I can not. Please Help Me.

Hmm...
Moscow Desire said:
To get your old uid number, look in one of your cwm backup folders on your SD card.should say uid.txt.
Then you can either use the photo tutorial at androidtabletgeeks.com, or there is text instructions here at xda.
Also, sounds like you may need to load the a DB drivers for your tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, that got me started in a good direction I feel like. The only problem is that CWM made them all "*.img" files. There is a "system.img", "boot.img", and "recovery.img". Which one should I be trying to tear into to get it? And I'm pretty sure I have the adb drivers installed, or at least my device shows up in my device manager when I put it in APX mode, and I've downloaded the USB recovery drivers from the ACER website, along with other drivers that people have suggested.
Thanks for your quick reply! Hopefully this gets me somewhere, if you have any more suggestions on where to find it within the filesystem / *.img files let me know.
** Also a "data.img"... didn't want to leave the right one out on accident haha.**

Still nothing...
I've been trying to go through the old CWM back up .img files, but the only one I can even open and extract is the system.img which from what I can tell, has nothing to do with the CPUID. Next I started up a virtual ubuntu to try ADB out on there, same results. Even changed the vendor ID to the one given to me by lsusb, still nothing. I'm out of thoughts on this... I'm burnt out on trying to get this to work.
When I opened up usbdeview, I saw an old version of my Acer Iconia tab when it was actually working. Used that serial number and it made it through to where it said it was upgrading, but then sat/hung overnight. didn't move or make any progress so I unplugged it so I could go to class and keep working on it... now that cpuid doesn't work either.
Is my tablet a fancy paperweight now?

A500 Reborn
People,
I managed to make my A500 back to work with an update file, but forum cannot permit to put the link here. Take out the spaces of the link below:
www . fileserve . com / file / 2HUVP9D / update(ok) . zip
Rename the file to "update.zip", then save this on Sdcard and Boot the A500 with Vol - pressed.
Worked for me.

so..
assanches said:
People,
I managed to make my A500 back to work with an update file, but forum cannot permit to put the link here. Take out the spaces of the link below:
www . fileserve . com / file / 2HUVP9D / update(ok) . zip
Rename the file to "update.zip", then save this on Sdcard and Boot the A500 with Vol - pressed.
Worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have a recovery that you were able to boot into when you did this? Or does holding vol - while powering up install the update.zip? If you used a recovery manager it's not going to help me at all.

A500 Reborn
GermanDoerksen said:
Did you have a recovery that you were able to boot into when you did this? Or does holding vol - while powering up install the update.zip? If you used a recovery manager it's not going to help me at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this without a CWM recovery, only stock recovery (holding vol - while powering up).

assanches said:
I did this without a CWM recovery, only stock recovery (holding vol - while powering up).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... thanks but nothing doin for me. I have nothing but a black screen that vibrates. adb mode and such but nothing else. Something's gotta give eventually.

A500 Reborn
GermanDoerksen said:
Yeah... thanks but nothing doin for me. I have nothing but a black screen that vibrates. adb mode and such but nothing else. Something's gotta give eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GermanDoerksen,
Did you try this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18750804&postcount=17
Worked for many users.

yup
assanches said:
GermanDoerksen,
Did you try this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18750804&postcount=17
Worked for many users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's where I started this journey to get it working again lol. The only problem I'm having is with finding my CPUID or the UID he talks about. The numbers I get don't work because they're for the recovery driver, not an actual UID for my tablet. There is no serial number displayed when connected.

GermanDoerksen said:
That's where I started this journey to get it working again lol. The only problem I'm having is with finding my CPUID or the UID he talks about. The numbers I get don't work because they're for the recovery driver, not an actual UID for my tablet. There is no serial number displayed when connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried using usbdeview to find the cpuid?
look at the beginning of my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22902126&postcount=258

wolverine423 said:
have you tried using usbdeview to find the cpuid?
look at the beginning of my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22902126&postcount=258
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I had... but I think you just helped me out. Will these show up if I'm using the recovery driver to get it to be recognized? I can find it when plugged in under Acer Iconia, but I think that's from a previous plug-in before I flashed it. Now when I plug it in it comes up under "acer picasso recovery driver". I never new what vendor ID to look for, so I'm going to do that.
Do I have to put serial number in the .txt file named cpuid to get it to work?
Thanks for replying and giving me something to do!

wolverine423 said:
have you tried using usbdeview to find the cpuid?
look at the beginning of my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22902126&postcount=258
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so I'm in my college class so I don't have my own laptop with me, I'm trying this on a "frozen" desktop. I said earlier my tablet show up in usbdeview as acer picasso recovery driver, but it flip flops between that and acer USB-Boot recovery driver. Don't know why. Either way, when I plug my tablet into my computer and put it in APX mode, it shows up, but no serial number or anything. I'm going to try what you said on my laptop at home where I've plugged it in before I flashed it, maybe I can find it then. Hopefully. Here's a USBdeView picture of what I'm seeing when I plug my tablet in.

woops
Sorry, picture was blurry...

GermanDoerksen said:
Sorry, picture was blurry...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our computer labs all use deepfreeze.
Yeah, it should be listed on your laptop if it was plugged in while running honeycomb.
Best of luck.

wolverine423 said:
Our computer labs all use deepfreeze.
Yeah, it should be listed on your laptop if it was plugged in while running honeycomb.
Best of luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey so do ours. Gotta love the key combination to get past it
But that's awesome, this gives me hope! Will try this if I ever get out of this class... yay for linux classes that last from 8 to 3.

I have also bricked mine due to not reading things before jumping in as usual doh.
I installed the lightspeed ics beta 5 and it was pretty nice but a game I have been playing kept freezing so I decided to go back to 3.2 official by putting it on the sd card and booting recovery. It went through install etc but then just goes to a bootloop with the blue lightspeed flashing adroid. CWM is no more and like an idiot did not get my cpuid prior.
I tried installing the 3.0.1 unstable too but that did not work either. It just sits on flashing android now.
Will I have to wait until an official acer ics update.zip is available once released?
Thanks in advance

waj1234 said:
I have also bricked mine due to not reading things before jumping in as usual doh.
I installed the lightspeed ics beta 5 and it was pretty nice but a game I have been playing kept freezing so I decided to go back to 3.2 official by putting it on the sd card and booting recovery. It went through install etc but then just goes to a bootloop with the blue lightspeed flashing adroid. CWM is no more and like an idiot did not get my cpuid prior.
I tried installing the 3.0.1 unstable too but that did not work either. It just sits on flashing android now.
Will I have to wait until an official acer ics update.zip is available once released?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you'd HAVE to wait for the office ICS update. For you, I'd say do what I've been trying to do which is get it back to stock rom and recovery manager so I can wait for the official ICS update. Eventually, if I ever do unbrick this thing, then I will have to decide if I want to wait or not. Or dual-boot ubuntu

GermanDoerksen said:
I don't think you'd HAVE to wait for the office ICS update. For you, I'd say do what I've been trying to do which is get it back to stock rom and recovery manager so I can wait for the official ICS update. Eventually, if I ever do unbrick this thing, then I will have to decide if I want to wait or not. Or dual-boot ubuntu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant get my cpuid though as it dont show in usbdview either unless I need the drivers from sdk first.

Lost all hope...

It seems that I was fiddling with my OTA and I lost my original build Kind of bummed out, and also the fact that I don't even know how to do a full backup. I did a nandroid backup which doesn't even work. I update to the new ICS firmware and messed up everything...Now I'm left in a gutter feeling utterly upset and don't know what to do. If there's anybody who pity's me, please help. It would be sincerely appreciated. I just want to start off fresh.

Mkami said:
It seems that I was fiddling with my OTA and I lost my original build Kind of bummed out, and also the fact that I don't even know how to do a full backup. I did a nandroid backup which doesn't even work. I update to the new ICS firmware and messed up everything...Now I'm left in a gutter feeling utterly upset and don't know what to do. If there's anybody who pity's me, please help. It would be sincerely appreciated. I just want to start off fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So where are you at right now. What rom and what exactly have you done to your tab.

Mkami said:
It seems that I was fiddling with my OTA and I lost my original build Kind of bummed out, and also the fact that I don't even know how to do a full backup. I did a nandroid backup which doesn't even work. I update to the new ICS firmware and messed up everything...Now I'm left in a gutter feeling utterly upset and don't know what to do. If there's anybody who pity's me, please help. It would be sincerely appreciated. I just want to start off fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I share the pity with you Mate. You shouldn't have to look at that busted tab. Just put that shameful thing in a box and mail it to me, to help ease your pain. Heck, I'll toss in shipping so you won't suffer further insult and pain...
Seriously, though, there are plenty of tools and procedures here to bring it back to life.
First off, before you muck things up further, I would look in your nandroid backup, and get the UID number. Hopefully you wrote this down somewhere before you originally messed with things?
For starters, I would goto this link, and see if it works for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699277
The english steps are not the best in the world, but you will get the general idea.
MD

shaun298 said:
So where are you at right now. What rom and what exactly have you done to your tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this moment right now, my a500 tab has that orange light on the bottom and it stays there, and when I turn on the tab it starts up normally like it would, and when it does it turns off. The strange thing is that orange charging light where the power button is, stays on even though I'm not even charging it.
I've tried changing the OTA, but after when it starts in the corner it says something like. " Not official blob" I'm not even sure I know what that even means....I have everything including nandroid backed up all the files into the SD card I had in my tab, I notice is there somewhere due to the amount of space it consumed on my SD.
So please! IF you know of any way to fix this I would be in great appreciation, also it's been a month since I've had this tab, as well I have a 2 year warranty.

Moscow Desire said:
Yeah, I share the pity with you Mate. You shouldn't have to look at that busted tab. Just put that shameful thing in a box and mail it to me, to help ease your pain. Heck, I'll toss in shipping so you won't suffer further insult and pain...
Seriously, though, there are plenty of tools and procedures here to bring it back to life.
First off, before you muck things up further, I would look in your nandroid backup, and get the UID number. Hopefully you wrote this down somewhere before you originally messed with things?
For starters, I would goto this link, and see if it works for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1699277
The english steps are not the best in the world, but you will get the general idea.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha funny guy! If you haven't seen my post its here and the reasons. Also I do have the UID saved on a text format on my pc...will that work??
So here is the issue are the current moment friend.
my a500 tab has that orange light on the bottom and it stays there, and when I turn on the tab it starts up normally like it would, and when it does it turns off. The strange thing is that orange charging light where the power button is, stays on even though I'm not even charging it.
I've tried changing the OTA, but after when it starts in the corner it says something like. " Not official blob" I'm not even sure I know what that even means....I have everything including nandroid backed up all the files into the SD card I had in my tab, I notice is there somewhere due to the amount of space it consumed on my SD.
So please! IF you know of any way to fix this I would be in great appreciation, also it's been a month since I've had this tab, as well I have a 2 year warranty.

Have you tried putting a stock update.zip on the root of your external sdcard and booting the tablet by holding the volume down button (left volume rocker) down while pressing the power button until the tablet finds the file and installs it. This should bring you back to unrooted stock ICS with locked bootloader and you can start over. Remember, this must be an update.zip file that is extracted from a stock RUU. You can't just rename a RUU file to update.zip.

Mkami said:
Hahaha funny guy! If you haven't seen my post its here and the reasons. Also I do have the UID saved on a text format on my pc...will that work??
So here is the issue are the current moment friend.
my a500 tab has that orange light on the bottom and it stays there, and when I turn on the tab it starts up normally like it would, and when it does it turns off. The strange thing is that orange charging light where the power button is, stays on even though I'm not even charging it.
I've tried changing the OTA, but after when it starts in the corner it says something like. " Not official blob" I'm not even sure I know what that even means....I have everything including nandroid backed up all the files into the SD card I had in my tab, I notice is there somewhere due to the amount of space it consumed on my SD.
So please! IF you know of any way to fix this I would be in great appreciation, also it's been a month since I've had this tab, as well I have a 2 year warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you get the orange light because your EC Pwr management is probably fubarred. That should be fixed when you install a stock rom as suggested in both mine and the other poster.
Considering you have your UID, you should be ok.
Of course I don't know if this is a 3.2 or an ICS UID. Best to have both. The sbk is the same, but the uid numbers differ.
If it's a 3.2., check the Q&A thread for a post I did for a guy earlier today.
But you should be able to follow the steps for the update I posted earlier.
Blob means Bootloader. And looks like you had an unlocked bootloader?
Try to roll back to 3.2. That's where I would start.
MD

cruise350 said:
Have you tried putting a stock update.zip on the root of your external sdcard and booting the tablet by holding the volume down button (left volume rocker) down while pressing the power button until the tablet finds the file and installs it. This should bring you back to unrooted stock ICS with locked bootloader and you can start over. Remember, this must be an update.zip file that is extracted from a stock RUU. You can't just rename a RUU file to update.zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by RUU? Also I've tried a couple of the OTA updates, when I first got the tab it was on 3.1 HC didn't even update it or anything, just had a custom ICS ROM on it. Do you think you can post the steps or anything on how to do this properly and go fresh? It would be sincerely appreciate buddy.

Moscow Desire said:
Well, you get the orange light because your EC Pwr management is probably fubarred. That should be fixed when you install a stock rom as suggested in both mine and the other poster.
Considering you have your UID, you should be ok.
Of course I don't know if this is a 3.2 or an ICS UID. Best to have both. The sbk is the same, but the uid numbers differ.
If it's a 3.2., check the Q&A thread for a post I did for a guy earlier today.
But you should be able to follow the steps for the update I posted earlier.
Blob means Bootloader. And looks like you had an unlocked bootloader?
Try to roll back to 3.2. That's where I would start.
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm....I'm not even sure what I am doing wrong but whatever it is, it seems to be not working. I looked for you post for the earlier person that you did, but don't know what it is under. By the way when I first bought the tab it was under 3.1 HC and after getting flexreaper it became to ICS 4.0.3...
So like everytime I turn on the tab it shuts down instantly, as well every time I try to boot an update.zip file onto the SD card it shows this animation of the android with this circular sphere in it's stomach after that it falls over with a red caution sign.

Mkami said:
So like everytime I turn on the tab it shuts down instantly, as well every time I try to boot an update.zip file onto the SD card it shows this animation of the android with this circular sphere in it's stomach after that it falls over with a red caution sign.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience the common cause for ending up with a caution sign is a corrupted update.zip (incomplete download, bad SD card, etc.). As for the tablet shutting down, my guess is that's related to the power management functions being broken.

im not THEE most savvy here but i do know a few methods and find it easy to discover lesser known ones, i feel bad for you . if you want you can skype video me and ill try talking it over and maybe a few methods? :highfive:
edit: ok from what i can tell your update was bad and your bootloader is causing problems, the power problems are probably arising from the bad power management as moscow desire told.
the tabs obviously rooted n all right? ok so how about flashing the v7 ics bootloader then trying a custom rom?......<-also recommended by moscow desire

lcd047 said:
In my experience the common cause for ending up with a caution sign is a corrupted update.zip (incomplete download, bad SD card, etc.). As for the tablet shutting down, my guess is that's related to the power management functions being broken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right! I was able to fix it and boot up to the usual! Thanks mate!

chismay said:
im not THEE most savvy here but i do know a few methods and find it easy to discover lesser known ones, i feel bad for you . if you want you can skype video me and ill try talking it over and maybe a few methods? :highfive:
edit: ok from what i can tell your update was bad and your bootloader is causing problems, the power problems are probably arising from the bad power management as moscow desire told.
the tabs obviously rooted n all right? ok so how about flashing the v7 ics bootloader then trying a custom rom?......<-also recommended by moscow desire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Chismay, well I thought I fixed the issue and the problem. Guess again I did not This I can't believed I used a leaked ICS OTA, kinda ruined most of the things in my tab. Lol just had it for a month and already messed it up by fooling around with it. But your help is greatly appreciated buddy! Would like to get a one on one instructions on what I should do.
Cheers!

Correct me if I'm wrong on this...
1. You originally had Honeycomb on your tablet.
2. You flashed FlexReaper on your tablet
3. You probably got a recent version of FlexReaper.
4. You never upgraded your bootloader.
5. You can still get access to recovery.
If all of these are correct, then I think I know what the problem is. It appears you flashed a rom that requires the ICS bootloader and not the Honeycomb bootloader.
This, I think, is an easy fix...
1. Download the following file: http://www.darktremor.info/files/FLEXREAPER-R12.5-ICS-1.031.00.zip (this is an older version I have on my Acer A500).
2. Put the file on your SD card.
3. Boot up into recovery (if you can't get there, stop here).
4. Once you are in recovery, flash the FlexReaper file you just put on your SD card.
5. Now try to boot and see if it works.
Let me know how it works either here, in a PM, or e-mail me at [email protected]. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to contact me.
Mkami said:
Hi Chismay, well I thought I fixed the issue and the problem. Guess again I did not This I can't believed I used a leaked ICS OTA, kinda ruined most of the things in my tab. Lol just had it for a month and already messed it up by fooling around with it. But your help is greatly appreciated buddy! Would like to get a one on one instructions on what I should do.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tkirton said:
Correct me if I'm wrong on this...
1. You originally had Honeycomb on your tablet.
2. You flashed FlexReaper on your tablet
3. You probably got a recent version of FlexReaper.
4. You never upgraded your bootloader.
5. You can still get access to recovery.
If all of these are correct, then I think I know what the problem is. It appears you flashed a rom that requires the ICS bootloader and not the Honeycomb bootloader.
This, I think, is an easy fix...
1. Download the following file: http://www.darktremor.info/files/FLEXREAPER-R12.5-ICS-1.031.00.zip (this is an older version I have on my Acer A500).
2. Put the file on your SD card.
3. Boot up into recovery (if you can't get there, stop here).
4. Once you are in recovery, flash the FlexReaper file you just put on your SD card.
5. Now try to boot and see if it works.
Let me know how it works either here, in a PM, or e-mail me at [email protected]. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to contact me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha! Good job on guessing all that! I just followed your order from step to step and I was about to boot up normally! Everything might be erased and stuff, but hey at least I have my tablet working again :good: Case solved!

[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