Possibly Bricked? A500 - Acer Iconia A500

My friend was trying to revert his tablet back to factory from a CM9 build from like March since he couldn't stand how buggy it was and he was on a HC bootloader since he didn't want to do all the work to update to the ICS bootloader and now I'm trying to fix it for him since it will no longer boot but it goes into recovery sort of. It'll go to the Android with the triangle with the exclamation point in it which would normally mean it's stock recovery on most devices but it wouldn't give me any options until I plugged my usb keyboard into the tablet and pressed the home button while it was booting and it pulled up a menu to reboot system now, apply update from external storage, wipe data/factory reset (tried this didn't work) and wipe cache partition. My first instinct was to try the factory reset option to see if it worked, which it didn't so my only other option was to apply an update from external storage. So I tried downloading to download a HC factory image to apply but I can't get the sd card to register which is in FAT32 format. Any thoughts on how I can fix this for my friend and give it back to him? I don't need it fixed by a certain date but I'd like to give it back to him soon (hopefully fixed) so he can start using it again.

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[Q] Everything seems to be going wrong with my Nook Color

A couple weeks ago I bought a Nook Color on ebay. The first thing I did was turn it on and let it fully charge overnight. I noticed that it was in normal condition, but didn't bother going past the intro screen since an off the shelf Nook Color was not what I was interested in anyway.
The next day I flashed phiremod 6.2 on it with no problems (I have done this process successfully to two other Nook Color's by the way). I am able to connect to my wifi, setup my google account, and open the market. Life is good so far. Then I notice in ROM Manager that there is a phiremod 6.3 version out. I try to download phiremod 6.3 from ROM Manager for an entire day with no luck. The download just kept stalling on me. No problem I'll just download phiremod 6.3 onto my sdcard and flash it through clockwork recovery as normal (performing a full wipe first of course).
Then boot loop for no reason I can tell. Just a boot loop at "Touch the future of reading" with no way to get into recovery without restarting it with the sdcard.
So I put the sdcard back in and wipe and reflash phiremod 6.3 with the same results. Then I wipe and reflash phiremod 6.2...boot loop again. I repeat this process until my eyes start to bleed.
At this point I'm thinking, "There's no reason this should be happening. I wish I could just go back in time and start over." That's when I find this link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=914690
Ok, I'll just restore everything back to stock. No clockwork, no phiremod, just Barnes and Noble software just like the day it was born. So I go down the road of restoring the device to stock and instead of bootlooping at "Touch the future of Reading" it bootloops at the "N" screen. I'm running out of ideas so I perform the 8x method, get the OTA install, and still bootlooping at the "N" screen. Oh yeah, and "power + n" wont take it into recovery of any kind.
Now that it seems that I've failed to restore the device to stock, I try to flash phiremod 6.3 again because this is really my end goal anyway. This time it is a success. I connect to my wifi. The device says I am connected and the wifi signal is strong, but I can't establish a reliable data connection with google, or open the market, or browse the web. I turn the wifi off and on, I tell it to forget my connection and add it again, but nothing seems to work until a day later when it suddenly establishes a connection.
So everything seemed like it might be ok at this point except strange things started happening with the device. Power + n doesn't take it into recovery, and never did at any time it has been in my possession. When I try to go into recovery from ROM Manager after flashing CWR I go into a bootloop. This is even after updating Rom Manager and doing things like rebooting after flashing CWR. Wifi always says it's strong and connected but any app with internet access is often times painfully slow to the point of being unusable or at least impractical. Downloading a single app from the market is like pulling teeth, and I regularly get the "retry or cancel" popup over and over again. Sometimes when I tell it to reboot or shut off, I get the "rebooting" or "shutting off" message and it just grinds away endlessly.
The device is currently in a bootloop after just telling it to reboot (normal reboot not reboot into recovery), and I know how to pop in my sdcard with CWR and get out of it. However, my problem is that this is a gift for my sister, and I just cant seem to get this device into a normal working state that I can give to her.
I know that there are plenty of threads answering all of the little problems I have outlined here, but none have resolved them for me nor have I found a single thread that deals with a whole host of problems like this device seems to have.
Thank you for your patience in reading this.
Try restoring to stock 1.2:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1050520
It can't hurt at this point, and it may get you fixed.
Thanks for the reply.
No dice. I tried both of those files. I made sure to format the system and data before flashing each time, and I'm still stuck at the "n" screen.
Alright so here's what I just did:
1) Format system
2) Format data
3) Flash B&N v1.1 "old" 1GB "/data", 5+GB "/media" partitioning zip from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1094371
4) Reboot
5) Flash Stock 1.2 update.zip from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1050520
6) Unmount sdcard
7) Reboot
8)Still stuck at the "n" screen.
The story so far:
I was forgetting to do the 8 reboots after repartitioning and flashing stock apparently.
I performed the 8 reboots, and my Nook did a factory reset and OTA update. Now it boots into stock v1.1.0. I see the pretty lady, there's a video, I get to accept a B&N agreement, I connect to either of my wireless connections, but after I enter my account name and password it always says "Error sorry we're having trouble setting up your Nookcolor. Please shutdown the device and try again...." It gives me a number to call so I do. After a long bewildering conversation with tech support, I'm told that my device was once registered to someone else (which I already suspected having purchased it on ebay). I'm told that in order to fix the problem they are going remove the old account from the device, and that when I restart it in an hour I will be one with the Nookcolor universe. It has been many hours, and I am still getting same error message.
Should I continue down this path with customer service (who are failing to inspire me), take it into the Barnes and Noble store this weekend (I don't have a receipt but it at least it boots into stock now), or just go ahead and load phiremod 6.3 (which is my end goal, but I want to make sure I don't take one step forward and then two steps back now that I've gotten this far)?
"Device Info" only has "back," "power off," and "reset."
I just tried holding the "power + n" for 10 seconds as demonstrated here Nook blocked after downloading latest software - Barnes & Noble Book Clubs. This guys seems very happy that this solution worked for him. I don't know why it wont work for me seeing as I have the exact same problem.
Barnes and Noble tech support came through and reset my device. It appears that I have a stock 1.1 Nook Color and all is well. I am even connected and able to browse the internet. Does this mean I am ready to start flashing new ROMs onto it, or should I do more testing while it is still stock?
So I made a nandroid backup of the stock system with no problem. Then I flashed phiremod v7 test. Everything was going well until I went to ROM manager, flashed CWR, and tried to make a backup. It went into a bootloop so I put in my sdcard with CWR. Immediately it started putting my backup on that card. I rebooted it through CWR, but it still went into a bootloop. I then did a factory reset, full wipe, and flashed phiremod 6.3... still bootlooping away. This is one of the problems I was having before I started this thread. The CWR on my sdcard is ClockworkMod Recovery v3.0.0.6.
Sorry to read that you're having so much trouble. FWIW I'm having one hell of a time using Phiremod on my NC, too. I've found solace with CM7 nightlies and the latest Dalingrin kernel.
CWR 3.0.0.6 is very outdated at this point. I use CWR 3.2.0.8 on my recovery SD. I think it was V3.0.0.6 that had problems formatting the data partition, but I could be wrong.
Hope you get it sorted out.
Thanks for the support. Do you know where I could find the latest versions of Clockwork?
There's a typo in my post above. The current version is 3.2.0.1
I read about it and got the files from androidforums.com, although I'd be surprised if they weren't on this forum, too.
I downloaded recovery-clockwork-3.2.0.1-bravo.zip, put in my sdcard, flashed the new version of CWR, and now it is endlessly scrolling through the CWR menu on its own. The log at the bottom says "ClockworkMod Recovery v3.2.0.0," then "Back menu button enabled," then "Back menu button disabled," then "Back menu button enabled," and seems to be continuing like that without end. After powering off, removing the sdcard, and holding the power + n buttons for about 8 seconds, the screen shows the cyanogenmod logo and says "booting into recovery" but does nothing. I've repeated this entire process several times while holding the power + n buttons for varying times and it still doesn't actually boot into recovery.
Wulfie6 said:
I downloaded recovery-clockwork-3.2.0.1-bravo.zip, put in my sdcard, flashed the new version of CWR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the problem. The nook color is the encore not the bravo. You have the wrong recovery image. Its a good thing its unusable...you might fubar your device if you were actually able to use that recovery.
Sent from my Phiremod Nook Color using XDA Premium App
I created a new boot disk with CWR 3.02.8 and successfully flashed Phiremod 6.3 and CM7 nightly 107. I was still essentially unable to use the internet on both of these ROMs even though my wifi connection said it was good. I did not try using my phone as a hotspot with these versions.
I'm on CM7 108 at the moment. I'm still getting sporadic internet access even though my wi-fi is pretty good (usually just shy of full bars). I connected to my phones wi-fi hotspot which produces full bars on the Nook with good internet results. This isn't practical though because I can't always have my phone creating a wi-fi hotspot. Doesn't this seem odd that my Nook is only internet reliable when it's connected to an excellent wifi connection, but functionally wont work when it's on a good wifi connection?
Also when I go into ROM Manager and try to flash the current version of CWR, it pulls up the "confirm phone model" (when it is actually connecting to the internet) but as soon I put my finger on the menu to scroll through, it selects the first one I touch. This is one of the problems I was having before on all ROMs.
So I just went into ROM Manager, flashed the latest version, then tried to make a backup through ROM Manager, and now I'm in a boot loop again except this is the kind of bootloop where I can't get it to turn off. It just sits there with the cyanogenmod logo saying "Loading..." When I hold the power down, it turns off and then comes right back on. When I hold power + n, it does the same thing but instead of saying "Loading..." it says "Booting into recovery..." I don't understand why this time it's different. If I take out the card that's in there now and put in my bootable SD card while it's in the boot loop, will it fry my cards?
Wulfie6 said:
S When I hold the power down, it turns off and then comes right back on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like it's plugged in
TheAmazingDave said:
sounds like it's plugged in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not plugged in.
Return to stock 1.2 - Stuck at n screen fix.
After you flash the 1.2 image with a clockwork recovery sd boot card, and are stuck at the n screen, you will need to restart and have the Nook software reset to default.
1. Hold Power+n for 8 seconds, release n, then power (it may take a couple of tries to get it right).
2. At the "Factory Reset" screen, confirm your intention to reset to defaults (press "home" n).
3. At the "Are you sure?" screen, confirm again (press "home" n).
It will then go to a "Clearing data..." screen and reboot to the stock nook software.
This procedure will reset your device to stock 1.2, just as it was when it shipped.
I second what JoeInternet says. You NEED to be on stock B&N 1.2 to be able to run the latest CM7 builds and ANY .32 Dalingrin kernels or it will not work.
Quick thought... The first thing that should have been done is an ATO 'deregister' to get that nook's ID dis-associated with the original BN account.

[Q] Bricked Iconia...

I guess I bricked my iconia...
I installed Recovery, etc. But when I rebooted my device it starts up, and shows my initial display screen. But it locks on the display (it is past the Android, and Acer screen).
So I tried to recover the device using the unbrick procedures described in this forum, and others. But it seems whenever it tries to process any update.zip file including the unbrick the little android man either stops turning or displays a sign indicating things did not work out as they should have.
I have clockwordmod backup from my system. How do I use that backup? When I use my phone the device automatically boots into xrecovery and allows me to restore. How do I get that with the Iconia?
first of all your device is not bricked as long as you can boot into any type of recovery.
second you obviously have cwm installed, but anyhow even if you don't have it i hope you have an external sd-card.
dl any of the stock rom's from the dev section, basically best is to choose the rom made for your country.
extract the update.zip and put it on your external sd-card.
then install it with cwm if you still have it, or with acer recovery (volume - and power simultaneously until the recovery text shows up).
and then take it from there.
also good idea is to clean dalvik cache and data cache before restarting if you use cwm.
then you can reinstall root and cwm.
zoubidou said:
first of all your device is not bricked as long as you can boot into any type of recovery.
second you obviously have cwm installed, but anyhow even if you don't have it i hope you have an external sd-card.
dl any of the stock rom's from the dev section, basically best is to choose the rom made for your country.
extract the update.zip and put it on your external sd-card.
then install it with cwm if you still have it, or with acer recovery (volume - and power simultaneously until the recovery text shows up).
and then take it from there.
also good idea is to clean dalvik cache and data cache before restarting if you use cwm.
then you can reinstall root and cwm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks... The problem is I can't boot into anything.
How do I boot into cwm? I can't boot into the operating system as once it hits the display screen with my picture the system freezes and tries to power down?
I have been playing around with acer recovery, but all of the updates I downloaded will not load onto the system. It tries to install, gets about 1/3 through and then gives me an error.
Hence why I was thinking that maybe my backup has something?
push volume - (left volume button) first and power and keep your fingers on it until it displays the recovery text message on top left of the screen
If you are getting into recovery. And flashing. A rom give you errors or does not complete. This issue is a bad d/load.or a bad currupt SD card.I would say format your SD card again.redownload the correct rom again.don't use a download manager.then decrypt. Unzip then put the update.zip on your SD card turn off your tab install SD card.
Reboot
Holding down volume up and power until you see the 4th line of txt. It should take you to cwr. Or flash your device
good luck
Yep.. use vol-down and power to boot into cwm. Keep holding vol-down until you see tiny white text in upper left corner.
Then do full restore. When it's done, if you don't see "Backup Succesfull!" message, you'll need to restore flexrom from the advanced restore menu. This is because it failed trying to restore .android_secure.img and caused cwm to restart before flextrom was restored.
Alternatively, you can delete the .android_secure.img file from your backup set before doing the full restore.
Good luck.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Thanks guys for all of your feedback.
However, when I hold down the buttons you mentioned I do get those text items you mention. The problem is that unlike my android phone it does not pop up the recovery menu. It goes straight into the Acer Recovery procedure (The android with turning gears).
Could it have been that upgrading to a specific ROM the recovery procedure is shortcircuited????
What I am trying to figure out is how to get the recovery menu.
Same deal!
I have the exact same issue. The Update.zip will not take and the Android Gears screen gets to 1/3 before the yellow triangle. Any further help would yield loud THANKS!
your update.zip should preferably be those 3.1 full. cos I believe it does not check anything for it to fail.
Thanks Kenny that does help and explain a few things.

Bricked and won't boot following attempted Samsung update (16GB Wifi Retail)

A message popped up from Samsung to install an update (I had been pressing cancel for the past week on this update). It says click OK to reboot and apply update (something along those lines) so I do. Now I am stuck with a tablet that won't boot. If I hold the power button it says "Samsung Galaxy 10.1" after about 12 seconds, but then it goes away and back to darkness. Nothing else. Holding power and volume up does nothing.
Someone know what is going on and have any idea how to resolve?
The best way is to restore any backup you have from cwm recovery. Else grab a stock firmware and flash it with ODIN or if zip than CWM recovery. For luck, try clearing cache and data in recovery, first!Perhaps it may work saving you all fuss of flashing a firmware.
I cannot even boot that far too get into recovery. And I just noticed that although I can't boot, the backlight is on (on a solid black screen).... wtf
You can't hold volume down and power button to enter recovery?
Nope. I plugged into my computer and for some reason with the USB connectd it let me enter recovery. Flashed a backup and rebooted, but now I have no wifi... im confused.
it occured once to me when i tried to overclock, it never worked except when installing a new rom... Try to root the device and then install a new rom
OK, was a helluva night messing with ROM and kernel installs... I have yet to go back to completely stock (that's next up tonight, unfortunately), but I installed Starburst ROM and the Wifi still didn't work so I then installed pershoot's kernel and now when I boot the screen is extremely distorted kind of like this: http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsKa5IoQxnesGdUjykWDDggoQZ38yZ2VXSgPAQ09NOCnETzl9-
As a side note, when I say the wifi is not working, it still shows all networks and allows me to connect just like normal. However when connected no apps can access the network...
Can someone point me to a thread on how to revert EVERYTHING back to stock so I can start fresh? TIA!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1171089
Should have all the files you need. From where you are now I would flash the stock OTA 3.1 or TW then flash the stock recovery and do a factory reset from that recovery. That should get rid of the garbled screen.
Thanks buddy. On my way to grab the files now
I heard the update was pulled as it sometimes rewrites the bootloader improperly. You might need to send it in, unfortunately.

[Q] Custom ROM, stuck at boot animation...

I wanted to run a custom ROM on my A500 (first attempt at installing custom ROM), but i'm now stuck at the boot animation.
I downgraded my A500 to 3.0.1, rooted, installed clockwork mod, upgraded cwm to 1.5. So far so good.
Then i downloaded thor rom v12, copied it to the external sd card (by putting it on USB thumb drive, transfer to tablet, copy to external SD using file explorer - something tells me I'm going to need to pick up an sd card reader for my computer)
Rebooted into recovery, wiped everything (had nothing of value installed yet), and then chose to install zip file, chose thor_rom_v12.zip on external SD card, it started installing - looked like it succeeded.
Reboot tablet, and i've been staring at the boot animation (electric blue pulsating android with spinning gears on it) for about 45 minutes.
How should I proceed from here? Any idea what I did wrong?
Thanks
Hold the power button down and see if you can force it to shut down. I dont think itll turn off but its worth a try. You could also try the hard reset button (pin hole on the side of the tab) if the reset works than you should be able to boot back into recovery. If not than youll just have to wait till the battery dies.
Once you eventually get it turned off than try booting into recovery and do a full wipe and reflash the rom. I have a feeling the file you downloaded is corrupted though. if this is so than your tab probally wont boot up again.
At this point id redownload the thor or another rom and than try flashing that. You'd have to get an sd reader since you won't be able to transfer the files through your iconia again. If you can manage to get a clean download on your micro sd somehow than i'd skip straight to this step and start redownloading the rom right now.
BTW these are just the things i would try from knowing what I do about android. I haven't had any issues with my tab yet so I havent looked for solutions for this it, but ive dealt with other boot looped and soft bricked devices.
I'm sure if you do a search you'll find something.

S4 Stuck in 'Android Recovery'

I was just casually browsing my FB newsfeed when my S4 suddenly rebooted itself into this Android Recovery Mode.
I've been presented with the following 6 options:
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache
Now I have no idea what most of those options with mean, so I tried to reboot the system several times but to no avail.
At this point, I was as desperate to wipe data/factory reset but even that failed.
I've no idea what to do as I cannot afford to have this repaired at the shop and I do not have insurance either. I'm not sure if dropping it recently, and breaking the volume UP has contributed to this. However, I can use the volume DOWN.
itskimmy said:
I was just casually browsing my FB newsfeed when my S4 suddenly rebooted itself into this Android Recovery Mode.
I've been presented with the following 6 options:
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache
Now I have no idea what most of those options with mean, so I tried to reboot the system several times but to no avail.
At this point, I was as desperate to wipe data/factory reset but even that failed.
I've no idea what to do as I cannot afford to have this repaired at the shop and I do not have insurance either. I'm not sure if dropping it recently, and breaking the volume UP has contributed to this. However, I can use the volume DOWN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to Choose wipe cache and then factory reset. (THIS WILL ERASE ALL OF YOUR DATA INCLUDING YOUR INTERNAL SD CARD!) then reboot. If still doesnt Boot Flash the stock rom via odin.
Repulsa said:
Try to Choose wipe cache and then factory reset. (THIS WILL ERASE ALL OF YOUR DATA INCLUDING YOUR INTERNAL SD CARD!) then reboot. If still doesnt Boot Flash the stock rom via odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't even get back into the android recovery screen now for some strange reason. It just flashes the white Samsung Galaxy real quick and shuts back off straight away. I've tried holding in all power combos (volume, power and home screen) to get in but that isn't working.
Edit: Okay. I managed to did that, then rebooted. It still starts back up into the recovery screen.
Also what does 'Boot Flash the stock rom via odin' mean? How do I do that? It is not an option on my screen.
Hi,
read this ( don't download anything from this post, it's not for S4 ! )
and this
I've checked out those links and it's far too complexed for me to understand. I've rang around a few local phone repair shops, and I've found a cheap quote for £10-15. I'd rather leave it in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing as opposed to risking it myself and cocking it up.
Thanks though.

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