Going to stock without CWM - Acer Iconia A500

Hey guys. This is my first post. Okay so I have a Iconia A500, running Lightspeed_4.5. I flashed this a while ago, I don't even remember how I rooted it. Here's one of the problems, I don't have any type of Recovery. I tried using the Acer Recovery app to put a recovery but that will not work. I just want to go back to STOCK with NO ROOT. Also i'm a noob at all of the stuff, so please make it simple.

arupp654 said:
Hey guys. This is my first post. Okay so I have a Iconia A500, running Lightspeed_4.5. I flashed this a while ago, I don't even remember how I rooted it. Here's one of the problems, I don't have any type of Recovery. I tried using the Acer Recovery app to put a recovery but that will not work. I just want to go back to STOCK with NO ROOT. Also i'm a noob at all of the stuff, so please make it simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Head to this thread and download one of the FULL packages HC or ICS take your pick...
Unzip it and extract the "update.zip" -
Copy to your external sdcard - it must be named update.zip not update.zip.zip!!
Power Off your tab
Hold volume down button and power on again
Tab should display "erasing data, erasing cache" and then begin the update process
If you have trouble unzipping, the file will need "decrypting" see that attachment for the decrypt tool...Your antivirus will see this tool as a trojan but don't worry its fine....run the tool and add your zip as input...in a minute or two in the output box - you'll see a "......decrypted.zip" . then you're good to extract the update.
Also make sure you use a FULL package not an Update package - i know the terminology is confusing - you want an update.zip from the FULL package, not an update from the update package

Related

[Q] Is it possible to switch from leaked 3.1 to official 3.1?

I know that Acer pulled today's update, but will it be possible to switch when it is released again?
Leaked 3.1 to official 3.1
Yes it is, just a little confusing though. You have to know which region your tablet is from http://secure3.tx.acer.com/FindSystem/FindSystem.aspx?title=Information About Your System. And then go about flashing a couple of ROMs to get you ready for the update. Instructions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1155664
I am a total noob and wasted my whole day yesterday trying to figure this out. In the end texonex helped me out. Starting with the leaked 3.1 update here's what I did (courtesy texonex):
1. Root the device (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138228). Download Acer Recovery Installer from the market, and from there install the clockwork recovery image. Choose no for a backup of the current recovery.
2. Download the backup file for 1.104.02 here, thanks to camelot1972
dl.dropbox.com/u/34113636/2011-06-24.12.20.13.zip, I guess you could also use the file from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878. This is for the US version.
If your tablet is from another region you would have to find the appropriate "default" version number in the how-to (what firmware is right for my country).
3. Extract the contents from the zip file and put them in the backup folder for clockwork mod on your SD card (take your SD card out of the tablet and connect directly for all the steps), if you do not see the backup folder, I suppose you can make one,e.g. [micro sd]\clockworkmod\backup\2011-06-25.22.14.07. I guess this exact string will still show up in clockwork recovery. I made a backup of the leaked 3.1 and that gave me the folder, and I just replaced the files. The date part is obvious in the name however I wouldn't venture a guess what are the other digits in the folder name.
If you downloaded the file from [OTA] Full Package and Update page, you'll need first to decrypt the file using the decrypter and then extract the contents of the decrypted file. One of the extracted files is update.zip which goes on to the SD card no subfolder in this case.
4. Restore the firmware using CMW using full restore for the US version, or update from the sd card zip if using a full package zip file.
At this point I think you need to save the recovery image for the non-US versions. Follow the instructions in the how-to or just use acer recovery installer to flash the clockword recovery again and this time choose yes to backup the current image.
5. Download 1.104.02 to 1.141.07 update and flash it with CMW.
Or the appropriate latest update file from your region(highest version number).
6. Flash recovery image to 1.141.07, this is option 4 in Acer recovery installer.
For non-us versions restore the recovery image, unroot and restore factory defaults.
7. I stopped here and now am waiting for the OTA. According to the how-to, you roll back to the full defualt package by using the standard ACER recovery (Power + -Vol) after copying the zip file on to the SD card, delete the zip file copied before.
8. Go to settings and trigger update manually. OTA will prompt you the new 3.1 update. I suppose you do not need to unroot.
You can also install the stock ROM from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
Thanks to Bec07 (how-to), vache (stock roms) and sc2k (un-rooting) for their contributions or I would have been totally lost in trying to downgrade my tablet from the leaked 3.1. Hope this is helpful, and goes smoothly because if it does not I wouldn't have clue how to fix it.
Sorry for this off-topic post, but you said that acer pulled the update: And I still have it (haven't updated and cant anyway). Is this not right?
What I meant was its not being pushed to more users for now.

Iconia Common Questions & Answers

I've seen the following things asked again and again and again, and yet there seems to have been no attempt to make a Q&A for our tablet, so I figured I might as well take a shot, especially now that the mods have given us a proper Q&A section. I don't expect this to be fully comprehensive, but I'll try to cover the important stuff at least!
1. Q: I have an A501, can I use one of the A500 roms, either stock or custom?
A: No, absolutely NO! Well, actually, you CAN, but if you do you WILL lose 3G capability, so don't. There are currently no custom ROMs available for your tablet, sorry. Hopefully that will change soon.
2. Q: Can I root my A500?
A: Yes. There was originally a modded Gingerbreak root for the Iconia, but it only worked on 3.0.1 and has now been superseded by an updated root method. See the following thread for more information:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138228
3. Q: Is the bootloader really locked?
A: Yes and no. The bootloader itself isn't actually locked as such, but the ROM *is* protected by a hash key. This has been bypassed thanks to sc2k with a great utility called "itsmagic".
4. Q: So how do I use "itsmagic"?
A: The easiest way is to install the custom version of Clockwork Mod, by thor2002ro. See the following thread for more information.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1126364
5. Q: Wow, I'm a newbie and installing that looks complicated. Is there an easier way?
A: Absolutely! Install the Acer Recovery app and it will take care of installing Clockwork Mod AND itsmagic for you, as well as backup your stock recovery!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.interphaze.AcerRecoveryInstaller
6. Q: I'm scared of Clockwork Mod, is there an easier way to install a custom ROM?
A: Absolutely! From the makers of Acer Recovery, there's the Acer ROM Flasher app!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.interphaze.Acer_ROM_Flasher
HOWEVER This app does NOT run the "itsmagic" utility (yet), so it's probably better for you to flash from CWM for now (Thank's Euclid's Brother for pointing this out!)
7. Q: Hang on a minute, can't I use the Clockwork Mod that's on the market? How about ROM manager too?
A: Simple answer? No. Our Clockwork Mod is a custom built that runs the "itsmagic" utility at the right time, preventing people from accidentally bricking their tablets. Do NOT use the one on the market or you will brick. As for ROM manager, it's not compatible, sorry. Use the Acer ROM Flasher application instead
8. Q: OK, so I'm rooted and I've got Clockwork Mod installed, now what?
A: The absolute first thing you should do, EVER, before installing a new ROM, is to make a backup of your current on. This feature is built into Clockwork Mod and is really easy to use. Do it.
9. Q: OK, I made a backup, now what?
A: Visit the Developer section of the A500 forums here on XDA-Developers, and you'll find several excellent custom ROMS, as well as links to stock ROMs, for your ROM flashing pleasure.
10. Q: I don't want to install CWM, I just want to flash a new stock ROM, how do I do that?
A: There are several threads detailing this, but to summarise, there are several things you'll need to do.
1. Locate and download the stock ROM you want.
2. Unzip this ROM to your PC. If you get a message about an invalid ZIP file, then you'll almost certainly need to run it through the Acer Update Decrypter first. See below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1099673&highlight=acer+recovery
3. Once opened, extract the update.zip file found inside this zip.
4. Copy update.zip to the root of your external SD card. NOT the devices internal storage. It won't work from there.
5. Make sure you have more than 60% battery, or plug in to the AC adapter, and turn your device off.
6. Hold down the Volume Down key (the left side of the rocker when device is in landscape orientation), and hold down the power key. Keep both held down until you see 3 rows of white text in the top left corner of the screen. Your device will now flash the update.zip on your SD card.
NOTE: There are several types of update you can flash.. Many are incremental updates and will be smallish (40mb or so). This can NOT be flashed on a device that has had ANY changes at all made to any preinstalled files, as this is an incremental update. However, if the update is 300+mb in size, it's almost certainly a full ROM and should flash fine. If it doesn't though, try a factory reset first.
11. Q: I cannot connect to my WIFI hotspot, why?
A: There are 2 possible reasons, so it depends on exactly what problem you're having.
1. The Iconia does not seem to support wifi ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) mode. To connect to this kind of hotspot, you will need to modify a file called "wpa_supplicant" and you must be rooted to do this. See below for instructions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060909&highlight=ad+hoc
2. Alternatively, if you're just getting a constant loop of "Connecting...", and never get an IP address, Acer have issued a patch for this, but it's for specific ROM's only. You can find this on the Acer update site, or can download directly below. Full instructions are included inside the ZIP file.
http://global-download.acer.com/GDF...AB&Step3=A500&OS=a07&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=EMEA_27
12. Q: Help! I have a checksum error!
A: You probably flashed something and didn't run itsmagic... This is potentially very serious, but all is not lost. sc2k has been kind enough to provide instructions on how to fix it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1129873
<Reserved>
Well done. Quite comprehensive.
Just want to point out.. the Acer ROM Flasher (not to be confused with Acer Recovery Installer) does not run itmagic.... (yet..) It was made for a very specific purpose and has not been updated since itsmagic came out.
So, If you use Acer ROM Flasher, which will flash boot.img and system.img, make sure you run itsmagic yourself BEFORE flashing the images. I'll update it to include itsmagic when I have time.
Acer Recovery Installer is really the best way to go. Then use Clockworkmod for your backup/restore and custom rom installation.
Euclid's Brother said:
Just want to point out.. the Acer ROM Flasher (not to be confused with Acer Recovery Installer) does not run itmagic.... (yet..) It was made for a very specific purpose and has not been updated since itsmagic came out.
So, If you use Acer ROM Flasher, which will flash boot.img and system.img, make sure you run itsmagic yourself BEFORE flashing the images. I'll update it to include itsmagic when I have time.
Acer Recovery Installer is really the best way to go. Then use Clockworkmod for your backup/restore and custom rom installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing that out. I've updated my OP accordingly.

[HOWTO] Update to 4.0.3 OTA ICS from any version with Root access (For I9020T/I9020A)

Okay First of all download the following files
a)http://android.clients.google.com/packages/ota/google_crespo/VQ8PQk_V.zip (4.0.3 OTA)
b)http://android.clients.google.com/p...a25375426.signed-soju-ota-189904.1ada2537.zip (2.3.6 Official I9020T Build)
c)http://bit.ly/su2361ef (SU flashable)
d)http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=988686 (Grab recovery form this thread)
e)http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html (Grab the android SDK installer)
f)http://attachments.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=687157&d=1313224429 (Radio file only required for I9020A)
Okay so when done with all that proceed as follows
1) Backup your current apps using Titanium Backup (Optional/Recommended)
2) Backup(Nandroid) your rom using backup option in CWM (Optional/Recommended)
3) Do a full wipe, wipe sdcard, system, data, cache Transfer a,b,c,f to your phone.
4) Flash the 2.3.6 Official I9020T Build you had downloaded using the install zip option in CWM (IMP-DO NOT REBOOT RIGHT NOW)
5) Flash the flashable SU file you had downloaded and then reboot.
6) Once your phone is on, continue to set up your account or skip it as you wish. (Optional)
7) Open up market, download the latest SU app, Voodoo OTARootKeeper, Titanium Backup and any other app you use that requires root.
8) Open the updated SU app, hit menu button and click preferences, go all the way down, click on su binary(tap to check for updates) , and make sure it updates to v3.0.3
9) After that is done, open and allow root permissions to all your root apps. (This is important)
9.5) Run Voodoo OTARootKeeper and click on protect root, make sure all options get checked.
10) Turn off phone, keep volume up and power pressed to boot into fastboot.
11) Select recovery with volume buttons and use power to launch.
12) Once you see a android bot image and an arrow image, keep volume up pressed and press power once, then you'll see some options appear.
13) Select apply update option and find the official 4.0.3 OTA file you had downloaded and flash. Reboot.
14) Once you have booted into ICS, go to Voodoo OTARootKeeper and select resture Root, all options should now be ticked, if not something went wrong.
15) Voila, you have root. Now to get back CWM recovery you can follow this -
i) Place the recovery img file in the android sdk platform-tools folder
ii) Switch to the directory where you unzipped the Android SDK & go to "tools"
iii) Then type "fastboot flash recovery yourfilename.img" & hit enter
iv) That should do it.
v) Optionally you may do it form Rom Manager too, if it works.
16) (ONLY FOR I9020A) Reboot phone, turn it off, boot into fastboot, select recovery, CWM should launch, flash the radio file you had downloaded to get radio working on I9020A (ONLY FOR I9020A)
Root only works for the apps that were installed while on 2.3.6
http://downloads.androidsu.com/superuser/Superuser-3.0.7-efghi-signed.zip , use this root file, flash it in cwm, everything works, permissions etc.
This might work for other variants, tested on I9020A and I9020T, I take no responsibility for anything that might go wrong with your device. I take no credit for any links or procedures provided in this guide, I just tested and compiled.
Thanks and best of luck.
..........
Good guide but first two links are broken.
bajansurfer said:
Good guide but first two links are broken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, fixed.
Do I really need to flash official 2.3.6 before ICS? what if I wipe and format then install 4.0 immediately?
poging22 said:
Do I really need to flash official 2.3.6 before ICS? what if I wipe and format then install 4.0 immediately?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might not work, though you can try, if it fails, do it my way, also its impossible to get any kind of root that way.
Link for the ATT Radio doesnt seem to be working
Great work!
wipe SD card?
Is this necessary?
I don't think it's necessary to wipe the SD card, I followed the procedure in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1396913 and although it said my SD card would be wiped, everything was still there after I was done!
Anyone on a i9023 tried this?
Hmm...does "any version" includes M200(Korean Nexus S)?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
http://attachments.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=687157&d=1313224429
I think he meant that for the 9020A radio
Link fixed, sorry for that, SD wiping might not be necessary, but I suggest as it makes it cleaner. Might work for I9023 and M200, I have no clue, maybe some experienced developer can answer that better.
Not to crap on a great tutorial, This is exactly what I would be looking for if I were not already set up and running. Last night was a dizzying whirlwind of flashing, high heart rates and finally becoming familiar with fastboot and flashing things like that.....lol
But in the end I simply found a cwm flashable zip without radio or bootloader and installed through cwm like any other rom. As far as root all I did was flash a zip file found on the forums and I was good to go.
Hi mine keeps hanging in the boot animation and can't get into recovery, what else can i do? Is my phone bricked?
little hiccup at step 12. im getting the android bot with exclamation mark but i press volume up with power and nothing happens. menu doesnt show up....
Edit: NVM... i pressed it 3 or 4 times and it finally worked
Michie23 said:
Hi mine keeps hanging in the boot animation and can't get into recovery, what else can i do? Is my phone bricked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should post it in questions, I cannot answer this.
fromthestars said:
Not to crap on a great tutorial, This is exactly what I would be looking for if I were not already set up and running. Last night was a dizzying whirlwind of flashing, high heart rates and finally becoming familiar with fastboot and flashing things like that.....lol
But in the end I simply found a cwm flashable zip without radio or bootloader and installed through cwm like any other rom. As far as root all I did was flash a zip file found on the forums and I was good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many ways of doing it, I just am suggesting one, the flashable zip for ics isn't available as yet, what did you flash?
i9020 keeps getting status 7 aborted and my padlock is still unlocked on t-mobile 2.3.6
Has any tried this on an i9023? Thank u
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

How flash tf101 s80kas???

I need your help, disappeared for 2 days the cwm, with the long awaited update ics, had installed android revolution hd rom and decided to return to stock with the tutorial that is posted, it achieves but still had to reset the super user, try to go to recovery, that's when my problem started, I went android logo with an exclamation mark in a triangle, upgrade to 8.6.21 and continuing the same problem, someone recommended me to upgrade to that person according ics arranged everything and actualize but as usual, I'm desperate, please help.
you can flash is the only alternative that I think I have
regards
Max
max_105 said:
I need your help, disappeared for 2 days the cwm, with the long awaited update ics, had installed android revolution hd rom and decided to return to stock with the tutorial that is posted, it achieves but still had to reset the super user, try to go to recovery, that's when my problem started, I went android logo with an exclamation mark in a triangle, upgrade to 8.6.21 and continuing the same problem, someone recommended me to upgrade to that person according ics arranged everything and actualize but as usual, I'm desperate, please help.
you can flash is the only alternative that I think I have
regards
Max
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i understand correct you want to flash stock rom?
Download from asus
Unzip the zip.
you will see a folder named asus and then a zip inside the folder,
Copy the zip that's inside your folder and extract to SD-Card now reboot recovery and flash,
Wipe data/factory reset is always a +1 to not get a boot loop
If that doesnt work copy the file in /asus/update to the root directory and rename it EP101_SDUPDATE then it should go
Dreamboxuser said:
If that doesnt work copy the file in /asus/update to the root directory and rename it EP101_SDUPDATE then it should go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that one i provided won't work than i would say the zip were corrupt, and i never got your way to install the zip, pretty strange but i tested it :O

[Q] Go to stock to get OTA ICS

I was just wondering if someone could point me to what I need to go back to stock and get OTA updates, I live in the US and would like to know which file to download, or does it matter? Do I need the full package? and which honeycomb version should I do? and which file under the version of Honeycomb should I get? or does it matter? Sorry about being n00bish I just would like to get back to stock so I can start over with this thing and get the info down about it.
Hi,
I've been using AfterOTA to go back to stock. It's very easy. I used version 1.01 which isn't available now but 1.07 should still be able to do the same thing.
Which file you use is important as they are geared for different regions of the world. A lot of the files from the Full Package thread aren't there anymore so your choices are limited. It needs to be a full package though, it should be over 300MB. An update won't work.
Basically, you use AfterOTA to install the bootloader and recovery from it's stock tab. Have the update.zip file on the root of your SD card (some of them need to be decrypted). After the tool installs the stock recovery boot by holding down the left or top volume key. That will automatically install whatever update is on the card. Version 1.01 had separate ICS and HC bootloaders I'm not sure how 1.07 is set up. Then just let the update process happen.
I doubt that you'll find anything earlier than HC 3.2 for your (our) region. If you just want a stock ICS tab you could just use that update.zip and skip HC entirely.
Good Luck
Can you point me to the stock ICS zip we would use for our US tabets? I found a page on here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878 but they dont have an ICS Full Package and I don't know which HC 3.2 one to use. it says to look at my current version but I am on a flexreaper ROM. I want to remove the recovery and bootloader and go completely stock and upgrade to OTA ICS so I can then run After OTA to get a fresh new recovery and ICS bootloader. thanks for your help.
My stock 1.104.02_COM_GEN1 OTA'd to 1.033.00_PA_CUS1.
From Vache's thread the Acer_A500_7.006.01_COM_GEN2 file will update to 1.033.00_PA_CUS1. I don't think this file needs to be decrypted.
1. Download that file. Put the update.zip file on the root of your SD card.
2. In AfterOTA on the stock tab choose A50x. This should install the HC bootloader and standard recovery.
3. Disconnect the tablet. Power down the tablet. Reboot by holding the left or top volume key while pushing the power button. This should start installing the update.zip on the card. If you wind up in CWM then AfterOTA didn't work and you'll need to downgrade.
4. Try to boot after the update. It will probably get stuck at the logo. If it does you'll need to hard reset (bottom volume key + power + slide rotation locker). It takes a while for the first boot and it might crash once while setting everything up.
5. You should be in HC 3.2 from here you can OTA all the way to ICS. You'll need to install the ACER update enhancer from the market b4 it will see the ICS update.
I hope this works for you.
CWM Recovery booted, instead of flashing the update.zip, How do I do it now?
I don't know why AfterOTA isn't working for you. I really thought it would. Oh well, Gersma says it's only for OTA. There are other people who probably know better, but I think you're going to have to get a stock bootloader on there before you can use any of those files. My guess its that you'll need to follow the downgrade guide. Search on "rollback".
I hope you find a better solution, but the rollback isn't that hard.
Good luck.
what if I apply the update.zip from CWM using the "apply update from sd card"? would that just force the up date and wipe everything with the stock bootloader and ROM that is in the update.zip?
I don't think that file will work from CWM. Maybe one of the stock ICS leaks would work. If you can load one from CWM it can load the BL and it will replace the recovery when it reboots. Then you should be able to use AfterOTA to return to stock and upgrade through the OTA's.

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