Database Users

[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.

Stuck on HC Bootloader, won't update

*** SOLVED ***
Hey all.
So I've had my A500 for about a year now and it's been on several different ROMs and kernels over that time.
Most recently, I was running Flexreaper R12 (I believe) and ICS was running very smoothly.
At some point a few months ago (after a Flexreaper update), I was experiencing the Sleep Of Death and flashed an AntiSOD kernel to stop it (which it did). All this time, for some reason or another, I never updated the bootloader past the Honeycomb bootloader - and that's where I'm stuck right now.
I've tried using AfterOTA in every possible way to get anything else loaded.
I've tried Blackthund3r's A500 APX Flash Utility with at least 7 different APX packages, but no matter what I try, I'm still stuck with Flexreaper and the HC bootloader.
FWIW, both AfterOTA and the A500 APX Flash Util experience a problem with my A500 when it reboots. Most of the time I can get the device to be recognized by my OS (Windows 7 x64), but sometimes it doesn't and fails on driver install, even though I've installed the Google drivers direct from the SDK as well as Acer's drivers (USB_Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501).
I'm pretty sure this is a driver issue, but I'm unclear on how to fix it. I've uninstalled ALL drivers related to the A500, rebooted and reinstalled them, I've uninstalled them and then pointed the installer directly to the unzipped USB driver folder (from above), but it seems that at some point the device fails to be seen, only rarely - but it's this that I think is the main problem... or I'm missing something.
So, any advice for someone that's STUCK on the old 3.01 bootloader?
Psychlone

Psychlone said:
Hey all.
So I've had my A500 for about a year now and it's been on several different ROMs and kernels over that time.
Most recently, I was running Flexreaper R12 (I believe) and ICS was running very smoothly.
At some point a few months ago (after a Flexreaper update), I was experiencing the Sleep Of Death and flashed an AntiSOD kernel to stop it (which it did). All this time, for some reason or another, I never updated the bootloader past the Honeycomb bootloader - and that's where I'm stuck right now.
I've tried using AfterOTA in every possible way to get anything else loaded.
I've tried Blackthund3r's A500 APX Flash Utility with at least 7 different APX packages, but no matter what I try, I'm still stuck with Flexreaper and the HC bootloader.
FWIW, both AfterOTA and the A500 APX Flash Util experience a problem with my A500 when it reboots. Most of the time I can get the device to be recognized by my OS (Windows 7 x64), but sometimes it doesn't and fails on driver install, even though I've installed the Google drivers direct from the SDK as well as Acer's drivers (USB_Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501).
I'm pretty sure this is a driver issue, but I'm unclear on how to fix it. I've uninstalled ALL drivers related to the A500, rebooted and reinstalled them, I've uninstalled them and then pointed the installer directly to the unzipped USB driver folder (from above), but it seems that at some point the device fails to be seen, only rarely - but it's this that I think is the main problem... or I'm missing something.
So, any advice for someone that's STUCK on the old 3.01 bootloader?
Psychlone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was stuck to so i downgraded got the ics bootloader from the ota and then used afterOTA to get the unlocked version and it worked

gears177 said:
i was stuck to so i downgraded got the ics bootloader from the ota and then used afterOTA to get the unlocked version and it worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?

Psychlone said:
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your on the honeycomb bootloader simply flash a honeycomb rom and kernel no need to use afterOTA or anything else if i remember correctly

Psychlone said:
So how did you downgrade? I've done everything I can think of - at least 6 times over...
That was the plan after I figured that downgrading back to stock and then going up from there was the only way, but I can't even go back to Honeycomb 3.2 or even 3.1.
Check this out - I even made sure to make a CWM backup of my original setup before I upgraded to 3.2 back almost a year ago...but I can't get it to restore. In fact, I made several different backups and can't get ANY of them to restore.
So, in short, what did you do to go backwards?
Psychlone
EDIT: when I try to get into APX or Bootloader, it always ends up in Thor 1.7 and my computer doesn't recognize the device with a device driver install fail for MTP USB Device, even though I've installed the Acer Recovery drivers and the Google SDK drivers too... wtH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you got a couple of choices....
with the HC Bootloader and ics rom...
full wipe and flash an HC rom or
nandroid restore an HC backup or
flash an update.zip
as a last resort - a complete downgrade/rollback use timmydeansv4 EUU - just be sure to follow the instructions in jazzyjames post on how to roll back - iu dont wanna get it wrong and end up stuck in apx mode. If it doesnt work first time....STOP...disconnect yr data cable and reboot tab and pc, use a different USB port and try it again....
Some folks have had issues with win64 so if you are able to then try on a different pc
sometimes a restore wont work unless you restore it with the recovery you used to back up with in the first place which may have been cwm 1.3.4 in your case....maybe???
as far as the MTP driver goes...that can be a pain...i had the same trouble a few days ago on ICS...took ages to get installed....and i still dont know why it did....or why it wouldnt....very frustrating!!!

dibb_nz said:
you got a couple of choices....
with the HC Bootloader and ics rom...
full wipe and flash an HC rom or
nandroid restore an HC backup or
flash an update.zip
as a last resort - a complete downgrade/rollback use timmydeansv4 EUU - just be sure to follow the instructions in jazzyjames post on how to roll back - iu dont wanna get it wrong and end up stuck in apx mode. If it doesnt work first time....STOP...disconnect yr data cable and reboot tab and pc, use a different USB port and try it again....
Some folks have had issues with win64 so if you are able to then try on a different pc
sometimes a restore wont work unless you restore it with the recovery you used to back up with in the first place which may have been cwm 1.3.4 in your case....maybe???
as far as the MTP driver goes...that can be a pain...i had the same trouble a few days ago on ICS...took ages to get installed....and i still dont know why it did....or why it wouldnt....very frustrating!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he's not on the ics bootloader though so couldn't he just flash the 3.01 unstable and get the OTA? or go back to a stock rom in general?

gears177 said:
he's not on the ics bootloader though so couldn't he just flash the 3.01 unstable and get the OTA? or go back to a stock rom in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh 2nd line of my post hc bootloader ics rom, and u correct use 3.01 buggy update,zip or stock update.zip I shoulda been clearer - thanks gears

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the help, but I'm still having serious issues reverting back to HC.
I feel like an idiot, but I have to say that even though it seems so, I'm actually the owner of a computer repair business, have 28 years experience in PC/Mac repair, and have rooted and modded every android device I've owned (including some for friends as well) - all the way back to the very beginning with the D1. This, however, has thrown me for a loop. NOTHING with this A500 has been this complicated! Everything up to this point has literally been stupid-proof and I've actually been quite impressed at just how easy modding is on the A500...
Anyway...
Here's what's going on and what I've tried today:
I've tried unsuccessfully several times to get ANYTHING working on my laptop, but to no avail. Same story as last night, no progress whatsoever - however, I did note that with CWM 134, I was able to restore an earlier version of ICS 4.03 (Flexreaper R10 I believe) - but it wasn't easy... I ended up restoring the main image and then using parts and pieces (using Advanced Restore) from other saves to finally even get it to boot.
This clearly wasn't getting me anywhere, so I moved the entire operation to another computer - my main rig (also a Win7 x64 - in fact, I don't own a computer that's not Win7 x64)
Now I've got USB driver issues! I can't even install the standard USB drivers from Acer's website because the installer errors out saying that there's no version of Acer Iconia 3G Driver Install is installed. wtF? That's what I'm TRYING to do!
I did get a different USB driver installed - the USB Driver_Acer_1.06.1500_A30H_A500, but nothing wants to use it and Blackthund3r's APX Flash Util won't see it, AfterOTA won't use it, and it's basically useless anyway. AND I can't install the Acer_1.00.0524_A30H_A31H_A32H_A500_A501 drivers no matter if I've got any others installed or not.
In my device mangler, there is no device with an exclamation, and in fact, sees my Acer Iconia A500 under USB Serial Bus Controllers as "Acer Picasso USB Boot-Recovery Driver", only when it's plugged in. NO other instance shows up at all.
I'm actually at the point of trying to follow through with the EUU (dibb_nz's "last resort"), but vache's website is down and I can't download anything for it. In fact, there's nothing from that guide that has a valid link...
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1632392)
So now where do I go? I understand IT really well, so you don't need to talk to me like a complete noob, but dang if I can't figure this one out!
If I can get valid links to all the downloads from the link above, I'd be more than happy to give it a go and see if that works, but I can't piece together all those things from random places. If either of you (or anyone else for that matter) has valid links for everything needed to follow the EUU guide, I'd be very grateful!
Any other advice would certainly be appreciated as well! I don't have to use either of these computers, but as mentioned, ALL of my computers have Windows 7 x64 on them. I suppose I could try one of my customer's computers for all this, but that's not morally right and probably something that I would prefer not to explore.
I feel as if I could get the USB drivers installed properly on EITHER machine, that I'd likely be in good shape. I think that's what my problem actually is on the laptop as well, even though they're all installed and shows as installed until I boot into any recovery - then I get the MTP Device Driver Fail. There's likely other Acer driver issues there though, since Blackthund3r's utils don't follow through for anything... everything just hangs. AfterOTA just hangs.
Advice please?
And thanks again for your knowledge!
Psychlone

Yeh I hear u m8, its taken me all nite and day to revert back to HC and then upgrade again....dam pesky Picasso drivers.....
why not do as gears suggested....boot to cwm do all the wipes and formatsand flash an HC rom, ezterrys has a rooted one...no drivers needed . or am I missing something?
D/l link for timmydeans euu in my cpuid thread

dibb_nz said:
Yeh I hear u m8, its taken me all nite and day to revert back to HC and then upgrade again....dam pesky Picasso drivers.....
why not do as gears suggested....boot to cwm do all the wipes and formatsand flash an HC rom, ezterrys has a rooted one...no drivers needed . or am I missing something?
D/l link for timmydeans euu in my cpuid thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I would but no matter what image I put on my SD or even internal SD, and no matter what recovery I use, there's always some type of fail - usually an MD5 fail, or just a fail without any error code at all (little android on his back with the red exclamation, but no code)
I'm clearly missing SOMETHING.
I'm about to try the EUU right now unless there's some other advice...
EDIT::
OK, so I'm really in bad shape here - now the EUU (PBJ20upgrade) comes back with the error:
Please download the newer image for the upgrade.
Current image version: Acer_AV041_A500_1,054.Acer_AV041_A500
New image version: Acer_A500_1.016.05_Com_GEN1
What now????

Psychlone said:
Well, I would but no matter what image I put on my SD or even internal SD, and no matter what recovery I use, there's always some type of fail - usually an MD5 fail, or just a fail without any error code at all (little android on his back with the red exclamation, but no code)
I'm clearly missing SOMETHING.
I'm about to try the EUU right now unless there's some other advice...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh hell now i'm confused, lol.....the little android dude is the acer stock recovery....i thought you had thors 1.7...oh well, nvm
Hopefully the EUU will install the right drivers for you....just be sure NOT to connect your data cable until u see the "cannot detect yr iconia tab" screen and it will give u instructions on how to get into apx mode...oh just before that window the EUU will try and scan your system image it will take a good 5 mins b4 it pops up the window to go into apx don't panic just let it do its thing....good luck m8!!!!
Oh and this will completely wipe yr system and user data.....

dibb_nz said:
oh hell now i'm confused, lol.....the little android dude is the acer stock recovery....i thought you had thors 1.7...oh well, nvm
Hopefully the EUU will install the right drivers for you....just be sure NOT to connect your data cable until u see the "cannot detect yr iconia tab" screen and it will give u instructions on how to get into apx mode...oh just before that window the EUU will try and scan your system image it will take a good 5 mins b4 it pops up the window to go into apx don't panic just let it do its thing....good luck m8!!!!
Oh and this will completely wipe yr system and user data.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the WEIRDEST stuff I've ever experienced - EVER.
Oh, the little dead android is when I'm using the stock recovery - I get different errors in TWRP and all the CWM Thor's that I've tried...(134, 71 and 712)
OK, so now PBJ20upgrade won't let me advance because apparently my CPUID isn't correct... it's the ICS version that's 13 characters long instead of 15, and my dmesg doesn't even contain the word "androidboot" at all (it does, however, contain a crapload of errors.)
What's going on?
OK, I'm an idiot. I really need help. I'm just glad that I'm 40 and don't lose my cool anymore, otherwise, I'd be freaking out about now.

Psychlone said:
Some of the WEIRDEST stuff I've ever experienced - EVER.
Oh, the little dead android is when I'm using the stock recovery - I get different errors in TWRP and all the CWM Thor's that I've tried...(134, 71 and 712)
OK, so now PBJ20upgrade won't let me advance because apparently my CPUID isn't correct... it's the ICS version that's 13 characters long instead of 15, and my dmesg doesn't even contain the word "androidboot" at all (it does, however, contain a crapload of errors.)
What's going on?
OK, I'm an idiot. I really need help. I'm just glad that I'm 40 and don't lose my cool anymore, otherwise, I'd be freaking out about now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cpuid = 15/16 chars go to one of yr cwm nandroid backups theres a uid.txt file in the folder all the other methods rely on adb??? if not try usbdeview thats in the thread too

THANK YOU!
dibb_nz said:
cpuid = 15/16 chars go to one of yr cwm nandroid backups theres a uid.txt file in the folder all the other methods rely on adb??? if not try usbdeview thats in the thread too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much dibb_nz... I've currently got PBJ20upgrade doing *something* (says it's going to take 10 minutes)
Thing is, I didn't get to this point by any conventional means - I followed the destructions several times over but ended up having a newer image than PBJ wanted, or the wrong CPUID.
I finally got this far by unplugging the tablet while PBJ was running, waiting for it's long error and instructions on how to get into APX (which I've clearly done at least a couple dozen times by now) and for some reason when I plugged it in, it shot forward.
We'll see how this goes - I'll keep you posted. I do VERY MUCH appreciate the help. I just might still need it, but hopefully not.
EDIT: Just rebooted and saw a "PASS" on the screen, followed by the "android" loading screen.
EDIT 2: It rebooted all the way in, I signed in (did the entire sign in process) and I'm BACK TO STOCK!!!!
Ok, so thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the help - just being a sounding board is all I need sometimes.
Last questions to get me set up for the future:
What recovery should I create a restore with?
Then after creating a restore, should I use Blackthund3r's utility to flash an unlocked ICS bootloader, and if so, which package should I use to be able to test JB but still be able to go backwards to an ICS (preferably CM9)?
Anything else that I might need to know? (keep in mind that I've read on the order of 30 different threads pertaining to this adventure since it began a couple days ago, but I really appreciate the advice you've given and clearly you know what's up with the A500 - AND, it's hard to disseminate info from all the random threads everywhere. Speaking of which, why is it that there can't be a single thread with most everything that an A500 owner would need? Seriously!!)
Thanks again,
Psychlone

With what I went thru use Civs nvflash and rom and I'd stick with third cement until your safely patched and on ics.do all the wipes and follow instructions to the letter ...I'll check back in shortly
EDIT wtf "third cement" dang auto correct ... should read thors recovery

Wow - what a journey.
I'm now running CM10 and loving it.
I really can't believe the process that I went through over the last couple days - I've rooted and modded two dozen devices in the last year alone, and have been playing with root and modded ROMs since the very beginning, and nothing comes close to what I just did.
I actually have to blame not having everything I need in one place. Mis en place means to have everything you need before you even start - and that used to work back in the day, and still does to an extent for some devices, but anymore, the download links and information are found scattered across many different websites and forums and threads - so much so that it's apparent that this is a product of Google's lack of grip on their hardware and OS.
I do, however, see that you and a couple others have done a KILLER job of getting most everything together in one place to make it easier for those that are searching. I really appreciated your threads that I've read - the way you've written your guides is very intuitive and easy to follow, even if they didn't initially work for me.
Anyway, thanks again. I'm not going backwards now, but if I ever need to for some reason, at least I'm a bit familiar with the "worst-case scenario"!!
Take care man,
Psychlone

excellent news glad it worked for ya
Psychlone said:
Thanks so much dibb_nz... I've currently got PBJ20upgrade doing *something* (says it's going to take 10 minutes)
Thing is, I didn't get to this point by any conventional means - I followed the destructions several times over but ended up having a newer image than PBJ wanted, or the wrong CPUID.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if its referring to newer image then the data cable is connected!
and it will spit this error at you....
I finally got this far by unplugging the tablet while PBJ was running, waiting for it's long error and instructions on how to get into APX (which I've clearly done at least a couple dozen times by now) and for some reason when I plugged it in, it shot forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup now you're cookin
We'll see how this goes - I'll keep you posted. I do VERY MUCH appreciate the help. I just might still need it, but hopefully not.
EDIT: Just rebooted and saw a "PASS" on the screen, followed by the "android" loading screen.
EDIT 2: It rebooted all the way in, I signed in (did the entire sign in process) and I'm BACK TO STOCK!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh yeahhhhh!!!!
Ok, so thank you THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the help - just being a sounding board is all I need sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nps glad to be of assistance -
Last questions to get me set up for the future:
What recovery should I create a restore with?
Then after creating a restore, should I use Blackthund3r's utility to flash an unlocked ICS bootloader, and if so, which package should I use to be able to test JB but still be able to go backwards to an ICS (preferably CM9)?
Anything else that I might need to know? (keep in mind that I've read on the order of 30 different threads pertaining to this adventure since it began a couple days ago, but I really appreciate the advice you've given and clearly you know what's up with the A500 - AND, it's hard to disseminate info from all the random threads everywhere. Speaking of which, why is it that there can't be a single thread with most everything that an A500 owner would need? Seriously!!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
becoz then you'd have thousands of posts to look thru and no-one would bother reading it all....i try to keep my cpuid thread updated with things 'unbricking' but its too hard to put 'everything' in one post unfortunately
---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 PM ----------
Psychlone said:
Wow - what a journey.
I'm now running CM10 and loving it.
I really can't believe the process that I went through over the last couple days - I've rooted and modded two dozen devices in the last year alone, and have been playing with root and modded ROMs since the very beginning, and nothing comes close to what I just did.
I actually have to blame not having everything I need in one place. Mis en place means to have everything you need before you even start - and that used to work back in the day, and still does to an extent for some devices, but anymore, the download links and information are found scattered across many different websites and forums and threads - so much so that it's apparent that this is a product of Google's lack of grip on their hardware and OS.
I do, however, see that you and a couple others have done a KILLER job of getting most everything together in one place to make it easier for those that are searching. I really appreciated your threads that I've read - the way you've written your guides is very intuitive and easy to follow, even if they didn't initially work for me.
Anyway, thanks again. I'm not going backwards now, but if I ever need to for some reason, at least I'm a bit familiar with the "worst-case scenario"!!
Take care man,
Psychlone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hell, i havent got round to cm10 yet!! i'm trying to get there but i have too much fun helpin peeps get to grips with flashing BL's...have to really thank the devs they did an awesome job unlocking ICS so everyone can enjoy the custom ICS/JB/CM roms- they've extended the life of our little iconia an extra half year or so if not longer.....imagine if we had to put up with stock 'anything' lol, i'd have traded it in long ago!!
was about to suggest the apxflash bundles as there are alot more options as far as recovery's go but you're all sussed now so thats fantastic....
can u add "SOLVED" to the title in case someone else is looking for help. thanks m8:good:

dibb_nz said:
excellent news glad it worked for ya
hell, i havent got round to cm10 yet!! i'm trying to get there but i have too much fun helpin peeps get to grips with flashing BL's...have to really thank the devs they did an awesome job unlocking ICS so everyone can enjoy the custom ICS/JB/CM roms- they've extended the life of our little iconia an extra half year or so if not longer.....imagine if we had to put up with stock 'anything' lol, i'd have traded it in long ago!!
was about to suggest the apxflash bundles as there are alot more options as far as recovery's go but you're all sussed now so thats fantastic....
can u add "SOLVED" to the title in case someone else is looking for help. thanks m8:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM10 is SLICK. Think CM9 on graphics steroids and you're close!
I appreciate your position more than most. I get a lot of enjoyment out of helping others as well - I've written overclocking guides for AMD systems that was written years ago, revised a couple/three years ago and is still used to this day, even though I've long since moved over to Intel's "dark side". I also participate pretty deeply in helping others at a couple PC hardware forums pretty much daily, even though that's my actual job - I own 2 computer repair businesses in my hometown, and with well over 20,000 computers to fix, I'm ALWAYS busy but still always find time to help others in need.
As for adding ***SOLVED*** to the title, I'd love to...but it won't let me. Perhaps it's because I don't have a high enough post count, or because it's reserved for Mods, but I can't do it.
Thanks for everything once again - it's quite refreshing to be on the receiving end!
Psychlone

[GUIDE] A500 Back to Factory Stock the easy way.

This is a good way to bring an A500 back to full stock from just about any rom, custom or stock rooted. You need to already have CWM installed.
WIPE SYSTEM/DATA/CACHE/DELVIC FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't already have your UID and SBK get those first and back them up in multiple locations!!!!!!!!!!!!
This quote is shamelessly plagiarized from an answer posted by Moscow Desire on a different thread. Drop in and say thanks to him if it does you some good.
Moscow Desire said:
When you install a custom Rom, you have to wipe the original Data first. This is done in the CWM recovery which you installed.
EDIT; Here are two Gen 1 roms provided by dibb_nz . Please say thanks to her.
HC_3.2_Gen_1_OTA_update.zip
HC 3.1_Gen_1_FULL_update.zip
When you boot to CWM Recovery, you have a menu item "Wipes"
In Wipes;
1. Data/Factory Reset (don't worry, it skips your photos and such)
2. Cache
3. Dalvik Cache
Wait, you're not finished.
Go back to the previous menu, and select "Mounts and Storage".
1. Format System
2. Format Flexrom
Now, go back to the previous menu, and select Install Zip from SD (or similar)
MD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are going to lose all data. I make nandroid backups with data toggled everytime that I do anything to my tablet. Do you?
After following the above instructions,
Just simply flash a stock 3.2 image. It's really too simple. Flash it in recovery. This even works while using the patched bootloader by skryllax_cz. There are a selection of roms midway down this post and at the bottom. Any of them should work for this.
When the 3.2 finishes it's flash and you reboot. The tablet will show "Flashing Bootloader" under the custom skryllax_cz text.
It will reboot on it's own.
That's it. You should be able to OTA.
I recommend going to the Play store and downloading/install the Acer Update Enhancement utility after the tablet settles down.
However, my tablet downloaded a small update right away without it.
Here is an additional option as suggested by dibb_nz in the 11th post below. drop down and say thanks if it helped!
dibb_nz said:
Just a thought, the update zips can be flashed in 2 ways.
If u use the stock recovery then rename the file to "update.zip" and remember to remove it from yr sdcard after you're done. This is really important!! You'll end up in strife if u don't!!
With a custom recovery then use install zip option.
With the 3.1 zip u can retrieve yr cpuid (if u need to) then update to the unlocked ICS bootloader directly. This isn't possible with the 3.2 zip
Have a gr8 day people
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck and please post your results. Thanks.
Here's a link to a stock 3.1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpdy13u4ufec461/Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip. It is probably easier to go with one of the 3.2 roms below. But if you want it there it is.
(Directions; Flash the stock 3.1 (Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip) AFTER WIPING SYSTEM/CACHE/DATA/DELVIC, reboot, then ota to ICS. After you do the first OTA and it reboots it will say a Flashing Bootloader message then reboot with all stock everything.)
Stock 3.2 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpdy13u4ufec461/Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip
Stock 3.2 provided by dibb_nz - http://www.4shared.com/zip/GgHzZieZ/HC_32_update.html
Here are two Gen 1 roms provided by dibb_nz. Please say thanks to her.
HC_3.2_Gen_1_OTA_update.zip
HC 3.1_Gen_1_FULL_update.zip
New Link
jasenlee1984 had success using Acer_A500_7.006.03_COM_GEN1 3.2 rom from blackthund3r's stock firmware thread, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
If it helps you, click his name and then the thanks button.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
I have included post 20 from below. It is a guide for getting recovery back should something go wrong. What it will do is install CWM as well as the V8 bootloader. After that you can start all over or flash whatever you want.
I prefer to use Blackthund3rs APX Flash Tool. To get the apx tool google this. blackthund3r apx tool
Basically what you will do is get the tool, open it, choose bundle market, choose 17, use default bct, enter APX download mode, and flash the V8 bootloader with CWM.
The steps are... (Copied from here.)
Step 1.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Step 2.
Step 3.
Step 4.
I used number 17.
Step 5.
Step 6.
Step 7.
I used the default since my tab was fried.
Step 8.
At this point you will have to choose to enter APX mode manually. Follow the instructions on the next screen.
Once you are in APX mode and plugged into the pc you should see the message APX device connected. Choose the next arrow, once it runs for a few seconds it will ask you to confirm that the APX download mode has started.
Once it has. Confirm and wait for it to finish. Get into CWM, flash the rom and you should be good to go.
But other than that you should be back to normal in no time.
Good luck.
And again with the links.
Here's a link to a stock 3.1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpdy13u4ufec461/Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip. It is probably easier to go with one of the 3.2 roms below. But if you want it there it is.
(Directions; Flash the stock 3.1 (Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip) AFTER WIPING SYSTEM/CACHE/DATA/DELVIC, reboot, then ota to ICS. After you do the first OTA and it reboots it will say a Flashing Bootloader message then reboot with all stock everything.)
Stock 3.2 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpdy13u4ufec461/Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1.zip
Stock 3.2 provided by dibb_nz - http://www.4shared.com/zip/GgHzZieZ/HC_32_update.html
Here are two Gen 1 roms provided by dibb_nz. Please say thanks to her.
HC_3.2_Gen_1_OTA_update.zip
HC 3.1_Gen_1_FULL_update.zip
New Link
jasenlee1984 had success using Acer_A500_7.006.03_COM_GEN1 3.2 rom from blackthund3r's stock firmware thread, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
If it helps you, click his name and then the thanks button.

edit: update 16th Dec
GUYSnGURLZ I have uploaded a folder for you....its the 3.1 Full Update and includes iconiaroot.apk and acer recovery intaller.apk
There's also a readme file in there how to install, root and flash a custom recovery...enjoy
http://www.mediafire.com/?9hsmbilzz4c1a
@ jdgM3NT4L Excellent Post/Thread and thanks for this its sooooooo easy, nice find!

dibb_nz said:
hi m8 I have it uploaded to 4shared if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks. I'd be glad to link to it if you don't mind.
dibb_nz said:
Did this again yesterday on v6 still w8n for OTA, flashed v8from HC but nothing as yet,
maybe need v8 from ICS?? I give it a few hours more, missing stryker, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you update from the Play Store that silly Acer Enhancement app or whatever it is called?
dibb_nz said:
And thanks for this its sooooooo easy, nice find!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for all that you do here. You're really saving alot of peoples arses lately.
Kinda curious. Did this method work for the A501 folks?

not working for me
followed the instructions as posted, still waiting on the OTA update to ICS
i can't even boot into CWM now, i get a android robot with a yellow exclamation mark.
how can i fix it? plz help
thanks

The Stock rom that you put on is just that... Stock. So you lost CWM when you flashed it.
What you can do now is...
a: Wait for a little bit, check for updates again.
b: This one kind of blows the whole point of doing the downgrade in the first place. But... Use this and get Root. Install Acer Recovery Installer from the Play Store and install a custom recovery.
c: This one at your own risk. Mainly because I have not tested this way and I have no idea if the bootloader will flash properly or not. Go here and get the update for a 3.2 (Acer_A500_7.006.01_COM_GEN2) stock rom, then see if you can update the rest of the way to ICS. Be sure to put it in the root of your SD card and name it properly to update.zip. Then reboot as if you are going into CWM. If you want to wait until tomorrow I am downloading the roms tonight and I will test it. Should be finished by noon Central U.S. time (-06:00gmt)
d: Go here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1205204&highlight=cwm+honeycomb+3+1 and look around. See if any of the options there suit you better.
Good luck.
And if you have any more trouble say the word.
EDIT. I am having a pretty busy day. I'll have to try this a little later this afternoon. Sorry if you are waiting.

JdgM3NT4L said:
Hey thanks. I'd be glad to link to it if you don't mind.
Did you update from the Play Store that silly Acer Enhancement app or whatever it is called?
Thank you for all that you do here. You're really saving alot of peoples arses lately.
Kinda curious. Did this method work for the A501 folks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ended up flashing my old 3.2 update.zip and it OTA'd me all the way to ICS from that??
Yep 2nd time I tried it I had enhancement app
PM'd u really links, I also uploaded the update. Zip if folks want it 7.006.03gen1
And thanks for yr kind words J all part of the service
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium HD app

Frozen Goodness
Thanks for this easy pass. I used this yesterday and the OTA'd my way to ICS and then used Blackthun3ers tools to root and install the V8 bootloader. All in all it was pretty painless.

Glad that it worked for you. I've updated the first post. Sorry for putting you through the extra step of installing 3.1. It seems to work even better when I just flash a nice stock 3.2.
New links posted for going directly to 3.2 Honeycomb Stock with factory bootloader in the OP.
And again. This is safe to do when running any bootloader. If you want full stock. This works well.
And thanks a million dibb_nz. So glad you're here to help out.

So this method works also for ICS bootloader?

knevski said:
So this method works also for ICS bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to work with any boot loader. Just wipe first or be prepared to have problems.
It is easy to fix, but a bit of a pain.

Just a thought, the update zips can be flashed in 2 ways.
If u use the stock recovery then rename the file to "update.zip" and remember to remove it from yr sdcard after you're done. This is really important!! You'll end up in strife if u don't!!
With a custom recovery then use install zip option.
With the 3.1 zip u can retrieve yr cpuid (if u need to) then update to the unlocked ICS bootloader directly. This isn't possible with the 3.2 zip
Cannot confirm whether we can repair borked partitions with this, has anyone tried it??? Would save alot of probs some have had with drivers and apx mode...
Have a gr8 day people
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app

dibb_nz said:
Just a thought, the update zips can be flashed in 2 ways.
If u use the stock recovery then rename the file to "update.zip" and remember to remove it from yr sdcard after you're done. This is really important!! You'll end up in strife if u don't!!
With a custom recovery then use install zip option.
With the 3.1 zip u can retrieve yr cpuid (if u need to) then update to the unlocked ICS bootloader directly. This isn't possible with the 3.2 zip
Cannot confirm whether we can repair borked partitions with this, has anyone tried it??? Would save alot of probs some have had with drivers and apx mode...
Have a gr8 day people
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for adding the good info.
I agree with your assesment of 3.2 HC. It's really only good to me as a waypoint on the path to full stock ICS.
I don't know if the 3.2 rom repairs the partitions or not. I would not be terribly suprised if it did fix those.
You can flash the unlocked ICS bootloader to the 3.2. But, the only good ( And this is pretty good) thing that doing this does is...
On the reboot from the pass screen hold your volume rocker. Depending on the one that you press, you'll either get the boot options. Or you'll boot to CWM. It is great to fix the bootloop issue if you are as goofy as I was and forgot to wipe first.

This was how I tried to do it a few weeks ago, through the stock recovery, and I got stuck in a bootloop
BUT, I did the thing where you hold down Vol Up+ Power then flick the switch back and forth and that got me booted into stock HC

Wow this is awesome! Cannot believe how easy this was. Worked flawlessly. I flashed the stock 3.2 rom, booted up and DL the acer app right away then checked for updates. After a few websites, I was on stock ICS. Thanks!

Thanks for posting your results guys. Glad that it worked for you.

Thumbs up to every post in this thread
I used all of my daily thanks on this thread, it was more than helpful to me. The information in this thread is clear and precise as well as very easy to follow. Because of this thread I am now on stock Android 4.0.3 finally.
Let me give a little back story. I bought my Iconia A500 in August of 2011 and loved it. Within the first night I had it I had Clockwork Mod Recovery on it with a custom 3.2 ROM on it. I had my A500 for about 2 months and then life through me a curve and I lost my job week made my finances really tight so I had to pawn my beloved A500. I know I know how could I dare do that, but like I said my finances got bad tight. I managed to get another job about two months after I pawned it but I could not ever seem to get enough cash saved to get it out of pawn but I did manage to pay the renewal fee on it every month until this last Monday when I finally got it out of pawn.
Now I had been reading thread after thread to learn how to go back to stock so I could do the OTA update. I found this thread earlier today and now I after a flash of the file I downloaded from the four share link in the OP and three separate OTA updates my tablet is on ICS. A big thanks to everyone that posted in this thread. In my opinion it should be made a stickie.

T-Macgnolia said:
I used all of my daily thanks on this thread, it was more than helpful to me. The information in this thread is clear and precise as well as very easy to follow. Because of this thread I am now on stock Android 4.0.3 finally.
Let me give a little back story. I bought my Iconia A500 in August of 2011 and loved it. Within the first night I had it I had Clockwork Mod Recovery on it with a custom 3.2 ROM on it. I had my A500 for about 2 months and then life through me a curve and I lost my job week made my finances really tight so I had to pawn my beloved A500. I know I know how could I dare do that, but like I said my finances got bad tight. I managed to get another job about two months after I pawned it but I could not ever seem to get enough cash saved to get it out of pawn but I did manage to pay the renewal fee on it every month until this last Monday when I finally got it out of pawn.
Now I had been reading thread after thread to learn how to go back to stock so I could do the OTA update. I found this thread earlier today and now I after a flash of the file I downloaded from the four share link in the OP and three separate OTA updates my tablet is on ICS. A big thanks to everyone that posted in this thread. In my opinion it should be made a stickie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope you get to enjoy your tablet now that you've got it back!
And thanks for the kind words. I'm very glad that it helped you.

T-Macgnolia said:
I used all of my daily thanks on this thread, it was more than helpful to me. The information in this thread is clear and precise as well as very easy to follow. Because of this thread I am now on stock Android 4.0.3 finally.
Let me give a little back story. I bought my Iconia A500 in August of 2011 and loved it. Within the first night I had it I had Clockwork Mod Recovery on it with a custom 3.2 ROM on it. I had my A500 for about 2 months and then life through me a curve and I lost my job week made my finances really tight so I had to pawn my beloved A500. I know I know how could I dare do that, but like I said my finances got bad tight. I managed to get another job about two months after I pawned it but I could not ever seem to get enough cash saved to get it out of pawn but I did manage to pay the renewal fee on it every month until this last Monday when I finally got it out of pawn.
Now I had been reading thread after thread to learn how to go back to stock so I could do the OTA update. I found this thread earlier today and now I after a flash of the file I downloaded from the four share link in the OP and three separate OTA updates my tablet is on ICS. A big thanks to everyone that posted in this thread. In my opinion it should be made a stickie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have some of the best people in the XDA community right here at this forum. Some really good helpers and knowledgable folks.
Makes me glad to be a Mod.
Kudos people.
MD

man i suck so bad at this. well, i followed all your steps exactly from what i could tell. i mean there weren't that many nor were they complicated. now i have a continuous android with gears logo that never ends when i boot normally and when i go to recovery its an android with an exclamation. wtf did i do to screw this so bad. do i need to run linux now to fix this garbage or just chuck this pos. damn acer, ever since i updated to ics it was downhill and me tryin to fix it since then. probably me just not leet enough to fix it myself im guessing. id appreciate any suggestions on how to dig myself out of this. thnaks.

raotheconqueror said:
man i suck so bad at this. well, i followed all your steps exactly from what i could tell. i mean there weren't that many nor were they complicated. now i have a continuous android with gears logo that never ends when i boot normally and when i go to recovery its an android with an exclamation. wtf did i do to screw this so bad. do i need to run linux now to fix this garbage or just chuck this pos. damn acer, ever since i updated to ics it was downhill and me tryin to fix it since then. probably me just not leet enough to fix it myself im guessing. id appreciate any suggestions on how to dig myself out of this. thnaks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry to hear that you are having problems. The good news is as long as you followed my big red warning about having your sbk you aren't in too bad of shape. The only reason to do the linux thing is if you did not get your sbk/uid.
There is more than one way to take care of this. I prefer to use Blackthund3rs APX Flash Tool. To get the apx tool google this. blackthund3r apx tool
Basically what you will do is get the tool, open it, choose bundle market, choose 17, use default bct, enter APX download mode, and flash the V8 bootloader with CWM. After that you can start all over or flash whatever you want.
The steps are... (Copied from here.)
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
Step 4.
I used number 17.
Step 5.
Step 6.
Step 7.
I used the default since my tab was fried.
Step 8.
At this point you will have to choose to enter APX mode manually. Follow the instructions on the next screen.
Once you are in APX mode and plugged into the pc you should see the message APX device connected. Choose the next arrow, once it runs for a few seconds it will ask you to confirm that the APX download mode has started.
Once it has. Confirm and wait for it to finish. Get into CWM, flash the rom and you should be good to go.
But other than that you should be back to normal in no time. To get the apx tool google this. blackthund3r apx tool
Good luck.
EDIT; Here are two Gen 1 roms provided by dibb_nz. Please say thanks to her.
HC_3.2_Gen_1_OTA_update.zip
HC 3.1_Gen_1_FULL_update.zip

[Q] unbricking selfbricked stock A500

My colleague brought his stock A500 to me in a bricked condition last week.
I need a way to restore it. If I try to do a wipe it will say bootloader error if i try the recovery the droid falls down with the red sign with the exclamation mark.
This tablet has never been rooted, my colleague is not in to such things, it's lived its life with ordinary acer otas and the occational very young human (5 year old) trial wich it has survived.
He has installed all the OTAs he ever got on the tablet and this is in Sweden so it would probably be a 4.0.3 acer stock on it now.
I'm guessing it has died during a OTA or something. if i turn it on it will sit at the acer logo indefinitly.
I Bricked my A500 during a rooting atempt resulting in me needed to flash a stock rom to get it working again, but i cant find the thread i read to un-brick my A500.
Please Help!

try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839313

dibb_nz wrote:
try this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839313
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that thread seems to hold all i need, although i can't do a full wipe. when i do the flipswitch wipe procedure it halts with bootloader error
Im hoping to just be able to flash the stock rom from the link you gave me. Is it entirely necessary to do the wipe prior to flash? can i wipe it afterwards?

Hogbola said:
Well that thread seems to hold all i need, although i can't do a full wipe. when i do the flipswitch wipe procedure it halts with bootloader error
Im hoping to just be able to flash the stock rom from the link you gave me. Is it entirely necessary to do the wipe prior to flash? can i wipe it afterwards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we're assuming the tab is full stock and currently on ICS...
and we're assuming he never tried to 'fix' his tab by flashing one thing or another...
the bootloader error worries me...what exactly does it say...
Yes the wipes are really important!! and not being able to use the button method to do so is concerning...
what happens with the Over The Air (OTA) updates is its just that...an update...it leaves all your settings/data intact. When you OTA from one build to another, like Gingerbread 3.0 to Honeycomb 3.1/2 and then to ICS 4.0 - you drag all your apps and settings with you and of course some things that work with 3.2 will not work under ICS....fjor instance, lots of folk had trouble with wifi disconnects, once they got to ICS - or they had apps force closing and other 'glitches'. This is why everyone tells you to do the wipes - as this fixes these things! In the case of stock ICS my gmail would f/c all the time no matter how many times I wiped/formatted....So for a smooth running tab - flash a custom rom!!!!!!
But getting back to you...
From that link i gave you...download the 3.1_Full.zip....its decrypted so just extract it and get the "update.zip" from it..
This "update.zip" is not an incremental "update" but the full stock rom....
once installed you'll be on GB you will need to root it with iconia root and then use acer recovery installer to flash cwm....(get these from the playstore)
do a backup or adb devices so you can get your CPUID....this is important...if anything goes wrong at any stage this is the only thing that will get you unbricked....see the cpuid link in my sig for more on this, please take the time to read it, even if it doesnt make much sense to you, read it anyway....
AFTER you have retrieved your cpuid, you can nvflash the patched bootloader/recovery pkg which means you are able to flash ICS/JB custom roms
they cannot be flashed via cwm like normal...you must use nvFlash to do it....
OR
take the OTA route to ICS...this takes a bit of time...I did it last week and it was a good 6-7 hours to go from GB to ICS
there are pre-rooted stock roms if you wanna stay stock see civato's stock rom thread for that here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633907
official stock rom list by blackthund3r are here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
civs guide to flashing the unlocked bootloader here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622425

I am in a similar situation. Push the power button and it goes to a screen with white acer on black and stays there. Totally stock ICS, no root. I tried the update.zip thing and after automatically rebooting it says "Boot verified failed...". I don't have my cpuid, or have installed previously CWM or anything like that. I can get into APX mode. This guy here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751978 could only get into APX with no cpuid as well, but i don't understand all of the ubuntuu and command line stuff. I would love for someone to be able to walk a dummy like me through this mess. Thanks for any help.

if u got boot verified fail error you need nvFlash to repair that....as u know, with nvflash you need yr cpuid....wot about usbdeview? if you've never plugged yr tab into yr PC - then it won't work and the ONLY other way is Linux....
might be best to start yr own thread with a descriptive title, not just a help I'm bricked no uid, thread there are hundreds of those....the more effort u put into the title the more likely you will attract the attention of someone who can actually help...and remember you just don't need a bit of help but a blow by blow description of what to do and how....this will be very time consuming....at the very least get ubuntu installed, maybe just try a few things, anything to show you are capable of at least giving it a go yourself..
there are others who would like 2 know how to do this as well...having a specific thread of its own would be great
good luck
dibb
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Actually, I have connected it to my PC before. Only for transferring media though. If I've done that, is the some way to retrieve my cpuid from the PC?

yup...usbdeview.zip see the bottom of the OP in the cpuid guide in my sig

Thanks alot for your help. I used usbdeview and got my cpuid. Now I should use nvflash? Know where a good step by step is for that one?

you could try the one in my sig??

dibb_nz said:
you could try the one in my sig??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. Sorry, I didn't notice that before. Thanks again for your direction.
"To install one of these roms you will need a custom recovery and to get that you must flash the patched bootloader FIRSt - once its patched you can install a recovery any old way you like"
Looking at that guide, would you please tell me what a custom recovery is and how to get one? Btw, I don't plan to do a custom ROM yet, I just want to get the damn thing working first. Was thinking of using the HC EUUs from the firmware files list. However there are two files, a .rar and a .exe listed. Which do i use?

NvigR8 said:
Right. Sorry, I didn't notice that before. Thanks again for your direction.
"To install one of these roms you will need a custom recovery and to get that you must flash the patched bootloader FIRSt - once its patched you can install a recovery any old way you like"
Looking at that guide, would you please tell me what a custom recovery is and how to get one? Btw, I don't plan to do a custom ROM yet, I just want to get the damn thing working first. Was thinking of using the HC EUUs from the firmware files list. However there are two files, a .rar and a .exe listed. Which do i use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The .rar EUU is for an A500, the .exe is for the A501, which do you have?

I've got the a500. However, I decided to go with a custom ICS rom after all. I managed to put a new bootloader and custom recovery on using the a500apx flash tool. That part went fine. I flashed this rom:
Acer_AV041_A500_1.054.00_WW_GEN1-FULL-ROOT (original odex)
and that appeared to go well according to twrp, but after rebooting, it just shows the bootloader again and stops there. Not sure what i did wrong.
I renamed the rom update.zip. Should i not have done that?

well congrats for getting thru the flash process with no probs!!!
as far as renaming to update.zip that was not such a good move...hopefully things havent been screwed up too much
just go back into recovery and do a FULL wipe/format
then to flash use the option "install from zip file" not sure where that is in TWRP but it will have one

Okay. I will reflash the rom after completely wiping again. Thanks.
On a different note, why do roms require particular bootloaders?
Also different, how do you like your SGS3? If i can manage to fix this thing, perhaps I'll root my phone...

NvigR8 said:
Okay. I will reflash the rom after completely wiping again. Thanks.
On a different note, why do roms require particular bootloaders?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock ICS BL is encrypted - more or less - the only way to 'flash' a recovery or rom is to have the "key" that "unlocks" - it more or less - if you dont use the right key then the OS will not boot - the 'key' is based on your cpuid which is why everyone is forever telling you to save it somewhere safe....
Also different, how do you like your SGS3? If i can manage to fix this thing, perhaps I'll root my phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I enjoy the big screen, took awhile to get used to it in my hand, kept dropping it....then I ran it over with my 44tonne truck after 3 days and munted it!!!!
I have a case for it now, and its gr8 - I havent installed a rom on it yet...the forums over there are jampacked and I have no idea what I'm doing, lol - its the first android device I've had that I've left stock for so long...but it does what I want...the camera is awesome -burst mode is the bomb - BUT do I think it was worth the money???? Still on the fence about that one.....

Ouch. Sorry to read about running over your phone. That would kill me. I really like my SGS3. I think I'll look into rooting it just to be able to back it up and get rid of the bloatware. I did that on my Captivate and prior to today, thats all I've ever done modding wise to an android device.
So, I managed to get my tab up and running again. Yay! I reflashed the rom w/out changing the name and worked like a charm. Now If only I knew why this happened in the first place... Thanks for all your help.

NvigR8 said:
Ouch. Sorry to read about running over your phone. That would kill me. I really like my SGS3. I think I'll look into rooting it just to be able to back it up and get rid of the bloatware. I did that on my Captivate and prior to today, thats all I've ever done modding wise to an android device.
So, I managed to get my tab up and running again. Yay! I reflashed the rom w/out changing the name and worked like a charm. Now If only I knew why this happened in the first place... Thanks for all your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeh sometimes happens with the tab for some reason - thank your lucky stars it didn't get stuck in apx mode...if that happens its normally a hardware fault so theres not alot u can do...I'm just pleased you got sorted without too much drama and it was as easy as reflashing the zip....so now you have the v8 BL - you're gold!!!

dibb_nz said:
we're assuming the tab is full stock and currently on ICS...
and we're assuming he never tried to 'fix' his tab by flashing one thing or another...
the bootloader error worries me...what exactly does it say...
Yes the wipes are really important!! and not being able to use the button method to do so is concerning...
what happens with the Over The Air (OTA) updates is its just that...an update...it leaves all your settings/data intact. When you OTA from one build to another, like Gingerbread 3.0 to Honeycomb 3.1/2 and then to ICS 4.0 - you drag all your apps and settings with you and of course some things that work with 3.2 will not work under ICS....fjor instance, lots of folk had trouble with wifi disconnects, once they got to ICS - or they had apps force closing and other 'glitches'. This is why everyone tells you to do the wipes - as this fixes these things! In the case of stock ICS my gmail would f/c all the time no matter how many times I wiped/formatted....So for a smooth running tab - flash a custom rom!!!!!!
But getting back to you...
From that link i gave you...download the 3.1_Full.zip....its decrypted so just extract it and get the "update.zip" from it..
This "update.zip" is not an incremental "update" but the full stock rom....
once installed you'll be on GB you will need to root it with iconia root and then use acer recovery installer to flash cwm....(get these from the playstore)
do a backup or adb devices so you can get your CPUID....this is important...if anything goes wrong at any stage this is the only thing that will get you unbricked....see the cpuid link in my sig for more on this, please take the time to read it, even if it doesnt make much sense to you, read it anyway....
AFTER you have retrieved your cpuid, you can nvflash the patched bootloader/recovery pkg which means you are able to flash ICS/JB custom roms
they cannot be flashed via cwm like normal...you must use nvFlash to do it....
OR
take the OTA route to ICS...this takes a bit of time...I did it last week and it was a good 6-7 hours to go from GB to ICS
there are pre-rooted stock roms if you wanna stay stock see civato's stock rom thread for that here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633907
official stock rom list by blackthund3r are here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
civs guide to flashing the unlocked bootloader here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622425
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When i do the wipe it says
Code:
Erasing userdata...
Code:
Unrecoverable bootloader error (0x19000008)

Unrecoverable bootloader error (0x19000008)
Hogbola said:
When i do the wipe it says
Code:
Erasing userdata...
Code:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I googled your error - the consensus from what I read is a corrupt OS due to running OTA updates...
Some had luck with rebooting. Others had to send it to Acer.
Did you run the update.zip? so what happens when you run the update.zip
Are you able to get into "apx mode"? If you can, hook up to your PC and see if your tab is recognised as an "apx device" - check "Hardware, Printers in win7"
Thats all I can suggest atm - if your tab does get into apx mode OK then you can find your cpuid by running Linux -
Maybe ask the guy if he's ever had the tab hooked up to his PC like to transfer files and stuff - get him to download "USBdeview" to his PC -
this will show every single device thats ever been connected to the PC and it will show the "cpuid"...
Even if we do get the uid theres no guarantee it will fix the bootloader error - but we may as well explore all the options we can....
dibb_nz said:
USBDeview will only work when you have previously plugged your tab into the PC WHILE you were running HC Rom and BL
1. If you haven't plugged your tab into this pc before, do so now, before you run the program. HC ROM/BL ONLY
1a. Run the exe and you will be presented with a window of all the USB devices you have ever plugged into your computer.
2. Click on "VendorID" column along the top to sort them
3. Look for the number "0502" under Vendor ID AND "3325" Product ID
4. In the serial number column will be a 15-digit number this is your device ID.
5. Write the number down and put a 0 in front of it and now you have your CPU ID!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Seriously Messed Something Up

I was trying to flash my A500 back to stock and something, somewhere, went horribly wrong.
I did everything I normally would: factory reset, wiped cash and dalvik, and then flashed the ICS stock zip. I rebooted the tablet and it said something about updating the bootloader and then went black. Now, the black screen is all I can get.
I've got good drivers on my Win8 computer, and the device is recognized in APX mode, but I haven't been able to do anything with it. I've tried messing around with A500Manager, AfterOTA, and the APX Flash Tool, but I do NOT know my CPUID - which makes everything quite difficult.
I looked through the thread about getting the CPUID from the tablet via USB while in APX mode, but I know nothing about coding or building drivers and the like, and it all went well over my head.
I don't normally ask for help like this, (as one could guess from my post count) as I very rarely find myself in a situation a good amount of reading won't get me out of. This one has me well and stuck though! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
(For the record, I was on the unlocked V8 bootloader, Thor's CWM, and CM10 and tried flashing Acer_A500_1.041.00_WW_CUS1)
Clark

Hi Clark, sorry to hear of yr troubles....there's a recent thread here that sort of describes your issue....I'll post a link in a tick
But what happens when u turn the tab off - make sure pwr led lite is off - and then power on again?
Can u charge yr tab - pwr led is orange?
Flashing stock - did u use an update.zip or EUU or flash via cwm - there's a great guide how to revert to stock the easy way by jdgM3NT4L u should look at.
You might try booting to fast boot pwr volume UP but it sounds like that may not be available as u said yr tab did say updating boot loader...
Once u have the v8 boot loader the ONLY way to revert to stock is a downgrade to HC
Try running the nvFlash manually see civatos boot loader guide, (this requires yr tab to be in apx mode first,) and run the bat file.
IF YR TAB DOES NOT ENTER BOOTLOADER/A500 APX MODE please disconnect everything and don't go any further - you'll end up in more strife!!!
I'm on my way to work so will post links when I get there....
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the response!
I flashed a .zip via CWM to attempt to revert to stock. I flashed an ICS stock ROM (Acer_A500_1.041.00_WW_CUS1), while on the V8 bootloader, might that have caused my problem?
Right now I can only get the tab to do two things: charge and boot into APX mode. No matter what else I do I just end up in a black-screen APX mode. Power+Vol does not do anything other than put me back in a black screen with power LED white state.
I haven't tried doing an nvFlash yet - can I do that without my CPUID?
Clark

tyrahn said:
Thanks for the response!
I flashed a .zip via CWM to attempt to revert to stock. I flashed an ICS stock ROM (Acer_A500_1.041.00_WW_CUS1), while on the V8 bootloader, might that have caused my problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most definitely....u must flash a stock update.zip....but an EUU is best
u cannot flash ANY ics rom like this UNLESS u have the unlocked bootloader first... and u must downgrade If wanting to revert to stock....
Right now I can only get the tab to do two things: charge and boot into APX mode. No matter what else I do I just end up in a black-screen APX mode. Power+Vol does not do anything other than put me back in a black screen with power LED white state.
I haven't tried doing an nvFlash yet - can I do that without my CPUID?
Clark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no u can't but if u did have the v8 u must have had yr cpuid....you'll need to find it, u cant do anything now till u get it,
just becoz i wish to spend some quality time here on xda....we are flat.out at work, lol....
u can try theauto flash tools.but. they
rely on the cpuid....there's a guide.in my sig but the.only option u have is eppeP.s method, check.out srbeens guide there..
gotta run, ill check back l8ŕ
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

dibb_nz said:
most definitely....u must flash a stock update.zip....
no u can't but if u did have the v8 u must have had yr cpuid....you'll need to find it, u cant do anything now till u get it,
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your tab has been connected to your pc, you can get the cpuid from your pc, without the tab connected. (using USBDeview)

dibb_nz said:
no u can't but if u did have the v8 u must have had yr cpuid....you'll need to find it, u cant do anything now till u get it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yah, I did have it at one point. I thought I'd saved it in a Google Doc, but I can't find it now ...
Danny2 said:
If your tab has been connected to your pc, you can get the cpuid from your pc, without the tab connected. (using USBDeview)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was, but I formatted my system when I installed Windows 8 last month, so I rather doubt that trick will work
Clark

tyrahn said:
Yah, I did have it at one point. I thought I'd saved it in a Google Doc, but I can't find it now ...
It was, but I formatted my system when I installed Windows 8 last month, so I rather doubt that trick will work
Clark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well,there is still Linux. Not a Linux guy, but search the forums, you can find instructions for running some linux commands that will find your cpuid. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751978 is a good place to start.

Danny2 said:
Well,there is still Linux. Not a Linux guy, but search the forums, you can find instructions for running some linux commands that will find your cpuid. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751978 is a good place to start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic! I've got a laptop running Ubuntu and I'm pretty comfortable with being a script-monkey in terminal, I'll give it a whirl when I get the chance to spend some quality time with the tab.
Thanks for the link too, I had not found that one before. I had seen eppeP's guide and it made my head spin pretty quick, the srbeen one you linked to looks like someone with no dev experience like myself might be able to pull it off.
*fingers crossed*
Clark

HAAAA!!!! Success!
Well, I had some trouble with my linux laptop being 32-bit and spitting out the wrong UID, but got that sorted and snagged my UID and SBK.
Used blackthund3r's APX Flash Tool to get the V8 bootloader and Thor's CWM back, and then flashed rooted stock - all is good!
Not sure if I'll try getting back to full stock or not, still deciding if I want to sell the tab or give it away as a Christmas present.
Thanks so much for the help everyone!
Clark

that's gr8 m8.....u feel like writing up a bit of a 'how to' on wot u did, would come in mighty handy for others in the same boat?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

tyrahn said:
HAAAA!!!! Success!
Well, I had some trouble with my linux laptop being 32-bit and spitting out the wrong UID, but got that sorted and snagged my UID and SBK.
Used blackthund3r's APX Flash Tool to get the V8 bootloader and Thor's CWM back, and then flashed rooted stock - all is good!
Not sure if I'll try getting back to full stock or not, still deciding if I want to sell the tab or give it away as a Christmas present.
Thanks so much for the help everyone!
Clark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad it worked out for you, that's what these forums are about, helping each other.

dibb_nz said:
that's gr8 m8.....u feel like writing up a bit of a 'how to' on wot u did, would come in mighty handy for others in the same boat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could, but I'd be pretty much just replicating srbeen's thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1751978
The only thing I could really note is that eppeP's code that's linked to in srbeen's OP will only work on a 64-bit install of Linux. If you're running a 32-bit system (like I was) you need to scroll a bit further down the 1st page and grab the proper code for a 32-bit script.
Clark