Help Many issues with ICS update... Not sure it's worth it...

[ebookof]

Got the ICS update and since then I have been having lots of problems. Apps are unstable (they flash rapidly and then crash), including Gmail which I cannot use at all (I have tried to uninstall and reinstall... but the same issues continue). I have also tried to use the new folder option, but here also, suddenly the folders start to flash before the whole thing crashes leaving only the wallpaper and not option to restart the whole tablet. Like many other persons, my wifi is also unstable. It fails to connect when I arrive home (it used to before), once connected, it disconnects and does not connect back automatically. I have tried to obtain help from Acer, but they are not really helpful. They only suggest to wait for an update, but do not seem to have an idea on when this might be. Is there any possibility to return back to Honeycomb in the meantime? The new version does not provide a lot of improvements, anyway.

 

[StoneKy]

I am sorry that your having these problems!! I upgraded yesterday and all works fine.

Have you done a pinhole reset?

 

[ebookof]

I am sorry that your having these problems!! I upgraded yesterday and all works fine.

Have you done a pinhole reset?

I have. No impact. Lots of people have issues with the ICS update. It seems irresponsible from Acer to have released a firmware that is so buggy.

 

[mplevy]

I have. No impact. Lots of people have issues with the ICS update. It seems irresponsible from Acer to have released a firmware that is so buggy.

I'm not sure I'd go that far. Some devices, like mine and StoneKy's are working well, and that was likely the case with the devices Acer tested with. The next step I suggest you take is do a factory data reset to wipe everything and start with a plain ICS (as if you took the device out of the box with ICS on it) and set it back up, install your apps again. Unfortunately, it just has to be done that way sometimes, even though the update is supposed to be done without loss of data.

 

[banershka]

I have. No impact. Lots of people have issues with the ICS update. It seems irresponsible from Acer to have released a firmware that is so buggy.

Updated yesterday and 'am loving it so far, a litte bit different and a heck of a lot faster!

 

[dbldipp]

I updated my machine yesterday and have had nothing but problems since. I use my tablet for mapping with Co Pilot. I'm a trucker so the truck Maps are a life saver. After the update my map program no longer works. I did a reinstall with the Program with even worse results. My only choice is a complete reset back to factory and do all the updates up to the ICS. That's hours of redoing to get it back to where it is now. My machine is not any faster nor is it stable. Just before the update I noticed I was having a problem with random reboots, a problem I never had since I bought it new the first day they were available here where I live, In Ohio. So I hope y'all have better luck than I've had with mine!

 

[Xphyle]

I updated my machine yesterday and have had nothing but problems since. I use my tablet for mapping with Co Pilot. I'm a trucker so the truck Maps are a life saver. After the update my map program no longer works. I did a reinstall with the Program with even worse results. My only choice is a complete reset back to factory and do all the updates up to the ICS. That's hours of redoing to get it back to where it is now. My machine is not any faster nor is it stable. Just before the update I noticed I was having a problem with random reboots, a problem I never had since I bought it new the first day they were available here where I live, In Ohio. So I hope y'all have better luck than I've had with mine!

Maybe the copilot app isn't compatible with ICS?

I have to say that I'm LOVING ICS SO FAR! It's amazing. My tablet is stable, fast, and everything just WORKS as it should. Couldn't be happier.

 

[ebookof]

Maybe the copilot app isn't compatible with ICS?

I have to say that I'm LOVING ICS SO FAR! It's amazing. My tablet is stable, fast, and everything just WORKS as it should. Couldn't be happier.

Lucky you... Even after a factory reset, I still have problems.

Regarding the GPS, it is not even a question of program on my side. The whole GPS system does not seem to work, regardless of the program used.

 

[dbldipp]

Did a foctory reset last night. Got my CoPilot working sort of... tried to reinstall my apps and found I lost all that, non recoverable. The factory reset doesn't take it back to Gingerbread like I was hoping. It just resets all the factory settings to the optomine settings for ICS. Alot of the apps I tried to reinstall say they aren't available for this version of Android. Lets hope they see what they have done to us and some how fix it. There are problems with the WIFI even after the reset. But I hope there are fixes coming soon from Acer. I tried several GPS programs and all worked good for me accept CoPilot. It doesn't want to boot up. But if I keep hitting the icon several times it boots and works good, tracking seems better than preICS. I'll keep at it and see if I can get it to work the way it is supposed to. I'm already in contact with ALK as I was a beta tester with them when the A500 was first released.

 

[danley]

I agree! My tablet is now just an over-sized paperweight!

 

[jjpelayo]

Hello everybody.

After reading the griefs many are having with their A500's with ICS, I confess I feel sort of relieved because in comparison my issues have been little.

To start with I just installed the update and got ICS a couple of days ago. The previous major update (3.2, upon release schedule) forced me to use the 'recovery' option in order to get installed (an advise from Acer's tech support that actually worked), so my ICS was installed on a relatively clean environment.

A couple of weeks back I also had those 'random' reboots someone mentioned, but 'realized' they were caused by the application "File Expert", which refuses to work or otherwise produces trouble when the wifi is off, and I am pretty sure that the 2 or 3 times the machine rebooted itself I was trying to preserve power by turning wifi off (and had used File Expert at some point).

Regarding ICS I don't find the tablet slow (web browsing is smoother) but have got twice the irritating issue of the icons flashing and dying. I am currently looking for a solution... has anyone been luck to find a fix?

Thanks,
Joe.

 

[ebookof]

I finally did a factory reset. It solved some issues, but not all:

Seems to be solved:
- Unstable applications (flashing and crashing, including Gmail).
- Unstable folders (flashing, crashing and all icons on the desktop disappearing).

Unsolved:
- Wifi is unstable and does not auto-connect (I have to connect manually when I restart the tablet or when I get home... it was working fine before ICS).
- The GPS does not work (I am not sure if it was working before ICS... as I had not had the time to test, so maybe it is not new).
- System update does not work (indicates that network coverage is insufficient despite the signal being strong and staying beside the wireless router).

 

[GTbrewer]

Finding this thread stopped me from creating a new one...... Since the
"upgrade" to ICS, my WIFI CONSTANTLY quits on me. It seems like every
time I turn the display back on, WIFI is dead again. Absolutely inexcusable.

But that's not all....my screen just flashes randomly---no idea why or what
it's doing.

Now, before someone suggests a full reset, you need to include details
on how to do a FULL reset (apps, app settings, app data, everything, prior
to doing a reset, or suggest something else...because I won't do it. I
CAN'T do that.

oh well..... The one good thing is being able to rake screenshots of the
camera app I'm working on via the tablet itself. But with WIFI that's
ALMOST as stable as nitroglycerin......

 

[MahaloCat]

Finding this thread stopped me from creating a new one...... Since the
"upgrade" to ICS, my WIFI CONSTANTLY quits on me. It seems like every
time I turn the display back on, WIFI is dead again. Absolutely inexcusable.

But that's not all....my screen just flashes randomly---no idea why or what
it's doing.

Now, before someone suggests a full reset, you need to include details
on how to do a FULL reset (apps, app settings, app data, everything, prior
to doing a reset, or suggest something else...because I won't do it. I
CAN'T do that.

oh well..... The one good thing is being able to rake screenshots of the
camera app I'm working on via the tablet itself. But with WIFI that's
ALMOST as stable as nitroglycerin......

Did you check your wifi settings? Auto connect etc...

 

[GTbrewer]

Did you check your wifi settings? Auto connect etc...

I don't see any auto-connect now, but I have gone through the settings many times......
Stay on while in sleep is still set to "always" but that seems to be when wifi shuts down.

 

[mplevy]

How does one do a full reset? Go to Settings, Backup & reset and tap "Factory data reset". This will reset the tablet to "factory". I say it that way because it won't go back to Honeycomb, it will be a clean slate on ICS instead.

Why won't you do a reset? For what it's worth, I was one that had TONS of trouble with WiFi when the 3.1 (?) release came, mine is ROCK SOLID this time with none of the issues others are reporting (so far, with the stuff that I use on a daily basis). In fact, the ICS update seems to have FIXED my problem with the maps app, that I had "fixed" with directions from another forum and the issue had recently returned.

 

[GTbrewer]

I think I've found the problem/fix with WIFI. It appears that ICS may not
"see' some WIFI settings unless you set them again. I went into what is
now advanced settings and re-saved the setting to keep WIFI on even when
the display is off (i.e., NEVER turn WIFI off unless manually). It's been fine
since then. It could be a massive coincidence, but I seriously doubt it.

Later,
--jim

 

[Mrhelper]

Finding this thread stopped me from creating a new one...... Since the
"upgrade" to ICS, my WIFI CONSTANTLY quits on me. It seems like every
time I turn the display back on, WIFI is dead again. Absolutely inexcusable.

But that's not all....my screen just flashes randomly---no idea why or what
it's..

Do you also see problems with screen auto rotate when you rotate your tablet? If so, (and possibly if not), the screen flashing symptoms you describe suggest that you may be encountering this problem: http://androidforums.com/acer-iconi...veral-a500-ics-related-symptoms-problems.html

In short, remove task/app killer apps, any apps that are "force closing" and then use the pinhole reset button while your tablet is on to clear the condition.

 

[GTbrewer]

Do you also see problems with screen auto rotate when you rotate your tablet?

Hard to say, as I have an auto-rotate on/off widget, and normally keep it locked on landscape.

 

[dbldipp]

When I first did the update my machine was totally unstable! I thought I had backed up all my apps...NOT. So when I did the factory reset it did help the machine become more stable but lost everything I had in board. So now it's a matter of replacing the missing pieces, in a way a good thing since I had way to much crap on that I didn't use. BUT... My Co Pilot takes a few taps on the start icon but after it does start itndoes seem to work better than before the update. The only other issue I had was reading files with my PC. After the update it was unstable and unreadable. I haven't tried it since the reset. All in all, it seems that each machine reacted to the update differently. The people at ALK said they had a great many people with update problems after the update and are working on fixing thier end asap.

 

[ebookof]

Factory reset resolves some issues, so it's worth trying. However, in my case, it did not solve all the issues and I keep finding new ones (e.g. bluetooth).

Seems to be solved:
- Unstable applications (flashing and crashing, including Gmail).
- Unstable folders (flashing, crashing and all icons on the desktop disappearing).

Unsolved:
- The GPS does not work (this is a new issue I had not noticed before; I am not sure if it is related to ICS, since I have not had my tablet for a long time and I had not tested location through the GPS; I have tested recommendations in forums, but they did not work).
- Wifi is unstable (the strength of the signal varies constantly; it disconnects; it does not connect automatically when I arrive at home and activate the device; this is a new issue since ICS).
- Bluetooth is unstable (it disconnects me regularly; I have to turn Bluetooth off and back on for the devices to connect again; this is a new issue since ICS).

I think at this time, the only reasonable thing to do is to return the tablet back to Acer. They can deal with the mess they have created.

 

[GTbrewer]

- Wifi is unstable (the strength of the signal varies constantly; it disconnects; it does not connect automatically when I arrive at home and activate the device; this is a new issue since IC
- Bluetooth is unstable (it disconnects me regularly; I have to turn Bluetooth off and back on for the devices to connect again; this is a new issue since ICS).

First, for wifi, see my post above...it appears that some settings just needed to be re-applied. [oh, and at
least here, wifi signal levels have always varied constantly...nothing new there.]

As for Bluetooth, I use it constantly while working on my camera app, and at least on my A500, it
hasn't changed a bit.

What HAS changed, which I find to be. ROYAL PITA, is the reversal of options in standard dialogs
such as, "save cancel" becoming "cancel save" ... THAT is something that needs to at LEAST have
an option to set back to "normal".

later,
--jim

 

[Graffen]

I suspect that most problems are based on either too many apps in the tablet before update, or to much crap in the OS....
My was stock when I updated to ICS, and to be sure I made a clean up before I did it as well!
I also made a soft reset as well.....
It works like a million bucks after the update!
Mine is a build wich ends in EMEA-DE.

 

[andy d]

I can understand some spotty 16 year old in his bedroom playing around with his software then releasing it to his mates over the Internet bugs and all.

BUT.
When you get a company such as Acer release a upgrade you expect it to work.

Its all very well having the geeks come along telling you to delete this and change that but i bought a tablet to work i just want to switch it on use it and switch it off without any problems.
Acer should have had this sorted out before releasing it to the public.

How many of you would buy a new car and as soon as a fault appeared be told to roll up your sleeves and get on and fix it?.

 

[GTbrewer]

When you get a company such as Acer release a upgrade you expect it to work.

Its all very well having the geeks come along telling you to delete this and
change that but i bought a tablet to work i just want to switch it on use it
and switch it off without any problems.

Acer should have had this sorted out before releasing it to the public.

I must say, I agree 100%. While I do have some great/fun games, videos, etc.,
on my tablet, as a two-time cancer survivor with, among other permanent
after-effects, a need to take certain meds, pills and self-injections on schedule
(and some are sensitive to time of day) for the rest of my life. And, every time
I go to any of my doctors, they may ask for an updated prescription list. With the
damage done to my memory by one chemo drug (high-dose/24-hour per day
Cisplatin...and anyone familiar with it is cringing right now..), my tablet IS my
memory. It reminds me when it's time for meds, injections, etc. It has my
prescriptions, it reminds me about doctor's appointments, and so on.

I need this to be the stable, reliable, and fast platform that I paid dearly
(relative to my monthly SSD check) for......

Believe me when I say that the usual "just do a hard reset" trash is NOT an
option unless I can back up EVERYTHING first. Nor is having it randomly crash
and reboot as it did today.

OK, that's enough of my babbling on for a month or two...sorry. But I am quite
serious about this. Fortunately, since re-applying the wifi settings, which
stabilized wifi, and except for today's crash, most of the issues have only
been annoying (things like swiping one way to move to the next screen in one
direction, and having it go the opposite direction).

Later,
--jim

[posted from my A500]