Clearing Cache - what does it do

[dave1552]

I have had a number of problems since my update to ICS. Mainly crashes primarily in the Gmail app .... plus others. After reading a number of forums I decided to bite the bullet and do a full reset which I did 2 weeks ago. I then went through each app and loaded it and watched to see if I could find the offending app which may have caused lag and crashes. Seemed everything was fine. A500 worked as it should and I had no lag or crashes. Recently I have noticed the same old problem has come back to a lesser degree but nevertheless it is here.
I have just finished going through each app installed and clearing the cache for each in an attempt to bring my A500 back to normal.
My question is - does clearing the cache have any benefit other than getting me acquainted with all of my apps.
Thanks.

 

[Mrhelper]

Manually clearing cache on Android generally accomplishes two things:

1.) One you've already discovered -- i.e., it provides a more intimate familiarity with various apps, which is not really a great value, as you have likely concluded.

2.) It slows your system and applications down. The whole purpose of cache is to improve performance by reducing the frequency of redundant data movement and processing.

Android recovers cache only on an as needed basis, and so more often permits intended performance gains to be realized. When you manually delete cache, this somewhat arbitrary activity does little more than slow your apps and device down, which is opposite of what many users expect it to do. Clearing cache is equivalent to filling your swimming pool every time before you jump in, and then immediately draining it every time you get out. All of that effort used filling and draining the pool wastes valuable time and energy that could instead be used for swimming. When you clear cache, the CPU, network, etc. has to do all of that work over again, merely wasting energy to accomplish the same end result. Android and applications typically know better than users when cached data becomes stale or dirty, and unless there is some defect in the software, cache does not typically require any manual action.

Performance analysis for just about any computer system should start with an assessment of CPU usage, not memory usage. You typically only move onto memory if you determine that CPU resources are not an application bottleneck, and that there is some other resource impairing performance. You should always check CPU usage first though.

I use a very handy app named Watchdog. It monitors CPU usage of background apps and alerts when a threshold is exceeded (40% by default). This is more likely where you are going to find causes of problems on Android systems. Apps that use too much CPU in the background make the system feel generally slow and less responsive. You actually want your foreground apps to use as much CPU as they can get so you experience fast, crisp response times. That's why using a tool that monitors and alerts on excess background CPU usage is important to assess percieved performance problems. This concept is not at all unique to Android. This is true of any system capable of running multiple concurrent processes.

If you monitor your background CPU for a few days, you may be surprised at what you find you are able to clean up. I use this method to evaluate any new app that I install. If the app fails the performance assessment test, I either figure out how to work around the problem (like always exiting Dolphin), or I delete the defective app from my system.

I keep Watchdog installed and monitoring all of the time. It uses a very trivial amount of system resources and I never see system slowdowns without being alerted to the cause.

 

[dave1552]

That is fantastic information. I will install watchdog right now. Thank you.

 

[dbldipp]

I installed watchdog and it hasn't really helped me. I still have randome crashes of apps, randome shutdoans, and every time si shut off my wifi it turns itself back on. I have randome crashes of all my google apps when I'm on the road and using my GPS. Each time I pass an open wifi network and don't connect, google apps crash.
Watchdog may be your answer mrhelper but it hasn't helped me. I still say that ICS was a big mistake that can't be fixed.

 

[Mrhelper]

If you would like some technical assistance to solve some specific problems, please post some more detail. I and many others will again pitch in to help.

I may have a solution for one that I worked on with you a while back. Please read the post that I made a few weeks ago on one of the big problems you were seeing while using your navigation software: http://androidforums.com/acer-iconia-tab-a500/539479-rollback-ics.html#post4526726. You can work around this by scheduling periodic Factory data resets or rooting your device, and manually deleting the .txt files under /data/gps. Neither are great solutions, but will improve tablet function. Acer needs to fix this though, and it appears to affect everyone who uses the GPS.

... I still have randome crashes of apps, randome shutdoans,

All it takes is a single bad app that you have installed to cause this, or possibly the /data/gps problem (described in the link above). There are also a few other issues with the OS that some users have had to workaround. The choice of workarounds depend on the specific problems being seen, and how the tablets are used. Some problems have no good workaround in the current stock ICS build, but yours may have as noted above.

and every time si shut off my wifi it turns itself back on. I have randome crashes of all my google apps when I'm on the road and using my GPS. Each time I pass an open wifi network and don't connect, google apps crash.

Wifi can be turned on (and off) by various apps and the built-in sync software. You can turn off the master sync button under Settings-->Accounts & sync (upper right corner) and possibly mitigate this. I have not heard much of a general google apps crash problem, but I have heard of issues with specific apps, including certain google apps. If you work to find the specific cause(s) of problems you are seeing you may at least find a viable workaround.

Again, for starters, try turning off sync for all accounts and features to see if that helps. You apparently don't want to use this most of the time anyway because you turned Wifi off.

Watchdog may be your answer mrhelper but it hasn't helped me.

Look at Watchdog as being an instrument package such as the speedometer, tach, fuel, pressure and temp gauges in your vehicle. These serve a purpose, but won't predict a flat tire or collision with a deer.

Just to be clear on this point, I've never suggested that Watchdog was the solution to every problem. It helps with certain kinds of problems, and mainly those caused by excess background CPU usage. Effective use of the tool will find a lot of performance related problems, and prevent others. It will not find every kind of problem though.

That brings me to another point: A great majority of problems can be avoided if device owners are very conservative in the selection of apps that they install. It is wise to think of the various app stores as being like candy stores. If you just grab everything you see that looks good, someone or something is going to get sick.

You have posted in this forum that you have 1000s of apps saved on an SD card that you like to reload. In one post you stated a count of 7000 apps ( http://androidforums.com/acer-iconia-tab-a500/539479-rollback-ics.html#post4475841). Maybe that was an exaggeration, and maybe it was not. That's probably still quite a large selection of old apps regardless. It sounds handy on the surface, but what you may want to consider is that a significant measure of those apps are going to cause problems -- not most, but some. Many .apk files that you save are also going to become obsolete and less compatible over time relative to newer OS versions. Even if certain apps appear to run OK, there is little guarantee that they are compatible with newer versions of Android. Some older apps will interact very badly with OS improvements. You may find that if you discard those old apps and install fresh versions of what you want from the Play Store, that a good deal of the system problems you see will vanish. If you can't find one of those apps on the Play Store or Amazon, etc., there may be a very good reason for that. Also, to ensure higher stability, you should avoid running anything that has "beta" in the name. Be careful and read reviews of apps before downloading. Do the same for updates of apps. Read more than just the top few reviews, and read those that are exclusive to your device. Shopper beware.

You still have options though. There are a number of people who would like to restore a stable version of HC on their devices, and some have done just that. This is probably not much different than the percentage of the population who prefer the older Microsoft Word (include me), and Windows 95 (not me). That all seems perfectly reasonable. If I wanted to restore a device Honeycomb I would do so. I can understand completely why you would want to based on the problems that you have seen. It can be done if that is really what you want. There are examples in several forums of how to install HC from scratch on an a500 tablet. I have little doubt that you can find someone who has done this to help you if you wish to do that.

...

 

[El Presidente]

Don't put words in my mouth. I've never suggested that Watchdog was the solution to every problem. It helps with certain kinds of problems, and mainly those caused by excess background CPU usage. Effective use of the tool will find a lot of performance related problems, and prevent others.

I don't think he's trying to criticise/put words in your mouth MrHelper, he's just trying to state Watchdog wasn't effective in getting to the root of his problems (FWIW, I've used Watchdog in the past myself and found it to be pretty good at ferreting an app that was causing massive lag issues I was having on a certain ROM).

That being said, the ICS update looks to have caused problems for a number of tabs that shipped with HC (it virtually ruined my EEE Pad Transformer) so it's not outwith the realm of possibility that it's just ICS and not an app that's causing the issues.

 

[Mrhelper]

I don't think he's trying to criticise/put words in your mouth MrHelper, he's just trying to state Watchdog wasn't effective in getting to the root of his problems (FWIW, I've used Watchdog in the past myself and found it to be pretty good at ferreting an app that was causing massive lag issues I was having on a certain ROM).

I see your point and have since improved that response. I should have written it this way in the first place. This update has clearly been very trying for many people, and much harder on some. Some are just starting to see problems that others like myself and dbldipp have been dealing with now since April.

I tend to have a somewhat singular mindset that the way to solve problems is to methodically separate issues, isolate specific causes, and then work out solutions from that. That may come across as bit mechanical and harsh sometimes in my posts.

That being said, the ICS update looks to have caused problems for a number of tabs that shipped with HC (it virtually ruined my EEE Pad Transformer) so it's not outwith the realm of possibility that it's just ICS and not an app that's causing the issues.

I agree. I've written about that in this thread and other posts. I have stated and implied here and elsewhere that the a-series ICS GPS file leak problem may be a significant source of symptoms that he and many other GPS users are seeing. Note that an easy way for non-rooted users to see the GPS file leak condition is to install the Disk Usage app and look for unchecked growth of System Data.

 

[D-U-R-X]

I remember reading something on XDA about some GPS issue with ICS... not 100% sure whether the answer was to do with being rooted or not - will try and dig out the post/thread and will put a link in here.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Having looked, the only stuff I can find is about rooted devices. I relalize that it doesn't really help you (not being rooted), but here is a link, for anyone interested (couldn't actually find the XDA thread I wanted, but will do if anyone needs the link).

 

[Mrhelper]

Having looked, the only stuff I can find is about rooted devices. I relalize that it doesn't really help you (not being rooted), but here is a link, for anyone interested (couldn't actually find the XDA thread I wanted, but will do if anyone needs the link).

This was the first thread describing the GPS file leak problem that was referred to me a few weeks back while I was working with someone on a internal storage space problem: xda-developers - View Single Post - Low Space warning on ICS

The bottom line is that when the GPS is used, the GPS driver for ICS 4.0.3 on the Acer a-series tablets apparently writes numerous gl-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS.txt files into the /data/gps directory. The files are apparently not automatically deleted, and so over time will consume most of the internal storage space. The workaround is to manually delete the files. The files are only accessible via root.

This current thread was originally about a different problem. It has been diverted somewhat into this other internal storage space problem which was discussed at length in another thread, but never explained nor given a useful solution until a little over a week ago when I posted this: http://androidforums.com/acer-iconia-tab-a500/539479-rollback-ics.html#post4526726.

So, dbldipp, if you are reading this, you can do a few things to get your tablet working with ICS, or you can roll back to HC. This is the short version of what I tried to explain above:

1.) You can work around the space issue caused by the GPS file leak by rooting the tablet and periodically using ES File Explorer to remove any file under /data/gps having the .txt extension. This will prevent the internal storage from running out of space when you use the GPS with Copilot. You can alternately use Factory data reset periodically if you don't prefer to root, which does add some risk. There are a number of backup options that you could use in concert with Factory data reset to make the restore process easier. Either way, you will want to monitor for the condition and clean up before too much space is used. The Disk Usage app can be used for that. To prevent a variety of problems, including performance issues, always try to maintain free internal storage space levels greater than 25%.

2.) Turn off sync, at least when you are away form home and don't want the tablet to automatically attempt connecting to the internet. This will reduce the instances of wifi automatically being turned on when you have turned it off and may reduce some of the problems you see with certain Google apps.

3.) Review your old apps (.apk files) that you have squirreled away and consider not loading anything that is not available and current in the Play Store. Read reviews carefully and just be very selective about what you install.

Keep in mind that Chrome Beta will crash the system, and that when used in certain ways, Dolphin and the stock browser will use excess background CPU and so cause performance problems.

If none of this works for you, a flash of some version of HC (custom or stock) may be your best option. A custom ICS may even be better, because then you may have more options for continued support. I personally would get back to the stock 3.2.1 HC if I were using the tablet as you do, and then watch for a patch of fixes from Acer before taking another OTA to ICS.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Fair dos... was just referring to GPS not working from your post above, as I was sure I'd read something about it

 

[dbldipp]

Thank you mrhelper. Your assistance here is appreciated. You have given me better understandable answers this time. The GPS using up all the drive space is the biggest problem. I have uninstalled just about all apps that aren't job related accept 3 Angry Bird games my grandkids like to play. I'm not a fan of rooting, probably because I've never felt the need to do so. With HC my tablet just worked and did so flawlessly. Nothing but night mares since the ICS disaster.
I do have a vast collection of apps that I have collected over the last couple of years. I use news groups and from time to time someone will post bunches of them for others to use. I would love to go back to factory 3.2.1 but have had no luck on finding a link for a post to download it any place. The reason I can't continuse to do factory resets is with Co Pilot you are only allowed so many resets and then the key you have is no longer useable and you have to buy a new key. That's $149 I don't have spare setting on my desk. I think I only have one more reset left till I have to go buy it again. The poeple at ALK have been aware that alot of us useing CoPilot and having lots of problems and hope they will allow us a bit of wiggle room on resets till they get the program to work right.
This weekend I think I'm going to find a 3.2.1 file and go back. I've loved this tablet and ho well it works since day one. The 3.2.1 was the best. Maybe next year, after they actually fix the ICS I'll relook at it. But by then they will have a new debacle looming. I might try the rooting first and see how that works.
Once again, thank you for your dilagence. This whole disaster has been so unnerving...

 

[dbldipp]

BTW... I went into my settings and turned off the google plus app. But before I did so I set it not to do automatic updates. Big mistake. I now cannot update and of my apps nor my mapping software. I tried to go back and turn the google plus app back on and can't find it and it won't let me install a new version nor and other apps. So google has me over a barrel and I can't seem to find a work around with that now either.

 

[Zoandroid]

I have had a number of problems since my update to ICS. Mainly crashes primarily in the Gmail app .... plus others. After reading a number of forums I decided to bite the bullet and do a full reset which I did 2 weeks ago. I then went through each app and loaded it and watched to see if I could find the offending app which may have caused lag and crashes. Seemed everything was fine. A500 worked as it should and I had no lag or crashes. Recently I have noticed the same old problem has come back to a lesser degree but nevertheless it is here.
I have just finished going through each app installed and clearing the cache for each in an attempt to bring my A500 back to normal.
My question is - does clearing the cache have any benefit other than getting me acquainted with all of my apps.
Thanks.

Actually there is sometimes a very valid reason to want to clear an app's cache which was not mentioned above. One prime example is when you get an app update notice in the Play Store, you try to do the update, and the app refuses to be updated. This sometimes happens when the Play Store's cache holds incorrect or conflicting information regarding which of your Store apps are up to date. Clearing the cache (and sometimes also requiring a reboot) can sometimes be the only way to get the app to update properly.

I have also seen times when it helped to clear the cache on the Opera Mobile browser. In these instances, the actions MrHelper described wherein the tablet has to re-run a whole bunch of processes to fill the cache back up happens to be exactly what you want, and often will fix whatever niggle the app is having.

 

[Mrhelper]

Actually there is sometimes a very valid reason to want to clear an app's cache which was not mentioned above. One prime example is when you get an app update notice in the Play Store, you try to do the update, and the app refuses to be updated. This sometimes happens when the Play Store's cache holds incorrect or conflicting information regarding which of your Store apps are up to date. Clearing the cache (and sometimes also requiring a reboot) can sometimes be the only way to get the app to update properly.

I have also seen times when it helped to clear the cache on the Opera Mobile browser. In these instances, the actions MrHelper described wherein the tablet has to re-run a whole bunch of processes to fill the cache back up happens to be exactly what you want, and often will fix whatever niggle the app is having.

I could not agree with you more that there are exceptions to the rule. I deliberately used the word "typically" in my post for reasons like those you cite, where the manual override is useful and even necessary. What I described above is what I consider to be a best practice. Note though that the occasional need to manually clear cache is only there because there are bugs in some software that require it to be used, as noted in your examples.

The more ideal solution would be to diagnose each problem in an attempt to find the root cause, but that takes valuable time, is rarely worth the effort (for the user). It's not at all practical for most users. It's often more effective to use a workaround like clearing the cache and restarting the app. When done on a scale of one cache clear per problem, it is very harmless and has only a trivial effect on performance. In that context it is not merely a reasonable action, but a very intelligent one.

That topic was not the point of my post though, and not what the question by the first poster was driving at. I already tend to go on much too long, so I did not go into this other aspect. I'm very glad that you've added it to the discussion.

Such occasional use of the technique does not contradict my original post in any way. The need to fix an atypical problem by clearing cache is mainly why the buttons are there in the first place.

So to build on this topic a little and combine our points into single list:

* Random and arbitrary cache clearing is counterproductive and degrades system and application performance in general. Just as is the arbitrary killing of apps that is done by a number of app/task killer apps that are available. Apps that automatically kill apps and also automatically clear cache seem to be designed to promote the sale of even faster CPUs and faster memory.

* Clearing cache just because it is using memory is the wrong reason. The exception to this would be cleaning up after a severe memory leak. These are rare, and apps don't last long on the market with such severe problems. If an app is leaking memory so bad that you have to clear data/cache to allow the OS to function, then it's probably time to delete that app.

* Manually clearing of cache is rarely necessary, and should be limited to resolving specific problems with specific apps.

It is reasonable to manually clear cache when some app that was working well starts to misbehave, and you can tell that some persistent data is causing a problem. If the app generally behaves (or is required), so you then need to work around the problem. For example: An app that you know has run well on your system stops performing some important function. The first, best and least harmful diagnostic step is to clear the cache for the app. If this restores normal function, then you may also accept this is a method that you have to use with the given app, and do this on a regular basis. You may even find that you have to escalate to clearing all data for that one app (which also clears cache, by the way). The need for clearing all data is even less common though, but I have needed to do it for an app or two.

On your note about the Play Store. You mentioned that you had to clear cache on that. I have only ever done that to cause my reviews to show up faster in the list, so I could seem them in context with other reviews. One problem I have seen though is that the Download Manger service will occasionally go dumb and ignore download requests. Clearing cache on Download Manager resolves this, and allows Play Store and other downloads to work again. Just in case you have seen this, the symptoms are no download indicator in the status bar after requesting download. If you stay in Play store, the download progress bar will just spin indefinitely. While the problem persists, regardless of the app you are downloading in -- e.g., browser, Play Store -- nothing is written to the Downloads directory. (I saw this problem first in ICS, and do not know if it was an issue for HC.) I just wonder if that is the problem that you said required a boot when you saw an issue with Play Store. If that was what you were seeing, then you now may have yet another example of a need to manually clear cache on occasion.

Update, June 29: Clearing cache in web browsers is also beneficial at times to further protect privacy. Web browsers in general seem to need occasional manual cache clearing more than any other types of apps for a number of very good reasons. The often very deep cache used in browsers today may be overkill because network speed for the typical user is generally so much greater than was provided by dialup services, a time when many of the current browser caching schemes were originally designed. Browser cache is still more important for telco-based services -- e.g., 3g, 4g -- and less important for Wifi and home broadband services.

 

[Mrhelper]

BTW... I went into my settings and turned off the google plus app. But before I did so I set it not to do automatic updates. Big mistake. I now cannot update and of my apps nor my mapping software. I tried to go back and turn the google plus app back on and can't find it and it won't let me install a new version nor and other apps. So google has me over a barrel and I can't seem to find a work around with that now either.

Sorry I did not see this sooner. Google plus does not affect your ability to update other apps. There are services that will affect that though such as the Download Manager, the Google Account Manger, the Play Store, and maybe something else.

If you want to re-enable Google+ though anyway, you can go to the All tab under Settings>apps, and scroll down to the bottom of the list. It should be there in a group of apps that you disabled (or the only one if that was all you disabled). When you delete a built-in app, it is sorted down to the bottom of the list to move it out of the way.

 

[Zoandroid]

In short, Google Play Store, formerly the Android Market, is well known to be bug-ridden and often gets cantankerous. Use whatever means necessary to bend it to your will.

 

[Mrhelper]

Thank you mrhelper. Your assistance here is appreciated. You have given me better understandable answers this time. The GPS using up all the drive space is the biggest problem. I have uninstalled just about all apps that aren't job related accept 3 Angry Bird games my grandkids like to play. I'm not a fan of rooting, probably because I've never felt the need to do so. With HC my tablet just worked and did so flawlessly. Nothing but night mares since the ICS disaster.
I do have a vast collection of apps that I have collected over the last couple of years. I use news groups and from time to time someone will post bunches of them for others to use. I would love to go back to factory 3.2.1 but have had no luck on finding a link for a post to download it any place. The reason I can't continuse to do factory resets is with Co Pilot you are only allowed so many resets and then the key you have is no longer useable and you have to buy a new key. That's $149 I don't have spare setting on my desk. I think I only have one more reset left till I have to go buy it again. The poeple at ALK have been aware that alot of us useing CoPilot and having lots of problems and hope they will allow us a bit of wiggle room on resets till they get the program to work right.
This weekend I think I'm going to find a 3.2.1 file and go back. I've loved this tablet and ho well it works since day one. The 3.2.1 was the best. Maybe next year, after they actually fix the ICS I'll relook at it. But by then they will have a new debacle looming. I might try the rooting first and see how that works.
Once again, thank you for your dilagence. This whole disaster has been so unnerving...

Is there a way to contact the developer for Copilot and explain your plight? I would think they would be understanding (provided you can actually talk to someone who can make a decision).

I understand completely your concerns about root. You are very wise to be cautious. You can root your device though and then just not use it for anything but the cleanup task.

Use of root typically only tends to be risky if you are not careful in how you decide to use it. The risk is lower if you use if very selectively and infrequently. In my case, I only grant permission as long as is needed to do a given task, and then I revoke all root permissions. There are a few methods available to root ICS. I used this one: Full root for A50x ICS 4.0.3[LEAK]. Simple method. - xda-developers

Others use this method to root ICS: Forum TegraOwners • View topic - [ROOT] ICS Root for Iconia Tab A500/A501/G100W/A510/A511
Maybe you can post up in All things root and ask for opinions on which works better. That will also give you place for asking questions as you prepare for the procedure. A little advice: take your time, read everything at least three times before starting, and don't skip steps on the preparation. Most important, if there is something you don't understand, ask about it before trying it.

The procedures are not without risk, and assume that you have the appropriate Acer USB drivers installed. These drivers can be a little flaky if used and then reused without booting the PC (the drivers just go dumb at times), so I suggest that you boot the PC shortly before starting the rooting procedure. I noticed that there were some unexpected pauses in the script that I used where I found myself holding my breath, where things appeared to hang for a long time. It eventually cleared and completed, so patience paid off.

Note that I did install the Superuser app mentioned at the end of the procedure. That type of app is necessary to use root. Titanium Backup is not necessary though, and in your case may cause problems until you have a chance to clean up /data/gps. (I don't want to start any fights on this, but I just don't understand all the excitement about Titanium Backup. The ADB backup function does mostly the same thing and I don't have to give it root privilege. I tend to back up files by just copying to a USB stick anyway. Maybe there's something there that I missed when I gave it a short run. It may be just my mistrust of apps that become a little too powerful. I don't like the idea of giving root privilege to an app that has so much concurrently active functionality. I like the idea more of letting root out into the front yard to bite only a single mailman at a time, and not the whole post office in one shot.)

 

[dbldipp]

A thought... How about if I move my Co Pilot to my external sd cared. I have a 32 gig installed for over flow and storing anything I need to save so I don't have to use my drive space for storage? There must be a way to move it and run it from there.
I was a bata tester for Co Pilot when the A500 first came out because they were incompatable with eachother. So I do have just a little sway with ALK. I'm going to send a note to my contact there and ask about extra resets since we are having so many problems with the program. I did contact them at first sign of trouble and they said they werer aware of problems and have the staff working on the problems. Aparently there are alot of us out here with all this stuff going on.
Thank you for all your guidance. I'm still sorry I let them ruin a good tablet. And they are already working on the next generation of Android, as if they don't have enough problems with ICS. Seems they should fix ICS before moving on to something new.

 

[dbldipp]

I keep getting a disk10 error on the watchdog program.

 

[Mrhelper]

I keep getting a disk10 error on the watchdog program.

My first guess is that it is actually a disk io problem. If you look closer, you may see the 10 is actually capital I, capital o. My fear is that you are low on space again.

It may be time to check Settings>Storage again. Scroll down to Available. If the value is in MB instead of GB then unfortunately you've run out of internal space again, and probably due to the files building up in /data/gps. Just a guess based on how often you use the GPS.

One thing that may or may not be useful to know: If you can keep GPS turned off when you are stopped and not actually navigating -- e.g., during sleep, meals, etc. -- then you can slow the amount of files being generated under /data/gps. The files are only written while the GPS is running. Don't know if that's of any use or not, but thought it worth mentioning.

I find it hard to believe that there have not been numerous reports of this problem to Acer because it appears to affect every a100/a200/a500 series tablet running ICS. It just seems very likely that they will include a fix for this in a patch, and hopefully that will be very soon. They do really seem to have a problem communicating with owners though, and don't seem to be interested in soliciting data on common OS problems, in fact there are so many barriers to support, most owners likely give up on the process unless their tablet is nearly on fire. I have firsthand experience with this relative to the ICS motion sensor init problem that affects my tablet.

Just for your entertainment, here are some of the barriers I encountered while merely trying to report a common ICS problem to Acer:

* I bought this device in December 2011, registered it immediately, and the website shows my warranty expired in June 2012. A 12 month warranty expired in 6 months (based on the mfg. date).

* When I login to the support site, and select phone support, it won't even show the support phone number. I can't find a valid support phone number anywhere on the site. This is because the warranty is "expired."

* I find a page to enter a case. I spend 30 minutes finding the purchase invoice, converting it to suitable image file, uploading it to the form, entering my personal information, changing the warranty date, and submit.

* Next form, edit the case detail. Spend another 15 minutes writing up the case detail, submit.

* Next page gives an option to check on case.

* I look at that. The status of the case is closed. ...warranty expired. I'm apparently back to square one, as. if I had entered nothing.

* I try the chat option and spend the time explaining that I've already tried every type of reset available. I am now an expert on resets because I have done so many. ...oh, and by the way, that's all we can do for you now, because your warranty is expired...

* "No it's not expired" I exclaim, "I bought it from such and such just 6 months ago."

* I am then told that I can fax my invoice... (Fax? ... I thought this was 2012... I haven't used Fax for years). "Fax that in, and we'll be able to support you sometime between 48 hours and never."

* I'm told, "Just fax that in, send your name, address, serial number, hair color, six boxtops from rice krispies, and your firstborn child... Blah, blah, blah... there were some other things also that I can't recall. By that time it had gotten too late in the evening, and they had just worn me down. I gave up. I was trying to help them solve a common problem for some number of users, and I finally decided that it was just not worth the effort.

What I find odd about all this is that they seem to have nice hardware. I have been drooling over the prospect of getting an a700 at some point. How they can do that so well, and then botch the execution of support so badly is beyond me. I don't expect personal service or house calls, but merely a way to send them information and have it be considered in the aggregate, so that there is at least a chance for others to do the same, and then result in fixes for common problems.

If my tablet catches on fire and it is still under warranty, I will fax it to them.

Otherwise, I decided, it would be a very, very cold day (there) before I'd try to report a problem to them again. They sure taught me.

I just thought you'd like to know that you have some company and that you are not alone in dealing with issues like this. I admit though that the problem with my tablet is only a trivial inconvenience compared to what you have been dealing with.

 

[dbldipp]

800-571-2237 is the phone number for Acer Customer support. Not that it will do you any good... If you recall, I posted earlier about the lack of support from Acer with these tablets. If you are out of warrantee, and aparently most people are, you are SOL. You can send your tablet in and they will do a factory reset For you and charge you $199 for the service. I have my PC which is an Acer, my Main laptop is an Acer and my tablet is an Acer. I have 5 other PC's at the house I use as well as a couple of other laptops. I even hve a Dell 17 incher with Apple iOS on it. I like to tinker but not too much. When I took delivery of my PC I knew it wasn't right from the moment I took it out of the box. Called the FActory and was told I was free to send it back to them at my expense and they would reinstall windows, like that's something I need then to do... Now the ICS crap... I do believe I have made my last purchase of Acer Equiptment. I have had good luck with the laptops in my truck. They hold up to the beating they take out here on the road. The lid hinges are good and solid. I keep my laptop on a stand between my seats as my back up to my tablet. So I am never without mapping support. If you ever get lost on Long Island, Ny without a map program you'll understand.
I ahve decided this week end I am going to go back to HC. I found the stock files om XDA, and I will wait to see where they go with ICS before I go back to it.

 

[dbldipp]

If I knew how to write code I would write a little script that would go in and delete the offending files once a day and be done with this crap. But I'm not a code writer, and never will be. So I have to wait till some one who has the ability to write it. Maybe someone from XDA could do that. Wouldn't that be nice?

 

[Mrhelper]

800-571-2237 is the phone number for Acer Customer support. Not that it will do you any good...

Thanks for posting the number. I had actually stumbled across that number posted on another forum somewhere, but my story was already getting way too long. I left out the part where I entered my device number and they told me to call yet another number, which wanted to charge me. And again, we went through the whole list of things that I had to send in to prove my sincerity in order to help them fix other peoples problems. For some odd reason, all of that reminded of Arlo Guthrie and Alice's Restaurant, and I became distracted and decided again that it was just not worth the time to try and work with people who had stacked the barriers just high enough to bar access to anyone as impatient as myself. (I admit that it is partly my fault for not wanting to spend more time trying to access a service than the service is actually worth to me.)

...So I am never without mapping support. If you ever get lost on Long Island, Ny without a map program you'll understand.
I ahve decided this week end I am going to go back to HC. I found the stock files om XDA, and I will wait to see where they go with ICS before I go back to it.

You certainly have put up with more than enough with this problem, and if in your shoes, I would be doing the exact same thing. Please post how this works out.

If I knew how to write code I would write a little script that would go in and delete the offending files once a day and be done with this crap. But I'm not a code writer, and never will be. So I have to wait till some one who has the ability to write it. Maybe someone from XDA could do that. Wouldn't that be nice?

I can write you a script for that in about 10 seconds (it really takes only a single shell command), but you'd have to root the device to use it. The directories and files can only be accessed and deleted by user root.

 

[dbldipp]

I can write you a script for that in about 10 seconds (it really takes only a single shell command), but you'd have to root the device to use it. The directories and files can only be accessed and deleted by user root.

What would be ideal is to have a script that would un hide these files so we could delete them at will. Or the script you mentioned then unhide and delete, and keep unhidden so we could unroot the tablet.

I may take you up on the offer if I decide to go back to ICS in the future. I will keep you posted on how the roll back works out. I'm going to send a link to this particular section of the forum here to my contact at ALK and hopes that maybe they will have a solution to the delema we face every day.
Thank you for all your assistence here.