As one of the first to report problems with the WiFi on the Acer Iconia A500 after the Android 3.1 upgrade almost a month ago I was relieved to finally see that Acer had released a patch (see acer.com, and go to the support/download section).
The patch includes instructions. What they forget to mention is that you need to disable or remove virus scanning/firewall software to get the patch to work. That's the first piece of advice.
I removed McAfee and NetQin anti-virus and finally got the patch to install. Worked well. I was finally able to connect to WiFi networks as before. 'Hoo-bloody-ray', I thought! Fixed at last (or so I thought!).
I have included the full patch update installation instructions at the bottom of this message. Now, my Australian purchased A500 was running the Acer_A500_4.010.24_COM_GEN1 system at the time.
The section of the instructions that related to the patch upgrade was:
"
C. Countries: Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Philippines/India/Vietnam/
Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.12_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.24_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.40_COM_GEN1
"
Note that the patch installation instructions recommended that Australian users upgrade their system after applying the patch. So, like an innocent newbie I decide that Acer can't be silly enough to make the same mistake twice.
....... WRONGGGG!!
Once the 40MB system upgrade to Acer_A500_4.010.40_COM_GEN1 had been downloaded and installed I found that I was back to 'square one' with the WiFi.
The WiFi is now dead AGAIN, and a new patch is once again required (as the old patch won't work on the updated operatng system).
So, by all means, install the update patch, but DO NOT, (repeat) DO NOT, upgrade to the next operating system! That's all the advice I have at the moment.
This problem at Acer has to be fixed. Not just the WiFi problem, but also the staff who let these upgrades, patches and dodgey advice be released. None of us in the research, IT and systems analysis community would condone the practices employed by Acer at the moment. Heads would 'roll'!
We require Acer staff to solve the wireless problem promptly and permanently, and practice what you preach (ie. test and retest your solutions, upgrades, patches and recommendations).
As a further suggestion, please consider finding a way to reverse system upgrades and allow for non-web-based system upgrades (for those without wireless access).
Cheers!
DrB
Commonwealth Industrial and Scientific Research Organisation, Australia
========================================
Patch Update instruction file:
----------------------------
Acer ICONIA TAB A500 ‘connect Wi-Fi unsuccessfully’ patch notification
To check the version of the operating system (OS) on your tablet:
Please go to Settings > About tablet > Build number.
Supported OS version(s): Please refer to the information below to verify if your
A500 is affected by the ‘connect Wi-Fi unsuccessfully’ issue.
Affected countries and OS
A. Countries: UK/France/Italy/Spain
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.22_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.30_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1
B. Country: USA
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.07_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.08_COM_GEN2
Acer_A500_4.010.09_COM_GEN2
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.10_COM_GEN2
C. Countries: Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Philippines/India/Vietnam/
Indonesia/Australia/New Zealand
- Affected OS versions:
Acer_A500_4.010.12_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_4.010.24_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.40_COM_GEN1
Acer ICONIA TAB A500 ‘connect Wi-Fi unsuccessfully’ patch notification
D. Countries: Taiwan/Hong Kong
- Affected OS version:
Acer_A500_4.010.23_COM_GEN1
- After installing the update, you are advised to update your tablet’s operating system to:
Acer_A500_4.010.39_COM_GEN1
Installing the patch:
• Preparation
- Prepare a microSD card using FAT or FAT32 format
- Copy ‘update.zip’ to the root of the microSD card
- Ensure the tablet’s battery is fully charged
• Steps
1. Turn off the device (press and hold the power key)
2. Insert the microSD card in the tablet’s microSD slot
3. Press and hold the power button and volume down key (the volume key nearest
the power button)
4. After the tablet vibrates ONCE, keep holding the keys.
5. Wait until you see "Erasing caches before SD update..." in the top left-hand side of
the screen.
6. Release the power and volume keys.
7. Device shows the Android Robot and a progress bar.
8. Wait until the progress bar reaches 100% then restart the tablet.
9. Wait until the update process finishes.
10. Turn off Wi-Fi and turn it on again to complete the patch installation process.