UN-Brick - Acer Iconia Tab A500

[gabeyong]

Hi,

Helped UN-Brick a friend's Iconia Tab A500 this weekend.
Thought I should record and share the experience.

We did it the hard way and then discovered the easy way... but the ROM only supports English, French and Arabic Languages. [Reference: Unbrick without Chinese Update ROM]
If you are happy with any of the three languages your un-brick process stops at step 4.

DISCLAIMER: Please use the info below at your own risk with no warranty of any kind.

WARNING: This method must be used as a last resort because you have bricked your tablet. The process is purely experimental and results may not be stable :WARNING

Method:
1. download update.acer.zip -> unzip and rename to <update.zip> and copy to root of micro sd card
2. power off Acer A500 Tablet
3. hold power button and volume (-) button (i.e. button closest to power button) until you see a progress bar
4. tablet will reboot into the update.zip (the Chinese update ROM) --> there is also an English Update ROM see References:
- stop here if you are using the English ROM
- Build Number: Acer A500 1.122.01 EMEA GEN5
- Honeycomb 3.01

5. go to <Settings><Language & input> (4th from bottom - the icon with an "A") and select the first option <select language> and then the first option <English> again and this will change the language to English
6. download and install Gingerbreak.apk and Root the Acer tablet, after successful Rooting the Tablet will reboot
7. <unzip> and <copy> system.img (US or EU version) to /sdcard
8. adb shell, su and use dd command to flash system image to blk03 partition
[dd if=/sdcard/system.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3]
9. The Acer Tablet will reboot, skip the start screen and put the tablet in Airplane Mode (because wifi not working at this point)
10. Unzip and copy the 2 Wifi Modules to sd card and then to /system/lib/modules
(you can install and use Root Explorer.apk to do this or use adb commands)
[#mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /system] - read/write access
[#cp bcm4329.ko /system/lib/modules]
[#cp scsci_wait_scan.ko /system/lib/modules]
11. Reboot, go to <Settings><Privacy><Factory data reset>
12. Enable Wifi (setup wifi and check wifi connection)

And you are back to stock System ROM
Either
Build 1.141.07 GEN 1 (US)
or
Build 1.1.139.04 GEN 1 (EU)

Resources:
update.acer.zip
EU System.img
US System.img
Gingerbreak.apk
Wifi Modules
Root Explorer

References:
XDA Developers - [Dev] System Images
unBRICK your Acer Iconia A500 Tablet
Unbrick without Chinese Update ROM
USA 1.141.07 Update Fix

Update #1 - 31 May 2011
For US Build: 1.141.07 GEN 1 - Acer Iconia Tab A500 with wifi disconnect issues you can now fix this problem with the two wifi modules described above.

cheers

 

[Steven58]

thanks for the contribution!

 

[premkumar1214]

I bought one Acer iconia tab a500 in China with Chinese ROM but i am a english user, and here all the applications installed are Chinese and instead of Market GomarketHD application is there, is there a way to install Market. and what will happen if i do company reset.

Thanks,
Prem

 

[mamoman]

I have the same, Chinese version with only chinese and english inside, and if I put it to english still the apps are in chinese and the errors also..

Is there a way to put Dutch inside ?
Update ROM or so..?

 

[splatoid]

There are numeros ROMs out there that you could switch over to.Some stock some not stock. Im sure you both could find something your looking for.Check the XDA wedb site for info and ROMs.

 

[splatoid]

7. <unzip> and <copy> system.img (US or EU version) to /sdcard
8. adb shell, su and use dd command to flash system image to blk03 partition
[dd if=/sdcard/system.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3]
9. The Acer Tablet will reboot, skip the start screen and put the tablet in Airplane Mode (because wifi not working at this point)
10. Unzip and copy the 2 Wifi Modules to sd card and then to /system/lib/modules
(you can install and use Root Explorer.apk to do this or use adb commands)
[#mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /system] - read/write access
[#cp bcm4329.ko /system/lib/modules]
[#cp scsci_wait_scan.ko /system/lib/modules]
11. Reboot, go to <Settings><Privacy><Factory data reset>
12. Enable Wifi (setup wifi and check wifi connection)
cheers [/QUOTE]
Thanks for the Info Im sure it will help alot of people out
Wouldn't it just be easier at this point step 7- I mean to Boot into recovery mode with Clockworkmod and just use the menus to install a complete ROM from your SD Card? I have been doing it this way and was just wondering what the advantage was with this method.

 

[kaku]

hi, i got my iconia a500 from germany. the only language installed on it is deutsch. how do i get english on it because i am an english user.kindly take me through a step by step procedure. thank you

 

[Ovlap]

The basic instructions have since been updated:

https://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29931/related/1

Looking at those instructions, the problem is that when you go to the download page for manuals and drivers:
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers#_ga=1.181574820.267539145.1417479834

and select your model (e.g. A500 tablet) and select the OS you want (I chose Android 4.0 Ice Cream), you download a .zip file with a long name like:
OS_Acer_7.014.12.041.214.02.TWN.GEN1_A40I_A.zip

DO NOT JUST COPY THIS FILE TO YOUR micro SD and expect to be able to boot your tablet.

DO NOT RENAME THIS FILE TO update.zip and copy it to your micro SD and expect to be able to boot your tablet.

Instead, EXTRACT THIS FILE TO A FOLDER in your PC and you will see that it contains another file called 'update.zip' within a folder that is also zipped.

SURPRISE! Every one of these O.S. files in the download page have a different version of 'update.zip' contained within a .zip folder bearing the version name of the O.S. Copy the extracted 'update.zip' (do not extract update.zip itself) to your A500 micro SD card in its the top level directory and insert it into your A500 tablet. Next push the volume down button and power button until the tablet powers up. Release the power button but keep holding the volume down button until you see the text in the upper left corner then release the volume down button. At this point, my tablet installed the version of Android I chose without trashing the apps that I alread had installed (unlike a factory reset). It works great. Now there were some more steps in
https://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29931/related/1

like pushing the volume up button, etc. I did not have to do that with my tablet but you might have to with yours if you have a slightly different version of A500.

But the confusing thing none of the articles tell you is that the O.S. downloads are all an update.zip contained within another <Android version>.zip. Apparently, the tablet can only boot to a valid Android O.S. in a file named update.zip in the top level directory of the micro SD file following the volume/power button push sequence noted above. That is the key point.

 

[marflo]

My second Acer 500 got the same problem, stuck for ever at Acer screen or android screen. No help from pressing power button and volume up and down and playing with the screen switch. I will never buy any Acer product ever. Shame on you Acer. Having two tablets with same issue it is not coincidence. It is not bad luck it is poor quality. No happy new year for Acer.