How to apply KitKat update downloaded from Acer site? (A1-810)

I am in Israel. I have three Acer Iconia A1-810 tablets. Two of them received the update to KitKat automatically. The third one did not (it was turned off on the shelf for a couple months). It's been turned on and connected for over a month & it has never gotten the update over the air. Using the "check for update" only gets a server error 400 - looks like some problem with the Acer update server.

So I turned to local ACER tech support and after a few weeks, they advised me to download the KitKat update from the German site. I did that and got a file named OS_Acer_Acer.AV0K0.A1-810.RV0BRC01.WW.GEN1_A44K_A.zip

I copied that to a microSD card, popped it into the tablet, verified the file was there using a File Explorer & then tried to update using the boot menu. Unfortunately, the update does not appear - instead I get only this:

Inline image 2

I asked local Acer Tech Support what to do and they didn't know - they are waiting (going on two weeks) for an answer from their 2nd tier (who incidentally in the past have not been so well-informed or helpful, so I am not overly optimistic about getting a solution from them).

So maybe one of you can help?

In the past, when I have done an OS update, I actually had two files to put on the SD card - a zip file named update.zip and a text file with a long name (similar to the name of the ZIP file I downloaded - see above), which contained some parameters that apparently indicated to the boot loader program what to do.

In this case, I only got the zip file and no corresponding TXT file. I speculate that this may be why the boot program can't find and display it.

Or perhaps I'm supposed to do something different with this ZIP file?

Can anyone help me apply the update? Or suggest an alternate way to get KitKat working on my tablet?

Thanks,

Yosh

P.S. I also looked at the knowledge base and found this article. It also mentions using a file named update.zip. However, my download wasn't named that, nor is there an update.zip inside the zip file I did download. Am I supposed to rename the zip file I downloaded?

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yoshm

An update:

I decided to try to ukpdate the tablet with the latest JellyBean update to be sure that wasn't an issue in moving on to the KitKat update. I did the same thing as previously when updating one of the other tablets - I used the file OS_Acer_AV052.RV27RC03.WW.GEN1_A42J_A.zip

which contained a directory named SD_Acer_A1-810_AV052.RV00RC00_AV052.RV27RC03_WW_GEN1 which, in turn contained the files:

SD_Acer_AV052_A1-810_RV27RC03_WW_GEN1_e7bee1a252286de4979c1121de612a30.txt

update.zip

I put those two files on an SD card - and got the same results as described above! I did not see the choice of the update file to select & apply! I then reset the tablet to factory defaults & tried again - same results.

Now I'm totally flummoxed. I know this worked before on a different A1-810 tablet. I am following the directions in this Acer Document (as last time), but not getting the expected results.

Any help will be much appreciated.

thanks,

yosh

[edited to comply with guidelines - removed link]

IronFly

Can you post your build version?

settings/about phone/build version

yoshm

Thanks, @IronFly.

Build number is: Acer_AV052_A1-810_1.105.00_WW_GEN1

FYI, Image version is: Acer_AV052_A1-810_RV21RC02_WW_GEN1

IronFly

Can you post a screenshot of your recovery menu?

yoshm

You mean this? (sorry the focus isn't better...)

FYI, the number in parens is <3e>

The highlighted line says "reboot system now""

New Doc 19_1.jpg

IronFly

with KK update.zip file inside the root of the SD, on this recovery screen choose "install update from external storage", then choose the update.zip file

yoshm

Thanks. As I wrote in my original post:

In the past, when I have done an OS update, I actually had two files to put on the SD card - a zip file named update.zip and a text file with a long name (similar to the name of the ZIP file I downloaded - see above), which contained some parameters that apparently indicated to the boot loader program what to do.

In this case, I only got the zip file and no corresponding TXT file. I speculate that this may be why the boot program can't find and display it.

All I have is that zip file (see above - not "update.zip"). And no TXT file.

As a further update, local support suggested I try putting the downloaded file on internal storage instead of the SD card. Tried that, but got the same results.

Any idea what Acer had in mind when they posted the update in this format?

thanks

yosh

IronFly

the TXT is not needed to update.

can you repost the screen after update.zip selection?

it's missing from the first post.

yoshm

acer1.jpg

IronFly

So...it looks like the microSD is empty?

if so, can you format the microSD to FAT32, copy only the update.zip and try again?

or better, try with another microSD.

billsey

Rename the file to update.zip and see if it will work then. They've got the filename hard coded...

yoshm

Thanks to both of you. Here is an update.

First I tried renaming to update.zip - it made no difference.

Then I tried reformatting as FAT32 (thanks, @IronFly!) (my card was formatted NTFS, which the File Manager could read, but I guess the boot loader could not).

Then it was able to read the card and showed the .zip (without my renaming it to update.zip).

I selected it for update and it got underway...

Unfortunately - the update failed and now the tablet will not boot up at all! it stays stuck on the logo! Also, when I try to charge it now, instead of moving from the battery with the hourglass to the animation of charging, it stays stuck on the hourglass picture.

HELP!

Now my tablet doesn't work at all!

I have tried getting back into the boot menu, but I can't - I hold the key-combination for a long time and nothing happens. When I let go it vibrates onces & shows the Acer logo forever. Is there some other way to reset it to factory settings? is there an alternate way to get to a boot loader? Is there anything at all I can do to get back to a working tablet - and, I hope, update it to KitKat?

Here are some pictures of what happened:

1) Tried the update - and it failed!

Tried to reboot it and it stays stuck on this logo screen forever

Battery died while I was waiting for the logo screen to move on to booting up, so I plugged into charger - but it stays stuck on this hourglass screen and never goes to the animation of charging:

Thanks,
yosh

yoshm

I just wrote a long answer to this twice, but it seems to have disappeared both times. I will try once again, without pictures, and I hope this time the info posts. If my other posts appear I will come back and delete the superfluous ones...

First, thanks to both of you. FYI, I tried renaming it to update.zip, but it made no difference. I then tried @IronFly 's suggestion and reformatted it as FAT32 and that worked (my card was formatted NTFS, which the File Manager could read, but I guess the boot loader could not).

Then it was able to see the .zip file (without renaming it to update.zip) so I selected it and it began updating.

Unfortunately - the update failed and now the tablet will not boot up at all! it stays stuck on the logo. Also, when I try to charge it now, instead of moving from the battery with the hourglass to the animation of charging, it stays stuck on the hourglass picture.

HELP! Now my tablet doesn't work at all!

I have found that if I try to invoke the boot menu when it is plugged into the charger, it does not work. However, if I unplug it, I can get the boot menu again. So I tried doing a wipe/reset. Unfortunately, after that, on rebooting, it still stays stuck at the logo or the hourglass/charging icon.

What do you suggest I try next?

I can send pictures of what happened - if you would like to see, let me know & I will attempt to put them up in a separate post.

BTW, I saw in this thread a reference to someone who had a similar problem and used "a different bootloader" to resolve it. Any idea how to implement that solution? And will I need a different image to load?