ice cream sandwich bug on a500

[Mrhelper]

Not useless information to me. Regardless of whether or not it means something for this particular problem, the knowledge will likely come in handy sometime. Thanks.

 

[Douvie]

Not useless information to me. Regardless of whether or not it means something for this particular problem, the knowledge will likely come in handy sometime. Thanks.

Don't get me wrong, Mrhelper, I know it is useful but until we know exactly what the differences mean and what they do - in info will be kind of useless.

Anyone from Asian block who woul like to share the contence of the build.prop file of their A500?

 

[izza]

My screen will not rotate and I have tried turning it off and turning it on. & the pinhole
i also tried with it on screen lock. i checked alogcat and there were no error code 26 until i unlocked it and they all popped up!
my accelerometer is also not working so now i cant play racing games or anything I dont know what to do

 

[izza]

this takes a lot of my alogcat thing

 

[Mrhelper]

You can try to work around the issue as others do by using the pinhole reset button on the lower right side of the a500, next to the USB port. You also may want to contact Acer as this seems to be bigger issue than I first thought now that more have updated to ICS. Describe the error to them, provide data if they will accept it, and let them know that you have encountered others on this forum with the same problem. I'm starting to see a few new reports of this each day on various forums, and I suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg -- i.e., I suspect that many people are seeing this beside those who report problems on forums.

Another owner that I was working with on this problem made some significant progress on this today using a custom ROM: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...40682-auto-rotate-not-working.html#post217029

 

[izza]

i have a refurbished acer so tech support wont help me. i have tried the pinhole method as well :/
everyone who has the rotation problem has the accelerometer not working in games either right? or is that just me

 

[Mrhelper]

i have a refurbished acer so tech support wont help me. i have tried the pinhole method as well :/
everyone who has the rotation problem has the accelerometer not working in games either right? or is that just me

They may not be able to do anything for you directly, but if they record your problem that could help you indirectly, if, for example, more complaints about the problem helps them decide to include a fix for this in the next update. Did they at least agree to record the details of the trouble report? My hope is still that Acer will fix this in the next patch, but I do not know how to determine if they are even looking into the problem.

The error code 26s occur when the mpu3050 chip in your tablet does not initialize at boot time. None of the motion sensors work at all when this occurs. This is because the "sensors" service cannot register for device interrupts if the MPU init does not succeed. This means that the motion sensors -- e.g., accelerometer, gyro, etc. -- will not work in games or any other software. It's not just your tablet. Others are seeing this also since the ICS update. Some can be cleared using the reset, while others cannot.

 

[izza]

thank you so much i think i will call/mail them tomorrow. is there anyway to downgrade back to honeycomb? and would it even help the problem?

 

[wiro67]

[Q] Auto-rotate not working - xda-developers
have a look there its a bootloader problem i think

 

[Mrhelper]

[Q] Auto-rotate not working - xda-developers
have a look there its a bootloader problem i think

You don't have to go to XDA though to read about it, the post was actually here on this site first ( http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...40682-auto-rotate-not-working.html#post217029). It's actually an init timing problem (see the dmesg log excerpt in my post), and the member who wrote this post was able to work around it by using an HC bootloader. The problem is not necessarily certain to be in the boot loader, but using a different bootloader clearly mitigates the problem. (The actual problem occurs during the init, not just during the bootloader copies. If the bootloader runs faster, then the MPU init fails, if it runs slower, then the MPU is ready and the init works. With respect to this problem, the bootloader effectively fires the starting pistol for the kernel to init at some point in time after power on, and if it fires the pistol a few tenths of a second later, the MPU has more time to prepare and wins the race.)

 

[sgleon]

. is there anyway to downgrade back to honeycomb?

I would be happy to downgrade to honeycomb, is there a way to install Honeycomb,
Thanks

 

[sgleon]

My screen will not rotate and I have tried turning it off and turning it on. & the pinhole
i also tried with it on screen lock. i checked alogcat and there were no error code 26 until i unlocked it and they all popped up!
my accelerometer is also not working so now i cant play racing games or anything I dont know what to do

is the screen rotate and the games not working the same issue or is it two sensors not working?

 

[sgleon]

this is the chat i had with Acer support, i am in the process of calling the support number now, and hope this info helps others.
Well the Tele # he gave me is for Gateway, what BS!

Chat
Close
Status: Disconnected
Chandrasekar M: Hi, my name is Chandrasekar M. How may I help you?
Gunnar Leon: My Acer A500 has a issue with the AutoRotate
Gunnar Leon: I tried a reset
Chandrasekar M: Okay.
Gunnar Leon: and the software reset and hardware reset
Gunnar Leon: did not help
Gunnar Leon: it is now useless for games
Chandrasekar M: Can you elaborate the issue?
Gunnar Leon: rotation problem and accelerometer not working
Gunnar Leon: the screen gets locked
Gunnar Leon: won't rotate
Chandrasekar M: I understand that the tablet is not able to rotate the screen and accelerometer not working.
Gunnar Leon: ok
Gunnar Leon: thankas
Gunnar Leon: plus is lots of people are having the issue http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...-forum/38621-ice-cream-sandwich-bug-a500.html
Chandrasekar M: I will do my best to fix the issue, Gunnar.
Gunnar Leon: once i upgraded to ICS it happened
Chandrasekar M: May I know the exact date of purchase?
Gunnar Leon: 7-28-2011
Gunnar Leon: did you see the link, this is a big issue for most people
Chandrasekar M: Thank you for the information.
Chandrasekar M: Yes, I saw the link.
Gunnar Leon: can i downgrade to honeycomb?
Chandrasekar M: I will check that for you.
Chandrasekar M: May I place the chat on hold for 3 minutes, while I check and provide you the information?
Gunnar Leon: neer had an issue in Honeycomb
Gunnar Leon: thanks!
Chandrasekar M: Thank you for being on hold.




Gunnar Leon: thank you for helping me
Chandrasekar M: Gunnar, did you check the touch screen lock button, whether it is on or not?
Gunnar Leon: yes many times
Chandrasekar M: It is on right.
Gunnar Leon: yes, trust me
Chandrasekar M: Okay.
Chandrasekar M: May I place the chat on hold for another 3 minutes, while I search for you?
Gunnar Leon: yes, remember I know there is no known fix, cause other users have call Acer, so i am happy to downgrade to Honeycomb
Chandrasekar M: Thank you for being on hold.
Chandrasekar M: Gunnar, we have to disable the touch screen lock button to rotate the screen.
Gunnar Leon: i just did a factory reset and right away it does not work,
Gunnar Leon: i did not change any settings
Chandrasekar M: Gunnar, try to disable the touch screen lock button and check the screen.
Gunnar Leon: the button in the side by the volume?
Chandrasekar M: Yes.
Gunnar Leon: screen lock button by the volume
Chandrasekar M: Yes, that is button.
Gunnar Leon: like i said i have tried the button hundreds of time
Gunnar Leon: times, but i will try again for you
Gunnar Leon: ok no help
Chandrasekar M: Thank you.
Gunnar Leon: please i know there is not fix
Gunnar Leon: i need downgrade instructions
Chandrasekar M: Okay. I will check that for you.
Chandrasekar M: Gunnar, to resolve this issue you need the send the tablet for repair.
Gunnar Leon: how about an OS downgrade path?
Chandrasekar M: Unfortunately we don't have any steps to downgrade the operating system.
Chandrasekar M: We have service the tablet to change the operating system.
Gunnar Leon: can you give me a telephone # to call for tablet service
Chandrasekar M: I will help you with our phone support number. They will assist you.
Gunnar Leon: ok
Chandrasekar M: Please call 8665393901 for USA.
Chandrasekar M: Gunnar, to conclude we have provided the information and this should help you fix the issue. If there are no additional questions on this topic, I will close the chat session.
Chandrasekar M: Thank you for contacting Acer support.
Chandrasekar M has disconnected.


You can search for an answer while you wait

 

[Mrhelper]

I had nearly the exact same experience when I used the chat, and I would expect little more from a phone call if you can somehow find a number to call. The Gateway number is a bit amusing. Maybe they looked at the wrong list.

I have the impression that there is merely an outsourced call center that handles "support" for numerous vendors. If you connect via the Acer site, they become Acer support, from Gateway, they are Gateway support. These folks are trained to perform as little more than automatons. If it's not in the script or the FAQ, they can't do it. The standard treatment for any dead end is to send the unit in for service.

In your case, if the rotation problem never clears even after hard reset (pinhole), then they are likely to be able to observe the problem, and so you stand a very good chance of getting a replacement that will likely not be affected by the sensor init timing bug. I'm convinced that this affects a relatively small percentage of devices. They may even send you one with HC, in which case you could decline the ICS update until the problem is resolved.

If the problem only occurs intermittently, then the odds are lower that they will reproduce it, and may just return the tablet unchanged.

You could alternately install HC as phlashbios did, or use his custom ICS ROM solution, where he used an HC bootloader instead of an ICS version. If this works for you, you still get ICS with the bootloader workaround.

 

[Mrhelper]

is the screen rotate and the games not working the same issue or is it two sensors not working?

The motion sensors are all on one chip-- i.e., the Invensense mpu3050. The the problem that I have seen and documented is a result of the MPU failing to initialize at boot time, which prevents operation of all motion sensors. -- e.g., accelerometer, gyro, etc.