The other day I was watching a programme on my Iconia A500 via HDMI to my TV. After about half an hour the TV went blank and when I looked at the Iconia (which I hadn't been watching) the screen showed, IIRC, an Android lying on its back with a lid opened and an exclamation mark. There was no response to touching the screen. Thinking that I was downloading a virus or somesuch I switched it off by holding down the power button. The tablet is now useless - it doesn't boot, just shows the "Acer" logo indefinitely. Since I can't get into it I can't select a factory reset. I have tried the methods that come up on the net, such as holding down the volume up while powering on - just gives the Acer logo indefinitely. I also tried the volume down with toggling the screen lock button - that gives a tiny font at the top "Bootloaded v0.03.12-ICS Starting fastboot USB downloader protocol" - but after 15 minutes that's still there. I was wondering whether the thing started a download of OS upgrade while I was watching TV, and switching off wrecked that. Any ideas as to how to do a recovery?
I have tried several times to do a reset, by holding down the volume button and power switch for various periods and the nearest I have got to a reset is once again the Android lying on its back with the lid open and an exclamation mark in a red triangle. Nothing after that.
See if anything here can help you out. Factory reset: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-q/62022-how-do-i-factory-reset-my-tablet.html If there are no instructions there specifically for your tablet, try some of the methods for other tablets. One of them will probably work and you won't hurt anything by trying.
Thanks, Spider - but I have tried every combination I can think of without result. I *have* managed to get the Android with its tummy open and an animated "nuclear atom" which after 10 seconds just goes to an Android lying on its back, lid open and an exclamation mark. That remains permanently until I power down. Frustrating.
