reinstalling Android on tablet

[Pants]

Is there a way to reinstall Android on a tablet that won't boot?

Could I download and image of Android and push it to the tablet through my desktop computer?

 

[16k_zx81]

Can you get to the bootloader? (use keypress, ie home button and vol down)

If so, then yes, it may be possible.

Im no expert though. I have only rooted a couple and bricked one.

xda developers would be the place for more info...

 

[Pants]

The "ACER" logo appears when powered on, then the "Iconia Tab" logo appears, then I get an "Encryption unsuccessful" message "...data on your tablet is no longer accessible...bla bla bla"

I've tried several times, the method that ACER says to use when holding the power button, "+" volume button, and switching "lock" button, but it doesn't work. I could be because there isn't enough charge on the battery. I'm going to get the charger from the owner and charge it up and try again...The owner didn't have it with him when he dropped it off.

For the record, this is an Acer Iconia Tab A200

There is a usb data cable connector on the laptop...A smaller one, and a standard one. I was thinking maybe I could hook the laptop up to my desktop computer through usb and reload the OS with an image stored on the desktop computer, if this other method doesn't work.

 

[16k_zx81]

have you tried this?

If your tablet fails to respond when buttons are pressed or when the screen is tapped, you may have to perform a hardware reset on the tablet to restore functionality. To do this, simply use a small, thin object, such as a paperclip, to press the recessed reset button located on the side of the tablet. You can visit our Acer support site to download your product's User Manual to assist in locating the Reset button

http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8108

 

[Pants]

I believe that is the equivalent of a reset button on a laptop or desktop computer, if the computer while booted up is not responding to any commands.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Is there a way to reinstall Android on a tablet that won't boot?

Could I download and image of Android and push it to the tablet through my desktop computer?

Might help if you bothered to mention what brand and model your tablet is and what the heck you did to it.

 

[Pants]

.......................

The "ACER" logo appears when powered on, then the "Iconia Tab" logo appears, then I get an "Encryption unsuccessful" message "...data on your tablet is no longer accessible...bla bla bla"

I've tried several times, the method that ACER says to use when holding the power button, "+" volume button, and switching "lock" button, but it doesn't work. I could be because there isn't enough charge on the battery. I'm going to get the charger from the owner and charge it up and try again...The owner didn't have it with him when he dropped it off.

For the record, this is an Acer Iconia Tab A200

There is a usb data cable connector on the laptop...A smaller one, and a standard one. I was thinking maybe I could hook the laptop up to my desktop computer through usb and reload the OS with an image stored on the desktop computer, if this other method doesn't work.

 

[nlinecomputers]

http://www.acertabletforum.com/forum/rescue-squad-guides/5168-how-perform-factory-reset.html

If the Acer has been rooted then do NOT use this method.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Also this:


http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/33483-roma200stock/

 

[Pants]

The suggestion in the first link doesn't work, because despite how many times I tried that it doesn't work, for whatever reason. I know I am doing the procedure correctly, though. As I said on reboot, nothing appears to have changed.

On the second link (suggestion), it's assumed that there is access to the microSD card in the tablet. From what I've gathered, once you've seen the error "encryption unsuccessful", rebooting or restarting after that breaks access to the microSD card. It's evident while in the stock recovery mode on the device that the microSD card cannot be accessed because it gives error messages while attempting to read from it. On the other hand in the suggestion, if you are "clockworked" (have different type of recovery mode installed on the tablet), you can go about the recovery another way, but this device is not clockworked and cannot be clockworked since the bootloader cannot be unlocked in the current state that it's in, so that option is not going to work.

What I ended up trying is installing the Android SDK onto my Windows 7 computer and used FASTBOOT to try to flash a recovery image that I downloaded from google. The output on the tablet after entering the flash image command was that it would not accept the command on a "locked" device. Fair enough, so I tried to unlock the bootloader by entering the fastboot oem unlock, command. An unlock icon appeared on the tablet after entering that command, and when I selected the unlock icon it basically said, "unlock failed". Tried it a few more times to no success. So then I thought maybe I could flash an unlocked bootloader onto the tablet by using nvflash, but it turns out even that won't work (evident by the output of the commands entered) because this particular device uses a sbk (secure boot key). The SBK which Acer does not publish, must be entered into nvflash as a paramenter in order to unlock the bootloader and flash. There were a couple of candidate SBKs that I tried as paramenters but they didn't work. The bootloader on this device is both locked and encrypted so there is not much you can do to it in the CURRENT state that it's in..ie If there was access to the Android OS you may have been able to unlock the bootloader while it was still working. Flashing this and that and all that fun jive all seems to be dependent on having an unlocked bootloader. It seems as though Acer has made it so that this particular model cannot be unlocked or repaired using developer tools without the SBK. Only option I can see is to sell it for parts or send it to Acer and get it fixed for a fee. A motherboard swap with a preloaded Android image with would work but for the tech's labor charge plus the cost of a new board, you may as well go get yourself a new tablet.

thanks for the suggestions