Acer Iconia A500 Bugs and Glitches

[cofl1001]

Hello all tablet users from this forum and not only
I firstly want to say that I am not new to android platform, I had a HTC Tattoo for about 2 years, and about 2 months ago I up-graded to a HTC sensation.
Last week I ordered and got a Acer Iconia A500 tablet, since it was the best value for money in my opinion. But happiness was short because I found some really annoying things that I couldn't solve such as:

1. couldn't copy on the SDHC card files> 4 Gb, easily solved by formatting the card in my laptop to NTFS, now it works;
2. cannot move the apps from internal memory to the external sdcard(feature already available since Android 2.1 I guess)...I can do that on my HTC phone but I cannot do it on the tablet ? pffff so 8 Gb version owners like me are very app limited storagewise;
3. Cannot play mkv movies, or if some play I have no sound...come on ACER, it's a dual core CPU...WTH? it plays smoothly on my phone...
4. The 8 GB internal memory version, actually has available only ~5.4 Gb...that's bad...
5. After installing some apps, it seems that the unistall doesn't clean the storage, since I keep getting "insufficient storage available" even if I have ~350 Mb left...

I like the tab, despite all this, but I think Acer should care more about service and upgrades of their products...even if now I run ICS on the tab, there are still the above very frustrating bugs...
Take care and thanks for sharing any ideas you might have...

 

[Androidfonefan]

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

Since you have number one solved, we start at two.

2. cannot move the apps from internal memory to the external sdcard(feature already available since Android 2.1 I guess)...I can do that on my HTC phone but I cannot do it on the tablet ? pffff so 8 Gb version owners like me are very app limited storagewise;

I solved this with Android Assistant. Some apps can get past hangups that the Manufacturer puts in their products.

3. Cannot play mkv movies, or if some play I have no sound...come on ACER, it's a dual core CPU...WTH? it plays smoothly on my phone...

Try MX or MoBo players.

4. The 8 GB internal memory version, actually has available only ~5.4 Gb...that's bad...

This is due in part to the 8 gigs that is advertised also holds the Android OS and drivers for the tablet. plus any apps you have installed plus updates. Once you have Android Assistant installed you should be able to move some of those things over to the SD.

5. After installing some apps, it seems that the unistall doesn't clean the storage, since I keep getting "insufficient storage available" even if I have ~350 Mb left...

You may need to remove more, and as a note, some systems refer to RAM as storage. AA will help with that and Advanced Task Killer can help as well.


This was my first tablet. Seriously was not happy with it. Everything worked so far as I knew but there was something about the way the tablet was set up that just struck me wrong.
Sold it for a 150.00 proffit and stayed away from tablets for a long time. I thought if that is what tablets are like I just don't want one.
I have found a great tablet in the Toshiba Thrive and the iPad2 kicks but as well.
Hope you get your problems with the Acer worked out.

 

[Frederuco]

Welcome to the forum!

1. couldn't copy on the SDHC card files> 4 Gb, easily solved by formatting the card in my laptop to NTFS, now it works;
This is a FAT32 limitation, luckily you found the proper workaround.

2. cannot move the apps from internal memory to the external sdcard(feature already available since Android 2.1 I guess)...I can do that on my HTC phone but I cannot do it on the tablet ? pffff so 8 Gb version owners like me are very app limited storagewise;
Apps2SD was created for phones with very little internal storage. For me, 16 GB (13 GB actual usable space) is plenty for me. I only have about 1.2 GB used in actual apps. At first I installed apps like crazy, but now I am quite selective and only install what I need and want.

3. Cannot play mkv movies, or if some play I have no sound...come on ACER, it's a dual core CPU...WTH? it plays smoothly on my phone...
Definitely check out MX Player. It has codecs that allow it to use full hardware acceleration to play mkv files flawlessly on Tegra 2. Others to look at: Dice Player and BS Player.

4. The 8 GB internal memory version, actually has available only ~5.4 Gb...that's bad...
I did not know the A500 came in an 8GB model. First, since it starts with 8,000,000,000 bytes, when formatted it ends up at 7.45 GB since most file systems are 2 based and not 10 based (1024 conversion factor for bytes-kb, kb-mb and mb-gb). Then there is a partition for the OS to be installed on, so you lose some space there. Hopefully you can figure out how to work with this amount of space and keep it from getting too full so you can use your tablet.

5. After installing some apps, it seems that the unistall doesn't clean the storage, since I keep getting "insufficient storage available" even if I have ~350 Mb left...
Yeah, this is a draw back of Android, it is not that great at uninstalling some items. I have found that backing up my apps & data and wiping the tablet helps every now and again.

 

[cofl1001]

Thanks for all your ideas, guys
Unfortunately, there is no way that I could use to move some apps to the external ad card, and this is really bad, since I bought a 32gb SanDisk wich has only movies on 8I tried app2sd and the andro assistant, but there's no option to move apps. Isn't there any way we can do this? Are there any other tabs with this issue, or we are the only lucky ones?
Regarding the insufficient space, I removed some apps, and when I have around 450 mb free it works. You suggest backing up the apps, and factory reset?
Have a great day
Ciao

 

[Androidfonefan]

On Android Assistant you open the App. There are three tabs at the top. Monitor, Process and Tools. Select Tools. You will see a list of 13 different icons. Second from the last should be App2SD, select this app. Three more tabs. Movable, SD Card and Phone. Select Movable. It will show a list of Apps that are movable from the phone to the SD Card. Select the app you want moved you will see another screen with 5 grey buttons, they should read something like this.
Force Stop
Uninstall
Clear Data
Move to SD card
Clear Cache
Select Move to SD card, it will begin moving much but not all of the app to the SD card, the button will change from Move to SD card to Move to Phone to show you that the app has been moved to the card.

Remember that Video players and apps like Netflix will give a lag between Sound and Picture if they are moved to the SD card and you try to play movies from them. So try to keep them on the phone/tablet if you can.

 

[cofl1001]

Hi again, and thanks fir the reply, but unfortunately my tablet doesn't show the sd card option. I use Ics 4.01 i guess...tjete was anothet app, move2sdcard i think which i also tried, but the move 2 sdcard is just missing. When i open tab storage the internal one is shown as sdcard, and if i remember well the sdcard shows as sdcard-2...
Funny but sad

 

[Androidfonefan]

Ah. Well crap. Never had that happen. I have had the Acer A500, Vizio 8, Toshiba Thrive and the Lenovo A1 and countless Android phones and it has worked properly on all.
I hope you figure this out.

 

[wiro67]

i never tryed this cos i have a 32gb tablet but here is a guide that might work out for you
[SD SOFTMOD] [A500/G100W] swap internal 16GB memory with 32GB external sdcard - xda-developers
have a look it could make a difference

 

[dlbott]

i never tryed this cos i have a 32gb tablet but here is a guide that might work out for you
[SD SOFTMOD] [A500/G100W] swap internal 16GB memory with 32GB external sdcard - xda-developers
have a look it could make a difference

i have rooted a500 and none of the programs or methods have worked to move apps to sd card. i went thru steps and even ended up deleting the app as instructed but never got move to sd option. often get the app2sd message and when you click on it it opens the system settings contro window for that app unfortunately never get the move option, so i am lost. is there no way to move apps to sd card. also, if i flash a new ROM will it remove all the installed apps? which ROM is a good one.

thanks for help.....

 

[dlbott]

i never tryed this cos i have a 32gb tablet but here is a guide that might work out for you
[SD SOFTMOD] [A500/G100W] swap internal 16GB memory with 32GB external sdcard - xda-developers
have a look it could make a difference

the method suggested did not work on my a500, is there no way to move apps to sd card, please message me

 

[jgumphress]

Moving apps to SD card is limited by the OS not the tablet. Android with ICS and up software will not allow apps to SD move on any device.