Many issues with ICS update... Not sure it's worth it...

[ebookof]

Got the ICS update and since then I have been having lots of problems.

Apps are unstable (they flash rapidly and then crash), including Gmail which I cannot use at all (I have tried to uninstall and reinstall... but the same issues continue).

I have also tried to use the new folder option, but here also, suddenly the folders start to flash before the whole thing crashes leaving only the wallpaper and not option to restart the whole tablet.

Like many other persons, my wifi is also unstable. It fails to connect when I arrive home (it used to before), once connected, it disconnects and does not connect back automatically.

I have tried to obtain help from Acer, but they are not really helpful. They only suggest to wait for an update, but do not seem to have an idea on when this might be.

Is there any possibility to return back to Honeycomb in the meantime? The new version does not provide a lot of improvements, anyway.

 

[kwhabq]

Installed April 27. All seemed fine, a bit faster, but no biggies stood out. Then tried hulu with flash video browser, and 2 hours of frustration I gave up.Then I tried again this morning. Hulu performed okay with a few familiar pauses as prior to ICS, so I'm pretty convinced that Hulu was probably overloaded or some other temporary glitch (I hope). Whew! I felt much better after staying with it. Chrome browser has some nice features, so I may use it as primary browser.

 

[ebookof]

I have found a new issue with the ICS update, despite having done a factory reset to try to solve the other issues.

When I ask the tablet to check to see if there is an update, it constantly says that the network coverage is poor and does not check for an update. This is despite the fact that the tablet itself indicates that the signal is strong and I am beside the wireless router. Internet on the tablet also works fine.

So, unfortunately, even if there is an update correcting the issues with ICS, I won't be able to get it. I guess I only have an option... return the tablet to Acer...

 

[sfpx]

I have found a new issue with the ICS update, despite having done a factory reset to try to solve the other issues.

When I ask the tablet to check to see if there is an update, it constantly says that the network coverage is poor and does not check for an update. This is despite the fact that the tablet itself indicates that the signal is strong and I am beside the wireless router. Internet on the tablet also works fine.

So, unfortunately, even if there is an update correcting the issues with ICS, I won't be able to get it. I guess I only have an option... return the tablet to Acer...

This is not an ICS only issue as we also get this error message with 3.2.
I would guess that there is a problem with the Acer server.

As for the problems...ouch. Suddenly I'm no longer in hurry to update.

Have you tried a factory reset ?

 

[diiorio]

Yeah those are not wide spread issues, I haven't had one crash, ap issue (updated all them to latest ICS supported build)

I know those who have flashed leaks and new bootloaders have issues since they don't get the two step optimizing screen after the install nor the fact the install updates the bootloader itself.

IF any of these processes were skipped or not completed then issues can happen.

Once a full install zip file is released do a reinstall and make sure it completes.

So far I have inceased performances in general use, remote PC use, HD videos, and gaming.

 

[diiorio]

someone released the install file

Download the official a500 OTA ICS upgrade - xda-developers

can try that as a fix. Hopefully it is the unaltered form.

With OTA's, issues can happen, data glitched, so try this.

 

[xphyle]

I have to say that I'm LOVING ICS SO FAR! It's amazing. My tablet is stable, fast, and everything just WORKS as it should. Couldn't be happier. Sorry about your problems, but they appear to be YOUR problems.

 

[Mrhelper]

If you are running a "task killer" application, you may want to remove it. After the update to ICS, I was also seeing numerous system stability issues and some very odd application behavior -- e.g., screen blackouts, odd screen flashes, g-sensor hangs (with repeating MLUpdateData errors in log). I monitored the logs for a while, and realized that the task killer app I was using appeared to be causing SIGKILL signals to be sent, or at least that was what the log messages reporting "kill -9" seemed to indicate. That was a surpise. I realized that this was probably a significant source of intermittent problems I had seen on Honeycomb also, and removed the task killer app. Like magic, ICS was suddenly very stable, and performance improved significantly. I now have since concluded that it is unlikely that the "kill -9" mesages I saw in the log actually were related to the problems I saw. I'm skeptical that these were even associated with real Linux IPC signals, but these did prompt me to get rid of the "task manager" app, which was clearly triggering numerous problems in the system regardless. Android task killers may be a significant source of instability for a number of users. After encountering this, and doing a little reading, I realized that the task killer had actually been degrading the experience I was having with my tablet in general by impairing a core strategy of Android OS performance. What I've concluded is that the Android "task killer" (or app killer) component of most "task managers" is snake oil, and should not be used. A nice monitoring tool like Watchdog or OS Monitor is more effective, and should be used only to determine which bad apps you want to unload, not to kill apps. The only exception I can see to this would be to kill misbehaving vendor imposed bloatware on phones. I have not seen any such need for killing apps on the a500 though. Your problem may not be related to this, and/or may have other causes, like possibly another bad application. If a task killer is not causing your problem, then I would suggest starting from scratch, after a factory reset, and add apps back in slowly. Test your system adequately after each app install until you find the culprit or culprits.

 

[ebookof]

Yeah those are not wide spread issues, I haven't had one crash, ap issue (updated all them to latest ICS supported build) I know those who have flashed leaks and new bootloaders have issues since they don't get the two step optimizing screen after the install nor the fact the install updates the bootloader itself. IF any of these processes were skipped or not completed then issues can happen. Once a full install zip file is released do a reinstall and make sure it completes. So far I have inceased performances in general use, remote PC use, HD videos, and gaming.

These ARE widespread issues... Just look at all the different forums!!! I am starting to wonder if Acer is not intervening on forums to minimize the issues!!! The ICS update was clearly not ready and Acer is irresponsible for having released it anyway... By the way, the update went smoothly (no issues), pinhole reset did not solve anything, and factory reset only solved part of the issues...Acer has recognized there are significant problems, asks to wait for an update, but it is not clear when we will get it and how we will get it (since the system update no longer works).

 

[Mrhelper]

These ARE widespread issues... Just look at all the different forums!!! I am starting to wonder if Acer is not intervening on forums to minimize the issues!!! The ICS update was clearly not ready and Acer is irresponsible for having released it anyway... By the way, the update went smoothly (no issues), pinhole reset did not solve anything, and factory reset only solved part of the issues...Acer has recognized there are significant problems, asks to wait for an update, but it is not clear when we will get it and how we will get it (since the system update no longer works).

Some issues may be widespread, but I suspect that many/most of the issues I've read about in various forums are a result of certain applications behaving badly with ICS. Keep in mind that with few exceptions, unless people have a complaint, or are answering one, they are less prone to go through the effort to talk about it in some forum. I realize that this may be of little comfort to you considering the problems you are seeing, but you may find that things are not quite so bad if you carefully screen your applications. As I wrote in my other reply in this thread, I also observed very severe problems, including flashing system screens, various crashes, and even system sensor problems, all of which were apparently caused by a very popular task killer application that I had been running on Honeycomb for months. Many of the problems I've seen described tend to be caused by application developers, and less often by the OS. Many others are having a much better experience than you, with a few exceptions, so I would ask myself why that is so, and consider that it just might be possible that you are running some problematic app that they are not. That's what I found I was doing when I looked into this for the problems I was seeing. You very well may be seeing some actual problems with ICS, but what you describe appears more likely to be caused by one or more bad apps.

 

[frapshake]

If you are running a "task killer" application, you may want to remove it. After the update to ICS, I was also seeing numerous system stability issues and some very odd application behavior -- e.g., screen blackouts, odd screen flashes, g-sensor hangs (with repeating MLUpdateData errors in log). I monitored the logs for a while, and realized that the task killer app I was using was liberally using SIGKILL. That was a surpise. I realized that this was probably a significant source of intermittent problems I had seen on Honeycomb also, and removed the task killer app. Like magic, ICS was suddenly very stable, and performance improved significantly. In short, a SIGKILL signal causes the OS to immediately tear down the target process, preventing normal cleanup. Android task killers using SIGKILL may be a significant source of instability for a number of users. After encountering this, and doing a little reading, I realized that the task killer had actually been degrading the experience I was having with my tablet in general by impairing a core strategy of Android OS performance. Your problem may not be related to this, and/or may have other causes, like possibly another bad application. If a task killer is not causing your problem, then I would suggest starting from scratch, after a factory reset, and add apps back in slowly. Test your system adequately after each app install until you find the culprit or culprits.

I think you might have something here Mrhelper. I uninstalled Android Assistant that was set to clean every so many hours and an app killer I only used once in a while and so far I haven't had the minor glitches and instability problem I've been having, especially while using Dolphin HD. Time will tell though, but what you wrote makes a lot of sense to me and I thank you!

Also, anybody with the orientation problem, not being able to rotate into portrait mode, try shutting all the way down, then flip your orientation lock back and forth a few times, then reboot. This has helped me and several other people. It completely solved that problem for me.

 

[Mrhelper]

I think you might have something here Mrhelper. I uninstalled Android Assistant that was set to clean every so many hours and an app killer I only used once in a while and so far I haven't had the minor glitches and instability problem I've been having, especially while using Dolphin HD. Time will tell though, but what you wrote makes a lot of sense to me and I thank you!

Also, anybody with the orientation problem, not being able to rotate into portrait mode, try shutting all the way down, then flip your orientation lock back and forth a few times, then reboot. This has helped me and several other people. It completely solved that problem for me.

Glad to see things working a little better for you. The g-sensor problem I noted in my other replies may be a cause of the screen orientation issues some are seeing. To confirm that, use a logcat app to look when this is happening. I saw a continuous stream of Sensor errors (MLUpdateData error (code 26)). That was probably not using CPU very efficiently either! Like you, I tried several methods to clear this, including orientation lock switch, factory reset, and the pinhole reset, but it kept coming back... until I removed the task killer app. I have not seen the screen orientation problem since either. That one was a little scary, because for a while I thought it was hardware, and hardware problems are such a pain to deal with.

Update 4-30-2012: I saw the g-sensor MLUpdateData error (code 26 ) and screen orientation problem again once last night after I had been manually force closing a problem app using the built-in app manager utility. I cleared by using the pinhole reset. It seems possible that some users are seeing the orientation problem then when problematic apps force close.

 

[frapshake]

Glad to see things working a little better for you. The g-sensor problem I noted in my other replies may be a cause of the screen orientation issues some are seeing. To confirm that, use a logcat app to look when this is happening. I saw a continuous stream of Sensor errors (MLUpdateData error (code 26)). That was probably not using CPU very efficiently either! Like you, I tried several methods to clear this, including orientation lock switch, factory reset, and the pinhole reset, but it kept coming back... until I removed the task killer app. I have not seen the screen orientation problem since either. That one was a little scary, because for a while I thought it was hardware, and hardware problems are such a pain to deal with.

Well, this is really good news for me. I was a little afraid that the orientation problem just might show its ugly head again and I would test it a few times a day, but it never returned and figured the problem was solved. Now I feel much better about it though.

To use a logcat app, the tablet would have to have root, right? If not, could you recommend a good logcat viewer? I don't want to root at this time though.

 

[Mrhelper]

Just install aLogcat from the market. Your device does not have to be "rooted" to read logs, so don't worry about that. Rooting seems like too much work and is risky anyway. I considered "rooting" mine at first also, but then I realized that that's not why I bought a tablet. I wanted a portable computer that is as fun and as handy as this tablet has proven to be. I realize that for some, the fun can be enhanced by playing around as administrator (root) in Linux. Personally though, I feel that rooting Android is overated, except maybe in the case of certain resource constrained phones, where you might want to remove bloatware. Android today, as run on these relatively powerful tablets, manages resources reasonably well. As I have now learned, it manages resources better than I was with that "handy" task manager app that was causing problems. If I want to play around as root, I can do that on my Linux servers. After you've done that for a while though, it seems very much like work.

 

[frapshake]

Just install aLogcat from the market. Your device does not have to be "rooted" to read logs, so don't worry about that...

Installed aLogcat and observed the data for awhile. That deserved another "Thanks" from me. Very interesting. Don't know why I never used this program before. Guess I had it in my head that root is needed. Anyway, watching the tablet's "thoughts" go by is more fun than watching a stupid reality show. I have a couple of Errorno=22 related to 161 which I think is GTalk, but that's the only problem I can determine, but might not be important. Thanks again!