[Acer Iconia A500] Haemdaer:
Help needed for a boot loop

Well as said in the video, i reuse an existing thread about bootloop...

I'm stuck in a bootloop with an iconia A500... but let's look at the steps that got me there...

The First mistake was to answer yes to my friend who asked me to connect his Vodafone k3565 to his iconia A500, but as i read Android was linux based and i did use linux a lot as a student, i didn't even imagine it could go wrong...

Tablet was stating to run :

Android 3.1

Bernel 2.6.36.3-00009-9dddf6f2

Build 4.015.05-EMEA-CUS3

i did root with iconia root 1.3

then added Busybox and a terminal program.

reboot, try a SU and could access the devices

Here is the second mistake... i should have wondered how to restore to normal state before starting, because i don't have any SD card that suit the device ( mine are normal sized ones, you know.. Stamp sized :/ )

Then i got to the thread

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1058846&page=7

and i used an usb key to transfer it to the device, but before applying the files i took a look to them and found 3 of them would overwrite actual system files, so i did a backup of them :

/system/build.prop

/system/etc/apns-conf

/system/bin/rild

and looking at the build.prop i saw differences in the values of the one on the A500 and the one in the package so i decided to get only the missing lines from the new system.zip file and add them to the original file

And here is the 3rd mistake, and i guess the reason of the problem : i did that merge on a windows computer, and i fear it did add those pesky CRLF at the end of lines, turning my build.prop into a build.prob(lem).

I'm not sure, as i didn't check before it was too late.

rebooted and... boot loop, with 1 times out of 2, the little android with yellow triangle and exclamaition mark.

Cried, runned in circles, then looked on forums to find a solution.

Reboot with Power+Volume gives :

"Erasing cache before SD update...

SD update cmd:recovery

--update_package=sdcard:update.zip

Booting recovery kernel image"

Then i get the android with gears for a few seconds, then below him is a bar like the one in the android store when you download a file, then half a second later, again the exclaimation mark.

I also tried plugging a keyboard to hit the home key...

( in fact two : Logitech G110 and trust easy scroll silverline )

no difference, maybe because those are gaming keyboards and they arent loaded soon enough by the tab, or maybe it crashes before keyboard loading.

Tried then to install ADB using post

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1155664

hoping i could use the USB cable to put the backup files back in place but when i plug the device into the windows host, it recognises an unavailable USB MTP device, whose properties say "Acer iconia tab a500" in the "signaled bus description"(translated from french display, may be something else in english)

I manually force added the Acer ADB interface, but both the devices are unavailable to windows, with a warning sign, stating "this device cannot start (code 10)"

"Adb shell" answers "Error:device not found",which is expected, as windows can't see the devices properly

the strange thing is that, with USB plugged from A500 to PC, the Android with exclaimation stays forever, while without the cable, the system boot-loops

so i'm at this point :

i have a boot looping device, and the backup of the modified files on an USB key, and no way to put them back on device.

I found on the forums a lot of different .imgs that could be put on the /system to reload the device but none with EMEA-CUS3. So if i overwrite the files, i can't go back

I read you need a SD card to patch the device but not all of them work...

And my only computer with a SD slot uses a big one, not micro one, so i also need an adapter to write on the sd card.

Is someone near me (belgium/postcode 4000) having a SD ward working with the device who could lend it or help me doing the job ?

else

i saw in a nearby store ad "Sigma SDHC 4Go" or "Sigma SDHC 8Go", with apparently an adaptor for a normal sized SD slot, can anyone confirm it works or it don't work for sure ?

else

Can anyone tell me an SD card know to work, and being sold currently with an adapter so i have a chance to find one in a store near me ?

Is there a way to create an update.zip that will only update the files i did overwrite ?

if not, has someone an image for the same system i have ?

Well... lots of questions, but i'm very worried, especially as the device is not mine and not working anymore atm.

-> update

Looking closer at the modem (Vodafone k3565) it has a trap that says "SD card" so i guess i won't need an adapter... still need the reference of a SD card known to work for the restoring.