[Android General] Asus Tablet:
How to restore the default Android firmware on your tablet (Windows) (for newbies)

Thanks for the post. I've already fixed my tablet, but here is how I did that, if anyone is wondering. If you couldn't tell from my previous post, I had basically corrupted my Android system files by rooting, which can't be fixed by factory reset. I could still boot into Android, but if you can't, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you can boot into recovery, which I'll show you how to do later in this post. This is a general fix for Android system issues that cannot be resolved by factory resetting.

I'm sure that if you took the time to, you could figure out the recovery process by piecing together the posts, but if you're a newbie to this like me, then this may help you to restore your tablet to its default official firmware if you screwed up anything.

If you are reading this post after it has just been published, seeking a solution, I would probably wait a week or so until the professionals have ironed out the kinks in it.

If the warranty on your tablet is still valid, and you want to stay on the safe side, you should just send the tablet to ASUS. Also, doing this repair may void the warranty. I really only recommend this if your warranty is gone and losing the tablet would not be the end of the world for you. If this repair messes up the tablet even more, you'll have to send it to Asus, anyway, but the chances of them being able to repair the issue may have slimmed down. I'm not sure if they would charge more for repairing something like a totally corrupt tablet as opposed to just the Android operating system, which is much easier. Remember that if the problem you are trying to fix was caused by rooting, then the warranty is already void.

Okay, ready? Before doing anything, I would copy anything you want to keep that is on the device off of it if you can boot into Android successfully. Also, if you can, write down the build number of the tablet (Settings>About Tablet).

Okay, now let's start!

This is compiled from some posts by gbkelley.

Make sure the battery is charged. I'd say above 75%. If you can't boot into Android to check, just leave the tablet plugged in until the battery icon shows it is fully charged.

Meanwhile, on your PC (Windows only, sorry), do the following:

1. Download and install the Intel USB Driver for Android Devices.https://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/intel-usb-driver-for-android-devices

2. Download and install Minimal ADB and Fastboot. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2317790

Now you'll need your charged tablet.

3. Connect the tablet to the PC using the USB cable.

4. Boot into the Droidboot Recovery Environment. Do that by holding Volume up, then holding the power button at the same time. The recovery essentially allows you to fix your tablet if you've screwed up the main operating system, Android. When you see an Android with a construction hat, you can let go. Then the Android will disappear and you'll see a menu with various options.

If you can't boot into the recovery, this post will not help as that is a much more complicated problem. Sorry. But if you can, keep going! :)

5. Make sure that the tablet's screen says "Ready for download". If it doesn't, make sure that the USB cable is working and plugged in correctly, and that the USB port on your PC is working. Also, did you install the Intel Android USB Drivers? :p

6. Now, once you're in recovery with the "Ready for download" status, you can run fastboot commands, which we'll need to do. In your Start menu on the PC, click All Programs or All Apps (depending on whether you have Windows XP/Vista/7 or Windows 8/10), and under the "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" folder, click "Minimal ADB and Fastboot". A command prompt window will open on the PC (it is black).

7. In the command prompt window, verify that the tablet is connected properly by typing fastboot devices into the command prompt window and pressing Enter.

If it returns with something similar or identical to this, then you're good to go!

[IMG="What should happen when you type "fastboot devices" and press Enter."]http://cdn.teamandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/fastboot-devices-600x302.jpg[/IMG]

If it returns with this, then the tablet is not properly connected.

​

8. Good to go? Type fastboot erase system and press enter in the command prompt window. Wait for it to finish.

9. Type fastboot erase cache and press enter. Wait for it to finish.

10. This step is optional, but it removes your personal data and files from the device. Type fastboot erase userdata and press Enter to do that. I would recommend this unless you have personal data you want to keep.

Now that we've removed the malfunctioning Android firmware, we will flash or install Android from a fresh start using fastboot.

Here comes the potentially dangerous part...we'll need to downgrade the fastboot version on the tablet to version 4.7.3, because Asus removed the ability to flash firmware using fastboot in later updates to the tablet...

If you have 4.7.3, you can tell because the Droidboot Recovery Environment will have "recovery" as an option, along with "reboot", "factory reset", etc. If you can see "recovery", skip steps 11-15. If you can't see "recovery", the following steps 11-15 are required.

If you did anything wrong previously, you would have the chance to retry, but if step 13 goes wrong and the tablet stops working altogether, whoops.

11. Download the fastboot.zip from the download link. You need to extract fastboot.img from the zip file: https://mega.nz/#!o90XVTYY!ZQ2VGDDWYyfcGSwetG2VDgfogmkBmphpI4S_euo4xj0

(psst...bad link? Download the 4.7.3 firmware file [it's a zip], extract the zip from that zip, and in the second zip, extract fastboot.img) Link: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePAD/ME302C/US_ME302C_V4_7_3.rar

12. Move fastboot.img into the install location of minimal adb and fastboot:

32 bit: C:\Program Files\Minimal ADB and Fastboot

64 bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot

It will look like this in the install location:

​

13. In the command prompt window, type fastboot flash fastboot fastboot.img and press enter.

Wait for it to finish!

14. Once it has finished, reboot the tablet. Use the volume buttons to highlight power off in the Droidboot menu, press the Power button to "OK" it. Then use the volume up + power button method to boot back into Droidboot.

15. Make sure that fastboot is still working by typing fastboot devices into the command prompt window and pressing enter.

It needs to identify your tablet:

[IMG="What should happen when you type "fastboot devices" and press Enter."]http://cdn.teamandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/fastboot-devices-600x302.jpg[/IMG]​

Great! Now we can flash the firmware back onto the tablet!

16. Download the appropriate firmware file from this website for the right country. http://www.asus.com/Tablets/ASUS_MeMO_Pad_FHD_10_ME302C/HelpDesk_Download/

Just select Android as OS, and you'll find it under Firmware.

There are different firmware versions available for download.

You could easily upgrade (correct?) or

flash the same version of the firmware you had

. (

what I'm sure of

)

To downgrade, you would have to run fastboot flash boot boot.img with the boot.img of the old version (correct?), to downgrade the kernel. You can find boot.img in the firmware file. This is a totally different matter, don't worry about it.

The firmware is country specific. For example, the 5.0.21 firmware has different versions for WW (?), CN (China), and US (United States).

If you bought your tablet in China, for example, you should probably be downloading CN version of firmware. If you purchased the tablet off of the US version of Amazon from a seller that shipped from China, it is probably US firmware that you should be downloading. But if you remember or wrote down the build number of the tablet in the settings, then the country code in the build number tells you what country you want to download the firmware for. Here is a helpful list of country codes. http://www.1728.org/countries.htm

I will be downloading the US 5.0.21 firmware update file (it's pretty substantial).

​

17. Once it finishes downloading, you'll see a zip file. Inside the first zip file is a folder, and inside that folder is another zip file. Extract the zip file from the zip file. The zip file you'll being using, the zip file that you just extracted from the first zip file, will have OTA in its name. I would send everything else to the recycle bin so it isn't as confusing.

​

18. Move the ota zip file into the install location of minimal adb and fastboot:

32 bit: C:\Program Files\Minimal ADB and Fastboot

64 bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot

19. In Fastboot, type fastboot flash update OTAUPDATE.zip, but replace OTAUPDATE.zip with the actual name of the zip file. Then press enter. Wait for it to finish!

As it finishes up, it will automatically reboot. Eventually it will reboot into Android. Cross your fingers, and good luck! :)

You can delete the OTA update zip and other stuff once you've fixed the tablet.