# Solved: ACER a500 turns on but won't boot up. Please help!



## wgreene

How can I get my out-of-warranty ACER a500 tablet to completely boot up again? Whenever I push the power button either of two things happens. Usually, the "acer" logo appears and freezes immediately. At other times it goes a step farther, to the "android" logo, but again it freezes. There was one time when it actually progressed to display my desktop with icons. The problem then was that all the icons were frozen!!!

A number of times I've pushed the reset button on the side to shut down and restart, but, once again, the "acer" or "android" logos appeared and froze immediately.

Next, I tried pressing the power button while simultaneously holding the "volume up" button, then releasing only the power button when the unit began to vibrate. That didn't do any good either. 

Naturally, I would like to restart and use the tablet without losing all my data; I only hope that is possible.

I've tried contacting ACER for support, but the chat and e-mail functions are available only to customers with units which are still under warranty. Being unable to get help thru ACER, I would be most grateful for any offers of suggestion or advice. Thank you very much.


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## wgreene

To my surprise, I was able to call an ACER tech support number and receive some assistance; however, the unit still is not working. The technician told me to power down the unit, then insert a paper clip in the Reset hole and hold it for 30 seconds, Unfortunately, that failed to work. At this point I am still open to any suggestions which might help. Thank you again.


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## prunejuice

Do you have a microSD card installed?


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## wgreene

Yes. I'll remove it and see what happens.


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## wgreene

I removed it and then rebooted, but the problem remains the same. Should it make a difference whether or not the microSD card is installed? Perhaps there's something else I could try.


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## wgreene

It _still_ won't boot up.


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## prunejuice

It sounds like it's toast.

I'd send it in for service, unless it's headed for the trash bin. Then you might consider a last ditch, Hail Mary attempt at re-flashing the firmware.

WARNING: Flashing firmware on unstable devices can permanently brick your machine. (but if you have nothing to lose, it's a shot in the dark).


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## wgreene

Thank you for your input. Actually, I talked to a local computer technician a couple of days ago and he suggested the same thing -- that I attempt to re-flash the firmware. By the way, is that a procedure which can be performed over the telephone, like when I have my cable provider send a signal to my modem? I believe the techie told me I could bring it in to his shop to have it re-flashed for a fee. I'm thinking it might not be worth the time and money to have that done. For one thing, the other day I bought a Google Nexus 7 from Staples, which at $150 I considered a real bargain. (I decided to stop waiting for the soon-to-be-released 7.2.) I like the Nexus 7 so much that now I'll be highly tempted to get the second edition of the Nexus 10. In the meantime, if it's easy and cheap enough I'll go ahead and have my ACER re-flashed. 

Thanks again.


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## wgreene

I've finally given up on trying to revive my Acer. In the meantime I've been enjoying my recently-purchased Nexus 7. I may even buy the new one.


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