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Hey everyone!
I've been looking at the A100 lately, as I have the ability to obtain one (new) for $75 and change (after a credit with the store). However, after reading this thread a bit, I'm concerned about the emmc issue.
Has Acer released any updated models that don't have this issue, do they all have this issue (at some point)? It's the only reason I would avoid it and look at different models. Is there an assembly date to watch for? lol I'd like to get one, but would rather avoid an issue like this, as I enjoy modding devices and don't want to run into warranty issues trying to have faulty tech replaced.
Any help/clarification would be greatly appreciated!
heX79 said:
Hey everyone!
I've been looking at the A100 lately, as I have the ability to obtain one (new) for $75 and change (after a credit with the store). However, after reading this thread a bit, I'm concerned about the emmc issue.
Has Acer released any updated models that don't have this issue, do they all have this issue (at some point)? It's the only reason I would avoid it and look at different models. Is there an assembly date to watch for? lol I'd like to get one, but would rather avoid an issue like this, as I enjoy modding devices and don't want to run into warranty issues trying to have faulty tech replaced.
Any help/clarification would be greatly appreciated!
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Click to collapse
As far as we can tell they all have the same run of emmc memory, so in theory are all prone to it. Some protection can be found in the godmachine kernels and recovery, though. Mine hasn't bricked a second time since using a modified version of his kernels.
pio_masaki said:
As far as we can tell they all have the same run of emmc memory, so in theory are all prone to it. Some protection can be found in the godmachine kernels and recovery, though. Mine hasn't bricked a second time since using a modified version of his kernels.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick response! I've done some searching but can't seem to find any info on godmachine's recovery (unless I mistakenly overlooked it)? I can find his kernel (v2.0) and it appears to be installed via TWRP (which is fine).
This leaves me to assume that after unlocking the bootloader via the A200 replacement, I should just install TWRP, then flash godmachines kernel? (all this of course, after doing the ICS upgrade out of the box).
This is what I told a friend of mine who was thinking of getting one:
Depending on how much credit you are using, I would not spend more than $120 total for an A100 with all the new 7" tablets coming out with xmas and black friday on the way. I highly doubt you will get any more updates from acer with the new tablets they are releasing.
Pro:
Tegra2 chipset is great. ICS/JB runs really well. HDMI out works so this tablet acts as my portable media player (netflix, hulu, streaming from nas) to keep the kids busy. Games run well.
Con:
Emmc issue, bad viewing angle (even if it is only one really bad angle, the others are not so great either), low resolution, SOD, bad battery time (at least it charges really fast though), and worst of all, the touch screen issues. There are just some spots on the tablet that it takes 3-4 tries to work. build.prop also needs to be changed to show A500 for some games to be available.
As for development here on xda (with respect to pio_masaki and his private works) its safe to say that its pretty much dead. Good news is that the CM10 we have works almost flawlessly and Flexreaper rom is as solid as it gets.
Thanks for the feedback. I think, for now, I'll wait till the holidays arrive and see if other models come down in price. The Tegra 2 and dual core seemed a pretty decent combo for the price. The emmc issue is a complete turn-off, and was an absolute downer to read! But there is some possible hope for that with godmachines kernel.
I haven't read into it enough to have discovered the touch screen issues you mentioned, that is also going in the turn-off section.
Maybe I'll see what happens price wise with the Nexus 7 in December.
Thanks for the quick replies and helpful info! I'm still tempted, but will hold off on a purchase for now.
heX79 said:
Thanks for the quick response! I've done some searching but can't seem to find any info on godmachine's recovery (unless I mistakenly overlooked it)? I can find his kernel (v2.0) and it appears to be installed via TWRP (which is fine).
This leaves me to assume that after unlocking the bootloader via the A200 replacement, I should just install TWRP, then flash godmachines kernel? (all this of course, after doing the ICS upgrade out of the box).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I let all the OTA ICS updates install, then rooted, then unlocked the bootloader, then installed TWRP, I then
used TWRP to install CM10, Jelly Bean optimized Kernel for A100, and pio_masaki's Gapps all at the same time,
I hope the "disabled MMC_CAP_ERASE function" does the job. :fingers-crossed:
So my wife and I each have a Galaxy S3 phone; each around or just over two years old. I still love my phone and don't need a new one; except both our phones are getting less and less stable. I'm running CM11 and my wife is running stock firmware; so I don't blame the OS. Both phones exhibit the same locking up when taking a picture. I don't remember this happening at all when the phones were new. In general is this likely the hardware showing it's age, or does it sound like a software problem. Is two years about the life expectancy, or should these things continue to function longer?
Thanks
The frequency of hardware failures is increasing lately, but I have yet to see any camera problems due to aging. Plus I find it a bit odd that both of yours would fail in the same way around the same time.
I would first try factory resetting to see if that helps. It may be an app you both have that is causing problems. If that doesn't help, I'd then try flashing stock firmware with Odin and factory resetting. (Don't forget to backup everything first)
If that still doesn't solve the problem, and you feel it is a hardware problem, you could try replacing the camera module. They are pretty cheap online and its a fairly easy install. Watch a disassembly video if you want to see what's involved first.
Right now I'm thinking its more likely app related though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T999 using Tapatalk
The last phone I had was a Galaxy S2 and rooting and installing a new ROM was quite simple. They even had directions+tools to revert back to stock... What's the deal now?
What is dm-verity and how do I figure out if the ROM I want to install has it.. disabled? enabled?
I have no more warranty so I'm not worried about triggering knox.
This latest update has basically fried my battery... the battery discharges in about 3-4 hours using youtube red with airplane mode enabled, and the battery is also quite warm (at least 100 degrees F!)
I just want to be able to disable/enable services I want.
I'm on SM-G925T on 6.0.1/G925TUVS4EPH2, specifically. How do I find compatible ROMs and roots? I don't want to brick anything.
I understand this is a long shot since I see so many other posts with no replies but, I'm kind of desperate. I'm actually worried my phone might explode because of how warm it gets now.
I just got the phone about two days ago, did all the 8000 updates via OTA (phone came with 5.0.2) and landed on the 6.01 EPH2 that you're on and my battery life has been absolutely horrible as well. I'm thinking about returning the phone over it. Idk what to do.
xy34 said:
The last phone I had was a Galaxy S2 and rooting and installing a new ROM was quite simple. They even had directions+tools to revert back to stock... What's the deal now?
What is dm-verity and how do I figure out if the ROM I want to install has it.. disabled? enabled?
I have no more warranty so I'm not worried about triggering knox.
This latest update has basically fried my battery... the battery discharges in about 3-4 hours using youtube red with airplane mode enabled, and the battery is also quite warm (at least 100 degrees F!)
I just want to be able to disable/enable services I want.
I'm on SM-G925T on 6.0.1/G925TUVS4EPH2, specifically. How do I find compatible ROMs and roots? I don't want to brick anything.
I understand this is a long shot since I see so many other posts with no replies but, I'm kind of desperate. I'm actually worried my phone might explode because of how warm it gets now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thus device has been horrile for me too...
I have been trying to find folks who could actually communicate and help a little too..
Had a galaxy 3 in 2010 and a s4 in 2014, both were easy... bootloop, flash again.. not much risks..
Here we cant even remove the batteries and a lot of rhinfs that can make it stuck....
I do have root and twrp recovery btw..
If you want help getting those, just install telegram and search for user DSN .
I can help faster there and also link up to a few rom threads where people are quite active incase for help
I've been modding and ROMing for what seems like almost 10 years, the ROM development on this phone is horrible, I blame Samsung for this, too many variants, had the S6 on 4 networks and S6 edge on 4 networks, Hopefully Google makes a really nice new phone or I'm going to the other side.
I guess it's starting to make more sense now. Samsung obviously tried to squash custom build efforts by releasing so many different variants. It's a bit reassuring that people are having the same problems as I am...
To the person who just got the phone - RETURN IT!
Ironically, after I did a lot of browsing on this site during my morning commute, the phone started behaving better. It's still slow (not in my OP but it's definitely freezing whereas this wasn't an issue before) but the battery life is back to normal-ish levels and it hasn't warmed up on me. Maybe just keep browsing this site? LOL
Thanks, Samsung... I used to love the Galaxy line but this is some real Apple-esque **** (y'know, the whole updating the phone before the next generation gets released and having it run slow as **** thing.) Just Google the issue and there's lots of claims. I remember reading a reddit post where an Apple employee or cell phone repair store employee was saying that he'd have an influx of customers just before a new phone release.
It's all speculation but I wouldn't be surprised. They (Samsung) just did it after S7 got released. Too bad I'm stuck paying $30/month for this phone for the next two years. Never should have updated! It was perfect before all this.
That was me. Return it for what though? There's not much else in the price range that I was able to put down for a down payment that tmobile offers.....I put 276 down and the phone cost 499 total. The G5 is also 499 but I see nothing but complaints about it.......the S7 and S7 Edge they wanted close to 450 down and I just couldn't afford that so I went with the S6 Edge. What else is there?
carnivalrejectq said:
That was me. Return it for what though? There's not much else in the price range that I was able to put down for a down payment that tmobile offers.....I put 276 down and the phone cost 499 total. The G5 is also 499 but I see nothing but complaints about it.......the S7 and S7 Edge they wanted close to 450 down and I just couldn't afford that so I went with the S6 Edge. What else is there?
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Click to collapse
Look into the LG G4, maybe. Same era as the S6 but it's got a removable battery and external storage and I think it's easier to install custom software and root, but hopefully you won't need to if it runs well. Do your own research, yknow! Don't blindly follow anyone's advice, obviously. Let me know what you decide.
Okay, so I have no idea what is wrong with my att note 4.This thing has always been kept in an otterrbox.It has been kept in perfect condition until an ota forced its self upon the phone. After that it started acting weird. Reboots, freezes, black screens, and sometimes something would get corrupted and the phone wouldn't boot at all. Sometimes the phone would make a constant buzzer or it would go straight to recovery but say sbl1 partition doesn't exist. Flashing stock worked for a while, but the problems would come back shortly and have gotten much worse.I just bought a brand new battery fully charged it and flashed stock 5.0, 5.1, 6.0. It doesn't matter i have tried it with the pit, without the pit same things happen. I have tried both batteries, fresh wipes, different firmware's, and now I can't even get it to boot at all no matter what I Try.
What do you guys think my problem could be i have no idea what it could be
I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP
Same Issue
Hello,
After the marshmallow update I am facing the same. but i kept it running by downloading wakelock app from playstore . It somehow helps I am not sure the reason. Please select PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK option once you download.
Try to not to shut down the phone because of any reason.
I hope this helps! and do let me know if it does.
my phone has been doing this for the past year after the update to 5, I purchased it on ATT Next in december 2014 so I think i have 1 more next payment. thing is it was the BEST phone prior to the update to 5 then it has been hell. i've purchased 5 batteries which someitmes helped for a short period but currently i can't even use any of my tricks to get it to boot.
I have came so close to crushing the phone so many times. thank goodness ii'm older and wiser or else it would be long gone
jammer8 said:
my phone has been doing this for the past year after the update to 5, I purchased it on ATT Next in december 2014 so I think i have 1 more next payment. thing is it was the BEST phone prior to the update to 5 then it has been hell. i've purchased 5 batteries which someitmes helped for a short period but currently i can't even use any of my tricks to get it to boot.
I have came so close to crushing the phone so many times. thank goodness ii'm older and wiser or else it would be long gone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read many sources available online. These updates sometime is not compatible with our phones. In case of note 4, certain model's CPU faces shutdown trouble due to update the moment we lock the screen or in standby mode. To keep them running there are apps like wakelock. Download that and select option Partial_wake_lock. This will help a bit hopefully. Worked for me. But this isn't a permanent solution.
Apologies in advance if my terminologies aren't correct or the solution doesn't work.
My LG G4 is dead and i need a good substitute ASAP on a tight budget ($200-$250 max). This pretty much limits me to 2015 era phones. Not getting another LG, Samsungs are too expensive and S6 has no microSD slot anyway. Narrowed it down to either an HTC One M9 and Moto X Force. Moto's limited development as well as an alarming number of nightmarish defective OLED displays has scared me off of it (shame as I love OLEDs).
So i'm about settled on an HTC One M9. I did my best to research any deal breaking hardware defects, any problems seem far less severe or common compared to G4 or Moto. Assuming I haven't missed anything...
So that said my question now turns to the software side- are there any carriers/variants of the M9 I should try to avoid buying? As the title says, I wish to unlock the bootloader, root, and eventually install custom roms etc. I'm prepared to pay for Sunshine if necessary provided all M9 variants are supported. I've done my best to read through as many threads and pages as I could before asking this. It SEEMS like i'd be safe buying pretty much any M9 and still be able to unlock bootloader, root and s off. Even Verizon models if i'm not mistaken? Am I correct in this assumption? I wanted to ask just to ensure I didn't miss any important caveats before buying.
I messed up buying an LG, many suffer from a motherboard defect causing unfixable bootlooping and mine finally succumbed the other day. Mine was also a region that didn't allow bootloader unlocking. I could root with some effort if I didn't mind being stuck forever on lollipop, but no custom roms and other annoying limitations.
I don't wish to repeat the same mistakes if I can avoid it, so any information regarding my query would be greatly appreciated. Any other advice or things to look out for regarding the M9 would be helpful too. Thanks very much in advance.
By the way, the version i'm looking at buying is listed as an AT&T model. From what I have seen, this variant seems to be pretty much perfect for doing all I want. But I still wanted to ask this in case I either get a different variant, or if the seller is listing the wrong version of the product. If all M9s are basically equal at this point, then I don't need to worry which kind I get.
Try to buy a worldwide edition. It's the sim unlocked from factory with region 401 ie x.xx.401.xx firmware version.
M9 is a solid phone. The camera isn't the greatest but it does take good shots. It can get a bit hot if charging and playing games at the same time and it is more than capable of draining the battery in an hour or two if you use resource intensive games or apps. The sound is very clear and boomsound is a major player in the satisfaction this phone gives, making the speakers significantly bassier than other devices on the market. The speakers 'can' be a little quiet at full but they ALWAYS stay crystal clear with no distortion at all.
You MUST get a protector case for this device as the front of the actual phone can crack if you apply pressure, by the front camera lens is cracked on mine. Tech21 make a good sturdy case for this device but it is a tad expensive at £30 GBP.
I Don't recommend using custom roms with this device as not only is the risk of a brick significantly higher it is also going to result in a slightly slower phone than stock rooted.
The different variants of this device are essentially the same but carrier locked versions can be a prick to find software to fix stuff.
In all you've made the right choice of phone if you plan on keeping it stock but the wrong one if you plan on modding it.
Beamed in by telepathy.
Sorry, but I have to disagree with some points of the post above this one.
If you live in the US then choosing either the unlocked/dev variant or the version of your carrier is the best choice. SKU 401 is optimized for the EU (in regard to supported frequencies and some GPS configurations). And it's important that you choose the correct hardware version for your carrier's technology (Verizon & Sprint: CDMA - all other variants: GSM). The firmware of CDMA devices and GSM devices isn't interchangeable. You can't even flash Sprint firmware on a Verizon device (or vice versa) without damaging it. However, you can change from one GSM firmware to a different one if you want to (S-OFF required).
Just for having it mentioned (I know that you don't need this information but who knows who else is going to read this): The Verizon version's bootloader cannot get unlocked via HTCdev (unlike the bootloader of all other versions). You need S-OFF for unlocking the bootloader of that version. Since sunshine needs root on the latest firmware version the only way to unlock the Verizon variant on the latest firmware is an xtc clip/java card. (This may change with a future update of sunshine.) Or you try to get a pre-Nougat Verizon M9 and use the temp-root of the sunshine app.
In addition, HTC provides RUUs for its US devices. Therefore, getting back to stock is easier with one of them than with all other non-US variants.
And in regard to custom roms: They don't hardbrick your device. The worst thing that can happen is a soft-brick/bootloop and that will only happen if you try to flash a custom rom whose base is newer than your phone's firmware (and some nougat roms are even compatible with the marshmallow firmware so this happens quite rarely in the recent time).
Aside from that, my phone is as fast while I use Viper 6.1 as it has been while I was playing around with the stock rom. If there really is a difference then you need laboratory equipment for being able to detect it. And I'm pretty sure that you get the same performance on other (sense-based) custom roms, as well.
The only thing that you need to be aware of is that there are more and more reports of dying memory chips. These nand deaths happen on stock phones and on modified phones. As far as I read, no one has been able to repair such a dead device except for HTC itself. I don't know what's the cause of the problem since I know enough people whose M9's are still working fine without any issues.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs
Thanks for the reply from both of you. I'm surprised and happy a mod actually replied too!
My LG was locked out from installing custom roms and such, but I have experience installing some on a first gen Galaxy S (currently using it as backup in fact). I'm sure things have changed somewhat, but I am aware of the potential risks in flashing custom roms. I've bootlooped and soft bricked my device doing so more than once. I'm not a programmer, but I was able to fix them all with patience, research and the right tools/software. I assume there are also methods to deal with soft bricks and bootloops on HTC One M9 if you consider it less of a threat than a hardware brick (which my LG G4 got even without flashing anything). I appreciate the warning and advice either way.
I'm not concerned with the carrier compatibility that much. I don't have service with anyone at the moment and can use whatever. Seller says the device is a GSM unlocked AT&T device, if accurate then i'm perfectly content with using GSM networks. Listing says "new AT&T carrier overstock item", which I hope means the device is okay. It's being advertised as running 5.0 Lollipop, which I assume means the stock rom it came with when first released and also hope is an okay starting point for doing whatever rooting and customization I want.
I hope the NAND issue doesn't crop up on the one I get though, that doesn't sound good. HTC attracted me because i've seen fewer people complaining about widespread hardware defects compared to many other phones. It's difficult to find phones that are a good value, are reasonably free of serious problems and include features I deem important (microSD card support for instance, and having reasonably fast processors). My options are limited.
I'm not sure if i'll need s off. I'm new to that term and don't know much about it besides it being some sort of HTC security. Not sure what doors would open up by having s off, still researching. Assuming the model I buy is accurately listed as AT&T, it sounds like I should be able to unlock the bootloader, root, flash TWRP and even get custom roms without having s off. Am I correct? Not even sure if it's required to flash kernels such as ElementalX.
That can happen if you post in the forum of a device that's owned by a mod. Don't forget that we're normal members, as well, if we don't moderate.
If you face a soft-brick you only need to keep both volume buttons and the power button pressed until the phone reboots to its bootloader. From there on you can boot to TWRP and only need to flash a working rom or to restore a backup of a working (stock) rom and the problem should be fixed. Hard-bricks only happen if you flash a CDMA firmware on a GSM device (or vice versa) or a Sprint firmware on a Verizon device (or vice versa). The phone will still be booting but from what I observed here on xda your SIM card won't be detected, anymore, even if you re-flash your phone's original firmware. Aside from that you can "kill" this phone if you're impatient while it's installing an update and power it down during the process (there was a time when that happened quite often). Therefore, I suggest you to just let it do it's thing after you started the update process. Depending on which update you want to install it might take up to approximately half an hour and the phone might reboot (and therefore vibrate) several times.
Correct, for flashing custom recoveries/roms/kernels you don't need S-OFF on this phone (as long as it's not the Verizon variant). Take a look at the further reading section of the ReadMe thread. There's an article linked that explains S-OFF. And Sneakyghost's firmware thread in the development section should contain an explanation, as well. If I remember correctly it should be located in the 5th post. Be aware that you don't need to (re-)lock this phones bootloader like you needed to do on older HTC devices if you want to flash a RUU with S-ON as long as you use the SD card method. That's the recommended method, btw.
I personally don't use a custom kernel. They had a huge impact on my last device (the HTC One S - released in 2012) but HTC seems to be learning at least from some of its "mistakes" since the battery optimizations are much better on the M9. Therefore, I haven't been using a custom kernel since one of the early versions of ElementalX. On the other hand, that means that I can't tell you whether the current version got optimized that much that it actually has an impact, again.
In regard to the nand issue: Don't forget that 95% of the posts here get made by people who face problems with their phones whereas most people don't post if everything is working fine. That might cause that an issue seems to be more common than it actually is. And as said in my last post, I haven't seen such a dead nand in real life, yet, and I know a lot of people who own this phone.
And last but not least a little tip: Find out your phone's firmware as soon as you get it. If it's a pre-4.x version (everything before android n) then try to find the latest 3.x RUU for your SKU*. If you install that one you will save some time that would otherwise be needed for installing a huge amount of OTA updates. (A RUU only needs around 5 minutes if you use the SD card method.) You can't directly install a 4.x RUU since HTC changed the encryption keys between firmware 3.x and 4.x. Therefore, you need to install the 4.x update via the software update function of the phone since OTAs aren't encrypted. More information, some useful files and instructions can be found in the ReadMe thread. (It's a big wall-of-text but reading and understanding it is worth the time that you need for doing so.)
Edit: * = Here's a download link for the latest 3.x AT&T M9 RUU (directly from HTC's server). However, now that I think about it I actually can't tell you whether the AT&T variant already received android n...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs