"Asteroid" tablet pc will not boot!

Sep 10, 2011
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Hey everyone, this is my first time using the forum so hi.
I am trying to fix a friends android tablet pc. I have never even heard of the make and no software comes with the device. It's a so called "Asteroid" tablet which will not get past the boot screen! it just gets stuck on the android logo with the dots going up and down the space ship. He said it worked for one day and then it broke. It does look very similar to the generic ones being sold on other websites and are just called "7 Inch Android 2.2OS Tablet with WiFi and Camera".

Any help is very much appreciated! Thanks

sorry for posting a specific device in this section, but the make is unknown.
P.S:
android 2.2
Kernel:2.6.32
build:v1.5.1
 

Moscow Desire

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Mar 3, 2011
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This is what happens when you pay 75 bucks for a tablet pc, or maybe a little more. Who knows where and whom it came from.

The fact that it somewhat boots to the ..... ahem.... logo, so all is not lost. It's what we call "semi-bricked" or.... Bootloop hell. Usually this is the result of a corrupted Android OS. Or trying to install something that wasn't meant for the device.

The only thing at this point you can try, is to power off, hold the vol button (+ or -), then press and hold the power on button for 3 or 4 seconds, and see if it boots into some sort of recovery menu where you can do a reset. And this is a long shot.

Another long shot, is to pull and format the sd card, reinsert and see what happens.

Still a couple other long shot tries, but check the above first.

Really, for the same money, your friend could've bought a Cody tablet. And some of these you can root and rom. At least it's a recognized product.

Check the boot to recovery. Some devices require a different button combo, but they all involve the power button.

After a little research, I found that these "asteroid" tablets come directly from china, and seem to be sold exclusively on E-Bay and other low budget places. Probably some fly-by-night guy bought a buttload of these, and is hawking them off on e-bay.
 
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Sep 10, 2011
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Thanks for the response.
It seemed a bit like you were having a go at me about the tablet. I told him not to buy it my self but he went ahead and paid out ?100 GBP. The device is still stuck on the android boot screen. Thanks for the response anyway.
 

Moscow Desire

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Thanks for the response.
It seemed a bit like you were having a go at me about the tablet. I told him not to buy it my self but he went ahead and paid out ?100 GBP. The device is still stuck on the android boot screen. Thanks for the response anyway.

Just bit of a go at your friend ;) He should have listened to you.

I was actually dumbfounded, as I couldn't find much technical info for that tablet. Only references to where they were being sold.

If this were an android phone, or a well known tablet, the process would be a lot easier, but considering it's a clone tablet, things are a little bit different.

The other option, would be to find the stock android 2.2 zip file, usually specific for the device. Normally these are easy to locate, but for the Asteroid, it may be difficult and require tons of Googling.

Process is simple, rename the zip to "update.zip", and copy it to the root of the sd. Power On, and if the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, and the wind blows in the right direction, the device "should" recognize the update.zip and install it.

But note, these are device specific. It would help more to know which device they cloned it from.

Other than that, he'll have to return it and get his money back.
 
Sep 10, 2011
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Just bit of a go at your friend ;) He should have listened to you.

I was actually dumbfounded, as I couldn't find much technical info for that tablet. Only references to where they were being sold.

If this were an android phone, or a well known tablet, the process would be a lot easier, but considering it's a clone tablet, things are a little bit different.

The other option, would be to find the stock android 2.2 zip file, usually specific for the device. Normally these are easy to locate, but for the Asteroid, it may be difficult and require tons of Googling.

Process is simple, rename the zip to "update.zip", and copy it to the root of the sd. Power On, and if the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, and the wind blows in the right direction, the device "should" recognize the update.zip and install it.

But note, these are device specific. It would help more to know which device they cloned it from.

Other than that, he'll have to return it and get his money back.

Thanks very much, confirmed my theory there. I will give it my best shot but at the end of the day like you said as it's device specific it may take me ages to find the appropriate files. wish me luck and thanks anyway.
 
Sep 10, 2011
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Just bit of a go at your friend ;) He should have listened to you.

I was actually dumbfounded, as I couldn't find much technical info for that tablet. Only references to where they were being sold.

If this were an android phone, or a well known tablet, the process would be a lot easier, but considering it's a clone tablet, things are a little bit different.

The other option, would be to find the stock android 2.2 zip file, usually specific for the device. Normally these are easy to locate, but for the Asteroid, it may be difficult and require tons of Googling.

Process is simple, rename the zip to "update.zip", and copy it to the root of the sd. Power On, and if the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, and the wind blows in the right direction, the device "should" recognize the update.zip and install it.

But note, these are device specific. It would help more to know which device they cloned it from.

Other than that, he'll have to return it and get his money back.

It says on the manual "MID" as the brand. is this of any use? i cant really find anything.
 

Moscow Desire

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MID is indeed the manufacturer, but as of yet, I haven't had much luck finding them. :D

Found several reviews at various tech sites (none of them good).

However, I remember something interesting. After viewing one site who decided to, (reasons unknown) tear apart a different model MID, I noticed a small pinhole near the volume rocker.

What's more interesting, is my A501 has a similar hole on the side also.

This is a "reset" option. I assume it resets the tab back to stock condition, but I am not quite sure what exactly will happen. :D:D:D

I suppose, you stick a paper clip, press and hold, and power on (keep pressing for about 10 seconds.

Or maybe you power on first, then stick it in, and hold for 10 seconds.

Worth a shot.

50/50. But at this point, he has a bricked device so anythings worth trying.
 
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MID is indeed the manufacturer, but as of yet, I haven't had much luck finding them. :D

Found several reviews at various tech sites (none of them good).

However, I remember something interesting. After viewing one site who decided to, (reasons unknown) tear apart a different model MID, I noticed a small pinhole near the volume rocker.

What's more interesting, is my A501 has a similar hole on the side also.

This is a "reset" option. I assume it resets the tab back to stock condition, but I am not quite sure what exactly will happen. :D:D:D

I suppose, you stick a paper clip, press and hold, and power on (keep pressing for about 10 seconds.

Or maybe you power on first, then stick it in, and hold for 10 seconds.

Worth a shot.

50/50. But at this point, he has a bricked device so anythings worth trying.

Thanks, tried the rest and it seems to do nothing, it's supposed to restore the product but I'm guessing that it's corrupt the restore also. I've about had enough of it so might be just throwing it back at him on Friday. Will give it 1 more go but if not then it's going back to him. thanks for all the help.
 

Moscow Desire

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The Acer A501, is a great tab as with the A500. A tad bit slow on screen responsivness (when dragging and deleting icons), but it's a monster. And extremely tinker friendly.

No complaints here
 

theman0030

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problems with ANDROID 1.6 TABLET 7" WMT2.1.2_105 (MID or Apad)

- Freezes after the "Loading" message during the boot.
- The android system loading and after few seconds the display turn off and don't work nothing.
- Touchscreen does not responding/does not working.
- When upgrade the system of your Android Tablet see message:
"Udisk not found (/dev/sda)
Failed Upgrading filesystem. Exit!"
- Or you just want to reset your Android Tablet

I have the same problems with my Android Tablet and finally after several attempts
find this patch:

https://rapidshare.com/files/3675403255/2.0188_99.rar

So, when you download it you must unzip it
(
you can unzip it with WinZip which you can here download at free trial mode:
Download WinZip?
)

When you unzip it you will see folder with name "2.0188".
Open this folder and you will see folder with name "script",
copy the folder "script" in your micro SD/TF memory card which you will put in your Android Tablet
(ATTENTION: Memory card must be TOTALLY empty!).

1.Connect your Android Tablet with charger.
2.Make sure the tablet is off!
3.Put memory card in your Android Tablet.
4.Turn on the tablet.
5.Now it will update do not interrupt this it can take 5 min.
6.Wait until the tablet says remove memory card.
7.When you remove the memory card the device will OFF.
8.Activate your device and you will be ready to use it again!
(ATTENTION: If you want to use the same memory card in your device you must delete the folder with name "script" from it -
Copy the folder "script" in your PC if you want again reset your Android Tablet).