General questions about Android...

[mewstarz]

Hi! I'm soon going to be getting my very first Android device, the Acer Iconia Tab A500. I have 2 main questions..

1. How do you update OS/Software?
I'm pretty sure it's different than iOS where you just download and install the software. I've never used any mobile operating system besides iOS so I don't know how updating works on Android.

2. What is a ROM?
I looked up how to upgrade, didn't get an answer, but I found things saying custom ROM, ROMs won't work, something along those lines. Is a ROM like an IPSW (In iOS terms)


thanks!

[dlamber7]

Most android devices will have OTA (over-the-air) updates available to them from their manufacturer/carrier. I don't have the Iconia Tab, so I'm not sure if there are any custom roms available for it. A rom is what is running, it's what you see when you boot your device, it's what makes your device what it is, what it does, etc. A custom rom is exactly what the name implies, custom. Custom rom can dramatically improve the performance of your device, as well as provide some nice eye candy.

[mewstarz]

Thanks for the reply. Any helpful links anyone would mine to share on how to get such ROMs? Or how to install them? Thanks!

[Av3LaR]

Acer Iconia Tab A500 is supose to get ICS (latest Android ROM) in January 2012.
There are some modded ROMs but you'll need to root and i'm not sure if you want to, and yes, roms are kinda ipsw for iOs (I remark, kinda) and if we speak in those terms, rooting would be similar to jailbreaking, but it's easier to go back from rooting that from jailbreaking to stock.

Here is a part of a small writing you might want to read

First up, ensure that you have rooted your acer iconia a500 tab which you can root from the below mentioned link. If you are not sure of whether your device is rooted or not then go to the list of apps and find for the applications called “Superuser” or “Clock Work Mod” or “CWM”. Even if single app is there out of these three then it means that the device is rooted and if not then the device is not rooted.

Procedure to Root Acer Iconia Tab A500

Once the Acer Iconia is rooted, you need to install the Acer Recovery application from the Android Market Place so that you can then proceed to the next step.

Once the device is rooted, download the Taboonay 2.0 Custom ROM for Acer Iconia Tab A500 Zip File to your computer , you now need to connect the tab to the computer using the USB cable which you got at the time of purchase and then move the downloaded zip file as it is to your tab. Ensure that you don’t rename the file or else the file may not work.

After placing the file in your tab, you need to now turn Off the tab so that you can then enter your tab in the recovery mode. The recovery mode in Acer iconia tab A 500 can be entered by Pressing the Volume Down button and the Power button till you see the recovery mode screen.
Now, once you enter into the recovery mode you will have to make the Nandroid Backup so that just in case if anything goes wrong then you can easily get back to the Stock version of the firmware.
After this you need to select the option of Wipe data/factory reset then followed by Wipe Cache partition. Additionally from the advanced options, you also need to clear the Dalvik Cache in the recovery mode so as to just ensure that all the cache files are deleted from your tab.
Now, you will have to select the option of “install zip from SD card” and then “choose zip from SD Card” after which you will see the list of files which are there in the phone.

After this you need to select the zip file which is named as “Taboonay-2.1_fullBY_AndroidAdvices” and then you need to wait till the firmware update is processed after either the device will be restarted or the device you will again land back to the recovery mode.
Now, in the recovery mode, you will have to select the option of “++++ Go Back ++++” and need to choose the option of “Reboot system now” to reboot the system now and then there you go, you are all ready with an all new firmware of Taboonay 2.0 custom ROM in your phone.

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