SOLVED (again): -> Acer download tool failing due to slow USB

[Guest linuxluver]

Update 2010-03-27: I have now been able to successfully flash my phone many, many times with the Acer Download Tool.

The REAL problem was that I was running BOINC distributed processing client (doing work units for SETI@Home and ClimatePrediction.net) in the background. This was stealing CPU resource and preventing the Acer Download Tool from being able to use the USB connection at a high enough speed. You must *suspend* BOINC processing (not good enough to just close the BOINC Manager - you need to use the BOINC Manager to suspend the processing) in order to avoid this problem.

Similarly, if you are seeing a problem where Acer Download Tool isn't completing the flash and appears to be timing out, then look at what youe system is running in the background as some task (or combination of tasks) may be slowing your system down enough to make the process fail.

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Update 00:44: The underlying problem was slow USB throughput. having never used the Acer Download Tool before, I had no detailed idea as to what to expect.....so it was all trial and error and some suggestions here helped. But maxing the CPU on the phone and optimising the Vista USB performance seems to have got things going fast enough that I was able to successfully flash LiquidE onto my phone.

*whew*.......14 hours later. The Liquid is a LOT more work than my HTC Magic!

Update 21:26: The Download Tool also failed on WinXP *after* the system.img was flashed, but before it was verified. It looks like it timed out.....but I am now booting a LiquidE system....despite the Data partition not being wiped. So everything I touch if FC'ing.

Weird.

Hopefully I can re-flash the BIN on a faster USB port. Slow USB seems to be my issue here......despite the PC being 3 months old and USB 2.0. The system.img is just too big to download to the phone before the download tool times out. (I hate windows....)

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I thought I had it worked out, but no matter which BIN I try to install, they all fail on the attempt to flash the system.img from the SDCAAPZ folder.

The only one that worked was 2.000.16 EMEA GEN1...and that only worked once.

I may try to boot to WinXP and see if I have any luck there. Vista on H: isn't doing it.

I ran the last attempt from C: but the Windows system is booted from H:.

I also have Lickonn's recovery on the phone. I'm wondering if it has messed up some permissions somewhere.

The most recent failure was trying to install the LiquidE BIN file. To recover from the failed attempt, I restored a Nandroid backup of v1.6.....but I only have wifi (no phone or other data) due to the different baseband in LiquidE.

So now I'm *really* having fun.

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I worked it out.

The first time I had (ever) tried to flash anything with the Acer Download Tool was with the AAP EUU packager posted earlier today. This failed, but created C:\A1_QCN. (UPDATE: It also creates a *hidden* copy in C:\Program Files\QNCFILES - I suspect this caused my next attempt to flash a BIN file - 2.000.13 AAP GEN2 - to fail. I'm trying to recover from that now, this time without a recovery.....)

I never use the C: drive! It's a relic from an upgrade to Vista from XP...and the upgrade process effectively forces you to boot the old drive. Just one of the many reasons I hate Windows.

Once I deleted this rogue A1_QCN with an Asia Pacific view on things, the Acer Download Tool (on H:) ran through just fine and completed the flashing process. But it, too, created an \A1_QCN on C:

Now I know about this I'll be fine......but I never expected an app to default to a disk other than the present one or one that was specified. Having said that, that's the sort of crap Windows programs from Acer have done to me in the past....on my old Acer laptop.

MS-DOS is still with us in moment like this.....

OK...so now my phone is un-rooted 2.000.16 EMEA GEN1 and I know the Acer Download Tool works...and I know how it can get confused and how to fix it.

Now I can think about flashing one of the Eclair ROMs, knowing I can go back to Donut if I want to.

Another brick in the wall. Thanks for the help, everyone.

************** Original Post *********************

I wanted to see how the Acer download tool worked, so I got a copy of the stock 2.000.16 EMEA GEN1 ROM and started the flashing process. I connected it to my DLink 7-port USB hub. It connected

The flash process seemed to go OK for the first couple of minutes, but now (15-20 mins later) there is no obvious progress. The display hasn't changed and looks just as it does in the screenshot below. The tool says my phone isn't connected. Is this normal?

Reason for concern is: My daughter told me (after I started) the two end ports on the hub (one of which I'm using) dies from time to time and she doesn't use them (and.......doesn't tell me she doesn't use them... *sigh*).

So having never done this before I'm now not sure if it is working properly or not. Does this look ok? (screenshot)

If it is crapped out, how would I go about recovering?

Assuming the phone won't boot normally, do I (CAN I?) put it in Fastboot/Bootloader mode and flash a recovery and run a nandroid restore? I took one just before beginning this process.

Guess I'll wait a while, but I don't know if this is still working as intended or if it crapped out. Main concern is the device isn't connected.

Edited March 27, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest eViL D:]

NEVER flash with a hub, rule #1.

[Guest eViL D:]

And, no. If that was the end, that doesn't look right.

If it doesn't boot. You can try to fastboot flash Maxisma's *.16 img

Edited March 6, 2010 by eViL D:

[Guest linuxluver]

NEVER flash with a hub, rule #1.

Thanks for the advice re: Maxisma....and hubs.

:-(

Update: I assumed that the process was interrupted as it switched from the mode it was in to a USB mass storage mode...so that may be a cleanbreak in the steps.

I unplugged another device and plugged it into a different USB port (having unplugged the webcam)...and the update resumed.

We'll see if it actually works.....but it is now busily updating "DSP1" ....and now in step 1 of 5 doing fastboot flashes and so on.....so it looks like my assumption was correct.

More good luck than good planning.

Edited March 6, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest eViL D:]

The whole process shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. Also, it would be wise to use USB 2.0.

[Guest emerald7086]

if you could switch on, just switch on, not booting, the phone, then you have every chance to right the wrong.

use the combination keys to enter fastboot, then you can flash all over again

AND from your post, my wild guessing is you may have forgotten to check the usb debug at the very first time...

[Guest linuxluver]

if you could switch on, just switch on, not booting, the phone, then you have every chance to right the wrong.

use the combination keys to enter fastboot, then you can flash all over again

AND from your post, my wild guessing is you may have forgotten to check the usb debug at the very first time...

I did make sure USB debug was turned ON.....I hope that is correct. The process seems to be working.....

The phone is now in fastboot mode and the screen says:

usb_init

erasing 'setupdata' -OKAY

erasing 'boot' - OKAY

writing 'boot' - (2375680 bytes) verify... verify... OKAY

erasing 'system' - OKAY

...and that's it so far. The Tool says "Change Mode: please wait. [Download mode => OS download mode]"

Device 01: [Process]" Fastboot ~~~

The progress indicator to the right is grey and shows 0 / 5 (though it has shown higher values there before).

My problem is I don't know when it is complete...and unplugging / replugging the USB on the hub seems to be the only way to get the process to advance - which makes the warning message about not disconnecting a bit worrying. :-)

UPDATE: Now it get to the point where it tries to flash the system image and then after a few minutes says: "ERRIR: Fastboot is failed" and the process has now quit and it highlighted in red.

Hmm. Plan B time.

Edited March 6, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest linuxluver]

I tried to flash lickonn's recovery. It appeared to fail.

I pulled the battery & booted recovery....and it booted ok. I restored from my backup. I'm writing this post on my phone.

Question: Should I have un-rooted the phone before using the Acer download tool?

[Guest emerald7086]

I tried to flash lickonn's recovery. It appeared to fail.

I pulled the battery & booted recovery....and it booted ok. I restored from my backup. I'm writing this post on my phone.

Question: Should I have un-rooted the phone before using the Acer download tool?

nope. it doesn't matter if it's rooted or not.

pls check the rom itself, it may be corrupted, is its md5 got a pass in the ADT screen? i had a similar issue before, then it turned out to be an incomplete-downloaded rom... <_<

[Guest three_pineapples]

shouldn't matter about root.

My suggestion is use the NEW acer flashing tool. It should be included with this: http://toxen.mine.nu/pics/temp/Acer_Liquid...0.16_G1_EUU.zip

[Guest linuxluver]

nope. it doesn't matter if it's rooted or not.

pls check the rom itself, it may be corrupted, is its md5 got a pass in the ADT screen? i had a similar issue before, then it turned out to be an incomplete-downloaded rom... <_<

The MD5 was a pass.

Being a glutton for punishment, I'm now running the download tool again....and it seems to be working fine. .....Um...no....It's just crapped out again. At the same place: trying to use fastboot after erasing the system image.

I want to have faith in the download tool before flashing to Android v2.1 and having the download tool be part of the only way back. Maybe I need to get rid of any "fastboot.exe" programs that might be conflicting. I have the fastboot for the HTC Magic on here, too.

I might also try that later version of the download tool pointed to in another post.

So far, this just isn't working. But at least the phone is recoverable each time.

[Guest linuxluver]

The third attempt, using the new Acer download tool bundled with the 2.000.16 EMEA GEN1 end user update (EUU), failed at the same place - just after the erase of the system image. Fastboot fails talking to the phone.

I wonder why it won't work? I have removed all other versions of Fastboot that might conflict.

Looks like I may have to flash a different Android v1.6 ROM on here....and try again. This time I'll try "Run as Administrator" on Windows.

The log isn't very helpful:

[Fastboot] : In Fastboot_State.Fb_System

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : Beginning

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : [system]

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : in FastbootDLImage_Initial()

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : ExitCode is : 0

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : result is : erasing 'system'... OKAY

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : [system] : Okay

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : arg is : flash system "H:\Program Files\Acer Inc\Acer Liquid Tool\USB Download Tool\ACER_A1_Bin\SDCAAPZ\system.img"

[Warning] : [in no resp] : do process.kill()

[Fastboot] : [system.img] FastBoot_RetryCount is : 0

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : Beginning

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : [system]

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : in FastbootDLImage_Initial()

[Warning] : [fastboot Ini has no resp] : do process.kill()

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : arg is : flash system "H:\Program Files\Acer Inc\Acer Liquid Tool\USB Download Tool\ACER_A1_Bin\SDCAAPZ\system.img"

[Fastboot] : [in FastbootDLImage_NewArch03()] : ExitCode is : 0

[Fastboot] : [in FastbootDLImage_NewArch03()] : result[outer] is : sending 'system' (94778 KB)... FAILED (status read failed (Unknown error))

[Fastboot] : [system.img] FastBoot_RetryCount is : 1

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : Beginning

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : [system]

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : in FastbootDLImage_Initial()

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : ExitCode is : 0

[Fastboot] : [Erase] : result is : < waiting for device >

[Fastboot] : [fastboot Ini has resp] : Now, waiting for device...< waiting for device >

[Fastboot] : [system.img] : arg is : flash system "H:\Program Files\Acer Inc\Acer Liquid Tool\USB Download Tool\ACER_A1_Bin\SDCAAPZ\system.img"

Edited March 6, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest navygino]

again, please right click and run the Acer tool with admin permission... <_<

[Guest eViL D:]

I see you have an h drive, is that networked, external or on a separate partition? I would reinstall to the c drive and try then.

[Guest linuxluver]

I see you have an h drive, is that networked, external or on a separate partition? I would reinstall to the c drive and try then.

I worked it out.

The first time I had (ever) tried to flash anything with the Acer Download Tool was with the AAP EUU packager posted earlier today. This failed, but created C:\A1_QCN.

I never use the C: drive! It's a relic from an upgrade to Vista from XP...and the upgrade process effectively forces you to boot the old drive. Just one of the many reasons I hate Windows.

Once I deleted this rogue A1_QCN with an Asia Pacific view on things, the Acer Download Tool (on H:) ran through just fine and completed the flashing process. But it, too, created an \A1_QCN on C:

Now I know about this I'll be fine......but I never expected an app to default to a disk other than the present one or one that was specified. Having said that, that's the sort of crap Windows programs from Acer have done to me in the past....on my old Acer laptop.

MS-DOS is still with us in moment like this.....

OK...so now my phone is un-rooted 2.000.16 EMEA GEN1 and I know the Acer Download Tool works...and I know how it can get confused and how to fix it.

Now I can think about flashing one of the Eclair ROMs, knowing I can go back to Donut if I want to.

Another brick in the wall. Thanks for the help, everyone.

Edited March 6, 2010 by linuxluver

[Guest emerald7086]

glad to see that, enjoy! <_<

[Guest linuxluver]

glad to see that, enjoy! <_<

It seems it isn't over yet.

The download tool has only worked one time and failed a dozen. It always fails trying to flash the system.img from the SDCAAPZ directory.

I've tried flashing it manually, but that doesn't work either.

I may try booting to Windows XP on the C: drive and see if that works.

[Guest Borkata]

What I have noticed is that to make work fastboot (and Acer tool actually uses fastboot) I had to go to bootloaded mode and wait for drivers to initialize. First of all I had installed SDK and drivers from there. After that made sure to install Acer USB drivers.

Then made my phone in fastboot mode and waited driver to be initialized! (actually fastboot continued saying usb_init but most important is the driver in windows to be successfully init and started).

After that you can try to flash a system.img directly.

One more hit is that you can use the saved QNC xml (the first one you had) file and select manually with the Acer tool while flashing the new bin.

[Guest linuxluver]

What I have noticed is that to make work fastboot (and Acer tool actually uses fastboot) I had to go to bootloaded mode and wait for drivers to initialize. First of all I had installed SDK and drivers from there. After that made sure to install Acer USB drivers.

Then made my phone in fastboot mode and waited driver to be initialized! (actually fastboot continued saying usb_init but most important is the driver in windows to be successfully init and started).

After that you can try to flash a system.img directly.

One more hit is that you can use the saved QNC xml (the first one you had) file and select manually with the Acer tool while flashing the new bin.

Thanks. I have tried to see if the download tool can just jump to the flashing stage, but it won't even start.

I could manually flash all the components if it was as simple as that and I knew the correct names and any order that may be required. But I don't.

I had thought BOOT and SYSTEM might be enough...and I wipe DATA......Might be worth a try, but again I don't know if that is correct or not.

I get far enough now I can re-try...which is better than having to go to recovery every time. I'll also try turning off USB1.1 support in the BIOS. That might force the issue.

[Guest Borkata]

I think you can flash everything <_< using fastboot flash :mellow: Problem is that we don't have radio in separate image, so we can do fastboot -i 0x058 flash radio radio.img.

[Guest linuxluver]

I think you can flash everything <_< using fastboot flash :mellow: Problem is that we don't have radio in separate image, so we can do fastboot -i 0x058 flash radio radio.img.

The radio seems to be one of the first things that gets flashed.....so I was in the situation of having Android 2.1 radio, but an extremely unstable Home screen. But behind the scenes (for adb) it was stable enough to attempt another Download Tool flash. Alternatively, I could boot to Lickonn's recovery and restore....and that gave me an Android v1.6 system with wifi only. No phone or mobile data.

To try to make things faster, I set SetCPU to go to maximum speed (768MHz) when on USB connection, combined with "Optimise for Performance" on the USB in Vista, plus I got rid of my USB hub and had only 3 devices plugged in (mouse, keyboard, phone). I also stopped the BOINC / SETI distributed computing app running in the background on Vista.

The combined affect of all these changes was that the USB data transfer went a little bit faster.......just enough to allow the flash to complete properly for the LiquidE install.

*Whew*.

Got there. Now I just have to root LiquidE and flash LCR v1.1.1.....

Edited March 6, 2010 by linuxluver