How to upgrade the Iconia Tab A500 to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 finally joins the group of devices equipped with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean custom ROMs.

XDA Developers member randomblame has succeeded in bringing the Jelly Bean to the Acer Iconia Tab A500 by compiling the ROM from AOSP source code. You can finally experience features such as the smooth-as-butter performance in scrolling, paging, and animation. The ROM is still in its early stages and is currently in development, so few features are expected to be unavailable. Audio and internal SD card mounting, for instance, are still not working.

The developers, however, gave an assurance that they're working on getting those features functional.

In this guide, you will learn how to upgrade the Iconia Tab A500 to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean via AOSP-based ROM.

Warning

The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the Acer Iconia Tab A500. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Requirements

Acer Iconia Tab A500 with ClockworkMod Recovery installed
- To install ClockworkMod Recovery on your Acer Iconia Tab A500, download Acer Recovery Installer from the Google Play Store and install it on your device.
Download the latest version of AOSP Jelly Bean ROM for the A500 (JELLYTIME_AOSP_BUILD_5.zip, 120.61 MB)
Make sure that your tablet's battery is charged to 60% or more. This will ensure that your tablet will not turn off in the process of installation.
Backup all personal data on your tablet to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide erases such data.
- For backup tips, check our guides on how to sync your data to the cloud and how to create local backups of your mobile data.

Instructions

Copy the downloaded ZIP file to your tablet's internal SD card.
Turn off your tablet and boot it to ClockworkMod Recovery. You can do this by pressing the Power button while holding down the Volume Up button until your tablet boots into Recovery.
- NOTE: You can use the Volume buttons to navigate and the Power button to select an option.
Select Wipe data/factory reset and select Yes to confirm the wipe. Wait until the data wipe is completed.
Select Install ZIP from SD card then select Choose ZIP from SD card. Locate JELLYTIME_AOSP_BUILD_5.zip file on your SD Card and select it. Confirm installation by clicking Yes.
Once the installation is completed, go back to main recovery menu and select Reboot system now to boot your tablet to Jelly Bean.

Congratulations! You have upgraded your Acer Iconia Tab A500 to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean via an AOSP-based ROM.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition to be unveiled at I/O – update!

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by Bogdan Petrovan, 1 week ago

Google and Samsung are said to launch a version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that runs pure Android (AOSP) at the Google I/O keynote today. [Update: Galaxy S4 Google Edition is official, coming on June 26…

Comments

E

I don’t know if Google already does this but the should have a pure Android Version available to the public so the can update their own device
- a
  
  the problems with that are compatibility and oem/carrier control
- http://www.dsaif.com/ Saif
  
  That’s not possible. There are 2000+ different Android devices!
- Arsenal™
  
  OEMs are the ones to blame! :P
  - http://www.facebook.com/johnphillip.saayman John-Phillip Saayman
    
    Yes because look at the s3, it could be on 4.2.2 but it’s not. Thats cause the s4 is on 4.2.2, so they deliberately stall with the update otherwise the s4 isn’t so special anymore.
    - Arsenal™
      
      Rooting FTW! :D
NexusUser4Life

I think the ultimate goal for Google was to have a true Google phone. So I think they want to differentiate the term “Google/Nexus Phone” from “Android Phone”. Now that low-end prepaid carriers are constantly advertising affordable “Android Phones”, that really does sort of cheapen the Android brand. If every phone had the latest version of stock Android, then Nexus devices wouldn’t be so special, would they? I used to be against fragmentation, now I kinda see what Google is up to in keeping the Google/Nexus line of devices pure.
wizfactor

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the security holes that are found in older versions of Android. Google has clearly been patching these flaws as soon as they’re found, so I feel moderately secure on 4.2. But when other manufacturers and carriers refuse to update their handsets, they not only deny access to new Android features, they also leave critical security holes wide open.

For the sake of the consumer, this is absolutely unacceptable, and for me is the number 1 reason why manufacturers and carriers must be held accountable for their reluctance to upgrade their Android devices. You would get mad at Oracle or Adobe if they stopped updating their Java or Flash plug-ins to fix known vulnerabilities. Why should Android (or any mobile OS for that matter) be treated differently?
- Arsenal™
  
  exactly! well said!
Alu Zeros

Google doesn’t really care they don’t get paid for specific os version on device. They get paid for using google services and advertisement. Google’s could honestly care less if you have the newest or not, or what hardware your on (apple, blackberry, windows, etc)
nishantsirohi123

then there are consumers whose devices constantly gives them an alert of the update being available. but they are either too lazy to update or aint bothered with it at all
gargamel

I really don’t see the issue here. Look at desktops: 90% running Windows, but what is the distribution between the different versions of Win? Some are XP, some Vista, Some 7, and some 8. I guess there is a small % still running WIN98 or 2000. Very similar to Android.

Not to mention that GB is a great OS, and I personally was reluctant to upgrade to ICS. Only JB convinced me it’s time to move. And still, I keep my old Nexus One on GB (CM 7) rather than upgrading to ICS/JB- it just works!
http://www.facebook.com/johnphillip.saayman John-Phillip Saayman

I must say that I don’t like being on an old version of Android. I love software updating. I don’t mind if you have ICS but I have an Gs3 and it on 4.1.2. Which is the newest official one. So you’d advise a Nexus for me, the thing is that a Nexus device doesn’t have good enough specs. I wish Samsung would make another Nexus with a 5 inch screen and a 1.8 ghz processor and all that nice stuff. Cause to me Nexii devices aren’t up to scratch enough for me. ( not saying they’re bad!) just my own like
C-Ice

There is a H/W restriction (kernel 3+ require ARMv7 floating point) which dictates current Android distribution. That is main reason why there is more JB than ICS devices at this point of time and also reason why many devices are stucked operative on old GB (great deal of ARMv6 and lot of RAM). That will change some day soon. Fact that there is more JB than ICS telling that Android is not fragmented much due to lazzy updates as it is due to H/W restrictions.

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How to upgrade the Iconia Tab A500 to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean via AOSP-based ROM

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