Cannot flash the Acer S200 ROM

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Two days ago, out of the blue, my Acer S200 F1 Neotouch went dead despite soft resets and a full battery. It is using ROM S200_2.003.01_EN_02, running WindowsMobile 6.5 Professional, CE OS 5.2.21857 (Build 21857.5.0.66) 2009. I have never updated the ROM ever since I bought the S200 last month, and have never intended to.

Twice last month, I did a clean boot successfully, but with some difficulty. Sometimes the clean boot would hang from the start, or hang at the Windows logo, or hang when installing any one of the 25 components. But I still succeeded after some struggle.

But two days ago, my S200 went dead for no obvious reason. A soft reset did not help. I can wake it up for Clean Booting, but the Clean Boot would either hang from the start, or at the Windows logo, or go into endless repetition, or hang while installing a component (e.g. 13/25, the Notification Manager). A couple of times I managed to get a basic Windows Mobile system running on the S200, but it is unstable, prone to automatic Clean Boot, and cannot install .cab files.

I did all kinds to assist the Clean Boots, including removing/reinserting the battery, removing the MicroSD card, removing/inserting the SIM card, plugging the phone into/out of external power, pressing two buttons while resetting with the stylus (or pressing three buttons, or all four buttons). Despite getting the “Clean Boot” display at the beginning, the symptoms are not the same with each Clean Boot. I find it strange that every clean boot attempt behaves differently. I thought that a hard reset would be repeatable and predictable, yet it varies with every clean boot attempt.

Finally I tried using the following two updates:
OS_Acer_3.003c.01.EN.02_WM65_A.zip
OS_Acer_2.003.00.EN_WM65_A.zip

But there would be a “connection error” just before the ROM update window. The problem is the same with three desktop computers: Vista SP2, Vista SP1, XP SP3, despite taking all precautions (e.g. updating the .NET framework to the latest service packs). I have also managed to get the Acer HS USB driver going, whatever it is.

MY QUESTION: Can I do a ROM update without connecting to a computer, e.g. by copying some file to the MicroSD card, and pressing some keys? I read somewhere you can press three buttons (volume down, camera, reset) plus the reset button to enter “bootloader” mode. What is this mode? I did manage to get the S200's LED flashing red. Was the S200 expecting a file with a specific name at a specific location on the MicroSD card?

If the S200's ROM is corrupted, can it be restored or updated? I mean, does flashing the ROM require an ActiveSync connection to the desktop PC? And if the ROM is corrupted, how can it fix itself if it lacks the ability to connect to the desktop? (It takes a healthy pda to do an Activesync.) My old ASUS can flash the ROM via the MicroSD card; I don't know if Acer phones have that feature.

The funny thing is that I am not a person who experiments with ROM flash updates and things like that, although I am semi-computer-literature (I program in Delphi to create some freeware). I didn’t intend to add fancy things to the S200; I just want a stable pda for five or six programs (e.g. a Bible program).

The flash ROM restoration/update problem seems to be a problem with Acer than with Microsoft. I think I should have bought an HTC instead. But I could not afford the Windows HTC I wanted.

Any advice? Any URL with the proper information? Thanks in advance. If this problem is solved, I will try to be useful and constructive for the XDA-Developer forums.

Benjamin

Download ARTS's rom and unzip.

Put the S200 to bootloader mode (camera + power at the same time - light will be blinking red) and then connect it to your PC. Run the "ACER_EUU.exe" & flash a new rom...enjoy...

At the begining i also got connection errors becuase i didnt used the original USB cable that came with the device. This could be a problem if you are using another cable that doesn´t have the full pin layout.

P.S. What Bible program are you using?

Thanks Stress Analyst

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Dear Stress Analyst,

Thanks for your helpful advice. The problem has been solved. For the benefit of those who run into the same problem, here is what I did (I am summarizing this from memory, so I may miss a few things):

- I downloaded a file called "Arto's Sense rom 2.1 (3.003c, 23554, 2012).rar". The size is 162,841,490 bytes.

- I unzipped the contents of the .rar file into a folder.

- I put the S200 in bootloader mode by pressing and holding the camera and power buttons, while pressing the reset button with the stylus. The LED started flashing red. I connected the S200 to my Windows XP SP3 desktop, and it caused the Acer HS-USB driver to be installed.

- In the aforementioned folder, I ran “Acer_Euu.exe”, and was led through a series of windows. Just click, click, click ...

- When flashed, the Arto ROM was nice and interesting on my pda, but a bit too funky for a middle-age man like me. So I decided to install the Acer update instead.

- I unzipped file “OS_Acer_3.003c.01.EN.02_WM65_A.zip” and ran file EUU_Acer_S200_3.003c.01_EN_02_03.03.08_3.003c.00_2 0100202.exe

- After flashing the updated Acer ROM, I checked the version number, which was CE OS 5.2.21883 (Build 21883.5.0.783). The earlier version was Build 21857.5.0.66. The new version seems to run faster than the old version. Here is what I think were the problems with the older version 21857.5.0.66:

- The old firmware does not do a Clean Boot very well.
- The old firmwave has problems connecting to the Acer update.

Arto's ROM overcame these two problems, which meant that I can use it as a temporary bridge to the updated Acer ROM.


Thanks for your help, and best wishes,

Benjamin

Bible programs

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Dear BrainMaster,
I am using Olive Tree and Laridian Pocket Bible. I like them both, but for different reasons. Olive Tree is faster and has Greek and Hebrew texts. Pocket Bible has better typography and a good collection of commentaries. I find myself using Olive Tree much more often than Laridian Pocket Bible. I am not using mobile e-Sword because it doesn't work on my S200.
Benjamin