I wish updating was my only problem. My wifi does not even work. I have tried everything but it just says scanning. Toshiba Non-Support just hangs up on me. I will be sending this back most likly. Thanks for the BIG LET DOWN on Christmas,

I will never buy anything from woot again. I am also emailing the better business bureau about their shady practices. These tablets were never inspected by an authorized toshiba person , the whole things a scam and I want more than my money back. My daughter Christmas present is defective and I am suppose to tell her that Santa sucks.

My unit came on time and was opened Christmas Day. Everything seems to be working ok with the exception of the upgrade. I just got off the phone with Toshiba Tech Support and they went through the factory reset option then trying the update which froze. I was able to power down and the unit came back to out of box condition. The next step is the senior level tech option which is not available until after 11 am today. I will try that later today. If they are no help I think I will go the RMA route as I feel that if something this simple is a problem there could be other issues. I have the ability to root the device but I feel that should be an option that I decide to do not right out of the box. If Toshiba says that there is some kind of patch necessary I doubt I will wait for that and will return the Thrive. I don't think they will have their patch before I lose the option to return it.

You have to be a educated consumer when you buy things from Woot. Usually one crappy purchase wises you up very fast. I purchased a tablet/reader (pocket edge) for $ 150. Good for e-mail and nothing else. Support from the co. ended 2 days after I bought. The sold it again on Woot some weeks later for almost half what I paid for it. Probably worth half, but not what I paid for it.

Anyway to the Toshiba. Bought same tablet on Groupon new for $ 299 through Discover which gave me 15% in Discover points for a net cost of
$ 255. $ 289 for a refurb which most stores are selling discounted for mid 300's is not bargain especially with all the problems people are having.

Just my two cents worth.

fishzine wrote:Screen dead on Christmas morning Lots of flickering, and crazy lines running through it and just the occasional word shinning through. Plugged in HDMI cable and normal screen showed up on tv. So my screen is toast, guess I will be on the phone with Toshiba when they open up this morning.

Not happy when the cool toy for the 17 year old dosen't work on Christmas morning!

:-( talked to Toshiba Customer Support yesterday. Screen being DOA is not covered by the warranty. Seriously that is what they said, told me I would have to pay to have it fixed if I sent it back into them. There is no physical damage to the device and screen never worked from the moment we first turned it on Christmas morning. Factory reburb my ###, simply turning mine on would make it obvious it had a bad LCD screen. Hoping Woot still has a couple of these sitting around and even seeing people having, would still like to get a replacement. Dosn't bother me to have to root and update the tablet, did it to my android phone no problem. But can't fix a gad LCD screen with a reflash.

Anyone hear from Woot support today?

this won't be my first RMA with Woot, but with the prices becoming unremarkable and the quality of the received items dropping it may be my last Woot. for a few dollars more i could have a product that could have been walked back into a storefront and exchanged if it had problems.

Having worked in the computer development biz for over 20 years, I'm amazed that so many people are willing to go through ridiculous hoops to get this device to update the defective Toshiba software. It sounds like none of the Thrive tablets were actually refurbished.

Here's what should happen to resolve the situation: Toshiba needs to offer an apology, then urgently provide a very simple update procedure that works for at least 99% of the users. If this is not possible, all buyers should be instructed to return the product for a full refund or brand new replacement. Then Toshiba or Woot (which is owned by Amazon) should send all Thrive customers a $25 gift certificate from Amazon for the disappointment and inconvenience they've caused--especially egregious during Christmas gift-giving season. This good-will response might diminish the risk of a class-action suit. (This situation seems to raise the suspicion of fraud rather than error based on the number of tablets sold that were obviously not refurbished.)

I don't recall anything like this from respectable companies in my tenure in the computer industry. Toshiba and Amazon (Woot) have good reputations--and they should go the extra mile to protect their reputations.

Thanks for your post! It took several hours of effort (it took a few tries to get the drivers loaded, then clockmodrecovery did not want to load, then I could not get a GPS signal and then I could not backup my existing system), but after all of that the new rom loaded flawlessly and now the thrive seems to be working properly.

gkpollock wrote:Help. I'm finally getting all the way to the point where it need to apply the update from the SD Card. I have the download there and the Update.zip file at the root on the SD Card, but now I'm getting a message that it's opening the update package, Installing Update, then the installation aborts and it says the following. E: Can't open/sdcard-ext/update.zip

Happened to me too -- you need to extract the file on the sdcard before you try to install.

The battery on mine is horrible, and now it won't even start, it is just blinking

Achromatter wrote:Could someone please post instructions on how to set this back to a factory-fresh setup?

And specifically if you can do it in layman's terms would be helpful. I can follow instructions very well, but it helps if I could actually understand them ;^)

I've read through Theologian's instructions several times, and it seems like there may be some things omitted, or assumed to be understood, I don't :^(

I have a weird build: > tostab03-eng 3.1 HMJ37 eng.ron.20110622.191714 test-keys

I don't have marketplace, and whatever else a factory fresh unit is supposed to come with. The tablet seems to work fine otherwise, and I really rather not have to send it back.

Thanks much!!

After talking with a developer on the thriveforums.org website, he has determined that we have some weird engineering test ROM. There were about 6 plus us two bringing the total to 8. we're not sure where these Thrives originated, but he had me try several fixes to no avail. He even custom built a fix for me and it still didn't work. In the end I place a final frustrating call to Toshiba and they finally relented and sent me info to have the defective unit returned. I was hoping not to have to do that but I will send it off for repairs.

I wish I had better news for you... I'll let you know. In the mean time call Toshiba and bug the heck out of them until they give you return information. Tell them you need your help desk ticket elevated to Level 2 tech support.

Good Luck

Amazon 2 day shipping to Afghanistan= 6 days
Woot! two day shipping to Afghanistan= 7+ days.


Now I have to wait all this time to find out that my tablet more than likely won't work. Good job Toshiba+woot!. I have the know-how to root this thing. But downloading 300mb on internet that is slower than 56k is going to be an issue.

The second call to Toshiba yesterday afternoon did not yeild a fix but new information. My tablet is working great under the 18 build and will not upgrade to the 32. The latest Toshiba help walked me through a factory reset. Obviously this still did not allow the upgrade to happen. He then told me by the end of the week there should be a 33 version for download. Because of the return time to Woot I asked him if the newer upgrade did not work was Toshiba going to make good on the unit. He of course said yes. So either he fed me a lot of BS or Toshiba is aware of the problem and trying to resolve it. I am going to send this post off to Toshiba to see if I get some kind of response.

bndupre wrote:After talking with a developer on the thriveforums.org website, he has determined that we have some weird engineering test ROM. There were about 6 plus us two bringing the total to 8. we're not sure where these Thrives originated, but he had me try several fixes to no avail. He even custom built a fix for me and it still didn't work. In the end I place a final frustrating call to Toshiba and they finally relented and sent me info to have the defective unit returned. I was hoping not to have to do that but I will send it off for repairs.

I wish I had better news for you... I'll let you know. In the mean time call Toshiba and bug the heck out of them until they give you return information. Tell them you need your help desk ticket elevated to Level 2 tech support.

Good Luck

Hey I really appreciate the info/update, thanks.

Wow, this really sux. Shoudn't we be returning the units to woot though?

Also, you mentioned sending it off for "repairs", I guess that means toshiba told you they would fix it, rather than replace it?

....really bummed.............

Any update as to what Woot is actually doing about this?

Staff posted a couple pages back, but that was all I saw.

Considering how wide spread these problems are, hopefully it's seriously being looked into.

Hope they issue a fix for this soon!

Received my RMA email this morning......it's back to WOOT for a refund as they have no replacements (thank God!!)....this item is truly a POC and should never have been sent out by either Toshiba or WOOT....sticking it in box which says "refurbished" doesn't prove to the consumer that it's actually been inspected by a qualified individual....this was my first tablet, my next one (sad to say) will be from a big box store that I can return to if I have a problem.

Anyone find any good deals elsewhere? Got my RMA details, refund no replacements availabe.

I wish a simple update wouldn't involve learning about rooting the device and voiding warranties (then again, since we're being denied warranty, that's a moot point anyway)

If I just want to flash the unit to a stock ROM, do I still need to install anything extra? The part that's unclear to me where that clockwork mod comes into the picture. Is that a separate install? Do I have to be rooted already to run it, thereby creating a catch-22 situation?

Is the simplest use case as easy as putting one of Dale's ROM's on an SD card and boot into recovery?

jhaide wrote:I wish a simple update wouldn't involve learning about rooting the device and voiding warranties (then again, since we're being denied warranty, that's a moot point anyway)

If I just want to flash the unit to a stock ROM, do I still need to install anything extra? The part that's unclear to me where that clockwork mod comes into the picture. Is that a separate install? Do I have to be rooted already to run it, thereby creating a catch-22 situation?

Is the simplest use case as easy as putting one of Dale's ROM's on an SD card and boot into recovery?

You first need to install clockwork mod (kinda like updating the bios on the tablet) which then gives you the tools to flash the new ROM onto the tablet.

For those of you who may not have read my earlier posts, a quick recap:

I received one of the tablets with the "developer's build" on it. There was no way to associate a gmail account to it, it didn't have the android market, I couldn't install the android market and it wouldn't update (there was no utility to update it, either). I tried the power on/volume+ factory reset to no avail.

I sent an RMA e-mail to Woot, and I also registered my tablet and contacted Toshiba support. The gentleman at support had me try the reset, which I explained I had already tried, and of course it didn't work. Without further ado, he gave me the return information and sent me an e-mail with the correct procedure. He said it would take 7-10 days and that the device would be repaired and returned to me.

I then got an e-mail from woot with the proper RMA information. They said that it would take 7-10 days and the device would be replaced. I ended up going with Woot because the shipping was free, whereas with Toshiba they require a special FedEx box that costs $24.95.

I mailed out the package and e-mailed asking if the replacement is sent when I ship it back, when it arrives back, or after it arrives and is inspected. I got an e-mail back this morning saying my new device should go out today or tomorrow.

All in all, I'm pleased with the process. I'm getting a replacement, it's being shipped relatively fast and if this one doesn't work out, I'll just pay the $25 and have Toshiba fix it.

:-( Wish I could have gotten replacement or repair from either woot or Toshiba. Looks like Woot gave up and now only offer return. And Toshiba flat out refused me ANY warranty support (LCD screen was DOA). Never was even able to get in and see what ROM was installed on the tablet since screen was unreadable but showed fine on HDMI monitor, just impossible to try and push buttons on tablet while looking at a seperate screen.

Been looking around the net all day and looks like it is going to end up costing me over $100 extra to get a replacement working christmas present.

Sent back to Woot today, and guessing its going to take three weeks till I see the money back from Woot. Really up happy about all of this, but hard fault woot unless they knew the tablets were not correctly refurbished.

fenshysa wrote:For those of you who may not have read my earlier posts, a quick recap:

I received one of the tablets with the "developer's build" on it. There was no way to associate a gmail account to it, it didn't have the android market, I couldn't install the android market and it wouldn't update (there was no utility to update it, either). I tried the power on/volume+ factory reset to no avail.

I sent an RMA e-mail to Woot, and I also registered my tablet and contacted Toshiba support. The gentleman at support had me try the reset, which I explained I had already tried, and of course it didn't work. Without further ado, he gave me the return information and sent me an e-mail with the correct procedure. He said it would take 7-10 days and that the device would be repaired and returned to me.

I then got an e-mail from woot with the proper RMA information. They said that it would take 7-10 days and the device would be replaced. I ended up going with Woot because the shipping was free, whereas with Toshiba they require a special FedEx box that costs $24.95.

I mailed out the package and e-mailed asking if the replacement is sent when I ship it back, when it arrives back, or after it arrives and is inspected. I got an e-mail back this morning saying my new device should go out today or tomorrow.

All in all, I'm pleased with the process. I'm getting a replacement, it's being shipped relatively fast and if this one doesn't work out, I'll just pay the $25 and have Toshiba fix it.

I bought two of these cause a friend told me in the last hour that there was a great deal on them at Woot.com. It was my first purchase from woot. Got one for me and one for my GF. They showed up fast and both worked out of the box and came with AC adapters. One did not have the port cover for the docking station port and one did, not a huge deal but when I buy something I like to get all the parts it should have.

So I updated both and one accepted all updates through 3.2 and is working find AND does write to SD card. Works awesome on HDMI on my 50" tv.

The second one has same issue as most on here, won't update to .0032, still stuck on .0018. I called Toshiba, did the factory reset which didn't work and they offered me the $24.95 option to send in for repair which I took. Went online last night to see what status was and when I could expect my return box from Toshiba and status of my order was 'Canceled/rejected'. Spent 35 mins on hold this afternoon to get through to a Toshiba rep and he said it had been escalated to level 2 and I would get a call from a specialist in 24 business hours. So now I am waiting for their call.

I never in my wildest nightmares expected to see all these people having so much trouble with a refurb product. I've bought plenty of refurb stuff in the past (never from woot) and had no issues. So I will wait to see what Toshiba says if/when they do call and update with their results.

But, the tablet with the update issue is working just fine on .0018, all seems to be working except it won't update to .0032 and therefore can't get the updates after that.

Now we wait for Toshiba's call....

i'm not sure why anyone would pay toshiba for the shipping or repair on these.
we purchased what we were led to believe as items refurbished to factory specifications and they do have a 90 day warranty. we did not modify them or damage them on accident or on purpose. they did not, in the course of regular usage, fail or cease to operate as specified. they came in this condition in a "Toshiba Factory Sealed" box from the retailer.
this is what i would count a manufacturer defect. paying them to correct their problem just lets them know that they can continue to release broken and defective product and the sheeple will continue to pay them twice just to get what they were promised.

Bought two and other than the update "issue" I have had no problems with them. I spent some time over at www.thriveforums.org and pm'ed a few of their developers. Very friendly and helpful folks. Learned that everyone who was not able to update their thrives are probably better off. Though it may or may not be causing problems with the SD card, the update does remove the fastboot ability due to some DRM issue. In the general discussion there is a thread titled woot purchases. On page 7 and 8 of the thread are some links to instructions on how to fix this whole debacle. The most difficult part of the procedure is to get the adb/fastboot drivers up and working. Once that is setup, the second process is setting up CWM which is pretty straight forward. Then all you have to do is select which rom and whether or not you want to be fully stock or rooted. Works great and very nice tablet over all. Thanks Woot!

Edit:Oh, and if you want the direct links to what I am talking about feel free to PM me and I will share.

Great. Turns out I have the AT100 model which is for the UK. This is becoming more fun by the minute.

One other odd item - has anyone else noticed that the serial number on the label of the box the Thrive was shipped in does not match the serial number of the device (displayed in the System Information tab)?

Good43 wrote:Yep, mine too. white tundra frost.

I have received no response from emails to woot. Spoke with Toshiba CSR and was told that I have to get my issue fixed by Woot.

My device shipped with the wrong power supply. I have no way to power it on. What say you Woot?

jhaide wrote:Great. Turns out I have the AT100 model which is for the UK. This is becoming more fun by the minute.

Uhhh.... Is that bad? I knew this was my model #, but did not realizethat was not the norm. Great, now I have a model that may not be supported here in the US. Well, at least it is working.... For now! Haven't tried updating from Service Center since I manually upgraded to 32 rom. Hoping it works if/when I decide to update again.

vegaspaul wrote:One other odd item - has anyone else noticed that the serial number on the label of the box the Thrive was shipped in does not match the serial number of the device (displayed in the System Information tab)?

No, but out of curiosity, I almost did check today. Hold on, let me check...

Yep, numbers match for me. Same number on the box as in Service Center. However, I did discover that in ”About Phone” it says I have an AT100, but in Service Station, it says I have an AT105. Which one is correct?

Been using mine without much incident for 6 days. Did have the update problem but followed the root/update procedure - not sure I gained anything other than the ability to further update, which I'm a bit wary of doing. Obviously, Toshiba is in over their heads. Incidentally, had my dad get an HP laptop from Woot with similar issues - installed OS was junk. I was able to get it running, but clearly these items end up on Woot because of issues such as these. I probably won't Woot again, which is too bad, but simply saying "Oh well, sucks to be you" doesn't make for a good follow up sales pitch. I'd like to buy my next 10 cars from Woot, but oh well.

Despite all that, loving this thing. If you're going to convert video, make sure it is at < 30 FPS. General consensus on the Tegra 2 is that it leaves much to be desired as an HD video SoC, but I question the need for true HD on a tablet. I've thrown a variety of SD AVC vids at it and it eats up everything, provided the frame rate is below 30. Netflix and YouTube seem to run great.

All the apps are peppy and responsive (except Google Earth, ironically, which simply locks up). We'll see how long the device lasts - generally refurb means it's received an inspection, but obviously in this case that is questionable. I'm certainly sold on Android if nothing else. It's very slick and intuitive; plus clearly the open community really came through and saved our bacon on this one.

BTW, I think the device is known as AT-100 in UK, but the model number is also AT-100 (actually AT105-T1016B) so I doubt these are UK devices.

-Dec 28, 2011 7:53 AM In transitJERSEY CITY, NJ
-Dec 28, 2011 3:58 AM Departed FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST EDISON, NJ
-Dec 28, 2011 12:00 AM Shipment information sent to U.S. Postal Service
-Dec 27, 2011 8:36 PM Arrived at FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST EDISON, NJ
-Dec 23, 2011 5:37 AMDeparted FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST KANSAS CITY, KS
-Dec 22, 2011 9:48 PM Arrived at FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST KANSAS CITY, KS
-Dec 22, 2011 4:40 AM Departed FedEx location FEDEX SMARTPOST DALLAS, TX
-Dec 21, 2011 2:21 PM Arrived at FedEx locationFEDEX SMARTPOST DALLAS, TX
-Dec 20, 2011 9:43 PM Shipment information sent to FedEx



This is not 2 day shipping. I will not be buying from woot again. Amazon has my items to me here in about 6-7 days. Woot (owned by amazon) takes 9 days just to get an item to NJ.

I am HIGHLY let down on Woot! considering the POS tablet that Toshiba sent to woot! prolly won't even work. Thanks Woot+Toshiba. BTW, I will highly suggest to everybody I know just pay the extra 3-4 dollars you beat Amazon's price by and get good service. Or maybe better yet, why don't you just ask your boss (amazon) how to conduct business.

This was also my first time purchasing an item from Woot,but I place the blame squarely on Toshiba. If you sell an item as certified refurbished, there should be some process in place to ensure that the devices are...you know...actually refurbished. Things like missing power supplies, inactive screens and improper OS installation are inexcusable. Just for kicks, this is copied directly from Toshiba's site:

Toshiba Group Quality Control Policy

1. We engage in quality assurance from the customers' point of view.

2. We observe relevant laws and contracts and respect the rights of customers and third parties.

3. We maintain quality systems aimed at achieving 100% quality.

4. We ensure that all of our departments and all of our employees act on this Quality Control Policy.

5. We aim for essential improvement by investigating the root causes of process failures.

From this experience, I don't think Toshiba is following these five points very aggressively. Bonus points to #4 for using "quality" twice.

I must say, I was very disappointed when I found my screen was defective (had the same issues as some have with the colors going completely and being replaced with random odd lines).

I am more than impressed, however, with Woot's RMA process. I explained my issue in my email and I received a timely reply with a prepaid shipping label. I know some people are very disappointed with the product, but don't blame Woot: Toshiba dropped the ball with a bad product, and as a person that has dealt with awful RMA processed in the past, this has been a great experience, bummer of the defective product aside.

Thanks, Woot, and you'll be getting more of my business!

fenshysa wrote: Bonus points to #4 for using "quality" twice.

Maybe they like quality ...

http://www.morethings.com/fan/blazing_saddles/taggart-hedley_lamarr.jpg


FWIW: I overcame my anxiety and followed the root process instructions and I'm now up to current (3.2.1). The model number also magically changed to 105 (which leads me to think that the hardware actually is identical and the model number variations are just a boot image artifact)

just got my RMA authorization +1 to Woot! -10 to toshiba.

My tablet was sent with the wrong AC adapter -they sent one for a notebook. Toshiba told me they could not send me a replacement because I did not have the correct AC adapter to return. How's that for customer service.

Although I am happy with my tablet (and my EBAY replacement adapter) this is my last Toshiba product.

I have no problem with Woot - they were willing to give me my $$$ back.

Good luck to others if they need issues resolved by Toshiba.

elect481 wrote:My tablet was sent with the wrong AC adapter -they sent one for a notebook. Toshiba told me they could not send me a replacement because I did not have the correct AC adapter to return. How's that for customer service.

Although I am happy with my tablet (and my EBAY replacement adapter) this is my last Toshiba product.

I have no problem with Woot - they were willing to give me my $$$ back.

Good luck to others if they need issues resolved by Toshiba.

Wow. Did the customer service say that without snickering? What a bunch of BS!

Mine worked okay except it wouldn't update, so I'm going to send it in to Toshiba for repair. I'll pay the $24 to ship in, and hopefully, I'll get it back in proper working condition in the 7-10 Days they promised.

This will be my last and only purchase from WOOT. Major dissapointment.