Last Updated on January 5, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake

Acer’s Iconia Tab 8 uses a custom recovery to get root access, and if you happen to have this tablet and wish to root it, our guide below should help you.

Flashing a custom recovery on the Iconia Tab 8 is as easy as using fastboot to issue a command, and your device will then have a working custom recovery on it. Once that is done, you can move forward and gain root on your device.

Here’s how:

Files You Need

  1. This tutorial has been written keeping the Windows version of Fastboot in mind. This should work on Mac and Linux as well, and you will have to install appropriate versions of the tool on your computers to do the task.
  2. You should have Google USB drivers installed on your computer as they will help your computer to recognize your tablet.
  3. This should install a custom recovery called ClockworkMod on your tablet.
  4. You should only do this tutorial on the A1-840 FHD variant of the tablet or you will end-up bricking your device.
  5. Download CWM Recovery to your computer. It is the custom recovery that will be flashed on your tablet.
  6. Download Minimal Fastboot to your computer. It will be used to flash the recovery on your tablet.

Installing a Custom Recovery on the Acer Iconia Tab 8

  1. Extract files from Minimal Fastboot over to your computer by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract here.
  2. Unlock the developer menu on your tablet by going to Menu > Settings > About tablet and tapping on Build number for 7-8 times. It will say you are a developer and should unlock the developer menu for you.
  3. Open the newly unlocked menu at Menu > Settings > Developer Options and turn on USB debugging. This option must be enabled for your computer to execute commands on your tablet.
  4. Plug in your tablet to your computer using a suitable USB cable.
  5. When your tablet is connected to your computer, launch a command prompt window in the folder where Minimal Fastboot files are located. To do that, open the folder, hold down Shift on your keyboard and right-click anywhere on the screen and select Open command window here.
  6. When the command prompt window opens, type in the following command and press Enter.
    adb reboot bootloader
  7. What the above command will do is reboot your tablet into the bootloader mode so that the custom recovery can be installed on it.
  8. When your tablet reboots into the bootloader mode, issue the following command using the command prompt window. Make sure to replace cwm.img with the actual recovery image file name.
    fastboot flash recovery cwm.img
  9. Wait for it to flash CWM Recovery on your tablet.
  10. When it’s done flashing recovery, reboot your tablet by typing in the following command into the command prompt window and pressing Enter:
    fastboot reboot
  11. Your tablet should reboot.

Congratulations! Your Acer Iconia Tab 8 has been successfully equipped with a custom recovery, and you can now follow our how to root the Acer Iconia Tab 8 tutorial to root your tablet.

While a custom recovery like CWM helps you flash some useful tools on your tablet, it only works great when you are rooted. Therefore, you should go ahead and root your tablet, and then use the installed recovery to flash and enjoy a number of custom ROMs on your tablet. Not only just ROMs, but you have got tons of other useful things to flash on your tablet once you are rooted.

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