Archos 605wifi hacked (604wifi too probably)

[thethirdmoose]

apdf source is in archos's source release.

[arisgardelis]

I hope the rockbox guys can give some help.. I just made an archos 605 topic on the new ports of rockbox forum.
Good job, keep up..

[dm8tbr]

apdf source is in archos's source release.

perfect, then it should be easy to learn how to modify e.g. qtopia 4.x to run on gen4/gen5.

I'd very much welcome a discussion as to which UI environment we're going to choose for the openPMA-nextGen project. But this should happen on the openPMA nextgen mailing list. I very much value this forum for general discussion, but when it comes to things like discussing highly technical topics i prefer a mailing list because it has significantly less drive-by-OMG-ROFLZ-posting-noise and is very convenient to read in everybodies favourite email software.

just my 0,02Ôé¼

Cheers

Thomas

[1twee3vier]

All this stuff is overwelming me, so just a little question: is this the start of having Linux-apps on the Archos? Like OpenOffice etc? Or just doing some nurdy things on it?

[dpvu]

All this stuff is overwelming me, so just a little question: is this the start of having Linux-apps on the Archos? Like OpenOffice etc? Or just doing some nurdy things on it?

OpenOffice would probably be really pushing the limits. What it does do is open the door for changes to the interface and some smaller apps (think NES emulator and things like that).

[sideways]

Don't think the archos will manage OpenOffice, maybe gnome or kde's alternatives (abiword, kword).

Everyone must understand that the power of the archos as a media player and jpg viewer is due to hardware accelerations in the DaVinci chip, not arm9 code.
In fact the arm chip runs at half the clock speed of the DSP media processor (TI C64x+) <300Mhz, so don't expect miracles.

But, yes, we should be able to see some nice apps appearing. A crucial problem is the archos interface - touchscreen & 6 buttons - this is a challenge to interface with many apps.

[moontan]

the good thing about this, is that Archos will have to add some feature to their newer firmware's to entice people to upgrade whether it be newer flash or something.


Then again this is Archos, they'll probably just release the 606 earlier!

[dm8tbr]

what did I say about drive-by-ZOMG-ROFLCOPTER-postings? *cough* *laugh*

[fiat]

I'm working on getting a VMWare appliance put together with the tool-chain and some instructions together. Tried to pop open my Archos but found out that the 30gb models I have (604/605) have super mini HDs that I don't have cables for, and can't put a PATA drive in.. So I'm kinda blocked on any hardcore stuff unless I go buy a 605 with a 2.5" PATA HD in it. $400 or so. Trying to convince my girlfriend that having a 604 and 2x605's would be a good thing...

[dm8tbr]

I'm working on getting a VMWare appliance put together with the tool-chain and some instructions together. Tried to pop open my Archos but found out that the 30gb models I have (604/605) have super mini HDs that I don't have cables for, and can't put a PATA drive in.. So I'm kinda blocked on any hardcore stuff unless I go buy a 605 with a 2.5" PATA HD in it. $400 or so. Trying to convince my girlfriend that having a 604 and 2x605's would be a good thing...

good luck with your negotiations. As for the hdd-swap I should mention that the most probable hdd lock in is done before booting by comparing some unique value like the hdd serial number queried via ATA command against a value that is stored in the flash.

FTR: The 1,8" drive connector is a ZIF connector.

Cheers

Thomas

PS: If you need space to host the vmware-image I'll be happy to provide some space and solid bandwith from www.openpma.org

[sideways]

I'm working on getting a VMWare appliance put together with the tool-chain and some instructions together. Tried to pop open my Archos but found out that the 30gb models I have (604/605) have super mini HDs that I don't have cables for, and can't put a PATA drive in.. So I'm kinda blocked on any hardcore stuff unless I go buy a 605 with a 2.5" PATA HD in it. $400 or so. Trying to convince my girlfriend that having a 604 and 2x605's would be a good thing...

can't you do a dd copy of all partitions to /mnt/data/Data while in an ssh session? (eg, dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/mnt/data/Data/hidden.img)

btw, as dm8tbr posted it's a "Toshiba ZIF connector" (They use these to reduce space requirements in the device), I've seen a +$100 adapter from the usa, and a < £20 adapter from the uk, never purchased, lost the links, sorry.

[dm8tbr]

I'm working on getting a VMWare appliance put together with the tool-chain and some instructions together. Tried to pop open my Archos but found out that the 30gb models I have (604/605) have super mini HDs that I don't have cables for, and can't put a PATA drive in.. So I'm kinda blocked on any hardcore stuff unless I go buy a 605 with a 2.5" PATA HD in it. $400 or so. Trying to convince my girlfriend that having a 604 and 2x605's would be a good thing...

can't you do a dd copy of all partitions to /mnt/data/Data while in an ssh session?

sure you can dd em all if you want images, but I guess his intention was to swap the drive to have a bigger drive inside the unit. In this case a dd obviously doesn't work because a dd can't copy the drive serial number. But we're getting off topic here.

Cheers

Thomas

[metalforever]

Instead of having to deal with lousy program support, would it be possible to write software to get the touchscreen to act as a keyboard, similar to drivers for other hardware, but not- i think this would be a very useful thing to do. Then perhaps have this "module" loaded at startup.

Would making a linux distro for the archos be too far out there, or *something*, such as extra modules, hacks and what not to make the archos run distros like slackware(hacks you add to slackware perhaps too, modules) without having to provide a full on distro, and catering to everyones wants and needs.

Maybe even make it so touching one of the 6 buttons on the archos brings up the menu? Is this possible?

[fischju]

The N800 has a very similiar setup (large touchscreen, same resolution, not many buttons, similiar powered proc) and there are MANY apps for the linux distro on that. Would those be of any help?

[EvilKnebl]

So apparently the 605 runs MontaVista Linux Unified Support Platform
Their website is http://www.mvista.com/

how to get this running on the 605wifi?

thx
EvilKnebl

[mrfantasy]

avos_helper.sh is in fact in the inittab.

If you kill /usr/bin/avos, the Archos reboots, as expected.

If you just kill avos_helper.sh, you lose the WiFi connection, and the Archos hangs. You have to do a power cycle to bring it back.

If you can figure out a way to have the WiFi connection persist after killing avos_helper.sh, you should be able to kill avos as well, and perhaps get control of the screen with another program. I doubt it will drop a shell on the Archos's screen, but you may be able to drive a frame buffer with a simple window manager.

Also, it may be necessary to kill avos to get to the audio device for sound playback (FLAC or Ogg anyone?)

[dm8tbr]

So apparently the 605 runs MontaVista Linux Unified Support Platform
Their website is http://www.mvista.com/

how to get this running on the 605wifi?

Do you really know what you want? Because the 605 already runs a MontaVista patched kernel...

[dm8tbr]

avos_helper.sh is in fact in the inittab.

If you kill /usr/bin/avos, the Archos reboots, as expected.

If you just kill avos_helper.sh, you lose the WiFi connection, and the Archos hangs. You have to do a power cycle to bring it back.

First I thought this would be a good way too but right now I think the exchange-the-fs-mounted-as-opt-and-run-the-UI-instead-of-apdf-approach is far more interesting. Everything is already in place there. Keyboard events, Touchscreen, etc.

just my 0,02Ôé¼

[maflow]

So I can't loop mount the file. I also don't want to try creating an ext2/3 partition, since I've read that the Archos fails to boot if you reduce the size of the vfat partition.

Did you mean my post? Im sorry if I made it not clear... My Archos booted successfuly with reduced vfat. (But I havent formated ext2/ext3 partition yet)
I had problems with my older, not Archos, mp3 hdd player.

mount -o loop (running latest fw on 705)
Neither for me... It just doesnt work (Im getting message Invalid argument, too).

[BloodyIron]

Do we know what chipsets various devices are using?

eg: the wireless network card, the USB controller, the sound system? etc...

What sort of GNU/Linux-wide driver support is there, or are there custom drivers for most of the components in the system?

As you stated from the init command, it does look very easy at first glance to replace the installed OS, but we need to consider other things like will it blend?

Rly tho, Sweet deal. I just hope Archos responds positively to this.