How to open an A7

[nokiae50]

Just asking if you were using the admin rights window to transfer the hack files? May be this may be the prob.
Anyways to check if you have the patched FW installed correctly or not just try replacing the rootfs.cramfs.secure file by Kman666 and see if the player is booting or not. Troubleshooting thats all. So that we can find out what the prob is. Just update to the latest patched FW 1.7.11 then replace the rootfs.cramfs.secure file provided by kman666 (its an unsigned file) and then see if your archos boots up. Well if it does then good you have your patched FW installed correctly, if not then something wrong while installing the patched FW. Hope this helps

[Archos>iPod]

I did it!!!!

I'm back in Chicago so I figured I would give my latest theory a try: Use the same make HDD! And it worked!

I went to the best computer parts store in my area and got a Hitachi 500Gb *7200 RPM* Travelstar drive. They did not have any 5400s in stock and of course I'm not going to wait for that.

I put the drive in and hit format... and boom not even 10 seconds later it shut off and went back to recovery! Format again and then same deal BUT this time it said CONNECT TO COMPUTER!!! SUCCESS!!!

All done on FW v1.6.54

I still think it's funny that the WD Scorpio 5400s wouldn't work... Wonder why?

Concerns:
-It's HOT! Maybe it's just because I am transfering the 250gb of information from the old drive to the new one... but it sure is hot . Maybe too hot?
-Higher RPM = More power. I'm not sure if this is absolutely true. It may not use much more power than a 5400 RPM... any clues?

What I have noticed:
-Maybe operates a bit faster? I actually think this might just be because it is completely BLANK!
-Quieter operation and less vibration!

How should I do the GF hack at this point? Just copy the cramfs file(s)? It's been a while since I have looked into that and I vaguely remember that since I did the patched FW for HDD transplantation its just a swap file job. Hidden system partition old to system system partition new. Please confirm for me! THANK YOU!

More info to come.

It's copying all the data now and will likely run for the next 15 hours or so.

Stay tuned!!!

[CheBuzz]

A 7200 rpm drive will run a little faster, consume a little more power, and run a little hotter.

[nokiae50]

I did it!!!!

I was waiting for your reply. Congrats on your success!!!!

I'm back in Chicago so I figured I would give my latest theory a try: Use the same make HDD! And it worked!

I am surprised as to why such a thing happened

I went to the best computer parts store in my area and got a Hitachi 500Gb *7200 RPM* Travelstar drive. They did not have any 5400s in stock and of course I'm not going to wait for that.

I would think twice before buying a 7200RPM drive for archos, but eventually would buy a 7200RPM itself

I put the drive in and hit format... and boom not even 10 seconds later it shut off and went back to recovery! Format again and then same deal BUT this time it said CONNECT TO COMPUTER!!! SUCCESS!!!



All done on FW v1.6.54

Congrats!!!!

I still think it's funny that the WD Scorpio 5400s wouldn't work... Wonder why?

Me also wondering the same thing

Concerns:

-It's HOT! Maybe it's just because I am transfering the 250gb of information from the old drive to the new one... but it sure is hot . Maybe too hot?

Its going to be hot now that you have a 7200RPM instead of 5400RPM. Once I had to transfer some files to my friends flash disk so I put it to my mini dock and started copying some 3GB HD movie. I was in a class so had put the player in my bag and wow it was damn hot after some time. I was really worried but still working fine.

-Higher RPM = More power. I'm not sure if this is absolutely true. It may not use much more power than a 5400 RPM... any clues?

Yes it will use more power than a 5400RPM disk but not sure how much more

What I have noticed:

-Maybe operates a bit faster? I actually think this might just be because it is completely BLANK!

7200RPM more RPM more speed

-Quieter operation and less vibration!

Strange. It shoud be the other way round. More noise and more vibration

How should I do the GF hack at this point? Just copy the cramfs file(s)? It's been a while since I have looked into that and I vaguely remember that since I did the patched FW for HDD transplantation its just a swap file job. Hidden system partition old to system system partition new. Please confirm for me! THANK YOU!

Have a look at this guide

[grond]

7200RPM more RPM more speed

What would you want that speed for? The device spins down the harddisk all the time in order to save battery life. It only spins it up to fill the video/audio buffer during playback. Then it may be spinning for a few seconds. Having a faster harddisk may save you a second of spinning time but I'm pretty sure that the advantage of faster read times is overcompensated by the higher amount of battery power required to make the harddisk spin up to the higher RPM (the battery may even be too weak to spin up the harddisk at all). The transmission speed in USB-mode is capped by the host controller and the USB-connection itself. I'm pretty sure you won't get more speed when using the Archos as an external harddisk either.

[Archos>iPod]

Thanks for the replies guys! It ran overnight and when I got to it this morning it was cool-to-the-touch, since the HDD was not spinning. Anyway, all the files are there.

But I noticed a curious problem!

-The device cannot calculate how much memory has been used in storage, it still shows 99% free space! Hmmm


This issue may be due to the 7200 RPM drive I suspect.

What are your thoughts?

[skubasteve]

Congrats. Glad you were finally able to conquer the beast.

I think you used the same model HDD that I did. I haven't noticed any difference in battery life but it did get a little warm the first few times I copied lots of data to it. Now it seems to run cool all the time. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I made sure to remove the little rubber strips from the old drive and put them on the new drive in the same places.

I also went the pre-patched 1.7.11 route and just copied the rootfs.cramfs.secure file from this page to the hidden partition.



I haven't had any problem with it reporting the disk usage. I'm not sure what would cause that.

[zac68]

Well done Archos>iPod

[h4mb4l4ng]

Hey guys,

Do you have any picture step-by-step guide to open archos 7? I need to change hdd too, but I don't have enough screw drive here, so I'm a little bit scared

[itm]

I'm about to take the plunge and upgrade my 250Gb Archos 5 to 500Gb. I have a couple of questions:
- Will the installation of patched firmware have any impact on my data (music/video)?
- What make/model of drive would people here recommend as being the likeliest to succeed, and also to run coolly and without draining too much power?

[AlonFW]

Thanks for the great info guys. I use an Archos 5 to entertain my 2 year old on long road trips. I bought it refurbed on 6/30 and it just died in the last couple of days, about 15 days outside of warranty. When I start it it continuously reboots and display the Penguin splash screen for patched bootloader v1.6.54, during this process I hear some chatter and and soft beep. Reseting with the reset button, restore, and format have no effect and just send it back to the continuous reboot cycle. I am left to assume the hard drive has crashed. Have a few questions about replacing the hard drive.

1. Firstly, what do you think my chances of getting Archos to do it on warranty are? One hang up will be the obviously patched firmware
2. Any comments and other likely problems beyond a crashed hard drive
3. Assuming my hard drive is crashed and I can't retreive any data from it even if hooked up to a computer, what would my steps be to prepare the new harddrive? I am thinking I can just copy the rootfs.cramfs.secure to the new drive and plug it into the Archos? Then have the Archos install he patched firmware? Am I understanding the core process correctly?
4. Are we aware of any maximum limit on hard drive size?

Thanks for your help in advance, my son misses his player already!

[CheBuzz]

1. Best of luck to you. Little to none I'd say.
2. HDD just die.
3. Don't even need to do that. Replace harddrive, boot into recovery, format disk, install new patched firmware. That's it.
4. Since both kernels (init and recovery) are contained in flash, the only limitation on HDD size is what the linux kernel supports. Basically, you can run any HDD size.

Your only saving grace is that you were running a patched firmware, and thus get around the hdd_lock.

[AlonFW]

Thanks Chebuz.... but I goofed up already, I misread what hard drives were working and picked up a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB and am having similar issues to A>I. It formatted just fine, and I can read the drive from my windows computer to drop the aos file to the root of the Archos, but when I click done on the Archos (using the power button) it restarts back into the recovery screen. I have tried reformating the hard drive several times, same results. I have also redownloaded the aos file, tried both the 1.7.11 and 1.6.54 from http://archos.g3nius.org, and made sure to rename it to firmware-archos5-7.aos ... still the Archos doesn't seem to recognize that it has the aos file on it's root. Any tips? Or do I need to return the hard drive and get a different brand, the Hitachi Travelstar I guess.

[Archos>iPod]

Isn't that weird??? Try to return the WD... my Hitachi works perfectly now. I would tell you to get the 5,400 RPM though... I have the 7,200 RPM and it gets pretty warm = strain to the device and power pull. There really is no benefit to the 7,200 and I got it only because it was all they had at the store at the time. Try to return the WD or hang onto it for use in a laptop or something (<-that's what I did). Let us know how things go or if you have any questions!

[itm]

I'm about to take the plunge with a 500Gb upgrade on an Archos 5, but I'm very nervous about not being able to re-assemble the unit correctly after I've installed the new drive. Tear-downs I can do, it's the re-assembly that I'm not so good at!

Does anyone know if there's a video anywhere of the Archos 5 HDD upgrade, to give me a little confidence?

[CheBuzz]

Just follow a tear-down guide in reverse?

[itm]

I was just keen to see how easily the screen is detached (and how exactly), and whether the hard drive connections were in any way tricky. I also wanted to see how easy it was to get the ribbon cable etc tucked back away without damaging it. The photos give an idea, but videos give a much better idea.

[frankslan]

would a 2.5 Inch Solid State Drive work. I don't want to replace my harddrive again this is my second drive that has broke in 3 months of owning this p.o.s.

[AlonFW]

CheBuzz, or anyone else that can help...

So I got the Hitachi hard drive and it worked better, but I think I screwed myself. The first firmware I put on the root didn't work, don't remember what error I got, but anyway, I decided to try the factory firmware. That installed fine, BUT, now it goes into it's reboot cycle again But now with the factory Archos start screen instead of the penguin. My theory is that I have flashed the bootloader to the factory one and now it won't except my replacement drive? Is there anything I can do?

[CheBuzz]

That is correct. Custom HDD with factory firmware will not boot.

The only thing to try that I can think of is to:
1) Try going into recovery console and flash a patched firmware
2) Reinstall your factory HDD and flash a patched firmware. Then try again with the custom HDD following the procedure laid out previously.