new firmware 2.3.20 - report bugs here

[sw6lee]

i manually put it to sleed (normal sleep, not deep sleep) before i go to bed, it seem somewhere in the night i woke it self , and drain the battery from 87% to 23&% this morning (after i force restart, due to boot loop animation)

what a piece of shoot, this firmware...

I think you need more investigation; certainly everyone doesn't share that problem... mine sleeps fine without drain after I turn off wifi.

I believe many (shallow) sleep problems are due to something preventing true sleep - some process is active that you can investigate thru settings or system apps. It isn't surprising that a firmware upgrade can change whether some process goes quiet or not, and if you don't at least check (before it malfunctions) maybe they can't reproduce it.

I actually had the boot loop animation problem too. When I put it to sleep, it suddenly just reboots inself (goes to the animation and back to the home screen, just like a fresh reboot. I'm not sure about the battery drain part though. I had this problem right after updating this firmware, but it seems fine now.. Not really sure though; still need to check more..

[Greg_e]

Still no stinking support for external playlist generation (at least not m3u). Considering that this is discussed everytime the firmware gets updated you might think someone would find a way to add support for this or at least a description of some way that we can make playlists and put them into these devices.

[sw6lee]

Default browser refuses to scroll down on some pages until you zoom in a little.

This happens to me a lot even before the firmware update. Most of the websites that have the problem for me are my school related websites (where I view/download assignments, etc.) Also I think I had this problem for mediafire website. I think this is because of the type of webpage..?? but not sure..and I just live with it..it's not a HUGE deal, although it happens quite a lot.. haha

[macgyver40]

Default browser refuses to scroll down on some pages until you zoom in a little.

I had this issue with .8 in dolphin hd and default browser.

[jakkrith]

The application Browser (process com.android.browser) has stoped unexpectedly. Please try again. Force close

[rscheller]

If you have any experience with the Android OS, every firmware upgrade is fraught with potential problems.

I updated my 101 on the 15th and with the exception of the "Pandoa Radio" issue and a "Gallery" photo display issue causing me to have to FC Gallery, I'm highly pleased with this new OS. Truth be told, Pandora Radio is not an Archos APSLIB obtained app, it came from the sideloaded "Android Market" app. Can that really be blamed on Archos?

My 101 is much, much more responsive, except as noted above with no more random FCs or slow-downs, the remote control feature although not perfect is a fantastic addition. Bottom line with my limited testing and personnalized usage, this is a much, much improved OS over 2.1.08 or 2.1.04.

These machines are so complex and users can do some wildly customized options and app installs, it would be impossible for the developers to test every possible scenario. Heck I remember so much time wasted fighting to install Microsoft Explorer 8 updates and a couple other MS weekly updates not to blue screen my XP and Vista machines. Was I pi$$ed at that... you bet but with diligence, research and patience, I finally got them working for the better.

Some things I would highly suggest before doing any OS updates to an Android system to aid in insuring a better experience is to; uninstall any non-OEM launchers, uninstall or disable any auto-start non OEM, non certified apps or task managers, un-root your device if rooted, uninstall any lag fixes or over-clocking apps. Don't necessarily expect any non-OEM apps to work after the upgrade.

A personnal example is on 2.1.08, I was using Launcher Pro because it provided a better user experience at that version. Before upgrading, I uninstalled Launcher Pro. After the upgrade, Launcher Pro can't even be found in either app market, so I chose not to sideload it. Except for some asthetics, the 2.3.20 OEM launcher works great now.

Bottom line, if you don't want to be a guinea pig and spend some time with frustrations, don't be an early adopter. If you upgrade and are having issues, provide a bit more detail about your device/apps status before and after the update. That'll help the developers maybe make sense out of these few issues being reported.

Over-all my score would be great job Archos, this upgrade makes a 3 star tablet a near 5 star tablet.

[Farsquidge]

Just popped back in to say that this is a normal firmware update for those not used to Archos pulling the wool over customers eyes.
All the expected (daresay promised) items are missing.. True Android market acceptance, thus leading to true flash plugin hardware integration.
But you do have a cute remote control app, no doubt developed ready for Gen9 but even this is lacking a virtual cursor control (how to tap and hold summat? Hmmm...)
Most with any sense have got a Dinovo mini doing this job anyway!

I have to admit, double fool me, they did exactly the same to all us Gen7 users....

Still, my A7o is a great piece of kit for what I want, just feel sorry for those that expected more and didnt realise how much work/hacking it would actually take to get what they expected.

Shame Archos. Gen9 will prob be your epitaph to marketing guys ruling engineers...

[cutterjohn]

Well I've gone another day and night using deep sleep, selected MANUALLY by long power button press -> power off -> deep sleep and still have zero problems.

Also note I have the Deep Sleep option in power settings UNCHECKED, so it defaults to "normal" sleep for power button press but I haven't really tested that on this fw. Only did it once on 2.1.08 to test alarm functionality.

2.3.20 fw has been pretty good for me so far. Don't use proxies and haven't encountered an AP with a channel set to >10 yet... My home router is usually on 1 or 3.

[EDIT]
One thing that I HAVE noticed, but it also happened with 2.1.08 is that occasionally changing home screen, the screen will NOT update to the new screen unless "jogged" sometimes. Also occasionally happens when pressing HOME softbutton from some other location... Only Android device w/stock launcher I've seen this behavior on, or actually ANY launcher of ADW/launcherpro as well...
[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]
@andrew.barr
You are incorrect. The VAST mjority of wifi chipset drivers have been open source for years now and many are directly included in the main kernel tree. This is why WiFi/bluetooth/etc. just work now instead of having to run off and download a proprietary blob...
[/EDIT2]

[EDIT3]
@Tunker
WiFi off on sleep:
It's normal. 2.1.08 was the same way.

"fix" (well for you):
go to the manage wifi option under wireless(where it lists the access points available)
long press the one that you're using
a menu should popup scroll down and select the disable powersave option
now WiFi won't shutdown when the screen goes off, but also your Archos won't sleep, so you might want to do this every time if you leave WiFi on all the time.

I just leave the powersave disabled now, but shutdown WiFi when not using or before deep sleeping as I believe(haven't tested/checked) that having wifi on with powersave disabled might also interfere with deep sleep.

Also as to deep sleep problem: I didn't do a reset/initialization after installing 2.3.20 yet it still works fine for me. My only guess is that it MIGHT be related to some of the apps or whatever those of you with problems might have installed...
[/EDIT3]

[EDIT4]
@oic0
browser not scrolling:
I've noticed this on MANY Androids with 2.0 - 2.2 where the stock browser or any based on the stock browser will not scroll on some pages. Sometimes as you noted zooming "fixes" it, but there are times when it doesn't. Given that it happens across versions and devices implies that this is an Android bug, not sure if Archos would try to fix it...
[/EDIT4]

[rscheller]

"Gallary" photo viewing issue.

It seems that when using OEM app "Gallery" that when viewing locally (on device) stored photos, that the transition from the automatically genertated thumbnail to the full photo works properly and in fact is instantanious and seamless.

However, when using the Gallery app to view photos on the Google Picasa server, after viewing one or two photos, the Gallery viewer only displays the automatically (locally stored) thumbnail and it never transitions to the full photo leaving you to view the fuzzy thumbnail photos from thereon. Closing and restarting Gallery seems to have little effect. Anyone else tried this? Please do if you can and report your findings here.

This inability to access some internet files after a certaion point could be related to the "Pandora Radio" stuck at "Loading..." issue.

[SWDT]

Seems to be smoother, but Im getting alot of crashing and freezing, most notable with the browsers. Shame.

[andrew.barr]

Reboot loop- seems as though there are times when the Archos will wake up from sleep, turn on the screen and everything. Previously the only time I am aware of that it did that was when you plugged it into the charger. Then, if it is in a case or a pocket the jumble of input on the now-active touchscreen will cause a reset.

I went to the grocery with it in my pocket and it kept rebooting until I held down the power button to force it off. When I got home and powered it up sitting on the desk, it was fine. It is now sitting here charging, screen off and the LED blinking like it does when it's charging.

This is what I've seen anyway.

[rscheller]

FYI

For the folks having channel 11 or greater wireless router issues, this apparently is an old problem going back several firmware versions.

Here's a thread I stumbled across reporting on the issue.

http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/arc ... -a101.html

P.S. I'm not having any particular issues on my use of channel 1 wireless but was trying to get a better understanding of wireless issues in general for these Archos devices.

[viking]

I don't get the "gallery" complaints - this was widely recognized a totally dysfunctional app long ago and most who discussed it in, say, the gen8 apps part of this forum switched to something better like justpictures.

As for draining sleep behavior, have some of you explored what is consuming cycles by reawakening it and checking settings/applications/runningServices or settings/aboutDevice/batteryUse or various other monitors? It appears to me that more needless synching is going on within sleep, so I have started to kill not only wifi but syching before going into shallow sleep (using the power bar widget which the zeam launcher lets me squash into a single grid). This is a pain which might be better done with the deep sleep option which I might explore next if there isn't another firmware.

[noc]

I don't get the "gallery" complaints - this was widely recognized a totally dysfunctional app long ago and most who discussed it in, say, the gen8 apps part of this forum switched to something better like justpictures.

I think I have only ever used the gallery once in the past hence my not being aware of the fact it's well known for not working.

[xbs]

I used to had my gateway set to channel 11and never had a problem... this reminds me that I don't experience most of the problems stated in this forum... I must have bought the one in million bug free device.

[andrew.barr]

I think some apps might "force" you to use the gallery for picturesÔÇöone that comes to mind is attaching pictures using the official Twitter for Android application. I don't know what intent it broadcasts but apparently it's one that I don't have anything installed for other than the gallery. Seems like most other apps will let you use a file manager of some kind which is far better for what I want to do.

I end up with hundreds if not thousands of drawables from various apps listed in the gallery. Easily recognized by the dozens of "drawable-hdpi" folders listed.

[macgyver40]

I have a netgear WGR614 v7 with the newest firmware. It allows channels 1-11 and I can comnect on all channels with mac filter or without with all levels of security set. It took me almost 45 minutes to test all possible settings. No issues connecting to it from any state the archos 70 could be in. So channel 11 and my archie work fine. When I get the chance I will do the same with a linksys router I have access to. All this on firmware 2.3.20

[ltyt80]

After update to new firmware 2.3.20, first of all my archos 7 can not connect to wifi (my wifi channel is 13).
While I'm trying to set my wifi channel to bellow 10, my archos 7 starts to reboot loop.
There may be some problem with Fring which need a force close, and even if I don't do anything (just look) it still restart over and over again each 10 - 15 seconds.
And now, i can not do anything except look it reboot.

It's really disappointed update firmware.

Is there any way to get rid of the reboot loop? Please help.

[noc]

I have to admit this firmware has the odd bug. Sometimes when I press the power button to wake my device up the screen is just white and i have had it reboot on me once. But I am happy to see that Archos are still working on update, at least for now.

[les95aly]

Ok, I am not understanding what people are saying regarding the gallery app as I really like it and have not had any trouble using it for several hundred photos......... I would be very disappointed if something happens to its functionality....... I would like to have the trailers playing on flixster which was fixed in this update but would not want the gallery to be messed up since my 70 250 model is working very well with the exception of movie trailers not working........ also I noticed people having trouble with the stock music player which I do not and have downloaded all art covers...... would that still be working as I bbelieve to have read it also had trouble after the new firmware update........ I am asking as those two features are important to me and I like the current way they work and if everyone is having issues with the gallery and music player maybe it would not be worth it for me just to have the trailers work........ what do you guys think?