Let's get serious about the G9 for a moment

[mls]

First, a brief list of some of the newer devices Archos has released (or will release soon):

the Elements series (Carbon, Xenon)
the Cobalt series
the 101 XS
the GamePad
the 80 XS
the Titanium series
the Bluetooth Keyboard for the Apple iPad
the TV Connect
and who knows how many more things that I have not listed that they may have in the works

With all of their time being spent on all of these newer devices, and having to fix problems with the firmware for them...

I've got 2 questions for the rest of you:

Do you think Archos will ever have time to fix the flaws in the G9 series firmware?

Do you actually think that Archos even cares at all about the G9 series (or G9 users) now anymore?

[Marco]

Well, at least a note from Archos informing that G9 firmware development ended with 4.0.26... Most of the brands have communicated if their devices will get or not Jelly Bean but Archos still to say if G9 will.

This way we can stop losing time checking.

Interesting to note that Archos didn't upgrade any of its devices to Jelly. There can be arguments about the Archos 101 but that device was released after Jelly so...

[swaaye]

Who knows if Jelly Bean is actually an improvement anyway. Android itself is surely part of the cause of all of endless problems with all of the devices that use it.

Isn't Android 5.0 coming this year? Maybe that will finally iron things out. I also would like to get a device with at least 1GB RAM. More like 2GB.

[archerion]

Maybe they just thing that Jelly wont work for archos. I am sure they have a good reason.

—————————————————————————
My website: joc

[Mandopicker101]

Seeing as this is a subject close to our hearts, I asked Archos on Facebook... In short, the service person who replies didn't know but said they'd look into it. FB is the best way of getting answers from Archos these days and whoever writes the responses seems fairly good at getting answers.

Look under the comments on the Coverboard for iPad.

http://m.facebook.com/Archosworldwide?r ... 1405240846

Gareth

[Mandopicker101]

So Archos replied via FaceBook about a JB upgrade for G9s.

Apparently the different hardware permuations of the series poses issues (different processors, RAM, and the 3G stick) but they are still investigating. One wonders if they do have JB running on G9s, but it isn't stable/optimised etc.

Now that the new range of kit is enjoying a round of firmware updates, perhaps the G9s might see some love?

Gareth

[Nightsurfer]

The initial question was not about an Android 4.1 upgrade, but about "fixing the flaws" in the current Android 4.0 release.
To me it should be either or: If Archos still intends to release 4.1 soon (as they had announced last year!!!), then I am ok that they do not spend any further time for looking into issues with the current 4.0.26 firmware. - However, if they resign from that plan due to the many different hardware combinations, they should at least get the Media Center and some other stuff fixed for the 4.0 release.

Speaking of different hardware combinations: Of course it would be perfect for Archos if they could release and maintain one "global" firmware version for all the different "G9" models. - But think about manufacturers of smartphones, for example: for every single device they probably need to release 20+ firmware versions for all the different regions, carriers and brandings. - So why not split the firmware for the G9 series to fit to the different hardware? - I doubt that they would need a separate firmware file for each individual combination, but maybe one for the devices with 512MB of RAM installed and one for those with 1GB, one for tablets based on the OMAP4430 and one for those using an OMAP4460, for example. Thereby you could get the best performance out of each tablet and do not need to make compromises. - If Archos cannot support such a strategy, they should not have released so many different hardware versions in the first place, as this is clearly a self-made problem.

[parkair]

There appears to be a fair number of problems with apps that fail to run under JB, Google it. I am happy with 4.0.26, WiFi and GPS work fine for me. Now if only that charging system were more reliable!

[Goner]

Exactly which flaws are you guys/girls experiencing ??

My G9 works OK ... no problems with whatever I'm using it for.

[parkair]

I have no problems with my G9 running the current ICS release, but there have been problems with some apps when updating to JB. Google it for more information. The one that I am personally familiar with is AnywhereMap Freedom, an aviation mapping app. It runs fine on ICS on my Archos, but not on JB 4.1.1 on my Samsung Galaxy S3. They do have a fix under way.

[swaaye]

If anyone wants to read about problems, just look up the release thread for each Archos firmware version. I went all the way back to 3.2.80 because none of the 4.x.x versions worked well enough for me for one reason or another.

[Goner]

So, anybody here who can explain while some people have problems with one or more (all ?) releases while I and others upgrade to every new firmware without any problem at all ??
Is it general problems or problems with specific apps ?

[Nightsurfer]

So, anybody here who can explain while some people have problems with one or more (all ?) releases while I and others upgrade to every new firmware without any problem at all ??
Is it general problems or problems with specific apps ?

My assumption is that this is related to the huge variety of different hardware configurations. - There are "G9" tablets with...

• 8" and 10" display (with different screen resolution)
• 1GHz, 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz CPUs (OMAP4430 and OMAP4460)
• 512MB and 1GB RAM
• 8GB, 16GB and 250GB internal storage capacity

This theoretically results in 36 combinations already. (Not sure if all the combinations got released.) Furthermore, some people have the 3G-stick installed or use that port for a micro-USB-stick or an external hard drive, while others have never used that port at all. This again multiplies the number of possible combinations.
But now it gets really ugly: Archos apparently also switched their hardware suppliers. For example, the first "G9" tablet shipped included a vibration device, which was omitted later. And there are rumors of different display types used for the 8" version. - Who knows what other components Archos changed in the middle of production...
Moreover, there is proof that at least for some firmware versions Archos released different builds under the same name. (The size of the firmware file suddenly changed from one day to the next without a revision change.) So depending on when exactly somebody downloaded a firmware update, two people who both think to run the same firmware might in fact run different versions...

Having that said, I agree that some crashes are certainly caused by apps: some people do not even notice that some "services" installed by certain apps run in the background all the time and might cause the trouble.

[mls]

And don't forget that the OMAP processors also have variations (the ES x.x numbers), and that there are many different circuit board versions (which have different support circuitry and chips). Since the GPS and WiFi work or do not work for some people depending on which firmware they install... I've often assumed that was due to the changes in the hardware.

Over on Facebook, it seems like Archos has actually admitted that they screwed up with selling so many different variations of hardware... and they just don't know how to make things work correctly for all of them now anymore. They also said the do not plan to do any further upgrades for the G9 models because they can't get them all to work correctly.

What really pisses me off about it though is that they still have not bothered to put out any way for people to go back to an older firmware version that actually did work right (without having to resort to rooting the device and installing a rooted ROM).

[swaaye]

The lesson to learn is to not buy Archos unless you've done a lot of research about the state of the specific product. The G9 product line (hardware and software) was a mess from day 1.

[mls]

The lesson to learn is to not buy Archos unless you've done a lot of research about the state of the specific product. The G9 product line (hardware and software) was a mess from day 1.

While I agree that the very first Archos G9's did have some flaws, there were later batches that actually worked just fine. Then, Archos screwed things up again with the changes from OMAP 4430 to 4460, higher speeds, and then later increasing the RAM from 512MB to 1GB. Somewhere in the middle of all those there is another batch that actually does work right. Unfortunately, so far nobody has actually been able to figure out exact which ones do work and which ones don't, and the advertising on re-seller webpages often do not have the correct product numbers (or even the correct specs for that matter). That makes it extremely hard for people to actually find and purchase the ones that do work correctly!

On my end, I have the following:

80 G9 8GB 1GHz OMAP 4430 ES 2.3, Board version A80S-V5 (came with firmware 3.2.79)
101 G9 8GB 1GHz OMAP 4430 ES 2.2, Board version A101S-V5 (came with firmware 3.2.79)
80 G9 16GB Turbo 1.5GHz OMAP 4460 ES 1.1, Board version A80S-V5(T1) (came with firmware 4.0.5)

All 3 have only 512MB RAM, but notice everything else is different between them. Yet, all 3 run perfectly fine with the 4.0.7 firmware upgrade. The ONLY noticeable problem I've had is with the 101 which tends to overheat when doing long large file downloads (causing some chip to shut down for a second or two to cool off causing the Wi-fi to drop out).

In other words, other than the Wi-Fi clinker with the 101, all 3 of them have been able to run just about everything I've thrown on them... at least up until Archos decided to turn them into worthless garbage paperweights with their 4.0.2x firmware releases.

So, I know for a fact that not all of the Archos G9's are bad. Maybe I've just been lucky (up until the 4.0.2x firmware problems).

[mls]

They updated (corrected) a posting on their Facebook page. Since it is hidden down in things where most people would not see it, I'll quote it here for the rest of you to read:

"""
Archos Worldwide Marco Antunes - Unfortunately after many months of analysis and
testing it has been decided that, due to the multiple hardware configurations
available on our G9 range and the complexities these add, we will not release an
Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” update to the G9 range tablets. The G9 Range, originally
released in the autumn of 2011, running Honeycomb, saw 16 firmware updates taking
it across many versions of Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich, making 4.0.28 the
final firmware that will be provided to this device range.
"""

Considering that it took 3 months for them to get around to releasing this last firmware I think they are pretty much just giving up on us G9 users altogether now. As such, my only chance of properly working tablets on my end is now to just go with rooted stock 4.0.7 and leave them that way from now on. I don't really want 'root', but if that's the only way I can get mine to work correctly then so be it.

[MarkhamSnappy]

So glad I got away from Archos, since my last, the 70 Internet Tablet.

I got good use out of it, and it was innovative for it's day, BUT the weak support of the hardware and software issues it had were an overall put-off. Neat, that it had features such as the microSD slot to increase the storage, HDMI output, USB support and Bluetooth compatibility. Unfortunately, it had some glaring problems, such as a bad WiFi implementation, too little main running RAM at 256mb, very laggy performance with it's capacitive touchscreen, etc. Archos did support the G8 series with a plethora of firmware updates, but typically these updates broke more than they fixed. I went the route of installing UrukDroid to try and resolve some of the major faults, but had poor success with that.

From the sounds of it, Archos' G9 and likely the G10 tablets have some serious quality issues, over and above any software problems. WORSE, from what I see, with the myriad of tablets that Archos has flooded the market with as of late, I cannot see how they will fix any one issue with all of these devices.
Likely, they won't release very many bug fixes for the G9's or G10's or future devices, if they continue at this rate.


SO GLAD I bought this Nexus 7. It always connects to WiFi. The signal is strong. The device is fast, never fails, and having it for half a year, I've yet to wipe it clean, or have a urge to, or to root it to fix something, or to even see it lock up once. Trully. Everything worked out of the box, and yep the screen edge on mine has lifted a wee bit on one side, but that is so miniscule of an issue, that I barely noticed it, and have now forgotten about it. Rock solid, the updates only get better, and never seem to break a thing.


Archos needs to scrap all these shitty tablets, release 1 or 2, and SUPPORT them solidly.



Good luck with you stuff guys, my 70it is being donated to my Mom, but I don't think she will get good use out of it as a browser, and her BlackBerry is so much more solid for her emails, that the tablet will likely get put aside.