Database Users

Archos Gen8 Internet Tablets

If this is the wrong place for this thread sorry but I could see a forum for these devices.
I just ordered the Archos 101 Internet Tablet 16 GB. It was a toss up between that tablet and the Viewsonic G-Tab. The lighter weight and form factor of the Archos, as well as the fact they were actually in stock and cheaper then the Viewsonic made me end up with one of those.
Has anyone started playing with these devices yet to see if they can be rooted, custom recoveried, or ROM'd yet? I'd love to get Cyanogen 2.2 or a lightweight 2.2 build on this device. Thanks!

Permanent root is still being worked on. Don't plan on seeing Cyanogen on them (at least I haven't heard anything about the Cyanogen team coming up with anything). Once permanent root comes (after the 2.2 update), then custom ROMs will be coming down the pipe.

z4root works for temp root right now, and hopefully perm root soon. If you apply the current 2.2 you will want z4root and SetCpu (search XDA) to get your CPU clock speeds back to 1 GHz.
There are some internal 2.2 fixes coming in the next firmware from Archos that should stabilize things a bit and *hopefully* enable hardware acceleration in Flash. Once that firmware is out we should be at a decent starting point for custom development.

"and *hopefully* enable hardware acceleration in Flash"
It is officially stated by Archos that the hardwareaccelerated Flash is there and just needs confirmation by adobe.

fzelle said:
It is officially stated by Archos that the hardwareaccelerated Flash is there and just needs confirmation by adobe.
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Not sure about you, but the whole process of even getting my A101 wound up being a I'll believe it when I see it affair. I trust the better (working) Flash is coming, but until I see the firmware I will continue to hope.

Hexidecimal said:
Has anyone started playing with these devices yet to see if they can be rooted, custom recoveried, or ROM'd yet? I'd love to get Cyanogen 2.2 or a lightweight 2.2 build on this device. Thanks!
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I have an A70. It's basically the 101 with a 7" screen, so they are the same. I was hesitant to be too exited about it when I decided to order. I had never owned an Archos. In fact, I had never even heard of them.
Now that I actually have my A70, I am very pleased with it. It is fast and very responsive. And the build quality is quite high. On par with Apple even. (please don't start a flame war over this, it's just my opinion).
The real thing that has me exited is that, once this baby gets rooted, it's gonna be so frickin awesome. I don't know about Cyan, but I think there will be some great Roms for it coming down the pipe. After all, there are only a few viable Android tablets out there for a while (the Gtab, Galaxy and Archos), so devs will probably focus their talents on those. It's not like the phone market where you have 50 different platforms to choose from.
Just my .02 cents. I hope you enjoy your A101.

Archos 101: 'Lag' reinvented
I have a Archos 101 8Gb since 2 weeks.
I also own a Samsung Galaxy S, getting rid of 'lag' on the Galaxy S is a big thing in the Galaxy S forums. But compared to a Archos 101, the Galaxy S merely hesitates a bit, while the Archos frequently has to be resurrected from the dead it seems. There is plenty of room for serious improvement, at this moment it doesn't come close to the performance of a standard Samsung Galaxy S or HTC Desire, especially when swithcing apps or screens, or when something is downloading.
So, looking forward to customizing!
Archos 101 8Gb Froyo 2.2, Z4Root + SetCPU 1000Mhz.

Why would it be so hard to root or create ROMs for this device when Archos, on their website claim that this is all open source and even possible to dual boot?
Possibilities beyond Android™ with the ‘Dual OS’
Just like a PC, the ARCHOS 70 internet tablet can be freely programmed in alternative ways. This gives developers programming options in addition to the applications that can be created for the Android platform. To have total control of your Internet Tablet, ARCHOS has opened up this device, thus allowing creative minds to program their own tablet, or create what could be the tablet of the future.
ARCHOS has decided to « open » its ARCHOS 70 internet tablet by proposing to install and replace the system running Android originally installed on the machine.
Developers and programmers can choose for the operating system running under Linux distribution Ångström.
Developers can install this OS on an ARCHOS 70 internet tablet and join the Linux community which is developing a new interface, new icons, drivers, programs ... dedicated to this platform.
Skilled developers and programmers can now choose to switch over to a true standard Linux environment as offered by the Ångström Linux distribution. Developers can put this on their ARCHOS 70 internet tablet devices and join other enthusiasts who are experimenting with various ideas and interfaces based on the Linux operating system.

The difficult part is they compressed the file system with squashfs, which is a read only system.
I'm not too familiar with linux or android os, but I've read people saying that it has to be decompressed before we can have read/write access for root

xShadoWxDrifTx said:
The difficult part is they compressed the file system with squashfs, which is a read only system.
I'm not too familiar with linux or android os, but I've read people saying that it has to be decompressed before we can have read/write access for root
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There is a workaround for r-only but it's not ready yet. Over at archosfans one of members is trying to remount /system and enable writing, thus providing us with permanent root access. It's work in progress...

zad225: That might require the SDE which I will be released in the next couple days.

Techngro said:
Now that I actually have my A70, I am very pleased with it. It is fast and very responsive.
The real thing that has me excited is that, once this baby gets rooted, it's gonna be so frickin awesome.
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No poster is addressing the big problem with the 101: RAM is limited to 256MB, a huge technical and marketing disaster. My phone has 512MB...!
I have two days to decide whether to return it or not. RAM gets well below 50MB easily, and the tablet gets very slow and laggy. I've uninstalled everything I can think of, and under the best circumstances I get 72MB free, dangerously close to a slowdown...
I love everything else about it, specially the weight and the sound. But right now I'm leaning to a return, because even modding will not overcome the RAM problem.
Can someone technically qualified refute my opinion..? I don't mean "it works fine for me" or "be patient", I mean a technical reason that would eliminate the slower speed and lagginess.
Thank you.

You could add a swap file if you are temp rooted.
Sent from my HTC Legend using XDA App

marclh1992 said:
You could add a swap file if you are temp rooted.
Sent from my HTC Legend using XDA App
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just searched the gen8 section and I don't find any directions on adding a swap file . does someone have a link to a HOW-TO on that

argie said:
No poster is addressing the big problem with the 101: RAM is limited to 256MB, a huge technical and marketing disaster. My phone has 512MB...!
I have two days to decide whether to return it or not. RAM gets well below 50MB easily, and the tablet gets very slow and laggy. I've uninstalled everything I can think of, and under the best circumstances I get 72MB free, dangerously close to a slowdown...
I love everything else about it, specially the weight and the sound. But right now I'm leaning to a return, because even modding will not overcome the RAM problem.
Can someone technically qualified refute my opinion..? I don't mean "it works fine for me" or "be patient", I mean a technical reason that would eliminate the slower speed and lagginess.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but can you give a technical reason on why 256MB RAM is a huge technical and marketing disaster?
The Motorola Droid has 256MB of RAM and runs Froyo fine including Flash. I am able to get down to 25MB or less with no slow down. So saying that the 256MB of RAM is the root problem is incorrect. Would more memory be nice? Of course it would.
The main reasons people are seeing issues is because of some bugs in the current Archos Froyo implementation. It also appears that JIT is not actually enabled in this first Froyo build either. Both of these items can be fixed with a software update.
Another reason I see is the incorrect use of task killers. People seem to think they need to kill all running programs when in fact that can cause slowdowns, instability, crashes and lockups.
I have also seen user error that causes a lot of issues. Mostly from new to Android people that have no clue what they are doing. They install half baked programs that cause some of the issues mentioned above.
I think if you give it some time then things will become nicer. If your not willing to wait then I'm sure you can pick up a new tablet within the next couple of months that will meet your criteria.

Go to this website for how to use a swap space. It fixed most problems for me.
forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=42718
Sent from my HTC Legend using XDA App

Android on Ativ Tab 3

i want to install android on ativ 3 , is that possible? , what version do you guys recommend? has anyone tried that? Thank you!
here you can see it

Bump?

Wow, it seems i bought a nono... it seems no one has it or ever heard of it...

It does indeed seem that way. Since it runs "real" Windows you can probably use something like BlueStacks on it? Actually installing Android (and having it work) will require driver support in Android which may not exist; even fairly popular Windows tablet lines like the Surface Pro family have driver troubles in Android.

I've been doing a lot of research on this tablet. Ended up picking up a refurb for $250, and with 64GB I'd like to do a dual boot if possible.
However, looking at Wikipedia, there isn't a single tablet with the Atom Z2760 with Android. They're all running Windows 8.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_(system_on_chip)
I'm an amateur developer, finishing up my CS degree this Spring. If someone more experienced than me thinks this is actually possible, I'll look into trying to make it happen. If there are any resources that may be relevant, post them or send me a PM.

I own a Samsung ATIV Tab 3 as well. I have not been using it since after updating to windows 10 it has become extremely slow. On the other hand I really like the pen and its responsiveness.
Have you found any way to install android or another light OS?
Ideally I would like to utilize the device as a digital notepad.

Currently, there are Bliss OS or Prime OS but I am testing Prime OS, I don't expect straightforward and easy installation but let's hope for the best...

@UserBroskyXDA, have you been successfull with Prime OS ? I have windows 10 running on my machine and its extremely slow.

[Looking for Help] "Best" Android (TV) hardware

Hello everybody,
I'm looking for some suggestions on hardware for a little project of mine.
I recently got my hands on a few Dynalink TV Boxes after discovering the great support of LineageOS on them here in the forum. Sadly, after some testing with the hardware I got, they seem to be off the market - out of stock everywhere since new year...
So, I'm looking for an alternative. Preferably in the same price range (30-40 bucks) and form factor and able to be flashed with Lineage or another clean ROM.
FireTV Stick Lite seemed promising, same price and decent performance out of the box. Sadly Amazon locked those very hard lately so there is currently no use for them.
I got a "Q96 Stick" of AliExpress but that thing is shady, lacks of performance and there seems to be no custom roms available soon.
So is there anything you could suggest?
Small, price around 30-40, Custom Rom available (Android 10+) or has clean stock OS, no need to be Android TV. No need for Netflix and other DRM stuff.
The project is a small digital signage, I just need to figure the hardware since the Dynalink boxes seems decommissioned.
PS: Idk if I got the right section of the forum, please be gentle.

Well I can't recommend one in that price range BUT be very careful, there's a huge thread on here about cheap android boxes that have built-in bot nets so be wary. They might even live in the system after flashing idk just be careful getting cheap android boxes

spart0n said:
be very careful, there's a huge thread on here about cheap android boxes that have built-in bot nets so be wary
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Yea I've heard that and that's why I'm very suspicious about this q96 Stick, stock OS is rooted, adb is active and don't ask for permission on new connections, it lies about it's specs and so on, so there is definitely something baked in deep.
On the Dynalink Box I don't sense a thread and idk I such would survive the flashing?
FireTV would be the best option, but not with the lockdown...

R1N4x said:
I'm looking for some suggestions on hardware for a little project of mine.
Dynalink TV Boxes after discovering the great support of LineageOS on them here in the forum.
The project is a small digital signage, I just need to figure the hardware since the Dynalink boxes seems decommissioned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tv box devices for which there are lineage builds are listed in the lineage thread. Most of those devices are dated, eol, or discontinued.
Why is lineage support important for your digital signage project? There are other similar S905Y2 and S905Y4 certified tv box devices that can be bootloader unlocked and rooted, but there are not lineage builds for these devices. Is root not enough? Your digital signage project also requires lineage?

Functioner said:
Why is lineage support important for your digital signage project? There are other similar S905Y2 and S905Y4 certified tv box devices that can be bootloader unlocked and rooted, but there are not lineage builds for these devices. Is root not enough? Your digital signage project also requires lineage?
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Click to collapse
No, Lineage is not required, a clean OS is. It has not to be Lineage. It would be a "nice to have".
If the stock one is clean or can be cleaned I'll be happy.
Clean is maybe the wrong term, more like trustable and somewhat up to date.
Root is also not required but would be nice.
What boxes are you talking about?

R1N4x said:
It has not to be Lineage. It would be a "nice to have".
If the stock one is clean or can be cleaned I'll be happy.
Clean is maybe the wrong term, more like trustable and somewhat up to date.
Root is also not required but would be nice.
What boxes are you talking about?
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Click to collapse
The way to get a clean build is to stay away from the generic boxes that have hobbled together mobile builds, and instead choose a certified device. In the tv box world, this means a device for which the ultimate oem is one of a few chinese manufacturers; sei, askey, or sdmc.
The nebula 4k streaming dongle (amazon B098BFDB41) has the same specs as the dynalink, but it is 49.99 US. It also uses the s905y2, which is on its way out. The nebula device runs android 10 and is made by sdmc.
The homatics lite 4k (amazon B0BNL1YS7V) has a s905y4 and 16gb storage, but it is 59.99 US. This device runs android 11 and is made by sei. In some ways the s905y4 is not quite as powerful as the s905y2 that it replaces, but the y4 does support av1.
The hako mini (amazon B0BFW3MMKJ) is the sdmc version of the homatics device. It is also 59.99 US.
The above devices often go on sale on amazon.

Okay that's a guideline.
If the SoC are on their way out that could mean there might be a successor for it and therefore for the Dynalink box (wich is made by Askey)
So I'll be patient and look at upcoming devices and also wait for an update on the locked FireTVs.
I still wonder, and don't meant to be rude or offensive, the marked is flooded with those cheap Allwinner based boxes and sticks but there is rarely an interest in this community on them? Why is that? Sure they're probably spiced with malware and what not but the hardware is cheap and available.

I don't know. I think the allwinner 616 is a junky cpu. Some of the others might be better. They aren't all that cheap.
Someone got most of the malware out of the 616 based t95. https://github.com/DesktopECHO/T95-H616-Malware

Functioner said:
Someone got most of the malware out of the 616 based t95. https://github.com/DesktopECHO/T95-H616-Malware
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Click to collapse
Yea I looked into that and was already monitoring the stick I got - nothing weird so far, at least on the network.
But still weird behavior with ADB and the fact it came rooted. Also spoofed specs like ram and storage.

Pixel C Hardware Upgrades

Hey all! I found someone who's interested in trying to upgrade the RAM and eMMC of the pixel C, does anyone have broken tablets around that we can test with? Dead backlights, broken screens, whatever.
The plan is 8GB lpddr4 and 128GB eMMC 5.1, 256 possibly. eMMC should be easy, might only be able to do 6 or 4gb ram but going moonshot first because why not.
Who's with me? The tablet is still SO good especially with @michie putting out these incredible builds lately. We just need some extra dead ones to test with, pm me or post here if you're interested in helping out.

Update! 8GB RAM boots, now just need some help getting it recognized by the OS. Currently still showing 3gb in Android.

Funny, I would have expected the OS recognizes it on the spot

SigmundDroid said:
Funny, I would have expected the OS recognizes it on the spot
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I also would've thought that, did some research and apparently the bootloader has device tree lists with hardware specs for the device (can define multiple profiles) and then passes that into to kernel during initialization if I understand correctly, just need somebody who actually understands the process lol

Any progress in the RAM upgrade project?

Haven't gotten a version of the DragonShield rom flashed yet, tried and failed. Will try again soon, @michie is done with school and someone said they were able to get it flashed successfully!

Cheap Android Box Advice

Hello,
I want to experiment with Android as a desktop computer doubling as a streaming device. I understand there are many ways to go about this, but I think the most interesting (and cheapest) way to accomplish this would be to repurpose one of the many unofficial Android TV boxes found on ebay and Amazon. My reasoning for this is that they can generally be flashed with a different ROM quite easily. This is important because I don't trust them out of the box, and want to know they are running a clean ROM. They also use regular Android as opposed to Android TV. In a surprising twist, I actually want regular Android for this project, not Android TV.
I am aware that some apps won't work and that I probably won't have access to the Play Store. I'm ok with this because I use a degoogled Android phone and know how to get by without it. I also understand that there are other solutions. I'm not opposed to considering alternatives, but this project is really just for the fun and potential challenge.
Here are my problems:
Many of these cheap boxes lie about their specs, i.e. they claim to have 4gb of RAM when they only have 2gb of RAM.
All of the Android streaming devices consistently recommended run Android TV. I want to use the regular Android found on a phone or tablet, as close to AOSP as possible.
I have found only one ROM provider for these Android boxes that isn't based on Android TV. SlimboxTV is exactly what I want, but it's not open source and I have some concerns over the fact that it's developed in Russia.
So here are my questions:
Can you recommend me a decent cheap Android box? I would prefer 4gb of RAM but understand that may not exist. 1080p is fine if 4k isn't an option. I don't really care about other specs.
Are there any other ROMs out there that are based on regular Android and not Android TV? If not, is SlimboxTV safe to use? I have found surprisingly little information about this considering it has a presence on XDA.
If this isn't the right place to ask this question, can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks for your help!