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Hello all! I have a sad story and an opportunity.
Sad story: I forgot my Universal on top of my car today and when I came around a bend in the road, it was slung out into a highway. The first car dodged it, and the second car aimed for it. I have taken pics. I think ti would have survived the slinging, and I am testing to see if the mainboard survived being ran over.
Opportunity: I'd like to get a new one. I don't mind parts-ing one together either. I am comfortable buying on eBay, and I don't mind it if I have to pay for international shipping, but I'd prefer to buy from the US for quicker delivery time.
I was just about to start really customizing the ROMS and all that too....
Sigh.
I hafe attached pics of the carnage. The microSD card survived. I did pull all of my data off though. Luckily I had done a hard reset las week, so I had all my numbers backed up. The SIM card survived as well, and I am borrowing a phone I gave a firend for the time being.
Wow those are some scarey images! Sorry for your loss, but that needs to be a closed casket funeral...
I've been considering selling my Uni/JasJar, PM me if you're interested in buying a used device with a bit of wear.
Oh my god............
RIP Uni are you trying to disassemble it for some pics of motherboard?
It looks better than I would have thought after being run over. You may be lucky and Mobo may be ok. You can buy replacement screens and casings.
Was it a compact that ran it over ? Cause I really cant see the Uni being that strong?
There are quite a few Uni's going on the UK Ebay anywhere from $200 USD to $80 USD if you are patient enough.
Good luck with finding another!
2 minutes silence for the Uni please......
Status update
I have purchased a B stock unit from eXpansys (the last one they had) for a decent price. Only problem is with the new unit, all I can do is get into the boot loader to see that it is version 1.00, and give it the hard reboot command. The unit appears to respond to the command but does not initiate the hard reset.
Hard reboot command I used: two soft buttons and the reset button.
Bootloader command I used: power, brightness, and reset button.
The bootloader does recognize that the difference between a USB and !USB connection. However, Windows consistently reports that the USB device has malfunctioned.
At first I thought it was a battery issue because the unit looks like it is brand new. So I waited patiently until I got home and tried all of the batteries I have here at the house. Yes, I was wary sticking the battery that was in the unit that was ran over into it, but I did try it. I have tried 3 chargers and two computers, and NADA. The only response I get from the device is using one of the two commands above.
Other random observations:
I tried inserting an old (disconnected but good) SIM card into it. Nada.
The battery was shipped in the battery compartment.
The backlight does work, as does the screen to some degree.
When I first plugged it into the charger, the battery status LED was red, as I anticipated.
The battery status indicator no longer turns red when the unit is plugged in. It does turn red when the battery is removed and power is applied.
Postulations at this point:
I wonder if I could load a ROM image to it?
I wonder if the battery is really charged.
Any and all help will be much appreciated on the matter.
disection
Win_XP said:
RIP Uni are you trying to disassemble it for some pics of motherboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have disassembled it already and done some preliminary testing. The power LED does illuminate RED. I have tried attaching a battery and holding it, but hats not producing anything. But then again the screen is cracked like its cool, so I don't know what to expect.
I'll post pics when I get a chance.
beast0898 said:
Was it a compact that ran it over ? Cause I really cant see the Uni being that strong?
There are quite a few Uni's going on the UK Ebay anywhere from $200 USD to $80 USD if you are patient enough.
Good luck with finding another!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was one of those KIA/Mercades/lexus lifted CAR SUV things. They AIMED for it.
I looked on ebay, but I never though to check the UK side. Usually eBay does that for em for some reason....
Situation update
I have had a couple of offers and much sympathy. Thanks!
My unit from expansys is up and running. I was up till 3 am saturday morning playing around with it. I stumbled across a few posts that gave instructions on how to deal with a potentially bricked device. As far as I can figure. my phone was shipped to me without an OS. I knew that PCs could do that, but can you just blank the OS on a phone? I can theoretically see how that might be possible, but why would that happen? Do they not get shipped out with OS's? that baffles me.
The specific process of deduction I used:
read the manual (the service manual from HTC). It said to either reload the ROM or the mobo was defective. I started looking on this forum for the procedures and files neccessary.
It seemed that my phone was not booting, so I looked into the ROM upgradeing/reflashing pages.
Links to pages I found useful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=357
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367448
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Flashing Guide
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Uni_ROM_Upgrade
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...consumption measurements of the HTC Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...y car or USB charger! It just doesn't charge!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298613
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=285435
As you can see, the wiki was quite helpful for me. Thae list above is not inclusive. I thought I had bookmarked all the pages I found helpful, but it did not apepar to be so. I have done much reading on this forum, and I purchased my original Universal over a year ago. I say that to let any newbies know that this is not a simple process and should not be attempted until you have a clear picture of what's going on.
I also tried the set 0 14 procedure, but that sis NOT work in my case.
What finally got me was the imate ROM I have attached to this page. It was able to see my universal, but only when I was in the bootloader. I will say that again because it bears repeating. I put the phone into the bootloader and ONLY THEN could I update the ROM on the device. I found no instructions anywhere on this, I had to figure it out on my own. The way I discovered it though is kinda neat. When I just plugged the phone into my computer, windows would not recognize it and say that it malfunctioned. If I plugged it into my computer with it in the bootloader, I got that nice sound that windows makes when new hardware is found. Also, I tried the Universal RUU and it did not recognize that the phone was attached in either way. Lastly, I first tried the ROM update with the phone not int he bootloader, and the IMATE program didn't see the phone. I tried it with it in the bootloader, and it did its thing.
I have attached a few of the files I found useful. I found these on this site, in some posts.
This is not a formal writeup, so please forgive any grammatical errors or rambling. I just wanted to share what I found.
So I finally just switched the SIM card back into the new phone. I tried to get MMS going, and SAME FRAKKIN thing: small pics. ARGH!!
AllanonMage said:
I have had a couple of offers and much sympathy. Thanks!
My unit from expansys is up and running. I was up till 3 am saturday morning playing around with it. I stumbled across a few posts that gave instructions on how to deal with a potentially bricked device. As far as I can figure. my phone was shipped to me without an OS. I knew that PCs could do that, but can you just blank the OS on a phone? I can theoretically see how that might be possible, but why would that happen? Do they not get shipped out with OS's? that baffles me.
The specific process of deduction I used:
read the manual (the service manual from HTC). It said to either reload the ROM or the mobo was defective. I started looking on this forum for the procedures and files neccessary.
It seemed that my phone was not booting, so I looked into the ROM upgradeing/reflashing pages.
Links to pages I found useful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=357
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367448
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Flashing Guide
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Uni_ROM_Upgrade
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...consumption measurements of the HTC Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...y car or USB charger! It just doesn't charge!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298613
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=285435
As you can see, the wiki was quite helpful for me. Thae list above is not inclusive. I thought I had bookmarked all the pages I found helpful, but it did not apepar to be so. I have done much reading on this forum, and I purchased my original Universal over a year ago. I say that to let any newbies know that this is not a simple process and should not be attempted until you have a clear picture of what's going on.
I also tried the set 0 14 procedure, but that sis NOT work in my case.
What finally got me was the imate ROM I have attached to this page. It was able to see my universal, but only when I was in the bootloader. I will say that again because it bears repeating. I put the phone into the bootloader and ONLY THEN could I update the ROM on the device. I found no instructions anywhere on this, I had to figure it out on my own. The way I discovered it though is kinda neat. When I just plugged the phone into my computer, windows would not recognize it and say that it malfunctioned. If I plugged it into my computer with it in the bootloader, I got that nice sound that windows makes when new hardware is found. Also, I tried the Universal RUU and it did not recognize that the phone was attached in either way. Lastly, I first tried the ROM update with the phone not int he bootloader, and the IMATE program didn't see the phone. I tried it with it in the bootloader, and it did its thing.
I have attached a few of the files I found useful. I found these on this site, in some posts.
This is not a formal writeup, so please forgive any grammatical errors or rambling. I just wanted to share what I found.
So I finally just switched the SIM card back into the new phone. I tried to get MMS going, and SAME FRAKKIN thing: small pics. ARGH!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Some of the commands for MTTY are not in the standard bootloader command list, best advice is to supercid your device (this will help in recovery if things go wrong later too) then once supercid is complete, upgrade the Bootloader version and flash a complete Rom to the device, radio, extended and OS in one flash.
All info is in the Wiki mate, if you need any further help, post back to us or PM me.
Glad you got a device back up and running, ca'nt you sue the guy for intentionally hitting your old one................LoL!
Cheers,
Beasty
Hey all... just a quick question to set my mind at ease please...
Just bought a desire on ebay .. supposedly unwanted t mobile UK upgrade... brand New in box...paid 270 for itwhich I thought was a decent price...
I'm just a little worried about stuff on eBay though and wonder if there's anything I should check for to make sure its ok... any known problems I should be looking for or a reason someone would want rid in a hurry... as it was a 1 day sale.. many thanks for any help.
Nobody can advise what to look for? Is it at least possible to check how many minutes the phone has been used for ? (
Bought a Black HTC Desire on ebay.. £350.. box was still sealed - all good. But the chap selling it did live at the top of my road! LOL
Unlocked - just about to flash it!
Chivalryyyy said:
Hey all... just a quick question to set my mind at ease please...
Just bought a desire on ebay .. supposedly unwanted t mobile UK upgrade... brand New in box...paid 270 for itwhich I thought was a decent price...
I'm just a little worried about stuff on eBay though and wonder if there's anything I should check for to make sure its ok... any known problems I should be looking for or a reason someone would want rid in a hurry... as it was a 1 day sale.. many thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats a good deal, i got mine off ebay for £295, the main things u wanna check are the obvious, check the screen and the casing, check the battery for damage, turn it on and make sure you desire dosent have the pink screen tint problem, put it under some heavy usage and see if u get any random reboots ect and lastly plug it in while using it and make sure the device duznt get too hot, if your happy after doing all that ur sorted lol
If it's a stolen phone, it is possible that the IMEI has been blacklisted.
See here for more details.
Regards,
Dave
When you get it use the dialler to type *#*#4636#*#* then tap usage statistics. This will tell you how long each application has been used for. Obviously if it's brand new these should read 0.
It should be wrapped in a cellophane type wrapper that folds in all weird ways around it! It's all one piece. I would do all the usual checks, and look closely at it to ensure it hasn't been dropped etc.
Don't forget if it's a Tmobile upgrade then it will likely be locked to Tmobile and require an unlock code if you aren't on the same network!
It should come supplied with a 4gb micro SD card installed in the phone, the battery, usb lead, wall charger that you plug the usb lead into, earphones, and a few wee booklets. All the leads, charger etc should be in sealed bags.
Thanks all.... I've been using it since last night and seems allls well... gets quite warm at the.base of the back .. but I assume they all generate some heat ...
Checked the timers.. and sense was showing 3 hours.. but as I been using it a day that obviously me.. was in box all cellofaned up.. and all bits in sealed bags..
What's the pink screen problem ? Is it very noticeable ?
The 1 thing o did notice is there was an option to have something light up on receipt of mail or sms. I assume its the center of the optical tracker but I haven't noticed it light up once... should it? And hoe can I check? Thanks again for all the advice.. had set my mind at ease. )
The light for notifications is the one you see when you charge. There is no light at the trackpad.
socktug said:
Don't forget if it's a Tmobile upgrade then it will likely be locked to Tmobile and require an unlock code if you aren't on the same network!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it is the case, is it then possible to "unlock" it by flashing another ROM onto it? Just wondered cause I'm looking at one that might be locked to vodafone (upgrade).
Puccifer said:
If it is the case, is it then possible to "unlock" it by flashing another ROM onto it? Just wondered cause I'm looking at one that might be locked to vodafone (upgrade).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. A new rom gives you new phone software. To unlock it you need to go to Vodafone, or the cheaper and better option in my opinion, buy a code online!
My device often fails to wake up correctly.
The screen remains black (I can see the backlight is active) and nothing is displayed.
This is getting ridiculous now!
This is the 3rd device since September; I have had one device replaced because of a faulty speaker; then the LCD broke on the next device when I simply picked it up and now this!
I am considering asking for a refund!
I do not want to have to pay another £7.50 to return the device and then find that the replacement device also has a fault!
{EDIT} Going to try a full device reinitialisation one last time before making a decision.
/fingers crossed
Extreme_One said:
My device often fails to wake up correctly.
The screen remains black (I can see the backlight is active) and nothing is displayed.
This is getting ridiculous now!
This is the 3rd device since September; I have had one device replaced because of a faulty speaker; then the LCD broke on the next device when I simply picked it up and now this!
I am considering asking for a refund!
I do not want to have to pay another £7.50 to return the device and then find that the replacement device also has a fault!
{EDIT} Going to try a full device reinitialisation one last time before making a decision.
/fingers crossed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I am rather new on the xda forums... I thought I've seen you around here for a long time already.
Seems rather odd to me that surdu_petru's tablet failed and went in for repair, then now you say you've been having problems with 3 tablets (since Sept)?
Even worse, sorry surdu decided to take an exchange for a newer XS... and I'm guessing that you are hoping to get such an option also if you return yours. I mean, come on now, you've gone through 3 tablets in 3 months time... they don't even RMA and return them that fast unless you live right next door!
I'm not trying to be rude at all here, and if you truly have had all those problems I do hope you can find a solution, but...
Just seems rather strange that now there are 2 people that I've seen around this forum for months that all of a sudden seem to want to give up on their Archos G9 tablets.
Meanwhile, I've got a "classic" (1GHz with 512M RAM) 101 G9 that is just now a year old and would be working super if it was not for the stupidity of upgrading to the Archos 4.0.25 (total crap, memory management not working at all in that version) and 4.0.26 firmware (at least the fixed the memory management, but still has other problems). [was just pure luck I had already been reading things here on xda so that I could install an un-official SDE and get back to 4.0.7 to keep mine working until the next official firmware, or test firmware, whatever]
Since Archos seems to have a VERY BAD HABIT of turning something that could be really great into total garbage with their firmware upgrades.. well, I guess I can see you losing interest. In which case, I would have to say go for the refund and buy a tablet from a better company! Don't know if I'd ever buy anything from Archos again, but not because of the hardware being bad (debatable), but mainly just because their firmware simply does not work most of the time (should not have needed half a dozen firmware upgrades, plus about that many "test" version to get to work right... and then get trashed again with the 4.0.2x upgrades).
Hmm, maybe you SHOULD just grab the money and run!
55mls said:
... they don't even RMA and return them that fast unless you live right next door!...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coincidentally I live in the same city as their UK returns office.
I really like the tablet when it works, but it is hard to ignore the problems I'm facing.
I have just started reinstalling all my apps (nightmare) and truly hope that after completely reinitialising the OS the tablet behaves correctly from now on.
I will stay with 4.0.7 as I experience a massive reduction in battery life on the 4.0.25 ROM
If the tablet starts to wake up to a black screen then I will ask for a refund and look for an alternative.
Extreme_One said:
Coincidentally I live in the same city as their UK returns office.
I really like the tablet when it works, but it is hard to ignore the problems I'm facing.
I have just started reinstalling all my apps (nightmare) and truly hope that after completely reinitialising the OS the tablet behaves correctly from now on.
I will stay with 4.0.7 as I experience a massive reduction in battery life on the 4.0.25 ROM
If the tablet starts to wake up to a black screen then I will ask for a refund and look for an alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you were using 4.0.25 then that's your problem right there!!!
As far as "stock" official Archos firmware goes (and I've been through just about all of those by now), there are really ONLY two that actually work anywhere near right... 3.2.80 and 4.0.7.
*IF* you already have made the big mistake of ever installing ANY of the official Archos 4.0.2x or "rooted" versions firmwares, and then want to get your tablet working anywhere near close to right again... then these are the ONLY good "rooted" versions to choose from:
[ROM] UPDATE Custom Rom Honeycomb 3.2.1 - Firmware 3.2.80 Only for SDE ;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1530615&highlight=3+2+80
[ROM] Stock Archos ICS Firmware 4.0.7 - ROOT Version !
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720422
ANY FIRMWARE based on Archos 4.0.24 or 4.0.25 is totally worthless. The memory management does not even work right in those, and there's all kinds of other problems Archos created with their own MediaCenter stuff and file indexing! Do NOT waste your time with any of those!
Although Archos did (at least partially) fix the memory management in the newer 4.0.26 firmware... I would NOT recommend installing it... if you have anyway to install the official (or even "rooted" 4.0.7 instead!
I will assume you are now installing a "rooted" 4.0.7, and hopefully it is the one I listed above! If so, your tablet should work pretty much just like it would with the original official Archos 4.0.7... or, at least it has so far on my end with only a few odd quirks occasionally, but that's mostly because I did not do a full re-format to get rid of all the extra apps that were installed with the official 4.0.25 I had before.
Hope all goes well with 4.0.7 for you. Got some other info you might be interested in. Let me know how things are working and maybe send a PM, or I can PM you with other info. Either way, hope you get yours working again!
But, then again, if you could get a FULL refund from Archos... in all honesty I'd take the money and run LOL. There are now MUCH BETTER tablets on the market without all the firmware problems... although they may not have ALL the features of an Archos. For example, GPS... not needed on a tablet if you have a newer cellphone/smartphone (which will always have a better GPS than any tablet has).
Using stock 4.0.7 installed some apps and let the tablet sleep for 15 minutes
Came back to wake up the device and I'm greeted by a black screen!
Now I will contact Archos ...
Contacted Archos support telephone line and they recommended upgrading the firmware to 4.0.26!
Well, this is the last thing I will try, I didn't want to use 4.0.26 but would rather the tablet worked than have to consider contacting the supplier for a refund...
I'll see how I get on with 4.0.26 and if I get the same problems I'll have to go back to the supplier for a refund.
Extreme_One said:
Contacted Archos support telephone line and they recommended upgrading the firmware to 4.0.26!
Well, this is the last thing I will try, I didn't want to use 4.0.26 but would rather the tablet worked than have to consider contacting the supplier for a refund...
I'll see how I get on with 4.0.26 and if I get the same problems I'll have to go back to the supplier for a refund.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really sorry to hear that!!! REALLY SORRY!
I do wish you luck with getting 4.0.26 to bring the thin back to life, but it sure won't ever be working anywhere near as good as it would have with 4.0.7. I had such high hopes for you, but now I'm really, really sad :crying:
On the other hand, if you can get a refund... grab the money and run! Go get a tablet from some other company that actually knows what they are doing. Hate to say it, and don't really recommend it, but there ARE some Chinese knock offs that are actually better than the junk Archos has been selling lately.
Of course, you sure can not go wrong with a Google Nexus 7 or 10 though. Think about that for a bit... 100% pure Google Android and therefor 100% Google certified. If you want Android, I don't know how you could do any better!
On the other 2 sides of a coin, I simply will NOT buy into the Apple ecosystem (why would anybody ever need a screen that can display almost 4 full 1080p HD videos on it when you can NOT even really see details of just one full 1080p video on a screen that small to start with... too much bogus hype, not anything really useful). Flip coin, despite my ongoing hatred over the years, some of the new Windows 8 devices do look pretty tempting.
Good luck which every way you may end up going. At least it was a little bit of fun while it lasted.
My only trouble with 4.0.26 on one of my previous tablets was really poor battery life.
Well, so far on 4.0.26 the battery life seems normal...
The tablet has gone to sleep a couple of times and woken up again correctly.
Still have loads of apps to install before I'm back to where I was.
I'll just have to see how I go over the next couple of days, the big test will be tomorrow morning after the tablet has been sleeping all night.
...
Whilst I agree there are a great many 'better' tablets out there now for the money there are things the Archos does better; SD Card and HDMI out both missing from the Google devices.
And you're absolutely right about the Chinese knock-offs. I bought 4 for my kids for Christmas and am so impressed with them. They are solid, fantastic 4.0.4 firmware; not one crash, no freezes, run all the apps and games my kids can throw at them - and they only cost £50 !
Shame they're only 7" with no Bluetooth and no GPS or I'd get one myself.
Extreme_One said:
Whilst I agree there are a great many 'better' tablets out there now for the money there are things the Archos does better; SD Card and HDMI out both missing from the Google devices.
And you're absolutely right about the Chinese knock-offs. I bought 4 for my kids for Christmas and am so impressed with them. They are solid, fantastic 4.0.4 firmware; not one crash, no freezes, run all the apps and games my kids can throw at them - and they only cost £50 !
Shame they're only 7" with no Bluetooth and no GPS or I'd get one myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HDMI out is now pretty common on most devices, although kind of strange that for some reason they use mini-HDMI connectors on tablets, but most new smartphones (due to being smaller overall) have micro-HDMI connectors. No real problem on my end, got adapters for all that sorta stuff.
It's the SD card that nobody wants to include anymore that bugs me though. They all want everything to be out there "in the cloud", which I thinks is really stupid, but of course makes money for everyone else (can't access anything "in the cloud" without paying some kind of Internet connection, and then also have to pay for more storage space is you go beyond some level... everyone pay more in the end, we make lots of money from you foolish people).
As for the Chinese knock-offs... I really wonder what would happen if Apple came out and were honest with people and told all those people the rushed to their Apple stores and paid $600+ that it really only cost Apple about $250 to make them? Then have to pay Apple for whatever music or videos you want, then also have to pay more for extra "cloud" storage space...and you can't do anything without having iTunes installed on your computer (which really sucks for Windows users), and on, and on, and on... I'm sure you can understand why I hate (and refuse to get involved with) that whole Apple ecosystem.
Meanwhile, assuming you do get 4.0.26 up and running there are a number of bugs, flaws, whatever to be aware of with it. The 2 biggest ones are the TOTALLY STUPID stuff with "indexing", and/or even how to ever get any media files to show up in the Archos Video and Music players. The other is the TOTALLY STUPID problems with the battery charging.
I can explain how to (for the most part) get around the battery charging problem for now (until Archos fixes it), but the "indexing" stuff is just way to complicated and confusing for anyone to understand (or at least for anyone that wants to use there tablet like any "normal" person would).
Be back shortly about the charging side of things...
Charging Archos tablets has always seemed to be a bit mess up, but with the 4.0.2x firmware it's gotten totally idiotic. Hopefully Archos will release a newer firmware that fixes this (and also gets rid of that TOTALLY STUPID "indexing" crap that should never ever have been in things to start with...idiotic morons).
Anyway, to get around the flaw with charging here is what I've been doing... actually, more like what I've always been doing, but for some reason nobody else ever does...
0) Do NOT try to charge from a computer USB connection unless you ABSOLUTELY do not have the proper Archos charger. Even then it's still rather foolish and will take forever. So, just DON'T DO IT.
1) Wake up the tablet and/or unlock it so that you are at the home screen. Let it sit for a while and check if the WiFi indicator shows it is connecting and/or syncing, whatever. If/when it's done with that then continue...
2) Plug the USB cable into the Archos charger, and plug the charger into the wall power outlet. Then plug the other end into the microUSB connector on the G9 tablet (of course, the 250GB HD models don't do it this way, but anyway...).
3) Wait a few seconds and watch and see if it shows it is shows it is charging, or if it is shows "slow" charging. If it is in slow charge mode it very likely is not really charging at all. Just unplug the microUSB cable, wait a few seconds, and plug it in again. Do not rush this step. You may have to repeat it a couple of times, but usually it will show fast charge without any further repeats.
4) Now, just do a short quick tap on the power button to put the tablet into sleep mode, and then JUST LEAVE IT ALONE and let it charge. This is where many people seem to just mess up the charging!
If you keep messing around with the tableit, pressing the power button, etc. all you do is confuse the whole system (on top of Archos having royally botched the software for how charging should work in most of their firmware). Just leave the thing alone and let it charge until the power LED starts blinking. Then you can do whatever you want again.
Using the Archos charger, it will normally take about 1 hour for ever 20% of battery charge. Example: If the battery is at 40% it will take about 3 hours to charge up to 100%. From 0 to 100 will take at least 5 hours (very likely longer if you let the battery go that dead).
Do NOT press and hold the power button to ever shut down the tablet while it is plugged in for charging. It WILL warn you that if it shuts down it will not charge. Why so many people can not understand that is beyond me. If you actually try to turn off (or even reboot) while it is plugged in to charge then the whole system, including the charging circuit, will totally shut down (even if the power LED is stays on, it is NOT going to charge in this way). Which is why I repeat, just leave it alone, don't mess with it, and just let it charge. The less YOU mess around with it the faster it WILL charge. Just leave it alone OK.
I've seen some people say they could charge from 80% to 100% from a computer USB connection and that is totally bogus (not to mention totally impossible). That is just one of the flaws in the Archos firmware and you can not trust any such indication at all.
If you ever do see such wild and drastic changes in battery charge level (either upward while charging, or downward while using), then you really should unplug the charger, press and hold the power button to force a complete and total reset and shutdown. Wait about 10 or 15 seconds to let the power drain out of the memory circuits, and then start the tablet up again.
Seems like there are a lot of people with the child in a car syndrome problem "are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet...", and try the same with their Archos tablets by constantly hitting the power button to check if it is charge yet, or trying to do other things, then hit the power button to go back into sleep, then hit it again to check the charge level, and repeat it over and over. BELIEVE ME, none of the Archos firmware (very likely no other Android firmware for that matter) can actually handle all those constant interruptions and still correctly charge the battery.
If you start your car, drive one block, then turn it off, and the keep repeating doing that how far do you really think you will get before the battery in you car goes dead from NOT having enough time to charge properly?
I'm about to give up too. I've had 3 Archos tables so far and I cant believe that the old problems of my Archos 5 internet tablet are present in my Archos G9 80?? Just got it 2 days ago! And the screen goes black then white.. I can still use it if i plug in my HDMI to my monitor, but will never be able to use it on the go.. Time to contact them to see how they will fix this.. If it happens again I'm getting my money back.:crying:
ookiller said:
I'm about to give up too. I've had 3 Archos tables so far and I cant believe that the old problems of my Archos 5 internet tablet are present in my Archos G9 80?? Just got it 2 days ago! And the screen goes black then white.. I can still use it if i plug in my HDMI to my monitor, but will never be able to use it on the go.. Time to contact them to see how they will fix this.. If it happens again I'm getting my money back.:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which firmware version do you have?
I've found that the ONLY Archos firmware that works anywhere near correctly on either the 80 or 101 G9 tablets is 3.2.80 or 4.0.7.
If you upgraded to either 4.0.24 (which bricked a bunch of 101's btw), or 4.0.25... well, BOTH of those (don't care if it's official from Archos any any "rooted" version from here or elsewhere) are pure garbage! In which case, upgrade to 4.0.26, which still has many bugs that need to be fixed, but is a least half-way usable (until Archos releases a newer firmware upgrade).
Really sucks that Archos does not provide a way to downgrade back to a previous (working) firmware. If you've already upgrade to any of the Archos 4.0.2x versions, then your only hope to get a fully functional device (for now, until Arhcos fixes their firmware) may be:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35770625&postcount=118
---------- Post added at 07:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 AM ----------
Meanwhile, I'm pretty close to giving up also, but...
I'm going to buy ONE LAST ARCHOS PRODUCT and not going to waste any time thinking about any other product from Archos for at least 6 months. From what I've seen it takes them at least that long to ever get any firmware even close to working correctly on any new device.
So, what I'm thinking of doing is purchasing an (older) 1.2GHZ Turbo 80 G9 with 16Gig memory (don't care if it has only 512Meg system RAM). Hopefully it will come with older Honeycomb firmware. Then, I'll upgrade it to 4.0.7 (only because I want the Xbox USB controller functionality). The goal is to have a "functional" tablet that has enough memory to install all of the main games I want that can work with the Xbox USB controller, and still have some room left for a few other things. Really can't do much with 8GB devices with games that range from 400Meg to 2GB now anymore (don't know why Archos has not been making more 16GB, or better yet 32GB devices).
Then, my current "classic" 80 G9 will get changed down to (even though I do not want or have any need for "root") to a rooted 3.280, and I'll just let my 101 G9 float between testing any new firmware from Archos and rooted 4.0.7.
Beyond that, I really doubt if I'll ever buy another Archos product. There are just too many far better devices coming out now that do not cost much more... and do NOT have to mess around with multiple releases of faulty firmware on them either (most of them seem to work right out of the box... I haven't had an Archos device that ever has).
So, guess I'm jumping ship also.
---------- Post added at 08:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:59 AM ----------
Extreme_One said:
Whilst I agree there are a great many 'better' tablets out there now for the money there are things the Archos does better; SD Card and HDMI out both missing from the Google devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The goal these days now seems to be to get everyone using "cloud" storage. As such, most companies tend to make devices now with less memory instead of more (which we all really want). Of course, that's all just to make more money... offer X amount of "cloud" storage and then charge extra for more beyond that point. And, it solves the whole DRM protection battle since nobody actually has any copy of anything on their device at all anymore (and can only be viewed/played on the specific device you "registered"... uhm, rather "paid" to allow it to).
[HINT: That's also the only REAL reason TV changed to "digital". It's not that they could not provide HD with analog if THEY actually wanted to, but rather they could not "control", limit, and charge for each time you view something... That's the real goal of Digital TV]
And, of course, since everything you do will then also require some kind of digital or "data" connection, that also makes more money for the Internet, cellular, cable, or satelite service providers... all of which charge overly high prices for things that should now be dirt cheap (from a technological standpoint).
Oh well, until people quite paying $600 for cellphones that do not cost much more then $150 to make...not much I can do about it. However, those days ARE going to come to an end shortly because people simply will not be able to pay all those extra expenses. Just another temporary thing like running up multiple credit cards until they can't pay for them all.
Well it's been just over a week running 4.0.26 and the tablet has been fine!
No more wake issues. :beer:
RAM usage is slightly higher so I do need to kill unneeded processes occasionally.
Strange that the issue is fixed (not complaining) as there was nothing in the patch notes about this issue and I've seen nobody else reporting similar.
Sent from my ARCHOS 101G9
Extreme_One said:
Well it's been just over a week running 4.0.26 and the tablet has been fine!
No more wake issues. :beer:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I have read of others having the screen stay black/blank on wake up, I really have never had that problem with any firmware version on my Archos tablets Could be something due to the many changes in hardware they have made (all with the same G9 model name). Or, maybe some bad apps or task killer (task killers actually create far more problems than the solve anyway).
RAM usage is slightly higher so I do need to kill unneeded processes occasionally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Part of that is simply due to Google having added more of their own junk into Android that seems to always want to keep running in the background (syncing for Chrome, Google+, etc.). Then, on top of that, Archos has added in some really freaky stuff for their "MediaCenter" and "file indexing" that is really messing things up!
On a device with PROPERLY WORKING ANDROID FIRMWARE you should never have to ever kill any background tasks. That is what the memory management is supposed to be taking care of by itself in Android. However, I do not think Archos has fully fixed the memory management problems yet with 4.0.26. Hopefully things will be better in whatever newer firmware they release.
People with the newer Archos tablets that have 1GB of RAM do not seem to notice the memory management flaws, but it is something that causes a lot of problems for those of us with the older "classic" models that have only 512M of RAM.
[Side Comment: And with all the extra stuff Google has been adding into things I really do not see Jelly Bean ever working correctly on any device with only 512M RAM. Even ICS barely works with less than 1GB RAM. Some companies are already making devices with 2GB RAM just to stay ahead of whatever Google may come up with in the future.]
Strange that the issue is fixed (not complaining) as there was nothing in the patch notes about this issue and I've seen nobody else reporting similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure just why you (and a few others) ever had that problem to start with, but hopefully you can now limp along somehow until Archos releases a newer firmware.
On my end, here the problems I've found with the "official" Archos 4.0.26 (including even with a test release they had e-mailed me a link to try out):
1) Problems with graphics in certain games (ShadowGun and Max Payne). I've posted a YouTube video of that http://youtu.be/qQjMhykykxw
2) Sound does not work after some point in playing the game Asphalt 7.
3) There is no up/down arrow notification WHILE a Bluetooth transfer is in progress, so you can not tell if it actually is transferring... nor can you check how far it is in the process. Only displays a notification AFTER the transfer completes (or fails).
4) Whatever this stupid "file indexing" is... it starts up for NO LOGICAL REASON especially right in the middle of installing certain apps... mostly games that may have sound or video files as part of them. Also...
5) Whatever the new stupid things added in to "MediaCenter" and "file indexing" cause everything else to slow down to a snail's pace and/or cause the device to run out of RAM... causing crashing problems, or else making the device just about totally un-usable until it finish whatever that "indexing" crap is trying to do.
6) Not sure if it is from the above, but random crashes still occur out of nowhere for no reason. So, I don't think they have the memory management totally fixed yet either.
7) Because of things crashing in the background, the battery level and any charging is still not working correctly either.
If you REALLY only have had a problem with the screen being black/blank on wake up... well, guess you really do not do as many things with your tablet as I do. There are a bunch of flaws Archos still needs to fix in the next firmware release BEFORE I will ever install it. Although I do NOT need/want "root" I'm staying with the rooted stock 4.0.7 until Archos fixes things in their official firmware.
I'm hoping for a new firmware about middle or late January, but who knows if/when it may happen.
Anyway, glad you are having better luck on your end now. Seems to depend on if you have 1GB RAM or not, and oddly the 80 G9's seem to work a bit better than the 101 G9's do for some reason (or at least with my older "classic" models anyway).
Unbelievable! Tablet was asleep for an hour or so on my desk at work, went to wake it up and the screen remained black again!
Had to tap the power button several times before the screen would awake. Seems like it's nothing to do with firmware after all. went for over a week this time.
Spoke to Archos : this time they will send a courier to collect the tablet and replace it. Then I will stick with 4.0.7 ...
If this next FOURTH tablet is also faulty then I will definitely be requesting a refund and moving over to a different make.
Sent from my ARCHOS 101G9
Extreme_One said:
Unbelievable! Tablet was asleep for an hour or so on my desk at work, went to wake it up and the screen remained black again!
Had to tap the power button several times before the screen would awake. Seems like it's nothing to do with firmware after all. went for over a week this time.
Spoke to Archos : this time they will send a courier to collect the tablet and replace it. Then I will stick with 4.0.7 ...
If this next FOURTH tablet is also faulty then I will definitely be requesting a refund and moving over to a different make.
Sent from my ARCHOS 101G9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It pains me to say this but Archos sucks. I got a Nexus 7 for Christmas and it is fantastic
Extreme_One said:
Unbelievable! Tablet was asleep for an hour or so on my desk at work, went to wake it up and the screen remained black again!
Had to tap the power button several times before the screen would awake. Seems like it's nothing to do with firmware after all. went for over a week this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure it was not just being slow about waking up. I read of others saying it would take up to half a minute (or more ) to wake up with 4.0.26 depending on if they had a 3G Stick or any other USB devices connected (either via back 3G port or microUSB host port), or maybe even also if there was a microSD card plugged in.
Heck, even without those, the stupid file 'indexing' crap in 4.0.26 can still slow things down if you have any media files on the internal memory. Until Archos fixes that stuff I don't even bother plugging in any USB device or microSD card unless I absolutely have to (and definitely not anything that has any picture, music, or video files on it).
Spoke to Archos : this time they will send a courier to collect the tablet and replace it. Then I will stick with 4.0.7 ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's assuming the one they return does not already have 4.0.26 on it. I hope you told them you did not want that!
If this next FOURTH tablet is also faulty then I will definitely be requesting a refund and moving over to a different make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really sorry to hear you've had so much bad luck with Archos. I've got 6 Archos devices and have only had problems with the firmware on them (except for one that I broke the microUSB connector on, and that was my own fault).
So, on my end, the only real complaint is the horribly buggy bad firmware Archos keeps releasing + the six months more of multiple firmware upgrades before they get anything to work right again! I've gone through about 18 firmware versions (counting all the test releases) in about one year. That's just insane! Only good ones out of the bunch were the last of each set... 3.2.80 and 4.0.7. Still waiting for them to fix the 4.0.2x mess they made!
55mls said:
Are you sure it was not just being slow about waking up. I read of others saying it would take up to half a minute (or more ) to wake up with 4.0.26 depending on if they had a 3G Stick or any other USB devices connected (either via back 3G port or microUSB host port), or maybe even also if there was a microSD card plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget it was behaving this way on 4.0.7 too. The backlight activates but the display remains black. Several presses of the power button are needed to properly wake the tablet.
Sent from my ARCHOS 101G9
Extreme_One said:
Don't forget it was behaving this way on 4.0.7 too. The backlight activates but the display remains black. Several presses of the power button are needed to properly wake the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not saying there may not be a hardware problem, but.. It almost sounds like there is something else going on.
If you can, send me a PM listing all the apps and widgets you are using, and also a rough list of what media files (and if they are stored on internal, or an external microSD card or USB device). Also, let me know if you use any other USB host devices or Bluetooth devices.
Then maybe I can try to set mine up similar to how you are using yours to find out if mine ends up with the same problem.
Well my replacement tablet finally arrived yesterday and so last night I spent a while installing apps and testing.
Imagine how disappointed I was when I realised this tablet suffered from the dreaded GPS failure!
So this was the 4th tablet; each had a different fault.
I have contacted Archos (again) and this time they gave me some great news!!! I will post back when I receive ....
My wife's note II had a failed USB port recently. After it failed and wouldn't charge the battery, I was trying several chargers and cords on it, and it actually started making a sizzling sound. I ordered a replacement board through a supplier located in china that drop ships from Flash Technology in Springfield, Mo. When I installed the replacement board, this corrected the bad USB port, and I was able to charge the battery and connect to the pc just fine. However, the microphone was completely non functional. She was unable to make phone calls or use voice recognition. I was unable to record voice. So I asked the company to ship me another part thinking that the part was faulty. After installing the replacement part the microphone still does not work.
I tried a normal wipe data/factory reset from recovery, but no change.
I don't know where to go next with trouble shooting this issue. It seems unlikely, but could both parts be faulty? The parts I received are both labeled SGH-I317 rev 0.7 Would my next step be to buy a part from another supplier?
Could the failing USB port have caused some other damage to the phone? As far as I can tell, all features of the phone work normally except for the microphone. I'm really at a loss how to proceed. I can't believe this phone is damaged beyond repair.
I'm surprised no one has (or at least is willing to post) any experience with this kind of thing.
I have solved the issue, and my wife is using the phone again. Since I didn't find any help here, I needed to look somewhere. First I tried calling Samsung technical support, but that was a no go. Next I called Mobile Tech Videos in Texas and spoke with Josh Groce, the owner. He was very gracious to speak with me, and was very helpful from his large amount of experience with these phones.
Based on our conversation, I was willing to try purchasing another USB ribbon cable from another supplier as the next troubleshooting step. I learned from Josh that a supplier I had found online was one he uses and trusts, so I ordered a part from E-Trade Supply.
It turns out that both the original part and the replacement part shipped to me by the original supplier were faulty. I put the new replacement part from E-Trade Supply into the phone, and it worked like a charm.
I have asked the supplier, eBay seller wholesaleblimited, to refund the price of the part, and they have said they will issue a call tag to get the two non-working parts back, and then refund my money. It wasn't a lot though. Only about $7.00, including shipping. The part from E-Trade Supply was about three times as much, with shipping.
I've known about Mobile Tech Videos for several years due to my participation mostly in the Galaxy S II form, but have never had occasion to contact him before. I can highly recommend him for any kind of hardware issue, based on both my present experience and things other people have said about him on the forums. Josh is active on XDADevelopers as @connexion2005.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA Free mobile app
Ok, so I have an E5653 series from Taiwan. Unfortunately, I do not live in Taiwan, so I cannot take it to a support center in person. I've also spent 5-6 emails with Sony Taiwan telling them about the issue, not only do they not accept phones from overseas (because of the shipping back or something???), but are just giving terrible responses and fail to admit my issue is hardware (even according to the Xperia_M5_E56_Battery_Lock_Test_in_CS_Repair_Center.pdf) and keep telling me to update&repair my phone with Xperia Companion (WHEN IT IS UPDATED!).
So, I figured I'd take a shot and try to fix the issue myself. As many of you know about the 4G shutdown fix where the only resolution is plugging it into the charger, and I've seen the fix where you can uncheck a few bands in the BandMode settings, but I currently live in the middle of nowhere... unchecking the suggested ones leave me completely without service. So I can only use my phone with WiFi/Mobile Data off/Airplane Mode (y'know the rest).
I've contacted Sony from other region and they said they don't sell parts for their phones... so... what?????
I was looking at this listing here, is this the battery I need? I saw something on the M5 forums here about Rev03 or something? No idea...
If not, anyone know where I can get a replacement battery? I saw this video and it seems like I'd be able to replace the battery by myself, just need the battery in the first place.
Any other suggestions?
Another question: I was on 5.1 rooted and moved apps to SD card, eventually they started disappearing and the only way to find em again was opening Play Store and hitting open, or moving them back to storage... any idea about that?
グリッチ said:
Ok, so I have an E5653 series from Taiwan. Unfortunately, I do not live in Taiwan, so I cannot take it to a support center in person. I've also spent 5-6 emails with Sony Taiwan telling them about the issue, not only do they not accept phones from overseas (because of the shipping back or something???), but are just giving terrible responses and fail to admit my issue is hardware (even according to the Xperia_M5_E56_Battery_Lock_Test_in_CS_Repair_Center.pdf) and keep telling me to update&repair my phone with Xperia Companion (WHEN IT IS UPDATED!).
So, I figured I'd take a shot and try to fix the issue myself. As many of you know about the 4G shutdown fix where the only resolution is plugging it into the charger, and I've seen the fix where you can uncheck a few bands in the BandMode settings, but I currently live in the middle of nowhere... unchecking the suggested ones leave me completely without service. So I can only use my phone with WiFi/Mobile Data off/Airplane Mode (y'know the rest).
I've contacted Sony from other region and they said they don't sell parts for their phones... so... what?????
I was looking at this listing here, is this the battery I need? I saw something on the M5 forums here about Rev03 or something? No idea...
If not, anyone know where I can get a replacement battery? I saw this video and it seems like I'd be able to replace the battery by myself, just need the battery in the first place.
Any other suggestions?
Another question: I was on 5.1 rooted and moved apps to SD card, eventually they started disappearing and the only way to find em again was opening Play Store and hitting open, or moving them back to storage... any idea about that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The different Revision no's are where they have usually fixed any issues with the production process or had hardware problems and swapped to the latest hardware releases. So if you have a Rev1 device it could be possible to get more defects until the problems get ironed out(white z5c anyone). One reason I always wait at least a month or two from device release date, unfortunately Sony aren't really doing anything wrong regarding the warranty I thought it was well known that if you get a Xperia device from one country to use in another that's the gamble you take on it working perfectly and not needing the warranty.
Sent from my Xperia XA using XDA Labs
aidy.lucas said:
The different Revision no's are where they have usually fixed any issues with the production process or had hardware problems and swapped to the latest hardware releases. So if you have a Rev1 device it could be possible to get more defects until the problems get ironed out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I did get this phone very early, so I'm sure without a doubt it's Rev1, I'm just asking to identify if there's any place I can buy the latest rev battery? There's a .3 in the end of the number in the ebay link I posted, but I don't know if that's how it's identified. Or if someone knew of a place to get M5 batteries online.
グリッチ said:
Yeah, I did get this phone very early, so I'm sure without a doubt it's Rev1, I'm just asking to identify if there's any place I can buy the latest rev battery? There's a .3 in the end of the number in the ebay link I posted, but I don't know if that's how it's identified. Or if someone knew of a place to get M5 batteries online.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea how you'd tell regarding the batteries, but the best place to start would be eBay and Amazon
Sent from my Xperia XA using XDA Labs
Search on how to disable the baseband to mitigate the shutdown issue. This is because of the signal, the phone needs to push a little more juice to get more signal from weak areas.
グリッチ said:
I've seen the fix where you can uncheck a few bands in the BandMode settings, but I currently live in the middle of nowhere... unchecking the suggested ones leave me completely without service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately already tried that, even tried messing around with what bands to disable.
(Just the CLR bands, all bands except PCS&DCS, etc) It either leaves me without signal, or still shuts down my phone. If I leave on all bands and select edge as well.
グリッチ said:
Ok, so I have an E5653 series from Taiwan. Unfortunately, I do not live in Taiwan, so I cannot take it to a support center in person. I've also spent 5-6 emails with Sony Taiwan telling them about the issue, not only do they not accept phones from overseas (because of the shipping back or something???), but are just giving terrible responses and fail to admit my issue is hardware (even according to the Xperia_M5_E56_Battery_Lock_Test_in_CS_Repair_Center.pdf) and keep telling me to update&repair my phone with Xperia Companion (WHEN IT IS UPDATED!).
So, I figured I'd take a shot and try to fix the issue myself. As many of you know about the 4G shutdown fix where the only resolution is plugging it into the charger, and I've seen the fix where you can uncheck a few bands in the BandMode settings, but I currently live in the middle of nowhere... unchecking the suggested ones leave me completely without service. So I can only use my phone with WiFi/Mobile Data off/Airplane Mode (y'know the rest).
I've contacted Sony from other region and they said they don't sell parts for their phones... so... what?????
I was looking at this listing here, is this the battery I need? I saw something on the M5 forums here about Rev03 or something? No idea...
If not, anyone know where I can get a replacement battery? I saw this video and it seems like I'd be able to replace the battery by myself, just need the battery in the first place.
Any other suggestions?
Another question: I was on 5.1 rooted and moved apps to SD card, eventually they started disappearing and the only way to find em again was opening Play Store and hitting open, or moving them back to storage... any idea about that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It had the same problem, the solution only in the service center of Sony (RSS) warranty ...
that's what changed with this problem ...