UPDATE:

This guide is outdated, please do not use it anymore! There is a new and updated procedure that is easy to follow. The files linked to in this guide will be no longer available.

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After spending most of the weekend reimplementing the init-script and cutting out everything that needed Archos binaries I spent this whole monday adapting the bitbake recipes and fixing minor bugs.

Ladies and Gentlemen! I present the public beta version of the openAOS Boot Menu for generation 7 hardware!

The openAOS Boot Menu now runs on 7th generation Archos devices!

As this is just a beta version  (in the true meaning of this word!) some functionality around it is still missing. For now you have to set up most things yourself. For today just a short introduction (prerequisite is an Linux PC and an unpacked Archos Android firmware):

1. Install the gen7 SDE on your device. Make sure Ångström boots.
2. Reboot your device while holding down the [VOL -] button.
   • Press the [VOL -] button 5 times to reach the “Developer Edition Menu”. Then Press [Power]
   • Press the [VOL -] button 2 times to reach the “Flash Kernel and Initramfs” entry. Then Press [Power] ONCE. Wait 2 seconds.
   • The screen now should say “connect your device…” – Please do so and mount the device on your desktop PC.
3. Download those four prepared files into the main directory of your device.
4. Copy the previously unpacked androidroot.cramfs.secure and bitmapfs.cramfs.secure into the main directory of your device.
5. Unmount the device safely. (Else you might damage the files!)
6. Press the [Power] button – The screen will flash briefly and say “Kernel and initramfs updated”.
7. Press the [Power] button – The device will now reboot.
8. The Boot menu should now appear. Select Ångström or just wait 10s.
9. Press Other then Root shell – a root terminal appears
10. Now execute the following commands (this should be easy if you have some previous shell experience). Be very careful while typing on the on-screen keyboard. If you have one attach an USB-keyboard or see update at the bottom!
    • tar -xvzf /mnt_data/ubitools.tar.gz
    • chattr -c /mnt_data/androidroot.cramfs.secure
    • chattr -c /mnt_data/bitmapfs.cramfs.secure
    • ./ubidetach /dev/ubi_ctrl -m 5
    • ./ubiformat /dev/mtd5 -y
    • ./ubiattach /dev/ubi_ctrl -m 5 -d 0 -O 2048 Make sure you get that right: …-d [ZERO] -[CAPITAL-O]…
    • ./ubimkvol /dev/ubi0 -N system -m
    • mkdir /mnt/ubi
    • mount -t ubifs -o rw ubi0:system /mnt/ubi
    • cp /mnt_data/androidroot.cramfs.secure /mnt/ubi/
    • cp /mnt_data/bitmapfs.cramfs.secure /mnt/ubi/
11. Now reboot the unit and go back into recovery (see step 2, this time select “Access HDD using a PC“)
12. Connect it to your Linux PC and fire up a partition manager
13. Make sure you are editing the right drive!
14. Create an new ext3 partition in the empty space at the end of the drive. Make sure it is created as type primary and is the second partition (e.g. /dev/sdc2)! The unit will not boot Android if the partition is e.g. sdc3 or sdc5!
15. Now mount that partition and copy some of the remaining contents of the firmware onto it (lang*.alz and the upselling directory)
16. Unmount the drive and reboot your Archos device.
17. Congratulations you should now have an dual-booting gen7 device!

The final version will hopefully automate 99% of the above process. If you know some shell scripting and want to help. Please let me know. I won’t have much time over the next few weeks myself.

PS: I should have mentioned that you can of course also generate an script put it onto your device together with the other four files in step 3 and then run it instead of step 10. /bin/sh  script
PPS: I’m working on an clean commit of the sources used to build the files. Please allow me a day or two as I currently have other priority tasks.