Rooting my Archos 101 with Urukdroid 1.5

"Storage Space is critically low"
A strange problem manifested itself in November. For some strange reason, the free System Storage Space on my Archos 101 tablet kept going down and down and down. For several months, I had it hovering around the 30 MB threshold (the moment free System Storage Space drops below 30 MB, the Archos will display an annoying message in the notification bar that "storage space is critically low" - one that irks me to no end). Previously, I had danced around this problem by deleting web browser caches, clearing cache data, and even uninstalling apps. But this time, all this tricks were to no avail. Even when I had uninstalled practically all miscellaneous apps, leaving only the absolutely critical ones that I needed on my tablet to serve as an e-reader, the free System Storage Space just kept dropping and dropping and dropping...

And then on 25 November, the free System Storage Space dropped to 0 MB. No program could be launched in this state. I had to reboot the device to free up some System Storage Space so that I could use the device.

I knew then that I had no choice. I would have to reformat my Archos, or alternatively, "root" it.


Rooting
If I were to reformat the tablet with the original Archos firmware, I knew that I would encounter the low System Storage Space problem sooner or later. Due to a poor design decision on Archos part, they have actually partitioned the Archos 101 with a meagre 300 MB of space for System Storage out of the 8 GB of storage available. A more rational design would have been to allocate at least 1 GB or more for the System Storage partition. Thus, reformatting the device with Archos firmware was not on my radar. I needed to go with the more dangerous fix of "rooting" my Archos tablet.

I am not a fan of "rooting". I think consumers should not have to do such technical gymnastics on an appliance - which is what I consider the Archos tablet to be - for the appliance to perform satisfactorily and to work reasonably. I am adept enough to follow technical instructions carefully to carry out this operation on the tablet. I am sure most common folks, who are even less technically knowledgeable than me, may not even attempt "rooting". They are more likely to just junk the device, and buy something more friendly like the iPad. Besides, every one knows that Android is much harder to use than the consumer-friendly iPad. It has often been remarked that Android tablets (and Linux systems) often require rocket-science expertise to use the damn things properly.

On the Archos forums, Urukdroid 1.5 is very favorably reviewed as the best package for rooting the Archos 101. After reading all the materials I could lay my hands on about installing Urukdroid, I took the plunge on the night of 25 November (a Friday) and proceeded to root my Archos.

I was very pleased that I was outright successful on my very first attempt. When I checked on the Settings > Storage page, my jaw dropped on seeing that Urukdroid provided a massive 700 MB of free System Storage Space!

Even today, two weeks later, I still have
554 MB of free System Storage Space
after installing a whole bunch of apps
and live wall papers into my "rooted" Archos.

Gotchas
However, I suddenly realised that the multimedia content on my 16GB MicroSD card had been entirely erased (I had backup my SD card, so it was alright). For some reason, Urukdroid was installed on my MicroSD card, and not on the internal 8 GB storage space of the Archos.

I thought I had made a mistake. I didn't want to install Urukdroid on the external MicroSD card. I wanted to install Urukdroid on the internal 8 GB space, so that I have the flexibility of swapping out different SD cards.

I removed the external MicroSD card from the tablet, and repeated the Urukdroid installation. Unfortunately, I was not mistaken. The Urukdroid installation process - I chose the "Easy Installation" mode - insisted on my inserting a MicroSD card into the MicroSD card slot. Urukdroid 1.5 - if you choose "Easy Installation" - can only be installed on the external MicroSD card.

I believe it should be possible to install the operating system on the internal storage space if I had chosen to go with "manual/advanced installation". However, I am no Linux expert, and I wasn't brave enough to venture down that route. I rationalised to myself: "Hey, I didn't brick the tablet. It is working fine, and I now have a whopping 700 MB of free System Storage Space to install apps. Don't press your luck!!!!"

And that's the extent of my experience with "rooting" my Archos.


Freedom
With so much free System Storage Space, I need no longer restrict myself with installing just the critical apps that I had been putting myself up with over the past few weeks. I installed lots and lots and lots of apps - far more than I could with the original Archos firmware. Without having to worry about the nagging "Storage space is critically low" message, the apps-loaded tablet felt all anew - as if it was a brand new purchase and not one-year old equipment! The happiness I felt was exhilarating.

Now that I could afford to, I also re-downloaded lots and lots of Live Wallpapers. I am currently using the one called "Sun Rise Free Live Wallpaper" as my default wallpaper.

Adobe Flash 11.1 can finally be installed.

I can now install Google+ and Facebook and Skype without issues.

I also realised that with so much System Storage Space, there was no longer any need for me to move apps from "System Storage" to "Internal Memory". I had to do this previously under the Archos firmware because of its limitations, and I was peeved that apps like Adobe Flash or the Google Pinyin IME could only be installed in "System Storage" and could not be moved to "Internal Memory". These issues are now non-events. Also, because I now left the apps in "System Storage", I could also install widgets that invoke these apps (like the Go Weather widget and the News Republic widget). Widgets can only be added to the home screen if the associated app is installed on "System Storage". This was a no-no previously. What was once impossible has now become practicable.


Limitations
However, despite the great increase of System Storage Space and the new freedom this afforded with regard to the number of apps that I can now install without impunity, the Archos 101 is still saddled by its scrawny 256 MB of RAM.

Whenever the system runs low on memory, the resource-heavy Sun Rise Live Wallpaper will suddenly disappear and be replaced by the less resource hungry Grass Live Wallpaper.

Pulse Reader will suddenly restart itself whenever it encounters a low memory condition.

And low memory causes Live Wallpapers to behave sluggishly. The User Interface is non responsive to finger swipes if the Live Wallpaper is busily animating lots of movement.

Yes, "rooting" has resolved my big bug-bear problem of low System Storage Space. However, it doesn't resolve the other hardware limitation of too little RAM. 256 MB of RAM is really not sufficient for a tablet.

(I think 1 GB of RAM would have been ideal.)

But that can wait till the purchase of a new tablet with the hardware firepower to run Android 4.0 smoothly. For the moment, I am very glad that I got my Archos tablet working again, souped up tremendously no less, thanks to Urukdroid 1.5.


Urukdroid Installation Links
1. To install Urukdroid, it is first necessary to install the Special Developer Edition firmware from Archos. See this post.

2. Instructions for installing Urukdroid. Although the documentation is for Urukdroid 0.7, the EasyInstall instructions are still applicable to Urukdroid 1.5. Link

3. Description of Urukdroid 1.5. Link

Archos 101 Update : Design Flaws

I recently showed a friend my Archos 101 (pretty outdated now, what with all the new Android 3 tablets that have been introduced into the market), and so the conversation naturally flowed to whether I would buy a new tablet with Honeycomb, and whether I would get the next generation of the Archos tablet that is to be released sometime this month: the Archos 101 G9.

Although I love gadgets, most of the gadgets I buy have to serve some kind of purpose. For me, I bought the Archos 101 primarily as an e-reader, and for that, the Archos 101 has fulfilled its purpose most admirably. In fact, I love browsing the internet on the tablet, so much in fact that I actually spent more time with the Dolphin browser application than the ezPDF application.

However, no matter how I love reading on the tablet, the tablet is still not a very good appliance for writing. As some internet pundit remarked, the tablet is a "consumption" device, and not a "production" device. The tablet on-screen keyboard is not good for writing anything, including this blog post (which I am doing from my notebook by the way). Thus, if you are on a tight budget, and am undecided between choosing a notebook or a tablet, I will always recommend buying a notebook if you intend to use the computer mainly for producing stuff. Tablets are not very ergonomic for writing articles, emails, spreadsheets. Notebooks are much more versatile.

That is why I will not be buying a new tablet anytime soon, as my current Archos 101 is working just fine. In fact, I am more likely to buy another notebook computer (despite the fact that I already own a Core i7 notebook already) than to buy another tablet. As a producer, a notebook is a more useful purchase to me than another tablet.

Archos Tablet Design Problems
Also, there are several "flaws" in the Archos tablet pertaining to its hardware, and to the Android operating system that drives it. I can live with these flaws as I wasn't expecting much from my budget purchase when I acquired my Archos 101 back in December. These may or may not be fixed by new models of Android tablets (whether from Archos or other manufacturers), but I have decided to list them down just for the record.

1. Glossy Screen and not Matte Screen

If you are using a computer - be it a notebook, netbook, or a tablet - primarily for reading, a matte screen is a must. Glossy screens - being highly reflective - creates a "glare" problem, which greatly diminishes the reading experience.

Unfortunately, the public at large love "shiny" things, and for this reason, the majority of consumers prefer to buy computers with glossy screens. When you are at the shop, the movies that are being demo-ed on the computer will look much better on a glossy screen than on a matte screen. Because of that, consumers are tricked into thinking that glossy screens are "superior" to matte screens. And unfortunately, this creates an artificial demand spike for glossy screens. To satisfy this majority demand, manufacturers produced more computers with glossy screens, and this results in a lower manufacturing cost for producing glossy screens versus matte screens. And at the end of the day, everything in manufacturing is about bring costs down. As such, almost all computers in the market now comes only with glossy screens.

Even the Apple iPad comes with a glossy screen. Steve Jobs may be a god in aesthetics, but all too often, he has let his vision of beauty override pragmatics. I believe that the "glare" from glossy screens are spoiling the eyesight of users, and this is particularly so for young users. But why should Steve Jobs care about saving the eyesight of young children when glossy screens look so much prettier? If Steve Jobs had chosen matte screens to protect the vision of his users, the cost price of matte screens would have fallen instead, and all other manufacturers would have followed.

Since manufacturers of Android tablets are particularly sensitive about cost, they will go with glossy screens as these are cheaper than matte screens. I don't expect tablets to come with matte screens any time soon.


2. Archos 101 Screen has a Small Viewing Angle

Because the Archos 101 is a budget device, its LCD screen has a very small viewing angle. The screen is usually viewable by only one person, who is facing it directly at a 90° angle. If there are several persons trying to watch the same screen on the Archos, the people who are seeing the screen at an angle side will see a darkened screen and not see the image clearly.

I have seen noticed that other tablets like the ones from Apple or Samsung do not have this problem. Those tablets come with more expensive LCD screens that sport a wide viewing angle (almost 170° ) which allow several people to crowd around the same screen and still be able to all watch the action on the screen.

The small viewing angle is not a problem for me because the tablet is only used by one person - me - most of the time. However, when I want to play a YouTube video or to show some photos for friends, the small viewing angle is very annoying.


3. Landscape instead of Portrait orientation

Apple got it right when they designed their tablet with a Portrait orientation. Google chose to go for Landscape orientation for the Android tablet, which might have been done to avoid being labelled as "copying" Apple's design. But I think it is a wrong decision.

The reason is ergonomics. If I hold the tablet with my left hand, and use the fingers on my right hand to do the swiping and clicking, it is much easier to hold the tablet in a portrait orientation than in a landscape orientation.

The only time I would want to use landscape orientation is when I am watching a movie on the tablet. But hey, a movie is typically 90 minutes long, and I don't think I want to hold the tablet (with either one or with both hands) for one and a half hours. I would lay the tablet on the table, probably standing it at an angle facing me, and watched it without making my arms tired.

(This is why the Archos 101 built-in stand is marvellous for watching videos on the Archos tablet).

In typical usage (browsing, reading, replying short emails), I contend that the tablet will be easier to use, and less tiring to hold, in portrait orientation than in landscape orientation.

Perhaps Google's engineers decided that as most notebooks screens are landscape orientation, making the tablet screen landscape is more natural. I think this is not a valid comparison because we don't use notebooks and tablets in the same way. A notebook uses a keyboard and a mouse, whereas a tablet doesn't. A tablet is like a sheet of A4 paper. We normally generate documents on A4 paper in portrait mode. The tablet default orientation should have been portrait too. 


4. Landscape / Portrait - Android Auto Rotation Switch Flaw

I use the Archos tablet in portrait mode almost 99% of the time. As such, I like to lock the display to Portrait orientation - instead of enabling Auto-Rotation and allowing the tablet to switch between Portrait and Landscape. I don't like Auto-Rotation because I like to read in  bed, and it is very annoying if the text on the screen keeps flipping its orientation when I turn from my right side to my left side, or vice versa.

However, the Android operating system  has a flaw of omission. In the Settings > Display > Auto Rotate Screen option, I can choose to enable or disable Auto Rotation. However, there is no setting to lock the display permanently to Portrait mode!

When Auto Rotate Screen is enabled, the tablet can switch between Portrait and Landscape modes. However, when Auto Rotate Screen is disabled, the tablet is simply set to Landscape mode. There is no way for me to disable Auto Rotate Screen and to set the tablet to Portrait mode, my preferred orientation!

Luckily, the ezPDF, Dolphin browser, and FBReader apps have internal settings that allow the app to lock to Portrait or Landscape orientation. However, there are many other apps like Wikidroid, Pulse, News and Weather etc that don't have these internal app setting, and thus rely on the Android system setting, which only allows either the Landscape orientation or an Auto-Rotate orientation. Thus, when I am lying on my side on the bed holding the tablet in Portrait orientation, I cannot use these other apps properly!
This is an Android 2 flaw (the Archos 101 currently runs Android 2.2). It would be sad if Android 3.x carries over this same flaw.


5. 300 MB System Storage Partition - Archos Flaw

My Archos 101 has 8GB (or 8000MB) storage. However, Archos has decided to partition it such that 300MB is used for System Storage, while the remaining 7700 MB is partitioned as Internal Storage.

This is really a foolish design!

Although programs can be installed in either the System Storage partition or the Internal Storage partition, the fact is that for every program installed, a little bit of space must be allocated in the System Storage partition for the program, even if the program is installed in Internal Storage.

There are thousands of Android Apps in the Android Market, and most of these apps are less than 10MB. With 7700 MB in the Internal Storage partition, and assuming 10 MB average sized apps, I should be able to install at least 770 apps in the Internal Storage partition..

But I can't because of the stupid 300 MB System Storage limit imposed by Archos!

First of all, many system programs cannot be stored in the Internal Storage partition. For example, Google Docs, or Adobe Flash 10.3, must be installed in the System Storage partion. After installing some crucial stuff, the amount of System Storage space is typically reduced from 300MB to a mere 90 MB!

Also, every app that is installed on the Internal Storage partition also requires some space in the System Storage partition.  After downloading and installing 20 or 30 apps in Internal Storage, the Archos complains that the free space in System Storage partition has dropped to less than 30 MB, and displays a "Storage Space Low" notification. When this happens, activities such a app updates will be suspended, which prevents me from installing new apps. The browser will also take a performance hit (I think some cache files are saved in the System Storage).

I have no idea why Archos used such a small 300 MB partition for such a critical System Storage partition. Wouldn't it be better to just use the entire 8 GB as System Storage? Or why not partition  4GB as System Storage and 4 GB as Internal Storage? Heck, even if they use 1 GB for System Storage, it is still better than the ridiculous 300MB System Storage that they have provided.

Because of the silly 300 MB System Storage limit, there is no way for me to install lots and lots of apps, even when I have plenty of free storage space left. I think that with the 300MB System Storage limit, the Archos 101 can at most install  30 apps into the Internal Storage when the tablet will run out of System Storage space. I have to uninstall a lot of dormant programs so that I can download and try new ones.


6. 256 MB RAM Only - Archos Flaw

This is another cost-cutting design decision from Archos which hampers the Archos 101.

Tablet programs are on the ascendancy, and because of the large 10.1" screen size, tablet apps can be more complex than their smartphone cousins, and are bigger than the smartphone apps.

It is also more natural to multi-task programs on tablets than phones with a smallish 3.5" or 4" screen. 

But because the Archos has only 256 MB RAM,  multi-tasking is not really effective. Even when using the Dolphin browser, which permits the opening of many tabs simultaneously, a browser with many tabs consumes more RAM, and thus the tiny 256 MB RAM  has a crippling effect on the browser's performance.

It has been argued that a tablet with more RAM memory consumes more electricity. Currently, Archos is able to boast of a 10-hour usage on a single charge. If the RAM is not a small 256 MB, but 1024MB instead, a single battery charge may only provide 7 to 8 hours of usage, and not the 10-hours usage with the 256 MB RAM..

256 MB RAM is simply not adequate for tablets. Even my Samsung Galaxy SL phone has 512 MB RAM. Personally, I think tablets should have at least 1024 MB RAM. This low RAM specs of the Archos 101 is a real downer.

The tiny 256 MB RAM means that the Archos 101 cannot effectively run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). Although Android 3.0 can run on a device with only 256 MB RAM, the lack of RAM will throttle the performance tremendously, and rendering it pointless to update the operating system. If Archos had only been far-sighted enough to put in 1024 MB of RAM initially, the Archos 101 would not have any problems being updated to Android 3 today, and perhaps even Android 4 next year. The low RAM means the Archos 101 is not future-proof, and is permanently relegated to the Android 2.2 operating system.

I am afraid Archos is repeating the same cost-cutting measure in their new Archos 101 G9 model. If you examine the technical specifications published by Archos for their new Archos 101 G9 tablet, you will see that once again, Archos did not list the RAM size (Archos only lists the Storage size - 8GB/16GB Flash memory, or 250GB hard disk). However, other manufactures such as Samsung, Motorola etc have no such qualms, and publicly list the RAM specifications for their Android 3 tablets. The fact that Archos needs to suppress this information speaks volumes about their cost cutting intents.


7. Tablet cannot be charged via USB - requires proprietary power supply

The Archos101  must be charged via its proprietary power supply / connector. It cannot be charged through USB unlike my Samsung Galaxy SL phone.

This is probably because of the batteries used by the tablet. USB charging is a kind of trickle charge, and this may not be optimal for charging the tablet's high capacity batteries.

I think Google should have created a standard power connector for tablets, so that the same power supply / connector can be used by every Android tablet. Now, we are stuck with the manufacturer's proprietary power supply / connector for each device from different manufacturers. This is the same problem faced by phones previously, until the handset association got together and standardised on using the Micro-USB cable for charging. I wish the same had been done for Android tablets.

Blind Spots

I often receive email articles or internet links to photos of breathtakingly beautiful landscapes, or pictures of unusual animals, or news about someone who was saved from a catastrophic accident, in which God is attributed as the maker or responsible for saving the life of the lucky one.

If I were argumentative, I would tell my friends that if God is responsible for all the beautiful things in nature, then God must also be responsible for the ugly ones, like diseases, poor African children stricken with hunger, or for the deaths of the people who did not make it out alive from the accident. However, the answer from my religious friends would invariably be that God has a reason for doing what he does, and it is not for us to know why.

This kind of cop-out thinking is pervasive among the highly religious. Once they have don their "God Goggles", no naturalistic explanation that is offered can satisfy them. For them, the answer is always God, and God can do no wrong!

Which is why I like this video from The Thinking Atheist, in which Seth talks about the "Blind Spots" in the religiously afflicted. Seth was a Christian for 30 years - including 12 years as a Christian broadcaster. However, Seth ultimately found the bible's answers to be sorely lacking, and upon critical examination of his religion and to "think" for himself, finally put down his God Goggles and became an atheist. I like this video and decided to link it because Seth's story is not only interesting, I find him very funny, and his talk is highly entertaining.

Accessing a Windows 7 file share from Archos 101 with the ES File Explorer application

This post is created as a reply to Damian, who wanted to know how to access a Windows 7 file share from the Archos 101 using the ES File Explorer application (see Damian's original comment). I thought this info might be useful to others, so I have crafted my reply to Damian as a blog post. It was also easier to do a blog post as my reply is basically a series of self-explanatory screen captures. (Click on the image to view it in full size.)

Hope you find this helpful, Damian. And thanks for reading my blog.