Grenaded Archos 605 wifi 160gb pics included

T

tomjones

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 6, 2007
Messages
117
So I thought I'd share my misfortune with my fellow [H] members. I got the 605 as soon as it came out for my end all portable web browser, music/pron dump, portable hd, etc. 399.99 and 3 weeks later i finally got it, only to find out I had one stuck pixel smack in the middle of the screen. Not super obvious, except against a solid background, and archos's policy is that there must be 3 or more defective pixels to warrant a return I decided to keep it. So I start dumping my collection onto it only to find out that only half of my stuff will play, without buying the additional plugins.......$19.99 for the video podcast (H.264, AAC Audio) which was needed to play certain mp3s???? and $19.99 for the cinema plug in to play mpegs, and $29.99 for the web browser I was finally in business. The web browser actually is usable, albeit slow. More fascinated then anything else I didnt use it a whole lot, maybe 20 hrs or less, basically just having all my stuff backed up and being available for trips I was content. It was about dead one night while I was web browsing on the couch and instead of plugging it into my usb port to charge (possibly problem #1 but technically it shouldnt be) I plugged it into my generic (possibly problem #2 but again technically it SHOULDNT be a problem) wall usb charger that I use for my zune, which never gave me any problems before. Sitting on the couch I kept hearing something in the kitchen, I passed it off as my cat screwing around (possibly problem #3....you can probably see where this is going). After about 30 min my wife and I heard a VERY LOUD screeching sound coming from the kitchen. When we entered...well I'll let the pictures tell the story.

This first picture shows the nice case bulge next to the buttons and it appears the buttons themselves are actually bowed.

Other side, bulging by the buttons.

Back cover, you can actually see the serial number on the HD.

Another view of back cover.

Unit powered on, can see the distortion in the right side of the screen. Yes the unit still works, but the HD does not spin up anymore (SURPRISE!) giving error code 102 with options to fomat that dont do anything. What happened, I'm not exactly sure, I'd love to disect it but since its still under warranty I'm not going to. I'd speculate either battery swell or HD grenade, but leaning towards the HD since the unit still powers on fine. So delight in my misfortune, I would in yours, and if I can offer any advise......wait for the next generation of devices, this one obviously needs work. Either that or don't plug it into a generic usb wall adapter, lol. Please post and laugh, and glad I could share with you.

tomjones
 
I don't know what kind of battery it uses but my iRiver H360 will still power on even after the battery balloons.

When did this screeching noise stop? It could be the hard drive. When my battery ballooned, if I squeezed the back of the H360 a little bit it would press against the hard drive and start this awful noise, but if I squeeze the sides of the base, it stops.

(I did confirm it was the hard drive- I took it apart after I got a replacement HDD. ;))
 
Screeching stopped when I powered the unit off, hd would not spin up any time after that. I researched the cowon some before I bought this, it wasnt available, plus the cost difference and 60 gig hd being the biggest hd available so far turned me off. I may just craigslist mine after I get it back from rma and save up for a cowon if they have a 100+ gig hd by then.
 
I don't know why you would think a generic wall charger will work for charging any electronic device.
 
It was a usb wall charger designed for ipods/zunes, I assumed that usb power was standardized, I could be wrong.
 
See what the input specs are for the players battery, see if they match the output of the zune charger or whatever.

If they don't, "Oops, you fucked up"
 
Specs for the charger are DC 5v at 500 mA same exact specs as a computers usb, so like I said technically there shouldnt of been a problem and I've seen these type of chargers being marketed towards the archos, but obviously something went wrong.
 
Yeah you fucked up. There may be an issue with the players over charging, but even then the method that you overcharged it with would overrule that. Good luck finding replacement parts.
 
Well I'm still trying to see where I "Fucked Up", when the charger is within the USB spec, but of course it's not an Archos charger so I took my chances and I paid the price which is why I was sharing. Parts would be impossible to come by, if I actually intended to fix it myself.
 
i dont see either, how you coulda screwed it up using a zune charger, its 5v...and if you can charge the archos using usb.......Can you RMA it? say its defective after you charged it using your comp?
 
That could work.. Contact the company and say you just left it plugged in overnight or something. You might get lucky.
 
USB is USB is USB... it's all 5v DC, with I believe a max. current of 5 amps (correct me if I'm wrong). Of course, it could be that the generic-brand USB charger was out of spec...
 
that happend to my acrhos 404, they had a recall on faulty batteries.

Replaced mine from a battery on ebay, everything is good to go.
 
A Shiny Demon said:
USB is USB is USB... it's all 5v DC, with I believe a max. current of 5 amps (correct me if I'm wrong). Of course, it could be that the generic-brand USB charger was out of spec...
Click to expand...
On paper, yes. However, try charging a Motorola Razr off a "generic" USB mini-plug. The battery will take one bar "for emergencies" and stop there. Motorola made sure the phone would only charge off of "authorized" chargers, meaning Moto-brand only.
 
mavalpha said:
On paper, yes. However, try charging a Motorola Razr off a "generic" USB mini-plug. The battery will take one bar "for emergencies" and stop there. Motorola made sure the phone would only charge off of "authorized" chargers, meaning Moto-brand only.
Click to expand...

Not quite true, but Motorola phones that use mini-USB for charging seem to require very clean power to charge properly. I've noticed that my Q will not charge when plugged into certain power strips or GFCI outlets.
 
Just an update to let you guys know that Archos did replace my 605 with a brand new unit, as opposed to a refurb. Took about 4 weeks total from the time I shipped it. They also sent me a unit in a brand new box with all accessories, I just sent them the bare unit, so that was a plus. Now I just have to figure out how to transfer my plug ins to this unit, supposedly tech support said it was possible without having to buy them again, we'll see.

Tomjones
 
brycejones said:
Not quite true, but Motorola phones that use mini-USB for charging seem to require very clean power to charge properly. I've noticed that my Q will not charge when plugged into certain power strips or GFCI outlets.
Click to expand...

My RAZR charges via USB port fine, however if you use a regular generic charger it wont work. You need the right drivers for the thing to charge. Surprisingly, linux works outa the box with it >.> Windows is a driver hunt...
 
As mentioned earlier by another poster, Archos have had a lot of problems with their batteries in the past. My 404 had to go back after the battery died after just a few months, the batteries deteriorate and swell up causing the bulges. Yours might just have happend very quickly.

The shop I bought it from replaced it with a new one but I hardly used it as I bought a Mk1 Zune a few weeks later. Just sits by the stereo gathering dust.

Not good.
 
Within 2 weeks, my 605 was showing the same bulge, but it continued to work. I had noticed the HD seemed to "move" a lot, but since I'd never really held one while it ran before, and the 605 continued to work, I just thought thats how it felt.

Then the 605 refused to get past the splash screen and the HD made awful noises and reset or system restore failed to work. Luckily, I was w/in the 30 day period Amaxon allows, and I've ordered replacements.

As for charging, I doubt your unorthodox USB charger was to blame - I ordered the DVR station and used that to charge from day one, and I too developed the battery bulge.

After reading posts about battery bulge problems, not just with the 605 but with Cowon products, I suspect that leaving the unit on charge contributes to the problem. I would leave the Archos in the DVR station when it wasn't being used or to be handy to use through the DVR station. Of course, the DVR station is designed for that type of usage, so if that caused the problem, its a major flaw!

I've ordered replacements through Amazon and am hoping my second round will prove problem free. I really hope they work w/o problems because the unit was a joy to own while it worked - I'll post my next experiences here.

If you've experienced battery bulge, please post here so Archos can see. Thanks!
 
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