Archos has been releasing special developer edition software for its Android tablets for the last few years. Recently the company added Special Developer Edition (SDE) firmware for its 9th generation tablets to the list.

That includes the Archos 80 G9 and Archos 101 G9 tablets.

But while earlier SDE firmware releases have been based on Angstrom Linux, the SDE software for the Gen9 tablets is basically just a tool that lets developers flash custom kernels or ROMs on the tablets.

Archos 80 G9 with special developer edition firmware

The software is clearly aimed at developers and not the general public. Installing the SDE firmware will void your warranty and it will prevent the Archos tablets from playing media files that are protected with DRM.

But as ArcTablet points out, the firmware will give you more control over the device. It lets you create a multiboot system that can run more than one operating system. You can use it to export your data partition or remove the Android Kernel.

via 

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6 replies on “Archos releases Special Developer Edition firmware for Gen9 tablets”

  1. So this is a new wrinkle… “If you use this software we’re providing you, the warranty on the hardware you bought from us is void.” Wonder what a jury would think of that.

    Archos sometimes seems so close to getting it, but never quite there.

    1. HTC makes the same caveat when it lets users unlock the bootloaders on their phones.

      Basically what they’re saying is that the reason the bootloader is normally locked is that it prevents you from doing something silly like deleting the operating system if you don’t know how to re-install one. 

      If you want to do that… you take responsibility for your own actions.

      1. Then they can disclaim the warranty on their software, but I’m pretty sure they disclaim that right out of the box. I think they’d have a tough time if someone sued them for warranty service when the hardware died prematurely… which, in my own experience with unrooted Archos devices, is likely, sad to say.

  2. All of a sudden this has become an attractive device.  With the dev firmware and a little magic this would make a wonderful Ubuntu tablet.  Couldn’t see sacrificing my Transformer or Transformer prime for this but this unit, especially how cheap it is, makes for a great project.

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