How to root the Archos 80 G9

The Archos brand may not be as familiar as the “big” names such as Samsung or HTC, but Archos does provide the world with lovely, powerful, and sturdy Android tablets, one of which is the Archos 80 G9, an 8-incher running Android 3.1 Honeycomb and powered by a 1.5 GHz multi-core processor.

Just like any other Android device, the Archos 80 G9 can now be rooted thanks to Paul O’Brien. However, this process can be quite tricky as the method discussed below is not the same as those using flashable ZIP files to root your device. Rather, we will be using some ADB commands in the process. But, don’t you worry, as we’ve got it all covered for you.

Warning

Before you proceed with rooting your device, take note that rooting will void your warranty.
We will not be held responsible if anything should happen to your device. Proceed at your own risk.
This tutorial is intended only for the Archos 80 G9 tablet and will not work on Generation 8 tablets. There have also been reports of problems with using this method on the 250 GB variants of the tablet.

Requirements

Archos 80 G9 tablet
Windows PC
Android SDK installed on your PC. Follow the installation guide here. Make sure you install the USB drivers as instructed in step 4 of the guide and update the system path as instructed in step 5 of the guide.
Enable USB Debugging on your tablet. You can do this by heading to “Applications > Development > USB Debugging”. Make sure that there is a check mark beside that option.

Instructions

Part 1: Gaining Temporary Root

Connect your Archos 80 G9 tablet to your PC via USB cable.
On your PC, launch a command prompt.
Ensure that your tablet is visible in ADB by entering the following at the command prompt:
- adb devices
The command above should list your device and serial number. If not, the most likely culprit is the ADB driver. See the guide here for help.
Download this package (archos-g9-step1-and-2.zip, 8.6 kB) to your computer.
Unzip the file’s contents into a folder on your PC. Inside the extraction folder, you will find two files named “1″ and “2″.
At the command prompt, change directory to where you extracted “1″ and “2″.
Enter the following commands at the command prompt:
- adb push 1 /data/local/
- adb push 2 /data/local/
- adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/1
- adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/2
- adb shell /data/local/1
- adb reboot
- adb shell /data/local/2
- adb reboot
Your tablet now has temporary root. Do not disconnect your tablet from your PC yet. Proceed to part 2.

Part 2: Permanent Root

Download gen9_enable_sde.zip (3.2 MB) and save it to your PC.
Extract the contents of gen9_enable_sde.zip into a folder on your computer.
Inside the folder where you extracted the contents of gen9_enable_sde.zip to, look for enable_sde.bat and double-click the file.
At the command prompt, enter the following command:
- adb shell rm /data/local.prop
Download the Archos partition file (archos_3.2.79.ext4.zip, 191 MB) from here and save it to your PC.
Copy archos_3.2.79.ext4.zip to the internal storage (i.e., /sdcard) on your tablet. Do not place it inside any folder.
Download initramfs.cpio.gz file from here (1.2 MB) and zImage (a kernel file) from here (3.9 MB) and save both files to your PC.
Switch off your tablet.
Boot the tablet into recovery mode. You can do this by holding down the “Power” and “Volume Down” button until the Archos splash screen and recovery menu appear.
Once inside recovery, use the Volume keys to navigate and the Power button to select.
Select “Recovery Menu” then select “Developer Edition Menu”.
Select “Flash Kernel and intramfs.”
A drive should appear on your computer. Copy zImage and initramfs.cpio.gz to the said drive.
Press the power button and wait a bit.
Press the power button one more time.
Your tablet will reboot into the unrooted edition. So, you will need to make some changes so that the rooted edition will be booted each time. To do that, continue with the next steps.
Switch off your tablet again and boot back into recovery (see step 9).
Inside recovery, select Recovery System > Developer Menu > Remove Android Kernel.
You will see a series of warnings. Just accept each warning to dismiss it.
Reboot your tablet. Your tablet will now boot to the rooted edition every time you use your tablet.

Part 3: Installing Busybox

Note: This part will install busybox without messing up your permanent root. Busybox is needed by many root-only apps.

Install Root Explorer on your tablet. (Alert: paid app)
Install Android Terminal Emulator on your tablet.
Install BusyBox Installer on your tablet.
Launch Root Explorer on your tablet.
Navigate to /bin directory.
Tap the menu button (at the top-right corner).
Tap “Multi-select”.
Tap “Select all” (at the bottom-left corner of the screen).
Tap “Move”.
Navigate to /system/xbin directory.
Tap “Mount R/W” (top-right of the screen).
Tap “Paste.”
Launch Android Terminal Emulator on your tablet.
Enter the following commands into the terminal (press Enter) after each line:
- su
- rm -r /bin
- ln -s /system/xbin /bin
Return to the Root Explorer app.
Navigate to /system/bin.
Locate “su” and long-tap on the file. This brings up a prompt. Select “Copy.”
Navigate to /sdcard.
Tap “Paste” to copy the su binary into /sdcard.
Launch BusyBox Installer on your tablet.
Select “BusyBox v1.19.3.” as the version to install.
Select “/system/xbin” as the location to install to.
Tap “Install.”
Return to the Android Terminal Emulator app and enter this command:
- rm /system/xbin/su
Return to Root Explorer.
Navigate to /system/bin and look for “su”.
Long-tap on “su” and select “Copy” from the prompt.
Navigate to /system/xbin.
Tap “Paste” to copy the su binary into the directory.
Long-tap on “su” and select “Permissions” from the prompt.
Set the permissions of the su binary to the following:
- Owner — read, write, execute
- Group — read, execute
- Others — read, execute
- Set UID — yes
- Set GID — yes
- Sticky — no
Tap the OK button.