Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Vulkano on an Archos 70

For those of you wondering how the Vulkano 010410VK All-In-One 8 GB Media Placeshifter, Black
media player for Android works on the Archos 70 - 8 GB Internet Tablet (Black), the answer is, unfortunately not that well.

I recently received the Archos 70 (which is identical to the Archos 101, so don't expect it to be any different), and my main reason for purchasing it was to use my Monsoon Vulkano placeshifter device.  Unfortunately, it does not work well.

First off, to even get the Vulkano Android player, you have to download the marketplace apk (sort of a hack, since it does not come from Archos pre-installed on the unit). First, you need to update your archos tablet to Froyo (android 2.2) which can be done from the settings update command.  Then, you need to go get the marketplace apk and install it. Instructions can be found here: http://forum.archosfans.com/index.php .   Once you get the apk installed, you can browse the android market and get the vulkano app.

I did not have any issues getting it installed or configured, but the first couple times I tried to access it, I got a force close.  Then, after a reboot of the archos device, I was able to access my Vulkano, but the quality is horrible.   The sound is not synced properly with the video, and the video is extremely choppy.
I tried both on my lan as well as on the wan, with both connections from Verizon Fios with the 50/35mb plans, so my bandwidth is not the issue.   I tried switching the stream quality to low, and it had no effect.

However, moving recorded programs from the Vulkano's DVR onto the Archos Android and watching them locally worked fantastic.

I hope the team out there working on rooting this device can also get the processor back up to its full 1ghz speed, so I can retest.  As it stands now, the Archos 70 and Archos 101 do not play well with Monsoon Vulkano.