Dismantle the Archos 605

Here I discuss the step by step process to dismantle an Archos 605 80GB media player. This guide will also help anyone who wishes to replace the battery or screen.

This is the Archos unit I will dismantle. It is a fully functional unit.

Some points to note before we begin:

1. Opening the unit will void any warranty.
2. Putting the unit back together is harder than taking it apart.
3. Working at a steady pace, it takes about 1 hour 15 mins to take it apart and a little more than that to put it back together.
4. Unless you have done it before, it is best to put it back together immediately after taking it apart, lest you forget where the bits go.
5. The hard drive can be replaced, but the Archos will not work with any other drive as it is tied to the serial number of the manufacturers hard drive. You can however hack the firmware to disable the HDD serial number checks.
6. This guide is for the Archos 605 series player with 40GB, 80GB and 160GB capacities. Other models and capacities have different assembly.
7. If you intend to replace batteries please understand that Lithium-ion batteries contain Lithium which will catch fire if exposed to water or moisture in air or temperatures above 60° C. Do not attempt to bend or puncture the battery. White fumes produced by an exploding battery are dangerous and a fire-extinguisher should be used to extinguish the fire, not water!
8. Bear in mind, this is a rough guide of how I did it and am sharing my experience in good faith. It is by no means perfect and I cannot be held responsible for any damage done by following it.
9. All marked images in the guide are released under Creative Commons Attribution; Non-Commercial; No Derivative Works; 3.0 Licence.

Tools you will need

1. A Philips screwdriver of smallest size.
2. A hex (or allen) screwdriver of smallest size, to remove the hard drive.
3. If you want to replace the battery you will need to de-solder it and solder in a new one. So don't attempt battery replacement unless you know electronic soldering. Alternatively you can use cable splicers to join wires together without soldering.
4. A quite room where you can work without distractions (no children or pets). Put on some music, it will help.
5. The unit has very small parts and screws about 2mm long, so make sure you are wearing glasses if you need them.