Archos AV500 freezes after firmware update

SOURCE: Archos Av500 startup problems

there is no kind of reset button

but you can try a reset by leave it to drain full power and switching it On after 3 hours

SOURCE: Archos Av500 startup problems

its a HDD or OS failure
ull have to ask the company for a replacement if its under the warranty period
make sure to register ur device on the Archos website to get a 'Technical Support Passcode.'call Archos to tell them ur problem and if ur lucky they wud repair it free of charge
if u want to try it urself...i found this one of the forums on the net..
1.remove all the screws, and remove the battery.
2. Remove the hard disk from the player by disconnecting the ribbon connector carefully from the mainboard.
3. Try to startup the player after putting the battery back in place. This time, instead of turning off, the player showed a "cannot read hard disk" error with the option of formatting it. Made me realise that the hard disk was the culprit. However, I had heard the hard disk noises previously, and they sounded fine, so I realised it was a software issue (file system was corrupted)
4. Try to connect it back, same problem as before... Also it is very difficult to first start the player & then connect the hard disk, as the player is designed to shut off in that situation.
5. The best option after this would be to get a drive enclosure designed specifically for 1.8 hitachi hard disks to connect the disk directly to the computer using USB and format it.
6. However since I didn't have a specialised enclosure, I did a lot of trail and error with the player itself (running off mains while connecting the hard disk after starting the player without releasing the power button etc etc etc) which Im sure wasnt too kind on the hard disk, but voila, I managed to start it up fine WITH the hard disk in place without the player turning off using some weird combination of holding down the power button and connecting the ribbon on the bootup screen)
7. After this, he was able to select "format", and the player began working fine he lost all the data on the player itself, but luckily he had backups of everything!

Thanks for using Fixya