X96 Mini TV Box Amlogic S905W + Android 7.1.2 + Quad-core Cortex-A53 + 4K VP9 H.265

[klopka1341]

How can i go to experimental features on this box?

[Infradata-IT]

Hello Everyone.

New member, longtime android box lover. I have been setting up x96 mini boxes in Canada using the custom firmware found in this thread, dated oct 9 2017, then used the wirless update app to update to the firmware dated dec 2 2017. Today I noticed wireless update app claimed that oct 9 2017 version was "up to date", so i used the backup restore function to manually update using the p281-ota-root.zip file also found in this thread. Anyone know why "wireless update" app didnt do its thing?

I'm kinda of a half way skilled noob with the x96 mini box so any suggestions would be great

[xanadu89897]

Hello Everyone.

New member, longtime android box lover. I have been setting up x96 mini boxes in Canada using the custom firmware found in this thread, dated oct 9 2017, then used the wirless update app to update to the firmware dated dec 2 2017. Today I noticed wireless update app claimed that oct 9 2017 version was "up to date", so i used the backup restore function to manually update using the p281-ota-root.zip file also found in this thread. Anyone know why "wireless update" app didnt do its thing?

I'm kinda of a half way skilled noob with the x96 mini box so any suggestions would be great

Hi I'm in the same situation as you, but my X96 Mini bricked because of that reckless and dumb move of updating the SuperSU binaries via NORMAL method. Now it can't get passed the initial startup flash screen.The only way to revive my device now is via recovery menu.

My only best available option is via the latest firmware zip update which I can't seem to find anywhere.Planning to use a thumb drive with it. The developer only uploaded the latest firmware on Baidu Cloud drive which is not working in my country and even so it's a image file that requires a burner tool on your PC to do it.

Anyone who can upload the correct update-ZIP for this device to help revive a bricked X96 via recovery menu update?

Also another question, is the Yandex drive SD zip file link a few pages back still online? I tried accessing the link, the file is no longer available.

[RmatriX1218]

Anyone looking for a custom rom for this box.... I managed to flash the Meecool M8S Pro W custom rom by Magendanz (all credit goes to him, I'm just sharing what I managed to accomplish). Its an awesome rom based on the Nexus Player so it comes equipped with the Android TV interface. I highly recommend trying it out! The setup is miles ahead of what the box is equipped with by default. The .IMG file has to be flashed with the Amlogic USB Tool. The version I used was dated 12/1/2017 and listed as the "TV-Stock" variant. Although I'm sure the other two files would work as well. Also, after flashing the firmware the stock recovery is replaced with a working version of TWRP 3.1.1 so no need to boot from USB every time you want to use TWRP. I also flashed Magisk 14 and Xposed System-less 88.2 SDK 25 and both are also working. Magisk is equipped with a tool that allows you to hide root access from individual apps as opposed to disabling root altogether. tHE FIRMWARE CAN BE FOUND HERE....

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...C979F57D71A88A

I am yet to receive my X96 mini. But before I start, I have few questions.@

1. From your post, I understand that Meecool M8S Pro W ROM are 100% compatible with X96 mini. I mean everything, i.e. remote, wifi etc, start working out of box with this Meecool rom. Is it correct?@

2. Can I flash img file directly with twrp? If no, can you give me zip version of ROM?@

3. Your referred link not working. Can you give me link on google drive, or suggest any other link?

[xanadu89897]

I am yet to receive my X96 mini. But before I start, I have few questions.@

1. From your post, I understand that Meecool M8S Pro W ROM are 100% compatible with X96 mini. I mean everything, i.e. remote, wifi etc, start working out of box with this Meecool rom. Is it correct?@

2. Can I flash img file directly with twrp? If no, can you give me zip version of ROM?@

3. Your referred link not working. Can you give me link on google drive, or suggest any other link?

To answer your questions:

1) No, it's not 100% compatible as many people would think. Due to safety features applied on the Mecool M8S Pro W ROMs which has the device signatures, the flash process will abort as soon as it detect when you attempt to flash your X96 Mini box with them.Whether you're trying to update the ZIP file or use the burning tool, once you load the Mecool ROMs it'll detect that your device is X96 Mini and won't let you proceed.

2) Use the official version of the ROM in ZIP to update your device.It's the safest because it's no guarantee your PC will be able to detect your device. The Amlogic Worldcup drivers is not entirely reliable. Booting into recovery using the pin on the reset button inside the A/V port in your X96 Mini is the most reliable way unless you hardbrick your device to the extend that it even refuses to turn ON.

3) That bogus guy already missing with no reply. Suspect he is some dupe account who is trying to get people to brick their devices by trying those ROMs themselves . You see, the ROM developer contributing to the open source ROMs here only writes them for Mecool products if you noticed. Would you think his company would allow those ROMs to be used/applied to competing rival brands with same chipsets? Go figure.
You cannot simply cross flash a device with another brand even though they have similar hardware design/chipset without modifying the device's signatures in the source codes.

Anyway I ask you to think carefully and read the instructions properly before you commit the same mistake as me of bricking my X96 Mini by just updating the root binary files requested by SuperSU.

Here is the latest official ROM for the X96 Mini(021217) in ZIP format.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AMj2sYBiFBYlTYA&cid=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8&id=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8%21618

Boot into the recovery menu by using the reset button inside the AV port and holding it down with a pin before you turn the device ON. Wait for the device to boot into the recovery menu then let go.
If you're updating or trying to unbrick your device, clear your data/factory reset first then only proceed to update ZIP, select the right zip file on your SD card/USB thumb drive. Wait for it to complete. Then finally boot into SYSTEM. You should recover your device.

Once you're in, be sure to take note. YOU NO LONGER need to ROOT your device as it is already fully rooted with the latest binary files. You can install a ROOT Manager such as SuperSU or Magisk Manager to manage your APPs or you can choose to leave it as all ROOT requests by apps is granted transparently without prompts(I choose this method).

NEVER boot into recovery and install the root binaries via ZIP updates as you normally do with Pre-Rooted devices.It is already done in this ZIP update.

[Danymally]

Goodevening everybody,
I just bought this TV Box, very tiny and fast, also if is a budget chip based it's very fast (i had an MXQ Pro 4k).

So, I downloader from baidu (that's is a nightmare) the last firmware version (20171202) and i uploaded on mega.

i hope that coul be useful for all (must use Burning tool).

https://mega.nz/#!cnwUFRKQ!mtSsiC8Beik1wjOOXwu2M5AWgG0KuLQjO6RqmzDwQ3c

Regards

[klopka1341]

Someone to know how can i load live wallpapers on x96 mini box?

[LeXXoZ]

I am yet to receive my X96 mini. But before I start, I have few questions.@

1. From your post, I understand that Meecool M8S Pro W ROM are 100% compatible with X96 mini. I mean everything, i.e. remote, wifi etc, start working out of box with this Meecool rom. Is it correct?@

2. Can I flash img file directly with twrp? If no, can you give me zip version of ROM?@

3. Your referred link not working. Can you give me link on google drive, or suggest any other link?

I tried to flash it on my X96 Mini and this is my experience :

Flashed it through burning tool : failed first 2 times, 3rd time it seemed to work.

Remote is not working, and when i want to enter the box settings app crashes. so i cannot enter settings.

Netflix app is not working at all, gives me black screen.

Network speed is fine by cable, did not test wifi on the box.

I am thinking of going back to stock, because now i am using my mobile phone with android tv remote app to control the box, but sincs it does not let me enter settings its kinda rubbish.


my advice : dont do it

[xanadu89897]

Remote is not working, and when i want to enter the box settings app crashes. so i cannot enter settings.

You're supposed to backup your remote.conf file in your root /system/etc directory before flashing? Then copy back the backup file into the same location replacing that one in your updated ROM?

A question, how did you manage to flash the ROM intended for another device(Mecool M8S Pro W) on your X96 Mini? Doesn't the burning tool/recovery zip updater check for device signatures/ID before flashing as a security measure?

[Jsassu20]

To answer your questions:

1) No, it's not 100% compatible as many people would think. Due to safety features applied on the Mecool M8S Pro W ROMs which has the device signatures, the flash process will abort as soon as it detect when you attempt to flash your X96 Mini box with them.Whether you're trying to update the ZIP file or use the burning tool, once you load the Mecool ROMs it'll detect that your device is X96 Mini and won't let you proceed.

2) Use the official version of the ROM in ZIP to update your device.It's the safest because it's no guarantee your PC will be able to detect your device. The Amlogic Worldcup drivers is not entirely reliable. Booting into recovery using the pin on the reset button inside the A/V port in your X96 Mini is the most reliable way unless you hardbrick your device to the extend that it even refuses to turn ON.

3) That bogus guy already missing with no reply. Suspect he is some dupe account who is trying to get people to brick their devices by trying those ROMs themselves . You see, the ROM developer contributing to the open source ROMs here only writes them for Mecool products if you noticed. Would you think his company would allow those ROMs to be used/applied to competing rival brands with same chipsets? Go figure.
You cannot simply cross flash a device with another brand even though they have similar hardware design/chipset without modifying the device's signatures in the source codes.

Anyway I ask you to think carefully and read the instructions properly before you commit the same mistake as me of bricking my X96 Mini by just updating the root binary files requested by SuperSU.

Here is the latest official ROM for the X96 Mini(021217) in ZIP format.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AMj2sYBiFBYlTYA&cid=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8&id=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8%21618

Boot into the recovery menu by using the reset button inside the AV port and holding it down with a pin before you turn the device ON. Wait for the device to boot into the recovery menu then let go.
If you're updating or trying to unbrick your device, clear your data/factory reset first then only proceed to update ZIP, select the right zip file on your SD card/USB thumb drive. Wait for it to complete. Then finally boot into SYSTEM. You should recover your device.

Once you're in, be sure to take note. YOU NO LONGER need to ROOT your device as it is already fully rooted with the latest binary files. You can install a ROOT Manager such as SuperSU or Magisk Manager to manage your APPs or you can choose to leave it as all ROOT requests by apps is granted transparently without prompts(I choose this method).

NEVER boot into recovery and install the root binaries via ZIP updates as you normally do with Pre-Rooted devices.It is already done in this ZIP update.

Bro seriously be quiet. You have no clue what you're saying nor do you know me or my level of understanding when it comes to this. Mecool doesn't impose those restrictions, the reason it wont flash in the stock android recovery has nothing to do with Mecool... Its a safety measure built in to the stock android recovery which GOOGLE implemented in order to stop firmware whose build.prop file does not match with the devices current build.prop. from being flashed on the device. It does not mean in anyway that the device CAN'T run the firmware its a measure to ensure that only firmware that is 100% compatible can be flashed.

When it comes to android phones and tablets, the reason flashing is dangerous is because you can use the fastboot command to flash any firmware on any device with an unlocked bootloader even if that firmware was not meant for that device... And doing that will almost surely lead to a bricked device (which means UNRECOVERABLE!! As in as useful as a brick. You didn't brick your device by updating the SU Binary... You rooted a device that was already rooted and then attempted to update its already present binary with one that came from a completely different program. You didn't brick the box you corrupted your system partition and had to refllash the firmware to fix the issue.

Congratulations, and now you're using your poor judgement and limited knowledge of how these Android boxes are built as means to try and inflate your understanding of what I was saying in my post. The first thing you need to realize is that you're the one shooting off bogus info. Literally everything you stated is completely wrong, except for the link to the x96 firmware. If you tried the rom I suggested with the assumption that it was going to be 100% compatible, well my friend you need to spend some more time learning about these things.

THE MAIN THING TO FOCUS ON WHEN FLASHING FIRMWARE ON THESE AMLOGIC ANDROID DEVICES IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CHIPSET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE PRESENT IN YOUR BOX. I'm gonna let you in on a secret that you appearently don't know.... 99% of all Amlogic boxes with the same chipset are virtually identical and vary only in the size of their storage, the amount of ram, and what wifi or bluetooth chip is present.

So if you have 3 different Am logic boxes each from different manufacturers but all contain the same exact chipset, lets say s905x.... Then you can flash each of their respective firmware files across all 3 devices and so long as you have an ethernet cord, and a usb keyboard and mouse or usb media controller because the only problems youre going to possibly run into are with the wifi chip and the stock remote. Outside of that you really shouldn't have much else to worry about and that's because these devices are nothing more than clones of each other that end up in different cases and with different amounts of storage and ram based on the price. Thats why they are so popular. The wifi and remote issues arent even a guarentee either. They may work fine across all three devices. Its just a possibility that there could be an issue.

No for the question you chose to answer for me even though you were talking out of your ass.... No the Android TV rom is not 100% compatible. The stock remote does not work, the cast feature is not functional, and since there is no bluetooth hardware in the x96 or tx3 the accessories menu is of no use... Even with a dongle the proper support modules will need to be found and compiled to make that work. But those are all something that you can live without considering the overall experience you will gain over the basic layout of the other firmware available.....

I apologize for not Answering your question sooner RMATRIX, and I apologize on behalf of XANDU for pretending to know what he was talking about and then trying to scare you off based on his not understanding the engineering beauty behind these Amlogic boxes. Just remember, if you want to flash different firmware to see what you might find, make sure the chipset is identical to yours and you should be just fine. Of course you're always doing so at your own risk, so make sure you know enough to be comfortable with the idea of how to go about recovering from any errors you might run into along the way...

[Eschaton]

UPDATE :GOT ROOT! Updated the build using the Wireless Updater app of the system, and the newest version of 20171009 has built in root.

Update 2: Got hardware acceleration working on the box! Followed these steps: https://github.com/koying/SPMC/issues/1073[/LIST]
And it's working!

Does hardware acceleration not happen in the stock image of this device? Can you enable any higher output resolutions than 720p?

[alexjames2320]

Hi Guys i bought this box but i have a problem with the wifi connection is getting stucked and sometimes not working properly at all...i tried to do update via wireless sometimes it seems to be ok but i dont know if anyone else had the same problem like me...and i wanted to ask aswell is it good to put Taxini T3 software in this box i saw one video on youtube and it looked nice but i wanted to ask someone that tried it or knows more than i do. im new to Android boxes and ill need some help here.

[RmatriX1218]

Bro seriously be quiet. You have no clue what you're saying nor do you know me or my level of understanding when it comes to this. Mecool doesn't impose those restrictions, the reason it wont flash in the stock android recovery has nothing to do with Mecool... Its a safety measure built in to the stock android recovery which GOOGLE implemented in order to stop firmware whose build.prop file does not match with the devices current build.prop. from being flashed on the device. It does not mean in anyway that the device CAN'T run the firmware its a measure to ensure that only firmware that is 100% compatible can be flashed.

When it comes to android phones and tablets, the reason flashing is dangerous is because you can use the fastboot command to flash any firmware on any device with an unlocked bootloader even if that firmware was not meant for that device... And doing that will almost surely lead to a bricked device (which means UNRECOVERABLE!! As in as useful as a brick. You didn't brick your device by updating the SU Binary... You rooted a device that was already rooted and then attempted to update its already present binary with one that came from a completely different program. You didn't brick the box you corrupted your system partition and had to refllash the firmware to fix the issue.

Congratulations, and now you're using your poor judgement and limited knowledge of how these Android boxes are built as means to try and inflate your understanding of what I was saying in my post. The first thing you need to realize is that you're the one shooting off bogus info. Literally everything you stated is completely wrong, except for the link to the x96 firmware. If you tried the rom I suggested with the assumption that it was going to be 100% compatible, well my friend you need to spend some more time learning about these things.

THE MAIN THING TO FOCUS ON WHEN FLASHING FIRMWARE ON THESE AMLOGIC ANDROID DEVICES IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CHIPSET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE PRESENT IN YOUR BOX. I'm gonna let you in on a secret that you appearently don't know.... 99% of all Amlogic boxes with the same chipset are virtually identical and vary only in the size of their storage, the amount of ram, and what wifi or bluetooth chip is present.

So if you have 3 different Am logic boxes each from different manufacturers but all contain the same exact chipset, lets say s905x.... Then you can flash each of their respective firmware files across all 3 devices and so long as you have an ethernet cord, and a usb keyboard and mouse or usb media controller because the only problems youre going to possibly run into are with the wifi chip and the stock remote. Outside of that you really shouldn't have much else to worry about and that's because these devices are nothing more than clones of each other that end up in different cases and with different amounts of storage and ram based on the price. Thats why they are so popular. The wifi and remote issues arent even a guarentee either. They may work fine across all three devices. Its just a possibility that there could be an issue.

No for the question you chose to answer for me even though you were talking out of your ass.... No the Android TV rom is not 100% compatible. The stock remote does not work, the cast feature is not functional, and since there is no bluetooth hardware in the x96 or tx3 the accessories menu is of no use... Even with a dongle the proper support modules will need to be found and compiled to make that work. But those are all something that you can live without considering the overall experience you will gain over the basic layout of the other firmware available.....

I apologize for not Answering your question sooner RMATRIX, and I apologize on behalf of XANDU for pretending to know what he was talking about and then trying to scare you off based on his not understanding the engineering beauty behind these Amlogic boxes. Just remember, if you want to flash different firmware to see what you might find, make sure the chipset is identical to yours and you should be just fine. Of course you're always doing so at your own risk, so make sure you know enough to be comfortable with the idea of how to go about recovering from any errors you might run into along the way...

I don't have much technical knowledge for ROM and firmware.@

However, flashed ROMs on mobile through TWRP and flashed ROM on android stick through flashing tool many times based on instructions provided.@

Quite appreciate your explanation.@

I am not fan of X96 mini stock ROM. And default root access is biggest worry for me as device can be easily attacked by virus, malware, adwares silently.@

Hence, looking for custom modified ROM for X96 mini. However, couldn't find any custom rom build for X96 mini.@

Not knowledgeable enough to experiment directly with other device ROMs.@

Can you advise some ROMs from other devices, may be compatible with our X96 mini with some guide?

[kenwyz]

Hi, I just bought 3 of these devices. I find they run nicely but the box gets pretty warm and that's just being on over night without running any videos. There is only one thing that is frustrating me I'm hoping to get advice on. I changed the launcher to Nova as the default, but when the box reboots into the MediaBox Launcher first until I click the home button. Disable is not an option in Settings -> Apps. I have not updated or changed the firmware or anything like that.

1. Can the launcher issue be fixed?
2. When I get a new box should I be changing the firmware? If so, why?

Thank you,
TOG

hi
you can fix launcher issue by downloading Root Explorer, install it, go to android system, then app, and delete the MediaBox Launcher, reboot and that's it !
" don't forget to install new launcher first !!
kenwyz

[TheOnyxGuy]

Thank you. I used System App Remover (Root) by Jumobile which was suggested. It worked perfectly. I did a few other boxes since using it as well. The next chance I get I will try Root Explorer.