A95X Max TV Box - Amlogic S905X2 A8.1 4/64 ROM Dual WiFi Gig Lan BT4.2 + Support 2.5inch SSD / HDD

[Luko69]

Is working in this box LibreElec, or CoreElec ? Thanks.

[semaler]

Hello folks,

I've bought this unit after watching a few reviews and reading all this thread. I want to use the A95X Max mainly as a NAS connected to Ethernet. Just thought I would share my findings in case they are useful to somebody.

The A95X Max is a replacement for my nearly 10-year old Xtreamer, a quite reliable streaming device which is of course outdated after all these years. This is my first Android TV box and after fiddling with it for a few days I'm quite satisfied but honestly I didn't expect so much work to configure everything!

I installed a 2TB HDD. For a NAS use my advice is not to format it with the A95X because it will format it as FAT32 and it will have a file size limit of 4GB. I formatted the HDD as exFAT using a Windows PC.

At first I installed Sambadroid as SMB server. This little app works very well but it has a major flaw: it doesn't support files bigger than 2GB! So I removed this app and installed Servers Ultimate instead. This is a big app with many features (you can install almost any kind of server). I didn't really feel like installing such a heavy app but in my case Sambadroid was a no-go. One problem with Servers Ultimate (at least with the A95X) is that the auto start option does not work. So unless you can live with the manual start you'll have to install a starter app to launch Servers Ultimate automatically after boot..

So now Samba works fine with Linux/Windows/Android phone clients, therefore no complains on that side. I get transfer speeds of around 12 MB/s which is not a lot but I can live with that I guess.

FTP server is another story... I have tried several FTP server apps but I couldn't manage to perform a transfer from a remote client to the A95X HDD. I think this is because the HDD has read only permissions for users other than root ('775' permissions). Does anyone know how to add write permissions for all users? Is it doable at all?

On the other hand, I've been using ES Files Explorer as an FTP and SMB client with no issues at all.

I've also realized that Plex Media Server can't be installed in an Android device, so I'm using Kodi instead.

[cjeman]

I have been using my A95X as an audio NAS. I will try Servers Ultimate for large video. I use Macrodroid to launch a bunch of apps on reboot. Give it a look.

[barricade_pl]

My problem is with 95%

[21:21:06 333][HUB3-10][Inf]-------------Download bootloader.PARTITION-----------
[21:21:06 334][HUB3-10][Inf]--0-7-0-16
[21:21:06 334][HUB3-10][Inf]--download store bootloader normal 1182064
[21:21:06 334][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send download command success
[21:21:06 349][HUB3-10][Inf]--Read command status success
[21:21:06 707][HUB3-10][Inf]--Transfer complete
[21:21:06 707][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send download get_status command succeed
[21:21:06 710][HUB3-10][Inf]--get_status success
[21:21:06 711][HUB3-10][Inf]--verify sha1sum be7c67bbe5f1db1b8e27d3ef31ab49c1e4ccc4ba
[21:21:06 711][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send verify cmd succeed
[21:21:06 843][HUB3-10][Inf]--Get verify status success
[21:21:07 345][HUB3-10][Inf]--save_setting
[21:21:07 345][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send command success
[21:21:07 367][HUB3-10][Inf]--Read command status success
[21:21:07 367][HUB3-10][Inf]--key init 0x28cf6dfc
[21:21:07 367][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send command success
[21:21:07 377][HUB3-10][Err]--failed:[21:21:07 377][HUB3-10][Err]--Check command return failed
[21:21:07 377][HUB3-10][Inf]--Failure : 1, FailureMax : 3
[21:21:07 377][HUB3-10][Inf]--key init 0x293647ff
[21:21:07 377][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send command success
[21:21:07 387][HUB3-10][Err]--failed:[21:21:07 387][HUB3-10][Err]--Check command return failed
[21:21:07 387][HUB3-10][Inf]--Failure : 2, FailureMax : 3
[21:21:07 387][HUB3-10][Inf]--key init 0x29a123fa
[21:21:07 387][HUB3-10][Inf]--Send command success
[21:21:07 397][HUB3-10][Err]--failed:[21:21:07 397][HUB3-10][Err]--Check command return failed
[21:21:07 397][HUB3-10][Inf]--Failure : 3, FailureMax : 3
[21:21:07 401][HUB3-10][Err]--[0x32010201]Uboot/Get common command result error
[21:21:07 401][HUB3-10][Inf]--Close device handle 0x0000074c

Any thoughts?

Turn's out it was installed and working, restart was needed. Second time writing show 100% success fo another rom.

[cjeman]

semaler... I tried Servers Ultimate and it does not see any USB HDD. SambaDroid sees the USB HDD and can access when fat32. Would the Pro version of Servers Ultimate buy us anything?

[semaler]

I does see my internal HDD (formatted as exFat). I don't think that the Pro version would add many features.

Actually I found out that after the free period Servers Ultmate requires to pay for the Pro version if you wish to continue using it. So in the end I uninstalled it and went again for Sambadroid... when I need to transfer big files to the A95X I use an FTP client in the A95X itself. Not the best solution but it is what it is I guess.

If anyone knows of a better Samba server app that works on the A95X please let us know!

[cjeman]

OK... We have the same issue with the unit. I wanted this thing to replace some older NAS units and it cannot do it without exFAT or NTFS.support. I'll check back to this topic from time to time.

No firmware updates in months and I see nobody developing a custom ROM. It may be dead....

[anteros]

OK... We have the same issue with the unit. I wanted this thing to replace some older NAS units and it cannot do it without exFAT or NTFS.support. I'll check back to this topic from time to time.

No firmware updates in months and I see nobody developing a custom ROM. It may be dead....

One other thing,the startup current for a HDD is quite big,even bigger for some SSD.
So I doubt the stock 5v 2.5a is enough,in many NAS cases,if the power is not enough,after sometime,the smart attributes of HDD would show some data and would finally damage the HDD.

SO I wonder given the power IC of A95X max,what't the biggest power adapter it allows, 5V 5A?

[cjeman]

Hmmm.. Didn't think about this aspect. I opted for a couple of My Cloud EX2 and have abandoned these as NAS devices.

[bluesmanuk]

One other thing,the startup current for a HDD is quite big,even bigger for some SSD.
So I doubt the stock 5v 2.5a is enough,in many NAS cases,if the power is not enough,after sometime,the smart attributes of HDD would show some data and would finally damage the HDD.

SO I wonder given the power IC of A95X max,what't the biggest power adapter it allows, 5V 5A?

I use an internal SSD to boot from, with an external hard drive connected too and it's fine.

If you were to try and populate every port with a drive and the internal bay then power might be tight but not with a couple.

[anteros]

I use an internal SSD to boot from, with an external hard drive connected too and it's fine.

If you were to try and populate every port with a drive and the internal bay then power might be tight but not with a couple.

You didn't get my point,the power is enough for a running HDD,say just 700ma or 500ma.

The point is the when start-up,a surge power demand for HDD or SSD,that shall damage the HDD or SSD if there is not enough power.
I have damaged two portable HDDs with a poor Dell laptop usb port.

You can have reports that HDDs in Netgear WNDR4700 failed after sometime,no wonder.
It's power adapter is big enough,but the internal PCB design doesn't provide enough power for startup of HDD.

Without that in mind for the PCB design and power adapter,HDDs in A95x max shall be damaged easily.

You can check your SSD after several months use hooked up to a computer for smart attributes.

[swytch234]

Hello all ! Noob here so forgive me. Has anybody been able to succesfully change the boot animation of the A95x F3 ? I am unable. I installed the Boot animation app and it even did a backup of an animation I have never seen. I am thinking the set up is different on this box and the location & type of the boot animation may be different. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I do see emd files in media under vendor. Could that be it ? (Maybe not at all haha)

[Andybrody]

Hi everyone,

i been facing auto restart few time, suspect my tv box too hot. I had upgrade my box on SOC & DDR ram + additional Fan for cooling.

using Solid copper heatsink replacing with aluminum heatsink. before upgrade Temp was 64deg c ... now max is 55deg c.

Fan 40mm x 40mm x 7mm = 5vdc direct solder to direct to power connector.


and also running optical fiber HDMI cable quality is wonderful.

Hi Xbalance
can you tell me where you got this 40x40x7 5volt fan and the copper heatsink
Cheerrs
Andy

[cjeman]

Andybrody. My box reboots at various times for no apparent reason. Heat sounds likely. I added an old laptop fan under the unit. I'll feedback if this works.

[Meguinness]

Hi guys,is there a way to solve the video frame skip when watching 4k movie using kodi ? Thanks