MECOOL M8S Max TV Box - S912 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM 2.4G + 5.8G WiFi BT4.0 100Mbps 4K VP9 H.265

[trebor]

Well Finally how cool this Might be

MECOOL M8S Max TV Box
Amlogic S912 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM 2.4G + 5.8G WiFi BT4.0 100Mbps 4K VP9 H.265



Specification as Found

Brand: MECOOL Type: TV Box CPU: Amlogic S912 Core: Octa Core RAM: 3G RAM RAM Type: DDR3 ROM: 32G ROM Max. Extended Capacity: 32G TV Box Features: 5G WiFi

Decoder Format: HD MPEG1/2/4, H.265/HEVC, HD AVC/VC-1, RM/RMVB, Xvid/DivX3/4/5/6, RealVideo8/9/10 Audio format: MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV/OGG/DDP/TrueHD/HD/FLAC/APE Video format: Avi/Rm/Rmvb/Ts/Vob/Mkv/Mov/ISO/wmv/asf/flv/dat/mpg/mpeg Photo Format: GIF, JPEG, JPG, PNG Support 5.1 Surround Sound Output: Yes

5G WiFi: Yes Bluetooth: Bluetooth4.0 Power Supply: Charge Adapter Interface: AV,DC 5V,HDMI 2.0,LAN,TF card,USB Language: Multilanguage HDMI Version: 2.0

System Bit: 64Bit

Power Type: External Power Adapter Mode

Remote Controller Battery: 2 x AAA Battery ( not included )

Product weight: 0.1400 kg Package weight: 0.4300 kg Product size (L x W x H): 10.20 x 10.20 x 2.54 cm / 4.02 x 4.02 x 1 inches Package size (L x W x H): 17.90 x 11.00 x 6.50 cm / 7.05 x 4.33 x 2.56 inches

Package Contents: 1 x TV Box, 1 x Remote Control, 1 x HDMI Cable, 1 x Power Adapter, 1 x English Manual

Gearbest

[trebor]

Hi again and thanks to Gearbest this day we can have a close look at the
MECOOL M8S Max TV Box - S912 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM 2.4G + 5.8G WiFi BT4.0 100Mbps 4K VP9 H.265

Something old is new again but what a Fan, how could this be

Fans are good but myself not a big fan of fans
They tend to be noisy, suck dust and muck in.
With the cats around here it will be blocked within a week or sooner

The say the following:

Main Features
● Android 7.1 operation system
● Amlogic S912 CPU, Octa core, ARM Cortex-A53, 1.5GHz
● ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU, up to 750MHz ( DVFS )
● 3GB SDRAM + 32GB Flash ROM
● 2.4GHz + 5.8GHz dual band WiFi
● 100Mbps Ethernet
● Support 4K ultra HD image display
● Support H.265 decoding
● V4.0 + HS Bluetooth
● Support OTA update

So lets have a look see at what we have

The Box:





What's in the box: I tell ya it will never fly


Ports:



Remove some screws: we see the Industrial Level Air Cooling Refrigeration


Out with the PCB: Not a lot going on under here


Closer look top side:


Exposed Ports:



More as it happens later

CLICK >> Gearbest << is the place to get one of these if you're a fan

[Jancales]

As you mention, fans tend to clog, I think you have a point.

I have modified lots of Mecool boxes of all types with a fan built underneath, with a hole in the base.

During early tests I tried both sucking air out of the box or blowing air inside.

My experience was that sucking air out of the box would give me a better result by about 4 -5 degrees Celsius. Another benefit of sucking air out is that the fan will not collect dust that easy.

Now with the Max I noticed that the fan was sucking fresh air into the box, so I decided to turn the fan upside down, for the same reason as you mention, and because my tests with fan under the box told me that taking air out is better. Take note I live in a tropical country.

Great was my surprise that with the the fan of the Max upside down, it runs hotter by about 5 degrees on idle. Tested both ways several times and always same result.

So now my concern is also that the box internals gonna get dirty quickly, especially since a tropical country translates to lot of dust everywhere.

Another note, however the fan of the Max does a decent job, my Pro L boxes with fan built underneath run way cooler than the Max, but I also add a large heat sink which is no option with the Max

[trebor]

Bit of a Coupon Deal on this Item:
MECOOL M8S Max TV Box /3+32G
GBCNM8SMAX
Gearbest <<< Click

[Jancales]

Magendanz rom for the original Pro L works very well on this box. Pro LB has different wifi chip, so wifi doesn't work with the LB rom

[trebor]

Good to Know, It needs some Rom LUV...

[trebor]

Continuing on thanks to Gearbest
MECOOL M8S Max TV Box - S912 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM 2.4G + 5.8G WiFi BT4.0 100Mbps 4K VP9 H.265

Lets fire it up and see how cool it is
Well the fan has a Cool Blue Led Glow that alone will do the job,
No Noise should work ok this Industrial Level Air Cooling Refrigeration.

Start up all good, WiFi and Ethernet test out good.
Set up Google Update install testers also good.
Remote does the job well also I find

Running Android 7.1 bit dated but should do what it needs to.
Overall Easy startup and works.

Lets have look at what we have

UI: Typical Mecool, No upper or Lower Bars, Installed Apps



DRM: L3


Root:


System Info:



Ram and Storage Truth:



SD Card Test:


AIDA64: 7 frames .gif


ANTUTU: Bit Ordinary I thought




CPU-Z





Geekbench: CPU
More Info: >> https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13939770



Geekbench: Compute



I think the injection of a good Custom Rom (and I just know the rom to Grab) Thanks CHAD
Will Add some life and Zing and a good deal at present also
For a 3/32 GB should do most Type of Box:

Bit of a Coupon Deal on this Item: MECOOL M8S Max TV Box /3+32G GBCNM8SMAX save a few bucks
Gearbest <<< Click

And Don't forget to support our Dev' and Freaktab, All Links used help support Freaktab.

[Jancales]

Magendanz rom for the original Pro L works very well on this box. Pro LB has different wifi chip, so wifi doesn't work with the LB rom

Antutu test with the Magendanz Nano ROM, on this device get a significantly higher score.

[Jancales]

[SIZE=14px][FONT=tahoma]

I think the injection of a good Custom Rom (and I just know the rom to Grab) Thanks CHAD
Will Add some life and Zing and a good deal at present also
For a 3/32 GB should do most Type of Box:

Who is CHAD and what ROM you have in mind please?

[trebor]

Magendanz,
We are on first name Basis

[Guest]

BTW, if anyone has one of these and is willing to rip the latest OEM firmware, please PM me. Knowing it's compatible with the M8S PRO L, we can pick up the latest fixes from VideoStrong for both models.

[Jancales]

BTW, if anyone has one of these and is willing to rip the latest OEM firmware, please PM me. Knowing it's compatible with the M8S PRO L, we can pick up the latest fixes from VideoStrong for both models.

Please let me know how i proceed to rip the firmware, and you will have it in the next few hours

Tool is here: http://freaktab.org/8ed9a0505c61f6f9

Just install Amlogic's USB Burning Tool (to get the Worldcup drivers), connect the device as if you're about to flash a ROM via USB, and then run dump_partitions.bat from the command line. It should pull down each partition.

[Jancales]

BTW, if anyone has one of these and is willing to rip the latest OEM firmware, please PM me. Knowing it's compatible with the M8S PRO L, we can pick up the latest fixes from VideoStrong for both models.

This is the zip as it has been posted by Blinkone in his own thread, and which I also received from Videostrong.

Is this is sufficient or do you still want me to make the backup with USB tool as per your instructions.

https://mega.nz/#F!IExVmCLD!dt68ownBJmPSjgSW6VKacg

Unless you have a newer release on your box, this will do nicely. Thanks!

[Jancales]

June 5 is what is on the boxes delivered this week.

[Jancales]

BTW, if anyone has one of these and is willing to rip the latest OEM firmware, please PM me. Knowing it's compatible with the M8S PRO L, we can pick up the latest fixes from VideoStrong for both models.

Hi Guest did you have a chance yet to add the latest fixes to said ROM?

No, and I probably won't be doing any more updates to any Nougat or Marshmallow ROMs.

[Jancales]

trebor have you tested the 5 Ghz wifi on this box?

I have several of these boxes and speed on 5 Ghz wifi is simply non existent, even with full signal and router within 2 meter range.

I have tried with Guest M8S pro L rom, since that one works and hope it would improve the wifi speed, but it is exactly same.

I get about 2 Mbps download on 5 Ghz, same on all boxes, while I get normal speed on 2.4 Ghz.

I do know that the Tanix TX92 has the same wifi chip and has no problems with 5 Ghz

Any idea what the cause and/or how to fix it?

[Jancales]

trebor have you tested the 5 Ghz wifi on this box?

I have several of these boxes and speed on 5 Ghz wifi is simply non existent, even with full signal and router within 2 meter range.

I have tried with Guest M8S pro L rom, since that one works and hope it would improve the wifi speed, but it is exactly same.

I get about 2 Mbps download on 5 Ghz, same on all boxes, while I get normal speed on 2.4 Ghz.

I do know that the Tanix TX92 has the same wifi chip and has no problems with 5 Ghz

Any idea what the cause and/or how to fix it?

I found the reason already.

Who would have thought that Mecool is a bunch of liars, and that their box does not have Gigabit WIFI as they want us to believe.

Gigabit WIFI works on the 80 Mhz frequency only, as far as i'm aware, and the M8S Max doesn't support that frequency.

Setting my router to use 40Mhz in the 5 Ghz WIFI settings, and the box get normal speeds, limited to about 70 Mbps of course.

Please feel free to explain to me in case i'm missing something