Amazon Prime Video / Microsoft Playready DRM on Mecool M8S Pro L

[phjanderson]

Is there any chance of getting Amazon Prime Video / Microsoft Playready DRM working on a Mecool M8S Pro L?

I see references to firmwares containing playready DRM support, such as this one:

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s912/mecool/firmware-roms/676338-rom-mecool-m8s-pro-l-tvstock-nexus-rom-android-tv-7-1?p=723233#post723233

mentioning:

/system/etc/drm/playready
/lib/libplayready.so
/vendor/lib/drm/libdrmclientplayreadyplugin.so
/vendor/lib/mediadrm/libplayreadymediadrmplugin.so

The firmware download link in that post is broken however. So it seems it might be possible, but I cannot manage to find an actual firmware still available for download containing these files.

Is there anyone here that actually got it working?

[RiCkLaR_atvX]

Mecool used a hack to get DRM Widevine L1 in the past, if your device had L1 and lost it then you are screwed, it can not be put back. So go ahead and install EMUelec and turn your box into a Retro Gaming station. Forget using it for Android.

Currently Mecool has Google Certification on their newer devices and it is all done the correct and proper way, so no fear in buying their newest devices,
The exception or thing to worry about is that there is no clear communication from VS/Mecool how often or when their Certified Devices will get Security Updates, or even if they will get updated from Android 9 to Android 10, because Certified AndroidTV OS doesn't have Google Company guidelines or rules like the Android_One program for phones where those devices are guaranteed Software&Security updates for 2 years.

[phjanderson]

Thanks for your reply. To be honest I found the update support lacking for any Android box I ever had. Perhaps the best support was Minix. You hardly seem to get major Android version updates though. I think the ARM SoC vendors are also to blame as they do not really seem to care about creating any major Linux Kernel version updates. As soon as things kind of work, they move on to their next new SoC.

Actually I did manage to get Amazon Prime Video working using the nano version of this ROM:

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s912/mecool/firmware-roms/751372-rom-mecool-m8s-pro-lb-stock-nano-nexus-rom-android-7-1

DRM info does not show Microsoft Playready DRM support on this ROM either, but it works anyway. It does however show Widevine L1 support.

It does come at a price though. It is a tablet style Android version, not Android TV. Luckily I still have one of those bluetooth mini keyboard/mouse thingies from back when Android TV wasn't invented yet ;-)

Strangely it does not work on the Android TV version, based on the same ROM according to the author:

https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s912/mecool/firmware-roms/751373-rom-mecool-m8s-pro-lb-tvstock-nexus-rom-android-tv-7-1

I can't remember if this one was showing L1 support.

[phjanderson]

Ok, I flashed the TV ROM back:
https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-...android-tv-7-1
I forgot the wipe the data so I ended up having the TV ROM with the Android Tablet apps. I tried Prime Video and it worked perfectly.

I then reinstalled the Android TV version of Prime Video. This one didn't work, just like before.

So the issue seems to be a problem between the Android TV version of Prime Video and the Mecool ROM.

Unfortunately I cannot reinstall the Android Tablet version of Prime Video (downloaded from APK Pure), it complains that the app is incompatible with my TV.

[mo123]

Ok, I flashed the TV ROM back:
https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-...android-tv-7-1
I forgot the wipe the data so I ended up having the TV ROM with the Android Tablet apps. I tried Prime Video and it worked perfectly.

I then reinstalled the Android TV version of Prime Video. This one didn't work, just like before.

So the issue seems to be a problem between the Android TV version of Prime Video and the Mecool ROM.

Unfortunately I cannot reinstall the Android Tablet version of Prime Video (downloaded from APK Pure), it complains that the app is incompatible with my TV.

Amazon Prime AndroidTV app requires Microsoft PlayReady otherwise it will refuse to work.
Amazon Prime the phone app can work on Android Pie or higher firmwares but not on Nougat or Oreo on Amlogic devices.
Rockchip put a patch in their firmwares so the Amazon Prime phone app could work on any AndroidTV firmware but only in non HD resolution, it tricks the app into thinking you run it on a phone instead of AndroidTV.

[phjanderson]

Amazon Prime the phone app can work on Android Pie or higher firmwares but not on Nougat or Oreo on Amlogic devices.

The Amazon Prime phone app works fine on the Mecool M8S Pro LB while running Android 7.1.2 Nougat using the nano rom:
https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-...om-android-7-1

The video quality is not great though it varies between terrible and acceptable. The WIFI and internet connection is fine, not sure what goes wrong here.