Transform a low cost S912 TV Box into a killer TV Box DIY

[X92-2GB]

I think my problem is my flash memory. It is stuck in NAND chip mask ROM mode.
It will not release no matter how long the box is off, or how I reset it.

I found a complete AMLogic developer suite to mess with, and will clear out by total erase, if possible, the flash memory and start from scratch.

The suite has a few developer test keys files for creating a custom boot loader, which can turn on serial and USB boot options as well.

I gots a lot to read up on, and some of it is Chinese. HA! May take a few months before i get my box to boot, if the chip is still good.

[X92-2GB]

Found my issue, a bad design in both power connector and bridge diode or fuse to power half the board with 5v. I assume the bridge to power CPU / RAM is the issue. When powering up the TosLink LED should stay on, when CPU is active. In my case it would turn off, indicating that CPU was not functioning.

I am now disassembling the unit and correcting the weak power issue. One is the power connector. I will replace, as it is not a good solid connection.

The other is a fuse that will be added to correct the problem with bridge blow out and maintenance.

[X92-2GB]

Just as I thought, I found the issue and have resolved it.took a bit of time, but happy to say all my issues with oddities on reboots after installing apps with Davlik cache forced, may have been to a faulty fuse chip or junction diode to serve as a cheap form of over load protection. Many devices have such a thing. Not to be able to repair, but force you into replacement after time. Being so small they don't take much voltage/current drop and won't pop, just fail.

I decided to just say dam the torpedoes, and jumper the main power to the USB power, and add a front USB connecter to the unused port for a simpler way to plug in with out messing with pulling the HDMI cable out of the backside.

Now I have 3 USB ports and the option to install a 3.3v serial data port later on.

Reflashing stock for now, to burn in once more to verify nothing got hosed from my stormy weather power spike which caused this mess to happen.

One thing that I did not expect is having a bookoo assortment of custom M8S Pro Mini-C firmwares some based on Ugoos and 64 bit Android. Plus the heavy duty power mod to allow 3 amp charging power to USB as a power source replacement.

Will look into a power on off switch to help make flashing simpler from SD Card later on. Still need to make my heat sink mod... now that space is not as abundant, waiting this long for making it saved some frustration, if I had to do all this after the fact.

[X92-2GB]

Had some time to check things out after a flash of stock firmware. Right away the flash was 3x faster than before (2.5 minutes to flash). So who knows, if these boxes are purposely done to limit power? After all they are smaller and compact inside.

seems snappy and solid, have yet to see a reboot from over use with lots of CPU usage in activities.

[X92-2GB]

Found my issue that failed to power on CPU / RAM, was from custom firmwares that failed to install properly. I looked up online and found some info about why developers or manufacturers are giving up on Mini M8S Pro-C, as testers have found issues with reliability and firmware compatibility.

The main issue is cooling, which I found out when taking it apart. Easily fixed by modding.
The other issue is locked boot loader and flash memory allocations for memory, which I found when watching directory tree being written. Some instances killed being able to write soon after failure. It is possible the system design has a slow drain cycle to the cache or RAM, which keeps error condition data locked in memory for some time. Back when I first had bricked the box, I could not clear an error condition until waiting hours to try again. The capacitors are not that big, but if the, flash and memory don't consume much power when off, it would just trickle enough to keep a bad flash from effecting how the box may function. I had to flash 3 times even though the flash completed properly. Funny thing is once it goes from slow about 8 minutes to fast on the next flash about 2.5 minutes, the box becomes usable again.

The best version to flash with is 2.0.8, even though there are many other versions. Problem is not all firmwares work in 2.0.8, so you have a driver or program compatibility that you may find keeping you fighting up hill.

I have seen flashes complete 100% and end up being difficult to re apply without an error.

you can have just about every error condition pop up for no good reason. Then go away by return installing the USB burn tool or just by closing and starting up again. Maybe all the issues are with the program not the box, but so far with all the brick issues, I can't see how a tv box can be totally bricked beyond repair. It's easy to brick, but impossible to kill using USB burn tool or Card burn tool.

[X92-2GB]

So far my 5v mods to correct the weak current capability of the mini box has been strong running. I normally don't do performance tests, as it's only good for sales not real world performance. I used one to test RAM speeds. Seems like this box has a bit of caching going on, as the numbers were high (non cached was tested over 340MB/s) . For RAM over 104MB/s, that's not far from DDR 4 speeds on some boxes. Because this is a mini box, the CPU stages are set to operate cooler by 1Ghz first stage (4 cores) / 1.5Ghz second stage (4 cores). So my theory of higher current failed the 5v junction to feed the RAM and CPU stage where it shares from USB ports. Using a standard box firmware will kill these mini boxes if using demanding apps and games, while using USB ports.

also unless one mods their box, they cannot use the USB ports for high current in / out options, such as drives and shared power.

only issue is how the system does not clear cache as fast when powered off. Seems like a wee battery was installed to keep memory state intact. May have to look deep into adding a resistor to balance load at each power stage. There are 5 on this box. One large one for 5v, and a few 3.3v stages along with 1.2v stages. This way once the board is powered off, all output capacitors will drain stored voltage and allow full reset of the system for proper flashing and power cycles.

Once I am done modding the board, I will try another round of flashing, as I want to run the Russian Ugoos AM3 2.01 v2, ATV firmware for M8S Pro.

[X92-2GB]

Found out I have a USB3 port on this late build box. After this month's factory firmware update the drivers had been updated to allow better performance, and a new feature... USB3. Woot Woot!

Both Ethernet and WiFi are maxing out to download connection speed. I now get 108+ mbps on download speeds.

problem with new firmware is I now have 720p native screen resolution being up scaled to higher resolution set in the display settings. Not good, but I hope to see it corrected soon, but my plan is to run Russian AM3 ATV firmware.

[X92-2GB]

Seems that my box is very stable hardware wise. No issues to complain about, now that I corrected them.

On the other hand... been testing the latest release of 708N0 for the Mini M8S Pro-C.

Unfortunately, the new Firmware is a mess with memory issues. I had to verify there is speed tweaks going on by running a bench mark utility. Talk about tweaking, it gave a score of 45500, when in the past it ran 41258.

There is some improvements, but it is just too unstable to run with need to reboot every so many hours of broken sleep cycle.

Soon I will move on from it, and setup ATV.

[X92-2GB]

Gave it a go with Russian Ugoos AM3 6.0.1 firmware. Easy to set language to UK Eng by looking for the world symbol shortcut.

It is pretty slick, and has file sharing feature, and a nice feel all around, plus it gives me what I always wanted... 6.0.1 for true compatibility with SU root and exposed.

Problem... wife don't care for phone apps on the TV. She don't use the tablet much and just likes the TV apps easy to use with remote features. So, back to square one.

Gives me reason to install the 64 bit 7.1.2 Ugoos firmware, since I am ready to start setting up for use again.

The guinea pig, near meltdown reasently with the first release of 708N0 late last month, made me move with a wee fire under my tail. It was the product of letting the box stay on over night and automatically going to sleep. The sleep mode was broken, and caused some sort of looping back from screen saver to active. The box was as hot as if it played HD movie with decoded audio through he night.

I did not have much installed, just some basic streaming apps and a few solid utilities like Ti Backup, Solid Explorer, and MX Player Pro.

We will see how it goes soon... must make up some time to do the big flash and cross fingers it all works out as expected. Would love to have a solid box, after all the trials I have had, makes solid firmware more important than over all looks and feel with streaming apps.

Kodi left a bad taste in my mouth. Stock firmware burned me, and wife wants Android TV. So, here we go!

[X92-2GB]

Was given he latest test 708N0 firmware for the Mini M8S Pro-C. It is a doozy, in that it looks to be at fully loaded for setting and options like the Ugoos AM3, but without the hardware console, and file sharing server options.

I suggest to go through all the settings you find, there is a vast assortment, even a fully featured developer mode menu.

Decided to test further, as it looks very promising as a keeper, if one does not mind he phone firmware.

[X92-2GB]

Been redoing a few things... mainly because of build.prop issues that have plagued me on cooked and stock firmwares. Slowly sorting out what is good and what is bad. Now that I discovered and removed 4 issues that seem to have been overlooked by everyone, I will be focusing on what entries are just fluff or a hindrance in cirumventing HDMI detection for phone apps no willing to miracast or connect to a TV.

Once I get my box the way i want it, i will start on updating my main page. So much has happened, that my direction has been more testing than building. I definitely learned more than i wanted with 7.1.2 and still not sure which way to go, as the updated stock firmware is as reliable as our best cooked varient. Working on getting the Android TV setup moving along.