Why Is It That This Forum Keeps Recommending The Use of Amlogic's Burning Tool When There's a More Reliable Safe Method?

[xanadu89897]

The More Reliable and Safe Method Is to Use The Amlogic Card Maker Tool
Link: https://www.chinagadgetsreviews.com/download-amlogic-burn_card_maker-v2-0-2.html

Why use the Amlogic Card Maker Instead of the Amlogic Burning Tool?

1. Windows detection of Amlogic's TV boxes is very UNRELIABLE with their Worldcup drivers. Even when installed properly, you have a 50/50 chance of detecting your box even during emergencies when you really need it to save your bricked boxes.
2. You do not have to worry with under-powered USB connections that may ruin your box flashing process. Low quality USB cables, extended USB ports that are placed at the front of your PC's casing, USB hubs instead of direct port connection on motherboards, cables too long in length and accidental moves of tripping on wires.
3. No need to worry of temperature range limit.
4. Fully automated from start to finish and less manual steps involved of having to press Start and Stop during the process of flashing.

The process of flashing your box using the Card Maker tool allowed be to revive my bricked TV boxes 100% without fail as long as you stick with the latest ROM image provided officially by your box's manufacturer. The only difficult part is to prepare your SD/TF card correctly which even a kid can accomplish if guided properly.

What Is Needed?

1. A branded and reliable SD/TF card which is at least Class 10 rated above for good transfer speeds. Preferably more than 4GB in size.
2. A good formatting tool/software from HP, Panasonic or Rufus to format your card.
3. The Amlogic Card Maker tool itself
4. The official ROM image provided by the manufacturer of your TV box. Must be in (.img) format.

Prerequisite/ Preparation Before Inserting Card to Flash

1. Always format your card first with a reliable formatting tool first before using the Amlogic's Card Maker tool's formatting utility. Set the file system to FAT32(important), leave default cluster size as it is, untick all boxes except Quick Format and if given the choice to write to card set it at least 2-3 Pass.
2. Once formatted, unmount your card and mount it back again, this time open up your Amlogic Card Maker tool. NEVER TICK the "To Partition and Format" option. It is known to corrupt your card's partition, so if you ticked it you've to repeat Step 1 again using another formatting utility to reformat your card once again.
3. Finally setup the Amlogic Card maker as shown: Select the correct SD/TF card with the dropdown list, Erase flash as normal mode, Erase bootloader-YES and Reboot (auto reboot your box into Android OS system after flashing completes) and choose the correct ROM image that you want to flash to your box. Finally when everything is correctly done, click MAKE.
4. Wait for the whole process to complete, you computer might look like it is unresponsive(hanged), don't do anything until a "SUCCESS" pop-up window appears. Press OK and then close the app with the X button on the top right. IMMEDIATELY unmount your card and eject it. Don't try accessing it in windows, it's in EXT4 format which is unlikely your Windows can recognize.

Insert your card into your TV box and use a tooth pick to hold on to your reset/recovery button in place. Then power up your device. As soon as you see an Android robot appearing on your TV screen with a progress bar, let go of the tooth pick/pin and leave you box to complete the flashing process. Everything is automated from start till finish, you'll be booted into the Android OS if successful. Unmount your card in a safe manner inside Android and eject it. Now you're back in business.

[xanadu89897]

Links to the recommended card formatting tools:
Rufus USB Formatter - https://rufus.akeo.ie/
HP Disk Format Tool - https://filehippo.com/download_hp_us...e_format_tool/
Panasonic SD Card Format Tool - http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/...oad/index.html

I personally recommend the Rufus USB Formatter, it claims to be twice as competing apps making fast formatting as quick as just a few seconds even for a 8GB card with 2 passes.

[xanadu89897]

Follow the steps EXACTLY as shown in this Youtube video:
It is almost similar with all modern Amlogic boxes where you push and hold the recovery button before the box is turned on with the prepared card already mounted inside your box.

This method has been proven to unbrick boxes which are Hard Bricked to the extend that even your Windows drivers won't be able to recognize your box. It'll load its own recovery.img and flash back your box to life!

[LeMaestro]

Follow the steps EXACTLY as shown in this Youtube video:
It is almost similar with all modern Amlogic boxes where you push and hold the recovery button before the box is turned on with the prepared card already mounted inside your box.

This method has been proven to unbrick boxes which are Hard Bricked to the extend that even your Windows drivers won't be able to recognize your box. It'll load its own recovery.img and flash back your box to life!

This method you are talking about is what bricked my machine and now that it will not even boot into recovery I have to use the Amlogic Burning Tool to try to unbrick my box. Safer method really?

[Shonk]

This method you are talking about is what bricked my machine and now that it will not even boot into recovery I have to use the Amlogic Burning Tool to try to unbrick my box. Safer method really?

yes it is safer i unbricked a fully bricked ddr3 v2.2 that had the lpddr3 bootloader on it with the sdcard tool
the usb method didnt register a thing

[xanadu89897]

This method you are talking about is what bricked my machine and now that it will not even boot into recovery I have to use the Amlogic Burning Tool to try to unbrick my box. Safer method really?

There are 3 MAJOR reasons you could BRICK your device using the Amlogic Card Maker Tool

1) You made a card with some other device's image file which was not intended for your device assuming that they had same hardware/specs.
Many amateurs and newbies have this idea that if a TV box has the same hardware/specs of another brand, their firmwares are cross flashable. NO! This idea is misleading because each manufacturer has different encrypted bootloaders, NAND models/IDs and combination of drivers in them.

2) You somehow corrupted the data in the card you successfully made with the tool by trying to manipulate its content on your OS before flashing your device.
If you have a Linux install, chances are higher that you might access the EXT4 formatted image in your card, most Windows install without proper decryption/archiving tool will not recognize the card's file system after it's been generated by the tool.So my advise is if you have successfully generated the card with the SUCCESS popup, safely UNMOUNT/EJECT the SD card from the reader immediately then place it in your TV box.

3) Your TV box got turned OFF in the middle of the flashing process.
Self explanatory, you just don't pull the cords when the flashing process is undergoing halfway.

My biggest guest is you went with the obvious and did MISTAKE no. 1, attempting to flash another branded box with similar specs image on your own TV box. I am certain you will 100% brick your box immediately despite the process will say flashing failed.

For example: I have a X96 Mini which has exactly the same specs on paper as the Mecool M8S Pro W both having the same Amlogic S905w chipset and same amount of 2Gb RAM.
Attempted to use the Card Maker Tool to generate a card using the Mecool M8s Pro W ATV Stock by Magendanz to flash my X96 Mini. The flashing process was halted halfway and failed. Box immediately bricked with only red light lighted when turned ON.

Next attempt, generated another card using X96 Mini's official manufacturer image file, and reattempt flashing my TV box immediately came back to life.

If your TV box has hard bricked, using the USB Burning Tool will make things more complicated. The extra step is to force your box to get detected by your Windows OS then proceed with flashing.

With the Card Maker Tool, you just need to prepare the SD card, slot into your tv box, open up its casing cover, and try bridge 2 pins of the NAND chip pins with a flat screw driver until the right combination triggering the box to start flashing, and you'll have a revived box! (NOTE: Always USE the CORRECT official manufacturer image file(.img) to generate the SD card intended for your tv box model).

[LeMaestro]

There are 3 MAJOR reasons you could BRICK your device using the Amlogic Card Maker Tool

1) You made a card with some other device's image file which was not intended for your device assuming that they had same hardware/specs.
Many amateurs and newbies have this idea that if a TV box has the same hardware/specs of another brand, their firmwares are cross flashable. NO! This idea is misleading because each manufacturer has different encrypted bootloaders, NAND models/IDs and combination of drivers in them.

2) You somehow corrupted the data in the card you successfully made with the tool by trying to manipulate its content on your OS before flashing your device.
If you have a Linux install, chances are higher that you might access the EXT4 formatted image in your card, most Windows install without proper decryption/archiving tool will not recognize the card's file system after it's been generated by the tool.So my advise is if you have successfully generated the card with the SUCCESS popup, safely UNMOUNT/EJECT the SD card from the reader immediately then place it in your TV box.

3) Your TV box got turned OFF in the middle of the flashing process.
Self explanatory, you just don't pull the cords when the flashing process is undergoing halfway.

My biggest guest is you went with the obvious and did MISTAKE no. 1, attempting to flash another branded box with similar specs image on your own TV box. I am certain you will 100% brick your box immediately despite the process will say flashing failed.

For example: I have a X96 Mini which has exactly the same specs on paper as the Mecool M8S Pro W both having the same Amlogic S905w chipset and same amount of 2Gb RAM.
Attempted to use the Card Maker Tool to generate a card using the Mecool M8s Pro W ATV Stock by Magendanz to flash my X96 Mini. The flashing process was halted halfway and failed. Box immediately bricked with only red light lighted when turned ON.

Next attempt, generated another card using X96 Mini's official manufacturer image file, and reattempt flashing my TV box immediately came back to life.

If your TV box has hard bricked, using the USB Burning Tool will make things more complicated. The extra step is to force your box to get detected by your Windows OS then proceed with flashing.

With the Card Maker Tool, you just need to prepare the SD card, slot into your tv box, open up its casing cover, and try bridge 2 pins of the NAND chip pins with a flat screw driver until the right combination triggering the box to start flashing, and you'll have a revived box! (NOTE: Always USE the CORRECT official manufacturer image file(.img) to generate the SD card intended for your tv box model).

You are right about No: 1, but it was the firmware that was on the seller web page, suppose to be for my machine, that would not make it pass the logo after i tried to install SU.
Took me a week to find the right one after trying multitude of firmware, all suppose to be for my machine.

[X92-2GB]

Spent some time with 7.1.2 custom firmware and found it being a hindrance to my apps, as most are used on kitkat and may need SU from other source than Majisk. One is a great life saver for tv boxes, is a remote control app for android devices. It works well but 7.1.2 seems to give it issues. Majisk just compounds the issue. Plus solid explorer classic does not seem to play well with 7.1.2.

I figure 6.0.1 will be much better, as planned. Oddly the stock 7.1.2 firmware was not so buggy, as it had build in Su.

[Lodk]

Worked like a charm thank you for this post.
I upgraded my t95z plus from 6.0 to 7.1 flawlessly.

[X92-2GB]

For me, USB burning tool works 100% of the time when he device hardware is 100% functioning. I have recovered from many odd bricks using the USB burning tool. The trick is having a small cable, and the power plug source to drive extra current. Many large memory boxes don't have he power capability with out piggy back power to the box.

I have yet to recover from a SD card burn tool, no matter how I format and setup the SD card. In fact I brick more often trying to use the SD Card flash option. Rather just use TWRP and flash from there. Safer and works 100% of the time.

I don't know why this is a sticky, as it is one of the most unreliable methods under most instances.

[Shipwreck]

With the Card Maker Tool, you just need to prepare the SD card, slot into your tv box, open up its casing cover, and try bridge 2 pins of the NAND chip pins with a flat screw driver until the right combination triggering the box to start flashing, and you'll have a revived box! (NOTE: Always USE the CORRECT official manufacturer image file(.img) to generate the SD card intended for your tv box model).

Hey Xanadu, I've been trying to use the BurnCardMaker to make an SD card to recover my M96X Plus box with. I tried with several SD cards and several different img files but for some reason the process would never finish. I kept getting to the point seen in the screen cap attached here and it would just sit there. Then when I would click in the app window I would get the "not responding" message as also seen in the the screen cap. I tried rebooting the box with the pin in the AV port reset method with one of the cards and I did get the green android dude on the screen, but he had a red X on him and nothing happened. Then I tried with an older firmware img file, started the reset and actually saw the "beginning upgrade" come on the screen. But then the screen went blank and I got my TVs message saying "Searching For Signal" and then "No Signal" as if the HDMI cable was unplugged but the blue light on the box is lit... I tried another reset with a recovery.img file to get into TWRP but still get the no signal on the TV as if there's no HDMI plugged in, even though it is. The HDMI cable is good as I tried it on my WDTV Live box and it works fine....
I assume I bricked the box..?? You mention in your post bridging two pins of the nand chip... Would you, or anyone else maybe, be able to let me know which chip and which two pins to bridge by the photo of the board I attached here?
Much appreciation for anyone that can help.

[LeMaestro]

Hey Xanadu, I've been trying to use the BurnCardMaker to make an SD card to recover my M96X Plus box with. I tried with several SD cards and several different img files but for some reason the process would never finish. I kept getting to the point seen in the screen cap attached here and it would just sit there. Then when I would click in the app window I would get the "not responding" message as also seen in the the screen cap. I tried rebooting the box with the pin in the AV port reset method with one of the cards and I did get the green android dude on the screen, but he had a red X on him and nothing happened. Then I tried with an older firmware img file, started the reset and actually saw the "beginning upgrade" come on the screen. But then the screen went blank and I got my TVs message saying "Searching For Signal" and then "No Signal" as if the HDMI cable was unplugged but the blue light on the box is lit... I tried another reset with a recovery.img file to get into TWRP but still get the no signal on the TV as if there's no HDMI plugged in, even though it is. The HDMI cable is good as I tried it on my WDTV Live box and it works fine....
I assume I bricked the box..?? You mention in your post bridging two pins of the nand chip... Would you, or anyone else maybe, be able to let me know which chip and which two pins to bridge by the photo of the board I attached here?
Much appreciation for anyone that can help.

Has he said you have to be sure that you have the right Rom file for your box, and with BurnCardMaker you have no way of knowing.
With USB burning tool, you will know it right away, has it will not burn the Rom to the machine and will give you an error has you reach 2% burning.
Screw up my box pretty bad with BurnCardMaker, has it wrote the whole Rom to my machine, and the machine would not boot anymore.
P.S. The Rom I had was supposed to be the right one, since it came from the seller on his support section.
Took me a week to find the right one. Has for the 2 pins method it is a lot trial an error, you have to tried every pins, 2 by 2, they will be one beside the other.
I connected the box to the computer with a male to male USB cable, after installing USB Burning tool and the USB drivers.
Loaded the rom into USB Burning tool, started burning, at first nothing happened but has soon that I found the right pins, USB Burning tool saw the usb connection and started to upload the rom.
Here 2 You tubes link to show you how to use USB Burning tool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsyS3p5asZs
(This one should interest you Shipwreck)
Also I circled what I think is Your Nand chip on you board but only about 75% sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7jVl_JnK1I

Hope this will help you to fix your box.

[bajann]

....

[Shipwreck]

Has he said you have to be sure that you have the right Rom file for your box, and with BurnCardMaker you have no way of knowing.

Thanks LeMaestro. Well... Here's the deal.... The first two img files I used I know were for my box as they came from a guy who owns the same box, one was the 2018.04.04 version and the other the 2018.06.22 version. However, the img I used when I received the "no signal" on my TV was a 2018.01.03 version I downloaded from here in an M96X Plus firmware thread. The 2018.04.04 version was the one I used when I got the green android guy with the red X on him. The SD BurnCardMaker I am using is the version from Ricky Divjakovski's open source AMLogic Tools 5.0.9. The reason I am using that instead of the USB Burning Tool is because I don't have a male to male USB cable at the moment.
I'm thinking that the reason I got the green android guy with the red X is because the SD card maker didn't finish copying the img file.... But as I mentioned, I have tried several times and the BurnCardMaker never finishes. I'm probably going to end up picking up a male to male USB cable in the next couple of days, but in the mean time, if anyone can help with this issue regarding the pins to cross and the BurnCardMaker not completing it would be very helpful.

[LeMaestro]

Thanks LeMaestro. Well... Here's the deal.... The first two img files I used I know were for my box as they came from a guy who owns the same box, one was the 2018.04.04 version and the other the 2018.06.22 version. However, the img I used when I received the "no signal" on my TV was a 2018.01.03 version I downloaded from here in an M96X Plus firmware thread. The 2018.04.04 version was the one I used when I got the green android guy with the red X on him. The SD BurnCardMaker I am using is the version from Ricky Divjakovski's open source AMLogic Tools 5.0.9. The reason I am using that instead of the USB Burning Tool is because I don't have a male to male USB cable at the moment.
I'm thinking that the reason I got the green android guy with the red X is because the SD card maker didn't finish copying the img file.... But as I mentioned, I have tried several times and the BurnCardMaker never finishes. I'm probably going to end up picking up a male to male USB cable in the next couple of days, but in the mean time, if anyone can help with this issue regarding the pins to cross and the BurnCardMaker not completing it would be very helpful.

Take a look at the first video I posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsyS3p5asZs has the motherboard the guy is fixing look pretty similar to yours, if so the Nand ship and the pin to cross should be at the same place. If you can find the 2 pins to short, Ricky's tool should work.
Has for the Rom, Even if it came from a box similar to yours it does not mean it will work on yours.
My box is a T95Zplus, but all the different Roms for that Box failed because there is so many revision of that board that you need the exact right one.
Ricky made a universal Rom that is suppose to work with all revision of the box but even then, sometimes, some peoples have problems burning it.

Good Luck.