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

[forart.eu]

What Is Needed?

1. A branded and reliable SD/TF card which is at least Class 10 rated above[/B] 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.

Well, that's the problem: many of us - including me - can't find and/or don't want (often outdated and, anyway, insecure since sources are not available) stock firmware on their devices anymore.

I dream to treat those devices as customizable smartphones.

[Quinte]

I bricked my x96 mini flashing an atv experience rom. But the unzipped .rar file for SD card flashing provided by the company says mxq-4. It doesn't work via SD card and I get the parse burning image fail error with the UBB burning tool. Is it probable then that it's the wrong image file? And if a company supplies you with a .zip or .rar file containing a .img file for burning to SD or an img file for the Amlogic tool, are the actual img files identical? Thanks.

[soldiaz]

Is there any way to generate a bootable (and just temporarily bootable) rom-Sd-card so that it is possible to test roms before install?

e.g.: TWRP vitmod can be launched out of stock recovery.....

[LeMaestro]

Thanks again LeMaestro. Checked out that video and a couple others as well. I've tried pin crossing three times now but don't seem to be getting anywhere..... A couple of times when I crossed two pins the blue light would go out but that's it... I have a couple of questions on this....

1) Do I need to unplug the box, cross the pins and plug the box back in then unplug again, cross next two pins plug back in, or do I just leave it plugged in the entire time and cross the pins until I find the right ones?

2) Do I need to be holding in the reset button while I am crossing pins or no?

None of the videos I watched was very clear about these things...

Thanks in advance and sorry to be a pest LOL.

No problem I worked very hard to get my box back, and I was a pest to while searching for the right Rom.
If the light go out crossing some of the pins, then unplug the power cord wait about 5 to 10 seconds and plug it back in. and do not try those pins again.
If nothing happens then go to next pin until it work (hopefully).
Make sure you cross only 2 pins at the time and for that use a very thin tool to do it.
Now maybe this will work only with USB Burning tools, even if I know some guy got it working with Amlogic Card Maker.
One more very important thing, you need to be plugged in the USB port on your board that is labeled "OTG USB".
This is port No. 1 and is the only one that will work for burning the rom.
If you find the right pins, the box should start and display a message that it is upgrading, just wait until it reboot.

Again Good Luck.

[Shipwreck]

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.

Thanks again LeMaestro. Checked out that video and a couple others as well. I've tried pin crossing three times now but don't seem to be getting anywhere..... A couple of times when I crossed two pins the blue light would go out but that's it... I have a couple of questions on this....

1) Do I need to unplug the box, cross the pins and plug the box back in then unplug again, cross next two pins plug back in, or do I just leave it plugged in the entire time and cross the pins until I find the right ones?

2) Do I need to be holding in the reset button while I am crossing pins or no?

None of the videos I watched was very clear about these things...

Thanks in advance and sorry to be a pest LOL.

[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.

[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.

[bajann]

....

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Lodk]

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

[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.

[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.

[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).