So, here's my deal. I'm not super tech savvy since I'm a little more old school, and have basically learned as I needed through the years, which isn't that much since I have simple needs such as browse internet, e-mail, light social media, watch TV and movies, masturbate, and occasionally write something or create a spread sheet. I like to think I'm smarter than your average bear though, and didn't think I was that computer illiterate until it took me longer than I care to admit to search this website and figure out how to create this post to begin with. I came here because in my light internet search for knowledge this seemed to be the place where people know, and probably certainly know more than me, so for the purposes of this conversation why don't we just go ahead and assume I'm an idiot!
I've always been a PC guy, but really only because it was what I already knew, and I didn't see the advantage to the extra cost of Apple. Again, my computative needs have always been pretty simple, and all the unnecessary bells and whistles only seem to complicate things, and I prefer things clean and simple and matched to my actual use as opposed to what makes someone else money. My machine, my rules! I'm not a gamer, I'm not doing anything that requires a lot, but I want it to do what I want well enough and without issue, and if it's my machine it should do what I want instead of performing poorly due to the fact that it's busy doing things I never asked it to do! PC or not, I've had my misgivings with windows over the years stemming from my first real personal computer experience unless you count junior high computer class, playing The Oregon Trail in the computer lab, and our first family computer which was also back in the stone age, which was a lab top that was constantly infected, and at least every couple months I had to wipe the drive and start all over again, and that was '02 maybe. I've gone Linux with Ubuntu at times to avoid these issues, but in general, I don't do a lot, need a lot, and anything of importance I back up by e-mailing it to my self in case I need to wipe it all away and start again. I got my first pager in the 90s just because work demanded it, I got my first cell phone in 2000, and am only on my second smart phone over the last handful of years because I realized at one point that for work purposes I looked like an idiot for being the guy that couldn't get e-mails. So, a lot passed me by, but I'm quick on the up keep when I need to be, and can think mechanically. Just giving you an idea of where I'm coming from.
Sorry for the long intro tirade. Here's my point. I've been using Kodi for the last few years and have been very happy with it. I love that there's a community surrounding it and that the internet is littered with advice, forums like this, tutorials, and instructions for when I have issues. I maybe a bit of a noob, but I enjoy understanding what's going on and learning, but usually it's limited to finding a solution to my problem, and sometimes just following instructions with out understanding. So, I am limited. I've been using an Android TV Box, which I know is kind of a meaningless term. I've had it since the beginning when it was all new and I was oh so clueless, and bought it off e bay. I have no idea who manufactured it or where. From what device info I've found it's an rk31sdk model with an rk30 board. (I also have an Amazon Fire Box I bought at the time for a second TV, and only got it specifically because grandma keeps giving me Best Buy gift cards even though I haven't really shopped there since the 90's, and I knew I could figure out how to side load Kodi onto it. It's not being used right now, and was really for my roommates use in the living room, so I haven't used that box much. Also had bought an MxQ box as a gift since "boxes" had gotten so much cheaper since I got mine and XBMC became Kodi and gotten so much more popular. It should've had the same hardware capabilities as mine, but... It came with Kodi preloaded, but sucked, and I had to wipe Kodi and reset it up myself, so I can do some things!) My issue is my Android Box is running 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and I can't upgrade the Android ROM or Kodi as a result. My internet sleuthing has just created more questions, and it's not always easy to narrow down specific answers.
So here are some of my questions. I've read that the box is just too old, and I need a new one, but if the hardware is still functioning is it really useless? It's basically just a CPU and drive space right? Is it not adequate to handle new firmware/software? How do I get said new firmware/software? I've read it can only be done through rooting the device. That interests me because I played around with the idea of doing it to my phone before, but was afraid it might be over my head and end up causing more damage. I do like the idea that since the device is solely dedicated to using Kodi I could clean out anything beyond necessary functions, and figure out how to partition more RAM for Kodi use, and would like the ability to do that to any of my devices. Is it doable and how? Is it really necessary to root the device in order to load a new ROM at all? If not, how do I do that. Is it necessary to just update Android? Are there other ROMs more suited to my purpose? How do I find stuff specific to what ever my device is? Should I not be so stubborn and just bite the bullet and just get something new. Am I better off just using FTMC or some other fork? How long will that last? Will it only by me time until I'm back here with the same problem?
What I have going for me is that if the device is going to be useless without doing anything eventually, there's not that much danger in trying and messing it up, and I'm not worried about backing anything up, etc. since it's sole purpose is to function properly and run Kodi! Apologies! I know that was a lot. I need to keep plugging away and doing my homework, but any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated. If you were also to have detailed step by step instructions as well, well that would be just awesome! Thanks
I've always been a PC guy, but really only because it was what I already knew, and I didn't see the advantage to the extra cost of Apple. Again, my computative needs have always been pretty simple, and all the unnecessary bells and whistles only seem to complicate things, and I prefer things clean and simple and matched to my actual use as opposed to what makes someone else money. My machine, my rules! I'm not a gamer, I'm not doing anything that requires a lot, but I want it to do what I want well enough and without issue, and if it's my machine it should do what I want instead of performing poorly due to the fact that it's busy doing things I never asked it to do! PC or not, I've had my misgivings with windows over the years stemming from my first real personal computer experience unless you count junior high computer class, playing The Oregon Trail in the computer lab, and our first family computer which was also back in the stone age, which was a lab top that was constantly infected, and at least every couple months I had to wipe the drive and start all over again, and that was '02 maybe. I've gone Linux with Ubuntu at times to avoid these issues, but in general, I don't do a lot, need a lot, and anything of importance I back up by e-mailing it to my self in case I need to wipe it all away and start again. I got my first pager in the 90s just because work demanded it, I got my first cell phone in 2000, and am only on my second smart phone over the last handful of years because I realized at one point that for work purposes I looked like an idiot for being the guy that couldn't get e-mails. So, a lot passed me by, but I'm quick on the up keep when I need to be, and can think mechanically. Just giving you an idea of where I'm coming from.
Sorry for the long intro tirade. Here's my point. I've been using Kodi for the last few years and have been very happy with it. I love that there's a community surrounding it and that the internet is littered with advice, forums like this, tutorials, and instructions for when I have issues. I maybe a bit of a noob, but I enjoy understanding what's going on and learning, but usually it's limited to finding a solution to my problem, and sometimes just following instructions with out understanding. So, I am limited. I've been using an Android TV Box, which I know is kind of a meaningless term. I've had it since the beginning when it was all new and I was oh so clueless, and bought it off e bay. I have no idea who manufactured it or where. From what device info I've found it's an rk31sdk model with an rk30 board. (I also have an Amazon Fire Box I bought at the time for a second TV, and only got it specifically because grandma keeps giving me Best Buy gift cards even though I haven't really shopped there since the 90's, and I knew I could figure out how to side load Kodi onto it. It's not being used right now, and was really for my roommates use in the living room, so I haven't used that box much. Also had bought an MxQ box as a gift since "boxes" had gotten so much cheaper since I got mine and XBMC became Kodi and gotten so much more popular. It should've had the same hardware capabilities as mine, but... It came with Kodi preloaded, but sucked, and I had to wipe Kodi and reset it up myself, so I can do some things!) My issue is my Android Box is running 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and I can't upgrade the Android ROM or Kodi as a result. My internet sleuthing has just created more questions, and it's not always easy to narrow down specific answers.
So here are some of my questions. I've read that the box is just too old, and I need a new one, but if the hardware is still functioning is it really useless? It's basically just a CPU and drive space right? Is it not adequate to handle new firmware/software? How do I get said new firmware/software? I've read it can only be done through rooting the device. That interests me because I played around with the idea of doing it to my phone before, but was afraid it might be over my head and end up causing more damage. I do like the idea that since the device is solely dedicated to using Kodi I could clean out anything beyond necessary functions, and figure out how to partition more RAM for Kodi use, and would like the ability to do that to any of my devices. Is it doable and how? Is it really necessary to root the device in order to load a new ROM at all? If not, how do I do that. Is it necessary to just update Android? Are there other ROMs more suited to my purpose? How do I find stuff specific to what ever my device is? Should I not be so stubborn and just bite the bullet and just get something new. Am I better off just using FTMC or some other fork? How long will that last? Will it only by me time until I'm back here with the same problem?
What I have going for me is that if the device is going to be useless without doing anything eventually, there's not that much danger in trying and messing it up, and I'm not worried about backing anything up, etc. since it's sole purpose is to function properly and run Kodi! Apologies! I know that was a lot. I need to keep plugging away and doing my homework, but any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated. If you were also to have detailed step by step instructions as well, well that would be just awesome! Thanks
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