MK918 2G/8G TVBOX RK3188-T

[gor]

Another link ...
FW update dated 03/17/2014...
terrible speed...

http://pan.baidu.com/wap/link?uk=1258340176&shareid=870664654&third=0

[ollie26]

I don't know if it's true 1080p or not. But I streamed 1080p movies from Mashup, Yify HD, Icefilms,and MuchMovies HD. The info on the stock player on Beyond XBMC is saying the video is 1080p. So you're saying the movie is 1080p but it's playing in 720p resolution ?! I don't know if the player is reading it right or wrong if it's 720p or 1080p. I will try other players like the XAF XBMC /w MX player to compare the performance.

But anyway, 1080p kernel or not I still like the performance on my stock FW and kernel on Beyond XBMC. "Nuff said.

Go to system setyings video. Your xbmc resolution will be there, which is 720p. So all 1080p content be 720p (upscaled) Beyond xbmc does run well. Enabling minimum spec in skin options will give a slight boost

[gor]

Anybody downloaded last fw...

[chrisontab]

Go to system setyings video. Your xbmc resolution will be there, which is 720p. So all 1080p content be 720p (upscaled) Beyond xbmc does run well. Enabling minimum spec in skin options will give a slight boost

Hi Ollie and chaozmatic,

playback and picture are great on the stock rom with beyond XBMC. 1080p video plays nicely, BUT even if XBMC thinks its playing at full HD, the android box is fixed at 720. Your 1080 video gets scaled down and output at 720 through the HDMI cable.

My TV confirms its a 720 source and in the android settings the video options for output are for 720 60Hz or 720 50Hz.

FWIW, if found the 60Hz is best, even though in the UK i am used to TVs normally running at 50.

cheers
chris

[chrisontab]

Anybody downloaded last fw...

sorry gor, not yet. still on 203

[gor]

sorry gor, not yet. still on 203

What I'm bothering at all ...

[Sharkey191]

MK918 which ROM to use?

Hi

I purchased one of these Quad core boxes a couple of weeks ago and the supplier assured me it was a CS918. So i have spent the last week going through that forum section and downloading several firmwares and was just deciding which one to use. But before flashing i decided to make sure and opened the box and to my surprise i didn't have a CS918 but an MK918. I wasn't that bothered at first until i checked this section and realized that there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a custom ROM for this model :-(.

I have confirmed that the box is already rooted with root checker and installed busy box and super su etc.

I am happy with the firmware that is on there at the moment (203j), video playback is fine and even playback from my HDD of 720p and 1080p files is fine with both XBMC 13.0 and Beyond XBMC 3.3. My only problem is the sound, the lack of 5.1 of either DTS, DD or AC3 through SPDIF is the main reason for flashing a custom ROM. I hvae looked at the system info in XBMC tho and it seems i am only getting 1280x 672p at 35-37fps, I have changed this with the am display-size 1080x1920 command but it is still only showing 35-37fps.

So i have several questions that if someone could answer would be great.
1.Is there a stable ROM for this device that will give me 5.1 sound?
2. Is there a ROM , kernal combo for another device that is stable on this device and will sort the sound and lack of FPS i have, I have read through the rest of this post but i'm still a bit lost.
3 What is SBMC or SPMC does this sort the sound without me flashing a new ROM?
4.Will there be any custom roms for this device?

Thanks

[chrisontab]

HI Sharkey, welcome to the thread!

I have looked at the system info in XBMC tho and it seems i am only getting 1280x 672p at 35-37fps, I have changed this with the am display-size 1080x1920 command but it is still only showing 35-37fps.

I think the Kernel for the stock rom is fixed to output 720p, you can check this by going to the ANDROID settings app (not in xbmc) and seeing what options it gives you under video/hdmi. As I understand it, if you have an app generating 1080p it will be scaled down to 720 before being transmitted through the HDMI cable. The only way round this would be to have a 1080 kernel made. I found 720 60Hz gives the smoothest playback.

You said 672p is what XBMC sees, do you have the Android status bar showing? I use an app called "Full Screen" which permanently hides it. Set it to run at boot and then XBMC will report 720p.

So i have several questions that if someone could answer would be great.
1.Is there a stable ROM for this device that will give me 5.1 sound?
2. Is there a ROM , kernal combo for another device that is stable on this device and will sort the sound and lack of FPS i have, I have read through the rest of this post but i'm still a bit lost.

I am only using stereo sound through the HDMI and the analogue jack on box, so cannot comment on this one. I would suggest going to the Android settings again and trying a few of the audio output options there - multiple options, changing them might help.

3 What is SBMC or SPMC does this sort the sound without me flashing a new ROM?

I found the SPMC to be ok for some video files, but awful for others (even SD). Beyond XBMC was the best that I found. Now that XBMC 13 Gotham is on beta, that might be ok, but when i tried the nightlies they were crap, many not running at all. Not all the add-ons are compatible with Gotham, either so thats worth thinking about. iPlayer, ITV and 5onDemand all work nicely in Beyond XBMC.

4.Will there be any custom roms for this device?

Gor asked nicely for a Finless ROM earlier in this thread. We might see one, particularly now that the kernel source API has been released for this chipset. Its beyond our abilities, so we have to hope that lots more people buy this box and someone steps up to the challenge.

In the meantime, you have a newer stock ROM to install (see Gor's post above) and I recommend using some kind of download manager in case the download is interrupted.

[Sharkey191]

Hi Chris

Thanks for the reply.

I had tried all settings in both audio and video with no joy. I still only get stereo output through my amp. There is no problem with the amp as i get 5.1 from my ps3/4 and a £30 media player. So i think i will have to either try the latest update (which i downloaded last night) or wait for Finless to complete a custom ROM.

It's a bit of a lottery i think when buying these boxes. I ordered mine and 2 mates also ordered one each on **** from the same supplier and we have all had different models. One had a CS918 and the other thinks he has a Q7. I did try to get the one with the CS918 to swap but he wouldn't budge .

But at least now Finless is looking at working on a ROM for these boxes, then hopefully my box will be perfect.

Cheers

[chaozmatic]

XBMC resolution

Hi Ollie and chaozmatic,

playback and picture are great on the stock rom with beyond XBMC. 1080p video plays nicely, BUT even if XBMC thinks its playing at full HD, the android box is fixed at 720. Your 1080 video gets scaled down and output at 720 through the HDMI cable.

My TV confirms its a 720 source and in the android settings the video options for output are for 720 60Hz or 720 50Hz.

FWIW, if found the 60Hz is best, even though in the UK i am used to TVs normally running at 50.

cheers
chris

Thanks guys for the info (ollie and chrisontab). I forgot to tell you that I changed the resolution from via terminal to 1280x1080 that Cat posted on this thread. But unfortunately the resolution in XBMC only shows 1032x1920 because of the task bar. I'm still using the stock rom and doesn't hide the taskbar when you open an app especially xbmc. Chrisontab, you said you have an app that hides the taskbar ? Can you please tell me what it is ? Is it an addon within xbmc or an app from playstore?!

Here's the command for changing your resolution. Download terminal emulator to do this command

su
am display-size 1080x1920


(to reset - "am display-size reset")

Thanks to Cat for giving this tip

[chaozmatic]

Thanks guys for the info (ollie and chrisontab). I forgot to tell you that I changed the resolution from via terminal to 1280x1080 that Cat posted on this thread. But unfortunately the resolution in XBMC only shows 1032x1920 because of the task bar. I'm still using the stock rom and doesn't hide the taskbar when you open an app especially xbmc. Chrisontab, you said you have an app that hides the taskbar ? Can you please tell me what it is ? Is it an addon within xbmc or an app from playstore?!

Here's the command for changing your resolution. Download terminal emulator to do this command

su
am display-size 1080x1920


(to reset - "am display-size reset")

Thanks to Cat for giving this tip

The fullscreen app works Chris. My resolution is 1080x1920 on xbmc. Now that the system bar is hidden I can watch hd videos in full resolution even though its upscaled or downscaled. Thanks again chris 

[gor]

Gor asked nicely for a Finless ROM earlier in this thread. We might see one, particularly now that the kernel source API has been released for this chipset. Its beyond our abilities, so we have to hope that lots more people buy this box and someone steps up to the challenge.

In the meantime, you have a newer stock ROM to install (see Gor's post above) and I recommend using some kind of download manager in case the download is interrupted.

Stock Updates are very often ... every one of them ... and I've tried them... all has brought some improvement ... last update brings Beyond XBMC 3.3 as part of the rom ... certain things as a pointer are just little things that do not reduce quality of the rom ...
Yet there is much room for improvement of speed, appearance (including the already mentioned pointer) and the other, which can make a custom rom ...

[ahlmann78]

spdif passthrough

Hi, i got passthrough working by replacing libmedia.so with a patched one, works flawless with dts and dd on my Logitech z5500. Stock 204j firmware and justxbmc.apk. also works with beyond xbmc, but I like justxbmc more :-)

[panaphobic]

root

How do you root the RK3188 MK918? I can't seem to get it into recovery mode or use the root tool I found online for the RK3188 devices. Anyone know how to do it?

I am using this through the AV out setting cuz the HDMI won't connect to my monitor (it did once or twice but it doesn't anymore for some reason regardless of what settings I have it on). Trying to put it in recovery mode with the button on the bottom doesn't show anything on the screen and connecting it to my computer (windows 8.1) has no ends of problems and can't install any drivers for it. Any help would be great!

[Sharkey191]

Hi, i got passthrough working by replacing libmedia.so with a patched one, works flawless with dts and dd on my Logitech z5500. Stock 204j firmware and justxbmc.apk. also works with beyond xbmc, but I like justxbmc more :-)

Hi

Where do I get the patched libmedia.so?

Thanks