I own two MK808 devices.
I bought the first specifically to try and turn it into a small email relay but when I first got it I had a play on the TV with it , thought it would be better than the woeful "Smart TV" software on my Samsung TV so I ordered another (actually made the mistake of getting a MK808B in between but that went to a new home via ****).
So at the same time as getting the email server MK808 working I was also experimenting with the other for the TV.
The more involved with both I became the more resentful I became of Rockchip. IMHO the stock firmware that comes with the MK808 (and I'm sure other RK3xxx models) is pretty poor. Yes you can install one of the tireless Finless Bob's Firmwares and things do improve but it's still very sketchy in some departments.
I was inspired to write this as there were a couple of posts on threads over on the MK809 forum which got me thinking but it seemed off topic to reply. In one a user attacked the reseller geekbuying for the poor quality of the MK809 firmware. In another Finless Bob had a (justified) pop at Rockchip for not honouring the GPL and releasing source.
The reseller was defended. Not his fault came the cry.
Which is when I realised
We are all at fault. We are all to blame.
If we keep on buying these Rockchip TV Sticks , which barely work out of the box, from a company that blatantly refuses to release the source then why should we expect them to change.
I don't know but strongly suspect that most of the factories which are producing the sticks are not at a high enough tier of relationship with Rockchip to have access to the source themselves.
The roms which are being released are hacked together by the factories based on whatever is drip fed to them by Rockchip. (IMO)
The resellers can't be blameless. The advertised specs /features seem to accepted as lies. One comment was that the reseller takes preorders based on the specs sent to him by the factory so it's not their fault if what arrives is below expectation. Well they could always send them back to the factory and refund the preorders but no they just ship them with broken firmwares and missing some of the advertised features.
Even the enthusiast custom rom developers shoulder some blame for the situation because what need have Rockchip or the factories got to release a working product when they know that unpaid enthusiast rom cooks will fix their broken products for them. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but first take a second and think about what I mean. I've nothing but respect for Bob , Omegamoon , AndrewDB, alok etc. Without their work I doubt I would ever have got the email server working (now running Debian Wheezy on internal NAND with OpenSmtpd) and I use Finless 1.7c on the other one.
When I say 'blame' I'm not saying 'You shouldn't be doing this. Shouldn't be doing that'. Everyone is of course entitled to do whatever they want. I'm just commentting on the overall situation.
But if we want open devices that work then maybe we have to buy open devices that work. Or devices that are at least as open as they can be. Emailing Rockchip , as I've often seen suggested, is IMO futile.
I had been intending to get a RK3188 at some point once things had settled down a bit, but have now decided I can't, I will not, support Rockchip anymore. I've ordered an Odroid U2 which seems a lot more open and supported by the manufacturer. I'll replace the email server with this and then may replace the tv stick with one as well after seeing how it all goes. More expensive but there you go.
I bought the first specifically to try and turn it into a small email relay but when I first got it I had a play on the TV with it , thought it would be better than the woeful "Smart TV" software on my Samsung TV so I ordered another (actually made the mistake of getting a MK808B in between but that went to a new home via ****).
So at the same time as getting the email server MK808 working I was also experimenting with the other for the TV.
The more involved with both I became the more resentful I became of Rockchip. IMHO the stock firmware that comes with the MK808 (and I'm sure other RK3xxx models) is pretty poor. Yes you can install one of the tireless Finless Bob's Firmwares and things do improve but it's still very sketchy in some departments.
I was inspired to write this as there were a couple of posts on threads over on the MK809 forum which got me thinking but it seemed off topic to reply. In one a user attacked the reseller geekbuying for the poor quality of the MK809 firmware. In another Finless Bob had a (justified) pop at Rockchip for not honouring the GPL and releasing source.
The reseller was defended. Not his fault came the cry.
Which is when I realised
We are all at fault. We are all to blame.
If we keep on buying these Rockchip TV Sticks , which barely work out of the box, from a company that blatantly refuses to release the source then why should we expect them to change.
I don't know but strongly suspect that most of the factories which are producing the sticks are not at a high enough tier of relationship with Rockchip to have access to the source themselves.
The roms which are being released are hacked together by the factories based on whatever is drip fed to them by Rockchip. (IMO)
The resellers can't be blameless. The advertised specs /features seem to accepted as lies. One comment was that the reseller takes preorders based on the specs sent to him by the factory so it's not their fault if what arrives is below expectation. Well they could always send them back to the factory and refund the preorders but no they just ship them with broken firmwares and missing some of the advertised features.
Even the enthusiast custom rom developers shoulder some blame for the situation because what need have Rockchip or the factories got to release a working product when they know that unpaid enthusiast rom cooks will fix their broken products for them. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but first take a second and think about what I mean. I've nothing but respect for Bob , Omegamoon , AndrewDB, alok etc. Without their work I doubt I would ever have got the email server working (now running Debian Wheezy on internal NAND with OpenSmtpd) and I use Finless 1.7c on the other one.
When I say 'blame' I'm not saying 'You shouldn't be doing this. Shouldn't be doing that'. Everyone is of course entitled to do whatever they want. I'm just commentting on the overall situation.
But if we want open devices that work then maybe we have to buy open devices that work. Or devices that are at least as open as they can be. Emailing Rockchip , as I've often seen suggested, is IMO futile.
I had been intending to get a RK3188 at some point once things had settled down a bit, but have now decided I can't, I will not, support Rockchip anymore. I've ordered an Odroid U2 which seems a lot more open and supported by the manufacturer. I'll replace the email server with this and then may replace the tv stick with one as well after seeing how it all goes. More expensive but there you go.
I love tinkering. Its how I spend most of my spare time.
) It's sold as a 'Development board'.
.gif "Peace Man"){kind=icon}
.gif "HELL YEA!!")
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