BUYEE MXIII

[waslin]

Hello everyone,
Originally, I posted this message on the general Android Forum and someone suggested I post it here.

"Hi,
I'm new to the site, and to android tv, and I have a few questions that maybe someone is kind enough to answer. I bought an android box about a week ago and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with this whole android tv box. The system I bought can be seen at this link:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B015...ilpage_o00_s00

Generally, it seems to work as advertised. I have Kodi set-up and working and the box works similar to my android phone. However, I bought the system with the intent of running it on my old SDTV funtil we upgrade it to a HDTV in about a year. So, I had to pick a unit that offers AVout to composite. The problem is that I plug it into the TV and I get a B/W signal that scrolls. It seems to be a interlace/Progressive scan issue. I'm not completely sure. I connected it to the HDTV it worked fine through the HDMI and also through the AVout. It selected 576i CVBS as the resolution. However, the downstairs SDTV (an old JVC) only gives me the B/W with scrolling. I decided to see if I could update the firmware to overcome the problem but I'm lost on which forum relates to my system. It seems to be the wild west out there with all the third party mods and such. So, here are my two questions:

1. Can someone please tell me which forum relates to my particular version of the MXiii? or direct me to a tool that will run on my system and give me the specifics to determine it

2. Does anyone have an idea of how I can overcome my issue with the AVOUT.

Thank You

P.S. - Glad to be part of the community and many thanks to the site owner and moderators for giving us such a rich environment to discuss this android movement.

Wes "

[Lurker]

I have a genuine Beelink MXIII M82 and the AV output works very well. I use it on an old JVC CRT TV and have been very impressed with the picture quality. I have another android TV box, however, which does not work very well on the same TV - the picture appears wavy on the top left side of the screen. I think that both the 480 and 576 CVBS AV outputs work well on the MXIII as I have a multisystem PAL/NTSC TV so I did test them both when I was setting it up. On low resolution media, the picture quality looks better than it does on my LCD HDTV!

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_109954.html

If you are running Android 4.4.2, what appears in the Settings > Other menu. Model number: XXX Android version: XXX Build number: XXX Kernel version: XXX. This information should help you to identify the manufacturer. This is what a genuine machine looks like (scroll down to Settings > Other screenshot).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/andr...eview-t3160863

If you can't find a working firmware you might be able to use an HDMI to AV converter (~$6) to get a suitable signal but I'm not sure whether the picture will be 16:9 or 4:3. I believe they do work with the Roku 3. You will also need a cheap USB cell phone adapter to power the unit.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/RV77-...rchweb201560_9

[waslin]

Lurker,
Thanks for taking the time to post.

The information in the settings>Other Menu:

Model Number: MXIII
Android Version: 4.4.2
Build Number: MXIII.V2.0.201510130901
Kernel Version: 3.10.33 Ubuntu@google-server#1 mon oct 12 17:22:46 cst 2015:46

The build number looks much, much different. Everything else looks the same except the Model Number, which I think is the updated version with the faster processor.

Does this give you an idea of what I have in the box?

Thanks again.

[Lurker]

@waslin: This does not appear to be genuine to me - the Beelink machines usually have Oman@ubuntu#1 and I think the Build number should be something like 115k4. The firmware might be difficult to upgrade on this box but somebody else may be able to advise you better. It appears that virtually every MXIII type machine that is bought on **** or Aliexpress is not genuine and this may cause problems later if there are firmware issues like you are experiencing.

[waslin]

Lurker,
Thanks for your input.

The box is supposed to have 8GB of storage and it looks like it has only 5.5 GB. I'm pretty sure you're right about it being not genuine. Normally, I do my do diligence, but my WDTV went down and we needed a solution for Netflix. I decided to take a risk on this box. I'm starting to regret it now.

Thanks again.

[Lurker]

Don't worry too much - there are more copies of these TV boxes than original devices!

Android takes up quite a bit of the internal storage so 5.5GB sounds about right. Are you happy with the Netflix performance? Do you find that Rii mini keyboard easy to use? I also have something similar but found that an airmouse is much easier to use.

Take a look in this thread to see the differences (motherboard pics) between a genuine MXIII and one of the many copies.
http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...-openelec-help

The heatsinks are usually much smaller (SoC gets hotter), in many cases there are fewer if any surge protection components (see the Gearbest MXIII-G ad for details about protective circle and HDMI ESD protection etc.).

Is that a genuine Rii keyboard or also a copy? If you can move the RF receiver to the USB port on a PC you can try to see if Usbdeview gives any more information.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

Take screenshots of Properties (using Windows-PrtSc) of any Rii devices as shown below.

[Lurker]

Here are some pics of a genuine Rii mini i8+ wireless keyboard ...

http://www.riitek.com/goods/detail/62.htm

[waslin]

Lurker,
thanks for all the effort.

The keyboard looks right and works flawlessly. However, I'm starting to get some weird behavior from the box when connected to my LCD through the HDMI port. I saw enough and filled out a return to Amazon Canada. I'll ship it back in the morning.

Can you recommend a source for a legit box?

Thanks again

Wes

[Lurker]

@waslin: The most reliable sources for these boxes are Gearbest and Geekbuying. They only sell the top tier products, not the cheaper copies. I would suggest that you look at either the MXIII-G or the Tronsmart MXIII Plus. They appear to use the same Netxeon circuitboard. I would also rather go for the S812 processor as it has Gigabit ethernet, supports h.265 (HEVC) video compression and a choice of different firmware between Kitkat, Lollipop and Openelec. Unfortunately the Gearbest US warehouse seems to be currently out of stock. I am not sure what kind of customs duties you would need to pay if you import something directly from China. If the device comes from the US you may not have to pay. Maybe you can contact Gearbest to find out when they are planning to get in more stock. If you are not in an urgent hurry you could wait to see if there are going to be any Black Friday deals on these products.

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_202596.html

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Tronsmart-MXIII-Android-4-4-2-TV-Box-Amlogic-S802-Quad-Core-2G-8G-HDMI-BT4-0-2-4G-5G-802-11a-b-g-n-LAN-XBMC-OTG--UK-Plug-349164.html

Here are some pics of the internals of the MXIII Plus so you can compare with the MXIII-G from the XDA link above

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/tronsmart-aml-devices/518403-tronsmart-mxiii-plus-android-4-4-2-tv-box-amlogic-s812

[Lurker]

If you are interested in a mini keyboard or an airmouse, I would go for one of the following ...

http://www.gearbest.com/mice-keyboards/pp_152937.html

http://www.gearbest.com/mice-keyboards/pp_152934.html

http://www.gearbest.com/mice-keyboards/pp_152936.html

More ...

[Lurker]

http://www.gearbest.com/mice-keyboards/pp_152935.html

I have the AF106 and have set it up to use the accelerometer and gyroscope which allows me to play balancing games like Labyrinth, Rolling Seed, Riptide GP 2, Beach Buggy Racing and many others by twisting the remote left/right/up/down. I'm not sure whether you can do this with any of the other products as it requires special software. If you want more details I can send you further information via PM as there is quite a bit to look at ...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lsTeamWork.lssu.RollingSeed03&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.illusionlabs.labyrinth2.lite&hl=en

[waslin]

Lurker,
Wow, thanks for all the great info. I'll definitely look into the boxes and input devices you suggested.

Thanks for all the help.