Tronsmart MK908 Android 4.2.2 "Official" - Finless ROM 1.5

[trjepp]

1.4 ROM works also except for the frame skipping thing which I do not see on the 1.5 ROM.

I flashed to 1.5 today (using the default 720 kernel, the only change I made was to use 4GB of app space) and the low frame rate issue is definitely still there. Is there anything that I might have done differently/incorrectly? I'd love to hear that I screwed up, and that the problem really is fixed, but from where I sit we're not there yet.

Thanks for your hard work Bob, you're giving me hope that I haven't bought a paper weight.

[jammupatu]

I think just like the 3066 devices, running a 1080 kernel on stock hardware will always cause heat issues. We all learned this before. It was interesting that Tronsmart released a 1080 kernel knowing this would be a problem.

So just like on 3066 devices... if you want to push it and run a 1080 kernel, your going to have to add a decent heatsink. In the 3066 area there are all kinds of posts showing how to mod and add a heat sink.

The board layout of the 908 is almost identical to the 808.

Here is an example here:

http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?5009-My-TV-MK808B-Others-setup-MK808B-cooling-mod

Also your comment about a higher AMP PSU. This is exactly the opposite. If a PSU cannot deliver the needed amps, then voltage can drop. This causes the device to draw more amps. In turn this causes heat which in turn causes the internal resistance to go up, which in turn cause the device to draw even more amps.. It is a worsening cycle..
Heat=increased resistance=voltage drop=increased amp draw=more heat -> Back to the start.
In electronics this is known as thermal runaway.

So no, having a PSU that has the ability to deliver more AMPs will not cause more heat. In fact it can improve that by not allowing voltage to drop under heavy load.

Bob

Hi,

many thanks for the link and explanation about the term "thermal runaway". Sounds like a vicious cycle. As I said, I do not know about eletricity at all basically... except that it comes from the wall socket, so to speak. =)

However, my friend is an electrician by trade and I will ask him to measure the original PSU's output so I know what I'm getting out from the unit. I also know he has the tools for this basic operation.

This is really weird that if 3066 series has heat issues with 1080p and they still released a 1080p kernel for 908 (3166). Guess it's about the cultural differences between different regions of the world for the concept of quality. Sadly after 45 mins of usage with 1080p the stick froze and rebooted. Also, it was too hot to touch.

I'm still very excited about the future of the stick even if I have to add a fan or two or replace thermal paste and / or heatsink. The potential is just too great to miss out on.

BR,

-J-

[Finless]

I think just like the 3066 devices, running a 1080 kernel on stock hardware will always cause heat issues. We all learned this before. It was interesting that Tronsmart released a 1080 kernel knowing this would be a problem.

So just like on 3066 devices... if you want to push it and run a 1080 kernel, your going to have to add a decent heatsink. In the 3066 area there are all kinds of posts showing how to mod and add a heat sink.

The board layout of the 908 is almost identical to the 808.

Here is an example here:

http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?5009-My-TV-MK808B-Others-setup-MK808B-cooling-mod

Also your comment about a higher AMP PSU. This is exactly the opposite. If a PSU cannot deliver the needed amps, then voltage can drop. This causes the device to draw more amps. In turn this causes heat which in turn causes the internal resistance to go up, which in turn cause the device to draw even more amps.. It is a worsening cycle..
Heat=increased resistance=voltage drop=increased amp draw=more heat -> Back to the start.
In electronics this is known as thermal runaway.

So no, having a PSU that has the ability to deliver more AMPs will not cause more heat. In fact it can improve that by not allowing voltage to drop under heavy load.

Bob

[jammupatu]

My comments on 4.2.2 1.5 Finless

Hi all.

First a big thank you for Bob for this cleaned up ROM and keeping things open even when you're getting offered money for this. I raise my hat, sir.

Flashing went smoothly. I did go straight to 1080p and the unit does run too hot especially when testing 1080p LiveTV via XMBC libstagefright http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=152005. I'm getting hangups of XMBC as well, but not with the unit's OS itself, so I'm guessing it's the Alpha status of XMBC acting up. Didn't try any movie file, only the TVHEADEND client.

On Netflix the video flow is quite smooth, but not as smooth as it should really be (tried 50hz and 60hz 1080p). 10 minutes of Netflix didn't heat up the unit as much as XMBC. Remember, XMBC is doing things like bilinear resizing of pixels etc.

Few missing things I noticed: the physical keyboard layout isn't there anymore. Is this an Android 4.2.2 general issue or specific to Tronsmart's / Bob's rom? It's very annoying to be forced to use US layout on a Finnish keyboard. (I did even try to put Finnish (QWERTY) instead of Finnish). Also, spell checking for Finnish wasn't available. Swedish was though, bah. First they're trying to steal Sauna from us and now this! :S

I'm wondering will the heat issue go away once the kernel optimizations are iterated or is this a lost cause? Could you more experienced guys make an educated guess? How about Geekbuying, what's your opinion on heat issues and 1080p? At the moment I'm thinking of opening the device (and voiding my warranty) and checking out / replacing the thermal paste under the heatsink. I think I saw instructions somewhere on Freaktab. Another alternative would be to try to negotiate a replacement of this product. Heat issues and a (buggy?) 4.2.2 arriving a month later than promised are in my books valid reasons for this. Anyways, this isn't the correct forum for replacement discussions.

Regarding video stuttering and heat issues - I haven't tried 720p kernel yet. Also, I haven't measured what kind of amps I'm getting from the default PSU I'm using (the one in the original package). I'm by no means a guy who understands electrity but I'm thinking more amps would generate more heat even if the performance would improve or the video stuttering would go away.

Will report more once I have more time on my hands to check test things like RKRemote etc.

Best Regards,

-J-

[kingfisher]

How to get Flash Player to work on 4.2.2

Thanks will try some out and let you know

Tried a few archived flash players on the Finless 1.5 with android 4.2.2 rom none worked, but there is a way around. Just follow this link http://mickeythegeek.blogspot.com/20...n-android.html. It worked for me. Courtesy of MickeyTheGeek

[kingfisher]

It looks like there are various versions avalible here:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html#main_Archived_versions

I have not tried this yet, just thought i would chime in with the link.

Good luck to ya, and dont forget to let us know the outcome!

Thanks will try some out and let you know

[adoan412]

Hi all I am new to this forum. Yesterday I flashed to the 1080P kernel but decided against it as the MK908 got quite hot and had some issues with play store which after a while would not connect, but on the whole the MK908 was still quite slick. Today I flashed to 720p and everything seems to working fine now, with one exception. Adobe flash player 11.1 is not compatible with this rom and does not work. Tried to reinstall but got not compatible with this device. Bluetooth appears to be ok also as my ps3 controller paired just fine.
Thanks for all your hard work Bob

It looks like there are various versions avalible here:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions.html#main_Archived_versions

I have not tried this yet, just thought i would chime in with the link.

Good luck to ya, and dont forget to let us know the outcome!

[kingfisher]

Adobe Flash Player 11.1 not working with 1.5 rom

Hi all I am new to this forum. Yesterday I flashed to the 1080P kernel but decided against it as the MK908 got quite hot and had some issues with play store which after a while would not connect, but on the whole the MK908 was still quite slick. Today I flashed to 720p and everything seems to working fine now, with one exception. Adobe flash player 11.1 is not compatible with this rom and does not work. Tried to reinstall but got not compatible with this device. Bluetooth appears to be ok also as my ps3 controller paired just fine.
Thanks for all your hard work Bob

[adoan412]

From my experience both the 1080 and 720 rom are snappy through the menu's. Video still seems to be a bit choppy in areas, but definately getting better compared to the original rom shipped with this device.

After running the 1080 rom for a few hours it did get quite warm,to be safe im going to keep the 720 rom due to the heat.

Both of these new 4.2 roms gave me issues with hulu plus, no real biggie as i wont be using that service for long. Did anyone else encounter that issue?

Also i would just like to say thanks to bob. I am new to this community / niche ( I have been using the iphone for years now, and always stayed as far away from andoid as possible ). It is a very welcoming community with plenty of communication going on with a VERY helpful and knowledgeable leader ( Finless ).

Thanks Bob!

[toc]

Just to report back so far,

Running Epic Citadel @ 1080, Got very hot! and over heated (locked up), the benchmark was noting special either ...

mk808 @1080 22fps
mk908 @1080 26fps

This is understandable due to the graphic being the same however the mk908 over heating in order to produce this is not so good, seems the extra cores heat generated by this is just too much.

Just running LD video in 1080 and its getting pretty warm, not over heated yet!

Bob, Can I turn the cores down or do I need to download an app ?

[geekbuying]

wrong message..

[Chakumo]

MKV Video Player?

What would be the right video player mkv 720p/1080p?

[Chakumo]

i have not tried rom. (I inquired) thanks for the reply

My K400 works fine! Are you saying yours does not?

Bob

[digweed4me]

Re: NEW - Tronsmart MK908 Android 4.2.2 "Official" - Finless ROM 1.5

Don't worry 2042 is fine. If it counted to say only 1024 or something then I would say there is a problem.

So just go ahead and flash the ROM and don't worry about 2042.

Bob

bob I can't seem to get flash apk working no matter what. it's working fine on my nexus 4 and nexus 7 running 4.2.2

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Finless]

Don't worry 2042 is fine. If it counted to say only 1024 or something then I would say there is a problem.

So just go ahead and flash the ROM and don't worry about 2042.

Bob