Mini M8S II 4K Smart TV Box Amlogic S905X 2/8GB WiFi 10/100 LAN BT

[Xannytech]

Other than the splash screen, I didn't notice much difference between the vontar and Mini M8S II firmware. I have been using the vontar firmware for a few days now and I haven't experienced the brightness change problem that I had with official M8S Mini II v106 firmware. The issue I was having before was my box would change from RGB Full range (0-255) to Limited (16-235) randomly after watching youtube, making the black/white levels different. I had to change the RGB setting on my TV to match so the picture would look right. If there was a power outage, or I unplugged the box, it would go back to RGB Full range (0-255).

Again, I have only been using the vontar firmware for a few days so it's still early. But I haven't experienced this issue so far.

I'm sure the firmware isn't exactly the same as the official, but I'm sure they're very similar. FWIW, so far the Vontar firmware has been ok for me so far.

i did a comparition file by file it's a v106 with a fix in generic.kl, but if you're happy it's ok.

[AndroidTVAddict]

Thank you cjeman for your feedback!

It is sad to hear that the official firmware doesn't manage well the DD & DTS 5.1 passthrough. Did you try the .apk fix?

I have two concerns about using the 'Tanix X5 Pro' room with the Mini M8S II:
- The latest Mini M8S II box seem to now have a AP6212A wifi chip (instead of AP6212) which makes the other s905x roms incompatible with it! So I won't be able to change the rom like you did, if I order a new box :-/
- I would like to have OTA updates (OTA seems not available for the Tanix X5, am I right?)



Does the manufacturer still work on improving this Mini M8S II box? I read that a v107 has been released? Did someone test it? By any chance, does it solved the passthrough issues?



I looked at alternative s905x boxes (like Beelink MINI MXIII II or NEXBOX A95X) but they doesn't seem better :-/
They all have the same issues: partial passthrough, read/write on external storage, poor wifi, HDMI CEC & Auto frame rate not working, purple or black screen issues...


I am looking for a cheap box managing well at least 1080P video with codec 264 and 265 8bit & 10bit, 3D and DD & DTS 5.1 passthrough on SPDIF Toslink/Optical with 2GB of RAM and Android 6.0.1(for being able to extend internal storage with an SD card).
Do you have any recommendation?

Does it relevant to switch to higher model like the beelink GT1 with s912 which seems to manage quite well the DD & DTS passthrough? (see test: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/10/...llow-firmware/ )
But will it worth the extra cost (50€ vs 30€ = +~60%) ? Only the GPU is better between the s912 and the s905x. Even the octo core s912 is surprisingly not better than the quad core s905x !


Thank you all very much for your help and comments :-)

[cjeman]

AndroidTV Addict.. My M8S does try to do a Tanix OTA update, but it fails on application. The passthrough apk fix did not resolve the occasional audio hiccup. SPMC has the same issue. I may try FTMC, in time. I understand the s912 is a better chip and may be worth the money. I have 2 RK boxes that have worse problems than this box. The Kodi developers have dropped supporting boxes that do not follow their API specs. Too many SOC's for them to stay on top of. AMlogic boxes must be following the API spec to allow stock Kodi to run. This box is relatively inexpensive, has a number of custom ROM's to play with and does Kodi better than my RK boxes. Also, I value a ROM that supports TWRP. This allows experimenting with full rollback.

I have a beelink I68G, (RK3368) running Zidoo with ZDMC that has decent performance, but also has minor audio issues. From the way you describe your needs, I'd go with a s912. Keep us posted with what you find/do.

[rahzel]

i did a comparition file by file it's a v106 with a fix in generic.kl, but if you're happy it's ok.

Interesting. My box still hasn't had the brightness issue I was experiencing with v106.

So is the official MiniM8SII v109 newer than the Vontar v109, despite having an older date? Do you know the update notes on the official v109?

Maybe I'll flash to the official firmware if I experience problems with the Vontar firmware.

[Xannytech]

Interesting. My box still hasn't had the brightness issue I was experiencing with v106.

So is the official MiniM8SII v109 newer than the Vontar v109, despite having an older date? Do you know the update notes on the official v109?

Maybe I'll flash to the official firmware if I experience problems with the Vontar firmware.

There is nothing in Vontar fw that fix brightness, but again, if it works is ok,

[njhulei77]

I updated the latest firmware (1107), but the wifi still not working good, Any suggestion?

[njhulei77]

And if play kodi or other video app with my bluetooth speaker, the sound always on and off

[AndroidTVAddict]

Thank you cjeman for your help. I may go for the s912 once I have checked that the passthrough issue is truely solved on it.


POSSIBLE SOLUTION to get 5.1 audio out of s905x/s912 boxes:

Looking for a solution, I found that using the 'transcoding to AC3' option on Kobi allows to get 5.1 audio for ANY video (even for AAC, True HD...).
I understood that AC3/DD 5.1 passthrough is working properly (no hiccup / audio cuts) on the Mini M8S II, so this solution may solve our issue ;-)

You need to set Kodi audio settings to 2.0 and then you can enable "transcode to AC3"
(source: http://www.bee-link.com/Beelink-784-1-3.html )

Hope it helps and please, let me know if it works.
Thanks.

[nolosep]

Good morning.

I have an ms8 II with amlogics905x but no bluetooth (8gb / 2gb). Does anyone have a recent firmware version for this device?


Thanks

[Meltdown]

MiniM8S II has TWO different wifi chip AP6212 and AP6212A (last boxes)

Do you have this firmware?

[tosu]

I saw none posted new V109 (07/11/2016) for MINI M8 SII (not V106 customized by Vontar ) here it is:
https://mega.nz/#!f543XRIY!47GUGzdTV...HEawRRbFHIjexA V109 ROM .img file

Then if you like there is my mod ready based on it
XTMOD thread

I try to update with this firmware by the SD method and give "error in the verification"
Any ideas?
Thanks.

[array81]

I try to update with this firmware by the SD method and give "error in the verification"
Any ideas?
Thanks.

This version need "Amlogic USB Burning Tool" no SD.

[LostEchoes]

I have two of these boxes at my hands right now. They are not mine, but some friends' and they gave them to me for testing and customization. I have recently ordered one for me, too.
The first one was bought 3-4 months ago and the second one later, about 1 month ago.

As you can see at the screenshots, the old one (the first that was bought) has a 6.0.1 MHC19J20161013 firmware version, while the second one (the newest) has a 6.0.1 MHC19J20161022 firmware.
Both have the latest firmwares, which means that no OTA updates are pending for them.

I suspect that maybe the difference has to do with the different wi-fi chips. So maybe the first/old one has the AP6212 wi-fi chip while the second one (the newest) has the AP6212A wi-fi, hence the different latest firmwares.

But that's just a guess.
Does anyone know of an application that I could download and use to identify the wi-fi chip version on each of these boxes?

[Meltdown]

Got this for my sons bedroom for Christmas, flashed it with XannyTech rom straight away - but wifi doesn't work. The buyer is saying the factory aren't available to get firmware from.

Here is the PCB, I read somewhere that due to shortage, the factory may have used AP6212A wifi chip (instead of AP6212).

Can anyone help? This box is too far to ethernet.

[Xannytech]

Got this for my sons bedroom for Christmas, flashed it with XannyTech rom straight away - but wifi doesn't work. The buyer is saying the factory aren't available to get firmware from.

Here is the PCB, I read somewhere that due to shortage, the factory may have used AP6212A wifi chip (instead of AP6212).

Can anyone help? This box is too far to ethernet.

yours is not a MIni M8S II for sure

but i saw your motherboard somewhere... seems similar to a Nexbox.
The fast solution if you cannot find the original fw, is a mini/micro wifi router i know it's not the kind of help you're searching for.