General info on Android TV boxes

[silvanet]

I've tried some of the MX boxes: MXQ, MXIII, MXQ-Pro. I've had problems with all of them. Started with Android 4.4 Kitkat versions. Some problems still unresolved are writing to external storage (I did find SD fix app for Kitkat, but doesn't work on 5.1). Been told mfr needs to open ports with API to permit third party software writing to external storage. Another unresolved problem is getting boxes to permit remote access (I've tried LogMeIn Rescue but the boxes block remote access). All these boxes I have purchased from China (OTT resellers I think).At some point all of them have bricked in time. Sometimes I was able to do factory resets but eventually they either died completely or got stuck in eternal reboot. All of the boxes are sold saying they have Amlogic chips and Mali gpus. So I decided to open up these bricked items. In NONE of them do I see anything inside that says Mali or Amlogic. Typically, they have Netxeon mobos inside stamped with version numbers such as S85_v3.0_20140905. They are sold with a claim of two year manufacturer warranty but neither the local US seller (when I bought them here) nor China sellers (ALL of them claim to be the manufacturer, but I know they can't ALL be) honor the warranty. They ALL refuse to honor them. Oh, and none of them provide firmware updates. All their boxes have a software section for automatic update from manufacturer but if you click you just get a message something like failed to connect to server. Any thoughts or advice? What actually fixes the permissions problem? Is it a firmware thing? I've been reading information from Android on how to use their API, but I'm not real clear on how to do that. Is there somewhere I can learn more on these things? I do know some programming.

[Electroman]

All of those models are the cheapest, like in bottom of the barrel. The MXQ pro has bad reviews straight up they say the software is corrupt or defective, unit crashes when you search anything in the play store? That's crazy.

I have had good success with S905 boxes, the KIII in particular. The stock software is great, Kodi 16.1 works fine on it, I see no issues whatsoever with it. That said I use it for simple kodi use.
My hard drive is usb3 attached to my router so I never actually tried plugging a hard drive to it. Anyway I can tell you honestly that the KIII is a superb tv box.
Not much help for what you already bought but at least you have my referral for the KIII if you want a good box.

[mitchell4you]

Most resellers don't support firmware updates... aka updating means violating warranty

As stated many times, the tvbox inside`s/motherboard can be different.. then expected
~therefore you need to check the insides prior to installing a firmware (to make sure, you have the right one)

What external device... do you have? Formated as?
Have you tried...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paragon.tcplugins_ntfs_ro

What firmwares/custom roms have you tried?
Try searching motherboard name/version on freaktab...to readup what other users have tried and what works best..for your device

Cheers

[silvanet]

All of those models are the cheapest, like in bottom of the barrel. The MXQ pro has bad reviews straight up they say the software is corrupt or defective, unit crashes when you search anything in the play store? That's crazy.

I have had good success with S905 boxes, the KIII in particular. The stock software is great, Kodi 16.1 works fine on it, I see no issues whatsoever with it. That said I use it for simple kodi use.
My hard drive is usb3 attached to my router so I never actually tried plugging a hard drive to it. Anyway I can tell you honestly that the KIII is a superb tv box.
Not much help for what you already bought but at least you have my referral for the KIII if you want a good box.

I looked at the Kii. Yes, it has great specs, but I've read they have terrible customer support. I'll look at them again. Have you figured out if you're buying directly from manufacturer? Big problem I have with ALL China boxes is that I NEVER know if I'm really dealing with manufacturer or just one of hundreds of resellers. I haven't had any problems like the one you mention withe S905 MXQ-Pro. I know these are the low end budget boxes.

[silvanet]

Thanks mitchell4you, I'll do that search. I've used total commander, but I think Estrongs ES File Explorer has far better features. http://www.estrongs.com/?lang=en

I've tried finless ROM & posted here in that forum on problems I'm having flashing it.

What exactly is "firmware?" Is that just the operating system that is in the box? If that's the case, I'd like to know how you configure that, because that may be the place to use the Android API to configure permissions and opening ports to allow third party writing to external drives.

Also, maybe it's just these cheap boxes. That they don't configure that on them, because I've heard from people with better boxes that they've never had problems writing to external storage. I have the flash drives properly formatted and I know that is the important first step.

It seems strange that firmware updates (stock from the factory) would invalidate their warranty. I've not seen that anywhere stated by them. Why would they have a software section in their settings that appears to be a one button update directly from them?

Don't you find it strange that they ALL advertise they have Amlogic cpus & Mali gpus but there is NO component on the mobo that has either of those brands on them?

Thanks very much for your reply and suggestions