RK3368 - True octa-core November Update

[l30ns]

Hi shomari_ , <del>can you throw in an AP6330 5G wifi drivers for i68 while youre at it?</del> i'd be happy to join the testing with i68 as your ROM looks perfect.
edited: Slap me with a wet towel for failing to check my facts before posting! i68 AP6330 and most of things I reported before are fixed. It's a great rom. I'll list my findings below if you don't mind.


The list of bugs / wishlist:
1) Screen size / scaling is a bit off. Fixed by Settings -> Display--> Display scaling
2) You have removed "Buid" section from "About info" so there's no way to get "Developer tools" to be enabled. You might want to enable them by default;
3) Play store app auto-closes and fails to start. It pops up and exits without showing anything. (Fixed by reinstalling play services via apptoide);
4) Reboot still doesn't work. The system freezes instead. As a result it always boots super slow as if for 1st time;
5) None of TWRP's can mount /system (3.0.2.2 & 2.8.7.0);
6) Tampering with any system file or app causes bootloop (might be related to the 5th issue); For example freezing calendar app via Titanium or replacing librkffplayer.so & libffmpeg.so in /system/lib for RK video hardware support (http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...975#post607975)

Just let me know if you need any logs to help aid you in this quest. This ROM gets better and better. Thanks for your hard work!

P.S. Has anyone managed to install Open Gapps TVStock package? Not that I need it, just wanted to see if the launcher and TV apps are any good. Am I correct that you cant install it on top of any rom that allready has Gapps?

[Shomari]

Hi shomari_ , <del>can you throw in an AP6330 5G wifi drivers for i68 while youre at it?</del> i'd be happy to join the testing with i68 as your ROM looks perfect.
edited: Slap me with a wet towel for failing to check my facts before posting! i68 AP6330 and most of things I reported before are fixed. It's a great rom. I'll list my findings below if you don't mind.


The list of bugs / wishlist:
1) Screen size / scaling is a bit off. Fixed by Settings -> Display--> Display scaling
2) You have removed "Buid" section from "About info" so there's no way to get "Developer tools" to be enabled. You might want to enable them by default;
3) Play store app auto-closes and fails to start. It pops up and exits without showing anything. (Fixed by reinstalling play services via apptoide);
4) Reboot still doesn't work. The system freezes instead. As a result it always boots super slow as if for 1st time;
5) None of TWRP's can mount /system (3.0.2.2 & 2.8.7.0);
6) Tampering with any system file or app causes bootloop (might be related to the 5th issue); For example freezing calendar app via Titanium or replacing librkffplayer.so & libffmpeg.so in /system/lib for RK video hardware support (http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...975#post607975)

Just let me know if you need any logs to help aid you in this quest. This ROM gets better and better. Thanks for your hard work!

P.S. Has anyone managed to install Open Gapps TVStock package? Not that I need it, just wanted to see if the launcher and TV apps are any good. Am I correct that you cant install it on top of any rom that allready has Gapps?

...all issues reported are fixed, with the exception of number 4. That is a bug in my cpu code, unrelated to the firmware itself. I have many improvements in store for the December release. But I will not upload the firmware until #4 is solved.

December release will be the first RK3368 firmware to make use of HMP big.LITTLE scheduling parameters for better stability and performance.

[l30ns]

Thanks for the update & devotion! We'll be here, waiting for your next ROM

[Roland Deschan]

Latest stock firmware while we wait patiently for December update. Thanks.

http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/download-android-lollipop-5-1-1-stock-firmware-acemax-z4-tv-box.html

[ThatAndroidMan]

Thanks man, can't wait to try it out.

[Shomari]

///////

[ajaxx]

Latest stock firmware while we wait patiently for December update. Thanks.

http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/downl...z4-tv-box.html

There are the improvements?

[StormGoth]

Thanks a lot for your work, can you recap what you did? I checked the true octa core tutorial and would like to repeat your work for a linux kernel, but I'd prefer t avoid some of the pitfalls you encountered, although I'm new to kernel work (I'm a web developer and would like to use my Z4 as a demo server). Or if I may be greedy: could you release a simple headless linux image with an 8 core kernel

[l33tlinuxh4x0r]

Thanks a lot for your work, can you recap what you did? I checked the true octa core tutorial and would like to repeat your work for a linux kernel, but I'd prefer t avoid some of the pitfalls you encountered, although I'm new to kernel work (I'm a web developer and would like to use my Z4 as a demo server). Or if I may be greedy: could you release a simple headless linux image with an 8 core kernel

I have all 8 cores working together by following Shomari's tutorial however they aren't at 1.5Ghz or 1.6Ghz. They are stuck at 792Mhz by default. I got them to go as high as 1008Mhz or 1.1Ghz. The only problem being that DVFS isn't enabled at least that is what the kernel keeps saying in dmesg. DVFS is needed to change the voltages when the cpu is at higher clock speeds and therefore I cannot achieve higher clocks because the voltage is too low. I either need to find how to change the voltages without DVFS (I can turn it off if I need to) or get DVFS to work correctly. I already have it selected in the kernel config. It must be some source file that is messed up.

Shomari what kernel source did you use to make your images? I am using geekbox sources.

[Shomari]

I have all 8 cores working together by following Shomari's tutorial however they aren't at 1.5Ghz or 1.6Ghz. They are stuck at 792Mhz by default. I got them to go as high as 1008Mhz or 1.1Ghz. The only problem being that DVFS isn't enabled at least that is what the kernel keeps saying in dmesg. DVFS is needed to change the voltages when the cpu is at higher clock speeds and therefore I cannot achieve higher clocks because the voltage is too low. I either need to find how to change the voltages without DVFS (I can turn it off if I need to) or get DVFS to work correctly. I already have it selected in the kernel config. It must be some source file that is messed up.

Shomari what kernel source did you use to make your images? I am using geekbox sources.

I didn't go from source at all; I started with a stock kernel for kicks, just to see what was possible to manipulate by way of working with the code in boot and resource images, then eventually on down to hmp parameters in /sys.

I saw that I got perfectly acceptable results working with compiled code and since that I haven't even yet bothered to go back to source files, for now. I haven't fired up a workstation to work from source at all for this particular hack at this point. I'm in this habit when it comes to RK and it's been that way for a while, due to the scarcity of source code for their products. I'm completely unfamiliar with the geekbox sources you refer to, though.

Fire up RK Tools from S.Poverony and crew from 4pda and you can go from there for the most part.

Upload your compiled resource image here, and let's see what it looks like compared to what it should look like to enable the frequency scaling. I'll take a look at what's missing or different, that'll probably help you figure out how to refactor it before compiling it to get it to do what you want straight from source.

[Shomari]

Thanks a lot for your work, can you recap what you did? I checked the true octa core tutorial and would like to repeat your work for a linux kernel, but I'd prefer t avoid some of the pitfalls you encountered, although I'm new to kernel work (I'm a web developer and would like to use my Z4 as a demo server). Or if I may be greedy: could you release a simple headless linux image with an 8 core kernel

I don't know how much help I would be in your case. My method relies on manipulating parameters in the resource image to alter the cpu topology and get the cores to scale according to dvfs, I'm not sure how that would apply to Linux one to one, to be honest. Not saying it won't, if there's a similar way to set parameters, there's probably something there. This hack doesn't originate from source. If it were, there'd be more control, but for now it hasn't been necessary for me to implement it that way.

[StormGoth]

l33tlinuxh4x0r I think I'll try to replicate your work, since frequency is not my main concern - my app is mostly memory and IO bound on real servers. I use this cute little box to check if I handle memory correctly and to demonstrate the performance of the app to customers - they are usually impressed what a little box powered by USB (3.0, so 4.5W) can handle, esp. if they consider the server farm this app is intended to run on (microservices).
It's kind of a side project for me to improve the performance of this box within the given power constraints. Using the crypto extensions for TLS should give a nice boost, also if I'm able to get all cores to work....

[MrFinner]

Hey.. i have a Smart Multimediaplayer Model: Z4 and a big problem .. i have flash the Z4 with the file from November (RK3368_octacore112216.zip) . . Now I can make nothing more. no Wifi - no Lan and also not more Flashing I can not boot to Recovery Mode more (Screen Frezz). With map SD UPDATE also does not go any more with the orginal Flash File (rk3368_5.1_BOX_Z4_zhongx_ap6xx_V007_20160927.zip) .
I will Flash to the Original Firmware.

Please Help me or what is the Problem ..
Sorry my Bad English.
Best Regards

[Roland Deschan]

Try searching and reading first. You have a Z4L which has a different WiFi.

[MrFinner]

Yes, unfortunately, too late get / read. Now do not come I any more to the Loader or recovery. And, therefore, is not able to do Flashen. How can I cancel everything and Flash the Stock Firmware? SD update goes not (SD Firmware Tool).

Box/SD starting and the box go in standbye.
Only the ADB driver found the Hardware.

The Tut for the Recovery reset on my Z4L ( (1 insert OTG (2 Press Reset button for a time (3 Insert PWR (4 wait 4 Sec and no more press ) is no working.

I have no Idea.

best regards