CHUWI HiBox Mini PC Android 5.1 + Window 10 Dual OS 64bit

[bluesmanuk]

General

Heat wise, you can feel distinct warmth on the base of the box, but nothing that should give rise for concern.

But it did give me an idea.

Because there are no vents for heat to escape, I screwed in the small bracket supplied for attaching to the back of a TV/Monitor and just sat it in my TV cabinet,so air flow around the whole of the box is guaranteed and it doesn't look odd either.

Speaking of design, the fact that the ports are on the front and right side is very different from the norm and so I have mine position in such a way that the ports that I would normally expect to be on the rear are and therefore the front is now the right side but this is not an issue because the power button is easily accessible and only needs the briefest of presses to switch on.

There are a couple of bugs to be fixed in Android and the SD card compatibility will require some attention, quite likely through a driver update.

Whether we will ever see a Marshmallow update I cannot say but hedging my bets, I would say that it is unlikely.

Hopefully Chuwi will create a dedicated support area on their forums for the Hibox and also provide a more responsive support system. which they should do quickly because this particular offering has great promise and taking all things into consideration, for the specs it has at the price it is currently being offered for, it should be a sure fire winner and it is something that as an out of the box experience has been rather nice.

The fact that there is very little to actually fix right now adds to the enjoyment and I could not be happier if I was a dog with 2 tails.

So it's now down to Chuwi to support it properly and in doing so, will find that they have a potentially big seller on their hands.

This is now my box of choice for day to day use and the fact that I can have the best of both worlds in Android and Windows to suit my particular needs at any moment in time, all from 1 device makes it a bargain in my humble opinion.

I also think that there may be potential for Chuwi to look at other possible incarnations of the same genre for more higher end uses.

For their first foray into the Mini PC/TV box market, Chuwi seems to have done a very decent job of things so far.

[trebor]

True words spoken.

Now there is a line that should be on every ones mind when they are looking for a media player.
"For video playback, as long as your needs don't exceed the limits of the SOC, "

An Impressive unit for sure does as it should, especially on the Windows side it all works, remembering the limitations of CPU/Soc etc.
Will leave Android on for a bit longer for a fiddle but the gain of dual boot is not required and will go soon. for those with a need its an excellent choice.

[bluesmanuk]

Looking more at the Windows SD card driver, it is a generic 32Gb driver from 2006, so either an update is required to support larger cards or the maximum that it supports is 32Gb.

I managed to install Android X86 Marshmallow, although I had to use the BIOS boot menu override to boot into it.

WiFi doesn't work and some apps rotate the screen but it is rooted, so may be possible to set force land in the build prop.

The only issue is that whilst it sees the system partition it does not detect the data partition, so you quickly run out of app space, although being Marshmallow there is the option to augment the SD card storage as internal, although Windows would then only be able to utilise the USB ports for external storage.

It does show that it is possible to update to Marshmallow though, so hopefully Chuwi see this an a potential opportunity.

[trebor]

Good to read.
Would you really need a SD in a Windows, photo/files transfer to me would be about it.
As a Windows Unit its excellent for the limitations of what it is.
Leave it at Windows find some other box to fiddle with droid, but thats just my thoughts or Linux may be a better option
Less stress I think..
Fun box indeed

[bluesmanuk]

If the SD Card slot were to support a high speed 128Gb card, then Windows versatility would be improved by potentially having a supplemental storage area on tap for those people that might install a gazzilion apps to the internal storage.

Less stress from a MiniPC/TV box?

Stress is what we live for on here lol

[Malksharan]

Thanks for all the work, the testing and report

[bluesmanuk]

Thanks for all the work, the testing and report

Thanks for the feedback.

[bluesmanuk]

Tried a Toshiba Exceria 128GB Micro SDXC UHS-I U3 Card and although it is recognised and Windows adds a new SD Card controller in device manager, it also has "This device cannot start" Code 10 error.

No updates available from Microsoft and the default driver is from 2006, which may be out of date.

I've contacted Chuwi support directly to see what they have to say.

If you do have issues then there is a general email address that you can send support requests to at [email protected]

[bluesmanuk]

Chuwi have now created a section on their forums for official downloads, which are currently being uploaded.

http://forum.chuwi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=3394&extra=page%3D1%2 6filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D56

Password to download them is en.chuwi.com

[Malksharan]

Hello, I just received the box, it is good so far. I cannot manage to find what the switch oo/off button really do ? Does it put windws in sleep mode or is it a shutdown ? Is it possible after a switch off to switch on with the remote ? thank you.

[Malksharan]

I tested the internal microphone, with windows stand app for that... It is weird, i record scratch scratch scratch sounds .. electronical problems ?

[bluesmanuk]

I tested the internal microphone, with windows stand app for that... It is weird, i record scratch scratch scratch sounds .. electronical problems ?

I'll try it later and let you know how I get on.

[Scooberdanje]

I have a question. In Android, is the casting integrated or, like I've seen on other boxes a preinstalled app. Reason I wanna buy this one is to easily switch over to Android, launch just Dance now for my kid. But I want it to be Chromecast easy so to speak. Thanks

[bluesmanuk]

HiBox Hero restore to factory (Android and Windows).

Download the Android and Windows files from post 1 of this thread and extract.

http://forum.chuwi.com/thread-3394-1-1.html

Start with Android (Warning this will erase any existing Windows installation so back up any important data first).

Format a bootable USB Flash drive to FAT32 and name it WIMPE.

Copy the extracted Android files to the flash drive. So you should have EFI folder, boot.img, cache img etc in the root of the drive.

Put the flash drive into the USB port nearest the corner of the box (furthest away from the SD card slot) and switch on the box, pressing the ESC key repeatedly until you are presented with the BIOS screen.

Change the boot order so that the first boot device is your USB flash drive, then save settings and exit.

After the reboot the necessary process will start and all you have to do is press the enter key when requested.

After the process is complete the box will reboot and start to populate Android and may reboot a couple of times in during the process.

You will then be prsented with the Android setup wizard. Complete this until you have a functioning Android setup.


Now to Windows

Format a bootable USB flash drive to NTFS (minimum 8Gb), naming it WINPE and copy the extracted windows files to the root of the drive, so that now you have the EFI, Boot, images folders etc.

Insert the flash drive into the same port again, reboot the box and get into the BIOS where you will again choose the USB flash drive as the default drive and save and exit as before.

Choose the WIN64PE option and the rest of the process will be automated.

The box may reboot a couple of times during the installation at which point you will have the normal Windows screen.

There will be a sysprep prompt pop up, so just accept the defaults at which point the sysprep process will start and eventually the box will switch itself off.

When you next switch on and start Windows you will be presented with the default first time Windows setup and configuration process.

Windows will automatically be activated because the product key is stored in the hardware,

Then reboot and ensure that both dual boot options work correctly.

[Johnmann]

I cannot get any signal anymore on my tv via hdmi. The first time i plugged it in i had a signal. I did a software update on Android and then started a Windows update and in the middle of it i lost signal. I've not been able to regain the signal. I did a reset with a pin at the back but still no signal. I tried with different hdmi cable too. My dvd player and satellite box work fine on my hdmi.

The blue light on the box comes on when i switch on the box.

Please advice.