Solution for stuck in Android load AML8726-MX Dual Core TV Box Android 4.2.2

[mannyp]

Solution for stuck in Android load AML8726-MX Dual Core TV Box Android 4.2.2

the main issue is we have the problem with the newer HD18 V2.22 boards not other cheaper clones with other labels on the motherboards.

I just want as many people with these boards to help contribute the correct process to get to matricom 1.1.6 successfully and post on here the steps they have taken

I am still trying and will post my feedback as soon as i get some more positive news

You may not have the clone issue but I do and so do many other forum members.

[mannyp]

It will be the board used in the CMX boxes - http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...A-PLAYER-UNDER

Posts 4 and 18 show 1.1 board

I uploaded a boot image to allow recovery in post 127 of that thread

so will this recovery allow us to recover only or will it let us flash matricom with the magic card?

[c2k]

so will this recovery allow us to recover only or will it let us flash matricom with the magic card?

It will allow you to recover only. I managed to recover from a full "no light on" brick with it.

For the 2.22 boards I've been doing a bit more experimentation:

I Connected a uart cable to check on boot messages. Interrupted boot and tried to erase flash using the sf commands etc. Flash is not detected so cannot erase it (???)

Using 'magic card' and nand scrubber - software refused to run, just went into recovery and displayed "nothing to run" message. Tried swapping u-boot.bin with one from software I knew I could flash on box (Acemax software), got same message displayed.

Created card with clockwork mod on it. Booted this on the one box that had converted correctly - now running Openelec 4.2.1, Did a backup of the flash. Booted non-flashable box with CWM and tried restore. Failed to write the boot but could write system and data.

[kerikhaos]

It will allow you to recover only. I managed to recover from a full "no light on" brick with it.

For the 2.22 boards I've been doing a bit more experimentation:

I Connected a uart cable to check on boot messages. Interrupted boot and tried to erase flash using the sf commands etc. Flash is not detected so cannot erase it (???)

Using 'magic card' and nand scrubber - software refused to run, just went into recovery and displayed "nothing to run" message. Tried swapping u-boot.bin with one from software I knew I could flash on box (Acemax software), got same message displayed.

Created card with clockwork mod on it. Booted this on the one box that had converted correctly - now running Openelec 4.2.1, Did a backup of the flash. Booted non-flashable box with CWM and tried restore. Failed to write the boot but could write system and data.

so are we saying here you have a found a way to successfully flash to open elec a hd18v2.22 by using a band scrubber or using a cwm boot method? I'm not sure I understood properly, u said u flashed a bricked box which already had been mtd converted or you revived it as the converted mtd ready for openelec. Please describe how you successfully flashed the openelec firmware on that mb and the process on what firmware u used previously. Thanks

[c2k]

so are we saying here you have a found a way to successfully flash to open elec a hd18v2.22 by using a band scrubber or using a cwm boot method? I'm not sure I understood properly, u said u flashed a bricked box which already had been mtd converted or you revived it as the converted mtd ready for openelec. Please describe how you successfully flashed the openelec firmware on that mb and the process on what firmware u used previously. Thanks

And thats why I should have replied to each post seperately

I've got two 2.22 boxes here. The first box I converted over to 1.16, which allowed me to then install Openelec sucessfully - this occured after I managed to do the nand scrub on it (and then magic card 1.15, then 1.16 and then Openelec).

The second box refuses to go over to 1.16 properly. For this reason I was trying to nand scrub and try the usual (magic card 1.15, then 1.16 and then Openelec). I tried carrying out the scrub using a uart connection but the uboot sequence showed that it didn't detect the nand correctly - so SF Probe failed.

I then tried booting with the nand scrub files on a 'magic card'. That just loaded the recovery and gave a 'nothing to run' message.

I then rebooted the first box with a card with CWM files on it, entered CWM and performed a backup to the card. When that had finished I then rebooted the second box with the same card inserted to do a restore. The restore failed so I then tried the advanced restore one partition at a time - the boot refused to write while the system and data partitions did.

[kerikhaos]

And thats why I should have replied to each post seperately

I've got two 2.22 boxes here. The first box I converted over to 1.16, which allowed me to then install Openelec sucessfully - this occured after I managed to do the nand scrub on it (and then magic card 1.15, then 1.16 and then Openelec).

The second box refuses to go over to 1.16 properly. For this reason I was trying to nand scrub and try the usual (magic card 1.15, then 1.16 and then Openelec). I tried carrying out the scrub using a uart connection but the uboot sequence showed that it didn't detect the nand correctly - so SF Probe failed.

I then tried booting with the nand scrub files on a 'magic card'. That just loaded the recovery and gave a 'nothing to run' message.

I then rebooted the first box with a card with CWM files on it, entered CWM and performed a backup to the card. When that had finished I then rebooted the second box with the same card inserted to do a restore. The restore failed so I then tried the advanced restore one partition at a time - the boot refused to write while the system and data partitions did.

and both boards are the same you say?? The hd18 v2.22 boards?

i don't understand why it's a mission for the firmware installation to version 1.1.6

have u successfully taken the second board to - 1.1.6 yet? And for the scrub isn't using dexstars files the same thing as a uart scrub?

further adding a few things to this post -

im trying to figure out something here which is busting my brains, how is it possible that the same motherboards bought from the same supplier worked with 1.1.6fw during which the days of the OTA were still working on the 1.1.5fw. Now if its true and there is no hardware checks with the offline updates (and they havent recently been modified by matricom to now detect something off with the boards not supplied by them) how does it manage to fail writing the firmware to the same nand on the same motherboard?

Its mind boggling

is it possible the nand chips have been firmware locked or modified some way to force stop a successful flash with the 1.1.6? Its upsetting that 1.1.6fw is the only damn firmware to fail flash - everything else goes on without a peep of an error.

c2k - now that you flashed the correct mtd (i guess this is what you meant before) let us know if you managed to install the matricom 1.1.6 firmware and then let us know what we have to do to get this damn thing working.

As i said before if it wasnt for the openelec firmware i would not be bothered because the ewner september 2014 firmware from mbox works 10x better than any matricom firmware - its just we want that openelec.

we await your results and instructions - thanks in advance

oh and please can you point me to cwm recovery you used for the nand backup feature - it may be useful in the future to me with what im tyring to do

[c2k]

and both boards are the same you say?? The hd18 v2.22 boards?

i don't understand why it's a mission for the firmware installation to version 1.1.6

have u successfully taken the second board to - 1.1.6 yet? And for the scrub isn't using dexstars files the same thing as a uart scrub?

further adding a few things to this post -

im trying to figure out something here which is busting my brains, how is it possible that the same motherboards bought from the same supplier worked with 1.1.6fw during which the days of the OTA were still working on the 1.1.5fw. Now if its true and there is no hardware checks with the offline updates (and they havent recently been modified by matricom to now detect something off with the boards not supplied by them) how does it manage to fail writing the firmware to the same nand on the same motherboard?

Its mind boggling

is it possible the nand chips have been firmware locked or modified some way to force stop a successful flash with the 1.1.6? Its upsetting that 1.1.6fw is the only damn firmware to fail flash - everything else goes on without a peep of an error.

c2k - now that you flashed the correct mtd (i guess this is what you meant before) let us know if you managed to install the matricom 1.1.6 firmware and then let us know what we have to do to get this damn thing working.

As i said before if it wasnt for the openelec firmware i would not be bothered because the ewner september 2014 firmware from mbox works 10x better than any matricom firmware - its just we want that openelec.

we await your results and instructions - thanks in advance

oh and please can you point me to cwm recovery you used for the nand backup feature - it may be useful in the future to me with what im tyring to do

The reason for me trying to get to a 'true' 1.1.6 is that when I've installed Openelec on these boxes, with whatever firmware I've managed to load it refuses to run - giving the error screen about not being able to mount /dev/data (when it freezes on the second boot screen and you Ctrl-D into it). On the one I did manage to nand scrub It went on fine hence my attempts to do it now.

The 'magic card' on it's own does not work on these boxes - it hangs at about 30%.

I wonder if it is coming down to the type/manufacturer of flash chips used - that would also be a good checksum input for a valid box or not.

One thing I have noticed on these boxes is that they take a LONG time to get to the first A9/Matricom display (20 to 30 seconds from switch on) while all other boxes I've played with are pretty much instant.

The CWM I used was the one from here http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...1-6-or-similar

I'll play more tomorrow evening.

[kerikhaos]

ok success everyone - i have managed to go to matricom fw 1.1.6 successfully with the correct mtd

dev: size erasesize name
mtd0: 00800000 00200000 "bootloader"
mtd1: 00800000 00200000 "logo"
mtd2: 00800000 00200000 "aml_logo"
mtd3: 00800000 00200000 "recovery"
mtd4: 00800000 00200000 "boot"
mtd5: 40000000 00200000 "system"
mtd6: 20000000 00200000 "cache"
mtd7: 10000000 00200000 "backup"
mtd8: 18c000000 00200000 "data"

and now i am running the newest openelec fw with all functions and settings being saved upon reboot

its taken me almost 2 months of playing around but i finally found a way to do it ( but the process as detailed as i have recorded in my notes has not been repeated to prove its 100% proof of success)

I am sure some of the steps i took were maybe unnecessary but i will list them as i did when performing the upgrade as this for me worked when everything else did.

So on with the background of my HD18 v2.22 MX2 boxes -

1. My boxes were pre installed with the superior chinese MBOX rom dated 03-sept-2014 (these as is failed the 1.1.6 process once taken to 1.1.5 via magic sd)

2. I downloaded an older mbox fw from acemax website which the rom was dated 28-Mar-2014 (it was labelled as July-2014 on the acemax website though so not sure whats going on with that)

3. Flashed using toothpic method with existing pre prepared magic SD card but only used the 3x original files from the acemax mbox firmware

4. Upgrade booted and began immediately with success - rebooted removed sd card and access the interface only to check version in settings

5. with no sd instered i booted toothpic recovery. performed a data wipe + cache wipe (already had the 3x files from 1.1.5 original matricom fw files in root of same magic sd) and rebooted with the magic sd card containing original 1.1.5 files (not bennis version) and hard flashed to 1.1.5 fw successfully.

6. I did not boot into the fw i went back to recovery toothpic method (not from sd card). Performed a data wipe and cache wipe. (Had prepared on same magic sd card original 1.1.6 matricom files). Rebooted with toothpic method with SD card inserted. Upgrade began and successfully upgraded to 1.1.6 and automatically restarted booting into the new installed 1.1.6 matricom fw.

7. I entered the new os and went straight to settings and storage to check if the system detected the hard disk and it did 100% all partitions were recognised so it was a good sign.

8. I installed an offline terminal emulator apk i had on my usb stick and ran cat /proc/mtd and behold i was presented with the new mtd layout.

9. With this success i decided to go further and prove success with the newer matricom roms (as of this post 1.2.2 fw) and

10. same process i could jump to version 1.2.0 right from 1.1.6 (no need to use any fw versions in between). Prepared sd stick but first went into recovery without sd card inserted and did a wipe again of everything. Rebooted and did a toothpic recovery and auto started the upgrade to 1.2.0. Success (the entire boot images changed with matricom from this firmware as did the newer recovery they had built into their fw.

11. booted into new 1.2.0 os and checked again the mtd layout and if the settings storage section detected all partitions correctly hard disk wise etc. It did.

12. Same as before i got ready the 1.2.2 files (there is an extra gapps installer also you will need to run after the success installation of the mx2update file). toothpic recovery first with no sd inserted to do a data wipe and cache wipe. The reboot with SD card inserted again toothpic recovery starts the upgrade to 1.2.2 then when completed i installed the gapps package and rebooted. All passed the test, all storage partitions detected and all mtd partitions showing up as 100% active.

13. for reference openelec does not install over 1.2.2 as the aborted message says something about version being wrong i guess this is because the script is checking for an older fw but finds a newer one and then fails. I flash back to 1.1.6 directly from 1.2.2 and installs great then again after i flash openelec and goes on perfectly. Tested with my setuip - rebooted all settings and tweaks remained in memory.

So with this success story i am a happy bunny

all thats left for me to do now is to grab another box and simulate the same thing to prove this method of installation. Make note also that i did not use any brute force uart nand cleaning methods nor from dexstars files nor from a hardware uart connection. This was done with existing fw and the magic sd card i had prepared from ages ago.

Hoep this helps some of you

[c2k]

ok success everyone - i have managed to go to matricom fw 1.1.6 successfully with the correct mtd

dev: size erasesize name
mtd0: 00800000 00200000 "bootloader"
mtd1: 00800000 00200000 "logo"
mtd2: 00800000 00200000 "aml_logo"
mtd3: 00800000 00200000 "recovery"
mtd4: 00800000 00200000 "boot"
mtd5: 40000000 00200000 "system"
mtd6: 20000000 00200000 "cache"
mtd7: 10000000 00200000 "backup"
mtd8: 18c000000 00200000 "data"

and now i am running the newest openelec fw with all functions and settings being saved upon reboot

its taken me almost 2 months of playing around but i finally found a way to do it ( but the process as detailed as i have recorded in my notes has not been repeated to prove its 100% proof of success)

I am sure some of the steps i took were maybe unnecessary but i will list them as i did when performing the upgrade as this for me worked when everything else did.

Hoep this helps some of you

Congratulations!!! and many thanks for all the time you've spent on it.

It makes me wonder if I had put the older acemax software on the first box I had instead of the more upto date one and that is why that one had worked.

I'll try this on the stubborn box later tonight.

[kerikhaos]

Congratulations!!! and many thanks for all the time you've spent on it.

It makes me wonder if I had put the older acemax software on the first box I had instead of the more upto date one and that is why that one had worked.

I'll try this on the stubborn box later tonight.

My feeling is the same regarding previous firmware version.

My understanding of flashes and how the fw is placed and written on the nand is limited but i do understand that before a successful flash the firmware needs to erase, prepare and copy the correct data to the correct partitions in order to work properly. Thus im sure the fw is also writing in secret areas of the nand which are not viewable to us by mere terminal command line.

My guess is that maybe some of these hidden areas conflict or cant be detected by some other firmwares which is what i think aborts the flashes. Now i have only seen this with one case with the very stubborn matricom 1.1.6 fw and no one elses but then again because the matricom firmware is looking for something hidden in the nand (properly created from a 1.1.5 flash - not a force flash via bennis method) it fails to install or to change the current mtd to a newer one.

Obviously im not sure but its definitely proven there is no hardware check on the motherboards which i initially thought.

My process to revert back to an older firmware (as my last batch of identical boxes had pre installed) was just to test if my above theory with the hidden data on nand was true. I must of downloaded the 1.1.6 firmware 100x from various approved links but in the end it was my original matricom download which i managed to get to work (so official all the way - no using any pushing or forcing means at all)

I think if i recall correctly someone else was saying to go back as far as a very old fw called the prometheous 1.4 rom or something. Never tried this but it rings a bell on how people before the benni method were using to restore their boxes.

Anyways - thanks for the thumbs up and i only hope this is truly the method to get us all to 1.1.6 without a fuss.

All the best and good luck with your (remember to ask me if you have any questions with the process)

;-)

[c2k]

Still can't get this one working

Have to ask which Acemax firmware you put on the box - there doesn't seem to be a July 2014 firmware on the Acemax site - http://www.acemax.net.cn/downloading...center-14.html

I tried the 2013 July one BUT that doesn't install due to "script aborted (no error message) Installation aborted"

[kerikhaos]

Still can't get this one working

Have to ask which Acemax firmware you put on the box - there doesn't seem to be a July 2014 firmware on the Acemax site - http://www.acemax.net.cn/downloading...center-14.html

I tried the 2013 July one BUT that doesn't install due to "script aborted (no error message) Installation aborted"

U want the direct link right after it says 1. IPTV 18 Pro Dual Core

It will say 201406 ( June sorry not July). But I forgot to tell you before my boxes were already flashed with a newer September mbox firmware which the Chinese supplied to me after I received the boxes as I couldn't find the dw to download anywhere so they sent me it via email.

[c2k]

U want the direct link right after it says 1. IPTV 18 Pro Dual Core

It will say 201406 ( June sorry not July). But I forgot to tell you before my boxes were already flashed with a newer September mbox firmware which the Chinese supplied to me after I received the boxes as I couldn't find the dw to download anywhere so they sent me it via email.

Thanks for that - I downloaded the mediafire link yesterday and did notice one thing different when I tried flashing 1.15 after it in that it actually aborted on the install (so I thought it was going to work).

Think I found out why the boxes are slow to start though when I connected the uart back up to it The debug messages are showing that there is no nand detected and the boot is being carried out from the internal MMC. Would also explain why a nand scrub wasn't going to work though

[kerikhaos]

Thanks for that - I downloaded the mediafire link yesterday and did notice one thing different when I tried flashing 1.15 after it in that it actually aborted on the install (so I thought it was going to work).

Think I found out why the boxes are slow to start though when I connected the uart back up to it The debug messages are showing that there is no nand detected and the boot is being carried out from the internal MMC. Would also explain why a nand scrub wasn't going to work though

remember one thing when trying to go from the older mbox firmware to the original 1.1.5 fw - you do not attempt the jump through the mbox recovery (toothpic method) you only use that to data wipe and wipe cache - do not then select the mx2update and install from EXT because it will fail. You need to reload your sd card with the original matricom 1.1.5 fw and then do a dirty flash with the recovery on the sd card. That should push you directly to 1.1.5 smoothly from the 2014 june mbox firmware.

What error you getting if i may ask? Is it the aborted prop version message???

[kerikhaos]

ok here is my current aims to cover later this week to prove my above finds.....

1st test i wil carry out with existing box which has been successfully taken to the 1.1.6fw - (then to 1.2.2fw from matricom). I will attempt to downgrade back to 1.1.5fw and then attempt again to upgrade to 1.1.6 and see if it likes it or not

2nd test i will restore original NEW mbox fw dated septemeber 03 2014. Then attempt to follow my own set of instructions again to see if indeed i can go again successfully to 1.1.6fw

3rd test on a totally different mx2 box and repeat my steps again to see if this works on all mx2 motherboards with the HD18 V2.22 label.

Once i can confirm my results i will be happy to inform that the process holds true and will help all those which had my initial problem with the jump to 1.1.6fw

Please let me know if my instructions have helped you make the jump too to 1.1.6 as it will help prove the solution works for everyone.

Thanks in advance