MECOOL M8S Pro + TV Box Amlogic S905X Android 7.1 2/16GB Fast Lan, WiFi 802.11b/g/n

[kmnnk]

Hello, I plan to buy M8S PRO+ instead of Pro L because L has heating issue that require some mod.
For Pro+ I plan to use Magendanz ROM, can someone confirm if I understad correctly :
1. I will not be able to use chromecast, miracast or any type of other casting ?
2. I can add bluetooth dongle ?
3. I can use it with dual booth with DietPi ?

I see there is bad batch going on, which seller I should use that will not require me to return back in case I get the defective part in case of refund ?
IF I receive bad batch/defective one, is Gearbest or Geekbuying require you to return the part to get a refund ?

The reason I ask this is if they require to return the device, the cost of returning the device would be twice than the price of the device.

I can't speak to Netflix, since I don't have a subscription, but I often play back DD 5.1 from KODI using HDMI passthrough with no problems.

As for running Phonesky and Tubesky side-by-side, I'd originally thought that impossible. However, I hear from a friend in South Africa that they're close to getting it working. I'm anxious to see their results.

[Davvid]

Yesterday I took risk to flash the latest OEM firmware (V0619) for my M8S Pro+ box. Let me remind specs of my device:

Origin: Banggood
Original fw: 2017.08.15 (V0321)
Chip: eMMC SEC 713 (bad batch, right?)

I did reset to default before using built-in OTA app with ticked both Wipe options. All flashing went OK and after pretty long first loading everything looks to be OK. Am I extremely lucky ?

Now as it is Android TV firmware I can confirm that Netflix is running full HD (1920x1080p) 5800 kbps bitrate (10 bpc!). Yuppi!

But here's a question for you. Picture is superb but I can't output DD 5.1 sound in Netflix, all I have is plain stereo. There's no DD 5.1 badge in Netflix. Do you have 5.1 surround with that firmware and if yes how did you achieve it?


Second question. Is it possible to have normal Play Store alongside the TV one? I tried to install form apkmirror but it only replaced the internal TV Store and moreover it doesn't work, crashes all the time.

TIA.

@comment
Ok, thanks for info, Magendanz. Yes it's Netflix only issue. With Kodi or MX Player DD 5.1 plays normal.

It also includes links to the .img file, but you're right about the Widevine L1 keys. You won't get them in either the burn package or OTA update.

[Shimon]

That's a full system OTA I mentioned, and besides, I already have newer (20171101). As you said yourself, having a Burn Tool image wouldn't help anyway in the quest to get L1.

Okay, then how about this one? https://chinagadgetsreviews.com/down...b2-tv-box.html

[Shimon]

Yes, I meant a full Nougat ROM - that one is rather outdated.

Ummm..isn't this the firmware here? http://www.mecooltvbox.com/mecool-bb2-tv-box-firmware/

[Shimon]

Thank you Guest for the comprehensive reply and the link. I guess the "bee bee too" boxes could be retrofitted at the factory, but definitely not via OTA updates (and a full ROM for that box is not to be found anywhere)

Well, the Widevine L1 and HDCP keys are placed in TrustZone secure key storage at the factory. What version of the OS you're running is largely irrelevant, although you'll need some basic libraries to process the streams with DRM using the keys and a trusted execution environment (TEE) in which to do that processing.

The OEM could distribute the licensing binaries (lib and .ini) to generate the keys, and we could drop those files into the /license directory in USB Burning Tool so that we could write them to secure storage. They won't do that, though, because Google would go ballistic on them. The whole point of Widevine L1 is to put the keys on a system that's been locked down hard to prevent pirating the decrypted media. Frankly, I'm surprised they let them even install L1 keys in the factory without a locked bootloader.

http://www.programering.com/a/MDO1EjNwATQ.html

[Shimon]

I've got a quick question to the Widevine L1 gurus about a certain other Mecool box, similar in name to an Ep.7 Star Wars droid

How much of the Widevine stack is implemented in hardware? Cause OTA updating an older Marshmallow box to Android 7, leaves it at L3, whereas the newer, Nougat-loaded ones come with L1. Is it really impossible for the manufacturer to provide L1 to the older boxes?

All Amlogic and Rockchip devices that we've tried have had this same problem. We're guessing they're missing some framework service that the Nexus Player, ADT-1, and NVIDIA Shield TV have...but that's just a theory. No one seems to know.

And on the commenting, that's a feature available to moderators and ROM developers who relentlessly hound said moderators until they give in and turn on the feature for their usergroup.

[psyko_chewbacca]

Yes. The only thing that seems to work is when casting from the Chrome browser. We're not sure why.

Cool that explains it.

Is it an issue related to your custom ROM or is it regardless of the ROM used?

On a side note, how do I comment after you? I did not found that feature!

Yes. The only thing that seems to work is when casting from the Chrome browser. We're not sure why.

[psyko_chewbacca]

Hi, it seems I cannot make Youtube Cast working on this box, at least coming from my iPad (I don't have any other device to test). I am using the latest custom from from Guest with the TVStock package.

Is this a known issue? I know Google cast isn't working but I have not found a definitive answer if Youtube casting is supposed to be working.