My mods to convert my MK908 into a TV box

[Maximus]

When I received my MK908, I was excited about the features and potential (beside the stutter problem!), but soon it became a spider web... I had a power bar as power on/off switch, 3 power supply (MK908, external HD and USB hub), long cables all over the thing... it looked like a mess.

So I decided to try and make everything fit into a small casing with only 2 wires out... an electric cord and HDMI cable... that's it everything else had to be inside the case, just like a DVD player.

So I went shopping on the net, for a power supply that would be able to power everything. A heat sink for the CPU (inspired by some threads on this forum) so I could run 1080p kernel and eventually overclock that MK908 to 1.8Ghz like the big brother the T428. Then I stared building...

The following are some pictures of the process. Enjoy!


1-The base of the case with access to 3 USB externally and 1 Ethernet RJ45. The HDMI cable is also fixed with the power plug and on/off switch.


2- Power supply (5 volts, 7 amps) is installed with the connection to the on/off switch. I also glued 16 pins connector to provide 5 volts to all the components.


3- The top cover will need cooling so I mounted 2x40mm brushless fan in the back and made and opening in the top for the hot air to exit.


4-To make sure the 5volts power supply is working fine when the case is closed, I mounted a 3 volts LED in the front of the case.


5- Since everything will be in a close case and I want to use the 1080p kernel with eventually some overclocking, I went a bit overboard with the heat sink. Attached to the MK908 is a custom plug I made to connect the power to my 16 pins connectors.


6- Now my MK908 is securely attached at the bottom of my case with power attached.


7- This is an old 100Gigs hard drive with a USB hub, both with custom plugs to get voltage from the 16 pins connector. On the hard drive, I had to solder the USB directly to the board otherwise it would not fit. Also attached to USB hub is the dongle for my RC11 Air mouse remote control.


8- This is how it looks with the hard drive mounted and all the power attached to the 16 pins connector.


9- Another view with all the components mounted.


10- Before closing the case I attached the 2x40mm brushless fan to the 16 pin connectors.


11- This is the top view, where you see the opening for the hot air to exit. We also see the side mounted on/off switch.


12- Back view, with only 2 wires hanging out of the unit (power cord and HDMI cable). We also see the Ethernet RJ45 plug. But in my case the WIFI connection is very good and this Ethernet plug is only for backup.


13- The other side view with the 3 USB plug. Where I can connect a mouse, keyboard or another external hard drive. But since inside the casing I have the RC11 dongle, I don't need those USB for now.

I tested the unit with a 1080p movie without any issue and nice warm air was exiting from the top of the unit. Everything seems very stable for the moment. Now I need to decide which ROM to install.

I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed building this unit. If you needs more details or part number, just ask.

[leolas]

Wow, very nice and clean! You build a real minipc. Only a couple of notes, access to reset button? External sdcard?

leolas

[Maximus]

Wow, very nice and clean! You build a real minipc. Only a couple of notes, access to reset button? External sdcard?

leolas

Thanks Leolas.

Regarding the sdcard, I have a USB reader and for the one on the MK908, I installed a 32GB for extra storage.


Regarding the reset button, I have access under the casing.


My only concern is for the moment, when I need to flash a new ROM, will it be OK if everything remain connected but without power. Then just plug a USB cable in the OTG port for the flashing process?

Even then, I will have to remove the top casing. But hopefully, I won't have to unplug everything. I haven't done the test yet, since I haven't decided which ROM to install.

[hoabycsr]

It looks beautiful. Nice work!

[leolas]

Re: My mods to convert my MK908 into a TV box

Thanks Leolas.

Regarding the sdcard, I have a USB reader and for the one on the MK908, I installed a 32GB for extra storage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2896[/ATTACH]

Regarding the reset button, I have access under the casing.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2897[/ATTACH]

My only concern is for the moment, when I need to flash a new ROM, will it be OK if everything remain connected but without power. Then just plug a USB cable in the OTG port for the flashing process?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2895[/ATTACH]
Even then, I will have to remove the top casing. But hopefully, I won't have to unplug everything. I haven't done the test yet, since I haven't decided which ROM to install.

Good, not everyday the rom needs to be changued, and if you have the reset button and OTG port accesible enough for if it is a problem occasionally, seems enought for me, after you choose your corrected partitions size, you can use cwm for update without pc, anyway an external acces to OTG can be a good idea, at least for me cause I use a lot adb, but if you don't use a lot adb, and you are not a compulsive flasher (I am one) this mod is perfect like it is. If you want easy USB-adb acces you can add a new USB port.
Anyway a really great work, in my opinion, your design is one of the best I ever saw.

leolas

[qkpham]

Nice project ! Since the stick is incased into that box, how is the wifi working ? From what I know, the MK908 is very prone to interferences and the fact that it has no external antenna makes it even more difficult.

[Maximus]

Nice project ! Since the stick is incased into that box, how is the wifi working ? From what I know, the MK908 is very prone to interferences and the fact that it has no external antenna makes it even more difficult.

Thanks for the comments.

WIFI seems fine, not the strongest but average. If I find a good external WIFI antenna mods, I will incorporate it. If you can point me to a good working external antenna mods for the MK908, I will look into it seriously.

[neoal]

Thanks for the comments.

WIFI seems fine, not the strongest but average. If I find a good external WIFI antenna mods, I will incorporate it. If you can point me to a good working external antenna mods for the MK908, I will look into it seriously.

well i`ve put a external antenna to the t428 and it was working really great and stable (for as long as the tv stick was alive). your mod is really cool

check my mod http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?6087-My-t428-cooling-and-case-mod

[neoal]

Re: My mods to convert my MK908 into a TV box

Here are some pics

Sent from my GT-S7562 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Maximus]

Here are some pics

Sent from my GT-S7562 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Thanks, where did you solder exactly your external antenna?

why is your T428 dead, what happen?

[neoal]

Thanks, where did you solder exactly your external antenna?

why is your T428 dead, what happen?

well i just cut the old antena wire then i soldered to that wire the wire that comes from the external antenna. my t428 is dead now cause at the begining it was recognized on my pc then no more not only on my pc but on any pc with different cables. then i flashed a rom from the sd card cause i didnt want to keep the stock rom cause video was really bad so i flashed it and now it doesn boot at all so no way to flash it anymore. just a sitting duck . when i connect it to pc on device manager it just shows: id: USB\UNKNOWN and on the info it says VID: 0000 AND PID:0000

[hoabycsr]

Thanks Leolas.

Regarding the sdcard, I have a USB reader and for the one on the MK908, I installed a 32GB for extra storage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2896[/ATTACH]

Regarding the reset button, I have access under the casing.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2897[/ATTACH]

My only concern is for the moment, when I need to flash a new ROM, will it be OK if everything remain connected but without power. Then just plug a USB cable in the OTG port for the flashing process?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2895[/ATTACH]
Even then, I will have to remove the top casing. But hopefully, I won't have to unplug everything. I haven't done the test yet, since I haven't decided which ROM to install.

.... Is that a laptop hard drive used as a table? lol nice

edit: is that hooked up? I only ask because the board it sits on is strange, having usb A Female...

[Maximus]

.... Is that a laptop hard drive used as a table? lol nice

edit: is that hooked up? I only ask because the board it sits on is strange, having usb A Female...

hoabycsr, yes, over the MK908, supported by 4 long screws is a 2.5" 100GB IDE laptop drive. The drive is connected to a board to make it work as en external USB drive. I just removed the external drive case, this is why you see only the board, the hard drive and is connected to a USB hub sitting on top of the hard drive. That USB hub, as the top half of the casing removed because of clearance issue.


Also, I could not connect the drive with a USB plug because of clearance issue with the power supply. So I solder that end of the USB directly into the board.


On the image, the 2 plugs with red and black wires are used to give 5volts to the hard drive and USB hub. The plug staring black and finishing white is the USB plug from the USB hub that will be connected into the MK908 USB port. The fourth, all black wire is soldered to the hard drive controller board and plugged into the USB hub.


All the red and black wires are used to provide 5 volts to each components (Fans, MK908, Status LED, hard drive and USB hub). They are connected into a 20 pins connector that is connected to one end of the power supply. Power supply provides 5 votls 7 amps, which is more then enough, Right now I should be using around 5 amps.


Everything works like a charm, for the moment, I am debating on which ROM to flash. Right now, I am running "Fineless 1.5 Kernel" with "Strauzo - T428 Nexus sdk 2 alpha ROM".

[hoabycsr]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2914[/ATTACH]
hoabycsr, yes, over the MK908, supported by 4 long screws is a 2.5" 100GB IDE laptop drive. The drive is connected to a board to make it work as en external USB drive. I just removed the external drive case, this is why you see only the board, the hard drive and is connected to a USB hub sitting on top of the hard drive. That USB hub, as the top half of the casing removed because of clearance issue.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2915[/ATTACH]
Also, I could not connect the drive with a USB plug because of clearance issue with the power supply. So I solder that end of the USB directly into the board.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2917[/ATTACH]
On the image, the 2 plugs with red and black wires are used to give 5volts to the hard drive and USB hub. The plug staring black and finishing white is the USB plug from the USB hub that will be connected into the MK908 USB port. The fourth, all black wire is soldered to the hard drive controller board and plugged into the USB hub.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2918[/ATTACH]
All the red and black wires are used to provide 5 volts to each components (Fans, MK908, Status LED, hard drive and USB hub). They are connected into a 20 pins connector that is connected to one end of the power supply. Power supply provides 5 votls 7 amps, which is more then enough, Right now I should be using around 5 amps.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2916[/ATTACH]
Everything works like a charm, for the moment, I am debating on which ROM to flash. Right now, I am running "Fineless 1.5 Kernel" with "Strauzo - T428 Nexus sdk 2 alpha ROM".

Try my Finless 4.2.2 repack!

What this made me think of is acutally using a hard drive on my Imito MX1 linux stick instead of the flash memory chip... Tons of space and no doubt faster. It will already boot from a usb thumb drive, just never thought about an actual hard drive... love the idea. And yeah I get what you had to do to make it fit.. I enjoy soldering myself.

[r.t.saucedo]

may I ask where you got the case and powersupply ? I assume it was sold as one piece and really like what you did and think I may do something very similar. thanks

and awesome case great build