X96 Mini TV Box Amlogic S905W + Android 7.1.2 + Quad-core Cortex-A53 + 4K VP9 H.265

[xanadu89897]

I am yet to receive my X96 mini. But before I start, I have few questions.@

1. From your post, I understand that Meecool M8S Pro W ROM are 100% compatible with X96 mini. I mean everything, i.e. remote, wifi etc, start working out of box with this Meecool rom. Is it correct?@

2. Can I flash img file directly with twrp? If no, can you give me zip version of ROM?@

3. Your referred link not working. Can you give me link on google drive, or suggest any other link?

To answer your questions:

1) No, it's not 100% compatible as many people would think. Due to safety features applied on the Mecool M8S Pro W ROMs which has the device signatures, the flash process will abort as soon as it detect when you attempt to flash your X96 Mini box with them.Whether you're trying to update the ZIP file or use the burning tool, once you load the Mecool ROMs it'll detect that your device is X96 Mini and won't let you proceed.

2) Use the official version of the ROM in ZIP to update your device.It's the safest because it's no guarantee your PC will be able to detect your device. The Amlogic Worldcup drivers is not entirely reliable. Booting into recovery using the pin on the reset button inside the A/V port in your X96 Mini is the most reliable way unless you hardbrick your device to the extend that it even refuses to turn ON.

3) That bogus guy already missing with no reply. Suspect he is some dupe account who is trying to get people to brick their devices by trying those ROMs themselves . You see, the ROM developer contributing to the open source ROMs here only writes them for Mecool products if you noticed. Would you think his company would allow those ROMs to be used/applied to competing rival brands with same chipsets? Go figure.
You cannot simply cross flash a device with another brand even though they have similar hardware design/chipset without modifying the device's signatures in the source codes.

Anyway I ask you to think carefully and read the instructions properly before you commit the same mistake as me of bricking my X96 Mini by just updating the root binary files requested by SuperSU.

Here is the latest official ROM for the X96 Mini(021217) in ZIP format.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AMj2sYBiFBYlTYA&cid=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8&id=D6D3BC1471ABEFC8%21618

Boot into the recovery menu by using the reset button inside the AV port and holding it down with a pin before you turn the device ON. Wait for the device to boot into the recovery menu then let go.
If you're updating or trying to unbrick your device, clear your data/factory reset first then only proceed to update ZIP, select the right zip file on your SD card/USB thumb drive. Wait for it to complete. Then finally boot into SYSTEM. You should recover your device.

Once you're in, be sure to take note. YOU NO LONGER need to ROOT your device as it is already fully rooted with the latest binary files. You can install a ROOT Manager such as SuperSU or Magisk Manager to manage your APPs or you can choose to leave it as all ROOT requests by apps is granted transparently without prompts(I choose this method).

NEVER boot into recovery and install the root binaries via ZIP updates as you normally do with Pre-Rooted devices.It is already done in this ZIP update.

[RmatriX1218]

Anyone looking for a custom rom for this box.... I managed to flash the Meecool M8S Pro W custom rom by Magendanz (all credit goes to him, I'm just sharing what I managed to accomplish). Its an awesome rom based on the Nexus Player so it comes equipped with the Android TV interface. I highly recommend trying it out! The setup is miles ahead of what the box is equipped with by default. The .IMG file has to be flashed with the Amlogic USB Tool. The version I used was dated 12/1/2017 and listed as the "TV-Stock" variant. Although I'm sure the other two files would work as well. Also, after flashing the firmware the stock recovery is replaced with a working version of TWRP 3.1.1 so no need to boot from USB every time you want to use TWRP. I also flashed Magisk 14 and Xposed System-less 88.2 SDK 25 and both are also working. Magisk is equipped with a tool that allows you to hide root access from individual apps as opposed to disabling root altogether. tHE FIRMWARE CAN BE FOUND HERE....

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...C979F57D71A88A

I am yet to receive my X96 mini. But before I start, I have few questions.@

1. From your post, I understand that Meecool M8S Pro W ROM are 100% compatible with X96 mini. I mean everything, i.e. remote, wifi etc, start working out of box with this Meecool rom. Is it correct?@

2. Can I flash img file directly with twrp? If no, can you give me zip version of ROM?@

3. Your referred link not working. Can you give me link on google drive, or suggest any other link?

[xanadu89897]

Hello Everyone.

New member, longtime android box lover. I have been setting up x96 mini boxes in Canada using the custom firmware found in this thread, dated oct 9 2017, then used the wirless update app to update to the firmware dated dec 2 2017. Today I noticed wireless update app claimed that oct 9 2017 version was "up to date", so i used the backup restore function to manually update using the p281-ota-root.zip file also found in this thread. Anyone know why "wireless update" app didnt do its thing?

I'm kinda of a half way skilled noob with the x96 mini box so any suggestions would be great

Hi I'm in the same situation as you, but my X96 Mini bricked because of that reckless and dumb move of updating the SuperSU binaries via NORMAL method. Now it can't get passed the initial startup flash screen.The only way to revive my device now is via recovery menu.

My only best available option is via the latest firmware zip update which I can't seem to find anywhere.Planning to use a thumb drive with it. The developer only uploaded the latest firmware on Baidu Cloud drive which is not working in my country and even so it's a image file that requires a burner tool on your PC to do it.

Anyone who can upload the correct update-ZIP for this device to help revive a bricked X96 via recovery menu update?

Also another question, is the Yandex drive SD zip file link a few pages back still online? I tried accessing the link, the file is no longer available.

[Infradata-IT]

Hello Everyone.

New member, longtime android box lover. I have been setting up x96 mini boxes in Canada using the custom firmware found in this thread, dated oct 9 2017, then used the wirless update app to update to the firmware dated dec 2 2017. Today I noticed wireless update app claimed that oct 9 2017 version was "up to date", so i used the backup restore function to manually update using the p281-ota-root.zip file also found in this thread. Anyone know why "wireless update" app didnt do its thing?

I'm kinda of a half way skilled noob with the x96 mini box so any suggestions would be great

[trebor]

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[klopka1341]

How can i go to experimental features on this box?

[jiangsai0703]

New Firmware

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905x/others-aml-s905x/firmware-roms-tools-bx/691609-x96-mini-905w-1gb-and-2gb-latest-firmware?p=692501#post692501

@trebar Thx,

[trebor]

New Firmware

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s905x/others-aml-s905x/firmware-roms-tools-bx/691609-x96-mini-905w-1gb-and-2gb-latest-firmware?p=692501#post692501

[hjpca]

X96 mini - 20171009

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzLv8XuLYMpRdXpRMDRZMVZoNUk/view

thank you

[duboisbrian]

anybody ....??

does this box not have standby ?
why does it turn the box off when just tapping the power button?
what is the point of holding the power buttonf ro a few second to get into the secret power mode to turn off the box, if pressing the power button always turns off the box ?

[BarniPro]

Anyone looking for a custom rom for this box.... I managed to flash the Meecool M8S Pro W custom rom by Magendanz (all credit goes to him, I'm just sharing what I managed to accomplish). Its an awesome rom based on the Nexus Player so it comes equipped with the Android TV interface. I highly recommend trying it out! The setup is miles ahead of what the box is equipped with by default. The .IMG file has to be flashed with the Amlogic USB Tool. The version I used was dated 12/1/2017 and listed as the "TV-Stock" variant. Although I'm sure the other two files would work as well. Also, after flashing the firmware the stock recovery is replaced with a working version of TWRP 3.1.1 so no need to boot from USB every time you want to use TWRP. I also flashed Magisk 14 and Xposed System-less 88.2 SDK 25 and both are also working. Magisk is equipped with a tool that allows you to hide root access from individual apps as opposed to disabling root altogether. tHE FIRMWARE CAN BE FOUND HERE....

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...C979F57D71A88A

Hey,

I would also like to install this rom, but onedrive says it is no longer available. Did you find this rom here? http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...android-tv-7-1

Because you said you installed a Meecool M8S Pro W custom rom, however, this is for the Meecool M8S Pro (no W in the naming at the end), so I'm a bit hesitant.

Either way, could you please tell me if this is the rom I am looking for, or if it is not, could you provide a link for the rom you installed?

Thanks in advance!

[duboisbrian]

does this box not have standby ?
why does it turn the box off when just tapping the power button?
what is the point of holding the power buttonf ro a few second to get into the secret power mode to turn off the box, if pressing the power button always turns off the box ?

[klopka1341]

I have received an wireless update but unable to install it as it's says root has been detected any one knows any solution how can i install that wireless update?

i have the same problem exactly,any solution?

[adg]

No, you don't need a superuser program with this firmware. The su binary is present in /system/bin and all root requests are granted by default so there is no need to have one unless you would like to have more control over the privilege requests of certain programs.

It took me 2 days to realize what exactly was going on because I've never come across an Android firmware which had the ability to just grant root permission by default. I was under the impression that root access could only be achieved with a combination of an su binary in a system path along with a superuser app to delegate root access. If you want to use SuperSU, the only method I managed to get to work was by just downloading SuperSU from the play store and NOT updating the SU Binary when SuperSU starts up each time. If you update the binary you will end up with a boot loop after restarting the box. If you just ignore the update request each time SuperSU starts, then it will be able to handle the privilege requests but I have found issues with some apps where they fail to detect root. If I don't use a superuser app then those apps that had issues will work fine. The only solution I've managed to come up with for having root and a normal functioning superuser app was to install Kingroot which will report they system as being rooted with issues, then click fix root and use KingUser from that point.

In the end I just decided to reset the device and use it without a superuser app and Its been flawless the entire time. Also, I have the 1GB/8GB variant and I found that if I enable th option to disable background processes from developer options and set the process limit option to 0 then the system performs flawlessly... I took it a step further by using a 64 GB usb drive and adopting 80% of the storage to use as internal storage (done with Root Essentials app from PlayStore) and then I used the app "Swapper" to create a 2GB swap file with the remaining 20% of the USB storage and now this damn thing is performing like its a top of the line product. I highly recommend everyone to try it out if you're having performance issues.!

Hi Jsassu20,

I tried to follow your advice to "disable background processes from developer options and set the process limit option to 0", but every time I reboot, the setting goes back to the original "standard" setting. Any advice?

[murtuza321]

I have received an wireless update but unable to install it as it's says root has been detected any one knows any solution how can i install that wireless update?