Overheating Mecool M8s Pro L and Pro + (and others ?) - Options ???

[P.X]

My Frankenstein's temperatures are getting better, probably because the Sekisui tape has bonded better.

20c idle, which is maybe 1c higher than ambient, and 42c streaming 1080p Acecast for a few hours, which is pretty demanding since it grabs chunks from hundreds of peers, assembles them, and serves them to VLC on the fly.

So my recommendation would be to forget resistors, buck/boost converters, thermal switches and fans, and soldering shit where you shouldn't. Ditch the ugly ass enclosure too.

Instead, grab a couple of small heatsinks for RAM and EMMC, and a hefty one with a 35-40mm base, and secure them with some Sekisui tape, or whatever, I don't think it matters that much.

Sekisui Tape is interesting - seems thin which is a good start.

See Post 2 ... 38 - 40mm heatsinks for a dollar or 2 are noted as the best passive options.

I am sure your magnificent blue HS is a leftover from an earlier project - cost about 18-20 USD when new ! now sold out.

Just taking off the lid would probably solve most peoples issues, but not everyone likes the open box look. It is the cheapest simple solution.

Removing the heatsink is probably more dangerous than soldering to the large USB pins on the underside (ask Ronnie about heatsink/box death )

Everyone to their own - must say I do love your Big Blue HS (Stegosaurous ? Mohawk ?? Franken-sink ??), but I also love my slimline 30mm fan and flat grill



e&oe

[Novato]

Hi, jebivetar, sorry for my inattention, I've seen your box before, now I understand the Frankenstein's, lol. I really think the cooling of your box should be due to this huge heatsink in the shape of cockatoo head. But anyway, it's still a very encouraging result.

[Novato]

My Frankenstein's temperatures are getting better, probably because the Sekisui tape has bonded better.

20c idle, which is maybe 1c higher than ambient, and 42c streaming 1080p Acecast for a few hours, which is pretty demanding since it grabs chunks from hundreds of peers, assembles them, and serves them to VLC on the fly.

So my recommendation would be to forget resistors, buck/boost converters, thermal switches and fans, and soldering shit where you shouldn't. Ditch the ugly ass enclosure too.

Instead, grab a couple of small heatsinks for RAM and EMMC, and a hefty one with a 35-40mm base, and secure them with some Sekisui tape, or whatever, I don't think it matters that much.

Wow, how amazing, will it just put the heatsinks in the ram and rom memory will give better cooling? Could you take a picture of your box so I can see how it got?

[jebivetar]

My Frankenstein's temperatures are getting better, probably because the Sekisui tape has bonded better.

20c idle, which is maybe 1c higher than ambient, and 42c streaming 1080p Acecast for a few hours, which is pretty demanding since it grabs chunks from hundreds of peers, assembles them, and serves them to VLC on the fly.

So my recommendation would be to forget resistors, buck/boost converters, thermal switches and fans, and soldering shit where you shouldn't. Ditch the ugly ass enclosure too.

Instead, grab a couple of small heatsinks for RAM and EMMC, and a hefty one with a 35-40mm base, and secure them with some Sekisui tape, or whatever, I don't think it matters that much.

[gianni281]

Most of the old timers on here can tell you the horror stories about these sicks/boxes from 4, 5,6 years ago. If you could go a day without several reboots or a dozen freezes, you had a good device. Thankfully, those days are gone, and these boxes are very stable now. Usually, the freezing issues are due to bad drivers that some apps install.

One other way to VERIFY that it is a hardware problem, install LibreELEC or CoreELEC and that will tell you for sure....... Those OS's NEVER freeze or reboot.

Thanks for the advice. I performed a factory reset last night and installed a few of my apps and I'm quietly optimistic that you nailed it as a software issue. After an hour or so of streaming and stress testing using stressCPU and the device reaching temps of 80c I suffered no reboots or crashes. I'm at work now but will do some more tests tonight before installing missing apps and testing each one to see whether one of them was causing the issue. Perhaps there's something odd with my setup the OTA update didn't like even though I cleared cache before I ran the update. Just wanted to say a big thank you for steering me in the right direction to diagnose the problem. Keeping my fingers crossed issue is solved as its the most stable the device has been since purchasing. Also a lesson learnt for the future to always do a factory reset when stability issues arise.

[clarkss12]

Thanks. I'll give that a go and keep my fingers crossed for a software issue and not a hardware failure.

Most of the old timers on here can tell you the horror stories about these sicks/boxes from 4, 5,6 years ago. If you could go a day without several reboots or a dozen freezes, you had a good device. Thankfully, those days are gone, and these boxes are very stable now. Usually, the freezing issues are due to bad drivers that some apps install.

One other way to VERIFY that it is a hardware problem, install LibreELEC or CoreELEC and that will tell you for sure....... Those OS's NEVER freeze or reboot.

[gianni281]

The easiest way to test if it is hardware of firmware problem, do a factory reset and start over......... You may experience an occasional freeze, but never a reboot....

Thanks. I'll give that a go and keep my fingers crossed for a software issue and not a hardware failure.

[clarkss12]

Hi clarkss12. I brought the box the beginning of December so it's coming up to 5 months old. It's running the latest ATV build from Magendanz. http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...android-tv-7-1. The unit is pretty unstable at the moment. It means streaming for an extended period of time without a reboot is near impossible.

The easiest way to test if it is hardware of firmware problem, do a factory reset and start over......... You may experience an occasional freeze, but never a reboot....

[gianni281]

How old is your device and is it running the stock firmware? What firmware version does it have and have you updated it?? I have an "L" that has a fan mod, and NO freezes or reboots. Also, have another "L" but don't use it often, but don't remember it rebooting or freezing, except on a rare occasion.

Hi clarkss12. I brought the box the beginning of December so it's coming up to 5 months old. It's running the latest ATV build from Magendanz. http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-...android-tv-7-1. The unit is pretty unstable at the moment. It means streaming for an extended period of time without a reboot is near impossible.

[clarkss12]

You guys really have worked out some nice solutions to the heat problem this otherwise great little device suffers from. I'm looking to mod mine too as recently I've been experiencing lots of random reboots in the middle of streaming and can't work out of its heat related or not. I ran StressCPU and the box randomly rebooted hitting 59c which isn't what I call running hot. Ran StressCPU again once the device came back up and hit 75c without a crash. Really annoying. Have you guys experienced issues or behaviour like this? You think it's an overheating issue or something more serious? Perhaps I should replace the power supply to see if that's the cause of the problem. Would love to hear your thoughts.

How old is your device and is it running the stock firmware? What firmware version does it have and have you updated it?? I have an "L" that has a fan mod, and NO freezes or reboots. Also, have another "L" but don't use it often, but don't remember it rebooting or freezing, except on a rare occasion.

[gianni281]

You guys really have worked out some nice solutions to the heat problem this otherwise great little device suffers from. I'm looking to mod mine too as recently I've been experiencing lots of random reboots in the middle of streaming and can't work out of its heat related or not. I ran StressCPU and the box randomly rebooted hitting 59c which isn't what I call running hot. Ran StressCPU again once the device came back up and hit 75c without a crash. Really annoying. Have you guys experienced issues or behaviour like this? You think it's an overheating issue or something more serious? Perhaps I should replace the power supply to see if that's the cause of the problem. Would love to hear your thoughts.

[jebivetar]

, it's impossible to put a lid there, is not it? But if you put it on the box will look like a cockatoo. lol

Not sure what you used exactly there but realized that it used two more sinks, was it in the memories chips? Does this yield any positive results in performance or speed of transfer? I wonder.

Still looking at his box it came to my head that the factories could create a hybrid plastic box on the bottom and aluminum on the top. With a smaller heatsink glued to the processor and a socket for the lid of the box that could be totally aluminum or hybrid.

Edit: Sorry for the translation errors, I had to leave some times.

No idea about the box, was never planning on keeping the original box - it's just too ugly I have a lot of stuff around the place just open like that and I've come to like the PCB aesthetic.

I put heatsinks on the RAM memory and the EMMC storage chips. I have found that RAM chips tend to get pretty hot since everything goes to RAM; the EMMC I'm not worried about since not much of what I do will be written but I have a lot of heatsinks so it can't hurt.

And old Popcorn model had a large heatsink on the MIPS CPU that was thermally connected to the metal case with pads.

[Novato]

It is not the most beautiful sight I have ever seen, but it is not something I can call the vision of hell, on the contrary it is more to the sight of the iceberg! hahahh. Forgive me the puns and jokes, it was great but very strange, it's impossible to put a lid there, is not it? But if you put it on the box will look like a cockatoo. lol

Okay, now let's face it, I really liked the end result, the low temperature. Not sure what you used exactly there but realized that it used two more sinks, was it in the memories chips? Does this yield any positive results in performance or speed of transfer? I wonder.

Still looking at his box it came to my head that the factories could create a hybrid plastic box on the bottom and aluminum on the top. With a smaller heatsink glued to the processor and a socket for the lid of the box that could be totally aluminum or hybrid.

Edit: Sorry for the translation errors, I had to leave some times.

[P.X]

What does everyone use to see the temperature?

I grabbed Aida64 from Play but am wondering if there's an app that can overlay the temperature on top of the display as I'm tweaking things.

CPU Temperature

[jebivetar]

What does everyone use to see the temperature?

I grabbed Aida64 from Play but am wondering if there's an app that can overlay the temperature on top of the display as I'm tweaking things.