Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.8 ROM

[MinixCrazy]

In my ROM I give you the original build.prop. Just rename build.prop to build.old and rename build.orig to build.prop. Reboot and Viola! Back to the Minix build.prop!

Why does Minix do this crap trying to make open source stuff closed?
Don't they know we Dev's will fix that crap and take it out!

Bob

Bob, is that something you can do with a script and make it toggle from settings?

I can say at this point the best firmware build is Bob's kernel 1080_cpu1704h_gpustock600_ddr720 makes my box rock solid perfect for a media hub running Lewy's justxbmcv4.apk, everything works, well I guess with the exception of the PS3 remote which I don't use...

Frank

[coolio2004]

For smooth 1080p playback you need at least a "de-underclocked" kernel. Note that I'm not saying "overclocked". It's just that the stock MINIX kernels underclock particularly the DDR so much that it affects GPU performance. Through extensive testing we have found out that the following kernel parameters are sufficient for playing back even the most difficult FullHD videos smoothly:

• The kernel absolutely needs to include the vsync video fix from Sam321
• CPU speed bottom limited to 1200MHz (a kernel with 1200/1608/1800MHz seems to be the best one)
• GPU speed bottom limited to 400MHz (a kernel with 400/600MHz is enough. 798MHz is not really needed)
• Minimum DDR speed 667 (i.e. 1334MHz) (720/1440MHz is OK too, but not really necessary)

Then you need a version of XBMC which supports 'libstagefright'-based h/w decoding. Currently the best ones are Lewy's 'justXBMC' and the SPMC for OUYA.

In addition to these XBMC versions, both MX Player and, especially, the RockChip stock video player, despite its spartanness, play 1080p MKVs beautifully.

For multi-channel audio playback with XBMC you'll also need a ROM which includes the patched libmedia library. Also the particular XBMC build you'll be using needs to support libmedia.

Just my €0,02.

Hi Molle, thanx for the clear explanation. The only way for me to play 1080 p content smoothly from my NAS Qnap within XBMC is bottom limited speed cpu 1608. I tested it in justxbmc 1.2.2 with Performance settings. I dont like xbmc as a launcher so how to compile a kernel-based on 007e- with at least bottom limited speed cpu 1608? Thanx so lot.
Would be great to have Performance settings in Finless ROM 1.8 to choose speed.

[Finless]

Bob, is that something you can do with a script and make it toggle from settings?

Frank

Naaa MUCH easier is THIS!

Here is a Minix XBMC that will run on my Finless ROMs. I took out the build.prop model check! Nothing more!


APK -> Minix XBMC APP that works on Finless ROMs (53 megs)

So now you get my build.prop tweaks for the Google Play compatibility AND Minix XBMC APP will now run.

Sorry Minix but people like my ROMs better then stock so this is a must for people to be happy.

FYI folks, don't expect this to work on anything other than the X7. It also has tweaks specific to X7 hardware, library files, or something like that. I tried it on my CX-919 and it wont run. It passes the model check but never opens (it hangs with a black screen).

Enjoy,
Bob

[benster1]

Re: NEW - Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.8 ROM

Naaa MUCH easier is THIS!

Here is a Minix XBMC that will run on my Finless ROMs. I took out the build.prop model check! Nothing more!


APK -> Minix XBMC APP that works on Finless ROMs (53 megs)

So now you get my build.prop tweaks for the Google Play compatibility AND Minix XBMC APP will now run.

Sorry Minix but people like my ROMs better then stock so this is a must for people to be happy.

FYI folks, don't expect this to work on anything other than the X7. It also has tweaks specific to X7 hardware, library files, or something like that. I tried it on my CX-919 and it wont run. It passes the model check but never opens (it hangs with a black screen).

Enjoy,
Bob

Thanks bob

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[MinixCrazy]

Naaa MUCH easier is THIS!

Here is a Minix XBMC that will run on my Finless ROMs. I took out the build.prop model check! Nothing more!

Enjoy,
Bob

Excellent, Thank you Sir! I will test this evening!

Frank

[Finless]

OK I need help this time

OK folks, believe it or not I have never used XBMC. Just to busy with other stuff to play with it.

So I installed this thing. Why are all scripts giving me an error?
I click weather and it says SCRIPT ERROR.
I install a video add-on like best of youtube or CNN news and when I click it "script error"

What the heck am I doing wrong?

Bob

[MinixCrazy]

If your not connected to the internet it will do that or if updates haven't been done... They should work as the Minix beta is based on Frodo 12.4... I have a box here at work so Ill check at lunch...

Frank

[Finless]

OK hang on guys.... it appears Minix put some other checks in this XBMC.

The one I made does not work. It passes the initial check of build.prop but then every add-on fails with a script error!

No problem.... I will find the other checks.

Stay tuned for an updated Minix XBMC that will work on my ROMs.

Bob

[sbarriba]

For smooth 1080p playback you need at least a "de-underclocked" kernel. Note that I'm not saying "overclocked". It's just that the stock MINIX kernels underclock particularly the DDR so much that it affects GPU performance. Through extensive testing we have found out that the following kernel parameters are sufficient for playing back even the most difficult FullHD videos smoothly:

• The kernel absolutely needs to include the vsync video fix from Sam321
• CPU speed bottom limited to 1200MHz (a kernel with 1200/1608/1800MHz seems to be the best one)
• GPU speed bottom limited to 400MHz (a kernel with 400/600MHz is enough. 798MHz is not really needed)
• Minimum DDR speed 667 (i.e. 1334MHz) (720/1440MHz is OK too, but not really necessary)

Then you need a version of XBMC which supports 'libstagefright'-based h/w decoding. Currently the best ones are Lewy's 'justXBMC' and the SPMC for OUYA.

In addition to these XBMC versions, both MX Player and, especially, the RockChip stock video player, despite its spartanness, play 1080p MKVs beautifully.

For multi-channel audio playback with XBMC you'll also need a ROM which includes the patched libmedia library. Also the particular XBMC build you'll be using needs to support libmedia.

Firstly thanks to killerdude - that combination of lewys justXBMC + the Finless 1.8 1.8Ghz CPU, 600Mhz GPU and 800Mhz DDR3 kernel gets much closer to 1080p mkvs playing consistently. I'm not quite there but I'll resist hijacking the thread with other pain points.

Thank you Molle for the summary of key must-haves. As a new X7 owner right now I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. Don't get me wrong its great to see everyone so active on this platform.

My naive summary of your post Molle is that the dimensions to true 1080p playback include:

• kernel
• kernel CPU / GPU / RAM settings
• ROM
• Video Player??

In the two weeks since playing with the X7 I've discovered:

• kernel or ROM
  • Minix 007 & 007e, Finless 1.7 & 1.8, justXBMC 1.2.1 & 1.2.2 etc
• kernel CPU / GPU / RAM
  • Finless 1.8 includes 16
• Video Player / Browser
  • justXBMC, MX Player, Minix XBMC, etc

At a simple level I'm interested in the recommended best combination for smooth 1080p & and of course appreciate each has their own preference etc in terms of XBMC et al. It would be useful to have a wiki page which confirms which respective software elements include the required fixes you mention.

I'm now using Finless 1.8 kernel (1.8Ghz CPU, 600Mhz GPU and 800Mhz DDR3) with justXBMC 1.2.1, is that a good base?

Thanks in advance.

[mcln27]

I've installed the Finless 1.7 OC'd firmware to my new X7. I plan to try out the 1.8.

Before doing that I wanted to confirm with the group what encoding / player / connection method others have used to achieve 'smooth' 1080p video playback. I'm struggling.

I've tried various options including:
- Wifi or fixed cable
- SMB or NFS
- Archos player / justXBMC
- different display settings in terms of refresh rate etc

I've been unable to get my OC'd X7 to play a ripped blue ray in .mkv format without major stuttering ie. it's not acceptable for viewing.

If it helps the typical encoding (as per File Info from Archos) is:
H.264 1920x1080 26693kb/s 23fps ....typically 20GB to 30GB file size.

If I play lower res movies of the encoding below they are better but still not perfect
MPEG-2 720x576 6940kb/s 25fps / AC3

I really don't want to re-encode and I'd hoped the Minix X7 would replace my bulky HTPC for media consumption.


Question 1: are others playing similar mkvs successfully?
Question 2: if so, any suggestions where I'm going wrong / what combination of the above are you using?

All suggestions welcome, and thanks to Finless for a much snappier experience over the shipped firmware I started with.

Looking good Bob The 1.7 was no use to me so i switched back to 1.6
Just flashed 1.8 and looking good so far the video's that i could not play anymore because of out of sync and stutter problems with 1.7 are playing again so thanx man for your great work

I wil test this weekend the stability

Greeting Mcln27

[Vishwa Somayaji]

OK hang on guys.... it appears Minix put some other checks in this XBMC.

The one I made does not work. It passes the initial check of build.prop but then every add-on fails with a script error!

No problem.... I will find the other checks.

Stay tuned for an updated Minix XBMC that will work on my ROMs.

Bob

This is just my thought--feel free to ignore. As a programmer, I know you take it as a challenge to fix that XBMC. But, there are some really good xbmc apks already available from Lewy, ouya and spmc version from Stafstrom etc. Are there any special virtues of this minix xbmc version(except that it is minix). Also, it is not even a final version. Is it really worth your time? Just as you fix it they might release the Beta-2 version. Your considerable skills are more productive in the Rom+kernel development.

[benster1]

Re: NEW - Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.8 ROM

OK hang on guys.... it appears Minix put some other checks in this XBMC.

The one I made does not work. It passes the initial check of build.prop but then every add-on fails with a script error!

No problem.... I will find the other checks.

Stay tuned for an updated Minix XBMC that will work on my ROMs.

Bob

Got the hubwizard script errors also.
Cant install nothing. With spoofed as an x7 its fine.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Finless]

So it appears I cannot take apart and build XBMC. If I do that and do nothing to modify it, I run into the script errors. It appears XBMC is checking the APK signature and without know how to sign my new APK, I cannot modify it.

I am no APK master here. Maybe lewy knows how to sign XBMC so it will work?

Bob

[benster1]

Re: NEW - Minix Neo X7 - Finless 1.8 ROM

So it appears I cannot take apart and build XBMC. If I do that and do nothing to modify it, I run into the script errors. It appears XBMC is checking the APK signature and without know how to sign my new APK, I cannot modify it.

I am no APK master here. Maybe lewy knows how to sign XBMC so it will work?

Bob

Well why not download all your usual apps and then spoof it back to an x7. And let it an x7. All the apps work just fine once downloaded.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[Finless]

Well why not download all your usual apps and then spoof it back to an x7. And let it an x7. All the apps work just fine once downloaded.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

I will work on a settings that allows build.prop switch.

I give up on cracking the APK for now even though it is a challenge

Bob