Monday, February 27, 2012

Flashing Android TV box

Thing you should know before you start :
1- Do it at your own risk
2- There are many type of Boxes, this one is the one 4 (host) USB ports see the picture up
3- You may consider flashing the firmware using SD card method ( I have not tried it) see hotlink subject on upgrading the G-Box but use the inner (small) reset button.
4- You will lose the status led ( wont work after flashing)




Now how to flash “The One with Four USB”




1- Open screws under the little protectors after peeling them away





2- Take the bottom cover off

3- Undo more fore screws holding the PCB board

4- Take the board off ( be Careful not to damage the WLAN adaptor as its been held to outer case by antenna cable

5- When flipping the board you will see:

a. Four male connector for the slave (guest) mode USB as in the picture below (colours added to show the correct order for connecting the 4 pin USB connector)
b. A small reset button to get the device into flashing mode as in the picture below
6- You will need a USB A to 4 Pin USB like the one in the picture below ( or make your own)






7- Connect your computer to the box with the internal USB

8- Down load the firmware from:
g-box.zip
this provided by hotlink

9- Download and unpack Rockchip Flasher tool from
http://arctablet.com/assets/tools/Firmware/Rockchip_CPU_based/Rockchip_Batch_Tool_v1.4.zip?6949c1

10- Power up your box

11- Execute the flashing tool RKBatchTool.exe on your computer
On Windows Vista or Windows Seven, you will have to Right Click on the program and select Run as Administrator

12- You need to put the box in recovery mode to download the firmware to the box with Rockchip tool.

13- On the box, push the both reset buttons, release the big reset one and keep the inner (small) reset button pressed for about 5 ~ 10 seconds. Now you computer should pick on the box and trying to install the driver.

14- Install the drivers on the computer ( you will find the driver inside the unpacked Rockchip Flasher tool)

15- The flashing tool should display a green square around the number 1 in the lower left area of the Windows application. (if not disconnect the USB and reconnect)



16- Select the firmware file to flash using the button in the top right area of the application. Select the update.img file that you have downloaded. 

17- Push the Upgrade button to transfer the selected firmware to the box..

18- The firmware will be copied to the Box, a progression counter will go from 0% to 100% on this step for several times, followed by a verification.
19- You are done, let the Box reboot and update itself (you can see the progress on your TV if connected). It should take a few minutes for the flash process to finish.





Android 2.3 Version Upgrade Guide


Remark: This upgrade reply on SPI version, please make sure your android 2.2
device is with the 20110907 SPI file, SPI consists of Uboot and Recovery version,
please go to Setting----about device, and see if the version number is as follows:
Uboot version is V1.3.5 20110906, recovery version is 1.2.9 20110907
If yes, please go to next step to upgrade SPI from 20110907 to 20111102.
A:SPI upgrade
1, download SPI from following link, no need distinguish different RAM to update like
as android 2.2, every Geniatech Enjoy TV Box model can use this SPI for android 2.3
update.
http://www.geniatech.com/down-eng/Androidtvbox/update_spi20111102.zip
2, save to SD card and rename to update.img, please don’t unzip the file,
3, make sure don’t connect any external USB disk or SD card on the box before next
step, please press the “reset” button on the bottom of box for a while, and plug in
the power adaptor,then you can enter the recovery mode(update failed screen
since the SD card is NOT inserted).

4, Then plug in SD card with SPI file into Android box, and use up and down buttons
of (motion or IR) remote control or you could connect a USB keyboard to Android
box to choose 3
rd
option ”3.apply SD card update.zip” to update SPI.5, After finished, you will get below screen, note that it is a correct image, then take
SD card out of box and pug out power adapter.


6, you have finished new SPI upgrade, now you could move to next step for
firmware upgrade
B . Firmware upgrade:
1, Download the firmware upgrading files from following link:
http://www.geniatech.com/down-eng/Androidtvbox/update20111102.zip
Every Geniatech Enjoy TV Box model can use this software for android 2.3 update.
2, save file to SD card and rename it to “update.img”, this action would replace the
SPI file you saved before, still don’t unzip it.
3, Plug SD card with the firmware to the box first,  then, press the “reset” button
and hold it, then plug in power adapter, until you get “recovery mode” again and
release the button. It will start updating firmware and rebooting automatically after
upgrade
4.Go to setting->about device and check the UBOOT version is 20111102,
recovery version is 20111101, kernel version is 20111102, Build number is
20111102.
5, (optional)
If you have digital TV stick for Android TV box from Geniatech, you could install our
new HiDTV apk for android2.3, version number is 1.8.5
http://www.geniatech.com/down-eng/Androidtvbox/HiDTV1.8.5.zip
Improved points:
1) Supporting IR remote
2) Adding subtitle function3) Adding the record folder for saving recorded video, supports SD card, USB disk
and USB HDD.
4) Adding aspect ratio of video
5) Adding channel favorit




X1 MINI Android TV BOX 4GB Telechip 8902 4GB HDMI 1080P Android 2.3 Black




Details

Android TV/Internet Box Google TV Android 2.2 Review

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Android TV Set Top Box - Not Google TV

Hama Android TV Box

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Android tv box Useful Tips

Summary of useful tips
1.
To switch Home screens: There are multiple Home screens. The small dots at the lower left and right of the
Home screen indicate which screen youre viewing. Press the small dots to view the extensions to the Home
screen which provide more space for widgets, shortcuts, and other items.
2.
To switch applications: Press & hold the Home button. A small window opens, with icons of applications that
youve used recently. Click an icon to open its application. Or press Back to return to the current application.
3. 
To switch language input methods: Press & hold the left corner of the soft keyboard. 
4. 
To open the Notifications panel: The Status bar appears at the top of every screen. It displays icons indicating
that youve received notifications (on the left) and icons indicating the phones status (on the right), along with the
current time. To open the Notifications panel, drag the Status bar down from the top of the screen. On the Home
screen, you can also press Menu and click Notifications. 
5. 
Working with Home screen: 
To add an item to the Home screen: Press Menu and click Add.

To drag an item from the Launcher to the Home screen: Click & hold the item you want to move, until it
vibrates. Dont lift your finger. The system automatically comes back to the Home screen and the item
displays on the Home screen. Drag the item to where you want it, and then lift your finger.

To move an item on the Home screen: Click & hold the item you want to move, until it vibrates. Dont lift
your finger. Drag the item to a new location on the screen. Pause at the edge of the screen to drag the item
onto another Home screen pane. When the item is where you want it, lift your finger.
24


To remove an item from the Home screen: Click & hold the item you want to remove, until it vibrates.
Dont lift your finger. The Launcher icon changes to a Trash Can icon. Drag the item to the Trash Can icon.
When the icon turns red, lift your finger.
6.
Working with Menus: There are two kinds of Android menus: options menus and context menus.

Options menus contain tools that apply to the activities of the current screen or application, not to any
specific item on the screen. You open options menus by pressing the Menu button. Not all screens have
options menus; if you press Menu on a screen that has no options menu, nothing happens.

Context menus contain tools that apply to a specific item on the screen. You open a context menu by
clicking & holding an item on the screen. Not all items have context menus. If you click & hold an item that
has no context menu, nothing happens.