Choosing a S905 / S905X / S905D / S905W / S912 box guide

    After reading many posts in this forum, in the kodi forum, in the minix forum ... finally I paid attention to @ wrxtasy recomendation and I bought a refurbished Minix U9-H from Amazon.

    As I received it I installed its version of libreelec in the internal memory, completely deleting android Devil

    The first tests were very positive being able to play 4K HDR remux files from wifi through an FTP sharing. Cool

    As I did the tests on a 1080p TV, I detected that the 4K videos played in 1080p there is no autoswitch of the refresh rate of the television. Do you think it is possible to adjust it? (video library is shared with my 4K and 1080 TV)

    On the other hand, the bluray ISO files, in spite of choosing directly the main title, are not reproduced. Is there some workaround for its correct reproduction?

    And finally a doubt. I use HDMI-CEC for navigation in Kodi. I have seen that if I turn off the TV, the minix is turned off but if I turn it on later, minix will not turn on and if turn on manually, there is a black screen. Is there any way to do it without using the minix command? or what is the correct way?


    Thank you.

    Um..I presume you have a correct HDMI (2.0 compliant) cable between Minix U9-H & TV and that your TV supports auto-switching?

    My cheapo s912 box works like a dream, auto-switches etc...unless there's a physical fault with your Minix U9-H ... you did say it's refurbished...🤔🤔

    Quote from wrxtasy

    There is no way to video hardware decode the "scene" video compression used with Anime releases. You have to use CPU software decoding. Only the S912's have enough raw CPU power to do that on AMLogic hardware.

    If you already have a S912 try disabling Kodi's dirty Regions thru an advancedsettings.xml file:

    HOW-TO:Modify dirty regions - Official Kodi Wiki

    And play some Anime.

    You are still very likely to need to mod and cool any cheap S912 box when software decoding 1080p Anime for extended periods. It will be the most demanding thing you can do on a S912 box.

    Yes I will make some DIY for cooling on the box.

    But I need a scnd box. I think that the Mecool BB2 Pro would be good. Ord any other recommends?

    Quote from atomizasser

    As I did the tests on a 1080p TV, I detected that the 4K videos played in 1080p there is no autoswitch of the refresh rate of the television. Do you think it is possible to adjust it?

    It's probable that your 1080p TV simply does not have the required refresh rates or resolutions to auto switch into.

    You can try to manually switch whatever refresh rates are available in Kodi Settings > System > Display

    Quote from atomizasser

    And finally a doubt. I use HDMI-CEC for navigation in Kodi. I have seen that if I turn off the TV, the minix is turned off but if I turn it on later, minix will not turn on and if turn on manually, there is a black screen. Is there any way to do it without using the minix command?

    Play around with Kodi Settings > System > Input > Peripherals > CEC adapter

    Your TV will not turn on the MINIX, you have to shut down the U9 which then shuts down the TV. And turn on the U9 which then turns on the TV (maybe).

    None of this is guaranteed to work because HDMI-CEC control is not a closely adhered to standard.

    Quote from wrxtasy

    Aaaah sorry!

    Yes you are correct that eMMC module includes the required adapter.

    Your original list has everything you need.

    I personally use a cheaper microSDHC > SD adapter that comes packaged some microSDHC cards these days instead of that Transcend TS-RDF5 K card reader.

    No problem ;)
    Thanks for your advice, I just ordered. Now the wait begins.

    Hello, i am user of TX3 Pro TV Box which have specs below

    Proc : Amlogic S905X

    RAM : 1GB

    ROM : 8GB

    and also i use 1TB WD Elements external HDD for my movie & TV collection.

    I have a problem, after i have played 2 files (movie or tv shows) when i want to play another file, My Box isn't load the film, i have to restart my box to solve the problem and it's very annoying.

    How to solve my problem?should i add more power for my HDD? or it's just my box flaw?

    Thanks.

    Quote from ErsFreezy

    Yes I will make some DIY for cooling on the box.

    But I need a scnd box. I think that the Mecool BB2 Pro would be good. Ord any other recommends?

    My VIM2 (S912) pooped out on two anima dvds yesterday at about the 2/3 mark. I have extra cooling which normally keeps CPU temps below 40c.

    So if anima is your main use maybe an Intel is required.

    Shoog

    Quote from Shoog

    My VIM2 (S912) pooped out on two anima dvds yesterday at about the 2/3 mark. I have extra cooling which normally keeps CPU temps below 40c.

    So if anima is your main use maybe an Intel is required.

    Shoog

    Are Intel CPUs better than Amlogic ones? I'd like to buy a tv box and I need to understand the basics. Thank you

    i series Intel CPU's will be better than AMLogic when it comes to video that needs to be Software decoded like the previously mentioned 1080p Anime (that has no hardware decode support on any platform). Intel devices will also be faster if they include high spec dual channel RAM and SSD storage. They will be better if you have a gigantic LE Kodi library, simply due to the SSD and higher CPU clock speed.

    Intel GPU's will also be a bit quicker when drawing the Kodi user interface.

    AMLogic devices run a bit slower vs Intel. They are low powered ARM mobile chipset based.

    BUT currently when running LibreELEC Kodi (on S905X S905D S912) they have better Hardware video decode support especially once you start talking about 4K HDR which Intel LibreELEC Kodi currently misses out on.

    The S912 series of devices are pretty quick when LibreELEC Kodi grabs data from faster internal eMMC storage. You can also Overclock the GPU and if you use a Wireless remote it's a pretty snappy LE Kodi combo.

    I'm having a random issue in defining my A95x S905x unit.

    On Amlogics own website every reference to a S905x has 2gb of ram. Mine has 1gb.

    The rest appears to be the same re:hardware. It looks like I have a P212 but with less RAM.

    Has anyone else found this anomaly yet? It doesn't make sense to me.

    Cheers,

    wrxtasy Thank you for your answer.

    I have another question for the forum

    In brief: I had a S905W box substantially working but with a problem: both in Android using MX Player and in LE using Kodi, on panning, the objects in the image seems to stop and go quickly. Is what it's called "microstuttering"? What's the cause of this flaw? Which box should I buy or what should I do to avoid that?

    About the use of the box: I will play local H265 1080p files on a usb stick with external srt subtitles. No Anime. Practically I have the same needings of this guy plus the green/pink problem because I have a 2009 Sony tv set:

    Recommend a "basic" media player for x265 Media? - Media players - Home theatre

    Display Spoiler

    I do not care about 4K

    I do not care about fancy databaseing stuff (like Kodi dose)

    I do not care about built in web browsers or other apps

    I do not care about games

    I do not care about streaming services.

    I do not even care about internet access.

    All I want is a media player, that....

    • I can plug a USB drive into

    • Can play the standard media files

    • Can play x265 (HEVC)

    • Has a simple file menu I can use to select the file to play

    • Has a remote.

    Preferably but not a deal breaker also...

    • Has 2 USB slots

    Can manage both external srt subtitles and internal ones in mkv containers

    If you want to know all the story:

    Display Spoiler

    My 2009 Sony tv set model KDL37S5600 have only the RGB space color. When it's connected by HDMI with an Amlogic SoC - that output a YCbCr signal as default option - every now and then happens the "green/pink screen" problem.

    I bought an S905W box (Maxesla MS II with Android os).The box had the RGB 8 bit output option in Screen Resolution settings, and

    it worked, solving the problem. Unfortunatly there were other problems.

    In spite the 64bit hardware, I could install only 32bit app and they didn't work well.

    For example Kodi didn't work properly: while watching videos, every time I tried to go back 10 sec. pushing left arrow on the remote, the screen went black for some seconds and the writings "HDMI 1080" showed on the screen, like the refresh rate was changing.

    VLC did the same thing and sometimes crashed. I could only have MX Player working.

    So I tried to install LE, and it worked well but I didn't know how to force RGB output. I find a post about it only after I've already returned the box.

    Greetings,

    I found an Amlogic Chip device with CI-Slot, but there is no information about running ELEC.

    Will the LE or ELEC system work on every Amlogic S912 chip?

    How do I know that before I buy it?

    Thank you very much for the answer already.

    Best regards…

    Quote from Leo'sSire

    I'm having a random issue in defining my A95x S905x unit.

    On Amlogics own website every reference to a S905x has 2gb of ram. Mine has 1gb.

    The rest appears to be the same re:hardware. It looks like I have a P212 but with less RAM.

    Has anyone else found this anomaly yet? It doesn't make sense to me.

    Cheers,

    I have a Nexbox A95x-B7N (there is a small Sticker on the bottom of the box) with 1 Gig RAM and 8Gig eMMC. It works flawlessly with kszaq's builds (now discontinued) ie 8.2.3.1 and the gxl_p212_1G device tree.

    How would I go about overclocking the Odroid C2, and what would be considered "safe" values if I did?

    Edit: I removed the J1 jumper, and the temperature of the board decreased dramatically. The playback performance (skipping etc.) as well as the speed at which the sound kicks in, improved considerably.

    Edited once, last by flappy81 (June 8, 2018 at 6:45 PM).

    Quote from ErsFreezy

    Have anyone a TX92 or Mecool BB2 Pro with LE in internal?

    When yes, how it is? Any problems?

    I have a TX92 and it has been working great for a couple months now. Plays back 4k HDR content without issues. I did install LE on the internal memory.