Kodi Community Forum

Hi everyone. I have recently bought a Genaitech/Mygica ATV520 Android set top TV box and thought I'd start a thread here re: my experiences here. PLEASE - other owners please chime in!

I have run this with both the Genaitech firmware and the Mygica firmware, using the built in XBMC version that comes preinstalled with the FW.

Genaitech FW:
I obtained from: http://www.geniatech.com/news/mx-atv1200...uction.asp
Under "Settings:About":
Android Ver:4.1.2
uboot ver: 20130115
Recovery Ver: 20130115
Kernel #3.0.8
Build #:1.03.04MX_01 20130115

MyGica FW:
I obtained from: http://www.mygica-forum.de/board1-info/f...00-atv520/
Under "Settings:About":
Android Ver:4.1.2
uboot ver: 20130510
Recovery Ver: 20130510
Kernel #3.0.8
Build #:1.03.04MX 20130506

The good:
- The box is fast and seems to be stable. I have only had it for a limited time, so haven't tested it too much yet. XBMC, youtube etc load and run fast. Have not yet tested any XBMC video playback. Angry birds Free is preinstalled, works as expected, ha! This goes for both builds.

The bad: (*see my next comment below)
- Wifi is flaky (disconnects every few seconds) on BOTH FW builds. Ethernet has not been tested but other users here say that it works excellently. Note on the Pivos at least one person is saying *wired* is flaky: (http://www.pivosforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=3662) Flaky wifi is a known issue on these boxes, as well as the Pivos DIOS (see http://www.pivosforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3744).

A possible WIFI fix from Pivos users, repositioning the internal wifi antenna:
see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQysHr8mcJg
and here http://www.pivosforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=874


To Do:
- Will actually play some videos on this thing in the near future and post back results. Thus far WIFI seems to be sole issue.
- Will attempt the wifi antenna reposition and report back my findings.
- Can anyone confirm if Pivos FW files can be used on this box? I am not sure yet, and I don't want to brick it..
- When I get a second I'm going to donate some $ to the XBMC devs, since I didn't end up going with an actual Pivos unit, and I have been benefitting from this great software for years now. Great job guys and gals!


Saddie
Canada

PS here is a link to XBMCHub's forum, for people wanting to cross reference:

hxxp://www.xbmchub.com/forums/xbmc-android-discussion/11826-mygica-atv520-great.html

So I have attempted the WIFI fix (youtube etc link above) and it has absolutely made a huge difference in the wifi reception. When I opened my mygica, the wifi antenna was already "at the front" of the box - strange, because as I said above my wifi was crap.. but I cleaned the connector and reseated the wifi antenna connection (unplug and plug back in), and moved the antenna slightly to the centre of the box (perhaps only a centimetre as the antenna cable is very short) and it has made a *huge* difference. Repeat: my wifi connection went from unusable to reliable. Before, I was unable to watch any youtube videos (it would time out every time) but now I am able to stream a 1080p trailer with no issues. This is using both the Genaitech and the Mygica FW linked above. I am now running the Mygica FYI.

For others looking to open their boxes, I recommend doing the full reseating of the wifi antenna cable, not just moving it in the case, as I don't think mine had the best connection to the board when I popped it off for the first time. I have attached pictures of the insides for those who are interested

Please anyone else doing this stuff please report back with your findings...

Saddie
Canada

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--kEZIy...sp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--kEZIy...sp=sharing[/img]

This one is BEFORE I moved the antenna a bit into the centre:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--kEZIy...sp=sharing

Well I have taken some more time to test this box out, and it has successfully streamed the "Big Buck Bunny" video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31TNARtut0s using the android Youtube app, with no issues. It stopped to buffer perhaps 3 times for about 5 seconds during that 10min clip, however this was over a mediocre wireless connection through a poor ADSL line. No issues with playback noted though.

I am using the standard 'built in' build of XBMC Frodo that comes with the stock Mygica firmware.

XBMC has played a 720p rip off of my external USB HD with no concerns, other than fast forward and reverse scanning seem to freeze the app. I think I remember another thread somewhere mentioning this as being a known issue with some builds?

My usage needs are low, and I simply have this little box plugged into my TV via HDMI - no fancy audio pass through etc, but I must say, for my extremely basic set up, this device seems to do everything I need with no problems *so* many others are having with other devices. Much like my apple TV 1, but faster. Whether it will stay stable over time remains to be seen.

The only limitation thus far for me is the inability to flash any linux FW onto this device, which is currently impossible? Beyond that I'd recommend it. Will post back with any bugs I come across in the future.

saddie

(2013-08-07, 21:08)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]So I have attempted the WIFI fix (youtube etc link above) and it has absolutely made a huge difference in the wifi reception. When I opened my mygica, the wifi antenna was already "at the front" of the box - strange, because as I said above my wifi was crap.. but I cleaned the connector and reseated the wifi antenna connection (unplug and plug back in), and moved the antenna slightly to the centre of the box (perhaps only a centimetre as the antenna cable is very short) and it has made a *huge* difference.

Thanks I'm looking forward to try this, even if i can't figure how a simple replug could make so much difference

It's called reseating the plug, and is a very common first thing to try when fixing stuff. Connectors can get dislodged, esp with laptops and mobile phones. I also cleaned the connectors with a little drop of rubbing alcohol, let it dry etc bc finger oil can negatively affect signal. Moving the antenna as far as possible away from the capacitors on the board is what makes a big difference too. Read the comments on that YouTube video and other page and you'll see lots of pivos users saying it's made a big difference too. It's the little things my friend...

Ciquta please post your results back here bc I'd be very interested in reading them..

I can also confirm that this box successfully played the 1920x1080 h264 big buck bunny file from my usb key with no issues. I wasn't able to 'press O' to get the framerate etc bc I don't have a usb keyboard.

Fast forward using the time line and a mouse works, but pressing the ff rw buttons instantly freezes entire app, requires a hard reset. Ciquta can you repeat this?

I was having some issues playing any 1080 files that had DTS or Dolby as the receiver I was initially using did not have any HDMI inputs and I was just using optical out from my TV. After getting a new Receiver and having the EnjoyTv plugged directly into that really improved the playback performance of 5.1 audio files.

Have not really played with the wireless internet as my whole house is wired and I just assume you will always get better performance from a direct connection.

I am using the original firmware that came with the unit and only upgraded to Frodo 12.2 .. think it was shipped with 12.0?

It doesn't touch my Alienware X51 that is in my man cave but I have recently moved it into the living room to replace my AppleTv 2 as I like being able to play 1080 files and use Android from there every once in a while.

So far the EnjoyTv is the best android system I have used. I played with an MX Dual Core last week ( Midnight MX2 Generic ) and was not happy with playback on 1080 or 720 .. was very choppy. I have an RK3188 Quad Core 2G unit coming in the next couple of weeks however the reviews have not been spectacular so I am not expecting too much.

Hmm good info Packetcrypt. After I upgraded from the original stock FW to the latest Mygica it's run quite a bit smoother but I wouldn't want to mess with a good thing! Am wondering if you can you use the on screen fast forward and rewind buttons to scan, or does XBMC freeze up like mine?
Let us know about how that RK3188 performs.

(2013-08-09, 04:25)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]Hmm good info Packetcrypt. After I upgraded from the original stock FW to the latest Mygica it's run quite a bit smoother but I wouldn't want to mess with a good thing! Am wondering if you can you use the on screen fast forward and rewind buttons to scan, or does XBMC freeze up like mine?
Let us know about how that RK3188 performs.

I can fast forward and rewind no problem any media networked from my pc via SMB shares.

Trying to FF and RW on streamed movies (1channel or Icefilms) depends on the source. I find that Putlocker and Sockshare work excellent and I am able to FF with very little buffering. Many of the sources are so bad they can barely play the file without buffering.. Let alone fast forward.

Hmm good to know. Thanks! Watch out though the mods here don't like talk of any 'questionable' addons...

In other news, I found a skin that gave me access to the codec video info while playing so I quickly just snapped a photo of it if any devs are interested.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B--kEZIy...sp=sharing

I don't know much about these output codes, but according to this other thread http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=170569 this XBMC build seems to be hardware decoding...

(2013-08-08, 07:22)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]Well I have taken some more time to test this box out, and it has successfully streamed the "Big Buck Bunny" video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31TNARtut0s using the android Youtube app, with no issues. It stopped to buffer perhaps 3 times for about 5 seconds during that 10min clip, however this was over a mediocre wireless connection through a poor ADSL line. No issues with playback noted though.

I am using the standard 'built in' build of XBMC Frodo that comes with the stock Mygica firmware.

XBMC has played a 720p rip off of my external USB HD with no concerns, other than fast forward and reverse scanning seem to freeze the app. I think I remember another thread somewhere mentioning this as being a known issue with some builds?

My usage needs are low, and I simply have this little box plugged into my TV via HDMI - no fancy audio pass through etc, but I must say, for my extremely basic set up, this device seems to do everything I need with no problems *so* many others are having with other devices. Much like my apple TV 1, but faster. Whether it will stay stable over time remains to be seen.

The only limitation thus far for me is the inability to flash any linux FW onto this device, which is currently impossible? Beyond that I'd recommend it. Will post back with any bugs I come across in the future.

saddie

as reported on another site here, you can flash your ATV520 to the linux but i haven't tried it

however using the PIVOS android XBMC apk works quite nicely on the mygica box.

(2013-08-09, 23:34)xiaomi Wrote: [ -> ]

(2013-08-08, 07:22)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]Well I have taken some more time to test this box out, and it has successfully streamed the "Big Buck Bunny" video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31TNARtut0s using the android Youtube app, with no issues. It stopped to buffer perhaps 3 times for about 5 seconds during that 10min clip, however this was over a mediocre wireless connection through a poor ADSL line. No issues with playback noted though.

I am using the standard 'built in' build of XBMC Frodo that comes with the stock Mygica firmware.

XBMC has played a 720p rip off of my external USB HD with no concerns, other than fast forward and reverse scanning seem to freeze the app. I think I remember another thread somewhere mentioning this as being a known issue with some builds?

My usage needs are low, and I simply have this little box plugged into my TV via HDMI - no fancy audio pass through etc, but I must say, for my extremely basic set up, this device seems to do everything I need with no problems *so* many others are having with other devices. Much like my apple TV 1, but faster. Whether it will stay stable over time remains to be seen.

The only limitation thus far for me is the inability to flash any linux FW onto this device, which is currently impossible? Beyond that I'd recommend it. Will post back with any bugs I come across in the future.

saddie

as reported on another site here, you can flash your ATV520 to the linux but i haven't tried it

however using the PIVOS android XBMC apk works quite nicely on the mygica box.

This guide is for M3 based boxes, which is for single core. Does anyone know linux xbmc support MX (dualcore)?

I did try the antenna trick.


I found the antenna connector quite firm and solid, not something can be messed up easily, anyway i cleaned it up and relocated the antenna as saddie said (just a little as the cable is really short).

According with "WiFi Analyzer" before the fix I got an average of -75DBm, compared to an average -65DBm with relocated antenna (which is better). So it looks like something worked.

BUT... nothing changed in real world: I can do little browsing of internet and Play store, but that's still not enough for Youtube (tried both app and XBMC addon), least of all streaming media from my NAS.
I can't even fetch the video list

That is really disappointing because I get same result (-65DBm) in the same position with my old Galaxy S2 (which is known for not having a the best wifi reception), and that's more than enough for watching videos from both Youtube and NAS even in HD


EDIT
Actually the wifi works better, i can stream low-bitrate videos and use Yatse (I must say my router is not so close so I'm happy with that).

(2013-08-08, 21:44)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]I can also confirm that this box successfully played the 1920x1080 h264 big buck bunny file from my usb key with no issues. I wasn't able to 'press O' to get the framerate etc bc I don't have a usb keyboard.

Fast forward using the time line and a mouse works, but pressing the ff rw buttons instantly freezes entire app, requires a hard reset. Ciquta can you repeat this?

If you use Yatse you can access infos like framerate, CPU, etc...

I tested few 1080p videos and even the 700mb "Big Buck Bunny" in H264: everything works like a charm, full framerate works with both cores at an average of 40% usage.
FF and RW are very responsive too and they never freezed my unit (tested both remote and Yatse app).

In 3 days of testing it never freezed during playback, only twice in the menu (using AEON skin).

I'm using the latest XBMC app downloaded from Geniatech website and the 20130510 firmware upgraded via the "upgrade" icon on the app drawer.

Thanks for posting that ciquta. Hmm -65DBm is pretty good consindering? Isn't -50 a perfect signal? Regardless yes, wifi sucks to stream video, always has really. My router is pretty far away too

My box hasn't frozen ever using the FF and RW scan line, but when I hit the forward and backwards 'arrows' it freezes right away. I don't think this is specific to XBMC android and isn't a big deal as jumping around with the remote works yes.

Ciquta do you have a link to that Genaitech XBMC apk? Or to the website you grabbed it off? I'm using the XBMC that came with the Mygica FW, I think it's 12.0. And I'm wondering when you go to "Settings-About" what's your 'Android version' and Build #' listed there?
Thanks

(2013-08-10, 17:07)saddie Wrote: [ -> ]My box hasn't frozen ever using the FF and RW scan line, but when I hit the forward and backwards 'arrows' it freezes right away. I don't think this is specific to XBMC android and isn't a big deal as jumping around with the remote works yes

mine doesn't freeze using FF, right arrow or up arrow, and it's very quick even with big files.

It freezes or delays sometimes with few addons but i'm not sure if it's due to the addon or just the arm version.