[bobones]

What i have seen on my two boxes , its not true 23,976 fps out.
Mini x8 & m8n

Are you running Kerber or Codesnake's OpenELEC?

[buzzqw]

What i have seen on my two boxes , its not true 23,976 fps out.
Mini x8 & m8n

ouch, that's a mayor problem for me

BHH

[droidelec]

Kerber's OpenELEC ports (forked from Codesnake's work) for S802/S805/S812 devices (including CX-S806S) are working extremely well and overcome most if not all of the drawbacks of Kodi under Android. The latest builds are based on OpenELEC 5.0/Kodi 14.0 and include hardware accelerated decoding of HEVC content.

Sources
Downloads
Discussion

Do they support DTS HD MA/HR and True HD Audio bit streaming, PCM multichannel including PCM 24bit 192k?

For DTS HD and True HD, also Dolby Digital there is H revision of AMLogic S812 SoC called S812-H.

Basic S812 don't support it, so CX-S806S not support DTS HD, Ture HD nor Dolby Digital.

[csgabe]

VC-1 hardware acceleration doesn't seem work on Openelec.

[noggin]

@noggin I'm running Kerber's OpenELEC on an S805 box, the Sumvision Cyclone X4, which equates to the TV110 port. These boxes can be picked up for around £40 and the performance is excellent for my needs.

What definitely works is frame rate switching 24/50/60 but I am not clear on the details of 23.976 etc.(I don't have a TV capable of 24p)
DTS and DD (non-HD) passthough is working fine but I don't think HD audio is supported. Not sure about PCM 24bit.
I don't think hardware de-interlacing is supported, but AML hardware decoding can be switched off in advancedsettings for mpeg2 so software de-interlacing can occur (?)
Hardware accelerated HEVC decoding is working perfectly on some videos, bit not on others. This is work in progress.

I've long been tempted to buy a NUC or a Chromebox but I find it hard to justify the spend when some of these AMLogic boxes with OpenELEC (or MX Linux or AM Linux) do everything I need them to at a third of the cost, but for aficionados like yourself, they may well fall a bit short of the mark.

Ah. My three main use cases for Kodi are Live/Recorded TV (so de-interlacing of MPEG2 SD and H264 HD is a key requirement), DVDs (many of which are native interlaced, so MPEG2 de-interlacing again) and 1080/23.976p Blu-ray H264 and VC-1 content (so 23.976 is quite important and HD Audio also quite key)

So far the Raspberry Pi (apart from HD Audio) and Chromebox (ticks every box now) still seem to deliver more ticks. The other ARM SoC solutions still seem to be 'so near and yet so far'. Grrr...

[wrxtasy]

I'm in the same boat as Noggin as I live in a PAL Live TV standard country, except I want Netflix available as well all from the GUI on the Home screen.

Depending on a bit more feedback, I'm likely to go down the Win 8.1 path on the Zotac BI320 or the new HP Stream Mini PC path.

I am very wary when users, especially NOOBIES say 23.976fps is supported in any Android box. Same goes for mpeg2 / 1080i deinterlacing.

Be warned !

[jurm]

@noggin I'm running Kerber's OpenELEC on an S805 box, the Sumvision Cyclone X4, which equates to the TV110 port. These boxes can be picked up for around £40 and the performance is excellent for my needs.

What definitely works is frame rate switching 24/50/60 but I am not clear on the details of 23.976 etc.(I don't have a TV capable of 24p)
DTS and DD (non-HD) passthough is working fine but I don't think HD audio is supported. Not sure about PCM 24bit.
I don't think hardware de-interlacing is supported, but AML hardware decoding can be switched off in advancedsettings for mpeg2 so software de-interlacing can occur (?)
Hardware accelerated HEVC decoding is working perfectly on some videos, bit not on others. This is work in progress.

I've long been tempted to buy a NUC or a Chromebox but I find it hard to justify the spend when some of these AMLogic boxes with OpenELEC (or MX Linux or AM Linux) do everything I need them to at a third of the cost, but for aficionados like yourself, they may well fall a bit short of the mark.

Can you attach an external harddrive to the Sumvision Cyclone X4 and have it basically as an always on NAS with it in openelec like you can do with the raspberry pi?

I've been looking at getting one of them as an upgrade on the pi, which has done me well for a few years but is showing its age

[droidelec]

Same goes for mpeg2 / 1080i deinterlacing.

That is true, after moving from Kernel 3.0.50 to 3.10.xx Kernel most of china android players based on AMLogic SoC's have issue with deinterlace.

However, at WeTek Play (AML8726-MX) 1080i deinterlace issue fixed as of OpenELEC RC2, tested with Live TV (DVB-S2). Deinterlace issue fixed by WeTek, provided patch for issue too

[bobones]

@noggin I'm running Kerber's OpenELEC on an S805 box, the Sumvision Cyclone X4, which equates to the TV110 port. These boxes can be picked up for around £40 and the performance is excellent for my needs.

What definitely works is frame rate switching 24/50/60 but I am not clear on the details of 23.976 etc.(I don't have a TV capable of 24p)
DTS and DD (non-HD) passthough is working fine but I don't think HD audio is supported. Not sure about PCM 24bit.
I don't think hardware de-interlacing is supported, but AML hardware decoding can be switched off in advancedsettings for mpeg2 so software de-interlacing can occur (?)
Hardware accelerated HEVC decoding is working perfectly on some videos, bit not on others. This is work in progress.

I've long been tempted to buy a NUC or a Chromebox but I find it hard to justify the spend when some of these AMLogic boxes with OpenELEC (or MX Linux or AM Linux) do everything I need them to at a third of the cost, but for aficionados like yourself, they may well fall a bit short of the mark.

Can you attach an external harddrive to the Sumvision Cyclone X4 and have it basically as an always on NAS with it in openelec like you can do with the raspberry pi?

I've been looking at getting one of them as an upgrade on the pi, which has done me well for a few years but is showing its age

Yes, USB drive should work fine as direct external storage.

[Jönke]

What i have seen on my two boxes , its not true 23,976 fps out.
Mini x8 & m8n

Are you running Kerber or Codesnake's OpenELEC?

Yes.
Some guy over @minixforum had looked at fps and its running @23,999hz not 23,976

[bobones]

That was an either or question so "yes" isn't the answer. I suspect you are running Codesnake's port. Kerber's is different and has used alternative kernels based on Stane's work and Codesnake's work. Some users have reported perfect 23.976 playback with recent versions, but I believe there has been a recent regression which has affected this and it is getting actively looked into.

[Jönke]

ok sorry was on my iPhone
I´m using Codesnake

[RKMFlorida]

I run Kerber's builds (5.0.5 currently) on s802B and s802H boxes and can't believe how well it runs. Also have s812 (CX-S806 mentioned by OP), but I would *not* recommend. It doesn't seem to run any faster, it requires a USB-A to USB-A cable for console, but the worst issue is that occasionally it has issues with video acceleration and blanks the screen.

My s802's are the only thing that comes close to my Mini-ITX Atom boxes. In a lot of ways I feel it surpasses them, especially in the wattage department.

If you do decide to buy one, my recommendation is to go with "square" box (aka Tronsmart S82 aka M8) because it seems to work the most common build right now. One thing you learn quickly with XBMC hardware: buy the most popular boxes, not the highest performance. Although now that most S82's are 802H chipsets, you're also getting some of the best performance available for < $100.

Again, I'm referring strictly to running an OpenElec ROM, not XBMC on top of Android, which I am not a fan.

[Smiff]

Just got one of these CX-S806 (confusing name! why not S812?) boxes (branded Instabox Phantom MX4 in UK).
probably the cheapest S812 2GB RAM available in UK right now at £60. Alternatives: Eny M8S at £67, or M8C (1GB RAM) about £55

It's fast. 32,000 on Antutu, about double the score of a Cyclone X4 (S805). has BT and optical audio (neither tested yet), though i just saw the above about not supporting all formats :/

I don't use linux on these i like to keep Android..

Mine won't run 14.1 final. It came with 13.2, but the install (prepacked with some addons, something i don't like! rather do it myself thanks..) had some issues, addons not working right. and obviously old.
14.1 crashes on startup, no logs
15.0 alpha seems to work well although all i've done is install iplayer (Helix addons seem to work alright?) and watch 1 programme.
should have tried 14.2 i suppose.

So yeah.. not sure whether to return this box or not. Anyone know who made it or what firmware support is likely to be like? do Kodi crew know about the 14.1 issue on these? doesn't even create log not sure how to debug. Curious was it deliberately fixed for 15.x+ or just lucky byproduct of other changes? What i'm really wondering is how buggy is the firmware on these things, i've no idea. I noticed some apps just quit at launch on the Cycline X4 too, how are you meant to debug these things?

edit: this one
http://www.instabox.tv/products/instabox_mx4/
http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/01/04/c...12-tv-box/

seems to be made by Sunchip? never heard of them! Hope the cooling is ok..
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/18/c...-unboxing/

[droidelec]

Just got one of these CX-S806 (confusing name! why not S812?) boxes (branded Instabox Phantom M4X in UK).
probably the cheapest S812 2GB RAM available in UK right now at £60. Alternatives: Eny M8S at £67, or M8C (1GB RAM) about £55

It's fast. 32,000 on Antutu, about double the score of a Cyclone X4 (S805). has BT and optical audio (neither tested yet), though i just saw the above about not supporting all formats :/

I don't use linux on these i like to keep Android..

Mine won't run 14.1 final. It came with 13.2, but the install (prepacked with some addons, something i don't like! rather do it myself thanks..) had some issues, addons not working right. and obviously old.
14.1 crashes on startup, no logs
15.0 alpha seems to work well although all i've done is install iplayer (Helix addons seem to work alright?) and watch 1 programme.
should have tried 14.2 i suppose.

So yeah.. not sure whether to return this box or not. Anyone know who made it or what firmware support is likely to be like? do Kodi crew know about the 14.1 issue on these? doesn't even create log not sure how to debug. Curious was it deliberately fixed for 15.x+ or just lucky byproduct of other changes? What i'm really wondering is how buggy is the firmware on these things, i've no idea. I noticed some apps just quit at launch on the Cycline X4 too, how are you meant to debug these things?

edit: this one
http://www.instabox.tv/products/instabox_mx4/
http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/01/04/c...12-tv-box/

seems to be made by Sunchip? never heard of them! Hope the cooling is ok..
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/18/c...-unboxing/

Issue is that many OEM devices comes with some kind of buggy Android ROM, and most likely they will never release any kind of Android update, and users are forced to search for custom recoveries and if they are lucky that some dev support custom ROM's and so on.

We at WeTek, after decision to skip S805 and S802 for our devices, we decided to release WeTek Gift firmware, unofficial version of CyanogenMOD 11 and CM 12, including Android TV (Based on Lollipop) for MK808B Plus users where many, but not all issues are fixed, and proper support for Ethernet by USB is added, and from that case You can see what means support, which in fact missing in huge number of OEM products.