amlogic News - Page 11 of 18 - CNX Software

January 29, 2016March 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Amlogic S905 vs S812 Benchmarks Comparison

After seeing benchmarks comparisons between Amlogic S905 and S805, as well as Amlogic S905 vs Rockchip RK3368, several people asked me to compare the older Amlogic S812 32-bit processor to the newer Amlogic S905 64-bit processor, so I’ve gone ahead and compared the results for several benchmarks obtained with WeTek Core and K1 Plus Android 5.1 TV boxes, respectively powered by Amlogic S812 and Amlogic S905. A ratio greater than one means Amlogic S812 is the fastest, and I’ve highlighted the ratio with red or green colors so that red color is a plus for S905, and green color means S812 achieved a better result. Amlogic S905 Amlogic S812 Ratio CPU Quad core Cortex A53 @ 2.02 GHz Quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.99 GHz GPU Penta-core ARM Mali-450MP Octa-core ARM Mali-450MP Antutu 5.x Overall 28,027 33,953 1.21 Multitask 4,260 4,701 1.10 Runtime 2,721 3,383 1.24 RAM Ops 1,960 2,228 […]

January 12, 2016September 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Amlogic S905X Processor Specifications

[Update September 2016: Removed Video Input Unit and Gigabit Ethernet MAC, since the latest documents have removed them] A few weeks ago, I wrote about the upcoming Amlogic S905M quad core Cortex A53 processor support 4K VP9 and 10-bit HEVC, but the silicon manufacturer seems to struggle with sticking with a name, as after the initial S908 part, they moved to S905M, before hopefully settling on Amlogic S905X, for which I received more information include a block diagram, and more detailed specifications. These are most of the specifications currently available for Amlogic S905X processor with highlights in bold: CPU Sub-system – Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5GHz (DVFS) with Neon and Crypto extensions 3D Graphics Processing Unit – Penta-core ARM Mali-450 GPU up to 750MHz+ (DVFS) with two geometry/vertex processors, three pixel processors supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 and OpenVG 1.1. 2.5D Graphics Processor – Fast bitblt engine with […]

December 17, 2015July 31, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Amlogic S905X and S912 Processors To Support 4K VP9, HDMI 2.0a, Built-in DAC and More

I had heard some news that Amlogic S912 was delayed, and even possibly canceled, while talks about a new S908 processor surfaced recently with support for VP9 up to 4K resolution. We now have some more details as I’ve received some more information about Amlogic product roadmap, and S908 should be renamed S905M [Update: The name will apparently be changed to S905X now, the saga continues…] Amlogic S905 Amlogic S908 / S905M / S905X Amlogic S912 CPU Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.5/2.0 GHz Octa core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz GPU Penta-core Mali-450 up to 750 MHz High perf gaming GPU Memory 16/32-bit DDR3, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2133 16/32-bit DDR3/4, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2400 Storage NAND Flash@BCH60 eMMC 5.0, SD, Nor Flash Video Decoding 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, 4Kp30 H.264 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, VP9 4Kp30 […]

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

How to Root Amlogic S905 based MINIX NEO U1 Box in Windows and Linux

MINIX NEO U1 is a great device, but if you have some apps that require root access, the firmware is not rooted by default. AndroidPC.es just posted instructions to root the device in Windows, and I’ve also adapted Daemonium’s batch script for Windows as a shell script in order root the device from Linux. Please note that this will break OTA firmware update, so you’ll have to upgrade firmware manually after rooting. The most steps are common between Linux and Windows Enable Developer options, by going to Settings->Advanced Settings->About Mediabox, and click 6 or 7 times in the Build number section, until the new menu is enabled. Go back once, and access Developer options to make sure USB debugging is enabled Now go to Settings->Network to check and note your IP address (WiFi or Ethernet) Download and extract AndroidPC.es_MINIX_NEO_U1_root_v01_Daemonium.zip They also asked to install WiFi adb in your system, but I […]

December 6, 2015December 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 118 Comments

How to Run Headless Linux on Amlogic S905 Devices Such as MINI MX or K1 Plus

A few week ago, I had been informed that Amlogic S905 U-boot and Linux source code was released, and one person use the code and other resources to load a minimal Ubuntu 14.04 image to his K1 Plus TV box and released the installation instructions and the image (Thanks olin!). I also have K1 Plus here, but since I’ve just finished reviewing Beelink MINI MX, I decided to use the latter instead. The instructions below boot Linux from the (micro) SD card, and can still boot Android if you remove the SD card. Modifying U-boot environment The instructions include opening the box, and connecting or soldering a USB to TTL debug board to access U-boot and change some parameters. But later once an image with network is working, you could also build and load fw_setenv and fw_saveenv, and do the same steps with an Android shell and without the need […]

November 27, 2015November 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

H.264 & H.265 4K Video Playback on Amlogic S905 Android TV Box

I’ve almost completed my review of Videostrong K1 Plus Android box powered by Amlogic S905, and while there are many shortcomings, 4K video playback is actually pretty good with Android’s Video Player (Kodi is not really usable @ 4K). I connected the device to LG 42UB820T 4K UHD TV, and set video output to 2160p @ 60Hz, and went through several video samples: Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4.mp4 (H.265 @ 30 fps – No audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 30 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_60fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 60 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – Video looks somewhat OK, but big audio delay or AV sync issue. BT.2020.20140602.ts (H.265 Rec.2020 compliant – AAC audio) – OK (First time I can play this video on any hardware). Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia_4K-x265.mp4 (H.265 @ 60 fps – AC3) – Video is very good, but no audio MHD_2013_2160p_ShowReel_R_9000f_24fps_RMN_QP23_10b.mkv (10-bit HEVC @ 24 fps – no […]

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 130 Comments

How to Update Firmware on Amlogic S905 TV Boxes

Videostrong has just sent me a new firmware for K1 Plus mini PC based on Amlogic S905 processor. The procedure is basically the same as for previous Amlogic devices, but I’ve still documented the step to follow an update. Please note that devices from decent brands should have OTA updates implemented, so it may not be needed, except for the cheapest devices, or in case of network issues. The firmware update procedure below can be done in any computer, including the Android TV box itself. The firmware is specific to K1 Plus, so if you have another TV box, you’ll need to change the download link to the firmware for your device. Download the firmware file (e.g. K1 Plus 2015-11-23.rar) Extract the compressed file to the root of a micro SD card, or on any other external storage. You should have a few files as shown above, including a zip […]

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Amlogic S912 Processor Could Feature an ARM Mali-T830 GPU

Amlogic S912 launch has been delayed by a few months, and if we are to believe the data from GFXBench (test 1; test 2), the reason could be that they switched the design from a Mali-T7xx GPU to a more powerful Mali-T830 GPU. S912 processor is still based on four Cortex A53 core @ up to 2.0 GHz like in S905, but the GPU will be much more powerful. One person noticed these results and wrote an analysis and comparison (in Korean) against the Mali-860MP2 GPU found in Mediatek MT6755 SoC (Helio P10) SoC. Offscreen Manhattan 3.1 Manhattan T-Rex ALU ALU2 Fillrate Texturing MT6755 4.8 7.2 17.2 6.0 1012 S912 4.4 7.0 16.3 34.7 5.3 1283 1000 So while Mali-860MP2 is faster for all listed benchmark the advantage is not that great. His analysis compared benchmarks (read post for details) concludes that the GPU in S912 could be clocked at […]