g-box midnight News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

XBMC MX Linux v1.00 RC1 for AMLogic AML8726-MX Devices

Developer “croniccorey” has recently announced the release of MX Linux v1.00 RC1, an XBMC Linux image for media players based on AMLogic AML8726-MX, on XDA Developers’ Forums. This release supports G18REF and MX2REF devices (See build.prop in Android) such as Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2, and a test image has also been released for g02refDongle devices such as Droid Stick A2. Checking the MTD layout Before starting the installation, you may want to check your flash partitions in order to avoid bricking your device: Install and run Terminal Emulator Run the command below to make sure your partition table is compatible with the image:

[root@amlogic /]# cat /proc/mtd
 dev:    size   erasesize  name
 mtd0: 00400000 00200000 "ubootenv" or "bootloader"
 mtd1: 00800000 00200000 "logo"
 mtd2: 00800000 00200000 "aml_logo"
 mtd3: 00800000 00200000 "recovery"
 mtd4: 00800000 00200000 "boot"
 mtd5: 40400000 00200000 "system"
 mtd6: 20000000 00200000 "cache"
 mtd7: 10000000 00200000 "backup"
 mtd8: 18c800000 00200000 "userdata"

[root@amlogic /]# cat /proc/mtd

dev: size erasesize name

mtd0: 00400000 00200000 "ubootenv" or "bootloader"

mtd1: 00800000 00200000 "logo"

mtd2: 00800000 00200000 "aml_logo"

mtd3: 00800000 00200000 "recovery"

mtd4: 00800000 00200000 "boot"

mtd5: 40400000 00200000 "system"

mtd6: 20000000 00200000 "cache"

mtd7: 10000000 00200000 "backup"

mtd8: 18c800000 00200000 "userdata"

If your partition table is different, do not install the default image for MX2REF / G18REF. However, If you’ve got Matricom Android firmware version 1.1.6 or greater or WJB’s Linux builds from November 21 2013 onwards, the MTD layout will be different, and you’ll need to […]

June 3, 2013June 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 72 Comments

G-Box Midnight MX2 Giveaway

I reviewed Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 Android set-top box about a month ago, and I was pretty happy with the device with regards to performance, stability, and XBMC support. During my initial review, Wi-Fi was really excellent, the best, by far, I had seen in the dozen of devices I had tested, although an upgrade to my router firmware somehow changed that. This is also one the rare device that will support OTA firmware update. There were still some problems in the firmware I tested: some videos could not play, composite output did not work…, but overall I find it’s a pretty good device. The company also seems committed to fix issues, as they even have a public bug tracking system for the MX2. If you plan to use Android app, and not only XBMC, the IR remote provided may not be the ideal input device, and you’ll probably need […]

May 6, 2013May 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 157 Comments

Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 Android TV Box Review

Matricom sent me one of their latest G-Box Midnight MX2 media player based on AMLogic AML8726-M6, with 1GB RAM, 8 GB flash, running Android 4.2, and with full support for XBMC. This is an update of the G-Box Midnight based on AML8726-M3 which supports XBMC in Android, as well as XBMC Linux thanks to community builds. Specifications: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX Dual Core Cortex A9 CPU + dual core Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB Flash + SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI v1.4, composite (CVBS) and component (YUV) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and SPDIF Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n internal Wifi + 10/100 Ethernet Port USB – 4x USB 2.0 Ports (1 might be OTG) IR sensor Power Supply – 5V/2A The hardware and software is very similar to Tronsmart Prometheus (See review), as both are based on AML8726-MX, run Android […]