Zidoo X9 Android media player is powered by Mstar MSO9180 quad core Cortex A9 processor, supports 4K video output and decoding, H.265 codec, a USB 3.0 port for (hopefully) fast external storage, and in HDMI input port that allows you to record video from another HDMI input device to a USB mass storage device, or micro SD card. GearBest sent me one of the first sample, so let’s have a look at the device itself, and its boards, because getting to the full review next week. Zidoo X9 Pictures I received the parcel the exact same day, GearBest provided the tracking number, together with some invoice for custom duty, DHL duty handling fee, and VAT. The large black package has a few scratches, and makes it clear the device is called X9. Some of the main features are also mentioned on the package: 4K, 3D video, quad core, Bluetooth 4.0, […]
How to Modify HDMI Output Parameters in Linux for ODROID-XU3 (Lite) Development Board
Good news, I’ve finally managed to make HDMI output in my ODROID-XU3 Lite development board work with the Ubuntu image after some more tweaking. So ODROID XU3 Lite Ubuntu review is coming in the next few days. But first, I’ll explain the few steps I went through, in case others experience a similar issue. I downloaded, extracted, and flashed the latest Ubuntu image to a micro SD card with dd to give another try at running Ubuntu on my board, but no luck, I still got that black screen, albeit the system boots properly, as I got the command line using the serial console. During my Android review of ODROID-XU3 Lite, I noticed the system would always revert back to 720p60 video output, and HDMI output settings can be selected in /media/boot/boot.ini with the following content:
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ODROIDXU-UBOOT-CONFIG # U-Boot Parameters setenv initrd_high "0xffffffff" setenv fdt_high "0xffffffff" # Mac address configuration setenv macaddr "00:1e:06:61:7a:39" #------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Basic Ubuntu Setup. Don't touch unless you know what you are doing. # -------------------------------- setenv bootrootfs "console=tty1 console=ttySAC2,115200n8 root=UUID=e139ce78-984" # boot commands setenv bootcmd "fatload mmc 0:1 0x40008000 zImage; fatload mmc 0:1 0x42000000 u" # --- Screen Configuration for HDMI --- # # --------------------------------------- # Uncomment only ONE line! Leave all commented for automatic selection. # Uncomment only the setenv line! # --------------------------------------- # ODROID-VU forced resolution # setenv videoconfig "video=HDMI-A-1:1280x800@60" # ----------------------------------------------- # 1920x1080 (1080P) with monitor provided EDID information. (1080p-edid) # setenv videoconfig "video=HDMI-A-1:1920x1080@60" # ----------------------------------------------- # 1920x1080 (1080P) without monitor data using generic information (1080p-noedi) # setenv videoconfig "drm_kms_helper.edid_firmware=edid/1920x1080.bin" # ----------------------------------------------- # 1280x720 (720P) with monitor provided EDID information. (720p-edid) # setenv videoconfig "video=HDMI-A-1:1280x720@60" # ----------------------------------------------- # 1280x720 (720P) without monitor data using generic information (720p-noedid) # setenv videoconfig "drm_kms_helper.edid_firmware=edid/1280x720.bin" <strong> </strong> # ----------------------------------------------- # 1024x768 without monitor data using generic information # setenv videoconfig "drm_kms_helper.edid_firmware=edid/1024x768.bin" # final boot args setenv bootargs "${bootrootfs} ${videoconfig} smsc95xx.macaddr=${macaddr}" # drm.debug=0xff # Boot the board boot |
I actually tried a few settings in my previous attempt but unsuccessfully. Now […]
Zidoo X9 Android Media Player Features an HDMI Input Port with PVR & Time Shifting Functions
I’ve recently tested two Android TV boxes with an HDMI input, namely HPH NT-V6 and M-195, and with the firmware they had at the time of review, the HDMI input just acts as a dumb HDMI input port, and there was nothing much I could do with it. Now comes Zidoo X9, another Android TV box powered nby Mstar MSO9810 that also comes with an HDMI input port, but this time, they’ve implemented a PVR function, so if you have a low end satellite, cable, or terrestrial receiver, you can connect it to Zidoo X9 and record programs, which makes it much more useful. Zidoo X9 specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with octa-core ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU Mali-450MP (2 or 4) GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Input – HDMI output […]
Review of Realtek RTD1195 Based M-195 Android Media Player
M-195 is one of the new low cost Android media players based on Realtek RTD1195 processor featuring two Cortex A7 cores, and a Mali-400MP2 GPU, but providing high speed interface like USB 3.0, and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as 4K video decoding and output, including the latest H.265 / HEVC video codec. So before testing, I was expecting the box to be mainly interesting as a media player, and even maybe NAS, as Android performance for other tasks would be similar to Allwinner A20. I’ll already taken pictures of M-195 and its “902” board, so today we’ll find out how the device performs. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve used both the provided IR remote control, and Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse in this review, simply because I needed to press the Home button to come back to the Launcher from time to time, and the Home button on […]
ODROID-XU3 Lite Development Board – Android Setup and Benchmarks
It’s been nearly ten days since I make ODROID-XU3 Lite unboxing, and my plans to first test Linux on the board were thwarted due a problem with HDMI. Luckily, after several attempts I managed to boot the board with Android. So today, I’ll show how to install or update Android on the board, and run a few benchmarks. But since there’s always a silver lining, I’ll start buy writing a bit about the HDMI issue, as I learned a few things on the way. HDMI Output Tribulations ODROID-XU3 Lite looks like a nice and powerful kit, and it may be one of the most cost effective ARM board on the market since it comes to performance to price ratio, so I was excited to try it, but as you know if you’ve read my unboxing post I did not work quite as planned, as all I got was a black […]
Mini PC Polls: Networking Connectivity, Video and Audio Outputs
It’s always interesting to find out how people use their devices, and I recently discovered Google+ support Polls as Droidmote posted a poll to find out whether people used Wi-Fi or Ethernet with their mini PCs, and I followed up with polls about video and audio outputs. Around 50 people have answered to each poll up to now, so even if it may not representative, let’s have a look at the results so far. About half of the people are connected via Ethernet, and the other half are using Wi-Fi after 43 votes. Wi-Fi is normally more convenient, but may not be as reliable, and for users playing high bitrate videos Ethernet is a must, unless you find buffering enjoyable…. After 58 votes, most people still connect their mini PC to a Full HD television via HDMI, with a few connecting it to a 4K UHD TV, and nobody using […]
Review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 Android Mini PC Powered by RK3288 with 4GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage
Last week-end, I finally received TP-Link TL-WDR7500 router (Chinese variant of Arched C7) router, so I could complete my review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 including 802.11ac Wi-Fi. I’ve already listed the specifications, and taken a few pictures of the device and the board, and today I’ll focus on the test results. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, going through the user interface and settings, before testing video playback, as well as benchmarking networking, storage and overall system performance, playing some games, and testing most hardware features of this mini PC. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions A simple infrared remote control is provided with the device, and I’ve quickly tried it by inserting two AAA batteries, and it works fine, but for the rest of testing I switched to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse to control the device, as it’s much more user friendly than any IR remote. Before […]
Unboxing of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 Android TV Box with HDMI In, Rockchip RK3288 Processor
Thanks to Nagrace Times Technology, I’ve got a new Rockchip RK3288 Android mini PC to play with. HPH NT-V6 model is higher end compared to the other ones I’ve received including Uyesee G1H, Kingnovel R6 and Orion R28 Meta, because it comes with 32GB eMMC, HDMI In, and a AP6335 Wi-Fi module providing 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity. I’ll start by listing the device specifications, take some pictures of the device and the board, and I’ll write a full review probably next week as I have some other hardware to test first. Nagrace NT-V6 specifications The company provides various memory and storage options for this product, and if Linux based operating systems such as Ubuntu or Chrome OS end up being properly supported on Rockchip RK3288, Nagrace NT-V6 could end up bring a very nice mini PC: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core ARM Cortex A12/A17 processor @ 1.8 GHz with ARM […]