CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

How to Upgrade Firmware in HiSilicon Hi3798M TV Boxes

HiSilicon based Android TV boxes are not that popular, at least outside of China, but I’ve got one with BFS 4KH featuring HiSilicon Hi3798M processor, and since we could not fix AC3 audio decoding after a factory reset in the firmware I have, the company provided me with a new firmware, and I’ll document the procedure I followed below. Download the firmware, the file should be update.zip. For BFS 4KH, I could get it @ http://pan.baidu.com/s/1kTrCcMr (password: xpef). It includes YouTube and Google Play, but not the Rainbow launcher, nor XBMC, but these can be side-loaded. Now copy update.zip on the root of a USB flash drive formatted with FAT32, and at least 1GB free storage. Connect the USB flash to the USB 2.0 port of the device, as the USB 3.0 port can’t be used for firmware upgrade. In the current firmware, go to Settings->System->Local Update, and select the […]

January 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Allwinner H3 Android TV Boxes Are Now Selling

Allwinner H3 SoC was announced last month, promoted as a quad core processor for low cost ($35 to $50) media players with HEC/H.265 codec support up to 2160p. At least one box – model TVPP0030 – has shown up on Aliexpress for $83.79 including shipping, so either the price initially announced was the BoM cost, or the first sellers offer the box at a premium. TVPP0030 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Video Output – HDMI 1.3? up to 4K2K, AV output Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR sensor, recovery pinhole Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – N/A Weight – N/A The […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GrovePi+ Starter Kit Adds Multiple Sensors, Relays, an LCD, a Buzzer… to the Raspberry Pi Boards

Seeed Studio and Dexter Industries has introduced the GrovePi+ Starter Kit for the Raspberry Pi (All models) that includes the GrovePi+ board, and various Grove modules adding sensors, buttons, a buzzer, LEDs and more. GrovePi+ board connects to the GPIO header of the Raspberry Pi, and features several Grove connectors to interface with Groves modules part of the starter kit Grove Light Sensor Module Grove Sound Sensor Module Grove Temperature and Humidity Sensor Module (not the ‘PRO’ version) Grove Button Module Grove Rotary Angle Sensor Module Grove Buzzer Module Grove Relay Module 3x Grove LED Modules (One Red, Green, and Blue LEDS, all replaceable with user LED) Grove Ultrasonic Sensor Module Grove LCD RGB Backlight Module Grove cables, and a GrovePi+ guidebook are also included. The GrovePi+ board is an Arduino compatible board featuring ATMEGA328 microcontroller, and can be programmed with C/C++, Python, and experimental Go and node.js coding is […]

January 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

UTStarcom MC8718 is a Funny Looking Tegra K1 Based Android Game Console

An article about a Mediatek MT8685 based Android media player on AndroidPC.es, made me look into UTStarcom products, and beside some other MT8685 based quad core set-top boxes such as MC8685A and MC8685B, I found a weird/funny/intriguing/futuristic looking game console STB powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core cortex A15 processor named MC8718. UTStarcom MC8718 specifications: SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15r3 processor @ 2.3 GHz with Kepler GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16GB internal storage + micro SD card slot Video and Audio Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 4K @ 30Hz Video Decode – H.264, MPEG-4, etc.. Audio Decode – MP3, AAC, optional Dolby and DTS, etc.. Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, Dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – USB 2.0 interface Misc – IR receiver Power Supply – 5V The company claims support for TegraZone and Shield games, as […]

January 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Wi-Fi Sunglasses with Action Camera based on Ambarella A5 SoC

GoPro launched the action camera craze a few years ago, and many companies made lower cost products inspired my the popular action / sports camera. These can be great, but sometime mounting the camera can be an issue, and a company has decided to make some sort of GoPro sunglasses with a camera and Wi-Fi connectivity, in a style similar to Google glass but for shooting videos only. The OEM product is sold as TC62 on Tinydeals ($250), Iwearcam HD-S568 on Ebay ($210), or G200 on Aliexpress ($387). All these sunglasses look the same and are based on Ambarella A5 SoC, so if you look for ambarella A5 sunglasses on Google, you may find even more model names. Wi-Fi glasses action camera specifications: SoC – Ambarella A5 SoC System Memory – N/A Storage – N/A GB internal storage + micro SD card slot for videos Camera – 5 or 8MP […]

January 11, 2015January 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 62 Comments

Review of BFS 4KH Media Player Powered by HiSilicon Hi3798M Processor

Buyforsure (BFS) 4KH is a low cost Android TV box powered by HiSilicon Hi3978M quad core Cortex A7 processor supporting 4K video output and decoding, HEVC/H.265 video decoding, and featuring a USB 3.0 port. I’ve already taken a few pictures of the device and board, so today I’ll reports about my findings after testing features and performance of this media player. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The remote control included in the package does the job as long as you use the box user interface and play videos with the included player or XBMC, but I also switched to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse when I need a pointer or to input text. I’ve connected an Ethernet cable, an HDMI cable, a USB 3.0 hard drive to the USB 3.0 port, and a USB hub to the USB 2.0 port including a USB webcam, two RF dongles for the […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs abd SoMs

January 11, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

So This is How Allwinner A80 Cheats at Antutu Benchmark…

Ever since Allwinner A80 was released, the Antutu scores did not add up with some devices getting around 30,000 points, while other devices scoring close to 50,000 or even higher. But what about 143,430 points? Now that would be impressive, and that’s exactly what Byron got in his Tronsmart Draco AW80 box, after changing a single parameter. The screenshot above reports a Nexus 10 because he must be using one of Freatab ROM, where they often change the device name for better Google Play compatibility. Nevertheless what kind of sorcery is that? How could he achieve this? It turns out build.prop, as a key called ro.sys.hiritsu. It’s set to 30 in the stock firmware, but if you change this to 95, some magic happens, and you get the very high score above. Byron reported his box got pretty hot with this setting, so it’s probably better not to try a […]

January 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

$60 MarsBoard Rockchip PX2 Development Board Runs Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, or Android 4.4

Haoyu Electronics has made a new board similar to their MarsBoard RK3066, but instead of using a CPU module with Rockchip RK3066, they’ve used the industrial version of the chip called Rockchip PX2 dual core Cortex A9 processor. The board is also comprised of a baseboard and CPU module (CM-PX2), and based on the name of the pictures it’s using the exact same PCB: CM-RK3066 SoM, and SOM-RK3066 baseboard, but they simply replaced RK3066 by PX2, and increased the NAND flash capacity to 8GB. CM-PX2 Computer-on-Module: SoC – Rockchip PX2 dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.4 GHz + Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND Power Management Unit – TPS659102 Misc – TX indicator LED use for debug, Power Indicator LED 10/100M Ethernet PHY – LAN8720A Connectors – 2x 100- pin for baseboard connection, 40-pin connector (unsoldered) Dimensions – 70 x 58 mm SOM-RK3066 […]

Boardcon Rockchip RK3588S SBC with 8K, WiFI 6, 4G LTE, NVME SSD, HDMI 2.1...