Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 75 Comments on DVB Channel Editor Tools for K1 Plus T2 S2 Android TV Box

DVB Channel Editor Tools for K1 Plus T2 S2 Android TV Box

K1 Plus T2/S2 is one of the most popular Android TV boxes with digital tuners, including both DVB-T2/T/C and DVB-S2/S tuners, and I get frequent comments and questions on K1 Plus T2 S2 review. One of the often asked request is a channel editor to use on a computer, in order to change the names, the order of channels, and set favorites. You can export the DVB data from the DTV app in Android with all data stored in dtv_user_data directory, and in theory, one web based editor is supposed to let you do just that, but it did not work for me. Another option shared with us by gabywap is K1_Plus_Editor.exe (Mirror) developed by Sm0ke, who appears to mostly frequent Russian forums. So I downloaded it, and launched it with Wine in Ubuntu 16.04, but the channel data I had could not load, and the program showed some error […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Multiple Videos Encoding and Decoding in Android on Firefly-RK3288 Development Board

Multiple Videos Encoding and Decoding in Android on Firefly-RK3288 Development Board

Some applications like digital signage and video surveillance may require simultaneous video playback, and encoding to send over the network. ARM platforms may not be powerful enough to achieve those tasks with the processor only, but luckily many ARM SoCs include powerful video processing unit (VPU) capable of doing both hardware video encoding and decoding, leaving the CPU cores mostly free for other tasks. Firefly team has demoed such capabilities on their Firefly-RK3288 development board by displaying 7 videos on a single screen, including two previews from two USB cameras attached to the board, which are then encoded and decoded on the fly and displayed on the screen. The last three videos are played from 3 different files. So that means that 5 video decode and 2 video encode are running simultaneously.  The board can achieve 26 to 30fps with 720p videos, and around 13 to 15 fps with 1080p […]

ArmSoM CM5 - Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on NEXBOX A1 Amlogic S912 Android TV Box Presells for $71

NEXBOX A1 Amlogic S912 Android TV Box Presells for $71

NEXBOX A1 was one of the first announcements of an Android TV box powered by Amlogic S912 SoC, but there weren’t many details at the time. Since then several other boxes has been announced, but few have prices, and GearBest now informed me that they were taking pre-orders for NEXBOX A1 for $70.99 including shipping with coupon GBNA1. NEXBOX A1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octo-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR receiver, power button Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions- 9.3 x 9.3 x 1.5 cm Weight –  190 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on Mediatek Helio X30 Deca-core SoC Features ARM Cortex-A73, Cortex A53, and Cortex A35 Processor Cores

Mediatek Helio X30 Deca-core SoC Features ARM Cortex-A73, Cortex A53, and Cortex A35 Processor Cores

Mediatek introduced Helio X20 last year with a tri-cluster architecture comprised of 2 powerful ARM Cortex A72 cores, 4 Cortex A53 cores, and 4 extra Cortex A53 cores operating at a lower frequency, and optimized for power consumption. But now that ARM has introduced ultra-low power Cortex A35 cores, and more powerful Cortex A73 cores,  the Taiwanese company has been able to improve its tri-cluster implementation for the upcoming Helio X30 deca-core processor with 2 Cortex A73 cores @ up to 2.8 GHz, 4 Cortex A53 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, and 4 Cortex A35 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz. According to various sources on Weibo, the mobile processor also includes an Imagination PowerVR 7XT GPU, supports up to 8GB LPDDR4 RAM @ 1600 MHz (PoP – Package in Package), UFS 2.1 flash storage, up to 40MP camera sensors,  and its cellular modem will support LTE Cat.10 to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on How to Resolve Slow Boot Times in Ubuntu 16.04

How to Resolve Slow Boot Times in Ubuntu 16.04

I’ve recently upgraded my machine from Ubuntu 14.04.4 to Ubuntu 16.04.1, but while my computer used to boot in about 40 seconds, after the upgrade boot times increased considerably to 2 to 3 minutes. The first easy check was to look at dmesg:

There’s a bit 87 seconds gap between checking for the floppy, and VirtualBox drivers loading. So there’s definitely an issue here, but the log does not exactly give a clear queue. I’ve read you could use systemd-analyze to find which process(es) may be slowing down your computer at boot time:

Two processes are taking close to 8 seconds, but those 16 seconds still do not explain why it takes 2 minutes more to boot…Eventually, I realized systemd-analyze has a few more tricks up its sleeves:

The first command shows there’s no problem with the kernel itself, and something is slow in user space. The […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on TW68 Smart Bracelet Measures Blood Pressure and Heart Rate for $22 and Up

TW68 Smart Bracelet Measures Blood Pressure and Heart Rate for $22 and Up

Some people may need to frequently measure their blood pressure because of their health condition, but it’s often a cumbersome experience, so they may get lazy, and not do it as often as needed. TW68 smart bracelet should make this easy, as it’s your typical fitness tracker with an heart rate monitor, but adding the capability to also measure blood pressure. It’s also very cheap, and I first found it on DealExtreme where it sells for just $24. TW68 specifications: MCU – Nordic Semi NRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller with 2.4 GHz radio Data Storage – 7 days detailed data, 23 days total data Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Display – 0.49″ OLED display Sensors –  PixArt-PAH8001EI blood pressure sensor; 6-axis Invensense-MPU6500 accelerometer and gyroscope Function Health tracker: Blood pressure measurement, Heart rate monitor, Pedometer, Sleep tracker Other functions: Call/Message notification, Fall reminder, Social sharing, Time, Alarm clock Misc – […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Rikomagic MK22 Amlogic S912 TV Box is Coming Soon

Rikomagic MK22 Amlogic S912 TV Box is Coming Soon

We already know Amlogic S912 TV boxes are coming, after several Amlogic S912 TV box boards surfaced, and products such as Qintaix Q912, and Beelink GT1 were announced. So it’s no surprise that Rikomagic has announced their own Amlogic S912 TV box with MK22. Rikomagic MK22 Specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9-10/ and H.265 up to 4Kx2K@60fps, H.264, WMV, MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1, AVS, and RealVideo up to 1080p@60fps Audio codecs – MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, and programmable with 7.1/5.1 down-mixing Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x […]

Posted on by Karl Johnson - 35 Comments on Tanix TX5 Pro TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Teardown, and Hands-on

Tanix TX5 Pro TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Teardown, and Hands-on

Karl here with Tanix TX5 Pro S905X review. This is my first s905x box. I am splitting this into 2 parts because software is not quite up to snuff yet. I ran into some issues with language reverting back to default which is Chinese. This happens so frequently it is unbearable. I can almost read Chinese now. Youtube only shows green square with audio, and finally most apps show incompatible in the Play Store. I have notified Gearbest who is going to contact the manufacturer. On the bright side I am very pleased with UI compared to the s905 boxes I have reviewed. Specs pulled from GearBest Website General Model: TX5 Pro Type: TV Box GPU: Mali-450 System: Android 6.0 CPU: Amlogic S905X Core: 2.0GHz,Quad Core RAM: 2G ROM: 16G Max. Extended Capacity: TF card up to 32GB (not included) Color: Black Media Supported Decoder Format: H.265 Video format: 1080P,H.264,H.265,MPEG-1,MPEG2,MPEG4,VC-1,VP9 […]

Boardcon Rockchip and Allwinner SoM and SBC products