Android TV HDMI Stick Firmware Upgrade RK3066

I had a relatively old, no name, HDMI Android TV stick, with rockchip 3066. At some point stopped booting. It would remain stuck at R-Box boot logo. Not remembering where I got it from and not being able to find a firmware online I replaced it with another one and it remained on a shelf collecting dust.

I do not like my stuff to be fautly, and since I had some time to kill, I start searching for a proper firmware.

first of all, I visited http://www.rockchipfirmware.com/firmware-downloads to download the proper flash tool for dual core chips. (RK3066 (Dual-Core) Firmware Image Flashing: English RKbatch Tool v1.5)

Of course one needs the proper drivers too, which I had downloaded in the past and dont remember where from.

Then because my particular Android stick didn't have a reset button i was thinking about using the directions shown bellow:
http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/rk3066-devices/mk-models-mk808-802-etc/2176-unbrick-or-fix-nand-on-the-mk808?1943-Unbrick-or-fix-NAND-on-the-MK808=

but then it occurred to me to look if the PCB board had contacts for an absent reset switch.

 and I did! On the pcb there was 2 unpopulated contacts with a rectangle and a circle inside, as shown above which when shorted with a metal pin, immediately the stick went into flash mode and was recognised by the flash tools.

After a few fruitless attempts to locate a firmware that would work on this one (most returned an error about the Chip) I found one that upgraded flawlessly! I plugged the Stick on the TV and worked!!!! After more than a year collecting dust, it was working again!
The firmware that worked for me was the following: TV-HDMI-200BT(V1.0)_20130312.

Unfortunately after some testing I realised, that the WIFI wasnt working, but that is a minor problem since it can playback video from USB, which was its primary usage anyway. I found more problems, like the SD card wasn't accessible, the bluetooth didnt seem to turn on. But at the moment I dont care.

Disappointment on android HDMI sticks / dognles UPDATED (Intel HDMI stick)

I have owned 3 different android hdmi sticks.
If you are not familiar with them, its a small form computer that connects on monitors and can turn the monitor to a PC. Great for work on the go, or for transforming an dumb TV into a smart one.

So initially I got one to watch films on my TV with subtitles, and perhaps do other stuff as well, internet browsing, and android games.
It worked great for the first 5-6 months, until it didn't. At some point it refused to boot. It was eternally frozen to the boot logo screen. I send it back and requested a replacement. The replacement worked also like a charm for a few months, until it also froze on the boot logo.

I never tried to hack any of these two. Did not install 3d party roms, or bootloaders. Only a few applications.

I considered it for a bit and the bit the bullet again and bought a 3d stick. this one was problematic from the first moment, horizontal lines would randomly appear on the screen, and the screen would turn on and off as if the video signal from the stick was interrupted and the screen was "forced" to find the signal again as if it was unplugged from the hdmi port. Thus making it unusable.

Two more I persuaded the guys at work to buy to use with some older TVs, one works ok as far as I know and the other one makes the video stutter and don't show it smoothly.

Over all I have been using them for about a year, and was really nice to have. However I cannot recommend them to anyone after my above experiences.

Also the fact that their userbase is rather small, few people deal with their problems, and mod them which is a real shame.


UPDATE 27/4/15:

Well, I recently figured out how to reinstall the firmware on my non working android stick. I also figured out that the new sticks that didn't work on my TV, oh well, it was most probably a TV problem, rather than an Android stick problem. I am in the works or repairing my TV, (changing some bad capacitors) and will test it again.

So well, after reinstalling a firmware I found floating online, the android stick came back to life. Its quite sad that these sticks, suffer so often getting stuck in the boot screen. I don't know what may contribute to that, but they should come with directions to revive them, and some online address with the original firmware.

Also, I recently read an article on gismodo, I think, about the Intel HDMI stick. The guy there was really disappointed.
Some thoughts.
1. 150$ for that is extremely expensive.
2. Of course it doesnt have a keyboard and a USB hub. what do you think it is? Aladdin's magic lamp? Get a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse and a usb hub from dealextreme or elsewhere and be done with it.
3. Of course it isn't powerful. Personally I don't have Netflix, but I can watch my movies nicely on my android sticks. Even 1080p depending on the TV.
4. You shouldn't expect to replace your laptop or desktop with this stick.
5. It is nice that it can run windows.
6. Atom processors are crap if you ask me.

UPDATE 2:

To upgrade the firmware, I used information that I found on android warehouse.
I downloaded a rom for my own particular CPU model, in my case, a RK3188 for the Ditter V16, followed the instructions with the RockChip Batch tools and managed to restore functionality.

Rockchip devices

To put the firmware via PC on your device is the Rockchip Batch Tool needed. To use this tool, you first need the necessary drivers. When you install any drivers, your PC will not recognize the device. Below are the download links for the drivers and the tool.

Download the file with the drivers.
Put the file in a recognizable folder and unpack it, so you can easily find. It back later
If you follow the steps to flash your android stick / androidbox follows, give your PC that a device is trying to connect.  Go to Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Devices and Printers.
Between the devices, refer to "Unknown" unknown device or Rockusb Device mode, click it.
In the menu you can 'install drivers'
Now find the appropriate driver in the folder where you have installed the drivers.
When you have selected the correct driver the Rockchip
Batch tool will the next time you open it to recognize the device, and you can follow the steps appropriate for your device.

Rockchip Batch Tool.
This tool is used to in

stall (flash) on your Android Stick / Box containing a Rockchip SoC as the RK3188 RK3066 SoC and SoC firmware.

1. Install Rockchip Batch Tool
2. Open it and locate the firmware in the folder where you stored it.
3. Connect your device, in this case the Minix Neo X7 connected, when successful, a green light button, now click on the Restore button
4. When the update is successful, it will say, restore done succesful.
5. Allow your device now about 5 minutes connected, so that the update can be. Performed correctly Now you are ready


Connect of MK908 (II):

The MK908 (II) has a reset (recovery) button, hold it (with a paperclip) button before closing the drive to your PC. Hold down the button.
Connect the MK908 (II) to your PC using a USB to Micro USB cable. The Micro USB OTG port is in the drive
Release the button only when the number 1 to Connected Devices green.
After the number one green has become, you can have the reset button.
The reset button on the MK908 is at the back. There are two small holes to see which one is the LED hole. If you turn the key to see which hole the LED is and what the reset. Use a paper clip to press the reset button.

Panasonic TX-32LED7FM LCD TV issues and questions

I have the above mentioned TV at home, which strangely has an SC card reader on the back. This card reader is not mentioned anywhere in the TV user manual, and even in the service manual gets very little attention.

Other Panasonic models that sport an SD card reader on the fron of the TV, mention that it can be accessed by the remote control and the "options" button. In my TV, the options button doesn't have any menu related to the SD card.

So what does this SD card slot do?!

Livingroom TV-Computer set up

I was watching recently TV adds about TV monitors able to connect to the internet and make skype calls. Why would anyone want to spend thousands of $ on a new TV just to make skype calls from the living room is a matter beyond my comprehension but anyway.

In my living room, I recently got an LG TV and for quite some time I was considering buying a media streaming device. Such as those sold by iamm.

However my laptop's screen inverter died recently for the second time. The first one lasted 2 years and the second about 1.5 years. It had a few other issues as well (not to mention being from a not very well know brand) making it unattractive to potential ebay buyers. So instead of dropping money on a dedicated media box, the choise was made to use this laptop instead. And drop money on a new laptop.

The screen was stripped from the laptop. Unfortunately the laptop lacks an HDMI port, but the TV supports a VGA input.

An old logitech wireless mouse and keyboard dongle that was bought separately for 6 quid a few years back was connected on the laptop and an external WIFI antenna was connected on the wifi card. (the original antenna was in the back of the screen,so it was removed) . Now I could use an old webcamera with the laptop for those skype calls I mentioned earlier, but left that for some other time. In any case webcams come cheap these days.

I could probably go with a linux OS setup, but since windows were already installed required less hassle leaving it as is. It did require some tweaking using large fonts and large icons to make them fully readable hence fully operational from a 4-5 meters distance where the couch is.

Hence for zero cost I got a media streaming device fully Internet connected.

I know at lest one who has a desktop connected on his TV. Using a laptop though which is easier to conceal has a greater wife acceptance factor C: