[jr__]

Got mine running fairly well using j1nx's tips. The key is to get the right XBMC build. You can get it from j1nx's website or from the Pivos forums - basically you need the apk with amlplayer packaged in.

Anyone else having trouble with volume control within XBMC? Mine can go all the way down to mute and the volume is still playing. It doesn't do anything

[Vaevictus2]

J1nx, are you at all confident that the dual core amlogic chipset will be backwards compatible with the current pivos builds of xbmc, or that the source code you receive will at least help the effort?

Also, will it be necessary to gain console access to the box in order to flash xbmclinux or will there be a way for noobs to do it just by burning an SD card image?

What did the price of the source code contribute to the price per unit of the box? seems pretty steep!

[j1nx]

J1nx, are you at all confident that the dual core amlogic chipset will be backwards compatible with the current pivos builds of xbmc, or that the source code you receive will at least help the effort?

I will be honest with you. I don't know if it will be 100% compatible with Meson6. Let me be clear that I do not want the Pivos builds to work on the box, I want to have the sources so that we can extent the pivos build to work on the r16ref hardware.

Also, will it be necessary to gain console access to the box in order to flash xbmclinux or will there be a way for noobs to do it just by burning an SD card image?

No, for the common user in the end is just a matter of upgrading the "firmware".

What did the price of the source code contribute to the price per unit of the box? seems pretty steep!

Yes it is steep. I also was very surprised about how it added it up to this price. EU laws make it hard to import from other countries.

- Shipping costs
- Import tax
- We have to pay the VAT up front
- We are responsible for warranty so 5% added to the costs.
- Crowdfunding costs of 4%
- A small buffer of 2000,- for unforeseen costs and Voila we are at the price we are now.

Above crap is probably also the reason why the Pivos XIOS is so expensive. If EU distibutors can not buy it a bit cheaper from the states, all the above costs add up!

[Pivos_BigC]

>*SNIP*<
Yes it is steep. I also was very surprised about how it added it up to this price. EU laws make it hard to import from other countries.

- Shipping costs
- Import tax
- We have to pay the VAT up front
- We are responsible for warranty so 5% added to the costs.
- Crowdfunding costs of 4%
- A small buffer of 2000,- for unforeseen costs and Voila we are at the price we are now.

Above crap is probably also the reason why the Pivos XIOS is so expensive.
>*SNIP*<

Yup. When you are operating within the law, the EU becomes one of the most expensive regions to do business. There are other costs that he hasn't mentioned that are NOT small. MPEG-LA can be tough to deal with.

The sourcecode for all of our releases can be found in our public GIT repo. https://github.com/Pivosgroup AMLogic made changes between what people know as the M1/M3/MX.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS-FLASH. You will end up with a brick so bad you will be busting out a buspirate (or similar device) and loading firmware very slowly to recover.

[j1nx]

>*SNIP*<

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS-FLASH. You will end up with a brick so bad you will be busting out a buspirate (or similar device) and loading firmware very slowly to recover.

Yes, that's exactly why I want the u-boot def_config for the r16ref hardware. I really hope in the end, these little boxes will help PivosGroup as well. (Bugs and code changes for the best)

[Dave_qp]

what is the difference between a Linux computer and a set top box, nothing and 14% import duty

Surely until you add the XBMC software these devices are computers which have 0% import duty http://www.dutycalculator.com/

[j1nx]

Nah, they don't fall for it.

You might get it done through court and such, but it is a lot easier if not cheaper to just accept the import duties. (They are also there to protect the local market.)

[firefoxdude]

Nah, they don't fall for it.

You might get it done through court and such, but it is a lot easier if not cheaper to just accept the import duties. (They are also there to protect the local market.)

Hi j1nx,

I didn't see this posted on the earlier pages but can you confirm if XBMC can pass Dolby Digital or DTS through the optical out on the AmLogic M3?

I say this because I run backed up Blurays at full quality via .m2ts container passing through DTS or Dolby Digital to my reciever using a PS3. I was wondering if this box could replace it without stuttering and with keeping full 5.1 Surround.

[pszab]

An other interesting thing that in the Pivos topic someone said 23.976 Hz is not working under Linux either.. :-S
If it is right and the chip does not support this refresh rate then this item won't be a perfect HTPC...
Anyone about this? Noone has answered my question there. I hope it is not true

[T800]

An other interesting thing that in the Pivos topic someone said 23.976 Hz is not working under Linux either.. :-S
If it is right and the chip does not support this refresh rate then this item won't be a perfect HTPC...
Anyone about this? Noone has answered my question there. I hope it is not true

What is the perfect HTPC though?
To me a perfect HTPC is one that does everything I want. I'm sure for some 23.976 doesn't matter at all.
It doesn't do 3D blu-ray with/or HD audio and a multitude of other things either.

[j1nx]

Hi j1nx,

I didn't see this posted on the earlier pages but can you confirm if XBMC can pass Dolby Digital or DTS through the optical out on the AmLogic M3?

I say this because I run backed up Blurays at full quality via .m2ts container passing through DTS or Dolby Digital to my reciever using a PS3. I was wondering if this box could replace it without stuttering and with keeping full 5.1 Surround.

I will investigate this in the next coming days. It is most likely a software/license issue and for one I did not take those licenses with me in the costs calculation. I think software wise we should be able to get raw pass through working as we don't need a license for that. (you pass it on to your receiver, who has the license)

But again. I need to investigate it before I make promises I can't keep. (transparency / honesty above all)

---

An other interesting thing that in the Pivos topic someone said 23.976 Hz is not working under Linux either.. :-S
If it is right and the chip does not support this refresh rate then this item won't be a perfect HTPC...
Anyone about this? Noone has answered my question there. I hope it is not true

I noticed it as well on the Pivos forums. I don't know yet of all the ins and out, but I do know this exact topic popped up at the Allwinnner project as well.

Of course this is not the perfect HTPC. That costs a whole lot more. To me everything beneath $100,- could be a very nice device but you need to make some compromises. This might be one of them.

[Rodnheli]

hi! i have the same oval elephant android TV box,

and i think i need some assistance :-) - i've bought it because of possibility to play HD video content smooth in XBMC.

i updated the box with G-Box Midnight Firmware v.9-25-12. before installing XBMC i tried base functions like play video content with MX-Player from
USB-stick, SD-card, UPNP (synology diskstation), SMB (synology diskstation) over LAN and WLAN. but EVERY content neither SD nor HD content
did play without stuttering.

played around with other players like BSplayer, Diceplayer Wondershare Player and so on - nothing worked perfect :-( -- with MX-player i got better results (HW-decoding video,
software decoding audio), but far away from playing smooth..

i also tried many XBMC versions (neon), amlplayer, and the ones from j1nx homepage and g-box midnight homepage - always stuttering - every video content.
on the box i have display resoulution 720p and also tried 1080i. output is HDMI to my AV-receiver and from there to my TV.
i also followed j1nx advices to remove programs and so on....

i really like the box - but now after 7 days and MANY hours of trying - i've the intend to send it back to the seller - i'm a little bit disappointed now, because the box seems
to work for others.

could the box be damaged? i don't think its a network problem. all the content plays in the same wlan perfect on my asus TF300 with bsplayer. testing ethernet speed connection
i get in my LAN 5 MB/s with this box. it's not very fast - but should be enough.

hope somebody here could give me advice to get the box working :-) - or could post which firmwareversion, xbmc build, and other things i should know to get the box working :-)

thanks a lot for your help!
heli

[j1nx]

Hi Rodnhelli,

To start the investigation; First put the below file locally on the device
http://samplemedia.linaro.org/H264/big_b..._7200K.MP4

Does it play, from local storage without stuttering?

[pszab]

What is the perfect HTPC though?
To me a perfect HTPC is one that does everything I want. I'm sure for some 23.976 doesn't matter at all.
It doesn't do 3D blu-ray with/or HD audio and a multitude of other things either.

Some not. But some yes. This is what it is not perfect

[j1nx]

Some not. But some yes. This is what it is not perfect

I doubt a "perfect HTPC" actually does exist

There is ALWAYS something, I can think of that just needs a little tweak