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Believe a few S905X4 boxes (allowing CoreELEC install) fall in this category, but are there others that support h/w decoding of AV1 & VP9 @4K/60, support full HD Audio passthru, and have GigE LAN? Interested in all local network playback only.
[H]i-[d]eft [M]edia [K]een [V]ideosaurus
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noggin
Posting Freak
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2022-12-28, 12:59
(This post was last modified: 2022-12-28, 13:01 by noggin. Edited 2 times in total.)
I have a Vontar X4 4GB/32GB S905X4 box that has Gigabit Ethernet and is working with CoreElec 'ne' builds that have just started being publicly posted. (I had patchy network support with 'ng' builds - but 'ne' so far - less than a day - has been OK). Currently booting from uSD card - haven't tried installing to internal eMMC. All my media is either stored locally on unRAID (a mix of MPEG2 DVD, h264 Blu-ray and h265 UHD Blu-ray stuff I own and ripped, off-air h264 DVB-T/T2/S/S2 recordings, and some h264 and h265 encodes I've made myself)
I haven't tested AV1 and VP9 4K/60 stuff on it yet - but other S905X4 boxes I've had (with 100Mbs Ethernet) have played UHD AV1 stuff OK (can't speak about 50/60fps stuff)
If you can point me to AV1 and VP9 test clips - I'll give them a go.
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2022-12-28, 23:01
(This post was last modified: 2022-12-28, 23:03 by emveepee. Edited 2 times in total.)
The HK1 X4 and Vontar X4 can be flashed with the same Android image (and user Android build images too) the only thing changed for CE is the splash. The are all ah21* devices I have a couple of others and they same interchangeable. One of my devices didn't have firmware for download, but I replaced it with CE booting from emmc anyway so it became a Vontar.
Martin
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Great, thanks. Will pick one of them up.
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So it's better to go with s905x4 or amlogic ?
Which boxes do you suggest ? Which boxes permit dual os (Android and coreelec)
And last question on coreelec I can get widewine l1 ?
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2022-12-29, 14:42
(This post was last modified: 2022-12-29, 14:43 by Sholander. Edited 1 time in total.)
Just to clarify, S905x4 is Amlogic SoC.
No Widevine L1 on Coreelec; in fact on boxes that are L1 certified it's not possible to install Coreelec since they have locked bootloader. Although, there is mention of one box with L1 on Coreelec forum on which someone succeeded to install CE, but don't remember the make/model of that box, and if L1 was then available.
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The Amlogic S905X4 is powerful enough for CoreELEC to play most, if not all "protected" streams in 1080p with correct frame rate and resolution. SlyGuy's repository contains many, many different streaming apps. To use the "protected" streaming apps, you DO have to have a subscription, nothing pirated. I, myself, use HBOmax, Paramount+, Disney+, Netflix, and several of the "free" apps like Pluto (I did donate to SlyGuy).
I have multiple Android boxes and most of the Google Certified boxes, but I have been primarily using my HK1 Rbox X4 running CoreELEC internally on the eMMC. It plays everything that I watch, and perfectly.
I use Tvheadend client for my live and recorded OTA TV, with 14 days of guide data, on this device.
As others have mentioned, beware that you never know what components the manufacture will install in the box. Fortunately, the gurus at CoreELEC always seem to get those inexpensive boxes to work.
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I guess I should clarify the last post. I included Netflix in the same sentence about SlyGuy's repository, it should have been in a different sentence and acknowledge that Netflix app is installed from the "repository.castagnait-2.0.0".
I am unable to edit the previous post.
Also, IF I use any of those apps for a length of time, I am more that happy to donate. I appreciate all of the work those guys put into their work.
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Thank all (as always) for the suggestions
Really appreciate it
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Apparently the Ugoos X4Q S905x4 is Widevine L1 and Google Certified but there haven't been reports that it runs CE like their original X4. Fingers crossed. The Ugoos boxes are also DDR4 unlike the other generic X4 S905x4 DDR3 so "maybe" they are not build using used emmc and RAM.
Some Mecool L1 boxes do run CE but again nothing with AV1 is reported.
I also have the Beelink GT King II with the more advanced Amlogic A311D2 (think VIM4 with a crappy L2 Android with very limited software) and for the money it isn't ready and even CE team need more from the vendor and Amlogic to get it working. Fortunately it is new so we might see them in months and years ahead. You can get 3 or 4 of the generic boxes for their price so there is your warranty just use a vendor like Amazon in cast you get 100Mb networking.
Martin
