How to Write Andoid Firmware for a Stb

I
reviewed Rikomagic MK22 TV box
about two weeks ago, and with the firmware I had, online firmware update was not enabled, and the visitor only released .IMG firmware for
Amlogic USB Burning Tool, a windows-just tool that’s not well designed, and requires some process that vary slightly from boxes to boxes which in some cases forces to buy a male to male USB cable.

I’ve at present started
reviewing R-Box Pro Television receiver box
also based on Amlogic S912 processor, online firmware update is not working either, and again I simply managed to detect
.IMG firmware
for the box on GeekBuying. Notwithstanding, I’ve been informed that “USB Burning Tool” firmware can now be flashed through a micro SD card, or USB flash drive with all recent Amlogic Idiot box boxes, and so I’ve tried this method instead of R-Box Pro, and decided to study my experience in this post
following some instructions on Freaktab
made by user Calc. I’ll show instructions in Linux (which could be further streamlined), and so Windows.

Linux Method

Afterwards downloading and extracting the rar’ed firmware file (twice), I concluded up with a single img firmware files (aml_s912_q6330-R-BOX-PRO-3gddr-mac-20161015.img).

Kickoff we’ll need to have a tool to extract some files from the firmware. Create aml-upgrade-package-excerpt.c with the lawmaking beneath which
I found on Freaktab besides
and slightly modified it to parse the firmware filename:

ane

eight

ten

xxx

#include <errno.h>

#include <inttypes.h>

#include <stdio.h>

#include <stdlib.h>

#include <string.h>

#include <arpa/inet.h>

uint32_t

convert
(
uint8_t

*
test
,

uint64_t

loc
)

{

render

ntohl
(
(
test
[
loc
]

<<

24
)

|

(
test
[
loc
+
1
]

<<

16
)

|

(
test
[
loc
+
2
]

<<

eight
)

|

examination
[
loc
+
3
]
)
;

}

void

main

(
int

argc
,

char

*
*
argv
)

{

FILE

*
fileptr
;

uint8_t

*
buffer
;

long

filelen
;

FILE

*
f
;

char

*
filename
;

uint64_t

tape
;

uint64_t

record_loc
;

uint64_t

file_loc
;

uint64_t

file_size
;

if

(
argc

<=

one
)

{

printf
(
“Usage: %s [firmware-file-name]\north”
,

argv
[
0
]
)
;

exit

(
0
)
;

}

fileptr

=

fopen
(
argv
[
1
]
,

“rb”
)
;

fseek
(
fileptr
,

0
,

SEEK_END
)
;

filelen

=

ftell
(
fileptr
)
;

rewind
(
fileptr
)
;

buffer

=

(
uint8_t

*
)
malloc
(
(
filelen
+
i
)
*
sizeof
(
uint8_t
)
)
;

fread
(
buffer
,

filelen
,

1
,

fileptr
)
;

fclose
(
fileptr
)
;

for

(
record

=

0
;

tape

<

(
uint8_t
)
buffer
[
0x18
]
;

record

=

record

+

i
)
{

record_loc

=

0x40

+

(
record

*

0x240
)
;

filename

=

(
malloc
(
32
)
)
;

sprintf
(
filename
,
“%s.%s”
,
(
char

*
)
&
buffer
[
record_loc
+
0x120
]
,

(
char

*
)
&
buffer
[
record_loc
+
0x20
]
)
;

file_loc

=

catechumen
(
buffer
,
record_loc
+
0x10
)
;

file_size

=

catechumen
(
buffer
,
record_loc
+
0x18
)
;

f

=

fopen
(
filename
,

“wb”
)
;

if

(
f

==

Goose egg
)

{

printf
(
“Mistake: could not open output\n”
)
;

printf
(
“the fault was: %southward\north”
,
strerror
(
errno
)
)
;

free
(
filename
)
;

continue
;

}

fwrite
(
&
(
buffer
[
file_loc
]
)
,

sizeof
(
uint8_t
)
,

(
size_t
)
file_size
,

f
)
;

fclose
(
f
)
;

gratuitous
(
filename
)
;

}

gratuitous
(
buffer
)
;

}

Read: Firmware KingWear KW88 SmartWatch MT6580

Now compile the tool with gcc:

gcc

aml
–
upgrade
–
parcel
–
extract
.
c

–
o

aml
–
upgrade
–
bundle
–
extract

and run the thing on the firmware file:

.
/
aml
–
upgrade
–
package
–
extract

aml_s912_q6330
–
R
–
BOX
–
PRO
–
3gddr
–
mac
–
20161015.img

It will extract a bunch of files:

jaufranc
@
FX8350
:
~
/
edev
/
amlogic
/
s912
$

ls

aml_s912_q6330
–
R
–
BOX
–
PRO
–
3gddr
–
mac
–
20161015.img

logo
.
PARTITION

aml_sdc_burn
.
ini

logo
.
VERIFY

aml_sdc_burn
.
UBOOT

manifest
.
xml

aml
–
upgrade
–
package
–
extract

meson1
.
dtb

aml
–
upgrade
–
package
–
extract
.
c

platform
.
conf

bootloader
.
Partition

recovery
.
Partitioning

bootloader
.
VERIFY

recovery
.
VERIFY

kick
.
Sectionalisation

organisation
.
Sectionalization

kicking
.
VERIFY

system
.
VERIFY

DDR
.
USB

UBOOT
.
USB

keys
.
conf

You lot’ll just need aml_sdc_burn.ini and aml_sdc_burn.UBOOT, plus the IMG file itself to create a bootable mass storage device.

Now find the device for your micro SD card (formatted with FAT32) with lsblk:

lsblk

NAME

MAJ
:
MIN

RM

SIZE

RO

Type

MOUNTPOINT

sda

8
:
0

0

931.5G

0

disk

├─sda1

8
:
1

0

915.9G

0

part

/
media
/
hdd

└─sda2

eight
:
ii

0

15.6G

0

part

sdb

eight
:
sixteen

0

111.8G

0

disk

└─sdb1

8
:
17

0

111.8G

0

part

/

sdc

8
:
32

0

931.5G

0

deejay

└─sdc1

8
:
33

0

931.5G

0

part

/
media
/
jaufranc
/
SEAGATE

EXTENSION

sdd

8
:
48

1

iii.8G

0

disk

└─sdd1

8
:
49

ane

iii.8G

0

office

/
media
/
jaufranc
/
6106
–
E11B

sr0

11
:
0

1

630M

0

rom

/
media
/
jaufranc
/
CanonEOS285W

loop0

7
:
0

0

75M

0

loop

/
snap
/
ubuntu
–
core
/
423

loop1

7
:
one

0

4.3M

0

loop

/
snap
/
approved
–
livepatch
/
17

loop2

7
:
ii

0

four.3M

0

loop

/
snap
/
approved
–
livepatch
/
15

Read: Sprint Note 5 Stock Firmware Download Qc5

In my case, it’due south /dev/sdd, but I’ll use /dev/sdX in the instructions below, merely change the command with yours.

sudo

umount

/
dev
/
sdX*

sudo

dd

if
=
aml_sdc_burn
.
UBOOT

of
=
/
dev
/
sdX

bs
=
1

count
=
442

sudo

dd

if
=
aml_sdc_burn
.
UBOOT

of
=
/
dev
/
sdX

seek
=
i

skip
=
ane

bs
=
512

sync

and finally, re-mount the SD card/flash drive, copy the firmware file and aml_sdc_burn.ini to the root of the device, and rename the firmware to aml_upgrade_package.img to friction match the cord in aml_sdc_burn.ini:

cp

aml_sdc_burn
.
ini

aml_sdc_burn
.
UBOOT

[
device
–
mount
–
point
]

cp

aml_s912_q6330
–
R
–
BOX
–
PRO
–
3gddr
–
mac
–
20161015.img

[
device
–
mount
–
betoken
]
/
aml_upgrade_package
.
img

sudo

umount

/
dev
/
sdX*

Now make certain no other USB devices or SD cards are inserted in the TV box, and insert your bootable (micro) SD card or USB wink bulldoze into the TV box. If your Tv box is fully bricked, you take zip to do, and the update should start straight away, but if information technology is partially bricked or just working fine, you still demand to press the recovery push, utilise power, and release the button in order to enter recovery mode. The upgrade should then get-go automatically as shown below.

Patiently expect for the update to complete and y’all should be all good. Please note that I first tried with a USB wink drive, and the method did not work. In one case the update is complete, y’all’ll see the “Android success” logo.

Read: Combination Firmware for Sprint Samsung Galaxy S6

At this signal, remove the micro SD menu, and ability bicycle the board to complete the final steps of the update, and within 1 or two minutes yous should become the Android launcher. If instead, the firmware ends with “Android failure” logo showing a red cross, verify your firmware MD5 (east.1000. with md5sum in Linux) to make sure it’s not corrupted. If information technology is, re-download the file and/or re-copy the file to the micro SD bill of fare.

Windows Method: Burn Carte Maker

If you lot are a Windows user it’s much easier as you just need to use Burn_Card_Marker tool (bootcardmaker.exe), which yous tin can download
here
or
there. The documentation shows the interface as shown beneath.

Just subsequently starting the plan in Windows 7, and changing the language with the summit carte du jour, second option to English language, it stayed in Chinese language and looked like the screenshot below instead.

burn_card_maker_v2-0-2

[Update: After changing the language to English, select the 3rd choice in the peak menu to apply the alter…

…restart the app, and it will be in English.]

It’s not actually a large result, but you can still select your SD card device (F: drive in my case), load the file, and press “Make” push to start creating a bootable recovery (micro) SD menu.
amlogic-create-bootable-card

You’ll get a “Success!” pop-upwardly window and the end, and the content of the SD carte du jour will show the firmware and the 2 aml_sdc_burn files.

Now you lot can insert the micro SD card in the TV box, enter the recovery card with the pinhole or other method for your TV box, and the firmware update volition first automatically.

Expert Luck!

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 equally a office-time attempt, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full fourth dimension later in 2011.