A little more about this topic regarding Android boxes and their mysterious ARM processors.
I want to establish what processor is in the MyGica ATV520E box, that sounds like a simple thing to do, as I have one right here, so I will put my detective cap on and start.
The box runs Android 4.2.2 and I went into settings, clicked on "about device" and nothing on that screen indicated what processor was running, although there may be clues that sail right over my head. It tells me that the model number is "MBX reference board (stvmx)" and if I search online I score a result from Geekbench that the processor for that is (perhaps) an ARM Amlogic @ 1.51 GHz with 1 processor and 2 cores. Another search hit from Passmark gives me information on a Geniatech MBX reference board (stvmx) running an ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l) with 2 cores and an average passmark rating of 1367.
An application I installed, called Kodi, version 16.1 which is "Jarvis" has a system information screen and under hardware it confirms that it is an ARMv7 Processor rev 0 (v7l) running at that dubious benchmark of 2393.70 BogoMips.
I now understand from previous enquiries that ARMv7 is an architecture, but what processor is installed? - the online specifications for the ATV520E say that it is an ARM Cortex A9 Dual core CPU but the internet is full of fake news and I would like to confirm the facts somehow from my own investigations.
I installed AnTuTu benchmark and put the old box through the various tests, I'm not going to detail the performance results in this post, just the processor information it provided.
The program reported that it is an ARM Cortex-A9 and to be more exact, a 32 bit Amlogic AML8726-MX with 2 cores with running speed from 96~1512 MHz and it was currently running at 1200 MHz.
Progress!
The next step was to search online for the Amlogic AML8726-MX and I established that it supports the ARMv7 architecture, it's primary CPU is a 32 bit dual ARM Cortex-A9 with Harvard Superscalar processor cores and it is a RISC design. The GPU on the SoC is a 400 MHz dual ARM Mali-400MP2 dual core and in addition, the SoC has a Dual ARM Neon SIMD Engine for Digital Signal Processing. The 40nm build supports HDMI, USB 2.0, DDR3 RAM and is reported to be capable of decoding video at 1080P at 30 FPS.
It was with a sense of accomplishment that I considered the investigation closed.
That's what is inside the old ATV520E toaster, the question now is, does it still make toast?
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Saturday, February 11, 2017
ATV520E - preamble to a review
This old device is circa 2014 and it cost me $31 including shipping.
Specifications, the ATV520E has an ARM Cortex A9 Dual core CPU with a MALI-400 MP2. It has 1GB RAM with 4GB of NAND flash memory and this is running Android 4.2.2 API Level 17. 2393.70 BogoMips.
The CPU is identified as an ARMv7 Processor.
The internet can of course be used to establish what some of that means, but I will expand, for my own education, on a little of the above, and in addition, hopefully prevent any readers of the blog from falling asleep.
It confused me years back, this designation of the CPU in different ways, but I found it best just to allow the confusion to continue. An ARM Cortex A9 is an ARMv7-A 32 bit architecture, the Cortex A9 was touted, back in the day, to offer 25% more performance than the Cortex A8. In the advent of many of our computer devices becoming mainstream appliances, the names of the processors are becoming redundant, at the end of the day, if it is a toaster, does it make toast?
The MALI-400 MP2 is a dual core graphics chip, or GPU and again, it is part of the SoC of this unit and although this Android box harks back to 2014 the ARM A9 and ARM MALI-400 are longer in the tooth by about five years.
API Level is an integer value that uniquely identifies the framework API revision offered by a version of the Android platform. The Android platform provides a framework API that applications can use to interact with the underlying Android system. The framework API consists of a core set of packages and classes. In simple terms, if an application (or app) requires an API level less than or equal to 17 then it will run, if the requirement is higher, then more than likely, or perhaps definitely, it will not.
I will explain how that may become a problem in the next post.
Wikipedia gave me a giggle when I looked up BogoMips (from "bogus" and MIPS) as an unscientific measurement of CPU speed made by the Linux kernel when it boots to calibrate an internal busy-loop. An often-quoted definition of the term is "the number of million times per second a processor can do absolutely nothing" which sounds a little of what my brain is all about in my advanced years.
Yes, it was a paltry $31 including shipping, and the internal memory is a less than spectacular one gigabyte. In addition, there is a scant four gigabytes of some sort of storage memory and a more than obsolete version of the Android operating system and API, the question is, will any of that become an issue for my intended use of this vintage box?
We will see.
Specifications, the ATV520E has an ARM Cortex A9 Dual core CPU with a MALI-400 MP2. It has 1GB RAM with 4GB of NAND flash memory and this is running Android 4.2.2 API Level 17. 2393.70 BogoMips.
The CPU is identified as an ARMv7 Processor.
The internet can of course be used to establish what some of that means, but I will expand, for my own education, on a little of the above, and in addition, hopefully prevent any readers of the blog from falling asleep.
It confused me years back, this designation of the CPU in different ways, but I found it best just to allow the confusion to continue. An ARM Cortex A9 is an ARMv7-A 32 bit architecture, the Cortex A9 was touted, back in the day, to offer 25% more performance than the Cortex A8. In the advent of many of our computer devices becoming mainstream appliances, the names of the processors are becoming redundant, at the end of the day, if it is a toaster, does it make toast?
The MALI-400 MP2 is a dual core graphics chip, or GPU and again, it is part of the SoC of this unit and although this Android box harks back to 2014 the ARM A9 and ARM MALI-400 are longer in the tooth by about five years.
API Level is an integer value that uniquely identifies the framework API revision offered by a version of the Android platform. The Android platform provides a framework API that applications can use to interact with the underlying Android system. The framework API consists of a core set of packages and classes. In simple terms, if an application (or app) requires an API level less than or equal to 17 then it will run, if the requirement is higher, then more than likely, or perhaps definitely, it will not.
I will explain how that may become a problem in the next post.
Wikipedia gave me a giggle when I looked up BogoMips (from "bogus" and MIPS) as an unscientific measurement of CPU speed made by the Linux kernel when it boots to calibrate an internal busy-loop. An often-quoted definition of the term is "the number of million times per second a processor can do absolutely nothing" which sounds a little of what my brain is all about in my advanced years.
Yes, it was a paltry $31 including shipping, and the internal memory is a less than spectacular one gigabyte. In addition, there is a scant four gigabytes of some sort of storage memory and a more than obsolete version of the Android operating system and API, the question is, will any of that become an issue for my intended use of this vintage box?
We will see.
MyGica Android TV Box - ATV520E
In my eBay lurking mode I will often come across used tech items, and the price can either be ridiculously high or low and in the latter case, I will place them on my watch list and wait to see if I can snipe a "win" at the end of the auction.
This was one of those items, it is a MYGICA ATV520E :
As you can see, it is another TV streaming box and I have taken a picture of the box and it's remote, and my preferred method of control of these devices, a Logitech wireless mouse and unified receiver.
I will review the excellent Logitech unified devices in a later blog, but next, I will explain myself regarding the purchase of yet another Android box this year.
This was one of those items, it is a MYGICA ATV520E :
As you can see, it is another TV streaming box and I have taken a picture of the box and it's remote, and my preferred method of control of these devices, a Logitech wireless mouse and unified receiver.
I will review the excellent Logitech unified devices in a later blog, but next, I will explain myself regarding the purchase of yet another Android box this year.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
RCA Tablet - Troubles Part One
Notice that I titled this part one, as I expect I may be kept busy with this one.
Karen (my good wife) and myself have had iPads for years with no troubles and I attribute that to the quality and consistency of the hardware, and that Apple do all the legwork in keeping their operating system, OAS, stable by regular over the air (OTT) updates.
I have found that Android devices, particularly the budget variety, are never as supported, if at all, by their respective, sometimes invisible, manufacturers and my next blog was going to address that, however, something happened yesterday morning with the one month old RCA Voyager tablet, so the original Android discussion will be bumped by this report.
I bought the RCA Voyager on the 28th December, and yesterday was the 28th January, and there really had been no problems at all, granted I felt that the digitizer was a little off, but I had written that off to a sort of parallax error with my fat sossidge fingers.
Sossidge is my way of spelling it, it's my blog and I can ignore the spell checker when I wish.
I had charged the RCA overnight and was going to check my notifications and switched it on and noticed something rather odd. The visible screen was about 1/8" slimmer and the aspect ratio had changed to a noticeable degree with what looked like a visible, taped edge of the LCD showing. What was really odd is that the screen did not appear to have shifted so I thought that I may have overlooked this for the month I had been using it.
I'm old, but I'm not that old.
I carefully removed the two retaining screws and popped the case open with a spudger, I was expecting to see that the LCD had shifted, but that was not apparent as the metal surround was held by clips on all four sides and further disassembly to check if the LCD had shifted within the surround would have been risky as there were several of the small ZIF ribbon type connectors attached to the little motherboard and I've not had the best of times with those in the past.
I noticed how physically small the battery was, almost cell phone size at around 85mm x 55mm x 3mm thick with a capacity of 2000 mAh, 7.4 Wh. and of course it was another reason not to delve further into the innards of the tablet, especially as I did not want the thing to have a meltdown when I accidentally shorted the battery.
It was time to back away from the device and not cut the blue wire...
After a reset, I packaged it all back in the box, I said to Karen that we should go to Walmart as their returns would probably be 30 days (technically, we were at 31) and off we went. It was a bit of a shock when we arrived at the tech department and the actual number was 14 days.
They had an 8GB Voyager II on display and it looked fine, full width screen. In typical fashion they had none of the 16GB units in stock and there was concern that sending us to another Walmart across town would not work out either, in fact the guys on the section had some doubts that there could be an exchange at all, mainly as the (single) in-stock Voyager II had a different SKU.
I was fine with a swap of an almost identical $72 Voyager II for my $48 Voyager, and the memory thing really wasn't a big thing for me, so after some happy discussion with customer service, the exchange was done.
I joked that if the 8GB unit went faulty, would they let me swap it for a 4GB model next time...
Oh how we all laughed...
Karen (my good wife) and myself have had iPads for years with no troubles and I attribute that to the quality and consistency of the hardware, and that Apple do all the legwork in keeping their operating system, OAS, stable by regular over the air (OTT) updates.
I have found that Android devices, particularly the budget variety, are never as supported, if at all, by their respective, sometimes invisible, manufacturers and my next blog was going to address that, however, something happened yesterday morning with the one month old RCA Voyager tablet, so the original Android discussion will be bumped by this report.
I bought the RCA Voyager on the 28th December, and yesterday was the 28th January, and there really had been no problems at all, granted I felt that the digitizer was a little off, but I had written that off to a sort of parallax error with my fat sossidge fingers.
Sossidge is my way of spelling it, it's my blog and I can ignore the spell checker when I wish.
I had charged the RCA overnight and was going to check my notifications and switched it on and noticed something rather odd. The visible screen was about 1/8" slimmer and the aspect ratio had changed to a noticeable degree with what looked like a visible, taped edge of the LCD showing. What was really odd is that the screen did not appear to have shifted so I thought that I may have overlooked this for the month I had been using it.
I'm old, but I'm not that old.
I carefully removed the two retaining screws and popped the case open with a spudger, I was expecting to see that the LCD had shifted, but that was not apparent as the metal surround was held by clips on all four sides and further disassembly to check if the LCD had shifted within the surround would have been risky as there were several of the small ZIF ribbon type connectors attached to the little motherboard and I've not had the best of times with those in the past.
I noticed how physically small the battery was, almost cell phone size at around 85mm x 55mm x 3mm thick with a capacity of 2000 mAh, 7.4 Wh. and of course it was another reason not to delve further into the innards of the tablet, especially as I did not want the thing to have a meltdown when I accidentally shorted the battery.
It was time to back away from the device and not cut the blue wire...
After a reset, I packaged it all back in the box, I said to Karen that we should go to Walmart as their returns would probably be 30 days (technically, we were at 31) and off we went. It was a bit of a shock when we arrived at the tech department and the actual number was 14 days.
They had an 8GB Voyager II on display and it looked fine, full width screen. In typical fashion they had none of the 16GB units in stock and there was concern that sending us to another Walmart across town would not work out either, in fact the guys on the section had some doubts that there could be an exchange at all, mainly as the (single) in-stock Voyager II had a different SKU.
I was fine with a swap of an almost identical $72 Voyager II for my $48 Voyager, and the memory thing really wasn't a big thing for me, so after some happy discussion with customer service, the exchange was done.
I joked that if the 8GB unit went faulty, would they let me swap it for a 4GB model next time...
Oh how we all laughed...
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Q-Box - The Review
Specifications, this particular variant of the Q-Box has the 64 Bit Amlogic S905 Quad core CPU coupled with a Penta-core ARM Mali-450MP GPU. I chose the 2GB RAM version with 16GB of eMMC which is probably NAND flash memory. The communications options are impressive, with dual band wifi, gigabit ethernet and bluetooth 4.0 which probably all reside in a single chip.
Back in the old days of the OTG (OldTechGeezer) a computer like my original 386 (Intel 80386) would have 275,000 transistors in the CPU and the math coprocessor was a separate entity at that stage. Then further to that, communications usually 10/100 LAN were via separate cards or chips and control circuitry, the serial bus system for disk access and keyboard and mouse input, then the graphics plane, so that we could add a video card to see what we were doing. All of that and a lot more, assembled on the great big piece of real estate called the motherboard.
The Q-Box has what they call a SoC, which is System on a Chip, an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. This means that the SoC can be mass produced at very low cost and assembled onto very small motherboards that in reality, just attach the connections to the outside world.
The connections on the outside of the Q-Box include the gigabit LAN RJ45, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI, AV plug, optical SPDIF, a multi card reader and a power connector. It also sports an infrared input for the included remote control and the built in dual band wifi and bluetooth can also be classed as connections to the SoC.
I'm a kind reviewer and I could tell you all the things I do not like about generic Android TV boxes or tablets in general, but I'll save that for another day. The one thing I will say is that this "Q-Box" is sold by many different manufacturers, and unlike say, a Roku, there will be subtle variations in both hardware and software between those suppliers. This can, and probably will result in issues a little down the line for both experienced and novice users.
But that's another story.
There are plenty of performance reviews online for the Amlogic S905 and my review only addresses if this Q-Box does what I expect it to as a TV box. I still see the Android operating system as a phone/tablet proposition, so I'll not even consider it as a gaming device, so the question at the forefront of my mind is if the Q-Box delivers.
I'm an OTG and we're still running on 720P here in the homestead, so this box, which boasts 4K capability, but I suspect is maxed out at 1080P, is not really pushed in our environment. I connect via the LAN socket, so I cannot attest to the wifi strength, and I am not a fan of general use bluetooth, so my control is via a Logitech USB unified wireless solution. That defines the limitations of my judgement on this TV box and any others that I may review in the near future.
This Q-Box came with Kodi 16.1 preinstalled, with the usual bunch of questionable add ons. The stock Android launcher was not really to my taste, so I added Nova launcher from the Google App store (which worked right out of the box) and I use a Logitech wireless mouse to get around, rather than the awkward remote control.
TV viewing is good, and I've not had any issues with it over the last few weeks, Kodi runs as well as it does on my Intel NUC i3 and streaming has been flawless. I've attached my 64GB flash drive to one of those USB ports and streamed video with no issues. This box will stream media.
It does (for me) what I expect it to do and the only caveat I will add is alluded to a few paragraphs back, mainly because in general I have healthy suspicions about Android devices.
I will discuss those in future posts.
Back in the old days of the OTG (OldTechGeezer) a computer like my original 386 (Intel 80386) would have 275,000 transistors in the CPU and the math coprocessor was a separate entity at that stage. Then further to that, communications usually 10/100 LAN were via separate cards or chips and control circuitry, the serial bus system for disk access and keyboard and mouse input, then the graphics plane, so that we could add a video card to see what we were doing. All of that and a lot more, assembled on the great big piece of real estate called the motherboard.
The Q-Box has what they call a SoC, which is System on a Chip, an integrated circuit (IC) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. This means that the SoC can be mass produced at very low cost and assembled onto very small motherboards that in reality, just attach the connections to the outside world.
The connections on the outside of the Q-Box include the gigabit LAN RJ45, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI, AV plug, optical SPDIF, a multi card reader and a power connector. It also sports an infrared input for the included remote control and the built in dual band wifi and bluetooth can also be classed as connections to the SoC.
I'm a kind reviewer and I could tell you all the things I do not like about generic Android TV boxes or tablets in general, but I'll save that for another day. The one thing I will say is that this "Q-Box" is sold by many different manufacturers, and unlike say, a Roku, there will be subtle variations in both hardware and software between those suppliers. This can, and probably will result in issues a little down the line for both experienced and novice users.
But that's another story.
There are plenty of performance reviews online for the Amlogic S905 and my review only addresses if this Q-Box does what I expect it to as a TV box. I still see the Android operating system as a phone/tablet proposition, so I'll not even consider it as a gaming device, so the question at the forefront of my mind is if the Q-Box delivers.
I'm an OTG and we're still running on 720P here in the homestead, so this box, which boasts 4K capability, but I suspect is maxed out at 1080P, is not really pushed in our environment. I connect via the LAN socket, so I cannot attest to the wifi strength, and I am not a fan of general use bluetooth, so my control is via a Logitech USB unified wireless solution. That defines the limitations of my judgement on this TV box and any others that I may review in the near future.
This Q-Box came with Kodi 16.1 preinstalled, with the usual bunch of questionable add ons. The stock Android launcher was not really to my taste, so I added Nova launcher from the Google App store (which worked right out of the box) and I use a Logitech wireless mouse to get around, rather than the awkward remote control.
TV viewing is good, and I've not had any issues with it over the last few weeks, Kodi runs as well as it does on my Intel NUC i3 and streaming has been flawless. I've attached my 64GB flash drive to one of those USB ports and streamed video with no issues. This box will stream media.
It does (for me) what I expect it to do and the only caveat I will add is alluded to a few paragraphs back, mainly because in general I have healthy suspicions about Android devices.
I will discuss those in future posts.
Susay Android TV Box - The Q-Box
Susay is another of the myriad manufacturers of this sort of stuff, based in Hong Kong with a factory in Shenzhen in China and selling through Amazon Canada. I like to buy through Amazon for a couple or reasons, my experiences through the Asian portals, such as Alibaba, were mixed, long shipping times and returns nigh impossible, but Amazon is a very different story.
The Q-Box packs a lot of tech in a little box, but the rate of price attrition on these devices is so rapid that I have fear that if I check on Amazon what the going rate is, I will feel as though I was robbed, even though it's only been three weeks.
It was $80 way back then, and checking today it's surprisingly holding it's price, so, my fears of losing a few dollars aside, let me consider this enough of an introduction and finish this post with a photo and then I'll get on with a little review of the new toy.
The Q-Box packs a lot of tech in a little box, but the rate of price attrition on these devices is so rapid that I have fear that if I check on Amazon what the going rate is, I will feel as though I was robbed, even though it's only been three weeks.
It was $80 way back then, and checking today it's surprisingly holding it's price, so, my fears of losing a few dollars aside, let me consider this enough of an introduction and finish this post with a photo and then I'll get on with a little review of the new toy.
Friday, January 20, 2017
I Want My MTV - Redux
A reboot of one of my blog entries from September 23rd, 2004 in light of recent history :
<start quote>
"Certainly Sir, would you like the last 24 hours downloaded to your Memory Wafer?...."
If you've followed the media lately you're probably aware that very soon the media will be following you around. Cash, Videos, Game Software and Music in your wallet!
Imagine. 24 hours of high definition TV held in a piece of silicon that is embedded in a card no bigger than your credit card. Of course, the same card WILL be your credit card, identity card, drivers licence, debit card, library card etc...
Well, stop imagining because the future is here, almost....
Smart cards promise to revolutionize the way people make financial transactions, or for that matter, any type of transaction. Want cash?, Insert the Wafer into the modified ATM and actually download it into your card. Money is debited from your account and the smart card is credited. Making a purchase is the reverse, the smart card will be debited until its balance is zero, or a predetermined negative balance based on your credit rating.
Why stop there. Take a trip down to your local Video store, provided you have the Smart Terrabyte Wafer then you can download, from the data bank, any movie, in any format, in any language. It will be loaded into the credit card sized computer and will be encrypted so that you can view (on a suitable player) the film multiple times in a 48 hour period. Starting with the first viewing. So, if by some chance you can't watch it that particular night, don't sweat. If you wish to own the film (a collector of bytes) then they'll certainly subtract more money from your card for the encryption key. Hey, wasn't that the DIVX concept from Circuit City!
Take a stroll down to the local music store. Download that latest CD. Did I use the word "CD" there, sorry that concept will fade into history, probably along with the Video and Music "offline" stores.
Just plug the card into the terminal and download it. Pay your money (by the Smart card) and take your encrypted bytes away with you.
In all of the above I missed out the obvious, soon, through mega-bandwidth cable services, everything will be available, 24/7, at a terminal close to your sofa, or set-top box, or slipper warmer. No need to even move out of the house, everything will beat a path to your door. Video on demand (VOD), money on demand (MOD) and of course, games on demand.
<end quote>
<start quote>
"Certainly Sir, would you like the last 24 hours downloaded to your Memory Wafer?...."
If you've followed the media lately you're probably aware that very soon the media will be following you around. Cash, Videos, Game Software and Music in your wallet!
Imagine. 24 hours of high definition TV held in a piece of silicon that is embedded in a card no bigger than your credit card. Of course, the same card WILL be your credit card, identity card, drivers licence, debit card, library card etc...
Well, stop imagining because the future is here, almost....
Smart cards promise to revolutionize the way people make financial transactions, or for that matter, any type of transaction. Want cash?, Insert the Wafer into the modified ATM and actually download it into your card. Money is debited from your account and the smart card is credited. Making a purchase is the reverse, the smart card will be debited until its balance is zero, or a predetermined negative balance based on your credit rating.
Why stop there. Take a trip down to your local Video store, provided you have the Smart Terrabyte Wafer then you can download, from the data bank, any movie, in any format, in any language. It will be loaded into the credit card sized computer and will be encrypted so that you can view (on a suitable player) the film multiple times in a 48 hour period. Starting with the first viewing. So, if by some chance you can't watch it that particular night, don't sweat. If you wish to own the film (a collector of bytes) then they'll certainly subtract more money from your card for the encryption key. Hey, wasn't that the DIVX concept from Circuit City!
Take a stroll down to the local music store. Download that latest CD. Did I use the word "CD" there, sorry that concept will fade into history, probably along with the Video and Music "offline" stores.
Just plug the card into the terminal and download it. Pay your money (by the Smart card) and take your encrypted bytes away with you.
In all of the above I missed out the obvious, soon, through mega-bandwidth cable services, everything will be available, 24/7, at a terminal close to your sofa, or set-top box, or slipper warmer. No need to even move out of the house, everything will beat a path to your door. Video on demand (VOD), money on demand (MOD) and of course, games on demand.
<end quote>
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