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Copied and modified from my XDA Assist post
Around last June, my family has gotten a TV box set only providing Chinese content, but boy have I had a hard time with this device! Although there is an app store for that box, there aren't that many apps that I can download aside for a few games and other productivity apps. From whatever technical information I could get scattered across the software installed, here's what I got:
Android version: 4.4.2 KitKat
Model: S8G40
RAM: ? 1GB
Internal Storage: ? 8GB
Languages installed: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English
Connectivity: HDMI (the main output), microSD card slot, USB 3.0, 3.5mm audio-video plug, Ethernet
Input: Remote control (the menu key is seldom used with the custom software), USB devices
CPU: possibly ARMv7
Power source: 12V DC, 1A
It appears as a black box with rounded corners, similar to the Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, but with "iTalkBB" engraved on top.
While trying to install the select apps, I did get the popup for local APK installation, which tells me that "allow unknown sources" is turned on. There is also neither the Play Store nor other Google programs installed onto that box by default. The built-in app store did tell me the following:
ADB: closed
Root: closed
Without the stock settings app, ADB can't be turned on from the device.
Some popup dialogs I got indicated the set box software is based on AOSP, but none of that was helpful to my goal of installing any foreign APKs. Although some parts got translated when the language was set to "English", not all of the software, especially the custom ones, were so. I still had some parts remain in Chinese.
Moreover, I tried some USB hardware with it, and they work. A USB mouse puts a cursor on a screen, but isn't useful with most of the custom software except the AOSP parts I occasionally saw. A USB keyboard with extra shortcuts worked, with the following buttons working:
Home -> home screen
Volume buttons, including mute
Suspend key -> puts the device to sleep; when powered on again, the full boot cycle is performed
Music -> opens the stock music app, displaying no files even with external storage connected, and the only non-custom app I successfully opened up.
Alt/Meta/Windows key + Tab -> Brings up the 2.x style task switcher. It is not possible for me to close apps with it.
Screenshot keys work; I get a screenshot taken, but it is then impossible to view or delete the screenshot afterwards as they could be stored on the non-accessible internal storage.
USB storage is mounted, and a custom file manager limited to photos, music, and video can be used to access one. This file manager proved useless to me in trying to get outside APKs installed.
USB hubs can attach more than one of these or the following at once to the set box.
I even took the set box apart once, and got to see its hardware (specific hardware can't be listed as there's no way to get an app on there to tell me that info. There seemed to be no hardware button for resetting the device nor a recovery mode. [if needed, I can send images of the hardware]
All in all, that set box IMO is really secure, with JTAG hardware possibly being the only way I can achieve customization and more outside of the intended activities (the set box could also be leased hardware, of which then my family won't own the set box, possibly turning modifications to the set box into forbidden activities). My situation is an obscure one; the company providing the set box is probably not well-known, and that hurts my chances of being able to obtain the ability to customize the device. If nobody can help, I'll simply stay away from such software-limited hardware next time.
Worldblender said:
Copied and modified from my XDA Assist post
Around last June, my family has gotten a TV box set only providing Chinese content, but boy have I had a hard time with this device! Although there is an app store for that box, there aren't that many apps that I can download aside for a few games and other productivity apps. From whatever technical information I could get scattered across the software installed, here's what I got:
Android version: 4.4.2 KitKat
Model: S8G40
RAM: ? 1GB
Internal Storage: ? 8GB
Languages installed: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English
Connectivity: HDMI (the main output), microSD card slot, USB 3.0, 3.5mm audio-video plug, Ethernet
Input: Remote control (the menu key is seldom used with the custom software), USB devices
CPU: possibly ARMv7
Power source: 12V DC, 1A
It appears as a black box with rounded corners, similar to the Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, but with "iTalkBB" engraved on top.
While trying to install the select apps, I did get the popup for local APK installation, which tells me that "allow unknown sources" is turned on. There is also neither the Play Store nor other Google programs installed onto that box by default. The built-in app store did tell me the following:
ADB: closed
Root: closed
Without the stock settings app, ADB can't be turned on from the device.
Some popup dialogs I got indicated the set box software is based on AOSP, but none of that was helpful to my goal of installing any foreign APKs. Although some parts got translated when the language was set to "English", not all of the software, especially the custom ones, were so. I still had some parts remain in Chinese.
Moreover, I tried some USB hardware with it, and they work. A USB mouse puts a cursor on a screen, but isn't useful with most of the custom software except the AOSP parts I occasionally saw. A USB keyboard with extra shortcuts worked, with the following buttons working:
Home -> home screen
Volume buttons, including mute
Suspend key -> puts the device to sleep; when powered on again, the full boot cycle is performed
Music -> opens the stock music app, displaying no files even with external storage connected, and the only non-custom app I successfully opened up.
Alt/Meta/Windows key + Tab -> Brings up the 2.x style task switcher. It is not possible for me to close apps with it.
Screenshot keys work; I get a screenshot taken, but it is then impossible to view or delete the screenshot afterwards as they could be stored on the non-accessible internal storage.
USB storage is mounted, and a custom file manager limited to photos, music, and video can be used to access one. This file manager proved useless to me in trying to get outside APKs installed.
USB hubs can attach more than one of these or the following at once to the set box.
I even took the set box apart once, and got to see its hardware (specific hardware can't be listed as there's no way to get an app on there to tell me that info. There seemed to be no hardware button for resetting the device nor a recovery mode. [if needed, I can send images of the hardware]
All in all, that set box IMO is really secure, with JTAG hardware possibly being the only way I can achieve customization and more outside of the intended activities (the set box could also be leased hardware, of which then my family won't own the set box, possibly turning modifications to the set box into forbidden activities). My situation is an obscure one; the company providing the set box is probably not well-known, and that hurts my chances of being able to obtain the ability to customize the device. If nobody can help, I'll simply stay away from such software-limited hardware next time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be very limited on what you can do with a China based deviced. Mostly because Google doesn't have any agreement with China for Google products like the play store. They also tend to use modified versions of Android that are set to lie about internals and other things. I would stay away from them. I can guess that the price is what got you to buy it but remember you get what you pay for.
This is one that is leased similar like AT&T UVerse tv boxes, in which I get to use it for the period that I pay service, so if my family ends service with ITalkBB, we may have to return the box to the company. It may not be like I get to own that box forever.
Worldblender said:
This is one that is leased similar like AT&T UVerse tv boxes, in which I get to use it for the period that I pay service, so if my family ends service with ITalkBB, we may have to return the box to the company. It may not be like I get to own that box forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this is why I dont use any of these types of boxes. They are great gimmics for now but in the end useless for me.
If it is leased and you do end up modding it you will be charged for the full price and if they find out they can make you pay the rest of your period and cancel it on you.
Ill be honest Android based TV will fade away just like smart tvs are starting to.
Maybe next time, when I get an opportunity, I'll look for a TV box that won't be this limited; how come you say that Android TV is fading away?
Worldblender said:
Maybe next time, when I get an opportunity, I'll look for a TV box that won't be this limited; how come you say that Android TV is fading away?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its really just a gimmic and 90% of people have no real use for a smart TV mainly when most have a gaming system hooked up to their TV that does all the same things. Not to mention that all it takes is them to decide to block rooted TV from even using their services which will happen due to the piracy level in android. Its like the 3d TVs. a cool idea but not really practical. its the same thing with Apple TV.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/0...-living-room-flop-for-google-do-you-have-one/
I have a 2013 model LG Google TV G3 55GA6450 that was recently gifted to me. Whenever I try to configure it to use the built-in tuner as my video source, I encounter "Unfortunately, VideoInputSetup has stopped"
According to this G+ thread, the error has to do with Google no longer supporting the local channel / programming lineup service thus causing the app to crash, and making the TV unusable as there is no other way to enable the TV Tuner input option without the app.
I have already tried force closing the 'VideoInputSetup' app, clearing its cache, etc. Also tried were a factory reset and using a custom launcher shortcut to launch the different functions of the app. Nothing has worked so far. I am willing, (with help) to extract the app and send it along to whoever and see if they can fix. Or to help any other steps / process to fix the issue.
Optionally, if someone might be willing to help me root and/or upgrade the device to newer Android TV, that would be awesome
I'm having same ANNOYING problem! This guy says he managed to root the TV but not sure if it will help. You need to go to the article since I can't post a url
forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/lg-google-tv-rooted-t2811945
Any fix?
Anyone find a fix to this yet?
deeluk said:
Anyone find a fix to this yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative. I was able to find a way to manually add channels to the tuner, but it is currently useless without a way to enable the tuner for Input selection.
Thanks! Could you share the manual process to add channels? Right now, I have a fancy wall paper, would at least like to watch the morning news. Thanks in advance!
deeluk said:
Thanks! Could you share the manual process to add channels? Right now, I have a fancy wall paper, would at least like to watch the morning news. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will only work if you already have the "Buil-In Tuner" option available under Inputs.
You will need an app to launch custom shortcuts, I am using QuickShortcuts. Some custom launchers can also do this.
In the shortcut app, find the Settings application under "Activities". Expand it and then scroll through the activities until you find "Manual Tuning" (com.android.settings/com.android.settings.lge.channel.ManualScanActivity) and select that and finish setting up the shortcut to it. Launch the shortcut and add the channels you want.
and is there anything that we can using inseed to do this manually? It is working but there is a bad pop up saying "no paired devices found" and I can't change channel.
Thanks
Awesome, it works! It's clunky, but I can see a few channels now. Really hope someone has a hack through a rooted approach.
Do you know if anyone are working to root the GA7900 or other GTV3?
deeluk said:
Awesome, it works! It's clunky, but I can see a few channels now. Really hope someone has a hack through a rooted approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried decompiling the VideoInputSetup apk to see if I could manually change anything in the part that keeps crashing, but I wasn't able to recompile it afterwards.
And I've tried everything else I can think of as a work around for those like me with LG's that can't even see the manual tuner in the input options, but to no avail ?
Correct, the manual function for the tuner is not available. I am writing to LG every week to get this done. know it is a lost of time ...
Your inquiry has been submitted for review and we are waiting for feedback so we can communicate it with you as soon as possible. We will also be including the observation you have suggested to improve future LG products. We assure you that these are being reviewed by LG management periodically and being utilized as valuable inputs for consideration in our products and services innovations.
Sorry, I can't help much than that
After a few calls with LG support, and asking for escalation, I learned that a converter box is the workaround. I have coaxial from cable provider. The converter box should have an hdmi output. Any suggestions on which product/model works well?
After accidentally rescanning for channels, I've bricked my TV for the broadcast channels. I've tried to use Teamviewer, Remodroid, but I can't find proper instructions to connect remotely to possibly fix the problem. The exploiteers website seems promising (www exploitee.rs) but not much information for my LG GA6450...
Anyone with update root instructions or ways to get Manual Tuner to work.? I've tried the manual tuner method but no channels are showing up.
I ran into this same issue and had several frustrating calls with LG support that went nowhere. I was lucky enough to stumble on some other suggestions and found a workaround. While not perfect, I can actually use the TV again. I hope this helps others in a similar situation. Follow the steps below and do not deviate (trust me I got really close to bricking my TV figuring this out):
From settings navigate to "Applications".
Scroll over to "All" and then down to find "Live TV" and open it.
Click on "Disable".
Exit back to settings and then to "Channels" (you'll see the options are now enabled).
Auto scan for channels (or if you've already done this manually tune to a channel).
Exit back to settings and back to "Applications".
Scroll over to "All" and then down to find "Live TV" and open it.
Click on "Enable".
Turn the TV off and then back on. (You'll notice you can change the channel, but after android has finished restarting it won't let you any longer).
To get around that, use the gesture button and click on the channel bar at the top to enable to guide below. You can now scroll up and down through channels, find the one you want and open to watch.
Note - If you press the "Home" button, you will no longer be able to get back to live TV. You will have to repeat the steps (on step 5, you can just manually tune). It's extremely frustrating that LG won't release an updated firmware to simply re-enable the tuner and I'm very disappointed with the way they have handled this situation (as well as how they interact with faithful customers).
This device caught my eye recently (Kyocera KY-01L):
https://uncrate.com/kyocera-ky-01l-card-phone/
Points of interest:
* Android-based
* e-paper display
* ultra compact
Personally I feel Kyocera made a huge mistake by not including the Play Store, or at least including an e-Reader application. A pocket-sized e-Reader that is also my phone just sounds awesome in theory (although the 380mAh battery might prove otherwise in reality...)
Since I use Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer for all my communications, I can't really use this unless I can get gApps installed.
Does anyone have experience hacking Kyocera phones? How difficult would it be to get root, TWRP, and gApps working on this thing?
I googled that phone and found your post. Most intriguing idea, but overpriced imho. I would like to test my developer skills on that but without adb or at least apk installer its useless
Android is not fully compatible (out-of-the-box) with e-ink and screen sizes under 3", unless it's heavily modified. Which is not worth the investmet, considering the target market. And even if Android were adapted, many apps wouldn't run anyway. They wrapped a layer around it to run essentials services. Note that there is a real browser though.
KY-01L Information
So i bought one of these myself out of curiosity and here's what i've found:
ADB can be enabled from the phones settings (the option is called "switch usb debugging") once it's enabled you can sideload APK's
APK's cannot be installed on the phone itself, when doing so you get the message than unknown sources are not enabled however as kyocera have modified the security settings there is no way to enable this afaik
The apps use AOSP icons and have some normal screens present which can be accessed with an activity launcher
When using installed apps the E-ink screen switches to a high refresh rate mode at random and the only way to get it back to normal is to launch cardphonehome (the default launcher)
The phone won't connect to any UK networks (i've only tried vodaphone and EE sims in it)
Bluetooth media audio seems to be removed entirely, even when sideloading a music player
The stock keyboard uses a 9 key input for text, you can sideload something like gboard but i haven't found the option to set it as the default input method
If you intend to buy one then i would suggest looking on YAJ proxy sites like buyee as they tend to go for ~£160.
Apps i'd recommend sideloading:
Activity launcher - lets you get into hidden menus and back into the stock launcher
Stealth music player - Plays music through the phones earpiece, can also enable the earpiece for use with audio from other apps
i'd also suggest lowering the DPI as some apps may be cramped
Dialer codes
*#*#4636#*#* - Android Testing menu
*#*#3878#*#* - Qualcomm FTM menu
*#*#225#*#* - Calendar info
Update: i've noticed the soc that CPUZ is reporting conflicts what others have said, ADB's CPU info command reports it as a wear 2100
I'm really curious if/how an ebook reading app would work on this. Did you try that out?
I'm considering buying a used one to try out as an ultra portable ebook reader.
eldritchgreene said:
I'm really curious if/how an ebook reading app would work on this. Did you try that out?
I'm considering buying a used one to try out as an ultra portable ebook reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the kindle app, Whenever it's opened it spams an error saying something about not being able to download image files for a few minutes, after that it works fine.
Phone density is set to 210 and kindle text size is on default
Harry99710 said:
I tried the kindle app, Whenever it's opened it spams an error saying something about not being able to download image files for a few minutes, after that it works fine.
Phone density is set to 210 and kindle text size is on default
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazing. Thank you so much Harry, this is great. I'm going to give my experiment a go!
any idea how to make it connect to EU 3g/4g ?
I have the Light Phone 2 which is very similar. I was able to root it and sideload apps on it. Harry is it possible to send over APKs from your Kyocera Card phone so I can test them on the light phone?
kennethashley said:
I have the Light Phone 2 which is very similar. I was able to root it and sideload apps on it. Harry is it possible to send over APKs from your Kyocera Card phone so I can test them on the light phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try, i used apkextractor to extract them but they won't install on another device and trying to install them on the card phone itself gives an error saying the package is corrupt
Nothing in that last post seems to have uploaded
Screenshots - https://imgur.com/a/Z8uCQ1t
APK's https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Qf0EB1I0IhmodnkINQFAdS7uBvtV785/view?usp=sharing
Harry99710 said:
Nothing in that last post seems to have uploaded
Screenshots - https://imgur.com/a/Z8uCQ1t
APK's https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Qf0EB1I0IhmodnkINQFAdS7uBvtV785/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea you are right I can't get the APKs installed.
paulmmm said:
any idea how to make it connect to EU 3g/4g ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nobody ?
paulmmm said:
nobody ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root it
Derek163 said:
root it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ill try and come back with results
Hi
First of all, I appreciate the above information where I could find customizing about KY-01L. I was able to install Gmail, Chrome, Line lite, Gboard, and other utilities into my KY-01L!
To be honest, it was quite a stressful process to load apk`s and configure them a number of times.
The first step, I installed the Square Home launcher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2&hl=en&gl=us) and the Quickshortcut maker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut&hl=en&gl=us) that I am able to configure 10 times easier (Maybe some similar types of the app should work). the default setting of KY-01L is not able to configure app by the screen that is how it is designed by Kyocera.
After setting those 2 apps, I can configure launcher/shortcut in the home menu.
My KY-01L is not stable yet... still need to minor adjustments of configuration but it works what I was expected.
Kaz_SP1200 said:
Hi
First of all, I appreciate the above information where I could find customizing about KY-01L. I was able to install Gmail, Chrome, Line lite, Gboard, and other utilities into my KY-01L!
To be honest, it was quite a stressful process to load apk`s and configure them a number of times.
The first step, I installed the Square Home launcher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2&hl=en&gl=us) and the Quickshortcut maker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut&hl=en&gl=us) that I am able to configure 10 times easier (Maybe some similar types of the app should work). the default setting of KY-01L is not able to configure app by the screen that is how it is designed by Kyocera.
After setting those 2 apps, I can configure launcher/shortcut in the home menu.
My KY-01L is not stable yet... still need to minor adjustments of configuration but it works what I was expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
Can you explain how you managed to connect it to the network? The one I have is SIM unlocked, I can see available networks but it won't connect. The X.... symbol is displayed in the status bar ("Out of service area") but I am quite sure that the frequencies match.
cheeseus said:
Hi there,
Can you explain how you managed to connect it to the network? The one I have is SIM unlocked, I can see available networks but it won't connect. The X.... symbol is displayed in the status bar ("Out of service area") but I am quite sure that the frequencies match.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I am using NTT Docomo carrier (in Japan) which is the preferred carrier for the KY-01L. KY-01L has limited bandwidth using LTE bands of 2.0GHz and 800MHz only. You would better check with your SIM carrier that uses those bandwidths or not.
Kaz_SP1200 said:
Hi
I am using NTT Docomo carrier (in Japan) which is the preferred carrier for the KY-01L. KY-01L has limited bandwidth using LTE bands of 2.0GHz and 800MHz only. You would better check with your SIM carrier that uses those bandwidths or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying!
Well, it seems that my carrier doesn't offer the exact same frequencies. 3G is at 2100 MHz (B1) and LTE is at 2100 MHz (B1) and 1800 MHz (B3).
Too limited, indeed. I've been using Docomo and SoftBank and AU phones for over fifteen years now and they all worked but not this one
Kaz_SP1200 said:
Hi
First of all, I appreciate the above information where I could find customizing about KY-01L. I was able to install Gmail, Chrome, Line lite, Gboard, and other utilities into my KY-01L!
To be honest, it was quite a stressful process to load apk`s and configure them a number of times.
The first step, I installed the Square Home launcher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2&hl=en&gl=us) and the Quickshortcut maker (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut&hl=en&gl=us) that I am able to configure 10 times easier (Maybe some similar types of the app should work). the default setting of KY-01L is not able to configure app by the screen that is how it is designed by Kyocera.
After setting those 2 apps, I can configure launcher/shortcut in the home menu.
My KY-01L is not stable yet... still need to minor adjustments of configuration but it works what I was expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi I just ordered my KY-01L off ebay, and looking forward to doing what you're doing!
My question is - after you installed all these things (Square Home Launcher, Quick shortcut maker, Gmail, Chrome, Line lite, Gboard and other utilities), does the battery drain faster even when idle? If so, how much faster vs the vanilla version.
And what other utilities were you able to install on the KY-01L? Music player? Kindle? Youtube? Just curious to see what works...
Lastly, was the Square Home Launcher the only launcher that works? Or there were others that work but this is your preference.
Thanks!
Anyone using one of these? There seem to be several similar models sold (at least in the USA) but it seems like everyone here is using either IPTV-only boxes, or boxes with DVB tuners.
The Cyberbox has a p231 board with an S905D SoC, 2GB RAM, & 16GB ROM, and it runs Android 7.1.2. The box comes with root access as a developer option, making it easy to mod (but also a bit dangerous). One slightly worrisome issue is that the Cyberbox doesn't seem to come with a reset button behind the composite A/V port or anywhere else, so there's no easy way to boot a recovery image if you brick it. It does seem possible to install a micro SD card and a reset switch if you're good at soldering tiny SMC components (which I'm not). Luckily I haven't bricked mine (so far).
I don't know much about the Leelbox Q5 but I've heard it's similar. I've seen threads here on the earlier Leelbox models (Q4 and less) but nothing on the Q5 yet
The MagicSee 300 also seems to be a very similar box, but it has a DVB tuner for FTA satellite and European/Australian OTA broadcasts instead of an ATSC tuner.
With respect to the iView Cyberbox specifically, I've done a little work fixing it up. Mostly minor stuff: improving the look of the launcher (a version of DroidLogic's MBoxLauncher), fixing iView's slightly screwed-up boot animation, installing TWRP recovery (got lucky; the S905X/S912 version 3.2.1 of TWRP works fine except that compression doesn't seem to work during backups) and Magisk (to get some control over root access).
I do have some questions for the more knowledgeable members about my Cyberbox:
My Cyberbox came with Chrome version 66. But try as I might, I couldn't update it! Play Store would download the latest version but it would fail to install. Every time. I ended up just deleting Chrome from /system/app entirely and installing it as a user app! So now I'm up to date, but does anyone have an idea why it wouldn't update normally like most system apps?
Play Store says the Firefox browser is incompatible with my Cyberbox. So I installed an old version (52, which I downloaded for my old pre-NEON Samsung Captivate Glide). Version 52 installed and seems to run fine, but why is the latest version incompatible? Doesn't the S905D support NEON instructions? Edit: AIDA64 says it does support NEON so that isn't what makes newer FF versions incompatible.
This third question isn't specific to the Cyberbox. I've seen lots of folks asking about this issue with their own boxes, so it's evidently a common feature of many of these TV boxes. The system always starts the Mbox Launcher, even if you install a different launcher and make it the default. I realize I could just replace /system/app/MboxLauncher/MboxLauncher.apk with my favorite launcher's .apk, but why do I have to? Why can't I just set my default launcher as I do on a phone? Clearly the MboxLauncher app must be hard-coded in the system somewhere, but where?
Wallpaper does not work at all on this box. The Mbox Launcher has a built-in background, but without wallpaper, any other launcher displays with a solid black background. But any attempt to set wallpaper either crashes or just doesn't do anything. There is a default wallpaper (/etc/default_wallpaper.png) but it never appears anywhere and can't be selected as the wallpaper either. Anyone have an idea why this might be?
Possibly related to the wallpaper issue, there's no status bar or navigation bar. Anywhere.
Hello. I am trying to showcasing something from Android to HDMI out. I do use another app as overlays (display over other app), but I just want showcase the particular app not the whole screen. Is there anyway I can do it?
Rooted, Android 10. More like making HDMI to show one particular app, instead of the whole screen.
If it's not possible yet I want to hire someone who can do it with rewards of $100. Thanks.