AMIKO Amiko A3 Owners Thread

[N6BY]

That would depend, they actually might be. Read through the license statement for BusyBox and other programs in there. Make sure you're in the right section, not the section for non-profit-non commercial. And not the general GPL V2, go to BusyBox's site.

Most likely, they are required to be open source.

I made the mistake of assuming that the license situation would be like Mac or PC apps that run under MacOS or Windows, respectively.

So I stand corrected. But I doubt if Amiko will comply with the BusyBox license and release the source. The 'main.exe' and 'main_so.exe' are 32-bit ARM executables in the 'ELF' format which is supported by BusyBox.

You can disassemble the two programs mentioned above using the Ada disassembler. There is a free demo version of Ada. To view the symbols I used a hexadecimal file dump utility.

 

[. Raine]

I made the mistake of assuming that the license situation would be like Mac or PC apps that run under MacOS or Windows, respectively.

So I stand corrected. But I doubt if Amiko will comply with the BusyBox license and release the source. The 'main.exe' and 'main_so.exe' are 32-bit ARM executables in the 'ELF' format which is supported by BusyBox.

You can disassemble the two programs mentioned above using the Ada disassembler. There is a free demo version of Ada. To view the symbols I used a hexadecimal file dump utility.

I'm sure you're right about that, Brett!

Main_so.exe in ELF format with a .exe extension, I'll have to look at that one.

 

[N6BY]

The text strings in the two exe's give you an idea of whats going on. The 'Ada' disassembler doesn't show them, but they are there -- thousands of them near the end of the files.

Also, whoever wrote the error messages sure liked to be emphatic. There are three exclamation marks after each error message!!! See what I mean.

 

[gpflepsen]

Conax has stopped!!!

 

[Comptech]

Along with services have stopped.

 

[Jim S.]

I don't remember ever seeing an error message on-screen with one exclamation point, let alone three. Usually it's "Unfortunately, Spark Home has stopped." or "Unfortunately, SparkShare has stopped."

Maybe the ones with three exclamation points are for the logfile -- the logfile that, last time I checked (admittedly quite a few versions ago), would record as many as three events for every single keypress, rendering the standard Android log viewer utterly useless.

 

[. Raine]

Am I remembering right that the A3 has a motion control remote of some sort, right? I was just looking at the HAL interface used in it for boot [from The Android Open Source Project, I might add ] and some things there look funky.

Can that part of the remote be disabled through the receivers menus, or is it always on?

Haven't checked out that exe file yet, need to get my Linux comp back up and going again, me and my daughter trashed it bad a week or so ago, working with the R-Pis.

I notice telling references to Qemu within the A3 stuff here and there, which is good.

 

[N6BY]

...
Haven't checked out that exe file yet, need to get my Linux comp back up and going again, me and my daughter trashed it bad a week or so ago, working with the R-Pis.

I notice telling references to Qemu within the A3 stuff here and there, which is good.

Linux is not required to view the contents of the exe file. Mac or Windows will also work. If you are interested, just unzip the A3 update archive. Then in the 'A3_low_level_recovery/update/system/bin' directory locate the main.exe or main_so.exe file and open it with a hex editor. There is a lot of other interesting stuff in there.

 

[. Raine]

Linux is not required to view the contents of the exe file. Mac or Windows will also work. If you are interested, just unzip the A3 update archive. Then in the 'A3_low_level_recovery/update/system/bin' directory locate the main.exe or main_so.exe file and open it with a hex editor. There is a lot of other interesting stuff in there.

What editor would you suggest for Windows? I always do all that stuff in Linux. Rarely do I use Mac, I have a few Macs emulated and a old Imac that pretty much collects dust. The emulated Macs are out too, they're on the Linux machine.

Already had it unzipped, but I don't have that path in the update I have here and I'm not seeing the exe file anywhere. I haven't taken apart the recovery.img file in there yet [won't, if it's protected in any way, but I imagine it isn't]. Be worlds easier to do that on my Linux comp too. I'll try downloading it again, maybe the zip file was screwed or something. Did a search and no exe, or main, in the contents of the zip here.

Think I got it, had a different zip than you did, have 2072 dl now....yup! I see the files you're talking about.

 

[N6BY]

What editor would you suggest for Windows? ..
Think I got it, had a different zip than you did, have 2072 dl now....yup! I see the files you're talking about.

On Windows I use 'HexEdit' 1.0, by Andrew Phillips. There are newer versions, but I prefer 1.0 for its simplicity.

 

[Jim S.]

Just had mine do another stuck-in-boot cycle after hanging when changing channels. After several attempts, I finally got an "Android is upgrading" screen. It came up on 2.0.78, which is what I had loaded before, but all the settings were wiped.

This is getting to be a ridiculous excuse for an FTA receiver! I wish there was a way to get my money back, as I could've had a media player AND an FTA receiver for the same price, or less!

 

[. Raine]

On Windows I use 'HexEdit' 1.0, by Andrew Phillips. There are newer versions, but I prefer 1.0 for its simplicity.

I installed 4.0 because I'm on my wife's computer and it doesn't have the DLL's needed on it to run 1.0. and 4.0 is free without being shareware, like the ones in between 1.0 and 4.0. I see like you said, ELF format. Seems like a lot of stuff could be done away with to make it run better in the US.

Peripheral power looks like it has options for 5, 12, 13 and 18 volts. What would be the need of 5V and 12V power to the LNB? I would think just 13 and 18, unless I'm looking at it wrong and the 5 and 12 are actually the tuners supplies or something else. But it does state Vertical 5V, 12, etc. All the scart stuff can go, for sure, DVB T, DVB C, etc. I think like I said a long time ago in this thread, the Eurotrash program is a band aid on the problem, not a solution.

GNU Gold linker, there is some interesting stuff in here. The Gold linker explains the ELF.

Saw the!!! Funny. Did you see equiment?

 

[Titanium]

A lot of heartache and angst if only the app corruption was defaulted to recover by restoring from a local back-up rather than check and automatically install the latest online version.

The voltage selections might have purpose with other tuners/accessories for DVBC/T/T2?

Ran EuroTrash a few times for EPG and pcons, but after EPG support ended, found that the straight Euro ran fine and never EuroTrashed again. Agree that it was a bandaid and probably the only way Amiko would allow firmware modifications to "Americanize".

 

[N6BY]

...
Saw the!!! Funny. Did you see equiment?

No, didn't find that. But I did see "Disnable" (for disable).

There's quite a party going on in the A3 with Android, BusyBox, Qemu, and who knows what else. Of course, the more you have in there, the greater the likelihood of something getting out of hand.

I wonder if it would be possible to just run the satellite TV software (which appears to be Linux based) and skip the Android stuff?

Er, wait, let me rephrase that: Get rid of the Android stuff !!!

 

[Corrado]

Does this Amiko have the dual boot like the earlier Alien 8900?

Curious if Enigma 2 is operating for the A3 better than the factory operating system.

 

[primestar31]

Does this Amiko have the dual boot like the earlier Alien 8900?

Curious if Enigma 2 is operating for the A3 better than the factory operating system.

I don't think there's an Enigma 2 firmware flash for the A3. If there was, it could solve a lot of issues.

 

[Babadem]

Are you saying the A3 has Enigma 2 operating system out there?

 

[. Raine]

There is a Enigma 2 firmware for the A3. Amiko even mentions it in their A3 warranty, stating that they don't support it when installed in the A3. I haven't checked into it much, yet. It seems as if it may be more of a overlay/front-end than a full firmware though, not sure.

What Does This Warranty Not Cover?
Cosmetic damage, remote control unit, batteries, firmware/software or any problem that is caused by abuse, misuse, or an act of God (such as a flood) are not covered. Any products that are not distributed by Amiko Americas are not warranted or supported by us in any way. Unauthorized/3rd party firmware voids warranty. Enigma2 on the second partition does not void warranty but is use at your own risk and is not officially supported. PIRACY OR ATTEMPTED PIRACY VOIDS WARRANTY. Any warranty for fitness for use or merchantability is specifically disclaimed except where prohibited by law. Also, consequential and incidental damages are not recoverable under this warranty. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you

Source: http://www.amikoalienusa.com/?page_id=110#ixzz485C1rLK0
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

I think this was from the Alien, not the A3, but it states the same thing in the A3 one, if I remember right. I just couldn't find the darn thing right now.

 

[. Raine]

No, didn't find that. But I did see "Disnable" (for disable).

There's quite a party going on in the A3 with Android, BusyBox, Qemu, and who knows what else. Of course, the more you have in there, the greater the likelihood of something getting out of hand.

I wonder if it would be possible to just run the satellite TV software (which appears to be Linux based) and skip the Android stuff?

Er, wait, let me rephrase that: Get rid of the Android stuff !!!

Didn't see the "Disnable".

A virtual smorgasbord of stuff! Some stuff I didn't know what it was, and odd stuff, like I saw references to S-Plus language for Samsung Galaxy, which S is GNU, S Plus isn't. Thought it odd that the Samsung Galaxy was directly referenced in the A3 that way, but it could be something not used.

Maybe strip out all the fluff out on a computer and reload on the receiver to test it, or within Qemu, if it doesn't give too many issues. That would be feasible, I would think. Like you said, the more in there, greater the likelihood of something getting out of hand.

Brian mentioned that the Euro firmware was working good, maybe the extra stuff could stay. That might be the best candidate, bypass any problems that the Euro trash program introduces and it must have English options already there and EPG seems dead on the NA anyway. Although the 50/60 hz power difference may be a issue? Probably not? I can't think of anything the firmware would need to do in reference to that. Of course, sat lists, resolutions, etc, would need to be swapped around/changed.

But then again, once anything needed updating, it would all go down the crapper. Better to just strip all the fluff out and just use the sat stuff and nothing that would need updating. Just a basic, good sat receiver and nothing else.

 

[. Raine]

A lot of heartache and angst if only the app corruption was defaulted to recover by restoring from a local back-up rather than check and automatically install the latest online version.

The voltage selections might have purpose with other tuners/accessories for DVBC/T/T2?

Ran EuroTrash a few times for EPG and pcons, but after EPG support ended, found that the straight Euro ran fine and never EuroTrashed again. Agree that it was a bandaid and probably the only way Amiko would allow firmware modifications to "Americanize".

Does the A3 have any capabilities for cable and OTA in it, or as a accessory to it? That could be it. Or maybe it's just something that was developed in production, but never actually implemented.