AMIKO Amiko A3, Spark2 upgrade

[bpalone]

The new SAB receiver I recently acquired has version 2.0.78 installed. Decided to go see if Amiko had anything newer than 2.0.72 available. They do in fact have 2.0.78 available to download, here is the link to their site:

http://amikostb.com/?q=product&id=235

Just thought I would pass this along in case anyone wanted to update their A3.

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks, been running 2.0.78 for awhile with no issues.

 

[Jim S.]

And I had been running 2.0.78 for a while with all the usual issues...

 

[bpalone]

Had posted this information on another site and have reports of issues with the upgrade.

Question for KE4EST: Where did you get .78 version and how did the upgrade go?

People reporting that hangs on boot after upgrade.

 

[KE4EST]

Question for KE4EST: Where did you get .78 version and how did the upgrade go?

I downloaded it through the A3. Go to home... << or >> to System at top...then use D-pad to move to Updater APP....hit OK. If you have your box hooked up to internet it should show up as the last upgrade they had for this box. I believe it was February of last year.

 

[KE4EST]

..............oh duh!!! The upgrade went fine.

 

[bpalone]

Thanks.

If you go go now, with 2.0.72, it comes up and says No Update Available. I'm guessing that was probably one of the last things Joe did and you got it. All of the Amiko America stuff is off line. I think that par may of went away before everything else did, as I think I tried it before all the rest went dark, with the same result. Wouldn't want to testify to that, but I think I did try early in December. That was the reason I posted the link above, so that if anyone like me that hadn't updated, wanted to.

But, until someone figures the issues out, I would not recommend doing the upgrade. Will post back if and when know anything better.

 

[Jim S.]

Well I hadn't been running Joe's version of the firmware for ages since my A3 kept crashing back to the Euro versions and there was nothing in Joe's version that I needed anyway, so I had no problem finding the latest upgrade for mine. It didn't cause any problems that I wasn't already having with the earlier versions, but it didn't fix any problems either.

 

[mc6809e]

After several attempts over the last few days and some experimenting (as well as using the NAND recovery Joe provided to get back to 2.0.72 after each attempt) I was able to get the v2.0.78 currently on the Amikostb site (spark2_mini_2.0.78_cis_g18ref-ota-20160612.zip) to complete the installation. The menu layout had been changed to be similar to what I see on the Android OTT TV streaming boxes. I didn't trust the upgrade and didn't like the way it looked so I used the NAND recovery again to get back to 2.0.72.

I searched and finally found a site (that didn't require registration) that had a link to spark2_mini_2.0.78_cis_g18ref-ota-20160201_1.zip which is 667KB larger than the file currently on the Amiko web site. After scanning the file with antivirus and trojan software (which I always do when I download something) I copied it to a microSD card and again tried a local upgrade on the test A3. This time the upgrade completed without incident and the A3 rebooted to the channel I had been watching before the upgrade. After several hours of watching different satellite channels and then streaming movies from some of my network drives everything seems to be working fine.

I haven't done detailed comparisons of the contents of the two files but Amiko obviously made some changes to the .78 files between February and June that are not good for us here in North America.

 

[pacificrim]

Amiko doesn't give a flying f about North America. I sold my A2 to someone who needed support on something and contacted Amiko Europe and was told what Joe ( ex Amiko America) used to tell people who bought from Europe - Screw you! You didn't buy from us!

 

[mc6809e]

Judging from quite a few messages I read while searching for the 2.0.78 file, North America is not the only area having a problem with Amiko support. A3 owners in Europe and the Middle East reported being unable to upgrade from the Spark servers so they were also looking for the FACTORY firmware upgrade files. Since there hasn't been any update to the Amiko site in some time we don't know what's going on. Maybe Spark's support contract with Amiko has expired so the Amiko receivers are no longer being upgraded online, even with files that were formerly available.

As far as manufacturers and distributors not providing support for products purchased from unauthorized or out-of-market vendors, I had to deal with that problem for almost my entire working life. It is not unique to the FTA satellite receiver industry. Regional distributors can get very hostile when they find out someone else is selling products in the area they have the exclusive contract for. They may not be able to stop the out of market sales but they can make getting support after the sale more difficult or expensive. BTW, none of that involved satellite equipment. It ranged from manufacturing to packaging to electrical and electronic equipment.

 

[pacificrim]

Judging from quite a few messages I read while searching for the 2.0.78 file, North America is not the only area having a problem with Amiko support. A3 owners in Europe and the Middle East reported being unable to upgrade from the Spark servers so they were also looking for the FACTORY firmware upgrade files. Since there hasn't been any update to the Amiko site in some time we don't know what's going on. Maybe Spark's support contract with Amiko has expired so the Amiko receivers are no longer being upgraded online, even with files that were formerly available.

As far as manufacturers and distributors not providing support for products purchased from unauthorized or out-of-market vendors, I had to deal with that problem for almost my entire working life. It is not unique to the FTA satellite receiver industry. Regional distributors can get very hostile when they find out someone else is selling products in the area they have the exclusive contract for. They may not be able to stop the out of market sales but they can make getting support after the sale more difficult or expensive. BTW, none of that involved satellite equipment. It ranged from manufacturing to packaging to electrical and electronic equipment.

I agree that supporting other people's sales is no way to make money, but even posting to their forums would get you flamed.

 

[bpalone]

I opened correspondence with Amiko regarding the update issue. Below are their responses and I am happy to say that upgrade link was downloaded and I am watching on the upgraded A3 as I write this. I personally had an issue with the upgrade that I will describe after the Amiko responses.

This is what I sent in first email and then their response:

> Have downloaded and tried to update from 2.0.72 to the 2.0.78 version here from your site. Appears to update OK, but hangs on second (2nd) boot screen. Was able to get back up and running with the low level reset that was made available to us here in the Americas. I am not the only one and everyone's failure point is the same, hangs on boot.
>
> Since Joe has hung it up, we are on our own with these boxes over here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Hope you have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
>
Dear Sir!

Please download this file:
https://mega.nz/#!kdwmiBhT!olCo3Oo6wpIjyiVDeGdQndHAyqO28OI3yp7TfIyNft0

and follow this steps:

First of all you need a formated (FAT32) microSd…
Then:
1. Copy all file to sd card
2. Run the „BootcardMaer.exe” in sdcard.
3. Push the open button and browse the u-boot-sdboot.bin file 4. Push the „Make” button.
5. When you see in the windows: „success” à remove the sdcard.
6. Plug in the sdcard to A3.
7. Plug the receiver to the electrical network and push the recovery button on rear panel between 5 - 8 seconds.
8. If all right, your receiver will be start with recovery mode and update will be start itself.
9. If finished you will see a service window (Sw Version:2.0.60, etc) 10. Select the „factory default”.

Then your receiver will be work with new sw, and you will see the Wizard…

Regards:
Péter
The above response is providing a link to a low level recovery image. I haven't tried it, but appears to be very similar to what Joe had provided and should get one unhung.

I wrote back the following and got the response below:

Thanks for the reply. What you describe is how I got it back up and running. Only I used the one Joe had made available, but is no longer available. The issue appears to come from the 2.0.78 version that we have downloaded from your site. Another user has found a version dated February 2016, that works for him. I haven't tried it so can not say for sure that it is golden. Like to get from original approved sources. Less likely to have bad things happen.
So, can you direct me to a known good source for the update?
Also, do I have your permission to post your responses to a forum here in North America?
Thanks for your help.
And their response:

You can dowloand the latest official version from here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/arvq2fn39mhv4g8/spark2_mini_2.0.78_cis_g18ref-ota-20160201_1.zip?dl=0
Please use this!
Yes, if you think our e-mail can help to other people, share this in the forum.
Thank you!
Regards:
Péter


That link is the version I downloaded and used to update my A3. Now, my update hung at 35% for at least 10 minutes. Then decided to remove power and was getting ready to do the low level recovery, when thought why not try holding in the front power button while plugging power back in. I did that and held for about 20 seconds and it came up showing update from the beginning and ran through the entire update and came up to the channel I was last watching.

Hope this of help to everyone and I apologize for not testing the download I first posted. Assumed coming from official site, that it was good. We all know better now, but the above does work.

 

[gpflepsen]

Do you think the low level reset provided by Joe is a source of problems (other than the Eurotrashed .72 that's installed)? I intend to reset my A3 when it next flakes out and go entirely EURO. I have done the dB transform backup, which seems to capture satellites and channels installed so getting wack to western hemisphere orbitals should not be so tedious.

 

[gpflepsen]

Thanks for the reply. What you describe is how I got it back up and running. Only I used the one Joe had made available, but is no longer available. The issue appears to come from the 2.0.78 version that we have downloaded from your site. Another user has found a version dated February 2016, that works for him. I haven't tried it so can not say for sure that it is golden. Like to get from original approved sources. Less likely to have bad things happen.
So, can you direct me to a known good source for the update?
Also, do I have your permission to post your responses to a forum here in North America?
Thanks for your help.
And their response:

You can dowloand the latest official version from here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/arvq2fn39mhv4g8/spark2_mini_2.0.78_cis_g18ref-ota-20160201_1.zip?dl=0
Please use this!
Yes, if you think our e-mail can help to other people, share this in the forum.
Thank you!
Regards:
Péter


That link is the version I downloaded and used to update my A3. Now, my update hung at 35% for at least 10 minutes. Then decided to remove power and was getting ready to do the low level recovery, when thought why not try holding in the front power button while plugging power back in. I did that and held for about 20 seconds and it came up showing update from the beginning and ran through the entire update and came up to the channel I was last watching.

Hope this of help to everyone and I apologize for not testing the download I first posted. Assumed coming from official site, that it was good. We all know better now, but the above does work.

Do you need to rename the downloaded 2.0.78 zip file to "update.zip" to do the update from the reset screen? Or, is this installed from the Updater app from within the A3 menus?

 

[bpalone]

No, do not rename the 2.0.78 file. Just copy it to a place on your A3 that can be accessed for the upgrade. Then run the update app and select local, then select the 2.0.78 file. Then hopefully it will flow through to completion and not hang as mine did.

I don't know if Joe's low level is anything other than the eurotrashed 2.0.72.

I have just restored channels out of recovery app, and has worked fine. Have done this with Amiko and the SAB that I just recently acquired. (Review coming.)