A guide to Update, Recover, or Unbrick with a firmware file

[ricklar]

Edited from web article CLICK FOR ORIGINAL WEBSITE POST
-Original Web Post has Pictures.

A guide to update, recover, or unbrick with a firmware file for your Android TVbox with Amlogic SoC: S905, S905D, S905W, S905X, S912, S905X2, S905Y2, or S922X. We have 3 Methods in this tutorial that we will use depending on the files that we have to update.

#
FIND AN ORIGINAL FIRMWARE:
You can search the web:
https://forum.freaktab.com
https://forum.xda-developers.com
https://chinagadgetsreviews.com/firmwares

*NOTE: AtvXperience is not responsible for problems that may be caused by a firmware change.

#
Table of Contents:
1) SELECT UPDATE METHOD
2) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH IMG FILE
3) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH VARIOUS FILES
4) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH UBOOT.BIN FILE

#
1.) SELECT UPDATE METHOD:
Method 1 = I have a single file with .img extension and I want to make it easy (you need a PC)
Method 2 = I have several files “file.ini, .img or zip file, .aml file and optionally a .bin” (without PC)
Method 3 = I have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

!!!! ATTENTION !!!!
(If your TVbox don’t work and doesn't ’t have reset button DO NOT TRY TO UPDATE. There are many TVboxes especially the cheap ones that are copies called ”Clones” that are incompatible with the official roms of the original models and can leave useless your TVbox or Wifi does not work with original ROM. It is impossible to know if we have a clone or not without opening the device and comparing it with another original. We recommend buying devices from stores widely recommend and if possible only known models from trusted brands. If you do not find stock firmware for your model, you may not have any official brand or manufacturer support.)

#
2.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH IMG FILE:
There are two options for this method, in both cases the content of the TVbox will be completely erased

Method 1-A = From a PC we will create a special SDcard to restore TVbox
Method 1-B = Will connect the TV-Box to a PC and then will restore TVbox

# 1-A Flash with a .img file by preparing an external drive on PC
-We need an SDcard or USB memory thumb drive that will be completely formatted. If it does not work with an external drive type try a different one. There may be compatibility issues or your TVbox can be upgraded only from SDcard.
-Download the software Burn Card Maker to create your external drive and update or restore your TVbox
-The first thing is to change the language to English to make it more understandable, we go to the upper menu>second option>language
-Select English, OK, close the program and restart.
-In the top “Choose disk” menu select where we have your SDcard or USB thumb drive.
-Mark “To Partition and Format”
-Click on “Open” and select the IMG file of your firmware
-Press “Make” to start the process of creating the external memory Burn Card
-A message will appear that will tell us that the partition system has been generated and we accept
-We will see a message to format the drive> Start> OK> Close
-As soon as the formatting process is finished, a blue bar will appear and it will be completed.
-Once finished we will have our unit created and we can close the program.
-In the unit that we created we must have three files:
aml_sdc_burn.ini
aml_sdc_burn.UBOOT
firmware.img (it is the one that has the whole image of the firmware)
-With the TV-Box off (take out the DC power cord) we insert your SDcard or USB thumb drive.
-We keep the RESET button pressed (some models are inside the audio/av jack) and insert the DC power cord to turn it on, wait for the update % to appear automatically.
-The process can take from 4 to 12 minutes, wait without disconnecting the TVbox from the power outlet.
-If the recovery menu appears, the process has not gone well, it is necessary to repeat it with another SDcard or USB.
(The SDcard or USB device that we used will be left with a special hidden partition that was created in the process, if you want to reuse it and recover all the space it is advisable to use Minitool Partition Wizard, delete all the partitions and recreate a single one.)

# 1-B Flash using a PC connected to the TVbox
-To update use the flash tool that comes with the rom, if is not included you can use the one from AtvX downloads
-Older versions are incompatible and give errors during the burn process.
-Always use a USB 2.0 connector.
-If Chinese characters are unzipped in a directory, they must be deleted

***Process for WINDOWS 10 if it gives us detection problems:
-Before running the installer of the flashing program we need to disable the secure signature of drivers.
–Windows 10: Start Menu> Settings> Update and Security> Recovery>
Under the Advanced Start option, click Restart Now> Troubleshooting> Advanced Options> Startup Settings> Restart> Press 7 or F7 to Disable the mandatory use of signed drivers.
–NOTE: The computer will reboot and you can install drivers without digital signatures. Restarting the computer again will enable the mandatory use of signed drivers.

Installation process:
-Download and install the AMLogic Burning tool (read previous notes for Windows 10). We put two versions, first try with the most modern version that we have available if it does not work try with another older version.
Amlogic Setup USB Burning Tool 2.1.6.8 (Compatibl with the new Amlogic S905X2 SoC), Amlogic USB Burning Tool 2.0.9, or Amlogic USB Burning Tool 2.0.8
-During the installation the corresponding drivers will be installed. If we see the menus in Chinese we have the option to put English in the second option from the top menu.
-Restart the PC
-Run the tool USB_Burning_Tool that has been installed on your PC and in the /File/Import_image tab select the .img file that you downloaded with the firmware to install.
-Now with your TVbox off connect it with the cable USB/to/USB-OTG to your PC.
-Some TVbox lights with the power of the one USB-OTG, others require connecting the power adapter (which is usually better).
-After connect keep the RESET button pressed on the device that is usually behind a small hole or inside the audio jack (for the Minix U1 and others of that mark only have to leave the power button pressed until the robot comes out).
-To flash the firmware you don’t need to see anything on the screen, the TVbox don’t even have to be connected to a screen, only to the PC.
(If the “recovery” menu appears on the screen with wipe and other options is that we did not press the button well, retry)
-If everything goes well the flash tool on the PC will recognize your TVbox and audio USB sound will trigger.
(NEVER CHECK THE BOX “Reset after success” and “Overwrite key”)
*If we have a red message “Get key failed” or MAC = 0, read point 1-B.1 of this manual.
-Press Start and wait for the percentage counter to reach 100%. Once the process is finished, Click Stop, then Unplug Device.
-Plug TVbox into TV and start it up for first boot, it will take longer than usual to start, is a best practice to leave it a few minutes without touch after it starts and then restart TVbox.
(Once installed the new stock firmware it is recommended to do a factory reset from Settings > Backup)

# 1-B.1 Fix error Get key failed or MAC = 0
If we have the message Get key failed is that you are missing the license files for the TVbox, together with the rom or the utility the manufacturer usually has to supply us a file with different files inside, we have to copy those files inside the folder “license” where we have installed the USB Burning Tool.
-Path where to copy the license files in Windows systems 64bit:
“C:\Program Files(x86)\Amlogic\USB_Burning_Tool\license”
~ Or 32bit is minus (x86) ~
*NOTE: In order for the system to work, we need to uninstall the AMLogic Tool, reinstall it and copying the license files in BEFORE ever starting Tool, then we can boot installed images properly.

#
3.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH VARIOUS FILES
Method 3 = you have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

-Unzip the files to the root of a microSD card (not the Zip that goes inside), see the NOTE if we do it from a USB memory thumb drive or the update fails.
-Android app: From the UPDATE app on Local update mode, select the USB file and press Confirm.
-Using recovery button: We turn off the TVbox, insert the SD card, keep press the recovery button and turn on the system.
-Once the TV-Box is updated, is recommended to perform a factory reset: Settings> Backup.
-To end the process do: Wipe Data, Wipe Cache, and Reboot System.
*NOTE: If we do the update from a USB memory or the update fails in the recovery we will then: Apply Update from EXT>Update from udisk>Select the firmware.Zip

#
4.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH UBOOT.BIN FILE
Method 4 = you have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

-With this method you can recover the device from a brick if we do not have a way to connect it to a PC, is another option to restore the TV Box.

-For this procedure we will need a Micro SDcard that will be formated with the Amlogic BootcardMaker Tool for more security (although you must do the formatting from a PC) the Tool can be downloaded from AtvX>Downloads.
-Run Amlogic BootcardMaker on our PC and select on the menu “Choose disk” the letter of the drive where we have our MicroSD card and press “Open” to load the u-boot.bin file that we downloaded. Once selected, press Make to format the MicroSD.
-With the MicroSD prepared in our PC we copy all the files that we have downloaded to update our TV-Box (a .zip file, factory_update_param.aml, recovery.img and u-boot.bin) in the root of the card. The u-boot.bin file is optional or it can also be called bootloader.img
-Insert the SDcard in your TVbox with an AMLogic SoC.
-Now press the recovery button located at the bottom or inside the A/V port and at the same time turn on the TVbox. If everything works correctly you will see that an Android robot appears with a percentage bar. When it reaches 100% the TVbox will reboot only with the new firmware installed.
(Once installed the new stock firmware is recommended to Factory Data Reset to restore the factory system settings.)

[shaneui04]

A guide to update, recover, or unbrick with a firmware file for your Android TVbox with Amlogic SoC: S905, S905D, S905W, S905X, S912, S905X2, S905Y2, or S922X. We have 3 Methods in this tutorial that we will use depending on the files that we have to update.

#
FIND AN ORIGINAL FIRMWARE:
You can search the web:
https://forum.freaktab.com
https://pintodown.com/
https://chinagadgetsreviews.com/firmwares

*NOTE: AtvXperience is not responsible for problems that may be caused by a firmware change.

#
Table of Contents:
1) SELECT UPDATE METHOD
2) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH IMG FILE
3) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH VARIOUS FILES
4) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH UBOOT.BIN FILE

#
1.) SELECT UPDATE METHOD:
Method 1 = I have a single file with .img extension and I want to make it easy (you need a PC)
Method 2 = I have several files “file.ini, .img or zip file, .aml file and optionally a .bin” (without PC)
Method 3 = I have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

!!!! ATTENTION !!!!
(If your TVbox don’t work and doesn't ’t have reset button DO NOT TRY TO UPDATE. There are many TVboxes especially the cheap ones that are copies called ”Clones” that are incompatible with the official roms of the original models and can leave useless your TVbox or Wifi does not work with original ROM. It is impossible to know if we have a clone or not without opening the device and comparing it with another original. We recommend buying devices from stores widely recommend and if possible only known models from trusted brands. If you do not find stock firmware for your model, you may not have any official brand or manufacturer support.)

#
2.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH IMG FILE:
There are two options for this method, in both cases the content of the TVbox will be completely erased

Method 1-A = From a PC we will create a special SDcard to restore TVbox
Method 1-B = Will connect the TV-Box to a PC and then will restore TVbox

# 1-A Flash with a .img file by preparing an external drive on PC
-We need an SDcard or USB memory thumb drive that will be completely formatted. If it does not work with an external drive type try a different one. There may be compatibility issues or your TVbox can be upgraded only from SDcard.
-Download the software Burn Card Maker to create your external drive and update or restore your TVbox
-The first thing is to change the language to English to make it more understandable, we go to the upper menu>second option>language
-Select English, OK, close the program and restart.
-In the top “Choose disk” menu select where we have your SDcard or USB thumb drive.
-Mark “To Partition and Format”
-Click on “Open” and select the IMG file of your firmware
-Press “Make” to start the process of creating the external memory Burn Card
-A message will appear that will tell us that the partition system has been generated and we accept
-We will see a message to format the drive> Start> OK> Close
-As soon as the formatting process is finished, a blue bar will appear and it will be completed.
-Once finished we will have our unit created and we can close the program.
-In the unit that we created we must have three files:
aml_sdc_burn.ini
aml_sdc_burn.UBOOT
firmware.img (it is the one that has the whole image of the firmware)
-With the TV-Box off (take out the DC power cord) we insert your SDcard or USB thumb drive.
-We keep the RESET button pressed (some models are inside the audio/av jack) and insert the DC power cord to turn it on, wait for the update % to appear automatically.
-The process can take from 4 to 12 minutes, wait without disconnecting the TVbox from the power outlet.
-If the recovery menu appears, the process has not gone well, it is necessary to repeat it with another SDcard or USB.
(The SDcard or USB device that we used will be left with a special hidden partition that was created in the process, if you want to reuse it and recover all the space it is advisable to use Minitool Partition Wizard, delete all the partitions and recreate a single one.)

# 1-B Flash using a PC connected to the TVbox
-To update use the flash tool that comes with the rom, if is not included you can use the one from AtvX downloads
-Older versions are incompatible and give errors during the burn process.
-Always use a USB 2.0 connector.
-If Chinese characters are unzipped in a directory, they must be deleted

***Process for WINDOWS 10 if it gives us detection problems:
-Before running the installer of the flashing program we need to disable the secure signature of drivers.
–Windows 10: Start Menu> Settings> Update and Security> Recovery>
Under the Advanced Start option, click Restart Now> Troubleshooting> Advanced Options> Startup Settings> Restart> Press 7 or F7 to Disable the mandatory use of signed drivers.
–NOTE: The computer will reboot and you can install drivers without digital signatures. Restarting the computer again will enable the mandatory use of signed drivers.

Installation process:
-Download and install the AMLogic Burning tool (read previous notes for Windows 10). We put two versions, first try with the most modern version that we have available if it does not work try with another older version.
Amlogic Setup USB Burning Tool 2.1.6.8 (Compatibl with the new Amlogic S905X2 SoC), Amlogic USB Burning Tool 2.0.9, or Amlogic USB Burning Tool 2.0.8
-During the installation the corresponding drivers will be installed. If we see the menus in Chinese we have the option to put English in the second option from the top menu.
-Restart the PC
-Run the tool USB_Burning_Tool that has been installed on your PC and in the /File/Import_image tab select the .img file that you downloaded with the firmware to install.
-Now with your TVbox off connect it with the cable USB/to/USB-OTG to your PC.
-Some TVbox lights with the power of the one USB-OTG, others require connecting the power adapter (which is usually better).
-After connect keep the RESET button pressed on the device that is usually behind a small hole or inside the audio jack (for the Minix U1 and others of that mark only have to leave the power button pressed until the robot comes out).
-To flash the firmware you don’t need to see anything on the screen, the TVbox don’t even have to be connected to a screen, only to the PC.
(If the “recovery” menu appears on the screen with wipe and other options is that we did not press the button well, retry)
-If everything goes well the flash tool on the PC will recognize your TVbox and audio USB sound will trigger.
(NEVER CHECK THE BOX “Reset after success” and “Overwrite key”)
*If we have a red message “Get key failed” or MAC = 0, read point 1-B.1 of this manual.
-Press Start and wait for the percentage counter to reach 100%. Once the process is finished, Click Stop, then Unplug Device.
-Plug TVbox into TV and start it up for first boot, it will take longer than usual to start, is a best practice to leave it a few minutes without touch after it starts and then restart TVbox.
(Once installed the new stock firmware it is recommended to do a factory reset from Settings > Backup)

# 1-B.1 Fix error Get key failed or MAC = 0
If we have the message Get key failed is that you are missing the license files for the TVbox, together with the rom or the utility the manufacturer usually has to supply us a file with different files inside, we have to copy those files inside the folder “license” where we have installed the USB Burning Tool.
-Path where to copy the license files in Windows systems 64bit:
“C:\Program Files(x86)\Amlogic\USB_Burning_Tool\license”
~ Or 32bit is minus (x86) ~
*NOTE: In order for the system to work, we need to uninstall the AMLogic Tool, reinstall it and copying the license files in BEFORE ever starting Tool, then we can boot installed images properly.

#
3.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH VARIOUS FILES
Method 3 = you have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

-Unzip the files to the root of a microSD card (not the Zip that goes inside), see the NOTE if we do it from a USB memory thumb drive or the update fails.
-Android app: From the UPDATE app on Local update mode, select the USB file and press Confirm.
-Using recovery button: We turn off the TVbox, insert the SD card, keep press the recovery button and turn on the system.
-Once the TV-Box is updated, is recommended to perform a factory reset: Settings> Backup.
-To end the process do: Wipe Data, Wipe Cache, and Reboot System.
*NOTE: If we do the update from a USB memory or the update fails in the recovery we will then: Apply Update from EXT>Update from udisk>Select the firmware.Zip

#
4.) FLASH FIRMWARE WITH UBOOT.BIN FILE
Method 4 = you have several files and the “u-boot.bin” (deep recovery system)

-With this method you can recover the device from a brick if we do not have a way to connect it to a PC, is another option to restore the TV Box.

-For this procedure we will need a Micro SDcard that will be formated with the Amlogic BootcardMaker Tool for more security (although you must do the formatting from a PC) the Tool can be downloaded from AtvX>Downloads.
-Run Amlogic BootcardMaker on our PC and select on the menu “Choose disk” the letter of the drive where we have our MicroSD card and press “Open” to load the u-boot.bin file that we downloaded. Once selected, press Make to format the MicroSD.
-With the MicroSD prepared in our PC we copy all the files that we have downloaded to update our TV-Box (a .zip file, factory_update_param.aml, recovery.img and u-boot.bin) in the root of the card. The u-boot.bin file is optional or it can also be called bootloader.img
-Insert the SDcard in your TVbox with an AMLogic SoC.
-Now press the recovery button located at the bottom or inside the A/V port and at the same time turn on the TVbox. If everything works correctly you will see that an Android robot appears with a percentage bar. When it reaches 100% the TVbox will reboot only with the new firmware installed.
(Once installed the new stock firmware is recommended to Factory Data Reset to restore the factory system settings.)

Overall, your guide is well-structured and seems to provide detailed instructions for users looking to update, recover, or unbrick their Android TV boxes with Amlogic SoCs. It's essential that users read and understand each step thoroughly before attempting any actions to avoid damaging their devices.