Tag Archives: lesson

A picture of a cx919 android tv stick

How to root a CX919 Android 4.4.2 Quad core with a RK31 rockchip

(This Post was last updated 13/02/2015)

Ok so here’s a quick tutorial on how to root this particular type of Android TV Stick (ATS). Specifically this model: See Link. If you’ve ever flashed a custom rom onto an android device before, forget everything about that, it’s nothing like that, it’s much simpler.

NOTE: you will need a windows PC to root the device and before starting make sure you have a good usb micro b cable you know works! USB Micro-B PlugIf you’ve found your way to this page you may have already tried the manual approach which uses the TPSparkyRoot batch script and that hasn’t worked! I’ve been there, you won’t be able to get it working, you were right to continue google searching your way across the net for a method that works, and here it is. . .

But first the obligatory caveat:

I take no responsibility for the welfare of your device. If by following these instructions you should brick your device, that’s your problem buddy. This tutorial will likely work for other devices too though. So if you’ve tried every other tutorial on the net to get your damned device rooted to no avail you might want to follow along. But again I’m not responsible if your ATS explodes.

Back up your device prior to implementing the instructions and you “should” be fine.

And now the tutorial:

STEP 1: Download software

Start by installing the following software:

Moborobo

Kingo

(Use the direct download link to skip downloading the download.com software)

(The reason you need moborobo is that the software is smart enough to determine what driver the PC needs to be able to communicate with the ATS. Chances are, if you tried an alternative method to root the device, the previous methods you tried to root the device failed because you couldn’t find the right driver.)

STEP 2: Prepare the ATS for communication with the PC

In the ATS go to System settings > Storage and click the 3 vertically stacked dots at the top right of the screen.

Picture showing the icon to clickClick on the window “USB computer connection” and tick the Mass Storage box.

Next within the systems settings, go to the developer options. (If the developer options are not there it is because they have not been enabled. To enable developer options go to the system settings and click on About Device. Next scroll to “Build Number” and tap it 7 times. After tapping 7 times you will see an alert saying “You are now a developer”/”Developer mode has been enabled”.

After navigating to developer options scroll down and tick the usb degugging option.

STEP 3: Connect the PC to the ATS

With the ATS connected to your TV via HDMI and powered by the DC usb port, connect the usb micro b cable to the available port.

Make sure you do not use the DC port to connect to the PC otherwise nothing will happen.

A picture showing which usb port to useNext connect the ATS to your PC via the USB.

Within system settings on the ATS click on “USB ” and tick “Connect to PC”.

STEP 4: Install the correct driver on the PC

Open the Moborobo software on your PC and wait for it to load completely. Moborobo should now create a connection to the ATS and install some apps on it. Once you see your TV screen switch to the Moborobo app you know the PC successfully connected to the device.

(You don’t need these apps once this process is run. The whole point of using moborobo was simply to install the correct driver on your PC. If the device installs the correct drivers on the PC itself you may not need moborobo to connect to the ATS, in which case continue to the next step.)

STEP 5: Rooting the device

Open Kingo on your PC. It will load for a few seconds.

When a screen appears asking if you want to root it has successfully connected to the device.

Uncheck the install APUS boost+. This is an optimization app not necessary for rooting the device.

Click root.

(Kingo may mistakenly think the device is already rooted in which case click on root again)

Kingo on desktopAllow Kingo to run.

COMPLETION:

Once you see the screens below on your PC and ATS the root was successful.

successPCsuccessATSWithin system settings on the ATS click on “USB ” and tick “Connect to PC”.

TIDYING UP:

You can now uninstall the software on your PC.

And uninstall the following Apps on your device.

  • MoboMarket
  • Mr.Clean
  • Kingo Root

Kingo will install its own SuperUser App which will need to remain but this simply acts as a checker for other apps looking to access system resources which you can either give permission to or deny.

FINAL WORDS:

Hopefully that all worked out for you.

If you used this tutorial successfully please comment below and share.

UPDATE 13/02/2015: Kingo superuser can sometimes grow to take up massive amounts of the device’s storage space. In my case over 600mb!!! Uninstalling the app from the google play store will reduce the app in size without actually uninstalling the app. (The app cannot actually be removed within settings, only disabled) In my case the app shrank to just over 5mb, much better!

Quick Caveat: There have be some online accusations that Kingo superuser steals user data. I cannot confirm this, but I’d imagine if it was a serious concern google would have removed the app from the store by now.

Android with a rocket launcher

How to setup an Android TV Stick

In my last posting Buying advice for Android TV Sticks I wrote about some of the main things to consider when buying an ATS. Quick recap, go quad-core, get a model with an external antenna, SD cards will give you more storage, you’ll need some sort of keyboard/mouse and there are several other android devices you could use to make your TV smart with which you should consider before buying.

This posting offers advice regarding, viewing Flash media, setting up your web browser properly and getting the best out of the user interface.

Firstly you need Adobe Flash Player to live.

The flashFlash player is incredibly resource hungry even for laptops but the quad-core ATS models can just about handle it. But rather than continue to optimise and refine the Android flash player the nice guys over at Adobe just decided to discontinue support for it. And unfortunately HTML5 hasn’t taken over the net in the way that we’ve been told it would so we’re still very reliant on flash for streaming video.

So you’ll need to download the last version of flash from the adobe archive if you want to watch media, like TV shows or sport broadcasts, via your browser. The last version can be found by scrolling down to the heading “Flash Player for Android 4.0 archives”. Just click on the file when downloaded and the install will run.

There are a few web browsers to choose from for Android but probably the most familiar browser Chrome doesn’t support flash so I’d recommend Firefox which brings me to another important matter.

Browsersepic battle between firefox and chrome

I don’t want to get into a “which browser is best” war but I would say of all the browsers I’ve tried namely Chrome, Dolphin, Lightning, UC and Firefox, IN MY OPINION Firefox is the most versatile though not the fastest. (My second favourite is UC browser because I always found it performs really well on underpowered devices.)

Regardless of which you use there will be an option in the settings/preferences to switch to viewing sites as a Desktop by default, as opposed to viewing them as a mobile device. This is a very important option as Android browsers will by default request to view a website as a mobile device.

Why is that?

If a site is modern it will either be a dynamic site, meaning the webpage can be reshaped to fit the devices display, or it may have a different website to be displayed to mobile devices altogether, a mobile site. Considering you’ll probably be viewing the site on a big HD TV a website optimised for a 4 inch display leaves a lot of wasted space on the screen. So make the most of that screen by setting the browser to view sites as a Desktop.

LaunchersAndroid with a rocket launcherTypically a user would interact with Android devices by touching and dragging their greasy fingers across the display. The graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced “gooey”) therefore has been designed to optimise navigation by this means of interaction.

But because an ATS has no screen of its own to touch a typical android GUI is not optimal for couch surfing. (I don’t mean couch surfing in the hobo/college student sleeping on your sofa sense.) For this reason most ATS’s will come with their own custom launcher.

What’s a launcher? An application launcher is a computer program that helps a user to locate and start other computer programs. So it’s like the desktop environment on a windows computer except Android allows the environment to be changed easily and the looks, feel and performance of a device can benefit from doing so.

I’ve tried a few but the only browser I’d recommend is TVLauncher. (Though I say that having never paid for a launcher or an app . . . ever . . . BUT if I wanted to pay for things I’d be part of the Apple cult.)

So what makes TVLauncher good? Well the HINT is in the name. It was designed to be a launcher for Androids connected to TV’s. An ATS is not a mobile phone so the home screen won’t be packed with the icons you’d typically place on your home screen because you use them all day. I’m going to guess your home screen has the following icons:

  • Dialler
  • Sms
  • Camera
  • Alarm
  • Volume
  • Maps
  • Watsapp
  • Viber
  • As well as toggle widgets for wifi, Bluetooth and GPS.

You don’t need quick access to a dozen different apps on an ATS so with TVLauncher’s home screen you get 6 large tiles to use. You can import your own images for apps if you wish, like speed dial for Firefox and Chrome. And trust me you won’t need more than 6 if you’re using the ATS as a cheap but ultra cool media centre.

My set up is as follows:

For Music: Apollo

For Video: MX player

For Video Streaming: Youtube

For Web Browsing: Firefox

For File Navigation: ES File Explorer

For More Awesome Apps: Google Play

OK OK some of you might like paying for things like Netflix and Spotify, clutter up your home screen see if I care. . .

So that’s all for this post. If anyone reading this thinks they know of a better launcher feel free to comment below.