Custom Recoveries

[Tony Cooper]

I have a couple of Droidbox iMX6 devices running the original Android JB firmware (dated around Jan 2014). Great devices by the way .

Anyway for various reasons I have had to occasionally factory reset them and then restore from backup (via MyBackup). I normally use CWMRecovery for my phone and do a nandroid backup as it's the most reliable way. I'm guessing one can't use CWM or TWRP recovery (google didn't show anything). Is it possible to temporarily boot up the device via the SD card using an ordinary Linux - not one that will start XBMC or auto install itself but just run in memory instead?

Secondly, more out of curiosity than anything... When I upgraded the firmware on one box to the Jan 2014 version, I just came here and downloaded the firmware from a link provided here. However all such links have gone. Why isn't there a simple download site? Also being over a year old I don't think I can find the original Amazon order no required in the `please can I have the latest firmware' email that I would have to send to support. I only ask as I want to get the info together for possible requests in the future whilst I have a chance of finding it...

MTIA,

Tony.

 

[ChrisM]

If you can't access old order numbers from Amazon, the order date, any references you can find on old paperwork, your postcode, and which account you ordered it from on Amazon should be enough.
The firmware links were deliberately removed, see http://www.droidboxforums.com/threads/firmware-files.207/ for the reasons.
Re CWM or the like for an iMX6, I'd assume XDA Developers would be a good place to start, there has been some work on AmLogic devices, as CM seems installable on some tablets, see http://androtab.info/cyanogenmod/amlogic/ . Out of date, but keep an eye out for threads like this : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1312927 at XDA Dev

 

[Tony Cooper]

Many thanks for your reply. Thankfully I checked and the droidboxes that I got from Amazon were from XBMC Gadgets Hub. I also was able to find the order details . Also thanks for the above links for custom recoveries, I shall investigate further.

Cheers,

Tony.

 

[strandy]

Having to return a box for a firmware flash which takes around 10 minutes as opposed to days waiting on return postage, is a ridiculous bit of business, surely you could offer support via email and give access to a dropbox or other for the new firmware !

 

[Tony Cooper]

I have seen exchanges on these forums where they do arrange for private download of firmware images on proof of ownership of a genuine DroidBox. This is what gave rise to my question of what happens if you can't prove it's a genuine Droidbox (which I can fortunately).

 

[strandy]

Me too Tony, but my point stands on its own merit. Besides it isn't hard to get the correct firmware for android boxes they are freely available all over the net. There is a misconception that there is something special about certain firmware which is quite simply an untruth.

 

[ChrisM]

You don't have to send your device to us for a firmware flash, just e-mail with your order details and we'll happily reply with the URL and instructions. Some firmwares require more work than others. We pay developers to produce ours, but as mentioned in this thread - http://www.droidboxforums.com/threads/firmware-files.207/ - competitors have been known to take this firmware and claim it as their own, or even worse put it on a random box and pretend it is a genuine DroidBOX device.
If you prefer to use a different firmware from another source, then as long as the device isn't bricked, we obviously have no problem with it. That said, if a problem occurs, one of the first steps we'll ask you to do is check if the original DroidBOX firmware results in the same issues.