2016 KIII Android 5.1.1 TV Box 2G/16G Hints

[king200]

The KIII I got is now working very well. Hardware is good but the remote control is very week. I use an Air Keyboard anyway (pic below).

My main use is Kodi Video. I use Netflix and Amazon Prime Video too. I sideloaded each of those. The Kodi Version 15.2 installed with the box is 'special' and steers you to pay services and removes and limits some addons. A sideload of Kodi Jarvis 16.x failed and you have to uninstall Kodi 15.2 first. If you want to clone a different box, make an XBMC backup and restore. Were I to do it again, I would likely install SPMC Kodi Forkhttp://spmc.semperpax.com/ You can keep the stock 15.2 and run SPMC at the same time.

I didn't like the launcher and chose Nova Prime. Long press on the left mouse key or menu button will behave like screen press on phone.

Without a recovery or recovery image, I am reluctant to make many changes to /system. If I make a mistake, I don't know how to recover and vendor has not been responsive to pointing me to recovery image.

The Settings App is a pain. I used Quick ShortShortCutMaker https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sika524.android.quickshortcut to make shortcut to the AOSP settings app.

I didn't like the unknown to me Supersu installed. I installed a more standard Supersu and then I was able to get to the settings and permissions for Supersu. Were I to do it again, I'd try QuickShortCutMaker to find a shortcut to the installed SuperSu.

Some apps, i.e. Titanium Backup did not fit the screen properly and the overflow menu was not accessible. Menu on remote works. Editing build.prop and putting qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 in the last line solved the menu over flow problems.

You can reboot into stock recovery with ADB over WiFi.

 

[exists2wonder]

KIII S905 2GB/16GB Android v5.1.1 TV Box from ebay

I bought a KIII S905 2GB/16GB Android v5.1.1 TV Box from ebay also. It is working okay for the most part but I don't like the watered down settings app menus that came installed with it. I too am looking for a backup firmware image that will work on this box should it ever get corrupted and I have to reload from scratch. The specs on this box I have seem impressive for the $67 I paid for it on ebay (from China seller)... but there are no firmware update instructions or availability that I am aware of. It has an online OTA update app but it always times out and says failed to connect to server or some such message. I don't know if there will be future support on future OS updates or not for these boxes... so starting to research other alternative firmwares that can load on these boxes and work just in case of emergency should I ever corrupt the system and have to rebuild from scratch. I am surprised that there is no interest in these KIII boxes on the forums so far. Is it too new to catch on?
Mine has dual Wi-Fi antennas on it and supports 802.11AC Wi-Fi plus has gigabit LAN, 2GB and 16GB RAM and storage, S905 CPU. 4 USB ports, 1 TF card slot. Optical output jack, and all the standard goodies on most boxes. Seems loaded and a good buy for about $67. It is working just fine but trying to find out if these boxes have support from alternative sources.

 

[Infobits]

I bought a KIII S905 2GB/16GB Android v5.1.1 TV Box from ebay also. It is working okay for the most part but I don't like the watered down settings app menus that came installed with it. I too am looking for a backup firmware image that will work on this box should it ever get corrupted and I have to reload from scratch. The specs on this box I have seem impressive for the $67 I paid for it on ebay (from China seller)... but there are no firmware update instructions or availability that I am aware of. It has an online OTA update app but it always times out and says failed to connect to server or some such message. I don't know if there will be future support on future OS updates or not for these boxes... so starting to research other alternative firmwares that can load on these boxes and work just in case of emergency should I ever corrupt the system and have to rebuild from scratch. I am surprised that there is no interest in these KIII boxes on the forums so far. Is it too new to catch on?
Mine has dual Wi-Fi antennas on it and supports 802.11AC Wi-Fi plus has gigabit LAN, 2GB and 16GB RAM and storage, S905 CPU. 4 USB ports, 1 TF card slot. Optical output jack, and all the standard goodies on most boxes. Seems loaded and a good buy for about $67. It is working just fine but trying to find out if these boxes have support from alternative sources.

I just wanted to point out that the above previous post was from me, infobits... I don't know why the XDA forums forced me to login with a google account id when trying to use Internet Explorer 11... the XDA forum pages do not display properly on IE11 and are all whacky. They display fine using the new MS Edge browser and Chrome... but not IE11. So I could not logon with my long time member userid of infobits. I wound up logging in as a new member with my Google userid. oh well.

 

[Polido-PT]

Please help

Thanks for the info.
I got this box 3 days ago and it's been a real pain to deal with.
When I begin to use the box somehow I got plenty of "Unfortunately, Google Play services as stopped" errors. When I say plenty it's like 1 error in every 5 seconds or so.
I tried to update the firmware (that seller gave me) but I'm getting this error:

"This package is for "p20x" devices; this is a "p20x" ddrsize=".
(Status 7)

I start looking around and I found out that my build.prop in system directory doesn't have this getprop("ro.platform.ddrsize") == "2G" that the "updater-script" file in the firmware requires.

What should I do?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Kraka]

I bought a KIII S905 2GB/16GB Android v5.1.1 TV Box from ebay also. It is working okay for the most part but I don't like the watered down settings app menus that came installed with it. I too am looking for a backup firmware image that will work on this box should it ever get corrupted and I have to reload from scratch. The specs on this box I have seem impressive for the $67 I paid for it on ebay (from China seller)... but there are no firmware update instructions or availability that I am aware of. It has an online OTA update app but it always times out and says failed to connect to server or some such message. I don't know if there will be future support on future OS updates or not for these boxes... so starting to research other alternative firmwares that can load on these boxes and work just in case of emergency should I ever corrupt the system and have to rebuild from scratch. I am surprised that there is no interest in these KIII boxes on the forums so far. Is it too new to catch on?
Mine has dual Wi-Fi antennas on it and supports 802.11AC Wi-Fi plus has gigabit LAN, 2GB and 16GB RAM and storage, S905 CPU. 4 USB ports, 1 TF card slot. Optical output jack, and all the standard goodies on most boxes. Seems loaded and a good buy for about $67. It is working just fine but trying to find out if these boxes have support from alternative sources.

There appears to be several manufacturers of this KIII S905 TV Box. I found at least three of them listed in their corresponding websites: Acemax, Venztech and Videostrong. When inquired, each claimed they are the OEM. I hope they have similar board design (but perhaps with different eMMC and RAM chip manufacturers). I hope to receive my KIII soon and when I do, I will try to open and examine the board and post the hardware info here.

You can download stock firmware for Acemax KIII: http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/down...-1-1-stock-firmware-acemax-kiii-tv-box-2.html. One OEM sent me the link to the latest firmware but I have not been successful in downloading it as the instructions are in Chinese and it kept getting aborted from download errors.

 

[Infobits]

There appears to be several manufacturers of this KIII S905 TV Box. I found at least three of them listed in their corresponding websites: Acemax, Venztech and Videostrong. When inquired, each claimed they are the OEM. I expect they have identical design but perhaps with different eMMC and DDR3 DRAM chip manufacturers. I haven't yet received my KIII, but when I do, I will try to open and examine the board and post the hardware info here.

You can download stock firmware for KIII from Acemax from China Gadget Review: http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/down...-1-stock-firmware-for-acemax-kiii-tv-box.html. One OEM sent me the link to the latest firmware but I have not been successful in downloading it the instructions are in Chinese and it kept getting aborted from download errors.

Hi, I was able to download the firmware file using FireFox browser. I first tried to download it using IE11 but it failed near the end saying the file was too large and to try using another browser like Chrome or FireFox. FireFox worked for me. And I don't see any Chinese language instructions... it was all in English. So you may want to try the download again. I am saving this firmware in case I ever corrupt my KIII box and will only try to load it then. I am just saving it as a backup measure for now. So I don't know if it will load on my no-name KIII box successfully or not at this time as I am not trying it.

 

[Kraka]

Hi, I was able to download the firmware file using FireFox browser. I first tried to download it using IE11 but it failed near the end saying the file was too large and to try using another browser like Chrome or FireFox. FireFox worked for me. And I don't see any Chinese language instructions... it was all in English. So you may want to try the download again. I am saving this firmware in case I ever corrupt my KIII box and will only try to load it then. I am just saving it as a backup measure for now. So I don't know if it will load on my no-name KIII box successfully or not at this time as I am not trying it.

Sorry, I was in the process of updating the link to the latest KIII-ota-20160317.164729.V1031P2.zip firmware when I saw your post. In case you didn't catch it, you can try the updated link to get the March 17 2016 version. Yes, I did download both versions from the link I posted. As for the Chinese language instructions site, it wasn't from the same OEM. It was from another manufacturer whom I had requested and had in turn gave me a link to some Chinese cloud storage place. I think the one from Acemax should be ok as it is for the same KIII S905 with 2G/16G and 802.11ac wifi.

Have you been able to save the nandroid and flash the latest fw?

 

[Infobits]

Sorry, I was in the process of updating the link to the latest KIII-ota-20160317.164729.V1031P2.zip firmware when I saw your post. In case you didn't catch it, you can try the updated link to get the March 17 2016 version. Yes, I did download both versions from the link I posted. As for the Chinese language instructions site, it wasn't from the same OEM. It was from another manufacturer whom I had requested and had in turn gave me a link to some Chinese cloud storage place. I think the one from Acemax should be ok as it is for the same KIII S905 with 2G/16G and 802.11ac wifi.

Have you been able to save the nandroid and flash the latest fw?

No, I have not done anything to load the firmware I downloaded as I don't need to at this time.
What link are you talking about for the latest KIII-ota-20160317.164729.V1031P2.zip firmware? I don't see any link to download it.
I just searched for it and got it from here:
http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/down...-1-1-stock-firmware-acemax-kiii-tv-box-2.html

I am not sure if we can trust these downloads... I looked at the contents of the .zip files and all the files seem to be dated from year 2008. That does not seem to jive with being the latest Android version files now does it?

 

[Kraka]

No, I have not done anything to load the firmware I downloaded as I don't need to at this time.
What link are you talking about for the latest KIII-ota-20160317.164729.V1031P2.zip firmware? I don't see any link to download it.
I just searched for it and got it from here:
http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/down...-1-1-stock-firmware-acemax-kiii-tv-box-2.html

I am not sure if we can trust these downloads... I looked at the contents of the .zip files and all the files seem to be dated from year 2008. That does not seem to jive with being the latest Android version files now does it?

Yup, that's the same one I put in edited post #5. Perhaps I should have created a new one instead of just editing it.

You're right, the files are dated 2008, but one of the files contain reference to 20160317 (March 17, 2016). Also it's signed so I'm sure it's legit.

BTW are you also experiencing the same Google Play has stopped issue reported by @Polido-PT?

 

[Infobits]

Yup, that's the same one I put in edited post #5. Perhaps I should have created a new one instead of just editing it.

You're right, the files are dated 2008, but one of the files contain reference to 20160317 (March 17, 2016). Also it's signed so I'm sure it's legit.

BTW are you also experiencing the same Google Play has stopped issue reported by @Polido-PT?

No, I have not experienced the Google Play has stopped on my KIII. However, I cannot navigate the Google Play store using the provided KIII remote control buttons. I have to use an external USB wireless keyboard with touchpad or air-mouse in order to move around and select things. That's the only issue I have with that. I have not tried downloading many apps using the play store though so I don't know if it might one day stop on me also.
I run Plex, Kodi 16.0, Amazon Prime Video, SiriusXM Radio apps on mine just fine. Some of the apps require the use of the external USB keyboard to navigate. So having a USB keyboard with touch-pad or air-mouse is a requirement for some apps.
BTW, my KIII seems to be rooted already out of the box as provided. I don't know if all KIII's come rooted or not but figure its worth mentioning it.

 

[Kraka]

I am disappointed that the performance on the 5GHz network is very poor. Speedtest only achieved 3 to 4 Mbps compared to 33 Mbps on the 24GHz network, the same speed as via ethernet and on my PC on the same 5GHz network, essentially my ISP subscription speed. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?

If you are looking for a TWRP recovery for KIII, try Abdul's TWRP 3.0.2 http://www.freak-tab.de/abdul_pt/aml/TW3_KIII_.img.

Today I decided to replace the original factory recovery on my KIII. What I did was:
1. Copy the recovery file to the root directory of a PC formatted FAT32 uSD card, at least 16GB so it can hold a full nandroid backup.
2. Rename it to recovery.img and it must be in the root directory. The card may contain other folders and files.
3. Hold the reset button using a paper clip thru a tiny hole at the bottom of the device then plug the power in.
4. Wait until the S905 logo appears before releasing the reset.
5. Within several seconds, you should see the TWRP 3.0.2.
6. You can use it to wipe or flash from the external SDcard while preserving the original recovery, or replace the factory recovery with TWRP's recovery.img file.

I had successfully performed full nandroid backup with this TWRP and I can confirm that the restore function works. Next step to test is to do a wipe and perform a clean install.

---------- Post added at 10:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 PM ----------

Thanks for the info.
I got this box 3 days ago and it's been a real pain to deal with.
When I begin to use the box somehow I got plenty of "Unfortunately, Google Play services as stopped" errors. When I say plenty it's like 1 error in every 5 seconds or so.
I tried to update the firmware (that seller gave me) but I'm getting this error:

"This package is for "p20x" devices; this is a "p20x" ddrsize=".
(Status 7)

I start looking around and I found out that my build.prop in system directory doesn't have this getprop("ro.platform.ddrsize") == "2G" that the "updater-script" file in the firmware requires.

What should I do?
Thanks in advance!

Try creating a bootable microSD card using the Amlogic BootcardMaker http://chinagadgetsreviews.com/how-...-bootable-magic-micro-sd-card-in-minutes.html and flash the firmware with it.

 

[mthomp9561]

Look Inside!

I don't know if anyone has opened theirs up and looked inside and found what I have but when I did I found only 1 of the 2 antennas hooked up, or with a cable for that matter.

 

[blinkone]

I don't know if anyone has opened theirs up and looked inside and found what I have but when I did I found only 1 of the 2 antennas hooked up, or with a cable for that matter.

Yes all theses KIII box's have only one antenna wired up & working its a real shame It seems the other is just there for looks.

 

[Kraka]

Yes all theses KIII box's have only one antenna wired up & working its a real shame It seems the other is just there for looks.

Probably they initially designed it to use a WiFi chip that supports dual antenna, but then decided to go with a cheaper chip and put a dummy antenna since the plastic case mold has already been released, to beat time-to-market deadline.

One of the reasons I bought KIII was the dual band 802.11ac WiFi, but alas I got only 4 Mbps out of the 5GHz band! The box was practically next to my router, so it's not an antenna issue. I hope there'll be a firmware fix soon. Anyone else got the same issue?

 

[evilmonkeylib]

USB HDD

Hello!
I use KIII tv box as a torrentbox with ttorrent app.
Also have the servers ultimate app running with a ddns update and local network ftp servers.

Problem is that the usb hdd i attached is getting unmounted after a day...
Is has no seperate power suply cable, only connetsc to the box's usb port with a data cable.

Is there any option to kill this automatic unmont?

 

[davidthecloner]

mount files from local NAS using CIFS

It would be great to be able to mount network shares to the local file system using CIFS with the KIII . It would basically give your device unlimited storage capacity while connected to your home network.
Has anybody try to mount network shares to the local file system using CIFS with the KIII??
Does the Kernel support CIFs??

Thank you in advance
David

 

[Breezy357]

I just received this box, I usually like to download torrents while watching youtube or kodi. The problem I have with this box is it closes my torrent app as soon as I leave it to go to another app.
I went into developer settings and unchecked "kill apps",but it still kills the app when I switch to another.
Is there a setting I'm missing or is this standard of the KIII tv box?

Sent from my SM-G935V using XDA-Developers mobile app

 

[fjunk]

kiii : stops video playback

Hello. I also have just got a kiii box.
I met troubles. The video playback stops after few minutes. This is true for xbmc and MX player....
The firmware is a kernel version built on 2016 mars 17th.

I requested an updated version but seems not easy....

Any idea?

Regards

 

[fjunk]

Hello is there someone succeed to install xbmc 16.1.

Regards

---------- Post added at 07:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 AM ----------

No, I have not experienced the Google Play has stopped on my KIII. However, I cannot navigate the Google Play store using the provided KIII remote control buttons. I have to use an external USB wireless keyboard with touchpad or air-mouse in order to move around and select things. That's the only issue I have with that. I have not tried downloading many apps using the play store though so I don't know if it might one day stop on me also.
I run Plex, Kodi 16.0, Amazon Prime Video, SiriusXM Radio apps on mine just fine. Some of the apps require the use of the external USB keyboard to navigate. So having a USB keyboard with touch-pad or air-mouse is a requirement for some apps.
BTW, my KIII seems to be rooted already out of the box as provided. I don't know if all KIII's come rooted or not but figure its worth mentioning it.

Hello infobit.

It seems that you are using xbmc 16.1. To do it, I had to uninstall first xbmc and then install the new version. Now, but I don't know if it is the consequence or not, the video play back stops after few minutes (15 minutes). Do you meet similar problems?

Regards.

 

[STICK141]

my KIII seems to be rooted already out of the box as provided. I don't know if all KIII's come rooted or not but figure its worth mentioning it.

Both the KII and KIII have a "compromised" SUD that will grant root permissions to any app that requests them.