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Living with the MK808, 4 months on


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Guest stretchie

Following my initial post when I got it:

http://www.modaco.com/topic/358734-just-got-my-mk808/

As a follow up and lessons learnt I thought I'd put up how I'm getting on with the MK808.

I am very happy with it and use it alot.

On first useages I found this to be a good tool but it was very frustrating because there was no way to turn it off without just unplugging it, and I didn't want to leave it plugged in all the time. This abrupt powering off casued it to loose all settings and return to factory standards nearly everytime. I got around this by downloading Titanium X backup and restoring it that way each time I powered it up but that was a pain in the ass and I stopped using the MK808 altogether. I did keep googling to see if I could find a fix and when it came up around Christmas I upgraded to a new ROM, Finless 1.5 and this made it instantly useable again, Bob, you sir are a genius. There is a 'reboot' program which you can use to shut the device down before unplugging it and it has not once returned to factory standards or lost settings ever again since.

The biggest complaint about the unit seems to be the WiFi signal, if you are reading this I'm sure you already know the pain of low signals or of it dropping the signal on a regular basis making it nearly impossible to use for long periods of time. It seems that where the wires from the antenna are soldered to the board they have shorted it out on the ground. I have had the problems myself but have no personal experience of opening the unit up but there are plenty of 'how to guides' for removing the antenna ground wires and also removing a resistor to fix it properly.

Having said this, the combination of updating to Finless 1.5 and also using the 'inSSIDer' Android app on my phone and walking around my house monitoring the WiFi signal led me to change the channel on my router to Channel 11 has made a vast improvement, I've not had a single drop of signal, it's still only on half the bars but I can stream full films using Netflix and carry on using without any issues whatso ever.

I have ditched the Lenovo N5901 remote that was part of the package, it's just not usable in my opinion, it registers many repeat key presses even when you have had a single positive click, other times it misses several words that you've just typed and the trackball is terrible, it helps if you hold it upside down, I think it just doesn't contact the rollers (or whatever) on the inside.

To control the unit I now have a powered USB hub which I have next to the TV and have a wired mouse and keyboard pluged in to it, I think there is just no substitute for a standard kayboard and mouse, they just work all the time, everytime.

I also purchased 'Droidmote' from the app store, you install the 'server' on the MK808 and the client on the device that you want to use to control the MK808 and when it works it is flawless, it's just a shame that I have to mess around for around 10 minutes just trying to connect over and over again until it does, but once connected it doesn't time out or drop signal like other similar things I have tried. My problem with Droidmote is is keeps coming up saying 'Server is unreachable' which their forum says is a problem with your kit, however it does connect in the end so it can't be a problem with the kit can it if it does work in the end? I did post on the droidmote forum, but they replied saying to try things, I replied to say I have just tried all their listed advice but it still doesn't work and I got a rude e-mail saying my post was not allowed for some reason. It is a shame, it really is a great solution it just takes me alot of messing around and I've tried it on Desire HD with both standard and custom ROMs and on Nexus 7 with both standard and customs ROMs but with exactly the same results.

Also, I have attached a webcam, Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000. I can use the camera for video calls on Google + and on Skype and I downloaded a Camera app and can capture video but it will not take photo's, whenever I try to take a photo is just force closes.

So after 4 months what is my take on the MK808? It's a great bit of kit, I'd recommend it to anyone, make sure you get the 'big' power supply, get a powered USB hub and upgrade the Rom to at least Finless 1.5, there is a more current version of Finless but I'm happy with mine as it is, if you are having WiFi issues then try changing the channel of your router if that doesn't work then get your soldering iron out and do some googling for the instructions. It will DLNA no problem if you have anything you want to play files from. For me that's it, for me it's much better than buying a basic 'silent PC'. I just want something I can surf the internet on, watch YouTube and Netflix.

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