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QNAP Launches TS-128A & TS-228A Entry-Level NAS Powered by Realtek RTD1295 SoC

Realtek RTD1295 can be found in mid range to high-end 4K TV boxes that often include a SATA bay or interface, as well as an HDMI input port that supports PVR, PiP, and UDP broadcasting, with the devices normally running both Android and OpenWrt simultaneously respectively for multimedia apps, and storage/network functions. But last year, we also spotted QNAP & Synology working on entry-level NAS based on the processor, and the former has now launched the TS-x28A series with two models: TS-128A & TS-228A equipped with respectively one and two 3.5″ SATA bays. QNAP TS-128A & TS-228A specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.4GHz with hardware encryption acceleration engine System Memory – 1GB DDR4 (soldered) Storage 4GB eMMC flash for firmware Drive Bay TS-128A – 1x 3.5″ SATA 6Gbps TS-228A – 2x 3.5″ SATA 6Gbps Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet Port (RJ45) USB – […]

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ZidooLab OPS Android Digital Signage Players are Powered by Rockchip RK3368 or Realtek RTD1295 SoC

Zidoo is known for their Arm based Android TV boxes targeting the consumer market, but the company also runs ZidooLab for the B2B market, and especially digital signage application, which may explain why they release a digital signage SDK a while ago. The company can customize hardware and software for their customer’s needs, but what caught my intention is that they have Arm based digital signage players that comply with OPS (Open Pluggable Specification) that was first released by Intel in 2010, and defines electrical, mechanical and thermal specifications of OPS compliant devices which are meant to be plugged into compliant monitors. ZidooLab has currently two Android OPS hosts: A1 & A2 that share most of the same specifications, except for the processor, and some I/Os: SoC A1 – Rockchip RK3368 octa-core Cortex A53 processor up to 1.5 GHz, PowerVR G6110 GPU A2 – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 […]

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Realtek RTD1295 based X2 Android TV Stick Comes with HDMI Output, HDMI Input

Realtek RTD1295 processor is found in mid to high end 4K HDR TV boxes with interfaces like SATA, USB 3.0, as well as HDMI input used for PiP or video recording features. Devices equipped with the processor that come to mind include Zidoo X9S or EWEAT R9 Plus TV Box + NAS, both of which are full featured and fairly large devices, running Android 6.0 and OpenWrt. Shenzhen Tomato has unveiled another type of device based on RTD1295 processor: X2 HDMI TV dongle that features both HDMI output & HDMI input ports, and runs Android 6.0 (but not OpenWrt). X2 TV stick specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.40 GHz with ARM Mali-T820MP3 GPU System Memory – 1 or 2GB DDR4 Storage – 8 or 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video & Audio I/O – HDMI 2.0a output, and HDMI 1.4 input Video […]

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How to Reinstall Android Firmware on Realtek RTD1295 TV Boxes

I started playing with Beelink SEA I TV box nearly two weeks ago, but I soon realized there was a big problem, while I could get an IP address with both Ethernet or WiFi, I could not access Internet, nor the local network with the box, and even ping would not work. So I contact Beelink to find a solution, and they believed I may have a problem with the firmware on my box, and recommended to re-flash it. Great. I asked the firmware, and the company eventually provided me with two files: SEAI_101M0_32G_20170225.img (password: 879y) SEAI_101M0_16G_20170225.img (password: 2js2) Those are baidu link which may be slow to download outside of China, so the company also provided a mirror later. The customer representative told me those were “Lines brushes Pack” firmware, and after lots of email back and forth. I finally got proper instructions which should work for Beelink SEA […]

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Realtek RTD1295 SoC and Zidoo X9S TV Box Patchsets for Initial Mainline Linux Support

Realtek RTD1295 is a quad core Cortex A53 processor with built-in Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 and SATA found, and is found in some TV boxes such as Zidoo X9S or Eweat R9 Plus that run Android 6.0 and OpenWrt on top of Linux 4.1. Andreas Färber has been working on Mainline Linux support for the SoC using Zidoo X9S, and just submitted patchsets for enablement of RTD1295. Andreas explains: This mini-series adds initial support for the Realtek RTD1295 SoC and the Zidoo X9S TV box. With these patches CPU0 can be booted with earlycon. PSCI doesn’t work despite present in the vendor device tree; as enable-method it instead used a custom “rtk-spin-table” that I sadly have no source code of. The UARTs use a custom interrupt controller that I again lack source code of; with interrupts = <GIC_SPI 41 IRQ_TYPE_LEVEL_HIGH> it can boot into an initrd. The boot process is […]

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Beelink SEA TV Box with Realtek RTD1295, HDMI Input and Internal SATA Bay Sells for $105 and Up

I’ve already reviewed two Android TV boxes powered by Realtek RTD1295 processor, namely Zidoo X9S and EWEAT R9 Plus. They are quite interesting devices as beside supporting video & audio playback nicely (minus 4K H.264 @ 30fps), they also serve as a personal NAS thanks to their SATA interface and OpenWrt operating system running alongside Android, as well as a HDMI recorder and streamer thanks to the HDMI input. Zidoo firmware is a little better, but it only comes with external SATA, while EWEAT R9 Plus comes with a neat internal 3.5″ SATA bay inside a metal case. The downside is that it’s quite expensive at $200 shipped. If you’d like a Realtek RTD1295 solution with a SATA bay, but would like something more cost effective, Beelink SEA TV box with might be for you. Beelink SEA specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.4 GHz […]

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4K Video Playback and HDMI Audio Passthrough in Realtek RTD1295 based Zidoo X9S TV Box

Zidoo X9S is a high-end 4K TV box and HDMI recorder based on Realtek RTD1295 processor. I’ve already checked its hardware, and run some benchmarks, so after a successful OTA firmware update, I decided to test 4K videos and HDMI audio pass-through capabilities of the device with ZDMC, Zidoo’s fork of Kodi 16.1, and “Media Center” internal player. Before starting playing 4K videos and testing HDMI audio pass-through, you’ll want to make sure to configure video output to a 4K UHD resolution and framerate such as 3840×2160 @ 60 Hz, as well as change HDMI output audio in Sound & notification settings. The options are a little different from the other boxes as beside RAW and 2-channel LPCM, Zidoo X9S also supports multi-channel LPCM. In order to test HDMI audio pass-through, it must be set to RAW. You may also want to check Playback options to switch to 24 Hz […]

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Zidoo X9S Realtek RTD1295 Android & OpenWrt TV Box System Info & Benchmarks

Zidoo X9S is the first Android TV box based on Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor that I’ve received for review. So in this post, I’ll show some system information with CPU-Z, and Android & OpenWrt Settings, and run typical Android benchmarks such as Antutu 6.x, Vellamo, and 3Dmark. Zidoo X9S / Realtek RTD1295 Android System Info CPU-Z detects Realtek RTD1295 is a quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor clocked between 600 MHz and 1.4 GHz with an ARM Mali-T820 GPU, and uses an unknown governor… But in adb shell, tje command “cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor” reports an ondemand governor is used. The system runs Android 6.0.1 on top of Linux 4.1.17 (I think it’s the first time I see a Linux 4.x kernel used in a TV box…), and with 1920×1080 resolution. Total RAM is shown to be 1672 MB, most probably because some RAM is reserved for the GPU […]

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