My g-box Midnight mx2 thinks its a mobile

[ikeymo]

I've had the Mx2 box 4.2 Jelly bean Dual Core Xmbc Tv box for 14 months now and updated it without hitch to TVaddons, downloaded various repositories and addons and it worked well for us. Sadly on 26th September 2015 Spo*ts De*il stopped working which was a matter of life and death to my husband. I said I would reinstall it but the network would not connect. I went to Matricoms G-box page and found a supposed firmware update. I duly downloaded, manually with an sd card, two different files but each one wanted my TV box to be a mobile. The problem is now that the reset button always wants to reload the mobile and I cannot seem to get past it. Can anyone help? Please don't get too technical, I'm not stupid but if it gets too scientific I falter.

 

[crzen]

lets start with what do you mean by it thinks its a mobile? do you mean it wants to connect with the wifi?
It thinks its a phone? Define what you mean by mobile.
Is it a matricom gbox midnight mx2 or a mx2 clone made by someone else?
also what firmware were you running, what are you running now, and what firmware are you talking about that you found?
The reason I'm asking is that none of the matricom firmware, that I know of, need to be on wifi (if thats what you mean by mobile) to be reflashed.

 

[ikeymo]

When checking the wifi settings, at the bottom it said "about my phone" rather than about my g-box so when going to xbmc, no settings for my TV box were available . The file I found on the wiki knowledge base for MX2 box showed up as matricom_g18_1.2.zip. I put this on an sd card and loaded it manually using the toothpick method. I did also find a file labelled MX2-full-1.1.6-firmware-RC.zip but was unable to load this as the action was aborted. Strangely, I attempted to load this again and the box started to update but nothing downloaded as there was an error message saying I was not connected to the network which was the problem I had previously and was unable to rectify. I went to the system settings and on the internet access page, the top half did not show my IP address and was grey, showing DCHP settings. I did try to reset each time without checking the wifi button.

 

[crzen]

Its not really thinking that its a phone. Any phone referances are just residuals from android (which was originally written for phones.)
If its still giving you problems I would suggest reflashing it again to clear everything out.
This wiki has the instructions for reflashing to whichever firmware you want. I would suggest flashing to 1.1.6 first.
This will totally clean out all the files on the gbox.
Remove all the files and folders from the sdcard.
unzip the 1.1.6-rc zip and put the 3 files from it on the sdcard (no folders)
You need the 3 files from the 1.1.6 zip (mx2update.zip, factory_update_param.aml, and recovery image) on the sd card.
Then do the toothpick method

Toothpick Method Instructions:
1) Unplug the power to the box.
2) Using a toothpick or something similar, insert it into the back of the A/V port until you hear a slight click sound. (This is the hidden button in the A/V port and you should be able to feel the button depress)
3) Holding the button down in the A/V port, you will plug the box back into the power.
**Keep holding the button in until the android robot shows on the tv, Then release it.**
*** For firmware greater than 1.1.6 hold until the recovery menu appears ***
4) You should now be in recovery. Firmware 1.1.6 does everything automatically.
For firmware other than 1.1.6 clear the data, clear the cache, then install the firmware from the recovery menu.

Upgrade higher than 1.1.6
After 1.1.6 install is done,reboots, and is running, do the toothpick again and with the firmware needed for whichever version you want.
You'll want to remove the three files, from 1.1.6, from the sd card.
Put the 2 files (the g-apps also for betas if needed) for the version you want on the sd card. The 1.1.6 is done differently than the others.
** Dont mix and match the install files even if they have the same name **
Do the toothpick again
For firmware other than 1.1.6 clear the data, clear the cache, then install the firmware you want, then the g-apps if needed (betas only).
I've had to do this when my gbox's memory filled up and a normal reflash/reset wouldnt clear it (as per matricom). Then I flashed mine to 1.2.2 beta.

[edit] None of these steps (or firmware) require it to be hooked up to the internet until after its flashed, rebooted, and and you are doing the initial setup.

 

[ikeymo]

Thank you. Will give that a go but have just got back from a wedding further south and my grandson is with us today so will let you know how I get on.

 

[ikeymo]

Thank you very much, that's sorted and I have the latest firmware for my box. Managed to download enough addons for the programmes we have been watching lately and the all important Spo*ts De*il. Just found a zip for Na*i-X (compatible with my beta version I hope) and will proceed from there when my husband has finished watching the football. England v Lithuania !
Again thank you for the two points in particular at 3 highlighting the toothpick process, previously I had left in the toothpick.

 

[crzen]

Cool, glad you got it sorted. Most people dont hold the button in long enough.
Since you know which addons you want, the best way to get navi, and the other addons from here, is to install fusion as source, install addon installer, and then install your addons from that.

 

[ikeymo]

Thanks, will do. I'm aware that the latest thing is Kodi but for the moment it's running okay although not TV4ME , and my husband is happy so that's fine for me. For now.