mediaDroid85 - Stuck on boot screen - Displays forever 'Signage Player'

[Roy_S]

Dear all,

I have five of these mediaDroid 85 devices from witch three are in permanent use in a hotel. They have been running for almost four months now with repeated issues, I think due to heat dissipation (freezes after about 3 hours of connection). To resolve this issue, I connected a timer between the display and the players that would shut down every two hours, and reboot. Regardless of the professionalism of this solution, the players displayed their signage contented all day.

One player gave up about three weeks ago, showing the 'Signage Player' forever. Yesterday I got a call from the manager that explained me that all the players are now displaying this message, and rebooting doesn't help.

I contacted the media signage online chat customer support on this issue, and they told me the only thing to do is to send the devices back. Unfortunately the 90 days warranty (bought in March) is over, leaving me in the dark with three broken useless players and an angry hotel manager.

I think that the problem of the players is located in the 'Special backed android operating system'...

So I was wondering if it is possible to root en overwrite the OS with a standard android 4.2 Kernel? By installing the display app on it, the rooted stick should be able to display the content.

Does anyone know with brand this stick actually is and witch ROM's I can use to install on it? I found that the UG007 looks a lot like it, but the specs don't add up (dual vs quad core).

If someone has similar issues or knows a fix, please let me now.

Kind regards,

Roy

[JMH]

I have good experience with any RK3188 based stick (that is the rockchip 3188). I believe Media Signage just uses ordinairy UGOOS UM2 sticks (also RK3188 based) with a custom android kernel. Normally android sticks are getting too hot a lot. That's why I use Imito QX2 sticks. These are made out of aluminium which improves cooling and looks more professional than the UGOOS sticks. Besides, these support external WIFI antenna. When a stick is placed between a display and a wall, internal antennas lose a lot of signal.

Make sure to not display too heavy content with this android based sticks. Play content on 720P max, preferably on 420P if viewing distance is long enough.
For professional setups I use Windows based machines, because those are very reliable.
I always build my own players, and it's working very well for me. I do use the AverMedia stick from Media Signage for tv signals though.

[Roy_S]

Dear JMH,

Thanks for you reply and useful hints, as you would probably guessed, I am fairly new to media signage and android sticks. The information you provided should help me in my quest for a stock ROM to save these devices.

I bought the sticks to get to know the platform, the investment is not to high if it turns out that the chosen solution is not optimal. I considered upgrading to the windows machines, but I also read some comments that overheating is still a source for issues.

Anyway I understand the heating problem in these sticks, but that doesn't explain why three of my sticks are stuck in their boot sequence. If you or anyone has a clue how to break the infinite boot cycle, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Roy

[admin]

Hi Roy,
please contact Lawrence on live chat and we will replace these to new AD-90 units even though it's past the 90 days.
please let us know if these solve your problems,

per Sean, glad to help...
regards.

[Roy_S]

Dear Sean,

Thanks for your reply.

And thanks for the nice proposal, I will be more than happy to try them out.

Kind regards,

Roy

[roberttheed]

I have the exact same issue. I was looking for the same solution. I can access the hidden Android screen prior to boot that allows for manual upgrading but I do not have a ROM in order to reflash it. Can anyone help?

[admin]

if your AD-85 is defective contact live chat for replacement to an AD-90

[IPNDDS]

Hi, JMH. 

Where do you buythe Imito QX2 stick from?  While the signage player and controller are running, have you experienced any issue with Android OS or App notifications popping up that need an OK response?

Thanks.

[JMH]

I have rooted the stick to be able to make an image of it using nandroid (saves some time when configuring them). Than I use a fullscreen app to force the stick to disable the taskbar. The signage controller auto starts and makes the player run the MS software. Besides they have a google account so I can update them from a distance.
I have not experienced any big issues so far. Make sure you run on 1280x720 and not higher. The android solutions are in my opinion only good if you use very simple content without many videos or other content like that. They are just not as stable, easy to configure and powerfull as Windows machines. But for simple solutions they are pretty good in my opinion.

[IPNDDS]

Thanks, JMH.

Who do you purchase them from?

[JMH]

Depends, I prefer to buy from a reseller in my own country if possible. I always just google.

[presseco]

Hi,

I'm having the same issue with a new mediaDROID-90.  Anyone found a solution?

Thanks

[Filla]

We have found.

If you have a network connection.  Works
If you don't have a network connection. Works
If the player identifies a network but is not connecting to the servers for whatever reason --  sticks in boot cycle.

[cloud]

We have found.

If you have a network connection.  Works
If you don't have a network connection. Works
If the player identifies a network but is not connecting to the servers for whatever reason --  sticks in boot cycle.

This problem is old, I already reported this issue here a long time, this is when you have a working WiFi network, but for some reason the internet is not working.

I had many problems with customers because of this, the system was stucked until the internet came back to work.

The right was happening in the same way when no WIFI connection, the Player runs what is in the cache.

In short: A simple solution:
The player would have a timeout in the "checking connection screen", even if it is 5 minutes.
Because what happens today is the player stucks for hours waiting to get working connection.