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Xiaomi Mi TV Stick (xiaomi-aquaman)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Xiaomi Mi TV Stick
Manufacturer Xiaomi
Name Mi TV Stick
Codename xiaomi-aquaman
Released 2020
Type set-top box
Hardware
Chipset Amlogic S805Y
CPU Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU ARM Mali-450
Display Up to 1080p over HDMI
Storage 8GB
Memory 1GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software Android (TV)
Original version 9
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images no
This device is marked as not booting.
Status: Research ongoing to boot something. See `"Multiboot" mode' section.


Contributors

Users owning this device

  • 19atlas (Notes: 1080p version, heats up easily)
  • Exkc
  • Knuxify (Notes: 2x; one works, one has random shutdowns which seem to be caused by it overheating, since it works fine with the top of the casing taken off. Both running Android 9)
  • Mertoalex (Notes: family uses it, I debloated it with UAD-ng.)


How to enter recovery mode

Note On older firmware versions, you can get a shell in recovery via UART, however it is heavily restricted due to SELinux. Newer firmware versions do not expose a shell via UART.

Hold down the OK+Back keys on the remote while booting to boot into recovery.

Alternatively,

  • Plug in to PC
  • Enable devloader mode in settings
  • Run adb reboot recovery

Note that OTG does not work in the recovery, unlike on the Mi Box 3.

How to enter fastboot

Note There is currently no known way to unlock the bootloader.
  • Plug in to PC
  • Enable devloader mode in settings
  • Run adb reboot fastboot

Note : fastboot oem unlock DOES NOT WORK

WiFi

There are many variants with many different WiFi chips, including ones from Amlogic (not supported in mainline) or Realtek (some are supported, others aren't).

PCB variants

There are two variants of the PCB:

How to downgrade to older version of Android 9

TODO. The downgrade method used for the Xiaomi Mi Box 3 (xiaomi-once) will not work, as OTG does not work in the recovery.

Researching

Implementing "Multiboot" mode (see Amlogic#Boot process) in the U-Boot environment via the U-Boot shell is needed to boot pmOS but in newer revision of Android 9 the u-boot shell is disabled. Sadly, there is no way to downgrade.

However, it was found that fastboot can run U-Boot commands, and that it does not seem to do any checks on what commands are being ran. Might be exploitable (see #amlogic-postmarketos OFTC IRC logs (2025-01-12)). You can enter fastboot with adb reboot fastboot.

So the guides in Xiaomi Mi Box 3 (xiaomi-once) might work for this device if it is done via fastboot, although it might need some changes because the buffer in which the fastboot commands are stored before being ran is limited. However that is currently untested.

Some dumps are available: https://dumps.tadiphone.dev/dumps/xiaomi/aquaman.

see also