[Android Stick & Console AllWinner based Computers] gh0stza:
Hi,

Your description of the device and the actual hardware specs mismatch.

The Y4 M98 stick is supposed to be an Amlogic S905-Y4 SoC.

However in your screenshot it clearly shows it's an Allwinner H313.

Where did you buy it?

To get back to your question:

There are no good firmware alternatives for that device that I know of. There is Armbian for the "sun" SoC (which is the codename for some Allwinner SoC).

Now I had a Vontar Allwinner H313 which I tried but....

I could never get that firmware to work

If you're wondering: mine is somewhere on a landfill in about a thousand pieces.

I have no more patience for Allwinner SoC's.

You're BEST option for aftermarket firmwares on STB's is: Slimboxtv.

Now these guys are doing an AMAZING job with their firmwares - I exclusively use SlimboxTV on my STB's

They did originally do Amlogic SoC's exclusively but they are branching out into the Allwinner CPU's where they can.

The problem with Allwinner (and the reason why my H313 is in thousand pieces) is because Allwinner is a textbook example of how chinese fabless companies create their technologies. They rip off everyone in the world but hate to get their IP stolen so they don't share any source-code. This means that stuff like kernel source and device trees are not available. If you want it you need to develop it from scratch - and in some cases that's just not possible. The result is that if you have a device that no one else in the community has developed for you're stuck with the stock firmware with absolutely no alternatives.

So if I were you I would sell off that Allwinner trash and buy an Amlogic STB - don't do the TV stick thing either. Even if your presented with a device that has both form-factors with identical specs, go with the STB not the stick.

The M98 is a perfect example - you get the real M98 stick with a S905-Y4 and a M98 STB with nearly identical specs. The STB will ALWAYS be faster due to power limitations. The stick gets it's power from a USB port on the TV - that USB port has a max current of 500mah - that results in 2.5W. The M98 STB can draw up to 2000mah (with it's PSU) - that's 10W.

Something else you can try with a TV stick - something that I've been wanting to try and benchmark is:

Get another power cable that uses 2 USB-A ports - like those cables you sometimes get with an external HDD. Basically it takes the current from both USB ports to create a power budget of 1000mah (500mah x 2).

And then lastly I want to give you a SERIOUS warning about the stock firmware.

Allwinner, the manufacturing campany has baked malware directly into their device driver software (what they call an HDK). The software that every child manufacturer (like Vontar or Transpeed) has to include in their stock firmware has been compromised.

If you choose to use this device with stock firmware - no information on it is safe - You have been warned

Don't take my word for it: the internet is littered with people talking about the malware in Allwinner software.

Even Linus on Youtube has made a video about the 'bad-stuff' on these chinese devices.

Because of this I will never trust Allwinner on my local network, and neither should you.