MeLE A100

 

Been reading from net on some good comment about those value for money AllWinner chip with Android in a small box, some even made it runs on Linux Surprised
So during my recent trip to ShenZhen in November'2012, I just grab 1 set of the MeLE A100 toy to play with it .... Cool

I just bought a unit of MeLE A100 and a F10 "FlyMouse" together Tongue out

 

The A100 box is quite small, consider it has to fit in 1xSDslot (at side), 3xUSB & various output ports at the back .....

Noticed the SDcard slot and 1 USB port at the side

Complete output ports !

The F10 FlyMouse front & back details

 


Product references:

 


Flash to original Android ICS4 (without any factory Chinese apps & limitation)

 

The stock firmware comes with Android ICS4 with many China-made apps, I don't really like it though, it has some limitation like can't access open Android Market, unable to browse local network, useless apps (to use over here), etc ....

One thing good about this little toy it always boot from SDCard slot first, this is design to ease firmware upgrade or boot from a SDcard image.
Without spending too much time on the stock firmware, I decided to flash it with plain stock Android ICS4 from KimDecent : Android4 for A1000/A2000

To create & flash firmware, take note:

  • Download the above file & unzip it
  • Recommend to use the PhonixCardV301 on a WinXP PC
  • Try to use 1 or 2GB card (micro SDcard seem to be less problem than the normal SDcard)
  • Insert the card to a USB card reader, don't use any on-board card slot
  • Follow the PhonixCard instruction to create the img onto the card
  • Power-off the device, insert the SDcard, power-on
  • Note: During flashing the blue/red light will blink, it will take about 2min, DO NOT interrupt !
  • The device will auto shutdown once completed
  • Unplug the SDcard, power-on and wah-la .... Cool

Device details

Connect to WiFi

Android Market, sweet ! Kiss

Tested install few apps without any problem Smile

You-Tubing smoothly & happily ! Laughing

 

PPSing also smoothly & happily ! Laughing

 

Use the F10 remote to play game on TV is really fun ! Wink

 

I prefer to use ES File Explorer, select LAN mode to access & browse my NASes contains ...

My NASes "farm" ... Wink...

Choose Battleship 720p MKV and select MX Player to stream wirelessly ....

So far tested 720p stream wirelessly smooth without any problem, but 1080p a bit lag --> expected la ....

 

Overall I'm happy with this little toys with the original ICS4, yet another TV entertainment gadget ! Smile

 


Run Linux from SDCard (still experimenting .....)

 

Some references to run Linux-base on similar AllWinner devices:

 

I tested on PuppyLinux :

  • Get ready a Lunix PC  (I use LinuxMint)
  • Download the image from: http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/arm/releases/alpha/
  • Unzip the file
  • Prepare a 4GB SDcard & insert it on a USB card reader
  • MUST unmount the SDcard first! (usually at: /dev/sdb)
  • Open Terminial & yype command: sudo dd if=mele-sd-4gb-lui-5.2.90.img of=/dev/sdb
  • Note: It will take some time to complete, be patient !!

Once the img written to the SDcard

  • Power-off the device, insert the SDcard, power-on
  • Note: It will take a while during first bootup

 

This is PuppyLinux on the MeLE A100 bootup completely from the SDcard Smile

    However, it seem like some apps like Browser & Package Manager is not working properly, not sure why .....

    Will find more time later on to figure out whether can run ubuntu or not .....

    .