No Name China Box 2015 Version

[Tron 2.0]

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New NOVATEK chipset HD DVB-S2 FTA satellite receiver compatible DVB-S MPEG-4 BISS

Here is my review on the new 2015 No Name Box from China I bought off of Ebay for about $35 or so.

I wasn't able to include all of the screen pics I wanted, but I did include the main important ones that I hope you can see; I will try to post a pic of the remote a little later.

I was rather impressed overall with this little receiver, for starters, it booted straight up to HDMI! No having to hook it up to an old TV to make changes. The remote is small, but the buttons are responsive although a bit stiff from the factory with that nice chemical smell.

The menu screens and sub-menu screens are all there, very similar to my Manhattan 1997 receiver; the problem is that you do have to self navigate yourself around to get to the setting or sub-menu you are looking for. I am used to exploring deep into menu's and settings, so it was no big deal for me. It will take patience and time to learn where all the settings are and how to get to some of them, the screen will show you which colored button will do what.
The satellite list is primarily for Europe and the Atlantic Coast, the highest satellite listing is 60W, before going into East.

**There is NO Preloaded TP'S! You must blind scan in everything from scratch, or manually enter in the TP with the TP Editor to get a signal.

The USALS and Diseqc does work for the US......kind of. It's my major complaint against this unit. I was able to blind scan in 58W and 57W with USALS, which brought in a BUNCH of channels that I could not receive before on my other receiver; which makes me believe it has a very sensitive tuner. For whatever reason, the receiver can remember ALL of the settings and changes you have entered into the receiver, but it can NOT remember the USALS settings you just entered for a satellite listing; except for 58W and 55W. It can remember the USALS setting for those two, but none of the others. As soon as you put in USALS for a satellite, it goes back to the default setting of NONE in the menu. You can change the existing satellite listings to the ones you want for the US, and even add new ones, but the receiver will NOT remember your USALS settings for those listings; the same applies to Diseqc. I have tried everything I can think of like rebooting the receiver, but it will not remember the USALS settings for a satellite listing, it WILL remember your coordinates that you entered into USALS menu however. Go figure! I don't know. The only way to fix this problem is with a FW update, and I do not know where to get one of those, the seller says he will email one to me, but who knows??

**There is NO Dish Moving Message! When you change satellites with USALS, you typically do not see any message or warning the dish is moving, you just have to trust that it is; at least for the two satellites it would move it to.

**You CAN backup the receivers data onto a USB Flashdrive, so you can post that data or whatever here on the forum if you wish. Maybe a computer guy can dig into the data and fix the receivers USALS/Disecq issue.

Since the USALS/Disecq motor settings don't work very well, the receiver is probably best only for a non-motorized dish, once you know the TP info, just add or change a satellite listing to the one that you want, enter the valid TP into the receiver and do a blind scan; which it does very well actually not too long at all.

The Radio part does work, but since I was only able to blind scan in two satellites successfully, I was not able to check out the Dolby or the other audio codec's some of you have asked about. But I was able to hear all of the TV channels on two satellites I could bring in, although the volume keeps defaulting back to 5 or 6 each time you change channels.

**You are NOT able to directly change satellites from the remote, you have to go to the top of the channel list with the Blue Button to change satellites, but since it keeps defaulting all of your satellites back to NONE for USALS, your dish will not go anwhere, except back to 58W.
I am using a Stab 120 motor with a GeoSatPro 1.2M Dish, which the receiver can move just fine.

I will keep this little receiver since I can't send it back to China very well, I have ordered a Skybox F5S with a Sharp Tuner for my C-Band Dish in the meantime.
I did not try to record with this receiver from the USB Port, after I saw that it wasn't going to move my dish with the exception of two satellites stored in memory, I didn't want to go much further with trying to use it.

You do have to enter the date and time manually, there is no internet port to keep the time and date accurate.

If the seller can come through with emailing me a FW update that will fix the USALS motor problems, I will probably keep using the receiver, as I do like how well it brings in the hard to get channels.

For those of you that do not use a dish motor, you should like this receiver as it does put out a beautiful HD picture, you just have to manually jump through some extra hoops with adding or changing an existing European satellite listing for a US one, manually entering in a known good TP, and do a blind scan. This would probably work well with 99W C-Band. I did not try Ku Band on this receiver, it's kind of pointless with a non-functional motor control, and both of my dishes are motorized. I would guess this receiver would bring in Ku Band channels really well, just has to be a non-motorized until the FW gets fixed.

I hope this helps. :-)

[Tron 2.0]

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[cpr43]

Thank you for the good review Tron 2.0, excellent! See if you can feedback your finds to the seller. Hopefully they fix the issues with a future FW update. Overall it looks fine for the price. As you mentioned anyone with a fixed dish will be please with. Remember to make a backup of the empty firmware so we can post it here. We appreciated all your inputs!! :bigthumbup:

[Tron 2.0]

Thank you for the good review Tron 2.0, excellent! See if you can feedback your finds to the seller. Hopefully they fix the issues with a future FW update. Overall it looks fine for the price. As you mentioned anyone with a fixed dish will be please with. Remember to make a backup of the empty firmware so we can post it here. We appreciated all your inputs!! :bigthumbup:

I did make a backup of the FW to my USB Flashdrive, how do I post the FW on here?

[eastof111]

Thanks for the posts Tron....

Under post reply, click go to advanced>manage attachments>add files

then it will display your hard drive directory.... select your file for upload and just following the display for uploading the file. Afterwards, click done and click on the submit reply button.

[Tron 2.0]

Thanks for the posts Tron....

Under post reply, click go to advanced>manage attachments>add files

then it will display your hard drive directory.... select your file for upload and just following the display for uploading the file. Afterwards, click done and click on the submit reply button.

It's a 512KB file, it keeps giving me an invalid file error. Can't bring up what kind of file it is to make it invalid.

[eastof111]

Forgot to say that the file should be in a compressed format such as ZIP or RAR.

[cpr43]

Good Morning Tron 2.0. You can attached the file in this same post or you can create a new one here:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Remember to compress the file, either in *.zip or *.rar format

[Tron 2.0]

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I am only being told, "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" (Sigh....) I have gone through the settings to give it all the permissions I could find and it won't let me do it through Windows. I don't want to buy an expensive ZIP program just for one file. I will try a few other things, but it looks like you might have to buy a box from Ebay to post the FW Backup on the forum. I'm tired of not being allowed to do things that everyone else can. :-/

[cpr43]

Look for a free trial period Winrar instead. It will give you 15 days free. Winrar give you the choices to use both options ZIP or RAR


[Only registered and activated users can see links]

I will send you a PM with my e-mail so you can send it to me and I wll do the post for you.

[Tron 2.0]

Look for a free trial period Winrar instead. It will give you 15 days free. Winrar give you the choices to use both options ZIP or RAR



I will send you a PM with my e-mail so you can send it to me and I wll do the post for you.

Thank you very much for helping me, I didn't want to spend all day with this little box, I have a Skybox F5S receiver I want to dig into and figure out. I will plug in a USB cable into the China Box to see what happens.

[Tron 2.0]

Looks like I will need to buy a USB Cable that's male on both ends to see if my computer can access the receiver at all. I did leave a message to the seller about the USALS Motor Settings problem, and to email me an updated FW when available. I do not expect to get a reply back or any FW updates from the seller, but will see. :-)

[Tron 2.0]

I finally found a way to hook up the receiver to my computer through the USB Port, but nothing happens. I did email the seller with the USALS problems I was having. He did respond surprisingly, and asked me for the SW Version I was using as he would pass that info onto the manufacture. I gave him a screen shot of the receiver info screen and told him the problems still remain after resetting the receiver.

[Tron 2.0]

** New F/W just released!!
The Ebay Seller just sent me a new F/W update to try in this receiver. It's an SSU file for sure. I drive a semi truck all week, so I won't be back home to try the new F/W until this weekend. But after I load it into the receiver with the USB Flashdrive, I will let you know how well it works and try to post the new F/W update here. :-)

[Silverado5150]

It's good to see they don't just sell and abandon these receivers and provide some support after the sale.

Even if the box doesn't provide features the advanced hobbyist would desire, it allows someone to get into FTA without spending much money. I still use my $49 X2 every day.

[Tron 2.0]

It's good to see they don't just sell and abandon these receivers and provide some support after the sale.

Even if the box doesn't provide features the advanced hobbyist would desire, it allows someone to get into FTA without spending much money. I still use my $49 X2 every day.

Exactly! At least I hope the seller will continue to provide me with updates or when I ask for them. It's not a bad little box for its size, it puts out a really nice HD picture with improved CPU and sensitive tuner. Granted it doesn't do IPTV or Google, but I can always to that on my gaming computer. It's still a nice little box for a beginner to get into and see if they will like FTA without spending a lot of money. I will try the new F/W and if the USALS setting works correctly, I can test out the recording function. But you do have to manually enter the date and time, there is no ethernet port on the box. You will probably still need to change the satellite listings manually for US use as well.

[Tron 2.0]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Here is the Ebay item I bought under a new listing. I hope it's ok to share this link with you guys on here, so you can buy the correct item.
The price came down a little bit too. :-)

[rrob311]

Tron have you put up a screenshot of the box info page? I am curious as to what information comes up. I am trying to figure out differences with the older box. I would like to try new firmware for it. Just need to dig it out of the basement.

[Tron 2.0]

Tron have you put up a screenshot of the box info page? I am curious as to what information comes up. I am trying to figure out differences with the older box. I would like to try new firmware for it. Just need to dig it out of the basement.

Hey Rrob!
If you click on the first pictures at the top of this thread, you will see the screenshot I took of the Info Screen on the 2015 receiver. The new FW might change that information however. I won't be home until late Friday to install the new FW into the box with the USB drive to see what happens. I would guess the major change would be the CPU. You can still find the listing to your old receiver on Ebay and compare the specs. By the way, I did include screenshots of the receiver specs at the top of the thread too. :-)

[Tron 2.0]

Tron have you put up a screenshot of the box info page? I am curious as to what information comes up. I am trying to figure out differences with the older box. I would like to try new firmware for it. Just need to dig it out of the basement.

Rrob, by the way, if your 2014 No Name Box is an ALI Chipset, the new FW might not work for it, as the CPU is now a Novateck. You might mess up your older receiver, or get an error message. You might be better off buying the new box, I included the Ebay Listing link above. :-D

[rrob311]

Tron, this is basically the receiver I bought: [Only registered and activated users can see links]

It advertises an ali3510 processor with av2018 tuner.

[Only registered and activated users can see links](7-Participants)

That is the thread on it from early this year.

[Tron 2.0]

Tron, this is basically the receiver I bought: [Only registered and activated users can see links]

It advertises an ali3510 processor with av2018 tuner.

[Only registered and activated users can see links](7-Participants)

That is the thread on it from early this year.
Hey Rrob, sorry it took me awhile to respond as I was driving the semi-truck around yesterday. I checked out your links and studied the specs on the receiver you bought on Amazon with the Ali Chipset. I have the identical receiver as yours, with the exception that I have the upgraded Novatek 78211 chipset for 2015 making mine a Model M5; so not necessarily a No Name Box. The Novatek is a major upgrade as it processes everything much better for a better picture and performance. The F/W I just got from the Ebay seller will be incompatible with your receiver due to the radically different chipsets. You can still try it, but you will probably either get an error, or your receiver will get seriously bricked up and unusable.

**** I just received an email from the Ebay seller in China who is in direct contact with the factory, the new F/W I got from him is actually WRONG and to NOT load it into my receiver! He said that he will email me the correct updated F/W for my receiver as soon as he hears back from the factory. I'm still waiting, but if I get the correct updated F/W from him in time for the weekend, I will check it out and give you an update here. I hope this helps. :-D

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[cpr43]

Hey Rrob, sorry it took me awhile to respond as I was driving the semi-truck around yesterday. I checked out your links and studied the specs on the receiver you bought on Amazon with the Ali Chipset. I have the identical receiver as yours, with the exception that I have the upgraded Novatek 78211 chipset for 2015 making mine a Model M5; so not necessarily a No Name Box. The Novatek is a major upgrade as it processes everything much better for a better picture and performance. The F/W I just got from the Ebay seller will be incompatible with your receiver due to the radically different chipsets. You can still try it, but you will probably either get an error, or your receiver will get seriously bricked up and unusable.

**** I just received an email from the Ebay seller in China who is in direct contact with the factory, the new F/W I got from him is actually WRONG and to NOT load it into my receiver! He said that he will email me the correct updated F/W for my receiver as soon as he hears back from the factory. I'm still waiting, but if I get the correct updated F/W from him in time for the weekend, I will check it out and give you an update here. I hope this helps. :-D

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Thanks for the update Tron 2.0. You could probably try and mention to the seller that way back you purchased the old model (Ali) and see if he can send you both firmwares?? Here is a pic of the old model12447


Maybe the one sent was for the old model??????

[Tron 2.0]

Thanks for the update Tron 2.0. You could probably try and mention to the seller that way back you purchased the old model (Ali) and see if he can send you both firmwares?? Here is a pic of the old model12447


Maybe the one sent was for the old model??????
I will look to see, the email attachment doesn't tell me much. :-)

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[Tron 2.0]

I will ask the seller, the attachment doesn't tell me everything about the description, I don't have a way to attach the F/W I have using the phone. I have alot of driving to do today. :-(

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[Tron 2.0]

Just sent off a message to the Ebay seller, waiting for a reply. I hope I don't confuse him too badly.

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[Tron 2.0]

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Here is what I am able to get from the wrong software that was emailed to me, looks like it's software for a completely different receiver. Still waiting for the Ebay seller to respond.

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[Tron 2.0]

I will look to see, the email attachment doesn't tell me much. :-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
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[cpr43]

I think *.ssu are for Novatek. I recall the old X2 premium used the *.ssu. Ali are usually *.abs

[Tron 2.0]

I think *.ssu are for Novatek. I recall the old X2 premium used the *.ssu. Ali are usually *.abs
You are probably correct Carlos, now that I think about it, the Skybox I have is an ALI chipset, and the F/W on that is .abs file. I also have a Manhattan with a Novatek chipset which requires .SSU files. :-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Tron 2.0]

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I just heard back from the Ebay seller regarding my question about the 2014 receiver F/W, it's a No Go, he's pretty confused and annoyed as I thought he might be with my question. You will have to buy a newer receiver from him after the current bugs are worked out of it. He hasn't heard back from the factory yet. I don't want to tick him off any further, sorry about that. :-)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[el bandido]

You are welcome to invite the Ebay seller to our forum. He needs to understand the product that he is selling and I am sure you are not the only one asking him questions.

[cpr43]

Great idea! Working the different issues/ problem with his box will expose him thus result in sales increases!!!

[Tron 2.0]

You are welcome to invite the Ebay seller to our forum. He needs to understand the product that he is selling and I am sure you are not the only one asking him questions.
Well, the Ebay seller is in China where his English isn't very good obviously, he might be using a translator to talk to me for all I know. But I will pass on the invite when I hear back from him on the new software; not sure if the LegitFTA forum is allowed in China however. [emoji2]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Tron 2.0]

I did tell him you guys were interested in his product and might buy from him, he appreciated hearing that. :-)

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[Tron 2.0]

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Here is the Ebay item I bought under a new listing. I hope it's ok to share this link with you guys on here, so you can buy the correct item.
The price came down a little bit too. :-)
You can click on the above link to go to the Ebay sellers listing of the receiver I bought. Takes a week and a half to arrive. [emoji2]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Tron 2.0]

**** I just received the Corrected F/W for my 2015 M5 Receiver from the China Ebay seller very early this morning. I have it unzipped and saved to my laptop. It is actually 3 separate files, one of them an SSU file, a large 8MB update it seems. The Ebay seller in China provided no instructions as to what the other files do or in what order to install them, he may not know either; all he knows is what the factory gave him. I put all three files in a new folder so when I get home late tonight, I will put the whole folder on a USB Flash Drive and load it into the receiver to see what happens. If all goes well, I will report my findings on here as well as post the new updated files for you to download in case you want to purchase a receiver from him. :-) It's supposed to be rainy all weekend where I live in KY. Hopefully the signals won't wash out too badly for me. Not a good weekend for FTA watching, I usually need clear sunny skies for my C-Band dish.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Tron 2.0]

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**** I just installed the new F/W into the 2015 M5 China Box this morning, it did make a slight change to the Information Screen.
However, the USALS Setting memory problems continue. I can set it to USALS in the setup screen, but if I navigate away, and come back, it resets it back to None. I don't know what the solution is, other than to not use this receiver for a motor until other improvements are made. I will try to share this with the Ebay Seller, but I don't expect him to understand very well. I included a .ZIP file of the new F/W release which includes 3 files. I included all 3 files in a folder on the USB Flash Drive, but the receiver only selected the one .SSU file; there was no way to select any other file in the folder. After the F/W flashes, it will reboot, then it will go to black for several moments before coming back on in HDMI. From there you have to self navigate yourself through the menu's to set everything up, including changing the PAL setting to NTSC. I hope this helps.

[cpr43]

Thanks for sharing Tron 2.0! Have you check if this FW fix the AC3 Dolby problems issues?? Again, Thanks

[Tron 2.0]

Thanks for sharing Tron 2.0! Have you check if this FW fix the AC3 Dolby problems issues?? Again, Thanks
No, there's no way for me to check out the AC3 Dolby stuff yet, I still have no way to move my dish motor with this receiver. The receiver still won't keep my motor settings saved, keeps switching from USALS back to None, that will have to get fixed first. I could use another receiver to move the dish and try the AC3 and the other audio format. Do you know what good known TP'S have the Audio Formats you want me to check out? [emoji2]

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[cpr43]

Are you using Ku or C-band??

Ku

97W
JCTV
Smile of a chaild
Russia Today

All 3 have regular audio but they do have alternate AC3 Dolby audio.

99W

there are several channels. All you need to do is hit the Audio boton on your remote and will tell you if is Dolby. If you have audio is a Go

[cpr43]

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[Tron 2.0]

Are you using Ku or C-band??

Ku

97W
JCTV
Smile of a chaild
Russia Today

All 3 have regular audio but they do have alternate AC3 Dolby audio.

99W

there are several channels. All you need to do is hit the Audio boton on your remote and will tell you if is Dolby. If you have audio is a Go
Thanks Carlos! I'm using C-Band for this little 2015 receiver, but bad news I'm afraid. I used another receiver to motor the dish over to 99W, while I hooked up my 2015 China Box through the Loop out. There's NO AC3 (Dolby D) Audio at all with this newer receiver that has the latest F/W. I couldn't find anything with AAC Audio, but it's probably the same way. I'm curious to try F/W that went to my DJ-1997 Manhattan receiver, to see what happens? Otherwise, I don't know when or if I will get another F/W update from the Ebay seller.

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[Tron 2.0]

Nope! The little receiver won't take an .SSU file from a Manhattan 1997 receiver.

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[cpr43]

The older X2 models I & II are Novatek *.ssu. You can give it a try and see.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Tron 2.0]

The older X2 models I & II are Novatek *.ssu. You can give it a try and see.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]
I already put the little receiver box away, to see if I hear back from the Ebay seller. I don't want to pester him too hard already. :-)

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[cpr43]

:thumbup:

[Tron 2.0]

The older X2 models I & II are Novatek *.ssu. You can give it a try and see.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

I just tried it in the receiver, it doesn't like that one either. Oh well, what can you expect from a $35 receiver? :-)

[Silverado5150]

I'm curious if it's a hardware limitation or a Dolby licensing restriction in the FW not enabled intentionally. I read the really early no name STBs did have AC3 audio operational as reported in other forums where discussion of these receivers is allowed.

My receiver can record programming with AC3 but not play it back. If the same program is played on my X2, it audio is there and plays back normally. I even went into the hidden Ali menu to see if the selection was there but it isn't. I didn't change any parameters because their not well documented. The other Ali chipset based STBs have similar hidden menus but slightly different.

[cpr43]

If Dolby comes out from the Coaxial orange output when selecting BS out on audio type means its there and problably licenced. My guess its a firmware issue.

[dr.zin]

The older X2 models I & II are Novatek *.ssu. You can give it a try and see.

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

said receivers were finicky with loading foreign firmware, even with serious editing.
The hardware was just too different.

[cpr43]

said receivers were finicky with loading foreign firmware, even with serious editing.
The hardware was just too different.

Which receivers?? The China no name?? We're not talking about X2 models in this post.

[dr.zin]

I thought they were trying different firmware on novatek models,sorry

[cpr43]

Sort of!! You're right