TF-T6211HD
tf-t6211.png

Topfield Product site: TF-T6211HD. Product brochure with more details here: Product Brochure

Released in the last week of October, 2014. Initially available only at The Good Guys, later also available at JB HiFi.

Uses a Dual-Core ARM Cortex A9, 7500 DMIPS running Android OS 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). System ID 38510. Internal HDD: 500gig.

There is a pre-release YouTube Video that provides an introduction to the Android Apps supported by this Toppy. The unit supports catch-up Apps from Australian TV networks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ48kR3Edcs

There are several pre-installed apps, and two service packs with contain a selection of apps. Some users have reported that the service packs are not on their unit: service pack two and other useful apps are available from here.

Newer stock is supplied with a free USB Wifi N dongle in the box (look for a sticker). This is setup using the Android Settings app, not the STB settings, but works for both.

Android implementation

The Android implementation is a cut-down version of Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean". It has a custom launcher but is compliant with Google Play Store. Most apps appear to work however that UI seems to prevent apps running in the background and switching between apps can be difficult. Apps that work with keyboard arrow keys will work with the remote, others that are touch screen only will work with an Air Mouse (Topfield sold separately) or via the free Toppy app on Apple App Store and Google Play. There is no notification shade in the UI and the Android Settings app has been cut down (for example you cannot enable Developer mode). The Toppy app may attempt to provide a native onscreen keyboard. This sometimes crashes apps upon keyboard input. The Toppy app only works on a local network, not via the Internet as it relies on UPNP to find the STB.

The Android interface runs at 1280x720 irrespective of the display output of the STB. An overscan compensation function is present to ensure all of the Android app is visible on your TV.

As supplied there is approximately 2.5GB of space for Android apps.

The Google Play Store is already installed and many popular apps do work. You can install Chrome Browser and also the Amazon App Store for further apps.

All of the Australian catchup apps appear to work so far. Kodi and Plex apps also work.
Further useful apps include Mirroring360 for AirPlay receiving from Apple devices, however this does not run in the background.

Some video apps are reported to have some issues:

  • Netflix may stop playing video. This is a bug where the STB does not work with adaptive streaming. More reliable bandwidth has better results.
  • The latest version of Plus7 from the Play Store also has a freezing issue for me.
  • Stan and other apps detect that the STB may be rooted and refuse to run. This can be fixed with the workaround below. Once fixed Stan's Auto quality level appeared not to work. The fixed quality levels work.

Before you install the apps you need to connect to the WiFi and make sure that the software is the latest update as well…

Differences to TMS Toppies

  • While the unit supports 'trick mode' (fast-forward and fast-rewind), it does not support skip mode (TMS Toppys use the red and yellow keys to skip forward and the blue to skip backwards).
  • Percentage file navigation: when playing back a recoding you can use the numeric keys to go forward or backwards (0 for start; 1 for 10%, 2 for 20% and so on). [Older TMS Toppys advance in 1% increments rather than 10% increments used by the 6211.]
  • The listing of scheduled recordings (or timers) lists timers in the order they were created, not the order in which they will record. This is not user friendly - TMS Toppys list them in the order in which they will be recorded. This problem has been reported to Topfield Australia and hopefully will be fixed in updated firmware.
  • Android Apps - For some reason Android Apps are not installed on some units. Some of them can be installed via USB stick if you download ZIP files from this wiki
  • No Quad recording
  • No Bookmarks - this may be added later
  • No skip keys when navigating timeshift butter
  • Transcoding of recordings is not available
  • Can't change the way the EPG data is displayed (F1 key does nothing)
  • There is no native ftp server - you can access recordings by installing an Android ftp App and configuring it appropriately
  • Wireless networking is not supported by the firmware; you can set it up through Android Settings

Manual

A user manual for the 6211 is now available on the Topfield Australia www site - http://www.topfield.com.au/uploads/65745/ufiles/TF-T6211_EngFG_UserReference.pdf

There are a few "inconsistencies" between what is said in the user guide and what actually happens

e.g. There is error in the manual that says the app name to use is "TF-RCU" but the correct app in the app store is actually called "TOPPY FOR STB".

Root workaround

The STB looks rooted but it's only half done. I managed to fix Stan.

The problem is that an "su" command is visible on the PATH of apps. This is what Stan detects as being "rooted" in spite of the fact that this command only tells you that you can't root.

The fix is to get root and then hide the root properly. Now it is possible that this command is there for some of the Topfield functions to work so there may be some risk to fix this. (I have yet to reboot or attempt to make a recording or anything since fixing Stan but this procedure is reversible).

Now getting root isn't as hard as it first seems. We need to get a Terminal app or SSH server running on the Toppy. Any will do. I used the Simple SSH server from the Servers Ultimate app I'd already purchased.

1. Open the terminal or connect via SSH and type "adb shell" and press enter.
2. You should now get a "root@android:/#". You now have root in this session. (To fully root you'd continue to add a Superuser APK.)
3. Allow the system to be written to - type "mount -o remount,rw / /system" and press enter. There should be no error.
4. Rename the Su command - type "mv /system/xbin/su /system/xbin/su.off"
5. Return the system to normal - type "mount -o remount,ro / /system"
6. Exit the terminal/ssh.

(Reverse the procedure by repeating and changing step 4 to "mv /system/xbin/su.off /system/xbin/su".)

Stan should now work normally except that I had to force the quality to not be Auto to play video.

Using Samba to Transfer Files

(from user vaydm on the Topfield Australia forum)

Apart from using the Android FTP app, people may not know that the 6211 comes with Samba installed. In case you don't know, Samba is a LAN file sharing service, developed (originally in Australia) for Unix/Linux machines to share files over LAN with Windows PCs without the need to install any additional software on the latter (now also available on Macs). Samba works over the native for Windows file sharing protocol - SMB.

The trick is to find Samba in the Android Settings to enable it. The factory settings have Samba disabled. Once enabled it starts up on boot. It can be disabled again through the Settings if needed, but I personally don't see a reason to disable it - it hardly consumes any resources.

Ok, to find it in the Settings you have to enter "advanced mode". I'm sure there are several ways of doing it, but here is one that works for me: In the Android Settings app go to the Storage menu item (on the left) and then select "Apps (app data & media content)" in the main part of the screen (on the right). Once you click it, notice that the menu on the left updates with some additional menu items, including "SAMBA Service" under the "SHARE" title. Click on it and tick "SAMBA start". That's it. No need to restart the box.

To access files on your 6211 from your computer you need to know your PVR's IP address. You can find it in the main Menu -> Installation -> Internet Settings. Let's say your IP Address shows up as 10.0.0.5 then open "Run…" in the Windows Start menu or open Windows Explorer and enter \\10.0.0.5 It takes several seconds to connect to your box after pressing Enter after which it comes up with the "share" item in the view. Navigate there and you'll see the file system of your PVR. The recordings are stored in \sda\sda2\DataFiles (the full path: \\10.0.0.5\share\sda\sda2\DataFiles).

Now you can copy the files to your PC and make backups. Each recording consists of 3 or 4 files with the same name and different extensions. The main one has the .rec extension and if you are not planning on ever restoring your backup to the same location it came from originally (…\DataFiles), you don't need the other files with the same name. You can restore it into the, say, MP3Files or PhotoFiles directories (under …\sda2 - same level as DataFiles) and play it with the stock MediaCenter app or the excellent MX Player app. In fact, MX Player, using the SW or HW+ codecs, plays some SD (and HD if HW+ is used) recordings with transmission glitches (pixelations) - especially from channel 7flix (76) - somewhat better than the standard playback functionality. With the HW codec it plays with the same video quality as the standard playback. But you can see the current position time in the progress bar instead of the standard percentage only.

Correct recording names - Samba or external hard drive

(from user vaydm on the Topfield Australia forum)

If you used Samba you probably noticed that some of the recording names are mangled. This happens because Samba uses a Windows-centric protocol and Windows doesn't allow certain characters to appear in the file name. The recording files are stores on a Unix file system on the 6211 and occasionally their names get those problematic characters. For instance, the innocent-looking ':' is one of the troublemakers. So, the recording name like this: "Movie: Hot Shots" will be mangled when accesses via Samba. The situation with the USB-connected external hard drive is not much better - the file system on the external drive is most likely NTFS or FAT32, i.e. Windows-native, not Unix. Therefore, attempting to copy these recordings to it will fail.

A word of warning. The natural impulse in this situation is to rename the recording files right there in your favourite file manager. Don't! Especially if you plan on eventually returning them back to the DataFiles folder (or its sub-folders) of the 6211. It's not enough to change the name of all the (3 or 4) files the recording consists of. The content of the index file should also be modified if its name or the name of its folder changes.

Now the good news. I've created an app that automates the process of "normalising" the recording names. It can rename the recordings on an individual basis or in bulk. It also does the necessary index file adjustments. The app is user-friendly and designed to be used with a standard remote control or a wired/wireless/air mouse. It's an Android app, unlike the playback functionality of 6211, so can't utilise all the buttons of the remote (sorry, the colour buttons are not wired in Android). But I laid out the controls in a simple to access - with the usual arrow buttons - manner.

Here you can find more info, screenshots, simple installation instructions and the download link: http://www.intergrace.com.au/tm-recs

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