Kingnovel K-R42 - media player with Android 4.2.2 on board
After the successful launch of mini-computers on the 4-core RK3188 chip in the stick format, the logical continuation of the line of devices with extended functionality - the presence of additional ports and an external Wifi antenna - comes to the market. Today we look at Kingnovel K-R42 - a media player with Android 4.2.2, on the basis of which you can make a home mini-server.
► Specifications
Mali 400MP quad-core video accelerator
Rockchip RK3188 quad-core processor with Cortex A9 architecture
2 GB of RAM
Android 4.2.2 operating system
8 GB user memory + microSD card slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n), EthernetA distinctive feature of this device is the presence of a number of additional outputs: AV-output, SPDIF, Ethernet. And also 2 full-sized USB ports.
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► Appearance and equipment
A large green box with no significant identification marks:
Inside there is a device:
And accessories:
Accessory kit is not very rich. If the lack of an AV cable can still be understood, then the lack of a USB cable is surprising.
The kit includes a remote control. Powered by 2 AAA batteries.
The console has 2 modes of operation, which is switched by the button "Mouse":
1) control the mouse cursor. In the console there is no gyroscope, control is carried out by pressing the arrows on the console.
2) slide control. Pressing the arrows simulates a slide on the screen.
4 color buttons provide quick access to various functions:
Media - media player for music
TV - video player
WEB - browser
APP - Google Play Market.
The control of such a remote control is not very convenient, I prefer to use the iPazzport mouse-keyboard.
K-R42 is white with a blue insert. At the moment, in this color scheme is no longer produced. Now all devices are black with a gray insert.
In front is the power button:
Which glows blue:
On the reverse side there is a button Recovery, and mounting, with which you can hang the device on the wall:
Side 1 USB port and microSD memory card slot:
Rear: Ethernet, USB, SPDIF, HDMI, USB-OTG, AV-out, power input.
Of course, I would like the full-size USB to be more than 2. In total, you can get 3 USB ports by connecting the OTG cable to the OTG port. You can also connect a USB hub.
► disassemble
K-R42 is disassembled by unscrewing 4 screws around the perimeter.Inside quite a lot of space:
In the middle is the RK3188 chip, without a radiator:
Toshiba Permanent Memory:
Realtek RTL8188EUS Wifi Chip:
LAN chip RTL8201F:
HDMI 1.4 ITE IT66121FN transmitter:
USB 2.0 HUB:
Build at a decent level. The only negative is the lack of a cooling radiator. The radiator can be installed independently (according to rumors, a new revision of the device is already being done with the radiator, unfortunately, I cannot confirm or deny this information). But let's see how things are going with heating, if you use the device "as is".
In the off state, the case temperature is 25.2 degrees:
In light use mode (surfing, launching simple applications), the temperature rises by only ~ 10 degrees:
After a half-hour warm-up in the Stability Test, the temperature of the hull from above rose to 40 degrees, and from below it reached almost 50 degrees:
Theoretically, K-R42 can be used as a 24/7 server and without additional cooling. But, for security reasons, I still recommend installing additional cooling for the chip.
► Video
The hardware power is enough to play video in various formats:
In the image output settings, you can configure both outputs: HDMI and AV-out.
HDMI output now supports a maximum resolution of 1280x720. The corresponding patch to support a full-fledged FULL HD manufacturer should add in the following firmware updates.
For AV output, you can select only the color setting: PAL or NTSC:
► Web
Web pages load quickly, scrolling is smooth. Youtube videos can be viewed directly in the browser.
► Wifi, Bluetooth
An external Wifi antenna is installed in the K-R42, which guarantees a good level of signal reception.
Integrated Bluetooth is missing. In the firmware there are no drivers for Bluetooth, in the custom firmware Added the ability to connect Blueooth-dongles, but, unfortunately, my easiest dong did not work.
► Performance
The Kingnoval K-R42 has a Rockchip RK3188 chip, which consists of a 4-core Cortex-A9 processor with a frequency of up to 1.6 GHz and a 4-core Mali-400MP video accelerator.The amount of RAM in 2GB allows you not to think about the number of running applications or open tabs.
Look at the appartan part under the prism of synthetic performance tests
Antutu 3.3.2 scores a good result in 15364 points:
System Information:
In the Quadrant test, K-R42 Takes the first line with a 4801 point:
Nenamark 2:
► Software
Android 4.2.2 is pre-installed with all Google apps.
The firmware from Android 4.2.2 has been added a proprietary utility from Rockchip, which allows you to remotely control a mini-computer from a smartphone, or any other device running Android.
Application setup is the same as for the MK908.
Starting and using RKRemoteControl
In the firmware itself, the server of this application is already installed. We just need to install the application. 
RKRemoteControl (2MB) on your smartphone or tablet.
Then, we start the application and connect to the found server:
For devices to detect each other, they must be in the same network.
RKRemoteControl works can work in several modes:
1) Mouse mode. Moving the finger on the touch screen of the control device, we move the cursor in the system of the controlled device. A single tap on the screen is equal to a click. To scroll, you must use the vertical or horizontal scrollbar on the control device.
2) Scroll mode. When dragging, it will scroll (slide) on the managed device. Tap on the screen corresponds to a click.
Keyboard icon can call its screen version:
Also, the row of the buttons “Back”, “Home”, “Task List” is duplicated.
By selecting the Control icon, we are taken to the video / audio player control screen:
Clicking on the Game icon we see the game control settings screen.
On the screen of the phone, it looks too messy, but we can remove the buttons we do not need by calling the appropriate settings menu.
Set the classic layout of the gamepad:
Now you need to configure management on the K-R42.
Run the program RKGameControl, select / create a management profile:
We start the game we need, while the settings will remain on top of the screen. Let's set up control in the emulator:
Just drag the buttons from RKGameControl to the necessary screen buttons.
Be sure to save the settings in RKRemoteControl and then hide the program by clicking on the icon with the yellow folder.
Everything, you can play!
You can customize control in any emulator.
In the same way, you can configure any game in which no slide operation is required. Just drag the management stick to the right place, place the buttons and save the profile.
In RKRemoteControl, you can enable control using an accelerometer or a gyroscope. This will allow you to play games that apply this type of control. For example, Real Racing 3:
RKRemoteControl (2MB) on your smartphone or tablet.Then, we start the application and connect to the found server:
For devices to detect each other, they must be in the same network.
RKRemoteControl works can work in several modes:
1) Mouse mode. Moving the finger on the touch screen of the control device, we move the cursor in the system of the controlled device. A single tap on the screen is equal to a click. To scroll, you must use the vertical or horizontal scrollbar on the control device.
2) Scroll mode. When dragging, it will scroll (slide) on the managed device. Tap on the screen corresponds to a click.
Keyboard icon can call its screen version:
Also, the row of the buttons “Back”, “Home”, “Task List” is duplicated.
By selecting the Control icon, we are taken to the video / audio player control screen:
Clicking on the Game icon we see the game control settings screen.
On the screen of the phone, it looks too messy, but we can remove the buttons we do not need by calling the appropriate settings menu.
Set the classic layout of the gamepad:
Now you need to configure management on the K-R42.
Run the program RKGameControl, select / create a management profile:
We start the game we need, while the settings will remain on top of the screen. Let's set up control in the emulator:
Just drag the buttons from RKGameControl to the necessary screen buttons.
Be sure to save the settings in RKRemoteControl and then hide the program by clicking on the icon with the yellow folder.
Everything, you can play!
You can customize control in any emulator.
In the same way, you can configure any game in which no slide operation is required. Just drag the management stick to the right place, place the buttons and save the profile.
In RKRemoteControl, you can enable control using an accelerometer or a gyroscope. This will allow you to play games that apply this type of control. For example, Real Racing 3:
The firmware has a full market:
► Making a mini-server
One option for using K-R42 is to create a mini-server based on it for various needs: a web server, an ftp server, and a torrent.In the market there are many applications that can facilitate our task.
For example, for a web server, you can use the NAMP nginx android web server application, which includes:
1. nginx v1.5.0
2. PHP v5.4.13
3. MySQL v5.1.62
4. msmtp 1.4.30
5. NAMPFTP v1.0
As well as phpFileManager, phpMyAdmin, adminer.
If you have a dynamic IP, and you want to configure access to the site from the outside, then you can use the DynDNS Client utility
For remote access to the server, you can use the Droid VNC application. On the server, you only need to start the application and click Start:
Access is provided from the browser via a Java plug-in, or using HTML5:
► Useful links
Blog geekbuying.comKingnoval K-R42 Freaktab Theme
► Conclusions
4 core chip RK3188 2GB of RAM Many additional ports: Ethernet, 3 USB, SPDIF, AV-out Modern Android OS 4.2.2 Almost ready solution for use as a mini-server
No built in blueooth Output image is only 720p (to be fixed in the next firmware)► Price
At Geekbuying.com, the price for a black Kingnoval K-R42 is $ 83.99. With the BDCCAYHZ coupon, you can get a small discount and buy K-R42 for $ 79.99 .If you do not have an account on Habrahabr, you can read and comment on our articles on BoxOverview.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/186148/
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