Amiko Alien 2

D

Danny Welch

New Member
My Satellite Setup
Amiko Alien 2
My Location
Doncaster
Hello All,

First post, please be gentle, I was advised to buy this box as wanted a the ability to record and watch, Finding it hard to find a tutorial on how to set it up etc.

Also notice some people say flash to enigma others saying this may not be the way to go,

Can any one shed any light please?

Regards

Danny
 
I would go for a MIPS based box in all honesty. Most MIPS based boxes are very well supported by the major image teams. Images for the SH4 based boxes like the Alien 2 go from very flaky to just about acceptable. I haven't found an image yet for my Alien 2 which doesn't have some sort of glitch or annoying issue. The SPARK image that comes pre-installed is just horrible.

To be honest i would rather buy one of those cheap and nasty Zgamma boxes than another SH4 based box.

If you want a cheap single tuner box have a look at the Vu+ Zero or the Gigablue HD X1. If you want twin tuner have a look at the XTrend ET9500, its on sale at World of Sat for just under £130. The Xtrend also allows you to install the HDD inside the box, unlike the Alien 2 which can only support an external drive. Its also a better looking box in my opinion.

Hands down the Xtrend is a better box than the Alien 2, It has better support, it has a faster CPU, can play virtually any video file you chuck on the HDD, and its 500% better supported than the Alien 2, for just a few quid more the Xtrend is a better choice in my opinion.

Nano
 
Hi Nano

Thanks for the reply, Bad times though, as I bought it its the 2+ if that makes any difference? :S

It is my first venture into this sort of thing, kind of think i've wasted my money now :(

Thanks though

Danny
 
The 2+ if i'm not mistake is the one with the combined DVB-T2 and DVB-C tuner and two satellite tuners.

The Alien 2 in my opinion is quite glitchy but saying that it can be made to work as long as your not expecting too much from it. I just use mine in the bedroom to watch a few hours a night, i dont record on it and i don't try to watch anything other than TV on it. I used to hate the Alien (its no secret :-lmao) but now i'm starting to get on with it.

Its not a complete waste of money, you just have to try a few images and see which one works the best for you. The images you have available to you are PKT, HDMU, OpenATV, Powerboard Enigma, VIX4SH4 plus a few other minor team releases. On a note VIX4SH4 has nothing to do with the VIX team i must say, its just the bloke from Lavatronics uisng the name to try and sell his boxes by putting the VIX name to a rather substandard image which does the box no favours at all, and is in all honesty a rather lame attempt at copying such a good image. VIX have never and probably never will support any SH4 based box.

To be honest i find the PKT image the best for my needs and its probably one of the easiest images to update. I am meaning to try the Powerboard Enigma image on mine, If its as good as the one for the MIPS based boxes it should be quite good.

Nano
 
Good info there, thanks nano all i want mine for is tv and recording ill do some scurrying about and make it work

Ill see how this goes and when i get my head round it bump this box to the bedroom and look at another

Thanks for your help
 
No the Amiko Alien does not natively support CCCam. CCCam was never written to run on the SH4 architecture. You have to use OSCam which is not the easiest emu to get your head round. Anyone that says CCCam runs on an Amiko Alien is quite frankly taliking out of their derriere.

There is a modified verion of MGCamd that runs on SPARK that report itself as CCCam 2.0.11, but it is definately not CCCam.

You can use MGCamd but it wont decode two strams at the same time so if you are recordng an encrypted channel at the same time as watching another encrypted channel all you will see on the recording is a balck screen. OSCam can decode two streams at the same time.

Nano
 
Think it's looking more and more likely that im gonna have to return this box and start again as i cant find any oscams like i can cccam :angry:
 
if you look on the OSCam download center you just need to download one from the sh4-qboxhd feed

Code: 
http://download.oscam.cc/index.php?&direction=0&order=mod&directory=1.20_TRUNK/sh4-qboxhd

It all depends on which image you use which decides how hard or how easy it is to setup. Some images have cam plugins you can download and install through the image, others you have to do manually.

To be honest thoughCCCam is getting on a bit anyway. It hasn't been updated in donkeys years so OSCam is the better and obvious choice of emu to use.

Please bare in mind that due to forum rules i cannot help you setup oscam other than to read a subscriber card, i will not help you defraud Sky or any other broadcaster.

Nano
 
you've been more then helpful already Nano, will have a word with the gent who recomended and see what he says re going to another box or sticking with

thanks again
 
SH4 boxes aren't worth the money anymore as there is very little support when compared with MIPS based boxes. The picture quality is good which is their only saving grace but they just aren't that exciting these days.

If you have it you might as well keep it and make the most of it as if you have had it from where i think you may have had it from you may have fun getting it exchanged unless it has a fault.

It wasn't recommended by somebody that runs a forum and has a shop in Leicestershire by any chance :D
 
I have a amiko alien 8900 , i got to say it took me along time to find out how to set this box up.
I would have to disagree with Nano , I have been using Cccam and Newcamd on this box with no problems!!!

here is a link that will help you alot in setting up cccam

Code: 
http://forums.afterdawn.com/threads/amiko-alien-2.745099/

this link is for Sparks addons

Code: 
http://www.swtools.biz/

hope this helps you
 
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I have both Aliens, I.e. the 8900 & also an Alien2+, the 8900 is quite a solid wee box (I use this in the bedroom) but the Alien 2+ has been a wee bell end of a box. I have had some success with it, and fingers crossed the newest image I'm using has been alright with some test timer recordings I've set and watched back etc, its just on a dual 28E feed just now though (Was my main box and in control of my motorised system). I feel like I'm a fecking beta tester for every image that's been made for the thing lol.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A7-30F using Tapatalk
 
I have been using Cccam and Newcamd on this box with no problems!!!
Click to expand...

Lets put this in to perspetive, You think you are running CCCam on your Alien SHD8900. CCCam cannot run on a SH4 box period. It was never compiled to run on SH4 architecture. It was only written to run on MIPS, PPC, Arm and X86 based receivers/pcs not SH4.

Development on CCCam had more or less ended before SH4 boxes started to become popular.

What you have on SH4 based boxes is a modified version of MGCamd which reports itself as CCCam 2.0.11 and can only be used as a CCCam client not a server. This is only found within Spark and not within Enigma firmware.

I would also like to point out that the SHD8900 and the Alien 2 are two totally different beasts. They are based on two different chipsets Sti 7111 (8900) against Sti 7162 (Alien 2). The 8900 is definately less troublsome than its big brother. I've had a few 8900 boxes and they have been better boxes than the Alien 2.

As for images, i have this evening installed the lastest PKT Hyperion on my Alien 2 and upto now it seems to work quite nicely, much better than the Vix4SH4 i have been testing, its no where as buggy and simple things like changing the audio is back on the yellow button. God knows where it went on the VIX4SH4 image i never managed to find it.

Apparently Open SPA and OpenDroid have also written images for the Alien 2 also, so theres definately lots of testing to be done as and when i get the time.

Nano
 
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I tried a lot of images a couple of years ago on my Alien 2 when I first got it and was never 100% happy so I gave up and bought a Vu+DUO2 instead. However, just recently I've resurrected the AA2 to use as a third box and I'm really quite impressed with the latest HDMU image. I suggest you give that a try too. I did not like OpenDroid 5.2 which I tested yesterday. Lots of problems with that one :(
 
Thanks for the info, i may well try the HDMU image as and when i get round to it. Does it have online plugins for the emu/cams or do i have to figure out how to do it manually :D
 
One more question as this is becoming more likely that the box is worth a go, can it output picture via the coax port and power a magic eye? Does this need extra config?

Thanks

Danny
 
Mine is only the twin tuner model, but i'm pretty sure the triple tuner model doesn't have an RF modulator so the answer to your question would be no on both counts.
 
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