How to restore / reinstall / update the firmware of Dune HD ATV media players.
Notes:
- These are not official instructions from the manufacturer (under Google's rules, the manufacturer is not allowed to publicly distribute such instructions).
- These instructions use files shared by users on public forums.
- According to available information, these instructions cannot brick your Dune HD media player and can restore, reinstall, or update firmware from nearly any state - including previously bricked devices that no longer boot. The currently installed firmware version is irrelevant. However, as these are not official manufacturer instructions, you use them at your own risk.
- These instructions are compatible and were tested with: Dune HD Homatics Box R 4K Plus, Dune HD Premier 4K Pro.
- Do not try to use these instructions with other media player models or any other devices, as they may damage them. In particular, these instructions do not work with Homatics devices of other manufacturers (not Dune HD).
- Disclaimer: These instructions are provided 'as is'. The author is not affiliated with Dune HD or any other manufacturer.
Instructions:
- Choose what firmware version you want to (re)install (ATV11, ATV12, ATV14) and download a ZIP archive.
- Download one of the following ZIP archives:
- It does not matter what firmware version is currently installed on the media player, you can choose any version (the same version as already installed, or another version).
- Note that ATV11 is the most stable version. While newer ATV12/ATV14 versions offer additional features (such as: DTS HD bitstream passthrough to A/V receiver; support for both fractional and integer HDMI framerates), they also have some limitations and regressions (which may not be important for you, depending on your needs). If you do not need the new features of ATV12/ATV14 versions, ATV11 is the most stable version.
- Get a FAT32-formatted USB drive of any capacity (4GB is enough).
- Important: Ensure the USB drive is formatted in the FAT32 filesystem.
- Unpack the files from the downloaded ZIP archive into the root folder of the USB drive. Ensure the USB drive's root folder contains the following 3 files:
- aml_autoscript
- aml_sei804hm_dune.ini
- aml_sei804hm_dune.img
- Disconnect the power cable from the media player.
- Attach the USB drive to the media player.
- Find the RESET button on the media player.
- The RESET button is accessible through a small hole in the case of the media player and can be pressed with a toothpick.
- On Dune HD Homatics Box R 4K Plus, the hole is under the USB port.
- On Dune HD Premier 4K Pro, the hole is on the bottom panel.
- Check that you can press the button using a toothpick.
- Using the toothpick, press and hold the RESET button. While holding RESET, connect the power cable to the media player, and wait up to 30 seconds until you see on the TV screen the "USB BURNING MODE" message, or "UPGRADING" message, or the firmware installation progress. After that, you can release RESET.
- Usually, you will first see the message "FASTBOOT". Ignore this.
- Shortly after, the message "USB BURNING MODE" will appear for a few seconds.
- As soon as you see the message "USB BURNING MODE", release the RESET button.
- Wait up to 5 minutes for the firmware installation process to finish.
- During the firmware installation process, you may see one of the following on the TV screen: nothing (black screen), a static boot logo picture, or (in some cases) the progress of the firmware installation.
- Important: Even if you see only a black screen or a static boot logo picture, this is normal - simply wait up to 5 minutes.
- After the firmware installation process finishes, the media player will automatically boot into the initial setup screen of Android TV.
- Note: The media player settings will be reset to factory defaults.
- Important: verify that you see the initial setup screen of Android TV with the suggestion to pair the remote control.
- This confirms that the media player settings have been successfully reset to factory defaults. Settings reset is very important to ensure correct operation of the media player after switching between Android versions..
- If the media player settings were not reset automatically, please reset them manually using this menu:
- System Settings - Device Preferences - About - Factory Reset
- Final step: remove all "aml_*" files from the USB drive ("aml_autoscript", "aml_sei804hm_dune.img", "aml_sei804hm_dune.ini" or "aml_sdc_burn.ini").
- Otherwise, you could accidentally damage other Amlogic-based devices if you connect this USB drive to them.
Troubleshooting
If all steps are done properly, these instructions should work.
If these instructions do not work, try the following troubleshooting methods:
- Reread the instructions and try all steps again.
- Ensure you do not release the RESET button too early (try to keep it pressed for at least 30 seconds).
- Ensure the USB drive is formatted in the FAT32 filesystem.
- Try copying the files to the USB drive again.
- Try to reformat the USB drive.
- Try a different USB drive.
- The following might be needed in some cases. Copy the file "aml_sei804hm_dune.ini" to "aml_sdc_burn.ini" in the root of the USB drive (so that both these files are in the root of the USB drive). Try this only if everything else does not help.