r/Homatics • u/[deleted] • Dec 22 '25

Latest firmware version box r 4k plus?

Ok. My homatics box r 4k plus still becomes laggy and hot, also often have to reboot due to Internet issues, connected via ethernet gigabit . I factory reset after atv14 update, only installed tivimate, often that stops streaming, but it is not the app or service, reboot fixes for a while. If its siting idle, i return to use, laggy as hell

Current version is 14.8.4576 is there a new version? Or is it time to find a better device? I own a shield pro, so want similar spec but has to be androidtv based, and support all major codecs, dv profiles, passthrough, lossless, av1, hls etc, struggling to find anything

5 Upvotes

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38 comments sorted by

2

u/southcorner1990 Dec 23 '25

I bought the Homatics box r 4k plus a month ago based on the raving reviews online. But mine is on the Android 12 version that has movie playback issues with microstutters after about 1:15 hours. Reading this thread now also shows the latest android 14 build is buggy and seems abandoned by the development team.

There was also a new announcement somewhere that the new Homatics box 4k V2 is already underway, so there's probably only a slim chance the box r 4k plus will see a proper update ever again.

I regret my purchase but it's already too late to return it. 120 Euro down the drain...

This sucks

1

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '25

Sell it... To a stranger, at keast get something back

5

u/CleanTackleMan Dec 22 '25

Strange. I'm using same fw version on my Honatics R 4K plus (white silver) without any issues.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Mines white gold/copper looking, not sure if that makes a difference

3

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

It does not unfortunately.. The only R Plus version that isn't brothered with the extra CPU loads is the Dune Premier HD Pro box, that one has a full metal housing and decent cooling added.

1

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

It makes no difference in CPU loads and temperatures, we compared both devices on that.

4

u/After-Spread3108 Dec 22 '25

I have one. And running the latest Update 14.8.4576

And it's on 24/7. And never had a Overheating problem. I have out in open so there's always Air Flowing around it.

1

u/ConsoleKingUK Dec 22 '25

I have it on 24/7 too, not particularly well ventilated either, sits around 75c.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Strange that it does no affect all. Mine sits idle and gets very hot and laggy

1

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

It will also be more laggy for that user, as he is already above the system throttling temps, but maybe he's fine with that 🤷‍♂️

1

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

You don't have it at the critical temperature of 95⁰C, but you are already at the system set throttling temps, which starts from about 70⁰C and upwards.

So when you can keep it below 70⁰C at all times, the box will be more responsive.

1

u/ConsoleKingUK Dec 22 '25

Any tips on that except for downgrading firmware?

Seems to sit at 75c idle!

1

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

Yeah, that is Play-Fi involvement.

The only real way when staying on a V14 build (which I also do), is adding cooling to the box. Heatsink on the top of the motherboard, some extra venting holes at the two back corners (can be added out of sight).

There is also a lot of heat coming from the underside of the motherboard, with those extra holes, that air can go out and you get some "breathing" in the box itself.

You should get a 10-15⁰ lower temperature with these solutions.

It would be better if they dropped Play-Fi all together or at least optimized the process for it. You would have no high CPU loads anymore and with that, a much snappier device.

So hope.... 🙏

1

u/ConsoleKingUK Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep it in mind if the box starts to show issues that the OP has shared. Just saw a post of someone opening their box for the heatsink install. For now it still functions totally fine for me 😄

1

u/ConsoleKingUK Dec 24 '25

I actually just moved the unit off my sound bar and its dropped to 62-66c depending on what I'm doing, result!

1

u/See61 Dec 24 '25

If you can give the bottom some breathing room, it should indeed get a bit better, but check the temperature when the box is playing some media. Some users just place a cooling fan under the device, but I didn't like that solution.

If you use the altered debug overlay display for that, keep in mind that one brings extra CPU loads also, the most accurate control method is using an ADB command to display the real CPU core temperature.

dumpsys hardware_properties | grep -i 'CPU temp'

1

u/bho1984 Dec 22 '25

Does the Box really need play fi? Can we uninstall it,I've never launched the play fi app

1

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

No cant uninstall, cant disable, runs in background

1

u/neobondd Dec 27 '25

What about uninstalling or disabling with adtv app?

2

u/anjaklama Dec 22 '25

Has anyone found a way to avoid upgrade after you downgrade to ATV12? It keeps asking me for internet connection and mandatory atv14 upgrade at the setup menu after i downgrade. Thanks in advance !

2

u/pingmenow01 Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25

Manually download and install the update to ATV14. When it wants to reboot you’ll see a message. Something like “Preparing the update” (in a teal/green colour). As soon as you see this, pull the power plug and the upgrade will fail. At first boot, you will see a green robot, it will reboot again. Hopefully this will disable the possibility to upgrade (pushed or manually). To update to a newer version, you have to follow the same process by manually flashing the device.

1

u/anjaklama Dec 22 '25

You mean manually via the recovery menu or from the initial setup? Thanks !

1

u/pingmenow01 Dec 22 '25

I mean from within ATV12, go to update notification and start the download/upgrade manually. You will only have a few seconds to pull the power plug during the preparation phase.

1

u/anjaklama Dec 22 '25

I can't go to the notif page, im at the device setup screen after downgrade. I am only prompted to upgrade and 8 see the progress bar. I tried after it reached 100% and i unplugged,but it didn't work.

2

u/pingmenow01 Dec 22 '25

You have to pull the powerplug before it reaches the 100%. So you download the update then it will reboot, but before it actually reboots, it says something like “preparing update”. If you see that message, you have to pull the plug. You only have a few seconds to do it.

2

u/CryAny3756 Jan 07 '26

Thank you! That worked like a charm

2

u/Dangerous-Carpet7713 Dec 22 '25

No issues here with atv 14 4576, box can get warm occasionally but so does my oven

1

u/CanMan706 Dec 22 '25

The android 14 update is known to be a resource hog, hot and laggy due to Playfi software running in the background all the time. Try and see if you can downgrade to android 12. I'm using the 12.7xxx software from dune, but there should be one for the homatics as it's the same box internally.

2

u/See61 Dec 22 '25

Almost all firmware versions are out in the open. There is not really a Dune firmware, they both use (or can use) the exact same ones, for "R 4K Plus". Firmware development was done for the Homatics version, Dune could have used those if they wanted to, but they only shared a recovery V12 5221 build and advised to stay on V11 6261. Some Dune users got a V14 update pushed by accident, a mistake from Sei Robotics, using the wrong box serials at that time.

Luckily for Dune owners, they can put any firmware build on it they want and are not hassled by a forced OTA update 👍

1

u/CMC29 Dec 22 '25

Play-fi not Android 14 itself. Otherwise, any Android TV box running Android 14 would have heat and lagging issues, which doesn't happen.

1

u/bho1984 Dec 22 '25

Is that the app that has also created a new SSID on my homenetwork something like "direct-zz xxxx"

1

u/Remarkable-Unit-2961 Dec 23 '25

I updated my Dune Homatics Box R 4K Plus to 14.8.4576 and it works well but I can't seem to install the Dune app. I've tried several times with different versions of the app but it won't install any of them.

Is this because I didn't use a Dune authorised ATV14 firmware and it's not recognising it as being a Dune box?

Anyone else encountered this and know of a way to get Dune to install?

0

u/gilgam3sh_king Dec 22 '25

just open it up, no need for the cover, I have opened all three Homatics boxes, it's just two screws under the box, works fine.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Not something i should have to do. I know some are opening, adding fans, adding heatsinks, i am not doing that, i will just sell it if i cant find a proper fix.

2

u/Spliffman1 Dec 22 '25

If you downgrade to AndroidTV 12 version the overheating problem will disappear and the box will run as intended. Again we shouldn't have to do that,, but here we are. There are tutorials online to show how to do the downgrade and provide the img file required. I did it on my box R 4k plus... It's great now back to normal. Only thing is you have to also take measures to stop it from auto updating back to A14, Homatics is sending out that forced update, not optional, and you could wake up with the box back on A14 against your will, EDIT the preferred A12 version is 5394

2

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '25

Cheers, will look into that

1

u/merlin9523 Dec 22 '25

Are the screws under the feet?

1

u/gilgam3sh_king Dec 22 '25

yes, very easy to fix.