NO MORE 3rd PARTY APPS on AIS PLAYBOX! :o{

[lamyai3]

On 4/27/2018 at 8:39 AM, GLewis said:

I will take my playbox and have my wife run over it in the car park. It upgraded and now I have lost all my TV. Netflix, NBA Channel and Modbro are gone. Only AIS crap now, and now way to change the menu to English.  F^%K them

My sentiments too when they did mine earlier in the month. FWIW, you can still change the menu to English... scroll down to the very bottom of the left menu and click the settings symbol, there you have a panel of options. On the far right is preferences shown with a spanner symbol, click that and the top option allows you to change the UI to English. That's assuming your wife hasn't already reversed the car over it! 

[dolvitius]

On 4/27/2018 at 8:39 AM, GLewis said:

I will take my playbox and have my wife run over it in the car park. It upgraded and now I have lost all my TV. Netflix, NBA Channel and Modbro are gone. Only AIS crap now, and now way to change the menu to English.  F^%K them

Before you flatten your Playbox, could you tell us which Playbox version you have ?  The old one or the new one ?

And, after you lost all your stuff, have you tried to do a factory reset on your Playbox ?  If you did, what happened then ?

 

As I said in post #126, my Playbox (old version) has not been updated yet although I earlier received the 2 SMS from AIS saying that I would receive the update. And I believe that this could be the consequence of me changing the TR069 status in the settings of my router. Disabling the TR069 feature seems to protect me from any remote update by AIS, both on the router and on the Playbox.

Edited April 28, 2018 by dolvitius

[lamyai3]

17 hours ago, dolvitius said:

And, after you lost all your stuff, have you tried to do a factory reset on your Playbox ?  If you did, what happened then ?

I tried a factory reset on my version 1 playbox, but it just deleted whatever apps I had on there from previously (which they'd rendered inaccessible anyway), and reset back to the same new system. This is exactly what the customer service rep said would happen if I tried it 555 

[dolvitius]

5 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

I tried a factory reset on my version 1 playbox, but it just deleted whatever apps I had on there from previously (which they'd rendered inaccessible anyway), and reset back to the same new system. This is exactly what the customer service rep said would happen if I tried it 555 

A factory reset will, of course, delete all the stuff you have installed before. But then, you can install it again. You just need to prevent AIS to update your Playbox with their new firmware.

Based on my experience, what I am thinking at is the following.

1. Do a factory reset on the Playbox while it is offline.

2. Disable the tr069 settings on the router.

3.Turn everything online and install whatever stuff you want on your Playbox.

If things work the same way for you (or others) as they worked for me, you should get your apps back and be able to use them as you did before.

This is what I did and, as of today, I am still using all my apps (Kodi, Molotov, PlayStore,...) and I can add more without any problem.

Edited April 29, 2018 by dolvitius

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, dolvitius said:

A factory reset will, of course, delete all the stuff you have installed before. But then, you can install it again. You just need to prevent AIS to update your Playbox with their new firmware.

Based on my experience, what I am thinking at is the following.

1. Do a factory reset on the Playbox while it is offline.

2. Disable the tr069 settings on the router.

3.Turn everything online and install whatever stuff you want on your Playbox.

If things work the same way for you (or others) as they worked for me, you should get your apps back and be able to use them as you did before.

This is what I did and, as of today, I am still using all my apps (Kodi, Molotov, PlayStore,...) and I can add more without any problem.

Looks like you've managed to bypass the update with your router settings. With luck you'll not have problems, though in my case it's too late to reverse. I took the bull by the horns anyway and ordered a new box on Lazada instead, should be here this week. Anticipating an improvement as it's double the memory and android 7.1 as opposed to the 4.2 I had previously (which only worked with Kodi 16 Jarvis anyway). 

 

As an aside, I was trying to watch the few English channels earlier tonight on the playbox and found it was cutting out about every ten minutes (on any channel). I kept getting a message "check Internet settings"  and subsequently "video not available", followed a minute or two later by the channel coming back. All the while it was cutting out, my AIS broadband connection was working fine and I was using other devices as normal. Never had anything like this before with the playbox in the past couple of years - even early evening it was running ok so no idea what it was about.

[Pib]

Regarding that TR069 setting, in the AIS-provided router I have (a Huawei HG8245H) that setting was greyed-out....could not be changed by the customer along with a lot of other settings the customer could not change.   Those settings could only be changed from the AIS end.    After their router was set to bridge mode it can no longer be accessed by me....ditto from some other folks I know who had the same thing done with their AIS HG8245H....it was now nothing more than a signal converter....changing the incoming fiber optics internet signal to an ethernet based signal my router could deal with.

 

Late last year I had my AIS-provided router set to bridge mode by AIS so my personal ASUS router could have near total control of my home network/internet.

 

I have two new Playboxes...neither of them have been neutered yet.  However, something in my gut tells me it's not because of any TR069 setting or because my ASUS router is now in control, but it's some other mystical reason/schedule AIS is using as to what boxes get neutered and when. 

 

I do know AIS can still push updates to my Playboxes because the HOOQ app was updated at least once after their router was set to bridge mode.my router in control...and that update came from AIS; not Google Play.   The HOOQ version used by AIS on the Playbox is an AIS unique version...if you allow Google Play to update it (which I don't...I have Google Play set to manual update...I pick and choose) your access to HOOQ shows/movies will be killed because the Google Play version can not access the HOOQ logon credentials AIS uses and at least at that time looked completely different....night and day different.    I found that out last year when allowing Google Play to update the HOOQ app; had to do a factory reset on the Playbox to reload the AIS-specific HOOQ app and then it was was automatically working again.  Since then, I only do manual Google Play app updates taking care not to update the HOOQ app since I'm still receiving HOOQ free until Sep 18.

 

Yea, if I was a betting man I would have to bet deactivating TR069 or have a bridged AIS router will not stop the neutering update from coming through when it your time.....but hey, the few times I have gambled over my lifetime I've lost more than I won.

 

But say there is a way to block the neutering on the customer's end like the TR069 setting/having a bridged router which would also block other updates AIS needs to do occasionally with the box to update something...like an app, set of menus, etc., they will just wait until the customer calls about the box/menus/interface not working properly and after some online troubleshooting will just say they have to come out and change the box....and the new box you get will be a neutered box.  

 

Time will tell.

 

//Signed//

Owner of Two Un-neutered Playboxes

 

 

 

 

  

[arkom]

My AIS router (Huawei) is also on bridge mode and 1 have 3 Playboxes, 2 new ones and 1 old, the new ones were automatically updated yesterday but the old one has not.

[dolvitius]

I use the Playbox V1 with the Fiberhome HG180v2 router, all provided by AIS.

I like this router a lot because of its VOIP capability. Just plug in a standard phone set (or 2 : it has 2 VOIP phone ports), get a cheap VOIP subscription package, and you can call any fixed or mobile phone in the world virtually for free.

 

On the Fiberhome HG180v2 router, the TR069 control setting is on the Management --> CWMP sub-menu.

As of now, I have disabled the TR069 feature more that 1 month ago and, since then, no update at all from AIS.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

Looks like you've managed to bypass the update with your router settings. With luck you'll not have problems, though in my case it's too late to reverse.

Actually, I don't think it's too late. If you really want to use this Playbox with your own stuff, you can still do a factory reset. You should then get your Playbox back to a status anterior to the neutering they are doing now. Then you just need to prevent AIS to update your Playbox by disabling the TR069 feature, if your router allows you to do so.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Pib said:

But say there is a way to block the neutering on the customer's end like the TR069 setting/having a bridged router which would also block other updates AIS needs to do occasionally with the box to update something...like an app, set of menus, etc.,

That's true. If you prevent AIS to update the Playbox, you will get no update at all any more, including the desired ones. Well, that's a choice you need to make : do you want to install your own apps on the Playbox or not ?

 

 

7 hours ago, Pib said:

..., they will just wait until the customer calls about the box/menus/interface not working properly and after some online troubleshooting will just say they have to come out and change the box....and the new box you get will be a neutered box. 

This is science-fiction to me !

I doubt that AIS will check box/menus/interface properly for each of their customers one by one, and I can't imagine AIS Customer Service call you if you don't call them before or if you have not reported any problem before.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by dolvitius

[dolvitius]

7 hours ago, Pib said:

I have two new Playboxes...neither of them have been neutered yet.  However, something in my gut tells me it's not because of any TR069 setting or because my ASUS router is now in control, but it's some other mystical reason/schedule AIS is using as to what boxes get neutered and when. 

 

It could well be that your Playboxes have not been neutered because your ASUS router acts as a firewall and prevents the TR069 commands from AIS to pass through.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Pib said:

I do know AIS can still push updates to my Playboxes because the HOOQ app was updated at least once after their router was set to bridge mode.my router in control...and that update came from AIS; not Google Play.   The HOOQ version used by AIS on the Playbox is an AIS unique version...if you allow Google Play to update it (which I don't...I have Google Play set to manual update...I pick and choose) your access to HOOQ shows/movies will be killed because the Google Play version can not access the HOOQ logon credentials AIS uses and at least at that time looked completely different....night and day different.    I found that out last year when allowing Google Play to update the HOOQ app; had to do a factory reset on the Playbox to reload the AIS-specific HOOQ app and then it was was automatically working again.  Since then, I only do manual Google Play app updates taking care not to update the HOOQ app since I'm still receiving HOOQ free until Sep 18.

This is interesting.

When your HOOQ app was updated, which router did you use between the Playboxes and the network : the AIS Huawei router or your own ASUS router ?

[Pib]

56 minutes ago, dolvitius said:

This is science-fiction to me !

I doubt that AIS will check box/menus/interface properly for each of their customers one by one, and I can't imagine AIS Customer Service call you if you don't call them before or if you have not reported any problem before.

 

I didn't say AIS would call the customer; I said the customer would call AIS.

[Pib]

50 minutes ago, dolvitius said:

It could well be that your Playboxes have not been neutered because your ASUS router acts as a firewall and prevents the TR069 commands from AIS to pass through.

 

This is interesting.

When your HOOQ app was updated, which router did you use between the Playboxes and the network : the AIS Huawei router or your own ASUS router ?

Playbox connected to my Asus router which in turn was connected to the AIS router set to bridge mode.  AIS had no problem pushing the HooQ update through the AIS router in bridge mode which connected to my Asus router where the Playbox was connected to.   I fully expect there is firmware programming in the Playbox that can call home regularly/open to door for communications to momma AIS to let the neutering update in.  In fact, you can look in the Android OS menu on the Playbox under the System Update area and you will see it automatically checks for system updates periodically which can open the door wide for an update.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Pib

[dolvitius]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

I didn't say AIS would call the customer; I said the customer would call AIS.

Point taken. My misunderstanding.

 

 

58 minutes ago, Pib said:

Playbox connected to my Asus router which in turn was connected to the AIS router set to bridge mode.  AIS had no problem pushing the HooQ update through the AIS router in bridge mode which connected to my Asus router where the Playbox was connected to.   I fully expect there is firmware programming in the Playbox that can call home regularly/open to door for communications to momma AIS to let the neutering update in.  In fact, you can look in the Android OS menu on the Playbox under the System Update area and you will see it automatically checks for system updates periodically which can open the door wide for an update.

There are 2 points here.

 

If AIS managed to go through the AIS gateway (in bridge mode) and then your own ASUS router to update the Playbox's firmware, it is because the ASUS router's firewall did not filter the data sent by AIS to update your Playbox firmware. There might be a possibility to change this, if this is what you wish.

 

As for the automatic checks for firmware updates made by the Playbox, yes, there is an Android service for that. Have you tried to disable it ?

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by dolvitius

[Pib]

26 minutes ago, dolvitius said:

Point taken. My misunderstanding.

There are 2 points here.

 

If AIS managed to go through the AIS gateway (in bridge mode) and then your own ASUS router to update the Playbox's firmware, it is because the ASUS router's firewall did not filter the data sent by AIS to update your Playbox firmware. There might be a possibility to change this, if this is what you wish.

 

As for the automatic checks for firmware updates made by the Playbox, yes, there is an Android service for that. Have you tried to disable it ?

 

 

Many apps/firmware/operating systems automatically call home periodically....and once the call goes out then home base such as AIS can talk back...initiate an update.   Kinda like how Windows is always calling home "to a degree" even when you utilize every privacy option/setting they offer. 

 

And many times there is no way to stop this calling home unless the app/firmware has such a setting or you implement firewall restrictions that can also mess-up other communications.

 

The is no setting in the new Playbox to turn off the Android OS periodic update checks that I see.   I just looked again.  And the last time it did an automatic update was this morning a little after 8am when I turned the box on when waking up.   While looking at the box I turned if off and then turned it back on to see if it automatically does the check each time the box is turned on.  It still shows the little after 8am check/call home.  I think the box calls home approx every 24 hours. 

 

It's different than like with an Android phone where you can turn off automatic OS updates....only download when connected to Wifi...only do it manually....etc.

 

And while I had the Playbox on a few minutes ago I did another Software Update check where you check for the latest AIS loader/launcher (I'm just begging for the neutering)...it came back saying I had the latest...ver 6.2.28....the version I've had since basically getting the box. 

 

Whether the neutering occurs at the AIS launcher level or the Android OS level I couldn't say...probably both.

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by Pib

[rexall]

Anticipating cancelling Playbox at contract's end (also cancelling internet and going back to 3BB just on principle), suggestions for good android boxes available via Lazada or maybe AliExpress ?

Tks, lah!

[JaiMaai]

I seem to recall that at some point in talking to AIS support I was told that the Playbox had to be connected to a specific router port.

I wonder if this is a factor in getting neutered or not.

I don't use the box anyway so I kind of want it to happen for the challenge of getting it working again.

Sent from my TA-1021 using Tapatalk

[Pib]

5 hours ago, JaiMaai said:

I seem to recall that at some point in talking to AIS support I was told that the Playbox had to be connected to a specific router port.

I wonder if this is a factor in getting neutered or not.

I don't use the box anyway so I kind of want it to happen for the challenge of getting it working again.

Sent from my TA-1021 using Tapatalk
 

When I first got AIS Fibre and the Playbox around 22 months ago while talking to AIS tech support with some curiosity questions (no problems, just trying to get some more info), if I remember right the tech said he can see my Playbox was not on the router port 1 and that is where they normally look for it to be.  I told him yea, you are right, it's on port 4 because that's where the installer plugged it in....maybe because I told the installer to also plug in my other devices which got plugged into port 1 thru 3.  Everything still worked fine regardless of which port the Playbox was plugged into.

 

And don't quote me on port 4 being the desired port.....the tech might have said port 1 was the desired port....too long ago to remember.  I know I posted about this before but I'm too lazy to go look what I wrote before.

[dolvitius]

12 hours ago, JaiMaai said:

I seem to recall that at some point in talking to AIS support I was told that the Playbox had to be connected to a specific router port.

I wonder if this is a factor in getting neutered or not.

I don't use the box anyway so I kind of want it to happen for the challenge of getting it working again.

Sent from my TA-1021 using Tapatalk
 

 

IMHO, I doubt getting neutered or not has anything to do with the port you use...

 

I have been using my Playbox connected to the router via WiFi since Day 1, and I have regularly received the firmware updates for the Playbox. This was until I disabled the TR069 feature in my router settings. Since then, no more firmware updates.

[lamyai3]

On 4/30/2018 at 7:15 PM, Pib said:

Whether the neutering occurs at the AIS launcher level or the Android OS level I couldn't say...probably both.

Seems to be both. The process onscreen looked identical to a regular Android update on the phone. After automatically rebooting, the new UI appeared with no media access in the new style menu.

[rexall]

They just neutered me last night!  Actually, they neutered my Playbox, not me, thank gawd!   I have another Playbox downstairs but have not checked it yet.  The new interface is a lot more flash, but can't tell if that means it is better.  Still, nothing much worth watching except the nooze channels.  Will cancel at contract's end in August.  Maybe switch back to 3BB just as a matter of principle.  AIS suckered me into cancelling an internet service I had been with for years and had no beef with.  Then they claw back 50% of the functionality they initially provided and that I have been paying for, and it happened to be the 50% that I have the most use for.  

Now, I can't figure out how to access my USB flash drive. Is that still available or not?  In the android app settings, I see that Movie Player is installed, but don't know how to open it. If I cannot use the flash drive, the thing goes back to AIS immediately.

Has anyone sorted this out?

Any recommendations for the best deal on  quality android boxes on Lazada or AliExpress or ???

Thanks, lah!

[rexall]

This one is REALLY cheap B999, but the specs look aright.  Not a rocket or anything, but not bad. It could use more RAM. Whadaya  think?

http://bit.ly/2K9G3m0
 Android Smart Box MXQ Pro UHD 4K Ram 1GB DDR3 Android 7.1.2 Nougat

Chipset Amlogic S905W Quad-Core 64bit Cortex-A53 at 2.0 GHz
GPU Penta-Core Mali-450 at 750MHz+

• Android OS Nougat 7.1.2
• eMMC ROM 8GB
• SDRAM 1GB DDR3
• Gigabit Lan (100Mbps)
• HEVC 10bit
• HDMI 2.0
• 100% genuine guarantee
• 1 year warranty from seller in Thailand Change the machine immediately!
• Watch TV from Thaicom via LOOX TV app free of monthly. Through the Internet
• Fully equipped and ready to use.
• Android Smart Box MXQ Pro UHD 4K Ram 1GB DDR3 Android 7.1.2 Nougat
• Chipset Amlogic S905W Quad-Core 64bit Cortex-A53 at 2.0 GHz
• GPU Penta-Core Mali-450 at 750MHz+
• Android OS Nougat 7.1.2
• eMMC ROM 8GB
• SDRAM 1GB DDR3
• Gigabit Lan (100Mbps)
• HEVC 10bit
• HDMI 2.0
• 100% genuine guarantee
• 1 year warranty from seller in Thailand Change the machine immediatelyWatch TV from Thaicom via LOOX TV app free of monthly. Through the Internet. Fully equipped and ready to use.

Edited May 11, 2018 by rexall

[Pib]

1 hour ago, rexall said:

They just neutered me last night!  Actually, they neutered my Playbox, not me, thank gawd!   I have another Playbox downstairs but have not checked it yet.  

Any recommendations for the best deal on  quality android boxes on Lazada or AliExpress or ???

Thanks, lah!

 

So, another "old" box gets neutered.  Is your other Playbox...the one you haven't checked yet to see if neutering has occurred...an old or new box?

 

Regarding Android box recommendations, I got a Mi3 box yesterday.....based on my youtube experience with it so far I would not recommend it.  

 

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

Regarding Android box recommendations, I got a Mi3 box yesterday.....based on my youtube experience with it so far I would not recommend it.  

 

Pib, which exact model did you get, the U.S. Walmart version or the Chinese version? I've got a stock U.S. version of the MiBox from 2016 at home, and haven't had any YouTube problems with it.

 

My main gripe with it, over time, is the VERY limited nature of the Google Android TV app store. Yes, you can sideload a lot of regular Android apps onto the box or use alternate app stores, but sometimes they work well and sometimes they don't.

 

FWIW, Xiaomi/Google have just recently started rolling out an Oreo OS update to beta OS update users of the MiBox, though AFAICT that hasn't yet begun to regular non-beta users of the box. Dunno whether the firmware update will be a good or bad thing for the user experience. But at least, it shows the box is still getting some attention after a very long dry spell, and Xiaomi's failure to keep its prior promise to release an official Nougat OS update.

 

As for the MXQ Pro box mentioned above, in reading reviews elsewhere on the unit, a couple of spec issues that pop up include:

--single band wifi only, presumably 2.4 GHz N.

--all the USB ports are 2.0.

--one of the reviews I saw said it will only play YouTube at 720p max.

--the Lazada specs say Gigabit ethernet, but then refer to 100Mbps, which would be regular LAN. So not sure which is correct.

 

But for 999b, which is really cheap, it's hard to argue... Although I kind of wonder why they're selling it so cheap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

I just couldn't help myself....I did a self-administered neutering on one of my two "new" Playboxes...specifically the one that gets used a lot less.   

 

What I did, which I have done dozens of times on both boxes since AIS said they were going to neuter boxes is I did a Software Update check and System Update Check.  As the many dozens of times below, the box I did the checks on came back and said I have the latest version of the AIS software/launcher/interface and latest Android OS version.  But this time about 30 seconds later I noticed a download icon occurring on the main Playbox screen.

 

After the download completed in about one minute it started an update of the box...I mean an Android OS update...you know the screen of Android robot getting worked on/updated when occurs when the OS gets a major update.  

 

When it was done I was now running Android OS 7.1.2 versus version 6.xxx before and AIS launcher/interface  version 7.6.22 versus 6.xxx before.  The AIS interface basically looks very, very, very, very similar to the AIS Play software you can install to your Android tablet/phone.   Everything was in the Thai language initially but it's not hard to figure out how to change it to English which I did.

 

After this update all the apps I had installed like Youtube, Mobdro, CBS News, Kodi, etc...etc...etc...were gone.  I looked in the OS menu sections under Apps and it showed only 16 apps being loaded....all of them related to AIS or Android OS...zero of the apps I had installed before like youtube were shown.   I noticed NetFlix was was of the apps being shown but it's not shown anywhere in the AIS Interface where you select which channel to watch, whether you want to go to HBO GO, HooQ, or or one of the other premium services.  Maybe Netflix is in AIS's future plans...or maybe it just happened to be part of the OS update if the Netflix app was going to be used....don't know.

 

I then went and turned on my other new Playbox ..the one used each and every day....in fact I had watched it for 15 or so minutes just this morning when getting out of bed.  I "did not" do any software update check figuring that would inflict the neutering....I'll just wait until the neutering gets forced which I'm sure it will.   

 

I took a few photos doing/after the neutering...I may post them later.   Ouch...ouch....ouch....I'll be walking bow legged for a week.

 

 

[Pib]

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Pib, which exact model did you get, the U.S. Walmart version or the Chinese version? I've got a stock U.S. version of the MiBox from 2016 at home, and haven't had any YouTube problems with it.

That info was in my post above.  It's the Mi3 box (International version..MDZ-AB-16)

https://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_1567874.html?wid=1349303

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Pib said:

That info was in my post above.  It's the Mi3 box (International version..MDZ-AB-16)

https://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_1567874.html?wid=1349303

 

 

Yep, international for the MiBox means the same as the U.S. version that was/is sold -- as opposed to the native Chinese market version.

 

One of the things I like about it is it has dual band wifi, meaning it supports 5 GHz AC.

 

[Pib]

23 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Yep, international for the MiBox means the same as the U.S. version that was/is sold -- as opposed to the native Chinese market version.

 

One of the things I like about it is it has dual band wifi, meaning it supports 5 GHz AC.

 

Yeap, the Mi3 5Ghz band works good...that's what I'm using on the Mi3.  I also tried the 2.4Ghz connection....also works fine. 

 

And just for others listening in if you are the  type that wants an ethernet connection on your Android box, the Mi3 does "not" have an ethernet connector.....just a HDMI, USB, power, and audio out connector.    But for me I use my Nvidia Shield on Wifi and one of my Playboxes I used on Wifi for a month or so....absolutely no problem in streaming...using these boxes with Wifi vs ethernet.  

 

But as we all know Wifi connections can be picky in some cases especially if you have Wifi interference, are a good distance from the Wifi router, on the other side of a room wall, etc.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

54 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

And just for others listening in if you are the  type that wants an ethernet connection on your Android box, the Mi3 does "not" have an ethernet connector.....just a HDMI, USB, power, and audio out connector. 

 

fyi, it is possible to add a compatible USB Ethernet adapter to work with the MiBox via its USB port.

 

This one from Amazon has been tested and reviewed to work fine with the MiBox, if someone really wants/needs to use it with Ethernet.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LLUEJFU/

 

 

 

[Pib]

I just couldn't help myself....I did a self-administered neutering on one of my two "new" Playboxes...specifically the one that gets used a lot less.   
 
What I did, which I have done dozens of times on both boxes since AIS said they were going to neuter boxes is I did a Software Update check and System Update Check.  As the many dozens of times below, the box I did the checks on came back and said I have the latest version of the AIS software/launcher/interface and latest Android OS version.  But this time about 30 seconds later I noticed a download icon occurring on the main Playbox screen.
 
After the download completed in about one minute it started an update of the box...I mean an Android OS update...you know the screen of Android robot getting worked on/updated when occurs when the OS gets a major update.  
 
When it was done I was now running Android OS 7.1.2 versus version 6.xxx before and AIS launcher/interface  version 7.6.22 versus 6.xxx before.  The AIS interface basically looks very, very, very, very similar to the AIS Play software you can install to your Android tablet/phone.   Everything was in the Thai language initially but it's not hard to figure out how to change it to English which I did.
 
After this update all the apps I had installed like Youtube, Mobdro, CBS News, Kodi, etc...etc...etc...were gone.  I looked in the OS menu sections under Apps and it showed only 16 apps being loaded....all of them related to AIS or Android OS...zero of the apps I had installed before like youtube were shown.   I noticed NetFlix was was of the apps being shown but it's not shown anywhere in the AIS Interface where you select which channel to watch, whether you want to go to HBO GO, HooQ, or or one of the other premium services.  Maybe Netflix is in AIS's future plans...or maybe it just happened to be part of the OS update if the Netflix app was going to be used....don't know.
 
I then went and turned on my other new Playbox ..the one used each and every day....in fact I had watched it for 15 or so minutes just this morning when getting out of bed.  I "did not" do any software update check figuring that would inflict the neutering....I'll just wait until the neutering gets forced which I'm sure it will.   
 
I took a few photos doing/after the neutering...I may post them later.   Ouch...ouch....ouch....I'll be walking bow legged for a week.
 
 

At 10:35pm tonight while watching TV on my second new Playbox a message popped up saying, New software download complete...system will immediately reboot to complete software upgrade.

A few seconds later it rebooted, went thru the Android OS upgrade (neutering) for a few minutes, and rebooted into the new and improved AIS Play interface....all my 3rd party apps like Youtube are gone.

So both my new Playboxes were neutered today. I can now move on...No more wondering when and if the neutering will occur...Thank you AIS for removing the fear is when and if the neutering would happen...I feel so relieved now.

[Pib]

And here's a snapshot of the message that appeared while I was watching TV....a few seconds later it started the reboot/upgrade process which only took a couple of minutes to complete.  Probably appropriate a Nazi was showing on the screen when the upgrade message appeared. 

 

But for some reason on this box HOOQ which is a movie/TV series app will not start/work....but works fine on the my other Playbox that upgrade yesterday morning.   I even did a Factory Reset of the box...unplugged the box for a few minutes.....rebooting the my router...etc...etc....etc....and it didn't help

 

HOOQ is free for 12 months with the particular plan I'm on right now...normally HOOQ cost approx Bt119.   I rarely use HOOQ and plan to drop it once the free 12 months runs out...but for now since I'm suppose to be getting it and it's not working I have called the problem into AIS.

 

HOOQ  was working on this box (both boxes) "before" the upgrade...so the upgrade caused this problem on one of the two boxes.  As mentioned, I've already called the problem into AIS...and a tech has already called me back asking for some more info which I gave...they supposedly bumping the problem up the next level of tech support which is suppose to call back within 24 hours unless maybe they get it fixed and send me a SMS saying it should be fixed.

 

So, once you boxes get neutered be sure to check out any other add-on packages you have to ensure they still work...because just because the "basic" TV portion of the app works does not mean other areas of the app may be working properly after the upgrade.

 

Anyway, both of my new Playboxes have now been neutered....and I think the Nazi in this picture is snickering about it.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Pib, so now that you've been suitably neutered ( ), what purpose does the remaining shell of the Playbox device serve?  In other words, what's still remaining on the box and what content will it access?

 

And, can the same content be accessed anyway outside the Playbox, such as via an AIS Android app or via a website?  Or does the Playbox in its current form still serve any un-replaceable purpose?