guys, u had fun... so did i!

tx3mini owners, be very careful with trying to change the firmware!
i had the honor of bricking my unit TWICE  but it's all good now.

in the process of upgrading, i encountered severe problems... read and read until i found a solution.
the trouble is this: there are several variations "TX3 Mini"... tx3 mini, tx3 mini-A, tx3 mini-L, etc...
some firmwares CANNOT be applied on the wrong model.
my unit is labeled tx3 mini-A at the back.

initially, i used the ZIP method to upgrade to TX3 Max Version 20180321 zip - the box bricked.
used burning tool to flash with 20180321 img - burning stuck at 7%, no good.
the life saver was THIS, a big THANK YOU!:
burned it with TX3Mini-20181210.img first to breathe life in it again.
then use zip method, upgrade to tx3maxp281-ota-20181101.zip

how diff is tx3max 20180321 firmware from 20181101, i have no idea.
but what i now have is excellent:

.. Alice UI.
.. root closing option in settings remains.
.. auto framerate switching now works better, can see 24, 25, 30 hz message popping up on the TV.
.. lossless audio is obtained with kodi player - dtshdma, ddtruehd.
.. astrogo, unifi playtv work fine once u close root.
.. (i can safely say tx3max should be an excellent value box.)

for those wanting to change firmware, please be careful, know what u r doing... if not, u lose the box!

frankly, i tried quite a few things... don't even remember where i got some of those zip's and img's...!!

good luck!