Several people have asked about this, so here is something that will allow you to view photos on a Nexus 7 without rooting your device. You will need:
An OTG USB Cable. Any should do.
A USB Flash Drive or Flash Reader/Card
Some pictures
Nexus Photo Viewer (link below)
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homeysoft.nexususb.viewer
How is this possible without root? I coded a USB Mass Storage Driver and FAT16/32 file system reader in Android (Java).
This is all just a teaser to get you to buy the Nexus Media Importer that is coming soon. The importer will support Photos, Videos and Music when it's complete. All of you feeling the space crunch on those 8GB models will soon have some options. Eventually, I should have something that will allow you to stream from Flash without importing the media, but this is a start.
Update: The Media Importer and Streamer (V2.0.2) has been voluntarily temporarily taken off the market for the moment.
How about exFAT support for SDXC cards ? I'm using 64GB cards in my camera and I don't want to play with "wrong" formats and risk loosing my photos.So even if my camera would allow me to use FAT32 not sure if I don't get into problems.I don't care about write read only.I can not find any app , add in or even custom ROM with exFAT included.
This is the main concern.Second, if you add video playback don't forget AVCHD (preferably 2.0) support. And of course RAW formats would be nice. Anyway, a good start.
Issues....
I've tried a couple of different flash drives, both formatted to FAT32, and I can't get it to work for me. I'm on a stock Nexus 7--I was waiting for something like this before going through all the trouble (for a newbie) of rooting and unlocking.
Issues:
1) First, it simply, repeatedly told me my flash drives had no media.
2) I got it to see a couple of photos on one of my flash drives but, I couldn't open them or anything
3) It began to constantly fc itself--couldn't even open it anymore.
Uninstalled/re-installed a couple of times but, it's still a no-go here.
What flash drives is this working with?
Manufacturers/models? I want to say that most fl;ash drives are the same but, apparently they are not.
Excellent job. I really hope this comes to fruition because I'll be the first one in line to buy it!
adit9989 said:
How about exFAT support for SDXC cards ? I'm using 64GB cards in my camera and I don't want to play with "wrong" formats and risk loosing my photos.So even if my camera would allow me to use FAT32 not sure if I don't get into problems.I don't care about write read only.I can not find any app , add in or even custom ROM with exFAT included.
This is the main concern.Second, if you add video playback don't forget AVCHD (preferably 2.0) support. And of course RAW formats would be nice. Anyway, a good start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After a lot of though, I think I'm going to roll the video and RAW functionality into Gallery Connect. It's pretty complex and Gallery Connect already has most of the components I need for RAW and video playback. As a bonus, you'll be able to stream it to another device.
exFAT is on the list, but it's not as well documented as FAT. It's also proprietary and MS isn't exactly giving out the spec.
androidgranny241 said:
I've tried a couple of different flash drives, both formatted to FAT32, and I can't get it to work for me. I'm on a stock Nexus 7--I was waiting for something like this before going through all the trouble (for a newbie) of rooting and unlocking.
Issues:
1) First, it simply, repeatedly told me my flash drives had no media.
2) I got it to see a couple of photos on one of my flash drives but, I couldn't open them or anything
3) It began to constantly fc itself--couldn't even open it anymore.
Uninstalled/re-installed a couple of times but, it's still a no-go here.
What flash drives is this working with?
Manufacturers/models? I want to say that most fl;ash drives are the same but, apparently they are not.
Excellent job. I really hope this comes to fruition because I'll be the first one in line to buy it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work with any Flash drive that is formatted as FAT16 or FAT32. I'll try to provide better error handling for now supported file systems in the next release.
I can see the crashes in the dev. console and have identified at least one of the problems. Hopefully your drives will be fixed in the next release. Thanks for your patients.
dburckh said:
After a lot of though, I think I'm going to roll the video and RAW functionality into Gallery Connect. It's pretty complex and Gallery Connect already has most of the components I need for RAW and video playback. As a bonus, you'll be able to stream it to another device.
exFAT is on the list, but it's not as well documented as FAT. It's also proprietary and MS isn't exactly giving out the spec.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that there is an open source implementation for exFAT. Not sure how well it works, but if you just need read it may work:
http://code.google.com/p/exfat/
Keep up the good work.
adit9989 said:
I know that there is an open source implementation for exFAT. Not sure how well it works, but if you just need read it may work:
http://code.google.com/p/exfat/
Keep up the good work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's C, but I can use it as a reference. There is a Java version called fat32-lib, which I started using, but it was too buggy. We have to walk before we fly.
Version 0.9.1
I just posted a new version to the market. If you get No Media, try to search again. It may find it the second time.
I guess I assumed this would work with all drives. That isn't so. It should work with more drives now. It should work with drives formatted on Windows or Canon cameras.
Known issues:
Does not work with drives not using MBR partitioning. I'll try to figure this out.
Does not work well with really slow controllers.
Version 1.0 Is Live!
Did a ton of work in the last few days (nights) and I got it working really well. I also published the Nexus Media Importer, which will allow you to import to your device.
Here's the link (it may take some time to become live):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homeysoft.nexususb.importer
Seems to work really well in its very beta state. I am excited to see where the app can go. Also below are some features I would love to see. (Decided to post here as well so you could reply if you wished.)
-the ability to copy both ways from a memory card or just a mini file browser mode
-photo backup mode that remembers which photos from a card are already backed up so you can quickly backup new photos
-raw image support, I do not need thumbnails myself but the ability to copy raw formats or any file type would be great.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I'm excited for this. I don't care to root my device (I have it set up like I like and don't want to wipe it to root it), but wanted a way to play movies off of a flash drive. Just waiting on the OTG cable to arrive.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
dburckh said:
Several people have asked about this, so here is something that will allow you to view photos on a Nexus 7 without rooting your device. You will need:
An OTG USB Cable. Any should do.
A USB Flash Drive or Flash Reader/Card
Some pictures
Nexus Photo Viewer (link below)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.homeysoft.nexususb.viewer
How is this possible without root? I coded a USB Mass Storage Driver and FAT16/32 file system reader in Android (Java).
This is all just a teaser to get you to buy the Nexus USB Importer that is coming soon. The importer will support Photos, Videos and Music when it's complete. All of you feeling the space crunch on those 8GB models will soon have some options. Eventually, I should have something that will allow you to stream from Flash without importing the media, but this is a start.
At the moment, the photos are rendered using the embedded thumbnail, so the quality will vary by camera. I'm working on rendering a proper image as well as displaying some metadata.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get streaming video working without root and you will make some money. Hell, I can't wait to give you mine.
And.... I couldn't wait. Bought the Importer to support the dev. Good luck getting this to work!!
Nospin said:
And.... I couldn't wait. Bought the Importer to support the dev. Good luck getting this to work!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Grabbed it too. Really looking forward to this apps development. :good:
Version 1.1 is Live
Should be available on the market soon. What's new:
Better File System Support
Multi-select and multi-save
Tabbed viewing
Faster Display/Photo Renderering
Photo shows image resolution
The Future:
Some way to select recognize and select new items from the card/drive
Reading file dates. Easy, just haven't done it yet.
As much as I was resistant to it, I think I'm going to cave to the pressure and try to get streaming video to work. It will probably be an in-app upgrade. That seems the fairest thing to do to the people that have already supported me. Frankly, I'm pretty excited about it myself. It's just going to be a horse and BUGGY ride for a while.
Possibilities:
Writing to the card/drive. Definitely doable. Scares the be-jesus out of me. I'm really concerned that I'll completely hose the card. I'm thinking this might involve a preference that you have to enable and agree that you are acting at your own risk.
File Manager View
Richer support for media types beyond photos. MP3 ID3 tag reading, MP4 meta data parsing.
Freakin sweet. This is one of the only things that was keeping me from selling my TF101, I like putting pics from my DSLR and phone onto my tablet but the Nexus makes it a real PITA without an sd card slot. Now all I need is an SD card and micro sd adapter and the correct cable :highfive:
Great update. Tested importing photos and video from my cameras SD card. For my uses (photo backup) its starting to become useful. Still need to be able to "select all" or even better for my use would be if it automatically selected all files that have not yet been imported. Also being able to choose the import folders so I can keep videos with the photos from that day. I do realize that this is not being designed purely for photo/video backup but my hope is it will function well for it.
Also the connection and copy process has been very reliable and very fast for me. I plan to do some testing with some other card readers I have as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added 13th August 2012 at 12:13 AM ---------- Previous post was 12th August 2012 at 11:48 PM ----------
Just tried a compact flash card from my DSLR and a different card reader. It sees the card fine but does not recognize .nef files as photos. I do not expect or think it needs to give previews for nef or cr2 (raw image) files but listing them so they can be copied would be great. Even if they were in a separate "all files" tab.
Keep up the good work and hopefully my input is somewhat useful
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Bought to support developer ! It's great.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
jeffreyklassen said:
Great update. Tested importing photos and video from my cameras SD card. For my uses (photo backup) its starting to become useful. Still need to be able to "select all" or even better for my use would be if it automatically selected all files that have not yet been imported. Also being able to choose the import folders so I can keep videos with the photos from that day. I do realize that this is not being designed purely for photo/video backup but my hope is it will function well for it.
Also the connection and copy process has been very reliable and very fast for me. I plan to do some testing with some other card readers I have as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added 13th August 2012 at 12:13 AM ---------- Previous post was 12th August 2012 at 11:48 PM ----------
Just tried a compact flash card from my DSLR and a different card reader. It sees the card fine but does not recognize .nef files as photos. I do not expect or think it needs to give previews for nef or cr2 (raw image) files but listing them so they can be copied would be great. Even if they were in a separate "all files" tab.
Keep up the good work and hopefully my input is somewhat useful
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can add .nef & .cr2 support (including thumbs), but they aren't supported by Android natively. You would need something like Gallery Connect to view them. Unfortunately, Gallery Connect won't be able to find them unless you type in the path to Pictures (for the moment). FYI: It's /scdard/Pictures
I plan on adding some sort of select all or select new.
I am not thrilled about the IAP plan either. It's the only way I can think of to provide what I consider premium functionality without buying another app. I didn't want to hit people twice. I guess the other option is an app that only does streaming, but I think that would be confusing.
Another option is just raise the price and provide import feature and streaming, but I'm not sure if there are some people that just want the import feature and don't care about streaming.
Hi all,
Now that Amazon Fire TV is launching in the UK and Germany, I am very keen to be able to merge apps from different countries.
I guess to be able to do this, I would first have to either:
a) Switch the device to a different region and then install an app, then go back to my main region and somehow sideload it or install it in.
For example, if I choose the US version as my main hub, I would also like to copy UK apps and German apps across to the US hub (say Demand 5 from the UK, and Zattoo from Germany).
Would this be possible to sit side by side with the US apps then? (I am talking about official Fire TV apps, not standard Android versions designed for mobile phones).
or would I need someone who has the UK version to copy the app out and send it to me?
I guess many people may not have been able to test this yet since the German version will not launch until the 25th of this month, and the UK one next month, but perhaps people know already if apps can be saved and copied.
OVBG said:
Hi all,
Now that Amazon Fire TV is launching in the UK and Germany, I am very keen to be able to merge apps from different countries.
I guess to be able to do this, I would first have to either:
a) Switch the device to a different region and then install an app, then go back to my main region and somehow sideload it or install it in.
For example, if I choose the US version as my main hub, I would also like to copy UK apps and German apps across to the US hub (say Demand 5 from the UK, and Zattoo from Germany).
Would this be possible to sit side by side with the US apps then? (I am talking about official Fire TV apps, not standard Android versions designed for mobile phones).
or would I need someone who has the UK version to copy the app out and send it to me?
I guess many people may not have been able to test this yet since the German version will not launch until the 25th of this month, and the UK one next month, but perhaps people know already if apps can be saved and copied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think another problem will be geo block, so even if we as a community share the apk's, they still might not work unless the connection is pushed through a proxy from that country.
What I would love to see is a addon where FireTV (or wider xbmc) users can allow to share their connection with the rest of the community as a proxy, this has to be under certain time and bandwidth parameters and only for known geo blocked URL's. (needs to be very clear what acces is given to other users using your IP)
This would allow world wide content for everybody, having a US IP myself, would love to have acces to the UK BBC media.
Some automated addon to select tor exit nodes might work too, but think the performance would be way better if this is done within the FireTV/XBMC community.
Hi Userr12,
The geo-blocking part should not be a problem. The key is using something like Smart DNS (google eyeondemand) which should work for most services.
The beauty about smart DNS is that unlike a VPN, it can unblock any country (A VPN will just work for one at a time), making this perfect for mix and matching apps on the Amazon Fire TV. So, you could switch say from Hulu to Demand 5 or Zattoo etc.
Never heard of that option before, that's great though, direct it on DNS level, will look into it.
OVBG said:
Hi Userr12,
The geo-blocking part should not be a problem. The key is using something like Smart DNS (google eyeondemand) which should work for most services.
The beauty about smart DNS is that unlike a VPN, it can unblock any country (A VPN will just work for one at a time), making this perfect for mix and matching apps on the Amazon Fire TV. So, you could switch say from Hulu to Demand 5 or Zattoo etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give me some more advice on how to do this, for a total n00b? My fire tv is coming shortly, and I'd like to access US Netflix but still have UK apps like Demand 5 and iPlayer. I was planning on buying unblock-us but I'd much rather get something like what you mentioned above.
I just got the new Shield TV and have been very pleased with it so far. However, I use Gamestream a lot and the only way I have even been able to eliminate input lag from the controller is by connecting it directly to the streaming PC rather than through the shield device. Well this would work as intended, but I found that the new controller has messed up maps when connected directly to the pc. For example when you press down on the left analog stick it registers as a trigger pull or somehting.
I was looking for the config files on my PC to see if I could manually fix the problkem, but found ntohing. I assume the nVidia devs will fix this in a patch, as their controller is awesome and I see people buying it for gaming in general. I am going to post this on the Nvidia forums as well.
Does anyone know where the config file might be so that I can make the adjustments? I also tried third party software but it was super clunky and didn't work like I imagined.
I have the same issue. If you make any progress in the matter, please update.
bahnean006 said:
I have the same issue. If you make any progress in the matter, please update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll know the moment I do. I have a post on Nvidia and will be trying to fix it myself. I need to find the configuration file saved on my pc and modify it.
seh6183 said:
You'll know the moment I do. I have a post on Nvidia and will be trying to fix it myself. I need to find the configuration file saved on my pc and modify it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright awesome thanks.
I've tried speaking with nvida support through e-mail but I'm not sure they know what I'm talking about. I really like the new controller and would love to use it both with my shield and pc interchangeably. The old shield remote has zero issues on my pc but its just not comfortable enough to use longer then 30 minutes.
I have just ordered the AFT lite. I understand that the stick hardware itself is virtually the same as for the AFT 3rd gen and that the differences are mostly to do with the included remote. I am an occasional Android dev (though I mostly work on the tablet side of things) and it seems that the stick is a fully fledged Android with developer options and ADB access etc.
I have already looked into some things I can do with that thing, for instance adding an OTG cable to access external HDs/sticks or installing the Amazon Fire TV app on a tablet to make using it much easier and quicker. I don't know yet which firmware version the stick will carry and whether or not it'll be possible to unlock the bootloader and root it (with a view to add TWRP and Magisk, if at all possible). So any hints in that direction are welcome.
As are all other tips and tricks and hacks that are feasible for that device (I am on Linux but could dual-boot into Windows if that's important).
THX for looking into that and a Happy New Year to all.
Firestick lite based on android 9 ..perhaps not so "fully fledged" as it is polluted by unneccessary amazon junk and telemetry as opposed to a crisp smooth android 9 firmware.
No root or unlock at this moment , like the other devices maybe in the future .
You can use adb to debloat or use techdoctor tool to debloat and block updates .
There is also the custom launcher and screensavers such as aerial views or aerial dreams that can be added to give a nice apple screensaver .
Other than that there is not much to do ...apart from debloat which disables apks rather than root# deleting/uninstalling them there is not really much to do on these devices .
Even with an unlocked bootloader development for Firetv devices is somewhat lacking as developers concentrate on other more popular devices the current Firetv devices seem to be overlooked , much due to unpopularity.
We can only hope the people with the knowledge and skills find the time and interest to turn their attention back to amazon devices , BUT with amazon striving to take apart each modification or exploit via OTA updates it may , just may, be in vain .
Regards
Thanks for that, appreciated. It seems there is no way to run the thing without it first (before anything else goes) doing its rounds of OTA updates. Whether it's worthwhile to block updates afterwards is a good question?!
As to fully fledged, I see what you mean but all that AZ crap is of course ON TOP of a full Android, so all the apps I use on my phones and tablets should work in principle (whether they make sense is a different story). I have installed MiXplorer and a few plugins for a start and also NetGuard as a non-root firewall, though I suppose that will not block certain AZ processes from accessing the internet. OTOH, I am actually not so much the streaming guy (streaming via WAN servers, LAN is a different story) so I may well block the stick's WAN access in my router for most of the time.
I also had the AZ Fire app for Android installed on a phone, to replace the remote but this doesn't work very well and was removed v quickly. I've found sth else which looks much better called Easy Fire Tools (see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.agondev.easyfiretools&hl=en_US&gl=US).
Launcher... should they all work or is there one which is especially good (or bad )?
As to debloating, I'll probably try to find out what is safe to remove and create a sh script with the required adb commands.
Again thanks and looking forward to more interesting things!
OK, here's a little more about the things I've been playing with or stuff I've found out. This FTV Stick lite seems to be on OS version 7.2.4.2, and as it seems hard to impossible to root it all that follows should work with all lite sticks.
I have installed MiXplorer (as I always do on new devices) with various plugins and this works very well. I found out that the app will actually read from OTG USB sticks that are NTFS-formatted. Those are not recognised by other apps on the stick (eg Kodi or mpv) but MiXplorer is fine and can, with the images plugin, even play videos from the USB device.
I have added the NetGuard app and blocked all internet access save for the few apps I have installed. Whether this is watertight remains to be seen (all the Amazon apps I've tested are blocked but I am not sure about system stuff like the OTA updater).
For those I have debloated the stick with the com.wolf.fos7.debloater.apk which seems to have done its job. I also have added a few Amazon OTA URLs to my router's dnsmasq configuration. Again, not sure whether this'll work... when the next update is available we'll see :-/
I have also installed bash as the shell, nano (editor), rsync, rclone and a few other binaries from two sources I've been relying on for a while: Zackptg5/Cross-Compiled-Binaries-Android and [NATIVE][ARM]Linux binaries for Android. If there's interest I can explain how and where I installed these.
As launcher I'm using the 1.51 version of the com.amazon.tv.leanbacklauncher.apk and it took me a while to realise that I need the Launcher Manager as well for this launcher to stick. I also added the Mouse Toogle app (v1.06).
Last but not least I've installed ru.andr7e.deviceinfohw.apk for detailed system information about the stick.
So far so good. More to follow if I find more tidbits.
Hello, last week my primary tv died and I've had to resort to using some crap called FFALCON 50UFI v8-s586t02-lf1v421. I do not believe it is a true Android TV although it was sold as one. It has a bunch of preloaded APPS that are foreign, and NETFLIX, there is an app store called ITV4 or something but its crap and I don't have the option to install additional outside apps. What can I do to improve my entertainment options?
a) Is there a way to install apps of my choosing?
b) Is it possible for me to replace current O/S with something that will give me the freedom of choice?
c) If I connected an Apple TV box or chromecast or something similar would they be compatible, would they give me what I'm after?
d) Any ideas besides opening the window and giving it the boot?
Really would love some help with this, if you need any information to better assist please ask.
BTW, Sorry if I'm writing this in the wrong section.
Thanks.
IlGeT
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