Develop Bugs

XBMC App for Ouya working well on Fire TV

I wanted to post here since this is the "Apps" category for Fire TV...
By following the XBMC wiki for FIre TV, I got XBMC running in just 3 minutes.
> Wiki info page- http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV
My SMB share was discoverable and my library was populated just a few minutes later.
I've verified good video and audio playback on SD, 720p, 1080p videos. Scanning and skipping works well in video playback too.
The only thing I continue to stumble with is that pressing the "Home" button returns you to the Fire TV homescreen, backgrounding XBMC.
I haven't yet found a way to create a homescreen or "Recents" shortcut for XBMC, so it's a chore to open it every time by navitgating to Settings > Applications...

If anyone knows how to get the PleXBMC add-on working within XBMC, I'd love to know how. I tried it and get a script load error every time I try to launch the add-on.
Other than that, do you know have any other add-on recommendations to make XBMC even better for the Fire TV?

archa1c said:
I wanted to post here since this is the "Apps" category for Fire TV...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good, thank you! with hope, people will write about xbmc/spmc in this thread, instead of random other threads, or, even worse, that unholy "amazon fire tv" proto-thread that refuses to die.
archa1c said:
I've verified good video and audio playback on SD, 720p, 1080p videos. Scanning and skipping works well in video playback too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer gotham, it was great on ouya. but on firetv I had to switch to spmc (12.4.2 as of koying's latest recommendation).
even the "master" and "amazonfiretv" nightlies and test-builds of gotham, give me a headache - it's weird and I can't describe it too well - pulling up the info overlay by pressing 'o' on the keyboard, I see that there are zero skipped frames and zero dropped frames. but ?something? is still screwy with motion blur - no artifacts or anything. but there is this jerkiness, or something, that hurts my eyes and the lasagna in my brainpan...?
my only complaint of spmc is that it breaks most of the 360 controller (a "ok/enter" and b "cancel/back" still work, but not the sticks or dpad). I still can't figure out how - neither xbmc nor spmc come with any keymap files, not under system/keymaps and not under userdata/keymaps. I have tried 360 keymap xml files from various github sources, both spmc and xbmc, no dice.
my only complaint of **MC in general is not being able to mess with network buffer sizes in the UI (yes I am that lazy) - usually don't have a problem with 720p mp4/mkv, and this is on wireless, even. but sometimes my landlord uses netflix over wireless and that kills everything else.
archa1c said:
The only thing I continue to stumble with is that pressing the "Home" button returns you to the Fire TV homescreen, backgrounding XBMC. I haven't yet found a way to create a homescreen or "Recents" shortcut for XBMC, so it's a chore to open it every time by navitgating to Settings > Applications...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alt-tab isn't bad if you're already into using a keyboard...
I haven't tried it yet but people using alternate launchers have reported using Llama they can make it jump to their preferred launcher after pressing the home button. it might work equally well setting it to jump to xbmc rather than a launcher? hm I may have to try that...

I actually quite like the native Fire TV UI and would be happy with a hacky way to add a shortcut for side-loaded apps to the native menus.
I'm sure it's possible, so I'll be patient and wait for it to happen ?
I don't have any control issues because I'm using the fore TV remote, but I will be plugging in my Windows MCE remote USB IR receiver to see if I can get my Logitech harmony remote working on the fire tv.
The only other thing I would like is a mapping of the back button to "stop" when playing video in XBMC. the default xbmc behavior for the "back" action is to keep playing the current file in the background while displaying the last screen.its a very odd behavior IMO, and with no "stop" button on the fire TV remote, the only workaround is to pause the video when you want to go "back".
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

archa1c said:
I actually quite like the native Fire TV UI and would be happy with a hacky way to add a shortcut for side-loaded apps to the native menus.
I'm sure it's possible, so I'll be patient and wait for it to happen ?
I don't have any control issues because I'm using the fore TV remote, but I will be plugging in my Windows MCE remote USB IR receiver to see if I can get my Logitech harmony remote working on the fire tv.
The only other thing I would like is a mapping of the back button to "stop" when playing video in XBMC. the default xbmc behavior for the "back" action is to keep playing the current file in the background while displaying the last screen.its a very odd behavior IMO, and with no "stop" button on the fire TV remote, the only workaround is to pause the video when you want to go "back".
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are the steps that the user over on the XBMC forums posted to help us out with llama:
Event 1:
When phone starts up - set Llama variable 'startup' to 'true'
Event 2:
When the current app is XBMC on Ouya - set Llama variable 'starup' to 'false'
Event 3:
(Use the AND option) {when the current app is KFTV Launcher and when 'startup' has a value of 'false'} - run XBMC on Ouya.
However, you don't have to set KFTV Launcher as the trigger. I just picked a random app I didn't want to use as a jump pad. I installed the smithsonian app and put it in place of the launcher. Now when I open the smithsonian app, it flips back to XBMC. Not efficient, but works better than digging through the settings.
You can re-map buttons in XBMC with an add-on called keymap editor available in the programs menu>program add-ons>get more>key_map editor.
You can also just hit "Select" on the FTV remote and that will bring up the OSD. Then you can just d-pad to the stop button when you want to exit a movie.

v13 gotham beta4 release just came out (ok 2 days ago, I wasn't paying attention I guess). all my complaints about weird undescribable video motion are gone!
and that is even with turning off mediacodec and only having libstagefright turned on! yay!!!
http://xbmc.org/xbmc-13-0-gotham-beta-4/
http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/android/arm/
the beta4 announcement also said force update your repositories if you're having problems such as they're no longer staying up to date, or they're suddenly empty, etc.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on_manager#Force_refresh
they recommended this if you are coming from xbmc v12 (not spmc, it has its own separate file tree) or even if you are coming from earlier betas of v13.

tarvoke said:
v13 gotham beta4 release just came out (ok 2 days ago, I wasn't paying attention I guess). all my complaints about weird undescribable video motion are gone!
and that is even with turning off mediacodec and only having libstagefright turned on! yay!!!
http://xbmc.org/xbmc-13-0-gotham-beta-4/
http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/android/arm/
the beta4 announcement also said force update your repositories if you're having problems such as they're no longer staying up to date, or they're suddenly empty, etc.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on_manager#Force_refresh
they recommended this if you are coming from xbmc v12 (not spmc, it has its own separate file tree) or even if you are coming from earlier betas of v13.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also read that you can install SPMC and XBMC side-by-side due to the unique installation paths and libraries. I may try out the latest Gotham release, but I've been very happy with the performance of SPMC so far.
I really just need the ability to add a shortcut to the main menu, in either "Recent" or "Apps" etc for it to be convenient to access.

archa1c said:
I also read that you can install SPMC and XBMC side-by-side due to the unique installation paths and libraries. I may try out the latest Gotham release, but I've been very happy with the performance of SPMC so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you got it, they won't step on each other because all the resources and binaries are separated into com.semperax.spmc and org.xmbc.xbmc. which is also a nice way to keep testing v12 vs v13 simultaneously...
although now that the motion-blur-weirdness-but-thats-not-exactly-it, is gone from gotham beta4, I am done with spmc (I could still never figure out why it broke so many buttons of the 360 controller, and I spent hours with keymap xmls and junk, ugh. whereas gotham always worked 100% fine. they both must have built-in keymaps you don't even see in their filetrees, or something)
archa1c said:
I really just need the ability to add a shortcut to the main menu, in either "Recent" or "Apps" etc for it to be convenient to access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah it doesn't bother me enough to reinstall nova launcher and mess with Llama.
but, recent, man that would be perfect. until now I was not a big fan of recent-type-behavior (sure, sometimes in the start menu in linux or windows, ok...) - but now with firetv it is awesome.
like, my watchlist menu is turning into some huge unholy mess. but the recent menu is serene and shows me exactly what I was doing: "why yes, sir, latest indications show that you were halfway through season 4 of sg1, and you were also using Plex around the same time".
of course they also jam those stupid semi-ads in the recent menu, so for that, screw 'em.

Something you can try is using the app "llama" to start XBMC whenever a certain program is lauched. For me, I have XBMC start whenever I open the app "Tubi TV". I just chose an app on the store that had an icon I could remember and set it up.
Works very well for me.

Nick0742 said:
Something you can try is using the app "llama" to start XBMC whenever a certain program is lauched. For me, I have XBMC start whenever I open the app "Tubi TV". I just chose an app on the store that had an icon I could remember and set it up.
Works very well for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you be open to sharing exactly how you set this up?

What I can't figure out is how to use the library plugins to index both movies and shows. I have my entire collection in a single folder. Right now I can only enable either one or the other in XBMC. Is there a way to do both at the same time?

Try just adding the same path a second time, except denote it as a different media type the second type.
Not sure if XBMC will reject that or not since you've already added it once as a different content type (TV, movies etc)
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk 2

solo said:
What I can't figure out is how to use the library plugins to index both movies and shows. I have my entire collection in a single folder. Right now I can only enable either one or the other in XBMC. Is there a way to do both at the same time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just verified that you can add the same path twice.
The first time, select a "TV Shows" scraper to have it scan TV show content for your library.
The second time, select the 'Movies" scraper to scrape and add Movie content from that directory to your library.
You will likely have some issues with some shows importing to your movie library, and some movies importing to your tv shows due to common names between both (example- Transformers movies will probably get scanner by the TV scraper and add the Transformers tv show series to your TV library).
Aside from these unavoidable duplicate scraping issues, all of your content should load.
I recommend braking our your library into separate directories for "TV Shows" and "Movies".
An easy way to do this is to install Sickbeard to automatically scan and move your TV Shows to a new directory, leaving just movies in your current media directory.

archa1c said:
I just verified that you can add the same path twice.
The first time, select a "TV Shows" scraper to have it scan TV show content for your library.
The second time, select the 'Movies" scraper to scrape and add Movie content from that directory to your library.
You will likely have some issues with some shows importing to your movie library, and some movies importing to your tv shows due to common names between both (example- Transformers movies will probably get scanner by the TV scraper and add the Transformers tv show series to your TV library).
Aside from these unavoidable duplicate scraping issues, all of your content should load.
I recommend braking our your library into separate directories for "TV Shows" and "Movies".
An easy way to do this is to install Sickbeard to automatically scan and move your TV Shows to a new directory, leaving just movies in your current media directory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually tried that same tactic before and it didn't work (Frodo). I am going to install Gotham today anyway, will try again.
My setup is that I download via utorrent and when completed, the files are moved to a single folder storage drive mounted on my RT-N66U. XBMC then reads the files from there... I'll look into sickbeard, thanks!

Has anybody tried LiveTV with tvheadend? It does work for me, but I am only able to use the channel that is already tuned. As soon as I try to switch to a different channel then XBMC crashes. It works fine on my Android phone, therefore it must be something with it running on the FireTV.
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk

Maybe a dumb question but how do i install .zip plugins downloaded from my computer?
NVM reading is my friend...

vogli said:
Has anybody tried LiveTV with tvheadend? It does work for me, but I am only able to use the channel that is already tuned. As soon as I try to switch to a different channel then XBMC crashes. It works fine on my Android phone, therefore it must be something with it running on the FireTV.
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am testing with TVH.
Opening a channel is ok, HD or SD (h264 1080i without deinterlace).
Zapping is an issue, no crash but video gets very choppy like 4fps sounds is ok. Stop and Play fixes the issue.
Is the XBMC Ouya still the best xbmc for fire tv atm ?

c0mm0n said:
Is the XBMC Ouya still the best xbmc for fire tv atm ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the full 13.1 release for Android ARM from the main is best.

Thx !
Any special tip/setup on hw decoding ?

[Q] Essential apps for fire tv stick?

So bare with me here....
I ordered one and it should be getting here Thursday.
Just want to get the apps ready to sideload.
Not sure what apps to get other than the basics.
Also want to make sure they work on the fire tv stick.
I have: Dramafever,VIKI,XMBC(KODI) ready to be sent via Fire TV utility.
Don't own an android phone, so not too sure what I need to side-load and what is easily available.
The main reason for buying it is: 1. cancelling cable 2. no dramafever app on my windows phone.
So, please post whatever apps you deem useful below.(to use on fire tv/stick)
side note: Is xmbc hard to use? Heard I need to jump through hoops for some addons/channels to install.

jms_209 said:
So bare with me here....
I ordered one and it should be getting here Thursday.
Just want to get the apps ready to sideload.
Not sure what apps to get other than the basics.
Also want to make sure they work on the fire tv stick.
I have: Dramafever,VIKI,XMBC(KODI) ready to be sent via Fire TV utility.
Don't own an android phone, so not too sure what I need to side-load and what is easily available.
The main reason for buying it is: 1. cancelling cable 2. no dramafever app on my windows phone.
So, please post whatever apps you deem useful below.(to use on fire tv/stick)
side note: Is xmbc hard to use? Heard I need to jump through hoops for some addons/channels to install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no jumping through hoops with XBMC/Kodi. Everything installs perfectly, and all addons and repos install the same way. You can either manually install through zip files or by looking through the addon list from repos, but everything installs, and there is not one addon that installs a different way than the next addon. Its the same process for everything. The difficulty level of using XBMC/Kodi is extremely low. Unless you were cancelling your cable to begin with, XBMC is not a replacement for cable or sat service. Do not believe all the people selling android systems that say its like having cable, cause its not. Xbmc is more like bootleg cable service. You can watch just about anything, but do not expect to watch all your favorite live channels, cause its not gonna happen. In the past few years I have actually started watching mostly russian channels with english audio, cause they are much easier to find and way more stable then american channels are using XBMC. Basically ilive is the best thing going for american live tv and they are trying to force everyone to pay, so using XBMC for ilive is basically useless now since they started blocking IPs. So waching everything is possible, but usually only if you do not plan on catching it live, usless its a sporting event then you can always watch them live with XBMC. Essentail apps are really what you want. Viki and Dramafever do work with the Fire TV.

KOdi with Genesis plugin (add shows to library and turn on auto mode)
AEON Nox skin for xbmc. - looks soo much nicer than confluence (defualt)
Retroboxtv - Multi game system emulator with on demand ~640 game rom library built in.
Popcorntime - they assured me the next release should have remote support
playboxhd -just like popcorntime but using streams instead of torrents. - also waiting on proper remote support. most works now but need mouse to enable fullscreen.
STB emulator - Mag250 IPTV emulator with nfps server (think FTA Satellite without the dish)
FiredTV- Alternate app launcher for sideloaded apps.
AFTlauncherhelper - remaps the home button to whatever app you want.
Llama - used to hijack icons in the AFTV menu to run sideloaded apps.
blapktmarket - alternate app store (with paid apps for free)
adbfire - app for your pc/mac to aid in sideloading and performing multiple other tweaks
If getting a game controller, go for the nyko playpad pro. it can switch between gamepad and mouse mode.. and can be found for as little as 16 bux on amazon

Thanks for the input!
Which emulators are working on fire TV stick. GBA is what I'll likely play.
I will mostly be watching WWE and sports(NBA,NFL).
Might get the $20 a month Sling TV. Which has TNT and ESPN for games.
Just need a reliable way to watch at-least wwe programming.
I don't need it live, since I usually record it, then watch it.
Any channels/addons that are specific for wrestling shows?

I found this guide online. It's a step by step guide on how to install Kodi with addons pre-installed. It comes with all the important addons. Takes around 25 minutes to install. Hope it helps. It's compiled in a 400mb rar folder. Feel free to share. Apparently it was on sale somewhere but Kodi is free and no one should pay for this as a service.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z6o6yxdmlb0tpzg/Amazon Fire TV Kodi Setup.rar?dl=0
Also CartoonHd, Showbox and PopcornTime. I personally hate kodi but people seem to love it. I use these apps for my content, plus amazon prime, Netflix, hulu and xfinity.
Sent from my SPH-L600 using XDA Free mobile app

porkenhimer said:
There is no jumping through hoops with XBMC/Kodi. Everything installs perfectly, and all addons and repos install the same way. You can either manually install through zip files or by looking through the addon list from repos, but everything installs, and there is not one addon that installs a different way than the next addon. Its the same process for everything. The difficulty level of using XBMC/Kodi is extremely low. Unless you were cancelling your cable to begin with, XBMC is not a replacement for cable or sat service. Do not believe all the people selling android systems that say its like having cable, cause its not. Xbmc is more like bootleg cable service. You can watch just about anything, but do not expect to watch all your favorite live channels, cause its not gonna happen. In the past few years I have actually started watching mostly russian channels with english audio, cause they are much easier to find and way more stable then american channels are using XBMC. Basically ilive is the best thing going for american live tv and they are trying to force everyone to pay, so using XBMC for ilive is basically useless now since they started blocking IPs. So waching everything is possible, but usually only if you do not plan on catching it live, usless its a sporting event then you can always watch them live with XBMC. Essentail apps are really what you want. Viki and Dramafever do work with the Fire TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its just like cable to me since i got xfinity log in which I get live channels on...
But your right it isnt like cable, its BETTER then cable!
---------- Post added at 08:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------
psycon said:
KOdi with Genesis plugin (add shows to library and turn on auto mode)
AEON Nox skin for xbmc. - looks soo much nicer than confluence (defualt)
Retroboxtv - Multi game system emulator with on demand ~640 game rom library built in.
Popcorntime - they assured me the next release should have remote support
playboxhd -just like popcorntime but using streams instead of torrents. - also waiting on proper remote support. most works now but need mouse to enable fullscreen.
STB emulator - Mag250 IPTV emulator with nfps server (think FTA Satellite without the dish)
FiredTV- Alternate app launcher for sideloaded apps.
AFTlauncherhelper - remaps the home button to whatever app you want.
Llama - used to hijack icons in the AFTV menu to run sideloaded apps.
blapktmarket - alternate app store (with paid apps for free)
adbfire - app for your pc/mac to aid in sideloading and performing multiple other tweaks
If getting a game controller, go for the nyko playpad pro. it can switch between gamepad and mouse mode.. and can be found for as little as 16 bux on amazon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you enable full screen within playboxhd.. I have it installed but its sideways

psycon said:
KOdi with Genesis plugin (add shows to library and turn on auto mode)
AEON Nox skin for xbmc. - looks soo much nicer than confluence (defualt)
Retroboxtv - Multi game system emulator with on demand ~640 game rom library built in.
Popcorntime - they assured me the next release should have remote support
playboxhd -just like popcorntime but using streams instead of torrents. - also waiting on proper remote support. most works now but need mouse to enable fullscreen.
STB emulator - Mag250 IPTV emulator with nfps server (think FTA Satellite without the dish)
FiredTV- Alternate app launcher for sideloaded apps.
AFTlauncherhelper - remaps the home button to whatever app you want.
Llama - used to hijack icons in the AFTV menu to run sideloaded apps.
blapktmarket - alternate app store (with paid apps for free)
adbfire - app for your pc/mac to aid in sideloading and performing multiple other tweaks
If getting a game controller, go for the nyko playpad pro. it can switch between gamepad and mouse mode.. and can be found for as little as 16 bux on amazon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any more info in the STB emulator? How do i set this up?

sandstorm77 said:
Any more info in the STB emulator? How do i set this up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/general/configure-iptv-fire-tv-watch-live-tv-t3025765

cpugeeker said:
Its just like cable to me since i got xfinity log in which I get live channels on...
But your right it isnt like cable, its BETTER then cable!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What app/addon are you using to access Xfinity?

xm41907 said:
What app/addon are you using to access Xfinity?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sideloaded android Xfinity app. You got to have a subscription to xfinity or know somebody that has it

Hi all
What is auto mode on genesis? I've got to manually update genesis folders for new tv episodes to show. How can I change this?
Thanks

i still seem to have to manually update my library as well.. auto mode is in genesis >tools > General i think (im at work)... it does not auto-update the library , what it does it remove the source selection screen and instead plays you whichever stream works.... when youdo this and map the genesis library to your xbmc library, this makes all your streams appear to work as if they were local content...
in genesis >tools. look which folders genesis is using for TV and movies. and write them down.. then in XBMC go to video >add folder.. and type those folders in word for word. one for movies, one for tv. and set up your scrapers accordingly.

Ah ok thanks for that.
Does anyone know how we can get the genesis folders to update automatically

cpugeeker said:
Sideloaded android Xfinity app. You got to have a subscription to xfinity or know somebody that has it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official Xfinity TV Go app?

xm41907 said:
The official Xfinity TV Go app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes

Sony Android TV Users

Hi All,
I have searched over XDA but couldn't find any appropriate place for Sony Android TV. I have got my Sony Android TV, KDLW800C, couple of days ago.
Sony has just started to ship out 4K and 2K Android TV's.
From the interface, it's almost identical to Nexus player and run Android 5.0.2 along with some Sony goodies. I have installed ES File Explorer and have sideloaded KODI and other useful apps.
If we have any other Sony TV users here or joining in future, it would be great to stay in here.
For now if you want to sideload apps, just download Air Share from play store and start sending apk's.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackspruce.gloo

Which kind of Sony goodies are there? Are you able to extract the apks if there is something interesting for our Nexus Player?
Thanks!

furius said:
Which kind of Sony goodies are there? Are you able to extract the apks if there is something interesting for our Nexus Player?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No man actually they will not be useful as they are mainly built fot TV hardware like 4USB drives support, TV input options, 3D enhancements etc

How is the performance of the Android TV interface?

Performance is good but am not able to figure out how to take screenshots.
Doen Antutu runs on Nexus Player? I will try pushing one to see performance and Hardware.

Antutu is not that impressive but still fine for a TV I guess.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}

How does the tv input work? I guess I'm just trying to figure out how connecting a cable box works with it, or an htpc.

It has all tge TV ports at the back, like cable input, 3 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports and one of the old type 3 coloured wires one.

Does your TV also have the Sony X1 processor?

No it has some other, I will post the info today.

brar.arsh said:
No it has some other, I will post the info today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any difference in the Netflix APK, assuming it has the Android TV Netflix app? And if there is, could you post the APK? I would like to see if it would work with my Razer Forge TV.

Sgt.JimmyRustles said:
Is there any difference in the Netflix APK, assuming it has the Android TV Netflix app? And if there is, could you post the APK? I would like to see if it would work with my Razer Forge TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted Netflix apk in apps thread. What's your version though?

brar.arsh said:
I posted Netflix apk in apps thread. What's your version though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it would have been, (assuming it could have used it), 1.0.4.

brar.arsh said:
No it has some other, I will post the info today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If not the X1, maybe you can sideload CPU-Z to find out which CPU/GPU the Sony is using?

palms13 said:
How does the tv input work? I guess I'm just trying to figure out how connecting a cable box works with it, or an htpc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone figured out if you can connect a cable box to the sony android tvs? I have connected my cable box via hdmi cable, but when I do an "auto-scan" it doesn't find any of the channels. I can view the channels if I select the specific HDMI channel, but I would like to use just the one remote and have the channels integrated with the channel guide, etc. Thanks for any feedback.
Mike

I've had my XBR55X850C for about a week now and thought I'd share some tips/info.
Updating the TV
First thing you should do is update your TV. There were 2 types of updates available for me and I believe I did these in the wrong order and this caused my Netflix app to disappear (instructions to fix this down below). There was a Sony update and there was an Android update. I installed the Android update first, then the Sony update (which took forever). I think I should have done this in the opposite order and would have probably only needed the Sony update. To install the Sony update, you will see an app with a green icon called "Sony Select". Choose this and you should be prompted with a message saying that an update is required. Follow these steps to update your TV (takes about an hour). Once this is done, check in Settings to see if there is also an Android update available and install that as well. Once that is done, below are some tips I'm providing based on my user experience to get the most out of your TV.
Playing Video Files Over Your Local Network
I'm a cord-cutter and as such I watch files off my network frequently. I don't prefer using DNLA servers like Plex because there's really no need to have everything transcoded from your media server to your Android TV device since my Android TV has enough processing power to handle playing my video files over my network. The simple solution here was to go to the Play Store using my browser from my computer and install ES File Explorer and MX Player Pro to my Sony Bravia. Now I can browse my local network with ES File Explorer, find the video I want to watch and open the video with MX Player Pro.
MX Player [Pro]
Regarding MX Player, one big tip I can give you is to make sure you have the codecs installed for proper audio output. Got mine here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/mx-player/mx-player-custom-codec-dts-support-t2156254
Another helpful MX Player Pro tip is to use HW+ for video and SW for audio. Using HW+ for audio causes laggy, out-of-sync audio and anything other than HW+ for video causes stuttering, at least with this TV it does. Fortunately in MX Player settings, you can set HW+ default for video and SW default for audio. So far this combination works flawlessly for MKV, MP4, AVI, etc.
Installing APKs
Once you have ES File Explorer installed, you can also browse a network share and install APKs directly from the network share. Works great!
Fixing Missing Netflix App After Update
If after updating everything, you lose your Netflix app like I did, the solution was simple, but requires ES File Explorer to be installed. Using ES File Explorer, I navigated to /system/app/ and launched the netflix-ninja-release.apk file to reinstall Netflix.
Restarting Android / ADB
Occasionally I felt the need to restart Android to resolve some issues I encountered from messing around with things. However, the only "official" way to do this is to unplug my TV which seems a bit archaic. Currently, without root, the only other way I've found was to enable developer options and use ADB wirelessly to reboot Android. To do this, just like on your Android phone, tap on the build number repeatedly until it says developer options unlocked. Then I had to restart my TV by unplugging for 10 seconds and plugging back in to get the Developer Options to show up in Settings. In there I enabled the ADB features.
Next you connect to your TV using ADB wirelessly by issuing the following command: adb connect {ip of your tv}
Then you can restart the TV by issuing: adb reboot
You can ADB into your TV using a terminal app from your Android phone as well, so a computer is not necessary.
EDIT: Just discovered that I can restart Android on my TV by pressing and holding the power button on the remote control for about 10 seconds. Don't need ADB any more.
Control PS4 (or PS3 Slim) with Your TV Remote
Lastly, you can set up Bravia Sync with your PS4 (and/or PS3 Slim, PS3 Phat doesn't have HDMI-CEC) to control the UI of your console using your TV remote. This is very nice for Blu-Ray playback. Just hook up your console to an HDMI port and turn it on. Next, on your TV go to Settings -> External Inputs -> Bravia Sync Settings. Turn on Bravia Sync Control. Next, go to "Bravia Sync device list". You should see your devices listed. Press the "Enable" button. That's it. Now when you select the input for your PS4 (and/or PS3 Slim), it will automatically turn your console on and the console can be controlled using your TV remote. It also works the other way around. You can press the Playstation button on your controller and this will turn the TV on and automatically switch it to the correct input for the console.
Just thought I'd share some helpful tips and save someone else some time in getting the most out of this awesome TV. Hope this helps others out there.

nyteryder79 said:
I've had my XBR55X850C for about a week now and thought I'd share some tips/info.
Updating the TV
First thing you should do is update your TV. There were 2 types of updates available for me and I believe I did these in the wrong order and this caused my Netflix app to disappear (instructions to fix this down below). There was a Sony update and there was an Android update. I installed the Android update first, then the Sony update (which took forever). I think I should have done this in the opposite order and would have probably only needed the Sony update. To install the Sony update, you will see an app with a green icon called "Sony Select". Choose this and you should be prompted with a message saying that an update is required. Follow these steps to update your TV (takes about an hour). Once this is done, check in Settings to see if there is also an Android update available and install that as well. Once that is done, below are some tips I'm providing based on my user experience to get the most out of your TV.
Playing Video Files Over Your Local Network
I'm a cord-cutter and as such I watch files off my network frequently. I don't prefer using DNLA servers like Plex because there's really no need to have everything transcoded from your media server to your Android TV device since my Android TV has enough processing power to handle playing my video files over my network. The simple solution here was to go to the Play Store using my browser from my computer and install ES File Explorer and MX Player Pro to my Sony Bravia. Now I can browse my local network with ES File Explorer, find the video I want to watch and open the video with MX Player Pro.
MX Player [Pro]
Regarding MX Player, one big tip I can give you is to make sure you have the codecs installed for proper audio output. Got mine here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/mx-player/mx-player-custom-codec-dts-support-t2156254
Another helpful MX Player Pro tip is to use HW+ for video and SW for audio. Using HW+ for audio causes laggy, out-of-sync audio and anything other than HW+ for video causes stuttering, at least with this TV it does. Fortunately in MX Player settings, you can set HW+ default for video and SW default for audio. So far this combination works flawlessly for MKV, MP4, AVI, etc.
Installing APKs
Once you have ES File Explorer installed, you can also browse a network share and install APKs directly from the network share. Works great!
Fixing Missing Netflix App After Update
If after updating everything, you lose your Netflix app like I did, the solution was simple, but requires ES File Explorer to be installed. Using ES File Explorer, I navigated to /system/app/ and launched the netflix-ninja-release.apk file to reinstall Netflix.
Restarting Android / ADB
Occasionally I felt the need to restart Android to resolve some issues I encountered from messing around with things. However, the only "official" way to do this is to unplug my TV which seems a bit archaic. Currently, without root, the only other way I've found was to enable developer options and use ADB wirelessly to reboot Android. To do this, just like on your Android phone, tap on the build number repeatedly until it says developer options unlocked. Then I had to restart my TV by unplugging for 10 seconds and plugging back in to get the Developer Options to show up in Settings. In there I enabled the ADB features.
Next you connect to your TV using ADB wirelessly by issuing the following command: adb connect {ip of your tv}
Then you can restart the TV by issuing: adb reboot
You can ADB into your TV using a terminal app from your Android phone as well, so a computer is not necessary.
EDIT: Just discovered that I can restart Android on my TV by pressing and holding the power button on the remote control for about 10 seconds. Don't need ADB any more.
Control PS4 (or PS3 Slim) with Your TV Remote
Lastly, you can set up Bravia Sync with your PS4 (and/or PS3 Slim, PS3 Phat doesn't have HDMI-CEC) to control the UI of your console using your TV remote. This is very nice for Blu-Ray playback. Just hook up your console to an HDMI port and turn it on. Next, on your TV go to Settings -> External Inputs -> Bravia Sync Settings. Turn on Bravia Sync Control. Next, go to "Bravia Sync device list". You should see your devices listed. Press the "Enable" button. That's it. Now when you select the input for your PS4 (and/or PS3 Slim), it will automatically turn your console on and the console can be controlled using your TV remote. It also works the other way around. You can press the Playstation button on your controller and this will turn the TV on and automatically switch it to the correct input for the console.
Just thought I'd share some helpful tips and save someone else some time in getting the most out of this awesome TV. Hope this helps others out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that you can properly shut down Android by long pressing the power button on either of the supplied remotes. You don't need to unplug it.
I've had the 65X850C for a couple weeks now and I really love the TV. I have Kodi running on it beautifully. Sony's build of Android TV does still have a variety of bugs however and I hope they provide an update to iron out some of those kinks soon... because, otherwise, the TV is amazing. I'm wondering if there is anybody out there that might try to root these TVs or provide custom roms? Any word on if/when Sony will post the codebase for these TVs? If we can get ahold of the source code, we might be able to do some pretty incredible things with these TVs.
Cheers!

Is there any developer support for the new TVs from Sony, Sharp & Philips that will all be running Android TV? Sony being on the forefront given that their TVs are already on the market. I think these TVs running Android ROMs presents some really new and juicy opportunities to do cool things with Android. Could we improve upon picture quality? Enable features that the manufacturers hide (HDR?)? Add features like auto-switching picture modes based on apps?
Has anybody tried running a fastboot oem unlock on one of the TVs? I doubt Sony has left them that open, but you never know.

ktownhero said:
Is there any developer support for the new TVs from Sony, Sharp & Philips that will all be running Android TV? Sony being on the forefront given that their TVs are already on the market. I think these TVs running Android ROMs presents some really new and juicy opportunities to do cool things with Android. Could we improve upon picture quality? Enable features that the manufacturers hide (HDR?)? Add features like auto-switching picture modes based on apps?
Has anybody tried running a fastboot oem unlock on one of the TVs? I doubt Sony has left them that open, but you never know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be really interesting to know, since I plan to get a X850C too

Hey man, is your 3D working? My glasses are not getting recognized by TV.

[APP] SecondScreen - Eliminate lag when Miracasting your phone to Fire Tv/Stick

SecondScreen - Eliminate lag when Miracasting your phone to Fire Tv/Stick​
This app doesn't do the casting - it simply changes your phone resolution to match your TV which eliminates the lag when using miracast
This app allows you to change your phones screen res so you can miracast it to your Fire TV with no lag.
This app requires your phone to be rooted.
Your phone must be capable of Miracasting. If your phone does not support miracast you may be able to enable it by adding/changing the following line to your build.prop and restarting the phone then enable wireless display by pressing the 3 dots on the top right of the cast screen settings page found in
phone settings > display > cast screen
Code:
persist.debug.wfd.enable=1
Instructions
Download SecondScreen from the playstore
SecondScreen Download Link
Open it and create a profile
As a guide here is mine based on my Moto G 4g XT1039
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Once done and applied your screen res on your phone will change and you can start casting via your phones native cast screen to miracast with no lag
Once finished just pull down the status bar and stop SecondScreen (or restart your phone)

TheFixItMan said:
SecondScreen - Miracast Your Phone To The Fire TV With No Lag​
This app allows you to change your phones screen res so you can miracast it to your Fire TV with no lag.
This app requires your phone to be rooted.
Your phone must be capable of Miracasting. If your phone does not support miracast you may be able to enable it by adding/changing the following line to your build.prop and restarting the phone then enable wfd from the cast screen menu via the 3 dots
Code:
persist.debug.wfd.enable=1
Instructions
Download SecondScreen from the playstore
SecondScreen Download Link
Open it and create a profile
As a guide here is mine based on my Moto G 4g XT1039
Once done and applied your screen res on your phone will change and you can start casting with no lag
Once finished just pull down the status bar and stop SecondScreen (or restart your phone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coolest thing ive seen here in awhile. To my surprise, i didnt need to edit the build.prop. But my htc phone has no miracast support. Youre thread helped me find a missing link which was a playstore app not available in the US. BUT it was on blackmart. It worked with secondscreen app. Thanks.

What would this be useful for?
Serious question. I have had various screen mirror alternatives (including the one built in to the firetv) and could never find a use for them. I just cant see what I would want it for.

KLit75 said:
Coolest thing ive seen here in awhile. To my surprise, i didnt need to edit the build.prop. But my htc phone has no miracast support. Youre thread helped me find a missing link which was a playstore app not available in the US. BUT it was on blackmart. It worked with secondscreen app. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The build.prop line is to enable miracast if your phone does not have it enabled by default - Think it requires android 4.2 and above
jarayn said:
What would this be useful for?
Serious question. I have had various screen mirror alternatives (including the one built in to the firetv) and could never find a use for them. I just cant see what I would want it for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This app doesn't actually do the casting - your phone needs to be able to cast itself
What this app does is to change the resolution of your phone to match that of the TV for casting which eliminates the lag when miracasting your phones screen onto the tv
Then what ever is currently on your phone screen is displayed on the TV

Well after reading your op and failing to get it to work I found that my phone has support in build.prop but no cast screen setting to enable (supposedly its hidden). When I start the WiFi display (miracast) app it automatically launches the second screen app you said to install. From there i select my profile and I'm actually mirroring the device (dont ask how or why it works like that.) I haven't tested much but lag was mostly undetectable. This is something I've wanted for awhile. I can cast youtube with my android tablet but don't use it much for that. However, being able to mirror my phone on a big screen is very useful to me. This is the first time I've done it since retiring apple TV a year ago.

KLit75 said:
Well after reading your op and failing to get it to work I found that my phone has support in build.prop but no cast screen setting to enable (supposedly its hidden). When I start the WiFi display (miracast) app it automatically launches the second screen app you said to install. From there i select my profile and I'm actually mirroring the device (dont ask how or why it works like that.) I haven't tested much but lag was mostly undetectable. This is something I've wanted for awhile. I can cast youtube with my android tablet but don't use it much for that. However, being able to mirror my phone on a big screen is very useful to me. This is the first time I've done it since retiring apple TV a year ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you found a use for it

TheFixItMan said:
Glad you found a use for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I thought i had discovered actual screen casting earlier (what you intended to teach)
When i launched wifi display app i found that my phone doesnt have a "cast screen" option however in settings/media output there was a new option for my fire tv. So i thought i had figured it out. I quit everything then just attempted launch second screen app but when i went back into media output the option was gone and wouldnt reappear.
Strange...for me it wont work without that wifi display app...not complaining because it basically does what i wanted.
The only thing that could be better is the aftv itself. Its kinda crappy that you need to navigate to the "enable mirroring" on aftv. Apple tv, an inferior box by most accounts, does this particular task very easily and has for a long time now.
Thanks again for the post.

KLit75 said:
Thanks. I thought i had discovered actual screen casting earlier (what you intended to teach)
When i launched wifi display app i found that my phone doesnt have a "cast screen" option however in settings/media output there was a new option for my fire tv. So i thought i had figured it out. I quit everything then just attempted launch second screen app but when i went back into media output the option was gone and wouldnt reappear.
Strange...for me it wont work without that wifi display app...not complaining because it basically does what i wanted.
The only thing that could be better is the aftv itself. Its kinda crappy that you need to navigate to the "enable mirroring" on aftv. Apple tv, an inferior box by most accounts, does this particular task very easily and has for a long time now.
Thanks again for the post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be able to use wifi direct (if your phone supports it) to directly cast video stored on your device If your phone & fire tv is connected to the same network
There's 3 ways of doing it
1- use an app called allcast or allconect from the playstore
Install app on phone
Install the allcast receiver app or allconect receiver on fire tv
Open receiver app
Search for devices on your phone with the all cast app
Or
2- Create a media server on the fire box
Install bubbleupnp on both your phone and fire tv
Install bubbleupnp server launcher on the fire box
Start the server & configure it on both devices
Open bubbleupnp on the box
You can then cast video from any app that supports screen cast by opening the streams in the bubbleupnp app on your phone making sure you have set the receiver to the fire box
You can also use method 2 to stream stuff from kodi playing on your phone to the box but this requires a config file but I have done it and it works
Or
3 - install allconect app from playstore
Install kodi
Set kodi to receive airplay from settings-services-airplay
Now open allconect up and it should be able to detect kodi as a media streamer and you can cast videos or apps that support screen cast assuming both devices are on the same network but this method also works if your fire tv is connected to your phones wifi hotspot

KLit75 said:
Thanks. I thought i had discovered actual screen casting earlier (what you intended to teach)
When i launched wifi display app i found that my phone doesnt have a "cast screen" option however in settings/media output there was a new option for my fire tv. So i thought i had figured it out. I quit everything then just attempted launch second screen app but when i went back into media output the option was gone and wouldnt reappear.
Strange...for me it wont work without that wifi display app...not complaining because it basically does what i wanted.
The only thing that could be better is the aftv itself. Its kinda crappy that you need to navigate to the "enable mirroring" on aftv. Apple tv, an inferior box by most accounts, does this particular task very easily and has for a long time now.
Thanks again for the post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not have to naviigate, just hold down the home button for a couple seconds and just click where it says mirroring

Im using miracast dongle to mirror my screen on my samsung tv. Im getting some pixeliness and some lag. Tried to lower the resolution with secound screen app, and the lag got a bit better but HD videos still look crappy.
Any ideas?

Thanks for your app. I see that there are a variety of resolutions, but ... All dongles support this like ezcast? I like to try this in a 1280x1024 VGA monitor with a Miracast and HDMI to VGA adapter.

Plex Media Server on Shield TV

Just announced today *drool*
I've been thinking of upgrading my NAS to a more powerful machine, however, with this, it won't be necessary. Perfect.
https://blog.plex.tv/2016/06/09/nvidia-shield-you-complete-us/
"You read that right: the SHIELD is so powerful that it can not only run our Android TV interface better than just about anything out there, it can also run the full media server, including support for hardware-accelerated video transcoding (H.264, MPEG2 and HEVC)! With multiple simultaneous streams! As for storage, you get up to 500GB right on the SHIELD, and you can easily add more via USB or over the network."
https://shield.nvidia.com/blog/plex-media-server
"With our next software update in a couple of weeks, SHIELD will get a major upgrade that includes Plex Media Server. With this upgrade, SHIELD becomes the first smart TV device to support a more streamlined, mainstream Plex experience - one that combines the Plex media player and the Plex media server into a single, pre-installed, easy to use app. Combined with SHIELD Pro’s 500 GBs of internal storage and 1080p hardware-accelerated transcode, Plex fans will enjoy a seamless, all-in-one experience that enables them to more easily access their media collection."
Right now I am using the Full Android AOSP build, so I hope it can be ported over without too much trouble. I *might* go back to Stock for this though!

This is seriously...big news.

How many simultaneous transcoding streams do you think it can handle?

grievous2004 said:
How many simultaneous transcoding streams do you think it can handle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can answer that. About 2-3 1080p streams.
Read comments on this page: https://blog.plex.tv/2016/06/09/nvidia-shield-you-complete-us/
Emilio answers:
"Generally speaking about 2-3 1080P stream but it all depends on the files, network, and if there is anything else going on at the same time, whether it can use the hardware decoder or must it use the software (the CPU). It is not an Apples to Apples comparison. a 30BG HD bluray high bitrate rip input file is not going to transcode well as something smaller. Direct Play streams are less intensive than ones that need transcoding obviously"

The apps already been published in the playstore, we just can't install it yet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb&hl=en

How can we get a 3.2 ROM beta to try? Can anyone post the APK to apkmirror? com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb?
It's interesting that the beta isn't available here for the developer program. https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload#?search=SHIELD%20ANDROID%20TV%20Pro%20Developer&tx=$additional,shield

Plex Server Problem
Got the update today but i have a Problem.. If i try to search for data on an Extertal sd Nothing happens.. The korrekt fordert are just on the intern sd but can that be? I just have one Extertal sd and i dort Want to Mount it to add it to the internat sd. If i try to create a movies Folder on the Extertal sd Nothing happens.. Can i Chance the pad plex Server is Looping for?

Is it possible to uninstall the Plex Server crap through normal means, or is the code baked into the system and not possible to remove?
EDIT: OK it can be disabled like any normal app.

Has anyone figured out how to get the HDHomeRun stuff working? Plex server is amazing, and the HDHomeRun PRIME is amazing.
So far, I have rooted my 3.2 shield TV, and I've installed the HDHRViewerV2-beta-0.07c from http://hdhrviewer.zynine.net/download/ into the folder /data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/HDHRViewerV2.bundle
in that folder is "Contents", so I have
Code:
[email protected]:/data/data/com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb[/email]/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/HDHRViewerV2.bundle/Contents # ls -l
ls -l
drwxrwxrwx root root 2016-07-01 03:08 Code
-rwxrwxrwx root root 6458 2016-07-01 19:03 DefaultPrefs.json
-rwxrwxrwx root root 690 2016-07-01 19:03 Info.plist
drwxrwxrwx root root 2016-07-01 03:08 Resources
drwxrwxrwx root root 2013-09-27 22:14 Strings
Does this look right? I'm new to plex server, and I don't see anything for this in the web interface.
Thanks, and I hope we can crack it! Imagine, you get all the cable provider channels DVR unlimited, watch anywhere, and on any device!

Is plex really free? I am trying stream movies on my phone from the shield TV but every 1 minutes or so it stops. I read online saying that there is a monthly fee or a one time fee for life
Sent from my ONE A2005 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Plex media server software is free but the dedicated app for playback usually cost a one time fee like many Android apps. If you do the Plex Pass subscription or one time Plex pass for life payment, then the app is free. I can't remember if the app has a playback limitation because I purchased it the very first day it became available.
Look at the release notes in Google play store to see if it mentions any limitations on the trial version your using. Maybe the information is there.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

The Plex app for Android is a demo version with a $5 upgrade to the full version. (No idea if that's per household or per device, and if it's the latter, if it's possible to transfer between devices.) Some free alternatives to try are PleXBMC and PlexKodiConnect.

Anyone here know how to change where PMS keeps its appdata? I have a 16gb shield and a 128gb SD that I want to keep the metadata on. I have a NAS with a TON of data, the metadata gets really large. If someone could point me in the right direction I would be willing to make a guide, as I'm sure I'm not gonna be the only one looking for this info.

What's plex do that kodi can't?

Neo3D said:
What's plex do that kodi can't?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With plex server now on my shield tv at home, I can load up plex.tv at work, and watch all my movies/tv shows when the boss is not in

Neo3D said:
What's plex do that kodi can't?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With nas, you are your own personal Netflix.
With an hd homerun prime, you can rebroadcast a cable provider channel set to anywhere.
And... You can cast it so you can remove any unused cable equipment and with a Chromecast, any tv becomes hd live capable.

gffmac said:
With plex server now on my shield tv at home, I can load up plex.tv at work, and watch all my movies/tv shows when the boss is not in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to do that but it's not available in the other end do you have any tutorials on how to achieve this? Thanks in advance!

pmgnet said:
With nas, you are your own personal Netflix.
With an hd homerun prime, you can rebroadcast a cable provider channel set to anywhere.
And... You can cast it so you can remove any unused cable equipment and with a Chromecast, any tv becomes hd live capable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can You send Sling Tv or Xfinity Go App channels to other connected tvs?

Manster3354 said:
Can You send Sling Tv or Xfinity Go App channels to other connected tvs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use sling. The xfinity app doesn't cast.
I use Plex and I'm attempting to get the hd homerun prime plugin working.

I just tried to set it up but can't figure out how to get it to see my NAS.