[Q] HELP!! Surface RT Tablet INSANITY! [+ Rooting?] - Windows RT General

I just got myself this Windows Surface RT Tablet (finally) after having been through many cheaper tablets in the past, because I had been unable to afford the Surface. So, now that I have it, and have already done all I can with it (which isn't much!), I have found that I am unable to even PLAY MOST OF MY VIDEOS (most of them are mkv, avi, mp4) which is one reason I got a tablet to begin with! I have not been able to find ANY video player apps that are even worth TRYING in the MS App Store, and so far any searches I have done online for "How to install programs on surface RT", or even "How to hack my surface RT tablet" have not come up with any answers! I did find one article on how to "Jailbreak" the tablet, but even then, it will only actually RUN a tiny number of programs.
I have become so fed up and am out of patience for this thing!
I can't watch most of my movies, I can't figure out how to play the Win8 SNES Emulator (since I can't install the game ROMs), I can't install Firefox (my ONLY browser!), I hate how the Home Screen only allows you to pick from the pre-installed backgrounds, and I can't load my own wallpaper like I can on my laptop, and I really hate the Home Screen interface with all the annoying little tiles! Can anyone offer advice, or point me to where I can get some of this fixed??
THANKS! :fingers-crossed:

slow_mo_panda said:
I just got myself this Windows Surface RT Tablet (finally) after having been through many cheaper tablets in the past, because I had been unable to afford the Surface. So, now that I have it, and have already done all I can with it (which isn't much!), I have found that I am unable to even PLAY MOST OF MY VIDEOS (most of them are mkv, avi, mp4) which is one reason I got a tablet to begin with! I have not been able to find ANY video player apps that are even worth TRYING in the MS App Store, and so far any searches I have done online for "How to install programs on surface RT", or even "How to hack my surface RT tablet" have not come up with any answers! I did find one article on how to "Jailbreak" the tablet, but even then, it will only actually RUN a tiny number of programs.
I have become so fed up and am out of patience for this thing!
I can't watch most of my movies, I can't figure out how to play the Win8 SNES Emulator (since I can't install the game ROMs), I can't install Firefox (my ONLY browser!), I hate how the Home Screen only allows you to pick from the pre-installed backgrounds, and I can't load my own wallpaper like I can on my laptop, and I really hate the Home Screen interface with all the annoying little tiles! Can anyone offer advice, or point me to where I can get some of this fixed??
THANKS! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The RT runs RT windows 8, which doesn't run x86 apps aka .exe files. You can only install apps from the store without jail break. Also there's no Firefox for rt, I think you were confused on what rt could do compared to full windows.
All wallpapers can be changed via settings or control panel using the classic desktop. For video files the rt doesn't support every format, it'll work with the sane format every windows machine does. MP4 will work, but I'm guessing you have mkv.
Sent from my Optimus G

I am feeling your pain, i got my surface rt for a steal on eBay and I was super disappointed to find out that I cant even plug my Razr MAXX HD in and transfer a single file either way... Need to find a loop hole quick or something like that will make things better for me...
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

undeadking said:
I am feeling your pain, i got my surface rt for a steal on eBay and I was super disappointed to find out that I cant even plug my Razr MAXX HD in and transfer a single file either way... Need to find a loop hole quick or something like that will make things better for me...
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errm you should be able to. The RT has USB host. Should plug it in and it should just appear as a device as normal, tested with an Xperia M and Surface RT (not my tablet though). It only worked with my phone set to mass storage or MTP modes in the USB menu, didnt work for the picture/photo/camera mode and doesnt work for ADB.
Failing that, both have bluetooth file transfer....

undeadking said:
I am feeling your pain, i got my surface rt for a steal on eBay and I was super disappointed to find out that I cant even plug my Razr MAXX HD in and transfer a single file either way... Need to find a loop hole quick or something like that will make things better for me...
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's different, you have some issue with your phone. My RT detects my N4 & LGOG.
Sent from my Optimus G

When I plug in the razr maxx hd via USB- Motorola device manager tries to install and it is not compatible with RT. So I resorted to uploading from my phone to a cloud app called MEGA and then downloading through my tablet browser...
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

undeadking said:
When I plug in the razr maxx hd via USB- Motorola device manager tries to install and it is not compatible with RT. So I resorted to uploading from my phone to a cloud app called MEGA and then downloading through my tablet browser...
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont have to use their software unless motorola have really cocked the razr maxx up big time.

Yeah they cocked it up really good- it wont even connect to my ps3 via USB, things we sacrifice for amazing battery life. Oh and if i connect it to the surface as FTP- I can view the pictures that are on my phone storage only, no sd card or video support either.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

slow_mo_panda said:
I can't figure out how to play the Win8 SNES Emulator (since I can't install the game ROMs),
THANKS! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why can't you install the roms?? I just used windows explorer to copy them to the C: drive on my Surface RT. I put them in a folder within the downloads folder, but you can probably put them anywhere. Then you open the Snes8x and just add that folder as a Rom directory (press the "Load Rom" button). Someone on this site pointed out you can enable keyboard controls by swiping in from the right, and click settings->Input Settings.

slow_mo_panda said:
I just got myself this Windows Surface RT Tablet (finally) after having been through many cheaper tablets in the past, because I had been unable to afford the Surface. So, now that I have it, and have already done all I can with it (which isn't much!), I have found that I am unable to even PLAY MOST OF MY VIDEOS (most of them are mkv, avi, mp4) which is one reason I got a tablet to begin with! I have not been able to find ANY video player apps that are even worth TRYING in the MS App Store, and so far any searches I have done online for "How to install programs on surface RT", or even "How to hack my surface RT tablet" have not come up with any answers! I did find one article on how to "Jailbreak" the tablet, but even then, it will only actually RUN a tiny number of programs.
I have become so fed up and am out of patience for this thing!
I can't watch most of my movies, I can't figure out how to play the Win8 SNES Emulator (since I can't install the game ROMs), I can't install Firefox (my ONLY browser!), I hate how the Home Screen only allows you to pick from the pre-installed backgrounds, and I can't load my own wallpaper like I can on my laptop, and I really hate the Home Screen interface with all the annoying little tiles! Can anyone offer advice, or point me to where I can get some of this fixed??
THANKS! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good news is, VLC is coming to Metro. They will submit their app to the store in the next following days.
Bad news is, right now this support x86 only. You have to wait for ARM support.

I feel for you. My school has given us all windows surface RTs and they're kind of annoying. I've found a few workarounds for a lot of my problems though. If you're having trouble playing .mp4s then that's just weird. Unless they're encoded really strangely, rt's video player should play those. However if that's no help it's worth trying out PressPlay, a free video player with very small ads that do not interfere at all and can be removed for a buck or two that let's you
1. Play external subtitles, although I've found it impossibly buggy but I haven't done extensive tests so it could be useful
2. Play .mkvs although that's experimental and also doesn't work very well
3. More features in general such as pausing without bringing up UI, changing playback rate, stuff like that.
Now if you have mkvs I would recommend using this program on a jailbroken windows rt:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2368706
It's a program called ffmpeg and it's ported from normal windows. Make sure to download ffmpeg2.1_ARM.zip not ffmpeg0.6_arm.zip
with this program you can copy the video and audio from your mkv to an mp4 so it can play on your rt if you extract fmmpeg to a folder and then run this in command prompt(include the quotation marks and make sure to use backslashes(\) not forward slashes(/)):
cd "The bin folder in wherever you extracted ffmpeg to for example C:\ffmpeg\bin"
ffmpeg -i "Your mkv for example C:\myvid.mkv" -c copy -map 0:v -c copy -map 0:a "Your output mp4 for example C:\myvid.mp4"
That will also go super fast because there's no compression involved, it's just copying all video tracks and audio tracks from and mkv to an mp4.
In fact if you continue to use this command a lot you speed up the process heaps by making a batch file including these 2 lines of code:
cd "Again, your location of the bin folder in the folder you extract ffmpeg to, for example C:\ffmpeg\bin"
ffmpeg -i %1 -c copy -map 0:v -c copy -map 0:a "%~n1.mp4"
and then put that batch file into your SendTo folder(C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo).
If you do that then all you have to do is right click on one of your mkvs and click SendTo whatever you named your batch file and it'll make an mp4 with the same name in the same directory.
As far as snes games go snes8x has now been taken off the store but you can get a port of the desktop app of snes9x from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2339228
if you have a jailbroken device. Although it is an emulator and it doesn't neccessarily run great so if you have the original surface RT as I do I would stick with 2D games. But test them and figure it out.
In fact if you have a jailbroken device there's a thread here all about apps ported to the RT or native for the RT right here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2092348
If you have any trouble with any of that I'm happy to help.

Related

Netflix in Flash

So as we've all figured out by now the Evo runs flash in the main browser (as well as Dolphin, sexy!) but Netflix denies the browser as compatible...
Workarounds?
I know the app is coming "sometime", but this is something I'm willing to end lives to have.
Thanks!
It is probably denying it because it lists it as a mobile browser. You would have to trick it into thinking it is like Firefox.
I know Netflix only allows a set list of browsers, but I'm not sure how to make my broswers report that they're different...I can't even get "about:debug" to come up!
Let me see if there is any type of app available to spoof the browser information. I know there is on the iPhone, but not sure on the Android.
nachyochez said:
So as we've all figured out by now the Evo runs flash in the main browser (as well as Dolphin, sexy!) but Netflix denies the browser as compatible...
Workarounds?
I know the app is coming "sometime", but this is something I'm willing to end lives to have.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think netflix is all silverlight now. I could be wrong though
It is silverlight so it won't work. I got it to think I was a desktop browser, but can't run silverlight.
Work around #1: Get an iPhone 4.
Classick206 said:
Work around #1: Get an iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if step two involves price gouging for more money.
Work Around #1 part 2: Tether the iPhone 4 to a Sprint Evo so you have a solid connection
h0x90 said:
I think netflix is all silverlight now. I could be wrong though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sad part is I KNEW it was silverlight...my brain just wasn't putting 2+2 together. Wow...blonde moment
Classick206 said:
Work around #1: Get an iPhone 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Can you please post the steps to making it work on a phone that isn't out yet, with an app that isn't out yet, on a limited data connection (assuming 2GB is even worth 30 a month, and while I'm traveling so Wi-Fi isn't an option), with enough speed that watching it isn't a terrible experience, with a big enough screen to actually see what I'm watching, and then make a phone call that stays connected for the length of the full conversation?
I'll give you a moment to think it all through, thanks
At the speed Netflix is getting me happy it might be WinPho 7 time...
I hate my self for saying that!
Work around #3
Copy the movie to your hard drive (or leave it in a shared DVD drive)
Install Orb (free) on your PC and configure it to that directory.
Install Orblive (9.99) from the Market.
Watch your movie.
Tip 1: Test the free version of Orblive to make sure it works OK.
Tip 2: If you get too much buffering on your phone, play around with the stream settings in your Orb account.
With ORB you can:
Watch any video (avi/mpeg/DVD)
Listen to your music library.
Monitor home cams.
Watch live cable TV (with a compatible tuner)
I posted this for those that may not have heard of ORB, however, I concede that most of you have.
Hope this helps.
Jerard said:
Work around #3
Copy the movie to your hard drive (or leave it in a shared DVD drive)
Install Orb (free) on your PC and configure it to that directory.
Install Orblive (9.99) from the Market.
Watch your movie.
Tip 1: Test the free version of Orblive to make sure it works OK.
Tip 2: If you get too much buffering on your phone, play around with the stream settings in your Orb account.
With ORB you can:
Watch any video (avi/mpeg/DVD)
Listen to your music library.
Monitor home cams.
Watch live cable TV (with a compatible tuner)
I posted this for those that may not have heard of ORB, however, I concede that most of you have.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why get orblive for 10 bucks, when you can just navigate to mycast.orb.com and log in with your orb info, and it costs nothing?
timothydonohue said:
why get orblive for 10 bucks, when you can just navigate to mycast.orb.com and log in with your orb info, and it costs nothing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the same reason I used to drink Michelobe instead of Busch, or drive a BMW instead of a Chevy. Some people simply want the best that's available. I bought the EVO not because I needed a new phone, but rather because I wanted it. So what's another 10 bucks to enable it to watch live TV on it? Yes, you can log into your Mycast account, but that method is not nearly as convenient as the app. The purpose of my post was to try and help this person. Some people try to help instead of hinder, which again, is another characteristic of quality.
Jerard said:
Work around #3
Copy the movie to your hard drive (or leave it in a shared DVD drive)
Install Orb (free) on your PC and configure it to that directory.
Install Orblive (9.99) from the Market.
Watch your movie.
Tip 1: Test the free version of Orblive to make sure it works OK.
Tip 2: If you get too much buffering on your phone, play around with the stream settings in your Orb account.
With ORB you can:
Watch any video (avi/mpeg/DVD)
Listen to your music library.
Monitor home cams.
Watch live cable TV (with a compatible tuner)
I posted this for those that may not have heard of ORB, however, I concede that most of you have.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or write an ffmpeg script yourself... The interface is terrible in orb anyway. I was able to do transcoding with ffmpeg and it worked well enough over 3g to be awesome. And you can even stream stuff over http which is cool because you don't even need an app on your phone.
Jerard said:
For the same reason I used to drink Michelobe instead of Busch, or drive a BMW instead of a Chevy. Some people simply want the best that's available. I bought the EVO not because I needed a new phone, but rather because I wanted it. So what's another 10 bucks to enable it to watch live TV on it? Yes, you can log into your Mycast account, but that method is not nearly as convenient as the app. The purpose of my post was to try and help this person. Some people try to help instead of hinder, which again, is another characteristic of quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol i agree. i was trying to save him money, you're trying to get him to spend it. bookmark the site, and put the bookmark on your home screen, almost as simple as an app

[Q] Rhobuntu or Android on Tilt 2, will Video out still work?

I am waiting for my Touch pro 2 to arrive cant wait. I am most excited to start using the Video out function. I was planning to watch movies on it streamed to my tv wiht the cable. I plan to put the movies on an SD card. I also was wonder ing the TV out cable works in the Ubuntu or Android programs people have put on this.
TVOUT does not work on Android or Ubuntu for the Rhodium. I would like to see it work but I do not think its important to the devs working on the Android project cause I have never seen it mentioned as something they are working on. it could be cause the cords are not worth what you pay for them, it could also be cause the TVOUT feature is not as good as it seems to be (Blue flicker with coreplayer) or its just not simple to port to the Android project. You really should ask this question in the "touch pro 2 android development tread" so maybe we can get someone working on it.
there is a blue flicker with the TV out on the feature with Coreplayer what about .avi's in with WMP? I will be using primarily .avi files.
I just ordered my phone so I have not tried it out yet.
MDavisiw said:
there is a blue flicker with the TV out on the feature with Coreplayer what about .avi's in with WMP? I will be using primarily .avi files.
I just ordered my phone so I have not tried it out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WMP with TVOUT seems robotic but its watchable. the only way to play it smooth for me is with coreplayet using QTV as the video driver. the only way I have found around the blue flicker is to convert my videos to MP4 and size them to 480x320 and then when I play them I restart my phone and put the cable in before starting coreplayer.

Remote PC

So, the note pro 12.2 is supposed to have a remote PC access app, and I am curious how it works.
I have a high end gaming laptop, and while I do not anticipate accessing my laptop and playing Battlefield 4 or Arkham Origins on it, I would like to do some RTS like Coassacks or Rise of Nations remotely.
The ability to have real time PC like access to such games is leaning me toward the possibility of buying a Surface Pro 2.
For most everything else I like the Notes. I just miss having the games like I can have on windows.
Has anyone tried out the remote PC access app?
phoenixbennu said:
So, the note pro 12.2 is supposed to have a remote PC access app, and I am curious how it works.
I have a high end gaming laptop, and while I do not anticipate accessing my laptop and playing Battlefield 4 or Arkham Origins on it, I would like to do some RTS like Coassacks or Rise of Nations remotely.
The ability to have real time PC like access to such games is leaning me toward the possibility of buying a Surface Pro 2.
For most everything else I like the Notes. I just miss having the games like I can have on windows.
Has anyone tried out the remote PC access app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I tried it and it works remarkably well. The response is good and you'll be able to do some basic tasks on the PC without any hassle. Didn't try graphic intensive apps like games though.
Does RemotePC work over different networks (can I access my home computer from a coffee shop)? And any comment on how RemotePC compares to other Remote Desktop apps (specifically Jump Desktop)?
Also is there any pressure sensitivity support in RemotePC?
Thank you
Full screen games will not work. You could try splashtop instead
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk
It's OK minor lag to be expected tried photoshop for a laugh works but hard only thing that's a pain is the scroll bar appearing on screen even if zoomed out does not help on windows 8
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2
gnoteuser2013 said:
Does RemotePC work over different networks (can I access my home computer from a coffee shop)? And any comment on how RemotePC compares to other Remote Desktop apps (specifically Jump Desktop)?
Also is there any pressure sensitivity support in RemotePC?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can, if you leave your PC open. TeamViewer is very good also, but dunno witch one is better...
Does nobody know about Splashtop? It actually even has gaming support. I used to play Dragon Age on my TF700T through it. (but I do recall something about a monthly fee.)
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
I cannot say much for splashtop since I have not used it, however teamviewer is excellent for getting to your desktop from anywhere, I have used it for months and it's always there and always works. If you have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse you basically have a 12 inch laptop with great battery life.
I would however look into other options for gaming, since by default teamviewer will always route outside of your local network unless configured not to, and this causes some delay determined by the quality of the connection between you and the desktop.
If you use Google Chrome for your browser on your PC then, you can use Chrome Remote Desktop from any Android Device or Chrome Browser. It probably would not work for games but it works great for anything I have used it for plus it is free.
@up
You're right, Google Remote Desktop seems to be working great, the performance is outstanding when compared to other products, including Samsung's Remote PC.
However, there is a seriuos con. Google Product does not support neither S-Pen nor touchscreen input on the remote device, only touch <-> mouse emulation. In result, using it on such a tablet as ours isn't very comfortable, even if there are no performance issues.
ATM Samsung's Remote PC works too sluggish for me, even on a stable connections. Plus, more than one PC cannot be connected for free. Hope Google will add functionality of real touch input emulation soon.
I use the RD that came installed with the tablet and as said previously it works pretty well. Of course is best for office applications maybe not for games.
Teamviewer worked surprisingly well, played latest Civilization on my note pro with a BT-mouse and pretty bad wifi on a hotell a couple of months ago.
I too use Google Remote Desktop. I have it on my Desktop and Laptop and it works perfectly for my needs.
I used Microsoft RD client, it has good support of mouse and keyboard, using the s-pen as a mouse is great. Not for games though
meirg said:
I used Microsoft RD client, it has good support of mouse and keyboard, using the s-pen as a mouse is great. Not for games though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the perfect setup for one of my PCs running Windows 8. It's almost seamless and works great with the touch controls.
I used Microsoft RD at my old job site. It was fantastic to remoting in for quick tech jobs/scripts that needed to be pushed out to specific clients or to pull something over to the sharepoint that was stored on a network drive. As a side note, for sharepoint access SharePlus is phenominal and was worth the investment. As for gaming, take a look at Kainy or Moonlight (nvidia card series 600 only.) both of those will stream very well through your network and even over WAN.
I use also Microsoft RDP because the multisession feature is great. But with my SM-P900 I can it only use with a 5.1.1 ROM.
https://social.technet.microsoft.co...ence-between-android-502-and-511?forum=winRDc

Live streaming and possible file sharing??

OK so this might be a tall order, I've been looking for a way to Stream to my nexus 7 and nexus5 from my laptop...I know about the apps out there but they don't quite do what I would like them to... Those apps allow me to access files on my laptop,...here's an example of what I want to do...run media on my PC...say powerpoint and have my mobile devices see the presentation....but have it controlled from my PC..bonus points if anyone can find a way for this to work on android and iOS..... thanks in advance for thinking about it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app
I think you can use iDisplay for this, it makes the tablet a secondary monitor for the computer
Chrome remote desktop. It shows everything thats on laptop screen on tablet. It allows control from PC or tablet.
I use chrome remote desktop as suggested and it working very well. Kind helpful when monitoring my pc when i'm away from home.
Sent from my Nexus 7

Review of Shield Android TV after 2 days...

After two days with an Nvidia Shield Android TV , there are many pluses and minuses, but over all, it has BY FAR the best hardware of any android based box on the market... no question at all about that, and here are what I think are the biggest pluses and minuses.
PLUSES
- amazing smoothness in interface - no jerky, delays etc at all
- superb playback of all media, smoother than any box I have seen
- 192khz 24 bit audio output (kodi and mxplayer but I am not sure if they are able to output at that HD rate)
- very well built, sexy touch activated standby button
- very easy to get up and running with controller etc
- shield game streaming service is flawless, fast, smooth, HD
- gaming controller is high quality, has a microphone for voice input and a headphone socket, which work well.
- Voice search within Play Music for artist or track works very well, extremely fast.
- playing Flash-based websites like TennisTV.com etc on Dolphin in Desktop mode is way better than any other box I have tried (and I have tried MANY)
MINUSES
- have to sideload many apps you may want, like TED, BBC iPlayer, IMDB, Spotify, Movie Mate etc.. even Chrome Browser - but relatively easy to work around using APK Extractor to get APK's from your phone, and Chainfire's sideload launcher.
- no up front display of non-Android TV specific apps
- no recent apps
- no way to get to "now playing" with some apps like Spotify if you had returned home, unless its a leanback app
- no notifications
- no mouse on desktop, backpace key on keyboard not working as backspace but as left mouse click
- Keyboard is USA only, so UK users have to know, for example, that " and @ have swopped places
- voice search from the home screen does not find music artists on google play music or spotify, but only youtube... so "play van morrison" will play a track from youtube, and not from the 25 van morrison albums I have already uploaded to Play Music.
- my tv keeps on cropping a lot off the screen, there is no way to adjust the screen crop size, to reduce size so it fits better on my screen... I can adjust my screen but that is a hassle.
- very little customisation, settings limited too.
There is at least one NON-Android TV ROM for this device, so you can fix almost all of those Minuses, and you can run it using Squarehome or NovaLauncher or whatever you like, but I am not sure I actually NEED to customise the box. Personally I use it for Kodi, Spotify, Play Music, TuneIn Radio, Youtube, Movie Mate, all of which works fine... so for the moment, I am not rooting the box, and am adjusting my expectations and enjoying what works fantastically well, pretty much everything.
This is FAR and away the best box I have ever had, goodbye Tronsmart Drako, Minix Neo X8H+ etc, this is WAY beyond. At some point I may change to plain android, but so far I am fine with a couple of extra steps to be able to enjoy the voice input and superb power and playback capabilities.
Mark.
Hi. I'm located in Ireland and looking for android TV box for my FHD projector. I'm considering MINIX Neo X8H+ or Nvidia Shield TV box (not yet available). What advantages of one over the other would you point? Thanks!
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Natakranta said:
Hi. I'm located in Ireland and looking for android TV box for my FHD projector. I'm considering MINIX Neo X8H+ or Nvidia Shield TV box (not yet available). What advantages of one over the other would you point? Thanks!
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Minix Neo offers access to almost all the play store apps without needing to sideload, with the Shield you need to sideload some apps, which isnt hard. The Shield has far better hardware, so you will get smoother HD playback, no question. If playing video is your main think, then the Shield's faster graphics, faster processor is the way to go. They are both good boxes, but my Minix Neo x8hplus is currently UNPLUGGED!
fredphoesh said:
Minix Neo offers access to almost all the play store apps without needing to sideload, with the Shield you need to sideload some apps, which isnt hard. The Shield has far better hardware, so you will get smoother HD playback, no question. If playing video is your main think, then the Shield's faster graphics, faster processor is the way to go. They are both good boxes, but my Minix Neo x8hplus is currently UNPLUGGED!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to connect external 2GB HDD USB 3 to the box. Make it media storage to play on the connected to the box projector and available for all devices in home through my local WiFi.
How could I remotely control the box to manage utorrent on it from my phone, at home thorough local WiFi or externally when I'm away. Possible?
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Natakranta said:
I'd like to connect external 2GB HDD USB 3 to the box. Make it media storage to play on the connected to the box projector and available for all devices in home through my local WiFi.
How could I remotely control the box to manage utorrent on it from my phone, at home thorough local WiFi or externally when I'm away. Possible?
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry, no idea, I use it for streaming...
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
fredphoesh said:
MINUSES
- no up front display of non-Android TV specific apps
- no recent apps
- no way to get to "now playing" with some apps like Spotify if you had returned home, unless its a leanback app
- very little customisation, settings limited too.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mark! For your minuses mentioned above, you might want to consider HALauncher found in the Play Store. I'm using this on my Nvidia Shield Console/TV and it looks and works better than the default Android TV "Home" launcher. This apps allows you to create your own Home screen with rows of your customized apps. For example, I have a row for my Emulators, Racing Games, Space Shooters, Sports Games, TV apps, etc. You can arrange these rows and apps anyway you want. You can also use your own background image. You can also rename the apps to your liking and edit the icons for higher quality 320x180 images. Everything looks great now. This is what Android TV home launcher should be like. The only thing that is missing now is a button for rebooting the system, and another one for shutting it down!
Check out the images below to see what HALauncher can do:
http://postimg.org/image/kuncrk5tf/
http://postimg.org/image/57w3e6s1f/
http://postimg.org/image/fkie09lkj
http://postimg.org/image/mjwfzmlir/
-- Manny
funtasticguy said:
Hi Mark! For your minuses mentioned above, you might want to consider HALauncher found in the Play Store. I'm using this on my Nvidia Shield Console/TV and it looks and works better than the default Android TV "Home" launcher. This apps allows you to create your own Home screen with rows of your customized apps. For example, I have a row for my Emulators, Racing Games, Space Shooters, Sports Games, TV apps, etc. You can arrange these rows and apps anyway you want. You can also use your own background image. You can also rename the apps to your liking and edit the icons for higher quality 320x180 images. Everything looks great now. This is what Android TV home launcher should be like. The only thing that is missing now is a button for rebooting the system, and another one for shutting it down!
Check out the images below to see what HALauncher can do:
http://postimg.org/image/kuncrk5tf/
http://postimg.org/image/57w3e6s1f/
http://postimg.org/image/fkie09lkj
http://postimg.org/image/mjwfzmlir/
-- Manny
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Hi Manny,
Yep, I've been using it for a few days and like it a lot.
My gripes are that the voice search doesn't work properly and always shows empty results, and there is no "now playing" function... and the lack of a power button. For some reason ALT-Tab doesn't show recent apps. Oh, there is no ALL APPS function either, so new apps are invisible till you edit the home screen. But yeah, the best home screen for the SATV for sure.
Cheers,
Mark
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
I agree with pretty much everything you said, I've had mine for two weeks and I love it. I have Kodi running to play local media, plex to stream stuff from friends servers, Netflix (which really upped their game since the last time I subscribed a year or two ago), along with tons of games. This will only get better over time, its still a relatively new product. I'm still debating on whether or not to root it, I think I'm going to but will be keeping the stock launcher because I like it, despite the lack of "recent apps" which I still don't understand why they didn't include it. The only reason I want to root it is so that I can install the Xinstaller module from Xposed so all my apps will install to my sdcard and not the internal memory.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I have had mine a few weeks and it is definitely a really nice device and it is crazy fast!
Really the only gripe I have is 4K support but that isn't Nvidia's fault. Basically because I am running through a processor (more or less an AVR without an amp) and HDMI 2.0 standard is not used on them, Netflix won't show 4K content on the device unless I am directly connected to the TV.
Fortunately Ultraflix works at 4K and everything else does as well.
brando56894 said:
I agree with pretty much everything you said, I've had mine for two weeks and I love it. I have Kodi running to play local media, plex to stream stuff from friends servers, Netflix (which really upped their game since the last time I subscribed a year or two ago), along with tons of games. This will only get better over time, its still a relatively new product. I'm still debating on whether or not to root it, I think I'm going to but will be keeping the stock launcher because I like it, despite the lack of "recent apps" which I still don't understand why they didn't include it. The only reason I want to root it is so that I can install the Xinstaller module from Xposed so all my apps will install to my sdcard and not the internal memory.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Try HALauncher, it is good enough for me to not install a custom rom and root... So far! Also once you root you'll have to manually install rom updates and reinstall apps etc... Also you can move most apps to sd card. DON'T set to Automatically Move apps to SD card, that doesn't work. Install to system then move them to SD card in app settings after player no the game once.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
Had mine for about a week and like it an awful lot.
As someone who bought an Ouya, I must say focusing on the media services first THEN worrying about gaming made this a MUCH BETTER product.
I am a bit disappointed I can't have my HBO Go on it, there's currently no Amazon Video and the Netflix app needs better voice options, but I'm really digging the Gamestream from my PC upstairs to the downstairs TV, It works most of the time without a hitch. The only time it doesn't is when I'm playing my Steam games and the Ubisoft games try to go through Uplay and Uplay crashes or its a game I've never ran before and Steam itself crashes because it doesn't seem to like running a game in Big Picture mode if it has never been opened and ran at least once on my PC in normal Steam mode first, and those are client problems, not Nvidia issues so can't fault them there.
Yes, having to install some of my apps from the PC through the Play Store is a bit of a pain, but it also keeps the kids from loading it up with a bunch of useless crap, so I'd say its a fair trade.
tobalaz said:
Had mine for about a week and like it an awful lot.
As someone who bought an Ouya, I must say focusing on the media services first THEN worrying about gaming made this a MUCH BETTER product.
I am a bit disappointed I can't have my HBO Go on it, there's currently no Amazon Video and the Netflix app needs better voice options, but I'm really digging the Gamestream from my PC upstairs to the downstairs TV, It works most of the time without a hitch. The only time it doesn't is when I'm playing my Steam games and the Ubisoft games try to go through Uplay and Uplay crashes or its a game I've never ran before and Steam itself crashes because it doesn't seem to like running a game in Big Picture mode if it has never been opened and ran at least once on my PC in normal Steam mode first, and those are client problems, not Nvidia issues so can't fault them there.
Yes, having to install some of my apps from the PC through the Play Store is a bit of a pain, but it also keeps the kids from loading it up with a bunch of useless crap, so I'd say its a fair trade.
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Click to collapse
Oh yes, speaking of Gamestream, what does everyone think of the quality?
I tried it both before and after the update that was supposed to improve the quality and have not been that impressed. The bitrate seems somewhat low and I get random stutter and both the PC and Shield are wired gigabit.
Well as far as Gamestream goes for me, I've got my win7 gaming rig w/ an i5, 12gb ram and gtx 750ti hardwired to my Buffalo AC1750 and the Shield on 5g to a 42" 1080p TV and I've no problems with it, everything runs smoothly, well, smoothly when Uplay isn't f*cking everything up...
I had issues initially so I had to go into my router and change the settings for my 5ghz channel.
OK interesting, maybe it is is an issue with SLI since I am running 3 Titan Xs, i7, 32GB RAM, etc through an Asus RT-AC3200. I will try disabling SLI and see if that helps.
mutelight said:
OK interesting, maybe it is is an issue with SLI since I am running 3 Titan Xs, i7, 32GB RAM, etc through an Asus RT-AC3200. I will try disabling SLI and see if that helps.
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Click to collapse
You've really peaked my interest here, was the SLI making it not work correctly? Like maybe the video encoding being slit amongst the cards wasn't working too well?
I'm about to upgrade my 750ti so it'd be nice to know if it was SLI or just isn't playing nice with your Titan.
tobalaz said:
You've really peaked my interest here, was the SLI making it not work correctly? Like maybe the video encoding being slit amongst the cards wasn't working too well?
I'm about to upgrade my 750ti so it'd be nice to know if it was SLI or just isn't playing nice with your Titan.
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Click to collapse
It is honestly hard to say, I still need to try disabling SLI to see if it helps. Also I should mention I have been running Windows 10 for a couple months now there have been a few driver updates for it since I tried it last.
Video calling only available for the Shield ATV
One unique feature on the Shield ATV is the camera support.
Just plug a camera and it works! I've been checking out other Android SmartTV's and set-top-boxes, but yet couldn't find any other device having this support.
And, there is already a video calling android tv app on google play called "Tellybean - Easy video calling". It works perfectly on the Shield ATV.
furkna said:
One unique feature on the Shield ATV is the camera support.
Just plug a camera and it works! I've been checking out other Android SmartTV's and set-top-boxes, but yet couldn't find any other device having this support.
And, there is already a video calling android tv app on google play called "Tellybean - Easy video calling". It works perfectly on the Shield ATV.
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Nice, but surely Hangouts works just fine, and even Skype?
fredphoesh said:
Nice, but surely Hangouts works just fine, and even Skype?
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Your right. Since shield has camera support basically any video calling app might work. But I don't believe they work as smooth as Tellybean. Skype and hangout does not have Android TV apps (not gonna have one any time soon). They don't exist on google play for Android TV. You need to sideload their default android app.
Also, their UX is fine for a mobile app but not so much for a TV app. They don't really fit into the leanback UI. Not so usable if you are sitting on the couch and just want to have a video call. I use hangouts and skype on my smartphone and laptop but Tellybean on my TV
Tellybean is an Android TV app, shows up on Leanback launcher and it works smoothly on the shield ATV.
tobalaz said:
Well as far as Gamestream goes for me, I've got my win7 gaming rig w/ an i5, 12gb ram and gtx 750ti hardwired to my Buffalo AC1750 and the Shield on 5g to a 42" 1080p TV and I've no problems with it, everything runs smoothly, well, smoothly when Uplay isn't f*cking everything up...
I had issues initially so I had to go into my router and change the settings for my 5ghz channel.
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Click to collapse
Hello! From Italy here! 10 days I have a 16Gb unit I struggle with Ethernet AND wifi 5Gb connection! Wifi N working about fine. Netgear R7000 and Fastweb FTTS connection 85MBps! I only get 10 MBps at most, and this is the only device that gets this low! Need to solve this or ask for replacement the soonest! Any help much appreciated.
Regards
Alessandro

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