Hard drive support - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello, I thought about buying an amazon fire tv and installing xbmc on it. my interent connection is just too slow for plex, netflixh or every other streaming options.
So, If i would install xbmc, could i play mkv 720p files with it?
Im only looking for a streamer that can play this type of files, I've also considered the WD TV Live but the amzon fire tv have better processor, and i doesn't know if it's pay off
Thanks for the future helpers

iii2 said:
Hello, I thought about buying an amazon fire tv and installing xbmc on it. my interent connection is just too slow for plex, netflixh or every other streaming options.
So, If i would install xbmc, could i play mkv 720p files with it?
Im only looking for a streamer that can play this type of files, I've also considered the WD TV Live but the amzon fire tv have better processor, and i doesn't know if it's pay off
Thanks for the future helpers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest if your not gonna stream then it's best to get wd live hub with 1tb hard drive in it. I have all my 1080p mkv movies in them and it works great. I also have the amazon fire also but my downloaded movies I keep on the wd.

iii2 said:
Hello, I thought about buying an amazon fire tv and installing xbmc on it. my interent connection is just too slow for plex, netflixh or every other streaming options.
So, If i would install xbmc, could i play mkv 720p files with it?
Im only looking for a streamer that can play this type of files, I've also considered the WD TV Live but the amzon fire tv have better processor, and i doesn't know if it's pay off
Thanks for the future helpers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Fire TV does not support playing files from a connected hard drive. Not through any apps, including XBMC. The only way to get the content on your hard drive to play on the Fire TV is to connect the hard drive to a PC and make the files available over the network through a sharing protocol like SMB. Then XBMC will see the files shared on the network and play them.

Related

Wifey bought me a FTV!

I currently use plex for my media management solution, which is fantastic. I have a quad processor server with 18TB of storage, 12TB usable as its configured for Raid6. I chose plex due to the fact that plexapps are available for my Samsung smart tvs, and for simplicity with my chromecast.
The wife knows my love of tinkering and that I've been eyeballing the AFTV for a while now. Can anyone provide some insight? I'm looking to further enhance my cord-cutting future as we are moving to South Korea next year and will need to rely on my server as well as streaming content for entertainment.
I'm tired of horrible firstrow streams for my football games, as well as UFC matches and indycar/rally races. Are there "alternatives" available with much improved quality?
Anything I should do first to the AFTV? How can I integrate it into my existing content delivery system?
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
cliff p said:
Anything I should do first to the AFTV? How can I integrate it into my existing content delivery system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might want to see if you can root the Fire TV before you ever hook it up. This allows for harnessing the power of the device with XBMC and the addons that are available. The How to setup a new Fire TV without blocking Root guide is a great starting point. Otherwise, the Fire TV will primarily be an Amazon centric box. And where is the fun in that?
That was generally the idea (to root the device first before doing anything else with it).
When I first started looking into Media Servers, I worked very little with XBMC. A few friends with Plex suggested it to me, and it seems to fit the bill more for me. With that being said, can XBMC be integrated or coexist with PMS?
EDIT: Disregard the XBMC question, I did a quick search and found that I can install PlexBMC that will work with the PMS backend.
So I've rooted the AFTV, Installed BB and SuperSU, and XBMC. Added a few "add-ons" like 1Chan and some others. Pretty cool little device! Kinda wishing there were more HD capable streams for certain programs, since there isn't much difference streaming the actual website steam via my laptop to my TV via HDMI.
I may put it in my VPN route and see if I can get my NFL games in HD at least.
Quite honestly wondering if it was worth installing Plex on, since my Samsung TV already has Plex and is a bit more seamless. I may use the device in place of the Chromecast dongle I have in the bedroom, though.
Can anyone point me in the right direction for some higher quality feeds, etc?
Almost forgot: Themes for the XBMC? Is it more worthwhile to have XBMC autostart on boot? I don't have a subscription for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, etc. I use Plex, and use it heavily with Sickbeard/Couchpotato/Headphones/Etc.
THX.
Take a look at the [LAUNCHER] XBMC for Fire TV (Root). This XBMC launcher replaces the Fire TV launcher and at the same time allows access to it if you were to have Amazon content.
mjbxx said:
Take a look at the [LAUNCHER] XBMC for Fire TV (Root). This XBMC launcher replaces the Fire TV launcher and at the same time allows access to it if you were to have Amazon content.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great! Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] 1080i deinterlacing?

Has anyone found a way to deinterlace video in XBMC on the FireTV? I realize that streaming content isn't interlaced and therefore the box really was never intended to play back 1080i content however one of the purposes of my FireTV boxes is to serve as a front end for MythTV which means that Live TV and much of my recorded content (unless I transcode) is interlaced.
I'm don't need any of the real fancy deinterlacing algorithms, something as simple as Bob would be enough. It really doesn't look that bad from my viewing distance but in fast motion scenes it is noticeable. I'm certain the FireTV can handle it, it's just a matter of finding the software to make it happen.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Should probably note that my boxes are rooted.
I am having the same issue. I have an HDHomerun Plus feeding my Win7 box. I have tried XBMC 13.2, Kodi 14, and SPMC 13.4 on my FireTV. I have toggled hardware acceleration, MediaCodec, de-interlacing, etc. Any 1080i broadcast with fast horizontal movement (like football) is awful. I have tried both NextPVR (feeding the NextPVR Client) and Windows Media Center (feeding the WMC Client) on the Fire TV. Same result, which is expected since both are providing the same MPEG-2 1080i content.
My existing setup is an HDHomerun Plus WMC feeding a Ceton Echo box, which deinterlaces 1080i great. I'm trying to migrate off of that so I can have a single device (FireTV) that handles TV, online streaming, local streaming, etc.
I haven't tried this yet, but the HDHomerun Plus can transcode in hardware to x264. I've had it disabled because the Ceton Echo doesn't like x264 much. I'll try it with the FTV and see how it goes...
My FTV is rooted as well, running the latest pre-rooted firmware.
ctaranto said:
I am having the same issue. I have an HDHomerun Plus feeding my Win7 box. I have tried XBMC 13.2, Kodi 14, and SPMC 13.4 on my FireTV. I have toggled hardware acceleration, MediaCodec, de-interlacing, etc. Any 1080i broadcast with fast horizontal movement (like football) is awful. I have tried both NextPVR (feeding the NextPVR Client) and Windows Media Center (feeding the WMC Client) on the Fire TV. Same result, which is expected since both are providing the same MPEG-2 1080i content.
My existing setup is an HDHomerun Plus WMC feeding a Ceton Echo box, which deinterlaces 1080i great. I'm trying to migrate off of that so I can have a single device (FireTV) that handles TV, online streaming, local streaming, etc.
I haven't tried this yet, but the HDHomerun Plus can transcode in hardware to x264. I've had it disabled because the Ceton Echo doesn't like x264 much. I'll try it with the FTV and see how it goes...
My FTV is rooted as well, running the latest pre-rooted firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any update on having the HDHR Plus do the transcoding? Considering picking one up if it let's me use the FireTVs as nice Live TV extenders.
Does anyone know if the new aftv2 can handle 1080i content such as live TV from hdhomerun tuners?
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gmp029 said:
Does anyone know if the new aftv2 can handle 1080i content such as live TV from hdhomerun tuners?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive been messing with it lately.. PQ has not been great yet.. ive used both the hdhomerun add-on and server-wmc pvr method via kodi... would rather get 1080i working great from the pvr.. hard to beleive that its 2015 and we cant get de-interlacing right in xbmc/kodi... the old mce 2005 worked better on old ass hardware.. very frustrating
i came on here hoping to find an answer... im thinking maybe i can root and install my own mpeg2 decoder for kodi? who knows
edit: looks like the BOB-inverted works best for me... very usable.. KODI FTW
Any tips or help you can offer on getting this setup right?
I had a 1st Gen Fire TV that worked fine with SPMC 14.x for some interlaced recordings I've made with my Hauppauge HDPVR2, and/or DVD's converted to MKV using VideoRedo..
I've updated to a 2nd Gen Fire TV with Kodi 15.2 (since SPMC stops at 15.0) and none of the interlaced videos I have tried play correctly.
EDIT: Never mind.. this seems to be 2nd gen Fire TV related, as it does it in Kodi and Plex.

Fire Tv & XBMC and Noob questions

Hi all,
I am glad I found this great forum and I hope I am posting on the correct subforum.
I am considering getting a Fire TV. It is currently at a great price on Amazon.de (84 euro), but since I want to replace my WD Live that i currently use, I want to have xbmc on it. On ebay there are many pre-rooted Fire TV with xbmc and add ons. but at an average of about 150 euro, I think it is stupid to buy them now if I can do it myself and if I can avoid rooting even better.
My main needs for the Fire TV (in priority irder) are :
1. SInce I am a Prime User of Amazon, I want to use Instant Video of Amazon
2. Stream HD video from my libraries from NAS drives
3. Other streaming add ons on xbmv like xStream, Navi-X, Sportsdevil
4. Web browsing, emulators, amazon apps
So my questions are ;
1. If I buy right now a new Fire TV, can I install xbmc using one of the guides without rooting it ? Are there sepcific models/versions of Fire TV that won't allow it ?
2. Can I use the streaming and other add ons of xbmc without rooting , or are there specific ones that require root ?
3. Do any of the streaming add ons using Bittorent ? In Germany while you currently have no issues with streaming or download , using torrents will get you quick and easy problems with the law. Feedback of german members is highly appreciated here.
Sorry for a very long first post, I hope the questions are clear and easy to answer. Please feel free to add anything you think it might be helpful in my case.
Many thanks and cheers !
Nf13 said:
Hi all,
I am glad I found this great forum and I hope I am posting on the correct subforum.
I am considering getting a Fire TV. It is currently at a great price on Amazon.de (84 euro), but since I want to replace my WD Live that i currently use, I want to have xbmc on it. On ebay there are many pre-rooted Fire TV with xbmc and add ons. but at an average of about 150 euro, I think it is stupid to buy them now if I can do it myself and if I can avoid rooting even better.
My main needs for the Fire TV (in priority irder) are :
1. SInce I am a Prime User of Amazon, I want to use Instant Video of Amazon
2. Stream HD video from my libraries from NAS drives
3. Other streaming add ons on xbmv like xStream, Navi-X, Sportsdevil
4. Web browsing, emulators, amazon apps
So my questions are ;
1. If I buy right now a new Fire TV, can I install xbmc using one of the guides without rooting it ? Are there sepcific models/versions of Fire TV that won't allow it ?
2. Can I use the streaming and other add ons of xbmc without rooting , or are there specific ones that require root ?
3. Do any of the streaming add ons using Bittorent ? In Germany while you currently have no issues with streaming or download , using torrents will get you quick and easy problems with the law. Feedback of german members is highly appreciated here.
Sorry for a very long first post, I hope the questions are clear and easy to answer. Please feel free to add anything you think it might be helpful in my case.
Many thanks and cheers !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1/ No, you can install without need for root.
2/ No, addons install in XBMC does not require root.
3/ No, streaming protocol is different from bit torrent. You can choose to install an addon that acts as a bit torren client to download files and watch it, but it is your choice. No addons in XBMC will trick you into using bit torrent without your acknowledgment. If you are worry about piracy,you are better off paying for Hulu and such since using primewire or 1channel is the same as illegal torrenting.
vi6s said:
1/ No, you can install without need for root.
2/ No, addons install in XBMC does not require root.
3/ No, streaming protocol is different from bit torrent. You can choose to install an addon that acts as a bit torren client to download files and watch it, but it is your choice. No addons in XBMC will trick you into using bit torrent without your acknowledgment. If you are worry about piracy,you are better off paying for Hulu and such since using primewire or 1channel is the same as illegal torrenting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for your answer :good:
Ordered it today, still at the same good price, but I have to wait a week for delivery as the demand was probably high (until 2 days ago it was next day delivery). They also had the Logitech K400 keyboard at a reduced price today so I added this as well, from what I read through the forum it is well supported. I have to search a bit more about game controller though.
I downloaded ADB, xbmc Gotham 13.2, copied all video files from various HDD to the NAS drives, and now we wait....
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
jpage101 said:
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am quite excited to be honest, amazon also send me an email that it will arrive today instead of Monday as originally planned (so now I have to find somewhere to send my wife and the kids until I set everything up , a day pass at theme park probably )
The lack of Amazon Video and the speed was the main reason for me too. Especially after the root on WD to use Movie Sheets for the movies it became slower that death ...
As I am not familiar with xbmc, if I have a movie file , named after the movie (as it appears on imdb), is there an add on that creates a movie sheet (info, thumbnail, etc) or do I have to create them manually ? Any link will also help.
Cheers
Really enjoying it so far !
Everything runs smooth and I found the answer for anything xbmc related in the xbmc forums.
Sideloading apps was extremely easy following one of the guides found, the only issue (if you can call it "issue") was the command :
adb install blahblah.apk
it failed because of multiple devices. I run adb devices and it was an emulator-5554. Did some research you can either kill it or use this command :
adb -s <Fire TV IP: Port> install blahblah.apk instead and it works like a charm.
Hope it helps if someone faces this issue.
Cheers !
jpage101 said:
You are going to love it. I was using a WD Live TV unit previously as well. It did not have support for Amazon Prime and it was very slow when loading directories with a lot of files. The Fire TV with XBMC/Kodi loaded is a great replacement!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious how you use this as a replacement local streamer over WD TV Live.
I have WD, it's UI is terrible, BUT. I need full non transcoded blu-ray video(H.264,VC-1), 7.1 DTS-MA and True-HD sound. Am I missing something or is none of this really possible with Fire?
Not trying to be a jerk, but want to make sure I am not missing something about the Fire. If so PLEASE fill me in.
gottahavit said:
Curious how you use this as a replacement local streamer over WD TV Live.
I have WD, it's UI is terrible, BUT. I need full non transcoded blu-ray video(H.264,VC-1), 7.1 DTS-MA and True-HD sound. Am I missing something or is none of this really possible with Fire?
Not trying to be a jerk, but want to make sure I am not missing something about the Fire. If so PLEASE fill me in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As local streamer, I use xbmc and NAS drives and it works perfectly. I don't have the same needs in sound, so I am more than ok with the formats supported. H.264, VC-1 is supported afaik.
Cheers
Nf13 said:
As local streamer, I use xbmc and NAS drives and it works perfectly. I don't have the same needs in sound, so I am more than ok with the formats supported. H.264, VC-1 is supported afaik.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting specs say vc1 but ...
according to this http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV it dont work nor does dtsma passthrough. Too bad.

DNLA on a fire TV 2?

I have a Buffalo NAS that supports DNLA, but not Plex.
I used to have a Roku that had an app that supported this but I can't find one for my new AFTV.
Any advice?
Celloshred said:
I have a Buffalo NAS that supports DNLA, but not Plex.
I used to have a Roku that had an app that supported this but I can't find one for my new AFTV.
Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe VLC Player?
Or setup your nas so that it can be mapped as a network drive, and use Kodi on the fire tv to access it?
ViMu or Sideload Kodi
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

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