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 ?
Hi all.
I've played with XBMC a little in the past but nothing too in depth. When I saw the Fire TV come out I ordered day one. My main goal is to completely replace all my Windows Media Center machines and switch to XBMC + Fire TV for each location in my house. The reason for this change is I believe that it will be easier to add-on a few features i've been missing with my WMC setup.
So far ive loaded XBMC and configured it. I repurposed a WMC to be my TV/DVR server in the basement using PVR.WMC. I found a few tricks and this is now functioning as my whole house DVR.
My main issues that need addressing are as follows:
Add "Fire TV" apps to XBMC main menu (Amazon Prime movies, Netflix, and Pandora)
Remote Music Channels from the PVR menu in PVC.WMC
BluRay playback
I have all my DVDs/BRs stored in ISO format on a NAS in my basement. DVDs are fine. BR is a challenge. Am I better off converting to MKV? Does anyone know a way to make a library that is also shared with PLEX?
According to this wiki
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV
It is possible to add android apps to the xbmc menu if you are using Gotham. I tried doing it and as soon as I went to android application xbmc 13 final just crashes to the fire TV main menu.
nba1341 said:
According to this wiki
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV
It is possible to add android apps to the xbmc menu if you are using Gotham. I tried doing it and as soon as I went to android application xbmc 13 final just crashes to the fire TV main menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im having the same issue. it would be a perfect box for me iff i can load the streaming services that are built in (netflix, amazon prime, hulu, pandora) from XBMC.
personally i can skip the entire Fire TV menu and live in XBMC if i can load the very nice a pretty customized fire tv apps from XBMC. kinda like using XBMC as a launcher
KCHASE731 said:
im having the same issue. it would be a perfect box for me iff i can load the streaming services that are built in (netflix, amazon prime, hulu, pandora) from XBMC.
personally i can skip the entire Fire TV menu and live in XBMC if i can load the very nice a pretty customized fire tv apps from XBMC. kinda like using XBMC as a launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonder if it's just a problem with the final version. I am running a older version and I am able to load android apps just fine.
ahoslc said:
Wonder if it's just a problem with the final version. I am running a older version and I am able to load android apps just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version are you running? are you able to load the Fire TV versions of the apps from XBMC?
ahoslc said:
Wonder if it's just a problem with the final version. I am running a older version and I am able to load android apps just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to check when I go home it's like a week or 2 old. I can launch all the apps except for Amazon Prime.
Just curious what everyone uses and why. I have been using spmc since my first fire tv simply because I noticed a glitch in genesis when I have autoplay turned on it will split the screen into six sections sometimes randomly and I have to reboot. This is really my only reason for not using the standard xbmc gotham I don't really see any advantages or disadvantages other than that.
danknasty said:
Just curious what everyone uses and why. I have been using spmc since my first fire tv simply because I noticed a glitch in genesis when I have autoplay turned on it will split the screen into six sections sometimes randomly and I have to reboot. This is really my only reason for not using the standard xbmc gotham I don't really see any advantages or disadvantages other than that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XBMC Gotham 13.2 with Amber skin.
I use Amber since I need to have Netflix on the main menu and I like how it can send Movies directly to files (but in library mode.)
I personally have tried lots of nightlies and have stayed at SPMC 13.3.2 version. One below the latest of spmc. Spmc is a variant of xbmc and is made by the devs of xbmc. it has the firetv's power options built in. I like spmc 13.3.2 is because it can play all files well including .ts and also works with elmero's firetv confluence ++ skin well.
The only next version that plays files well is the helix but then helix lacks the confluence ++ skin from elmero. The version of the skin available now for helix has spacing issues with the tiles and the power options are missing. Besides for me helix does not have anything over and above what I have with spmc.
The only one issue I see with spmc 13.3.2 is that it crashes on startup occasionally, but that is not a big issue as I can start it up again with the xbmc icon which has replaced ikono.tv through the lama options on adbfire.
hope this helps.
I've used the last beta of Kodi on my Fire TV Stick and it runs really well. The remote is fully supported.
compacho said:
I've used the last beta of Kodi on my Fire TV Stick and it runs really well. The remote is fully supported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you use a custom skin with Kodi?
I'm running Helix RC-1 currently and using Aeon Nox 4 (modified for Helix).
unrooted uk box.
Sbmc latest version
confluence custom skin, it is functional, but is easy on remote time...
I don't load xbmc to doddle, I load it for a few items or "slink" back to Prime for music.
SPMC 13.3.2, the only version that works with Live TV (HD channels, TvHeadend backend, no transcoding).
WPeterW said:
SPMC 13.3.2, the only version that works with Live TV (HD channels, TvHeadend backend, no transcoding).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using spmc 13.3.3 running some live tv channels. Using simple pvr is 13.3.2 better for this? Sometimes channels don't work for me.
danknasty said:
I am using spmc 13.3.3 running some live tv channels. Using simple pvr is 13.3.2 better for this? Sometimes channels don't work for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried all flavors, only 13.3.2 runs smooth. Be sure to JUST enable "mediacodec". All HD channels run smooth now.
WPeterW said:
I've tried all flavors, only 13.3.2 runs smooth. Be sure to JUST enable "mediacodec". All HD channels run smooth now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using actual cable for your pvr or just links online.
TVMC
I'm using TVMC with Aeon Nox skin
It works actually faster and smoother than Gotham/Kodi/XBMC Ouya or SPMC...at least on my fire tv. + it has all addons set up for you
So far so good..
SPMC fails to load
Hello, I have downloaded the latest version from http://spmc.semperpax.com/ and installed but it fails to load. I see a black screen for a while and then goes back to menu. Probably I'm doing something wrong? just got but firetv and still learning some stuff. Thanks
SPMC FTW!!!
We're using Gotham (the updated version - forgot which one) on Confluence skin.
SPMC. Here is my setup for anyone interested.
Ok, so how do I setup live TV on my fire TV?
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app
navigates said:
I personally have tried lots of nightlies and have stayed at SPMC 13.3.2 version. One below the latest of spmc. Spmc is a variant of xbmc and is made by the devs of xbmc. it has the firetv's power options built in. I like spmc 13.3.2 is because it can play all files well including .ts and also works with elmero's firetv confluence ++ skin well.
The only next version that plays files well is the helix but then helix lacks the confluence ++ skin from elmero. The version of the skin available now for helix has spacing issues with the tiles and the power options are missing. Besides for me helix does not have anything over and above what I have with spmc.
The only one issue I see with spmc 13.3.2 is that it crashes on startup occasionally, but that is not a big issue as I can start it up again with the xbmc icon which has replaced ikono.tv through the lama options on adbfire.
hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you boot directly to xbmc or is at an 'app' on the main screen?
do you have fire tv box or stick?
jeep364 said:
Do you boot directly to xbmc or is at an 'app' on the main screen?
do you have fire tv box or stick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spmc is an app. ikono.tv is the sacrificial app with the icon changed. I boot to AFTV and use lama profiles to boot spmc on startup. firetv rooted latest with rbox. I like to have the aftv menu vs direct xbmc
SPMC 13.3.3 with Amber skin. Freaking best setup I've had!
Actually, I regret loading Mucky Ducks Wizard cause it took forever to load. But seems to be good now after I uninstalled half of the add-ons.
So I decided to pick up AFTV a week ago after reading so many good reviews about the device and how well it runs Kodi, but I am having an issue running certain MKV files with dual audio. When I try to play the videos Kodi either crashes to the FTV menu or restarts the whole device. I tried to disable the accelerators in settings and the video starts to play with stuttering and no audio. Anyone know what could be the cause of this and is there a fix available.
BTW I'm running Helix 14.0
hyelife said:
So I decided to pick up AFTV a week ago after reading so many good reviews about the device and how well it runs Kodi, but I am having an issue running certain MKV files with dual audio. When I try to play the videos Kodi either crashes to the FTV menu or restarts the whole device. I tried to disable the accelerators in settings and the video starts to play with stuttering and no audio. Anyone know what could be the cause of this and is there a fix available.
BTW I'm running Helix 14.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issues with both XBMC 13 and 14.. After lots of searching I found
I cant post links yet, but google "Work in Progress - Experimental simple deinterlacing" and you will get the Kodi forum that has an updated kodi for the issue.
Hope this helps
Try SPMC. I had problems of somekind with all versions of XBMC that I have tried on the Fire TV til I installed SPMC. I have not had one problem with SPMC and could instantly tell a difference in the smoothness of streams and video playback.
I think i've tried them all.
porkenhimer said:
Try SPMC. I had problems of somekind with all versions of XBMC that I have tried on the Fire TV til I installed SPMC. I have not had one problem with SPMC and could instantly tell a difference in the smoothness of streams and video playback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem with any version of XBMC whether it be SPMC or KODI is that 720p MPEG-2 always stutters. I've tried everything I think including.
SW only
Listagefright only
Mediacodec only
Listagefright and MediaCodec
SPMC 13.4 & 14.2 (I think these are the final versions i used)
KODI 13.4 & 14.2 & 15.1 (I think those are the final versions)
My next try was going to be to use MX player and the playercorefactory.xml but so far I haven't been able to get that to work. It just flashes really quick and does nothing when I click on a channel.
BTW....I have comcast so everything is in MPEG-2 and I use an HDHOMERUN prime that feeds a windows 7 machine with WMC running serverWMC and Plex (w/ serverWMC plex plugin). I also have an xbox 360 and that works perfectly but the only way I can get fire tv stick to work reliably is by transcoding to h.264. But this adds at least 10 seconds to a channel change and It really complicates the setup and maintenance. I would really like to not have to transcode and use KODI on the firetv stick as my front end. However, without mpeg2 720p support I can't.
ok i had the fire tv first gen which i sold, the issue i had was that bbc iplayer and other apps would freeze/not buffer until i disconneced kodi/plex often i had to restart for it to work. is this still the case with fire tv 2?
can i put kodi on the homescreen??? ive read that llama doesnt work?
can the amazon fire tv be rooted/jailbroken, any benefits of this
does amazon fire tv 2 have infrared?
can amazon fire tv 2 autoboot to kodi? and if i want to go back to normal apps is that possible i.e. bbc iplayer
i dont use amazon content at all!!
thank you
You can autoboot to Kodi or even better launch it with the home button courtesy of Firestarter. Forget about Llama.
Get this app first:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786505
And load this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/app-root-home-launcher-replacement-app-t3118135
Then get Kodi:
http://kodi.tv
I recommend going straight to the 16 Alpha:
http://kodi.tv/kodi-16-0-alpha-4-jarvis-nearing-completion/
It's all very straight forward.
what about any other issues? is playback smooth faster then the original
kyrusdemnati said:
what about any other issues? is playback smooth faster then the original
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's much improved. Plays everything I've thrown at it.
Navigation is slightly slower with the new remote. There are some outstanding surround sound issues that Amazon has promised to fix.
thanks guys
still waiting delivery i hope there is no buffering/freezing issue if i open two video apps