Develop Bugs

[Q] Play MKV locally via USB?

I've been searching around but can't find a definitive answer. I'm interested in purchasing a FireTV, but I need something that can play files (mkv's mostly) locally via USB thumb drives (a la WD TV Live). I know I can set up a Plex server on my machine and stream files over my wifi network but would prefer the aforementioned method. Is this a possibility with Amazon's FireTV? My audio receiver will decode DTS audio, so I'm not concerned about it processing audio.
Any help/explanation(s) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

kornball said:
... but I need something that can play files (mkv's mostly) locally via USB thumb drives (a la WD TV Live).
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Not available yet. USB doesn't work for drives only devices like mice, keyboards, controllers. To get it working will most likely require root and changes.

krelvinaz said:
Not available yet. USB doesn't work for drives only devices like mice, keyboards, controllers. To get it working will most likely require root and changes.
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Thanks for the clarification!

like krelvinaz mentioned, no usb storage option yet, for me my solution was to install xmbc on the fire tv, the usb thumb conected to the USB port of my router, that way i add or remove content of the usb drive from my imac, work flawless for me.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] Plex + USB Hard Drive?

Just about to order a Fire TV \o/
I know playback from USB storage is now an option when rooted but is it currently possible from within Plex?
Would love to plug in a USB HD and have the contents added to my library.
Edit: I know it's possible with XBMC/Kodi but I've got a soft spot for Plex

[Q] FireTV and usb dvd drive

Anyone ever tried hooking up an external dvd drive to a (rooted!) aftv?

superkoal said:
Anyone ever tried hooking up an external dvd drive to a (rooted!) aftv?
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I know XBMC/Kodi can detect it on a PC but never tried on Fire TV.

I have shared a cdrom from a pc and smb mounted in xbmc. It worked fine.
Sent from my VS985 4G

superkoal said:
Anyone ever tried hooking up an external dvd drive to a (rooted!) aftv?
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I tried a while back with an older firmware, and no, it did not work.
The USB DVD drive was detected as a USB device (according to the kernel message buffer, dmesg), but there was no driver so it could do nothing with it.

[Q] box instead of stick?

I have the fire stick and so far it works pretty good. However, I have an external 2tb drive with TV shows, pictures, and movies on it that I want to access. I tried Plex but it doesn't work so well, it tends to stop and buffer. I tried kodi seeing it as a smb but that didn't work either.
So I was thinking about trying the for tv box. I have some questions that hopefully someone here can help me with. The movies/shows are in avi, mp4, mpeg, mkv formats. I know mx player will play these if I side load it.
1) can I attached the external HDD to the fire TV box via USB and have the media accessible to play on the TV box? (I know I can side load apps that will run the various formats IF the box will recognize the HDD)
2) can I access the external HDD over my wireless network WITHOUT running something like ES file explorer?
3) if it recognizes the ext HDD does it sort, or can I tell it, by movie/TV show?
4) if I am in a situation where I lose internet, can I still view local media, I.e. on the ext HDD?

bc320 said:
I have the fire stick and so far it works pretty good. However, I have an external 2tb drive with TV shows, pictures, and movies on it that I want to access. I tried Plex but it doesn't work so well, it tends to stop and buffer. I tried kodi seeing it as a smb but that didn't work either.
So I was thinking about trying the for tv box. I have some questions that hopefully someone here can help me with. The movies/shows are in avi, mp4, mpeg, mkv formats. I know mx player will play these if I side load it.
1) can I attached the external HDD to the fire TV box via USB and have the media accessible to play on the TV box? (I know I can side load apps that will run the various formats IF the box will recognize the HDD)
2) can I access the external HDD over my wireless network WITHOUT running something like ES file explorer?
3) if it recognizes the ext HDD does it sort, or can I tell it, by movie/TV show?
4) if I am in a situation where I lose internet, can I still view local media, I.e. on the ext HDD?
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1) only if you have a rooted box
2) Yes, XBMC can access it as SMB
3) XBMC will do that for you
3) Nope, firetv needs to be connected to the net

1) The fire stick is currently very difficult to root (at least the new ones like mine). How difficult is it to root the new boxes?
2) I want to access the hdd from my pc to add files to it.

bula1ca said:
1) only if you have a rooted box
2) Yes, XBMC can access it as SMB
3) XBMC will do that for you
3) Nope, firetv needs to be connected to the net
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Hmm. While I might've misinterpreted this, it appeared that after going through the root, recovery and pre-rooted rom installaiton, my fire tv boxes could theoretically operate to play back local files without a connection to the net.

Perspective buyer. Root still necessary not that HDD are supported?

Looking to buy one of these bad boys, however, with Nvidia Shield console and other android TV boxes to follow, I'm weary to do so as amazon seems to be apple-esque in how they wall everything off. Firstly, is FTV running a custom Android TV? Or heavily skinned android? Second, now that HDD are supported is it still worth it to root (assuming I find a unit that can be rooted) any other features you gain? I read that FTV only supports Fat32. That sucks. Think they'll allow for larger than 32 GB drives in the future. Thanks for any help.

Bbbuuuummmmpppp. Bought a fire TV today that is able to be rooted. However, don't know if I want to. Above still applies. Also, it there a way to use a HDD connected to my WiFi so I don't have to worry about the maximum imposed by amazon? I don't want to use Plex because that requires an always on PC. I just want a HDD attached to my router that I can access via fire TV. Preferably with a nice ui/cover art. Kodi? Will Kodi be able to do that with cover art and alphabetized? Thanks

supremekizzle said:
Bbbuuuummmmpppp. Bought a fire TV today that is able to be rooted. However, don't know if I want to. Above still applies. Also, it there a way to use a HDD connected to my WiFi so I don't have to worry about the maximum imposed by amazon? I don't want to use Plex because that requires an always on PC. I just want a HDD attached to my router that I can access via fire TV. Preferably with a nice ui/cover art. Kodi? Will Kodi be able to do that with cover art and alphabetized? Thanks
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If you got a rootable one, there is no reason to not go with root. If anything there are a few benefits to root. If you root you can use the usb for direct access. You can use kodi with the network share drive on your router regardless of root.

navigates said:
If you got a rootable one, there is no reason to not go with root. If anything there are a few benefits to root. If you root you can use the usb for direct access. You can use kodi with the network share drive on your router regardless of root.
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Awesome. You rock for taking the time to help me out! Digital high five.....pow! Let's just go hypothetical (I've rooted every device I've had so I probably will this one too, but say amazon somehow kills root later) if it were unrooted and I used Kodi to access files on DLNA from a router connected HDD, would Kodi inject cover art to my backup DVDs, or, is that something I have to add to the HDD? One reason I want to go NAS route is because I have a bedroom TV with a Chromecast that I'd access it too. Unless I can access the HDD on the fire TV from another Chromecast? Thanks

supremekizzle said:
Awesome. You rock for taking the time to help me out! Digital high five.....pow! Let's just go hypothetical (I've rooted every device I've had so I probably will this one too, but say amazon somehow kills root later) if it were unrooted and I used Kodi to access files on DLNA from a router connected HDD, would Kodi inject cover art to my backup DVDs, or, is that something I have to add to the HDD? One reason I want to go NAS route is because I have a bedroom TV with a Chromecast that I'd access it too. Unless I can access the HDD on the fire TV from another Chromecast? Thanks
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Thanks for the high five. !!  ok couple of clarifications If you root correctly and block the amazon updates, the firetv will always remain rooted regardless. The only downfall I see is that when a new firmware is released with majority of the changes it takes anywhere from few days to a week or two until the modified firmware is released. After you install the boot menu, updating the firmware has become really simple. Its literarily a two step process.
It’s a good idea to access the NAS through the router vs. direct USB. I do that as well. I have two hard drives. One on my router and the other is my laptop. I keep switching across. Best way to access the content is Kodi and you can even put the kodi icon on the home screen easily.
If you are new to rooting which I don't think so. Then its a challenge to get the right files and I can help with that sequentially. PM me and I can send you the link for all the files organized correctly. Starting from the downgrade to Firmware 1, then Bootmenu and finally the latest Rom.

Kodi will find the cover art and other metadata and save it on the FireTV.

Terry T said:
Kodi will find the cover art and other metadata and save it on the FireTV.
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Even if I'm accessing mp4 dvd backups from my NAS? The files for cover art, cast, etc don't need to be with the mp4 on the HDD? Kodi will recognize movie and fetch it? Thanks

As long as you have the file named in a way that Kodi will recognize it. I use Filebot to rename everything per TheTVDB and TheMovieDB, this works well with Kodi.