So, I cant root the fire tv obviously and I bought it so someone i know can use it offline to watch offline movies instead of dvds. No way around this problem? I sideloaded KodiTV but its no use since I cant even use a flash or HDD
Can you sideload ES Explorer and connect to an SMB share on a NAS or Windows/Linux Server? it sounded like some people are doing that.
lowridincrew said:
So, I cant root the fire tv obviously and I bought it so someone i know can use it offline to watch offline movies instead of dvds. No way around this problem? I sideloaded KodiTV but its no use since I cant even use a flash or HDD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a PC with spare hard drive space on the same network?
Kodi/SPMC/XBMC has the ability to make an SMB connection to a windows file share and play files from it. I do this with my Fire TV (box) and Fire TV stick to connect to my Win2012 server with many hard drives in it (holding all my movies converted from my blurays).
If a "Browse Master" isn't available on the network you wont be able to "browse" to find the computer and shared folder, and will instead have to manually use IP address and folder info for the "server" machine into Kodi/SPMC/XBMC when trying to setup the SMB connection. Extra info see -> http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=133624
Offline usage.
I have this Dane-Elec Media Streamer for hooking USB and SD cards that lets me connect to it through the FireTV's internet menu.
If you can sideload a matching app for one of these streamer doohickies,you should be able to connect straight to one.
There is one downside where it can stupidly auto-connect to a different remembered internet connection when you are using the streamer's connection.
I wonder if there is an offline cloud box for accessing files via "offline internet" or maybe even bluetooth?
She doesnt have a computer. I'm thinking I gotta keep this for myself since I got a few hard drives on my computer
There are quite a few Video Add-ons for XBMC/Kodi that make local storage a thing of the past. Between those and IPTV configs, you may not even notice. Although, most USA ISPs don't like streaming only households. Overages, etc may hurt the pocketbook...
Related
I have a rooted FireTV with a connected external HD (1.5 TB WD) that I use for watching shows and movies via XBMC. Previously I had the hard drive connected to my laptop that sits next to the FireTV via an ethernet bridge connection, but that became cumbersome and I had to move the laptop to a new area. My router doesn't support connecting the drive as a network drive, so I figured out how to connect the HD directly to the FireTV and none of the buffering issues are present like they are over wifi with the HD connected to my ancient laptop.
Problem is, I'm not sure how to easily connect to the drive (wirelessly) from the laptop to the HD while it is connected to the FireTV so that I can move new media to it. I might be overthinking this, but is there an easy way to do this through Windows 7 on the laptop or will I need to use an FTP service or other program to connect to the HD? The FireTV comes up as a device in Network and Sharing Center but I can't double-click and see the HD like you could for other computers.
Thanks!
For me personally the easiest way I found to move files from pc to the AFTV/AFTVS is to install an app called Web PC Suite. In a nutshell it allows you to move files from your pc's web browser to the Fire TV.
Install the app on your Fire TV, run it & type in the ip & port into your web browser on your pc, accept the connection & move your files. The caveat here is, as to whether this app will recognize external storage but if your run StickMount then theoretically it should, your device has to be rooted though, for StickMount to work.
I have the Stick with no external storage attached but moving files from pc the the internal storage is a breeze.
EL TEJANO said:
For me personally the easiest way I found to move files from pc to the AFTV/AFTVS is to install an app called . In a nutshell it allows you to move files from your pc's web browser to the Fire TV.
Install the app on your Fire TV, run it & type in the ip & port into your web browser on your pc, accept the connection & move your files. The caveat here is, as to whether this app will recognize external storage but if your run then theoretically it should, your device has to be rooted though, for StickMount to work.
I have the Stick with no external storage attached but moving files from pc the the internal storage is a breeze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked, and I was also able to FTP into there after going through some tutorials I found online for moving items to the internal storage. It took me awhile to find where the USB drive was hiding, but I did finally click through enough folders to find its path and was able to move a video file there over wifi that played via XBMC. It did, however, take about 40 mns to move a 2GB file so I'm not sure that it's best for moving files quickly but it will be nice not to have everything physically plugged into each other. I do have root and I use stickmount to mount the drive; looking forward to adding ROMS this way and using the FireTV as an emulator. I appreciate your help!
Wow, 40 min for 2 gigs? I can't say if that's a limitation on the connection, the Fire Tv or a combo of both but yeah I can see how that can become a nuisance. Anyhow, glad you found a temp. solution for now.
At that rate of transfer, you're probably better off disconnecting the external hdd & connecting it directly to your pc, at least for files that large. Smaller files you should be good to go as is.
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
FireTV/Kodi - can you watch movies from a flash drive without internet connection?
Hi there,
I have an Amazon Fire TV box (and some sticks too).
And I use Kodi with it to stream video.
And I've also been able to play some movies that I have on a USB flash drive.
All good; I love it!
I then thought I'd be able to take the little Amazon box on holiday with me, and watch some movies from flash drives by just connecting the Fire TV box to the TV in the holiday cottage.
However, it didn't seem to work. I couldn't seem to get past the obstacle that there was "no internet connection" (cottage is remote with no internet).
My assumption had been that the video player software was installed on the Fire TV box (whether Kodi or the Fire TV software itself), and that the data (the movies) were on the USB drive. Therefore, no need to require an internet connection.
Is that assumption completely wrong, or is there some way to use that FireTV/USB setup to watch movies with no internet connection in place? Is there some setting/process I should adopt in such situations?
Many thanks for any pointers/advice you can offer,
Richard
rswan1967 said:
Hi there,
I have an Amazon Fire TV box (and some sticks too).
And I use Kodi with it to stream video.
And I've also been able to play some movies that I have on a USB flash drive.
All good; I love it!
I then thought I'd be able to take the little Amazon box on holiday with me, and watch some movies from flash drives by just connecting the Fire TV box to the TV in the holiday cottage.
However, it didn't seem to work. I couldn't seem to get past the obstacle that there was "no internet connection" (cottage is remote with no internet).
My assumption had been that the video player software was installed on the Fire TV box (whether Kodi or the Fire TV software itself), and that the data (the movies) were on the USB drive. Therefore, no need to require an internet connection.
Is that assumption completely wrong, or is there some way to use that FireTV/USB setup to watch movies with no internet connection in place? Is there some setting/process I should adopt in such situations?
Many thanks for any pointers/advice you can offer,
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found the answer to this, elsewhere.
For anyone else that needs to know - apparently it's simply tied in to having "parental controls" enabled or not.
I had it enabled, and therefore the device couldn't validate the PIN entered, and so couldn't go any further.
With internet connectivity, I disabled parental control.
Then disconnected from the internet.
Then was able to start the device, get to applications / manage all applications - and launch kodi.
From there I was able to access my USB flash drive and play movies I have stored.
Looking forward to our next holiday now!
Love Amazon Fire TV
Love Kodi
Also if you have Fire Starter you can just launch any app from there and not the official menu.
Just remember that current version AFTV can only mount FAT32 partitions on your stick and needs and external power supply for (some) external harddrives.
I want to connect a Fire TV 2 box directly to my Synology NAS using an ethernet cable, so I can stream local media using Kodi over NFS or SMB, and ideally leave the WiFi working so I can view online content as well.
I'm using my landlord's WiFi, but don't have access to the router, so I can't connect my NAS to the network. That's why I want a direct LAN connection between the devices. I've tried both straight and crossover cables, but the Fire TV cannot see my NAS at all.
I know almost nothing about networking, so can anyone tell me if this is even possible? And if so, any tips?
Thanks!
Try this, if it does not work, use the support tab, the developer will respond straight away and will bend over backwards to help you!
Its the best app out there for reading from a NAS
http://www.vimuplayer.com/
You will have to also make sure your NAS is the correct format for the AFTV to read.
Can you elaborate on making sure the NAS is the correct format for the AFTV to read? What format are you referring to and what formats are supported?
Also, I looked Vimu like you suggested, but I'd rather stick with Kodi if possible. Vimu hasn't been updated in over a year and it costs money to download.
For the format see this.
http://www.aftvnews.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-usb-storage-with-the-amazon-fire-tv/
Not sure what you were reading on Vimu but it has just undergone a major update and are you serious about the cost of it (£1.59) to get things working how you want them !
ls0 said:
I want to connect a Fire TV 2 box directly to my Synology NAS using an ethernet cable, so I can stream local media using Kodi over NFS or SMB, and ideally leave the WiFi working so I can view online content as well.
I'm using my landlord's WiFi, but don't have access to the router, so I can't connect my NAS to the network. That's why I want a direct LAN connection between the devices. I've tried both straight and crossover cables, but the Fire TV cannot see my NAS at all.
I know almost nothing about networking, so can anyone tell me if this is even possible? And if so, any tips?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe buy a cheap router that is compatible with DDWRT firmware. Install DDWRT onto it and turn it into a repeater bridge and link it to the landlord's wifi, then just plug your Fire TV and NAS into the router via ethernet. I haven't done this myself so I am not a 100% sure, but in theory, this should work perfectly. There are a thousand tutorials on Youtube if you decide to try it.
Plex?
Please what kind of Ethernet cable should use to connect from my fire tv box to router?
Hi, I have the Nvidia shield pro, not rooted yet, but with sidelauncher, Kodi and Es file explorer.
I have a 3TB WD HD attached to the Shield box with movies and I would like to read/write access this drive from my Windows PC, or from my tablets.
The Shield box is wired to my router, the PC/tablets are wifi.
From Kodi I can see all the media I share on my PC. But my PC can not see Kodi or the media attached to Shield, eventhough it is set up correctly.
What am I missing here?
Any input greatly appreciated.!
Connect it to PC using micro-usb port from Shield TV to USB in your PC.
Then it will appear then in "Devices and drives"
You'll be able to access Internal storage and SD card too from there
Or you can instal FTP Server on the Shield and any FTP client on computer to connect. I use this solution instead of ESexplorer for a few days and I find it more user friendly
What method are you trying to use? If you want to set up Samba fileshares, you will need root (and it's really slow in my experience.)
Its not super bad actually, if I need to transfer large files I just plug my HDD into the computer but for the most part running a samba server is the best way to go.