Develop Bugs

[Q] Is the Fire TV right for me? Will it do what I want/need?

back ground... For years I have used the native file play back capibilities of my LG BD390 and LG BD570 bluray players to connect to windows file shares, and play back video files (AVI, Mp4, MKV, M2TS and others). Basically, I setup a shared folder on my PC, put my media files in it, and used the menu on the BD's to connect to the share and play the file. No DLNA, no transcoding on the fly, etc.
I want to add that ability, along with netflix and amazon instant video, in two other rooms, but all the bluray players I can buy locally use DLNA now. There are some I can get mail order, but they are more expensive too.
If it matters, most of my MKV's were made using BD-Rebuilder or VideoReDo TVSuite. Some do have DTS, others DD5.1. The M2TS files were made using my Sony HDR-SR11 HiDef camcorder and my Hauppauge HD PVR (1212).
Output would be HDMI to a TV. If it works well enough, I'd get one for the basement too (where I'd hook it to a receiver via optical audio).
I know the Fire TV can be setup to do Amazon Instant and Netflix. But can it be setup to replace the BD's (minus bluray/dvd playback of course). To play those files without having to transcode, or use a DLNA server too? Could I possibly use Rhapsody too?

KidJoe said:
back ground... For years I have used the native file play back capibilities of my LG BD390 and LG BD570 bluray players to connect to windows file shares, and play back video files (AVI, Mp4, MKV, M2TS and others). Basically, I setup a shared folder on my PC, put my media files in it, and used the menu on the BD's to connect to the share and play the file. No DLNA, no transcoding on the fly, etc.
I want to add that ability, along with netflix and amazon instant video, in two other rooms, but all the bluray players I can buy locally use DLNA now. There are some I can get mail order, but they are more expensive too.
If it matters, most of my MKV's were made using BD-Rebuilder or VideoReDo TVSuite. Some do have DTS, others DD5.1. The M2TS files were made using my Sony HDR-SR11 HiDef camcorder and my Hauppauge HD PVR (1212).
Output would be HDMI to a TV. If it works well enough, I'd get one for the basement too (where I'd hook it to a receiver via optical audio).
I know the Fire TV can be setup to do Amazon Instant and Netflix. But can it be setup to replace the BD's (minus bluray/dvd playback of course). To play those files without having to transcode, or use a DLNA server too? Could I possibly use Rhapsody too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Fire TV currently does not natively support playing videos of any sort from a shared PC folder. I am not aware of any "official" apps that do it either. By "official" I mean apps you can download from the Amazon appstore which display traditionally in the Fire TV "app" section. That said, there is XBMC (xbmc.org). XBMC runs beautifully on the Fire TV. You have to sideload the app, which is a simple process and does not involve rooting. The biggest disadvantage to XBMC over an "official" app or native solution is how you have to launch XBMC on the Fire TV. Instead of just going to the "Apps" section on the home screen, you have to dig down into a few menus. Specifically, you have to (from the homescreen) navigate to Settings > Applications > XBMC > Launch. It's a minor inconvenience, but it's worth mentioning. There are ways to make launching XBMC easier, but they are a bit of a hack involving other sideloaded android apps.
With XBMC you can do everything your BD players could do. HDMI and Optical audio are available on the Fire TV. Multiple options for getting to your media over the network are available. No transcoding or DLNA necessary. MKV's play fine. DTS and DD5.1 get passed through correctly. I've never tried M2TS files myself, but I would be surprised if XBMC couldn't play them. If you provide me a link to a M2TS file, I'd be happy to try it out for you. There is no official Rhapsody app. You can sideload the Rhapsody app for Android, but you will have to use a mouse & keyboard plugged into the Fire TV to use it. I would expect Rhapsody will make a Fire TV app eventually since they already have a Kindle Fire app.

@fireTVnews.com thank you for the reply. Sorry I got a little side tracked.
it sounds very tempting

Samba player
Another apps are (sideloading only):
Dice Player - very nice, but has no good support of FireTV remote.
File Manager HD + MX Player - 2 apps, that's only minus.

[Q] G Pad 8.3 + Plex + Chromecast = Lag/Skipping

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. After much research and consideration, I chose this tablet because the specs and features are best-suited to my needs. My main uses for this tablet are to stream content to my Chromecast/TV, games and browsing.
Now, to the issues I'm facing... I have set up a media server and have Plex installed on my tablet. The other day, I was watching a TV show episode and the video started skipping (for example when a Youtube video is buffering on a bad internet connection). I have used my phone to watch many episodes and movies before buying the tablet and there was no video skipping. Can someone suggest any solutions I can try to get rid of the issue?
Also, I have been getting the System UI error when I'm using YouTube on the tablet with Chromecast.
I'm currently running Kit Kat 4.4.2.
I look forward to your valued opinions/suggestions and thanks in advance.
Thanks.

I've noticed issues with plex but on custom roms. Solution is to use external player for movies, when using plex mxplayer works great.
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gffmac said:
I've noticed issues with plex but on custom roms. Solution is to use external player for movies, when using plex mxplayer works great.
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I don't understand how I can use mxplayer with plex. I basically want to stream stuff from my computer's media server with plex app on my tablet to chromecast. Please assist.

Chromecast appears to be buggy with g pad.
Real player cloud does what you're trying to do, it's not a solution but possibly a temp fix.

Kenif1983 said:
Chromecast appears to be buggy with g pad.
Real player cloud does what you're trying to do, it's not a solution but possibly a temp fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give that a go. However, since I have changed the 'video quality over network' settings to maximum, I haven't experienced the lag.

gankstar5 said:
I don't understand how I can use mxplayer with plex. I basically want to stream stuff from my computer's media server with plex app on my tablet to chromecast. Please assist.
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Click to collapse
I use bubble upnp to watch my plex stuff on my Sony smart tv. You choose the library and the target and can browser on tablet and send to tv. Not sure about chrome cast though. Yeh mxplayer is only for playback on the tablet.
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vlc question

hi I have a fire tv that I just rooted this morning, I sideloaded the vlc app onto it but controlling it with the fire tv remote is extremely limited. I tried the mxplayer which didnt have a limited control problem but it needed a codec for full file support(which i know isnt hard to get but i liked the vlc interface better).
so Is there any fix to get the full controls on the vlc player? or maybe another recommended media player that would work well for local file playback (besides through xmbc)?
thnkas

[solved] Looking for a music player with NFS support

I use Kodi right now for movies, but the interface is not that good for music playing. I have all my music setup on a NFS share, so the music player would have to be able to read it - is there such player that works with the remote apart from Kodi?
EDIT SOLVED: Well, I've settled for Kodi because it has webinterface that is really nice (I use Chorus) and solves all my problems.

Shield - File Playing Question

I got the NVIDIA SHIELD TV few days back.
Have a Synology 4 bay NAS which has all my movies and music.
Without using KODI or PLEX how can I play the files from NAS? Is there an app where I can setup an NFS and play these files without going into KODI and Plex.
Since my files are huge <25 gb I don't want to do SMB.

Nobody?

pilla said:
Nobody?
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Click to collapse
Archos Player works great playing movies from my WD MyCloud drive. Has all the artwork and everything. And if you download their ALL Video Codecs you won't even need to use MX Player or VLC. Although you can use either if you like. Check it out.

dk1keith said:
Archos Player works great playing movies from my WD MyCloud drive. Has all the artwork and everything. And if you download their ALL Video Codecs you won't even need to use MX Player or VLC. Although you can use either if you like. Check it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Keith.
Have a Mede8er currently which I was trying to replace because it cannot do Kodi. Probably the best media player. Plays any format I throw in.
Trying to find something that has media player capability and kodi functionality.
Very disappointed with the Shield. Thinking about giving WeTek Play 2 a try.