Develop Bugs

[Q] Universal Remote advice

My Fire TV is part of a set-up consisting of itself, TV (duh), A/V Receiver, and a couple of other HDMI devices that go into the receiver. TV, A/V receiver and others are controlled via Infrared remotes, while Fire TV remote is Bluetooth, if I understand correctly. I'd like to consolidate all the different controls into one universal remote and was wondering if someone had any ideas on how to go about that.
I've previously owned a Logitech Harmony remote that worked well, but I really don't want to shell out $250+ for those.
I've confirmed that RF-type mini keyboards with a USB receiver work. Now I need to find a similar one with IR and learning functionality. I've been looking at Amazon and it looks like something like this might work.
If anyone has recommendations, I'd be very grateful.

You can just use the Flirc IR to USB receiver. Search Amazon for FLIRC, its $30. Then use that with your current universal remote, if you have one.
I can't post link, too new, but here is the XBMC thread confirming its functionality.
ht tp://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109&pid=1674861

Spelvin said:
You can just use the Flirc IR to USB receiver. Search Amazon for FLIRC, its $30. Then use that with your current universal remote, if you have one.
I can't post link, too new, but here is the XBMC thread confirming its functionality.
ht tp://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=191109&pid=1674861
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the Flirc suggestion, I'll look into it. Unfortunately I don't own a universal remote any more. My old Logitech Harmony 880 died a few years ago, and I've been making do with a Sony Google TV remote (comes with a couple of IR blasters.)

a lot of people seem to like the ortek/mce remote but it only has a mousepad-thingy and no kdb. then again spamazon has it for USD12.55, so that's almost worth getting just to have a spare remote.
the remote you linked, Chahk, seems quite useful (although who chose the button colors it is so ugly
the keyboard/mouse side looks like the standard Rii type - I have one of the most basic Rii for my ouya, except in BT rather than RF. the touchpad is kinda sketchy and takes some finesse, but it works well enough. the keyboard works well enough.
my favorite is still the PS3 / BD remote. but it only has 2 IR modes (tv, and amp/receiver) and it sounds like you have 3-4 IR devices?
(and the IR modes are only of the "pick a number out of the hat" variety, not custom programmable or learning or anything.)
it works great with ouya bluetooth, but there are at least 2 problems in regard to firetv:
- either amazon has to expand BT settings to generic HID, or we will need root to edit some config files.
- it is a pinless device. for android up to 4.1.x there is a consistent workaround. but not for android 4.2 and higher. (but again editing config file would probably be enough)

Is there an remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

scottsdca said:
I can confirm that the Ortek-Windows-Infrared-Receiver-Ultimate I purchased from Amazon does indeed work with my Harmony One and the Fire TV.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the "Home" and "Menu" buttons work with the Ortek remote?
I have a similar MCE remote (LINK) which mostly works but not these two buttons.

kociubin said:
Do the "Home" and "Menu" buttons work with the Ortek remote?
I have a similar MCE remote which mostly works but not these two buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the buttons show there work, including "Home" and "Back", however there is no button on the remote to bring up a context menu
google "fire tv tips" there is a key map that shows what buttons do what on a google tv forum

Remote/keyboard app
Is there a remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?

scottsdca said:
Is there a remote app from the market you can use to control the Fire TV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not an official one. Able Remote works well for Google TV, but requires a companion app to be installed on the TV. The developer will have to come up with a Fire TV specific version.

Well, I went ahead and ordered this ugly monstrosity. It's coming from Singapore, so it'll be a few weeks before it get here.

Chahk said:
Well, I went ahead and ordered this ugly monstrosity. It's coming from Singapore, so it'll be a few weeks before it get here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's here, and it does a fine job at controlling the Fire TV. unfortunately it does a piss-poor job of controlling pretty much anything else. Contrary to the description, it has no "IR learning" functionality, but a simple list of codes instead. The list is quite limited, and only supports half of my devices. I'm done with cheap Chinese knock-offs, and will be ordering a Logitech Harmony remote instead.
[Update]:
Harmony Ultimate is here, and it controls everything I have except Fire TV. Aaaaarrrghhh! I'm ready to pull my hair out over here.
Last chance. I'm ordering one of those cheap USB IR receivers that people over at AVS Forums are saying work well with Fire TV, and teaching my Harmony the basic buttons (left, right, up, down, select, back, home.) If that doesn't work - all of it is going back to their respective manufacturers until they learn how to play nice with each other.
UPDATE 2:
Victory! After hooking up the IR receiver from the MCE remote to Fire TV, and teaching Harmony the basic keys, I can now control everything in my setup with a single remote. Of course the voice input from the Fire TV remote is missing, and since Harmony Ultimate has no keyboard, I'm stuck doing text entry letter-by-letter via the clunky mid-90's interface. It'll do for now, until I figure out a way to either bring QWERTY to Harmony, or get a USB hub for Fire TV so that I can use my RF micro-keyboard.
Now I need to do some wire management to take care of the spaghetti wiring from all these devices.
UPDATE 3:
Got a simple unpowered 4-port USB hub, plugged in both the IR receiver and an RF receiver, so now I can also use a micro-keyboard for doing text input. The living room is now wife-approved!

Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal

I ended up with this BT/IR kbd+touchpad +8 IR keys, and it's not bad so far ... aside from being a little flimsy and the IR is not super-strong and the battery is only 250mah.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59103175&postcount=8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M32PBXO/
but I still almost wish for having one of the singapore monstrosities, simply for how wonderfully unbelievably ugly it is.

smithmal said:
Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That remote sounds interesting. Does it work well with Fire TV? Like all the basic fire tv buttons are available? And are you using bluetooth or IR with a usb receiver?

smithmal said:
Here's another "All-In-One" universal remote option that will work for both standard IR devices and BT devices:
Blu-Link Universal Remote
This remotes can:
1. Act like a normal IR remote (i.e. it has a slew four digit codes to program the remote to work with your IR components)
2. Act like a BT remote (has a built in BT transmitter in it to work with BT devices such as gaming consoles, media boxes (Roku/Fire TV/Apple TV)
3. Has a learning functionality so that any button on your remote can be learned by the Blu-Link remote
(The user guide for the remote can be found here)
The best part is that the remote is only $27.
My only issue now is that I lose the speech recognition ability of the Fire TV remote, but I have yet to find any universal remote setup that can do that.
smithmal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually manage to get the remote to show up? Every time I tried to pair it, nothing showed up. Also tried it on my nexus player without any luck...
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

I did not. My initial understanding of the remote's capability was based off of erroneous information posted by an Amazon reviewer in the Q&A section for the product. Once obtaining the product I found out that the BT commands for the remote are specific only to the PS3 (i.e. the remote has no ability to "learn" new BT commands). Also, as you mentioned, the FireTV does not recognize it in pairing mode. For this reason, the remote would not work as I had hoped and I updated the Q&A product section on Amazon and sent it back.
My solution was to purchase a FLIRC dongle, download the FLIRC software to my PC, manually force the FLIRC to update its firmware (which is important as the firmware that originally installed with the software would not allow me to properly program the "back", "home" and "menu" buttons; this is done by downloading the latest firmware (which I believe is now v3.5) by following the instructions posted here), program the dongle with my IR remote (I settled on using the standard universal remote that comes with my TV) and then plug in the FLIRC dongle into the USB port of the FireTV.
After that, I had a "All-In-One" universal remote solution that would allow me to operate both my TV and FireTV with one remote.
smithmal

Fire TV with Bluetooth keyboard + mouse/trackpad

I apologize up front because I can see that this has been discussed but I can't find a definitive answer after reading through all the different threads.
Is there a way to pair a bluetooth keyboard + mouse/trackpad to the Fire TV with a device that can't be rooted?
I ask because like a lot of others, I just pre-ordered the Fire TV Stick. Now I know it's not out so we don't know what it can/can't do but assuming the code is the same, I'm trying to do some homework before it arrives. And since the Stick doesn't have the USB inputs, I have to rely on Bluetooth or maybe an app for a virtual keyboard/mouse if anyone knows of one.
Thanks in advanced!

I didn't even think of that. I ordered two. I use my K400 occassionally for different apps. I was using the limitless remote app too. The new Fire Tv Remote app might work but I will miss the K400.

stanggman75 said:
I didn't even think of that. I ordered two. I use my K400 occasionally for different apps. I was using the limitless remote app too. The new Fire Tv Remote app might work but I will miss the K400.
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Click to collapse
Yeah. I'm looking for it to use with HBOgo mostly. I'm guessing that the mouse is the important input to get that working.

It will be great if I can pair my Bluetooth mouse with Fire TV Stick.

This works well with the FireTV: http://eud.dx.com/product/ipazzport...google-tv-player-black-844230388#.VHTNJTSsVx0

podge3 said:
This works well with the FireTV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that a bluetooth device? Or does it have a USB dongle? The Fire Stick doesn't have a free USB port.

jeck11 said:
Is that a bluetooth device? Or does it have a USB dongle? The Fire Stick doesn't have a free USB port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB dongle. I don't use the port for anything else so its fine for me.
Has anyone tried a USB hub on the Fire?

jeck11 said:
Is that a bluetooth device? Or does it have a USB dongle? The Fire Stick doesn't have a free USB port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I am trying to figure out also, a Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad that will work with sideloaded apps like HBO GO or NFL Game Pass that are not compatible with the remote.

usb dongles work on firetv, not on firetv stick.... for now.

Would also like to know, sideloaded Settings.apk on mine to get to the stock android settings. Can detect Microsoft bluetooth mouse, Monoprice bluetooth headset and sound brick but none of them pair right. The two audio devices make a pairing sound. But don't play audio.

I sideloaded the settings.apk, and using it I'm able to successfully pair Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse. Both keyboard and mouse functionalities work just as if it was USB keyboard/mouse.

Aerb ibk-02
kanedo said:
I sideloaded the settings.apk, and using it I'm able to successfully pair Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse. Both keyboard and mouse functionalities work just as if it was USB keyboard/mouse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, keyboard pairing works with both Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. I've sideloaded the settings apk and have successfully paired the AERB IBK-02 keyboard with trackpad/mouse to both devices. This keyboard has a trackpad, but it has limited functionality. Although scrolling is possible with two finger touch, you cannot click and drag. For this you'll need to pair up a Bluetooth mouse.

vg-kbd2000
I picked this up for my Samsung TV ( doesn't work with mine - no Bluetooth )
But, it works with my Sony GoogleTv and my FTV stick with settings apk side-loaded
the nice thing with this keyboard is that you can pair it with 3 different devices.
It has a selector button on the top to choose which one.
I haven't played with it very long and am trying to figure out what works and what doesn't
To use the touch-pad a switch on the bottom needs to be slid to "mouse mode"
I can't use the TV specific buttons on the right side of the keyboard. Wish i knew how to get them to work with the GoogleTv - it has an Ir blaster built in and will control volume,channel,etc
It will power my TV on and off - it has an Ir transmitter. But, that is all that does - strange
They are marked down to $39 at Best Buy and there are usually many open boxed ones to be had for less. Original price was about $100
But, they are mostly useless for the Samsung Tvs that they do work on - Most of apps do not support the keyboard or so I have read.
Wish the was some sort of unifying remote that I could connect to it and then plug into my TV though.
If you get one, the touchpad goes into a sleep mode after 30 seconds or so. I've read that hitting any button will wake it up. I didn't know that at first and was pairing it , unpairing it and powering it off.
If anyone else picks one of these up, Please post your findings

kanedo said:
I sideloaded the settings.apk, and using it I'm able to successfully pair Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Magic Mouse. Both keyboard and mouse functionalities work just as if it was USB keyboard/mouse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
i tried to connect an Apple Magic Trackpad - i can find it and i can write the pin then im am stuck - it wont connect - how did you do it ?

[Q] Remote controll for Fire tv OneForAll ?

Hello every one.
Does any one know how this works !
I have a Sony Bravia KDL 24EX320 TV, and the fire tv box,
I allso have a number of other boxies to controll,
so I have a "OneForAll 7960" remote controll witch is surpossed to be just a "IR" remote,
But I have found that I can controll my Fire tv box with it, I can move though the menues and seclect things with it.
I just though I would let people know about this incase it could be helpfull to some one.

Are you doing this when TV is selected?
If so, it is controlling through HDMI CEC.
I did that with my Sharp tv, but it does not work with my Panasonic.

Yep, it's gotta be hdmi cec. Fire TV doesn't have a ir receiver built in.

Remote
mrhoque said:
Are you doing this when TV is selected?
If so, it is controlling through HDMI CEC.
I did that with my Sharp tv, but it does not work with my Panasonic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it only works for Sony tvs. I have the 55W829 and i can use the tv remote for my Amazon fire tv as well. Also works when Kodi is enabled.

Amazon FireTV Remote - Pairing HELP!

Hey!
I can't for the love of god be able to pair my Amazon FireTV Remote, Shield TV does not want to detect it while my macbook detects the remote without any problem.
I hold the "Home button" on the FireTV remote to put it in pairing mode, my macbook detects the fire remote without any problem and the shield never shows it while looking for bluetooth devices...
I tested my bluetooth speaker to see if shield's bluetooth was working and it detected the speaker without any problem, I don't understand why it never "sees" the firetv remote.. any ideias? plz halp!

Hello,
which Version do you like to pair? The Amazon Fire TV 1 or 2 remote? I have a Fire TV 2 Box and i was able to pair the remote with the Shield. The Version 2 is not bluetooth! You have to pair it as original Stuff.
Greetings

Can you use the Amazon Fire TV remote off/on button to turn off or make the Shield sleep?

Turn on does work with every key. But turn off you have to use the shutdown menu. But at this time i use a Logitech Remote + Hub + Flirc.

AndroidDuke17 said:
Hello,
which Version do you like to pair? The Amazon Fire TV 1 or 2 remote? I have a Fire TV 2 Box and i was able to pair the remote with the Shield. The Version 2 is not bluetooth! You have to pair it as original Stuff.
Greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by pair it as original stuff? I have a fire tv voice remote 2nd generation and can't seem to pair it with the shield.

BRICK0044 said:
What do you mean by pair it as original stuff? I have a fire tv voice remote 2nd generation and can't seem to pair it with the shield.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he (or she) means you need to pair it as a Shield accessory rather than as a bluetooth accessory.

mrwookie6379 said:
I believe he (or she) means you need to pair it as a Shield accessory rather than as a bluetooth accessory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely right. The remote 2nd generation is not a bluetooth. You have to pair it as original remote in the menu.
Regards

I have the first generation, it's bluetooth, but the shield doesn't detect it.

efegue said:
I have the first generation, it's bluetooth, but the shield doesn't detect it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same Problem. I own a Amazon Fire TV gen1 bluetooth voice remote and I can not connect it with my nvidia shield tv pro.
I hope this is not caused by the firmware update version 352.
Any hint out there? I can not find the ES File Explorer too.
Greetings by Idijt

I didn't have to do any pairing to make it works.
But for few days, voice research doesn't works anymore.

shaun.s said:
Can you use the Amazon Fire TV remote off/on button to turn off or make the Shield sleep?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which on/off button?
The Fire TV remote does not have such a button.

I_did_it_just_tmrrow said:
I had the same Problem. I own a Amazon Fire TV gen1 bluetooth voice remote and I can not connect it with my nvidia shield tv pro.
I hope this is not caused by the firmware update version 352.
Any hint out there? I can not find the ES File Explorer too.
Greetings by Idijt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Amazon Fire TV Gen 1 voice remote too and cannot pair it to my Nvidia Shield TV? It can't see it even though I've tried both ways to put the remote into discovery mode:
1) Hold HOME button for 5-10 seconds
2) Take batteries out and put them back in
I like this remote better because it has all the buttons I actually need to use. I think someone at Nvidia tried to make their remote too simple that it hurt its basic functionality.

Assuming the v1. Voice is anything like the v2 Voice...
You'll need to give it more like 20s! This is also true for the FireTV2 itself. 10s, just isnt nearly long enough.

i have the shield tv (2017) and the firetv4k remote
when trying to pair as shiel accessorie i press the home button for abt 10-20 sec and then i see that the shield moves to the next step of pairing...however after some waiting time it fails and gives a failure message
any idea what else i could try?

snoopy7804 said:
i have the shield tv (2017) and the firetv4k remote
when trying to pair as shiel accessorie i press the home button for abt 10-20 sec and then i see that the shield moves to the next step of pairing...however after some waiting time it fails and gives a failure message
any idea what else i could try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have same issue, it shows Shield controller but then stops process

after the upgrade to nougat i had the same problem... pairing the amazon remote took forever and ended in a failure notice. try to pair the game controller first and than the fire tv remote. after pairing the game controler and orignal shield remote the amazon remote paired just fine.

Anyone found a solution? None of those solution works, amazon fire voice remote worked with my old tv shield, but it won't pair with 2017 model.
It dose show a picture of old shield tv game controller, after a while say faild.

n4r30s said:
Anyone found a solution? None of those solution works, amazon fire voice remote worked with my old tv shield, but it won't pair with 2017 model.
It dose show a picture of old shield tv game controller, after a while say faild.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible that this is a Android 7 Nougat bug with bluetooth? I found something similar with a short google query.
At common:
Perhaps there is a chance to use adb or another script to add bluetooth firetv remotes.
I found some adb cpommands but missed the importand ones: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41594707/adb-shell-bluetooth-commands
This is looking nice too and seems to have some code on github: http://www.londatiga.net/it/program...ally-pair-or-unpair-android-bluetooth-device/
We shoukd be able to find out the mac of the remote on a working FireTV-Device with adb enabled.
I am currently not at home to try it it out, can somebody try it?
Greetings by Idijt

..

2nd gen fire tv remote:
voice search was working perfectly till the last update. now it will start searching on button up and down so the results cant be shown because of the new search action
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FireTV stick working with TV remote

I have a few firetv sticks. Today I noticed something peculiar. One is located in my garage and I was using an IPTV app on the device. I picked up the tv remote to set the timer. I backed out and realized was backing out of a menu app on the firetv. I also have an RCA universal 6 device remote and it worked as well. I know I programmed the rca to control a roku. But I don’t recall doing anything for the firetv. I certainly never did anything to the Panasonic remote (it’s an older plasma tv). Anyone ever seen this? I have many of the universal remotes and it would be great to program more to work with other firetv sticks.

What you're seeing is called HDMI-CEC. It allows the TV to send basic navigation commands to the Fire TV over the HDMI connection. No programming is needed. You can verify this is what is happening by disabling HDMI-CEC in the Fire TV's display settings. See here: http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire...able-hdmi-cec-in-new-5-2-4-0-software-update/