Develop Bugs

XBMC customization help

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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.

Wifey bought me a FTV!

I currently use plex for my media management solution, which is fantastic. I have a quad processor server with 18TB of storage, 12TB usable as its configured for Raid6. I chose plex due to the fact that plexapps are available for my Samsung smart tvs, and for simplicity with my chromecast.
The wife knows my love of tinkering and that I've been eyeballing the AFTV for a while now. Can anyone provide some insight? I'm looking to further enhance my cord-cutting future as we are moving to South Korea next year and will need to rely on my server as well as streaming content for entertainment.
I'm tired of horrible firstrow streams for my football games, as well as UFC matches and indycar/rally races. Are there "alternatives" available with much improved quality?
Anything I should do first to the AFTV? How can I integrate it into my existing content delivery system?
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

cliff p said:
Anything I should do first to the AFTV? How can I integrate it into my existing content delivery system?
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Might want to see if you can root the Fire TV before you ever hook it up. This allows for harnessing the power of the device with XBMC and the addons that are available. The How to setup a new Fire TV without blocking Root guide is a great starting point. Otherwise, the Fire TV will primarily be an Amazon centric box. And where is the fun in that?

That was generally the idea (to root the device first before doing anything else with it).
When I first started looking into Media Servers, I worked very little with XBMC. A few friends with Plex suggested it to me, and it seems to fit the bill more for me. With that being said, can XBMC be integrated or coexist with PMS?
EDIT: Disregard the XBMC question, I did a quick search and found that I can install PlexBMC that will work with the PMS backend.

So I've rooted the AFTV, Installed BB and SuperSU, and XBMC. Added a few "add-ons" like 1Chan and some others. Pretty cool little device! Kinda wishing there were more HD capable streams for certain programs, since there isn't much difference streaming the actual website steam via my laptop to my TV via HDMI.
I may put it in my VPN route and see if I can get my NFL games in HD at least.
Quite honestly wondering if it was worth installing Plex on, since my Samsung TV already has Plex and is a bit more seamless. I may use the device in place of the Chromecast dongle I have in the bedroom, though.
Can anyone point me in the right direction for some higher quality feeds, etc?
Almost forgot: Themes for the XBMC? Is it more worthwhile to have XBMC autostart on boot? I don't have a subscription for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, etc. I use Plex, and use it heavily with Sickbeard/Couchpotato/Headphones/Etc.
THX.

Take a look at the [LAUNCHER] XBMC for Fire TV (Root). This XBMC launcher replaces the Fire TV launcher and at the same time allows access to it if you were to have Amazon content.

mjbxx said:
Take a look at the [LAUNCHER] XBMC for Fire TV (Root). This XBMC launcher replaces the Fire TV launcher and at the same time allows access to it if you were to have Amazon content.
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Works great! Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

[Q] Turn my FTV into just a XMBC / Netflix Player -

i am rooted and have the latest software up and running. i have kodi installed and all set up.
i would like to get rid of as much amazon crapware as possible. i don't want to offend any amazon lovers, its just the only reason i bought this device is to run xmbc (kodi) better than i was on my apple tv. so far i like it a lot better.
i would love to have it boot into a screen with two icons, netflix and xmbc. is this what you would call a Launcher? is the best one for what I'm after here? do you recommend anything else? maybe with some screen shots?
Thanks guys, Cody

Yes, you can do that. You can either do it with the launcher you linked (pretty much makes xbmc the central hub of the fire tv) or this, which I prefer:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2782307
With that launcher you can just show xbmc and netflix and quickly boot into either. Or with the xbmc launcher you can create a shortcut to netflix from within xbmc.

[Q] Install kodi and other android apps without root?

Thinking about getting a fire tv stick, as I run kodi currently on my phone and cast to my tv using Chromecast...generally works great except for live football streams which seem to come in don't propriety format flash style which prevent me from casting those..I can mirror my screen easily but I list some quality and it's not ideal...could I install kodi on a fire tv stick as is and have it stream directly to that? That's my main need from any new device I purchase
Thanks for advice!
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Free mobile app

somepepe**** said:
Thinking about getting a fire tv stick, as I run kodi currently on my phone and cast to my tv using Chromecast...generally works great except for live football streams which seem to come in don't propriety format flash style which prevent me from casting those..I can mirror my screen easily but I list some quality and it's not ideal...could I install kodi on a fire tv stick as is and have it stream directly to that? That's my main need from any new device I purchase
Thanks for advice!
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a tool to work with your Fire TV stick, just three threads under your thread... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2736774

Alternative: http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-apps-amazon-fire-tv-windows/
You don't need root to install "normal" apps.
What's especially slick (I guess from a recent firmware update) is that if you sideload an app to a FireTV that is actually available in the general Amazon App Store (worked for me with Kodi, SPMC and Crunchyroll), then install the same app through the Amazon App Store on an Android device connected to the same Amazon account as the FireTV, after your account syncs up the FireTV is tricked into showing the app on the FireTV Recent row on the home page.
FYI, I've had the Stick for about 2 weeks: for $40 it's awesome. I've seen some people state that SPMC works better than Kodi, but I haven't noticed any difference yet. No issues with live streams in Sportsdevil or Vdubt25.

somepepe**** said:
Thinking about getting a fire tv stick, as I run kodi currently on my phone and cast to my tv using Chromecast...generally works great except for live football streams which seem to come in don't propriety format flash style which prevent me from casting those..I can mirror my screen easily but I list some quality and it's not ideal...could I install kodi on a fire tv stick as is and have it stream directly to that? That's my main need from any new device I purchase
Thanks for advice!
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you stream kodi to your chromecast? I've tried multiple different ways and none work.

Im sure you can screen cast your screen to CC and then whatevers on your phone will come up on your tv. thats how I used it on my note 4

Fire TV or Roku Ultra? which one it better?

I am going to change my old MX tv box, have done some research on google, it seems that the Amazon's tv device and the Roku's tv decice, so I decided to select one from this two brands...I found a top tv boxes review one google, saying that the Amazon Fire TV​​​​​​​ got over 10,000 apps for the tv box but only 140 channels, and the Roku Ultra got over 3500 channels but not as much as app selections like the fire tv. anyone have experience on the both devices? which one is better?

FIRE TV Definitely because it's pretty much android so you can install apk files and you can get kodi and set it up for free movies!

I agree. You can add kodi and other android apps on fire which you cannot on Roku.

thanks
Bren123 said:
FIRE TV Definitely because it's pretty much android so you can install apk files and you can get kodi and set it up for free movies!
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thanks, I am going to take the Fire TV...

maybeme2 said:
I agree. You can add kodi and other android apps on fire which you cannot on Roku.
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Thx! have decided to take the fire tv!!!

Hulowala2 said:
Thx! have decided to take the fire tv!!!
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Beware the fire stick is great but can run a bit slow with Kodi. The fire TV box is better.