Firestick short remote range - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Remote control will only work about 1 foot away from firestick. Worked OK for a while then this happened. Checked with another firestick and remote so definately problem in firestick. Done a full reset but problem still there and re paired remotes. Batteries fine Works fine with Iphone app Sideloaded progs and didn't try to root it. Is this a symptom of efuse failure or can it be fixed

Mine's also garbage. Drops out before 1m away, so an expensive piece of rubbish never to be used. Most people sit a few metres away from their TVs, so not being able to use your remote to change channels when seated is like going back to pushbutton TVs. An awful product - don't waste your money on it.

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Incredibly cheap media center?

Alright so i have an idea here. A friend gave me his old incredible and at first I just used it as an voip house phone. Now that boxee is such a pita I had the thought that maybe I could use the dinc for that aspect of entertainment. Here's the plan: I have an older TV (read rca hookups only) in the bedroom. The TV out cable goes usb to rca right? Hook that puppy up with a charger and the tv, put netflix app on it and it's a media center! Get the tablet remote app to control it from the bed using my rezound with bluetooth? IDK if this setup would work as I don't have the tv out cable and i'm not willing to spend the dough on it if this doesn't work. (I'm a cheapskate.) Thoughts, comments, concerns? Thanks ahead!
Edit:
Nevermind, it seems that the tablet remote doesn't work so well. Although I may set it up and just disregard the remote control part. Unless of course anyone has other options...
You could also setup a windows media server on your pc, and then use an app called Homedia to stream your music pictures and vidoes to your phone connected to your tv. You could do both and have netflix and all of your personal vidoes pics and music. Then you wold have a true media center, tv, streaming, personal media.
Thanks, but really I'm looking for something dirt cheap and micro-machine small. I had a laptop set up with boxee and xbmc for a while, I just don't really have room for even that amount of clutter. All I want is netflix on an old tv, I'll probably end up just putting the dinc up there and getting up to manually change shows. Beats rabbit ears and fine tuning the uhf dial like when I was a kid though lol.
Edit: I looked back attention post and I see what you're saying but the laptop I have from 2005 is the only pc I have and I can't dedicate it as a media server. The one I was using as a htpc crapped out on me finally, it was a 2004 hp so it gave me more than I ever expected. So my options are very limited for now.
Sent from my Rezound

HDMI "no signal"

I'm trying to resurrect a 42" 1080p lcd which works fine except with certain devices (ps3, Sony Google TV, and of course aftv). Apple TV 2 & 3, roku xd and RPI all work. I've tried countless methods including power cycling and every HDMI cable I own. Plug in the aftv and it says "no signal"
This is not a problem specific to aftv but I figured somebody has had the same issue and maybe found a fix I haven't tried. I'd appreciate any ideas including causes. Seems obvious this is a handshake issue but why do some devices work and some don't? Ps3 is notorious for this but other devices like aftv not as much. I'd even be willing to buy an adapter if anyone's confident enough to think it might work...
Btw--no signal means exactly that. I don't get picture or sound. Google TV manifested differently, picture would flash on & off with sound. The other devices mentioned just yield "no signal"
Make sure you have a hdmi 1.4 cable.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
KLit75 said:
I'm trying to resurrect a 42" 1080p lcd which works fine except with certain devices (ps3, Sony Google TV, and of course aftv). Apple TV 2 & 3, roku xd and RPI all work. I've tried countless methods including power cycling and every HDMI cable I own. Plug in the aftv and it says "no signal"
This is not a problem specific to aftv but I figured somebody has had the same issue and maybe found a fix I haven't tried. I'd appreciate any ideas including causes. Seems obvious this is a handshake issue but why do some devices work and some don't? Ps3 is notorious for this but other devices like aftv not as much. I'd even be willing to buy an adapter if anyone's confident enough to think it might work...
Btw--no signal means exactly that. I don't get picture or sound. Google TV manifested differently, picture would flash on & off with sound. The other devices mentioned just yield "no signal"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
plug it into a working TV and set the display to 720p and then try your lcd
quangnv said:
Make sure you have a hdmi 1.4 cable.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
nhumber said:
plug it into a working TV and set the display to 720p and then try your lcd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestions, but think i tried both already, unfortunately. Thats what makes it more puzzling.
Btw--i guess i cant say with 100% certainty i used 1.4 but ive gone through everyone i have, some were expensive gold tipped. Ill pay closer attention.
Also...i called my TV Manufacturer a while back & the rep said to try a cheaper/older one like a 1.1 or 1.0
If no devices worked this would be easy to diagnose but it being selective is really confusing.
KLit75 said:
Thanks for the suggestions, but think i tried both already, unfortunately. Thats what makes it more puzzling.
Btw--i guess i cant say with 100% certainty i used 1.4 but ive gone through everyone i have, some were expensive gold tipped. Ill pay closer attention.
Also...i called my TV Manufacturer a while back & the rep said to try a cheaper/older one like a 1.1 or 1.0
If no devices worked this would be easy to diagnose but it being selective is really confusing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one weird non-obvious thing about HDMI - the signal source, i.e. your console/tv-box/whatever is actually drawing a bit of power from the TV. not a huge amount, but something nominal.
this is one of the reasons why getting a not necessarily better but just different cable makes a difference - sometimes just the shortest cable you can manage. similarly setting lower resolution. (although you said you'd tried that)
could be your TV is getting old and maybe some components wearing out a little?
I had this exact problem a couple years ago with my no-name-brand generic 42" LCD and various Android sticks. the TV was decent in general, but it quite obviously was not supplying enough power on HDMI. lowering resolution to 720p fixed it, and I was eventually able to get 1080p by randomly finding the "right" cable.
another thing that worked (and is a really, really stupid going-backwards sub-sub-optimal solution) ... I tried a (powered) converter box that separates the HDMI signal out into VGA + 3.5mm stereo. seriously stupid in terms of getting decent resolution and in so many other ways. but it solved the power problem. (there are similar powered boxes that do DVI-out, and I think even ones that just go HDMI->HDMI, and only exist to e.g. break out the audio or other reasons)
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 AM ----------
(or if you have an A/V receiver to borrow/test, try putting the signal through that)
tarvoke said:
one weird non-obvious thing about HDMI - the signal source, i.e. your console/tv-box/whatever is actually drawing a bit of power from the TV. not a huge amount, but something nominal.
this is one of the reasons why getting a not necessarily better but just different cable makes a difference - sometimes just the shortest cable you can manage. similarly setting lower resolution. (although you said you'd tried that)
could be your TV is getting old and maybe some components wearing out a little?
I had this exact problem a couple years ago with my no-name-brand generic 42" LCD and various Android sticks. the TV was decent in general, but it quite obviously was not supplying enough power on HDMI. lowering resolution to 720p fixed it, and I was eventually able to get 1080p by randomly finding the "right" cable.
another thing that worked (and is a really, really stupid going-backwards sub-sub-optimal solution) ... I tried a (powered) converter box that separates the HDMI signal out into VGA + 3.5mm stereo. seriously stupid in terms of getting decent resolution and in so many other ways. but it solved the power problem. (there are similar powered boxes that do DVI-out, and I think even ones that just go HDMI->HDMI, and only exist to e.g. break out the audio or other reasons)
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 AM ----------
(or if you have an A/V receiver to borrow/test, try putting the signal through that)
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Click to collapse
Youve given me lots of ideas. Thanks!
I have considered buying an adapter in the past, but not for this tv . Yes. I have many tvs and this is not the only "hdmi impaired" one.
My bedroom tv has an issue with audio cutting in and out indefinitely if the aftv is powered on before the tv. A reboot fixes the glitch but you can imagine how annoying that is. The solution posted here was an hdmi with pin 13 removed. Apparently theres only one company that makes these and imo they're a bit pricey. But I still might get one.
I hadnt considered buying one for this tv but if it fixes the issue i would. There is a way to remove pin 13 yourself , however, it requires tools i don't think i have. Plus i worry that damage could be done if i screw up. Also, im not certain if it would matter for the tv in the op but of course if i bought one i could try it on that tv.
I had a similar issue where the solution was to use a different cable. In my case was to use an HDMI to DVI cable where I proved my LCD was still working but had power issues. then I tried different HDMI cables and found one that finally worked with that LCD. the cable was long and came with my xbox one. all the other cables except those two wont work with that LCD monitor. They are happily married since then. Just to let you know that happens sometimes.
rueda said:
I had a similar issue where the solution was to use a different cable. In my case was to use an HDMI to DVI cable where I proved my LCD was still working but had power issues. then I tried different HDMI cables and found one that finally worked with that LCD. the cable was long and came with my xbox one. all the other cables except those two wont work with that LCD monitor. They are happily married since then. Just to let you know that happens sometimes.
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Click to collapse
Just to see a conclusion to this thread...I got aftv working on this TV.
First, I switched it to 720p on a different TV
Then, I tried it--fail as usual BUT 3RD CABLE'S A CHARM!
Btw-- ps3 still won't work. That's probably why it took awhile to get aftv working (soooo many failed attempts with ps3) I though aftv would no doubt be the same.
Thanks for everyone's input!
amazon fire stick no signal
Any individual who's lined up a motion picture on Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu just to have it ... of information every month without any limitations on the season of day you use it. ... pull in a remote flag and associate with adjacent gadgets by means of Ethernet for the additional lift.
Fire stick saids no signal!! Help me!!

Fixed CEC audio problem!

Edit--I'm sorry to report that after further testing the below is no longer working for me. It's strange that initially the audio glitch disappeared but I probably shouldn't have posted in haste. So following this I decided to try taping both pin 13s on both sides of the hdmi cable. I tried it again on my test tv and roku box first and this time it might be worth noting that a new message appeared on the tv saying "unsupported mode". This gave me some optimism to try it on aftv with both sides taped but i still have the same glitch when i power off my tv while leaving aftv on. If anyone has any insights, I'm listening. BTW--I didn't just come up with this concept. It does fix certain issues with older tv sets and newer set top boxes but my bedroom tv has something else going on i think.
I thought I'd tentatively share my working solution for cec on my bedroom aftv. I posted in the past that my bedroom tv absolutely MUST be powered on first before AFTV or the audio from every video i play will cut in & out indefinitely until i reboot aftv. This is extraordinarily annoying, especially since i have boot menu so the reboot process takes even longer. Someone isolated the problem as bad cec support on my bedroom tv. Looking into it, I saw you can remove or bend pin 13 on hdmi cables to kill cec. This seemed a little reckless so here's what I did...
I experimented with an old and unused roku box. I took a tiny sliver of electrical tape and carefully covered pin 13 on the hdmi cable. It took me like 7 times to get it perfect. Then i tried it with my roku box and everything worked fine.
So then i tried it on aftv with my old cec-impaired tv and it fixed my issue! Finally!
Only thing I wonder is the material i used. It's just a piece of electrical tape which should stay in place because this particular tv is mounted tightly to the wall with no side inputs (very difficult to plug in hdmi). Not that heat should be much of a factor since electrical tape should withstand but does anyone know of any reason this material might adversely affect the TV? All is working fine so I'm not trying to be pessimistic but if anyone with advanced knowledge of hdmi/cec has any info to add please let me know here. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this info, I fortunately do not suffer from this problem but this is really great info. Thank you for the informative post

Turning my 'smart' TV into a dumb TV.

Is there a way to dumb down my so-called smart TV? I'm sick of software updates, issues with connectivity, even turning it off can sometimes not work properly. I just want to have the TV I have now, but with no excess software. I just want to turn it on, connect to the internet through a cable, use the in-built chromecast, select input and change volume. I can't be alone in this. I'm sick of updating software. I don't need a smart TV, I just need a dumb vessel.
I rue the day, and at this rate it's only a matter of time until everything becomes 'smart'. Your fridge, your washing machine, your toilet. And when your food spoils because your internet went down or your toilet won't flush because of a bad update.
Meleagru said:
Is there a way to dumb down my so-called smart TV? I'm sick of software updates, issues with connectivity, even turning it off can sometimes not work properly. I just want to have the TV I have now, but with no excess software. I just want to turn it on, connect to the internet through a cable, use the in-built chromecast, select input and change volume. I can't be alone in this. I'm sick of updating software. I don't need a smart TV, I just need a dumb vessel.
I rue the day, and at this rate it's only a matter of time until everything becomes 'smart'. Your fridge, your washing machine, your toilet. And when your food spoils because your internet went down or your toilet won't flush because of a bad update.
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Click to collapse
Please unplug your power supply

Multiple Firestick Issues -- long explanation necessary

I'm sorry that this post is long, but if I don't explain everything, the issues won't make sense.
1. I got a firestick in January of 2020. I'm using it on a older TV: Sanyo -- 10 to 15 years old -- does have 2 HDMI ports.
2. I have fiber optic cable, and the connection speed always says "Very Good."
3. For roughly six months, the firestick worked amazingly well.
4. Recently, it is usually slow. Takes too much time to bring up the show I want. It sometimes cuts away from what I'm watching completely, and returns to the homepage. I've tried 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz. Neither seems better than the other.
5. I've tried restarting and resetting the firestick. I've also uninstalled whatever applications allow for that. On others, I've used "Force Stop," and I've cleaned out the data and cache for all apps. I've turned off all things like "Data Monitoring," as suggested on other sites.
6. I've tried the ethernet adapter and cable, connecting the firestick directly to the router. This doesn't seem to help at all.
7. The firestick is close to the router, anyway -- about 8 feet.
8. The router, rented from the cable company, is older, but I don't know how old. It's a Calix Gigacenter, 844E-1, model 100-04015.
Additional Info: I live in a small apartment. My nearest neighbor, whose apartment is a bit larger, has a Roku, and a different ISP. Her cable is the "regular," meaning not fiber optic. She has frequent disconnection problems, and we both have very poor cell phone signals. Other neighbors have similar problems regarding their cell phones -- but I've been told that cell phone signals (or lack of same) don't have any connection with cables. Even so, it seems that this apartment complex exists in a twilight zone of some kind.
This apartment complex is within the city limits of a small town (population @ 8000)
More information that seems especially ODD to me: Other than the firestick under discussion, I have one more firestick (in the bedroom), a fairly new laptop, and a state of the art desktop -- all on the same network. The ODD part is, the firestick under discussion does better when all the other devices are running. (Wait. The firestick in the bedroom runs for only a short time at night; then it's off. So the living room firestick runs better when the desktop and the laptop are both running.
This seems the opposite of what it should be, but there you have it. Any ideas and help will be much appreciated. Thank you

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