Just bought a Fire TV Stick. Within the first minute of use, I hit my first snag. When I traverse along a row of apps, or choose a letter in text entry, etc., by depressing and holding the navigation ring on the remote control, the key repeat rate is waaay too fast, and I always overshoot. I can't find a setting for key repeat rate. Is there an app to do that? Does the Fire Stick have secret developer menus accessible by key sequences on the remote control, like a Roku box does, that might have that setting? Is there a hack? Would it require rooting?
Bump. Am I the only person whose key repeat rate is waaay too fast, and overshoots every time?
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I purchased PDAWin's TV Remote Control program some time ago, and it meets all my needs, but there is one issue, the delay! when you push a button, there is approx. a .75 second delay between when the button is "pushed" on the screen, and the IR pulse is actually transmitted, and the program allows you to press the next button. needless to say, this makes entering complex instruction to my DVR for example, quite tedious. My question is this: Is it possible to make the program more responsive/faster, to make it behave exactly as if you were using the actual physical remote? Make it allow for rapid button entry, without delays? and if so what method would you recommend?
There are lots of install instructions for Dead Trigger such as:
http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4069-Dead-Trigger-on-OUYA-(How-to-install)
And more detailed:
http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4107-Sideloading-Dead-Trigger-A-tutorial/
But they miss a couple of important points that took me almost an hour to figure out.
First, the game jumps right into the tutorial mission one and never gives you a chance to configure the game controller. I found two ways to pause the game and open the configuration menu for the game pad.
One, simply plug in a USB keyboard into your Ouya and press the Esc key. I also saw notes that a PS3 remote would do the job but I don't own one of these.
Two, while the game is running put the Ouya into sleep mode by pressing the power button on top of the Ouya once (*not* a long press.) When you wake your Ouya Dead Trigger will be at the pause menu and you can select setup with the touch pad.
The next problem was assigning buttons in the configure game pad screen. This took me forever to figure out. When assigning buttons, hold down the button you want to assign, move the mouse pointer over the assignment square and click (tap the touchpad.) Hold down the button you want the entire time. Don't forget to make use of the two axis buttons on the two joysticks.
kbocek said:
There are lots of install instructions for Dead Trigger such as:
http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4069-Dead-Trigger-on-OUYA-(How-to-install)
And more detailed:
http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4107-Sideloading-Dead-Trigger-A-tutorial/
But they miss a couple of important points that took me almost an hour to figure out.
First, the game jumps right into the tutorial mission one and never gives you a chance to configure the game controller. I found two ways to pause the game and open the configuration menu for the game pad.
One, simply plug in a USB keyboard into your Ouya and press the Esc key. I also saw notes that a PS3 remote would do the job but I don't own one of these.
Two, while the game is running put the Ouya into sleep mode by pressing the power button on top of the Ouya once (*not* a long press.) When you wake your Ouya Dead Trigger will be at the pause menu and you can select setup with the touch pad.
The next problem was assigning buttons in the configure game pad screen. This took me forever to figure out. When assigning buttons, hold down the button you want to assign, move the mouse pointer over the assignment square and click (tap the touchpad.) Hold down the button you want the entire time. Don't forget to make use of the two axis buttons on the two joysticks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I'm late to the party but your explanation of button mapping saved me pulling out my hair!
Will the app save your place and settings without being able to connect to the server? Mine will not connect
I used to turn off power for any unused devices, even it takes only few watt. There is no menu to shutdown and turn off fire TV before I cut its power. I'm wondering whether it is safe to cut its power at any time. Or it's not necessary to have a menu selection to shutdown system? Thanks.
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billsam38 said:
I used to turn off power for any unused devices, even it takes only few watt. There is no menu to shutdown and turn off fire TV before I cut its power. I'm wondering whether it is safe to cut its power at any time. Or it's not necessary to have a menu selection to shutdown system? Thanks.
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Click to collapse
It should be safe to just unplug, but if you use it often eventually it could cause a problem either in the firmware or the the connection itself. A simple solution would be something like a Woods wireless remote outlet. The one I have comes with 3 plugs and a remote with a switch for each. The plug can take a bit of room on the surge protector but so does the FTV power cord. I just press and hold the select and play buttons on the FTV remote for about 5 seconds and when the screen goes black I hit the power button for the outlet.
billsam38 said:
I used to turn off power for any unused devices, even it takes only few watt. There is no menu to shutdown and turn off fire TV before I cut its power. I'm wondering whether it is safe to cut its power at any time. Or it's not necessary to have a menu selection to shutdown system? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a Microsoft remote (MCE Remote). The power button on the MCE remote will put the firetv back to sleep. When you hit the power button again it turns back on, or hitting any button on the firetv remote.
I actually prefer the MCE remote because it offers more function when using XBMC and VIMU. I can actually time skip vs ffwd, hit stop, etc... Only complaint is there is no home button. The microsuck button does not take me home, and I have not figured out how to program it on the MCE remote.
mattngsx said:
Get a Microsoft remote (MCE Remote). The power button on the MCE remote will put the firetv back to sleep. When you hit the power button again it turns back on, or hitting any button on the firetv remote.
I actually prefer the MCE remote because it offers more function when using XBMC and VIMU. I can actually time skip vs ffwd, hit stop, etc... Only complaint is there is no home button. The microsuck button does not take me home, and I have not figured out how to program it on the MCE remote.
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Click to collapse
As i've stated in another thread, "sleep" on this is pretty much the same as sleep on a regular android device. It's still fully awake, although the CPU might be downclocked a little.
As for home, you need F12 to get home.
rbox said:
As i've stated in another thread, "sleep" on this is pretty much the same as sleep on a regular android device. It's still fully awake, although the CPU might be downclocked a little.
As for home, you need F12 to get home.
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Click to collapse
I love low watt setups, so I know the mind set for the OP. It would have been nice to be able power off the device! I was told that lab126 felt the footprint was small enough in standby that it wasn't needed. They also wanted to be able to update when not in use, etc...
You could hook it up the ftv to a power strip. I've seen power strips that have one active outlet and shuts off the rest of the outlets when the primary device is not used. That could be another option?
Rbox- Do you know where the MCE remote values are stored in the FIreTV. I want to see if I can modify so the windows button is f12.
mattngsx said:
Rbox- Do you know where the MCE remote values are stored in the FIreTV. I want to see if I can modify so the windows button is f12.
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Click to collapse
Since it shows up as a regular HID keyboard I don't think it has a keylayout file. What I do know, is that the kernel could probably do it. The HID layer has a quirks system that allows you do to funky stuff for individual HID devices. Do you know the usb vendor and device id for the remote? I can take a look at the quirks stuff tonight and see if we can do anything. It might have to wait until custom kernels can be loaded though.
rbox said:
Since it shows up as a regular HID keyboard I don't think it has a keylayout file. What I do know, is that the kernel could probably do it. The HID layer has a quirks system that allows you do to funky stuff for individual HID devices. Do you know the usb vendor and device id for the remote? I can take a look at the quirks stuff tonight and see if we can do anything. It might have to wait until custom kernels can be loaded though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm at work but I can pull the HID/Device info when i get home tonight. I will PM you the info, so we're not clogging the OP's thread.
It takes 3 to 4 watts to stream a movie - measured on a Kill a Watt meter. I forgot what the reading was on sleep mode but its not much. The max watts I've seen was 5 watts and that's while installing an app.
mattngsx said:
Get a Microsoft remote (MCE Remote). The power button on the MCE remote will put the firetv back to sleep. When you hit the power button again it turns back on, or hitting any button on the firetv remote.
I actually prefer the MCE remote because it offers more function when using XBMC and VIMU. I can actually time skip vs ffwd, hit stop, etc... Only complaint is there is no home button. The microsuck button does not take me home, and I have not figured out how to program it on the MCE remote.
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Click to collapse
Which MCE remote do you use? I have one from philips but it doesnt work with my ftv.
Enviado de meu GT-N7100 usando Tapatalk
KillerJoeBR said:
Which MCE remote do you use? I have one from philips but it doesnt work with my ftv.
Enviado de meu GT-N7100 usando Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
What gen is it? I heard old mce receivers don't work? My USB receiver is a Phillips/nxp. It came with my zotac mini pc.
I just got my fire TV, rooted and installed a few apps including the firedtv.
I left it over night and realized it never went into sleep (the front led was on). I was able to put into sleep using a keyboard, but I don't want to keep the keyboard near my fire tv all the time.
Do you guys know what is wrong?
minmao said:
I just got my fire TV, rooted and installed a few apps including the firedtv.
I left it over night and realized it never went into sleep (the front led was on). I was able to put into sleep using a keyboard, but I don't want to keep the keyboard near my fire tv all the time.
Do you guys know what is wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try rebooting your box and without loading any external apps, see if it goes to sleep after a certain time. My guest is that an app is still running in the background preventing sleep mode.
When I first installed XBMC that happened too. I found out that XBMC was still running in the background because I didn't properly exit the app. Clicking the home button on the remote just leaves XBMC running in the background. Exit by pressing XBMC power off button and setting the system power saving timer to shut down at a interval during idle works.
ETFoneHome said:
Try rebooting your box and without loading any external apps, see if it goes to sleep after a certain time. My guest is that an app is still running in the background preventing sleep mode.
When I first installed XBMC that happened too. I found out that XBMC was still running in the background because I didn't properly exit the app. Clicking the home button on the remote just leaves XBMC running in the background. Exit by pressing XBMC power off button and setting the system power saving timer to shut down at a interval during idle works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also set the power off setting in xbmc to exit after some idle time value.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Shinyhead said:
You can also set the power off setting in xbmc to exit after some idle time value.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Yea, that's what I said. It's set to 30mins. Works fine.
I am looking to consolidate my TV remote, keyboard, + FireTV remote to one remote with keyboard + IR controls for my dumb TV power + volume. What is everyone else using? Recommendations?
I've been eyeing the Aerb MX3 and MeLE F10 Deluxe. I'm leaning towards the Aerb because it allows the IR buttons to be used without switching to a TV remote mode. I'm nervous about the air mouse kicking on all the time and selecting things I didn't intend to.
Which one did you get? I just ordered the aerb mx3 as am hoping it works good with stb emulator and am happy that it can turn the tv off and on too.. will do up a review after i get it.
I use a harmony smart keyboard. It can send IR to TV and pairs with FireTV using bluetooth. I also have the basic remote. So I use the basic remote 90% of the time but when I need a keyboard and mouse I use that.
I have the F10 Deluxe and love it to death, but it took some keymap editing to get the thing to stop being more of an annoyance than a help, so if you're not rooted/can't root I really wouldn't bother. If you ARE rooted, however, it's pretty amazing. The keyboard's pretty responsive, the air mouse does what it should and only after I turn it on, and being able to charge it by micro USB is a huge plus in my book. I haven't touched the stock remote in almost two months now and I really don't have any complaints.
For anyone interested in it, here's my modified .kl file for the F10 Deluxe. I fixed the mapping for the home and menu buttons, remapped prev/next track to rewind/fast forward, and removed the F10, F11, and F12 mappings for My Box, STB, and TV respectively. If you don't change those last three mappings then any time you press any of those buttons you will minimize or close your current app, which is a real pain when you just wanted to click the TV button to adjust volume.
I was wondering do any of these remotes work on the fire stick since there's no USB port?
that would be a no. oth of these require a USB dongle..
Also. I got the MX3.. dont get it, it sucks.
air mouse mode turns itself on every time the remote wakes from being dormant.. the OK button does not work for most apps unless mouse mode is turned back off.. super annoying.
the back button has the wrong mapping for the fire tv. acts likes a mouse click. - deal breaker
If you're rooted you can remap the keys and i suppose it would be better, but you will still have the problem of the thing activating mouse mode every time you touch a button after it has been dormant for a bit..
that's a bit discouraging ... this morning I'd been eyeing the bluetooth/IR Aerb IBK02
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M32PBXO/
(and there seem to be a ton of clones of this, under the usual names like FAVI -- all of them cost more, some even 2x as much lolol. always have to wonder which is the original, which has better guts, which has better quality/durability keys & touchpad, etc. etc.)
and there was one other BT/IR one I saw today, but it seemed a bit forgettable and overpriced, so I can't remember the brand/model.
psycon said:
that would be a no. oth of these require a USB dongle..
Also. I got the MX3.. dont get it, it sucks.
air mouse mode turns itself on every time the remote wakes from being dormant.. the OK button does not work for most apps unless mouse mode is turned back off.. super annoying.
the back button has the wrong mapping for the fire tv. acts likes a mouse click. - deal breaker
If you're rooted you can remap the keys and i suppose it would be better, but you will still have the problem of the thing activating mouse mode every time you touch a button after it has been dormant for a bit..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 02:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:24 AM ----------
I also get tempted by ones like this BT/IR, every now and then:
http://www.amazon.com/Unisen-USA-iPazzPort-Commander-KP-810-18BR-Programmable/dp/B00AQHXQLC/
again, 7 million different brands and clones and variations: RF, BT, IR, laser pointer...
the one I used to have was a Rii (was that the original company for this style?) - bluetooth+laser, it worked rather well, then after a month or two (hoever long just past the return-period expired) some of the bubble-contact-things on the PCB became permanently crunched and there was no way to recover them.
(I actually still have the thing - the charging circuit still works and the laser still works
but also BIG WARNING: the Rii I had worked great with OUYA - but it never paired once with fireTV (that annoying PIN-code-swap-fail many of us have cursed about so many, many times...)
ended up ordering the Aerb IBK-02. because reasons.
no real review yet, giving it a couple hours to charge. at which point I'll complain more or some junk
but -
k, it now claims charged, which is probably a lie, but I turned it on and played a little -
chiclet keys, I can live with. the board itself is very flexy and not solid. but key presses feel much more durable than those mini Rii/FAVI type tiny ones.
- plus: finally micro-usb! we are out of the mini-usb age!
- minus: 250mah battery. seriously??!? this may require some rocket-surgery, I have 400mah batteries small enough to fit in there.
- super-minus: the IR keys go, in order left-to-right: vol- , chan-, "ok", chan+ , vol+ ...... what in the unholy ever-living ****??!?
- minus: incomprehensible "manual" (plus I literally needed a magnifying glass to read some of it...) eh ok I'll figure it all out eventually.
- PLUS!!!: the bizarre manual mentioned the usual about possibly needing to enter PIN codes to pair, which was not encouraging. BUT! using settings.apk, it paired and connected immediately with no problem. both kbd and touchpad working great. BONANZA!!!
time for lunch, so I'll comment back later about getting the IR keys working with the TV (or not, lol)
---------- Post added at 12:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 PM ----------
oh, the other IR keys at the top of the trackpad (the ones I'd mentioned are at the bottom) are:
I/O aka power, "A/T" (input?), MENU, M (??!?)
but s'posedly the thing can simply learn (as apposed to "programming" standard remote codes), so you have, like, a total of 9 buttons to assign any IR function you feel like.
we shall see, but for now, lunch.
yeah... long lunch.
so - the IR key programming is pretty easy, but as the tiny-printed tiny-manual sez, you really do have to get your remote right up next to the IR radiator on the kbd - a couple times the programming failed but I think it was just pilot error me not holding the remote close/aligned enough to the kbd. I managed to program on/off and volume and input - all working well enough now, and that's all I needed.
the IR keys are active / work, even if the main power / BT switch is set to OFF. which is unexpectedly sensible/clever.
I have found a few things with my keyboard and wanted to know if they worked for other people. The 1key on my keyboard is also a power key so when I press Fn+1 the Fire TV actually fades to black like its gonna power off, but never actually does. The light even fades off when I do this. Also if I press Fn+ENTER it instantly reboots, which is nice, cause I do not have to hold down the remote buttons for five seconds to reboot. Fn+9 takes you instantly to the top page and Fn+0 takes you to the bottom, whick is good for browsing. The Fn+9 and Fn+0 do not work on the main screen, but does work on certain sections of the default launcher like managing apps, Fn+0 will instantly take you to the bottom of the list. I actually meant to write this a couple months ago, but somehow forgot so hopefully this isn't old news. The Fn+1 was the real interesting thing, cause maybe we can find a way to actually power down the Fire TV. Plus maybe we can find a way to maybe put a floating circle or something onscreen that when pressed does the same as pressing Fn+ENTER so we can reboot from onscreen.
Fn is just another modifier key like SHIFT, ALT or CTRL used for smaller keyboards to realize a full keyboard layout with less buttons. In fact on regular keyboards those Fn button kombinations are done with just one single key. The only difference to other modifier keys is that the FN+key combinations do also depend on the keyboard model and are not standardized. For e.g. your Fn+1 combination is just mapped to keyevent KEYCODE_POWER which is done on regular (multimedia) keyboards with the (single) power key. So nothing new here.
Actually until now there is no way known to simulate a keystroke on the FireTV via app without root. I little more detailed explanation why this is restricted can be found in this topic.