Develop Bugs

[Q] Can you connect a MIMO monitor to the G2?

Hey was wondering if there was a way to connect a mimo usb touch screen monitor to my g2 , it would make and awesome display to use will driving .

everything that ive heard about our micro usb connectors is that there is NO video out
so i think you are out of luck...
I'm looking to do the same thing in my car someday too...

DLNA
Mog said:
everything that ive heard about our micro usb connectors is that there is NO video out
so i think you are out of luck...
I'm looking to do the same thing in my car someday too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO but DLNA ???

Mog said:
everything that ive heard about our micro usb connectors is that there is NO video out
so i think you are out of luck...
I'm looking to do the same thing in my car someday too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIMO Monitors are entirely USB-based, so their doesn't need any kind of video out signals on the connector (standard USB connectors do not have video out either). Unfortunately, the USB controller in the G2 does not have USB host capabilities in the current kernel, so this would have to be developed first. Then drivers for the monitor itself would need to be ported over.
arcance said:
NO but DLNA ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While DLNA would work if you are simply trying to stream media over to a larger display in your car, the standard doesn't support displaying the entire phone's screen as is (i.e., you can't send touch responses back to phone, you won't be able to run apps on it, etc.).

No im not looking to use dlna , the mimo monitor is a usb touchscreen monitor . I'm basically looking to make a car dock for my phone and use that as the display and touchscreen .

ianmcquinn said:
MIMO Monitors are entirely USB-based, so their doesn't need any kind of video out signals on the connector (standard USB connectors do not have video out either). Unfortunately, the USB controller in the G2 does not have USB host capabilities in the current kernel, so this would have to be developed first. Then drivers for the monitor itself would need to be ported over.
While DLNA would work if you are simply trying to stream media over to a larger display in your car, the standard doesn't support displaying the entire phone's screen as is (i.e., you can't send touch responses back to phone, you won't be able to run apps on it, etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you happen to know if it would take alot of knowledge to add USB OTG support to the kernal ? i know some other phone have been modded to allow usb host , like the droid and the nexus one .

UPDATE
Hey it looks like with some work the display link drivers for linux can be used for android to connect and external usb monitor/touchscreen , Can anyone else look at this and tell me if this is some thing that can be done ?
http://sites.google.com/site/voyageofbeagleboard/Home/displaylink-for-android

I'm an EVO user that is VERY interested in seeing this come to light...I don't want this thread to die!

Here are some linux drivers that should work for the mimo monitor so with usb host enable and maybe some modification to the drivers we could get it to work , just wish i knew enough to do it .
http://touch-base.com/

wow
this would be the greatest hack ever to have a permmounted large screen for phone interaction wothis must come to life yt would change everything, 1 device plugged in wherever you are with U/I and hardware to match your usage neeeds
bhang

[Q] ???Remote Screen/Display Solution???

Hey Guys,
I need your help. I currently have a carputer running Windows XP in my car now with an 8" touchscreen interface. It works and does what I want it to but I'm thinking I want a cleaner solution. At first, I was thinking about loading Android onto it but then I was thinking I could probably go one step further. My EVO does everything I currently have in the car (nav, music, video, etc) and it'd be awesome to use my EVO as the CPU if I could get it working with a bigger screen. Is there some kind of device on the market that acts as a remote display/screen that allows seamless touchscreen functionality? I'm talking about mirroring the display of the EVO. Like via bluetooth or HDMI out with USB interface for the touchscreen function?? That would work so much better because all I would have to do is mount the screen and run power to it. I could completely remove all of the computer hardware saving space and points of failure. It'd be best via bluetooth that way I wouldn't even have to take it out of my pocket. If there was a way to get it to work with the HDMI port for the video/audio feed and the micro-USB port for the touchscreen interface, I could just run a dock in the car and work it that way. If anybody knows of a device or a solution that would accomplish this, PLEASE let me know! If you think you have an easier/better idea, please feel free to share that as well! Thanks!
-Greg

I know there are several developers on the brink of completely unlocking the HMDI port functionality so I know it can be accomplished...but getting the touchscreen to be seamless I think would be the most challenging part...

Ok, so after changing some search terms, I was able to find something similar: Mimo USB Monitor. The entire monitor (power, video feed, and touchscreen interface) is though one USB connection. I came across this XDA thread that pretty much explains how it could possibly work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=898418 Has anybody done any research on this or know anybody that has or is currently working on something like this??

Any ideas??

That wont work. The usb port does NOT do video out. Your only option for video out is the hdmi port, which as of right now, will only output video and pictures. As said above, there are dev's working on full hdmi output, but who knows when it will be available.

sitlet said:
That wont work. The usb port does NOT do video out. Your only option for video out is the hdmi port, which as of right now, will only output video and pictures. As said above, there are dev's working on full hdmi output, but who knows when it will be available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That monitor is a standard USB DisplayLink device. No special video out needs to be on the port, you just need a device capable of operating as a USB host with the correct drivers loaded (which are open source on normal Linux and thus should be portable to Android if someone was so inclined). Thus, any phone which could be used with a USB keyboard, mouse, thumbdrive, etc. can support that monitor.
That said, I've looked a few times and do not believe the Evo has USB-OTG support and it certainly does not have a standard host port, so we may be SOL there. N1 users can do it for sure, I'm pretty sure I've seen it used with an Ubuntu install, creating a kind of hacker's version of the Altrix around a year earlier.

Alternatively, it's not the fasted method, but there are a couple of software solutions that basically let you VNC to your EVO from the PC. androidscreencast is one (google that phrase, can't post links yet) but it seems as though it's stalled out. I think that Droid Commander (or something like that) also has a screen casting option. This way you don't have to worry about touch screen drivers etc.

greg.dassing said:
Ok, so after changing some search terms, I was able to find something similar: Mimo USB Monitor. The entire monitor (power, video feed, and touchscreen interface) is though one USB connection. I came across this XDA thread that pretty much explains how it could possibly work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=898418 Has anybody done any research on this or know anybody that has or is currently working on something like this??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder how a cheap chinese tablet with a usb host would work.
I've considered just installed a cheapo tablet in my car then go out to rca's or a bluetooth transmitter. My line of thought on is most headunits/music is only stereo(2 channel), so you wouldn't lose anything there. The two big problems I forsee would be a reduction in the the output quality using 3.5 to rca and finding one with a fm radio thats worth a damn.

Well if you really wanted to go a tablet route. there is the smartq v5 you can pickup for around 250. it has full hdmi out usb host bluetooth and hardware video decoding (1080i hdmi video looks soo nice on a tv form it). You can download the android 2.2 firmware and run rocketplayer for allmost any video.

connect external DVD drive to the note 8?

Greetings,
I've been planning on buying an external dvd drive for my laptop. I found an interesting feature in samsung slim drives. For example, the samsung SE-208AB has an AV-Connectivity mode that turns the drive into a sort of external HDD! We know that android and the note 8 can already read flash drives via OTG. If this external DVD drive has this external HDD funcitonality, can we in theory connect it to the note 8 and get external DVD rom functionality? here's a you tube video connecting a samsung drive to the nexus 7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvoyab75QgQ
As an external HDD, the drive is read with files in it so you can't really play the disc as a DVD rom (so no DVD menus I guess) but the VOB and other data files if present can be read. I know that samsung already released a dvd drive (Samsung 218bb) which android devices can detect but the problem there was that there was no app that could recognize DVD, iso formats.
but I recently tried XBMC! and XBMC can read ISO and even NRG images! Tried reading one off of the NAS via WLAN. with this app, is it possible to connect these samsung drives and read them as native roms using XBMC? has anyone tried it?
This is a real deal breaker for me. I don't think that the ASUS or Lite-on external drives have this kind of functionality. If a can get a drive that is read/write for my laptop and potentially "read" (in the least) for the note 8 then this is a no brainer purchase.
So has anyone tried this? Thanks.
UPDATE: after doing some more reading on XDA I found these threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2171111
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1086842
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2009186.
There are mixed bits. some say that the note 8 does not support external drives but here there is clearly evidence of external drives being read by android. So is it simply the MHL not supplying enough power in the case of the note 8? in another thread, an external drive with an external power source was suggested while another thread noted that this fried the drive and his note 10? These are all for different devices however. Just want to know if anyone has experience with the note 8 in particular. So far the only video showing this actually works is the you tube video with the nexus 7 shown above.

I own a Samsung Mobile SmartHub <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tsst.app.opticalsmarthub>. It works but in my experience the audio quality SUCKS. Much better to just rip the DVD and stream over standard DLNA.
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------
Also, I've never had a USB external DVD drive work with any of my devices (as they would a laptop). Not sure if I've tried on my GN8 though.

Spidey01 said:
I own a Samsung Mobile SmartHub <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tsst.app.opticalsmarthub>. It works but in my experience the audio quality SUCKS. Much better to just rip the DVD and stream over standard DLNA.
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------
Also, I've never had a USB external DVD drive work with any of my devices (as they would a laptop). Not sure if I've tried on my GN8 though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh? Thanks for the reply so iI guess video/audio/media playback has better alternatives. but what about reading and copying files off of the dvd while using the AV-connectivity (External HDD) Drive mode? Sometimes at meetings people still have discs instead of flashdrives, the note 8 is already slowly replacing my laptop but lacks this last functionality: reading/copying files off of a local disk. if it could do this than the laptop stays at home completely as the note 8 almost completely replaces it now for presentations, media serving/control and the like. I'll just bring the external disc drive. It's better than still lugging a laptop. Thanks again.

ProjectER said:
the note 8 is already slowly replacing my laptop but lacks this last functionality: reading/copying files off of a local disk. if it could do this than the laptop stays at home completely as the note 8 almost completely replaces it now for presentations, media serving/control and the like. I'll just bring the external disc drive. It's better than still lugging a laptop. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.

thanks for the reply
Spidey01 said:
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
so there is hope that it can access data files on the disk. Plan to use it mainly for raw data transfer at work but only for those still not keen on a flashdrive. It's rare but some still use discs...(i guess it's more resistent to viruses and malware...).
Don't plan to use the external drive really for playing media. As you already enumerated, there are a ton of options for that already, The review for that samsung wifi optical disc media hub is that its a great idea introduced way too late and executed too poorly for it to compete with our NAS's and WLAN's. I personally use XBMC for android, it runs on all devices now, android, windows, linux and even iOS i think. Then I have yatze or bubble upnp as well. I realized that with XBMC, don't really need chromecast anymore, although I use "cheap cast" with my android minipc I realized it's simply easier to send the you tube link to xbmc. Instead of having a you tube play list(for chrome cast), I can send the vid to xbmc and play it there and still play another you tube video on the note 8. XBMC now also reads Iso's and NRG's so all those dvd's ripped into images just run on it even via the wlan/upnp/network. Just my take on the whole video streaming option.
But I haven't tried this MakeMKV app you suggested. I hope to compress my stored DVD collection. Is it like handbreak? Can it compress a 4 gig dvd into a smaller MKV file? My NAS is slowly getting filled up. Anyway thanks! More power to XDA!
BTW: Since we're on the topic of streeaming, I'm thinking of starting a thread on the note 8's miracast/ALLSHARE CAST/screen mirroring. I realized that Samsung's screen mirroring is not really miracast compliant (just like the S4) in the sense that it doesn't work with all screen mirroring devices (something with HDCP and samsung proprietary software which i think is just there to "encourage" you to buy they're all sharecast dongle).
Here's the link: http://android-minipc.azurewebsites...ast-fails-to-mirror-samsung-galaxy-s4-screen/
Do you know of a fix for this? or should I start a Q/A thread for it? Thanks...

With regard to MakeMKV, it seems to decrypt the disc and remux the content streams into Matroska (.mkv) files, or at least about as lossless as you can get off the disc. You'll get the same MPEG-2/AC3 stream off a DVD as what's on it. No compression.
I do conversions either via Handbrake on my gaming box or by directly running ffmpeg on my server with about the same options as handbrake uses. My server's faster at it, hehe.For DVD, I normally use H.264 with x264's constant quality set to 22 or 23, and convert the audios; normally stereo with Dolby Pro Logic II downmix and another stream that's AC-3 pass through. Good enough that I don't usually notice quality loss vs the original DVD. DVD's usually end up under 2GB and especially for things like episodes of The Simpsons, can be really small. Sometimes a movie is still like 3~4GB though.
Some of Samsung's devices are certified, never tried them with another dongle. Miracast's latency is high enough that it's more limited then the MHL cable, and my old GS3 tended to soft reboot when using any video output until the 4.1 update lol. One of the CM developers had posted about issues between Samsung, Google, and perhaps a few other implementations. I think they support different HDCP versions but I'm not sure of the details.

I finally baught the samsung external dvd drive se-208. I tried AV connectivity mode so it get's recognized as a fat 32 flash drive. Well my laptop recognizes it (but my laptop recognizes it as a disc as well so that really isn't the point). Tried AV connectivity mode and connected it to my note 8. The drive just keeps spinning but my note 8 never recognizes it. Really sad. I then connected it to my samsung TV which allegedly can play media files off of a USB thumb drive. The drive still isn't recognized. Weird cuz on you tube, they connected it to a samsung TV and it worked. I tried media files and data/doc/pic files, the drive never gets recognized. Only my laptop recognizes it as a "flashdrive." Any suggestions? (I know switching to AV connectivity means pressing the eject butto for 1.5-3 seconds so I'm sure it's in AV connectivity and not in ODD or optical drive mode). Could it be power? but the drive lights up and spins when connected to the note 8 and the TV. Thanks for any suggestions.
BTW, i'm not interested in streaming as i already have a NAS for all my videos. Just want the functionality of an optical drive reader without having to bring a laptop around. The note 8 is already amazingly functional...this would just max it out even more. Thanks.

The bottom line is the device (whether it's the tablet, computer, TV or whatever) needs to have the drivers built in not just to access the optical drive, but also to read the file system on the optical disc (which I think is UDF, but don't quote me on that). You could try to find a custom kernel that has that support, see if there's a program on the Play Store or elsewhere that has that support built-in, or compile your own kernel with that support built in. But usually, when it comes to hardware support, it almost always comes down to driver support (I'm assume there DVD drive plugs into the wall so it's not an issue with lack of power).

Spidey01 said:
Can't say that I've tried it in that mode. Picked up the unit dirt cheap and almost never use it because of the streaming quality. Was so disappointed I basically gave up on it lol.
Using a USB OTG cable it's possible to access FAT and NTFS volumes on USB Mass Storage devices, like flash drives and external HDDs. I'm using the one from my moms Acer A700 but they're quite cheap off Amazon. Sometimes useful. Anything that is exposed like that (class 08h / UMS) should work. Hubs, most HID devices like keyboards and mice also work via the same means. I haven't tried the drive that way, just a little ASUS unit, which doesn't function as a USB mass storage device.
USB OTG works a hell of lot better on my GN8 than my nexuses, and if memory serves tthe optical hub bridges the disc to a FAT based UMS.
At home, rather than use an external hard drive or optical discs, I use DLNA for movies and things like Dropbox/Google Drive for files. I rip my movies with MakeMKV, store them on my server machine (bigger HDDs then my gaming PC), run a DLNA server on that and point an app from my tablet at it. Least pain I've had, give or take Chromecast and video apps. I can get Chromecast to play the content via DLNA as well but where as the Galaxy Note can handle 30 Mbit/s full HD video (Wi-Fi permitting) the Chromecast really should be kept under 3 or 4 Mbit/s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, have you tried if screen mirroring works between the Note 8.0 and Chromecast? I'm thinking of buying the dongle, but I'm interested mainly for screen mirroring, so I wish to know if it works well.
Thanks

gabripranzo said:
Hi, have you tried if screen mirroring works between the Note 8.0 and Chromecast? I'm thinking of buying the dongle, but I'm interested mainly for screen mirroring, so I wish to know if it works well.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Performance when mirroring to Chromecast sucks but it does work. I would say latency is around 0.75 seconds to 1.20 seconds from when I scroll left or right in Nova Launcher to when I see it finish on the TV. Encoder quality also sucks at rendering transparency or anti aliasing and it tends to peg the CPU to full clockrate most of the time. I haven't tried video on it. I believe my Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is simularly Crappy. Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5 work better, so it seems like only my Snapdragon 800+ chipsets seem to have decent mirroring performance over Chromecast. I don't think Google has optimized things very well for Exynos & Mali. I can say the GS5 will mirror to it well enough to watch a video not that I'd advise it. Really, Samsung's very crappy AllShare Cast dongle works better in terms of casting performance. Miracast is only useful for videos or stuff like email/websurfing because of the latency (e.g. not gaming) but Chromecast is the worst mirroring I've ever used, and I've even SideSync mirrored my tablets to my PC before. My Amazon Fire TV box works awesome sauce as a Miracast Display to all of my current devices (GN8, GNP12.2, and GS5) in terms of performance but sometimes will not connect; I've yet to determine why, maybe it just hates my monitor/switch more than my TV.
If cash is a primary concern and mostly mirroring: I would suggest a Fire TV Stick (which is Miracast Certified) or some real Miracast adapter like the Netgear PTV3000 ($50) or Belkin Miracast Adapter ($60). Chromecast is great for leaning back and casting video from apps like Netflix, Plex, AllCast, etc but not so awesome at screen mirroring. Perhaps like Chromecast's video decoder it will improve with time but it's just not that awesome for mirroring right now. MHL wired adapters are still better for screen mirroring IMHO.

Well, I wish to use the screen mirroring function mainly to stream videos: sometimes it happens that my Bd player hasn't the right codec for the video, so I wish to stream it directly from tablet to TV.

using galaxy note 8 as an android tv only?

I accidentally sat on my galaxy note 8 yesterday (damn it) and the screen is now broken... i cannot see anything (part of the screen is dark and other part is "scrambled") ... anyway I now want to convert the device into an android tv device as repair will cost too much...problem is I cannot navigate with the device touchscreen as I can't see nothing....
what do i need to completely convert it into an android tv? software, cables, etc... I bought the mhl hdmi cables from ebay but none worked... recommend me the correct cables to buy plz.. thx

You're in a "catch 22" scenario, you could use an OTG cable and a mouse, to enable Bluetooth and pair to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but you can't see the screen to make the pair and you can't use the MHL cable and the OTG cable together.
You'll be better off getting a new screen off eBay and replacing it yourself.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

no way to "navigate" using adb something like that and set up a bash script that outputs/tv mirroring with mhl?
Replacing the screen seems quite pricey (I am going to use that money to buy a budget chinese dual boot android/win8 tab instead)

As for using it as a TV...
Seems like the stock video player does pass 1080i 30pfs well, all other players paid or not only passes 720p.
As most all streaming services push 720p as High Def, using 1080i would be very rare, and with today's standards to allow Cable to choke our internet. There is a monopoly going on, and if it were the 70's Comcast and Verizon would be heading to court just like AT&T.
You can get a MHL HDMI adapter, and use it to use a TV to connect. I have a Samsung TV, so Anynet+ will automatically turn on the TV and switch to the input when connected to the tablet.
All you need to do, is make sure the MHL HDMI adapter is connected to the USB power before connecting to the tablet. You can either plug in the MHL adapter before powering on the tablet or plug in once the tablet has been booted up. If plugging in while off, give it a few minutes to display on the TV.
The nice thing is that the adapter will work without need of any settings changes. I use Miracast as it does not need cables and works a wee better. Though many complain about how it functions, i think it is because of modded ROMs and the lack that they do not use Samsung's update to fully optimize the workings of their tablets.
If using Miracast, you will need a MHL adapter to configure the tablet for syncing... once configured you wont need to connect the MHL adapter. Though if any Miracast settings get changed your not going to be able connect and use your tv, since your tablet's display is broken.
I prefer a stock ROM, as it is fully working, and don't having to fix what others break.

thx for the reply but the problem is I cannot use the screen as it's broken... any ideas are welcome

ok guys some progress!
using
https://code.google.com/p/androidscreencast/ and http://www.mymobiler.com/
I am able to control my galaxy note 8 from pc now with a usb connection
https://code.google.com/p/androidscreencast/ is straightforward but it is very slow and could not get keyboard and mouse to work. I used it to install mymobiler app and grant root access to it... with mymobiler, i can use mouse and keyboard and it is faster but still lags... if anyone knows better/lagless screen mirroring app, let me know.
Now, next step is to connect physical bluetooth mouse and keyboard and hdmi so that i can use it as an android desktop/tv pc

ok connected it to my lg monitor and i have an error on my lg monitor HDMI OUT OF RANGE 33.8kHz/30Hz .. any idea?

yeahman45 said:
ok connected it to my lg monitor and i have an error on my lg monitor HDMI OUT OF RANGE 33.8kHz/30Hz .. any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have to check for PC mode on your telie... My Samsung has the capabilities to run PAL or NTSC through the PC input or HDMI 3, though it is undocumented. Once set at PC, you may have it sync properly.

gooberdude said:
You may have to check for PC mode on your telie... My Samsung has the capabilities to run PAL or NTSC through the PC input or HDMI 3, though it is undocumented. Once set at PC, you may have it sync properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where do you set this?
I tried it on another monitor (a benq), it detects the signal but nothing is displayed (it displays no preset mode)... I think it's a problem with resolution? I works with my lg led tv only so far...

yeahman45 said:
where do you set this?
I tried it on another monitor (a benq), it detects the signal but nothing is displayed (it displays no preset mode)... I think it's a problem with resolution? I works with my lg led tv only so far...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My TV was made in 2008 and has 3D capabilities... Since it is Samsung, there are some features Samsung uses with HDMI connectivity. Such as AnyNet+, as it will detect and switch to the input automatically when connected.
Samsung has a few hidden features on my telie that not all telies have... even within their product lines.
To enable DVI/HDMI for PC use, you must go into the user menu to label the inputs.
There are preset labels, one being PC. That has to be set on HDMI 3 or a DVI/HDMI input.
If your teli has a DB15 SVGA connector, you may have to use an inline HDMI to Analog converter. As used in older projectors.
There can be issues right away, since Samsung uses AnyNet+ and other features within HDMI 3.1 Spec for the tablet and telie.
These issues can be the lack of detecting the tablets output or visa-versa in linking. Also modded firmware don't pay well at all for me.
I reverted to stock so I can use all the features that the tablet offers without having issues.
The stock video player does a great job at delivering 1080p @ 30fps, I wish MXplayer did that, but it comes in handy for video formats that the stock player can't do. The best I can get from MXplayer is 720p @ 60fps. So it seems that MXplayer may be an option if resolution detection is not syncing between stock player. Also the tablet does a great job at converting frame rates with all video players.
Another hidden and undocumented feature, is that my telie even being yank, will do Euro frame rates so I have the ability to play all frame rates, 24, 25, 30, 50, 60, and 75. Yes 75 fps... only when using PC enabled on DVI/HDMI. So I can push odd frame rates without a conversion between DVD/Blu-ray players if connected using PC analog connections or just connecting a PC to play videos.
As for connecting... I plugin the MHL / HDMI adapter to the tablet and then plug in the power adapter to the side of the MHL adapter.
Some telies will deliver 5v though the HDMI cable to power the MHL to HDMI adapter and tablet. Mine is too old and does not deliver 5v though its connection.
Hopes this helps with understanding some limitations with telies and connecting the tablet.

gooberdude said:
My TV was made in 2008 and has 3D capabilities... Since it is Samsung, there are some features Samsung uses with HDMI connectivity. Such as AnyNet+, as it will detect and switch to the input automatically when connected.
Samsung has a few hidden features on my telie that not all telies have... even within their product lines.
To enable DVI/HDMI for PC use, you must go into the user menu to label the inputs.
There are preset labels, one being PC. That has to be set on HDMI 3 or a DVI/HDMI input.
If your teli has a DB15 SVGA connector, you may have to use an inline HDMI to Analog converter. As used in older projectors.
There can be issues right away, since Samsung uses AnyNet+ and other features within HDMI 3.1 Spec for the tablet and telie.
These issues can be the lack of detecting the tablets output or visa-versa in linking. Also modded firmware don't pay well at all for me.
I reverted to stock so I can use all the features that the tablet offers without having issues.
The stock video player does a great job at delivering 1080p @ 30fps, I wish MXplayer did that, but it comes in handy for video formats that the stock player can't do. The best I can get from MXplayer is 720p @ 60fps. So it seems that MXplayer may be an option if resolution detection is not syncing between stock player. Also the tablet does a great job at converting frame rates with all video players.
Another hidden and undocumented feature, is that my telie even being yank, will do Euro frame rates so I have the ability to play all frame rates, 24, 25, 30, 50, 60, and 75. Yes 75 fps... only when using PC enabled on DVI/HDMI. So I can push odd frame rates without a conversion between DVD/Blu-ray players if connected using PC analog connections or just connecting a PC to play videos.
As for connecting... I plugin the MHL / HDMI adapter to the tablet and then plug in the power adapter to the side of the MHL adapter.
Some telies will deliver 5v though the HDMI cable to power the MHL to HDMI adapter and tablet. Mine is too old and does not deliver 5v though its connection.
Hopes this helps with understanding some limitations with telies and connecting the tablet.
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thx for the explanation... mine works on my lg led tv but does not work on my lg monitor and benq monitors ... will try on my asus monitor also to see if it works.. but so far it seems it does not work well with monitors

yeahman45 said:
thx for the explanation... mine works on my lg led tv but does not work on my lg monitor and benq monitors ... will try on my asus monitor also to see if it works.. but so far it seems it does not work well with monitors
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Hi, I think I mis-understood about the monitor connex... Not all monitors have full HDMI security built in. HDCP compliance may be your issue.
I suggest taking your tablet with the MHL adapter to a store to have the sales person assist with finding a monitor that will work for your needs.

gooberdude said:
Hi, I think I mis-understood about the monitor connex... Not all monitors have full HDMI security built in. HDCP compliance may be your issue.
I suggest taking your tablet with the MHL adapter to a store to have the sales person assist with finding a monitor that will work for your needs.
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thx for the help... but firstly, i bought the adapter on ebay and secondly, I don't expect buying a monitor/tv based on whether it will work with mhl... from my understanding, it should work on all tv/monitors right? isn't is a standard hdmi output??

yeahman45 said:
thx for the help... but firstly, i bought the adapter on ebay and secondly, I don't expect buying a monitor/tv based on whether it will work with mhl... from my understanding, it should work on all tv/monitors right? isn't is a standard hdmi output??
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Yes it will work on any Monitor with HDMI.
Just TV was on the top of my head when making a quick setup.

it works on my old asus lcd monitor but not on my new lg led monitor... weird... is there a way to use a usb keyboard and mouse while using hdmi?
edit: the hdmi output resolution does not really fit the screen of my monitor.. is there a way to change resolution of the hdmi output?

yeahman45 said:
it works on my old asus lcd monitor but not on my new lg led monitor... weird... is there a way to use a usb keyboard and mouse while using hdmi?
edit: the hdmi output resolution does not really fit the screen of my monitor.. is there a way to change resolution of the hdmi output?
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Depending on Monitor settings, some will auto fit or allow for edge to edge adjustment.
Also if using video player, the Samsung video player does do edge to edge, while MXplayer will not through MHL. I gave up on Per App settings in Xposed, before I could ascertain that MXplayer will do edge to edge with H/W or Software decoder.
One thing with SecondScreen, it may adjust for proper scaling with Monitors, though with my TV the built in PC input scales to have a boarder to compensate for the 5% overscan most all TVs use to keep encoded signals from showing at the edges.
Not all Monitors and TVs are perfect, but I am able to use edge to edge with some adjustment with the display or using a 3rd party app such as secondscreen.

what is secondscreen? I can't find it on playstore ... yup when i play youtube, it plays full screen... will try to play a game.. I am glad I have been able to convert my galaxy note to an android tv! lol ... another issue though... my monitor does not have speaker ... so there's no audio atm.. the galaxy note does not seem to output audio when connected via hdmi?

yeahman45 said:
what is secondscreen? I can't find it on playstore ... yup when i play youtube, it plays full screen... will try to play a game.. I am glad I have been able to convert my galaxy note to an android tv! lol ... another issue though... my monitor does not have speaker ... so there's no audio atm.. the galaxy note does not seem to output audio when connected via hdmi?
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Well the other option is to connect your tablet to your A/V receiver and pass the video to your monitor, or to get a signal splitter that will allow audio output. Depending on the quality and performance they can run as low as $20 and up to $150 so in some ways it is best to get an A/V receiver. If your A/V receiver is limited by inputs BlueJean cable has various HDMI switchers.
I have the link to the free app a few posts above this... just read the pages back till you find it. I am running the paid version so updates may be faster and better than the freebie. I went a head and updated to 1.4.5 just to see how much of a problem it is as for workarounds with Touchwiz. I still prefer 1.4.4 as it seems smoother at transitions between on and off / off and on. May revert back and just keep the old version as it does its job very well in automatic mode.

I can't find the link to Secondscreen app. Will check out if i can get a cheap av recevier

yeahman45 said:
I can't find the link to Secondscreen app. Will check out if i can get a cheap av recevier
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One note about secondscreen... it will shrink the display to have borders. Some TV / Monitors have zoom or scan adjustments to remove most of the borders.
Here is the link for the free version... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.secondscreen.free

What is Samsung Dex and why do you / should I use it?

I looked for an hour this morning looking for Tab S4 communities I could bother with my noobie questions - I've already posted twice here - but haven't found much. Even the Samsung communities aren't specific to the tab S4. I'm not a "developer" in the strict sense of the word - I have an account here related to a couple of android apps I'm on beta for. So I hope you'll bear with me. If there are any other good Tab S4 forums out there, please point me to them!
I'm a home user. I've mostly replaced my laptop with my tablet. About the only things I do anymore on the laptop are taxes, purchasing airplane tickets, and managing my library with Calibre. I'm a light tablet user of Microsoft Office, heavy on banking/bills, books, video, web browsing, and games. My previous tablet was a 64gb Tab S2. I traded up for the memory and speed. The Tab S4 gets me nominally to 656 gb (256 gb + 400 gb card). I probably have a terabyte or so of data, so not quite able to cut the cord, but 90% of the way there.
So I've read a lot about DeX, but still don't really understand what it is and why people use it. I don't have a keyboard yet (but can see that most of the cases for the Tab S4 on Amazon seem to include them). Can someone post a primer on DeX, what it is, how people use it, and how you use it yourself? Maybe eventually this could go into a guide-post? Why do people talk about it as a game changer?
I'm going to be posting a similar question on the S-Pen.
Thanks,
Joe

I think your best bet is to take a look at a few videos on DeX on YouTube. Here is one below but there's quite a few out there.
Basically it's to give users who are familiar with Windows a similar experience on Android;at least one of their goals. If you are pretty proficient with Android, you probably won't use it. I played with it but don't think I will use it much.

So I've played with DEX.
My thoughts are mixed. I crashed it twice in the first 5 minutes I had it up.
Thoughts on Dex after two weeks with the tablet:
I'm using an Insignia USB-C to HDMI+Type-C Power+USB-A adaptor, with a wired keyboard connected to the USB input and a bluetooth mouse. The adaptor works, but I ocassionally get pop-ups that it is charging slowly with the original lightning power supply & charge cable.
I started using Dex on the fly. Opened Watch ESPN, You Tube, Chrome, and VLC, and boom, system crash. I closed everything and started over, this time I only opened ESPN, and while it was connecting to Live video, another crash. So I stopped playing with streaming video apps.
Running local video (located on my external SD card) with VLC and MX Player was "fine"... As in "Fine is a good word. Put it together with 'wine' or 'dining' and you've really got something." Running at high video quality there were pauses and stutters during playback. Resolution seemed higher than with Chromecast (using VLC -- MX Player still doesn't support native casting).
I also got low-memory warnings a few times while I was playing around with multiple apps / windows. I think I read somewhere that the new Galaxy phones have twice the Ram in the Tab S4. That seems like a missed opportunity for enhanced productivity in a tablet that is supposed to compete with high end ipas and low end laptops.
My only excitement was with Excel. Excel is the main reason I can't fully cut the laptop cord (pun intended). It just is too hard cutting and pasting and moving cells around in Excel to do even light spreadsheets in Android Excel. In DeX, Excel was much more like the Windows desktop experience.
There are only a few other apps "optimized" for DeX (I'mnot really sure what it means to be "optimized" - but such it is), and they didn't seem to have significant improvements over the standard Android experience.
One thing that would take Dex to the next level is if it got the ability to run an extended desktop, like a second monitor on Windows. I've been able to figure out how to bring the TV up as a second computer (leaving the tablet to run stock Android), or in mirror mode (which I'm running now because I started this post on my tablet, and then brought Dex on, and was told I needed to close and lose all open windows on my tablet browser when I opened the browser in Dex). Mirror mode has an interesting feature -- the on-screen keyboard is docked at the bottom of the browser window, and there doesn't seem to be a way to hide it even though I'm using an external USB keyboard and BT mouse.
I think what I'm trying to say is that Dex has some intriguing features, but nothing that is a showstopper. The one feature that jumps out (getting the desktop experience with Excel) isn't enough to make me want to move from stock Android to Dex as a regular choice.
Thanks,
Joe