Develop Bugs

[Q] Calling the screensaver/sleep function

I'm trying to implement the ability to get the FTV to sleep from an XBMC addon. Does anyone know if this is possible?

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elmerohueso said:
I'm trying to implement the ability to get the FTV to sleep from an XBMC addon. Does anyone know if this is possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rbox discovered that sending the equivalent of a windows keyboard sleep key press causes the Fire Tv to sleep.

fireTVnews.com said:
rbox discovered that sending the equivalent of a windows keyboard sleep key press causes the Fire Tv to sleep.
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Click to collapse
I would like to point out, it's like a regular android phone sleeping. It's still awake and still responds to adb and whatnot. The light turns off, and the cpu might be downclocked a little, but that's about it.

fireTVnews.com said:
rbox discovered that sending the equivalent of a windows keyboard sleep key press causes the Fire Tv to sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I don't have one of those media keyboards to check this, but can you tell from the XBMC log which keycode and/or command that's binding to? In the official keymap the sleep/power buttons just seem to call ActivateWindow(shutdownmenu) (showing the shutdown menu).
Edit: On second thought, it might be the FTV itself interpreting that button as kicking it into sleep mode, not a command from XBMC doing it.
Edit 2: Yup, think I've got it figured out. I'll test it out tonight.
Edit 3: Tested, working, and released.

Safe way to shutdown/power down Fire TV?

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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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?
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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.
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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.

Alternative way to turn off FireTv...

I was looking around online to see if there were any alternative ways to turn off the FireTv. I know about the Play/Pause and Select combo, but has anyone heard of this?
This doesnt make any sense to me. If you're using a keyboard/mouse combo ( K400r here ) and you hold Fn+Esc... The FireTv turns off immedately. Both in FireTv screens and XBMC... The white light goes out too... Then click a button on the remote and its instatntly on.
Edited: Also just noticed that on the keyboard, there is a "Power PC'' button at the top that does the same thing...
On my K400r, there is no Fn ( blue lettering ) on the Esc key, so I have no idea whats its actually doing.. Its weird that the FireTV will sleep even in XBMC, which is known as usually not possible ( have to go back to FireTV screen )

mroneeyedboh said:
I was looking around online to see if there were any alternative ways to turn off the FireTv. I know about the Play/Pause and Select combo, but has anyone heard of this?
This doesnt make any sense to me. If you're using a keyboard/mouse combo ( K400r here ) and you hold Fn+Esc... The FireTv turns off immedately. Both in FireTv screens and XBMC... The white light goes out too... Then click a button on the remote and its instatntly on.
Edited: Also just noticed that on the keyboard, there is a "Power PC'' button at the top that does the same thing...
On my K400r, there is no Fn ( blue lettering ) on the Esc key, so I have no idea whats its actually doing.. Its weird that the FireTV will sleep even in XBMC, which is known as usually not possible ( have to go back to FireTV screen )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anything that's interpreted by Android as the POWER button, including the key combinations you mentioned, will put the FTV (or any other Android device) to sleep. I've seen mention of some third-party BT remotes being able to put the FTV to sleep with their POWER button.
If you're rooted, my XBMC repo has a screensaver that can put the FTV to sleep, and also my Confluence++ skin can put it to sleep via the XBMC power menu. Both methods simply simulate a POWER button press.

Good deal bro! Thanks. I'll check it out tonight when I get home
I'm new to the fire.. How can I load just the screensaver? Anyway to just get the screensaver??

mroneeyedboh said:
Good deal bro! Thanks. I'll check it out tonight when I get home
I'm new to the fire.. How can I load just the screensaver? Anyway to just get the screensaver??
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Click to collapse
No, you'll need XBMC.

I have xbmc And I see your skin installed ( bought this aftv setup already by a seller.. ) and I also see the screensaver installed.
It is enabled, but it doesn't activate in xbmc. The skin is also enabled...

mroneeyedboh said:
I have xbmc And I see your skin installed ( bought this aftv setup already by a seller.. ) and I also see the screensaver installed.
It is enabled, but it doesn't activate in xbmc. The skin is also enabled...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only works if you're rooted, and you need to give XBMC root/SU permissions from within the screensaver's settings or the skin's settings.

elmerohueso said:
It only works if you're rooted, and you need to give XBMC root/SU permissions from within the screensaver's settings or the skin's settings.
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Click to collapse
I have all of that. Im rooted, I did the SU check and all...

mroneeyedboh said:
I have all of that. Im rooted, I did the SU check and all...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the Power menu enabled in my skin settings, does the Sleep command put your FTV to sleep? If so, then the screensaver should also work fine if you have the settings in my screensaver set to Sleep.

Yeah .. Figured it out . the screensaver was enabled but not selected under the option under settings/appearance. Thanks

[Q] Unable to make mute symbol disappear

Hi,
I have a unit that is showing the red mute symbol in XBMC. I can't seem to make it disappear. I've gone into the playback settings and adjusted both the volume to 0DB and the volume boost to about 10 and yet the system is still muted with the symbol there. There is no keyboard attached to the unit and only has the stock FTV remote. Where else would I find a setting that would unmute the unit? I've looked in sound settings and everything seems correct, but I know I must be missing something... Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

fxbill said:
Hi,
I have a unit that is showing the red mute symbol in XBMC. I can't seem to make it disappear. I've gone into the playback settings and adjusted both the volume to 0DB and the volume boost to about 10 and yet the system is still muted with the symbol there. There is no keyboard attached to the unit and only has the stock FTV remote. Where else would I find a setting that would unmute the unit? I've looked in sound settings and everything seems correct, but I know I must be missing something... Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try to send a keyevent over adb shell, maybe it can help.
Code:
adb shell input keyevent 164
164 is the constant for KEYCODE_VOLUME_MUTE.
You can mute/unmute with the same command again.

Very simple to fix. Play a video and when it starts playing hit the big round button, when the onscreen controls popup go over and stop on the audio settings icon and click it, now just move the volume slider and it will disappear.

porkenhimer said:
Very simple to fix. Play a video and when it starts playing hit the big round button, when the onscreen controls popup go over and stop on the audio settings icon and click it, now just move the volume slider and it will disappear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated in my post.... That was the first thing tried with no effect. I've rooted and programmed over 250 of these units and never had this issue come up and if it does it has always been in the sound adjustment as you stated. That is not the case with this one and yet it only affects XBMC, I've had the volume run up and down while playing a show as well as the volume boost and nothing gets rid of it. I haven't tried a "set to default" in the system settings audio section yet.... That will be my next approach I guess.

esc0rpi0n said:
You can try to send a keyevent over adb shell, maybe it can help.
Code:
adb shell input keyevent 164
164 is the constant for KEYCODE_VOLUME_MUTE.
You can mute/unmute with the same command again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that I don't physically have the unit. I'm trying to help someone with that problem and they have never had it connected to a computer for programming. They received the unit working fine and then this happened and yet they have no keyboard attached and only have the stock remote.
It's baffling to me!

I have two suggestion. If he has a keyboard tell him to press the F8 key. If he does not have a keyboard tell him to install Wukong remote on his phone and his Fire TV and put it in Keyboard mode and press the volume buttons. He could also try yatse remote and see if the volume keys do anything to help. He can get Wukong and Yatse from the play store.

porkenhimer said:
I have two suggestion. If he has a keyboard tell him to press the F8 key. If he does not have a keyboard tell him to install Wukong remote on his phone and his Fire TV and put it in Keyboard mode and press the volume buttons. He could also try yatse remote and see if the volume keys do anything to help. He can get Wukong and Yatse from the play store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestion....but i finally got him to tell me that he had tried to install a TV program from Super Repo called "Psuedo TV Live" which in turn also installs a program called "Up Next" or something like that. After a quick glance I see that the default settings in the program are for installation in Windows! I had him uninstall it and the other program and reboot....he actually had it go away for a moment and then it wouldn't allow him to finish the uninstall because it said a program called "Back Row" was using it, but we couldn't even locate that!. Basically he just started playing and totally screwed things up. I'm just going to wipe it and reprogram it for him. It's not the first time it's happened, it won't be the last. I was just hoping there would be an easy out for it, but it doesn't appear as though there will be one.
Thanks anyway guys.... I really do appreciate it!
Bill

Shield + Harmony Hub...

Anyone using the new Shield with a Harmony Hub? I have it all set up, the controller works great, I now have only one to replace 4. However, it works via bluetooth... so when you ask Echo to 'turn on the Android Box', she can't get the Shield to turn on. She can turn everything off, just not on... When I get home this evening, I will try to edit the activity so that the Android Box never turns off... it doesn't consume much energy, so shouldn't be a problem & it should be primed to come on with the voice command.
Funny thing is, that with one press of the button on the remote, all turns on perfectly... Anyone else who has it working, please let me know.

how did you set it up, scan for wifi or manually? I haven't gotten around to it yet but on the nvidia forums people have said it doesn't map the OK button properly. OK and select are apparently concurrently sent by the shield remote, but the Harmony only uses select. some apps use OK while others use select. some have mentioned setting it as the Nexus player instead.
as for your question, like I said I haven't set up my shield yet but with my fire TV I can tell Alexa to turn it on and all my components turn on properly. if the fire TV is asleep hitting any button on the Harmony (mapped to a fire TV command) will wake it

Is there difference between shield one and two?
I have a hub working fine with shield 1. It is just a stand alone hub...no remote was included and entire setup was done via the harmony phone app. It turns on/off perectly along with my TV and home theater receiver using either the app or with my Amazon echo: "Alexa, turn on shield"....lol, I love it!

foomanjackel said:
Is there difference between shield one and two?
I have a hub working fine with shield 1. It is just a stand alone hub...no remote was included and entire setup was done via the harmony phone app. It turns on/off perectly along with my TV and home theater receiver using either the app or with my Amazon echo: "Alexa, turn on shield"....lol, I love it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shield 1 has IR, Shield 2 doesn't.
kellybrf said:
how did you set it up, scan for wifi or manually? I haven't gotten around to it yet but on the nvidia forums people have said it doesn't map the OK button properly. OK and select are apparently concurrently sent by the shield remote, but the Harmony only uses select. some apps use OK while others use select. some have mentioned setting it as the Nexus player instead.
as for your question, like I said I haven't set up my shield yet but with my fire TV I can tell Alexa to turn it on and all my components turn on properly. if the fire TV is asleep hitting any button on the Harmony (mapped to a fire TV command) will wake it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set it up by inputting the model number, after setup it asked me to pair via BT. My OK button is working well, as is the controller... I've done a load of setting up, kodi etc. & haven't had any issues with button maps. It still won't turn on by voice command, but that's not the end of the world.

I just got mine to work, I said "Alexa turn on shield" and both TV and shield came on.

So... my Shield 2017 got stuck in a loop of rebooting... it would turn on for a few seconds and then turn off again. Happened while I was watching youtube videos, once when watching stuff on Kodi and also when I had left it idle...
I tried disconnecting from the harmony in case that was the cause. Deleted some new apps I had installed... but eventually did a factory reset this morning before work. I'll check it again this evening for the same behaviour.
Anyone experienced similar?

Is anyone else having trouble with the select (OK) button working on the amazon video app? I can get into the app, but once I move over to select a show/movie, the OK button won't work.

dantrevino said:
Is anyone else having trouble with the select (OK) button working on the amazon video app? I can get into the app, but once I move over to select a show/movie, the OK button won't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, same here.

That was actually fixed a couple days ago. You will need to delete and re-add the shieldTV device inside Harmony to fix it.

Thanks I'll check it out.

I'm curious to know how you got the harmony hub to recognize the shield's Long press button functionality ?
IE: Long pressing the back button on the shield remote inside Kodi brings up the context menu.
[EDIT] -- PLEASE DISREGARD QUESTION ABOVE. Long pressing harmony remote Select/OK button replicates function.
bluefoam said:
Shield 1 has IR, Shield 2 doesn't.
Set it up by inputting the model number, after setup it asked me to pair via BT. My OK button is working well, as is the controller... I've done a load of setting up, kodi etc. & haven't had any issues with button maps. It still won't turn on by voice command, but that's not the end of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Is there a way to have an activity launch an app? Ie when my shield turns on have it launch kodi?

launch kodi at turn on
Sean09 said:
Is there a way to have an activity launch an app? Ie when my shield turns on have it launch kodi?
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Click to collapse
Hi Sean have you tried "ok google launch Kodi" when the shield is in standby mode?