Related
Hello,
Just got my Elocity A7 and so far my feelings on it are mixed. When it does what I want it to, I love it! But I am having a couple of issues....
1. How do I copy files from the sd card to the internal memory? I am trying to get the Nook app to recognize some epubs I have loaded on to the sd card. It does not see them at all. I was thinking the solution would be to get the files copied to the nook\mydocuments folder the app created in the internal memory but I cant figure out how to move the files. I tried connecting the A7 to my PC but when I do the PC does not recognize it at all. I tried running terminal, thinking I could just move the files that way, but when it opens, how to you type? Do you need an external keyboard?
2. Every USB storage device I have connected to the A7 just says "checking for errors" and that never seems to go away so it doesnt seem to be mounting the USB devices correctly.
3. Is it normal for this device to have a very limited wifi range? I have several other wifi devices, including the original nook, a media player and a laptop all of which work fine throughout my home but the A7 does not. However, I applied dexter's mod and then did the new official update and that seems to be a bit better now.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated! I have about 12 days left before I can no longer return it so I really want to make sure I can get these issues resolved before then since after its going to be a lot hard to return if I want.
Thank you!
Chris
Re. 1 - I don't have an A7, but it should have a file explorer apparently, and you should be able to use that to copy. For term, try pressing the menu button, or longpress to see if a keyboard or input method menu appears.
Jim
****** All below is from my experience using Dexter's Mod 1.1 ******
1) OI File Manager should be in your list of available mods. Open it, click on the SD card icon at the top. You are not at the sd card level yet, but the A7s symbolic sd card. Go down and find sdcard-disk0 as this is your actual SD card, click on it to open the sd card. Continue to find the desired file. Long hold on the file and a menu appears select copy. Now transverse your way to the desired spot to drop the file (Not in the folder, but to where you can see the folder -- you may not have write permisions to drop a file in some folders -- using a program such as Root Explorer will let you see if you have the right permissions). Long hold on the destination folder, and a menu will appear again. Select copy. Reasons this may not work...permissions and ownership. Linux/unix is particluar about these things.
2) More than likely your USB device is not formatted FAT/FAT32 must be to be able to utilize that type of device.
3) My range isn't extremely strong, but it is not bad. I use it in sever environments from sitting on top of the access point to being down a hall in a brick building with several walls between the A7 and the AP (lots of other devices) and it seems to work. My co-worker has an iPad and it is as strong as the iPad.
Hope that helps!
Dale
EDIT: Thought maybe I should add the following. I have tried several Droid Tablets/Pads and sent them back. Without Dexters mod, this one is not bad. With Dexter's mod it is near perfect (multi-touch would be nice). I am planning to develop software on it and use it as a organizational tool. I have DesktopToGo for editing office products and that works really good. PDF's rock. Music is pretty good (although my Archos 705 has my entire music collection on it with room for a lot more and several movies). I am using compiled help files (have extensive collection of ebooks in PDF format and CHM format) and those are awesome. I can tether this with my Droid phone and it in effect has 3G with no additional expense. I can VNC into my home computers and work computers and have full SSH access to all my servers. Several interesting games are awesome and I can keep up on Facebook and Twitter including playing a couple FaceBook games (and search for my previous posts and you can find out how to update Facebook). The face to face video/front facing video is not a huge item I would use, but it would definitely be adequate. Volume from the speakers is low, but works. Battery life is fine. I guess I am not sure what more I could want to do with it that I haven't been able to figure out. So for me, and mostly because of Dexter's MOD, IT IS A KEEPER!
I am about to try Dexter's mod at version 1.2 when I get home from work tonight.
So far I was on the fence about this device. I think for me I really wanted 3.0 on it and I did not have the patience to wait until 3.0 was released and there was some time for tablet makers to catch up. So in part my dilemna with this device is my own fault for being impatient. That being said I think there was some mis-information out there in regards to the touch screen which is one of the reasons I bought this device for future upgrade.
Now I see for $100 more I can have all I wanted in the newer device about to be on pre-order feb 15th. Of course $300 was a stretch for me so $400 is out of the question. I thought of returning this and getting a nook but the Tegra is so snappy and I just do not know if the Nook will be as responsive as the Elocity is but at least I know someone has already put 3.0 on that device.
My thinking is that there are so many talented and genius type developers who love to tinker and Dexter is one of those who I am so impressed and grateful to that at some point they will figure a way to get 3.0 on here some how!!
However, as you stated so well in your post as it is right now this device really is very nice. It does a heck of a lot and does it pretty well.
I have been thinking despite its shortcomings and unless you spend a lot of cash most of these devices have some shortcomings that I will say almost it is a keeper!! She is so close!!
I am hopeful that when I get Dexters Mod I will be equally happy and it may just lean the tipping machine in favor of the Elocity.
Rob
If you want Honeycomb for $300 or less, I don't really see any other options than the Nook Color.
I have a basic samsung feature phone. Id like to use this as a modem for my Acer if possible. This phone works fine on all my ubuntu systems - just plug it in for the first time, click next-next in the wizard and I'm online. On the tablet, I see that it shows up as a /dev/ttyACM0. I belive this means that its a matter of getting the correct chat commands and associating pppd with the android layer. I imagine the process must be similar as to getting a USB 3G dongle working. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to do this?
There are already some threads about tethering the tablet to your phone, as well as 3G dongles.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1152869
But yeah, no solution yet.
got it working
I thought I'd post the info on how I got this working for my specific situation. I have not read many other threads about this so maybe this type of info is already out there.
My phone is a basic samsung feature phone on AT&T that I called up and got unlimited data for $10/mo extra. This phone is practically unusable for browsing on itself. I plugged it into my ubuntu laptop and basically the tethering worked right away. I thought then that it should be able to work on the tablet. I wanted to make sure that "unlimited data" also applied to tethering to a computer. They said yes, if you can get tethering working - still no limit. I get 1-2Mbit rate over it.
This is on a rooted tablet, of course.
When I plug it into my tablet I get a single /dev/ttyACM0. If your phone is similar, you maybe able to use this info.
I went to At+t website and found this:
Then I read the man pages for pppd "man pppd". From this information, I understood how to modify the sample scripts "gprs", "gprs-connect-chat" and "gprs-disconnect-chat".
I then came up with a suitable "ip-up" script, based on ones found in the Huawei 3G modem example code. This is called when a ppp0 connection is made. Some of the lines in there I am not sure of, but it works, regardless.
I was surprised to find the standard "chat" program was not present in any of the roms I'd tried. Currently I am using virtuous Xoom. Somewhere, I found "chat-ril" which did the trick.
I've attached "modem.zip" which contains all the mentioned files.
From a root shell, you type:
pppd call gprs &
(This is kind of a pain but I'd like to find a way to automatically do that when the phone is plugged in)
If you do ifconfig ppp0, you should have an address, then try to browse.
Now I'm watching Netflix on my A500 as I drive! Also google navigation is absolutely great on a tablet, once you have the data connection.
willyampz said:
I've attached "modem.zip" which contains all the mentioned files.
From a root shell, you type:
pppd call gprs &
(This is kind of a pain but I'd like to find a way to automatically do that when the phone is plugged in)
If you do ifconfig ppp0, you should have an address, then try to browse.
Now I'm watching Netflix on my A500 as I drive!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the work, but what are we to do with the modem.zip file you provided?
Modem zip contains the scripts and the chat-ril utility that need to be copied to your tablet. There's two ways to copy the files to your tablet:
1)
first unzip the files on your PC
use adb and push the files over to your tablet in the corresponding locations under /system.
2)
unzip the files to a micro SD or USB stick
remount the /system partition as read/write
copy them to the corresponding locations in the tablet filesystem from the SD or USB stick.
Copying files to your /system partition is described elsewhere in the forum but I can give more detail if needed.
I'm admittedly a noob on many levels. I think I followed your instructions but I get:
# pppd call gprs &
# /system/bin/chat-ril: permission denied
Any suggestions?
make sure you do it as root by typing 'su' first. Also check the permissions of chat-ril binary to be executable.
Thanks, it was the chat-ril with incorrect permissions.
So going with what you provided and much help from Google, I was able to make my own set of scripts for my phone and carrier (a Nokia 5230 and T-mobile). It looks like it's connecting both in my shell on the tablet (all "got it"s and OKs) and on the phone side which shows it with the 3G connection in use. Executing that ifconfig ppp0 gives me an ip address with a [up point-to-point running multicast].
My problem is I can't seem to access anything on the tablet. I can ping google from within the shell but the default browser, Dolphin, and the rest of my internet accessing apps don't work. I did change a line in the ip-up file from /system/bin/setprop "net.interfaces.defaultroute" "gprs" to "3g", which is what I named my connection script. Is there something else I'm missing?
Thank you for all the help.
Well, the good news is you can ping which probably means it can work and you are just about there.
The stuff in ip-up I don't completely understand myself, but that's probably where the issue is. By that point I was so close and anxious, that I just manually did some 'setprop's and experiment until it worked. I had exactly the same issue where I could ping but not browse at one point. Also, make sure the dns setprop's are set. Are you sure the "3g" should not be "gprs". I'm not sure that has to do with the script name. But maybe just the fact that you can ping means that's ok. I'm just not sure. Good luck.
So after updating to OTA 63, I noticed that PC Streaming outside the network using Shield Proxy was no longer working. I would have the same issues I had before I had upgrade my ISP service to over 5 Mbps which is basically the lowest you can go to achieve streaming outside efficiently.
The main issues I was having was it seemed if I connected to Steam or other game, it would launch, show for a second, and then after a few seconds disappear and say it could not continue due to network interference. I know full well that it worked before the OTA, and so I set out to fix it. I also had a problem where if I disconnected it would immediately tell me it was "busy streaming to another device" even though that device was indeed the one I JUST disconnected from.
I have not completely tested this fix, but if anybody intends to do so before the end of tomorrow and report back that would be fine. If not, I will be testing this as soon as I can tomorrow.
As another added note, the streaming lag, which was non-existent or barely noticeable was much greater even on a local network after the OTA.
This fix assumes the following:
- You have GeForce Experience 1.7.0.1
- You are rooted
- You have CWM installed as recovery
- You have updated to OTA 63 or 64
- Your Shields bootloader is Unlocked (which would be assumed if CWM is recovery)
Anyways, here is the fix:
1. Either download the attached ZIP (and extract), or go here and download and rename the files (Shield PC Streaming, TegraZone Dashboard, and Shield Services) in the following manner in a directory on your desktop:
shield_pc_streaming[1].apk - nvpgcservice.apk
shield_services[1].apk - RothProvider.apk
TegraZone_Dashboard[1].apk
2. Download ES File Explorer and Use Root explorer with "/system" mounted as R/W to delete all the above APKs in "/system/app" and reboot
3. Clear all data in the following apps under the "ALL" category in Settings->Apps:
- Shield Services
- Shield PC Streaming
- Dashboard
3. Copy the renamed APKs you put in the directory mentioned in step 1 to a similar directory on your "Internal storage" of the Shield ("/sdcard")
4. Using ES File Explorer's Root Explorer in the same manner as above, copy those APKs you just put on your internal storage in the "/system/app" directory of your Shield
5. Reboot to recovery (CWM) and wipe both cache, and dalvik-cache just to be safe, and reboot to system
6. On your computer under "Preferences->Streaming" press the "Reset" button
7. Connect to your PC and click the usual "Connect" button, and have fun!
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please let me know. If you try this and it doesn't work, please let me know what results you have, as I have been getting drastically better results.
I got the idea for this fix from this thread in which agrabren had mentioned he replaced the new Dashboard with the older one, and it seemed to work fine. Then knowing that (obviously) apps must specify a minimum (not maximum) API level, I decided to try the stock Dashboard, Streaming Services, and PC Streaming App. I am very new to XDA, and don't really post anything, I mostly use the forum to find information, but I figured there hasn't been much in the way of fixes for this, and I got anxious xD
Please understand I am very much a newer XDA member, but thought this would probably help some people.
UPDATE:
So I realized that it was not working remotely, but the local network mode was working much better.
If you'd like to have a better fix for remote streaming, check out my ROM
Hi guys,
I am facing a lot of difficulty in trying to mount a samba share on the shield TV (16gb model).
It's freshly rooted with busybox, supersu, se linux mode and patched cifs manager.
No matter how I try to mount it, via terminal or via the patched CIFSManager, I always get an error saying "cannot access a needed shared library".
su --mount-master -c busybox mount -o username=shaf,password=android,rw,noperm,iocharset=utf8 -t cifs //192.168.1.1/android /data/media/0/android
The network folder is perfectly accessible through ES File explorer & I've even tried formatting the network drive as ext4.
I have checked in proc/ and the cifs files are there but I'm not sure if I need to load a cifs.ko kernel module, I assumed it was loaded.
I would be very grateful if someone could help me out here and point me in the right direction.
Shaf_96 said:
Hi guys,
I am facing a lot of difficulty in trying to mount a samba share on the shield TV (16gb model).
It's freshly rooted with busybox, supersu, se linux mode and patched cifs manager.
No matter how I try to mount it, via terminal or via the patched CIFSManager, I always get an error saying "cannot access a needed shared library".
su --mount-master -c busybox mount -o username=shaf,password=android,rw,noperm,iocharset=utf8 -t cifs //192.168.1.1/android /data/media/0/android
The network folder is perfectly accessible through ES File explorer & I've even tried formatting the network drive as ext4.
I have checked in proc/ and the cifs files are there but I'm not sure if I need to load a cifs.ko kernel module, I assumed it was loaded.
I would be very grateful if someone could help me out here and point me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Similar situation
Have shield as the server (3.0 usb edit: with a connected usb 3.0 harddrive)
edit: ive not found a suitable server app yet
I always assumed ciffs manager/mount manager worked only on jellybean and below......i assume the patched cifs app changes this.
In my search for alternatives, this ones the closest ive seen thats most recent and promissing, but have not managed to get it working, you seem like you might understand it better then i
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/script-mount-samba-cifs-shares-t2993035
Edit
if you do find a solution, i'd be much gratefull if you post it.......gd luck
hey guys. im not much on networking. trying to figure it all out myself, but i found this app awhile back called servers ultimate pro.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.icecoldapps.serversultimatepro
they do have a 7 day trial to test things out but through this app i was able to create a smb/cifs server with windows 10 being able to map it as a network drive. At least on windows 10, i had to google and eventually found a few registry tweaks to make windows actually see it.
Currently my issue now is speed transfer isnt all that fast. its usable for my needs, but i average about 5-10MBps during transfer with an external usb 3.0 HDD plugged into the shield tv, transferring files over the network between my windows 10 machine. That is an issue im currently working on fixing, but i was at least able to create a working server with this app. The authors have a forum on xda as well but its looking more and more that it might become abandoned (servers ultimate pro) as the author(s) havent been responding to forum questions or even emails.
either way, just thought id let you guys know.
unvaluablespace said:
hey guys. im not much on networking. trying to figure it all out myself, but i found this app awhile back called servers ultimate pro.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.icecoldapps.serversultimatepro
they do have a 7 day trial to test things out but through this app i was able to create a smb/cifs server with windows 10 being able to map it as a network drive. At least on windows 10, i had to google and eventually found a few registry tweaks to make windows actually see it.
Currently my issue now is speed transfer isnt all that fast. its usable for my needs, but i average about 5-10MBps during transfer with an external usb 3.0 HDD plugged into the shield tv, transferring files over the network between my windows 10 machine. That is an issue im currently working on fixing, but i was at least able to create a working server with this app. The authors have a forum on xda as well but its looking more and more that it might become abandoned (servers ultimate pro) as the author(s) havent been responding to forum questions or even emails.
either way, just thought id let you guys know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive actually tried that one amongst others, was one of the best tested at the time, even had, if i recall correctly, tasker support which is a must, but my shield for all intense and purposes, will be free of the google eco system, hence why i wont/cant have apps that require license check.......i dont like the artificial dependancy on other apps/services such as google services
On the lookout, hopefully, for an open source alternative with good tasker support.
banderos101 said:
Similar situation
Have shield as the server (3.0 usb edit: with a connected usb 3.0 harddrive)
edit: ive not found a suitable server app yet
I always assumed ciffs manager/mount manager worked only on jellybean and below......i assume the patched cifs app changes this.
In my search for alternatives, this ones the closest ive seen thats most recent and promissing, but have not managed to get it working, you seem like you might understand it better then i
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/script-mount-samba-cifs-shares-t2993035
Edit
if you do find a solution, i'd be much gratefull if you post it.......gd luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks buddy,
I think I had a look at that before but ignored it temporarily as I wanted to fix mounting samba shares first thereafter focus on making a script so it mounts automatically on boot but I don't see a problem with skipping straight to using the script.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to check/test the firetv script until next weekend, what problem do you have when trying to use the script?
I'm tempted to install the full android version with a tv style home launcher and check if I can connect to samba shares as this is driving me nuts lol.
Check out the thread 'nVidia Shield Android TV - Post your home screen' and see andrewthecoder's post, need to ask him if he's able to mount remote samba shares.
BTW guys, I think there's some confusion, my intention is to use the shield tv as a client, not to host a samba server lol.
Shaf_96 said:
Hey thanks buddy,
I think I had a look at that before but ignored it temporarily as I wanted to fix mounting samba shares first thereafter focus on making a script so it mounts automatically on boot but I don't see a problem with skipping straight to using the script.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to check/test the firetv script until next weekend, what problem do you have when trying to use the script?
I'm tempted to install the full android version with a tv style home launcher and check if I can connect to samba shares as this is driving me nuts lol.
Check out the thread 'nVidia Shield Android TV - Post your home screen' and see andrewthecoder's post, need to ask him if he's able to mount remote samba shares.
BTW guys, I think there's some confusion, my intention is to use the shield tv as a client, not to host a samba server lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah sorry, i did actually realise you were talking client side, i went slightly offtopic with server side talk
Honestly, i didnt really put much effort into it, just quickly tried to see if it worked first, second, third try before giving up, waiting on more info on the xda thread, or maybe even an app to do this more simply, or an alternative working method.........im playing the, keep my ears to the ground, waiting game
Plus, ive not found any confirmation on which android samba servers are confirmed working for this kind of mount, so i have the worry, that the script may work, but fail on a non standard samba server.........again, waiting on confirmation on what works and hopefully a guide.........looking it up every now and again
banderos101 said:
Yeah sorry, i did actually realise you were talking client side, i went slightly offtopic with server side talk
Honestly, i didnt really put much effort into it, just quickly tried to see if it worked first, second, third try before giving up, waiting on more info on the xda thread, or maybe even an app to do this more simply, or an alternative working method.........im playing the, keep my ears to the ground, waiting game
Plus, ive not found any confirmation on which android samba servers are confirmed working for this kind of mount, so i have the worry, that the script may work, but fail on a non standard samba server.........again, waiting on confirmation on what works and hopefully a guide.........looking it up every now and again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha no worries man, yes I'll try messing with that coming this Friday evening, did you use script manager, SManager?
Ah damn I did not even know there's different types of samba servers! ?
Lool I'm the complete opposite, too impatient to wait, that's why I'm really considering installing the full android version. It would be such a delight to have the dreamcast and gamecube roms running of the NAS drive as well as 4K files in the future.
Shaf_96 said:
Haha no worries man, yes I'll try messing with that coming this Friday evening, did you use script manager, SManager?
Ah damn I did not even know there's different types of samba servers!
Lool I'm the complete opposite, too impatient to wait, that's why I'm really considering installing the full android version. It would be such a delight to have the dreamcast and gamecube roms running of the NAS drive as well as 4K files in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used SManager
Sorry, what i meant was, that there is more then one samba server app for android.........all at various levels of development
Yep, i cant wait till i can unify network storage on android myself........one of the reasons i bought the shield.......assuming a solution ever decides to be polite........and show up
Shaf_96 said:
Hi guys,
I am facing a lot of difficulty in trying to mount a samba share on the shield TV (16gb model).
It's freshly rooted with busybox, supersu, se linux mode and patched cifs manager.
No matter how I try to mount it, via terminal or via the patched CIFSManager, I always get an error saying "cannot access a needed shared library".
su --mount-master -c busybox mount -o username=shaf,password=android,rw,noperm,iocharset=utf8 -t cifs //192.168.1.1/android /data/media/0/android
The network folder is perfectly accessible through ES File explorer & I've even tried formatting the network drive as ext4.
I have checked in proc/ and the cifs files are there but I'm not sure if I need to load a cifs.ko kernel module, I assumed it was loaded.
I would be very grateful if someone could help me out here and point me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For mine I found that the utf8 bit was throwing it off. I removed that and added sec=ntlm and that worked for me. The only downside is apps can read from it but can't seem to write to it. Give it a go and see if that helps though.
gumbi2400 said:
For mine I found that the utf8 bit was throwing it off. I removed that and added sec=ntlm and that worked for me. The only downside is apps can read from it but can't seem to write to it. Give it a go and see if that helps though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhhh, now were getting somewhere
Thanks for that luvley bit of insight, and the thread maker for starting the subject in the first place........hopefully, a write solution will show up and find its way to this "network storage mounting" thread..........
Theres another potential, i stress, potential avenue to mount local filesystems beyond jellybean...sshfs
Easysshfs
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.nsu.bobrofon.easysshfs&hl=en
https://bitbucket.org/bobrofon/easysshfs
Ive attempted to test this, sshelper server on the shield, easysshfs on the tablet with no success.......im thinking theres kernel modules involved( fuse.ko) , mind you im no expert. (Easysshfs logs makes mention of "fuse.sshfs is not in proc/mounts")
If modules are indeed involved then this is not an ideal solution (unless kernel moduling becomes universally compatible somehow), as i'd prefer any future purchases of stock android to have the ability natively, minimum, instead of waiting and hoping someone can release a solution
Sshelper
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.arachnoid.sshelper&hl=en
http://arachnoid.com/android/SSHelper/
Edit
Well holy moly, i got it working, i just randomly decided to put admin as username instead of leaving it blank and hey presto....mounted.........quickly tested a file manager without network support, opensource "amaze", to browse and play a video on my tab from a usb stick on my shield........excellent
So for those interested, a simple two app install plus configuring (username,pass,mount to, mount from) and you have network mounting.....on lollipop.........excellent
Shaf_96 said:
Hey thanks buddy,
I think I had a look at that before but ignored it temporarily as I wanted to fix mounting samba shares first thereafter focus on making a script so it mounts automatically on boot but I don't see a problem with skipping straight to using the script.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to check/test the firetv script until next weekend, what problem do you have when trying to use the script?
I'm tempted to install the full android version with a tv style home launcher and check if I can connect to samba shares as this is driving me nuts lol.
Check out the thread 'nVidia Shield Android TV - Post your home screen' and see andrewthecoder's post, need to ask him if he's able to mount remote samba shares.
BTW guys, I think there's some confusion, my intention is to use the shield tv as a client, not to host a samba server lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kodi has samba ability as client. Used for video and audio files. Find it in google store free
This worked for me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tv/general/samba-network-file-sharing-nvidia-t3321522
slamride said:
Kodi has samba ability as client. Used for video and audio files. Find it in google store free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you gotten this to work? I had it working on a previous OpenELEC box and an Xbian box, but I can't get it working on KODI on the Shield.
wishx said:
Have you gotten this to work? I had it working on a previous OpenELEC box and an Xbian box, but I can't get it working on KODI on the Shield.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I am sharing a "server of sorts" (Desktop in den with video and audio files stored) with multiple setups .
Shield with Kodi
Laptop with Kodi
Laptop with VLC
Samsung Tablets with Kodi or VLC
Sharing permissions need to be set to allow "Everyone" read/write access on server
I use a "MOVIE" folder, a "TV SHOW" folder,and a "MUSIC" folder then add source under files in KODI,select scraper for tv,movie,or music and it will also add covers and details to list. Kodi will detect files and add a MOVIE ,TV SHOWS, and MUSIC tab on home screen after scanning. I also set "scan on startup" " in systems settings so I only need to reboot to update libraries.
https://kodi.tv/ use wiki if you get lost
Hope this helps
slamride said:
Yes I am sharing a "server of sorts" (Desktop in den with video and audio files stored) with multiple setups .
Shield with Kodi
Laptop with Kodi
Laptop with VLC
Samsung Tablets with Kodi or VLC
Sharing permissions need to be set to allow "Everyone" read/write access on server
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears you are sharing your media from a server to the Shield. I am trying to use my Shield with Kodi as the server. I have an external drive attached by USB to the Shield and need to connect two other computers to it. I did this previously with OpenELEC and Xbian, but I can't get them to recognize the Shield/Kodi on the network like I'm used to. Any assistance would be great. Thanks!
I should probably mention that I am not rooted and would like to not root my Shield so I can get further updates rolled out by NVidia. That's kind of the problem.
I'm trying to run a Samba server on the NVidia Shield without root that has read/write access to external storage (external hard drive).
So far, I've been able to get FTP servers running on it, but nothing allows access to my external storage. I'd much prefer SMB to FTP though.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
AFAIK it is not possible to run a Samba server on Android without root since SMB uses port numbers < 1024.
Rather than attach my external drive directly to the NVidia Shield, I attached it to the router and have all my computers (Linux and Windows boxes) and the Shield connect to the shared drive and all folders. That works great!
unvaluablespace said:
hey guys. im not much on networking. trying to figure it all out myself, but i found this app awhile back called servers ultimate pro.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.icecoldapps.serversultimatepro
they do have a 7 day trial to test things out but through this app i was able to create a smb/cifs server with windows 10 being able to map it as a network drive. At least on windows 10, i had to google and eventually found a few registry tweaks to make windows actually see it.
Currently my issue now is speed transfer isnt all that fast. its usable for my needs, but i average about 5-10MBps during transfer with an external usb 3.0 HDD plugged into the shield tv, transferring files over the network between my windows 10 machine. That is an issue im currently working on fixing, but i was at least able to create a working server with this app. The authors have a forum on xda as well but its looking more and more that it might become abandoned (servers ultimate pro) as the author(s) havent been responding to forum questions or even emails.
either way, just thought id let you guys know.
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Click to collapse
Does this app need root access? I saw this app yesterday and was going to try it.
With my AFTV2 currently broken down about one day after I set it up - I mentally went through some of the steps I'm likely to repeat very soon and - also seeing that some people in here still are struggling with some aspects of it, that I already learned long ago how to cope with - I thought I share some of my reflections.
This is by the way not meant to be a usability review - or tips guide of Amazons own interface - which I find abysmal for the most part. Let them struggle on their own - and also, for some reason there already are in depth "reviews" of it on aftvnews (which I came to slowly accept and even somewhat like.. ) - which mostly highlight aspects of it deemed positive. Bravo and lull Amazon into false confidence I say...
So here we go.
1. Best launcher (rooted or not) still is Firestarter. Basically because of its deep integration to app settings - which allows you to stop apps, delete their data or uninstall them in the fastest way possible. You'll need it more often than you think and its great that its there.
Change icon PPI to 144 and for your own sake - change the background to something more uplifting and also enable the text background bubbles so you get a higher text contrast, regardless of the BG image you chose.
2. Fire OS v5 and its limitation to one adb connection only isnt the enormous setback I thought it would be. Firestarter literally changes its default automatically within the first 3 seconds of it not being able to access adb - and the one click>double click combo to launch it from anywhere is good enough. Also in OS 5 there are no screen transitions, so switching to Firestarter feels more "instant".
Not having Firestarter use adb frees up you using adb from different devices. Once you are connected via adb from a PC f.e. you can also open different shells, or transfer a file and simultaneously perform another action in the shell - so thats a non issue. Also I rewrote all the scripts I use to cleanly exit adb with adb disconnect - and ultimately that works fine.
Through the two days of setting the Fire TV up and testing use cases I got a "cant connect via adb" error (because there already was another process using it) only twice - which in return can be promptly fixed by toggling adb on and off - and again - Firestarter provides a shortcut to that menu as well - so its fast, and if you use adb disconnect as intended, you dont need it very often.
3. Drop adbFire or equivalent "Helper Tools" as fast as possible - because they prevent you from learning even the simplest command line instruction, that will speed up your life in the long term. Seriously - just do it.
Also, explore the file structure of Kodi and the Fire TV (as in "look at it", try to make sense of it - not as in "I wander what happens if I delete this..."), so you can actually learn how they work. This again brings me back to the do not use adbFire or other "prepackaged" (and poorly laid out and documented) tools.
4. If you transfer single files - and most of them you usually want to drop to /sdcard/ first, you use the adb push command, because it simply turns out to be the fastest way to move stuff - at least if your OS allows you to drop a file onto the command line window to autopopulate the filepath.
If you want to transfer files and folders not directly located in /sdcard/ - either use something more GUI orientated - like AAFM ( https://github.com/sole/aafm ) (Windows cant use it to its fullest extent in its current state (on Windows you can use Total Commander (Windows Version - this time it will cost you something ) - which also has an adb plugin available) and or - zip the folder you want to transfer locally, then push it to /sdcard/ and then use Total Commander to unzip it into its desired location on the Fire TV.
Transferring .zip files wirelessly ultimately almost always turns out to be faster than transferring the individual files themselves. That also goes for zipping files on the AFTV using Total Commander, and then backing them up to a PC.
5. Use Total Commander. No seriously, download it from the Amazon App Store today. I know how popular ES File Explorer became from being the only free filemanager left, that was popular back in the day - but its approach to be iconographic to a fault and hiding away features in sub menus hurts its usability on any device where you try to perform actions with a remote. TC is simply better suited for the usecase.
TC also can write to the sdcard1 partition in Android 5 - either using root, or using a scripted workaround - so you generally dont have the "its not writable" issue. Also adb shell with su can write to it as well - so also use that if you need to.
You can also install Total Commanders LAN plugin ( http://www.ghisler.com/androidplugins/ ) and thereby access network shares.
6. There even is a usecase for the Amazon Voice button - because from Kodi - you can use it to launch Total Commander with just three button presses (say: "Total Commander") - which is faster than it was before - and you can also exit back to Kodi with only a few presses of the back button. Other than for this, the voice button of course is entirely useless - as we generally arent especially interested in how bad the Amazon Store is stocked (at least over here in europe... ).
7. Dont use the RC3 of Kodi 16 (Jarvis) right now. With Kodi 14.2 and 15.2 you can pause a video, drop back to Amazons launcher, then into Firestarter - then launch another app, then leave it and return to Kodi - with the video (usually - if you have enough free memory) still being in the paused state. In RC3 for Kodi 16, the video auto stops as soon as you switch away from Kodi - which in the long run causes much frustration and the need for additional button presses. Just remember to manually stop a video if you dont plan on returning to it anytime soon so Kodis bookmark your current position feature triggers.
8. If you want to install a Kodi repo - its much faster to download it as a .zip file and then adb push it to /sdcard/ where Kodi can find and install it - than to "start typing" anything in Kodi itself.
At some point - create a shell script for your pc that allows adb to connect to your Fire TVs IP address by just typing adb.sh (for example) - so you dont have to type in your Fire TVs ip address each time you want to connect to it.
9. If you dont already have a NAS -get an old router with an USB port that runs dd-wrt and has NTFS support (= all newer firmwares with at least 16mb package size should have it integrated - if you use ddwrt, even some with a 8mb package size). You get a very low power NAS that also can mirror as an FTP server (faster file transfers), and can become a torrent box in case you use that stuff. The negative only is - that with 4.5-6MB/s transferspeeds tops (WLAN, but actually limited by the individual routers CPU - they are low powered, remember) compressed 1080p is the most you can wish for - out of a 10-30 USD device. Preferably run it as a stand alone and not as your main router (reboots can be performed without bringing down your whole network, processor load, ...).
edit:
10. Kodi runs a little faster on the AFTV2 than on the Fire TV Sticks - which turns out to cut out just the right amounts of seconds on Kodi plugins with an "lets aggregate everything" approach.
You failed to mention what is "broken down" lol
You did quite abit of modding there so what "broke" it.
Playing a GPU intensive 3D game and then watching a video.
No, really.
The part you describe as "modding" went perfectly well - and what I describe above is mostly normal Android use for anyone not depending on "prefab click button to do thingy" stuff. Thats actually what I want this community to explore more - because at some point it literally becomes pointless - watching another in depth video analysis of Amazon taking out a row of items from their spreadsheet inspired Smart TV interface..
Amazon should have done more chip testing before they let their devices out of their factories. Or they should have done more testing regarding the 5.0.5 update. Slowly rolling out firmware updates in case you missed something important - is no substitute for proper testing...
All banter aside - the rooting process doesnt modify the kernel of the device, and on mine the GPU seems to have run into problems. From "working perfectly fine" to "full brick" (slightly different colors of black screens flashing, then settling on a full black screen) after playing a game and then watching a video.
AFTV - quality you can trust in.
Also - somehow its curious - when you buy a laptop these days - where you have root rights from the start, most complaining centers around stuff the manufacturer has messed up in producing the device and the software. But if you - as a manufacturer - take away the actual rights (permissions) from people - the discussion suddenly shifts to "OMG what have you done to the device".
But people usually dont get suddenly less educated or less cautious, once you take certain rights away from them - so the only explanation I have come up with is, that actually taking away permissions and property rights from people for some reason surfaces more voices that now very publicly campaign for this being a much more desirable state in the first place.
On a related note - If I had bricked my device during the rooting process, or while the TWRP custom recovery was installed - or by modifying system files (which now that TWRP runs on the Fire TV is easier to fix then ever), my first action would have been to give a full report of what happened (which I have actually done in a separate thread, in this case as well), so potential flaws or stumbling blocks in the rooting method could have been sussed out.
Mine has had 0 issues.. then again i rooted mine and have twrp, xposed, adaway, v4a, play store, firestarter, busybox, kodi, plex leanback youtube, debloated (removed most Amazecrap) etc.
Does more than I expected and then some.. even better than Nexus Player imo
Good - then we only agree that it isnt the rooting process.
And with TWRP you now have the means to entirely wipe and factory reset the device - so even if you for some reason had messed up the entire system partition (system files) - you still have a fallback, in fact a much better one than on a stock Fire TV, to "start over".
But that sadly doesnt fix hardware issues. Believe me, I tried. And documented it along the way. Look for it in another thread.
edit: Also this isnt me taking a jab at the device itself. I dont agree with Amazons product policies (= politics), but I was perfectly happy with my AFTV 2 as well. For as long as it worked..
In fact my fall back was to go back to the Fire TV Stick I had still laying around and I had the same functionality back (including all this "modding" you see in the OP ) within around 15 seconds (I missed the power socket in the wall twice... ).
harlekinrains said:
Good - then we only agree that it isnt the rooting process.
And with TWRP you now have the means to entirely wipe and factory reset the device - so even if you for some reason had messed up the entire system partition (system files) - you still have a fallback, in fact a much better one than on a stock Fire TV, to "start over".
But that sadly doesnt fix hardware issues. Believe me, I tried. And documented it along the way. Look for it in another thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea.. no device is perfect lol.. but the fact it has a gpu processor (when it works) is great! probably one of the cheaper 4k capable boxes available..
For the price, its a great option with root/recovery for what it does do and to achieve what its capable of.. theres bound to be a few bad devices and surely pushed to the max it can die
Sure.
Love the device. Dont love Amazons policies and product politics. Will use any chance to heckle them, that comes my way.
Thats me in a nutshell.
If you like the product, but dont like the company, their Store UI, their Store, the way they managed their store (app removals) in the past, the content thats in their store, their "underground" store program (that puts price pressure on devs)... thats not only possible - but also valid.
I dont think of Amazon as "a package deal".
When I criticize certain aspects of their infrastructure, I dont say that others are bad.
And I also dont proclaim that there is a high failure rate with Fire TV 2s on the 5.0.5 firmware. For me its just a nuisance and another chance to throw some banter..
But look - there is also something good, that came from it - I wrote an entire post about usability and how to best interact with the Fire TV on 5.0.5.
Because people just demanding updates (and root) - isnt enough..
yea.. i can write a banter on any device lol..
chromecast is great but cant say i like it..
the stick is worse..
nexus player is decent but also limited and if you install a full rom its essentially no longer a nexus player etc.
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Just one little additional tidbit -
Amazon still prevents the Fire TV 2 from using SD Cards formated with exFat. They literally write it out of their firmwares. Their Fire tablets of course support it - because, well its fun to play with your customer, and prevent usecases you see unfit for your current business model.
If you by any chance have purchased a 64GB Micro SD - Windows doesnt allow you to format it in Fat 32 - but this can be circumvented, by following this tutorial:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/sdxc_formatting.md
Of course the 4GB filesize limit still holds up.
edit: Also tested Kodi 15.2 by now - which shows the same pause state/app switching behavior as 14.2. I've edited the OP to reflect that.
harlekinrains said:
Just one little additional tidbit -
Amazon still prevents the Fire TV 2 from using SD Cards formated with exFat. They literally write it out of their firmwares. Their Fire tablets of course support it - because, well its fun to play with your customer, and prevent usecases you see unfit for your current business model.
If you by any chance have purchased a 64GB Micro SD - Windows doesnt allow you to format it in Fat 32 - but this can be circumvented, by following this tutorial:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/sdxc_formatting.md
Of course the 4GB filesize limit still holds up.
edit: Also tested Kodi 15.2 by now - which shows the same pause state/app switching behavior as 14.2. I've edited the OP to reflect that.
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Click to collapse
kodi installs repos fine for me on 15.2.. of course i dont use the remote I use the fire tv app and then the keyboard so it doesnt take forever
It does on all versions.
Installing repos by downloading their .zip files first, then pushing them to /sdcard/ using -
adb push /path/to/zipfile.zip /sdcard/
is just faster - because you dont have to type something you see on one screen, letter by letter - into an app on another screen. You download the file, you open a command line window, type adb push , then drag/drop the downloaded file onto the command line window to get its filepath into it - then finish typing /sdcard/ and press enter. In Kodi you then just use the "install from zip file" option.
You dont switch devices, you dont switch keyboards, you dont have to look at two screens, you dont have to copy a url. But using a BT keyboard probably in the end isnt that much slower...
Its just good practice to not see the Fire TV (stick) as a device that has to be managed on its own. It is a always on, connected Android device. You can look at its contents, you can move files from and to it, you can give it instructions...
adb and adb shell
make it open enough.
Two more usability tips.
1. If you are rooted, sideload WiFi ADB ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.wifiadb ) - its just a quicker way of disabling and reenabling ADB - when you cant connect (since 5.0.5 the Fire TV only allows one ADB connection at a time) from your PC.
I also tried to replace adbd (the adb daemon file on the FIre TV) - but so far have only found one from API level 21 (and Fire TV 5.0.5 needs 22 (as it is based on Android 5.1)) - that one didnt work at all. Even if replacing it with the exact API 22 version would work, this doesnt necessarily mean that the "one adb connection limit" is gone - but it is something I though would be worth giving a try.
2. If you have WiFi connection issues on a Fire TV 2 - especially with the Fire TV repeatedly failing to connect, It turns out that Amazons Wifi Implementation REALLY, REALLY wants you to have WMM enabled on your router. If you don't the connection tends to drop every day and the Fire TV then has problems to reconnect. With WMM enabled I now run three days without the slightest issue - and I also have changed WiFi networks within seconds, and not as previously - it taking about 10 minutes until thats successful. Before I came by this little quirk of the FIre TV , switching bands - even temporarily on 2.4 GHz would kickstart the Fire TV reconnecting to the same AP, just fyi.
Also when you are on the 5 GHz band, the Fire TV has a "drop off" if you are on any band higher than the first few (five or six), the Fire TV has problems even "seeing" the network. Also the last channel it still "sees" it has problems connecting to - so drop even one below that if you want it running on 5 GHz.
This quirk is more widely reported than the first one, but just as annoying.
Also just a big "really?!" into Amazons direction for messing up the Wifi implementation on the device this badly. I'm sure MediaTeks proprietary drivers play a part in this, as might the Fire TV 2 always running its own ad hoc WiFi network in the background - but still Amazon is selling that stuff.
I could test it with two different routers - on largely uncongested bands in both the 2.4 and 5 GHz space - and I have half a dozen other devices that never displayed any problems with the way I had my network set up in the past - but for the Fire TV 2 I had to reconfigure my routers just so it would stop dropping out - or start finding the respective network in the first place.