Database Users

[Q] Worth buying one of these?

A couple questions before I splurge, teh Nook's been looking really tempting at it's current price point. I'm talking about once it's rooted and presumably running something stable (CM7 most probably).
a) How's the browser? Is Flash reliable, and overall is it good enough to check some e-mails and open five or six tabs of desktop versions of sites?
b) Battery life? Any stats and comparisons?
c) How's video playback? Does RockPlayer or such work and does it play XviD/H.264 files at their own framerate? HD isn't required, but would be nice.
d) Any drawbacks I should know about?
e) Is having no soft/hard keys for Android functions a detriment to the usability?
Thanks for any help and suggestions guys. Looking to buy me one of these if feedback's good.

here are some answer:
a) browser will be the same that your nexus one. But i use Opera mobile wich is smooth, can open lot of tabs (yesterday i had 8), flash work.
b) battery life: it get better, just cut wifi when you know it will iddle (when you sleep or go to work). I don't shut if off and it stand about 3 or 4 day (using it for web, mail). Watching an 20 minutes show drop around 8-10% battery. (using mx player soft decode, hw decode don't work )
c) mx player is great (better ui than mobo, i just switch!) don't use hd file, last time i tried it doesnt work..
d) no stable honeycomb, so no app using fragment ui (gmail for honeycomb)
e) you can try tablet tweak on your cyanogen's nexus one. bottom status bar + button in status bar work like HC!
pro: i like the rugger back the nook, no shiny plastic with lot of fingerprint!

onclebob pretty much answered everything. I'm a fan of the Dolphin HD browser which also handles flash, multiple tabs, etc. There was a deep sleep issue a while back but it's been fixed. I can routinely get a week or more out of a full charge with minimal use. Of course, YMMV. With tablet tweaks, there's really not a problem with missing the dedicated hardware keys. It uses the honeycomb-style soft keys. The nook 'n' key can be used as home, etc. I honestly can't think of any unsuspected drawbacks -- performance is great (at least with overclocking which is built-in to the nightlies) -- speaking of which, if/when you get one, the CM7 nightlies are the way to go -- very stable on the NC. Bluetooth and usb host mode are available. I will say the speakers do not get very loud, so that could be a factor. The other things are "known"... ie. 7" screen (although a very good one), no 3g/4g, etc.
Plus, for what it's worth, the community here is pretty awesome, which hopefully says a lot.

D's ) The SD card is very hard to insert or eject
The whole thing creaks and pops; poorly fitting/fixed components
Blink the wrong way and the USB cable will shatter into fragments
Still awesome though

I'm selling my Nook Color if you're interested.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240181

New archos 70b it2 (honeycomb) owner and questions

Hi all newcomer here ...congrats for your forum.
I received yesterday my archos 70b it2 honeycomb 3.2 tablet (yep the new 70b internet tablet ...1.2 ghz //512 ram and so on)...so if you have any questions that i can answer do post. Keep in mind although im tech shavvy this is my first android device so im not an expert. Ill try to do my best though.
I have a couple of questions for you. (keep in mind i got latest firm)
a) It seems (to my dissapointment) that the unit CANT handle youtube HD clips. I do have flash player installed and using the built in youtube app. Only way to watch youtube clips is without using hd. Is there something wrong im doing? Im finding strange that it can play 720p mkv but not youtube hd clips that are much less processor hungry.
b) When i connect the device to my pc although it seems to mount ...navigation to its folder and copying movies...its just impossible...slow-sluggish and the copy just never starts. (tried to copy an avi in videos folders ...takes forever). Is there something im doing wrong here? (usb debug is off btw). Maybe because it had low battery and i connected the usb cable to do the transfer?
Anyway in general for 199euros its not a bad tablet...screen is ok (not an ips so viewing angles arent the best) and seems solid built.
Thank you for any help (this same post is in archosfans forum)

Hmm 100+ views and none knows? Maybe i posted in wrong forum ?

Archos 70b IT
Hello, sorry you haven't gotten a reply yet...I am in America (North Carolina) and am waiting for Archos to start selling these tablets. I have the money set aside and just need somewhere to just start selling them...I stopped at HHGregg today and they didn't know what I was talking about...(they really didn't put a lot of effort in making me believe they knew what they were talking about)...anywayz...
I have no idea of problems you are having or the fix for your issues...I was just going to ask how the tablet is overall...like the screen for instance...does the screen seem as though it will be easily scratched or is it nice wipe away glass like a kindle fire? Any other info you can add would be great, it would be nice if you'd post a review of your thoughts since you've had it for over 24 hours now .
Thanks for the post, it's hard to get information for these things here...it is on their website, just not for sale there yet...
-Gig4 <><

The problem is probably in your statement - low battery, You should fully charge the battery before doing anything !
Also, the lack of replies may be due to the fact that hardly anybody has one of these devices yet.

Update
The problem with mounting was solved but doing a factory reset.(maybe the battery low was the problem)
@gig4
Screen is ok. Its not ips so the viewing angles are a bit limited but other than that i would say the screen res is fine. Colors are ok too.
The screen is a fingerprint magnet and im not sure that it would be hard enough too resist scratches. Depends on how you use the tablet i guess but i wouldnt throw it on a backpack if you asking that.
Some problems i have found.
a) Youtube hd = a big NO ...i dont know if this is a problem of honeycomb or the tablet isnt strong enough but...it just doesnt play. My net connection isnt the best but i can stream and view even 1080p at my desktop so i presume it has nothing to do with it. Wifi seems stable hadnt have any disconects. (wpa2)
b) Hdmi out...it connects to the tv but as soon i get it of the tv the tablet needs a hard reset ...(displays a white screen and cant do nothing) ...again im not sure if im doing something wrong BUT there is NO mirroring in tablet and tv...i just see the ui in the tv and tablet responds to my inputs BUT i dont see anything on it.
c) It doesnt charge to 100% ...left it overnight but went only to 99%.
d) Battery is decent...about 5-6 hours surfing / watching movies...
e) Web browsing is hit and miss again...tried 3 different browsers (dolphin hd/opera mini/stock browser) ...some sites work ...some sites doesnt load at all or just freeze...i dont know im really disapointed with android (got an iphone 4 and besides the non working flash i have zero problems surfing).
Overall the tablet is ok in specs but in real world perfomance...im not happy.
Again keep in mind this is my first android device but i would call my self quick learner...
PS flash was installed in all my tests.

The reason that Youtube HD (Flash) does not work is that Flash on Gen8 devices relies solely on the CPU and is not designed specifically for Gen8's, unlike Archos' Video application which uses the DSP (and possibly other components) to do hardware acceleration.
If you want to watch HD quality videos from Youtube on your 70b, I would suggest an application that allows you to download the video file and use Archos' Video application. The app I use for this purpose is Tubemate:
devian7.iisweb.co.kr/download.jsp
(You will have to copy and paste the link in your browser.)
The link is to the developers webpage and offers an apk download so the Android Market is not necessary.
The Gen8's can handle any of the different formats that can be downloaded with Tubemate, with the exception of 1080p.
In regards to the HDMI out:
If the 70b works like the older Gen8's, then the displays do not mirror each other. The external display shows the UI and the tablet acts as a giant (laptop-like) touchpad.
In regards to the browser:
With my Gen8 101, the stock browser works well if plugins is set to on demand and if I am not opening too many tabs/windows that have a lot of pictures (high RAM usage). Other browsers should function well if set to the same settings (Dolphin HD worked about the same when I used to use it).
Also battery life should be better with the plugins set to on demand.
In regards to the battery:
I assume that the reason it doesn't charge to "100%" is due to the firmware. Older Gen8's would charge to "100%" on older firmware versions, while the same devices on newer firmware only charges to "99%". From what I have read, the difference is irrelevant because the difference only shows up when it is charging. i.e. It says it is charged to "99%" while plugged in, but when unplugged it shows a "100%" charge.

thanks...I appreciate the reply.

And for the browser, this most of the time comes from the stupid f... that has done the webpage.
If you don't change the Useragent in your browser, the Website knows that you come from an Android browser.
As most ignorant Webdevs still have no clue that there is someone else then IE,FF or IPhone they sometimes do strange things.
Try to set the Useragent to either Desktop or IPhone and see the changes.

i have this tablet
it is very good for the transport in paris
it is better that the 70 it
i have no problem with HDMi

I'll ask the question again.
Does anyone know if the data transmission speed of wifi radio in the new 70b IT has also been knee capped at a very low 54 megabytes/sec utilizing 802.11n protocol, like all the other Archos Gen 8 devices?
Given that the processor achitecture of the 70 IT and 70b IT are apparently the same (single core ARM Cortex A8), when will Archos push Honeycomb out to the Gen 8 devices?
Also it has been suggested that the new 70b IT OS will be updated to ICS in February. Will the Gen 8 devices get this. And if not, why not?

See that
http://www.jbmm.fr/2012/01/archos70bit-chiffres-tests/
for ICS on this model 70b ? perhaps....

I don't believe the wifi has been ' kneecapped' or nobbled in any way - 54 mbps is the maximum speed for the hardware, it uses wireless n standards and is compatable with wireless n, it is not dual band and only operates at 2.4 ghz, the higher speed of wireless n are obtained using 5.0ghz band, this is my understanding of it, and as you point out that the 2 devices share the same hardware, It's safe to assume the speed will be the same, it certainly seems to be the same on both of mine, but my 70b is a froyo device so can't definitively speak for the 'honeycomb' version.
As the early release 70b, 512mb ram, higher res screen etc... is not getting the honeycomb update due to incompatability, I think it's safe to say the 70IT will definitely not get it, as for ICS - I have seen no such indication from any credible source that this is likely, unless you are refering to dev roms, in which case there are already both 'honeycomb' and 'ICS' roms in the works

[Q] Netflix video problem with 8.0 help

Do you guys get video stuttering on Netflix? It's pretty bad on my tab 4 8.0 to the point of getting a headache. I've tried 2.4 & 5ghz but no change. Battery saver is off. This doesn't happen on any other android devices I own. Even my old tab 2 runs Netflix smoother. Any tips or is this how it is on all tab 4s?

Could someone try Netflix and let me know how it is on your tablet please.

Tested Netflix on my Tab4 8", no problems at all.
Do you experience this stuttering on any other video app?

bondobox said:
Could someone try Netflix and let me know how it is on your tablet please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tab 7 here. I get a bit of stuttering but rebooted and plays smooth again.
Sent from my SM-T230NU using XDA Free mobile app

I've tried out some other players like mxplayer and also stuff like YouTube and video playback is smooth. It seems to be just Netflix that is having this issue for me. I've restarted and all that but no luck. Netflix is the only one getting this stuttering every few seconds. Real annoying. Not sure why. I've never seen Netflix act like this on any of my devices and other tablets that I currently own.

Try clearing the cache, try reinstalling?

i have the same problem
what i have tried so far:
1. re install firmware using Kies.
2. format cache, factory reset from recovery
3. clear cache, restart app
4. disabled screen mirror, smart stay, palm motion , switched to nova launcher...
5. limit background process, check do not keep activities.
6. disabled power saving.
7. disabled multiwindow.
edit: also tried
8. clear all other apps cache.
9. Turned off all the bloatware.
10. installed task killers, show no process running since they are Turned off.
11 disabled rotation
12. enabled airplane mode
I also noticed movies in SD does not shutter. only the ones in super HD.
don't know what else to try, and i don't want to root and lose warranty.
playing 1080p 60Hz videos shutter a little bit, I'm starting to think that is just that the CPU cant cope with doing many things at the same time like using wireless an decoding video. since day 1, i noticed that while the updates were downloading and installing it became very laggy over all, and I was like, what are 4 cores there for then? its just that its a crappy tablet and that's all.

I've tried a lot of the things above to and Netflix is still having this micro stuttering. I noticed that if I lower the Netflix quality in my settings it will still stutter so it has nothing to do with the tablet not being able to handle high quality. It almost seems like there's a bug on the Netflix side with this tablet that is causing this or something. It's kinda sad that my old tab 2 7.0 Netflix stream is better than this new tab 4. I also have a shield tablet that just blows both these away but that's expected. My wife and daughter use this tab 4 and they watch allot of Netflix on it so I would really like to figure this out. Anyone else have any ideas on what to do or know if there's a bug that needs to be ironed out with Netflix and this tablet. Maybe there's a update from Netflix or Samsung to fix this problem in the future...if they know about it.

bondobox said:
I've tried a lot of the things above to and Netflix is still having this micro stuttering. I noticed that if I lower the Netflix quality in my settings it will still stutter so it has nothing to do with the tablet not being able to handle high quality. It almost seems like there's a bug on the Netflix side with this tablet that is causing this or something. It's kinda sad that my old tab 2 7.0 Netflix stream is better than this new tab 4. I also have a shield tablet that just blows both these away but that's expected. My wife and daughter use this tab 4 and they watch allot of Netflix on it so I would really like to figure this out. Anyone else have any ideas on what to do or know if there's a bug that needs to be ironed out with Netflix and this tablet. Maybe there's a update from Netflix or Samsung to fix this problem in the future...if they know about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried all versions from newest to oldest , one by one, the lastest one that works is 1.8.1,
you can find it here if you want:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjcg471do3xjmak/netflix-1.8.1.apk
disable automatic opdate for it.

Found a fully functioning ATSC tv tuner.

Hello all,
I just wanted to let all who are interested know that the MyGica A681 USB stick works 100%. I have it hooked up to one of those flat window mount antennas and it receives full HD signal that I view through the PadTV app found on Play Store. The PadTV app lacks in a lot of ways, it would be cool if someone around here was able to come up with something better. A few of the channels have a major A/V delay but it may be due to reception and not the tuner stick or app. Overall, it was a very worthwhile purchase for me, if anyone has any questions let me know.
Hopefully this is useful information for a cord-cutter somewhere. I'm not in any way affiliated with MyGica, just a fellow MOJO owner who couldn't find any info on a TV Tuner stick that would work with our boxes so I took the dive on my own.

Thanks buddy, this is a great discovery!

AndroidSupaFan said:
Thanks buddy, this is a great discovery!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. I've pretty much been doing a lot of my own discovering what works since there's not much documentation for our devices. Like I said in my first post, it would be awesome if someone around here was able to come up with something better for a channel surfing app. PadTV gets the job done, but it's certainly not the prettiest. I forgot to mention that it also does DVR, but one of my issues is that it will only save to internal storage and not something like an external drive or an SD card. The channel info/current episode descriptions are several hours behind. If theres a button on my remote for Channel +/-, I haven't found it. You have to use your mouse to bring up and scroll through channels. Again, it gets the job done, I can watch 39 or so OTA channels, and quite a few of which are HD. It's just not the most MOJO friendly UI, since it was intended for phones.
Some other things I use daily that work 100%: Ouya controller (as 2nd controller), Plugables brand 7x USB 3.0 hub, & a Rii Mini i8 keyboard. Obviously stuff like my Logitech Bluetooth receiver that I run to my stereo also works to receive audio from MOJO. My USB wired Logitech PC game controller works great as well.
Just trying to help fellow XDA'ers and Googlers not worry about compatibility before they order something like I did. That said, most if not all of my worries were completely unfounded because everything I've thrown at the MOJO so far works like a charm!

Would a wired XBox 360 controller work?

psxfa said:
Would a wired XBox 360 controller work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have one to test but I'm 99% sure it would.

I'd just like to clarify a point: it may sound like nitpicking, but it's not the PadTV app that works; it's the PadTV-HD app. The standard PadTV just says it can't find a device.
That being said, the little MyGica is a little giant. I live in a fringe reception area, for decent reception I need a huge rooftop antenna, but this little thumb-drive-sized receiver still picks up a round dozen stations on the 10-cm piece of coat hanger wire it comes with. Yes, the weaker stations have audio lag problems; I hope a better antenna fixes that. It also costs about half what other similar units do, and most of them work on windows only.
I tried a few of the other TV apps on Play Store but the PadTV-HD was the only one that recognized the A681. I didn't find it all that bad an interface, except that the sidebars won't stay in place longer than a couple seconds, and I couldn't find a setting for that. It also lacks a volume control, as the MOJO itself does, so you must hope you have some control somewhere else. And there is no info in the EPG (electronic program guide) even though it appears to have that function. But I was able to find and watch several different channels without any real problems; except, of course, that TV programming in general sucks. Unless you're a sports fan.
So thanks, @tideee88, for the heads-up here!

kevinthefixer said:
I'd just like to clarify a point: it may sound like nitpicking, but it's not the PadTV app that works; it's the PadTV-HD app. The standard PadTV just says it can't find a device.
That being said, the little MyGica is a little giant. I live in a fringe reception area, for decent reception I need a huge rooftop antenna, but this little thumb-drive-sized receiver still picks up a round dozen stations on the 10-cm piece of coat hanger wire it comes with. Yes, the weaker stations have audio lag problems; I hope a better antenna fixes that. It also costs about half what other similar units do, and most of them work on windows only.
I tried a few of the other TV apps on Play Store but the PadTV-HD was the only one that recognized the A681. I didn't find it all that bad an interface, except that the sidebars won't stay in place longer than a couple seconds, and I couldn't find a setting for that. It also lacks a volume control, as the MOJO itself does, so you must hope you have some control somewhere else. And there is no info in the EPG (electronic program guide) even though it appears to have that function. But I was able to find and watch several different channels without any real problems; except, of course, that TV programming in general sucks. Unless you're a sports fan.
So thanks, @tideee88, for the heads-up here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thank you for mentioning that it is in fact the PadTV HD app. Hope I didn't cause anyone any confusion. I also had no luck trying other tuner apps and I tried literally every one available on Play Store (including non-ATSC ones) and even tried sideloading a few because I dislike PadTV HD so much.
I agree that the MyGica stick is a great little device. I'm really impressed with it when it's able to do it's thing properly. I never tried the dinky little antenna it came with, I ordered a 25-mile distance flat window-mount antenna and it gets me about 39 channels here in Pittsburgh, PA. Lots of them are HD, and look and sound great. However, many of the Play Store reviews for PadTV HD seem to indicate that the slow motion, lag, and stuttering are a result of the app not taking advantage of hardware acceleration and thus is trying to encode 1080p on the fly via software rendering or something to that effect. Other than the mild inconveniences of things like not having a dedicated button for CH +/- and as you noted, the channel info being totally useless, it's a real bummer that I can't even get the channels I could be getting if it weren't for a poorly written app that is unfortunately our only option at the moment. I feel as though this is a real hole that could be filled with the rate at which Android set top boxes are becoming popular.
I mostly purchased this because the only time I ever need to watch broadcast TV is when my Steelers are on and hence have no use to pay for cable. I'm really hoping we have a new app sorted out before football season because FOX is one of the channels that currently comes in very laggy and out of sync for me at the moment.
Your MOJO doesn't have volume control, though? It certainly should. Do the hardkeys not work on your C.T.R.L.R.? Android system volume works perfect for me in all apps. Failing that, I've found you can change the volume in Pad TV HD by clicking somewhere in the video frame and dragging your mouse up or down, like a swipe if it were touch. Hopefully that helps!

tideee88 said:
Yes, thank you for mentioning that it is in fact the PadTV HD app. Hope I didn't cause anyone any confusion. I also had no luck trying other tuner apps and I tried literally every one available on Play Store (including non-ATSC ones) and even tried sideloading a few because I dislike PadTV HD so much.
I agree that the MyGica stick is a great little device. I'm really impressed with it when it's able to do it's thing properly. I never tried the dinky little antenna it came with, I ordered a 25-mile distance flat window-mount antenna and it gets me about 39 channels here in Pittsburgh, PA. Lots of them are HD, and look and sound great. However, many of the Play Store reviews for PadTV HD seem to indicate that the slow motion, lag, and stuttering are a result of the app not taking advantage of hardware acceleration and thus is trying to encode 1080p on the fly via software rendering or something to that effect. Other than the mild inconveniences of things like not having a dedicated button for CH +/- and as you noted, the channel info being totally useless, it's a real bummer that I can't even get the channels I could be getting if it weren't for a poorly written app that is unfortunately our only option at the moment. I feel as though this is a real hole that could be filled with the rate at which Android set top boxes are becoming popular.
I mostly purchased this because the only time I ever need to watch broadcast TV is when my Steelers are on and hence have no use to pay for cable. I'm really hoping we have a new app sorted out before football season because FOX is one of the channels that currently comes in very laggy and out of sync for me at the moment.
Your MOJO doesn't have volume control, though? It certainly should. Do the hardkeys not work on your C.T.R.L.R.? Android system volume works perfect for me in all apps. Failing that, I've found you can change the volume in Pad TV HD by clicking somewhere in the video frame and dragging your mouse up or down, like a swipe if it were touch. Hopefully that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try the volume control thing. I'm using CM12.1 and maybe it has a volume control somewhere but I haven't found it yet, I'm used to hardware switches. I'm not using the CTRLR either, just a keyboard & mouse. I'm still working on display resolution problems, as I don't really have the right display hardware for the MOJO, and it's picky that way. I'm about to give up entirely on the powered HDMI-2-VGA adapter to the 1280x1024 computer monitor, too unreliable even just in Android. Neither it nor the HDMI-2-DVI cable to the old Dell monitor will display at all in recovery, for that I have to commandeer the living room and the only true HDMI display in the house, which is a projector--not the best setup for tweaking a device. Still doing my homework on tweaking TWRP to 720P which I hope will solve that problem.

kevinthefixer said:
I'll try the volume control thing. I'm using CM12.1 and maybe it has a volume control somewhere but I haven't found it yet, I'm used to hardware switches. I'm not using the CTRLR either, just a keyboard & mouse. I'm still working on display resolution problems, as I don't really have the right display hardware for the MOJO, and it's picky that way. I'm about to give up entirely on the powered HDMI-2-VGA adapter to the 1280x1024 computer monitor, too unreliable even just in Android. Neither it nor the HDMI-2-DVI cable to the old Dell monitor will display at all in recovery, for that I have to commandeer the living room and the only true HDMI display in the house, which is a projector--not the best setup for tweaking a device. Still doing my homework on tweaking TWRP to 720P which I hope will solve that problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running a rooted stock rom via HDMI so I'm not sure about your display issues as I haven't had any. But I use a bluetooth keyboard/mouse most of the time and the volume hardkeys work on that as well. If your keyboard has volume hardkeys and they don't work, it may be some sort of issue with your rom. AFAIK, my keyboard's drivers are just generic Windows ones.

tideee88 said:
I'm running a rooted stock rom via HDMI so I'm not sure about your display issues as I haven't had any. But I use a bluetooth keyboard/mouse most of the time and the volume hardkeys work on that as well. If your keyboard has volume hardkeys and they don't work, it may be some sort of issue with your rom. AFAIK, my keyboard's drivers are just generic Windows ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same display issues regardless of ROM. AFAIK there are only four, and I tried them all. (This is a very rare instance of me following my own advice: try all the different flavors before deciding on a favorite.) Several people have reported similar issues while in system but I think I'm unique in the recovery problem. Changing the resolution by editing the build.prop improved my display in system but did nothing in recovery; I will just have to carry the MOJO into the living room whenever I need to use recovery, which shouldn't be that often. The bright side is that I learned to unpack and repack recovery images.
My keyboard is a wired mini with no extra room for media keys, but it does have a third control key (FN) to emulate them. But I can't see the blue-on-black icons to use them unless the room is brightly lit! Volume control is not a biggie for me though, I run the audio through a seventies-vintage amp and speakers. I pity those who grew up with "modern" surround sound, satellite speakers and a single subwoofer. My setups often fool both myself and the dogs, we can't tell if the noise is outside the open door or inside the TV.
BTW Windows keyboard drivers won't work on Android, but it's such a low-level thing they are just included in the kernel. Somewhere in the ROM is a keyboard map that can be edited (with root of course), but I misremember where. I never had to remap a keyboard.

PadTV HD app no longer works for me as of the latest update. For anyone considering purchasing a tuner, I recommend against it. Flushed $40 down the toilet.

If you'd like I'll send you the old version, I'll just need to save it then upload it. You'd just have to uninstall the newer version then sideload the old one and not allow it to update. Just PM me.

kevinthefixer said:
If you'd like I'll send you the old version, I'll just need to save it then upload it. You'd just have to uninstall the newer version then sideload the old one and not allow it to update. Just PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please send me the version that works?

Video playback on Remix - extremely choppy please help before I go insane!

I posted a thread up a while ago about playback being poor on Remix with 50Hz content (mods please delete that thread thank you), but it seems following a recent fresh install that all video playback is absolutely terrible no matter how I approach it.
I use an external WD 2Tb drive which connects via Stickmount. This is working fine for roms and also on other units (Ouya, Rpi2 etc). It's a mains powered drive and I plug it directly into the USB 2 slot and then into the wall so it doesn't use the MOJO's power. My telly admittedly isn't the best - it's an old Samsung 32" HD Ready thing that usually only goes to 720p (but will detect and utilise 1080p as evidenced by my Ouya) but it has never displayed this issue before. Ouya playback wasn't amazing, but it was way better than I'm experiencing here.
No matter what media player I use, be it Kodi, SPMC, MX Player, VLC or even directly from the gallery, all playback from local files on the drive (mp4, MKV, avi, divx and so on) is extremely choppy. Frames seem to be dropping, jumping and lagging, making video viewing unbearable. At first I thought it was the media player, but no matter what I settings I adjust the video will stutter. I've tried my own recommended settings, and many different types of combinations but nothing stops it. Believe me, I've spent hours at this! I've even tried changing out the HDMI cable for something better but it's made no difference.
So now I'm pretty confident this is happening at system level and cannot be addressed in the player's settings. There must be a setting somewhere that needs to be addressed to enable better video playback. Please please help me, I am going insane. Or could it be the TV and I should buy a proper HD set?
Either way, help me end this madness please!

Too late to get help before you go insane--you're addicted to Androids.
Do you have the same problem streaming from the internet? That would tell us if it's an input or output problem. Also, don't let's overlook the obvious--are you plugging in the HDD into the USB3 port or the USB2? Have you tried copying a file to a good fast microSD card and playing it from there? (the Samsung EVOs recently dropped in price dramatically). And it might be worth trying out CM12.1 again too. Maybe even trying a different USB cable to the HDD. But you didn't have this problem before you reinstalled RemixOS, did you? I'm rambling but I want to get as many ideas out before my short-term memory loss kicks in. But I would think the MOJO has plenty of horsepower on any Lollipop ROM to play videos at 1080p. Resource hog running in the background? Did you try a task killer?

kevinthefixer said:
Too late to get help before you go insane--you're addicted to Androids.
Do you have the same problem streaming from the internet? That would tell us if it's an input or output problem. Also, don't let's overlook the obvious--are you plugging in the HDD into the USB3 port or the USB2? Have you tried copying a file to a good fast microSD card and playing it from there? (the Samsung EVOs recently dropped in price dramatically). And it might be worth trying out CM12.1 again too. Maybe even trying a different USB cable to the HDD. But you didn't have this problem before you reinstalled RemixOS, did you? I'm rambling but I want to get as many ideas out before my short-term memory loss kicks in. But I would think the MOJO has plenty of horsepower on any Lollipop ROM to play videos at 1080p. Resource hog running in the background? Did you try a task killer?
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Thanks for your detailed reply!
1. Playing video via the YouTube app looks fine.
2. The HDD is plugged in via USB2. The CTRLR dongle is in the USB3 slot.
3. Haven't tried playing a file via SD Card. I have a good Sandisk one somewhere and will give it a go. Good idea.
4. Will certainly try a newer USB cable as I do like to eliminate the obvious and easy solutions first where possible. But no, I did not have this issue with the Rpi or the Ouya.
5. I will try a task killer but like you I don't think this is the issue. Going into Remix settings there doesn't seem to be anything reported as taking up a lot of memory.
Two things I have tried since posting. First was playing the same files with OSMC on Rpi2, and second was changing the HQ scaling on the MOJO in SPMC. On OSMC I notice I do seem to have a duff file, one in particular that first got me worried, but I was still getting some judder with other files. As for HQ scaling, my Google Fu reveals the usual recommended setting is 20% rather than the default 0%. But after playing with it, I've put it right up to 70% and this seriously seems to have helped. I'll keep playing and see how it works across different files. It's such a shame that Android doesn't switch the display mode like Linux does on demand.
I don't think it's the fault of Remix any more tbh. I'm pretty sure I can get this right. But there's a lot of trial and error and I have a lot of varying content to cater for. However if all else fails I will indeed give CM 12.1 another go. Unless there's going to be a CM 13 soon....
Again, thanks for your help.

I think first I'd try swapping the dongle and the HDD, see if the USB3 port does it. Next another USB cable, is the HDD USB3 compliant? If so make sure the cable is also.
I wouldn't count on any more development happening for the MOJO. Aside from Mad Catz, there has been only one developer working on it, and I haven't seen any posts from him lately. CM makes it as easy as humanly possible to port their ROM to any given machine, and they publish a guide for it, so next time I have a few months off I might try to aquire that skill. But don't hold your breath.

The HDD is USB2 only. I'm going to try a shorter cable I think, if I can find one in my cupboard, but I'm hoping I've fixed it in the settings for now. I hope so anyway as I really like Remix OS and don't want to change.
No, I don't have any expectation of any further development really. I just remember UJD talking about the possibility of CM13 but that was some time ago. To be honest though if there was never another made for the MOJO, it wouldn't upset me very much. We already have three or four brilliant options on 5.1.1 that are a huge step up from the stock rom. I consider myself very spoilt for choice.

K-Project said:
The HDD is USB2 only. I'm going to try a shorter cable I think, if I can find one in my cupboard, but I'm hoping I've fixed it in the settings for now. I hope so anyway as I really like Remix OS and don't want to change.
No, I don't have any expectation of any further development really. I just remember UJD talking about the possibility of CM13 but that was some time ago. To be honest though if there was never another made for the MOJO, it wouldn't upset me very much. We already have three or four brilliant options on 5.1.1 that are a huge step up from the stock rom. I consider myself very spoilt for choice.
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Ya, I feel exactly the same way. FWIW I also feel that way about my Asus TFs; I now have marshmallow ROMs for TF300 and TF700, and the performance from 3 and 4-yr-old tablets is amazing.