I've used a SONY GoogleTV (with Bluray) to play media files (mkv, avi, mp4, etc) through ViMu app. Two 128 GB thumb drives stayed connected to the USB ports in the back of the unit at all times for kids' movies, while I utilized the front USB port once in a while to connect a WD 1TB portable external HD to watch movies.
Now, we moved to FireTV and I’d like to carry over the same setup through XBMC and StickMount. Obviously, having only 1 USB port limits this. I tried connecting a USB hub (non-powered, “mobile”); although the thumb drive worked fine, the external HD wasn’t powered. Looks like I’ll need a powered USB hub to be able to connect what I listed above.
Is there a particular one that works better with the FireTV?
Can StickMount handle mounting 2-3 USB drives and an external hard drive simultaneously? When it's time to unmount the external HD, will I be able to pick that specifically or "unmount" will get rid of thumb drives as well?
Thanks!
tenderidol said:
I've used a SONY GoogleTV (with Bluray) to play media files (mkv, avi, mp4, etc) through ViMu app. Two 128 GB thumb drives stayed connected to the USB ports in the back of the unit at all times for kids' movies, while I utilized the front USB port once in a while to connect a WD 1TB portable external HD to watch movies.
Now, we moved to FireTV and I’d like to carry over the same setup through XBMC and StickMount. Obviously, having only 1 USB port limits this. I tried connecting a USB hub (non-powered, “mobile”); although the thumb drive worked fine, the external HD wasn’t powered. Looks like I’ll need a powered USB hub to be able to connect what I listed above.
Is there a particular one that works better with the FireTV?
Can StickMount handle mounting 2-3 USB drives and an external hard drive simultaneously? When it's time to unmount the external HD, will I be able to pick that specifically or "unmount" will get rid of thumb drives as well?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have bought a USB 3.0 mains powered hub (4 ports) so will let you know later how it goes with 3 portable 1TB HDDs attached.
DEREKTROTTER said:
i have bought a USB 3.0 mains powered hub (4 ports) so will let you know later how it goes with 3 portable 1TB HDDs attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Did it work?
tenderidol said:
Thanks. Did it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi,
yes it is working perfectly.
here is what i bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131220799541
I have tested it with 3 HDD's attached
> 1TB portable (FAT32 formatted)
> 1TB portable (NTFS formatted)
> 2TB portable (NTFS formatted)
All plugged in at once and i could navigate them fully and play files. I tested a 7GB MKV on each and all played perfectly.
1 Downside:
The Amazon Fire TV fails to boot if the powered USB is plugged in on startup (hangs at amazon white logo)
I have heard someone else mention this also, would love a solution to this as they will then get mounted by stickmount automatically.
Currently got to boot without USB hub > connect hub > mount via stickmount.
Hope this helps
DEREKTROTTER said:
1 Downside:
The Amazon Fire TV fails to boot if the powered USB is plugged in on startup (hangs at amazon white logo)
I have heard someone else mention this also, would love a solution to this as they will then get mounted by stickmount automatically.
Currently got to boot without USB hub > connect hub > mount via stickmount.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use stickmount ([url="http://www.jocala.com/adbfire.html]adbFire[/url] uses its own disk mounting solution), but my powered Dlink hub does not interfere with the FireTV boot up. That's with 3 drives attached.
DEREKTROTTER said:
hi,
yes it is working perfectly.
here is what i bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131220799541
I have tested it with 3 HDD's attached
> 1TB portable (FAT32 formatted)
> 1TB portable (NTFS formatted)
> 2TB portable (NTFS formatted)
All plugged in at once and i could navigate them fully and play files. I tested a 7GB MKV on each and all played perfectly.
1 Downside:
The Amazon Fire TV fails to boot if the powered USB is plugged in on startup (hangs at amazon white logo)
I have heard someone else mention this also, would love a solution to this as they will then get mounted by stickmount automatically.
Currently got to boot without USB hub > connect hub > mount via stickmount.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the update. I suspected it will do that. I have the same problem when I want to boot from a powered hub. I can boot from the ssd plugged in directly in the aftv usb port, but not via hub.
The problem is I cannot plug in any other usb device like a keyboard or mouse or even my usb receiver. It's a pity the aftv does not allow any other bluetooth keyboard or mouse connected to it.
Maybe one of the guys can look into it to get a drive to be booted from a powered usb hub
jocala said:
I don't use stickmount ([url="http://www.jocala.com/adbfire.html]adbFire[/url] uses its own disk mounting solution), but my powered Dlink hub does not interfere with the FireTV boot up. That's with 3 drives attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you link me to the hub you have? would like something i can keep plugged in and will boot up.
Also with the adbfire method, you still have to mount on every reboot with it right?
DEREKTROTTER said:
hi,
yes it is working perfectly.
here is what i bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131220799541
I have tested it with 3 HDD's attached
> 1TB portable (FAT32 formatted)
> 1TB portable (NTFS formatted)
> 2TB portable (NTFS formatted)
All plugged in at once and i could navigate them fully and play files. I tested a 7GB MKV on each and all played perfectly.
1 Downside:
The Amazon Fire TV fails to boot if the powered USB is plugged in on startup (hangs at amazon white logo)
I have heard someone else mention this also, would love a solution to this as they will then get mounted by stickmount automatically.
Currently got to boot without USB hub > connect hub > mount via stickmount.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this problem. Using a Belkin 4 port USB 2 hub, but I only have one HD attached.
jmerrilljr2 said:
I don't have this problem. Using a Belkin 4 port USB 2 hub, but I only have one HD attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is that usb powered though? or mains powered
usb powered doesn't handle my 2tb HDD very well, but fine for flash drives.
DEREKTROTTER said:
is that usb powered though? or mains powered
usb powered doesn't handle my 2tb HDD very well, but fine for flash drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's powered. Running LaCie Rugged Mini 500gb.
DEREKTROTTER said:
can you link me to the hub you have? would like something i can keep plugged in and will boot up.
Also with the adbfire method, you still have to mount on every reboot with it right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You can set your boot as persistent so you don't have to remount.
My Dlink is a few years old. I don't see it listed, only newer models.
jocala said:
No. You can set your boot as persistent so you don't have to remount.
My Dlink is a few years old. I don't see it listed, only newer models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. Could you please provide the details of the adb mount method? Apologies, if it's a basic question... still new to AFTV.
I purchased a powered USB 2.0 hub to test things out. The connected USB sticks and the WD portable HD work great with the hub. Using StickMount, they're loaded at the time of boot, and when I pick Unmount to remove the WD HD, upon pulling the USB cable of the HD, USB sticks remain mounted (don't need to hit mount again).
With this particular powered hub FireTV boots fine when it's connected; seems like certain powered hubs block the boot sequence. I tried the boot sequence with just the USB sticks and USB sticks + WD HD, and it booted fine each time.
The only issue I have is that when I "map" the external drives, I give them names and they're listed under video sources. Unfortunately, StickMount doesn't load them in the same order every time, and the shortcuts point to invalid paths when there are more than one USB sources attached. I can create a root "USB" shortcut that lists all the sources and I can navigate to each drive, but that makes the process complicated for grandparents and kids. If there's a more "permanent" way to mount the attached drives (adb may be?), I'd like to try that.
Thanks!
tenderidol said:
Thanks for your reply. Could you please provide the details of the adb mount method? Apologies, if it's a basic question... still new to AFTV.
I purchased a powered USB 2.0 hub to test things out. The connected USB sticks and the WD portable HD work great with the hub. Using StickMount, they're loaded at the time of boot, and when I pick Unmount to remove the WD HD, upon pulling the USB cable of the HD, USB sticks remain mounted (don't need to hit mount again).
With this particular powered hub FireTV boots fine when it's connected; seems like certain powered hubs block the boot sequence. I tried the boot sequence with just the USB sticks and USB sticks + WD HD, and it booted fine each time.
The only issue I have is that when I "map" the external drives, I give them names and they're listed under video sources. Unfortunately, StickMount doesn't load them in the same order every time, and the shortcuts point to invalid paths when there are more than one USB sources attached. I can create a root "USB" shortcut that lists all the sources and I can navigate to each drive, but that makes the process complicated for grandparents and kids. If there's a more "permanent" way to mount the attached drives (adb may be?), I'd like to try that.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adbFire provides two different ways to mount your drives and sticks: standard, by device name (/dev/block/sda1, etc) and by the drive's UUID, a unique identifier that each drive stick is given when formatted. Mounting by UUID guarantees that each drive is always mounted at the same mount point.
adbFire creates a script that is automatically run at boot to mount your drives. It uses the busybox run-parts command to run scripts which it places in /etc/init.d. It handles drives formatted with EXT?, ExFat, NTFS and VFAT. UUID is a work in progress, just introduced in the current version, v1.14.
adbFire has a topic here in the xda Fire TV forum. Feel free to ask further questions there.
just EXT?
so atm i cant mount my NTFS and FAT32 drives with that method?
DEREKTROTTER said:
just EXT?
so atm i cant mount my NTFS and FAT32 drives with that method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look again. EXT2/3/4 NTFS,ExFAT and VFAT.
In my case I only have my external usb 3 ssd that I connect., which means there is no need to give it any priority. I have moved all the AFTV storage to the ssd and boot up from it. All I need is a usb 3 hub that is compatible with the external to boot my AFTV up. I can then connect anything else to the usb hub.
So frustrated, got a powered usb hub and connected 2TB HDD and its turned out a fail. XBMC freezes up / stickmount takes forever and sometimes not at all.
Got the fire tv mainly to play back my movie collection but seems it wont be done so easily.
I exchanged the 4 port hub with a 7 port hub and filled up all the ports with USB sticks and hard drives. FireTV boots while the hub and all the drives are connected, and everything works fine. If you don't need a USB 3.0 hub for other things down the road, you might want to give this one a try.
tenderidol said:
I exchanged the 4 port hub with a 7 port hub and filled up all the ports with USB sticks and hard drives. FireTV boots while the hub and all the drives are connected, and everything works fine. If you don't need a USB 3.0 hub for other things down the road, you might want to give this one a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the links... Will keep an eye out for them for BlackFriday. Since I am on the market for 3 ( 3 FTV's ). I was leaning on getting 3 Transcend TS-HUB3K Powered USB 3.0 - 4 Port Hub's But is not like the AFTV's will ever need USB 3.0. The price on the 7 port hub should cut my per unit price by half after coupons... Wonder how low can they go..
has anyone used a powered HDD with the fire tv directly? e.g a 4TB seagate
i would assume they would not need a powered hubbut not sure
Really frustrated as i have 2 portable HDD and both experience freezing and buffering with movie playback from them. I sometimes have to reboot the AFTV just to stop the freezing. I got a fire TV to replace a WD HDTV live as i was getting freezing on there and it seems to be still happening :/
Please post here the HDDs you use that play files perfectly.
Thanks
So I think I've read every thread in the Nexus Player forum, and I'm just going to spit it back and have you all make sure I understand what I'm getting into...
Got my Nexus Player and it updated to 21V, and it sounds like I can still root with ChainFire, is that correct?
Then to start expanding functionality I need an OTG cable and USB Hub. Any recommendations on a 3-4 port hub?
Then, my aim is for wired networking. I understand it isn't totally necessary but I have my Comcast gateway right next to it. So I might as well just get this adapter right?
So at this point I would be rooted, networked, and ready to add on storage. I'm going to go the route of a 1 or 2TB (non-powered) hard drive. Will I have to setup bunches of 128gb partitions, or will LolliRock, Unleashed Kernel, StickMount, (and there was one more app that handled OGG folder placement for large games) handle storage without those mini partitions?
Then, if possible I want to get a 360 controller or wiimote working. If not it sounds like the Red Samurai Bluetooth controller or the Asus controller is the way to go...
Also, will a Logitech K400 work via USB adapter?
How am I doing so far?
Mine was updated and I still was able to root it with SuperSU. I would recommend you this as a 4 USB hub (which is powered so all right for running you're hard drives): amazon.ca/Plugable-Port-Charger-Power-Adapter/dp/B005P2BY5I/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1419636337&sr=8-25&keywords=plugab. Bought mine yesterday and I'm gonna try to use my xbox 360 controller with it so I will give you back news when I got mine. And normally a mouse and keyboard would work just fine as seen in this video: youtube.com/watch?v=H0xHvjuDk68
Thanks, I'd appreciate any updates!
For the USB hub, do I need a 2.0 or will a 3.0 work too?
I have noname 2.0/3.0 hub and works fine...it should be compatibile so each 3.0hub should work with 2.0 ports
The USB port on the Nexus Player is 2.0 so it's pretty useless to have a 3.0 hub. Nonetheless, I finally received my USB OTG cable and USB hub and the Xbox 360 controller works without problem. I tried it on a N64 emulator. Also no problem with a mouse and a keyboard connected by an USB dongle. And install stickmount in order to be able to mount any HD or USB key.
I got my OTG cable, and 2.0 hub (4 port), working with k400 keyboard, and the Red Samurai v2 (gamestop) controller on the way. Nes emulator working well with keyboard, I'm just trying to figure out if I want to stay on stock or use LolliRock, I've been back and forth twice now, and will probably flash the newest LolliRock tonight.
Stickmount (and other apps) for some reason won't install via Web based Google play, so that's frustrating...
I recently bought an Anker USB hub with gigabit ethernet and connected it to an OTG cable. My (unrooted stock) Nexus Player picks up the ethernet interface right away and works perfectly... except for casting from my phone. My phone sees the Nexus Player as a target to cast to, but video never plays. If I disconnect ethernet and re-connect my Nexus Player via WiFi it works fine.
Anyone else have this problem?
gotroot801 said:
I recently bought an Anker USB hub with gigabit ethernet and connected it to an OTG cable. My (unrooted stock) Nexus Player picks up the ethernet interface right away and works perfectly... except for casting from my phone. My phone sees the Nexus Player as a target to cast to, but video never plays. If I disconnect ethernet and re-connect my Nexus Player via WiFi it works fine.
Anyone else have this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once connection through Ethernet is established, wireless is automatically disabled.
gotroot801 said:
I recently bought an Anker USB hub with gigabit ethernet and connected it to an OTG cable. My (unrooted stock) Nexus Player picks up the ethernet interface right away and works perfectly... except for casting from my phone. My phone sees the Nexus Player as a target to cast to, but video never plays. If I disconnect ethernet and re-connect my Nexus Player via WiFi it works fine.
Anyone else have this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could possibly be your specific adapter. Like sam.balia1012 said, when you plug up an ethernet adapter, it disables your wi-fi. however, even though I have the Inatek ethernet adapter, I am still able to tab cast or chromecast things from my phone to my Nexus Player while in ethernet mode without having to switch on wi-fi.
Anyone else getting streaming issues while using a USB Ethernet adapter??
Specifically, I am using a Monoprice USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. We have Time Warner 40.0, and I have it plugged into the Ubee Modem/Router (absolutely hate this thing because we already have a TPLink Archer C7)
While watching Netflix we get a lot of random freezing throughout videos, Hulu will get stuck on "loading" after playing ads. The only real upside is that HD kicks in a lot quicker.
Of course, if I disable the ethernet and use the 5ghz connection then it runs fine but is not as stable as having a wired connection.
I am guessing the issue lies within the adapter, or the network?
Nephilim3883 said:
Anyone else getting streaming issues while using a USB Ethernet adapter??
Specifically, I am using a Monoprice USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. We have Time Warner 40.0, and I have it plugged into the Ubee Modem/Router (absolutely hate this thing because we already have a TPLink Archer C7)
While watching Netflix we get a lot of random freezing throughout videos, Hulu will get stuck on "loading" after playing ads. The only real upside is that HD kicks in a lot quicker.
Of course, if I disable the ethernet and use the 5ghz connection then it runs fine but is not as stable as having a wired connection.
I am guessing the issue lies within the adapter, or the network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the Monoprice adapter but the Inateck adapter I have has been working perfectly fine. Just streamed a round of Hulu last night as well as casting streams. I do want to note that Hulu does glitch every once and awhile but I think its related to app issues.
I use 802.11ac on the 5 GHz band for fast and generally stable wireless performance. Keep in mind that even if your Ethernet adapter can handle Gigabit speeds, the Nexus Player uses a USB 2.0 interface which means that it only allows up to 480 Mbps through that port. Perhaps that's causing your Ethernet adapter to fall back to the 100 Mbps speed limit associated with the older Fast Ethernet standard.
GabbyWC said:
I use 802.11ac on the 5 GHz band for fast and generally stable wireless performance. Keep in mind that even if your Ethernet adapter can handle Gigabit speeds, the Nexus Player uses a USB 2.0 interface which means that it only allows up to 480 Mbps through that port. Perhaps that's causing your Ethernet adapter to fall back to the 100 Mbps speed limit associated with the older Fast Ethernet standard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I am thinking I probably should've gone with a USB 2.0 10/100 adapter instead
Seems to be fixed after factory reset and flashing Android M DP 3