Database Users

NVIDIA SHIELD CONSOLE? Android TV SuperComputer Cloud Gaming? WOW

EDIT: Can everyone who visits this thread please take the time to do a official request for adding the SHIELD Console forums? Just visit the below thread and put in your request please. Thanks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660354
ORIGINAL POST:
Is this a new device coming out this Summer? I don't even see a section at XDA for it, or any mention of it here in these Shield threads, yet its based on Android TV and the Tegra X1, with the below specs. I'm in the market for a Android TV, so this interests me.
http://shield.nvidia.com/
http://shield.nvidia.com/console
Specifications:
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® X1 processor
256-core Maxwell™ GPU with 3GB RAM
Video Features 4K Ultra-HD ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
Audio 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Storage* 16 GB
Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.1/BLE
Interfaces Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI 2.0
Two USB 3.0 (Type A)
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD slot
IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)
Software Updates SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA
Gaming Features NVIDIA GRID™ game streaming service
NVIDIA Share
NVIDIA GameStream™
Power 40 W power adapter
Weight and Size Weight: 23 oz / 654 g
Height: 5.1 in / 130 mm
Width: 8.3 in / 210 mm
Depth: 1.0 in / 25 mm
Operating System Android TV™, Google Cast™ Ready
Included Apps = PLEX

It is a new android TV console made by Nvidia. The Cpu/GPU is the latest tegra X1 that is insanely fast! Much faster than Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7.
Release date is in may and will cost 199$

Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines

RollWii said:
Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines
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Games like Crysis 3 will run natively on it (not in the cloud).
(Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.

ryocoon said:
Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.
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I'm more interested what it will eventually do for media myself. And it MUST be rootable for me to even consider it as an option. The specs, at least for the Android world are nothing short of brilliant. However, again I want media apps mainly, such as Kodi, Plex, Netflix playback and casting to be flawless. For now the Nexus Player still turns me on more even with it being wifi only. However, If the NVIDIA Console becomes rootable with FULL custom Android ROM's I am going to change my mind in a heartbeat though, haha.

Considering that all of the nVidia devices to date have been extremely easy to unlock and root, I'm going to say that, yeah, it is mostly likely going to be root-able. Whether it can handle Kodi/Plex/Netflix/Etc at 4K is up to those developers. I know NetFlix has 4K content, but I'm not sure how they differentiate and enable it to be honest.
I have the Nexus Player, and I honestly feel a bit like a chump for getting it and so soon this device is announced. I can always use it in another room or something though.
The big rub with Android TV so far is that the default UI, the LeanBack Launcher, will not display some apps unless they declare themselves as leanback capable (which includes some XML, an art asset or two for different shape/size icons, navigation by controller/keys, and search-ability in some cases). This is a problem I've run into on my Nexus Player. Now, nVidia may snub the LeanBack launcher and may integrate some LeanBack function into their nVidia Hub (like on the Shield Tablet and Shield Portable) which recognizes dozens of media apps, games, and some other things and has a launcher in its own UI. However, if apps make themselves noted for LeanBack, they show up fine on the normal AndroidTV interface. What is better, if they include search, then you can voice search for titles in media apps, and if it includes some sort of rating or recommendation feature (like Hulu or YouTube) they can integrate that and you can get recommendations of what to watch directly in your launcher UI on the top row. Less important for games, maybe important for Game discovery, but definitely an interesting thing for the media watchers amongst us. I doubt recommendation would work on something like Plex, and KODI is its own UI entirely, skipping LeanBack or even nVidia hub (to be honest, I've never been a fan of XBMC's UI, and Kodi hasn't won me over yet either... too fidgety and I can't trust a 'normal' person to be able to understand and operate it). Like I stated above, the machine has the horsepower, but it will be up to app developers to show up with a "flawless" app that will work on it well.
Casting works pretty damn well on my Nexus Player, so I bet with MIMO capable AC spec WiFi, and also ethernet inclusion, you will get pretty damn good casting from Chromecast apps, as that is built into AndroidTV's OS.
Mind you a lot of this is based upon speculation on specs, existing hardware, and my knowledge of the AndroidTV OS and how it functions. Your mileage may vary, terms and conditions subject to actual reality upon device launch.

Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.

SkOrPn said:
Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.
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I'm still waiting for this device. Hopefully it's better than the garbage that the Razer Forge TV was. The mods and such at the nVidia forums still say it's coming out in may. The Forge didn't release with Netflix, and there might be a chance the same will happen with the Nvidia Shield Android TV, but I'd be ok with Nvidia as they're going to have 4k display support for netflix.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...blet/nvidia-shield-tv-console-release-date/2/

I just got an email from NVIDIA saying its almost here. It starts out saying the wait is over, but then goes on to say its still not available and that they are giving away one Shield Console everyday until it is available to the public. I hate emails that start off telling you the wait is over but then asks you to wait some more, lol...

Its out!
Although only can see USA and Canada
$199.99 for 16GB
$299.99 for 500GB
http://shield.nvidia.com/android-tv

I'm not personally too interested in the gaming aspects but that amount of GPU power will prove very, very interesting. My main hope is that somebody can produce a minimal linux install for HTPC with Kodi and mpv builds, or perhaps just a release of Debian.
This device is the perfect low-cost HTPC. It should have more than sufficient CPU power for 10-bit h.264 and h.265 decode as well as sufficient compute power on the GPU side for EWA-type resamplers for chroma and image. I'm given to understand the X1 has full desktop opengl compatibility so it ought to be fully compatible with mpv (though I'm unsure of the state of the ARM builds).
The denver CPU should be more than enough to handle metadata crawling and the likes via Kodi in a non-sluggish fashion too. Christ, this device needs more videophile attention...

Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.

Just ordered mine from Amazon US to be delivered to the UK next week by expedited delivery. What an absolute beast of a machine.

skrowl said:
Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.
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me too!
returning my fire tv to them for a full refund, and getting this
this will be great to stream my pc to the tv so i can play games like witcher 3 in full 4k 50" vs 1080p 24"
and all the other stuff it does

Full review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review

Shield Console Rooting Experience Thus Far...
Got mine this afternoon and after futzing a bit, tried to root it. It came with developer mode already enabled, one hassle for me is that rebooting to fastboot makes the screen blank so I had to fly blind to oem unlock. So, I've got an unlocked system at the moment, but Super SU is still not working because their is no su on the device. Anyone make it any further than me? I also went ahead and cracked it open to see if there were obvious serial port connection points. Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
I'm going to look into building my own kernel + ramdisk to try and get the necessary tools in place so SuperSU can work, but I'm a bit worried that the screen isn't going to work and so I'll essentially be flying blind through the whole process.

ericvh said:
Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
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Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Yeah no SATA connector but there is an option in the settings to install all apps to an external hdd or micro sd card anyways
PS. Anyone know if this will be getting a dedicated XDA Forum? I'll probably be picking one up soon

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Hard to tell for sure, looks like there might be solder points for it, but no header. I've got the 500GB on order, will post the diffs when it arrives.

Pro or 16gb?

Hi guys. I have an Amazon fire tv box at the moment. Fully rooted and running some good media stuff. I am selling and upgrading to a sheild tv. My question is this. Which model should I go for? From a rooting point of view, is the 500gb model just the same to do. I have read posts talking of difficulties. If I buy the 16gb model and use an external hdd, is this the same as a pro model? I understand you can use external as internal now? Could someone enlighten me?

16gb of course... Best speed... And yes with the adoptative storage... I got a 500gb external hdd usb 3.0 as internal, no problems.. A cheapest option for more internal storage.

Largewoodenspoon said:
Hi guys. I have an Amazon fire tv box at the moment. Fully rooted and running some good media stuff. I am selling and upgrading to a sheild tv. My question is this. Which model should I go for? From a rooting point of view, is the 500gb model just the same to do. I have read posts talking of difficulties. If I buy the 16gb model and use an external hdd, is this the same as a pro model? I understand you can use external as internal now? Could someone enlighten me?
Click to expand...
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Personally I recommend the 16GB
however, if you plan to use a lot of internal storage and dont want to mess with figuring out adoptive storage then the 500GB pro would benefit you.
(adoptive storage really inst that difficult in my opinion and works really well making the 16GB far more appealing but since so many people have been having issues with it I thought it should be noted)
Shield Pro:
Pros:
the 500gb is always seen as internal storage
No need to use adoptive storage unless you are putting massive amounts of offline media on it
No real need to use external storage except for transferring files to it.
Cons:
The 500GB hard drive is a normal hard disk which does make a little noise, this bothers some people.
Early models had some issues with defective hard drives
Some people report slight performance issues compared to the 16GB model which they attribute to the hard disk
Bottom line: the Pro is going to be easier to use all around if you plan to install a lot of games or offline media but it is noisier and may have some performance stutters, also note that there were some earlier models with hard drive failure. nvidia has been great about replacing them but it should be noted.
Shield 16GB
Pros:
Smoother performance (Per some reports)
Cheaper
No defective hard drive issues since it doesn't have a hard drive.
Quieter
Adoptive storage in 6.0 gives the option to bridge the storage gap with the pro. (There are some cons to this though, see below)
When using fast external storage media as adoptive storage in my experience there have been no performance issues whatsoever.
Cons:
only 16GB of internal space
When installing multiple large games you will need to use adoptive storage
To use adoptive storage you will need to either purchase an additional SD card, OTG drive or hard disk unless you have one with good write speeds laying around.
if using slower memory as adoptive storage there are some very definite performance issues.
Bottom line: if you wont be installing many large games at the same time and use external storage for music, videos and Game Roms then this model is a no brainer being the cheaper option with generally better performance and no risk of a defective hard drive.
however, if you want to install a lot of large games to it and otherwise heavily use adoptive storage then you have to be very careful to make sure you understand how it works and what you need or it can be a headache. (you can tell this pretty easily reading through the forums with so many people complaining about it) in my own experience it works pretty well though as long as you understand what you are getting into.

I have both and never had a single issue with either... until the 3.0 update... but thats another story... in my experience, they perform the same in regards to the x1 chip... ive never heard the HDD in the pro model and i was a day one adopter... the list above is comprehensive and pretty much hits the nail on the head, but i just wanted to chime in and say that ive never heard the HDD spinning on my pro model.

If the pro model also has emmc for OS and only uses the HD as storage, I'd consider the Pro model. Unfortunately SATV Pro uses the HD for OS and it's impossible for users to clone the HD. HDs are likely to fail sooner than emmcs and make the SATV pro a waste.
SATV should have a standard SATA interface for storage and emmc for OS like the Jetson TX1.

I see little benefit in getting a pro now. If you want the absolute fastest in terms of storage you may as well get an external usb3 ssd and use that as adoptable storage
I'll be honest I didn't consider the pro as it was $100 more expensive for the 500gb hd which is an absolute rip off. If it was $50 I would have probably got one. Depends how OCD you are about clutter, personally I don't mind using an external HD.

Ok thanks guys. I just ordered the 16gb model. Do you think I need the extra stick remote?
First thing I'm gonna do is root it.
Should I upgrade to latest 3 software? And flash a Custom rom?
I've read that something weird happens with the controller not working?
Anyway I'm very excited and consider it an upgrade from my Amazon fire tv box. I hope!?

Largewoodenspoon said:
Ok thanks guys. I just ordered the 16gb model. Do you think I need the extra stick remote?
First thing I'm gonna do is root it.
Should I upgrade to latest 3 software? And flash a Custom rom?
I've read that something weird happens with the controller not working?
Anyway I'm very excited and consider it an upgrade from my Amazon fire tv box. I hope!?
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I would recommend the remote, though it is a bit pricey for what it does.
The biggest place its come in handy for me is when I pair a Bluetooth device (Mouse, other controller etc.) the controller always seems to disconnect for some reason and wont let me hit the "Pair" button.
The remote never has connectivity issues for me and so I can always just grab it and hit the "Pair" button and worry about getting the controller reconnected later.
I also tend to use it when I'm watching movies using headphones because I can plug the headphones into the remote.
this can be done with the controller as well but it has three small benefits that I've found over using the controller:
1. its smaller and lighter than the controller so you can slip it in your pocket and still hear what's going on if you need to run to the kitchen in the middle of a movie or something.
2. it doesn't have any lights where the controller has lights that stay on all the time (Nvidia shield logo, home, start, back etc.) which can be a bit of an annoyance watching movies in the dark.
3. the buttons are much harder to accidentally press
It can also be used as a controller in some games which is a plus for some (I prefer the controller myself but my wife far prefers the remote for simple games like badlands and dragon fly)
I love it and would recommend it for the reasons above but for some people its probably redundant since the controller can perform all of the same functions.
so if the price isn't an issue I would go for it hands down, but if you were planning on using the money for something more pressing (a second controller or more storage etc.) your money may be better off used elsewhere.

Amazon fire tv 4k box to a nvidia shield

Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks

Richdot said:
Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks
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The Shield is an upgrade for sure, but if you're JUST using it to stream, I'd stick with AFTV personally. I don't know if you'll see any real difference within Kodi at all (maybe it's a tad more snappy in navigation? But Fire TV is pretty fast even with some heavier skins). Not sure what apps you aren't able to get/use? You can install Playstore (if rooted) or sideload a lot of Android apps. I assume you're not talking about games. That's a different story.
As for RAM usage, that's quite normal. Android will try to utilize as much as it can. Mine fluctuates between 50-60ish% with Kodi. It can go higher if I'm using advanced settings for buffering, but there's no noticeable impact on performance.
So yea if you really just want a good streaming device, probably save your money and stick with AFTV.

Richdot said:
Hi guys ,
Just after a bit of info reguarding a possible purchase of a nvidia shield from a amazon fire tv box. Would like to know if you guys think its worth it?
I will only be using it to stream won't be gaming on it at all I have a xbox one for that. Be using SPMC/KODI.
Few things bug me about the Amazon fire tv 2 box and thats how limited it is for getting apps. I have SPMC installed on it, I see if i needed a VPN its a problem. Also how much RAM is being used going into SPMC 60% used already.
So will i see any benefit going in for a shield or just stick with what i have?
Thanks
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Like @KLit75 said... It's very simple...
NVidia Shield (any version) = Best AndroidTV device period. Best for high end Android Games (Twice the cost for twice the hardware. Full 4K streaming device)
FTV2 = Great for Streaming & regular to light gaming. (Half the cost. Lower 4k device (30 FPS). Still great hardware for streaming & regular to light gaming & expandable storage)
FTVS2 = Still good for Streaming & light gaming. Comparable with FTV1's. (Even cheaper then the FTV2 & still pretty good for streaming & light gaming)
If you already know you won't be gaming on your device. Then the next question to ask yourself is how much 4k @ 60 FPS will you be doing.
With a little research you can find out how easy it is to sideload apps on any FireTV device. There are half a dozen ways to do it. For example: http://www.aftvnews.com/introducing...e-tv-app-which-makes-sideloading-dead-simple/
And there are even mods like changing the default keyboard that do not require Root.
I am waiting to see what FTV3's will have in-store later this year before even thinking of upgrading my FTV1's. They are still doing their job just fine. This includes some light gaming.
I might even advise to wait for a sale on the FTVS2 & have that hold you over until the FTV3's & other devices become available later at the end of the year.

Hmm ok chaps thanks!
I think ill hold off on the shield then as I said i will only be using the shield for streaming nothing else. I don't even own a 4k tv yet
Amazon fire tv 2 is a good streamer 8GB storage is annoying. but Ive had amlogic devices with S805 S905's and with those i do notice more lock ups in kodi/spmc and freezes. I don't see any of that with the amazon fire tv.
Does anyone know when the new Amazon fire tv box 3 will be out? the amazon fire tv box 2 came out late in the UK was early 2016.
Thanks

Richdot said:
Hmm ok chaps thanks!
I think ill hold off on the shield then as I said i will only be using the shield for streaming nothing else. I don't even own a 4k tv yet
Amazon fire tv 2 is a good streamer 8GB storage is annoying. but Ive had amlogic devices with S805 S905's and with those i do notice more lock ups in kodi/spmc and freezes. I don't see any of that with the amazon fire tv.
Does anyone know when the new Amazon fire tv box 3 will be out? the amazon fire tv box 2 came out late in the UK was early 2016.
Thanks
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No 4k TV's here either & don't plan to upgrade my TV's for another decade if I'm lucky. :fingers-crossed: By that time the tech will be beyond 4k.
Find a good free build specially made with FTVS's in mind like the FireTVGuru (www.FireTVGuru.net) builds. Add or subtract what you need. And you shouldn't have any problems in Kodi/SPMC. I actually run both + FireMC to try different builds. And since they get updates at different rates.
As for storage. Get a fast USB 3.0 Stick or even better a fast MicroSD card for your FTV2. I can easily install 20+ apps (was doing some testing) on my FTV1 without any extra storage. I steam a lot thru Opera v37 & Chrome browsers this days.
With a fast enough USB 3.0 Stick or MicroSD card. You can move all of Kodi to the external drive. Just follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-partially-or-entirely-move-kodi-data-to-external-usb-storage/
I doubt you'll see an FTV in the UK in 2017. Since the FTVS2 is still not available there yet. So I think a sure bet would be no FTV3's in the UK until the 2nd quarter of 2018. Unless Amazon does some major changes to their launching system.

Y314K said:
No 4k TV's here either & don't plan to upgrade my TV's for another decade if I'm lucky. :fingers-crossed: By that time the tech will be beyond 4k.
Find a good free build specially made with FTVS's in mind like the FireTVGuru (www.FireTVGuru.net) builds. Add or subtract what you need. And you shouldn't have any problems in Kodi/SPMC. I actually run both + FireMC to try different builds. And since they get updates at different rates.
As for storage. Get a fast USB 3.0 Stick or even better a fast MicroSD card for your FTV2. I can easily install 20+ apps (was doing some testing) on my FTV1 without any extra storage. I steam a lot thru Opera v37 & Chrome browsers this days.
With a fast enough USB 3.0 Stick or MicroSD card. You can move all of Kodi to the external drive. Just follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-partially-or-entirely-move-kodi-data-to-external-usb-storage/
I doubt you'll see an FTV in the UK in 2017. Since the FTVS2 is still not available there yet. So I think a sure bet would be no FTV3's in the UK until the 2nd quarter of 2018. Unless Amazon does some major changes to their launching system.
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Ok I suppose ill just wait for the new amazon fire tv 3 box then, I don't like the firesticks the new the stick is actually slower than the amazon fire tv 2 box currently so not interested in that. may have to wait until 2018 then, hopefully the performance of the box will still hold up for new verisons of kodi.

should i buy the mojo

Looking for a Kodi box plus emulation
Can the box run Dreamcast/PS1/PSP /N64 games well?
Should I chose the new firebox or an Intel atom cherry trail small media center

All I can say to this is I absolutely love my MOJO and would not replace it. But (there's always a but!) it can be a tough console to love and requires a bit of effort to get what you want from it. That said I would not change it and have even considered buying another as a back up.
Ultimately it does depend on what you want from it.
For me it's a brilliant one-stop place for my movies and games. I use KODI but I don't stream with it (though I am led to believe the box does this well) but instead have my personal media on an external drive along with my retro games. I flashed the console with UJD's Cyanogenmod 12.1 and have tailored it further still with the Top TV Launcher from the Play store. There have been some minor bumps along the way but I have resolved everything that I had problems with.
I would recommend not paying too much for one now if it can be avoided. I paid £60 brand new for mine and that is about right considering the required effort needed to get it running sweetly. I certainly wouldn't pay over £100 that some are trying to charge on eBay for second hand units.
As for emulation it is imho the best box I have bought for it. Some of the emus need a bit of work but they won't suffer because of anything the MOJO does wrong. N64 runs extremely well on both Retroarch and Mupen FZ Edition. I also recently installed Drastic which is amazing too. Dreamcast emulation is very old but still runs OK via Reicast. PSX is spot on, though I haven't tried PSP. The only downside with emulation here is the D-pad on the CTRLR. It is very stiff. I've gotten used to it but occasionally on fighting games it drives me nuts!

Wow fantastic response they are going for £60 ATM
Roughly same as fire box TV ,
Also could add extra and get a Intel atom cherry trail for £80
Nvidia shield is the bee knees but is around 150 which I don't have.

I'd say no, support for it is pretty much dead and current custom roms are fairly buggy.

I've had no issues with CM 12.1 personally. It has been extremely stable and problem free for me. The only thing I've heard is Netflix doesn't work, but I don't need that myself. If you do use it, you may wish to consider something else. Similarly, I don't have a 4K set, just a fairly standard 1080p TV. I don't know how the MOJO works with 4K, and I suspect you'd need to look elsewhere for that.
I came to this box from the OUYA, the Raspberry Pi (3), and I also had a Minix Neo U1. They are all compromises one way or the other. Even the Nvidia Shield is in some ways. Stuff may work on one but not the other, options may be available on that box but not on the other box. The compromises with the MOJO worked out better for me than the compromises the other boxes offered.
I'm not trying to convince you to buy one. If you have the money I'd say get the Shield as people seem to love it, and the MOJO is not a Shield replacement. What it is to me is a great game console and media player that I have tailored to suit me over time, and at this point I would not swap it out for anything else.

Just got the mojo on ebay for 35 delivered
So looks like it should be coming Tuesday.
Cm12 best option

CM 12.1 I would say personally, but you might want to try them all and see which works best for you. You can't really brick the MOJO once the recovery is installed. The files you'll need are around the forums somewhere. You might like the stock OS, who knows?
£35 all in? That's absolutely excellent. Even if you don't like it, for that price you can sell it on again and not lose anything.
I personally followed this guide to install the OS. It says it's for Remix but it helps with all of them. If you have any trouble I'm sure a good search around here will set you on your path. Chances are someone else will have experienced the same problem and posted here.
Once it's installed, first thing I would do is install a shutdown button as otherwise you'll just be unplugging to switch it off. I hate that myself, it can't be any good for the system. I use Quick Reboot Pro, but I think there's a free version. Also as I mentioned before I would try Top TV Launcher too. Many people do not like the stock Android interface on their TV's. I don't either tbh but I could cope with it, but Top TV Launcher is much better and nicely customisable once you know how it works. If you do decide to use CM 12.1, root is in the developer options.

K-Project said:
CM 12.1 I would say personally, but you might want to try them all and see which works best for you. You can't really brick the MOJO once the recovery is installed. The files you'll need are around the forums somewhere. You might like the stock OS, who knows?
£35 all in? That's absolutely excellent. Even if you don't like it, for that price you can sell it on again and not lose anything.
I personally followed this guide to install the OS. It says it's for Remix but it helps with all of them. If you have any trouble I'm sure a good search around here will set you on your path. Chances are someone else will have experienced the same problem and posted here.
Once it's installed, first thing I would do is install a shutdown button as otherwise you'll just be unplugging to switch it off. I hate that myself, it can't be any good for the system. I use Quick Reboot Pro, but I think there's a free version. Also as I mentioned before I would try Top TV Launcher too. Many people do not like the stock Android interface on their TV's. I don't either tbh but I could cope with it, but Top TV Launcher is much better and nicely customisable once you know how it works. If you do decide to use CM 12.1, root is in the developer options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes £25 pound won the bid but a tenner postage and packaging.
Thank you for the tips
Is it easy enough to add extra controllers i.e Xbox pad (i have adapter) and Bluetooth pads
Looking forward to Mario kart and fzero

You can add other pads for two player but to be honest you'll be using the CTRLR as the main controller for the system. You'll likely be better off with Bluetooth pads for multi player gaming (though the only one of those I've tried is the retail CTRLR) as the stock pad included uses up one of the two USB ports provided. This can be a pain if you use the other USB for storage, so you'll have to use a Bluetooth pad as a second controller rather than a wired one. Also I would note that the SD card slot is only really useful for installing OS's. If you try to use it when your new OS is installed it will mess up your wifi (i.e - it won't work). Just reserve the SD card slot for installation purposes only and don't use it as storage. It's a shame but there it is. Unless you stick with the stock OS where I believe it works fine.

Thanks for the heads up so if i want to add external storage another usb way is the way forward.

Yes that would be my recommendation. On mine I have the stock CTRLR in one USB (the 3.0 one) and my external 2Tb hard drive in the other. I've recently started using my retail CTRLR and this does not require a dongle. It's freed up a USB port but I don't really have anything to plug into it anyway beyond a wired pad for two player games.
I hope you enjoy it tbh, but I know people have been this way before and really disliked it. A lot of this was to do with the stock Android OS on a big TV, which is why I recommended the TV launcher above. But also a lot of folks just didn't like having to deal with it in such a manual way. Like I say I paid £60 for mine so could afford to be philosophical about it, as can you I suppose at £30. I suppose those who paid £200 upwards won't be as forgiving, and I would not have been either all told.

Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?

sutty86 said:
Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You most likely can recover this, unless it's a hardware issue. Search through the forums, there is a key combo to get into the recovery menu from boot up... it's something like CTRL-ALT-PRNT SCREEN-I. Failing that there is also the USB AtoA cable which will put you into fastboot mode on bootup, from there you can flash it with whatever you like.
Personally i like the Remix OS image... very stable, everything works including Netflix... I use my MOJO as a Moonlight streaming device that i stream all my Steam games to my TV with, then play from the comfort of my couch :victory:
Enjoy!

sutty86 said:
Well maybe i have bought a dud my own fault for not reading listing ,
As it was sold as used and not for spares or repairs
Unable to copy and paste but basically the seller maybe from here as apprantly he's gone to flash android tv and basically the unit goes into some sort of boot loop , he mentions 4 coloured balls.
Can I recover this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AH! This may be the same listing I was following for a short time. Yes the owner had tried to flash it himself but got stuck with it and didn't know what to do next. I was going to buy it as a backup (I've always got my eye out for a backup!).
It could be a hardware fault but personally I'll be amazed if you can't rescue it one way or the other. The MOJO is incredibly friendly to users and is (I'm told) difficult to actually brick. Unless it is a hardware issue, I don't think you'll have any bother installing TWRP recovery and then installing your chosen OS. There are more than enough quality guides on this site as long as you follow them closely.
I did try Remix myself and loved it. I would have stuck with it, but unfortunately it did not play nicely with my NTFS formatted 2Tb external drive. I had to install Paragon NTFS, but even then when playing back my media files using KODI the playback was a mess of jitter and stutter. No such issue with CM 12.1 - it recognises the drive no problem and playback is silky smooth. YMMV.

Worth adding USB 3 SSD? (Shield 16GB Darcy)

I just recently picked up a Darcy (love it). I got it for $169 w/ controller and remote, so it was a good deal which is why I didn't buy the Pro at $299. It's now time for me to add adoptable storage and I'm trying to figure out which route to go. I'm looking at a 500GB Samsung T5 USB 3.1 SSD for $169 which is also a great deal. Read/Write speeds at 540MB but how much of that speed am I going to see on Android? If I get half of that I'd be happy. A 256GB USB 3 Patriot Flash Drive is $115 with speed of 400MB/200MB - read/write. (Which I doubt I'll see even close to that). So technically the price per GB is better with the SSD. But will the Shield utilize any of these options at their potential? Perhaps I'd be better off going with a USB 3 hdd if it weren't for the fact that I don't want to hear it spin when things are quiet. Can someone tell me based on their setup with a USB 3 SSD what it's actually read/write is on a Shield? I could really use some advice based on personal experience here. Thanks.

I'm using a SanDisk 128gb USB 3.1 drive as internal storage and a 1tb Toshiba external HD USB 3.1.
I didn't test the read write speeds but I had both installed since February and no issues for me.
On the USB adapted as internal obviously the mainb programs are installed there.
On the external HD I have all my Roms from Spectrum to all the SEGA console, PSP, PS, Nintendo etc and this never affects performance of Emulation from what I can tell.
Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

Anybody out there with a USB 3 SSD?

shaunydub said:
I'm using a SanDisk 128gb USB 3.1 drive as internal storage and a 1tb Toshiba external HD USB 3.1.
I didn't test the read write speeds but I had both installed since February and no issues for me.
On the USB adapted as internal obviously the mainb programs are installed there.
On the external HD I have all my Roms from Spectrum to all the SEGA console, PSP, PS, Nintendo etc and this never affects performance of Emulation from what I can tell.
Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you eventually benchmark the speed of your disk?
A1 SD Bench is a great tool as it works with remote

DJarkIV said:
I just recently picked up a Darcy (love it). I got it for $169 w/ controller and remote, so it was a good deal which is why I didn't buy the Pro at $299. It's now time for me to add adoptable storage and I'm trying to figure out which route to go. I'm looking at a 500GB Samsung T5 USB 3.1 SSD for $169 which is also a great deal. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have indeed made a wise purchase and even more so with not purchasing the pro.
Your setup is perfect and with the T5 used as adoptive storage mixed ...Your machine vs the pro version now become`s a Beast compared to the pro .
You have far greater performance and also the added bonus of pure flexibility. The best of both worlds.
You can use the Samsung T5 as both adoptive and also a separate storage hard drive. Take a look at the threads below and set up the USB SSD as a mixed drive via SM command. You can do any combination you need . So effectively you will have 2: partitions on the SSD-T5 ..... 1 : for adoptive storage and 1: for everything else, via the mixed option and in any capacity you prefer.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...speedy-ideas-and-adoptable-drive-decryption-/
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...reasing-your-storage-in-android-7-0-nougat/7/
Best Regards,

polosolo said:
You have indeed made a wise purchase and even more so with not purchasing the pro.
Your setup is perfect and with the T5 used as adoptive storage mixed ...Your machine vs the pro version now become`s a Beast compared to the pro .
You have far greater performance and also the added bonus of pure flexibility. The best of both worlds.
You can use the Samsung T5 as both adoptive and also a separate storage hard drive. Take a look at the threads below and set up the USB SSD as a mixed drive via SM command. You can do any combination you need . So effectively you will have 2: partitions on the SSD-T5 ..... 1 : for adoptive storage and 1: for everything else, via the mixed option and in any capacity you prefer.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...speedy-ideas-and-adoptable-drive-decryption-/
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...reasing-your-storage-in-android-7-0-nougat/7/
Best Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks, for the info. That will come in handy because I can use the other partition to duel boot into a sock nougat ROM. Zulu wrote a guide online how to use Flashify to boot sock Android from an external SSD while keeping Nvidia experience on the main 16GB internal storage. Also not sure if you know but if you're rooted you can take the 6.3 OTA and it will, to my surprise, validate and install. You will loose root but only need to flash SuperSU or Magisk again and you're back to normal.

DJarkIV said:
Hey thanks, for the info. That will come in handy because I can use the other partition to duel boot into a sock nougat ROM. Zulu wrote a guide online how to use Flashify to boot sock Android from an external SSD while keeping Nvidia experience on the main 16GB internal storage. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate, Any further info on this Zulu ROM and installation and where to find such info (reliable links) would be greatly appreciated.
I like the sound of this duel boot setup.
Best Regards,

polosolo said:
Hi mate, Any further info on this Zulu ROM and installation and where to find such info (reliable links) would be greatly appreciated.
I like the sound of this duel boot setup.
Best Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here ya go, https://www.google.com/amp/s/androidtv.news/2016/08/dual-boot-android-android-tv/amp/
On that page is the basic concept, a link to a video of it being done and a link to the instructions. It's not the easiest thing to do but you will ultimately be using Flashify to switch the kernel at will which upon reboot will select the partition that boots up. I personally have not done this yet but I know it's been confirmed working and plan on trying it myself down the line. I just updated to 6.3 so i will have to wait for the factory images to be released before attempting it. Best of luck.

Thank you for the info.. .I have had my shield since Jan 2nd and it is still residing in the box unopened .
I am still unsure which way to go , So this is a process I will keep in mind and bookmark for future reference when a eventually find the time to setup.
Thanks again for your time and help.
Best Regards,

polosolo said:
Thank you for the info.. .I have had my shield since Jan 2nd and it is still residing in the box unopened .
I am still unsure which way to go , So this is a process I will keep in mind and bookmark for future reference when a eventually find the time to setup.
Thanks again for your time and help.
Best Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you right now that Android TV ROM is the way to go as the daily driver. The stock ROM is great for all your entertainment needs, stable and easily controlled with the remote. Full Android ROM is fun to toy with or secondary boot to if you don't mind using a keyboard/mouse to control it. It's obviously not meant for TV's. My only gripe about Android TV is the lack of apps supported or made compatible for it so the play store is limited. But if you root you can run Titanium backup, install BusyBox if needed (etc). Chrome browser also works (you'll have to get outside of play store but once installed it will update via play store), various file explorers and Aptoid for all the apps you can't find on play store. Basically, where there is a will there is a way. Have fun.

DJarkIV said:
I can tell you right now that Android TV ROM is the way to go as the daily driver. The stock ROM is great for all your entertainment needs, stable and easily controlled with the remote. Full Android ROM is fun to toy with or secondary boot to if you don't mind using a keyboard/mouse to control it. It's obviously not meant for TV's. My only gripe about Android TV is the lack of apps supported or made compatible for it so the play store is limited. But if you root you can run Titanium backup, install BusyBox if needed (etc). Chrome browser also works (you'll have to get outside of play store but once installed it will update via play store), various file explorers and Aptoid for all the apps you can't find on play store. Basically, where there is a will there is a way. Have fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I agree, there is no need to try custom roms, despite that I like to play with such things.
I am in the Nvidia Beta programme so that is good reason to stay on official release too.
I have a problem that Chrome does not update from the Play store for me. it gets stuck on continuously downloading so I had to disable auto-update as it blocks all my apps from updating.

Aptoide should update your apps without a hitch. I use it most of the time with my 16gig Shield TV, and another really good one is ACMARKET! They have a modded app section, unlocked apps, no ads, or unlim gold, money, fuel in games etc.
I came here while researching if the Shield TV supports UASP? Can anyone confirm Y/N? I don't think it would make a difference with the Shield TV anyway. The external USB 3.0 case supports it and the SSD is fast enough. Thanks in advance =)
Check out TeaTV and FreeFlix HQ, they are great! ACMARKET has ad free versions too. I use a lightly used ($300 pawnshop bought) Epson EX-9200 Pro wireless in the bedroom with the Shield TV. 120" image on the wall with three coats of a HomeDepot gray, matallic PPG paint. Older $15 GoodWill Yamaha RX-V665 receiver under the bed with a Walmart $5 (clearance section) blue tooth adapter lol. $5 GoodWill Insignia NS-HT51 10" powered sub and cheap common Sony 10" powerswered Sub also from GW for $10 under the bed. 5 RCA surround speakers (not my favorite brand, but does the trick) from GW for $9. Cheap mismatched audio BUT kicks and is loud when nessary =) IF I had a hefty income, I would probably have BOSE everywhere or similar high end. For what I paid for everything though, it sure beats a 55 or 65" TV in the bdrm... I will be striping the paint form the area the projector hits and redoing it with an electric handheld spreyer and even better metallic paint in the future to remove the roller hotspots, picture frame it and add inexpensive wireless remote LED moodlighting strips behind the framing trim. Sorry I got carried away, I enjoy sharing good ideas...

Has anyone done read and write speed tests in MB/s?

shaunydub said:
I'm using a SanDisk 128gb USB 3.1 drive as internal storage and a 1tb Toshiba external HD USB 3.1.
I didn't test the read write speeds but I had both installed since February and no issues for me.
On the USB adapted as internal obviously the mainb programs are installed there.
On the external HD I have all my Roms from Spectrum to all the SEGA console, PSP, PS, Nintendo etc and this never affects performance of Emulation from what I can tell.
Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a new Shield user and discovered adding an external drive as internal means the internal storage is no longer used. Do you know that an external SSD over USB 3.0 is as fast as the internal memory? I have the 16 GB Shield and I have a spare SSD that is not a super fast one, but of course most any SSD is faster than a spin drive.

Yeah, I don't have a spare ssd though and it's a bit overkill for me.
My emulators work just fine from the normal HD.
Sent from my Honor View 10 using Tapatalk