Hello peeps,
Me again sharing my experience with a friend's samsung TV.
The TV is a samsung 50+" Plasma TV, the model is PS50C something...
The tv is connected with Cat 5e cable to wireless N access point, and the SGS2 was connected via wifi to that AP.
I could easily use All share to show all my Full HD vids from the phone to tv in a matter of seconds. Had to approve the action once on the TV.
Also, I could play movies located on a dedicated DLNA server to the tv via the SGS2, i'm not sure if any data actually went via the SGS2, but I used it as a remote control to select content to be played on the TV. Worked flawless.
One last thing to share, MHL.
I connected the phone to the TV with the MicroUSB to hdmi converter, I have no MHL cable... And the TV recognized an MHL device - I then found out, much to my surprise that I could control the SGS2 with the TV Remote!!!
Was pretty amazing. Everything just worked.
Cya
Eitam.
Please list all the TV remote control buttons that worked with S2. Can you get the S2 menu and back functions to work? Just so we all know. Sounds really cool though.
LouisJB said:
Please list all the TV remote control buttons that worked with S2. Can you get the S2 menu and back functions to work? Just so we all know. Sounds really cool though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH I can't answer that question cause I got annoyed with that remote very fast,
I used the arrow keys to cycle through the Icons on the homescreens, they appeared selected like windows xp style blue background, and I was able to click them to start stuff.
I didn't even try and look for android buttons...
I was just amazed it all just worked.
Not sure if anyone wants one of these but I got one for an upstairs TV and its SWEET! Turned the older TV into a smart TV. Android 4.1, Full wifi, Netflix (my main reason for getting it, wasn't pre-installed though, had to install it myself) and so on. Basically turns your TV into a huge tablet. Just need an HDMI port on your TV and a USB port for power (it does have a separate USB power supply if you don't have a USB on your TV)
I used a bluetooth dongle with it and connected a keyboard and mouse and it's awesome. Also has an OTG cable and port to plug in a portable HDD, thumb drive, etc. Turned our bedroom TV into a complete media center. Very cool.
Cost $68 on Amazon (plus $2 for a BT dongle through deal extreme and used an older bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo thing I l already had). I also stuck a 32BG micro SD card in it but don't really see using it much (maybe if I install a million apps), just thumb drives to watch downloaded movies. All in all, it turned out great. Turned an older TV into a smart TV with wifi, internet access, and a drive reader on it.
Looks good on paper. How good does it perform???
Does anyone else have this???
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
and how do you control it? can you use a phone or tablet? do u need a remote?
I have an MK808. You can use a USB keyboard and mouse or pick up an wireless Air Mouse for like $20. The Air Mice are like Wii Motes that use gyros and have built-in keyboards. Amazon has tons of models. I like the Messy RC11 cause it feels goo in hand.
I bought mine to tinker and mostly play emulators on the TV. The 808 plays FPse games petty good. Some newer units have said to be faster.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Hi all,
I had my S2 for a while now and I'm thinking of just connecting it to my TV to be use as a smart hub (media centre) as I don't have a smart TV. I'm sure I'm not alone with an aging S2 and moving onto a newer smart phone.
My Idea are:
- connect the S2 via HDMI to the TV
- use a small Bluetooth keyboard with track pad or maybe some other remote.
- try out probably XBMC
- Disable any phone feature from it (ie phone, sms, etc..)
My goal are:
- use it as a online player - Netflix, youtube, etc...
- Skype
- video player
- stream video from network
- audio player
This will be my first attempt and will be spending some money for the accessories.
Has anyone done a similar set up.
It will be great for some opinions or advice. Or issues it might not work.
Interesting idea.
You might want to think about how you're going to use it with the limited battery life first, because you won't be able to charge the phone when connected through HDMI.
I already do this occasionally albiet minus the keyboard atm,... I use it on short breaks away I took my Mhl cable and a short 1m hdmi cable to plug into the tv in the hotel room using Catchup TV app for more channels than they offered and TV Portal for streaming (free hotel Wi-Fi ftw! )... also use it for some other stuff such as watching avis I have already put on my 32gig card and finally playing my music collection through the tv speakers
re: power supply Mhl cable needs power/charger cable to work anyway also it charges at the same time
I always carry a spare charger
crobat said:
Interesting idea.
You might want to think about how you're going to use it with the limited battery life first, because you won't be able to charge the phone when connected through HDMI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course the phone charges when connected to hdmi. it does not even work if not plugged into the power outlet first.
Flog your S2 and buy a Pendroid.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007FR9OIK
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Raspberry pi with xbmc
Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2
Thanks guys.
I got a mhl cable and it's awesome. just plug it in and it works straight away. Got the cheap version though but I guess it won't make that much difference. All I need to do is get a mod to permanently set it up as landscape mode and probably increase screen size. Will look for a new rom probably that can cater the mod.
Just need to figure this all out before spending more on a keyboard.
I had pretty much the same idea. Works well. Here is my thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2569613
I am going to try running xbmc and see how that goes.
Just to let you know, I installed xbmc...details on my thread (see the above post!)
Nexus Player is a sad/simple/boring device. Its remote is really silly and useless. Anyone who have used an Air mouse type remote (Lg Magic Remote or Samsun's one) knows how comfortable it is to have a pointer on the screen and move the hand to reach the cursor where you need. Google decided to use a simply remove which basically is a left/right/left/left/down/down/down until you reach your option.
I've bought a USB OTG cable and connected my mouse. While the cursor is moving on the screen and it works on some apps, in most it does work. So for instance, on a game I can't click on the buttons... Is there a way to make the mouse clicks on all apps ?
Also, some apps which are forced for portrait orientation, will be displayed lying as the tv is 1920x1080. Any way to force the orientation of apks ?
Thanks.
I've had this problem too. Apparently some developers code in touches and/or mouse clicks, and some only code in the touch command. That is why some games aren't working for you.
You've got two options, either complain to the development team to add mouse clicks (which I'm told should be an easy thing to do) or use the DroidMote app by Zulu.
Thank you @midnightzak for making it clear to me. It seems that even the games from the Google Play for android TV are not working as supposed. For instance I installed Minion Rush (which is officially supported) and after it installed on start, it ask me to enter my age but I can't enter it because when moving around with remove for the Age editbox and clicking ok button does nothing, no keyboard popup. Tried it with controller too, same thing.
Another short question. On Chromecast on my LG smart TV I had Simplink enabled. Not sure if because of this, but when I started to cast a video from my phone, the tv switches from cable input to chromecast input. This does not work for Nexus Player, I need to manually switch input to HDMI port of the player. Is this normal ?
I have a magic motion remote for my LG tv, which is basically an air mouse remote. LG firmware has an option to control other devices connected through HDMI with the remote and when I try to add a new device, I get all sorts of Box sets from different producers. I was wondering if there is a way to make the remote work on nexus player.
The nexus player doesn't officially support HDMI CEC which is the protocol required for the auto switching of inputs to work. It's also what would make your remote work unfortunately.
I have a LG "smart" TV as well and at first the Nexus Player did not appear to support the expected HDMI-CEC functionality (input switching and magic remote passthrough). On LG "smart" TVs, you have to re-enable HDMI-CEC for that port when you switch devices. This is also sometimes a very annoying setting to find if you haven't touched it in a while.
@opticron so you say that you LG TV does work with Nexus player and also you can use the magic remote for it ? Can you tell me some more details on how to enable the HDMI-CEC on the tv for the player HDMI port ?
My other concern: should the cable be of any special type to support CEC ?
Later edit: I have replaced the HDMI cable I had with an newer cheap one. The older one did not work with simplink enabled, while the new one does. I can use the lg remote to navigate around the nexus player. The cursor does not trigger any action (too bad) but up/down/left/right/ok/back works from the magic remote.
WORK IN PROGRESS: UPDATING
STOP PRESS: FIRESTARTER 3.0 RELEASED. SANITY RESTORED.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/app-root-home-launcher-replacement-app-t3118135
Before sending your Fire TV/Stick back to Amazon in disgust, beware of its limitations, and try these tips.
Bottom line is it's going to be a solid step up from Fire TV 1. But right now, it has a few issues.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the angry reviews. Almost all the complaints are about the glitchy remote (we have a fix), battery cover (sometimes the customer isn't always right), audio issues (Amazon is patching, stay tuned). No question, it's got some bugs out of the gate, but Amazon has responded and hopefully all will be resolved shortly . Enjoy:
http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-DV83YW-Fire-TV/product-reviews/B00U3FPN4U/
Fire TV 2: hardware shortcomings by design that many regard as substandard.
If these are important, you might need to look elsewhere.
1. USB 2.0 not even USB 3.0. USB-C is the new standard appearing on phones and laptops.
2. Ethernet 10/100 not GB.
3. No optical port. Possible solution: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B010JQMHNW/?
4. HDMI 1.4, not HDMI 2.0, limited to 4K at 30fps.
Software bugs and annoyances, most probably due to OS 5, but yet to be confirmed.
Could be fixed either by Amazon or developers.
1. Audio limited to stereo other than for Amazon Prime. Quiet audio.
As promised, Amazon has released a patch (extremely quickly):
“By this coming Monday, October 12th, you will receive an automatic software update that enables Dolby Digital Plus for customers who have a Dolby Digital Plus system (including support for Netflix and Amazon Video). An update for older Dolby Digital systems (not Dolby Digital Plus) will be distributed on November 30th.” -Amazon
Update from AFTVNews:
One of the new device’s largest complaints, a lack of Dolby Digital surround sound support, which has been partially fixed already, stems from changes made to support Netflix. I’m told by my source at Amazon that Netflix gave the Fire TV engineering team a new version of their software at the last minute which required changes to the Fire TV’s software to work correctly. Those changes conflicted with Dolby Digital surround sound support. With not enough time to fix support for both, Amazon was faced with the decision to ship without Netflix or without Dolby Digital surround sound. They chose the latter which, in my opinion, was the right choice.
http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-is-d...-internal-testing-pool-for-bug-fixing-effort/
2. Fire TV 2 WiFi Remote drops out, glitchy, lags, etc.
Do this when setting up if you're connecting via Ethernet: disconnect your LAN cable, connect to WiFi, reconnect your network cable.
And then do this anytime if your remote becomes laggy: disconnect Ethernet cable, reconnect Ethernet cable.
That should fix it. Really, it's usually that simple.
If not, there could be interference, you could try changing channels or frequency on your router or restrict the available protocols (just N or AC, for example). Let us know if you're still having problems.
3. Highly inconvenient to launch Kodi and other sideloaded apps.
Long story, somewhat shortened: The Fire OS only shows icons for apps obtained from Amazon's App Store. That, unfortunately, doesn't include Kodi, everyone's favourite media player, and about 99% of the reason the AFTV has a cult following. There have been two popular ways to get around Amazon's belligerence: by having Kodi launch as proxy of another app (usually Ikono TV) using Llama; or by employing Firestarter to bind it to the Home button.
Both can be loaded via ADFire.
Unfortunately, Llama no longer works (for this purpose) in OS5/AFTV2, so skip that route and install FireStarter:
ADBFire : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786505
FireStarter http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/app-root-home-launcher-replacement-app-t3118135
Kodi: http://kodi.tv
I recommend mapping the Home Button single click to Kodi, and the Home button double-click to Amazon Home. Or if you'd prefer to use Firestarter as your home screen, then map it to the double-click. The added bonus to this setup is every time you're in Kodi and hit the Home button inadvertently, instead of losing your **** yet again, it'll just flash in and out of the app and then pause whatever you're watching.
Here's a guide on sideloading to the Fire. Again, I strongly recommend ADBFire:
http://www.aftvnews.com/sideload/
If you have an Android tablet or phone, there are several apps that can push apps across to the Fire, such as Apps2Fire. That way you can download your apps direct from the official Google Play Store. Don't forget they won't automatically update. You'll need to push those updates across as well.
4. Can't connect via ADB to sideload using ADBFire etc since using FireStarter
First up: make sure you have ADB enabled. Settings>System>Developer Options> Both ADB Debugging and Apps from Unknown Sources need to be On.
FireStarter has two methods of intercepting Home button presses: one using ADB, and one not using ADB. The issue that's arisen since the introduction of Fire OS 5 is that the operating system no longer permits parallel ADB connections, so if FireStarter is using it to intercept Home button presses, you won't be able to connect to the Fire TV using ADB, and thus you won't be able to sideload apps and files using ADBFire.
We now have two options:
Option 1 (Firestarter won't use ADB): Open FireStarter, under Settings, uncheck "Home Detection via ADB."
Advantage: You only need ADB enabled to connect with ADBFire. No need to touch FireStarter.
Disadvantage: Only detects your customized Home button choices within the Fire TV's home screen, and not within apps. Pressing Home within Kodi, for example, will return you to the Home screen. Pressing it again will send you back to Kodi (or whatever action you've chosen. A potential advantage is this now gives you three variants of the Home button: a single and double-click from the Home screen; and the traditional Fire TV Home shortcut from within any app.
Option 2: (FireStarter uses ADB): Open FireStarter, check "Home Detection via ADB"
Advantage: FireStarter will now obey your Home button choices (single and double-click) from anywhere.
Disadvantage: You will either need to kill FireStarter (see below) or temporarily revert to Option 1 in order to do your ADB stuff. Note: there's now a handy shortcut direct to the ADB Debugging toggle within FireStarter.
Tip: If you go with Option 2, you can quickly kill FireStarter's grip on ADB by going: Settings>Manage Applications>FireStarter and Force Stop. And then restarting FireStarter or the Device once you've finished your ADB business.
5. External storage limited to disks formatted in FAT32.
There's no reason why Amazon couldn't enable other formats, but there's little incentive to bother. Even Macs don't support NTFS out of the box. Either format your drives in FAT32 (and split larger files if necessary) or move them to a network share. Not hard to work around. Here's a tip:
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-play...b-off-the-fire-tvs-fat32-usb-storage-in-kodi/
6. Difficult to remove battery cover?
No it's not. Slide it back then lift it up. Dead easy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3t1GOCzjzY&
7. Can't move Kodi to external storage.
http://www.aftvnews.com/some-apps-like-kodi-cannot-write-to-external-storage-yet-on-fire-os-5/
Upgrade to Jarvis (still in alpha but perfectly acceptable).
8. LED only glowing when it detects a remote button press
Either a bug or a new way of doing things. Either way, it's not ideal.
9. Can't Chromecast from Android device to Fire TV
Yes, you can cast from Youtube, but nothing else (that I can find). Blame Google for that:
http://www.aftvnews.com/google-has-chromecast-receiver-app-pulled-from-fire-tv-appstore/
You can, however, Airplay to it. Via Kodi is one method, that usually works, but can be flaky sometimes. There are a bunch of apps you can try. Some work better than others. I picked up this one when it was free, it works:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/x9F99-x65B9-x513F-AirReceiver/dp/B00L5HQRGS/
And for those of you with other Amazon devices, there's always Fling:
https://developer.amazon.com/public...g/docs/understanding-the-amazon-fling-service
How about Bluetooth controller frequently loses connection to the AFTV? Mine drops it's connection probably 2 or 3 times every hour.
sudman said:
How about Bluetooth controller frequently loses connection to the AFTV? Mine drops it's connection probably 2 or 3 times every hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't the AFTV2 remote Wi-Fi?
I will be watching this thread closely. Thank you for posting.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
list additions
I would add to the list:
Issues with day 1 software update, (several resets, issues to get working)
Wifi remote constantly cuts on/off (taking out batteries seems like temp fix)
Stutters in apps like WatchESPN
Second the dropping of lama/kodi icon support
Despite better hardware, little change in actual performance (yet to be fully seen)
Claude Koch said:
Isn't the AFTV2 remote Wi-Fi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that it was BT same as the original but cant find a definitive answer eitherway. Eitherway the damn thing keeps discontecting!!!! Will be sending mine back if things dont improve fast.
sudman said:
I was under the impression that it was BT same as the original but cant find a definitive answer eitherway. Eitherway the damn thing keeps discontecting!!!! Will be sending mine back if things dont improve fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.aftvnews.com/list-of-all-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-stick-remote-and-game-controller-specs/
Claude Koch said:
About time we compiled a tally of what's broken, missing or just plain annoying on the new Fire TV, and what's (about to be) broken by the official release of OS 5 on the old Fire TV.
4. More to come.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I was criticized elsewhere for bringing up some shortcomings of 2. I am very interested in the gizmo you linked that breaks off the 5.1 via Optical and 2ch mini-jack from the HDMI stream. The product dates back to 2013 which makes me skeptical. I've bought a few of these that did not work. I have 4 port Monoprice HDMI switch that has the 5.1 and 2ch breakout. It disappoints as it is 5.1 OR 2ch, not both. The one's I have had tried similar to your post would pass sound to all six speakers but it was in reality Stereo which will fool some people. The clue for me is, does the blue Dolby light come on? A quick test for DD Plus handling is "House of Cards". If you get a blue light viewing that, it's good to go. It's been almost a year since I last fooled with them so maybe there is something that is NEW and works.
I am still looking for one that really works. The only thing I know that splits off 5.1, for real, is 1's Optical connector.
What's funny is that I pitched my Roku3 over the DD+ impasse. Now Roku4 is coming out and it HAS an optical connector.
I have an Echo/Alexa too and waiting to see how all that works out with my 1 if it does at all. I'm rooted so unless Rbox comes through, I'm out of luck. Right now my Echo is pretty much a party novelty but it can now control my Nest and Insteon devices. Just found the most useful feature is using it as a meat timer.
It's a shame 2 isn't all of 1 but better and more.
I had problems with the connection with my remote too.
Are you used ethernet at the first start to connect with your router? Never set up wifi connection?
Try this
1. disconnect fire tv from ethernet
2. connect fire tv to wifi
3. reconnect the remote to fire tv
4. connect fire tv to ethernet again
for me i think it works... I am not 100% sure because the connection lost was very rare before. but give it a try.. :laugh:
There are huge issues with the WiFi the gain on the 5GHz 802.11ac is terrible in addition to issues above. I sent two of them back. Returning all of them is the only way Amazon will fix this!
I hate to say it, but it's looking like a lemon.
Edit: things are looking much better today.
What is an "Accessory Port". On my 1 I use a little dongle called Flirc to allow my Logitech Harmony One unified remote to control it. Needed it to feed the "Menu" command to 1. I now have a Harmony Ultimate with Hub and just imported the same settings.
I wonder if 2's "Accessory port" will allow a Flirc dongle to support unified IR remotes. Also wonder if it is even necessary with the 2. The Ultimate remote is still totally IR but the Hub is WiFi allowing it to talk to some smart devices. Guess I could test but hate to fix something that ain't broke. That's the main reason I'm afraid of 2. See no benefit except for 4K and I don't have that. My 1 setup works pretty well.
What I want to do is ditch my $160/mo DirecTV bill and replace it with another DVR option. SBC (aka AT&T) ate them and nothing good will come from that. "Repeating" myself, the Tivo Bolt is intriguing. Would replace FireTV and DirecTV. On the other hand, my rooted 1 with Nova Launcher and a Logitech K400 KB is a pretty nice little big screen Android box.
Nothing is just right.
sudman said:
How about Bluetooth controller frequently loses connection to the AFTV? Mine drops it's connection probably 2 or 3 times every hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an abomination. Seems like the wifi keeps dropping out.
Edit: fixed.
Claude Koch said:
It's an abomination. Seems like the wifi keeps dropping out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it's ON SALE. hurry while the supply lasts. Pulling 2 1/2 Stars. Not good.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U3FPN4U/?tag=aftvndeal-20
The Main Reason AFTV 2 Is Not For Me
Root and Nova Launcher
Claude Koch said:
It's an abomination. Seems like the wifi keeps dropping out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A page back i posted a method to fix that if you are used ethernet cable at the first start o AFTV2.
Try this
1. disconnect fire tv from ethernet
2. connect fire tv to wifi
3. reconnect the remote to fire tv
4. connect fire tv to ethernet again
For me no connection losts between remote control and AFTV2 after a couple of hours.
I know the Apple TV was looming, but I don't get why Amazon felt the need to rush this out so fast. There just really isn't a reason to refresh a video streaming device annually. I understand they wanted to beat Apple to 4K, but looks like it cost them this time. I am sure updates will make it better, but this box might be the dud when we look back and the history of these things. I just hope it doesn't flop so bad they stop future revisions.
MajorWinters said:
A page back i posted a method to fix that if you are used ethernet cable at the first start o AFTV2.
Try this
1. disconnect fire tv from ethernet
2. connect fire tv to wifi
3. reconnect the remote to fire tv
4. connect fire tv to ethernet again
For me no connection losts between remote control and AFTV2 after a couple of hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip. I'm going to let it be for a couple of days, then try your fix. Otherwise, I won't know it it helped.
Been trying to get it to detect the bluetooth remote from my other Fire TV but not having any luck.
EDIT: Great tip, seems to have done the trick! Added to list.
I sent mine back. I can't believe that the newer Fire TV performs much worse than my 1st Gen Fire TV. Here is what I find annoying.
Remote cover is very hard to open. Broke my nail and it took me nearly a half hour to get it open. Once it is open it is much easier after.
Remote freezes and stops responding. Have to take out batteries and put them back in. At first I though the unit froze but my BT keyboard works fine. Had to use that quite often.
Netflix no 5.1 surround sound. Also it takes much longer to get up to 1080p. On my old Fire TV 1080p instantly and if not just restart the stream. On the 2nd gen Fire TV mud quality sub 480p which can take up to 40 seconds or longer to get to 1080p unless I fast forward and rewind the stream but then it ends up ruining what I am watching when there are spoilers in the beginning of the program.
Other third party apps actually run worse. They stutter and skip frames like trying to watch a HD video on a Celeron PC from 2008.
The external storage option is a joke. First thing is they should have included more than 8gb of internal storage because the external microSD is useless. I moved all the apps and games I can to the external storage however most apps and some games still store at least half the data on internal storage so even then I was already running low on space while my 64gb microSD barely used any space.
Box runs much warmer than before and I have it on a cooling pad.
To me the picture quality seems worse. I don't have a 4k TV just 1080p but the picture is much darker and reds look more pixelated.
That is what I can think of off the bat but in the end I ended up sending it back like many others and I see a recall soon from Amazon. They should have never released this thing as the 1st Gen Fire TV was pretty much perfect. Yes it had issues when it first came out mainly the once outdated Netflix app and having to occasionally clear the Amazon video data app when it would not play but otherwise it performed much better than this new thing does.
It's looking like under OS5, external storage is sandboxed as read-only to Kodi. The same seems true of Android TV (Nvidia Shield), so I suppose it's a Lollipop security issue. If I'm right, this means no moving Kodi data/thumbnails to external storage and using the /sdcard/xbmc_env.properties to redirect. Can anyone confirm/disprove this?