[Q] Alternative ways to have always on Assistant? - Shield Android TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi there!
Like many others, my Shield TV also received the Experience 6.0 update. And, since my device is from the first generation, I was wondering if there would be a way to have always on functionality for the Assistant.
Of course, I know that there is the option to buy a second gen controller but, at 70€, that would be a bit too steep for the added functionality.
So, is there a change to add an always on microphone to the 1st Gen Shield TV? Maybe through an USB sound card? Any other ideas?
Thanks!

You can probably buy a cheap usb microphone from amazon or best buy something like that and plug it in or even use an old webcam that has a mic and plug it in I had an old Logitech one laying around and i used it like that basically the shield just needs a mic , so it would probably work it worked with the google search when i tried it.

Related

Another working keyboard and touchpad - FTV stick

VG-KBD2000
It could be great. It isn't . But the bang for the buck is definitely there.
Wish it would do more. But it wasn't designed for this .
It would be great if I could figure out how to reconfigure some of the non working buttons for specific functions. Maybe some one else can or knows of an app for that.
I posted this info below as a reply in another thread.
I picked this up for my Samsung TV ( doesn't work with mine - no Bluetooth )
But, it works with my Sony GoogleTv and my FTV stick with settings apk side-loaded
the nice thing with this keyboard is that you can pair it with 3 different devices.
It has a selector button on the top to choose which one.
I haven't played with it very long and am trying to figure out what works and what doesn't
To use the touch-pad a switch on the bottom needs to be slid to "mouse mode"
I can't use the TV specific buttons on the right side of the keyboard. Wish i knew how to get them to work with the GoogleTv - it has an Ir blaster built in and will control volume,channel,etc
It will power my TV on and off - it has an Ir transmitter. But, that is all that does - strange
They are marked down to $39 at Best Buy and there are usually many open boxed ones to be had for less. Original price was about $100
But, they are mostly useless for the Samsung Tvs that they do work on - Most of apps do not support the keyboard or so I have read.
Wish the was some sort of unifying remote that I could connect to it and then plug into my TV though.
If you get one, the touchpad goes into a sleep mode after 30 seconds or so. I've read that hitting any button will wake it up. I didn't know that at first and was pairing it , unpairing it and powering it off.
If anyone else picks one of these up, Please post your findings
Hi,
I'm thinking about buying this because it will work with my TV and it will work with the Fire Stick.
Since you've had a chance to use it a bit, is it still a good keyboard to use? I would be using this to control the Xfinity app.
Thanks!
sorry for the late reply, I still use the keyboard every time I use the stick.
I still try using other controllers (and wukong app). But, after getting frustrated use the samsung keyboard. If it would work on the tv for volume and other functions, I'd retire my sony google tv. My family uses the google tv every day . My son prefers the older netflix app on it and the controller works for him. He is 5 years old.
This keyboard works on very few samsung models.

AFTVNews sez: ACTUAL generic bluetooth support is coming... sometime soon-ish...

from AFTVNews:
"Multiple trusted sources at Amazon tell me the Fire TV will soon be able to connect to additional bluetooth devices. Included among the expansion is the ability to connect to audio devices like bluetooth headphones and speakers."
"In addition to new bluetooth audio support, I’m told the Fire TV will be getting support for bluetooth peripherals like bluetooth keyboards."
http://www.aftvnews.com/exclusive-b...ipheral-support-coming-to-the-amazon-fire-tv/
and possibly USB mass storage as well? how the hell did I miss that article?!
I wonder if they're just swiping code back from Sangria, that would seem to be easiest as well as most stable - all this stuff works just great already on gen4 fire hd, no reason it shouldn't on KFTV too.
anyway, awesome. I was betting this would eventually happen, once Echo was announced. and I'm very glad I put my money where my tiny little brain was, and pre-ordered an Echo (plus, y'know, could always just cancel it if I changed my tiny little mind - mine won't arrive until mid-April.)
tarvoke said:
from AFTVNews:
"Multiple trusted sources at Amazon tell me the Fire TV will soon be able to connect to additional bluetooth devices. Included among the expansion is the ability to connect to audio devices like bluetooth headphones and speakers."
"In addition to new bluetooth audio support, I’m told the Fire TV will be getting support for bluetooth peripherals like bluetooth keyboards."
http://www.aftvnews.com/exclusive-b...ipheral-support-coming-to-the-amazon-fire-tv/
and possibly USB mass storage as well? how the hell did I miss that article?!
I wonder if they're just swiping code back from Sangria, that would seem to be easiest as well as most stable - all this stuff works just great already on gen4 fire hd, no reason it shouldn't on KFTV too.
anyway, awesome. I was betting this would eventually happen, once Echo was announced. and I'm very glad I put my money where my tiny little brain was, and pre-ordered an Echo (plus, y'know, could always just cancel it if I changed my tiny little mind - mine won't arrive until mid-April.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon has been promising this forever I will believe it when I see it :silly:
Fire TV Software Upgrade delivers Expandable Storage and Captive Portal Support
http://www.i4u.com/2015/03/89638/fi...expandable-storage-and-captive-portal-support

Is it possible to connect a Shield to a set of old 7.1 computer speakers?

Hi!
I'm thinking of buying a Shield to centralise my Plex/Netflix/emulators/etc on one device. One thing I'd like to do though is use a set of old Inspire T7900 speakers (7.1, powered) that I have lying around. I don't have a dedicated receiver (and the speakers wouldn't work with it anyway unless they had pre-amp outs), so I'm thinking I might figure out a way of hooking the Shield directly to them -- perhaps through a USB sound card.
Is this possible? Do you know of any usb sound cards that work with the Shield *and* support 7.1? No need for amplification as the speaker set does it itself (because it was originally designed to work with PC sound cards).
I've been poking around and I've come across a lot of people doing stuff with optical USB adapters and even just pulling sound off the USB port because of reasons, but not this kind of setup. Any help will be welcome thanks!
PS: just in case it comes up, yes, I do plan on getting a proper AV receiver at some point, which I will pair with an adequate set of speakers (not these). However, my living room is quite cramped for AV gear as it is; we expect to move to a bigger house sometime in the next 1-2 years and I figure I'll do it then. For now, the T7900 is good enough.

Can't type on Onn Android TV 4K box with Rii i4 Bluetooth keyboard

Whenever the onscreen keyboard comes up, I can't type on Onn Android TV 4K box with Rii i4 keyboard connected through bluetooth. The mouse pad works fine, and the arrow keys and a few navigation keys work, but can't type numbers or text. Oddly, when I run Microsoft Remote Desktop 8 app (sideloaded) and connect to a PC, the keyboard acts as expected and everything works. Anything I can try to make this thing work in Android TV apps?
well I just got the same keyboard. It works on PC via BT and dongle) but to some (most?) android PHONES looks like the letters part of the keybaord (anything under the numbers) wont work.
Some people posted that only works if you set the language to korean. Sounds like they mapped the letters to korean symbols and android does not like that. If I use a type-c to usb and the dongle, it works but definitely is not ideal.
I'm thinking if I will return it or not...
If you haven't already returned it, I have been having the same issue since I got my Rii i4 a month ago.
RiiTek have just released a firmware update that fixed the issue on Android, but it is a bit convoluted as you need to install a OTA update software on Android and it took me a few goes to understand the process (http://www.riitek.com/support/download.html)
Also the OTA update software does not seem to properly scan bluetooth with Android 12, luckily I have an older Samsung S7 phone with Android 9 lying around, once I did the firmware update, works perfectly now. (I did have to unpair and pair it again with my Galaxy Tab S7)
Thanks for the link to the update. What a pain it was. Didn't work on my Onn Android TV 4K box, nor did it work on my Samsung Galaxy S10e. Both complained about being for an older Android version. Good thing I had an old LG G2 laying around, I was able to update the keyboard with that. The result is the problems are completely resolved on an Android phone, but the Onn Android TV 4K box now doesn't work with it at all. Nothing works, not touchpad, directional keys, nor letter keys. Nothing. It will pair successfully (which I tried pair/re-pair many times), but nothing works at all, so I'm worse off than before and it's completely unusable trash now.
Maybe I can salvage it by getting some kind of cable so I can plug its dongle into the TV box and forget about bluetooth altogether.
It complained even on my Galaxy S7 about it being for an older Android version, but it still worked. Seems the S10/Note10 with Android 12 and newer Bluetooth had an issue with the OTA software doing the Bluetooth scan. Glad you got it working, hope this helps others as it is a cool little keyboard to use in bed with my Tablet
Strange for the TV box, I haven't got one of those, and my Sony TV with Android I have a Logitech TV Keyboard plugged in with the USB dongle. This Rii i4 also has a 2.4G dongle, doesn't the Android TV box have some USB ports on the back?
Problem is I bought it to use with the Onn TV box, and after the firmware update, it doesn't work with the Onn at all. At least the navigation keys worked before, now nothing works.
I would downgrade back, but the old firmware isn't available anywhere.
GnatGoSplat said:
Problem is I bought it to use with the Onn TV box, and after the firmware update, it doesn't work with the Onn at all. At least the navigation keys worked before, now nothing works.
I would downgrade back, but the old firmware isn't available anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bummer, sorry to hear that - you have definitely set it to BlueTooth mode when connected to the Onn TV Box? I assume the firmware just changed the keyboard language, so I am really surprised it stopped working totally with the Onn box - maybe a factory reset of the Onn box?
I had a quick google of the Onn TV box, looks like you have a USB power port and the HDMI port, but also sounds like people have been attaching a powered USB hub to the USB port to plug in Ethernet and have more USB ports to use. I know that is probably another $20 and more cables, but that might be an option then to use the 2.4Ghz adaptor.
For me I wanted to get it working with the tablet so I don't have to use the on-screen keyboard when lying in bed, it was a bit more challenging to add a USB C to USB A adaptor for the dongle
Yep, definitely Bluetooth mode, blue LED. I did try it on the LG G2 and Galaxy S10e to make sure it wasn't completely bricked, and it did work completely fine on those.
I saw the special USB cable to add a USB port to the Onn TV box are pretty cheap on eBay ($2.52) so I'll try one of those since I really want to avoid having to try a factory reset. Hopefully that will solve all my problems.
I know this is an old post, Yet thought this may help someone else out with the Onn 4k Android TV Box, I had the Rii Mini i8+ laying around and tried bluetooth connection, It didn't play well, Looked in the back tray on it and I had a dongle, Plugged that into the OTG cable, Right away noticed the Rii functioning, Everything seems to be working properly.
Yeah, I bought an OTG cable with splitter for $1.94 on Aliexpress, plugged in the dongle, and it did the job and connects instantly. The only annoyance is the Backspace key goes back instead of the backspace function, so I have to move the cursor in front of the character I want to remove and hit delete.

Pairing NON-media/input Bluetooth devices (OBD2 dongle)

Hey everyone! I bought an Onn. Streaming Box at Walmart a couple of days ago, intending to run Torque Pro on my car's preexisting Backup Screen w/ a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle (a tiny $25 self-contained Android box seemed to make a lot of sense for that application). I sideloaded the Torque apk onto the box and used a remote app w/ mouse cursor to set up the layout, but when I went to finally pair the OBD2 dongle, it wouldn't pick it up. Since the screen just says "Accessories", I'm guessing you can only pair things like headphones, controllers, keyboards, etc.
I also tried sideloading "Bluetooth Direct", and forcibly connecting to my phone's Bluetooth address (just to test), and it couldn't connect (it seems like that app doesn't work for a lot of people though).
Is there any way around this?
I'm waiting for a powered OTG cable to be delivered today, so I can root and hopefully figure something out that way. It seems weird if it's really a limitation built into the OS, since regular android is buried underneath there somewhere, and it isn't like the box has some special Bluetooth hardware that limits it to certain devices.
If all else fails, maybe I could just get an OBD2 to USB cord and plug into an OTG, but idk if that would work either (it should on other Android devices).
And for anyone wondering, yes, the Android TV UI optimized for giant 4k TV's does not work well on a 5" 480p HDMI -> RCA screen, LOL.
Figured this out if anybody wants to do something similar, I just sideloaded the app "Bluetooth Scanner - Bluetooth finder - pairing" (com.pzolee.bluetoothscanner), and was able to pair it right away. I am running LineageOS and rooted with Magisk, but I'd think this should work on stock too.

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