Hi, I was thinking about getting a Fire HD 8 and I since it´s not stock android, I was wondering if it will play mp4, mkv and all the most common video formats straight out of the box or if I would have to convert them. I´ve read that you can actually install the play store...so I´m guessing you could just install VLC and such.
You don't need to install PlayStore/GSF to get new apps on the tablet, you have Amazon apps store, third party stores like Aurora or APKPure and even manually sideloading them, it is quite simple. As long as the app runs on ARM and it's not GSF dependent (I don't think vlc is), it will work and you can even get updates automatically.
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Hi All,
I'm wondering if anyone has had any success streaming media to their A7. I currently have a NAS drive on my network and stream media to all my other devices (Archos 70, Archos 5 Android, EVO, etc.) but for some reason I cannot get the A7 to actually play anything from this network location.
I have been able to navigate to the files themselves, but playing them has not worked out so well. I've tried a variety of Apps and different file formats, but none seem to work. I can attempt to open files, and even get prompted to use various Apps, but nothing seems to work after that, it just fails. Anyone have any ideas or success with this effort please let me know as this is a biggie for me.
Sorry if this is a dup question, as I could not find anything about this for this device in particular.
And many thanks to Dexter, you've made this device surpass it's otherwise limited capabilities. Seems silly such a quality product is being left behind by the Stream, but this seems to be the model of all tablet makers these days. Pump them out as fast as possible regardless of full functionality and forget about them a month later!
The only way I've gotten streaming to work is by using PlayOn.
hi I can access all my movies on my hard drives and play on my a7 this way
download TVersity media server from tveristy.com. I just use the free version. It will change your home page when you install it so you will need to change it back. Install that on your pc and then add your movie files to the library.
On your a7 download a app called skifta from the market and install that. when you run this choose a media source choose TVeristy media server. Under player choose your a7.
then choose browse and play media you will see your library files you added in tversity and some other stuff. You will need a video player installed on your a7. I have act 1 video player and also rockplayer. It will let you choose which to use when you select movie.
select one and your movie should start. Your movies have to be in a compatable format.
it also will let you play music and view photos
I also have a wd live movie box on my tv. With this same setup I can redirect the movie to wdlive box by choosing it as player and the it will playback the movie on my tv.
Thanks for the advice (both of you). I was really hoping for a more direct approach though. I've used apps like Orb that require you to run a host computer, and my NAS drive (Buffalo Linkstation) has a web app built in, but both these methods have proven very slow and often frustrating when trying to access via mobile networks. It just seems odd to me that the A7 doesn't do this while most other Android hardware does. Granted I'm more familiar with Archos products and they specialize in media players. Will keep trying though, Thanks!
DANOinSD said:
Granted I'm more familiar with Archos products and they specialize in media players. Will keep trying though, Thanks!
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the platform you refer to is different from Tegra2/Nvidia, and you can blame Nvidia for the stock codecs they support.. they partly added mkv's now in latest update.. but 1080p mkv's still stutter on a7 and other tegra2 devices..
LG with their Optimus 2X added their own custom player, and since its incorporated into the framework, its hard to make it run on other devices for now.. but nvidia is primary source for what we can use it for now..
archos is a different story and they havent got what tegra2 can offer for the future, so it might play alot of media's but not perfect for android at all.
Thanks for the info Dex!
Think I'm gonna get a XOOM (been drooling over some honey), then I can officially make my A7 a tinker toy!
by the way, the new 1.41 rom kicks ass, the motoblur keyboard is soo much better!
I am a new Nook user.
So far I was using a noname chinese tablet (TCC8902-based at 720MHz) and I am used to be able to play any video. The screen quality was pretty bad, but it played absolutely everything i dropped to it.
Now, I upgraded to nook and was planning to enjoy it's excellent screen, but found out that it just doesn't play more than a half of video files that I have. I tried both native Nook FW (videoplayer reports "video is not supported") and CM7 installed on uSD - ES File Managers player (that I mostly used on my old tablet) just doesn't play them without any message.
I would expect Nook's hardware including video accelerator to be more advanced than TCC8902 but looks like there are some restrictions.
Is there anywhere a list of video/audio formats and codecs that are and that are not supported? I was trying to search, but couldn't find one.
Is there any chance that my device has some hardware issues? I think it's unlikely since everything else works fine, but may be?
Try getting MX video player from market.
Get Rock Player Lite
Thanks guys, I will definitely give a try to these players tonight (don't have Nook with me at work).
But as far as I understand all these players are just a front end GUI. Most if not all of the streams parsing, decoding and displaying is done by HW (unless we are talking about software video decoding which I don't consider). Apparently the player i used (built into ES file explorer) is clever enough to pass data to HW since it works fine on inferior tablet.
I am quite sure a question of video support on Nook has been discussed in details, I just couldn't find anything. Could anyone please point me to any good discussions covering this topic?
I'll add a nomination for MoboPlayer. It uses software decoding to play files not supported by hardware.
Also, download Handbrake and search for the suggested Nook settings to convert video files for optimal playback.
Edit: I wanted to add that yes, getting a special video player & converting files is a bit more complex than just dropping the file onto the tablet and playing it. But let's not lose sight of the fact that we're trying to use an eReader to play large, usually HD videos. The fact that it can do it at all is pretty awesome.
First and foremost just want to apologize if there is a duplicate thread regarding this issue.
I just want to know how I can transfer and play movies or videos on my Nexus 4. Clearly I'm not trying to pay for the ones on the play store. The files I'm talking about are either .mpeg, .flv, .avi or xvid(pardon any format incorrections).
Is there a way to play these files on my phone using an app? And if I had to convert them to whatever, where can I get a FREE converter that works wonders and accepts any file size? Am I asking for too much?
Greatly appreciate any help on this.
I use MX Player (free in the Play Store); it handles lots of video formats (not sure whether the list includes all the specific ones you mentioned).
For conversion, I use Handbrake. It's free and also handles lots of formats.
wmm said:
I use MX Player (free in the Play Store); it handles lots of video formats (not sure whether the list includes all the specific ones you mentioned).
For conversion, I use Handbrake. It's free and also handles lots of formats.
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Click to collapse
Thanks a bunch dude, doesn't look like I'll need that converter afterall. Saved me a headache!
I use BSPlayer Free. It is one of the best out there and it is free as well
Features Pop-up play
Plays every video format i have thrown at it
Automatically downloads movie subtitles and more.
Try it out yourself. In my opinion it is better than MX PLAYER
MX Player is my choice too. Sometimes I find it can't handle older formats too well so I use handbrake to make a .mp4 with H.264 codec to make it run nice and smooth on the Nexus 4.
This is probably not anything new, but I didn't see it on Google so here we go:
Play any video file on Amazon Fire TV:
1) Get StickMount + install: http://www.firetvnews.com/how-to-play-media-files-from-external-usb-storage-on-amazon-fire-tv/
-- Yes you will need root: link in link above
2) Get MX Player: http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad
3) Sideload VLC just like you did with stickmount
Profit
edit:
I think this VLC works better. Still a little buggy. BUT 100% better than nothing
2) Get VLC: http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/?id=the.joevlc
edit 2
Replaced this VLC with MX it squashes bugs and wiorks 100% on FireTV, and H/w acceleration works just fine
http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad
What about music files?
I want to play some extremely high quality FLAC files (96khz 32bit and higher) that don't initially work on most devices.
I normally had to re-convert my 96khz 32bit FLAC files to a measly 44khz 24bit so they can play on my Trio T4300.
Can someone reccommend a way to play audiophile quality flac files on Fire TV?
Maybe some custom FLAC codec to install for obtaining higher quality FLAC support.
retroben said:
What about music files?
I want to play some extremely high quality FLAC files (96khz 32bit and higher) that don't initially work on most devices.
I normally had to re-convert my 96khz 32bit FLAC files to a measly 44khz 24bit so they can play on my Trio T4300.
Can someone reccommend a way to play audiophile quality flac files on Fire TV?
Maybe some custom FLAC codec to install for obtaining higher quality FLAC support.
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Click to collapse
For both broad video file format support and FLAC support, I recommend XBMC. You will find that a keyboard is helpful to connect when first setting it up if you're looking to define file paths on your home network. I play my media off of a NAS and XBMC is quite nice.
Adding it to the homescreen can be done by installing Lama, and then using a "sacrificial app" to launch xbmc as a condition of, essentially - you set a Lama trigger that says "when app X is running, run XBMC."
All of that can be done with sideloading - no root required, and although I used root to replace the Fire launcher with XBMC as a launcher, I'm told you can do the launcher swap with Lama as well.
Is there any less diffifcult app to install alongside a codec with full FLAC support.
I don't really care all that much about xbmc because it is designed like a swiss army knife for media when all I need right now is a standalone FLAC player with full 96khz+ and 32bit support.
roustabout said:
For both broad video file format support and FLAC support, I recommend XBMC. You will find that a keyboard is helpful to connect when first setting it up if you're looking to define file paths on your home network. I play my media off of a NAS and XBMC is quite nice.
Adding it to the homescreen can be done by installing Lama, and then using a "sacrificial app" to launch xbmc as a condition of, essentially - you set a Lama trigger that says "when app X is running, run XBMC."
All of that can be done with sideloading - no root required, and although I used root to replace the Fire launcher with XBMC as a launcher, I'm told you can do the launcher swap with Lama as well.
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Click to collapse
I have had no luck with XBMC seeing thins on SUB sticks. It see the stick and folder, but will not find videos.
it was one of the first apps I installed...
DHO said:
I have had no luck with XBMC seeing thins on SUB sticks. It see the stick and folder, but will not find videos.
it was one of the first apps I installed...
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Interesting. I just installed stickmount to test (I mostly have my keyboard in the USB slot) and was able to play a FLAC file, an AVI, a WMV and an MP4 file from the USB stick I put in.
I'm using the 13.1 that was modified to behave as a launcher, but as far as I know it's otherwise a pretty standard 13.1 build.
---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 AM ----------
retroben said:
Is there any less diffifcult app to install alongside a codec with full FLAC support.
I don't really care all that much about xbmc because it is designed like a swiss army knife for media when all I need right now is a standalone FLAC player with full 96khz+ and 32bit support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try sideloading MixZing? I think it does FLAC. I really like it on my phone and it knows about folders, which is helpful.
I found a better one called JetAudio Basic.
It even has playback speed control with or without pitch shift.
I downloaded a 192khz 24bit FLAC test file,and it plays perfectly!
Edit:I found an even better one called DeadBeef.
I hope it isn't downsampling the 192khz FLAC file when playing it.
If so,can somebody reccommend a guaranteed 192khz FLAC player app?
I just updated OP, this app works MUCH better
http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad
In settings, you can check to make it function as an audio player too
IF amazon would just include this app,... and USB mount I would have no reason to root this box. Beyond ridiculous they cripple obvious features that are build into android (what their box is based on.)
DHO said:
This is probably not anything new, but I didn't see it on Google so here we go:
I think this VLC works better. Still a little buggy. BUT 100% better than nothing
2) Get VLC: http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/?id=the.joevlc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The KFTV does not respond to any remote commands when playing a video in VLC. Not able to play/pause, rew/ff, etc. Any idea how to get it working proper?
mjbxx said:
The KFTV does not respond to any remote commands when playing a video in VLC. Not able to play/pause, rew/ff, etc. Any idea how to get it working proper?
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Click to collapse
hey use bsplayer, it works great. the fire tv remote works and it have dts. here's a link http://www12.zippyshare.com/v/69008312/file.html if you have a problem sending it through adb just rename it just bsplayer.
Ah yes.. I sideloaded this player to the wimpy firetv stick .. It works perfectly.. VLC seemed to want more power than the stick can provide. The combination of upnplay and bsplayer has worked out wonderfully..
retroben said:
I found a better one called JetAudio Basic.
It even has playback speed control with or without pitch shift.
I downloaded a 192khz 24bit FLAC test file,and it plays perfectly!
Edit:I found an even better one called DeadBeef.
I hope it isn't downsampling the 192khz FLAC file when playing it.
If so,can somebody reccommend a guaranteed 192khz FLAC player app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
* plays files with up to 192KHz sampling rate, including 24 bit and multichannel files
For anyone reading this thread in 2016, don't waste your life on the advice here: just get Kodi/SPMC or MrMC.
Yeah, I use Kodi exclusively on my Fire TV Stick. No need for root or anything.
But ...
After I upgraded to Jarvis (16), I noticed it hung on some videos, including ones it played fine before. So I went back to the older Helix version.
If anyone knows what's going on, I'd appreciate it. Is Isengard as good/better/worse than the other versions?
The situation of Kodi on Android is not too great and getting worse.
But apps like KODI are bulky swiss-army knives for media and many users reported issues with some even causing device instability when the app is not in use,what if someone wants a lightweight-but-powerful player for only music with full support for 192Khz?
Is this a common issue with the Fire 10HD?
My tablet is not rooted but I used ADB to disable all the Amazon apps and use Evie as a launcher.
I've installed Google framework, Youtube and VLC. I have also installed Kodi.
Other than Kodi, I have not been able to play any video files locally. Youtube also would not work unless I play it through Kodi Youtube addon.
Is there something missing from the tablet basic installation that will allow it to play the video files and Youtube?
hieppo said:
Is this a common issue with the Fire 10HD?
My tablet is not rooted but I used ADB to disable all the Amazon apps and use Evie as a launcher.
I've installed Google framework, Youtube and VLC. I have also installed Kodi.
Other than Kodi, I have not been able to play any video files locally. Youtube also would not work unless I play it through Kodi Youtube addon.
Is there something missing from the tablet basic installation that will allow it to play the video files and Youtube?
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Click to collapse
NVM,
Turns out the tablet was buggy and stop playing video altogether. Anyway, a reboot seems to clear up whatever was causing the issue.