The Droid TV thread

Trying it right now. To reset, I'm trying the 'Return to Android' zip file. It has no instructions. I've unzipped it onto 4gb SD card resulting in5 files (incl. 1 *.zip & 2 *.img files). Tried toothpick method with SD card and nothing happens - screen remains blank throughout. Not happy without my DroidTV...
 
Is it possible that SD card partitions are wrong? I remember seeing some MX2 tweaking instructions that mentioned changing the partitions on the SD card. I didn't do that but could my Linux laptop have changed this...?

Another, is it possible that I've worn the AV button (depressed with toothpick) down so that it's no longer working? I am still hearing the same *click*...

Would be really happy to resolve. Temperamental little ****...
 
Hi

I have a matricom g-box midnight mx-2 (which I bought about 2y ago). It's wifi sucks. I have a 4mbit line ADSL , and I get 0.2 - 0.4 mbit download speed on the wifi connection.

Unfortunately getting ethernet to the device is going to be nigh impossible since the router is on floor 1, and the droid tv is on ground floor.

I tried using my trendnet USB wireless adapter on the device but it didn't seem to take. Is there a way to improve the Wifi capabilities of this device (like adding a usb wireless networking device)?

Or even is there perhaps an upgrade available which can handle netflix level bandwitdh via it's wifi connection?
 
ReenenLaurie said:
Hi

I have a matricom g-box midnight mx-2 (which I bought about 2y ago). It's wifi sucks. I have a 4mbit line ADSL , and I get 0.2 - 0.4 mbit download speed on the wifi connection.

Unfortunately getting ethernet to the device is going to be nigh impossible since the router is on floor 1, and the droid tv is on ground floor.

I tried using my trendnet USB wireless adapter on the device but it didn't seem to take. Is there a way to improve the Wifi capabilities of this device (like adding a usb wireless networking device)?

Or even is there perhaps an upgrade available which can handle netflix level bandwitdh via it's wifi connection?
Click to expand...

You will have to get a wifi range extender or use another router in-between to improve the signal since it's on a different floor.
The tv box should preferably not be further than 2 rooms away from the router/modem otherwise you are going to have problems.

You can't use other USB wifi adapters on the tv box, 90% of them won't work.
Do you use a 5G wireless modem or one with 4 antennas, if not that will help.
(a 5G modem will probably not help since I don't think the tv box supports ac wifi)

Tine to get a new device like an HPH NT-V8, devices with built-in wifi, signals suck.
 
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ReenenLaurie said:
Hi

I have a matricom g-box midnight mx-2 (which I bought about 2y ago). It's wifi sucks. I have a 4mbit line ADSL , and I get 0.2 - 0.4 mbit download speed on the wifi connection.

Unfortunately getting ethernet to the device is going to be nigh impossible since the router is on floor 1, and the droid tv is on ground floor.

I tried using my trendnet USB wireless adapter on the device but it didn't seem to take. Is there a way to improve the Wifi capabilities of this device (like adding a usb wireless networking device)?

Or even is there perhaps an upgrade available which can handle netflix level bandwitdh via it's wifi connection?
Click to expand...

Get a powerline adapter.

Something like this: TP-Link AV500 Nano Powerline Ethernet Adapter Starter Kit
 
Shalin_ZN said:
Decent Android Media player hands down.

I have the 1st gen Fire TV, it's freaking awesome. Got SuperSport, Plex and Kodi on it running like a boss.
Click to expand...

What is a decent android player I can buy locally?

More specifically what is the definition of a decent Android media Player
 
ReenenLaurie said:
Erm... what is that?! Does it transfer the data via the power cables of your home? So I plug in one close to the router and connect it via the ethernet adaptor and then I just plug the other one in close to the player? If this is what it is, it looks perfect!
Click to expand...

Yip that's pretty much what it does.

Plug one into your wall and connect to the router. Plug the second into another wall and connect it to your device.

See this thread: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/471488-Are-Powerline-adapters-good
 
Shalin_ZN said:
Amazon Fire TV gen 1/gen 2 (not the Fire TV Stick)

Nvidia Shield (Pro if you got the money)

Pretty much any "branded" Android TV box.

Have a look at the Minix brands as well, that's not too bad. The Neo Z64 is amazeballs.
Click to expand...

Wow, thank you for the effort.

That nvidia thing looks like some weird going to fail wanna be xbox.

The Amazon fire gen 2

That has my attention!!!

What do you get with it since the Netflix hulu etc apps are useless in South Africa
 
Thor187 said:
Wow, thank you for the effort.

That nvidia thing looks like some weird going to fail wanna be xbox.

The Amazon fire gen 2

That has my attention!!!

What do you get with it since the Netflix hulu etc apps are useless in South Africa
Click to expand...

You can get past this quite easily with a Smart DNS service like Unotelly, it essentially allows you to access sites/services that are georestricted in SA.

I have DSTV Now, Supersport, Kodi and Plex on mine. The Fire TV interface is made for Amazon Prime, so if you use that then it will simplify a lot of things. Everything except Plex needs to be side loaded.

There's addon's for Kodi and Plex that will allow you to stream series/movies/sport/etc. I don't really use any of those. I prefer to have all my content local. Will move to streaming/Netflix when I get a faster line.

Only use it for entertainment, but it can be used for gaming too. There's a few games, but you'll need the optional game controller to play the good ones.

I have a custom launcher so I don't really use the default UI. The base OS is Android, so you can do everything you can do on Android, which is a hell of a lot.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
You can get past this quite easily with a Smart DNS service like Unotelly, it essentially allows you to access sites/services that are georestricted in SA.

I have DSTV Now, Supersport, Kodi and Plex on mine. The Fire TV interface is made for Amazon Prime, so if you use that then it will simplify a lot of things. Everything except Plex needs to be side loaded.

There's addon's for Kodi and Plex that will allow you to stream series/movies/sport/etc. I don't really use any of those. I prefer to have all my content local. Will move to streaming/Netflix when I get a faster line.

Only use it for entertainment, but it can be used for gaming too. There's a few games, but you'll need the optional game controller to play the good ones.

I have a custom launcher so I don't really use the default UI. The base OS is Android, so you can do everything you can do on Android, which is a hell of a lot.
Click to expand...

Okey let me put it this way.

My needs are as follows.

I have a Sansui 50" k@k TV ( not smart) and horrible speakers

So I have a piece of k@k Acryan playon 3 from Esquire that has 2 AV ports going into a single 3mm jack that goes into my pc to play sounds through the logitech speakers.

What do I want?

A wireless way to enjoy all the terabytes of content of my pc on a TV
 
Thor187 said:
Okey let me put it this way.

My needs are as follows.

I have a Sansui 50" k@k TV ( not smart) and horrible speakers

So I have a piece of k@k Acryan playon 3 from Esquire that has 2 AV ports going into a single 3mm jack that goes into my pc to play sounds through the logitech speakers.

What do I want?

A wireless way to enjoy all the terabytes of content of my pc on a TV
Click to expand...

Ok, well it's relatively easy then.

Get the FTV2, connect it to your WiFi network. Bare in mind, Wireless N isn't the best for stream high bitrate video, rather go ethernet or Wireless AC.

Your biggest "issue" is what software you want to use: Kodi or Plex.

Plex does all the work (transcoding) on the server (your PC) while Kodi will do any work on your device (FTV2). I prefer Kodi for now, but in a multi user environment I think Plex will be better.

Also, something to keep in mind, if you're gonna use Wireless N and you see that you can't stream video over (for example) 5000kbps without buffering, then you can "reduce" the stream quality using Plex.

What I like about Kodi is the awesome UI and simple file manager. Unlike Plex, I don't need to add all my series/movies to my Plex Library. I can simply use the file manager to browse the files on my PC (over the network) like you would in Windows. Kodi also has the option of adding files to your library.

The library feature sorts out your series, gets sub titles, artwork, episode names, summaries, etc. It looks pretty cool once it's set up.
With Plex you need to have the server software setup on your PC, with Kodi you only need software on the FTV2.

Kodi has skins which make it look amazing, while Plex looks kinda meh (a new design is coming soon from what I've read). Currently using the Arctic: Zephyr skin on Kodi.

So to summarize:
1. Add FTV2 to network
2. Share media drives on PC
3a. Install Kodi on FTV2, use file manager to view files on PC or add files to video library
3b. Install Plex server on PC, add files to Plex server, open Plex on FTV2 and everything will work by itself.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
Ok, well it's relatively easy then.

Get the FTV2, connect it to your WiFi network. Bare in mind, Wireless N isn't the best for stream high bitrate video, rather go ethernet or Wireless AC.

Your biggest "issue" is what software you want to use: Kodi or Plex.

Plex does all the work (transcoding) on the server (your PC) while Kodi will do any work on your device (FTV2). I prefer Kodi for now, but in a multi user environment I think Plex will be better.

Also, something to keep in mind, if you're gonna use Wireless N and you see that you can't stream video over (for example) 5000kbps without buffering, then you can "reduce" the stream quality using Plex.

What I like about Kodi is the awesome UI and simple file manager. Unlike Plex, I don't need to add all my series/movies to my Plex Library. I can simply use the file manager to browse the files on my PC (over the network) like you would in Windows. Kodi also has the option of adding files to your library.

The library feature sorts out your series, gets sub titles, artwork, episode names, summaries, etc. It looks pretty cool once it's set up.
With Plex you need to have the server software setup on your PC, with Kodi you only need software on the FTV2.

Kodi has skins which make it look amazing, while Plex looks kinda meh (a new design is coming soon from what I've read). Currently using the Arctic: Zephyr skin on Kodi.

So to summarize:
1. Add FTV2 to network
2. Share media drives on PC
3a. Install Kodi on FTV2, use file manager to view files on PC or add files to video library
3b. Install Plex server on PC, add files to Plex server, open Plex on FTV2 and everything will work by itself.
Click to expand...

How much of a benefit is this over say me purchasing a smart TV with great sound hooking it up to the ethernet since I still have the k@k sound issue unless I run the fire TV through the pc
 
Thor187 said:
How much of a benefit is this over say me purchasing a smart TV with great sound hooking it up to the ethernet since I still have the k@k sound issue unless I run the fire TV through the pc
Click to expand...

Why not buy a soundbar/surround sound system and use it with the FTV2? You can use HDMI or optical audio.

Audio really shouldn't be a problem here, it's an easy thing to fix: buy a decent set of speakers.
 
BWT, not sure how a Smart TV is gonna help you watch the content on your PC, unless you planning to connect the PC directly to the TV.

We have a Samsung Smart TV, it's boss but the "smart" interface is rubbish. Your only option is Plex if you're gonna rely on the Smart TV app store. In which case you'll still need to install the server software on your PC.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
BWT, not sure how a Smart TV is gonna help you watch the content on your PC, unless you planning to connect the PC directly to the TV.

We have a Samsung Smart TV, it's boss but the "smart" interface is rubbish. Your only option is Plex if you're gonna rely on the Smart TV app store. In which case you'll still need to install the server software on your PC.
Click to expand...

Ahh I hear you. Yes my idea was to plug the ethernet into the mikrotik

Okey okey so first. I need to get am affordable soundbar
 
Shalin_ZN said:
You can get past this quite easily with a Smart DNS service like Unotelly, it essentially allows you to access sites/services that are georestricted in SA.

I have DSTV Now, Supersport, Kodi and Plex on mine. The Fire TV interface is made for Amazon Prime, so if you use that then it will simplify a lot of things. Everything except Plex needs to be side loaded.
Click to expand...

I have the gen1 running on the standard ui. I run plex, hulu, netflix , bbc iplayer (and other uk channels) and kodi with tvaddons plugins. Works well for me. Use unotelly for location settings. Paid less $3 a month for Unotelly Gold (+VPN) using their Black Friday special.

I need the dstv now and ShowMax apk files though. Do these work with the Bluetooth remote?
 
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