2014-11-15, 04:51
(2014-11-15, 04:45)McGoogley Wrote: Everyone seems thoroughly underwhelmed by this product. Is it time to draw a line through it?
That was my impression, but some people have lower standards than you & me!
That was my impression, but some people have lower standards than you & me!
2014-11-15, 06:46
Even though it doesn't come with built-in ethernet port, you could try a USB to Ethernet adapter and this article is suggesting it works:
http://liliputing.com/2014/11/surprise-g...kinda.html
http://liliputing.com/2014/11/surprise-g...kinda.html
2014-11-15, 06:49
(2014-11-15, 06:46)dtvnewbie Wrote: Even though it doesn't come with built-in ethernet port, you could try a USB to Ethernet adapter and this article is suggesting it works:
http://liliputing.com/2014/11/surprise-g...kinda.html
I can confirm that at my USB ethernet adapter works in my nexus player. See earlier posts in this thread for details.
2014-11-15, 16:56
In that YouTube video he says that XBMC played the Blu-ray MKV files and MPEG-2 HD TV playback smoothly. He didn't spend a lot of time talking about it, and you can't really tell how smooth something is by watching a video of a video, but maybe there's still hope.
2014-11-15, 20:36
(2014-11-15, 04:45)McGoogley Wrote: Everyone seems thoroughly underwhelmed by this product. Is it time to draw a line through it?
I'm still very interested. The menu speeds look to be plenty to me. I much prefer to use wifi as it cleans up the install and is plenty capable of being fast enough for HD content. And the biggest bonus to me is the menus, and especially the Netflix app, looks much better than on the fire TV. Everyone seems so hung up on having the most memory or the fastest processor when it comes to these set top boxes, but when you look at any of the HTPC threads they all say that processor speed isn't that important anymore. I guess it'll depend on your setup, but these specs and available apps are everything I need. The fire TV stick is my other option, but considering I have to pay a middle man, import fees, and stupidly high shipping to get it from the US, I'll probably get the nexus player.
2014-11-16, 07:32
2014-11-16, 16:05
I've got one.
Everyone is bashing it because it doesn't have ethernet but I really don't feel like tearing down drywall to run a cable so the wireless AC is what sold me on it. I have an asus router already RT-AC68U, that thing is blazingly fast. I have my NAS attached to it and it will actually run any USB drive as a NAS as it has the software built in. It also runs it as a cloud. For these reasons it's the best place to have my content, I don't need more storage on the device.
All I want is a quick boot up (I'll probably keep it to always on), simple to use so the wife doesn't call me when I'm not home and ask how to watch a movie, enough specs to know it should do 4K if I go there and fast wireless AC. This will liberate my surface pro which has spent the last 2 months attached behind my stereo doing HTPC duties.
Right now the Android TV operating system is pretty weak. It's basically Plex, youtube and Netflix. My original plan was to use Plex but then I found out you have to subscribe to get it to work on the Android TV. It's $149 for a lifetime, I could have got that on the xBox one (but with only wireless N) so I'll be sideloading XBMC soon.
This will be my first time attempting to use the ADB so I'll report on if a total noob can do it.
I got the sideloader launched on it and installed a DLNA streamer and a video player ap that could handle MKV but when I started playing a file the limited function of the remote on an ap made for touchscreen meant I couldn't figure out how to turn up the volume.
On a side note the voice search for youtube was pretty sweet and I found out I have transformers from the google play store which I never new (must have been a free offer with some device I bought).
Everyone is bashing it because it doesn't have ethernet but I really don't feel like tearing down drywall to run a cable so the wireless AC is what sold me on it. I have an asus router already RT-AC68U, that thing is blazingly fast. I have my NAS attached to it and it will actually run any USB drive as a NAS as it has the software built in. It also runs it as a cloud. For these reasons it's the best place to have my content, I don't need more storage on the device.
All I want is a quick boot up (I'll probably keep it to always on), simple to use so the wife doesn't call me when I'm not home and ask how to watch a movie, enough specs to know it should do 4K if I go there and fast wireless AC. This will liberate my surface pro which has spent the last 2 months attached behind my stereo doing HTPC duties.
Right now the Android TV operating system is pretty weak. It's basically Plex, youtube and Netflix. My original plan was to use Plex but then I found out you have to subscribe to get it to work on the Android TV. It's $149 for a lifetime, I could have got that on the xBox one (but with only wireless N) so I'll be sideloading XBMC soon.
This will be my first time attempting to use the ADB so I'll report on if a total noob can do it.
I got the sideloader launched on it and installed a DLNA streamer and a video player ap that could handle MKV but when I started playing a file the limited function of the remote on an ap made for touchscreen meant I couldn't figure out how to turn up the volume.
On a side note the voice search for youtube was pretty sweet and I found out I have transformers from the google play store which I never new (must have been a free offer with some device I bought).
2014-11-17, 03:41
I may be a little late to the party on this thread, but figured I would post some first impressions on the Nexus Player (as well as about Kodi running on it):
I plan to test side-loading Amazon Video and HBO Go. Having Amazon Prime, it'll be hard to give up on the service. I'm wondering if Amazon will release a native app (not holding my breath though).
I still need to read through all the past posts on this thread, so if I'm already covering something that's been covered, my bad. If anything specific needs testing w/ Kodi, I can probably help.
- I couldn't get ADB to work over my network (never found a setting for ADB debugging), so I had to use USB, which is annoying, but not a deal-breaker (I've updated the Wiki page with info on installing Kodi over USB). Hopefully I'm just missing something completely obvious (or it's a feature Google will add in there if they removed it) -- let me know if anyone else gets ADB debugging over network working on v5.0 build LRX21M
- Interestingly, the Kodi app shows up on my Nexus Player's home screen -- unlike FireTV -- so that's a big plus
- Kodi v14 beta 3 works fine with my very quick tests (i.e. a video played)
- Closing Kodi (via Kodi menu) left it still running under Running Apps (maybe this is default behavior for Kodi on all Android systems? -- I have no idea)
- I was a bit disappointed that Plex requires a paid subscription to use, so I'll just have to live with Kodi (so far so good though!)
- The UI and search on the Nexus Player work well. I like YouTube's auto-play feature (where I pick something, and it plays related content automatically I think). The search button on the remote within Netflix pulls up Netflix search (just no voice support -- yet(?))
I plan to test side-loading Amazon Video and HBO Go. Having Amazon Prime, it'll be hard to give up on the service. I'm wondering if Amazon will release a native app (not holding my breath though).
I still need to read through all the past posts on this thread, so if I'm already covering something that's been covered, my bad. If anything specific needs testing w/ Kodi, I can probably help.
2014-11-17, 07:22
For those with this already and testing Kodi, How is the menu navigation using the Nexus remote? I assume a mouse/keyboard or MCE/Flirc combo will still be preferable.
2014-11-17, 18:26
(2014-11-15, 16:56)Scott R Wrote: In that YouTube video he says that XBMC played the Blu-ray MKV files and MPEG-2 HD TV playback smoothly. He didn't spend a lot of time talking about it, and you can't really tell how smooth something is by watching a video of a video, but maybe there's still hope.
The MPEG-2 he was playing was ABC, which is 720p. For 1080i, you can choose (somewhat) smooth playback, or deinterlacing, but not both.
Drew
(2014-11-16, 16:05)minispeed Wrote: My original plan was to use Plex but then I found out you have to subscribe to get it to work on the Android TV
The last I tried Plex, I could not figure out how to make it enable access to channels (what they call their scripts) on Android TV, so it was essentially useless to me. PlexBMC worked far better (I use it for the Daily Show channel, since the XBMC one has been broken for months).
2014-11-17, 18:39
I've been having a problem with a few add-ons, and I'm not sure if this is a problem with this version of kodi (14.x nightlies over the last few weeks; latest tried was kodi-20141115-35527b7-master-x86.apk).
Some addons work fine (PlexBMC, xbmc-nflgamepass, NBC sports). Other addons are "finicky" (ESPN3), and some don't seem to work at all (PBS, metacafe). By "finicky", I mean that they load the video, but you cannot seek around. If you fast-forward past the buffer, or skip way ahead, out of the buffer, the video seems to never resume. The audio resumes, but not the video. You're left with a static image of the scene before you skipped / fast-forwarded / rewound / whatever.
I'm assuming that there is a bug in the hardware decoding where the video stream is never (re)started properly after a ffw/rew. I was going to try it again with software decoding forced.
Is anybody running the same xbmc version on other hardware that can confirm other hardware is OK? I'm running a ~5 month old xbmc on my ADT-1, and it does not have these issues. I'm a bit afraid to update, since I currently use it for ESPN3, and don't want to loose it.
Some addons work fine (PlexBMC, xbmc-nflgamepass, NBC sports). Other addons are "finicky" (ESPN3), and some don't seem to work at all (PBS, metacafe). By "finicky", I mean that they load the video, but you cannot seek around. If you fast-forward past the buffer, or skip way ahead, out of the buffer, the video seems to never resume. The audio resumes, but not the video. You're left with a static image of the scene before you skipped / fast-forwarded / rewound / whatever.
I'm assuming that there is a bug in the hardware decoding where the video stream is never (re)started properly after a ffw/rew. I was going to try it again with software decoding forced.
Is anybody running the same xbmc version on other hardware that can confirm other hardware is OK? I'm running a ~5 month old xbmc on my ADT-1, and it does not have these issues. I'm a bit afraid to update, since I currently use it for ESPN3, and don't want to loose it.
2014-11-18, 06:07
Just got my NP, and registered on the forum just to post the following:
Easiest way to set up xbmc (Without using ADB install). There might be some overlap with previous posts, but I just wanted to post complete instructions.
1. Log in to your google play account
2. Enable developer options (by clicking version number several times...)
3. Allow unknown sources in Security settings
4. Enable Debugging in Developer options (might not be necessary, but I did it just in case)
5. From a computer browser (or even mobile browsers, although my Ipad chrome did not work), go to google play store, search ES file explorer, click on install, and select your Nexus Player to install.
6. Open ES file explorer (does not show up on homescreen, so go to settings-->apps-->ES file explorer-->open
7. Choose remote manager on the left side, turn it on, and enter the ftp address in your computer file browser. You should be able to browse files on your NP remotely.
8. Download the XBMC/Kodi android x86 apk on your computer (I used the V14 beta 3 version), put it into one of the folders of your NP (ex. Downloads folder)
9. Go to ES file explorer on your NP, browse to that folder, and click on the apk, the installation process is exactly the same as on other android devices.
10. Set up Kodi to your liking and enjoy!
Tips and Observations:
- Playback has been smooth so far!
- It\s advisable to connect the XBMC remote app from another mobile device before trying to go any further. The Android TV remote control app's keyboard input only works with specific entry fields, and doesn't work with XBMC. The XBMC remote control app also gives you the ability to "right click"
- Someone on the XDA developer forum mentioned that XBMC closes or blacks out after minutes of video streaming. I also encountered this problem, but it seems to have been solved by setting the cache to 0 using advancedsettings.xml (please search "xbmc cache full" if you are unaware of how to set it up)....Just as I was about to post this, the 1080 stream that has been playing for ~40 minutes crashed.... it's still an improvement over the 5-6 minutes crash before the change
- I tried add-ons whose names shall not be spoken on this forum, and so far so good.
- I'm waiting for a root for the NP, which would allow the use of Droidmote Server, the best remote control app from my experience with a generic android box, and well worth the few dollars it sells for.
- My cheap chinese made ipad bluetooth keyboard works great with it. Pairing was a breeze (the same could not be said with my generic M8 box...)
Hope this has helped somebody looking for information on the NP, like I was for the past two weeks.
Easiest way to set up xbmc (Without using ADB install). There might be some overlap with previous posts, but I just wanted to post complete instructions.
1. Log in to your google play account
2. Enable developer options (by clicking version number several times...)
3. Allow unknown sources in Security settings
4. Enable Debugging in Developer options (might not be necessary, but I did it just in case)
5. From a computer browser (or even mobile browsers, although my Ipad chrome did not work), go to google play store, search ES file explorer, click on install, and select your Nexus Player to install.
6. Open ES file explorer (does not show up on homescreen, so go to settings-->apps-->ES file explorer-->open
7. Choose remote manager on the left side, turn it on, and enter the ftp address in your computer file browser. You should be able to browse files on your NP remotely.
8. Download the XBMC/Kodi android x86 apk on your computer (I used the V14 beta 3 version), put it into one of the folders of your NP (ex. Downloads folder)
9. Go to ES file explorer on your NP, browse to that folder, and click on the apk, the installation process is exactly the same as on other android devices.
10. Set up Kodi to your liking and enjoy!
Tips and Observations:
- Playback has been smooth so far!
- It\s advisable to connect the XBMC remote app from another mobile device before trying to go any further. The Android TV remote control app's keyboard input only works with specific entry fields, and doesn't work with XBMC. The XBMC remote control app also gives you the ability to "right click"
- Someone on the XDA developer forum mentioned that XBMC closes or blacks out after minutes of video streaming. I also encountered this problem, but it seems to have been solved by setting the cache to 0 using advancedsettings.xml (please search "xbmc cache full" if you are unaware of how to set it up)....Just as I was about to post this, the 1080 stream that has been playing for ~40 minutes crashed.... it's still an improvement over the 5-6 minutes crash before the change
- I tried add-ons whose names shall not be spoken on this forum, and so far so good.
- I'm waiting for a root for the NP, which would allow the use of Droidmote Server, the best remote control app from my experience with a generic android box, and well worth the few dollars it sells for.
- My cheap chinese made ipad bluetooth keyboard works great with it. Pairing was a breeze (the same could not be said with my generic M8 box...)
Hope this has helped somebody looking for information on the NP, like I was for the past two weeks.
2014-11-18, 07:08
I received my new Nexus Player yesterday.
After initial setup, I side loaded XBMC (v13.2 for Android x86) Download Link and installed "Sideload Launcher - Android TV" Play Store Link.
I had some trouble getting the apk file to nexus player initially. I recommend installing ES File Explorer via your play store account on PC to nexus player and then use it to browse your local network and install apk. (You can also use a USB OTG cable to connect a drive and install from it using built in file manager). But I did not have a cable. But I will soon get one since Nexus Player has only 8GB storage and I plan on connecting a huge 2TB portable hdd to it via USB OTG cable and so I will have lot of local storage.
I recommend using (AeonNox 5 or Xperience1080 skin for XBMC) and it works awesome. Nexus Player is very powerful and I would say this is the best "HTPC" currently available (for the price and size. Its so tiny). One problem I had while navigating XBMC was that the remote doesn't have a menu button so I could not get a right click menu. I would like to have some work-around to help with that. Wish I had an option to press and hold the center button to get a right click menu. This is must for getting the movie info page or delete a source etc. Other than that everything works fine. It can even passthrough DTS/DD audio to my Onkyo AV Receiver.
I got my whole XBMC library on my windows pc to nexus player currently via uPnP. But it is not the best way, so I think once I get everything figured out I will shift my entire library on to Nexus Player and get rid of my old dell laptop currently hooked to my TV. I used to use it as an HTPC and used a wireless keyboard and mouse to use the laptop on my 40" Samsung LED TV.
Waiting for whole lot of new apps for Nexus Player.
Note: The voice search on Nexus Player is so superb. It JUST WORKS. (not with XBMC yet though :P)
Thanks for the "right click" help :) I have not had any crashes yet. I will update if it happens. The uPnP linking of library works fine for Movies by TV Shows seems to not work. I can still play them through uPnP file browser but thats not the best option since I have trakt.tv sync also. If you have any ideas??
After initial setup, I side loaded XBMC (v13.2 for Android x86) Download Link and installed "Sideload Launcher - Android TV" Play Store Link.
I had some trouble getting the apk file to nexus player initially. I recommend installing ES File Explorer via your play store account on PC to nexus player and then use it to browse your local network and install apk. (You can also use a USB OTG cable to connect a drive and install from it using built in file manager). But I did not have a cable. But I will soon get one since Nexus Player has only 8GB storage and I plan on connecting a huge 2TB portable hdd to it via USB OTG cable and so I will have lot of local storage.
I recommend using (AeonNox 5 or Xperience1080 skin for XBMC) and it works awesome. Nexus Player is very powerful and I would say this is the best "HTPC" currently available (for the price and size. Its so tiny). One problem I had while navigating XBMC was that the remote doesn't have a menu button so I could not get a right click menu. I would like to have some work-around to help with that. Wish I had an option to press and hold the center button to get a right click menu. This is must for getting the movie info page or delete a source etc. Other than that everything works fine. It can even passthrough DTS/DD audio to my Onkyo AV Receiver.
I got my whole XBMC library on my windows pc to nexus player currently via uPnP. But it is not the best way, so I think once I get everything figured out I will shift my entire library on to Nexus Player and get rid of my old dell laptop currently hooked to my TV. I used to use it as an HTPC and used a wireless keyboard and mouse to use the laptop on my 40" Samsung LED TV.
Waiting for whole lot of new apps for Nexus Player.
Note: The voice search on Nexus Player is so superb. It JUST WORKS. (not with XBMC yet though :P)
(2014-11-18, 06:07)engadgetdude Wrote: Just got my NP, and registered on the forum just to post the following:
Easiest way to set up xbmc (Without using ADB install). There might be some overlap with previous posts, but I just wanted to post complete instructions.
1. Log in to your google play account
2. Enable developer options (by clicking version number several times...)
3. Allow unknown sources in Security settings
4. Enable Debugging in Developer options (might not be necessary, but I did it just in case)
5. From a computer browser (or even mobile browsers, although my Ipad chrome did not work), go to google play store, search ES file explorer, click on install, and select your Nexus Player to install.
6. Open ES file explorer (does not show up on homescreen, so go to settings-->apps-->ES file explorer-->open
7. Choose remote manager on the left side, turn it on, and enter the ftp address in your computer file browser. You should be able to browse files on your NP remotely.
8. Download the XBMC/Kodi android x86 apk on your computer (I used the V14 beta 3 version), put it into one of the folders of your NP (ex. Downloads folder)
9. Go to ES file explorer on your NP, browse to that folder, and click on the apk, the installation process is exactly the same as on other android devices.
10. Set up Kodi to your liking and enjoy!
Tips and Observations:
- Playback has been smooth so far!
- It\s advisable to connect the XBMC remote app from another mobile device before trying to go any further. The Android TV remote control app's keyboard input only works with specific entry fields, and doesn't work with XBMC. The XBMC remote control app also gives you the ability to "right click"
- Someone on the XDA developer forum mentioned that XBMC closes or blacks out after minutes of video streaming. I also encountered this problem, but it seems to have been solved by setting the cache to 0 using advancedsettings.xml (please search "xbmc cache full" if you are unaware of how to set it up)....Just as I was about to post this, the 1080 stream that has been playing for ~40 minutes crashed.... it's still an improvement over the 5-6 minutes crash before the change
- I tried add-ons whose names shall not be spoken on this forum, and so far so good.
- I'm waiting for a root for the NP, which would allow the use of Droidmote Server, the best remote control app from my experience with a generic android box, and well worth the few dollars it sells for.
- My cheap chinese made ipad bluetooth keyboard works great with it. Pairing was a breeze (the same could not be said with my generic M8 box...)
Hope this has helped somebody looking for information on the NP, like I was for the past two weeks.
Thanks for the "right click" help :) I have not had any crashes yet. I will update if it happens. The uPnP linking of library works fine for Movies by TV Shows seems to not work. I can still play them through uPnP file browser but thats not the best option since I have trakt.tv sync also. If you have any ideas??
2014-11-18, 22:48
(2014-11-17, 07:22)Madiusmax Wrote: For those with this already and testing Kodi, How is the menu navigation using the Nexus remote? I assume a mouse/keyboard or MCE/Flirc combo will still be preferable.
I installed the standard 13.2 build and the default skin uses the remote just fine for navigation, but I hooked up my wireless mouse (quicker I find) to a USB hub along with ethernet USB and external HD, all working well.
2014-11-18, 23:05
(2014-11-16, 16:05)minispeed Wrote: I've got one.
Everyone is bashing it because it doesn't have ethernet but I really don't feel like tearing down drywall to run a cable so the wireless AC is what sold me on it. I have an asus router already RT-AC68U, that thing is blazingly fast. I have my NAS attached to it and it will actually run any USB drive as a NAS as it has the software built in. It also runs it as a cloud. For these reasons it's the best place to have my content, I don't need more storage on the device.
All I want is a quick boot up (I'll probably keep it to always on), simple to use so the wife doesn't call me when I'm not home and ask how to watch a movie, enough specs to know it should do 4K if I go there and fast wireless AC. This will liberate my surface pro which has spent the last 2 months attached behind my stereo doing HTPC duties.
Right now the Android TV operating system is pretty weak. It's basically Plex, youtube and Netflix. My original plan was to use Plex but then I found out you have to subscribe to get it to work on the Android TV. It's $149 for a lifetime, I could have got that on the xBox one (but with only wireless N) so I'll be sideloading XBMC soon.
This will be my first time attempting to use the ADB so I'll report on if a total noob can do it.
I got the sideloader launched on it and installed a DLNA streamer and a video player ap that could handle MKV but when I started playing a file the limited function of the remote on an ap made for touchscreen meant I couldn't figure out how to turn up the volume.
On a side note the voice search for youtube was pretty sweet and I found out I have transformers from the google play store which I never new (must have been a free offer with some device I bought).
I didn't use ADB to install Kodi 13.2, I installed ES Explorer from a computer browser that is on the same network as the Nexus Player and installed it to the Nexus Player (it will prompt you for which device), once ES Explorer is on the Nexus Player, go into settings/apps and launch it. I moved my Kodi apk to google drive and using ES Player located it (had to add Google Drive to ES Player) installed it.
