[wdpcpa]

1. Yes, there are 2 USB 3.0 inputs. These will have to be used as external storage only and not adopted storage.
2. Yes, it can connect via Samba (SMB)
3. Not sure. Is the backup handled by the drives, a windows app?
4. Yes, however keep HDCP 2.2 in mind. If anything in the chain is HDMI 1.4 (or not HDCP 2.2) you wont get 4K content.
5. Which Harmony? If its a hub based remote, they are wifi/bluetooth/IR enabled. You shouldnt have any problems with a hub based remote. If your Harmony is standalone and IR only, the new Shield does not have an IR receiver, so unless you add something like FLIRC it wont work. TBH, I have a Harmony Smart Control with the Hub and I like it WAY more than the old standalone IR. The bluetooth alone makes it worth it, but also a recent update gave me timer abilities where at a certain time each morning I can have it turn everything on downstairs and tune to the channel I want so when I go down everything is already running.

1. Not sure what the difference is between external storage vs adopted storage. Currently, all movies are on multiple external drives which Kodi plays just fine. My Revo Aspire card only has enough room for the Win 7 operating system. I think I just plug in the USB Hub to one of the Shields USB ports and I am good to go. Or eliminate the data base and stream from the NAS - see 3 below.
2. Great - not sure what Samba is but if it means I can see it on my network that's great. Then I can just map the external drives mentioned in one above.
3. My backup utility is a windows app - like Sync Toy. I am thinking I may not need to backup the shield. Just stream the movie data base from my NAS. Both the NAS and the Shield will have an Ethernet connection. And the PRO version comes with a special version of Plex which could help if Kodi has issues streaming. I am not sure it will. I don't know. Always had the data base with the media center and the NAS for backup.
4. No worries - I don't need 4K content. By the time I do, perhaps there won't be an issue with it. I need to be able to play H265 content and Shield seems great at that.
5. The Harmony One. I really like my Harmony one and have had 6 activities connected to it. Looks like the Hub is not as friendly to multiple activities although it does have some other nice features. I am thinking I should just wait for the Shield Pro at the end of the month. Your thoughts?

[wesk05]

I checked again this morning. It doesn't look like anything has been fixed (refresh rate switching or the 1080p RGB). I was quite positive yesterday that it was fixed because I tested it several times. Now, I have to figure out how I got it to work yesterday.

[Theetjuh]

It depends on if you want the new game controller (which has a always listening feature for Google Assistant) and you don't want to pay extra, and if you can actually find a 2015 model that's not overpriced.

Your going to get nearly the same experience with either.

CEC seems to be hit and miss, but if you want to continue to use your IR remote I'd suggest a Flirc, which would give you more control anyway.

If your HDMI chain is all the same, then you shouldn't have any issues.

Thanks, ordered the 2017 version, I could always use Flirc indeed when CEC doesn't work as it should.
It's coming here tomorrow

[Tinwarble]

1. Not sure what the difference is between external storage vs adopted storage. Currently, all movies are on multiple external drives which Kodi plays just fine. My Revo Aspire card only has enough room for the Win 7 operating system. I think I just plug in the USB Hub to one of the Shields USB ports and I am good to go. Or eliminate the data base and stream from the NAS - see 3 below.

External storage is just any storage connected to the Shield and not adopted. Adopted storage is explain in the second post on the first page: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2501967

3. My backup utility is a windows app - like Sync Toy. I am thinking I may not need to backup the shield. Just stream the movie data base from my NAS. Both the NAS and the Shield will have an Ethernet connection. And the PRO version comes with a special version of Plex which could help if Kodi has issues streaming. I am not sure it will. I don't know. Always had the data base with the media center and the NAS for backup.

If you have a NAS, then that is your best bet instead of using external storage. Both the Pro (unless your are referring to your NAS) and the 16GB models have the Plex Media Server, but it's not needed for Kodi.

[wesk05]

As I was expecting after reading some of the posts here and at nVIDIA, the splitter switch I bought didn't work. I dont know whether I can be arsed taking the chance on spending another £50 to £60 on trying to see if a 2.2 to 1.4 converter will work, that is the cheapest I can find them for here in the UK. So I think the switch and Shield are going back to Amazon I'm afraid, unless someone can guarantee those converters work?

Trying to run two HDMI outputs at the same time via that splitter, one to the TV and one to the AVR doesn't work either, the AVR never outputs sound.

I can't even get Kodi to output any audio through the optical out from my TV to my AVR when the Shield is connected directly to the TV. Actually that's not totally true, I can hear the GUI sounds when moving around the menu's but any videos I play make no sound. I dont like that Idea anyway as you are limited to 5.1 even if it did work over optical. I have an ATMOS setup so that just isn't acceptable to be limited to 5.1.

HDMI 1.4 splitter work-around has worked before, if you have it connected between the Shield and the AVR. I will check it out with my splitters and see whether it still works.

[Andydigital]

As I was expecting after reading some of the posts here and at nVIDIA, the splitter switch I bought didn't work. I dont know whether I can be arsed taking the chance on spending another £50 to £60 on trying to see if a 2.2 to 1.4 converter will work, that is the cheapest I can find them for here in the UK. So I think the switch and Shield are going back to Amazon I'm afraid, unless someone can guarantee those converters work?

Trying to run two HDMI outputs at the same time via that splitter, one to the TV and one to the AVR doesn't work either, the AVR never outputs sound.

I can't even get Kodi to output any audio through the optical out from my TV to my AVR when the Shield is connected directly to the TV. Actually that's not totally true, I can hear the GUI sounds when moving around the menu's but any videos I play make no sound. I dont like that Idea anyway as you are limited to 5.1 even if it did work over optical. I have an ATMOS setup so that just isn't acceptable to be limited to 5.1.

HDMI 1.4 splitter work-around has worked before, if you have it connected between the Shield and the AVR. I will check it out with my splitters and see whether it still works.

Yup that is how I did it, I've tried 3 different splitters and switches now and it doesn't work, I've been messing with it for 3 days straight now. I've packed it all up and raised a return, it's been picked up tomorrow hopefully. Thanks for your time folks, hopefully nVIDIA get this sorted your you guys at some point but I've come to the end of the line. Cheers for the feedback though.

[thesuffering]

1. Not sure what the difference is between external storage vs adopted storage. Currently, all movies are on multiple external drives which Kodi plays just fine. My Revo Aspire card only has enough room for the Win 7 operating system. I think I just plug in the USB Hub to one of the Shields USB ports and I am good to go. Or eliminate the data base and stream from the NAS - see 3 below.

External storage is just any storage connected to the Shield and not adopted. Adopted storage is explain in the second post on the first page: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2501967

3. My backup utility is a windows app - like Sync Toy. I am thinking I may not need to backup the shield. Just stream the movie data base from my NAS. Both the NAS and the Shield will have an Ethernet connection. And the PRO version comes with a special version of Plex which could help if Kodi has issues streaming. I am not sure it will. I don't know. Always had the data base with the media center and the NAS for backup.

If you have a NAS, then that is your best bet instead of using external storage. Both the Pro (unless your are referring to your NAS) and the 16GB models have the Plex Media Server, but it's not needed for Kodi.

Ya, I would put a mysql database on your NAS and have any other machine act as a client. Im fairly sure you couldnt use the Shield as the server anyway, so unless the Shield is the only Kodi machine (and you intend to keep it that way) you'd be best off using the NAS.

[Tinwarble]

Ya, I would put a mysql database on your NAS and have any other machine act as a client. Im fairly sure you couldnt use the Shield as the server anyway, so unless the Shield is the only Kodi machine (and you intend to keep it that way) you'd be best off using the NAS.

You could use the Shield as a server, but a piss poor one. Especially since SMB is tied to PMS and the write permissions limitations of Android.

[BORIStheBLADE]

Also what were Nvidia thinking when they put no power button on the 2017 shield, I'm sick of having to pull the power plug out to get it to turn on again. To power off fully by the way you need to go to the ABOUT menu in settings. Pressing buttons on the remote or controller does not power on the Shield when you have used the power off option in the About menu.

If you really want to power it down you can get a smart power strip. I I have one to power up my roku and fans when my TV is turned on.
Something like this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000P1QJX...mart+strip

[wrxtasy]

Simply question for all Shield gurus - Is the Shield - Dolby Digital Licensed ?

I'm asking as I see no DD logos anywhere in any of the Marketing material out there, and seeing problems with TV's and 5.1 DD Netflix & Amazon Video audio output.

[rde135]

Simply question for all Shield gurus - Is the Shield - Dolby Digital Licensed ?

I'm asking as I see no DD logos anywhere in any of the Marketing material out there, and seeing problems with TV's and 5.1 DD Netflix & Amazon Video audio output.

The packaging only mentions Dolby Digital Plus and HD audio "passthrough". The Dolby or DTS logos are nowhere to be found. When I connected the Shield to a Samsung 4K TV recently, DD+ was passed just fine via ARC.

[Koying]

As a reminder, and assuming the patents have not actually expired, you only need to be licensed to *decode* DD/DTS, not for passthrough.

[DummyPLUG]

Does shield tv support HEVC main12? (yeah... anime scene again)

[pameijer]

As a reminder, and assuming the patents have not actually expired, you only need to be licensed to *decode* DD/DTS, not for passthrough.

As I understood SPMC/Shield can decode any audiosignal to multichannel to multichannel PCM over HDMI. Or am I mistaken here?

[Pi 4]

1. Yes, there are 2 USB 3.0 inputs. These will have to be used as external storage only and not adopted storage.

I was under the impression that you could use one USB port for external storage and the other to expand the internal ( adopted ) 16g storage.

Can I not connect my two 4TB hard drives (filled with .MP4 and .ISO movies) to one of the USB ports using a USB Hub, and connect a USB flash drive to the other USB port to expand the internal memory ?