Kodi Community Forum

Hi to all I've bought an ATV520, it is my first Android device so I've some difficulty to use it!

The first thing that doesn't impressed me positively was the automatic update, it seemed to not have a lot of success, it rebooted 2 times only to have a strange "Safe Mode" written in the left part of the screen and in the applications XMBC was not present!

I've tried in any way using all the two launchers (but that only with the clock cannot understand really how to use it ) but nothing, in the end I've tried to do an hard reset, that is I disconnected the power cord (there's no reset button, right?) and reconnected the power cord, device rebooted and finally XMBC appeared, so I started it...

Well it reads a lot of files on my network share, but the real bad surprise was when I tried to press FFWD in the OSD, nothing happened and device was freezed

... power cord disconnected again and reboot!

I've tried other times and the result was the same, so I've decided to install the Pivos XMBC version, so I downloaded it and copied in my Sandisk USB key, connected to the device and for the life of me I cannot find where the device mounted it!

In the end I've downloaded XMBC using the same device browser using the horrible remote, really a pain in the a**!

It installed and the things seemed really better now, FFWD works but the big problem remains how force the device to mount USB keys? I wanted to connect an external HDD drive to it to substitute a Western Digital Live Hub that cannot read anything, but if it works so badly... in the end WD Live hub seems better

Rebooting (in that horrendous way) some times USB appeared in /Storage/sda1 and sometime not

Maybe there is some Android addon to resolve this problem?

There is an way to replace that ugly remote? I've a Logitech Harmony Remote if I program it to be a Pivos remote shall I use all the remote keys? I shall for example use FFWD key directly?

Other more cheap remotes work?

Thanks!

(2013-06-06, 19:03)nospamjl Wrote: [ -> ]

(2013-06-05, 11:00)RageCrap Wrote: [ -> ]Is anyone having problems seeking videos using iPlayer and some other addons?

When I seek in some online videos I loose the picture but the audio remains, doesn't happen to all addons or local content.

Yes. I'm having the same problems with iplayer and itv player.

Tried lots of things but also get black screen.

I'm using the pivos build - which one are you using.

Also happens on Rte player if you have access to that.

Tried both the Pivos nightlies and betas still get the same problem. Interestingly I did try the official xbmc apk (no hw accel) and was able to skip and ff playing some SD content when I tried the same content in SD using the pivos apk the bug was back.

Also tried adjusting the network cachemembuffersize in advancesettings.XML with settings of 128mb, 56mb and 0 still not joy.

Hi.

I've reported this to pivot and I think it's an ffmpeg problem.

Checkout http://pivosforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=2...&start=160

Quick question - is anyone having problems with the ATV1200 crashing after several minutes of video playback and seeing a screen full of green lines? Any ideas on what is causing this?

(2013-06-04, 16:46)thebearnecessit Wrote: [ -> ]I just exited xbmc, moved my thumbmails folder onto my external sd card. then i created a file called advancedsettings.xml with the relevant lines in it to tell xbmc where my thumbnails folder was moved too.

I'd like to help but don't have much time to do screenshots over the next few days. also im not sure what you want screenshots of?

i'm happy to tell you my setup though.

funny you should mention that though because im having issues with my thumbnails at the moment. they are all appearing fine and looking good, except when xbmc is first opened they take a full minute to appear. so im trying to get to the bottom of that issue just now.

i was thinking of starting again and trying directory bind to move my whole xbmc folder (/storage/sdcard0/android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc) to my external sdcard (/sdcard/external_sdcard). would you not recommend directory bind now?

Bear,
Just saw your post in the Pivos forum on this and thought I might post back for you..
I know you have said you have moved your thumbs out to the SDcard and so you are on the right track of easing up on the internatel storage.
But if you are anything like me and have a ton of addons and other things then you will find that XMBC is going to taking a full chunk of your internal..
I just found that out the hard way tonight when i tried to load a new skin in and it was hanging up.. more then likely because I had NO internal memory left.
So I have just gone ahead and done the "DB" fix on it .. will see how it runs over the next few days and let you know..
As an idea, My thumbs sub-directory is running at 479mb and my addons are about 350mb
Screen shots for others to see what we are talking about.





!!! IF YOU HAVE ISSUE WITH ENTRIES DISAPPEARING AFTER REBOOT !!!
In preferences check "alternate dbase mgmt" and try again

Hi everyone,

I've tried almost every combination of fw and xmbc versions. I always experience unsteday/jerky video playback (most of the time I'm playing videos from external HD). With the latest version of hw 0506 and xbmc which comes with it in the beginning the videos played great, but after two/three days everything became jerky again. Rebooting of device didn't help. Any suggestions? What are your advices on the best versions performance wise? Thanks in advance

hi,

does anyone knows a 300m wifi dongle that works ok with our atv1200?

some dongle that works plug n play...

Ricardo Jr

(2013-06-11, 02:31)ninguemrj Wrote: [ -> ]hi,

does anyone knows a 300m wifi dongle that works ok with our atv1200?

some dongle that works plug n play...

Ricardo Jr

I don't think you would get a very good connection with a WiFi dongle and will find playing HD videos problematic.

Have you looked at using homeplugs these have greater reliability and bandwidth and allow me to stream HD without any issues. They can be picked up relatively cheap now too

http://www.ebuyer.com/370669-tp-link-tl-...l-pa411kit

(2013-06-11, 16:04)RageCrap Wrote: [ -> ]

(2013-06-11, 02:31)ninguemrj Wrote: [ -> ]hi,

does anyone knows a 300m wifi dongle that works ok with our atv1200?

some dongle that works plug n play...

Ricardo Jr

I don't think you would get a very good connection with a WiFi dongle and will find playing HD videos problematic.

Have you looked at using homeplugs these have greater reliability and bandwidth and allow me to stream HD without any issues. They can be picked up relatively cheap now too

http://www.ebuyer.com/370669-tp-link-tl-...l-pa411kit

Thanks for your suggestion, but my atv1200 are now connected to my router by 100mbits cable. I just would like to try to use a 11n (or 11ac) dongle in order to get more network speed than with the cable...

If you get a good multi-antenna USB wifi adapter, and have a good router and a good wireless environment (re: interference, landscape, etc, the hardest part, due to it being outside of most people's control), then streaming HD is certainly possible, even on Android boxes.

(2013-06-09, 16:54)prangija Wrote: [ -> ]Hi everyone,

I've tried almost every combination of fw and xmbc versions. I always experience unsteday/jerky video playback (most of the time I'm playing videos from external HD). With the latest version of hw 0506 and xbmc which comes with it in the beginning the videos played great, but after two/three days everything became jerky again. Rebooting of device didn't help. Any suggestions? What are your advices on the best versions performance wise? Thanks in advance

installing free app reduces your amount of free ram... could it be that?
sometimes i run the "ram booster" to recover some ram from unnecessary apps...

if you live in a high temperature place, could it be some thermal issue?...

(2013-06-11, 22:15)Ned Scott Wrote: [ -> ]If you get a good multi-antenna USB wifi adapter, and have a good router and a good wireless environment (re: interference, landscape, etc, the hardest part, due to it being outside of most people's control), then streaming HD is certainly possible, even on Android boxes.

i really want to try that, but i would like to know which 11n or 11ac chipset work with atv1200 android ics... which wifi modules are available in the kernel?

(2013-06-09, 16:54)prangija Wrote: [ -> ]Hi everyone,

I've tried almost every combination of fw and xmbc versions. I always experience unsteday/jerky video playback (most of the time I'm playing videos from external HD). With the latest version of hw 0506 and xbmc which comes with it in the beginning the videos played great, but after two/three days everything became jerky again. Rebooting of device didn't help. Any suggestions? What are your advices on the best versions performance wise? Thanks in advance

I am on the 05\2013 firmware with lastest Pivos XBMC on two boxes and its runs fine.. But both boxes are either hardwired or close to routers.
Couple of other things I run is 'Seeder' for a bit of Android smoothness and the 'Greenify' to kill startup programs..as on both boxes I have a heap..like 15-20 Chinese TV streaming apps for visitors and as they are p2p the little buggers love having system resources.. Also Google services and associated apps are hogs..so I kill those too.

The ATV 3000 is only 512k so as you can imagine it needs these apps to keep at least 70-90k for when XBMC is running as I have noticed that's about the resources it takes..I have seen this box get to as low as 10k free and still run OK..
For the ATV1200..as a dual core.. Really don't find any problems with memory management but still use the same setup as it just seems to fly under these conditions..

You need to run tests off thumbs drives of the same movie and same setup..
Then run the same test under your WiFi.
And also run the same tests using different players to see if the box is defective nor your setup is somehow not working.

---

(2013-06-12, 05:00)ninguemrj Wrote: [ -> ]

(2013-06-11, 22:15)Ned Scott Wrote: [ -> ]If you get a good multi-antenna USB wifi adapter, and have a good router and a good wireless environment (re: interference, landscape, etc, the hardest part, due to it being outside of most people's control), then streaming HD is certainly possible, even on Android boxes.

i really want to try that, but i would like to know which 11n or 11ac chipset work with atv1200 android ics... which wifi modules are available in the kernel?

Ninquemrji,
You could email Geniatech directly with that question as I have found them to be approachable oh these matters..
Also they have a Facebook page..you could pose that question there if you get no feedback here..

Can someone make this thread a sticky? This thread is literally a gold mine of information for anyone who takes the time to read it.

(2013-01-02, 01:20)srle Wrote: [ -> ]I've been asked to update the first post to keep it relevant. So here is what I recommend you do to your ATV1200 once you receive it:
1) Upgrade to the latest FW version 20130115 - here is how:
http://www.geniatech.com/news/mx-atv1200...uction.asp

2) Install the latest Pivos XBMC apk from here (012913)
http://update.pivoscdn.com/XIOS_DS/XBMC/...012913.zip

2b) Alternatively you can install the Geniatech XBMC build - they claim it has hw audio decoding capability, but YouTube and DTS do not work for me with this build (I am guessing other plugins might be problematic too), from here:
http://www.geniatech.com/down-eng/androi...-debug.zip


Here are some suggestions what to install on your ATV1200 besides XBMC:
- Super SU - so you can grant root access to android apps:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...re.supersu

- SSHDroid - so you can access the box command line interface from your PC
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...s.sshdroid

- ScriptManager - so you can run scripts to correct some of the issues
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...iptmanager

- TotalCommander - a file manager
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...lCommander


If you have an Android Phone or Tablet I recommend using Yatse as the remote for the XBMC:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...widgetfree

Also if you would like to use your phone or tablet as a remote mouse, keyboard and RC - this works quite nice with our box:
http://www.everbesthk.com/8-download/myg...oteime.htm

If you use Logitech Harmony then set-up your device as Pivos XIOS DS, most of the controls work much better then if you try to learn them from the supplied remote with the box.

I've tested 720p, 1080p video output on HDMI and Component. Have not tested analog audio or composite video (but some other members have and are reporting everything working).
I use optical SPDIF for audio.

You should also know that the GUI is always rendered at 720p and then upscaled to 1080p, but video is output at 1080p.

What works great (for me anyway):
- Video (network, disc, plugins): x264 (h264) and MPEG2 (DVD) @ SD, 720p, 1080p
- Audio: mp3, AAC, AC3 (HDMI, SPDIF)
- Plugins - practicly everything I tested works great (1080p YouTube no problems at all)
- NFS works with with XBMC native NFS client, but you have to change permissions on the NFS server.
- All other network protocols work also, best performance as expected is via HTTP/Webdav

What I have problems with:
- XVID video @ 23.9/24fps - I see frame skips on XVID videos on any quality level (not just in XBMC but in any android video player, native, MX...)
- DD TrueHD and DTS-HD downsampling on 1080p - I experience audio skips
- DTS in combination with 1080p also can be problematic with audio skips

What others are reporting:
- Problems with the wired Ethernet connection (I use two Ethernet adapters, the additional one for streaming video and have not had any problems)

What I hope to see:
- better Android FW
- pure Linux-XBMC build running on the SD Card


These were mine initial impressions:

Quote:Hi all,

since I've recently bought this box from http://www.mixeshop.com/atv1200-dual-cor...p1784.html for $110 with shipping, and information is hard to find, i'd like to share my experiences.

First of, I got the KR32 remote - http://www.geniatech.com/img/remote-control-list.jpg - I am guessing the cheapest there is - just a IR remote with the least amount of buttons The problem is you can not input text with it, so have a usb keyboard or mouse ready.

The build on the box was dated 20121121 - and this is the root of the problem - with that build the amplayer enabled xbmc builds do not work! I've found this out the hard way, trying everything I could find, and at the end messing up the box and having to do image flashing - and the only available build is:
http://www.geniatech.com/news/mx-atv1200...uction.asp

So what you do is put this on an sd-card, press reset button and power-on the box - you get greeted by the good-old-recovery, through which you can flash this great downgrade

Once the downgrade is done, you can download the wonderful XBMC RC2 build with the amplayer enabled from here: http://www.mediafire.com/?l5jawloag86o1wg - you can say thank you to the guy who made it here: http://androidtvbox.us/topic/xbmc-12-26-2012-build/

And there you have it! Your $82 dual-core ATV1200 will now work with XBMC with hw decoding.

Ok, so here are my impressions (so far) - first the good:
- XBMC runs fast (in comparison with Raspberry Pi)
- XBMC Plugins work (the once that I tested)
- box boots fast
- benchmarks show that the chip is rather capable (better the last years dual-core exynos found in GSII and Note I)
- the box comes rooted
- the play store is available and working

Now the bad:
- video out on the TV says 1080p, but XBMC and the Android interface are beeing rendered in 720p
- the Remote control is awful, thank God there is Yatse
- XBMC crashes (more then on the R Pi)
- the pre-installed android launcher is rather cheesy (there is a bouncing android figure for app launcher)

The ugly:
- kernel does not have nfs support (so NFS shares do not work)
- Android networking is a mess - you can not have WiFi and Ethernet active at the same time (in two different networks)
- The command line DNS does not work (it's related to the way busybox is built) - which happens to screw the Subtitles add-on - you will have to fill the hosts file with the ip address and urls of you favorite subtitle sources if you want them to work
- I am not getting DTS/AC3 through optical out - XBMC says Passthrough output device: Error no devices found, and I decided to go with this box exactly because it has both coax and optical audio out...
- nobody wrote this tutorial for me (wife was bitching the whole way through)


The bottom line:
- Android is not Linux - Linux is way, way better
- If You want XBMC, and price is not an issue, buy a box that works with Linux builds
- If You want XBMC, and price is an issue - go with the somewhat slower but much cheaper Raspberry Pi
- If You want this box and no other - well read this tutorial
- If the optical/coax audio out does not get fixed in future builds then there is hardly any reason to go with this, and not with some cheaper box with analog audio out

Hope this helps

This needs to be updated as the link to the Pivos APK is old. VERY old... there is a May release now.