[richiebrowns]

Wow that is fast :-P

[DaveNinja]

Just to update I turned mediacodec off, while streaming hd content online it started to mess up with the 30 second skips not skipping and the long skip, 10 minutes iirc restarted the videos from the beginning also the time indicator was showing 0:00.. Went back to libstagefright only and all is well again. Mediacodec does decode 1080p smoothly now tho but for me with all the above mentioned bugs.

Good to hear! I have the problem with the time indicator always showing 0:00 and the skipping ahead not working right but i dont have libstagefright turned on so hopefully thats the problem.

anyone have any luck getting Watchdog to run? It seemed to install fine but the updates dont seem to be happening

[sams0n]

Yes, Media Codec acceleration is disabled.

Playback just isn't smooth, it doesn't show that its dropping any frames, but it looks like there is one missing every few seconds.


Should a 24hz movie play smooth?

Its something you would only see when there is scrolling action on screen.
Easy to see on a intro to a movie, when you look at the shot of the globe rotating and zooming out. Looks like it skips a frame here and there.

Android is currently only able to output at 60hz so any 24p content will always undergo 2:3 pulldown. That said, the stuttering effect caused by 2:3 pulldown is usually quite subtle, some people never even notice it, while others may be more sensitive.
So the crucial question is, what is the native refresh rate of your screen (TV)? If it is 60hz then all 24p content should stutter the same regardless of what device you use to play them (they will all eventually have to be 2:3 pulldown, either by the device or by the TV itself), and if you perceive more stuttering on the Fire TV than on your HTPC, then something is wrong with your Fire TV. If however your TV is 120hz or 240hz, and you configured your HTPC to push native 24p to the TV (you would be a moron not to , then it's much more likely you've gotten used to stutter-free play back on your HTPC, and are just experiencing the normal 2:3 pulldown induced stuttering on the Fire TV.

I have the same problem with a Gotham build and it happens consistently. Here is what I know:

1) For me, it only seems to happen with AVIs and is just noticeable when panning
2) 720p MKVs and ISO files play fine with no stuttering at all.
3) This problem does not occur with Frodo or Openelec on my PC.
4) This also does not happen with my WD Live player.

Again, for me, it only happens when playing AVIs.

i have to turn off libstagefright to get avi xvid movies to play correctly on the gotham final edition.

[PK21]

Android is currently only able to output at 60hz so any 24p content will always undergo 2:3 pulldown. That said, the stuttering effect caused by 2:3 pulldown is usually quite subtle, some people never even notice it, while others may be more sensitive.
So the crucial question is, what is the native refresh rate of your screen (TV)? If it is 60hz then all 24p content should stutter the same regardless of what device you use to play them (they will all eventually have to be 2:3 pulldown, either by the device or by the TV itself), and if you perceive more stuttering on the Fire TV than on your HTPC, then something is wrong with your Fire TV. If however your TV is 120hz or 240hz, and you configured your HTPC to push native 24p to the TV (you would be a moron not to , then it's much more likely you've gotten used to stutter-free play back on your HTPC, and are just experiencing the normal 2:3 pulldown induced stuttering on the Fire TV.

I have the same problem with a Gotham build and it happens consistently. Here is what I know:

1) For me, it only seems to happen with AVIs and is just noticeable when panning
2) 720p MKVs and ISO files play fine with no stuttering at all.
3) This problem does not occur with Frodo or Openelec on my PC.
4) This also does not happen with my WD Live player.

Again, for me, it only happens when playing AVIs.

Hmm, does sound like a software problem then. Have you tried repackaging the problematic AVIs into MKVs (with mkvmerge or similar tool) and see if it still plays the same? It's much more likely the type of video stream is causing the problem rather than the container format.

I believe you're probably right about repackaging. Problem is, I have so many AVIs and didnt have this issue with other players. I'm afraid I might have to bite the bullet one day and repackage them all. Sure would be nice though if I could get them to play smoothly without repackaging.

[richiebrowns]

Do any of the Fire Tv's apps work in the UK?

[claydavis]

is it much faster than the Pi?

A ton. A word of caution though. If you played stuff off an external Hard drive you can't do it with the fire TV. Nas and plex work.

[richiebrowns]

Ah right, yes i do play content off a usb hdd but could switch it to a NAS.

[hdmkv]

Another AirPlay option... AirBuddy app for FTV. Allows you to fling videos, music and pics from your iOS or Android phone to FTV. Although this can already be done via XBMC, I'm finding AirPlay spotty. I e-mailed the developer and he replied:

It is always running in the background on FTV. You just need to launch the app once after the install. You can quit the app after that first launch and it will continue to run in the background.

The server will also run in background after every reboot - this can be disabled from settings menu if needed.

[jtr2006]

Okay guys... Assuming Amazon will let me do it once they finally accept the app into the App Store, I'm thinking of changing the name of my app from "XBMC For Fire TV" to "XBMC On Fire". I'd also change the icons to something like this:



It's less device-specific while still remaining similar to the original idea. Since Fire TV users are the primary audience for the app, what do you guys think?

Like the new icon and the new name. Seems like a winner to me. Hoping Amazon lets it into the app store soon!

@who.is.matt: Any update on your app? Have you heard anything from Amazon? I think there are a lot of people wondering if this is going to make it into the app store and praying that it does! Soon!

[underworld123]

Another AirPlay option... AirBuddy app for FTV. Allows you to fling videos, music and pics from your iOS or Android phone to FTV. Although this can already be done via XBMC, I'm finding AirPlay spotty. I e-mailed the developer and he replied:

The Airbuddy app does not work for me. Let me know if you have better luck.

[logan_x50]

Just to respond to a couple of questions with anecdotal experience:-

Yes FTV is much much faster than ATV2. If you are used to ATV2 you'll notice immediately in the UI but especially scrolling through a large library.

Movies will start faster.

It also doesn't crash when scrolling through a large library which my ATV2 did frequently.

Also so far i haven't had crashes when starting a movie which happened with the ATV2.

ATV2 was/is great but frequently seemed to need to be restarted (especially since I started using multiple profiles).

It seemed that the ATV2 would run out of memory and need to be rebooted.

I'm a UK FTV user and so without going through some hoops with vpn or dns you won't get any amazon services (neither will i benefit from any launcher apps if/when they get app stored).

Not sure if once/if FTV is released in the UK my US FTV will become "amazon enabled" but i presume so (fingers crossed)

FTV also knocks spots off Geniatech ATV510 (with android or linux) which could never replace my ATV2 due to relative difficulty getting latest xbmc builds on it and general "quirks" .

FTV remote is great and bluetooth so you can tuck the box into a cupboard.

WAF is ok with Llama additions.

So its with a sad heart that I have retired my ATV2 after many many years of sterling service. I'll be crying all the way to ebay with it. http://forum.xbmc.org/images/icons/tongue.gif

[richiebrowns]

So no apps will work on it in the UK. I only ask because I'm looking to get one off eBay

[Apothis]

So no apps will work on it in the UK. I only ask because I'm looking to get one off eBay

As logan_x50 said, you'll need to jump through some networking hoops to get official apps to work in the UK. But XBMC runs just fine, and thats all I'm using mine for.

[richiebrowns]

Ah, primarly it would be for xbmc, but i would want it for netflix too

[Resnoid]

So no apps will work on it in the UK. I only ask because I'm looking to get one off eBay

Well, I'm in New Zealand and I have no problems using a VPN. I assume it would be the same for you in the UK, and you could use a mail forwarding company to get the actual unit to your UK address if you wanted to buy direct from Amazon.