[chrisism]

Has anyone successfully configured this to run on the Shield Tv?

Sorry if this has been a redundant question just trying to figure out some errors.

@chrisism uses AEL on a Shield. Yes, AEL works on Android but the configurations are somewhat more complicated than Windows or Linux because the way Android works. Here in the forum you have many examples, use google with a search string like this (remove the quotes) to restrict the search to the Kodi forum: "AEL Android launcher site:forum.kodi.tv"

@wize7one it definitly works on a Shield. Using it that way for several years now. On the threadstart you can find the link to the AEL assets library from @Wintermute0110. You can find there some android/nvidia shield configurations from me too. If you have specific issues let us know.

[Zastava]

Hi.  

Maybe this is an odd question or I'm missing something obvious. How to remove a game from AEL favorites?
To add them it's easy. Just open context menu and click add game to AEL favorites. But doing that again on same game only overwrites/keeps it as favorite the same.

Using kodi default favorites on the context menu behaves as expected. Click once to add game. Click again to remove. I prefer AEL to use it as a widget in home menu and looking nicer but for now I'm missing that option to remove the games from AEL favorites.

Many thanks in advance for the help!

AEL Favourites and Kodi Favourites are totally different things. To remove ROMs from AEL Favourites browse to the ROM you want to delete in AEL, open the context menu and there is an option Edit or Manage Favourite ROM, then "Delete ROM from AEL Favourites" (I'm writing from memory, the actual names may be slightly different but you get the idea).

Ah, I see it now. I need to open directly AEL add-on and then open the context menu there inside the Favourites collection for those options to appear.

If I enter other collection that has an AEL favourite I don't have that option in the context menu so that's why I got confused. Only have the normal edit (for metadata, delete rom from collection, etc.). As you can see in the print (Arcade collection example), game already has the "Fav" tag but still get only the option to add it to AEL favourites. Bottom favourites option is from Kodi of course. Could this be related to the skin I'm using, Artic Zephyr 2, or not all? If not at all maybe an idea for a future update, to have the AEL favourite options appear also when a user open the context menu on any game that has the "Fav" tag" on any other type of collection (Arcades, etc).

Thanks again for the help and reply.

[GuiZ]

Has anyone successfully configured this to run on the Shield Tv?

Sorry if this has been a redundant question just trying to figure out some errors.

@chrisism uses AEL on a Shield. Yes, AEL works on Android but the configurations are somewhat more complicated than Windows or Linux because the way Android works. Here in the forum you have many examples, use google with a search string like this (remove the quotes) to restrict the search to the Kodi forum: "AEL Android launcher site:forum.kodi.tv"

@wize7one it definitly works on a Shield. Using it that way for several years now. On the threadstart you can find the link to the AEL assets library from @Wintermute0110. You can find there some android/nvidia shield configurations from me too. If you have specific issues let us know.

I confirm that AEL works on shield. But not for all emulators. Did you find a way for launching Dolphin? I looked for a solution a few months ago and I never found a way.

[Wintermute0110]

Ah, I see it now. I need to open directly AEL add-on and then open the context menu there inside the Favourites collection for those options to appear.

If I enter other collection that has an AEL favourite I don't have that option in the context menu so that's why I got confused. Only have the normal edit (for metadata, delete rom from collection, etc.). As you can see in the print (Arcade collection example), game already has the "Fav" tag but still get only the option to add it to AEL favourites. Bottom favourites option is from Kodi of course. Could this be related to the skin I'm using, Artic Zephyr 2, or not all? If not at all maybe an idea for a future update, to have the AEL favourite options appear also when a user open the context menu on any game that has the "Fav" tag" on any other type of collection (Arcades, etc).

Thanks again for the help and reply.

From the bits I can understand:

1) the [Fav] tags is displayed in Launchers and AEL Collection launchers.

2) Whatever the skin you use the AEL context menus and options are the same. The skin only changes the way things are visualized.

3) When you add a ROM into AEL Favourites or into a ROM Collection a "copy" of that ROM is created. If you delete all ROMs in the original launcher the ROM in AEL Favourites or in the Collection will still be there, can be edited, etc.

I do not quite understand your main issue... can you please reword it? Please use these terms; "Launcher" for standard ROM Launchers you define, "AEL Favourites" for the favourites section inside AEL, "AEL Collection" for a ROM collection.

[Zastava]

Ah, I see it now. I need to open directly AEL add-on and then open the context menu there inside the Favourites collection for those options to appear.

If I enter other collection that has an AEL favourite I don't have that option in the context menu so that's why I got confused. Only have the normal edit (for metadata, delete rom from collection, etc.). As you can see in the print (Arcade collection example), game already has the "Fav" tag but still get only the option to add it to AEL favourites. Bottom favourites option is from Kodi of course. Could this be related to the skin I'm using, Artic Zephyr 2, or not all? If not at all maybe an idea for a future update, to have the AEL favourite options appear also when a user open the context menu on any game that has the "Fav" tag" on any other type of collection (Arcades, etc).

Thanks again for the help and reply.

From the bits I can understand:

1) the [Fav] tags is displayed in Launchers and AEL Collection launchers.

2) Whatever the skin you use the AEL context menus and options are the same. The skin only changes the way things are visualized.

3) When you add a ROM into AEL Favourites or into a ROM Collection a "copy" of that ROM is created. If you delete all ROMs in the original launcher the ROM in AEL Favourites or in the Collection will still be there, can be edited, etc.

I do not quite understand your main issue... can you please reword it? Please use these terms; "Launcher" for standard ROM Launchers you define, "AEL Favourites" for the favourites section inside AEL, "AEL Collection" for a ROM collection.

Oh sorry if I sounded confusing.

• I use "AEL Launchers" (Arcade, Commodore Amiga, etc.) as widgets in Kodi home screen.
  
• My main issue (more like confusing at first) is really not having an option to remove an "AEL Favourite" game when we enter an "AEL Launcher" and a game there has the [Fav] tag like you see in the print screen.
  
• The only way at the moment to remove an "AEL Favourite" is going to the favourites section inside AEL and using the context menu there. Not as intuitive and quick as having the option appear in any game that has the [Fav] tag inside normal "AEL Launchers" too.
  

[Jachin99]

I'm trying to solve this same issue, and coming up short because no matter how I do this, AEL can't find any roms.  I believe I have added my games folder as a SMB network location.  I used the kodi file manager, and added a source like this SMB://MyGameFiles.  I use that as my game source but AEL still can't find roms.  Would there be any advantage to sharing that folder of NFS rather than SMB?  Is there some other solution?  I'm using a shield TV pro.

The problem is that Kodi can access files in remote filesystems. However, AEL (and most emulators launched) require that the remote filesystems are mounted so they look like local filesystems. @chrisism uses some kind of trick to work around this issue, he has told me many times but now I cannot remember. @chrisism can you please help?

Well, since we are talking about the Shield which works for me, it should be something for @Jachin99 too. Lets have a go.
So first off, no, you don't need to use NFS. The default SMB share works perfectly fine. But, you need to access the shares in 2 different ways. One way is so through Kodi, the other way is through the Android filesystem.The kodi shares are the ones you already have and know, the Android shares should be mounted first.

Mounting shares on Nvidia Shield: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-mount...-shield-tv
Remember, you can use the exact same shares from the remote system. It´s only a different way of connecting.

Why 2 ways? Well the mounts are meeded so that other Android apps (like the emulators) can actually access the rom files, since they don't use the build-in filesystems from Kodi, but that from Android.
But the mounted shares are always readonly, so you still need the Kodi smb share so AEL can access and write all metadata (nfo's, covers etc).
When setting up your launcher, make sure that you use the Android mounted shares when setting the path to the ROM folder and use the Kodi SMB mappings when selecting the asset folders.

Good luck, let me know if it you get it to work.

Wow, I just saw this response so sorry if it seems like I blew off your help.  I have added my remote windows share via the shield settings menu, and I have manually added my game source in Kodi via the add source button in the games menu.  My has been that when I try to browse to that share (the one added via the games menu) while setting up AEL, it isn't listed on the menu of available sources.  I tried adding my smb games source via the kodi add sources menu, and that let me browse my smb games share but when I get all the way to the end of setting up my launcher where I choose my rom locations (I think), I get an error when I select that location.  On the source machine I have SMB1, and password protected sharing disabled.  I'm attaching a quick log, and I can enable additional logging if needed.  I'm still getting a feel for andoroid TV so I apologize for any mistakes.

I'll keep trying, and after peeking at this log, it looks like its still a read only error but any help is appreciated.  https://pastebin.com/i3q18XrS

[chrisism]

@chrisism uses AEL on a Shield. Yes, AEL works on Android but the configurations are somewhat more complicated than Windows or Linux because the way Android works. Here in the forum you have many examples, use google with a search string like this (remove the quotes) to restrict the search to the Kodi forum: "AEL Android launcher site:forum.kodi.tv"

@wize7one it definitly works on a Shield. Using it that way for several years now. On the threadstart you can find the link to the AEL assets library from @Wintermute0110. You can find there some android/nvidia shield configurations from me too. If you have specific issues let us know.

I confirm that AEL works on shield. But not for all emulators. Did you find a way for launching Dolphin? I looked for a solution a few months ago and I never found a way.

Standalone dolphin you mean? Havent tried that yet. There is a dolphin core for Retroarch also.
And yes, it depends on the emulator. The app should support some way of accepting arguments, else you cannot give a proper command from AEL to startup your game.

[chrisism]

The problem is that Kodi can access files in remote filesystems. However, AEL (and most emulators launched) require that the remote filesystems are mounted so they look like local filesystems. @chrisism uses some kind of trick to work around this issue, he has told me many times but now I cannot remember. @chrisism can you please help?

Well, since we are talking about the Shield which works for me, it should be something for @Jachin99 too. Lets have a go.
So first off, no, you don't need to use NFS. The default SMB share works perfectly fine. But, you need to access the shares in 2 different ways. One way is so through Kodi, the other way is through the Android filesystem.The kodi shares are the ones you already have and know, the Android shares should be mounted first.

Mounting shares on Nvidia Shield: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-mount...-shield-tv
Remember, you can use the exact same shares from the remote system. It´s only a different way of connecting.

Why 2 ways? Well the mounts are meeded so that other Android apps (like the emulators) can actually access the rom files, since they don't use the build-in filesystems from Kodi, but that from Android.
But the mounted shares are always readonly, so you still need the Kodi smb share so AEL can access and write all metadata (nfo's, covers etc).
When setting up your launcher, make sure that you use the Android mounted shares when setting the path to the ROM folder and use the Kodi SMB mappings when selecting the asset folders.

Good luck, let me know if it you get it to work.

Wow, I just saw this response so sorry if it seems like I blew off your help.  I have added my remote windows share via the shield settings menu, and I have manually added my game source in Kodi via the add source button in the games menu.  My has been that when I try to browse to that share (the one added via the games menu) while setting up AEL, it isn't listed on the menu of available sources.  I tried adding my smb games source via the kodi add sources menu, and that let me browse my smb games share but when I get all the way to the end of setting up my launcher where I choose my rom locations (I think), I get an error when I select that location.  On the source machine I have SMB1, and password protected sharing disabled.  I'm attaching a quick log, and I can enable additional logging if needed.  I'm still getting a feel for andoroid TV so I apologize for any mistakes.

I'll keep trying, and after peeking at this log, it looks like its still a read only error but any help is appreciated.  https://pastebin.com/i3q18XrS

It indeed looks like you have set the path to the assets folder with the mounted path (e.g. '\\\\embyserver\\game files\\SNES\\'). This is fine for the ROMs, but not for the assets. This should actually be the SMB path. Why you get the error before while setting a SMB path I dont know. This error log only shows the error because you selected the mounted path for the assets folder. Maybe you can try manually adjusting it by changing it in the json file.

So you need something like this:

xml:


  <path_banner>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/banners</path_banner>

  <path_boxback>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxback</path_boxback>

  <path_boxfront>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxfront</path_boxfront>

  ...

  <rompath>/storage/{MOUNT NAME}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/Games/</rompath>

[Jachin99]

Well, since we are talking about the Shield which works for me, it should be something for @Jachin99 too. Lets have a go.
So first off, no, you don't need to use NFS. The default SMB share works perfectly fine. But, you need to access the shares in 2 different ways. One way is so through Kodi, the other way is through the Android filesystem.The kodi shares are the ones you already have and know, the Android shares should be mounted first.

Mounting shares on Nvidia Shield: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-mount...-shield-tv
Remember, you can use the exact same shares from the remote system. It´s only a different way of connecting.

Why 2 ways? Well the mounts are meeded so that other Android apps (like the emulators) can actually access the rom files, since they don't use the build-in filesystems from Kodi, but that from Android.
But the mounted shares are always readonly, so you still need the Kodi smb share so AEL can access and write all metadata (nfo's, covers etc).
When setting up your launcher, make sure that you use the Android mounted shares when setting the path to the ROM folder and use the Kodi SMB mappings when selecting the asset folders.

Good luck, let me know if it you get it to work.

Wow, I just saw this response so sorry if it seems like I blew off your help.  I have added my remote windows share via the shield settings menu, and I have manually added my game source in Kodi via the add source button in the games menu.  My has been that when I try to browse to that share (the one added via the games menu) while setting up AEL, it isn't listed on the menu of available sources.  I tried adding my smb games source via the kodi add sources menu, and that let me browse my smb games share but when I get all the way to the end of setting up my launcher where I choose my rom locations (I think), I get an error when I select that location.  On the source machine I have SMB1, and password protected sharing disabled.  I'm attaching a quick log, and I can enable additional logging if needed.  I'm still getting a feel for andoroid TV so I apologize for any mistakes.

I'll keep trying, and after peeking at this log, it looks like its still a read only error but any help is appreciated.  https://pastebin.com/i3q18XrS

It indeed looks like you have set the path to the assets folder with the mounted path (e.g. '\\\\embyserver\\game files\\SNES\\'). This is fine for the ROMs, but not for the assets. This should actually be the SMB path. Why you get the error before while setting a SMB path I dont know. This error log only shows the error because you selected the mounted path for the assets folder. Maybe you can try manually adjusting it by changing it in the json file.

So you need something like this:

xml:


  <path_banner>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/banners</path_banner>

  <path_boxback>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxback</path_boxback>

  <path_boxfront>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxfront</path_boxfront>

  ...

  <rompath>/storage/{MOUNT NAME}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/Games/</rompath>

I'll try that but what is strange to me is that I already have all of the artwork for all of my games. I don't even need all to add anything, I just need to import it.

[GuiZ]

@wize7one it definitly works on a Shield. Using it that way for several years now. On the threadstart you can find the link to the AEL assets library from @Wintermute0110. You can find there some android/nvidia shield configurations from me too. If you have specific issues let us know.

I confirm that AEL works on shield. But not for all emulators. Did you find a way for launching Dolphin? I looked for a solution a few months ago and I never found a way.

Standalone dolphin you mean? Havent tried that yet. There is a dolphin core for Retroarch also.
And yes, it depends on the emulator. The app should support some way of accepting arguments, else you cannot give a proper command from AEL to startup your game.

Yes standalone Dolphin. Retroarch core doesn’t work.

[chrisism]

Wow, I just saw this response so sorry if it seems like I blew off your help.  I have added my remote windows share via the shield settings menu, and I have manually added my game source in Kodi via the add source button in the games menu.  My has been that when I try to browse to that share (the one added via the games menu) while setting up AEL, it isn't listed on the menu of available sources.  I tried adding my smb games source via the kodi add sources menu, and that let me browse my smb games share but when I get all the way to the end of setting up my launcher where I choose my rom locations (I think), I get an error when I select that location.  On the source machine I have SMB1, and password protected sharing disabled.  I'm attaching a quick log, and I can enable additional logging if needed.  I'm still getting a feel for andoroid TV so I apologize for any mistakes.

I'll keep trying, and after peeking at this log, it looks like its still a read only error but any help is appreciated.  https://pastebin.com/i3q18XrS

It indeed looks like you have set the path to the assets folder with the mounted path (e.g. '\\\\embyserver\\game files\\SNES\\'). This is fine for the ROMs, but not for the assets. This should actually be the SMB path. Why you get the error before while setting a SMB path I dont know. This error log only shows the error because you selected the mounted path for the assets folder. Maybe you can try manually adjusting it by changing it in the json file.

So you need something like this:

xml:


  <path_banner>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/banners</path_banner>

  <path_boxback>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxback</path_boxback>

  <path_boxfront>smb://{IP ADDRESS or HOST}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/boxfront</path_boxfront>

  ...

  <rompath>/storage/{MOUNT NAME}/Media6/Roms/Sega/Master System/Games/</rompath>

I'll try that but what is strange to me is that I already have all of the artwork for all of my games. I don't even need all to add anything, I just need to import it.

That is all fine, but you may not have the exact same folder setup for the assets as what AEL expects you to have. It will try to create the folders for you (which gave errors as you saw in the logs). Maybe @Wintermute0110 can give you some more tips on this part, but the issues you have now are due to the write actions on a read-only mounted drive. So to overcome that either use the smb connection for the assets folder or maybe create the expected folders manually so that AEL wont try to create them for you, perhaps that works.

[chrisism]

I confirm that AEL works on shield. But not for all emulators. Did you find a way for launching Dolphin? I looked for a solution a few months ago and I never found a way.

Standalone dolphin you mean? Havent tried that yet. There is a dolphin core for Retroarch also.
And yes, it depends on the emulator. The app should support some way of accepting arguments, else you cannot give a proper command from AEL to startup your game.

Yes standalone Dolphin. Retroarch core doesn’t work.

There goes my plan. I was still busy with the Nvidia launcher and gamestream, so didnt try it yet. Keep us informed if you find stuff out!

[Jachin99]

I think only standalone dolphin is compatible with wii remotes anyway.

[eirrocmh]

My computer crashed when I pressed update all databases recently, and it appears that i have lost all my launchers, the error given is launcher.id is not found is self.launchers. The weird thing is that all my games in the AEL favorites folder remain and can be launched, so that leads me to believe the launchers are still there but just corrupted now or something? Is there any way to fix this or recover my launchers or do i have to start completely from scratch again? Im also unsure as to why pressing update all databases caused it to crash in the first place, i pressed it and my screen immediately turned green, which is something that happens often with amd graphics cards, i just dont know how the two relate lol.. maybe it was coincidence idk

[Wintermute0110]

My computer crashed when I pressed update all databases recently, and it appears that i have lost all my launchers, the error given is launcher.id is not found is self.launchers. The weird thing is that all my games in the AEL favorites folder remain and can be launched, so that leads me to believe the launchers are still there but just corrupted now or something? Is there any way to fix this or recover my launchers or do i have to start completely from scratch again? Im also unsure as to why pressing update all databases caused it to crash in the first place, i pressed it and my screen immediately turned green, which is something that happens often with amd graphics cards, i just dont know how the two relate lol.. maybe it was coincidence idk

AEL Favourites and ROM Collections are kept in separate databases so they will work as usual. This is on purpose so in case of database corruption, which is what seems happened to you, you won't loose your carefully crafted Favourites and Collections.

If your computer crashed when updating the databases they could be a database corruption. If your launchers.xml is corrupt the ROMs databases are still there, however you cannot access them. If you want me to have a look at what happened I will need a debug log (follow the instructions in the first thread) OR make a ZIP file with the contents of special://home/userdata/addon_data/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/ (see here to know where special://home is located in your computer) and upload to wetransfer or similar so I can have a look.

The easiest thing to do is to rebuild your setup. Did you have XML files with your config OR an XML with a backup of your config? Once you rebuild your launchers, make sure you select in the options use local artwork and NFO files if you created them, the scanning process will be nearly instantaneous because you don't have to redownload artwork and/or metadata. Also, you will need to relink your Favourite and ROM Collection ROMs (this is done automatically by AEL in the context menu).

You are the first user that reports a database corruption in more than 4 years AEL has been in the wild, and the cause seems to be a computer crash and not an AEL crash. If you want to create the ZIP file I would like to have a look to track down what happened.