[Fuddyduddy]

unicronic

...the dl is here http://www.xbmcandroid.com/forums/instal.../830-7.htm

I then used MXplayer pro and the custom non neon arm7 codec for good results.

I see that this is an XAF custom build (whereas the one I downloaded earlier wasn't). However, when I visited the XBMC ANDROID download page yesterday (before I followed your link) to search for an XAF build I couldn't find a single one which combined "set-top" with "no neo". so I chickened-out. I see that although like me you're a Q5 user you weren't deterred and are using a "touch" XAF build, so I've just now dl'd and installed the same one.

It's not plain sailing for me though. (I should explain that what I'm testing is live TV playback). The XAF build finds all the channels my server DVB-T tuner and TV player (DVBViewer) is tuned-to, but trying to play any of them brings up a dialogue-box "External player active" with the message "Click OK when playback has ended"; doing so just results in XBMC closing after a brief pause. I don't know what to make of this behaviour.

Also the XBMCHub Maintenance ver. 1.5 add-on that came with this build is shown in 'Settings -> Add-ons' as "Update available" but when I try to install the update I get a message saying "Dependencies not met". Again, I'm baffled.

Any tips or tricks? (One thought:- do you have "Stop other players" in MX Player 'Settings -> Player' activated or not? Currently I haven't activated it).

I'd already earlier yesterday installed MX Player (plain vanilla) ver. 1.7.17 and (since it called for it) MX Player Codec (ARMV7) ver. 1.7.16 - even though the Q5 uses the ARM Cortex A9

[unicronic]

Hi, firstly let me just point out that I am not an x b m c expert. but I'm more than happy to assist with my limited knowledge and experience.

You are correct there is no set top box and no neon build for our device. however within the settings you can alter the UI to look like the traditional interface.

For your playback issues I suggest using the menu button on the remote control which will allow you to select 'play using' after which a list of video players will be highlighted from this list MX player and the pro version will be selectable.

xbmc is some ways off being great for our devices unfortunately our combination of no neon and set top box are lowest on the priority ladder it seems.

For local or network attached media i still suggest using Mizuu which visually blows xbmc out of the water. Of course I do understand that the robust options and plugins are part of xbmc's appeal.

you are also correct that the does seem to be a severe lack of support for the arm 9.I have no idea if this will change.

what is most disappointing for me now is how many and soon all anime encodes will be 10 bit and although our device clearly has the raw horse power to support this file format without any refined codec support I suspect that the q5 will be dying slowly as a serious media junkies option.

the official forums tell a story of poor support and no sign of clearing up persistent issues.

finally after some research it appears the reason for the poor performance via optical is that this device and apparently all android devices do not support dts pass through and only offer pcm which is a little bit disappointing. I hope that with mx player now having custom dts codecs this bottle neck will disappear over time.


I apologize for any brevity and typos as this has been dictated via android voice recognition software. Please let me know if any are my insights have been helpful to you.

[Fuddyduddy]

unicronic

Please let me know if any are my insights have been helpful to you.

They certainly have been, thanks. There are so many (too many) of these Chinese-made Android devices to choose amongst that the choice can be little more than a lottery. Like you I knew nothing about Android as an operating system (not owning a smartphone) but decided to take the plunge, with a view to replacing my needlessly functionality-rich, noisy, power-hungry HTPC with a much less obtrusive dedicated media-player/PVR. At least that was the idea: I then found that Android was pretty-much opaque to me as an OS - which needn't have mattered if only there were "idiot's guides" to be had for it. So far I haven't found any (on the web anyway). It seems that most of the people using these things are already deeply into Android or Linux. or both, and being geeks don't need rudimentary guidance - so no one writes any.

As for the Q5, I was strongly influenced by this very positive review http://www.squidoo.com/himedia-q5-androi...e166262884, being at that time completely oblivious of the neo/no-neo choice. Knowing what I know now I probably wouldn't choose it today but I still think quite highly of it on the whole - or I would if only I could get it to use an external player with HW acceleration!

For your playback issues I suggest using the menu button on the remote control which will allow you to select 'play using' after which a list of video players will be highlighted from this list MX player and the pro version will be selectable

I'm afraid this is lost on me. The remote I'm using is the one that came with the Q5 and the 'Menu' button on that only brings up the Q5's Launcher; what remote are you referring to?

finally after some research it appears the reason for the poor performance via optical is that this device and apparently all android devices do not support dts pass through and only offer pcm which is a little bit disappointing

The review linked-to above seems to contradict this; maybe you should post a comment (or Email the author)? Btw I presume that you have activated 'Volume boost' in MX Player -> 'Settings -> Audio'?

this has been dictated via android voice recognition software

Very impressive!

[unicronic]

As for the Q5, I was strongly influenced by this very positive review http://www.squidoo.com/himedia-q5-androi...e166262884, being at that time completely oblivious of the neo/no-neo choice.

I'm afraid this is lost on me. The remote I'm using is the one that came with the Q5 and the 'Menu' button on that only brings up the Q5's Launcher; what remote are you referring to?

Btw I presume that you have activated 'Volume boost' in MX Player -> 'Settings -> Audio'?

HA! I also read that review and picked up the Q5. My criticism are flaws in an otherwise solid device. The Q5 is great but there is some work to do on the UI and being able to handle evolving digital media encoding standards.

Regarding the remote, you can press the mouse button and go to the 'S/W' sign and click on it and you can choose the H/W or H/W+ option. Also there is a custom codec you can download but you must point MXplayer to the correct directory for it to take effect. But MX still won't handle any video formats that the stock player can't either. But MX will give you the video on some even if it isn't playing back correctly. In these cases we're talking about 10-bit formats or something really obscure.

Optical does work but I believe the issue is how it decodes 5.1 and reproduces it as 2 channel PCM. As a result the surround isn't great but is fine using phone red and white cables. Also Q5 doesn't have bluetooth either. HDMI may have different results but my set-up can't send HDMI sound to my surround speakers.

Thanks.

---

I also had someone test the MINIX NEO X7 which is double the power of the Q5 and it can't decode the 10-bit video formats.

Regarding the Q5 itself as the stock player is a beast at playing all but the bleeding edge or most obscure formats I still believe that for video Mizuu + stock player is best currently on Android set top boxes.

[Fuddyduddy]

Rightly or wrongly I'm getting the impression from googling that this "External Player Active" message seems to act as some sort of catch-all, translating (in effect) to "whatever you're trying to do. forget it..."

Anyway, having gone around the same few loops a dozen times or more I've made no progress at all. So I conclude that XBMC as a front-end, using the XAF no-neo custom build and an external player, is a non-starter so far as streaming live TV from my DVBViewer server through the Q5 is concerned.

Regarding the Q5 itself as the stock player is a beast at playing all but the bleeding edge or most obscure formats I still believe that for video Mizuu + stock player is best currently on Android set top boxes

I agree that its Media Player app is great as far as it goes. It streams live TV perfectly but unfortunately doesn't seem to provide any PVR functionality which means, if I'm right, that the Q5 still remains of only very limited usefulness for the primary purpose for which I bought it.

(The Media Player isn't helped either by the fact that, at the moment, of the nine control-symbols on its pop-up menu-bar four are greyed-out and I haven't a clue why, or what to do to make them active - nor even what they're for - and the progress-bar never displays any progress! As usual there seems to be a complete absence of even the barest on-line help or documentation).

Right now I'm on the verge of giving-up altogether on the Q5.