[Dealwagon]

Hi All,
Just a quick question. Up to this point I have been using an Apple TV2 for XBMC on my 58" and my receiver to mainly play MKV and Xvid files. Mainly in DTS.
Knowing the limited scope I use this in. Should I pull the trigger on the Fire TV and switch at this point?
I have been wanting to move my Apple TV to the upstairs bedroom for a while now.

I could recommend dumping the Apple TV. I have had MANY. Sold many (then wished I hadn't) and been waiting for the single capable box to replace it at an affordable mark for XBMC. This looks to be that legit replacement with some caveats.

1. 720p with DTS and DD are perfect for me. (use the ouya build)
2. 1080p looks to now be working with no DTS.

If you have a large catalog of 720p files, its a no brainer. If you have 1080 files that are DTS, I bet they solve that within the month. This things is great, except its missing infrared. (now you can even add a receiver and fix that)

Sell that appleTV and replace it with 2-3 of these!

[DiegoMejia]

Hi All,
Just a quick question. Up to this point I have been using an Apple TV2 for XBMC on my 58" and my receiver to mainly play MKV and Xvid files. Mainly in DTS.
Knowing the limited scope I use this in. Should I pull the trigger on the Fire TV and switch at this point?
I have been wanting to move my Apple TV to the upstairs bedroom for a while now.

I could recommend dumping the Apple TV. I have had MANY. Sold many (then wished I hadn't) and been waiting for the single capable box to replace it at an affordable mark for XBMC. This looks to be that legit replacement with some caveats.

1. 720p with DTS and DD are perfect for me. (use the ouya build)
2. 1080p looks to now be working with no DTS.

If you have a large catalog of 720p files, its a no brainer. If you have 1080 files that are DTS, I bet they solve that within the month. This things is great, except its missing infrared. (now you can even add a receiver and fix that)

Sell that appleTV and replace it with 2-3 of these!

I have tons of 1080p files with DTS and Dolby digital and they play fine with the ouya build. The ones that"don't work" are lossless audio like truehd and dts-hd which downgrades it to stereo so you lose surround.

[cstark27]

Yes, you can start FireTV apps within XBMC.

I've already gone down the favorites route and in Confluence, while they show added to favorites, if you launch them it fails out, while if you launch them directly from programs they work great.

I've also tested other skins like Amber and while I can modify the menu, it crashes out SPMC completely when you try and fire off either Netflix or Hulu.

So, I'm going to assume at this point that confluence doesn't allow you to edit the menu at all?

I'll look into the fake Add-on route. Anybody else finds a way around this or a skin where they work properly, let me know.

Does this work for you?
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=180637

[elmerohueso]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but can't quite figure it out. Messing with SPMC 12.3.3 and 12.4.2 currently. How can I add Netflix and Hulu to the Main Menu or is this not possible? I know I can launch them under apps, but ideally I would have them as part of the main menu bar on the home screen. I've searched, but haven't come up with anything.

I think some skins might allow you to do that in Frodo. You should be able to add apps to your Favorites, at least.
It's easy to create "fake" addons (and add them to the Home screen) to directly launch Android apps in Gotham, though. For example, I have https://github.com/elmerohueso/nnxbmcnetflix added to my Home screen to launch Fire TV's version of Netflix.

Looked at the source, thats pretty cool

Please take note that the addon method only works in Gotham, as it requires the XBMC.StartAndroidActivity() function.

[insaneoctane]

I'm fairly new to xbmc, because I have been waiting for a worthy box. I have been fairly happy with my boxee box, and need something upstairs. I am evaluating the firetv with xbmc at the moment and it looks promising. One thing I am struggling with its the scraper working on my Blu Ray rips. How do I get it to properly id the m2ts file that is buried down under bmdv/stream? I read some stuff about libbluray but I don't know if that is included already or not. I am using ouya right now...

[elmerohueso]

FYI installed the Netflix plugin mentioned above and it doesn't change the confluence menu at all. It simply adds a plug-in under videos and it doesn't run, although it shows properly installed.

Anybody running any skins that are working well that allow home screen menus to be changed?

You must change the Home screen addon shortcuts, via skin settings, to put it on your Home screen (Settings>Appearance>Skin>Settings). This is the same way to put any addon on your home screen. Confluence will work fine. Also, the method used in the addon to call the app requires Gotham.

So, to clarify, being able to put an addon shortcut on your Home screen is not a new thing. The only "new" thing is that Gotham lets you use the XBMC.StartAndroidActivity() function to start Android apps. This then allows you to place a shortcut on the Home screen to launch a given Android app, for anyone not using a skin that can put Favorites on the Home screen.

[Sam Lowry]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I didn't find it... If you install XBMC on this device, will it still be able to update its software without requiring a reinstall of XBMC?

[elmerohueso]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I didn't find it... If you install XBMC on this device, will it still be able to update its software without requiring a reinstall of XBMC?

There's no way to know for sure, as there hasn't been a firmware update other than the 0-day update mine ran the day I got it (the day after release). But, from experience with other Android devices, the apps typically aren't touched during a system update.

[MrMichaelJames]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I didn't find it... If you install XBMC on this device, will it still be able to update its software without requiring a reinstall of XBMC?

I don't see why the firetv won't update when amazon releases updates. XBMC is just installed as if you were developing an app and testing it. That shouldn't stop anything that amazon wants to do. The bigger question is when amazon does update the firmware, is it going to remove all side loaded apps or will it leave them alone.

[bmfrosty]

Installed and working. Currently soaking up my TV and Movies into libraries. Shame that I'll lose positions on TV shows, but those are the breaks.

Bye bye Ouya.

[ozkhan1]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I didn't find it... If you install XBMC on this device, will it still be able to update its software without requiring a reinstall of XBMC?

I don't see why the firetv won't update when amazon releases updates. XBMC is just installed as if you were developing an app and testing it. That shouldn't stop anything that amazon wants to do. The bigger question is when amazon does update the firmware, is it going to remove all side loaded apps or will it leave them alone.

That is my biggest concern. Especially if the device is a big hit (which I think it will be) and all these content providers as always want to crack down on the freeware, Amazon may put some locks in place and ruin it for us XBMC fans.

Remember how the first gen PS3 allowed you to install Linux on it? And then after a while came the update and it was blocked out.

[alpha.s]

Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I didn't find it... If you install XBMC on this device, will it still be able to update its software without requiring a reinstall of XBMC?

There's no way to know for sure, as there hasn't been a firmware update other than the 0-day update mine ran the day I got it (the day after release). But, from experience with other Android devices, the apps typically aren't touched during a system update.

You can use the backup addon (http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:XBMC_Backup) to backup your userdata to a shared drive which is what i do.

[elmerohueso]

Edit: alpha beat me to it

[alpha.s]

Edit: alpha beat me to it

its friday and pretty bored at office and nothing else to do

[nero12]

we all know eventually this box will be a great device.


My question is the installation process i am sure can be done a lot simpler ?

We dont need to download the entire 510mb sdk zip file right ?
we can just make a new download folder with the platform folder only ?
and then add a folder inside platform folder wihere user can add his desired apk files.
and then have a notepad where the user add his "firetv ip"
and then a batch file which will execute the few lines one by one. and install the apk's from the folder and also grab the ip from the notepad file.

isn't this simple to accomplish ?

I am no developer, but if the above makes sense, i can give a try and make one, but it will take me a day

let me know if what am saying makes sense please