Preping for the Sheild to arrive. - Shield General

I've ordered my shield, it should arrive on the 23rd.
While I wait I thought I would get some suggestions for things I may want to do before it arrives; download software, buy any accessories, etc.
My current PC wont be able to stream with out something like SplashTop. I'm building a new rig in the next few months but until then I have to rely on the shield's hardware till then.
Section 1: PC Prep.
*note: I have never used an android device before, but I'm a quick adapter.
1• Is there any software I should get installed on my PC now before it arrives?
2• Is there any shield rom files I should look into at this point?
Section 2: Android-ware
I am sure this has been discussed a lot already:
1• As a first time Android user, could i get some suggestions for some of the better:
1•2 Games for the shield.
1•3 General Apps.
2• I am a big nostalgia gamer, love just about any and all consoles/hand-helds I can emulate, I was wondering which are the best emulators out there so far?
*by that I mean the name of the best emulator per console, not just what systems it can emulate.
Section 3: Accessories
1• Would like to know if there are any "must have" accessories to get for the shield, be they specific for the shield or a general product, I'd like to know.
2• I saw the Nyko docking unit, and know it isn't available yet. I was wondering would one of those wireless charge pad things work? If so can you suggest a good one?
Thanks for any and all suggestions.

On the PC part of the beauty of android compared to iOS or windows phone is the fact that you need *no* software. Plug micro USB into shield, plug other end into PC. It might do the installing device driver screen as a formality but after that it will be listed as a device in my computer, you can open it and browser around the contents of the SD card and Shield storage. Great huh?
Just drag and drop your music into the relevant folders, I no longer have a working android device so I dont recall what the correct folder actually is, I think it might be sdcard/media/audio, although creating a new folder called Music in the root directory of either the external SD or the internal storage (extsd and sdcard respectively) and sticking it in there works. There are itunes plugins for those that prefer them, think there is a way for windows media player to sync libraries too.
ROMs I dont think there are any for the Shield yet, one is being worked on but for now if your new to android, ignore.
Plenty of android games out there. 2 casual games to get started, beach buggy blitz and Dead Trigger (both support hardware controls hence why I mention them, and they are free). But seriously, there are tons.
I cant live without ES File Explorer. Beyond that, I tend to get BBC news and steam, I steer well clear of the facebook app as that just annoys me (browser it) but do keep twitter. None of them particularly support the shield controls though.
There are lists online of like the 50 must have android apps and games etc. Take a look at them.
Emulator wise someone posted a list of their favourite emulators for the shield covering quite a large range of console. The Shield will emulate anything right upto PS1 and N64. Might do more powerful still, but that would require someone to make an emulator for that. Anything below PS1 or N64 it should be fine with. Retroarch is meant to be a good start. Some consoles you may require a bios file first (primarily PS1) which is copyrighted material so no one on XDA can tell you where to get it unfortunately.
The wireless charge mats require a device which supports wireless charging. The shield doesnt. No one makes a skin for the shield with a wireless charge coil yet either (they did for some other devices). Only android accessory that I get as a must have is a USB host cable. Awesome little tools, microUSB plug on one side and a USB socket on the other so you can plug mice and keyboards into your android device. Otherwise, just make sure you have a micro USB cable around, maybe some headphones and a microSD.

Related

Ouya a good choice for XBMC at the price point?

I plan on primarily using it for XBMC. The support looks good, along with the price and specs. What do you guys think?
I think it depends on how you plan to access your media. If you plan to use a NAS, you might be alright; if you were planning to use an external drive from the USB port, you need to wait for the OUYA team to fix the problem with detection of the hard drive. Also, you may find yourself needing to use the gamepad to control the interface--if that's a deal breaker you need to plan accordingly.
Also, bear in mind that the XBMC for Android is still in early alpha!
Sent from my Nook HD+ using Tapatalk HD
As someone who had never used XBMC or Plex (or anything else like that for that matter) prior to this past month, I am so excited about how well XBMC works with the OUYA!
You sound like someone who has used it before. If you're familiar with the basics then getting the OUYA to run XBMC in (almost) flawless 1080p is...well...easy! With the release of an official version of XBMCHUB last week, I don't think I'll ever hook my laptop up to my TV again.
Going into the OUYA, I had no idea of it's potential as a do-all media center. I was hoping it'd have Netflix and flash content, but that's about as far as I had hoped, so I'm very excited about all of this.
At only $99, I've been hearing people say there is no better box for XBMC, but maybe other, more experienced people could chime in.
EDIT/ADDITION:
bornagainpenguin said:
I think it depends on how you plan to access your media. If you plan to use a NAS, you might be alright; if you were planning to use an external drive from the USB port, you need to wait for the OUYA team to fix the problem with detection of the hard drive. Also, you may find yourself needing to use the gamepad to control the interface--if that's a deal breaker you need to plan accordingly.
Also, bear in mind that the XBMC for Android is still in early alpha!
Sent from my Nook HD+ using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what USB port problem you mean? I am using a 1TB WD USB HDD and have no problems with read.
I personally bought the ouya strictly for XBMC. I've used xbmc streaming from smb shares since original Xbox and it was called Xbox media center. I still use original Xbox with xbmc and the ouya is its replacement. Xbmc works amazingly better on it even in its alpha state. Those guys are pros and I have every faith they will deliver on the android platform. The only caveats so far is that I'd like a remote control instead of controller and it doesn't exist yet. Perhaps in the future it will. I've set my ouya to boot directly into xbmc but like above poster said the USB support needs work and the issue with the ouya turning itself on when its asleep and not shut down. That's annoying. Also don't plan to use WiFi. Ouyas metal casing hinders WiFi too much for streaming video in decent quality.
JLCollier2005 said:
EDIT/ADDITION:
I'm not sure what USB port problem you mean? I am using a 1TB WD USB HDD and have no problems with read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 2TB WD drive and a 3TB Toshiba drive, both using external power. With either of them if I plug in the drive light comes on and blinks but the OUYA doesn't mount it no matter how long I wait. One is formatted as FAT32, the other as NTFS. It makes no difference.
The workaround I've found (don't remember where I saw this originally) is to plug in the drive while the OUYA is powered off and unplugged, then do a system reset. After this, the external drive is recognized and mounted as /usbdrive and the light on the drive only flashes when being read from or written to. I can install XBMC, scan my movies and shows into the library, use the external drive for my emulator roms, etc, etc. It works.
The problem is if I remove the drive for any reason or if I get an update the drive is no longer recognized and I need to do another system reset again, add back all my games, reinstall XBMC and rescan my library (import doesn't seem to work for me) and hope that I don't have to deal with another system update any time soon....
That's why I'm not currently recommending the OUYA if people plan to use an external hard drive to access their media. I'm not the only one with these issues, if you Google for OUYA and external drive you'll see many others are having the same issues.
Sent from my Nook HD+ using Tapatalk HD
Ouya is stuck on 60hz framerate. So 24hz or 50hz files will have some stutter. Maybe stutter is not the right description, it's not perfectly smooth due to framerate adapting to 60hz. I have XBMC with hardware acceleration installed, it really is framerate conversion (or whatever you call it) that causes this.
I like XBMC on Ouya but prefer a media player that adapts its framerate output to the media file, like my Boxee Box does. You'll have a perfectly smooth picture. It really is a lot better to look at.
Using the XAF edition while I wait for Gotham to become stable for android. Works amazingly well.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
Does Dolby digital and dts work with this?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
wouwout said:
Ouya is stuck on 60hz framerate. So 24hz or 50hz files will have some stutter. Maybe stutter is not the right description, it's not perfectly smooth due to framerate adapting to 60hz. I have XBMC with hardware acceleration installed, it really is framerate conversion (or whatever you call it) that causes this.
I like XBMC on Ouya but prefer a media player that adapts its framerate output to the media file, like my Boxee Box does. You'll have a perfectly smooth picture. It really is a lot better to look at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I read about that. Is that a limitation that can be fixed with development, or is it impossible?
bornagainpenguin said:
I think it depends on how you plan to access your media. If you plan to use a NAS, you might be alright; if you were planning to use an external drive from the USB port, you need to wait for the OUYA team to fix the problem with detection of the hard drive. Also, you may find yourself needing to use the gamepad to control the interface--if that's a deal breaker you need to plan accordingly.
Also, bear in mind that the XBMC for Android is still in early alpha!
Sent from my Nook HD+ using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 1TB Seagate with which I used to have the problem with it not being recognized by my Ouya. Since then I have tried different OTG mounting apps. The best I've found is an app called Paragon which mounts USB drives to '/mnt/usbdrive' by default and has full NTFS read/write capabilities. Also it's automated so it mounts the USB drive at startup without any prompting. The only thing is it requires full root and superuser access. Not a big deal, but a formality nonetheless. Mainly I'm just saying that's there's simple enough workarounds for the Ouya's external hard drive issues.
Also the XBMC Android build found here (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=152005) works great on my Ouya. Navigating using the gamepad may be a little clunky but the capabilities of using the Ouya for full media playback is already there. Hell, I'm working on turning an Ouya into a full-fledged internet/digital PVR box.
just got my Ouya yesterday and I had xbmc with the 0.6 release installed and the xbmchub fusion wizard thing installed. The issues I have encountered are typing on that xbmc keyboard with only the touchpad is a very arduous experience. Navi-x is installed alongside all the 1 channel stuff but this has a script error but does not stop it from working.
It does crash in navi-x but the speed at which this thing boots up and restarts is rapid so it does not cause that much of a headache, but dont forget that this info comes from less than 24 hours usage.
Overal i am happy with this device and the xbmc install but i would like a easier way of starting the software similar to netflix on the apple tv as the kids can play what they like and not get on my back.
Skater4599 said:
...The only caveats so far is that I'd like a remote control instead of controller and it doesn't exist yet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two remotes for XBMC the official remote doesn't seem to work for me. But Yatse works well but drains my phones battery really fast. And as a response to a USB drive not working, I have a 2TB WD Passport for my Ouya that works like a charm.
binome- said:
There are two remotes for XBMC the official remote doesn't seem to work for me. But Yatse works well but drains my phones battery really fast. And as a response to a USB drive not working, I have a 2TB WD Passport for my Ouya that works like a charm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking an IR remote that can turn the console on/off as well... I have the android app remote working just fine. the official one even.
NssOne said:
I have a 1TB Seagate with which I used to have the problem with it not being recognized by my Ouya. Since then I have tried different OTG mounting apps. The best I've found is an app called Paragon which mounts USB drives to '/mnt/usbdrive' by default and has full NTFS read/write capabilities. Also it's automated so it mounts the USB drive at startup without any prompting. The only thing is it requires full root and superuser access. Not a big deal, but a formality nonetheless. Mainly I'm just saying that's there's simple enough workarounds for the Ouya's external hard drive issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps, but so far the OUYA has been the only Android device I've not felt a need to root and I'd like to keep it that way. Maybe it's just an artificial distinction, but to my mind if I have to root to get basic functionality then the OUYA ceases to be a console (plug and play) and becomes a small computer. If I'm to treat the OUYA as a small computer then I may as well simply run Cyanogen Mod and not waste any money with the OUYA games, because I'll be too busy mapping the game pad to play the many titles available in the Play Store. It becomes a silly, pointless waste of time and money, because I have several desktops which I can use on my television and had in the past been running XBMC just fine on those desktops with my 5.1 surround sound card and speakers.
I bought the OUYA because it promised me XBMC + Games + Android in a simple to use console. Most of those interested in the OUYA as and XBMC box are also people who've already run XBMC on their televisions via an old desktop or htpc, and want a console which will make doing this easier and standardized to just work. We already hacked together something on the desktop; we're looking for the easy button.
Otherwise, we'd have just bought a Midnight box or a Pivos....
I'd say yes.
I've got XBMC running on a load of devices, Raspberry Pi, Pivos Xios DS, Odroid U2, Nexus 7, HTC One X, Intel i5 w/ATI 7770... The RPi and Pivos are sluggish, the Odroid very buggy, the Nexus, One X and Ouya (all tegra 3) are very usable and provide nearly as smooth an experience as the powerful PC.
There are a few bugs still being ironed out but none are show stoppers. The current libstagefright build works nicely enough and will only get better. We should have an interim 12.2 build hit the Ouya store soon which will be mostly bug free and feature complete.
For remote the controller is ok and will be better when they finish key mapping it. You can also connect the ps3 bluetooth media remote which makes for a better experience. Other options are IR remotes that present as keyboards or the FLIRC device.
The main thing to bare in mind is that the Ouya is a pretty new device with lots of development being done every day, something like 10 OS updates in the past 4 months - give the devs time and we'll have a very nice little Tegra 3 box; I'm looking forward to seeing where we'll be in 6 months time. Not to mention the work being done on XBMCs side. A lot of core devs are working on supporting the Ouya as they all have the device.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
NssOne said:
I have a 1TB Seagate with which I used to have the problem with it not being recognized by my Ouya. Since then I have tried different OTG mounting apps. The best I've found is an app called Paragon which mounts USB drives to '/mnt/usbdrive' by default and has full NTFS read/write capabilities. Also it's automated so it mounts the USB drive at startup without any prompting. The only thing is it requires full root and superuser access. Not a big deal, but a formality nonetheless. Mainly I'm just saying that's there's simple enough workarounds for the Ouya's external hard drive issues.
Also the XBMC Android build found here (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=152005) works great on my Ouya. Navigating using the gamepad may be a little clunky but the capabilities of using the Ouya for full media playback is already there. Hell, I'm working on turning an Ouya into a full-fledged internet/digital PVR box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also trying to replace cable TV with my Ouya and use it as a DVR. I would love some help, tips on getting it done.
* I have XBMC installed, but it doesnt see my network drives (shared drives on a Win7 PC), although all my other PCs can see them and use them?
* I planned on downloading the TV shows from 'sources' on the web, but wasn't sure how to setup auto gather new shows?
* I heard about Sick Beard and Coach Potato, but I never used them, I would love a guide or steps to help me set it up
* I wanted to get Amazon Video working too, since I pay for Prime, no official app, and I couldn't get a good Android one yet?
* Wouldn't mind having Hulu and Netflix too, I heard the google tv apks are best - any comments on that?
Anything you could help me with, would be very appreciated. I hate overpaying for Cable, and the service/quality sux
bornagainpenguin said:
I bought the OUYA because it promised me XBMC + Games + Android in a simple to use console. Most of those interested in the OUYA as and XBMC box are also people who've already run XBMC on their televisions via an old desktop or htpc, and want a console which will make doing this easier and standardized to just work. We already hacked together something on the desktop; we're looking for the easy button.
Otherwise, we'd have just bought a Midnight box or a Pivos....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't blame the lack of XBMC support on Ouya, it was up to the XBMC team to follow through on that. Ouya only announced it was going to come to the Ouya because that's what XBMC said on their own website. They're finally working on an Ouya fork for the next XBMC release, probably integrating libstagefright into it (because those work best on the Ouya).
And you could've gone for one of those other boxes. They're around the same price as an Ouya. I was a KS backer but I supported it hoping, yet not expecting, some ROM dev support for the console. I know there's CM10 but I'm going to wait for better unlocking of the system before I go full custom ROM. Unless the custom ROMs have better overscan compensation support already (a huge issue with Ouya on my TV).
Zehrfox said:
I am also trying to replace cable TV with my Ouya and use it as a DVR. I would love some help, tips on getting it done.
* I have XBMC installed, but it doesnt see my network drives (shared drives on a Win7 PC), although all my other PCs can see them and use them?
* I planned on downloading the TV shows from 'sources' on the web, but wasn't sure how to setup auto gather new shows?
* I heard about Sick Beard and Coach Potato, but I never used them, I would love a guide or steps to help me set it up
* I wanted to get Amazon Video working too, since I pay for Prime, no official app, and I couldn't get a good Android one yet?
* Wouldn't mind having Hulu and Netflix too, I heard the google tv apks are best - any comments on that?
Anything you could help me with, would be very appreciated. I hate overpaying for Cable, and the service/quality sux
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I don't use network shares on my XBMC Ouya setup right now. All video files are stored locally to the external hard drive I have connected to my Ouya.
2 & 3) I actually couldn't get the Sick Beard Android app to load on the Ouya. I ended up buying an app called PowerNZB which came with its own Sick Beard server. It's just not as automated right now as it would be on PC when used in conjunction with SabNZBd and I hope to see that change soon. I don't know if I can talk about what 'web sources' I use openly either, but you can figure it out. Also I'll just bluntly tell you to Google Sick Beard tutorials to get a better idea of how to use it.
4 & 5) No clue. I don't have any of these on my Ouya at all. Sorry if I'm not as much help as you'd like.
NssOne said:
You can't blame the lack of XBMC support on Ouya
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't.
As far as I'm concerned, XBMC has already produced a build for the OUYA which works quite well and which I expect to continue to get better and better. Instead I blame OUYA for being unable to (or unwilling?) to fix USB drive detection.
Sent from my Nook HD+ using Tapatalk HD
I appreciate the help
* at NssOne - Thanks, I do appreciate the help I wanted to use the network shares, that way I could have my win7 pc obtain all the shows and movies for me, using PC software, then place it on a shared network drive, where the Ouya could access them and play them. I figured that would be easier that having the Ouya run all that software and handle all those processes.
Which version of XBMC works best on Ouya, I saw several people post different versions, I know you need HW accel, but an exact file name or link would be appreciated.
Is Sick Beard better than Coach Potato? - I have never used either one? will they look for new shows and grab them for me?
Any one else trying to replace Cable TV with Ouya and XBMC? - Any advise, tips, software suggestions?
For XBMC Google the libstagefright version. And I don't know the difference between Sick Beard and Couch Potato. I've stuck with Sick Beard the whole time.

Cannot change anything on my External Hard Drive

I have my USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and i cannot change anything on it with a File Manger, for some reason it is Read only,
can you please help me with that Mad Catz.
Tried it with Total Commander 2 and get Re-mount Error, and tried it with ES File Explorer 3 and get Sorry, operation failed.
I download allot and i need the Apps to download it strait to my External Hard Drive, whats te point of using a External Hard Drive if i cannot
change anything on it.
And why can i not plug the USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and plug a USB 2.0 stick in the USB 2.0 port at the same time?
This problem is not with my cheap MeLE M9 Android TV BOX.
And yes i have installed the latest Firmware 0202 and also have rooted it.
AmigaWolf said:
I have my USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and i cannot change anything on it with a File Manger, for some reason it is Read only,
can you please help me with that Mad Catz.
Tried it with Total Commander 2 and get Re-mount Error, and tried it with ES File Explorer 3 and get Sorry, operation failed.
I download allot and i need the Apps to download it strait to my External Hard Drive, whats te point of using a External Hard Drive if i cannot
change anything on it.
And why can i not plug the USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and plug a USB 2.0 stick in the USB 2.0 port at the same time?
This problem is not with my cheap MeLE M9 Android TV BOX.
And yes i have installed the latest Firmware 0202 and also have rooted it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your drive is NTFS then it's read only on the MOJO.
You might want to look for apps which can write to NTFS, because the kernel isn't configured for NTFS write.
I've compile the kernel with read/write access but not too keen to try and 'install' it.. I don't want to brick it.. so i'm still doing research on this.
AmigaWolf said:
I have my USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and i cannot change anything on it with a File Manger, for some reason it is Read only,
can you please help me with that Mad Catz.
Tried it with Total Commander 2 and get Re-mount Error, and tried it with ES File Explorer 3 and get Sorry, operation failed.
I download allot and i need the Apps to download it strait to my External Hard Drive, whats te point of using a External Hard Drive if i cannot
change anything on it.
And why can i not plug the USB 3.0 External Hard Drive plug it in the USB 3.0 port, and plug a USB 2.0 stick in the USB 2.0 port at the same time?
This problem is not with my cheap MeLE M9 Android TV BOX.
And yes i have installed the latest Firmware 0202 and also have rooted it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try formating the drive into exFAT. I know its a pain but try it on a spare drive and tell us if it works. you can also try [root] Ntfs Mounter app from the play store.
mejdam said:
try formating the drive into exFAT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think exFat is supported, just fat32, at least SDcards don't. TMK
I wouldn't be formatting a HD and transferring data
I'm hoping to have NTFS write support soon, just got to figure out how to put it on the mojo
gwaldo said:
I don't think exFat is supported, just fat32, at least SDcards don't. TMK
I wouldn't be formatting a HD and transferring data
I'm hoping to have NTFS write support soon, just got to figure out how to put it on the mojo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why must we do this??
They had to make it so that we have Read and Write support on the M.O.J.A.
All the reviews i have read and seen say almost the same thing, Mad Catz just put a half baked product on the market, that cost 2 times what other
Android TV BOXES cost, it a pity, because it have good spects.
My Mad Catz M.O.J.O. is overheating every time and then he just stop working he freezes.
So i gone sent him back to the store and i think i gone ask my money back, to many problems with this product.
AmigaWolf said:
Why must we do this??
They had to make it so that we have Read and Write support on the M.O.J.A.
All the reviews i have read and seen say almost the same thing, Mad Catz just put a half baked product on the market, that cost 2 times what other
Android TV BOXES cost, it a pity, because it have good spects.
My Mad Catz M.O.J.O. is overheating every time and then he just stop working he freezes.
So i gone sent him back to the store and i think i gone ask my money back, to many problems with this product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the app mejdam suggest for NTFS write support.
Not all devices have everything turned on.
Why.. I'm guessing license cost.. and there's no way to recoup their costs (ie via ecosystem, it's a barebone kernel but functional).
Still the kernel is out now so it's a matter of time.
I thought you already return on before?
Maybe third time lucky? :laugh:
gwaldo said:
Try the app mejdam suggest for NTFS write support.
Not all devices have everything turned on.
Why.. I'm guessing license cost.. and there's no way to recoup their costs (ie via ecosystem, it's a barebone kernel but functional).
Still the kernel is out now so it's a matter of time.
I thought you already return on before?
Maybe third time lucky? :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAha yes, but i was thinking of asking my money back, but there (M.O.J.O.) Android TV BOX cost 2 times more then all the other Android
TV BOXES, so for 100 Dollars more then it cost then the other Android TV BOXES you can't pay for a licenses, so that everything works perfect, is it
to much to ask for that then?
But if [root] Ntfs Mounter works i gone stay with this box, because i now have (had) MX Player working with Dolby Digital and DTS
And why don't i hear nothing from Mad Catz?
And thanks mejdam for [root] Ntfs Mounter.
AmigaWolf said:
HAha yes, but i was thinking of asking my money back, but there (M.O.J.O.) Android TV BOX cost 2 times more then all the other Android
TV BOXES, so for 100 Dollars more then it cost then the other Android TV BOXES you can't pay for a licenses, so that everything works perfect, is it
to much to ask for that then?
But if [root] Ntfs Mounter works i gone stay with this box, because i now have (had) MX Player working with Dolby Digital and DTS
And why don't i hear nothing from Mad Catz?
And thanks mejdam for [root] Ntfs Mounter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a publicly listed company with major presence worldwide we have to adhere to licensing restrictions, costs etc. Some of those licensing costs are, frankly, too high to swallow on top of all the other licenses that are required, because they would mean we would have to push them on to you guys.
We can't comment too much on the Android boxes that you often compare us to, other than to say that we know that they're not officially Google licensed boxes. They still ship with Google Play access though which means that they're flying under the radar.
The cost difference is no longer $100 anyway - more like $50-$70 depending on where you buy and the difference is pretty clear once you start getting into 3D gaming and emulation (plus you're getting a top quality game controller included too!).
Mad Catz Rich said:
As a publicly listed company with major presence worldwide we have to adhere to licensing restrictions, costs etc. Some of those licensing costs are, frankly, too high to swallow on top of all the other licenses that are required, because they would mean we would have to push them on to you guys.
We can't comment too much on the Android boxes that you often compare us to, other than to say that we know that they're not officially Google licensed boxes. They still ship with Google Play access though which means that they're flying under the radar.
The cost difference is no longer $100 anyway - more like $50-$70 depending on where you buy and the difference is pretty clear once you start getting into 3D gaming and emulation (plus you're getting a top quality game controller included too!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but now we have a machine that have no own Player (and no Dolby Digital and DTS) we do not have our own Key mapper for the GamePad, something
the NVIDIA Shield has, we do not have write support for NTFS external Hard Drives, we do not have support to use a external Hard Drive and a USB Stick
at the same time, and the list goes on and on, this box his android is to clean, we need all that to have a great Android TV BOX, now the box is not
complete like allot of review sites saying.
And all the others have all that, and all the others have a remote control or a air mouse with there Android TV BOX, so thats not a good reason that your
must cost allot more just because you have a GamePad with it, your Android TV BOX must even be cheaper because you have not paid for all does
licensing.
And the OUYA Consoles also sell there Android TV BOXES with a GamePad, but still it only cost $99.99 on Amazon, when Amazon is not the cheapest.
And the MeLE M9 cost on Amazon $113.78
And the most popular Android TV BOX out there the MiniX Neo X7 Mini cost $104.79 on Amazon.
And sorry to say but all the Emulators i tried SNES, N64, SEGA, AMIGA, Playstation 1, Neogeo arcade on Google Play work very good on does Android
TV BOXES, without any frame drops, they run 100%.
And all the 3D i played, like DEAD TRIGGER 1 and 2, SHADOWGUN, N.O.V.A. 3 - Near Orbit, play very good.
AmigaWolf said:
Yes but now we have a machine that have no own Player (and no Dolby Digital and DTS) we do not have our own Key mapper for the GamePad, something the NVIDIA Shield has, we do not have write support for NTFS external Hard Drives, we do not have support to use a external Hard Drive and a USB Stick at the same time, and the list goes on and on, this box his android is to clean, we need all that to have a great Android TV BOX, now the box is not complete like allot of review sites saying.
And all the others have all that, and all the others have a remote control or a air mouse with there Android TV BOX, so that not a good reason that your must cost allot more just because you have a GamePad with it.
And the OUYA Consoles also sell there Android TV BOXES with a GamePad, but still it only cost $99.99 on Amazon, when Amazon is not the cheapest.
And the MeLE M9 cost on Amazon $113.78
And the most popular Android TV BOX out there the MiniX Neo X7 Mini cost $104.79 on Amazon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're still not comparing apples with apples - Tegra 4 is several classes beyond what's present in those boxes.
Regarding what apps you feel should be included with the box, this is Android and everyone has their own favourite app to use for each task. We leave it entirely up to you to put on the box what you feel you need. It's also why we've been quite candid about recommending that you root M.O.J.O..
For a keymapper, for the time being we can recommend Tincore Keymapper.
Dolby Digital and DTS support: as you've found this is an app issue. All the apps need to do is allow pass through of DTS or Dolby and it will work - we know there's an issue with XBMC on Android as we've been talking to people there about it. It's possible we'll see a fix but there's no news yet on that front.
Mad Catz Rich said:
You're still not comparing apples with apples - Tegra 4 is several classes beyond what's present in those boxes.
Regarding what apps you feel should be included with the box, this is Android and everyone has their own favourite app to use for each task. We leave it entirely up to you to put on the box what you feel you need. It's also why we've been quite candid about recommending that you root M.O.J.O..
For a keymapper, for the time being we can recommend Tincore Keymapper.
Dolby Digital and DTS support: as you've found this is an app issue. All the apps need to do is allow pass through of DTS or Dolby and it will work - we know there's an issue with XBMC on Android as we've been talking to people there about it. It's possible we'll see a fix but there's no news yet on that front.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No do NOT need pass through for does audio, they need the codec, and you have to pay for it, or download it illegally (like for MX Player), and the GPU
Tegra 4 is fast, but i have not found any 3D shooters out there that needs a 72 Core GPU, all those games play good on a PowerVR SGX544MP2.
But yes the interface is very fast, also booting up is fast, only we miss a off button, and write support for NTFS formatted External Hard Drives, because
now we have no use for a fast USB port (USB 3.0).

[PSA] Shield Controller DOES work with other Android's via USB OTG

Thought I would quickly put this out there, since I posed the question whether this could work in the "Shield Tablet revealed" thread while I awaited my controller and nobody seemed bothered to test it out. Background info is that Nvidia's site states that it can be used for wired play also, although the controller manual itself specifically states it won't work with other Androids or PC at the moment.
Plugged it in via USB OTG to my Note 3, and whattaya know, it works fine.
Tried Dead Trigger 2, perfect. Riptide 2, perfect. Jet Set Radio, perfect. Should note that even the capacity keys for volume/back/recent apps etc work. Tried PPSSPP and no problems there either, was even able to map the capacitive keys.
Next up: test with PC. May not have time tonight, so if someone else wants to take a punt and help the community out by all means try it and report back.
[UPDATE] Plugging into PC saw some generic USB input device drivers installed, which seemed very hopful, but couldn't get it to work with Dolphin. Will try again tomorrow with a couple of other programs.
Should add too that the controllers volume buttons have a nice distinct tactile click to them - I'm no having issues with them of the kind several reviews mentioned. I wonder whether Nvidia taking a moment to fix them following initial reviews resulted in the shortage of controllers for a time (as well as I think they underestimated how strong demand would be).
I'm really hoping there will be PC compatibility in the future. i have too many controllers. my laptop has an OK keyboard so I get away with not taking a full size keyboard with me on trips, but I always have at least a mouse, moga pro, and Xbox 360 controller. now that I have the shield controller I can leave the moga behind, but I'd like to dump the mouse and 360 controller as well.
Yes, adding PC use would make this a much more valuable gamepad. If you're listening Nvidia, make a small receiver dongle with micro USB OTG and full sized PC connectors so that we can keep it wireless in all use-case scenarios.
Worth noting I've only tried it on one program on PC, and even there only briefly, some others should take a look and see what they can do.

Mirror/cast content from Nvidia Shield TV to Nexus 6p

Hi. This is one of those things that must be so simple, but a Google search just comes up with pages and pages of totally unrelated nonsense. Hoping you guys can help me.
All I want to do is be able to mirror my Nvidia Shield TV to my smartphone screen. Not the phone to the NVidia Shield. Like a PS Remote Play but for the NvS TV. My room is within remote and gamepad range so an on screen pad is not necessary. Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks
(P.S if anyone knows of any Kodi addons with 4k content...that would be awesome! - there were 2 but they have been discontinued)
Any luck or good leads?
"Allcast reciever"?
What app or apps are you suppose trying to get to your phone?
I've been looking into doing the same thing but to a note 4. I think I found a few ways that seems like they would work for media streaming if your Shield had root access or unrestricted app installation options. Things like allcast reciever and other casting options. They all seemed to have too much latency for gaming if that is what you were wanting to do.
I'm not sure if a chromecast can output audio and video using the HDMI port but that might work if it can do that?
The other issue with pulling this off os that I think the solution needs to be some sort of universal screen and audio mirroring, like googlecast, that doesn't care about what app it is mirroring. Otherwise you'll have to rely on the app that is on the shield being capable of casting, and the Nvidia Hub isn't as far as I know.
I search for terms like: Android to android screen mirroring, android remote display, android remote access, etc....nothing so far.
My most promising hope for doing something like this now are:
1. Making my phone somehow act as or emulate a display, TV, Monitor in a way that can utilize the output from the HDMI port of a SHIELD device. This would bypass all the various issues and complications with specific application capabilities and restrictions, though it is just a idea about how to work around the app issues, I have no idea if this would even be possible. I also don't know if anything that is coming out the HDMI port has any sort of HDCP protection. I would assume that some things would but I would also assume that most of those specific things are the kinds of things. I would just be casting via media players anyway.
2. I have a really REALLY fast LAN network, and I know I am able to remotely access my PC in various ways that are low latency and high performance as far as display and audio are concerned. So, assuming the latency could be kept low enough I have thought about working on getting what I want to access on an Nvidia shield device to my PC running Windows 10, then I can just access that from my phone.
I don't know if you're familiar with that saying about engineering which basically says: "It's not a question of what you want to do but how much you can pay to do it." I say that because there seem to be a couple of fairly good high end Headset based displays out there. One is called the "gylph" or something like that and I have looked fairly thoroughly into one or two others that seemed to be high quality and have reliable reviews and testing available to find online. Some didn't seem available for another year or two, and even then you are going to be dropping $500 to $1,000 for them.
3. Using something like Tridef 3d and a head mounted VR headset based display. I was able to get that working pretty well without too much effort from my PC. The Tri-def software creates a side by side view of the application that you tell it to from your PC. So I can basically get a display output from just about anything on my PC and use it with just about anything they can recieve display output from my PC or remotely view my computers display with low latency. I haven't looked too much to see if something similar to this software is available that can run on a shield device. I would assume they are powerful enough even if you had to scale things down just a little bit.
The kind of set up that could send from your SHIELD, to your PC, to your Head Mounted Display or VR headset could be have some interesting advantages if the overall network latency was low enough. Having the rendering of the initial source on one device and the side by side display conversion on another could have a lot advantages. I own a Samsung gear VR innovator edition headset that I can use with my note 4, but if I want to use it for more than 20 minutes I need to pre-cool my phone in the freezer and to get any significant amount of time I think I would need to develop fairly high performance cooling system. That obviously isn't very easy to do when you need it to interface with a phone you use daily and also be small and light enough to attach to something you're wearing on your face. The point is that doing anything more than receiving and audio and video stream on your phone is going to be very resource intensive for it to handle. Even maxing out the gigabit Wi-Fi on my land for my phone makes it really warm and consumes the battery at a very high rate.
Whatever you do if it is helpful I have connected a pluggable USB 2.0 to Gigabit LAN adapter to the shield portable and it more than doubled the network performance. I'm not sure what the actual LAN performance is on the SHIELD
TV but even if you didn't need to increase it you might be able to reduce latency by by separating the total network load between the internal Gigabit Ethernet port and a separate USB 2.0 or 3.0 lan adapter. I don't know enough about androids capabilities to use more than one network adapter simultaneously four separate purposes to know if that is possible.
Well, congratulations if you've made it this far into my post. I have obviously been exploring this kind of thing for a while but there is a lot potential out there and a lot things that I don't know about or understand thoroughly enough. It's nice to know I'm not completely alone in this specific ambition. Hopefully we can gather a few more people and make some progress with this thread!
...wow
Wow that is an indepth reply. Thanks!
I can tell you've put a lot of thought into this. You obviously have a better chance of pulling it off than I do! (I did read it all lol)
I'm basically wanting to be able to mirror the screen like the PS4 remote play. Not just specific apps.
The only reason I know it's possible is that the Playstation 4 handles it remarkably well. No noticable lag as long as you have a good wifi router. Those guys at Sony must be using some kind of black magic. Unfortunately, I'm not gonna be the one who figures this out. I'm in no way a software or network engineer....I am an electrical engineering student though.
Anyway it's also good for me to hear that I'm not alone here. I wouldn't be surprised if Nvidia were working on this right now or at some point in the near future. And I sold the 6P and bought a Note 5 by the way. Wasn't a fan of the 6P at all.
Anyone get this to work or find another solution?
Thanks

New MOJO owner. My issues + YouTube Video.

Hello All.
I'm new to the forum and I've been messing around with my MOJO for about a week now since I received it in the mail. I have been plagued with a couple issues, but the experience has been overall positive. I updated the firmware and rooted it using Mad Catz's tutorial. And recently I noticed the new OS upgrade by Unjustified Dev. I haven't decided whether I want to move forward with it yet, because it does void the warranty after all.
I downloaded a boatload of apps and games to play around with. So far no issues until 2 days ago when the MOJO started freezing. It would sometimes get stuck and then eventually respond, but other times it would freeze entirely. It froze 3 times yesterday and 2 times today before I gave up with it. Not sure what to do. Should I upgrade to the new unofficial OS, or should I just return the MOJO?
I also made a quick review of the MOJO a couple days ago before the freezing began happening. See it at /watch?v=MjALrGzpQ4A
The video shows the PSX to USB adapter I tested with much success! As well as a webcam that works with video AND microphone audio. I just can't figure out how to get it to work with Skype and Messenger, as if it were a built-in camera like any other smartphone.
I had constant freezes too using the official software. I upgraded to CyanogenMod 12.1 and it has never frozen since.
Edit: I moved this post over to the CM12.1 thead instead because it was more relevant.
UPDATE: I upgraded to CM12.1 by Unjustified Dev and it works great. Unfortunately I had some trouble getting it to work in the beginning but it seems to function perfect now. It still works with the PSX to USB adapter, but I have yet to try it with a webcam.
Hi all,
I've only had my MOJO for a week or two at this point, but I wanted to throw my two cents in since I had the freezing and didn't end up updating to one of unjustified's roms yet (although I did root with towelroot).
I noticed the freezing occasionally when I had the MOJO multitasking quite a bit.
Restarting the MOJO once a day or so seems to have kept the freezing at bay. I have limitless remote service installed so I can control the MOJO with my phone to save controller battery, so I just use that to restart the thing if I remember or if I feel like it needs it. Being an "always on device" I'm not sure if the caches being cleared etc. is what the issue was, but since I've been restarting the MOJO on a regular basis (much the way I do with my phone) it hasn't really been an issue.
Sent from my C6730 using Tapatalk
krikit said:
Hi all,
I've only had my MOJO for a week or two at this point, but I wanted to throw my two cents in since I had the freezing and didn't end up updating to one of unjustified's roms yet (although I did root with towelroot).
I noticed the freezing occasionally when I had the MOJO multitasking quite a bit.
Restarting the MOJO once a day or so seems to have kept the freezing at bay. I have limitless remote service installed so I can control the MOJO with my phone to save controller battery, so I just use that to restart the thing if I remember or if I feel like it needs it. Being an "always on device" I'm not sure if the caches being cleared etc. is what the issue was, but since I've been restarting the MOJO on a regular basis (much the way I do with my phone) it hasn't really been an issue.
Sent from my C6730 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The freezing only started for me about the same time (after 2 weeks from purchase). But after upgrading to CM12, I can confidently say that it is far superior to the Mad Catz stock version of Android, and its totally reversible. If you need any further assistance on how to get it installed, I can help. However, I didn't do the towelroot way, I used USB-USB.
I actually didn't even know that Remix 2.0 was a thing. And now that I know, I may try installing it on my old Dell netbook. Windows Starter ran like crap, but Ubuntu worked better. I can only hope that Remix 2.0 will run even more smoothly.
TwistyTravster said:
I also made a quick review of the MOJO a couple days ago before the freezing began happening. See it at /watch?v=MjALrGzpQ4A
The video shows the PSX to USB adapter I tested with much success! As well as a webcam that works with video AND microphone audio. I just can't figure out how to get it to work with Skype and Messenger, as if it were a built-in camera like any other smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for talking about the peripherals here and in your video. I went ahead and got the playstation to usb adapter. I just need to keymap the dual-shock 2's, and 4-player games can be a thing without having to buy more controllers.
Another side-note: I believe you were speculating in your video about if an optical drive would work with the MOJO? I tested mine out (LG GP50NB40) , but couldn't get it to work with or without extra external power. I did find out that Samsung makes one specifically meant to mount on Android devices that's supposed to work on the Nvidia Shield, so I imagine that one works.
krikit said:
Hey, thanks for talking about the peripherals here and in your video. I went ahead and got the playstation to usb adapter. I just need to keymap the dual-shock 2's, and 4-player games can be a thing without having to buy more controllers.
Another side-note: I believe you were speculating in your video about if an optical drive would work with the MOJO? I tested mine out (LG GP50NB40) , but couldn't get it to work with or without extra external power. I did find out that Samsung makes one specifically meant to mount on Android devices that's supposed to work on the Nvidia Shield, so I imagine that one works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw, somewhere on the TransformerForums, a post about that--some optical drives can be set to work with Android. (Asus Transformers, at least the older ones, are Tegra-powered Droids). If I get time I'll try to find the post, not right now for sure. Google is a good friend of mine...
krikit said:
Hey, thanks for talking about the peripherals here and in your video. I went ahead and got the playstation to usb adapter. I just need to keymap the dual-shock 2's, and 4-player games can be a thing without having to buy more controllers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was extremely surprised that the PSX to USB adapter worked so perfectly. I do wonder if you could get 2 of them and connect them to powered USB hub and get all 4 wired controllers to be registered.
FYI, I found out recently that you can actually stream ROM files through ES File Explorer using any of Robert Broglia's emulators on a DLNA/uPnP server, which is AWESOME! That means you could have multiple Android devices streaming games to multiple emulators all from one place, without needing to be directly connected.
krikit said:
Another side-note: I believe you were speculating in your video about if an optical drive would work with the MOJO? I tested mine out (LG GP50NB40) , but couldn't get it to work with or without extra external power. I did find out that Samsung makes one specifically meant to mount on Android devices that's supposed to work on the Nvidia Shield, so I imagine that one works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the video I saw regarding the external optical drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvoyab75QgQ
It may be a FAT32 format issue.
What I found on transformerforums.com was a link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2402880
I checked Amazon, it's available in black or white, a bit over US$100.
kevinthefixer said:
What I found on transformerforums.com was a link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2402880
I checked Amazon, it's available in black or white, a bit over US$100.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this, that's a good find. I guess it's just a question of if a person's needs justify paying a bit more for a bluray drive that won't let them watch bluray's on the MOJO legally. Even if that's not a consideration, it's a clear case of proprietary garbage rearing it's self-eating head again. I digress.
It almost seems just a matter of time before Google builds this into a future version of Android (unless physical media sales continue to be replaced by digital).
Here's the Samsung DVD drive demo'd on the Shield TV that I was mentioning above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwynmT8GVI
Apparently, Samsung has been quick to make Android compatible optical drives to enhance their Galaxy brand: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406001,00.asp
krikit said:
Thanks for posting this, that's a good find. I guess it's just a question of if a person's needs justify paying a bit more for a bluray drive that won't let them watch bluray's on the MOJO legally. Even if that's not a consideration, it's a clear case of proprietary garbage rearing it's self-eating head again. I digress.
It almost seems just a matter of time before Google builds this into a future version of Android (unless physical media sales continue to be replaced by digital).
Here's the Samsung DVD drive demo'd on the Shield TV that I was mentioning above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwynmT8GVI
Apparently, Samsung has been quick to make Android compatible optical drives to enhance their Galaxy brand: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406001,00.asp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking the question is why Google hasn't added the few necessary drivers & codecs to Android to support optical drives natively--maybe just to support Samsung's market corner? Or simply not enough interest? It's not a big deal for me, I'd as soon rip a dvd and watch the resulting mp4, store the source dvd for backup purposes. But that's not quite so easy for Windows users, they must pay for an effective dvd ripper, while Linux has several open-source ones. I like Handbrake.
krikit said:
Thanks for posting this, that's a good find. I guess it's just a question of if a person's needs justify paying a bit more for a bluray drive that won't let them watch bluray's on the MOJO legally. Even if that's not a consideration, it's a clear case of proprietary garbage rearing it's self-eating head again. I digress.
It almost seems just a matter of time before Google builds this into a future version of Android (unless physical media sales continue to be replaced by digital).
Here's the Samsung DVD drive demo'd on the Shield TV that I was mentioning above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwynmT8GVI
Apparently, Samsung has been quick to make Android compatible optical drives to enhance their Galaxy brand: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406001,00.asp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was gonna start a new thread to post about this but I searched DVD and this active thread will do as well as any, I suppose. Hopefully this interests someone!
Earlier today I figured out how to watch encrypted (DRM) retail DVD movies by sharing my PC's DVD drive on my SMB network. My PC is wired via ethernet but the MOJO is fully wifi. The same trick should work for a lot of Blu-Ray and all HD-DVD discs.
First off, I tried just sharing the optical drive on the network. Sorta worked, I could view the files but I couldn't play the movie. So I did a bit more research and figured out that Android doesn't have anything to decrypt your DVD's DRM (as some of you have noted) so I went back to the drawing board. Eventually I came across a Windows program called AnyDVD HD that decrypts DVDs, Blu-Rays, and HD-DVDs on the fly, seconds after you pop them into the drive. I downloaded and installed version 7.3.0.0 from a certain torrent site, you know the one. Don't worry, AnyDVD is no longer in business because they weren't allowed to be making the program in the first place, so you couldn't buy the program if you tried. Installed and patched AnyDVD HD, popped in my retail Scarface anniversary edition DVD and voila! Starts up and plays in seconds via Kodi. Even gets rid of those pesky trailers and FBI warnings. Like I said, this should work with most if not all DVDs and HD-DVDs. Blu-Rays are a little more hit or miss because as I understand it, with each new release they tweak the DRM a bit making it hard for programs like this to keep up.
It might not be as streamlined as having an external plugged directly into it, but for as often as I watch physical media I don't mind walking 20 ft over to my PC and popping the disc in the drive. Hopefully this is useful to everyone! If anyone has questions, feel free to ask!
EDIT: I'm thinking about maybe starting a YouTube channel for MOJO/possibly just general Android Box discoveries, and tips and tricks I've learned. Is this interesting to anyone/would anyone want to contribute?
tideee88 said:
...
Earlier today I figured out how to watch encrypted (DRM) retail DVD movies by sharing my PC's DVD drive on my SMB network. My PC is wired via ethernet but the MOJO is fully wifi. The same trick should work for a lot of Blu-Ray and all HD-DVD discs.
...
EDIT: I'm thinking about maybe starting a YouTube channel for MOJO/possibly just general Android Box discoveries, and tips and tricks I've learned. Is this interesting to anyone/would anyone want to contribute?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent work! If I thought I got surprised finding out about streaming shared ROM files, through ES File Explorer, directly to any of Robert Broglia's emulators. That totally blows my mind. But streaming DVD's wirelessly from one device to another? LOL Hot damn.
Technology... you scare me sometimes.

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