yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
I'm running Kodi beta, works perfectly. No lag, videos start nearly immediately (on 5ghz wifi, running a Samba share on my router), couldn't be happier.
[Fire TV General] manish_bhaumik:
Is this stick capable of mirroring Windows 8.1 .. like the Microsoft Surface Pro or Asus transformer t100?
[Fire TV General] fade_:
So this is going to sound dumb but how do I open the back of the remote? My regular fire tv has a latch to open but his just has a very small indentation and its impossible to push down. Is mine defective or is my brain?
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
It has to be a Miracast compatible device. My Xperia Z3 works right out of the box, and I'm really happy with how fast it is. I honestly like this thing better than my Chromecast.
[Fire TV General] stress1ner:
Got 2 yesterday and had a buddy order 2 more @ 19 for me very happy with it so far, xbmc and other side loaded apps work just fine. Waiting for root so I can install Google play store so I can try chrome remote desktop with Bluetooth keyboard and I am set, using fired TV launcher works great.

Are there any apps that can turn my phone into Bluetooth keyboard?

I also noticed th tv remote is able to control the fire stick via hdmi cec
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
I WISH I ordered two... I wasn't sure how good it would be, now that I know I'm pretty sad I didn't. I really need one for each TV! Hopefully there's a sale so I can order a second one, not too crazy about spending twice as much on the 2nd one...
[Fire TV General] martian21:
Anyone test the USB port yet? I know it's a micro but curious if it supports keyboard / mouse / etc... with an adapter.
[Fire TV General] itbedave:
I received 1 of 2 yesterday, spent 30 minutes letting it update as soon as I plugged it in, then had no problem sideloading TVMC and using it just like my AFTV set top box.

One thing I'd not tried with either yet was getting the TWC TV app running on both. I just tried to sideload the latest hacked version, and it instantly told me I needed to update it. But when it tried, it told me it was incompatible with my device. Guess I need to do some more searching/reading on this. :/
[Fire TV General] jblazea50:
This may be a noob question, but how do I access international content on TVMC?
[Fire TV General] halcut:
Has anyone tried dishworld app? Does it work on firetvs?
[Fire TV General] dirtybudha:
The devce requires a power supply and that is the means of plugging it in for power.

You won't be able to use the microusb port for anything else if it doesn't have power.
[Fire TV General] assumption:
Your best bet is to just browse through all the addons... Its tedious but I've found some that way. Also try using the search function
[Fire TV General] ServError:
There are Y cables specifically for these purposes. I'll report back once I test one (don't want to do an initial update and waiting for a workaround).
[Fire TV General] jljaries42@gmail.com:
Hi. Still waiting for mine.

Is there any chance of OTG capability and using an adapter like this one(see link) that give the device power while providing a host USB port?

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Cable-Power-Galaxy-Samsung/dp/B00CXAC1ZW

I have one for my SGS3 - so I'll probably try it when I get it. (Dec 10 delivery tho)
[Fire TV General] RavenII:
No go with a powered OTG cable...no mouse or kb detected...it does something to keep the KB from turning on, which is weird...same cable on my Note 3 (with my Ducky keyboard) works just fine.
[Fire TV General] NoteGarner2020:
Received my stick. I have a question I am not sure it its already asked. Is there app / extension from where I can cast chrome tabs like chromecast? I tried installing Spark extension but its not finding my device.
[Fire TV General] Khord:
Just tried a keyboard with my OTG cable, no luck in the FTV menus or Netflix. Also, using the OTG cable triggered the power warning saying that I should only use the included power adapter.
[Fire TV General] dirtybudha:
As I was typing I thought about that as well. My only thought is it could detour some of the power.

I'd be curious to hear how that turns out.

Wait I see it doesn't work. Perhaps root would solve that. We shall see.
[Fire TV General] sirfergy:
It should, but so far no luck trying my Windows Phone, Android Phone, and Windows tablet.

Forgot the quotes, this was in reply to the Miracast question.

---------- Post added at 06:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

Anyone have any luck with 5ghz WiFi?
[Fire TV General] NoteGarner2020:
I am able to mirror my Nexus 5 and running on 5 GHz WiFi.
[Fire TV General] aaltieri:
I tried XBMC for Ouya, which works great on the Fire TV box. But it could barely manage the menus for me on the stick. The Kodi nightly build loaded and seems to be working fine. I was able to watch some 720p content without any issues at all. Oddly, I had issues on the Fire TV BOX with the Kodi nightly builds a week or two ago.
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
I run 5ghz WiFi just fine. First time I tried to Miracast the Stick rebooted. Second time and every time after it's worked perfectly.
[Fire TV General] spyder3:
You might want to try Spark again. Make sure that you have everything loaded properly on both devices. It works better for me than Chromecast did with my old Chromecast.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
Speed wise how does this compare to the aftv. How snappy does it love through menus in xbmc?
[Fire TV General] dirtybudha:
If you're looking t=for how to cast to the stick Allcast on the phone, I have a Note 3, and the stick works great!
[Fire TV General] NoteGarner2020:
Do you have Spark apk for fite tv stick? Site doesnt seems to work to download app. And I am not finding it on Amazon App Store.
[Fire TV General] john6six:
First Impressions - wifi too slow or possible bad device?

Just want to pick everyone's brain to see if I have a bad device or my results are typical.

First, on two different TV's I had no success powering off of the sets usb port. No warnings, device would just reboot during the boot process, but could make it to the home screen a couple times before restarting.

Second, by connecting to my wifi with the updates blocked via DNS, I could not get past the setup process. After removing the entries, I was able to connect to my wifi and as soon as it said it was checking for updates, I unplugged the routers internet connection and after about 10 minutes it went through without updating (it came on v. 54.1.0.0_user_100211520), at which time I put the DNS entries back on the router. After putting the entries back in, it will not get the home page or as you scroll down the menu choices, any of the other screens, except settings. The Network shows as connected with issues.

Third, when working on 54.1.0.0_user_100211520, I couldn't push apps via ADB (Yes, I had it enabled) or connect via the AFTV Remote app.

Fourth and most important, I allowed it to update, since I ordered 3 devices and actually only need two, so I was willing to experiment with this one. I will leave the other two in the box for now and give the community time to work their magic. Same issues with the DNS blocking the update entries. But more important and my biggest issue is how slow my wifi connection is on this device. I was able to connect the remote app, but it isn't very responsive. When starting up, it takes and unbearable amount of time to load the app thumbnails. In Hulu, the thumbnails that do appear filter in very slowly, and about a third never show. I originally set it up on a TV that was about 5 feet from my AP, so that shouldn't be an issue. I moved it to my kitchen, where I have a ROKU, that runs fine. Is anyone else having wifi issues or do i possibly have a bad device?

Thanks
[Fire TV General] dirtybudha:
I can tell you that I updated mine. The response and speed via Wi-Fi is great from what I can see. I have Sports Center, via Watch ESPN app, streaming within seconds and at high quality. I got the same result with my Amazon Prime video service.

I'm no expert but perhaps the DNS blocking is causing an issue with the data rate for the device. My thought is that it uses those entries for more than just updates. I could be completely wrong and have no problem admitting that.
[Fire TV General] NoteGarner2020:
I am having no issues at all with WiFi speed and powered with TV USB. I have seen when I powered with Adaptor it runs little faster and buffering is quicker but I can have less cords hanging and removing adaptor each time. I dont want it to be powered all the time even if I turn off tv.

I think your issue with WiFi speed is DNS. Remove all DNS and proxies you have added and reboot TV to test again.
[Fire TV General] sirfergy:
Has anyone figured out how to get this to connect to wifi that uses a captive portal?
[Fire TV General] AFTVnews.com:
My guide and video are now up on how to get past the forced update:

How to complete the Fire TV Stick Initial Setup without Updating
[Fire TV General] recon_zero:
Can anyone test emulators to check speed? interested in SNES, GBA, PSOne and N64
[Fire TV General] john6six:
Thanks, my original post wasn't clear enough on this, but I have the DNS blocking turned off, as with it on, I can't even get to the home page. I think I may have a bad device. I will try another device, as I have another still unopened and see if I experience the same issues. Probably not until tomorrow and I will report back.
[Fire TV General] dirtybudha:
Very well could be a bad device from the sound of it.
[Fire TV General] shibbybypass:
I sideloaded retroarch and it would not even start. I haven't tested others yet since I only have the remote that came with it.
[Fire TV General] swicago:
Can someone who has the firestick and has installed/sideloaded xbmc/kodi confirm if the hardware is fast enough for playing DVDs from iso image???

I have a FireTV in my RV, that I use to play DVD iso images from USB disk. I'd like to use the FireTV as an AP(an XDA user has done it) and use the fire stick on another TV to stream the same iso images.
[Fire TV General] spyder3:
I'll see if I can find it on my laptop when I get home.
[Fire TV General] sirfergy:
So far I've had zero luck with maracas. How many of you have gotten it to work?
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
Is there anyway to backup or restore xbmc on here? I manually looked for the folder on the firetv stick and nothing shows up in the xbmc data folder. Does it need to be rooted?
[Fire TV General] NoteGarner2020:
Hey just checking if you got it. Do you have it installed on TV stick? May be there is way to copy from ES explore to Dropbox or something.
[Fire TV General] clubs07:
two questions.. did anyone manage to use usb mouse with otg adapter? i tried and couldn't get it to work. i an going to sideload an app and check if the device has USB OTG API.

edit: sideloaded USB OTG Checker, and it confirms that the device support USB OTG. I don't know why I couldn't get the usb mouse to work.

also did anyone manage to install navix or mashup on the kodi? I sideloaded the latest nightly and the ui is very responsive and fast. didn't try to play any videos. enabled the SuperRepo repositories, but it always fails around 98%, 99% when I try to install the navix or mashup addons.

On another note generally the firetv stick is very responsive and fast.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
I use navi x but I'm using spmc. It's working fine.
[Fire TV General] clubs07:
thanks! yes navix works fine on spmc. Also I can connect and stream through windows/smb network with no hiccups on spmc. i couldn't connect to windows network with kodi.

now i regret i didn't buy another firetv stick on the $19 introductory price. this device is pretty good and probably will be awesome once it's rooted.
[Fire TV General] NxtGenCowboy:
They'll be 24.00 supposely this week and next week at select stores. :good:
[Fire TV General] RavenII:
Is anyone else worried about heat/temperatures? I had the FireTV Box and it was choppy as all hell when streaming from my HD Homerun Prime, but this little stick plays HD TV just fine, though it does heat up, should I be concerned?
[Fire TV General] Khord:
It should be fine, TV sticks get really hot, but that means the heatsink is working properly by bringing the heat out.
[Fire TV General] retroben:
How the hell does the stick also have a heatsink?!?
[Fire TV General] RavenII:
Welll...technically the case is the "heat sink"...not much of one, but think of it this way...it's better than the one your phone got.
[Fire TV General] spyder3:
What stores?
[Fire TV General] Y314K:
Staples for $24 & BestBuy for $25 at least from Sunday to Wednesday. Their price should change online in a bit.. http://www.aftvnews.com/best-buy-staples-to-sell-fire-tv-stick-for-24-starting-1123/

And Staples will have the FireTV's for $74 on Thur & Fri.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
Does anyone know if these can be combined with coupons for staples?
[Fire TV General] Y314K:
Not with the 20% in store bag coupon since it says No Amazon products. But you might get lucky with the person at the counter. Should be fine with the online coupons..

BestBuy $25 FTV Sticks are live online. Staples is only down to $30 for now but that should change soon...
[Fire TV General] itbedave:
I just ordered 4 more online from Best Buy for local pickup. I considered Staples, but was getting the $30 online price as well, AND was limited to 2 units. When I checked local pickup availability, EVERY STORE in my area (10 stores) ONLY had 6 units TOTAL available. Which means they'll be gone probably from walk-ins today before online orders even get filled. Best Buy, meanwhile, has PLENTY. So if you want one today, go online NOW and order for local pickup at Best Buy.

Now, what I REALLY came here for was to see if anyone has a solution - or is working on a solution - to get the Time Warner app (TWC TV) working on AFTV??? Because that would retire my Roku boxes on TVs that don't have or need digital cable converter boxes. Anyone?

FWIW - I'm running TVMC on mine - it's flawless so far!

As far as power requirements, the stick apparently requires 1amp. Some TV's do no provide this over USB. I have one that doesn't. I could have plugged into the provided USB brick it comes with, but lucked out by being able to use a USB port on the back of my cable converter box that was nearby, saving an electrical outlet. YMMV.
[Fire TV General] jblazea50:
Yes, there's the text staples $5 off $25 (need to add a filler to get to $25).

Text "Save" to 555-444 and follow instructions to get $5 off $25 that can be used online, in-store, or phone orders.
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
Thanks for the heads up on Best Buy, I just went and bought two more (one for my mom)! Blocked the update servers so I have a Fire Stick on the original software still, just in case.
[Fire TV General] NxtGenCowboy:
After using the FireTV stick.. Its is not bad at all.. I ran 1080P Guardians over it and did have some dropouts.. Nothing crazy but it def did have some sound glitches. This was over 5Ghz as well, maybe 20 feet from the router. I might just pickup another FireTV instead of another FireTV Stick. :good:
[Fire TV General] john6six:
I set up my second device and it works perfectly. Contacted Amazon and they are replacing the bad one. Of course they can't tell me when I will receive it. For $20, it's a great device. But at $39, I would definitely spend the extra money for the full device.
[Fire TV General] german_psycho:
I already have a Fire TV for the living room and now I am thinking about getting a Stick for the bedroom.

As the Fire TV stick isn't even announced in Germany, I am thinking of getting one directly from the US. Now my question, will this work with my german Amazon account?

I think the firmware is the same worldwide and as far as I knew, users who had an imported Fire TV box were able to use them in their home countries with the content provided in their home countries. So, what do you think? Will this work? Or should I wait till it's released here?

I have a friend in the US, and for $25 + shipping he will get me one from best buy..
[Fire TV General] nevereven:
I just got my Fire stick and have no experience with Fire TV. I have a few questions:

I side loaded TVMC, and it seems to work, but there's no icon in my launcher. The only way to run it is through Setting->apps. A bit tedious. Is there a better solution?

Any hope for volume control? I've got this plugged into a monitor which has audio out (also has built in USB hub which is great for powering Fire Stick). With speakers/amp I can control the volume, but with headphones it's full volume only.

None of my app store previously purchased apps are showing up though the Fire Stick. Is it that most apps are not compatible or approved yet? I am signed in to my account. I've had no luck with the built in search. It always suggests the right search, but there are never any results. EDIT: I can see my fire stick through the Amazon web site, but apparently none of the apps I have purchased are compatible.

The app selection look very limited. Will I need to side-load everything?

Other than this, it seems pretty slick. Probably should have bought two at $19. Wish there was a way in the Fire remote app to paste text. This would be useful for my very long passwords.
[Fire TV General] spyder3:
Just picked up the Stick at Staples for $24. Can't wait to get it loaded up in the bedroom and see how it compares to my Fire TV.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
Just got one with this coupon probably gonna get a few more as this is a pretty impressive xbmc device even at 40 dollars. One observation or Mabye it is just me but is the image not as sharp on this device as the full aftv. I watched a few 720 movies that just didn't feel quite 720.
[Fire TV General] RavenII:
It's definitely just you...and the price point of the device...it's hard to believe. BUT, I can say this...using an AFtv (not stick) with my hd homerun prime, it would have a pretty ****ty frame rate. I currently have the Stick running through a HDMI to VGA converter, which degrades the signal...no frame drops and it's a very VERY nice picture still...could be that I have low standards also...
[Fire TV General] lattiboy:
Video quality is not great...

I loaded Xbmc with no issues, but when I run 720p rips off my NAS (on 5Ghz with excellent speeds) the picture is dull and sort of pixelated.

I realize this thing was practically free, but if it can't do that it's kind of useless to me. Is there any word on this? MKV and X264 files in the 1-4GB range....
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
I knew I wasn't crazy.. All the 720 stuff i've been watching doesn't look 720 its as you said somewhat dull and pixelated. It's still a great device and the price is unheard of but if they are gonna nerf the image quality for speed they should say something.
[Fire TV General] Roger W:
I noticed the same low-res video as you guys in XBMC. But the menu UI looked sharp which was strange - the device seems to be outputting a full-res framebuffer. So I sideloaded ES File Explorer and MX Player, connected it to my video share, and played the same file - it's as sharp as I'd expect it to be.

So whatever the problem we're seeing is, it seems to be in the decoder inside xbmc, not a fault of the device or firmware. I've never used xbmc until tonight, so I'll leave it to the experts to dig into what's wrong there.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
It could just be only with video that is streamed online, similar to how netflix has that feature where it lowers quality to compensate for slow connection. Mabye this can be turned off.
[Fire TV General] recon_zero:
Anyone has tried emulators on the stick? does it run SNES games full speed? how about psone and n64? is it crazy to ask for PSP capabilities? DS maybe?
[Fire TV General] Roger W:
I installed MAME and ran a neo-geo emulator. It got a little laggy when there was a lot going on, where the same app on my SGS3 phone stays fast. I can try other emus tonight.
[Fire TV General] goatmale:
[MENTION=3105764]nevereven[/MENTION] you can install / sideload the Amazon Store app and for whatever reason this gets rid of the games section and lists all installed apps under apps.

Volume control is something I have struggled with. I'm not sure if we can sideload a volume manager app to get control of the headphone volume. I'll try tonight.

As for app selection you can sideload some non-play market apps (SlideME, F-Droid, Aptiode) and install them this way however they're pretty hard to use without a touchscreen.

You can't paste text however you can install the FireTV Remote app on another phone and use that as the keyboard.. not perfect, but it's better then typing it in with the remote.

NESOID works good :). I tried to use the remote and re-map the keys however you can't press multiple buttons down at the same time. I'm pretty sure SNES will run smooth as well. PS1 may be a little too slow at the moment, but I wouldn't rule it out yet.

What is everyone using as input? It's a ton of work to use the remote. I tried to connect my PS4 controller but it didn't pair :(
[Fire TV General] Elysian893:
Has anyone besides me used Kodi beta instead of XBMC? I'll try some 720p content tonight, but don't remember anything looking particularly bad looking from early tests.
[Fire TV General] Roger W:
I'm using a MOGA Pro. Pairs fine. Unfortunately, since this isn't rooted, I can't install the app that lets the analog sticks work as sticks, instead they act as buttons like d-pads. Does anyone know if the official gamepad has real analog sticks?

I think it's a little different here - Netflix stores streams of different bitrates and hops between them as your bandwidth changes. I just double-checked my home media server and confirmed that it's not transcoding the video to a different bitrate before sending over the network. So something in xbmc is downrezzing *after* it decodes the high-res stream. But yes, there still might be a setting in xbmc, since other players on the same device don't have this problem.
[Fire TV General] Y314K:
Maybe it has to do with the flavor of XBMC... What flavor do those that are having quality problems are using.. Gotham, TVMC Gotham, SPMC, Kodi Beta 3 ???
[Fire TV General] pfriederichs:
I have ... Its not that 720p looks bad it just looks fuzzy / off. Its tolerable until its fixed but there certainly is a problem.
[Fire TV General] retroben:
You'd think Amazon's game controller for FireTV would be the primary choice for a FireTV stick.
[Fire TV General] Y314K:
Not @ $40 each.. $20 is more like it... Wanted to get some Nyko PlayPad Pro's (which include a mouse mode) but they are on a 1-2 month shipping schedule...
[Fire TV General] aaltieri:
There are a few things to look at here. Simply saying 720p doesn't play right in XBMC isn't saying anything. What flavor of XBMC are you using (TVMC, Kodi beta, Kodi Nightly, Gotham, XBMC for OUYA, etc...). What add-on are you using? Where is the content coming from?

I played GotG in roughly 720p in Ice Films and Primeware on a Kodi Nightly Build and it played just fine. Looked great and didn't stutter at all.

I have noted that on my fireTV (box), the kodi build was a massive fail for me. But XBMC for Ouya plays GREAT! On the stick, the exact opposite is true. XBMC for OUYA barely works at all, but the Kodi nightly build is working like a top. Now, part of that could have been that when I was testing kodi on my AFTV, I just happen to test the nightly build on a bad night. Not sure. I do have that sort of luck.
[Fire TV General] danknasty:
I use spmc on both the box and the stick. I have tried other builds all on the box and as for video quality it has never been an issue (while stability is a different story). On the stick I have only tried spmc and using any of my typical addons genesis etc when streaming 720 or up I tend to get what seems like a lowered resolution.
[Fire TV General] sic_lic1o1:
I'm using TVMC and having the same problem. I play the same addons on my computer and can tell the difference.
[Fire TV General] RavenII:
I retract everything I said...I too notice this...issue? now. SNL on my computer looks phenominal...FTVS? not so much...it looks like poop to be exact. Running 13.2 directly downloaded from kodi.tv.