XBMC and Netflix on an Android TV Box

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zespri

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#1158100 19-Oct-2014 21:27

KiwiTim: Are current Amazon Fire devices still being shipped with software that can be rooted or have I missed the boat on that?

Thanks for your advice.

Tim

The one that arrived in the post on 17th of October was still rootable. Unfortunately I left it plugged in and connected for a few hours - got distracted, and it updated itself.

KiwiTim

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#1158241 20-Oct-2014 09:42

driller2000: this could be an option

http://www.xtreamer.net/Wonder/

i might get one to have a play

have a couple of xtreamer products:

ultra - which is my htpc in the lounge ht set up
xtreamer - media streamer used on the third tv
etrayz - oksih nas but retired by server

I saw the Xstreamer Wonder home page. Does hardware decoding of H.265. I wonder how polished the software will be. I spent Saturday playing with a Mini Neo X8-H, which belongs to a mate. It is impressive, but the software can be unresponsive at times. It definitely requires more polish. I would not buy one.

KiwiTim

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#1158245 20-Oct-2014 09:51

JimmyH: I have the Minix. It comes with an optimised version of XBMC preinstalled. The hardware is great, but the firmware is still a bit rough around the edges - although it's still being actively developed with new betas frequently posted. You can also install the Netflix app off the Play Store and it (reportedly, I haven't tried to run it) works, but isn't certified for HD so you only get SD.

If they get the bugs out of the firmware and get the netflix functionality certified then I will buy a second unit for the bedroom. As I said, for the price the hardware is superb.

I tried a mate's Minix on Saturday. The Netflix looked like it was playing at 1080P to me. The Neo X8-H was a bit clunky at times. I think I might go for an Amazon Fire TV.

KiwiTim

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#1158248 20-Oct-2014 09:54

zespri:
KiwiTim: Are current Amazon Fire devices still being shipped with software that can be rooted or have I missed the boat on that?

Thanks for your advice.

Tim

The one that arrived in the post on 17th of October was still rootable. Unfortunately I left it plugged in and connected for a few hours - got distracted, and it updated itself.

That is annoying. I guess there is no way to downgrade it.

jonathan18

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#1158253 20-Oct-2014 10:01

KiwiTim:
zespri:
KiwiTim: Are current Amazon Fire devices still being shipped with software that can be rooted or have I missed the boat on that?

Thanks for your advice.

Tim

The one that arrived in the post on 17th of October was still rootable. Unfortunately I left it plugged in and connected for a few hours - got distracted, and it updated itself.

That is annoying. I guess there is no way to downgrade it.

No, there's no way to return to an earlier version of thefirmware that enables rooting. I've asked on another thread here for advice for a fail-safe method of rooting the Fire TV, as I'm in the same boat (and want to get it right next time). Until I can be sure I won't fail in my attempts to root, I'm not buying another Fire TV (as USB HD access is critical for my sisters, who are after a small machine to run XBMC on).

What are the best fail-safe devices for running XBMC at the moment? With relatively easy set-up, fool-proof operation (my sisters aren't IT geeks at all!), and a lowish cost?

zespri

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#1158284 20-Oct-2014 10:55

jonathan18: I've asked on another thread here for advice for a fail-safe method of rooting the Fire TV, as I'm in the same boat (and want to get it right next time). Until I can be sure I won't fail in my attempts to root, I'm not buying another Fire TV (as USB HD access is critical for my sisters, who are after a small machine to run XBMC on).

Well, I think it's better to buy ASAP if you want to root as the longer you wait the more likely that the devices that comes won't be rootable. The fact that I did not root it is my own carelessness, Reading the guides the process is more or less straight forward.

Also, as someone else mentioned it looks like minix is a good option for XBMC.

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jonathan18

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#1158290 20-Oct-2014 11:02

zespri:
jonathan18: I've asked on another thread here for advice for a fail-safe method of rooting the Fire TV, as I'm in the same boat (and want to get it right next time). Until I can be sure I won't fail in my attempts to root, I'm not buying another Fire TV (as USB HD access is critical for my sisters, who are after a small machine to run XBMC on).

Well, I think it's better to buy ASAP if you want to root as the longer you wait the more likely that the devices that comes won't be rootable. The fact that I did not root it is my own carelessness, Reading the guides the process is more or less straight forward.

Also, as someone else mentioned it looks like minix is a good option for XBMC.

Yep, and I followed the guides - indeed went the route of following the more "fool-proof" one that required blocking of addresses in the router, which I did. Clearly I'm a fool and the guide not fool-proof, as it still somehow still had access to the update address (which I didn't remove from the router blocking until it had already stuffed up). Whether my router requires an actual reboot to block sites (as opposed to selecting 'apply', which has the usual expectations it'll work from that point forward) is something I need to look in to, as is a way to test the sites are indeed blocked.

Will look into this minnix product, thanks for this. EDIT: it's failure to support Netflix at a higher resolution than SD is probably a deal-breaker, given ideally I'm looking for a single product that can be slightly future-proofed, should I convince my sisters' of the advantages of Netflix. The Fire TV does both XBMC and Netflix for us, but for non-techies like my sisters there will always remain a risk of an unintended updated runining the XBMC experience for them (as neither of them has a NAS so rely on external HDD - and the reality is non-techies are also far more likely to not have a NAS, so will be more likely to be dependent on having a rotoed Fire TV).

zespri

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#1158860 20-Oct-2014 22:01

I have reasons to believe that download from softwareupdates.amazon.com is done over https. If this is the case, blocking a domain name, as described in the guide won't help much if your router takes the domain name from the http request. With https this will be encrypted and the packets will pass. Blocking the ip addresses that correspond to the domain name or blocking DNS resolution on the other hand should help.

Rooting the device in future, when the firmware catches up is not a guarantee. It may never happen. It all comes down to the desire of talented individuals to work on this and their patience. Often capable people are just not interested.

zespri

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#1159206 21-Oct-2014 13:11

Also worth noting two other methods of preventing updates:
- Editing /etc/hosts on the router to block hosts resolvling
- Blocking url substring on the router that contains signed.bin as all firmware to date has this sub-string in the name

zespri

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#1173219 11-Nov-2014 23:04

To follow up - I ordered another Fire Tv that I received today. This one was still rootable and I was able to root is successfully.

KiwiTim

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#1173361 12-Nov-2014 10:13

zespri: To follow up - I ordered another Fire Tv that I received today. This one was still rootable and I was able to root is successfully.

Thanks, good to know that is still an option.

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