So I had a CD rom disk I wanted to get a data file off of tonight, but left my laptop at work. I tried hooking a USB DVD drive (a full size desktop "internal" drive in a powered usb enclosure. Used to be top of the line, high speed re-write, etc. 10 years later, it is obsolete junk, slated to go to the landfill home of Zip and Floppy Disk drives. Am I the only one that is maudlin?) to my Tab S4 with nothing but incompatibility (even using exFat/NTFS for USB by Paragon).
I didn't realize this was "hard".
I found a Quora post that said that USB CD/DVD drives need to have "USB Flash Drive Mode Support" (which most drives don't seem to have). I found one USB DVD Drive on Amazon that people report works with Android. But it is $50 and USB 2.0.
Does anyone have a drive you can verify works on the Tab S4? Preferably USB 3.0 or USB C? And preferably in the $20-30 range?
I'm really try to go PC-less, and occasionally need to look up a file on DVD or CD Rom. It would be nice to be able to do that with my tablet,
Thanks,
Joe
So I'm looking at this.
Multiple LG drives claim "TV Connectivity" which seems to be flash drive mode - but does not explicitly call out support for otg.
https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP65NB60/dp/B00ODDE33U
$23.43 on Amazon
The manual says it has TV Connectivity where it acts as a flash drive.
What is TV Connectivity? TV Connectivity is a function that allows you to enjoy videos, pictures and music by connecting this product to a compatible A/V device (e.g. DIGITAL TV, DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME, PC) that supports USB connectivity.
How to Use TV Connectivity
* This product is defaulted to ODD mode when it is powered on.
1) With the tray open, press and hold the ‘Eject’ button for 2 seconds. (The LED indicator will turn on, switching to TV mode. Press and hold the button again for 2 seconds with the tray open to return to ODD mode.)
2) Insert your supported media into the drive. The disc file system will be converted to FAT32 and will be recognized as USB flash memory.
3) Select and play the files from your A/V device to enjoy videos, pictures and music. Refer to your A/V device owner’s manual for more information.
So I found and have ordered a drive that specifically claims android support:
https://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-GP95NW70
https://www.newegg.com/lg-model-gp95nw70-slim-dvd-burner/p/N82E16827136309
Android OS (Smartphone & Tablet) Connectivity*
Transfer and preserve photos, videos, music and data from your Android OS devices to an optical disc. Also, video, audio and data from optical discs can be played and read on your Android OS devices.
* Optical drives are compatible with devices running Android version 4.4.2 or above. Not all file types are compatible. Compatibility may depend on codec of application being used when playing files.
I can't find a manual for it on the LG website, and Newegg is one of the only shopping hits I could find. ~ $40 with tax and shipping. No hits on Amazon.
I'll post how it works when it arrives!
Joe
Long first impressions of LG GP95NW70
https://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-GP95NW70
https://www.newegg.com/lg-model-gp95nw70-slim-dvd-burner/p/N82E16827136309
I received my GP95 from Newegg yesterday.I played with it for a couple hours, and have some first impressions to report.
This model is Android compatible out of the box. There are two apps you need to download from the Playstore to make it work. Documentation is very poor. The only LG optical drives that are compatible with the software are KP65, KP95 and GP95. The only available in the USA is the GP95NW70 and I only found it on Ebay and at Newegg. The most commonly sold LG optical disc drive sold in the USA seem to be GP65 & GP60 (based on Google & Amazon searches). Neither of these models are listed as compatible with the Android apps you need to access the drives.
There are the two apps you need that are published by Hitachi-LG Data Storage, Inc.:
1) There are three versions of Disc Link: Disk Link, Disc Link Pro, and Disk Link Platinum
Disk Link is the oldest, from 2016, and is compatible only with KP65
Disk Link Pro is from 2017, and is compatible with KP95 and GP95. It is obviously out of date, was locked in portrait mode, which sucks with the USB C connector at the base of the picture frame. The documentation with my GP95 said to run this version.
Disk Link Platinum is the newest, from earlier this year, and is compatible with KP95 and GP95. This is what I am using and allows for rotation to landscape mode.
2) There are two versions of TrueDVD: TrueDVD+ (free) and TrueDVD ($0.99).
TrueDVD+ only works with KP95, but this is what the documentation for my GP95 said to use. It did not work
TrueDVD is $0.99, and it works with GP95 and KP95
Now the evaluation:
Out of the box, the drive has a female micro USB connector, they give you
1 ) A micro male to full size USB 2.0 male cable,
2) A micro USB adaptor that allows for external power + connecting to your phone (Full size USB from the player + micro USB power in / micro USB male to plug into your android device)
3) a micro USB female to male USB C adaptor plug to convert the micro USB adaptor to work with a USB C device.
4) There is a windows software disk
5) Poor documentation (what else is new?)
Links in the TrueDVD and Disc Link Platinum playstore entries take you to Korean web pages where you can download a firmware updater (that runs on Windows, of course). The manufacture date on the unit I got was from October 2018; its firmware "needed" to be updated out of the box. Of course, I have no idea what the update in the firmware has to do with anything.
TV Connectivity Mode (which the GP60 / GP65 models sold in the USA support), is very limited. By holding the eject button down with the door open, you can convert the CD player to a Fat32 read-only flash drive. I had problems getting Solid Explorer to recognize the drive. Microsoft exFAT/NTFS by Paragon works, but you have to pay extra for Fat32 (I optioned only for NTFS). It didn't seem to work with a hub.
When 4unning the aps, it seems to work fine plugging the full size USB into a powered USB C hub. It runs fine plugging directly into the tablet using the included adaptor, both with and without external power. I'm going to order a USB C to micro USB cable so I can connect directly without the hub / adaptors.
The apps:
Disk Link Platinum was a relief after running the Pro version. Screen rotation is a must. It reads CD's, opens PDF's / images from a data CD without obviously saving it locally to the device (the Paragon enabled file explorer had to copy it to local storage). Besides the data CD, I browsed images saved on a DVD ROM disc. No problems playing an audio cd, but it didn't automatically detect the track names. There is a grayed ot "gracenotes" option with a cryptic comment that suggests there is financial negotiation going on between Hitachi-LG and Gracenotes - presumably if this is ever enabled, it will be able to auto detect song names. Pressing the eject button on the unit brings up a "do you want to eject" pop-up on the screen. I'm not sure if you can minimize the window and keep playing.
TrueDVD is worth the $0.99. This allows you to play video DVD's. The menu's are touchscreen activated. There was a weird issue with eject -- pressing the eject button didn't do anything, and there was no menu item to "eject". I had to disconnect / reconnect & hit eject to get the video DVD out. "Help" on the app sends you to a Korean web page that says that non-white protected DVD's can be played from VLC Player, but that write-protected material can only be played with the TrueDVD app. The app would not play in split screen mode, and doesn't have a cast function (I don't know if it functions with screen mirroring). Besides a video DVD, I was able to play a DVD audio Disc (Dolby Tracks only, not DTS). DVD audio would not run minimized.
The video DVD player is region-locked. It came out of the box as Region 2 (Europe/Japan). When you put a Disc in, it says "The player region does not match the disc. Would you like to change the player region? You can do this 5 times and then it locks". I set it to region 1 and all ran fine. But it is a shame you can't make it regon free -- I have several DVD's I purchased years ago from Europe / Japan that weren't available in the USA. I don't know if the region selection is tracked in the TrueDVD app, or in the hardware; I suspect it is in the hardware. So you can't freely switch regions. Not a big deal unless you live in the US and are a big anime fan. I suppose you could buy two players and set one to Region 1 and the other to Region 2. But watching video DVD's is not the primary purpose I bought the drive for, it is just a perk.
I have no plans to try burning discs. That's what flash drives are for. I need it for reading existing CD/DVD ROM discs with out a PC. It seems to do this well. Audio CD and DVD video playability are happy (but probably seldom used) extras.
And I haven't tried using this with DeX yet. That will be for the weekend.
All and all, it seems like a good drive, and another step to freedom from PC's
Joe
So, DeX.
Not so much.
Disc Link works fine with DeX. TrueDVD, no.
In the link to the Korean help page for TrueDVD it mentioned that mirroring/casting (or what they refer to as "remote viewing") is not allowed for copy protected DVD's. But it suggests casting is OK for non-copy protected material using external viewers like VLC. Well, I'm not sure I have a video DVD that isn't copy protected. And TrueDVD sees DeX via HDMI to my TV as "remote viewing." So no-joy. I tried DeX locally on the tablet, and while it will run, if you try to resize the screen, it freezes. So you have to properly size the window before playing the DVD.
The other non-related to DeX observation was that I don't have to unplug / reconnect the drive to eject video DVD's -- If I hit the eject button, then close both apps and reopen Disc Link, the "do you want to eject" message pops up and the tray opens when you click "yes"
So to end my first impressions (and since I won't be using this on a regular basis, this is probably my last impressions too),
I think this is a very useful arrow for the quiver. I'm happy I can access data from old CD/DVD ROM libraries. It works well for this. I can't imagine ever using it to burn a CD or DVD -- we have USB flash drives today. Likewise ripping or burning an audio CD. I ripped all my CD's on a PC years ago and sent the vast majority off to the pawn shop. I no longer use the CD player in my car, I have a bluetooth adaptor that let's me transmit audio from my tablet to the car stereo system.
It is a nice plus to be able to view video DVD's, but there are some limitations. Ejecting, region lock, resizing, casting not possible. Likewise a nice plus to be able to play audio CD's, but this would be much improved if they re-enable gracenotes. It seems like a work in progress, but it isn't clear how much more work is going into it. It is a head-scratcher to me that they aren't marketing this more strongly in the US market. I couldn't find anything on other optical disc drives which could work with Android. There has to be at least a niche market somewhere in the electronic world for this.
I hope folks find this useful. Sometimes I wonder if I am only typing for myself. This sort of new functionality is interesting to me. I'd love to see more posts from people "look what I've found!" If there interested folks out there, please drop a note on the thread and say so.
Take care,
Joe
I'm going to add a couple more comments:
First, I was unfair about the documentation vis-à-vis Disc Link Pro / Platinum. The manufacture date was older than the platinum app. Hence the reference to pro in the documentation.
Second, I dropped an email to the support contact in the Disc Link app, and it took a couple of days, but they responded from Korea. With very good English. Explained Disc Link Platinum added tablet support (hence the ability to rotate), and that the TrueDVD / TrueDVD+ had different licenses. And thanked me for purchasing the drive. Very nice support, very polite response.
I've reported the eject bug, and asked a few additional questions.
Joe
Is Disk Link Platinum in the Play store? I do not see it there.
aspexil said:
Is Disk Link Platinum in the Play store? I do not see it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disk Link Platinum:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.co.hlds.disclink.platinum
TrueDVD:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smedio.hldsusb
sMedio seems to be the actual app developer, although they identify Hitachi-LG Data Storage as the publisher
Joe
So the "eject bug" isn't a bug, or is at least a known bug.
In the Disc Link Platinum playstore "about this app" documentation, in a footnote, it says, "to eject the disc inside ODD during video/music playback on the player works on with, terminate the player and then press eject key of ODD."
Obviously, this means when I want to eject a video DVD, I need to close TrueDVD+, then hit eject and the eject button works. And it does. ?
Joe
Related
I did not write this up, so a thanks goes to the original author of this... Ahmad Rafiq from HACKSlurp. I just thought it was very useful, and may be worth adding to this forum, so enjoy!
Do you have a large collection of movies and pictures stored in your external hard drive and you just can’t decide which stuff you want to move to your Android tablet’s 32GB SD card especially when you are traveling? You can actually stream data directly from your portable hard drive to your tablet essentially increasing the storage capacity of your tablet beyond SD card.
Here is how you can do it!
Step 1
You need to prepare your external HDD by formatting it to FAT32. If you have stuff in your hard drive, which is in NTFS state, you should move it temporarily to some other media while you prepare your hard drive.
This is perhaps the only downside to this procedure. But depending on your usage you can make this step worth your effort. This is just a one time only step so don’t be afraid to carry out the arduous task of moving your items from and to your HDD.
Step 2
Connect your portable HDD to your tablet.
Step 3
Make sure your USB switch state is set to ‘Host’. Get this free USB Mode Switcher app (requires ROOT access) if you don’t know how to do it.
Step 4
Switch to your file manager app and wait for it to detect your hard drive. It might take sometime for the app to detect your external drive during which time you should keep refreshing, but once it has detected, the streaming is flawless.
If you have followed the above steps properly you should now be able to watch your HD movies on the go!
The same procedure can also be applied to nearly any USB device like pocket drives etc. This can really come handy as you can transfer your documents from your pen drive to your tablet and edit them on the move!
I work full time, so I havent been able to test this on the sony S, but I plan to this coming weekend (tomorrow), I will add notes as to what I discover, after paying around with it a bit. I know it works on my Acer Iconia, lets keep our fingers crossed!
You say you need root access in order to do it successfully. I don't think anyone's made an exploit to obtain root access for the Tablet S yet. If I'm wrong, you better be sure to tell me how to obtain!! So many things I want to do once I get root!
Good luck though, i'm highly interested in this idea of external hard drives and thumb drives.
Yeah that root access part kinda threw me too. Im gonna try it this weeken, and will report back. I am also going to see what I can do to root this bad boy! I hope I can make something work.
Ok I've just hooked I'm my usb hard drive and so far i'm having mixed success.
Firstly the usb powered option did not work. The light on my HDD came on but i couldn't feel it spinning.
I attached a mains connections to it and it started to spin. A message popped up on the tablet saying "Recognising media" it asked if i wanted to open the Sony data transfer app that comes pre-installed. I declined and tried to view the files via a couple of different file managers but couldn't seem to find the HDD in either of them.
So i went to the Sony data transfer app and it recognised it fine. from there i can either stream from the HDD of transfer the files to the tablet. All the files tested were 720p TV & BD rips and they worked fine with MX Video player.
Sorry this so long winded but hope it helps.
I did all this without going through targazzi's method.
Probably not what you are after but if you have a nas drive you can connect to it wirelessly very easily using built in dlna app. It plays mp4 3gp etc videos no problem and i imagine other files will be supported as long as you have an app to deal with them properly. Another option is file expert app from the market - i mapped same drive as a network drive in it and can see all files. Haven,t bothered putting an sd card yet
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk
ps3taker said:
Probably not what you are after but if you have a nas drive you can connect to it wirelessly very easily using built in dlna app. It plays mp4 3gp etc videos no problem and i imagine other files will be supported as long as you have an app to deal with them properly. Another option is file expert app from the market - i mapped same drive as a network drive in it and can see all files. Haven,t bothered putting an sd card yet
Sent from my Sony Tablet S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to connect my PCH using dlna and I could see all my files but couldn't play most of them and the ones that I could play were stuttering.
Vinny1967 said:
I was able to connect my PCH using dlna and I could see all my files but couldn't play most of them and the ones that I could play were stuttering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have an issue with my DLNA server as the videos either have no sound or the video is stuttering. After several trial and errors, I was able to find the right setting for most of my DLNA devices. I use Freemake video converter (it's free, Google it)... then use Freemake to convert the videos to MP4 with bitrate not more than 1400 kbps, and AAC (stereo) audio format. Hope this helps.
well i didnt get a chance to play around with it over the weekend, I ran outta money before I could buy the USB cable for it. (Sad seeing as how its only $14, but thats life when your married with kids, and in the military, dumping your money into stuff to prepare to go to a field excercise for a few weeks)
requires ROOT access?
So your Sony Tablet S been rooted already?
Tergazzi said:
I did not write this up, so a thanks goes to the original author of this... Ahmad Rafiq from HACKSlurp. I just thought it was very useful, and may be worth adding to this forum, so enjoy!
Do you have a large collection of movies and pictures stored in your external hard drive and you just can’t decide which stuff you want to move to your Android tablet’s 32GB SD card especially when you are traveling? You can actually stream data directly from your portable hard drive to your tablet essentially increasing the storage capacity of your tablet beyond SD card.
Here is how you can do it!
Step 1
You need to prepare your external HDD by formatting it to FAT32. If you have stuff in your hard drive, which is in NTFS state, you should move it temporarily to some other media while you prepare your hard drive.
This is perhaps the only downside to this procedure. But depending on your usage you can make this step worth your effort. This is just a one time only step so don’t be afraid to carry out the arduous task of moving your items from and to your HDD.
Step 2
Connect your portable HDD to your tablet.
Step 3
Make sure your USB switch state is set to ‘Host’. Get this free USB Mode Switcher app (requires ROOT access) if you don’t know how to do it.
Step 4
Switch to your file manager app and wait for it to detect your hard drive. It might take sometime for the app to detect your external drive during which time you should keep refreshing, but once it has detected, the streaming is flawless.
If you have followed the above steps properly you should now be able to watch your HD movies on the go!
The same procedure can also be applied to nearly any USB device like pocket drives etc. This can really come handy as you can transfer your documents from your pen drive to your tablet and edit them on the move!
I work full time, so I havent been able to test this on the sony S, but I plan to this coming weekend (tomorrow), I will add notes as to what I discover, after paying around with it a bit. I know it works on my Acer Iconia, lets keep our fingers crossed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the idea of the All Share Play hub, streaming movies direct to my tv this way via wifi would be worth doing (unlike MHL to HDMI which in addition to the tv and phone requires THREE additional components to be connected, including power adaptor).
What I don't like about it is the proprietory nature of it, and the fact that I have no guarantee it will be compatible with my next phone - especially if that phone isn't a Samsung.
This is a new area of interest for me, so excuse my ignorance, but is there not an open standards type of device that can do this, which will allow me to use any phone with it?
Bump.
While I doubt it's as easy to use (AllShare is specifically geared for sharing media AFAIK - I removed it from my phone so I don't really know what it's like), Samba Filesharing will turn your phone into a SMB server (possible alternative: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codesector.droidnas). Samba is GPLed, so on the openness front you're covered. I'm not sure what kind of speeds you would get, though, so try the app (it's free) and mount the share on a GNU/Linux computer and see if it works well for you if you're interested. There's a bit of a shift in the way it works: with AllShare, I believe, you initiate the streaming from your phone. With Samba, you share a folder but have to navigate to it from whatever device it is you're attempting to stream to.
Assuming that you are, if you have a hacked Samsung TV, you can then mount the Samba share from it and start browsing. If not, you can buy small Android devices that plug into your TV for cheap prices - and there are, of course, ways to mount a Samba share on an Android device (along with a WIP port of XBMC, which features SMB browsing anyway).
--
I was high on something. Look into DLNA and using your phone as UPnP Media Server.
Hi, I'm going on vacation soon and since my tablet (10.1) has only a limited amount of space, I was wondering if there is a quick and easy way to transfer files (movies and tv shows, ~700mbs) from my android phone (s3) to the tablet, without the use of the internet, as I might not have any internet connect and I wont be bringing my laptop. Thanks for the help.
wifi direct in the settings menu or try an app called airdroid if you have a wifi router. Using the browser you can via wifi download and upload files
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda app-developers app
Or get a USB OTG dongle (if your phone supports mass storage).
It can be quite slow, but I've used bluetooth to transfer files as large as 180MB between my phone and galaxy tab before. You could try packaging your files in a zip (use es file explorer or something similar) and then transferring with bluetooth (keep in mind, it can take around 10 mins to copy ~200MB).
Wifi file sender. Make one device a wifi hotspot. Then connect the other and run the app on both devices. You'll know what to do...
Sent from my cm7 - powered Nokia 3210
H2O37 said:
Hi, I'm going on vacation soon and since my tablet (10.1) has only a limited amount of space, I was wondering if there is a quick and easy way to transfer files (movies and tv shows, ~700mbs) from my android phone (s3) to the tablet, without the use of the internet, as I might not have any internet connect and I wont be bringing my laptop. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find myself in this situation because I travel pretty frequently abroad and for stays shorter than a month I bring with me only my smartphone (Galaxy Note) and my tablet (G.Tab 10.1" 3G) and there are tons of options:
- Wi-Fi direct. it's built-in in both the G.Tab and the S3 and you don't need internet, routers or cables and it's pretty fast, it's probably the best option for what you need
- free apps like Airdrop or Samsung Kies Air or (the one I use most because has both a browser-based files transfer and an FTP server, I have the paid version) Remote Web Desktop (for these you need a router though)
- an USB OTG adaptor for the G.Tab (AFAIK there is only the original Samsung one) and then connect the S3 as "mass storage device" (check in the settings, on my Note it's under "Wireless and networks"-->"USB settings"-->"Connect as mass storage device". you can also use an USB flash drive to store your movies or even a PC hard disk if it's in a powered external case
- the SD memory card reader adaptor from Samsung. same as the USB adaptor except you connect to it SD cards or microSD cards in an SD size adaptor. you can for example connect to the G.Tab the microSD card from your S3 (since you seem to store whole movies on your S3 I assume you are using also removable memory in it)
- Bluetooth (exactly like Wi-Fi direct except it's way slower)
I personally use all of the above methods, it all depends on what you have to transfer. Apps like Airdroid, Kies Air and Remote Web Desktop I use mainly at home with my PC (I hate using cables so rarely use the Note's and the G.Tab's USB cables with the PC), between my tablet and smartphone for small and few files I use Bluetooth, for big but few files I use Wi-Fi direct, for many files of whatever size I use both the USB OTG and SD card reader adaptors from Samsung (at the time I bought the G.Tab they were sold together with a small discount and they are both useful in slightly different ways).
xdapao3 said:
- an USB OTG adaptor for the G.Tab (AFAIK there is only the original Samsung one) and then connect the S3 as "mass storage device" (check in the settings, on my Note it's under "Wireless and networks"-->"USB settings"-->"Connect as mass storage device". you can also use an USB flash drive to store your movies or even a PC hard disk if it's in a powered external case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reckon this is your best bet, especially for speed.
I bought my USB connector for my Tab 10.1 for around £3 off eBay and also the USB connector for my S2 for around £2 from the same place (3 cheers for the 'Bay' ). Easy as pie and is a great help when travelling...
I've bought TWO (one at home other at office) of this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Conne...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item20c67757be
Perfect!!!
Plus with the cheapest(smaller) card reader :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-All-I...Readers_RL&hash=item2eb13e7e1e#ht_2399wt_1187
Just think the tablet could bring this interface on stock, but works just fine.
I personally use WiFi Direct for big files like that, not really tried folders or multiple files (I'll give out a go tonight though) but of tone not tried that feature, you should, it's one of those features that I think should be highlighted more by Samsung in my opinion.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
RavenY2K3 said:
it's one of those features that I think should be highlighted more by Samsung in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think people should RTFM!! :laugh:
Questions go in the Q&A section
Hello, everyone.
OK, I finally got time to test the Android stick mini PC that I bought in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
The device is model T-001, by AuxTek (I dont think it's a registered brand name).
MODEL: T0001
System = Android 4.1.1
CPU - RK3066 Dual CPU
2GB DDR3 RAM (actual available 1.45GB)
Internal 8GB memory (actual available 4.83GB)
WIFI capable
BLUETOOTH capable
HDMI-VIDEO OUTPUT
2.4GB Wireless Mouse _ Keyboard (It's actually like holding a LASER POINTER to point and click the APPs on the screen).
*See the attachment photos about the packing and the accessories.
OK, the HDMI connecting cable is loosen, so if I move the mini pc, the screen may black out.
and also, I dont trust the quality of the power supply (5V-2A).
I bought the HDMI adaptor and a new power supply for it (one may also use a Google Nexus 7 or iPad charger for it).
*Next post about the first thing that I do on the device...ROOTING it! (it is a must have software/app)
OK, Part 2.
About ROOTING the device.
I use "Tencent Mobile Manager"
(see photo below for download the software, and install it on the PC).
Note:
(1) In order to communicate with the PC, one can connect the mini pc to the PC by USB cable using the OTG port.
*This does not make the mini pc as a "storage device" on the PC. It simply can communicate with the Tencent Mobile Manager only!
(2) According to the instruction menu, in order to become a "storage device" when connecting to the PC, one must connect the mini pc to the home PC by using the USB port that
connects the Remote Control/Keyboard *the bottom USB port.
*However, the package does not have this cable. So I have not tried out this function yet!
(3) According to the instruction menu, there is a reset button on the left side of the mini pc. Pressing it with a pin is supposed to go to recover menu. But I have not tried this yet!
OK, after the home PC has installed Tencent Mobile Manager, it will automatically find the mini pc and a menu will pop up.
>Click the one-click manager button, and it will ROOT and manage the device to best performance (such as cleaning caches and unwanted files) *optimization!
When Rooting the mini pc, it also will install the Tencent Mobile Management app in the mini pc.
**after the success ROOT, you can click this app and learn that the phone is ROOT!!
Also, I installed "Titanium BackUp" and "Root File Manager" to test the device if it is ROOT. and It is!!!
This Tencent Mobile Manager is a must have program (and app) on the PC and the mini pc for communication and manage the device.
>It can manage the files within the device (between internal memory and the SD card) easily!
>It helps to scan all downloads and access files during the use of the mini pc! (and it optimize the device).
>It has its own app market function (that's including finding the Adobe Flash apk!)
>It has its own movie market to download full movie files into the device!!
OK, turning on the device, and first go to "About the device" to check the firmware and hardware version/software version.
*see the attachment photo in the last post.
The device is displayed just like any other Android device.
The bottom menu bar reads
(1) Go back
(2) Home menu
(3) Apps that are opened and are running in the background
(4) "Screenshot"
(5) Volume down
(6) Volume up
And this is Android 4.1.1
So, when one pull the bottom menu bar up, it opens the Google Search menu!
OK, you can check the attachment photos to see what apps I have installed and run in this mini pc.
Basically, it is used as an entertainment center for my parents. They can watch all the Chinese TV dramas and movies,
and access all China cable TV networks from this thing!
**The test is done on my Panasonic 50" plasma TV. So I think if it works on a large screen TV, anything that's less than 50" should be ok.
**The device is set at 720P by default, The wholesaler suggests to me to keep it at 720P even the 1080P option is available in the HDMI output setting. So I have not changed this.
**The device is in good temperature during the usage time (watching steaming movies from networks in China for awhile).
**I have also used a 2GB SD card to store music, movie (American Horror Story Season 1), and photos. and they all works out fine!
(The mini pc supports 32GB SD card)
The device has an app called "explorers", which is to access and edit the files inside the device.
>The device can use OTG port to connect an "USB memory stick" if a SD card is not present.
**can only choose to use either a SD card (via SD Cad slot) or a USB memory stick (via OTG port). CANNOT USE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!
First, I have to install a chinese input keyboard (CedIME app) so that I can type chinese on the mini pc during search and internet browsing.
>The wholesale tells me there wont be any firmware updates in the future. But I have tested the System Update and it's running anyway. haha.
*dont know if I should try to flash the ROM myself in the future, as I have no idea which one supports this mini pc. haha.
OK, I have tested many available online video apps, and this one is really good.
*have very new movie and TV episodes available!!
*the steaming is very smooth, not much lag. (my wi-fi connection signal is already just fair)
In the end, I tested it with a Japanese pervert superman movie "Hentai Kamen"
CONCLUSION:
Pros:
(1)The operating temperature is good. Just mild warm.
(2)Speed is good. The remote control pointer sometimes lag, but overall ok. It needs just few minutes to get used to it.
(3)The Remote Control with Keyboard is a must have device to go with this mini pc!
(4)At 720P, it is already very good graphic quality in a good balance between "visual quality" and "smooth steaming"
(5)Tiny device, easy to fit just next to the TV.
(6)ROOTing this mini pc is necessary, and the Tencent Mobile Manager is a recommended companion to go with it! Really useful!!
Cons:
(1)Some apps that are installed via apk file or other non-Play Store download, it has to be uninstalled through "Settings->Apps".
And after every uninstall, it will reboot the device. And after every reboot, the Wi-Fi has to be turn OFF and then turn ON to search the
Wi-Fi connection correctly again!!
(2)The USB cable, HDMI cable, and the Power charger (5V-2A) are below average quality.
*I changed them to use my own HDMI adaptor, my own HDMI cable, and my own USB cables (Nokia and Sony), and my own Power Charger.
(3)The package does not come with the USB cable that connect the mini pc to Home PC as an externam storage device. I have to buy a new cable to test this function (which I have not done).
oh, the size of it, in comparing to a Nokia 920
I know this thread is old,
I have an auxtek T004, allwinner A10s cpu running android.
I wonder if is there a way to run OpenElec on it, as Xbmc/Kodi is not booting (crashes after "preparing for first boot").
Thanks in advance.
Hello all! My first attempt at any type of guide or help, so give me pointers if you notice a better way to go about this than what's here.
This was done by me on my Ultra that broke, but I would imagine the same works for any other device that has a Snapdragon 800, and probably earlier chipsets as well. SPMC and XBMC have documentation about the supported hardware.
Doesn't it suck when you crack the screen on your baby and she no longer responds to touch input? We've probably all been there with one device or another. But don't let that busted phone gather dust, turn it into a full fledged media center! These quad core beasts can do so much more than the phones of a few years ago. I take no credit for anything here, as I'm just passing along my experience so others can make use of a disabled phone.
I have used Plex, Chromecast, etc, but no combination of those gives me the control of XBMC, and the ability to play mostly any codecs without the need for transcoding.
A few things before I get into the steps:
1. I started with a rooted phone, but you don't necessarily need one. It just helps later on if you want more control over the device functions.
2. I recommend using the most up to date firmware possible, I am on 4.4.4 myself, using this rom here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2800414
3. You'll want a usb OTG cable like the one I used here, along with a cheapo wired usb mouse so you can control the phone until it is set up to work with a remote.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00871Q5PI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
4. You'll also need an MHL adapter. I used this one here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPXI4S2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
5. You'll need wifi, assuming you have moved the sim to your next device.
6. You will want some form of controlling XBMC remotely. I use Yatse for Android, installed on my replacement phone and it's a godsend.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree&hl
Here we go.
1. Clean that busted phone up. Reset to factory settings, flash a new rom, OR just remove any non-essential apps. I only have my phone signed into Google so I can access the Play store, which you will want to do as well.
2. Install this if you are rooted. It will allow the phone to disable the screen when the MHL adapter is plugged in, saving battery and keeping it nice and dark around your TV. The wizard should guide you through a fairly simple set up. What you are looking for is for the app to disable/suspend/standby the screen when it detects MHL.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl
3. Install SPMC. This is a forked version of XBMC for Android, and frankly, it's better suited for this application. It has more features, and takes better advantage of the hardware.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc
4. After installing SPMC, you can use it as a launcher, meaning the phone will boot directly into SPMC. Just press home and you'll be given the option.
5. Launch SMPC, go into Settings-Services-Webserver and check Allow control of XBMC via HTTP.
6. At this point, you can now control SPMC with Yatse or another similar XBMC remote app on another device. Depending on your situation, you may still want that mouse to do a few more things before you connect to the TV.
Options Options Options
I use XBMC in my living room on a dedicated PC. My media resides on a NAS, wired via gigabit ethernet to an AC wireless router. Since I wanted to use this broken phone as a sort of satellite system in the bedroom, I set up a MySQL server on the same NAS. It can be daunting, but XBMC provides great documentation and this method makes getting your media onto the phone very easy.
http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL
If you do not have another XBMC or do not wish to share the library between devices, skip this section.
1. If you have another instance of XBMC, give this a serious look, as both the library and the playback status will be synced among all devices. You can stop in one room and resume in another.
2. Running the current version of SPMC, and XBMC 13.2, I had no issues with MySQL, despite the warning to use the same build date.
3. If you have this type of setup, all you need to do is copy the advancedsettings.xml file you created from your original XBMC install, and paste it into the userdata folder deep inside the SPMC file structure. This is usually found inside sdcard/Android/data
4. Once you do this, launch SPMC and your existing library will be there.
5. I have not tried this, since I went through the trouble to set up MySQL before, but you can alternatively use Media Browser 3 to serve up your library, and it does appear
to be easier to set up. Download the XBMB3C plugin inside XBMC/SPMC to allow for this.
http://mediabrowser.tv/download/#server
Add Media
Alternatively, you can navigate to videos inside SPMC, select files, and then choose Add Source to add your media from wherever to your new library. There is lots of documentation over at the official XBMC site, so go there if this is your first foray into this type of thing.
I've found that I just have to turn the phone on when I walk into the bedroom, and it will boot directly into SPMC. From that point I can use Yatse on a different device to control the media center. When I am done watching content, the shutdown option inside Yatse will shut the phone off, and it just goes into a powered down charging state.
Mostly everything should play after the install, but you may need or want to adjust some settings inside SPMC/XBMC. Again, look to the official XBMC wiki for help if you need it.
If you're rooted, you can probably do without the USB OTG cable. You could use ADB to install packages and the shell (or a wrapper like this — worked well for me a few months back) to control the screen. This might also be useful if your screen is dead.
There is a new specific xbmc for android that comes preconfigured with the most important repositories for those that really don't want to dabble with all of that kind of stuff. Just install and all the main plugins are automatically installed for you. You can find it here http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/
Is TVMC anything more than XBMC 13.2 with preconfigured settings? Seems redundant slightly because SPMC (version 13.3.2) actually contains fixes to XBMC 13.2 to enable hardware acceleration on more devices. With the Z Ultra specifically, under XBMC 13.2 official, even though hardware acceleration was enabled in the settings, it was not working. SPMC is built by official XBMC team members and contains "fixes" that were left out of the official spin for whatever reason. The settings are also mostly preconfigured, at least the defaults are different than regular XBMC, and for me at least, everything worked right away.
What are the possibilities for a phone that does not support MHL? (Oppo Find 5) I had the same idea after I broke my screen, but I am not sure now what to do. A mediacenter seemed great to me. A webserver is possible too, but I don't like how it won't use it's media capabilities anymore.
The device supports wireless screen (Miracast?) but I don't think that works great and I can't get it to work really.
Well, Android Lollipop will support Chromecast Mirroring, so if you are able to find a rom for that device when Lollipop makes its way around, that would work. There seems to be a good amount of development for that phone on XDA, so you might just need to wait it out a bit.
HaTeNL said:
What are the possibilities for a phone that does not support MHL? (Oppo Find 5) I had the same idea after I broke my screen, but I am not sure now what to do. A mediacenter seemed great to me. A webserver is possible too, but I don't like how it won't use it's media capabilities anymore.
The device supports wireless screen (Miracast?) but I don't think that works great and I can't get it to work really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mailme45 said:
Well, Android Lollipop will support Chromecast Mirroring, so if you are able to find a rom for that device when Lollipop makes its way around, that would work. There seems to be a good amount of development for that phone on XDA, so you might just need to wait it out a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be worth a look if you are interested in chromecast mirroring.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/har...experimental-enable-mirroring-device-t2812193
mailme45 said:
Hello all! My first attempt at any type of guide or help, so give me pointers if you notice a better way to go about this than what's here.
This was done by me on my Ultra that broke, but I would imagine the same works for any other device that has a Snapdragon 800, and probably earlier chipsets as well. SPMC and XBMC have documentation about the supported hardware.
Doesn't it suck when you crack the screen on your baby and she no longer responds to touch input? We've probably all been there with one device or another. But don't let that busted phone gather dust, turn it into a full fledged media center! These quad core beasts can do so much more than the phones of a few years ago. I take no credit for anything here, as I'm just passing along my experience so others can make use of a disabled phone.
I have used Plex, Chromecast, etc, but no combination of those gives me the control of XBMC, and the ability to play mostly any codecs without the need for transcoding.
A few things before I get into the steps:
1. I started with a rooted phone, but you don't necessarily need one. It just helps later on if you want more control over the device functions.
2. I recommend using the most up to date firmware possible, I am on 4.4.4 myself, using this rom here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2800414
3. You'll want a usb OTG cable like the one I used here, along with a cheapo wired usb mouse so you can control the phone until it is set up to work with a remote.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00871Q5PI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
4. You'll also need an MHL adapter. I used this one here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KPXI4S2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
5. You'll need wifi, assuming you have moved the sim to your next device.
6. You will want some form of controlling XBMC remotely. I use Yatse for Android, installed on my replacement phone and it's a godsend.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.leetzone.android.yatsewidgetfree&hl
Here we go.
1. Clean that busted phone up. Reset to factory settings, flash a new rom, OR just remove any non-essential apps. I only have my phone signed into Google so I can access the Play store, which you will want to do as well.
2. Install this if you are rooted. It will allow the phone to disable the screen when the MHL adapter is plugged in, saving battery and keeping it nice and dark around your TV. The wizard should guide you through a fairly simple set up. What you are looking for is for the app to disable/suspend/standby the screen when it detects MHL.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl
3. Install SPMC. This is a forked version of XBMC for Android, and frankly, it's better suited for this application. It has more features, and takes better advantage of the hardware.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc
4. After installing SPMC, you can use it as a launcher, meaning the phone will boot directly into SPMC. Just press home and you'll be given the option.
5. Launch SMPC, go into Settings-Services-Webserver and check Allow control of XBMC via HTTP.
6. At this point, you can now control SPMC with Yatse or another similar XBMC remote app on another device. Depending on your situation, you may still want that mouse to do a few more things before you connect to the TV.
Options Options Options
I use XBMC in my living room on a dedicated PC. My media resides on a NAS, wired via gigabit ethernet to an AC wireless router. Since I wanted to use this broken phone as a sort of satellite system in the bedroom, I set up a MySQL server on the same NAS. It can be daunting, but XBMC provides great documentation and this method makes getting your media onto the phone very easy.
http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL
If you do not have another XBMC or do not wish to share the library between devices, skip this section.
1. If you have another instance of XBMC, give this a serious look, as both the library and the playback status will be synced among all devices. You can stop in one room and resume in another.
2. Running the current version of SPMC, and XBMC 13.2, I had no issues with MySQL, despite the warning to use the same build date.
3. If you have this type of setup, all you need to do is copy the advancedsettings.xml file you created from your original XBMC install, and paste it into the userdata folder deep inside the SPMC file structure. This is usually found inside sdcard/Android/data
4. Once you do this, launch SPMC and your existing library will be there.
5. I have not tried this, since I went through the trouble to set up MySQL before, but you can alternatively use Media Browser 3 to serve up your library, and it does appear
to be easier to set up. Download the XBMB3C plugin inside XBMC/SPMC to allow for this.
http://mediabrowser.tv/download/#server
Add Media
Alternatively, you can navigate to videos inside SPMC, select files, and then choose Add Source to add your media from wherever to your new library. There is lots of documentation over at the official XBMC site, so go there if this is your first foray into this type of thing.
I've found that I just have to turn the phone on when I walk into the bedroom, and it will boot directly into SPMC. From that point I can use Yatse on a different device to control the media center. When I am done watching content, the shutdown option inside Yatse will shut the phone off, and it just goes into a powered down charging state.
Mostly everything should play after the install, but you may need or want to adjust some settings inside SPMC/XBMC. Again, look to the official XBMC wiki for help if you need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im confused. How does the phone charge while its hooked into the TV?
Roseysdaddy said:
Im confused. How does the phone charge while its hooked into the TV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mhl adapter is powered.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71TmMtz9uIL._SL1500_.jpg
One port to rule them all
adfurgerson said:
The mhl adapter is powered.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71TmMtz9uIL._SL1500_.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Galaxy Note 2 with the same issue,
What is confusing me here is the phone has one MicroUSB into which three things need to plug into it
Power
OTG for Mouse and Keyboard
MHL adapter
ShiversZN said:
I have a Galaxy Note 2 with the same issue,
What is confusing me here is the phone has one MicroUSB into which three things need to plug into it
Power
OTG for Mouse and Keyboard
MHL adapter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. The mhl is a Y cable with a male micro usb on the end of cord and a female at the end with hdmi that requires power which runs adapter and charges phone.
2. OTG is only for initial setup and will not be used with mhl ( OP states this is for screens that will display but not respond to touch) after setup control will be via a second device using yatse or another remote control app.
3. See #1.
This thread is great i ened up doing this very thing after destroying the digitizer on an s3 a while ago (I was one unlucky sap to try replacing a cracked screen) and the resultof having a usless phone was made better by having a perminant xbmc device connectd to my tv-way better than satellite or cable
Awesome!
I have a few devices that I keep around. Note 2, galaxy S2, nexus 1 (and my retarded/retired phones iphone 5S, ipad and blackberry playbook). I will definitely give it a try and let you guys know how it goes.
Have you tried on your S2?
Although I've touch screen working, but my gorilla glass is broken. I dont know some are saying that they've to replace whole assemble costing $125 here. While some people on the internet say that it can be done and on ebay I saw front panel(Gorilla) being sold in India.
I just came across this thread after my own experiences with getting this going yesterday! I have an LG Optimus G (E973) with a cracked digitizer, and I was about to buy an Android box, when I realized this phone would be more powerful, and have more features, than anything I could buy in the $100 range.
I made an OTG cable myself. Very easy to do, all you need is a microUSB cable male end, and a USB female end... except, problem #1, I found out my phone doesn't support OTG power. So I had to turn it into an OTG Y-cable so it can receive power (and charge the phone) simultaneously. Then, problem #2, my kernel doesn't support OTG. I wasn't able to figure this out. So I looked for another solution.
Maybe I could install VNC or one of those ADB viewers? Hook up my computer... problem #3, not authorized for adb. Can't authorize without touchscreen. (I later discovered the device keys are stored at /data/misc/adb/adb_keys, and could have added my computer in recovery.) Went to the gf's house and found my old MacBook Air, turns out that one was authorized!
Great! I'm in... now... after fiddling around trying to get it to work in Windows and OSX, problem #4 neither VNC or ADB viewers worked. I could SEE the screen, but interaction did nothing.
Eventually, I decided to just manually run touch events from the adb shell, a la adb shell input swipe 0 0 0 1280 to pull down the menu. Armed with this, I hacked together a script with JavaScript and PHP to have a web interface I could interact with my phone through. It's SLOW as hell at 768x1280 (max 1fps, I'd say), as it uses screenshots.
If anyone is interested, here's the script I made. https:// gist.github.com/shahyar/8d24815b54b8ca1c1d9c
...It didn't end there. I decided now that I have it working, I'll reset the data. Problem #5: I forgot that this also resets debug to off. I had to calculate, using a ruler, where to swipe and tap to enable developer mode, and then enable USB debugging. I wrote an init.d script which did this.
Now, I'm just waiting for my MHL cable and Bluetooth keyboard. Let's hope those go a little better than how the rest of this adventure did.
Screen cracked and not usable
I have a further issue in that my screen is cracked and I can't see what's happening on the screen.
Any thoughts on how to set it up in this case?
Great guide, thank you for taking the time to write it mailme45
tithij said:
I have a further issue in that my screen is cracked and I can't see what's happening on the screen.
Any thoughts on how to set it up in this case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in a similar situation when I embarked on this little project, my screen was completely dead but i could hear sounds from the physical buttons so I knew the phone was on. There are a few solutions to get your phone setup, assuming you are still looking for a solution, if not I'll just mention it for the next person in this predicament. If you didn't buy your mhl adapter yet and your screen doesn't work at all, then I suggest buying a mhl cable with CEC function; this will allow you to control your phone with your tv remote when connected. These mhl adapters cost more than the ones found on ebay but also come with more features. The rocketfish RF-G1171($12 at bestbuy) for example will work with most phones including 11-pin samsung models so if you didn't buy a mhl yet, I would recommend getting one with CEC or one that comes as part of a hub, search ebay for the 5in1 mhl. If you already bought a cheap ebay one, continue reading below.
You will need a mhl cable, otg cable and usb mouse/keyboard; These steps are for people with a dead screen and digitizer. If your screen works but touch does not, just use a otg cable and mouse and if your screen doesn't work but touch does then use mhl cable and control using the touch screen.
Note** If you had USB debugging enabled already, skip to step 5
Step 1: connect the MHL cable to your phone and connect with your TV/Monitor and wait for your device to boot into the lockscreen
Step 2: Once at the lockscreen take out the mhl cable and use the otg cable to connect your mouse and swipe to unlock, switch back to mhl cable to make sure you got passed the lockscreen.
Note** If you had a password lock or pattern lock this will be very annoying, use the otg with keyboard if its a password and use mouse for pattern; might take awhile since you will be doing the pattern blind.
Step 3: use the keyboard to navigate to Settings > About Phone > scroll to "build number" and hit enter 7x to turn on developer options.
Note** As each phones menu, app layout and UI is slightly different, you may have to switch between mhl and otg just to see where you currently as you navigate. I suggest taking your time and switching between the two for each action you make, as we will only have to go through this process once.
Step 4: with developer options enabled, navigate to the "developer options" menu and turn on USB debugging.
Step 5: At this stage there are two methods, if you are lucky option 1 will work, if it does not, sadly you will have to go through the annoying mhl/otg switching to navigate one more time.
Option 1:
Install a google chrome app/extension called Vysor on your pc
Link: Vysor
This is an app developed by Koush that allows you to connect, view and control your android device on your PC through USB. The app is still in beta phase so might not work with every phone. Drivers will need to be installed for this app to work, which can be found at the Vysor homepage(I can't link to outsite sites so just google it) along with instructions. If the app works for you, I suggest the first thing you do is turn off certain features like lockscreen and sleep timer; next install a bluetooth keyboard/mouse/controller, something that will allow you to control the phone when connected to the tv/monitor through mhl. Finally you can also do all the required setups mentioned in this thread to get kodi running and when you are satisfied with the setup, connect the phone back to the tv/monitor.
Option 2:
If you were unlucky and Vysor did not work for you, navigate to the play store by switching between mhl and otg and install an app called Teamviewer Quicksupport. Install teamviewer on your PC; launch the app on your phone and you will be given an ID, use the ID on your PC to connect to the phone. When you try to connect from your PC, you will get a confirmation on your phone; make sure your phone is connected through mhl so you can see the confirmation. switch to otg to accept then switch back to mhl since you will be prompted to install an add-on, this add-on is necessary to view your phone screen on your PC. Once the add-on is installed, you will be able to see and control your phone from your pc, use your pc to setup your phone. As mentioned in option one, turn off certain features that are hindrance like lockscreen and install a bluetooth device that will let you control your phone wirelessly.
Hope this helps people with a completely dead screen but otherwise working phone, It can be very frustrating and time consuming but once you get past the initial stuff, you should be able to either link using vysor or wirelessly using teamviewer for feature setups.
So this is a great idea, except that it doesn't work for any other apps, since I do most of my watching on Netflix and HBO and I can't figure out a way to control the phone outside of Kodi.