Chuck 17 Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 Not trying to get into a device/technology discussion war. My original post is simply outlining with review/comment of Emby with FireTV for replacing WMC with Xbox 360 extenders due to WMC's retirement at the end of next month with the launch of Windows 10. Regardless, for me, my decision is made and the system is up and running: Windows Media Center uninstalled, Xbox 360 extenders retired, FireTV boxes/FireTV Emby Client installed on two TV's, Xbox One on the third (currently using the Emby Web Client for access, chomping at the bit for the Xbox One app), Emby server, Silicon Dust HDHomeRun PRIME tuner, EmbyTV plugin. So far, I'm delighted with the implementation, with caveats in the works with other discussion threads (e.g. Live TV Guide challenges with overwriting metadata during guide refresh, etc.) I suspect that I misspoke about the wireless, and should have focused on the stick device performance and features vs the box. Improved processing speed (snappier usability), and additional storage capacity up front with USB expansion capability, Bluetooth headphone support, and miracast support tipped the scales for the FireTV above the others. And, being an Amazon Prime member already for free two day shipping, the additional content access without additional cost is a bonus. Disclaimer: The experiences outlined here are intended to be informational only, and this outlines this poster's experience and preferences only. Your experience may be different depending on system preferences and configurations. 1
camkerr81 0 Posted July 4, 2015 Posted July 4, 2015 Fire OS 5 (based on Lollipop) coming to Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick this fall. Developers get early access: https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx2EQ2T7R75R810/Announcing-the-Fire-OS-5-Developer-Preview How will THIS impact the app? More bells and whistles? Is this actually coming to the Fire TV? Its only available to the tablets currently?
doddsie 10 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Okay ..... Ill ask Are we getting the Emby for Android update for the FireTV in due course? bw Doddsie
Luke 42077 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Okay ..... Ill ask Are we getting the Emby for Android update for the FireTV in due course? bw Doddsie What do you mean? the fire tv app receives updates on a regular basis. http://www.amazon.com/Emby-for-Fire-TV/dp/B00VVJKTW8
doddsie 10 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Sorry Luke I meant with the new "Player" and less transcoding.... just tested Emby for Android on nexus phone and its sweet.
Latchmor 584 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Sorry Luke I meant with the new "Player" and less transcoding.... just tested Emby for Android on nexus phone and its sweet. I think ebr is fine tuning the new app using the Nexus Player first to iron out all the bugs then he'll update Fire TV. Saves him updating both, bug fixing, updating both and so on. Don't think it will be too long. 2
doddsie 10 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks for the heads-up Latchmor.....can't wait bw
mediacowboy 438 Posted July 23, 2015 Posted July 23, 2015 Should be getting a sound bar in Monday for my monitor and hope to hook up my stick to it so I can test more.
CBers 7450 Posted July 24, 2015 Posted July 24, 2015 Should be getting a sound bar in Monday for my monitor and hope to hook up my stick to it so I can test more. Which one are you getting?
mediacowboy 438 Posted July 24, 2015 Posted July 24, 2015 Its just a simple Dell sound bar that attachs to the monitor.
leebo 12 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Anyone else having this issue?: Sometimes I can log in OK, and the screen gets populated with the title tiles. I click on one, and the poster art displays, but no play button, no episode description, etc. After several seconds, the poster art disappears and the screen goes black. I back out and try a different title but the same thing happens. The only fix I've found is to reboot the Fire TV stick. This seems to happen every few nights. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
ebr 16169 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Anyone else having this issue?: Sometimes I can log in OK, and the screen gets populated with the title tiles. I click on one, and the poster art displays, but no play button, no episode description, etc. After several seconds, the poster art disappears and the screen goes black. I back out and try a different title but the same thing happens. The only fix I've found is to reboot the Fire TV stick. This seems to happen every few nights. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk Sounds like a network problem. When the screen "goes black" do you also see a little pop-up message that says something like "Volley error...."
leebo 12 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Sounds like a network problem. When the screen "goes black" do you also see a little pop-up message that says something like "Volley error...." Occasionally I see something like " video playback error". It never happens on my Chromecast, but the Fire stick is connected to an access point. However, this just started a few weeks ago, and NOTHING has changed in my network. What would you suspect as a network issue? The WiFi receiver in the Fire TV stick? Next time it happens I'll try Hulu and Netflix before rebooting. I assume if it's a network issue it would happen there. Also, I'll try disconnecting from the network rather than rebooting. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
ebr 16169 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 You would never get a "video playback error" in the situation you described. You would have to be actually trying to play something. Based on your description, it sounds like the retrieval of the item details is timing out. I have had my NP completely lose the wireless network before but only very rarely.
leebo 12 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 My room is in a converted garage. There is a direct Ethernet cable running from the house router into my room. I have another router connected to that line, which is broadcasting a wireless signal to my Fire TV stick, located about 8 feet away. As I said, this just started happening a few weeks ago, and there have been no known changes to my network. Any idea why rebooting the stick resolves the issue temporarily? Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
ebr 16169 Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 Any idea why rebooting the stick resolves the issue temporarily? Not specifically, but that might support the hypothesis that the network is getting lost. However, if that were the case, then pretty much nothing would work from that point on. When it happens does anything work after that? I don't really understand the totally black screen part as I don't know what that would be...
leebo 12 Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 Well, as I said, I haven't checked. But I sure will the next time this happens! I can't watch every night, so it may be a couple of days. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
Necker 24 Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 After picking up a fire tv stick recently i have to say i'm very impressed with this app. It's probably the closest thing to a replacment for mbc that i have seen. Really liking the simple navigation and uncluttered styling but you still manage to fit in everything you need, wish more of the emby aps would look like this. This has now replaced the roku in my bedroom and i have also now ordered a nexus player that may become the main player in the living room. Only issues i have seen is stuttering on 1080 content, but it sounds like you already have plans to replace the player. Just wanted to say thanks for the app and keep up the great work. Cheers
leebo 12 Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 Not specifically, but that might support the hypothesis that the network is getting lost. However, if that were the case, then pretty much nothing would work from that point on. When it happens does anything work after that? I don't really understand the totally black screen part as I don't know what that would be... "Volly error" is the message I get. After this latest incident, I loved out and back in a couple of times, but i couldn't get Emby to play anything. I tried playing videos on both Netflix and Hulu. Both played fine. After that, Emby worked again. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
ebr 16169 Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 That means the network communication timed out. Could be the network in general or could be your server.
leebo 12 Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 Well, it never happens with my Chromecast, but that's in a different room. I'm planning on changing my servers HDD to an SSD in a few weeks, I'll probably install the OS fresh. Maybe that'll clear things up. Though if using Hulu and Netflix somehow got it working again, that points to the network, no? Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk
leebo 12 Posted August 16, 2015 Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) I think I jumped the gun thinking that using Hulu somehow got Emby working again. I've tried that several times since my last post, and it didn't work. I guess I suck at scientific methodology! I don't have this issue with my Chromecast though Like I said,it's connected to my network through the main router (the FireTV stick is connected through an AP). When the problem crops up, which is constantly now, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video continue to work. Doesn't that rule out the network? Yet if it's my server, why doesn't this ever happen with my Chromecast?? This is confusing and frustrating. Today I'm going to try switching the FireTV and the Chromecast and see if the issue persists. Edit: After moving the device into the main house, Emby seemed to work without issue (I only tested for about 30 mins). My suspicion now move's to my AP, unless it's some weird time of day issue. I tested in the afternoon, but I typically watch late at night. Signature edited to appease the OCD's Edited August 17, 2015 by leebo
AmericanCrisis 28 Posted August 24, 2015 Posted August 24, 2015 I recently (last night) began using my Fire TV stick for Emby. I wasn't able to playback Live TV (this is locally and not remotely). After an hour or so of messing around with the AFTV and the app I finally figured out that I had to drop the bitrate down on the AFTV side. I dropped it down to 21Mbps and Live TV began to play. I also unchecked the box "use VLC player" or whatever it said. It was the lowering the bitrate though that allowed playback. So what is the deal? Why would lowering the bitrate allow Live TV? I would prefer to keep the bitrate at 40Mbps because I would think that would be less server transcoding right? Movies play fine at 40Mbps (all movies full MKV blu ray rips).
ebr 16169 Posted August 25, 2015 Posted August 25, 2015 I'm not sure but the device's specs do say it only supports up to 20Mb/s... I haven't seen any problems setting a higher max than that before but that could be just that most people don't have much content with higher bitrates than that. However, I doubt your live tv stream did either. Please confirm the version of the app too because the latest one should be forcing a transcode of Live TV in all situations.
seekingsun 0 Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 I got a FireTV stick the other day by accident and realized that emby can be used there as well. I have the server set up on my windows PC (although with server wmc if that makes a difference). I have been using emby with live tv fine on android and web browsers for a while now, but when I try to watch live tv on the amazon stick, I get an error message "video format cannot be played". I tried messing with the settings (reducing bit rate, activating VLC, deactivating...) but I always get the same error message. If I plug in a chromecast in the same TV, then emby just works fine. What am I missing here? Else the app looks great and my videos play fine. Thank you!
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