nvidia Shield - Tips & tricks [Read post #1]

McMurphy

The high horse brigade wrote: »

There is no universal standard among smart TVs and support for them is very dependent on the TV manufacturer not the app developer

Yeah - I found that out via the app conundrum.

I also found out that smart TVs are just a handy tag to place on something in order to part some extra cash from the purchaser.

Before the shield, I had s Chromecast that I think cost me 25stg connected to my non smart TV in the sitting room (still own it to this day)

I have a smart TV in the bedroom.

There was absolutely nothing that the TV downstairs couldn't do via the Chromecast/firestick that the smart TV upstairs could do.

AllForIt

Sorry maybe not the right thread but I tried to pay for RetroX but it's been a nightmare. I was directed to pay via Amazon Pay which I did. I got a receipt from Amazon. But no activation code. Now I see on RetroX website they they are not issuing any more activation codes and they are in the process of moving over to Google Play store for payment. I emailed them twice since my payment was processed but they are not answering . Two days since I paid now and nothing.

RHJ

AllForIt wrote: »

Sorry maybe not the right thread but I tried to pay for RetroX but it's been a nightmare. I was directed to pay via Amazon Pay which I did. I got a receipt from Amazon. But no activation code. Now I see on RetroX website they are not issuing any more activation codes and they are in the process of moving over to Google Play store for payment. I emailed them twice since my payment was processed but they are not answering . Two days since I paid now and nothing.

Your best bet, in that case, would be to get in touch with the support section of Amazon pay if it's true that what they say on their website I don't see why you shouldn't get a refund as they are unable to deliver the product that you paid for.

ERG89

Is RetroX genuinely any better than Retroarch or any of the other free emulators available??
The dolphin emulator ain't great tho. Not sure is it the settings I'm trying to run on tho.

The high horse brigade

The developer of RetroX is off at the moment suffering from a detached retina and is not dealing with any issues or returning emails. His name is Franco Catrin, you will find him on the Retromania group on Facebook. He's decent, responds direct to any issues on the group.

https://www.facebook.com/franco.catrin

jolter

can anyone tell me the best place to buy the nvidia shield please

McMurphy

jolter wrote: »

can anyone tell me the best place to buy the nvidia shield please

Amazon.

banie01

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I use Dream player for Android TV, it works very well and it even has homescreen channels
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.cyberdream.dreamepg.tv.player

No joy with this either.
The app loads fine, accepts the box details and downloads the Picon, Bouquets and EPG data (Same as in Kodi)
But when I try and open a stream it just gives me an error message "Video cannot be played" message with an error code of "MP state 6"

Settings on the E2 box for streaming are correct as are the config settings in both Kodi and Dream Player but in each case, no streaming.

I'm starting to think it may be an issue with the E2 image in use and will update when/if I get to the bottom of it.

54and56

setanta1000 wrote: »

Hi Je Suis Jean - did you manage to get your setup to stabilise?

If so what was the issue?

Yes, eventually.

I moved the NAS from being directly wired into the WiFi router to being wired (with a different Ethernet cable) to an Ethernet hub/switch which in turn is wired directly to the WiFi router and it's now been stable for almost a week.

There are two possibilities:-

1. The port on the WiFi router the NAS was connecting directly to is knackered

or

2. The cable I was using to connect the NAS to the WiFi router was knackered.

setanta1000 wrote: »

I have the same NAS and was thinking about getting a Shield to play Plex without need for transcoding on the NAS. (Also latest Plex release needs PMS version that Zyxel cannot handle so my Plex is no longer working :mad: )

I spent a good bit of time on both Shield and Plex forums over the last week and the consensus was that running PMS from a NAS is ok but if you're going to have a Shield anyway then using the processing power of the Shield to run PMS and just let the NAS be a simple content source is the way to go.

The ZyXel NSA310 was a value for money device back in 2012 when I got it and in theory it could run PMS but always struggled from what I read.

One thing to note is that the latest firmware for the Shield caused a lot of LAN connection issues generally and there has been a lot of feedback to NVIDIA who have acknowledged the problems (unable to connect devices, long 10 minute delays recognising devices, intermittent disconnections like I experienced etc) and have an updated firmware in beta designed to address the issues. It's due out in a few days apparently so all should be good and stable very soon.

setanta1000

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Yes, eventually.

I spent a good bit of time on both Shield and Plex forums over the last week and the consensus was that running PMS from a NAS is ok but if you're going to have a Shield anyway then using the processing power of the Shield to run PMS and just let the NAS be a simple content source is the way to go.

The ZyXel NSA310 was a value for money device back in 2012 when I got it and in theory it could run PMS but always struggled from what I read.

Cheers - thanks for the update, glad you got sorted and all working now.

Re running PMS on a NAS - I agree it's ok, and have used it successfully for the last 4/5 years running through a Roku 3 but Plex have recently upgraded their Roku App and mandate that the latest version (v2.x.x I think !)of PMS must be installed on the NAS - the Zyxel doesn't like any version of PMS past 1.01

54and56

setanta1000 wrote: »

Cheers - thanks for the update, glad you got sorted and all working now.

Re running PMS on a NAS - I agree it's ok, and have used it successfully for the last 4/5 years running through a Roku 3 but Plex have recently upgraded their Roku App and mandate that the latest version (v2.x.x I think !)of PMS must be installed on the NAS - the Zyxel doesn't like any version of PMS past 1.01

I reckon the best thing you can do is re-label (in your head) your NAS as nothing more than a content library and invest in a Shield as the Shield will not only run PMS 24/7 without breaking sweat but it'll facilite Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video (if you're a Prime member), IPTV etc etc

Much better than buying a new NAS and trying to get it to run PMS on a standalone basis IMHO

The high horse brigade

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I reckon the best thing you can do is re-label (in your head) your NAS as nothing more than a content library and invest in a Shield as the Shield will not only run PMS 24/7 without breaking sweat but it'll facilite Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video (if you're a Prime member), IPTV etc etc

Much better than buying a new NAS and trying to get it to run PMS on a standalone basis IMHO

Exactly this. Plex on the Shield has hardware transcoding using the very powerful 256 core Nvidia Tegra GPU. No pre built NAS will ever come close no matter what hardware it contains.

nedd

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I reckon the best thing you can do is re-label (in your head) your NAS as nothing more than a content library and invest in a Shield as the Shield will not only run PMS 24/7 without breaking sweat but it'll facilite Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video (if you're a Prime member), IPTV etc etc

Much better than buying a new NAS and trying to get it to run PMS on a standalone basis IMHO

This is exactly what I did. I have a Zyxel 325 and it always struggled with PMS. I swapped over to Shield and no trouble.

Although, Plex + Subtitles is the absolute bane of my life. Not like I’m watching foreign cinema, but if the Avengers go to France I never get subtitles. Then I have to download English subs which hardly ever work, and don’t just show the foreign translation, show subtitles for entire thing.

Anyway, that turned into a bit of a rant, sorry!

The high horse brigade

nedd wrote: »

This is exactly what I did. I have a Zyxel 325 and it always struggled with PMS. I swapped over to Shield and no trouble.

Although, Plex + Subtitles is the absolute bane of my life. Not like I’m watching foreign cinema, but if the Avengers go to France I never get subtitles. Then I have to download English subs which hardly ever work, and don’t just show the foreign translation, show subtitles for entire thing.

Anyway, that turned into a bit of a rant, sorry!

Emby is miles ahead of Plex for subs (and a few other things like transcoding). With Plex it always transcodes if you want subs or change audio format, with Emby it always streams subs separate so it never causes it to transcode. With Emby you can also transcode audio without causing it to transcode video.

Emby also has a setting called smart subs which works very well, you only get subs if the sub is forced or the language is not your default language English

setanta1000

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I reckon the best thing you can do is re-label (in your head) your NAS as nothing more than a content library and invest in a Shield as the Shield will not only run PMS 24/7 without breaking sweat but it'll facilite Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video (if you're a Prime member), IPTV etc etc

Much better than buying a new NAS and trying to get it to run PMS on a standalone basis IMHO

Agree 100% - That's where I want to get to. I just need to dig behind the couch and hope some Christmas guests left enough for me to splash out on a Shield!

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Emby is miles ahead of Plex for subs (and a few other things like transcoding). With Plex it always transcodes if you want subs or change audio format, with Emby it always streams subs separate so it never causes it to transcode. With Emby you can also transcode audio without causing it to transcode video.

Emby also has a setting called smart subs which works very well, you only get subs if the sub is forced or the language is not your default language English

That is very interesting re transcoding - that is where I have the most difficulties with Plex at the moment.

Would you rate Emby ahead of Plex for anything else - what is the interface, speed, customisation ect like vs Plex (if you have use Plex)?

The high horse brigade

setanta1000 wrote: »

Would you rate Emby ahead of Plex for anything else - what is the interface, speed, customisation ect like vs Plex (if you have use Plex)?

I completely migrated from Plex to Emby about 4 months ago. I've 12 users, I made them all migrate too, they've not had any issues. I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't completely happy. The beauty is you can run both side by side with the same media libraries to try it out.

Plex and Emby at this stage are very much on a par for most things. Plex has a nicer UI. Emby is more customisable. Plex authenticates with the Plex website which goes down the odd time meaning you can't even play your own local content, Emby is more focused on local content with local login. Plex are busy adding features nobody wants, News, VR, podcasts, are not concentrating on fixing bugs and never post on their forums. Emby on the other hand are very active on their forums, directly answer questions and comment on the future roadmap.

Now note, I'm not running either server on a Shield. I have a remote Dedi and have my databases on a dedicated SSD and am running the betas for all the latest db speed optimisations.

QuadaLumpins

Can anyone recommend the best VPN for the Shield? I'd like to access BBC iPlayer and US Netflix.

Apologies for the noob question, but if I get a VPN for my Shield can I use this on my MacBook too?


EDIT I was looking at NORD VPN. Is this a good choice?

setanta1000

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I completely migrated from Plex to Emby about 4 months ago. I've 12 users, I made them all migrate too, they've not had any issues. I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't completely happy. The beauty is you can run both side by side with the same media libraries to try it out.

Plex and Emby at this stage are very much on a par for most things. Plex has a nicer UI. Emby is more customisable. Plex authenticates with the Plex website which goes down the odd time meaning you can't even play your own local content, Emby is more focused on local content with local login. Plex are busy adding features nobody wants, News, VR, podcasts, are not concentrating on fixing bugs and never post on their forums. Emby on the other hand are very active on their forums, directly answer questions and comment on the future roadmap.

Now note, I'm not running either server on a Shield. I have a remote Dedi and have my databases on a dedicated SSD and am running the betas for all the latest db speed optimisations.

Cheers - that is very useful feedback - much appreciated!

Good shout re running both side by side - hadn't thought that through.
And I agree 100% re Plex development - there is very little that they have released in the last 12/18 months that I found useful.

The high horse brigade

setanta1000 wrote: »

Cheers - that is very useful feedback - much appreciated!

Good shout re running both side by side - hadn't thought that through.
And I agree 100% re Plex development - there is very little that they have released in the last 12/18 months that I found useful.

One thing to note. With Plex each user is licensed, with Emby the server is. With Plex a non Plex pass user just doesn't get the extra features. This means you pretty much need an Emby premiere licence for an Emby server and this license limits you to 15 premiere devices (Android and iOS apps, Emby theatre on Windows) over a rolling few day period. The web apps and Kodi are completely free though so they don't need premiere.

I therefore use Kodi as my Emby client on my Shield so I don't use up a device slot. I have Kodi setup with the Emby for Kodi add-on (adds Emby library to the Kodi database) and the Embuary skin. This means Kodi pulls down all the artwork and navigates the library very quickly with the images coming from local storage and is laid out exactly like the Emby app with the ability to further customise and add custom playlists.

dr.kenneth noisewater

QuadaLumpins wrote: »

Can anyone recommend the best VPN for the Shield?  I'd like to access BBC iPlayer and US Netflix.

Apologies for the noob question, but if I get a VPN for my Shield can I use this on my MacBook too?


EDIT I was looking at NORD VPN.  Is this a good choice?

Using VPN Unlimited myself and find it good, got a lifetime license for cheap last year

54and56

The high horse brigade wrote: »

One thing to note. With Plex each user is licensed, with Emby the server is. With Plex a non Plex pass user just doesn't get the extra features.

I looked at buying a lifetime Plex Pass twice (during black friday etc) and just couldn't see what the practical benefit would be. What am I missing?

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I therefore use Kodi as my Emby client on my Shield so I don't use up a device slot. I have Kodi setup with the Emby for Kodi add-on (adds Emby library to the Kodi database) and the Embuary skin. This means Kodi pulls down all the artwork and navigates the library very quickly with the images coming from local storage and is laid out exactly like the Emby app with the ability to further customise and add custom playlists.

Whats the benefit of the Emby add on for Kodi over just pointing Kodi at your local NAS and using the native Kodi GUI to play all your content?

The high horse brigade

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I looked at buying a lifetime Plex Pass twice (during black friday etc) and just couldn't see what the practical benefit would be. What am I missing?

https://www.plex.tv/plex-pass/
Plex Pass

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Whats the benefit of the Emby add on for Kodi over just pointing Kodi at your local NAS and using the native Kodi GUI to play all your content?

Central database shared to clients, pause on one client, resume on another. Sync watched status and progress between clients. Everything is managed by the server.

Kodi doesn't transcode to lower bitrates. I work away quite often and end up watching on crappy hotel WiFi or mobile.

54and56

The high horse brigade wrote: »

I work away quite often and end up watching on crappy hotel WiFi or mobile.

I totally get that bit and I guess if syncing between clients is a useful feature for you then running Emby locally via Kodi makes sense.

Still don't see any benefits on the Plex Pass feature list that I'd pay for. PMS is already included FOC with the Shield and whilst mobile sync'ing might be nice on the fly if I'm travelling and will be offline I just download a ton of content from the NAS over the home WiFi whilst I'm packing.

Maybe I don't travel enough

The high horse brigade

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I totally get that bit and I guess if syncing between clients is a useful feature for you then running Emby locally via Kodi makes sense.

Still don't see any benefits on the Plex Pass feature list that I'd pay for. PMS is already included FOC with the Shield and whilst mobile sync'ing might be nice on the fly if I'm travelling and will be offline I just download a ton of content from the NAS over the home WiFi whilst I'm packing.

Maybe I don't travel enough

Plex and Emby are more about sharing. I have 12 users in different parts of the world, 2 away at college, a sis in NY, a brother who also works away, a friend who lives rural with low bandwidth. It's a setup that adapts to bandwidth and resolution in any situation.

alanhiggyno1

Hi guys regarding retrox I've already signed up few weeks but need to get Roms for it. Where is the best place or site to get them please. Also non Facebook user here thanks for helping

OffalyMedic

Only getting around to using GeForce now for first time today but for some reason I keep getting a network test fail with both 2.4Ghz and 5. Any ideas?

EDIT: Worked when I turned off vpn

54and56

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

Hi guys regarding retrox I've already signed up few weeks but need to get Roms for it. Where is the best place or site to get them please. Also non Facebook user here thanks for helping

Don't think sourcing ROM's is a permitted topic of discussion here but I am open to correction.

Now that you've mentioned it however (;)) I'm sure someone will PM you with some friendly advice. I'm not a gamer and felt the Retrox install video I watched to be more hassle than I prepared to put up with so I haven't installed it.....yet anyhow.

Also, YouTube could be your friend.

Guy:Incognito

Can the xbox one controller be turned off from the shield? Or is there a way to turn it off from the controller?
Got it paired now but turning it off when I'm done is another matter. It's not something that's come up before because it always turns off with the xbox

QuadaLumpins

Just wondering how people are getting the BBC iPlayer to work on the shield.

I have ExpressVPN set up and working and have downloaded the iPlayer app through antipodeTV but its not workin.


EDIT never mind ... this worked https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/1059688/how-to-fool-bbcs-iplayer-to-see-shield-tv-as-a-different-device/

banie01

banie01 wrote: »

No joy with this either.
The app loads fine, accepts the box details and downloads the Picon, Bouquets and EPG data (Same as in Kodi)
But when I try and open a stream it just gives me an error message "Video cannot be played" message with an error code of "MP state 6"

Settings on the E2 box for streaming are correct as are the config settings in both Kodi and Dream Player but in each case, no streaming.

I'm starting to think it may be an issue with the E2 image in use and will update when/if I get to the bottom of it.

Answering my own question here thanks to an old thread over on WOS for a similar issue.

Seems that I encountered a bug/issue with OpenVIX image whereby despite stream authentication being disabled in OpenWebIF, that it was enabled in the "Customize" menu.
So it is a matter of disabling the stream authentication in both menus (Or enabling in both and using credentials)
I hope this is of some use to anyone encountering similar issue

Issue only seems to happen on OpenVIX, tested OpenATV and OpenPLI with no issues.
But the Mrs is very found of the setup on OpenVix so it was important I get that working at least

The high horse brigade

New big factor gaming TV coming from Nvidia, with Shield built in

http://www.aftvnews.com/nvidias-first-65-inch-gaming-tv-with-a-built-in-shield-tv-will-be-released-next-month-for-4999/?fbclid=IwAR2r1PubBUjNMBHRD35fh2J1cUQIwn1BFLXZe0E2jQcsLi5ZnLOGhLgwErQ

banie01

I have a lifetime sub for windscribe but unfortunately the UK players are getting quite good at detecting their servers.

So I'm on the look out for an alternative and Getflix seems to be the recommended go to?
I'm going to give their trial period a go but I'm just wondering if anyone has any other alternatives?

And, does anyone have any steer on any lifetime sub deals?

gerrybbadd

banie01 wrote: »

I have a lifetime sub for windscribe but unfortunately the UK players are getting quite good at detecting their servers.

So I'm on the look out for an alternative and Getflix seems to be the recommended go to?
I'm going to give their trial period a go but I'm just wondering if anyone has any other alternatives?

And, does anyone have any steer on any lifetime sub deals?

I signed up to Getflix's free trial, can't connect to anything over the shield. I've tried several of their DNS servers

corks finest

gerrybbadd wrote: »

banie01 wrote: »

I have a lifetime sub for windscribe but unfortunately the UK players are getting quite good at detecting their servers.

So I'm on the look out for an alternative and Getflix seems to be the recommended go to?
I'm going to give their trial period a go but I'm just wondering if anyone has any other alternatives?

And, does anyone have any steer on any lifetime sub deals?

I signed up to Getflix's free trial, can't connect to anything over the shield. I've tried several of their DNS servers

Glad someone else has problems ref getflix, thought I was Ireland's greatest luddite for months

savemejebus

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I signed up to Getflix's free trial, can't connect to anything over the shield. I've tried several of their DNS servers

Have you tried disabling ipv6 in the shield settings?

banie01

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I signed up to Getflix's free trial, can't connect to anything over the shield. I've tried several of their DNS servers

I have set the DNS at my router and at the moment everything seems to work ok.
iPlayer, ITVplayer all working here.

The high horse brigade

banie01 wrote: »

I have set the DNS at my router and at the moment everything seems to work ok.
iPlayer, ITVplayer all working here.

That is a terrible idea. Do it on the media devices that need it, not on your router for security reasons. You don't want your private devices, smartphones using these as DNS, leave yourself wide open to man in the middle and phishing attacks. I wouldn't trust them.

banie01

The high horse brigade wrote: »

That is a terrible idea. Do it on the media devices that need it, not on your router for security reasons. You don't want your private devices, smartphones using these as DNS, leave yourself wide open to man in the middle and phishing attacks. I wouldn't trust them.

It's on a separate VLAN
But your advice stands, anyone not sure of what/how/why of networking should ensure its set on a device level.

The high horse brigade

OmegaGene wrote: »

I have mine on the router as all devices in the house use the getflix service wether it’s iplayer or Netflix, never had any issues for the last 2 years with phishing etc

You are too trusting. Just because you haven't doesn't mean you never will. You're making it so easy to redirect you to a fake site and harvest your info. I see no reason to have Getflix DNS on a smartphone

Daz_

Would anyone know if it’s possible and how to spoof / change MAC address on a non rooted shield ?
Thanks

The high horse brigade

OmegaGene wrote: »

I watch netflix us library on it

Think about all the other private things you do on your smartphone that involve your email, shopping, banking, PayPal.

I'm always well clued up and take my personal security very seriously. I don't use my visa online much I try to stick to PayPal and Revolut where I can. I use random passwords everywhere and change them every so often. I have a VPN connection to the home router I use for hotel and public WiFi. This Sunday morning I got a call from my bank asking about an attempt at a transaction on Nike.com for £560, it didn't go through but got flagged as suspicious. I can't for the life of me figure how it happened. The last time I used the card online was on Netflix.com.
My point is you really need to wise up, I do too. What you're doing is idiotic IMHO

gerrybbadd

savemejebus wrote: »

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I signed up to Getflix's free trial, can't connect to anything over the shield. I've tried several of their DNS servers

Have you tried disabling ipv6 in the shield settings?

I did indeed.

When I try to launch into Netflix for example, ethernet will disconnect. Can't get into the play store either

McMurphy

I use VPN unlimited.

Zero issues.

Benzino

I don't use a VPN but have always wanted to, I just find they are way too slow and introduce a lot of buffering when streaming.

savemejebus

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I did indeed.

When I try to launch into Netflix for example, ethernet will disconnect. Can't get into the play store either

That ethernet disconnection is very different to issues i experienced. I have getflix working on the shield for iplayer and other uk services but found for netflix i had to set up static routes but that messes up the use of google public dns. Luckily it's easy to log on to router using phone and enable/disable the routes but still a pain.

Daz_

If it’s of help to anyone I just signed up to ExpressVPN and it’s working perfectly . They have a 15 month offer on at the moment ( 15 months for price of 12).

pinksoir

Has anyone any experience with NordVPN? I have it and it works great for all my other devices, but on Shield I cannot use Netflix without disabling the VPN. I just keep getting the 'a proxy has been detected' message within the Netflix app. I've tried connecting to the recommended servers in the FAQ here. Nothing works.

A real PITA as the VPN is great otherwise. I don't want to have to disable my VPN (including going into settings and disabling auto-connect) every time I want to watch Netflix.

QuadaLumpins

Daz_ wrote: »

If it’s of help to anyone I just signed up to ExpressVPN and it’s working perfectly

Same here

EoinMcLovin

pinksoir wrote: »

Has anyone any experience with NordVPN? I have it and it works great for all my other devices, but on Shield I cannot use Netflix without disabling the VPN. I just keep getting the 'a proxy has been detected' message within the Netflix app. I've tried connecting to the recommended servers in the FAQ here. Nothing works.

A real PITA as the VPN is great otherwise. I don't want to have to disable my VPN (including going into settings and disabling auto-connect) every time I want to watch Netflix.

I signed up to NordVPN last week as my PureVPN sub was up. Never could get US Netflix working , it would load but there would be no images in the thumbnails in the menus.Canada Netflix works fine for me though

pinksoir

EoinMcLovin wrote: »

I signed up to NordVPN last week as my PureVPN sub was up. Never could get US Netflix working , it would load but there would be no images in the thumbnails in the menus.Canada Netflix works fine for me though

Cool. On shield? Cos I can't get any Netflix to work in any country. Which server number are you using?