Android/AndroidTV Placeshifter client (Discussion)

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by jm9843

Digging this back up from earlier in the thread. It should help in mapping

Android KeyEvent -> ASCII value == Java AWT Key Event

Flirc can be configured to emulate a keyboard such that any arbitrary remote signal will fire the appropriate Android KeyEvent (as programmed by the user in the Flirc software). So if all or enough designated keys are mapped in EventRouter.java, it should cover the commands that users would need.

That is correct. FLIRC emulates a standard keyboard and simply translates remote keypresses to keyboard events. This is why it works on Android, WIndows, Linux, etc.

EventRouter and the MiniclientKeyEventListener both need to be updated. EventRouter is basically the static definition for the SageTV key, and the KeyEventListener is what maps the native Android to SageTV definitions.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by jm9843

Digging this back up from earlier in the thread. It should help in mapping

Android KeyEvent -> ASCII value == Java AWT Key Event

Flirc can be configured to emulate a keyboard such that any arbitrary remote signal will fire the appropriate Android KeyEvent (as programmed by the user in the Flirc software). So if all or enough designated keys are mapped in EventRouter.java, it should cover the commands that users would need.

I think this was sort of where I was going. It really shouldn't matter WHAT the event is, if it can be converted to number or string, that is unique for that particular input, whether it's from a keyboard, an ir remote, etc, that number can be sent back to the server via postIREvent(int IRCode). That would cover just about any bit of sage's input requirements, with the exception of an actual keyboard (which yes, would need to be mapped to the keyChar, keyCode and keyModifiers and sent via postKeyEvent).

Keep in mind, I have no idea how this works on the android end, I'm just looking at it on the sagetv miniclient<->server connection.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I think this was sort of where I was going. It really shouldn't matter WHAT the event is, if it can be converted to number or string, that is unique for that particular input, whether it's from a keyboard, an ir remote, etc, that number can be sent back to the server via postIREvent(int IRCode). That would cover just about any bit of sage's input requirements, with the exception of an actual keyboard (which yes, would need to be mapped to the keyChar, keyCode and keyModifiers and sent via postKeyEvent).

Keep in mind, I have no idea how this works on the android end, I'm just looking at it on the sagetv miniclient<->server connection.

I feel like I'm completely mutilating a dead horse, now... way beyond just just beating it

The code is there, if people want to play with it, but, whether you are sending IR codes, or Key Events, or Mouse Events, or simply SageTV command strings. They need to be mapped.

The Desktop client captures the raw java AWT key and mouse events and sends them directly to the server. No mapping required, because they are in java AWT format.

The Desktop and HD300 extenders directly capture IR codes and in turn, sends those directly to the SageTV server... No Mapping Required. (for the Linux placeshifter it relies on LIRC, not sure what the windows placeshifter uses, and I assume the HD300 is either using LIRC or has it's own proprietary handling).

I'm not willing to write an IR capture module for Android, just so that I can get around the fact that Android is capturing these events and turning them into Key events... It's far simpler to simply map Android Key events to SageTV events.

If someone wants to write an IR capture module, I'd be OK with it... It's just nothing that I'm interested in doing.

[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Again you can if you have a bluetooth capable harmony it appears they work great then. Using a phone/tablet as a remote is terrible look at the chromecast terrible.

https://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmo...y/td-p/1337271

Yeah they work. I have one working, but it justs maps the Arrows Key, Home, back, Select, and thats it. The rest of the remote keys (on my case the basic Harmony remote) are useless (number keypad, media keys,etc), they dont sent any key event to the nexus player, confirmed with Kodi and with Input Event Logger (From the google play store). So no big benefit from using the original nexus remote rather than just have 1 remote control for everything and losing the remote mic.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Jabroni

Yeah they work. I have one working, but it justs maps the Arrows Key, Home, back, Select, and thats it. The rest of the remote keys (on my case the basic Harmony remote) are useless (number keypad, media keys,etc), they dont sent any key event to the nexus player, confirmed with Kodi and with Input Event Logger (From the google play store). So no big benefit from using the original nexus remote rather than just have 1 remote control for everything and losing the remote mic.

ah that's a limit of harmony from what I know pc does the same thing numbers don't work over bluetooth. maybe they will fix

why not an external ir dongle. sounds like a limit of nexus as well not having ir.. of other note I've seen people having success with hdmi-cec and nexus

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

ah that's a limit of harmony from what I know pc does the same thing numbers don't work over bluetooth. maybe they will fix ...

I was on the Logitech site the other day, and I think Pluckyhd is correct. For some reason they are limiting the BT interface to a very limited number of commands, even though they had more at one time. Not sure it's a limit of the Hub software, or something else. MANY people complaining about it, but no change in site, so far.

[cncb]

How does one load and run the apk on the Shield?

[trk2]

Since we're on the topic of controls, has it been discussed or is it possible to use this as an android remote app to launch and control videos on another android device? Something similar to the way Chromecast functions? With Gemstone it would be easy to create phone friendly views and I think it would help lure people to try Sage without the added complexity and cost of a good universal remote.

[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by trk2

Since we're on the topic of controls, has it been discussed or is it possible to use this as an android remote app to launch and control videos on another android device? Something similar to the way Chromecast functions? With Gemstone it would be easy to create phone friendly views and I think it would help lure people to try Sage without the added complexity and cost of a good universal remote.

In theory this should work
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...etv.full&hl=en

Creates a socket to the sagetv server to send the event, and the sagetv server sends the keypresses to the specific client/placeshifter. (someone feel free to correct me if im wrong)

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by cncb

How does one load and run the apk on the Shield?

Maybe the easiest is to install ES File Explorer on the AndroidTV. Then copy the downloaded APK to a USB thumbdrive, and install from there (using ES File Explorer) to navigate the usb drive.

Originally Posted by trk2

Since we're on the topic of controls, has it been discussed or is it possible to use this as an android remote app to launch and control videos on another android device? Something similar to the way Chromecast functions? With Gemstone it would be easy to create phone friendly views and I think it would help lure people to try Sage without the added complexity and cost of a good universal remote.

Not quite sure what is being asked... This app is basically an HD300.. either running on your phone/tablet, or running on your AndroidTV. It isn't a remote app of any sort. I think the TASageTV remote app can be used to control any client connected to sagetv.

But all that being said, this project is ALPHA... The discussions around using remotes, etc, are great, but dealing with remotes at this stage, for me, is low on the list, given that I still need to get video playback working (better).

I think that once this project enters beta... we should be at a point where a "dumb" remote can control sagetv extender and offer the basics of navigation (including options) and media playback for pause/play/skip.

I don't think a universal remote will be a requirement, but it will certainly make the experience better to have a full featured remote with specialized buttons for different actions,etc.

[nyplayer]

Will the Phoenix Android Remote be able to control the MiniClient ... also does the Phoenix Android remote still work?


Edit it does work with the Phoenix web remote I was able to set my options and sorting of recordings also filtering.

[brewston]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I think that once this project enters beta... we should be at a point where a "dumb" remote can control sagetv extender and offer the basics of navigation (including options) and media playback for pause/play/skip.

I don't think a universal remote will be a requirement, but it will certainly make the experience better to have a full featured remote with specialized buttons for different actions,etc.

I started playing around with Gemstone on Android TV miniclient last night and I got some good testing results with the dumb remote (It's the Nvidia one so doesn't even have the media play/pause button)

[trk2]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Not quite sure what is being asked... This app is basically an HD300.. either running on your phone/tablet, or running on your AndroidTV. It isn't a remote app of any sort. I think the TASageTV remote app can be used to control any client connected to sagetv.

But all that being said, this project is ALPHA... The discussions around using remotes, etc, are great, but dealing with remotes at this stage, for me, is low on the list, given that I still need to get video playback working (better).

I think that once this project enters beta... we should be at a point where a "dumb" remote can control sagetv extender and offer the basics of navigation (including options) and media playback for pause/play/skip.

I don't think a universal remote will be a requirement, but it will certainly make the experience better to have a full featured remote with specialized buttons for different actions,etc.

Sorry if I wasn't making myself clear. I understand the goals of your project, I was inquiring if your work could be leveraged to become a remote control app where all the navigation would be performed on one device, but media playback would be performed on another. This would allow for phones and tablets to have a slick, customizable and immersive UI that I think some would prefer over a universal remote. The TASageTv remote app is essentially dumb when viewed on the control device and you need a TV or other display for navigation. But by leveraging your work, one could perform all the navigation independent of the media viewing display and I think that has value.

Sorry if you want to focus on the more current tasks. I raised the question only to generate discussion or perhaps inspiration.

Edit: More apologies, the pay version of TASageTV accomplishes much of the same functions. My experience has been with the free version.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Will the Phoenix Android Remote be able to control the MiniClient ... also does the Phoenix Android remote still work?

The Phoenix App that I created, still works. I don't think that I added any "Remote" features, other than you can browse using that app, and then choose to playback on a connected client. (Still not phone based remote, if I recall).

Long term, is that I'll likely be re-doing that Application, and rolling in some features from this Application.

Originally Posted by brewston

I started playing around with Gemstone on Android TV miniclient last night and I got some good testing results with the dumb remote (It's the Nvidia one so doesn't even have the media play/pause button)

Awesome... I'm hoping that we can get by with the dumb remotes, but use universal remotes as well, for hardcore users that prefer a full featured remote (like myself)

Originally Posted by trk2

Sorry if you want to focus on the more current tasks. I raised the question only to generate discussion or perhaps inspiration.

I am focussed on current tasks, but these discussions are good to help shape where the focus will go, once we get out of Alpha and Beta.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by trk2

Sorry if I wasn't making myself clear. I understand the goals of your project, I was inquiring if your work could be leveraged to become a remote control app where all the navigation would be performed on one device, but media playback would be performed on another. This would allow for phones and tablets to have a slick, customizable and immersive UI that I think some would prefer over a universal remote. The TASageTv remote app is essentially dumb when viewed on the control device and you need a TV or other display for navigation. But by leveraging your work, one could perform all the navigation independent of the media viewing display and I think that has value.

Sorry if you want to focus on the more current tasks. I raised the question only to generate discussion or perhaps inspiration.

Edit: More apologies, the pay version of TASageTV accomplishes much of the same functions. My experience has been with the free version.

Totally unrelated to this particular project - but there is some demand for a client interconnect plugin. A few features that it would be able to accomplish would be to start playback of a mediafile on a different device (so under the options screen for a mediafile, it could have the current 'Play' button, but also have a Play on... command, which would bring up a display of other connected clients, and when chosen, could start playback on that remote device. That would be the most basic feature, and could be done I believe entirely in an STVi currently. Slightly more advanced would be the ability to have transport controls on one client control a remote client - again, possible all within STVi territory. top level would be a 'Play what's on...' feature, where it would read the playback status (file and current timestamp) of a different client instance and try it's best to match it (poor man's sync). Again.. all STVi level stuff, that would work on any client, regardless of platform (Fat SageTVClient, extender, placeshifter, android miniclient, etc).

Just to reiterate though, that would be a completely separate project.

[nyplayer]

Does this MINICLIENT sometimes require SageTV server to transcode the VIDEO ... because sometimes the quality is really bad as if I am not getting the true recording but a transcoded one ... or is this the embedded players problem?

Lots of little squares on fast motion ... colors seem to bleed.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Does this MINICLIENT sometimes require SageTV server to transcode the VIDEO ... because sometimes the quality is really bad as if I am not getting the true recording but a transcoded one ... or is this the embedded players problem?

Lots of little squares on fast motion ... colors seem to bleed.

I don't really know... I'm not even sure if there's a way for me to tell in the client if the file is being transcoded or not... it would be nice, if I could, because I could then log it out.

What is the filetype(s) that appear blocky?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I don't really know... I'm not even sure if there's a way for me to tell in the client if the file is being transcoded or not... it would be nice, if I could, because I could then log it out.

What is the filetype(s) that appear blocky?

Recorded HD Recordings. TS and MPG. both from the Prime and OTA. I can watch the same recordings in Kodi and they are fine.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Recorded HD Recordings. TS and MPG. both from the Prime and OTA. I can watch the same recordings in Kodi and they are fine.

Later, when the app is more stable, I'll try to get "samples" of files that are problematic and see what's going on... It might very well be that the file is being transcoded... I'll have to figure out a clean and easy way to determine that.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Later, when the app is more stable, I'll try to get "samples" of files that are problematic and see what's going on... It might very well be that the file is being transcoded... I'll have to figure out a clean and easy way to determine that.

No Problem ... I am happy with what you have done so far.