Xibo on Android TV (T95Z) running - set as launcher?

Community Discussion Hardware
1

Hi all,

Been using Xibo on Windows for a while. Terrific.

I have 3 of these T95Z Plus Android TV devices.

Install was easy - setup the device (network/time/developer/latest firmware/etc.) Installed the Xibo R309 apk. Activated using the code and up and running. (Didn’t add licensing pool to profile, but figured that out when they stopped updating 14 days later.)

My primary issue is that I think Xibo installed itself as the launcher - although I didn’t specify that at any time. When I use the remote to get the action bar, I have the Xibo logo on left, but nothing on the right. So I don’t have the 3 dots. I basically have no way of shutting Xibo down and getting back to Android (to do updates, etc.) I’ve set the Android profile to not start automatically and not restart with no effect. The reset button on the device does nothing (even held down during power on.) The device documentation for resetting the device is to reload the firmware from an SD card (using the reset button/power on.) I’m going to do this, but would appreciate suggestions on how to install Xibo without it becoming the launcher so I don’t end up back where I am (or at least some way to call the original launcher.)

Remote commands work fine. Can reboot. Found “am force-stop uk.org.xibo.client” in some other documentation, but that doesn’t do anything.

Any suggestions appreciated.

2

FWIW, I installed the 3.x client on an “X88 Pro 10”, a little A11 STB from Amazon that cost like 40 bucks, and it does not appear that it put itself in Kiosk mode on mine, at least.

3

Hi John_SVP, welcome to the community!

Thank you for your feedback on your experience with the T95Z Plus. It’s uncommon to hear that the Xibo player has been installed by default as launcher, generally what happens is that a prompt will appear the next time you restart your player to confirm if you want to set the player as launcher or choose Home instead.

Your comment about the action bar not containing any menu options is a known issue with many Android TV devices/builds. As a workaround you can use the following keys by connecting a USB Keyboard to the device:

i - This will open the Status logs.
c - This will open the Connect to CMS form
s - This will open the Settings menu for the player (not the system settings for the device)

I hope that you find that reinstalling the player after the firmware reinstallation reveals an option to not set the player as launcher. If it does not and the issue reoccurs, you will either need to contact the manufacturer for support or consider another device for your display.

Also, here is a link to our reboot command guide, which includes examples of reboot commands we would recommend using.

All the best resolving the launcher issue. If possible it would be great if you could return to this post with an update, in case any other users are considering using this device.

4

This is a strange device. The main app (TVUI) does not load as a launcher. So when Xibo loads - it’s the only launcher and takes over. The app button on the remote did let me get to the Play Store and install another launcher. I ended up loading a button mapper that lets me launch their TVUI app when I need to get out of Xibo. So I’m all set there - can shut down Xibo with the remote now for firmware or Xibo player updates.

Another issue I have is when I have video (mp4) in two layouts (one overlay) it will crash and switch to the default layout. The overlay layout will recover, but the background one doesn’t.

If it matters, the video on the background layout is a series of small animations, all less than 250kb. The videos in the overlay are 160-250mb. The overlay layout playlist has a series of static images before it gets to the video. Everything is fine until there is video in 2 layouts.

This doesn’t happen on my Windows players - everything works fine.

I’ve tried ExoPlayer vs Android Player (Android player worse) and toggling Surface View.

The following is the error log entry when this happens:
“Cannot display video. Uri=file:///data/user/0/uk.org.xibo.client/files/385.mp4. Error=MediaCodecVideoRenderer error, index=0, format=Format(1, null, null, video/avc, avc1.42C01F, -1, null, [1280, 720, 30.0], [-1, -1]), format_supported=YES. Underlying Error=Decoder init failed: OMX.allwinner.video.decoder.avc, Format(1, null, null, video/avc, avc1.42C01F, -1, null, [1280, 720, 30.0], [-1, -1]).”

5

Thanks for returning with an update John_SVdP. Your notes on how you managed to workaround the launcher issue are also very helpful so thank you for those also.

Some Android TV devices do not support multiple video playback as they are designed for domestic use where watching more than one video at a time is not required. Windows does not have this limitation, that is more generally based on the hardware you are using.
As a test could you try creating a layout that has two regions, each with a video in them. Do they both play at the same time?

Many Thanks.