GameStick $17/$20 (in store/online) at Gamestop

Well, I fuck ing give up.  I've tried numerous format/reflash attempts and end up with the same result.  No matter what I do, anytime I try to run anything, it reboots.  I can't even find a way to revert it back to factory settings, so it's pretty much useless at this point.  Ugh...

 
sp00ge said:
Well, I fuck ing give up. I've tried numerous format/reflash attempts and end up with the same result. No matter what I do, anytime I try to run anything, it reboots. I can't even find a way to revert it back to factory settings, so it's pretty much useless at this point. Ugh...
Click to expand...
are you using the included AC adapter? or a USB port for power? if your using the USB for power and have too many/high power drain things hooked up to it (keyboard/mouse/controller) that would cause it to reboot too. try using the included AC power adapter, if you haven't already.

 
sp00ge said:
Well, I fuck ing give up. I've tried numerous format/reflash attempts and end up with the same result. No matter what I do, anytime I try to run anything, it reboots. I can't even find a way to revert it back to factory settings, so it's pretty much useless at this point. Ugh...
Click to expand...
I'm going to say you have a factory lemon... Sounds more like a possible heat sink not properly placed over the chipset and when you run an app it's too much for it to handle. However, yeah, if you have been using usb power this whole time I would try AC first as your tv might not be supplying adequate power.

 
And I just figured out the issue, which is odd.  I was using my TV's USB to power it and I decided to try plugging it in to the dock and voilà, no more reboots. 

 
sp00ge said:
And I just figured out the issue, which is odd. I was using my TV's USB to power it and I decided to try plugging it in to the dock and voilà, no more reboots.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's not that uncommon. Have to realize that usb slot on the tv is there mostly just to power a flash drive to do firmware updates on your tv. Not shocking it wouldn't have a stable 5v.

 
Yeah I was using a weak usb power point but the power adaptor kept it from failing ! Thanks on the spmc sources didnt know if there are any other Addons other than genesis that work better? Been pretty happy but would like an alternative as well
 
Dukelived said:
Yeah I was using a weak usb power point but the power adaptor kept it from failing ! Thanks on the spmc sources didnt know if there are any other Addons other than genesis that work better? Been pretty happy but would like an alternative as well
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I've heard some good things about istream. Gonna try to mess with that before the nfl games this weekend since they have sports streams.
 
Man, the UPS delivery drivers here are either really stupid or just reeeaaally fucking lazy.

Every time I get a package from UPS, I end up getting one of those signatures that basically says "we attempted to deliver your package, but you weren't home and we needed a signature".. despite the fact that either I or my wife have been in the apartment every time that happened.  It always takes until the second or third delivery "attempt" until they actually bother to ring the doorbell.  And since the doorbell is extremely loud, I'm positive that they never even pressed the button.  Guess I'll get mine either tomorrow or Saturday, depending on whether the driver decides to do his/her job tomorrow.

/rant

 
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Lilchiji said:
Also a good recommendation of a keyboard/touchpad that has been working for me is the logitech k400. It will save you an extra USB space as well ;) on sale at amazon right now, so you could PM best buy.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Built-In-Multi-Touch/dp/B005DKZTMG
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I have a K400 myself, been using it for a few years, and when I try using it with the included Y splitter neither the tv nor the wall adapter seems to work. My Sidewinder X6 keyboard works fine, so not sure what is going on. Any suggestions for a fellow K400 user? :pray:

 
Bought this from the GS near my work after reading this post 2 days ago. I finally get a chance to open product. NO GAME STICK. I feel I am going to have a HELL of a time returning this, much less finding a new one!

 
Cyset said:
Bought this from the GS near my work after reading this post 2 days ago. I finally get a chance to open product. NO GAME STICK. I feel I am going to have a HELL of a time returning this, much less finding a new one!
Click to expand...
wtf, was it (re)sealed?

 
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Cyset said:
Bought this from the GS near my work after reading this post 2 days ago. I finally get a chance to open product. NO GAME STICK. I feel I am going to have a HELL of a time returning this, much less finding a new one!
Click to expand...
You do know you have to push up on the slide on the back of the controller because it's enclosed inside of the controller right?

 
zebular said:
You do know you have to push up on the slide on the back of the controller because it's enclosed inside of the controller right?
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OMFG!!! don't do things drunk.

I even went and got the District managers name from a friend hoping to reslove this peacefully... Wow I am a retard.

 
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Duddy07 said:
I have a K400 myself, been using it for a few years, and when I try using it with the included Y splitter neither the tv nor the wall adapter seems to work. My Sidewinder X6 keyboard works fine, so not sure what is going on. Any suggestions for a fellow K400 user? :pray:
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I think its probably cause the dock. It may provide more power to let the k400 work :) never tried it on the Y adapter though.
 
Cyset said:
Bought this from the GS near my work after reading this post 2 days ago. I finally get a chance to open product. NO GAME STICK. I feel I am going to have a HELL of a time returning this, much less finding a new one!
Click to expand...
I'll be honest .. I actually had the same thought for like 5 seconds when I opened mine. I had opened the dock first, which had a fancy foil sticker. The actual gamestick box had an infamous plastic circle on it and when I didn't see the gamestick in the box, I freaked out for a moment thinking it was classic Gamestop.

 
so, i followed the op steps without any problems until after the CFW rom was installed. after reboot it just keeps rebooting in a cycle. sometimes i am able to select which menu to load (launcher or nova launcher) but then it just reboots again to the android image/games stick splash/choose menu/repeat.

any help would be appreciated.

 
[quote name="elbarto1" post="12397909" timestamp="1420795653"]so, i followed the op steps without any problems until after the CFW rom was installed. after reboot it just keeps rebooting in a cycle. sometimes i am able to select which menu to load (launcher or nova launcher) but then it just reboots again to the android image/games stick splash/choose menu/repeat.

any help would be appreciated.[/quote]
If your stick is on a constant reboot cycle, it's most likely not getting enough power. Use the AC adaptor it came with if you're not using it. Don't use your TV usb connection for power, it doesn't supply enough.
 
thank you. this corrected the issue. :D/

i assumed that since it worked fine to reprogram that power wasnt the issue.

i appreciate your help!

 
ok another problem, when i try to download/install apps from play store i get "invalid download uri" error.

any ideas?

does everything need to be sideloaded? if so whats the point of play store app?

-edit- I restored to factory defaults and now play store works. this is so odd, but, yay!?

also, genesis add on keeps crashing SPMC whenever i try to watch something.

-edit 2-

thanks to HumanSnatcher i tried this link http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/ and genesis works fine.

I would love to know why its not working with SPMC, but TVMC runs it fine.

I'm sure ill be back in here w/ more problems as the week progresses, but so far this is the best $17 I've spent in a long while. Thanks OP!!

 
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Funny; I had just decided to get the K400 keyboard yesterday, before seeing that people were recommending it. Best Buy also has it for $20.

I also was confused at first when I didn't see the stick in the box, but I had previously heard that you can store the stick in the controller so I checked there before freaking out.
 
The game controller for this really sucks. My wired keyboard wouldn't work during the initial setup. I was able to use my mouse to get it to work though. Just had to be very slow with the mouse.

keyblader1985 said:
Funny; I had just decided to get the K400 keyboard yesterday, before seeing that people were recommending it. Best Buy also has it for $20.

I also was confused at first when I didn't see the stick in the box, but I had previously heard that you can store the stick in the controller so I checked there before freaking out.
Click to expand...
Thanks for mentioning that Best Buy also has it for sale. I have tons of Best Buy credit I need to spend. It look like they are offering free shipping for it too.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-k400-wireless-keyboard-black/3764993.p?id=1218431571141&skuId=3764993

Walmart also has it for the same price.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Logitech-920-003070-Wireless-Touch-Keyboard-K400/17253322

Here's the Amazon link if anyone wants that.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Built-In-Multi-Touch/dp/B005DKZTMG/

 
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elbarto1 said:
ok another problem, when i try to download/install apps from play store i get "invalid download uri" error.

any ideas?

does everything need to be sideloaded? if so whats the point of play store app?

-edit- I restored to factory defaults and now play store works. this is so odd, but, yay!?

also, genesis add on keeps crashing SPMC whenever i try to watch something.

-edit 2-

thanks to HumanSnatcher i tried this link http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/ and genesis works fine.

I would love to know why its not working with SPMC, but TVMC runs it fine.

I'm sure ill be back in here w/ more problems as the week progresses, but so far this is the best $17 I've spent in a long while. Thanks OP!!
Click to expand...
It sounds like everyone is getting different results.

My experience so far since last night:

I installed the custom rom easy peasy. It took forever to boot up but after that it doesnt take long. Play store worked fine, I grabbed Chrome, Internet Booster (since i am on wifi), and Popcorn Time. Popcorn time would load the movie but was super choppy thats understandable. So i tried TVMC, for some reason i couldnt get it to finish installing so nothing worked there. Booted up SPMC, got the repository for Genesis (the only add-on i got so far), tried a SD movie, played no problem, tried a HD movie played flawlessly. I also have read that SPMC was built to utilize the type of processor/gpu (Amlogic) so its suppose to play media a little better than most streamers. My next step is to try limelight and stream Steam over to it. I am thinking i will need a dock though, any fellow cag care to ship one to me!? :)

 
elbarto1 said:
ok another problem, when i try to download/install apps from play store i get "invalid download uri" error.
any ideas?

does everything need to be sideloaded? if so whats the point of play store app?

-edit- I restored to factory defaults and now play store works. this is so odd, but, yay!?

also, genesis add on keeps crashing SPMC whenever i try to watch something.

-edit 2-

thanks to HumanSnatcher i tried this link http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/ and genesis works fine.
I would love to know why its not working with SPMC, but TVMC runs it fine.

I'm sure ill be back in here w/ more problems as the week progresses, but so far this is the best $17 I've spent in a long while. Thanks OP!!
Click to expand...
I can't find security in the settings area for the life of me. How do you access it?
 
pun123 said:
What emulator is everyone using for N64, can't get one to work yet. SNES and NES is working
Click to expand...
So I figured out you cant use zip or 7zip has to be extracted so far some have worked pretty well. Also I got the gamestick controller to work bluetooth and it is just as responsive as my wired 360. I actually kind of like it better because of the home button.

 
Update on the 1080p:  Downloaded a bunch of video files overnight that were supposed to be full HD files MKV format.  Came into work this morning and ran them in MXplayer, and they look great.  Streaming has been hit or miss with the quality, but video files look great.

Wifi-wise, I have had no issues docked or undocked. I left it on for the first time overnight to see if it caused any issues or disconnected and came back to find everything humming along smoothly.  Will test with some streaming music and maybe a netflix playlist overnight, but so far so good.

Using this for the occasional game, but primarily for work and having a quick place to do android web app and native app testing.  Thanks again zebular!  Best $20 spent in a while.

I'm using the Logitech K400r keyboard which has already been mentioned, and I will vouch for it being perfect for this thing.  

1 drawback I think has been mentioned is using Bluetooth and Wifi simultaneously, we do some Google Glass development and when I paired the Glass with the Gamestick and did some casting, the lag was atrocious.  When I disabled Wifi, things were better but not as good as our normal tablet screensharing.  But this will work great for our demos as we won't need to daisy-chain tablet to something else to projector.

Also used TVADDONS to get Genesis up and running in Kodi 14 and that is humming along well as well.  

 
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pun123 said:
So I figured out you cant use zip or 7zip has to be extracted so far some have worked pretty well. Also I got the gamestick controller to work bluetooth and it is just as responsive as my wired 360. I actually kind of like it better because of the home button.
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So are you going to answer on to what emulators you are using because i heard they are hit or miss. thanks for the info btw. I may try the controller itself just to test it out.

 
The Carrot Cake Kid said:
I can't find security in the settings area for the life of me. How do you access it?
Click to expand...
Open settings, on left column near the bottom (scroll down) is the option to reset to factory defaults. You'll keep the android os but will lose some apps like spmc and file manager. I just reinstalled em.

Also, thanks for that best buy keyboard link. I'm in for one.

Also also, many stores near me have the dock and all other accessories. If you need em I'd be happy to try and get em for you for cost+shipping.
 
My local store also has a dock showing as available. If anyone wants it PM me and I will send it out for cost + shipping.
 
elbarto1 said:
Open settings, on left column near the bottom (scroll down) is the option to reset to factory defaults. You'll keep the android os but will lose some apps like spmc and file manager. I just reinstalled em.

Also, thanks for that best buy keyboard link. I'm in for one.

Also also, many stores near me have the dock and all other accessories. If you need em I'd be happy to try and get em for you for cost+shipping.
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http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Ethernet-Network-Chromebook-Specific/dp/B00484IEJS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420821499&sr=8-3&keywords=ethernet+usb+adapter

If its cheaper to get the dock over this than i will gladly take the dock.

 
xeroblade said:
So are you going to answer on to what emulators you are using because i heard they are hit or miss. thanks for the info btw. I may try the controller itself just to test it out.
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I went to play store and typed in emulators, downloaded like 6 of them because none of them worked because I was using zip and 7zip. Once extracted they started too work, but each one has been different. I will play with them more this weekend and will write what I have found is the best. They were all free ones, and one ad supported which was the best so far.

 
So I've been playing with this for a few days.  No dock yet, I'm going to try to snag one if I get over to the next town over the weekend.  Using CFW 1.4, just for everyone's information.

The wifi, to start with, was pretty awful.  Actually, scratch that, hideously awful.  Once I disabled Bluetooth and put the HDMI extension cable on there, though, it seems to be working a good deal better.  I don't have a tremendously fast connection, anyway, using a 4G access point on account of not being able to get DSL or cable.

Anyway, streaming on Netflix seems to be working beautifully, only a few hiccups / desyncs on occasion.  Very, very usable.  Browsing is pretty decent as well.

The controller is pretty garbage.  It feels okay, at least the analogs do, but that d-pad is pretty terrible, and worse, there seems to be a lot of lag when I use it.  When I pair up a Wii U Pro Controller in the *.emu emulators or a Wii remote, things seem much better.  That CFW also supports 360 pads, and that's a really good option, especially if you want to not engage wifi and Bluetooth at the same time.

The one thing that really disappoints me is the emulation performance.  I mean, yeah, it's playable, but nothing I've run so far has working without frameskipping enabled.  Which is weird, of course, because this thing should be more than fast enough for NES/SNES/Genesis emulation at full speed.  SetCPU reports a clockspeed of just shy of 1GHz.  If I could figure out how to smooth that out, this little thing would be absolutely perfect.

 
pun123 said:
I went to play store and typed in emulators, downloaded like 6 of them because none of them worked because I was using zip and 7zip. Once extracted they started too work, but each one has been different. I will play with them more this weekend and will write what I have found is the best. They were all free ones, and one ad supported which was the best so far.
Click to expand...

SargeSmash said:
So I've been playing with this for a few days. No dock yet, I'm going to try to snag one if I get over to the next town over the weekend. Using CFW 1.4, just for everyone's information.

The wifi, to start with, was pretty awful. Actually, scratch that, hideously awful. Once I disabled Bluetooth and put the HDMI extension cable on there, though, it seems to be working a good deal better. I don't have a tremendously fast connection, anyway, using a 4G access point on account of not being able to get DSL or cable.

Anyway, streaming on Netflix seems to be working beautifully, only a few hiccups / desyncs on occasion. Very, very usable. Browsing is pretty decent as well.

The controller is pretty garbage. It feels okay, at least the analogs do, but that d-pad is pretty terrible, and worse, there seems to be a lot of lag when I use it. When I pair up a Wii U Pro Controller in the *.emu emulators or a Wii remote, things seem much better. That CFW also supports 360 pads, and that's a really good option, especially if you want to not engage wifi and Bluetooth at the same time.

The one thing that really disappoints me is the emulation performance. I mean, yeah, it's playable, but nothing I've run so far has working without frameskipping enabled. Which is weird, of course, because this thing should be more than fast enough for NES/SNES/Genesis emulation at full speed. SetCPU reports a clockspeed of just shy of 1GHz. If I could figure out how to smooth that out, this little thing would be absolutely perfect.
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Have you guys tried this emulator pack from hackinformer?

http://hackinformer.com/DLC/Andoird%20EMU.rar

I havent gotten a chance to yet. I have only heard good things so let us know if you get a chance to use them.

 
Gamestop near me was OOS so I just ordered it online today.

$20 for an Android testing device is a steal. (Of course I will use it for more important things), but I really wanted to have a cheap development device and this will do.

 
Picked one of these up and got it running based on the great instructions in the 1st post.  I do have a few issues - 

1) When I run Kodi/XBMC/SBMC - if I go to System, Settings, Video Output -- the Display mode is stuck on Windowed, and 1280x720p.  It's greyed out and I can't change it to 1080p.  Is this a limitation of the Gamestick?

2) When I run a video program like Genesis or IceFilms, the video plays, but a big part of the bottom of the movie is chopped off.  I've tried changing the calibration but no matter what I do I can't see that part of the movie.  

Any ideas?

 
Dysheekie said:
Picked one of these up and got it running based on the great instructions in the 1st post. I do have a few issues -

1) When I run Kodi/XBMC/SBMC - if I go to System, Settings, Video Output -- the Display mode is stuck on Windowed, and 1280x720p. It's greyed out and I can't change it to 1080p. Is this a limitation of the Gamestick?

2) When I run a video program like Genesis or IceFilms, the video plays, but a big part of the bottom of the movie is chopped off. I've tried changing the calibration but no matter what I do I can't see that part of the movie.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
1. My SPMC also says that the display mode is windowed and stuck at 720p but it fit my 42 inch TV screen just fine. Is the display not fullscreen for you?

2. I havent had this problem? is it just like a black bar or something? or is it the android task bar?

ghost1914 said:
Was thinking of jumping on this but after reading many of your posts, I'll be passing lol.
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I think we are laughing at you.

 
Ok, I picked one up yesterday for $17

Also found a cart-only copy of Cave Story 3DS, while I was there, picked up for $14 with 20% B-day coupon.  

Off to figure out how to convert this, looks a little more complicated than i thought, requires a USB keyboard...

Those still exist?  Argh

 
xeroblade said:
1. My SPMC also says that the display mode is windowed and stuck at 720p but it fit my 42 inch TV screen just fine. Is the display not fullscreen for you?

2. I havent had this problem? is it just like a black bar or something? or is it the android task bar?

I think we are laughing at you.
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding. Looks like it may be specific to the movie I was trying to watch. I tried another one and it seemed to work fine.

 
Went by gamestop got the system with controller, an extra controller, and a dock.  thanks!

 
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You don't necessarily have to have a keyboard to install the cfw. I was able to navigate the menu with the scroll wheel and left click on my mouse. Too bad the wifi was horrible. I ended up reinstalling the factory image and returning it.
 
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