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

So, I tried hooking up to the XB1 and the two do not play nice at all. It would either be a blank screen or no signal. So onto the back of the tv it goes for now. Shame too cause I really wanted to use this on my XB1.

Thanks again Zebular.

So, I have a dock coming and you said that it needs to be reflashed again for the dock and ether net to work right? Im just confused. Do I ref lash it with the dock on it or what? Any videos?
 
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Vulcan2422 said:
So, I tried hooking up to the XB1 and the two do not play nice at all. It would either be a blank screen or no signal. So onto the back of the tv it goes for now. Shame too cause I really wanted to use this on my XB1.

Thanks again Zebular.

So, I have a dock coming and you said that it needs to be reflashed again for the dock and ether net to work right? Im just confused. Do I ref lash it with the dock on it or what? Any videos?
Click to expand...
I just got the dock today. Download the patch file and put it on your microSD card. Don't use the dock yet, just boot up the Gamestick in recovery mode and then apply that patch (the same way you installed android the 1st time).

When you're done, you can put the Gamestick into the dock and boot everything up again and ethernet should work. I had to manually disable wifi and then enable ethernet. It didn't seem to work the 1st time, but I went into settings and tried it again and eventually it "took".

Makes all the difference when watching streamed videos -- my wifi couldn't keep up and kept buffering, but so far on ethernet it's been flawless (knock on wood).

 
Dysheekie said:
I just got the dock today. Download the patch file and put it on your microSD card. Don't use the dock yet, just boot up the Gamestick in recovery mode and then apply that patch (the same way you installed android the 1st time).

When you're done, you can put the Gamestick into the dock and boot everything up again and ethernet should work. I had to manually disable wifi and then enable ethernet. It didn't seem to work the 1st time, but I went into settings and tried it again and eventually it "took".

Makes all the difference when watching streamed videos -- my wifi couldn't keep up and kept buffering, but so far on ethernet it's been flawless (knock on wood).
Click to expand...
I don't have a dock so I'm happy to hear it works. I've actually had very little problems with my wifi but then again my router is just in the next room over.

However bad you guys think the wifi is on these things I can assure you the Ouya's wifi is worse, rarely can I stream HD on it.

 
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I've been pretty happy with the wireless on this, but grabbed the base because it's just too cheap not to! Thanks again to OP for putting all of this out there. 1000 posts later and this thread is still getting updated with useful information. at $17 EVERYONE should have one of these to mess around with.
 
zebular said:
You don't turn it off, it's the nature of the product. How do you mean it overheated? As in it got hot or it actually froze up? I've had like 20 of these things with a tv on 24/7 and haven't had one fail on me yet.
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It was just very warm (aka hot) to the touch like when my old Macbook was running Netflix just before it was going to crash.

Yeah. Dock is useful. This question was likely answered, but can I use the Dock to root? I have two flash drives and a 2GB SD (it was somewhat sizeable when I got it) hooked up to it right now and don't want to spend money on a new SD card.

 
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Thanks OP for putting this together.  I purchased one.  I am not very pc savvy outside of regular stuff but I was able to format and download the full Android, XBMC, and some game roms.  I must admit I have some caution about using Genesis as I don't usually bootleg stuff but game of thrones is very tempting. 

 
I have 2 setups. 2 sticks, 2 docks.
The first one had many setup issues but is now working ok. But initially it wouldn't run SPMC but ran TVMC fine (like another user said). The second unit had no problems at all.

The 1st unit didn't want to install anything from play. Instead of doing a full wipe and reinstall, I reset it to default in settings. This fixed the issues, allowed installs from play and enabled WiFi and Ethernet. I reinstalled spmc and got it setup as "custom wizard mode" and it works great.

So I don't know why, but they can behave differently. And the restoring default settings enables Ethernet and WiFi toggling (obviously this wipes all apps and prior setup work).
 
Couple of questions:

I futzed around with Amazon Instant Video last night but couldn't get it to work using the sideloaded apks (phone version of the store app + the new video app).  Whenever I tried to started a video the little busy circle would spin for a bit and then I would get a message that the Amazon app had stopped and I would be sent back to the store.  Has anyone gotten this to work yet on their stick or a tablet?

Is SPMC/XBMC/Kodi something that will be around for a while or is it more of a first-run Napster thing that could be gone tomorrow?

 
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Got a simple question..I think i am using the xbmc..kodi something..I want to play movies that i have put on the card..so i loaded 1 movie and it loaded it up thru that program..i find it and play it..but then for some reason i can not get to the settings..i have a usb mouse plugged in..but i can not get to the bottom to mess with the settings..

Is this the best program to play movies??

Downloaded vlc..but man that does not work at all..it loads up the movie about 1 sec..then just frezes...???

 
daywalker2k2 said:
Got a simple question..I think i am using the xbmc..kodi something..I want to play movies that i have put on the card..so i loaded 1 movie and it loaded it up thru that program..i find it and play it..but then for some reason i can not get to the settings..i have a usb mouse plugged in..but i can not get to the bottom to mess with the settings..

Is this the best program to play movies??

Downloaded vlc..but man that does not work at all..it loads up the movie about 1 sec..then just frezes...???
Click to expand...
I use MX Player on other Android devices. Works pretty well. I haven't gotten around to messing with the Gamestick yet.

 
Palinn said:
Couple of questions:

I futzed around with Amazon Instant Video last night but couldn't get it to work using the sideloaded apks (phone version of the store app + the new video app). Whenever I tried to started a video the little busy circle would spin for a bit and then I would get a message that the Amazon app had stopped and I would be sent back to the store. Has anyone gotten this to work yet on their stick or a tablet?

Is SPMC/XBMC/Kodi something that will be around for a while or is it more of a first-run Napster thing that could be gone tomorrow?
Click to expand...
The Amazon instant Video does not work at all. and dont worry about kodi ever going away. The devs make the program and every one else makes the plugins that ALLOW the content to be on there. Kodi is only going to get better from here on out.

 
Would it be possible to trick Amazon into thinking you're on a desktop and get instant video working that way?

If I can't get Amazon to work I might sell my gamestick and dock and just sideload emulators into my Fire Stick.

 
It seems a lot of the video streaming apps (aside from paid subscription ones likeNetflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, WWE) don't work for streaming on the gamestick. Some of the non-working apps will actually give you a message about the app not supporting video output through HDMI. Other apps will just give an error and shutdown or not load the video. I'm wondering if maybe those apps just don't support HDMI output as well, and that they lack the message about it.

 
Kanik said:
Would it be possible to trick Amazon into thinking you're on a desktop and get instant video working that way?

If I can't get Amazon to work I might sell my gamestick and dock and just sideload emulators into my Fire Stick.
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I'm going to try the Dolphin browser/desktop user agent/Flash route tonight and see what happens.

 
Tarskidx said:
Thank you, I will grab that. However, what is the proper setup for the gamestick controller to sync via BT?
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Make sure your Gamestick is turned on and in the settings menu under Bluetooth, Bluetooth should be On and "scanning for devices", if not press the "Scan for devices" at the top of the screen.

Power on your Gamestick controller press the sync button down until the lights start to cycle... then it should show up in your device list after blinking a couple times.

 
Narse said:
It seems a lot of the video streaming apps (aside from paid subscription ones likeNetflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, WWE) don't work for streaming on the gamestick. Some of the non-working apps will actually give you a message about the app not supporting video output through HDMI. Other apps will just give an error and shutdown or not load the video. I'm wondering if maybe those apps just don't support HDMI output as well, and that they lack the message about it.
Click to expand...
It doesn't output HDCP so any app requesting for HDCP to be turned on just won't work.

 
Has anyone had any luck with a Neo Geo emulator running on this thing?

I have tried just about everything I can think of and it is just not working. Doesnt recognize the roms, or the bios... it's a pain... 

Which sucks because I wanted to play some Metal Slug!

 
jecclr said:
Has anyone had any luck with a Neo Geo emulator running on this thing?

I have tried just about everything I can think of and it is just not working. Doesnt recognize the roms, or the bios... it's a pain...

Which sucks because I wanted to play some Metal Slug!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'll get back to you on how. I remember it has to be the roms from a certain mame archive version.

 
So technically is this device considered rooted once you download that custom FW?  I've always been curious to root my phone but afraid to brick it ...if I do screw it up , at least it's a 17 dollar loss than a 700 dollar loss for a new phone.

 
ITDEFX said:
So technically is this device considered rooted once you download that custom FW? I've always been curious to root my phone but afraid to brick it ...if I do screw it up , at least it's a 17 dollar loss than a 700 dollar loss for a new phone.
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Risk of brick on this is damn near impossible with the kind of recovery menu it has. Yes, rooted just means you have read/write access to the root directory.

 
zebular said:
Yeah, I'll get back to you on how. I remember it has to be the roms from a certain mame archive version.
Click to expand...
If possible may I get a link on how to do that as well? I just picked up my gamestick today and want to just run emulators on it.

 
Can anyone update flash? The reason I ask is because everytime I try to replace it a message pops up talking about conflicting signatures and I cant uninstall it because it's a system app.
 
I've really been enjoying playing around with these (along with a dock).  So much so it got me working on my old OUYA.  I know this is off-topic, but does anyone have a good link for how to install CWM on an up-to-date OUYA?  I rooted it and was able to install the Play Store, but it's not working correctly and I keep getting errors from the Play Store.  Would like to just put CWM on it if that's possible...

 
I've really been enjoying playing around with these (along with a dock).  So much so it got me working on my old OUYA.  I know this is off-topic, but does anyone have a good link for how to install CWM on an up-to-date OUYA?  I rooted it and was able to install the Play Store, but it's not working correctly and I keep getting errors from the Play Store.  Would like to just put CWM on it if that's possible...

 
To apply the ethernet patch for the dock, do I have to use the same steps as flashing with the custom firmware? If I apply the patch would it wipe all my apps and settings I already applied to the custom firmware? If it does wipe everything, is there a method to prevent it?

Thanks =)

 
Casan0va said:
To apply the ethernet patch for the dock, do I have to use the same steps as flashing with the custom firmware? If I apply the patch would it wipe all my apps and settings I already applied to the custom firmware? If it does wipe everything, is there a method to prevent it?

Thanks =)
Click to expand...
I did it a couple days ago. Booted into recovery mode, applied the patch file. Rebooted and all my apps were still there etc. Took only a few minutes total and was very painless.

 
Okay so I finally have everything set perfectly. I have the Gamestick working exactly as I wanted. I flashed the CFW from the op which is the 1.4 version. I'm running the stick in the dock. I'm using thisI mini keyboard/mouse combo. I have installed the iod emulators. Those are NESiod, SNESiod, GENsiod, etc... I didn't see these emulators in the Play Store so you will have to search for them and copy the .apk files to your game stick and install that way. With those emulators I can play Atarai 2600, NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Genesis/Mega Drive all buttery smooth using a wired Dual Shock 3. I choose the wired route for ease of use. The cool part is by using the DS3 with a usb cable it doesn't disrupt you pairing with your PS3.

There are only two tiny issues which I'm listing for reference, not because I'm complaining the least bit. 

1. Emulator audio is just a tad off. But you know it's emulated so it won't be perfect.

2. When I unplug my DS3 from the usb cable it boots up my PS3. Not sure why and not a big deal.

I just wanted to say thanks again to zebular. If he hadn't made this thread I would have missed out on a really cool device.

 
Maybe the "oid" emus is what I really need...I ran Super Mario All Stars using one of the SNES emulators from the play store and it didn't run very well at all (granted, I didn't tweak it). It was using a Dual Shock 3 connected via USB.
 
I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or what here.  However, I cannot get mine to go into the recovery menu.  I am pushing the button down (which is hard to do with larger hands).  Then plugging in the power cable.  Each time, it boots into the regular GameStick menu though.

 
crimsonassassin said:
I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or what here. However, I cannot get mine to go into the recovery menu. I am pushing the button down (which is hard to do with larger hands). Then plugging in the power cable. Each time, it boots into the regular GameStick menu though.
Click to expand...

I had to use a small pocket knife. Others have used an eye glasses screw driver. I am also cursed with large hands gene. I guess being 6'3" has a few draw backs.
 
1teaney said:
I had to use a small pocket knife. Others have used an eye glasses screw driver. I am also cursed with large hands gene. I guess being 6'3" has a few draw backs.
Click to expand...
Finally, I got it to work after dozens of tries using a pen, my chin to hold parts of it in place, and my face to push in the power. Fortunately, no one is here to see how ridiculous that looked. Of course, my keyboard does not seem to work now to select the options. The keyboard is brand new and works fine on my laptop via USB.

 
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Ok using my phone's micro sd card to root it tonight. In the recovery menu. Which buttons on the keyboard makes the menu go up/down and which button is to select?

My keyboards that I have tried are not working.

 
Sir_Fragalot said:
Ok using my phone's micro sd card to root it tonight. In the recovery menu. Which buttons on the keyboard makes the menu go up/down and which button is to select?

My keyboards that I have tried are not working.
Click to expand...
I figured it out for mine at least. Remove the SD card (or eject it so it is not connected). Power it on again. Keyboard works,

 
crimsonassassin said:
Finally, I got it to work after dozens of tries using a pen, my chin to hold parts of it in place, and my face to push in the power. Fortunately, no one is here to see how ridiculous that looked. Of course, my keyboard does not seem to work now to select the options. The keyboard is brand new and works fine on my laptop via USB.
Click to expand...
If you guys can't get a keyboard to work a usb mouse will work but you have to move it up and down EXTREMELY slowly.

 
I got mine done now.  I decided to wait until later to put emulators on it.  Can regular apps (via Google Play or Amazon) be installed to the memory card inside it?  I know that is not an option on my tablet running 4.2 but I assume that might be due to it being a cheap, old one.

 
crimsonassassin said:
I got mine done now. I decided to wait until later to put emulators on it. Can regular apps (via Google Play or Amazon) be installed to the memory card inside it? I know that is not an option on my tablet running 4.2 but I assume that might be due to it being a cheap, old one.
Click to expand...
With a "move to sd card" app you can.

 
CFW installed.

Is there any way to get USB controllers working? I got an old Logitech USB Gamepad I would like to use. Anyone know of any easy ways to do this or if it is even possible.

 
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