NVIDIA Shield: Editing keyboard.xml, Includes_Furniture.xml and autostart SPMC on boot (Harmony issues etc.)

[imbaimbaimba]

Hello SPMC users,

I can happily say that I am really enjoying SPMC on my NVIDIA Shield. For the most part, it runs exactly how I want it to, and I really appreciate the work you guys put into this.

There are just a couple of things, that I cannot seem to handle. Probably cause of my lack of skills - so I hope you can guide me on this. I have not rooted my NVIDIA Shield, basically I cannot even exactly comprehend yet what it means to do it, and how to. It seemed a bit hard, since I only have a Mac, and the guides are for Windows mostly. In general I just do not feel very "in control" of the files on my NVIDIA Shield, as most of my issues are probably just files I need to be able to edit/handle.

1 - My Logitech Harmony Elite is not playing too nicely with my NVIDIA Shield / SPMC yet.
Basically, I have just set it up as a NVIDIA Shield Gaming Console, and running the standard setup for buttons. There is an annoying delay on button presses, and I feel like I am missing a lot out on a lot of button mapping configuration.
I already tried to edit my keyboard.xml as per: https://github.com/koying/SPMC/wiki/Advanced-Keymap-for-NVIDIA-Shield-TV-and-Logitech-Harmony-Hub-Remote-Control , but I do not believe I succeeded. What I did is I copied the content into an XML file and changed the list as per this thread: #189 because I want my video to keep playing in the background when I press the back/exit button. Afterwards I put it on my Synology NAS, that I have mapped to my NVIDIA Shield and used the file manager to copy it to my special://profile/keymaps. It seems like the file eventually dissapeared and created a keyboard.xml.bak.0 file in place of it.
Also I searched for solutions to the delay problem, and found that it is probably since I am running over IR right now, and need to set it up for bluetooth. I found so many different directions to go for this, so I completely lost track, and need guidance.
Also my NVIDIA Shield does not turn off properly when using the "Off" button, as it seems. Sometimes I believe it has been continuing to play stuff while everything else is turned off.

Can you guys refer to me to a good guide to use for properly setting up my Harmony Elite? I really want to have it respond nice and quick(over bluetooth), and make full use of binds/bottons.

2 - In my skin, Arctic Zephyr: From Ashes, there is an annoying equalizer bar in the top right corner that I want to remove.
As per the emby forums I need to open Includes_Furniture.xml and comment some lines.

Can you help me how to gain access to and edit this Includes_Furniture.xml file?

3 - I want SPMC to autostart when my Shield boots up.
I did find this in the wiki: https://github.com/koying/SPMC/wiki/How-to-autostart-SPMC-on-boot
But I believe I need my Shield to be rooted(again I do not exactly know the whole story of rooting) to this, and I currently have no external storage in Shield.

Can you help me with a more in depth guide how to achieve this? If I need to buy a SD card to get this solved - tell me and I will go ahead and grab one right away.

4 - Basically I just need more control with my Shield/SPMC from my Mac.
How would you guys suggest that I go by accessing the "system files" of my Shield and SPMC from my Mac?

[sammarbella]

Replied here:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/988192/shield-android-tv/nvidia-shield-editing-keyboard-xml-includes_furniture-xml-and-autostart-spmc-on-boot-harmony-issues-etc-/post/5058421/#5058421

[classicjazz]

1. Yes, you should use Bluetooth to control your Shield because IR is slow and IP control is nonexistent. When you pair them, the Harmony will appear as "Harmony Keyboard" on your Shield settings. Unfortunately, not all physical keys (including numbers) work over BT. Some users have worked around this by creating a combination of IR and BT keyboards bound to the same Watch Shield activity. But this is pretty complex and prone to breakage in my experience.

Your custom keymapping should go here:
userdata/keymaps/keyboard.xml on your Shield, not your NAS.

4. To access your Shield from your Mac without ADB or SSH, just use ES Explorer on your Shield as an FTP server and Transmit on your Mac as an FTP client.

[sammarbella]

@classicjazz

He can't access that file with ES Explorer because he has no root rights in his Shield TV

[zspeciman]

I recall being able to move files around within kodi/spmc under system then file manager. For both the firetv and the shield without them being root. The right side A was the source (my usb flash drive) and the left side B was the destination. In my case, I selected advancedsettings.xml on A and on B go to Profile directory and copy it there. Not sure if that helps.