It was suggested to me that we have a dedicated thread for Osprey boxes, as well as potentially in the future the Gemini Air device once those come off lease and become inexpensive. I just wanted to create this thread as a way to start a conversation about these boxes and how to best utilize them with Channels DVR. They are extremely reliable and tune very quickly for DirecTV service when using them with ADBTuner or AH4C.
I also want to thank @spammedeeper for suggesting I get one and I ended up with six! @spammedeeper did an excellent write up on all of the different variants which I will link here for refrerence. ADBTuner: A "channel tuning" application for networked Google TV / Android TV devices - #2994 by spammedeeper
Just one thing to note when purchasing these: beware of auto sign-in. When buying boxes from individual sellers, make sure you reach out to them and ask them if they see a QR code when they log in. If the box boots up and there's no QR code, chances are it has auto sign-in enabled and will log into someone else's account automatically with no way of removing it.
There are workarounds that involve cutting off the internet connection at just the right time to trigger a login prompt, but they are inconvenient and I would avoid them. It's a good idea to purchase from established sellers on eBay or from Walmart where they're inexpensive. When hunting for specific models, you aren't really able to do that, such as the 60233 4GB model. So in that case, it's a good idea to look for reputable sellers, do your due diligence, and ensure that they check the devices before you purchase.
I have had to, at least one occasion, invoke eBay's money-back guarantee with a seller that refused to acknowledge the auto sign-in issue on a box. For the purposes of Channels DVR there isn't much of a difference between the 60233 4GB and 60164 2GB boxes, but for my situation, I wanted to future-proof and made it a point to hunt down the 4GB ones, as painstaking as it was. When searching for these, the SKU is on the bottom, so usually you'll see a picture on eBay of hopefully the bottom of the device alongside the SKU and manufacture date.
Here is some more information on what that auto sign-in feature is, and just know it can only be disabled by the original owner of the box on their account and cannot be disabled by DirecTV representatives:
https://www.directv.com/support/article/000093665
I strongly suggest using the Osprey boxes with ADBTuner. It's excellent and works extremely well with the Ospreys.
I also like the LinkPi encoders which many use here on forums.
Below is the custom config I use for my Osprey's with ADB Tuner. They are always on all of the time, so they're constantly streaming. Not ideal, but without sleeping them there isn't a way around that, and I prefer fast tuning over sleeping them.
I'm sure others will share configs that allow for sleep and such.
{
"name": "Osprey Quick Tune",
"author": "David B.",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Super fast tuning of always on Osprey hardware.",
"uuid": "39734252-cf01-443e-97ac-e53d5220f40f",
"global_options": {
"wait_for_video_playback_detection": false,
"use_fixed_delay": true,
"fixed_delay_seconds": 3,
"check_for_and_clear_whos_watching_prompts": false
},
"pre_tune_commands": [],
"tune_commands": [
"am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d '||TARGET_URL_OR_IDENTIFIER||' ||TARGET_PACKAGE_NAME||"
],
"post_tune_commands": []
}
This is how I've structured my current setup. I use a couple of laptop coolers to mitigate them being always on that I purchased off of Amazon, along with a cut-down little end table from Walmart (I cut the legs off of it). I believe this table is similar to a LACK from IKEA, but it is from Walmart.
This setup keeps everything organized and cool, and I use a little folder organizer I purchased from Staples. Anything will do that will fit the Osprey boxes in its slots, but I recommend anything that is used to organize folders.
For more information please read @spammedeeper's excellent write up: DirecTV Osprey/Gemini Boxes - #4 by spammedeeper