Nvidia Shield? Good option or not?

Channels DVR Server
#1

As a new Channels user and HDHomeRun owner, I’m keen to use my new setup as a DVR replacement.

I’ve done a lot of reading about various NAS solutions, but there’s no avoiding the fact that a NAS plus storage is an expensive proposition.

So how about Shield? I have USB hard drives to spare, so storage isn’t an issue. But what I really want to know is: are there any downsides to the Shield? I don’t want to buy one and realise I’ve made a mistake and should just have saved for a NAS.

Does everything work (and work well) on a Shield?

Can I use a Shield for DVR and never use it? I want to have AppleTV as my one and only device, so I would ideally like to set up the Shield and forget it exists. Is this possible?

#2

Hopefully, others here have had better luck using the Shield (as a server). After the 6.3 upgrade, I no longer had the continual problems with remote dismounts, however, I’ve never been able to run the Shield as a server for either Channels nor Emby…each required a reboot every 2nd or 3rd day.

I have not tested Channels server (on Shield) in the last 4-6 months, currently testing Emby Beta Server and reboots are still required. Have no idea if this is due to Emby beta setup or the shield itself (latter more likely, IMO).

I was very hopeful based on the shield specs, but sadly IMO, it is still not ready for a stint as a set it/forget it server experience. Never had a problem using old Core2 duo mac nor a low spec’d NAS (Qnap 251A, although for the cost I’d rather have 251+…quad core).

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#3

I had been testing the Shield pretty heavily for the past 5 days. As far as the DVR itself goes, I have not had any issues with it at all.

The two issues I ran into was that I found the Shield to be very bogged down on occasion when using other apps (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) while comskip is running after a recording finishes. I never realized it before, but it seems that Netflix and Amazon apps specifically use a lot of RAM when they are running. I can see the % in the Web UI of the Channels DVR and I see it go down to sometimes 12% available when watching stuff on Netflix or Amazon. It goes down to about 20% free even when nothing else is running like a recording or comskip after a recording finishes.

I had 2 8TB hard drives connected via USB. These are two drives that I have connected via a Sabrent USB 3.0 HDD enclosure. The issue I ran into with these was if I restarted the Shield, sometimes one of the drives wouldn’t show up. Another restart would usually fix that. Then, the last straw was a restart that made the Shield not recognize either drive and when I tried to select one of them it wanted me to reformat it as if it hadn’t already done that.

This was my experience and yesterday I disconnected the two drives and move everything back over to my Windows 10 PC which is working fine.

I think the Shield is just a bit too under powered to have too many things happening on it at one time. Although, I don’t understand why Netflix and Amazon use so much RAM.

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#4

It is encouraging news that you haven’t had to reboot the Shield, however it is seemingly off-set by problems for you with attached USB drives and utilizing Shield for other client activities. I haven’t used the Shield for “other” client purposes, i.e., Netflix/Amazon, so I cannot contribute any data experience. We use ATV4s as our clients. We were contemplating using our only Shield (non-pro) in our MBR in order to utilize Kodi (for complete auto comskip playback)…but MrMC (on tvOS) has now proven to be very capable for both non-Channels/Channels recordings with the newly added .edl file function on Channels and also utilizing a .txt/.edl file comskip production script for our older non-Channels recordings.

OP, per posting, appears only wants to use Shield as a Channels server…so the Shield may indeed be capable for that specific required use. Possibly @tmm1 can add his setup/experience with Shield. Also, @timstephens24 has experimented with Shield as a Channels server, hence his input would be worthwhile.

I originally purchased the Shield (2 years ago) as an Android playback device for DRM (based on SD’s projections). Ever since, as SD Android DRM was a complete bust, I’ve been trying to find a niche use for the Shield…to no avail. Especially now with just released Channel’s improved transcoding for my Qnap…I see no added value vs ATV4. May be able to utilize in the future, but for now it is an “excess” device in our household. :sunglasses:

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#5

I really want to retest my SHIELD since all my other tests were with 2 Primes and 1 Connect. Since my last test I’ve dumped Comcast for DirecTV Now and I use a Quatro for OTA so it might not be an issue. Most of my problems occurred when Channels was updating the guide it would just freak out and stop.

Since I’m in the process of moving a few states to the south and buying/selling houses I’m not going to be able to for a few months. I have a Pro though, so I was going to keep everything internal and not use USB drives. I then map my NAS and had scripts that would move stuff to my NAS and have Channels use the NAS mount point as an extra storage location for Channels.

#6

I’m a ‘casual’ Channels user. I have the HomerunHD Connect duo and the NVIDIA SHIELD™ TV 16 GB Streaming Media Player using the Channels DVR for the Shield and an ancient USB 3 1 TB HD with Apple TV4 all ethernet connected… Bought the Shield after having playback issues with the NAS DVR. In the several months since I’ve had the Shield it’s been transparent both at home and while I’m away from home. Both are like the tv commercial…“set it and forget it”. I can’t speak for the technical issues of multi this or cross platform that, but I watch live and record/watch every day with both units and NO reboots. I’m sure that will all change for the worst now that I’ve posted this, but I’m currently one HAPPY camper.

Although, if the developers could get Channels to work with Alexa…:wink:

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#7

I might give the Shield a go, then. If anyone could answer a couple of questions, it would be a big help…

  • Does the Shield arrive, out of the box, with apps installed?
  • Is it possible, through a factory reset or similar, to remove all apps such that just the OS is running?
  • Can more than one external drive be attached (I see two USB ports, I think).
#8
  1. Yes
  2. Delete them, don’t think a reset is necessary.
  3. Google search - https://www.androidcentral.com/how-use-adoptable-storage-nvidia-shield-android-tv
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#9

Well, it looks like my HTPC is forcing me to “test” the Shield again! It is now doing weird things and I think my cpu is going bad.

Anyway, I decided to try out something that @timstephens24 mentioned above and that is to use the 500 gb internal drive on my Pro for the recordings. I used to just let my recordings pile up and rarely ever delete them. Perhaps I can take advantage of yet another feature of this great DVR and only keep 3 recordings for each show and have them auto-delete.

I am also going to set up a different 8 TB HDD I have (a NAS drive) in case there was some issue with the other one causing some funky behavior. I will put all my ripped movies on that drive and go back to using the Shield as my server with MrMC. I am also consider something DebbieFL mentioned and perhaps just use the 500 gb as just my server and pick up one of those 16 GB models to use in the Living Room (already have one upstairs in the bedroom).

Then again, maybe having just one external hard drive will work better and I can just keep using it as it is now.

I have even contemplated adopting one of my 3 TB drives as internal storage for my recordings and other stuff.

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#10

I have both the shield pro and the normal version. I recently switched to this exact set up where the pro is used as a server and the 16Gb is used as the client. I can say that the 16Gb is ALOT faster, and I have had zero issues or needs to restart either system since I switched to this set up 2 weeks ago.

#11

That is good to hear. I am hoping this setup works well for me. There is a lot less maintenance vs having an always on HTPC.

#12

Okay, Nvidia Shield bought and installed.

Couple of questions:

How do I remove the BBC News and BBC Sport apps from the home screen? I’ve removed all of the other preinstalled apps, but can’t find an option for these two.

More importantly, how do I get Channels to recognise my attached 1tb USB drive? The Shield sees it, but when I go to the Channels web setup, I can’t select it. I don’t know if it’s formatted incorrectly or I have chosen the wong option on the Shield.

If it’s a formatting issue, how should I rectify it? I have a Mac with Disk Utility but no access to Windows…

Please help!

#13

Please be more specific. What do you see and what happens when you try to “select it”

#14

Note that there’s two ways to add storage to the SHIELD: (a) adopted (internal) storage, where the drive is reformatted and cannot be used by any other device, and (b) external storage where it is just used as a regular USB drive. Option (b) is preferred, and the DVR web UI should show the drive during setup.

Can you screenshot or copy/paste what you see as available options in the directory picker?

#15

No worries — external storage connected successfully now.

Still can’t find a way to remove the BBC apps from the Shield, though…

#16

The app is called “NvXtraMedia2”. If you disable it then BBC Sport and BBC News will disappear from your home screen.

from https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/995123/how-to-disable-bbc-/

#17

Thanks for this! I’ll try it out as soon as my current recordings finish…

#18

Sorry, but this a rant on Shield and Google Play.

Two hours ago I called Google Play as I tried to re download app “Channels DVR Server (Beta)”…my attempts showed that our Shield now had this app installed (on 2 different accounts). Signing into one or the other of the two Google accounts on the Shield still doesn’t show this app available.

So, called Google Play Store. Rep didn’t even understand the problem AT ALL. Finally, he gave up (after calling 2nd tier) and referred me to Nvidia. “WTH”. Nvidia text conversation led to…”this is complicated and we’ll need more time to investigate”. Two hours later, I’m no further along.

I’m about ready to do a factory reset and start all over. As I stated in a previous post…APPLE just works!

Hope @timstephens24 didn’t delete the app as I did, since he wants to retest the Shield as a server. Also @jasonmcroy: FYI, as you are still testing for your best solution.

Finally, @tmm1 this whole experience re enforces my appreciation of your breadth of knowledge and attention to customer service. It is unparalleled.

/Rant over

#19

Update:

This PM: Nvidia latest attempt to correct this problem was to send me a link to the apk so that I could sideload.
Seriously?..and to add insult to injury…the link lead to a 0kb file.

Instead of waiting any longer or resetting the Shield, I added a new user to Google then added that user account to the Shield. I then was able to request the server app from the Play Store with the new ID.

Shield DVR is now up and running!

Edit 12 hours later: Nvidia is now sending me a link to “Channels Live TV (Beta)”, although all previous communications have stated “Channels DVR Server (Beta)”. Useless!

#20

Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to your test results with the DVR on the Shield.