Easy Android TV Box Setup – AndroidPCReview

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Easy Android TV Box SetupI don’t know about you, but those first moments when I rip open the packaging on a new piece of tech turns me into a little kid at Christmas again. The shredded shrink wrap blows across the floor as you quickly start tossing cables and accessories aside. Instruction manuals? Who needs those? I’m on an emotional high induced by the smell of new plastic and the possibility that I may have just purchased the world’s best gadget!

Of course, a few minutes later, after all the wires are connected and I hit that power button, it hits me: Now what? Those instruction manuals that I casually threw over in the corner told me how which cables to plug in, but they didn’t tell me what to do next.

Sound familiar?

have a lot of possibilities, right out of the box. You can configure it any way you choose, unlike a Roku or Amazon Fire TV which is pretty much locked down from the factory. So where do you start? I’m going to show you how to setup your Android TV box in 5 easy steps. This assumes you’ve already plugged in all the cables and successfully turned it on. This is all about what to do next.

You haven’t setup your Android TV box until you’ve updated your firmware!

Android TV boxes are really just small form factor computers. Like any computer, the manufacturer has probably come out with new features, or at least bug fixes, since they shipped it to you. It’s a good idea to make updating the firmware the first thing you do with any new Android device.

Why do this first? Well, depending on the way the manufacturer handles the firmware update, it may completely erase your settings and apps. I used to do this step at the very end, until one upgrade erased the everything I’ve done over the past hour. Lesson learned. Install the firmware first, when you setup your Android TV box. Then you can start with a clean slate on the latest version of the TV box’s operating system.

Check out our

to find your firmware!

Your apps are lonely….get them some friends

If you’ve installed anything on an Android smartphone you probably installed it through the . With over 1.4 million apps as of the end of 2014, there’s a lot to choose from. If Google’s not your thing, you can always check out the almost 500,000 apps on the instead. Each has its advantages: Amazon offers a daily free app, which is always worth checking out. Google Play is the only place you can pick up their apps, such as Chrome.

Either way, you’ll want some way to install apps on your device without all of them. Its time to go shopping.

Media Players: Setup Kodi, or Plex

When it comes down to it, all we really want to do is watch a movie, right?

Your new Android TV box will come with some sort of media player like MX Player or VLC player, but what you really want is a full blown media center. That means either Kodi or Plex. There are others, of course, but most Android fans will fall into one of these two camps.

Kodi and Plex and both media centers that will organize and stream your existing media files no matter where they are on your network, as well as fetch video streams from locations on the web. There are some subtle differences, but generally, you can’t go wrong with either one. To find out more details on which one may work for you, check out my detailed .

After you’ve installed Kodi, you may need to . Don’t worry, there’s a detailed “how-to” for that.

BONUS: I’ve posted a HUGE step by step article on . Check it out here, or click the image below.

Where’s my stuff? Add your shared drives

Even if you don’t use a media server like Kodi or Plex, you can still access the files on your network using ES File Explorer. If you’ve got a Windows network set up already, you can set up a file share using nothing more than an external hard drive. ES File Explorer can be used to pull files from any folder on your network and is pretty easy to setup.

Even though you could use ES File Explorer to navigate your network, this isn’t the best solution for playing all of your videos. This is better suited to finding images or documents on your network and showing them on your TV screen. Still, for the occasional video that may not be in your Kodi or Plex library, this is an easy to use way to access them.

Find help when you need it: Join the manufacturer forum

There is a ton of useful information and tips on the manufacturer’s forums.

The forums are one of the first places I go when I want to research a product. They’re a great place to find the latest information, especially when you’ve just setup your Android TV box. Often, you can find quick, easy solutions to common problems. Even if you don’t have any problems, you can find other users with tips, tricks or suggestions to really make it run smoothly.

One of the added bonuses is that a lot of times, manufacturers will tease new features or apps. Even if you just got your device, its cool to see the new features that are planned for the next versions.

Bonus Tip

Now that you’ve setup your Android TV box, there’s only one thing left to do: sit back, grab some popcorn and watch a movie.

Have any other tips? Leave a comment below and tell us.

Ready to take the next step? Check out our

too!

looking for ANDROID mx TV BOX FIRMWARE UPDATE

Can I connect the box to a normal computer monitor like the LED

monitor?

Or I need to use a TV set?

Thanks

I have genesis on my android tv box and any film i click on, it just says ‘cannot connect to server’ even though everything is connected to wifi and working fine, im so rubbish when it comes to tech, so any advice would be great

When I got my android box the shop showed me what to do so I took it home plugged it in and happy days it worked so started to set it up first set up Internet conception wife input security no ha first obstacle remote won’t change from numbers to letters and when I cursor left or right it moves 1mm not good in fact very poor will take me a week going back to shop

as soon as I can

Internet isn’t working on my box

why?

my android player box will not show any videos or even let me access them sometimes it wont load and sometimes says not connected to internet even though we are please help feel like i have wasted money

I have an android box (emish ) which is a type of xbmc box however when plugging it in to the tv with the hdmi. Cable it will not keep the display it comes on then goes off again,can anyone help me to solve this ?

I cant get the HDMI setting to hold on its setting.I have turned of HDMI auto detect and if I set 1080 50hz on my

other TV then plug HDMI into my older TV it works. But when I switch off it reverts to original setting as if it was still on auto detect.

How do you get it to retain setting ?

I have an

TV BOX

model MX III

(Android) and isn’t on the

“Firmware guide list” where can I find the last firmware ?

Thanks

I have new android tv box today, can’t work, massage saying we can’t ind registration/serial number?

How do I set up password to enter internet.

Love this site, thanks for the tips.

To let you know, I installed both XBMC 13.2 and Kodi 16 on my MINIX 8H, works very well – separately.

I also added TVMC and SPMC and they work very well too – just to experiment 🙂

Then I downloaded a 12.3 XBMC and installed it on my PC which carries a Windows XP Pro, and used Fusion to load the TVAddons Wizard, works so well and smooth, no problems at all.

WOULD BE GOOD TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT AN EARLY XBMC CAN BE LOADED ON WINDOWS XP

Hi.I bought an m8 box and set it up to the telly with cables in correct position and switched it on and added my WiFi password and everything is fine..I can’t even watch anything on it..do I have to download anything myself to start watching movies ect..can anyone please help….thanks..

Hi I was messing around with the settings on my MX box and ended up losing my video add ons like Genesis and phoenix etc and now cant get a decent stream to see movies, it was going so well too! Now its telling me to install SALTS but I don’t know how to can you assist please ????

Hi – I’m totally new to Android and have set up my first Android TV box. I can find movies, they play well, but nothing in HD. I don’t even get a “pick which option to stream” – it just loads whatever comes up first, even if it’s a cam and I know there should be better quality versions. How do I change this setting? THANKS!!

Got an android box cant set up help plz

my XMBC tv box

the day and date are wrong,tried to alter them but won’t alter, I have no programs loaded at all,when I

try and load Kodi it says “no internet connection”,but it shows it on the setting page as connected.What is the solution.

I just recently purchased two mxq pro boxes for two different TVs and I do not have an HDMI hookup on either one so I ended up using the RCA wires the plug into the TV and the AV wire that plugs into the box and everything is hooked up correctly but when I turn it on and watch it on the TV all I get is the home screen that comes up in black and white and the picture scrolles randomly and doesn’t stop. I have checked all my cables and I have tried unplugging the system and then plugging it back in to reset it and nothing has fixed it. Does anybody have any suggestions because this is doing it on both of my TV’s and I’d like to get this running so the kids can watch there cartoons they used to.

Hai… is it possible this android tv play a movie from external hard disk without internet connection??

Hello my friend, i bought an mxq pro tv box, and everything was ok. So yesterday i connect by mistake an amplifier -9 V – output instead of tv box 5V. Is it possible to fix it? I tried to work it but only the led lamp turns on. Thanks a lot!

Hi, my Bessky Android box 4.4 keeps restarting while using any app or add-on. Are there any solutions for this problem?

Hello 🙂 I got a new Ott TV Box MXQ with a video connection via HDMI and AUX. My TV is too old for HDMI but has an AUX input in front of it. Can I use my box on my any how? I could test it with another screen, it works with HDMI but I cannot find the point in menu to change the opening priority. Can you help me ? Sorry for my grammar 😛 nice greetings from Germany

I’ve recently bought an OTT MXQ player. I’m not tech savvy, but I can usually figure things out. Here’s my problem. I’ve tried connecting the device to both hdmi connections and nothing, not even the product logo which usually comes up on any device. I’ve unplugged and plugged back several times and still nothing. I did notice that when the device is connected to my T.V., It will don’t let the T.V. remote control operate it. I have to disconnect the device and the T.V. works fine. What do you suggest?

I have3 different boxes they all hook up to Google but when I try to watch TV or movie it says no connection

is their something I,m doing wrong

please help .

Hi I have an android 0tt tvbox 4k kodi is on there but when I try to watch a movie nothing happens I can go thru all the menu’s and can see what films r there

I tried nav-x salt and many other all with the same result any ideas please

I got an android box as a gift for my birthday but it wont let me put my google account on it keeps telling mee “there was a problem connecting to the google servers try again later” do you know if there is a fix for this?

my m8s box

isnt being reconized by my hp laptop

Have an Android Smart Tv box how do you get local tv stations

Can anyone advise on a stand alone external from kodi , IPTV player, and the best way to side load apps onto the mxq pro box. Thanks

Can you stream media from your phone or laptop to the Android TV? like Miracast??

Wow, I really like that amazon has there own app store. I have never tried it out. I need to see about using it. I just got an android tv box, and want to use it to the fullest of its abilities.

I’ve googled a lot with no luck, hope you can help; I have Plex running on an MXQ Pro and it will only play movies from the remote server that have ACC two track sound.

Any DD or DTS multi channel sound movie brings up an error message when I press play (something like ‘can’t connect to the server’ but it is clearly connected, just can’t play it).

I’ve fiddled with Plex settings and the MZQ settings, no luck.

What to try?

How do I connect my single android mini m8s box to multiple tvs in the house?

How do l hook up my ABOX android to my Samsung Smart TV.

I have a windows 10, 2 in 1 laptop and tablet and was wondering how to connect my box? Is it just a HDMI lead? if so the HDMI port on my laptop is smaller than most, will there be a suitable lead?

I have a Tonbux m8s android video box. Was working perfectly until 2 days ago. Now when I switch it on it tells me to connect charger and enter a code.

Haven’t

the faintest idea what this is. Can anyone please help.

wifi signal is strong

apps won’t connect to internet…

am i missing something?

Hi!

I seem to have misplaced the remote for this box.

Is there an app I can get or do u know best place to get another one?

Please… Any help is much appreciated

To the point. I was looking at the media launcher TV box. I don’t have a computer. How can I use devices like this without PC. I have an 8gb

phone plan. I have the HTC One m8. TV has a hdmi output. I just want to watch TV at home. Does it require downloading an app which in turn would use gigabytes. Is there an adaptor I can get in place of using a PC. Was looking at netfix. What is the best box for me to get that doesn’t require a PC to just watch TV at home, best solutions that doesn’t cost an arm and leg and or any way without a box. And of course I only have 8gb cell plan and any way to get around any complicated set up. I’m new to this streaming thing but I’m not illiterate to learn. Could someone PLEASE take the time to answer my individual questions. I’m sorry for asking so much from someone but I’ll never know unless I ask. THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP OUT THERE

Hi Tim & all,

i am a long time google account holder based in Australia; once i receive my box, would you recommend using my personal account or set up an Android box dedicated account? i am planning on using VPN for obvious reasons and not sure if my personal account details could cause issues.

thanks in advance – best regards,

Jurgen

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