sheldon/p Specs microUSB and Hardware extensions (Ethernet, USB Sticks/Drives)

[ChriMo]

Just as a summary what I found about the hardware specs of Fire TV Stick Lite (sheldon) and Stick (sheldonp) of 2021/2022:

Wi-Fi: Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO), supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth Low Energy
Storage: 8 GB
Memory: 1 GB
Quad-core processor: CPU 1.7GHz, GPU 650MHz

I found no clear definition of the (micro)USB version/speed support. dony71 in the unlock/root thread lists a output:

[956544.855627] usb 3-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 101 using ehci-platform
[956544.969505] usb 3-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0e8d, idProduct=2000
[956544.969519] usb 3-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0

This interests me to understand if USB 3 OTG adapters as well as Gigabit Ethernet adapters make any sense?
I have one cheap such adapter and connected a USB3 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter. At least in the Appstores the download speed was low (not over 1-2 MB/s) but so far I could do no real speed tests in this setup.

Does anyone know the specs or has done Read/Write Tests with external Hardware (over Ethernet)?

 

[Finnzz]

None of the FireTV devices have USB3, only USB2. Micro USB3 connectors look different.

USB2 has a maximum 480Mbps bandwidth, so a gigabit adapter should still give you well over 100Mbps, but probably below 400Mbps.

 

[ChriMo]

None of the FireTV devices have USB3, only USB2. Micro USB3 connectors look different.

USB2 has a maximum 480Mbps bandwidth, so a gigabit adapter should still give you well over 100Mbps, but probably below 400Mbps.

Thank you very much. I looked at Wikipedia but those microUSB limitation to USB2 was not clear there to me. I think I read some hints elsewhere.
Since the USB2 Gigabit Adapter Performance probably depends heavily on the used model I will need to see f I find such tests for some of the widely available models - and hope sheldon/p does not heavily limit the max Bandwith. Similarly with External Disks over USB2. Using an older USB2 Stick I had serious buffering problems when playing a high quality 1080p Movie.

 

[Finnzz]

You can use the Speedtest (by Ookla) or Analiti apps from the Amazon app store for testing. Using a gigabit adapter on a device with USB2, the device (FireStick) will be the limiting factor. It probably won't matter much which gigabit adapter you use in this case.

I don't know about the 3rd gen Sticks, but I have seen people get 300-350Mbps with a gigabit Ethernet adapter on the 2nd and 3rd gen Cubes.

I would guess you should easily be able to get +200Mbps on the Sticks, maybe even 300-350Mbps.

1080p streaming content is typically less than 10Mbps.

 

[ChriMo]

Just to clarify: I meant that before buying a new adapter I would like to find Speedtests, optimally on a type of device like sheldon/p (entrance Android with USB2).
With the "older USB2 Stick I had serious buffering problems" I mean playing a HQ 1080p video on a sheldon from an external USB2 Stick connected with an OTG adapter. Without further testing I can not say if the old Stick is the limiting problem or maybe the OTG adapter cable is crap.
Thanks for your reports about typical speeds, I'm unsure if sheldon/p and 2nd and 3rd gen Cubes are very similar regarding the influencing hardware.

 

[Finnzz]

Got it. Even if you were dealing with 16-20Mbps videos, that's only 2-2.5MBs, which is not much at all for USB2. You will run into problems if the bitrate of the video is so high that the processor's hardware decoding can't keep up.

The older sticks for example can't play a lot of Blu-ray rips smoothly. Blu-ray rips can have 65Mbps+ bitrates. The limits of the sticks will vary depending on the codec and specific Stick, but generally start to choke above 30-35Mbps. The developers page for the Lite stick says H265 upper limit is 20Mbps.

Device Specifications: Fire TV Streaming Media Player | Amazon Fire TV

Fire TV Streaming Media Player specifications are provided here.

developer.amazon.com

If you are dealing with high bitrate videos buy a 4k Stick, 4k Max or 2nd gen Cube. Even the 4k stick will not handle 40Mbps+ video well in most cases. The 2nd gen Cube will playback 100Mbps+ bitrates.

The Sticks all use MediaTek processors. The Cubes all use Amlogic processors, so hardware-wise they are very different.

 

[ChriMo]

I'm on sheldon/p because availability in local shops paired with unlocking and Custom ROM. The other option then would be Amlogic G12*/SM1 Family Devices which should be better since selled with 4K compatibility.

 

[Finnzz]

I'm on sheldon/p because availability in local shops paired with unlocking and Custom ROM. The other option then would be Amlogic G12*/SM1 Family Devices which should be better since selled with 4K compatibility.

If you are in north America, the Onn 4k is the best cheap hardware right now. The biggest advantage is it's 2GB RAM, but it also has a slightly faster CPU, pretty much the same as the Chromecast 4k, for just $20.

It uses an Amlogic s905y2 SOC (G12a), so you can use the LineageOS 19.1 ROMs from this thread:

[OFFICIAL/UNOFFICIAL] LineageOS 19.1 for Amlogic G12*/SM1 Family Devices

Amlogic G12*/SM1 Family Devices - Your warranty is now void. - You have been warned. - Use at your own risk. Introduction: This is the Official Lineage OS 19.1 thread for the Amlogic G12*/SM1 SoC family of devices. Downloads: Please follow...

forum.xda-developers.com

The FireStick Lite is still a very good device for the money, just avoid high bitrate Blu-ray rips.

 

[ChriMo]

Onn 4k for 20$ would be great! Unfortunately I need advantagous availability in Central Europe, see https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-family-devices.4313743/page-69#post-87522765

EDIT: I wonder why even the 4k devices still have the microUSB (USB 2) connector instead of going for USB-C (possibly with USB 3)

 

[Merdeke]

Is all of this moot as long as sheldon doesn't play nicely with OTG accessories? For a few weeks mine would work with an OTG cable, connected to an Orico USB hub (in order that I could provide the device power via the hub's power input) but then it began restarting with that setup, even when there was nothing plugged to the hub. It doesn't get past a few seconds of bootup. When I take away the OTG & hub it runs fine. I am running LineageOS 18.1.

 

[ChriMo]

My sheldonp seems with the OTG MicroUSB Hub to one power microUSB and 3 USB-A it goes into TWRP and then after 5 seconds countdown reboots into LineageOS 18.1 ... so far ...
So it could be sheldon/p is very succeptable to power supply changes or other influencing factors. Indeed I'm worried as long term I would like to use sheldonp on Ethernet and possibly with external drive/stick connected.