Emporium

IF they asked you to sent it in for repairs, did you ? Have you tried with another service, to ensure it is not your service ? I assume you tested using an ethernet cable (and not WiFi only) ? Have you tried using a VPN to ensure it is not your ISP that is throttling IPTV ?

For the buffering, If you are on WiFi, it could be a bunch of things. It could be your service (as nbs pointed out), it could be your ISP throttling (try with a VPN), or it could just be a crappy WiFi signal (your router, placement, etc..). If you can try with a cable plugged in instead, that would eliminate the WiFi issue at least. For the surround sound, you don't give enough info. How you trying to connect it ? HDMI, optical ? to a sound bar, receiver, etc.. ?

Guess you are on the advanced beta list to get that version. 5.0.810 ? And such recent firmware ? I am pretty sure the last "public" version for Android 9 boxes was V5.0.796 which was sent out about a month ago. See link below. OK, I don't use my 4500 much (compared to my other boxes), so it was not at the latest firmware. It was at V20220106 with v5.0.796. Just updated it, and it went to V20220919 but still with v5.0.796. And I checked again and it still works with that combination. Did you try clearing the Buzztv5 cache ? Now, if you are on some advance beta release, that is a different story. Then you should probably wait for a reply from @allaboutbuzz Maybe this was some minor regression from the public 5.0.796 release and your 5.0.810 release (or in firmware).

Can you post what firmware version and BuzzTV version is listed in the UPDATE screen ? Have you tried clearing the cache on the ByzzTV5 application ?

Which vidstick did you have previously ? The original vidstick ST4000 ? If so, what made you think this Vidstick Max would be any better in performance ? They have the exact same CPU, wifi, BT, etc.. Only difference is double the RAM (which for IPTV use only, it makes no difference), and 128GB of onboard storage (which does nothing for performance). What WiFi router do you have ? You do need good, solid WiFi for he vidstick. If you already had a Vidstick, I would have probably for the the HD5 if you wanted something on the smaller side. Better CPU and at least has an integrated ethernet port, and running AndroidTV 11. OR, if you don't mind going to an IR remote, I'd go with the E5. Same CPU as the higher end X5, AndroidTV 11, Ethernet onboard and Wifi. The E5 in my opinion is probably the best budget box in a long time. And with the buzz store coupons they have sometimes, it can probably be had for same or even cheaper than the vidstick max from most sources. And if later you decide you wanted to escape the IR remote, you could always just get an ARQ 200 series remote. Anyhow, just my opinion.

I just tried it on my 4500. When you go into server settings, Scroll right to M3U, then down to "add M3U playlist", and press OK. On the next screen the cursor will come up and will be at the end of the "portal name". You will notice that the "line" that is under the Portal name is highlighted. For now, let's say we ignore the portal name and leave the default. You can press "back" on the remote to get rid of the popup keyboard. Then if on the DPAD you press down, you will see the line under the "M3U Playlist URL" which gets highlighted. One more down, then the line under "xml epg url (optional) get's highlighted. Then ONE final time and you should see the line under the "choose file/No file selected" should get highlighted. When the line under "No file selected" is highlighted, if you press OK, it should bring up a file browser to allow you to browse your local file system to select a file. Keep in mind that this fills in the M3U playlist location with "file:///your/file/syetm/...". The xml is not filled in obviously. How far do you get ? PS: This above description is when using the "BuzzTV modern" theme. I have not tried it with others. EDIT: I just checked and the theme makes no difference, since it launched the same app with same look and feel for server settings. For personal playlists, I found it easier to just create an account on pastebin (dot) com and create my playlists there. Then use the "raw" link to get the link to the raw m3u file. I have also put many on my google drive on many occasions. And to make it easier to remember (for more permanent playlists), I will use bit (dot) ly, or tinyurl (dot) com to create a nice, more intuitive shortcut pointing to it. This way, I can easily use them from any device without copying it over all the time. And I can even share with family and friends if needed.

IF you are running 4k, you should see something like this:

If you press the info "i" button once you get the program info.. Second time you'll get more details and on the bottom it should show you the details about the audio/video stream. Now, that is what the stream coming in is. But, if that stream has just been upconverted at source, that is another story.

For downloads, I found that downloading smaller non-4k movies ,works fine. When downloading larger 4k movies, it starts well, but after the 1GB mark, it does often fail. I have alternatives in my case, so I don't bother downloading the VOD on my buzz box. Don't know if it is something with the download manager used or our specific server. DU and I had a discussion about it, in the "testing" section on another site, just before xmas

Like Ryu has mentioned, no HDD or thumbdrive will help with these issues. However if this is a regular issue, I would try (as a test) to connect directly to the Spectrum modem via an ethernet cable directly. I know it may not be convenient, but at least it will tell you if it is the WiFi system of the modem/pods which is the cause of the issues. I've seen many ISP modems with integrated wifi which are fine for the typical burst of data from web browsing, but tend to choke with straming. If hardwiring helps and makes it better, but running a direct cable is not an option for long term, you may want to consider some of the better Powerline adapters (something like the TP-Link AV2000 series - not cheap, but very well rated and stable). These will work in most situations unless you have some very strange electrical home setup or really old home still using knob and tube type wiring. Oh ya, and don't plug them into power surge protectors, they can be affected. Amazon does sell them, so at least if they don't work for you, you can return within the 30 day return period if sold and shipped by amazon. Also, are you sure it is not the service itself ? Have you tried with some Free streaming channels (like the Pluto ones or others) ? If you haven't, PM me and I can send you the M3U link for the Pluto channels. At least you can see if it is the service that is causing the glitching/buffering. One other thing, have you tried with both media players (Primary and Backup) ?

Like you said. It is probably already as removable. IF you "erase and format as device storage", only then will you get the option for "erase and format as removable storage"

There is unfortunately no mute button.

Check a different forum (since you are not allowed to discuss services here) and you need to buy an IPTV subscription. Google is your friend

I hear ya. But does this app INSIST on always having the latest version in order to watch ? That would be ludicrous if they impose that kind of limitation. I don't always care to have the latest version honestly of any app. Typically I only update apps if I encounter a bug and see in the changelog that it has been fixed or some attempt to fix it. Usually I am the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of guy (unless I have committed to testing some beta).

For now, you can use the APK I posted above. It will install/update to the latest version without a hitch. I did it on my X5 and installed and mention that it would update my existing installation. Keep in mind that very often Aptoide will only show you the general Android version, not the AndroidTV version. The link I have provided above is to a copy of the APK for AndroidTV (which is what we want on the Buzz). I had a similar glitch with the Windscribe VPN client, which aptoide only offered the Android version which made it painful to use with just a remote, since it required mouse cursor. Downloaded the AndroidTV version, installed that and it was so much better and optimized for use with a standard remote.

If that is the case and if they always insist on latest version (which would be annoying), then only real option I see is to login to the google play store, install it from there and let the play store keep it up to date regularly. Not of fan of using the google play store on these devices myself. I prefer to sideload all my apps. I keep a USB stick up to date with all my latest apk files in order to quickly be able to install on any device.

Did you try updating to the latest version of the app ? Latest version was released yesterday and it is version 2.16.2-rc2. In case you need a copy of the latest APK, I have put a copy in the link below. It easily installs and updates the preinstalled version on the X5 without a problem. Unfortunately, all I can say is that it starts, since I don't have a disney+ account. You can test it and report back if it is any better. https://anonfiles.com/O9o2FeW5y0/com.disney.disneyplus_2.16.2-rc2-23013110_minAPI21_nodpi_apk

Never had those types of issues. What firmware version and buzzTV version is your box running ? You connected via WiFi or cable ? Like nbs mentioned, are you sure it is not your service ? Have you tried with another service or any public list ? When you say it freezes, have you tried hitting the HOME button on the remote a few times to go back to the main home screen ? Could be a strange stream that is freezing the media player. Have you tried switching media player (just in case - I do have some services that work better/quicker with one media player over the other ) ?

Well I do have one going through an analog amplifier (and that is on my old Yamaha receiver), but that is not a fair comparison, since I am use some cheap HDMI to audio extractor, and then the HDMI going to my TV and the audio going to the Yamaha. The speakers are all JBL "Control 1 Pro" models and they have a sensitivity of "87 dB SPL, 1 W 1 m" whcih is pretty average, and they are 4ohm. I don't know what the SNR is, but that should not make a difference in terms of perceived loudness. That is more for clarity and that would also need to be considered along with the THD of the amplifier you are using, since everything gets compounded. If you are using one of the 1/8" jacks adapters into the A/V port, all I can tell you that the quality of these adapters varies a LOT. I have my older E2 connected to a crappy Audiovox old analog only TV using one of these adapters. I went through about 4 adapters till I found one that is acceptable. They are made so cheap, that even the jack length is off by fractions of a mm on each one, that in some cases, I needed to slightly play with how deep I would install the adapter, otherwise certain items would not work (left channel, right channel and even the video would get distorted). At the end all the ones I bought from amazon were junk. I ended up using one that I had from my ancient WDTV Live unit, but the cables were differently mapped. One of the audio outputs was actually the video, and vice versa. It's not perfect, but it works if you don't play with it too much. Which device are you using first of all ? If it is one of the newer boxes (X5, U5, etc..) then turn on the "enable max volume" setting. This will effectively fix the buzz box to the max output settings and all remaining volume controls would be from your amplifier. This is similar to many other STB I have seen even from cable receivers like the old Scientific Atlanta or Motorola boxes. They have an option in the settings for variable output (which is great for connecting straight to a TV and controlling volume direct from the box), or they have a FIXED output settings, which is designed to be used for external audio devices, like receivers, soundbars, etc... If your box is one of the newer ones (Android 11), and you are using an external sound device, you should enable this "max volume" option. If you have one of the older devices (Android 9 or older), you just need to adjust the box volume to a setting of your liking. Like I said, in my case it is about 65%. There are others who prefer to crank it all the way up. But that would also depend on the input sensitivity of of your amp. Sometime it can overpower the inputs on some devices, giving you really distorted sound.

Don't know what you are smoking but there is no preamplification issue with any of the boxes. I have pretty much every box model since the xrs4500 series (xrs4500, xrs4900, x5, u5, b5, e5, st4000, hd5, e1, e2, ..and even my original xpl3000) and I have them connected in many different ways. Some direct to TV and using integrated crappy TV integrated speakers ; one on a TV with a Bose sound bar ; another connected through my Yamaha receiver and JBL control 1 speakers; one connected to a computer monitor via HDMI and using the audio out from the monitor to the a basic set of Bose Sound companion computer speakers ; and even one connected to another computer monitor, but using my Anker soundcore Bluetooth speaker paired to it. The only method I have not connected it is using the optical output, but that should not make any difference since there is no internal amplification involved on that, it is a pure digital audio output. They all work exactly as expected. And in some scenarios I even found that it was louder than other devices, so on the newer boxes (5 series- running Android 11) I had to disable the "max volume" option they have (if using external volume control) to decrease the volume output by the box manually to match other inputs a little closer. On most boxes I typically leave the volume control at about 60% to 65%, and then control the volume using the external source.

Is it written anywhere that they DO support HLG ? If they don't, then why would you "assume" that they do ? Truth is, 90% of the users of these boxes don't care about many of these feature, and in many cases, even know what most of these features even means Chipsets can support piles of things. But devs choose what to support, depending on what the masses would want to use, and there are other reasons behind the scenes, like the maturity of the OEM sdk and drivers to support many features. No one falsely claimed to support anything, which they don't. I had purchased another brand box a while back with an S922, and it is supposed to support piles of different features, but they were all half developed from both amlogic and the box maker, that they were more of a distraction than anything else. I would have preferred that they just remove all the attempted support for it, or allow us to turn it off But that never happened and that box (great specs on paper), is now collecting dust.

However be careful using the suspend option in the screen saver screen. I tried it for kicks, and when it kicks in, it puts the device into a bizarre state. LED was still blue, but device was in a suspend state, and no mater what I did with the remote (BT or IR), it would not respond or come out of the suspend state. I needed to pull the plug. I didn't do piles of testing, but twice that I tried it, I got that issue. I typically have it set for the BuzzTV app to exit after 2 hours. It is rare that I would not touch the remote for 2 hours. If I don't, odds are I have fallen asleep So it bails me out to the home screen after 2 hours of no remote activity, and then after a little while, the screen saver kicks in (fading clock). But I do not have the suspend option enabled.\

allaboutbuzz mentioned a while back that they are working on implementing TWRP for backups on the newer devices. But never got into details. But TWRP is not for selective app backups. It typically a backups to ensure if something goes wrong (corruption or otherwise), you can restore your system to a known state. It typically backs up system, data, and boot sections of a device. To allow you to restore them on the "SAME" device. Not to another device. Would it be nice to be able to export favorites, sure... But is it a simple task, I can assure you not. And even if you make it as such that it can only be used on same server setup and within a day max of exporting (to ensure not many changes on server side playlists), there will still be cases where it fails. And you will have people complaining that they can't import a backup.

It would probably be for the exact same thing. It is meant as a backup/restore for the exact same box. Would help in case you need to do a factory reset. And not sure if it is for ALL boxes or just the new "5" series (X5, U5, E5, B5, etc..), since those have no backup at all if I recall.. Doing a backup/restore system between devices can become a source of headaches. Backup would need to be tied to a specific server. Then you'd need to decide hat to tie the backup to, channel number is not an option, since that can change. Then you have various channel tags (similar to M3U file), but it can work, assuming servers don't cut corners and properly create those tags. I have seen many that do cut&paste jobs for many channels and use same tag IDs which causes all sorts of issues even when sorting out EPGs. Can it be done, sure. And for 95% of the cases it could work. But it will not be 100% idiot proof and you will get people complaining that service x backup they took last week, they can't restore properly this week, and it causes all sorts of issues (because there were channel changes, offsets, etc.. between those times). Guess we'll see.

The one in config settings just exits the BuzzTV app and stops streaming if you don't do anything un BuzzTV after a certain amount of time (like if you want it to stop streaming in case you fall asleep). Typically goes back to home screen. The one under screen saver would put the box into suspend mode if the box stays idle for more than x amount of time.