Modifying the Netflix key on an Nvidia Shield TV remote control

I recently switched to an ISP that provides TV through an on-line connection to an Android TV device. I chose Nvidia’s Shield TV for this purpose. The system has a nice remote control with a dedicated (large) button to access Netflix. The problem is that the button is very sensitive. It’s really easy to brush against the button and load Netflix inadvertently. Fortunately, there is a relatively easy fix.

The search for a solution resulted from my switching from Netflix to Acorn TV. Obviously, a button that loaded Netflix when I no longer had a subscription to the service wasn’t particularly useful. So, I wondered if the Netflix key could be re-programmed.

There was nothing obvious in the device’s user guide so the next choice was “YouTube University”. Sure enough, a search on Google took me to a video by Smart DNS Proxy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SneVY37_9s) that provided the necessary information.

The first stage in the process is to load the Button Mapper app from flar2 using Google’s Play Store. [Note – wave national flag here – that this is a made-in-Canada app with the developer being “asegaert” from Blenheim, Ontario.)

Next, using the remote control on Shield TV, navigate to Settings – Accessibility – Button Mapper and enable this app.

Now, run the Button Mapper app and select Add Buttons. When prompted, press the Netflix button to indicate that this is the key to be re-mapped. The button (BUTTON_12) is now displayed in the Add Buttons window. Select this button to open the customization screen.

Here is where the magic happens. Enable Customize using the slider. Note that there are three different triggers that can be set to activate the button: Single tap, Double tap, and Long press.

Even if you don’t want to remap the key away from Netflix, customizing the Single tap to take No Action, solves the problem of inadvertently pressing the Netflix key. Instead, program the Double tap and/or Long press actions to open the Netflix app.

In my case (see simulated screenshot), I used this sequence of triggers to open the Acorn TV app instead of Netflix. Both problems solved!

References:

NVIDIA Shield
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/

How to Remap Netflix Buttons on NVIDIA Shield TV 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SneVY37_9s

Button Mapper: Remap your keys
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.homebutton&hl=en_IN

Button Mapper: Remap your keys
https://buttonmapper.app

Updating the GRUB2 boot menu

Some time ago, I indicated how to manually update the grub boot menu (see: GRUB2 revisited). This required quite a lot of effort to change file permissions and edit several text files. A much simpler method, that uses a graphical user interface, is to use the Grub Customizer application developed by Daniel Richter [Thanks Daniel!]

Verifying a Linux Mint ISO file with a GUI

Some time ago, I downloaded and authenticated the ISO file for Linux Mint Version 18 (see: Verifying the Linux Mint 18 ISO file), using a mostly manual method, through a series of Linux commands. A much easier method is to use the GtkHash app which provides a graphical user interface (GUI).

The Recycle Bin in Asus File Manager

When you first delete a file in Asus File Manager on your Android smartphone, a dialogue box pops up to confirm that you want to temporarily delete the file to the Recycle Bin. Included on this screen is a check box labelled “Permanently delete”. Checking this box has the advantage that disk space is saved since the file is actually deleted rather than being stored in the Recycle Bin for possible future recovery (or permanent deletion when the recycle bin is cleared).

Removing a “missing” PPA

Running Update Manager resulted in an error message to the effect that a Personal Package Archive (PPA) for the Opera web browser, was missing and/or unavailable.

LineageOS 14.1 receiving OTA updates again!

I recently downloaded and installed the LineageOS 14.1 custom ROM (Nougat) developed by MSe1969 (see A Stable Custom ROM for the Moto G3). My rationale was that this is one of the few – the only one that have found – custom ROM’s that has a recent history of monthly updates with Google’s security patches.

And in that very moment… a cock crowed

A bizarre consequence of installing the 14.1-20190810-UNOFFICIAL-oms-osprey (LineageOS 14.1) custom ROM proved to be that the timer in the clock app was set to use the Rooster Alarm sound file – and there didn’t seem to be anything that I could to the app to change this.