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Jun 01, 2016 Purchasing a USB flash drive is just the start. You have to set up your android to work with the USB drive. It is not too hard but requires patience as you might not succeed on the first try. Here is the procedure. HOW-TO:Change_data_location_for_Android (wiki) To see how I personally did it. Post 28 on the following thread explains it.
This article shows you how to turn your Firestick into a Movie Downloader box. And not just any movie downloader, but an automated Secure way to Start a new movie-library or add to an existing one. We show you how to add the Fire Stick USB port you’ve been waiting for.
THIS could be your Firestick (download movies quickly & easily!)
Then we show you how to Start your own Movie Library by moving the downloaded files to a “Media library” (storage) location and/or media server.
Streaming Note: It’s unlawful to download copyrighted materials if you haven’t purchased the download! Only download public domain movies, or make sure you have the copyright for whatever you’re downloading.
Warning: Your information is exposed.
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How to Turn Firestick into Movie Downloader & Add Fire Stick USB Port
Don’t worry – turning Firestick into a movie downloader box is super easy. It only takes a few minutes.
ProTip: The ads that pop up right after you select “Download” in Terrarium TV can be loud, so turn your Volume down before pressing “Download”. The movie downloads are totally worth it!
In the steps below, I use a Firestick, a Chromebook, and an external hard drive (Western Digital brand). But you can use just about any combination of device you want! For example, you can use a Firestick, an Android phone, and a USB thumb drive (+ OTG adapter, $5 from Amazon). Or you could use a Fire TV (the “Fire TV Box” one), a Macbook, and an SD card. This setup is pretty cool because you can switch out pretty much any pieces. We break it down into its pieces so you understand the whole process from A to Z.
Contents
- 8 How to Add USB Port to Firestick
Part A: Install Terrarium TV on Firestick
To install Terrarium TV on Firestick, simply use my video (below):
Or, install Terrarium TV by adding the free DroidAdmin app to your Firestick:
- To install Droid Admin on Firestick, just search for DroidAdmin from the Firestick home screen, using the “Search” icon in the top left corner.
- Once DroidAdmin is installed, just Open it and enter this code: 38069272
- In the resulting list of apps, find and select Terrarium TV.
- Then Install Terrarium TV using the installer provided in the Download code.
Part B: Install VPN on Firestick to Secure your Downloads & Hide IP Address
Why? We don’t want anyone knowing what we’re downloading. It’s a simple matter of personal privacy. Therefore, we install the free VPN Firestick app, which is available in the Amazon Fire TV App Store.
- Using your phone or PC, sign up for VPN service using this coupon link: https://ipvanish.com/kodifiretvstick/?a_aid=kfiretv (Exclusive 70% Off)
- From the Firestick home screen, select the Search icon. Then search for “ipvanish”
- In the search results, select IPVanish. Then choose Install.
- Finally, Open IPVanish for Firestick and enter the username and password you created when you signed up for IPVanish.
After you install your VPN app and use the VPN app to connect to a VPN server, you’re ready to download movies with your Firestick!
Part C: Download movies!
UPDATE: You can add a thumb drive or an external hard drive to a 2nd generation Firestick! Just get a USB OTG splitter for $5. Read more about this below in the section “Pushing Our Firestick DL Box to the Limits”.
In this step, we use a movie streaming app to actually download a movie stream to our Firestick or Fire TV. After that, we transfer the movie to an external storage location, which is a fancy term for “thumb drive, hard drive, smartphone, SD card, laptop, etc” – really anything that can store our downloaded movie file(s).
- Launch Terrarium TV
- Select a Movie and play the movie
- In the menu when you normally would press “Play” in Terrarium TV, instead select “Download”
- Terrarium TV will now download your movie
- You can track the progress of the download in the Home screen of Terrarium TV (well – you really just wait for the Notification to appear that the Download is finished).
Now that our movie is Downloaded onto our Firestick, we now transfer our movie file to be stored safely on an external storage drive / device.
Google trackers are lurking on 75% of websites. Cover your tracks to protect yourself.
Part D: Add Thumb Drive to Firestick and/or Transfer movie files to another location
(aka “Media library”, thumb drive, external drive, etc) for safe keeping
In my case, to transfer the files from my Firestick to my external storage device, I used a Chromebook (a low-powered laptop that basically just runs a Chrome browser, and that’s it).
My low-powered laptop was perfect for retrieving my downloaded movies from the Firestick via WiFi. How? We basically just put a free app called ES File Explorer on our Firestick to act as a “file server”. Use ES File Explorer’s built-in “Remote Manager” feature to allow us to download any file from our Firestick using any other device’s web browser. Once again, in my case, I’m using a Chromebook laptop which has my Western Digital 4TB external hard drive ($80 or so) attached to it via USB 3.0 (for fast transfers).
- Install ES File Explorer by using the Firestick “search” feature (like we did for IPVanish in the section above).
- Launch ES File Explorer.
- In ES File Explorer, select “Network” in the main menu
- Then choose Remote Manager
- Now select “Turn On” (the big blue button)
- Using your Phone or PC (which must be on the same WiFi network as the Firestick), open a web browser (or FTP client, if you know what that is – either one works).
- In the address bar, enter the “ftp://” address displayed on the Firestick screen (make sure to add the Port number, which is the 4 numbers after the IP address. For example, if your screen says “ftp://123.456.789.0:6742” – then enter that into your address bar.
- Now, click the “Download” folder or the “Terrarium TV” folder.This is the “root” folder of your Firestick’s internal memory. See the “Downloads” folder at the top of this screenshot? That Downloads folder is where Terrarium TV saves files
- Now, from the “Download” folder, you should see any files you downloaded using Terrarium TV (make sure you only download Public Domain movies!).This is the folder where Terrarium TV stores its Downloads
- Then right click the Movie file you want to download and then click “Save As” to save the file to your computer. This is the step where we could choose to save the file to an external hard drive or thumb drive.In this screenshot, we have our web browser open in the left window (showing our Firestick Downloads folder). And in the right window we have a folder on our PC open. This folder is our External Hard Drive (WD 4TB HDD).
- Let the download finish!Firestick movie downloads can take awhile. Be patient!
- I recommend that you use a FREE download manager such as “Chronos Download Manager”. It lets you watch your downloads as they finish. Here’s what that looks like:
- After your download is finished, you can watch the movie (as long as you have the copyright for the movie, or if it’s public domain).
At this point we’re pretty much done with the Fire Stick USB port / movie downloader process! Now we can use the section below follow-up.
Part E: Clean-Up: Erase the movie files from your Firestick to make room for more movie downloads!
Firestick only has a few gigabytes of storage (which isn’t much). So clean it out to make room for movie downloads!
Here’s how to keep Fire stick clean.
Part F: Optional – Set Up a Plex Media Server to enable ALL your devices to play your entire movie library
Plex! The Plex app is widely celebrated and loved throughout the streaming community. Go to Plex.tv to set up Plex quickly.
Notice: Hackers create fake WiFi hotspots to steal your passwords when you log in to Starbucks WiFi. Secure your data.
Pushing Our Firestick DL Box to the Limits..
Alright – that’s great – but let’s take it a few steps further:
In turning our Firestick into an always-on Downloader, there are several more things we can do.
First of all, we can add an Ethernet port (if we have a 2nd generation Firestick).
Second of all, we can add a USB thumb drive / external hard drive to our Firestick (as long as it’s a 2nd generation Firestick) to store our movies.
How to Add USB Port to Firestick
Just buy a USB OTG splitter cable from Amazon for $5. Then plug it into your 2nd generation Firestick. Yes – your Firestick must be 2nd generation (the one with the Alexa Voice Remote). This will not work with 1st Generation Firestick.
Using the new (extra) USB port on your Firestick, you can now plug in mice, keyboards, and storage devices.
Note: I had to use ES File Explorer to view / copy the files on the thumb drive I plugged into my Firestick.
How to Add Thumb Drive to Firestick
To “install” a USB thumb drive onto your Firestick, just insert a thumb drive into the normal-size USB port on the USB OTG splitter mentioned in the section above.
How to Add External Hard Drive to Firestick
Use the same method above to add an external hard drive to your Firestick. BUT you must have a powered USB hub connected to the normal-size USB port on your USB OTG splitter. This is because an external hard drive requires more power than the Firestick power supply can provide. Therefore you give the hard drive the power it needs by plugging the external hard drive into a powered USB hub. Then the powered USB hub simply plugs into the “extra” USB port! This is the same USB port you gave your Firestick via the USB OTG splitter cable (in the section above).
Firestick Movie Download Progress
The screenshot below shows a movie downloading from Firestick to PC.
This is how to easily download files from your Firestick onto your Computer or Phone
The Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick were primarily designed to stream media over the internet, but they can also be used to play local video files. Many users access their local video files over their home network, but if setting up a shared network folder seems too daunting of a task, it’s probably easier to just play video files off of a microSD or USB drive connected directly to your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know to play video files from an attached external microSD card or USB drive.
Storage Type (USB / USB via OTG / microSD)
External storage support varies based on which Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick model you have. The 2nd-gen Fire TV can access videos from its microSD slot or its USB port. The 1st-gen Fire TV can only access videos from its USB port, because it does not have a microSD card slot. The 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick only has a single micro USB port, but you can use it to access videos stored on a USB drive if you use a USB OTG cable. The 1st-gen Fire TV Stick does not support media playback from external drives, even if you use an OTG USB cable.
As far as media playback is concerned, it doesn’t matter if you access videos from a microSD slot (2nd-gen Fire TV only), a USB port (1st and 2nd-gen Fire TV), or an OTG cable (2nd-gen Fire TV Stick only). All USB drives are compatible, including flash/thumb drives, spinning external hard drives, and external SSD drives. You can even use memory cards in a USB card reader.
Storage Location
The path to the directory where your external storage is located will vary based on which model Fire TV or Fire TV Stick you have and which type of external storage you are using. The paths are as follows:
2nd-gen Fire TV – microSD: /storage/sdcard1/
2nd-gen Fire TV – USB:/storage/usbotg/
1st-gen Fire TV (software version 5.0.0 and newer) – USB:/storage/usbdisk/
1st-gen Fire TV (software version 51.1.6.3 and older) – USB:/storage/extUsb/
2nd-gen Fire TV Stick – USB via OTG Cable:/storage/usbotg/
1st-gen Fire TV Stick: No External Drive Support
2nd-gen Fire TV – USB:
1st-gen Fire TV (software version 5.0.0 and newer) – USB:
1st-gen Fire TV (software version 51.1.6.3 and older) – USB:
2nd-gen Fire TV Stick – USB via OTG Cable:
1st-gen Fire TV Stick: No External Drive Support
Storage Format (FAT32 / NTFS)
All Amazon Fire TVs and Fire TV Sticks only support external storage that is formatted using the FAT32 file system. NTFS, exFAT, and all other file systems are not supported. If your device is rooted, it is possible to use NTFS drives if you follow this guide.
FAT32 only supports files up to 4GB in size. If you want to play video files that are larger than 4GB, you have to split the files, which is explained in this guide.
File Containers (MKV, AVI, MP4, MOV, etc…)
It doesn’t matter to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick which file container is used, but it might matter to the app that you use to play the file. All the apps listed below support a wide variety of file containers, like .mkv, .avi, .mp4, and .mov. If you’re creating your own files and need to choose one, I would select MKV, but otherwise, this is not something you really need to care about.
Video Codecs (H.264/5, x264/5, HEVC, Xvid, etc…)
Without getting into the gritty details of video codecs, the important thing to know regarding them is that only the 2nd-gen Fire TV and 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick support H.265 (a.k.a. HEVC) and x265 hardware accelerated playback. While those codecs will play on 1st-gen devices, it will be a poor experience. You can see that in action here. All Fire TV and Fire TV Stick models support H.264, x264, Divx, and Xvid hardware decoding. If you have a 2nd-gen device, H.265 and x265 encoded files are best because they provide the best quality at the lowest file size. For maximum compatibility across all models, it’s best to use H.264 or x264 encoded files.
Apps (Kodi, SPMC, MrMC, VLC, etc…)
The Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick do not have a built-in app to access video files on external storage drives. You will need to install an app to play your video files.
VLC
VLC is a free app in the Amazon Appstore for the Fire TV. It is the simplest option to play video files from external drives. It does not have any of the fancy features found in other apps like Kodi, but it gets the job done. When you launch the app, it should automatically find and list the video files stored on your external drive. If it doesn’t find the files, scroll down to VLC’s “Browsing” section, and select the directory associated with your device and drive, as listed above in the “Storage Location” section of this article.
Kodi / SPMC / MrMC
Kodi, SPMC, and MrMC are all slightly different version of essentially the same core media player app. These are very powerful and feature rich apps, but they do have a bigger learning curve than something like VLC.
Kodi and SPMC are free, but are not available in the Amazon Appstore for the Fire TV, so you will have to sideload them. This is easy to do and takes only a few minutes if you follow this guide. MrMC is not free, but it is available in the Amazon Appstore, so it is simpler to install and keep updated.
To access your video files on an external drive within Kodi, SPMC, or MrMC, you need to select “Videos” from the main menu in the app, then select “Files” and browse to the directory associated with your device and drive, as listed above in the “Storage Location” section of this article.
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ShareTweetShare+1Waynesays:March 17, 2017 at 3:28 amCan an AFTV view a VOB file or the files of a DVD?
Tonysays:May 22, 2017 at 8:09 am Do they have the same processor and graphics chips?
Cedricsays:July 4, 2017 at 9:38 am Useless instructions. I have a USB thumb drive plugged in, with movies on it. Now what? VLC Player can’t find the drive. Sigh. Come on Amazon Fire TV. You can do better than this!!
Alsays:July 7, 2017 at 7:42 pm I’m having the dance problem
Alsays:July 7, 2017 at 7:43 pm Same problem
Samsays:August 3, 2017 at 9:11 am Try downloading ES File explorer, finding the movie file yourself and play using VLC
billsays:October 2, 2018 at 4:50 am Try the cha-cha!
Jeffsays:![Kodi Kodi](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125508981/765038387.png)
I was using a Sony Playstation to play movies from my usb drive but they wouldn’t work. I had to back up the usb drive and reformat it to FAT and then place the movie files in a folder. When I launched Media Player on the Playstation, it was able to see the drive, folder and contents.
The Playstation and Amazon Fire are primarily for streaming but it would seem you can play external files IF you format the USB device.
Mattsays:November 3, 2017 at 8:08 pm Says it isn’t possible
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=131185
Richardsays:December 3, 2017 at 9:58 am Make sure the video files are inside a folder on the drive. They will not show up if in the root directory :)
Carlsays:July 5, 2017 at 11:11 pm Can 2016 Fire TV Stick play VLC video from storage, without a network connection? I want to lend some videos to a friend, to view, but don’t want them to have to mess with networking or maybe there’s no WiFi, just launch VLC and play the videos.
I bought the 2016 Fire TV Stick but was disappointed what it would not launch any apps after I told it to ‘forget’ my WiFi password.
stevesays:August 22, 2017 at 3:20 pm I have the same question. Did you ever figure this out? Many thanks, Steve, Cary North Carolina
Bk147says:August 26, 2017 at 5:05 am If you hold the home button down when you get the message that here is no network connection it will allow you to get to your apps and from there play your video files. I have only tested this for a short time, I did find that after going back to the fire stick after a day of being plugged in and left connected to the TV that the message would keep popping up, even after I got to the apps. My work around was to unplug the power and reboot it, which allowed you to bypass the no network message again.
Kevinsays:July 31, 2017 at 12:18 pm The Fire TV will only recognise SD or USB drives formatted in FAT32 (not even FAText – windows 10 default). I had to use linux to reformat my USB drive as a FAT32 one. You can then use a media player like VLC or KODI to play movies on the drive (remember the 2GB limit though).
ACsays:August 4, 2017 at 12:05 pm My Fire TV Gen2 confirms that my USB drive formatted in FAT32 is successfully mounted. However, I cannot find the same to access and run the contents… please help.
Robbiesays:August 6, 2017 at 1:36 pm Is it still possible to play files larger than 4GB from a microSD card plugged into the back of a Fire TV2?
I split mine with WinRAR as described in another part of the AFTV website and ensured that Kodi was set to ‘Combine split files’. However, Kodi can only see the smaller, MP4 files in that folder.
Stephensays:August 12, 2017 at 12:03 pm If I connect a USB otg cable to my firestick micro USB to attach a USB stick to play movies via kodi, where does the firestick get its power from?
Stephensays:August 12, 2017 at 12:01 pm If I connect a USB otg cable to my firestick micro USB to attach a USB stick to play movies via kodi, where does the firestick get its power from?
JPsays:September 15, 2017 at 10:01 am Use a USB OTG cable w/ micro USB power
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXAC1ZW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Laxmikant S Bhumkarsays:October 11, 2017 at 11:58 pm You are really master of Amazon Fire TV Stick
Sujoysays:December 20, 2017 at 8:46 pm But how to connect the external , there is only one port . Plz attach some images or vedio.
Darren Johnstonsays:June 30, 2018 at 2:08 am Amazing how much investigation and research is required to accomplish the most basic of tasks. Two thumbs up Amazon for including a micro SD slot where Apple TV did not (and would not). And yet, terrible execution. Do you REALLY think we’re using expandable memory slots so we can download more Apps?! Games!? Sigh. Shouldn’t be this difficult to load up a micro SD card with OUR OWN media (movies, music, photos) and use the NON-EXISTENT, BUILT-IN, BASIC-A** software to access and play that media. NO, I don’t want to download yet another pointless app, upload all my media to some random server in God knows where, and create a username and password, all so I can stream from my computer what I could just be playing off the Fire TV.
Joaniesays:September 8, 2018 at 11:01 pm I would like to transfer some of.my pis and files to the usb thumb drive. Please tell me how to do that. Thank you.
Joaniesays:September 8, 2018 at 11:03 pm I would like to transfer some of my pics and files to the usb thumb drive. Please tell me how to do that. Thank you.
Darryl Gsays:November 10, 2018 at 4:46 pm Do you know of an app that can format a hard drive attached to the fire stick?
Mariosays:January 6, 2019 at 11:48 am Too bad this OTG cable connection idea does not work with 4TB drives. FireTV 4K can’t even see the drive. I’m surprised in this day and age there are still limitations of sizes and compatibly.
@elias@esaba
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