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  1. Hello all!

    As I mentioned in another thread, I am considering the purchase of a MINIX NEO U9-H! I have an 8TB external hard drive full of home videos ranging from 1955 (of my Dad) all the way through 2018 (of my own kids).

    Currently, I have one of my 8TB external hard drives plugged into a WDTV which is plugged into the TV of our family room (this particular hard drive contains all my home videos, which I bought just for my WDTV – I have about 5 other duplicate external hard drive backups elsewhere). My family loves being able to watch all of our home videos on the big TV, and it's great being able to switch back and forth from videos from decades ago to videos from today.

    After weeks of searching, my top option for replacing my outdated WDTV is now the MINIX U9-H with Kodi installed plugged into my TV. I would plug my 8TB external hard drive into the MINIX via USB and use the File Explorer on Kodi to search for videos. It looks like Kodi is able to display between 100 and 108 characters in each individual folder (when set to "Big List"), which is exactly what I need.

    Here's my question – I think I may have damaged my previous external hard drive that was connected to my WDTV. I left the external hard drive plugged into the WDTV (and in to the wall) at all times.

    I would like to leave my brand new 8TB external hard drive plugged into the MINIX and into the wall at all times, so that I can just pick up the remote, turn it on, and watch videos with minimal hassle. However, will this damage the external hard drive at all?

    My concern is – when I have my external hard drives plugged into my desktop, I know that my computer turns them off whenever I turn my computer off. Likewise, I know my computer doesn't turn them on unless I turn my computer on. But what happens to my external hard drive when it's plugged into my wall and MINIX at all times? Does it get turned off and on every time I turn my TV off and on, or only when the MINIX is turned off and on? Or is my external hard drive just constantly "on" if plugged into the wall and the MINIX?

    If anyone could give me advice on "proper care" of external hard drives plugged into MINIX, that would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks so much
    Tony
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  2. All the external drives that I have used, have a little light that indicates when operating. Doesn't yours have that feature?
    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence -Carl Sagan
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  3. Originally Posted by TreeTops View Post
    All the external drives that I have used, have a little light that indicates when operating. Doesn't yours have that feature?
    Thanks for the response! That is actually a good point - it does have an operating light that comes on at times (it's a WD 8TB external hard drive), but I swear I hear it "running" at times when the light is not necessarily on (though maybe I don't, I'll have to pay closer attention). But it sounds like you're saying as long as the light isn't on, it should be off, correct? Thanks again!
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  4. PS: For anyone wondering the same thing, I happened to get a great answer on this forum:

    https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2747407&#bottom

    I would like to leave my brand new 8TB external hard drive plugged into the MINIX and into the wall at all times, so that I can just pick up the remote, turn it on, and watch videos with minimal hassle. However, will this damage the external hard drive at all?

    Quick answer, no.
    Typically when these external powered hard drives are connected to a computer they will eventually go into a sleep mode and power down, non spinning state.

    Android TV media players usually go into sleep mode when the on/off button on remote is pressed, however I think the USB ports remain on. I don't have the Minix U9, but other Minix boxes I have had give you the option to switch off completely instead of going into sleep mode. This will ensure your external hard drive goes into sleep.

    Alternatively switch off power to Minix and External hard drive.


    I will research how to switch the MINIX U9 off completely when pressing the power button. (Does anyone here know how to do that?). If I figure it out, I will post it on here for anyone who is trying to figure out the same thing!
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  5. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Search Comp PM
    You could get an under monitor power strip like this and completely power off/on everything at once with the master switch:

    Image
    [Attachment 46567 - Click to enlarge]
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  6. Originally Posted by CaptainCatholic587 View Post
    I will research how to switch the MINIX U9 off completely when pressing the power button. (Does anyone here know how to do that?).
    I don't know about that particular device but with my inexpensive player there are power options in the settings. It can be set to power off, sleep, or ignore when the power button on the remote is pressed. But I find my device uses less than 1 watt when idle so I don't bother turning it off.
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  7. Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Originally Posted by CaptainCatholic587 View Post
    I will research how to switch the MINIX U9 off completely when pressing the power button. (Does anyone here know how to do that?).
    I don't know about that particular device but with my inexpensive player there are power options in the settings. It can be set to power off, sleep, or ignore when the power button on the remote is pressed. But I find my device uses less than 1 watt when idle so I don't bother turning it off.
    Got it, that sounds fairly straight forward. I will probably just purchaes the U9 and see if I can change the settings once I buy it. If not, it looks like some experts even recommend leaving HDDs on at all times (while others say the opposite), so I guess either way it's not as big of a deal as I thought it might be (see here: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2030997/should-you-leave-a-hard-drive-running-when-its...t-in-use-.html).

    Thanks so much again everyone for all the help, I really appreciate it!
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  8. Originally Posted by CaptainCatholic587 View Post
    I will probably just purchaes the U9...
    I'd like to hear about your experience with the device. I bought on of the cheaper ones (US$46) just to play with:

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077HP7R68

    It has the the less capable S905W chips which only goes up to 4k at 30 Hz. I don't do 4K so that doesn't really matter to me. What I did want to see was Kodi, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video performance. All these Chinese "Android TV" devices (except Nvidia's Shield) are really tablet/smartphone devices, not true Android TV devices -- they don't run official Andriod TV apps.

    The version of Kodi that came with my device works pretty well with the included remote control. But the Netflix app is obviously meant for a tablet or smartphone -- it requires a swipe on a touchscreen to scroll up/down and a tap on the screen to select items. I tried downloading another Netflix app but none shows up in the Google Play Store for this device. Netflix apps downloaded from other locations either wouldn't install or refused to run once installed. When I complained to the seller they admitted that the Netflix app is really set up for a touchscreen and they sent me their air mouse remote, gratis:

    https://smile.amazon.com/Wireless-Keyboard-Android-Control-Infrared/dp/B06XCRJF54/

    With that I can navigate better but Netflix is still a bit of a pain switching the remote between remote mode and mouse mode.

    I downloaded and installed the Amazon Prime Video app from the Play Store. It works better than the Netflix app but it still requires some switching between remote and mouse mode (on either the simple remote that came with device or the upgraded remote).

    Assuming you got it, how's your device doing? Any problems with Netflix or Amazon Prime TV?
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  9. Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    Originally Posted by CaptainCatholic587 View Post
    I will probably just purchaes the U9...
    I'd like to hear about your experience with the device. I bought on of the cheaper ones (US$46) just to play with:

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077HP7R68

    It has the the less capable S905W chips which only goes up to 4k at 30 Hz. I don't do 4K so that doesn't really matter to me. What I did want to see was Kodi, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video performance. All these Chinese "Android TV" devices (except Nvidia's Shield) are really tablet/smartphone devices, not true Android TV devices -- they don't run official Andriod TV apps.

    The version of Kodi that came with my device works pretty well with the included remote control. But the Netflix app is obviously meant for a tablet or smartphone -- it requires a swipe on a touchscreen to scroll up/down and a tap on the screen to select items. I tried downloading another Netflix app but none shows up in the Google Play Store for this device. Netflix apps downloaded from other locations either wouldn't install or refused to run once installed. When I complained to the seller they admitted that the Netflix app is really set up for a touchscreen and they sent me their air mouse remote, gratis:

    https://smile.amazon.com/Wireless-Keyboard-Android-Control-Infrared/dp/B06XCRJF54/

    With that I can navigate better but Netflix is still a bit of a pain switching the remote between remote mode and mouse mode.

    I downloaded and installed the Amazon Prime Video app from the Play Store. It works better than the Netflix app but it still requires some switching between remote and mouse mode (on either the simple remote that came with device or the upgraded remote).

    Assuming you got it, how's your device doing? Any problems with Netflix or Amazon Prime TV?
    Hey jagabo! I did just get the MINIX - I absolutely love it, it is wonderful! Lightning fast, the remote is fantastic (I got the A2 Lite). I am however having a problem with my external hard drive plugged into it all of a sudden (going to post on that in a minute). Didn't have the problem when I purchased it - I probably changed a setting I shouldn't have changed, have to figure it out. I haven't used Netflix on it (don't have an account), but everything else is wonderful. Let me know if you have any specific questions about it, I'd be glad to answer!
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