2nd generation Fire TV Cube can't access Sandisk

Streaming Devices / Hardware
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I got a message on my Cube (7.6.2.4) . “Ar.tvplayer.tv.ProtectedTvPlayerApplication cannot be launched because it is installed on a USB drive that is not currently connected to your Amazon Fire TV. Please insert the USB drive to access the app. You can choose to reinstall the app on your Fire TV, which may leave files on the USB drive that will not be removed. Note that prior saved data will not be available”.

My set up has worked for me for a couple of years. This happened one other time about 2 weeks ago and a reboot fixed it. This time the reboot won’t fix it.

Usually if I reboot my Cube it reboots and connects within 10-15 sec. This time a reboot is taking 2.5-3 minutes, which is unusual. Is it possible my sandisk has gone bad or perhaps any of the connectors?

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I don’t have a cube but it’s FireTV so can you go into your settings>my fire tv>USB Drive> Eject USB Drive and then try removing it, wait for a minute or so, then plug it back in and go to the same settings and see if you now have a “Mount USB Drive”. Try that.

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I believe that is your Tivimate app this is referring to. Personally, if that is the case, I would have that app stored on my internal storage.

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@Miki thank you for the suggestion. It doesn’t work however, because under “storage” on the Cube it reads, “no USB drive detected”. My next question is, where is the breakdown? Is it the micro-port on the Cube or any of the 3 USB OTG Hubs on the Chromecast Ethernet Adapter (CEA) or is it any of the HDMI ports on the t.v. that the CEA is plugged into or is it the Fat32 formatted SanDisk?

NB: everything was working fine yesterday morning and for ~2 years. I have not ejected and re-inserted anything into any of these ports, that might suggest broken pins or dust. My Cube has never overheated.

Troubleshooting: I tested all 4 HDMI ports on the t.v. with my Firestick 4K, all of them are working. I tested all 3 hubs on the CEA by moving my SanDisk in to each of them in turn and rebooting the Cube each time. None of the hubs allow the Cube to detect the USB drive. I tried a different F32 formatted SanDisk, USB still not detected.

Do I order a new CEA or a new Cube? I assume not my Cube is fine because it is working. I have begun the process of loading all my Apps directly on the Cube. The Cube has just stopped reading the USB.

@Powerfader you are correct the message is pertaining to TiviMate. However, all apps come up with an app specific message for why it can’t open. Hence, the rationale for storing apps on the Cube.

To your point (and Miki’s point previously) to put main apps on the Cube. Miki eloquently provided the example of a car pulling a trailer and why having the apps in the car (closer) rather behind in the trailer (further away), is more effective. I appreciated the example but did not do this because I was unsuccessful in figuring out how to record from TiviMate onto my SanDisk (which I may forced to figure out now after all, sigh).

Because I only need the capacity to record up to 2.5 hrs of a show, I had that room on my Cube only if, all my Apps are stored on the SanDisk. I record my shows daily onto the Cube, watched daily, erased, record again. Why change what’s working?

But now the Cube isn’t recognizing the USB. Presumably, if I now load all my apps onto the Cube, I still won’t be to record to the SanDisk because my Cube is unable to detect it! I also recall when I first set up the CEA and thumb drive, I also had a hard time getting the external storage to come up on the Cube.

I shall assume no one has offered away to get my Cube to recognize the external storage because there is no fix. I will now put all my apps on the Cube again, and then, get back to the headache of seeing if I can get my Cube to access my external storage and figure out how to record to it. I know there are lots of videos, I just remember I wasn’t able to figure it out. If I fail again, then I guess it’s buy a 3rd generation Cube or a Nividia Shield.

Thank you both!

1 Like
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Sorry. Crazy busy. If my first suggestion didn’t work, then before you add the USB Drive go into developer options and turn debugging off. Then try the USB snd see if it’s recognized. If that solves the issue then once it’s recognized you can try turning debugging back on.

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Thanks Miki. It didn’t work. I turned debugging off, tried the SanDisk in all 3 ports on the Chromecast Ethernet Adapter, rebooting each time. For whatever reason. external disk not recognized. Any other suggestions before I purchase a new Cube since I can no longer record? When ever you have time, that is.

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I can’t think of any reason your cube has done that. If you have another otg cable try that, also, and I know this sounds odd, but there have been several reports of the power brick going wonky and not providing sufficient power. Do you have spares?

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It’s really strange, yes. What is a power brick? Do you mean what my Cube is plugged into?

Mine Cube is plugged into the wall. I will order a new OTG cable. It’s the cheapist fix to try and I can always use it else where if it doesn’t make a difference. I really appreciate the help.

Eww, just checked and I have a new and unused OTG cable I forgot about. When the playlist finishes downloading on TiviMate, I will give it a try, with debugging off.

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Doesn’t the cube have a micro usb to usb that one end plugs into the cube and the other end the brick( small black box that plugs into the wall) aha. I took a look. They changed it up from what I see.

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No brick. Not on the 2nd Gen Cube anyway. Curiously, when the external storage held all of my Apps, internal storage had 5.63 GB of 12.99 GB available. That allowed me to record 2 hour shows.

Now that I’ve lost external storage and all my Apps are on internal storage, I have 8.44 GB of 12.99 GB available!???

So I shall try and record my weekly 2 hour morning show tomorrow morning. These specs suggest there is no reason I can’t record directly on the Cube.

BTW, the new OTG cable did not make a difference. It was worth the try though. Tally ho!

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I honestly don’t know wherevto begin. I have seen where the cube has a 15W power supply, then checking the one supplied it says 12v. I have no clue where to start now.

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Not a problem Miki you helped a lot. It just dawned on me that before I spent all afternoon loading all my apps on the internal drive, I should have done a factory reset. I bet that with debugging off would have solved the problem and allowed my Cube to find the external storage.

oh, I may try that tomorrow, if I have recording issues.

1 Like
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Not sure if you ever resolved your issue but I’m having the exact same problem with my 2nd gen fire cube. I can either connect my ethernet adapter or an otg connector for connecting my flash drive for extra storage but not both. I think the solution may be to connect a micro usb splitter and connect that into the fire cube, then connect the ethernet adapter into one end of splitter and connect the otg adapter into the other end of the splitter. Then you can connect your usb hub to the otg connecter. I just ordered the splitter from amazon so haven’t tried it yet but I’m thinking it will work. Worth a shot.

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I use a powered otg hub with the ethernet plug built in. Smays. I’ll see if I can find it on Amazon.

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you need to use 3.0 usb drives i cant make the 2.0 work but have no problem with 3.o on gen 2 cube it helps to use a lighted one so you know its on some of the otg cables you cant push it in tight having the light helps a lot

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Thanks, if my splitter idea doesn’t pan out then I’ll try what you guys recommended.

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