ByteBlower Endpoint on Android TV

Introduction

For most Android Devices there's the Google Play store to install the ByteBlower Wireless Endpoint. This page is intended for those devices that can't find the app there. We'll focus on Android TV, but the same steps also apply others, like those without public internet access.

The steps below use the Android.apk file. This file is available on our setup pages. As found in the section below, it doesn't hurt to just try this file first.


Developer mode

To install the device needs to be put into developer mode. Default this option is hidden but can enabled with the following actions.

  • Go to the settings of the device and search for the "build number".
    You can also navigate to it from "device info" or the "About" sections of the preferences.
  • The build number looks like a plaintext value, but it has a hidden feature. After selecting, clicking or tapping the value 7 times, the device notifies you that the developer options are enabled.
  • The preferences now have an extra section with the developer options. Just as shown in the picture below.

On Smart TV or Setup boxes it can help to attach a USB mouse.

Install Android Debug Bridge (adb)

This step is done on a laptop or PC. The installation will use the Android Debug Bridge. This tool is part of the official Android SDK. To install it we suggest following the guide for the SDK Manager or just download the tools directly from the link below:

The adb is a command-line program. It is found in the installation folder of the Android SDK, more precisely in the platform-tools folder.

On Linux, adb can also be found in the default package manager of your Linux Distribution. For Ubuntu, this means following:

apt-get install adb

Using the ADB

In this final step, the new developer options are used with adb to install the Wireless Endpoint app directly.

First, on the device itself enable the USB debugging mode. This option is found in the developer options of step 1.

adb is used in the second step, the actual installation. The example below is from Windows. As written higher up, the same tool is also available for Linux and OSx. On these platforms the command is plain adb.

The commands (bold) and their output are found below. The commands assume the platform tools are installed in C:\Android\platform-tools.

C:\>cd C:\Android\platform-tools
C:\Android\platform-tools>adb.exe usb
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
restarting in USB mode
C:\Android\platform-tools>adb.exe install ByteBlower.apk
Performing Streamed Install
Success

Take care, depending on Android version the USB debugging is only enabled for the current boot. It's a good idea to check the value again when the next part would fail.

Additional tips

Simple Download and install

The steps above are required for Android Tv and other devices. On other devices, simply start with downloading and running the ByteBlower.apk file. It might just work!

Remove the existing installation

In some case you get the error as shown below. This can happen if the Wireless Endpoint was already installed in the usual way. Simply removing the existing Wireless Endpoint is enough to proceed with the above steps.

adb: failed to install ByteBlower.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS: Attempt to re-install com.excentis.byteblower.wirelessendpoint without first uninstalling.]

Use the Sideload Launcher app to find the Wireless Endpoints back

This hint is in particular for Android TV. The Wireless App won't appear among the default installed Apps. A work-around is to install the Sideload Launcher app. Here, the Wireless Endpoint will be listed. This makes it easy to use it later on.

USB hub and Mouse

The final hint, the Wireless Endpoint app is built with Mobile phones and Tablets in mind. For navigating the app, it sometimes helps to use a computer mouse. A USB hub can be used as an intermediate to match the different connectors.