Skip to main content

Screen Mirroring with Moto X and Sony Bravia TV

I know you are probably thinking that this topic has no connection to what this blog is about, and you would be correct. However, it was such a trial finding any information for me that I decided I needed to document it somewhere.

Here is the problem. I have a Sony Bravia TV (Model KDL-42W829B), and I also have a First Generation Apple TV. Both of there used to provide the ability to show YouTube content, but earlier this year Google changed the YouTube API and consequently both of the aforementioned devices could not longer play the videos (now appears to work again on the TV, see update below).

update 26-Dec-15:
although I swear blind that when I tried the YouTube app on my Bravia TV did not work yesterday, and brief research on the net informed me that it was no longer supported, when I came to try it again today it worked!!!

When I looked at the settings for the Bravia TV, I noticed that it supported Screen Mirroring over WiFi with Miracast and it also seemed that the Moto X also supported this, so I thought I'd  see if I could get them to connect.

This is what I had to do to achieve it. It may be quite different for other TV's and phones, but perhaps this will help someone.

My phone is a Moto X 2nd Generation running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).

I will say that nothing I tried initially seemed to work until I did a couple of crucial things on the phone, so I'm going to suggest doing these things first.

Phone Settings (part 1)

  1. We need to put the phone in Developer mode. To do this, go into the 'Settings > About Phone', then press 'Build number' 7 times.  This will switch you to developer mode. when you go back to Settings, you should have a new option called '{} Developer options'
  2. Now go into 'Settings > Developer options' and under the 'Networking' section, make sure that 'Wireless display certification' is switched on.
  3. Next go into 'Settings > Display > Cast' and make sure 'Enable autonomous GO' is switched on.
  4. Follow the steps I've outlined below.
As I said, without those settings I was unable to get the phone and TV to connect properly, so those settings made the big difference.


(A) Connection of phone and TV (part 1)

  1. TV: From the TV 'Home' screen, install the 'Screen mirroring' app. You will need this later.
  2. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct' and make sure this is set to 'On'
  3. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct Settings', then press 'Options' on the remote and select 'Manual'. Here, select 'Other Methods' and you will see the SSID of the TV (mine says 'DIRECT-JD-BRAVIA') and the WPA Key of the network. 
  4. PHONE: Now connect your phone to the network using the Key shown.
  5. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct Settings', press 'Options' on the remote and select 'Show Device List / Delete'. Your phone should now show up in the list (maybe twice after everything is done) possibly with 'Unsupported Dev.' under the Device name, but don't worry about that.
  6. TV: back right out to the 'Home' screen.
(B) Phone settings (part 2)
  1. Go into 'Settings > Wi-Fi' and forget the network of the TV (yes, I know it's weird, but just do it) 

(C) Connection of phone and TV (part 2)

  1. TV: start the 'Screen mirroring app'
  2. PHONE: 'Settings > Wi-Fi', select the menu, then 'Advanced > Wi-Fi Direct', you should see your TV under 'Peer devices'. Select your TV.
Just accept any messages you get on the phone side, I think I got some initially. It takes some time at this point, but eventually it will show your phone content hopefully. Subsequent connections are much faster.

The good news is that in future, only part (c) is required.

BTW please don't try ask me any questions, because what I've written above is the full extent of my knowledge/experience on this subject, and whilst it worked for me, YMMV.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vox Pathfinder 10 and Pathfinder 15 Simulation

I've got a Vox Pathfinder 10 amplifier that I bought a couple of years ago, and I love it. It's a great little amplifier, but I don't care for the distortion channel, it just sounds harsh to my ears. There are quite simple modifications that can be done to this amplifier to remove the clipping LED's and increase the boost of the clean channel (check out Ben Craven's mods  for details). I'd been considering doing some of these, but whilst researching the subject, I discovered that the currently out of production (as at Nov '18)  Pathfinder 15/15R generally receives a lot more love than the Pathfinder 10. I found schematics for both the PF15 and the PF15R online, and saw that there were a lot of similarities between the PF10 and the PF15, particularly the earlier non-reverb PF15. The PF15R (with reverb) is quite a bit different after the first two opamp stages. I thought I'd model both the PF10 and PF15 pre-amp stages in LTspice  to see how they compar...
3 comments
Read more

Vox Pathfinder 15 Tremolo Repair

Last year, I snapped up a Vox Pathfinder 15 (non-reverb) combo amplifier from ebay. The seller was a charity shop, and the amplifier was listed as "untested", so I was taking a bit of a gamble, but figured I'd have a good chance of being able to fix it it it wasn't working, and cosmetically, it looked almost mint. When it arrived, I plugged it in, and as you guessed, it was not working. Barely any sound, and what sound there was was horribly distorted. One thin I did notice was the the power on LED was not aligned correctly with the hole in the back panel, so I did quickly took it apart, and realigned the potentiometers and LED indicator, but didn't have a look in detail at the circuit. I put it back together, but the problem remained. My guess was that the problem was the famous "cambridgitis" (just google that term and you'll find all about it). Basically, a problem where the optocoupler that controls the tremolo circuit fails. A common failure...
1 comment
Read more

Marshall Lead 12 Preamp Simulation

Having already modelled the preamp stage of the  Vox Pathfinder 10, 15 and 15R  respectively, and noted the similarities circuit-wise between the PF10 and the PF15, I discovered another much-loved practice amp with a similar preamp stage - the Marshall Lead 12. I should say, before going any further, that there are huge differences between the power amp stages. The PF10 uses a TDA2030A chip amp whereas the Lead 12 uses discrete components. The chip amp power stage on the PF10 shouldn't colour the tone much, but the discrete one in the Lead 12 most likely does contribute to the overall tone of the amplifier. A simulation of the preamp stage with the Treble, Bass and Mid controls at 50% and the Gain control at 0%-100% gave this Marshall Lead 12 Preamp Simulation Marshall Lead 12 preamp simulation, Gain 0%-100%, TMB @ 50% Vox Pathfinder 10 preamp simulation (overdrive engaged) Vov Pathfinder 10 preamp simulation, Gain 0%-100%, T+B @ 50% Comparing the two, ...
Post a Comment
Read more