My player is not bricked. It just no longer gets firmware or software updates.
Normally ensuring the filesystem on the stick is FAT32 as most others are not handled by most TVs or similar hardware. NTFS & exFAT are certainly not well accepted…
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There is an argument for blocking access to the internet / disconnecting it from the internet once a device gets beyond a certain age.
- It isn’t getting any (tested) updates from the manufacturer.
- It probably has known and unpatched security holes.
While a manufacturer will test updates before they are let loose on the internet, they won’t be testing against every model - and the ones that miss out on testing would be ones that have been out-of-support / end-of-life for a long time.
As for the XML config file, it is important to note that the file is syntactically valid (well-formed) XML. It may however not be consistent with (valid against) an implied DTD file / XML schema.
Either way, the code should have failed safe i.e. if it can’t parse the policy file then it should keep running but with a hard-coded default policy. In this particular case, that is doubly true - since the privacy fail that is the “phoning home” (logging information back to Samsung about what you have been doing, which is none of their damned business anyway) is hardly critical to the operation of the device. The default policy could have been to log nothing.
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The only TV in our home was bought in 2014. It is a Sony Bravia and has worked perfectly well. This week, the “Sony Entertainment Network” button on the remote that is used to bring up all the internet applications, such as catch-up TV, Netflix, Youtube, etc simply stopped working – the TV says “Not Available”. After trying multiple resets (TV software, booting the modem and router etc), I rang Sony. They pretty much said Android is the new way to deliver these services and they have stopped supporting the Sony Entertainment Network functionality altogether and turned it off. So just like that, a decision of Sony makes my TV obsolete when the hardware is perfectly fine. It smacks of the Apple software slowdown when a new model was released. Well, if I’m shopping for a TV soon, I’m not going to buy a Sony, am I? – now or ever! I hope turns out to be a very expensive act of arrogance on Sony’s part.
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There has been a lot of (previous) discussion about ‘smart’ TVs and the failure of app updates by the manufacturer: the consensus appears to be to buy a ‘dumb’ TV and add an easily updateable (is that even a word??) set top box/Chromecast etc. Your perfectly good Sony Bravia has now become ‘dumb’ - so keep on using it - with the addition of something more flexible.
I’m sure you will get plenty of suggestions from other forum users!!
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Buy a Set Top Box such as a Fetch and use that to get to your Apps and Streaming Content or a Chromecast…there are a few in the marketplace which will offer a great outcome at a small price.
https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/televisions/media-players/set-top-boxes
https://www.productreview.com.au/c/set-top-boxes-pvrs-dvrs
Please excuse the large use of JB, it was just the easiest hit in the search.
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or Chromecast, Roku, or one of the many others suggested.
Some NBN plans include a Fetch mini box as well as bundled entertainment packages (Netflix, Stan, ApplyTV, … , …) too. Not interesting if you are only using free-to-use apps, but a good option if you use for-pay apps.
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Upthread you will see there are many hardware and software issues with so-called smart TVs. Your case is of the egregious kind but there are plenty of others just as frustrating and leading to similar results.
The products are sold as a turnkey system where you just turn it on and it all works. In reality you are buying a combination of hardware, operating system and apps that together with streaming services put entertainment on your screen. There are so many modes of failure for this combination and the components are often supplied by different bodies.
Consumer legislation seems to be lagging behind in providing protection for such a complex and fragile arrangement.
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I have a Fetch box for recording the FTA stuff I want to see later (not everything is on iView) and for watching FTA occasionally simply because for whatever reason, it seems to pull a better signal than my now 12 or 13 yr old Samsung TV (which was never very smart)… But I also have an AppleTV 4 connected and tend to use that the most, because ABC and SBS live streams, plus the capacity to run a shedload of apps from around the planet, including ITV and BBC IPlayer, US ABC and NBC/Peacock, as well as local stuff like Kanopy (thanks to local public library), and a multitude of others, both local and worldwide. Why anyone would restrict themselves via a proprietary system like a smart TV beats the hell outta me. You can’t add to it, you can’t remove things from it, and you are at the mercy of whoever does the updates… if they feel like it.
Its much easier for app developers to support the separate boxes, than to have to create apps for every variety of TV out there. it really is no wonder that sometimes, things just drop off.
Give me the Apple Walled Garden anytime (or, indeed, any Android box which can do the same) Plus a smart DNS, and I’m set.
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Many new TVs run the AndroidTV OS that could be the path forward to having supported apps on them, long term. Time will tell.
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But whether the TV manufacturers will permit installation of other (additional) apps by owners is another matter.
Android itself comes in so many different flavours, you could not depend on it. Its like on your Android phone. You might have the latest, but if you have a Samsung, or I dunno, an Oppo or many others, you will also have a ton of cruft that you’re stuck with unless you root it. And most average people can’t be fussed with all that. I suspect that the TVs are much the same. If they have the Google Play store, great. If not… pfft. Thats why the separate boxes are better.
I like my AppleTV, which, although restricted entirely to the Apple app store, is flexible enough for me to be able to carry IDs for the US and UK stores as well as the Australian one, and to download apps from all three, when I want/need to.
Here’s my current ATV screen but its not the complete, theres another 4 rows you can’t see,
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Android TVs have the google play store although the apps available for AndroidTV are few compared to those for Android phones, but those there will probably be maintained into the far future as AndroidTV proliferates.
One can also sideload Android apps if so inclined, not so easy with proprietary TV operating systems. (install on AndroidTV without using the google play store)
None of this is to imply a chromebox or similar stick is not the cheapest and probably most reliable long term solution.
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The Vodafone TV box is actually pretty decent, has the play store and also does FTA live stream. You don’t need a vodafone account to buy one and I think they are still available at around $72. I bought one for my luddite cousin and she loves it.
[edit] just tried to find a link for purchasing… can’t find one. Darn.
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That maybe because of their amalgamation with TPG?
https://ausdroid.net/2020/10/09/vodafone-kills-off-its-vodafone-tv-android-tv-powered-streaming-box/
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Choice has reviewed some of the streaming boxes (member content)
And some smart boxes…
While true Android TV OS has potential to future proof some apps, there is still risk that TV program guides will no longer be supported making free-to-air program searching challenging. While there are apps which provide the guides, these aren’t integrated with TV OS and remain view only…rather than allow channel changing or programing.
As our Sony loses functionality due to service support being dropped, we bought a cheap Android 9 box to fill the gap…as the TV is still perfect (touch wood), even though Sony persists in trying to make it a dumb TV. The box has far more RAM than any TV and provides greater flexibility than relying on a TV smart OS.
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They are challenging.
I can almost hear the whirring of the wheels and clunking of the cogs every time I push the ‘Guide’ button on the Remote. One line per button press, followed by lots of channels with zero listings because that network has not been viewed during the current session.
It’s far quicker and more convenient to pick up the iPad and go direct to my preferred TV program guide.
Others may disagree, not have a tablet, or smartphone, or even enjoy watching the adverts, self promotion and upcoming programs.
I quite like the guide on the FetchTV box. Sadly theres no good guide on AppleTV, I’d love to see some integration there.
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At what price in surveillance capitalism (privacy) though?
Google already dominates enough industries. Why would anyone want to extend that dominance into a new area?
With the downside that the set top box can exhibit exactly the same function rot that the original smart TV did.
Anyone remember TiVo?
The TiVo Service came to an end in Australia on 31 October 2017. The electronic programming guide and TiVo recording features are no longer available, thus making all TiVo machines in Australia virtually useless.
(the above is from Wikipedia)
- in addition to @grahroll’s link above regarding the Vodafone TV box being killed off.
Fair enough that nothing is forever but all this obsoleted junk has a cost to the consumer’s hip pocket and a cost to the environment.
The cost of a Set top box compared to a large panel TV is smallish. If it extends the usefulness of the TV for some years then the payoff is saving a larger amount of money and reducing waste streams. I agree obsolescence in whatever form it comes is to be avoided but even reducing some by buying something far less expensive and that improves the usefulness must have some environmental payoff.
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The only possible response is
or should it be 
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