Formuler Z7+ - Dolby and DTS

Well an easy way is to connect hdmi to your tv and if your tv has optical connect it to sound bar so everything on tv plays through there I have it like this

hello,
I have the same problem no dolby nor dts on the live and vod,
box connect to tv in hdmi and optical connect tv to sondbar
HDMI output-Auto, SPDIF-Raw, HBR output-Auto
with the same iptv provider and the smart iptv app installs on my tv i have the dolby and dts
I Download Addon Linker and install
Open Addon linker -> go to Addon Download -> chose audio_codec_pack.zip and download, success download but I do not see a button to install then and reboot box but nothing changes
I go back to addon linker and in the plugin download : error:descriptor does not exist!
thanks
edit : work in vod whith dts and dolby but not work in live tv FHD

Hi everyone, I am new user/owner of Z7+.
I have configured and done as instructed above. My question is how to install audio_codec_pack.zip after download and restart. I have not seen any button or anything to install. Please reply in detail as I am not an expert and little know how of Android.
In addition, will it solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. I have a Vizio tv, it has volume leveling feature but it does not wok with or without Yamaha sound bar. Thanks.

Can someone reply please?

Quote from FanZ7+

Hi everyone, I am new user/owner of Z7+.
I have configured and done as instructed above. My question is how to install audio_codec_pack.zip after download and restart. I have not seen any button or anything to install. Please reply in detail as I am not an expert and little know how of Android.
In addition, will it solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. I have a Vizio tv, it has volume leveling feature but it does not wok with or without Yamaha sound bar. Thanks.

Can someone reply please?

I'm in the same situation as FanZ7. After a successful download, there shows no option to install. Does it download and install at the same time? IF so, I still have no DD. Another question I have is: Is this only for Kodi or TVonline as well?
Thanks

Installing codecs

I installed codecs fine the other day and no problems, although the package installer keeps crashing every time i try to install an apk. Was ok the other day, will fully reset box in a day or so after so much testing. anyway...

1) Download the codecs file to your computer using a web browser (Addon Linker v1.01.00)

or easier method for novices:

1a) browse to the url above in chrome via the z7+ it will download it to you're Downloads folder on the internal storage. By doing this you don't have to mess about with usb/micro sd card and formatting correctly etc. If you choose this option skip straight to number 4).

2) now unzip the .rar file, differs depending on OS but generally right click and look for something along the lines of 'extract'/extract file, that will unzip the file. If done successfully you will see a new file called Addon Linker v1.01.00.apk.

3) this is where you have a few choices. You can enable SMB on your're z7+ so you can copy/share files from your computer to the z7+ without using a usb/miro sd or if you do not know what SMB is then just format a usb/micro sd card unless you already have done, now copy the Addon Linker v1.01.00.apk on the usb/micro sd card and insert into z7+

4) from home screen - Press the All apps icon to show all installed apps. Choose file browser - store (storage), locate the file Addon Linker v1.01.00.apk you copied to usb/micro sd card. Android names it drives in confusing ways so keep looking it will be there if you formatted usb/micro sd card properly.

5) now once you located the Addon Linker v1.01.00.apk in file browser, basically just navigate to the file to select it and press ok on remote control, at this point you will get a box with message saying ‘For security your TV is set to block installations of apps obtained from unknown sources’. Select Settings then select the slider to enable Unknown Sources (slider will turn from grey to blue. Then press back button on remote, now select the Addon Linker v1.01.00.apk again, press ok on remote and select Install. Codes should now install.

- because we are installing an .apk file (an apk file is basically an installation file bit like a .exe file when installing programs on windows and because it has not come from google play store we have to enable unknown sources. It's basically a security feature to stop good people installing malicious apps from outside google play store.

6) From home screen, select All apps icon, select the Addon Linker app, choose Addon Download tab, select audio_codec_pack.zip so a tick appears in box next to audio_codec_pack.zip then press red button on the remote control, the word Success should appear to the right, now you must reboot your device.

If you want to disable Unknown Sources after installing codec. The same process below can be used to also enable unknown sources.

Note: anytime you wish to install an apk that is not from the google play store. ie. from another android play store or somewhere on the internet, you must enable unknown sources. Just bare in mind that you should NEVER EVER install an app from outside google playstore unless you are sure it's trustworthy, just be careful you do not want to install a malicious app (apk) as some malicious apps can be very dangerous.

1) From home screen, select the cog icon (settings)
2) Select Android
3) Top right hand corner select the magnifying glass, type in unknown or unknown sources
4) Select Unknown Sources and select the slider and it will turn from blue to grey. Unknown Sources is now disabled.

Quote from Billgor

Hello again. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you that I’m not interested in getting DD/DTS from Kodi as I do t use it. I’m more interested in getting Dolby for other apps like IPTV, MTVO, Netflix , You Tube and a few others. Thank you again for the help and please take care!!!!!!

Not sure but i believe Formuler would have to pay licensing fees to allow DD/DTS and other certain codes, i don't know but something cropped up like this about another android box i had and sent back about 2 year ago and people weren't happy as they removed support for DD/DTS but believe it was due to them not wanting to pay for a license or something.

Thanks droidbug for the detailed instructions. I have done this three times but nothing changed. Every time I have to do a factory reset. How do we reboot the box, I just unplug the power and put power back, is this the right way? I have never received a security warning, is it strange?

I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4k tv which has auto volume leveling (consistence volume) feature but it does not wok with or without sound bar. I have tried connecting the HDMI through soundbar and HDMI directly to tv and optical from tv to soundbar. Will this codec will also solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels.

Quote from FanZ7+

Thanks droidbug for the detailed instructions. I have done this three times but nothing changed. Every time I have to do a factory reset. How do we reboot the box, I just unplug the power and put power back, is this the right way? I have never received a security warning, is it strange?

I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4k tv which has auto volume leveling (consistence volume) feature but it does not wok with or without sound bar. I have tried connecting the HDMI through soundbar and HDMI directly to tv and optical from tv to soundbar. Will this codec will also solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels.

All i do to reboot box is,

First you must go to home screen, not sure why and rather dumb but you have to. Just press the Home button (looks like a house) on the remote control. Now hold down the power button until a menu comes up, from there you can put in standby, power off or restart. You will need to install codecs, i am not sure but think they are for MX player or system wide, again i don't know.

Why do you have to factory reset box? i mean does it do something when trying to install codec? ie. freeze or something.

I do not own a soundbar but i did play around with one once but no experience with them but...

HDMI can pass both audio and video so no need for optical cable. The easiest and simplest setup i think is.

TV -- HDMI Cable -- Soundbar (if you're sound bar has no HDMI then you will need to use optical cable)

TV -- HDMI Cable -- Media Box

(if you have a HDMI ARC port on tv try that port for soundbar, could even try media box, some tvs understand ARC some don't, and manufacturers can implement it in there own way, usually it's more trouble than it's worth but does work for some who have issues)

Auto volume levelling i have on my tv, check the audio settings on the media box and via player apps themselves. ie. Kodi has settings to allow audio passthrough and auto volume levelling, the auto volume levelling on the tv could be conflicting with a setting on you're media box and or tv.

Also note the biggest difference is that HDMI can pass higher-resolution audio, including the formats found on Blu-ray: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. These formats can't get transmitted across optical, Dolby Digital and DTS however are supported via optical cable. In terms of simplicity, HDMI also passes video signals. So if you want just a single cable between two devices, HDMI is your pick.

I am not sure if they codec will work or not, to be honest since fixing my issue with buffering i have not had time to do a factory reset and to test much else. I have videos with DTS audio and my samsung tv support DD, DTS and several others i think although they are just basic built in speaker so hard to tell the difference, If you want to really test things try Kodi, reason is there's so many settings in Kodi even for audio if anything you may find playing with setting in there may fix issue, if that the case look for that or a similar setting on the media box or tv. Youtube is another good place to search, if i am ever stuck it's first place i go as so many videos on there i always find what i'm looking for.

Sorry can't be of much more help simply as i'm not a audio buff so for me tv speakers always been fine and never had these kind setups or issues to worry about. Hopefully someone else has same or similar setup and could reply, unfortunately forum is not that busy.

Thanks droidbug for the details, I really appreciate it. I reset the box just to make sure everything is normal again.
Today, I did the installation again but same result. I am not an expert so I just kept my Z7+ as it came out of the box, no Kodi or other applications as I don't want to play with these applications without proper knowledge. I just want to use it as an iptv box using MTO for time being.

So, to get best result we should use two HDMI cables instead of one HDMI and one optical, correct me, if I am wrong.

As SAM mentioned above, he will make a how to, may be he will shed some more light on this topic to educate us. Thanks again.

Quote from FanZ7+

Thanks droidbug for the details, I really appreciate it. I reset the box just to make sure everything is normal again.
Today, I did the installation again but same result. I am not an expert so I just kept my Z7+ as it came out of the box, no Kodi or other applications as I don't want to play with these applications without proper knowledge. I just want to use it as an iptv box using MTO for time being.

So, to get best result we should use two HDMI cables instead of one HDMI and one optical, correct me, if I am wrong.

As SAM mentioned above, he will make a how to, may be he will shed some more light on this topic to educate us. Thanks again.

ok.

Take a look at this picture as in idea of setup: (pretend the xbox or something in image is you're formuler box.

If you're sound bar has a HDMI output you can use a HDMI cable between the soundbar and TV instead of optical cable, as mentioned in previous post, If soundbar has HDMI output use that instead of the optical cable shown in image.

Also if you use HDMI cable from tv to the soundbar instead of an optical cable look on back of tv for a HDMI port that says (ARC) next to it and plug soundbar into that port, if not don't worry plug into whichever HDMI port you want, sometimes like on samsung they recommend what port to use for what device and states which HDMI ports are ARC compatible.

So simply put.. if you're soundbar has an HDMI output port use HDMI cable between soundbar and the tv. If you're soundbar does not have a HDMI output then you will use the Optical cable between tv and soundbar as shown in image.

To my knowledge that should work basically soundbar is connected to tv, then every device like formuler media box, maybe a game console or whatever else connect to tv via hdmi, that way all audio should come through to the soundbar, you will need to tell your tv to use soundbar for audio otherwise the tv will not pass the audio through to the soundbar. Basically you're tv is the centre a/v hub for the rest of you're devices to work and communicate depending on what devices they are.

Remember hdmi can carry both audio and video signal) unlike optical which only carries audio. Plus i mentioned benefits of using HDMI in previous post.

You will likely once setup like in image, go to from home screen on your formuler box: select cog icon - Android >> Sound and configure.

Now in regards to the not being able to install codecs i genuinely do not know what else you can do, if you factory reset box and software reset then there's no more you can do. At this point i would be inclined to contact your seller as you cannot do anymore than what you have done.

Thanks droidbug. I have already tried this before. Soundbar has HDMI 4k pass through with ARC (Two HDMI ports). I will try the whole process again after a factory reset and come back if successful otherwise will wait for FW updates. Maybe there is a fix for this via an update.

Volume leveling or normalizing is pain (especially at night) and I am also looking for a solution for that, anyone please help. Thanks in advance.

I'm sorry i do not know anything else to try.

Problem is this forum is very quiet and support is non existent to be fair. Does not give me much confidence in this box for when something does go wrong. Not bashing admin on here but it's true, if Formuler want to sell these boxes in current price range then they need to up there game and offer better and much quicker support. Other manufacturers forums are buzzing with people and support staff in some cases and there boxes are on par in price range. The only ones on here doing much helping are the customers themselves.

We keep being told about an update maybe at end of month, i want to know if this update brings many fixes/improvements or bring in even more bugs. We have been left in the dark, we don't really know when the update is going to come and to not know anything in regards to what's been and being fixed is frustrating to say the least. I use to web develop myself and know how pain staking it is when you are dealing with tens of thousands of lines of code and even more tracking down that obnoxious bug can be difficult even using the best IDE software and that's just your're own code. By the time we get this update my return window will be getting very close although i have paypal as protection if i end up needing to go down that route.

I bought this box for the mytvonline app as to be honest i prefer it over others minus the issues and others also bought this box mainly due to the app.

I love the box, i have only tried one before this and that was even worse, you had to install custom community maintained firmware (that has never been audited) over original firmware as most bugs were never fixed in original manufacturer firmware, then you had to install patches, add-ons to fix bugs that been around 3+ years, the entire process was awful and it took me 14 months before i could even consider another box it was that pain staking to deal with.

Here's hoping for a good update coming to solve some of the issues, unfortunately any issues that been reported recently will not be making it into the firmware if it does come out at end of March simply as there would not be enough time to fix unless they are very minor and easy to track and fix bugs. Some of the bugs reported on here are anything but simple to fix so is going to take allot of time.

Quote from SAM

Hi,
i wanted to help and promised the how to with pictures but i`m now at moment in Hospital and have surgery. So i must sorry for this delay, soon i will answer missed postings. Also sorry to hear that this support is not good enough. In future Formuler works on many changes, hope then will some users be happy er. By the way, in first years of Formuler (Linux) this forum was User to User forum with Help from all not only Mods and Admin, this changed completely with the Android Boxes.
Formuler is working with big presser on Bugfixing and user requests, next update will come very soon.

That's good to hear @SAM , I didn't mean to sound harsh or anything incase it came across that way. Looking forward to the update. Hoping you a speedy recovery! Cheers.

From doing a software then a factory reset yesterday there does seems to be issues with some services. This is from a factory reset nothing changed, installed totally fresh.

1) IPTV Launcher randomly crashes quite regular.
2) Accessing Location via android -> google - > Location causes white screen, becomes unresponsive. (only way to access is doe location search via (magnifying glass)
3) Google play services again like IPTV Launcher randomly crashes.

Hi, I want to share an update. I changed my provider and while checking different groups, channels, I found one German channel (don't understand German) with Dolby sound. Just reminder, I was not able to install audio codec on my Z7+ (so this is just out of the box, without any additional software). Z7+ is great....Please see attached picture. It means that many feature are provider dependent.

I would really appreciate, if someone can guide me, how to solve the problem of Volume leveling or normalizing. It is pain (especially at night). Thanks in advance.

Check your tv settings as i know my tv has this feature and i have it turned off. It should be somewhere in menu > settings > sound something like that, every tv brand is different. On that picture i see 'audio mode' i'm not near my box so cant check what settings are in there. To my knowledge there is no such settings on the box, they are more app specific, ie. media players, many have there own settings to adjust volume and auto volume levelling etc.

Quote from droidbug

Check your tv settings as i know my tv has this feature and i have it turned off. It should be somewhere in menu > settings > sound something like that, every tv brand is different. On that picture i see 'audio mode' i'm not near my box so cant check what settings are in there. To my knowledge there is no such settings on the box, they are more app specific, ie. media players, many have there own settings to adjust volume and auto volume levelling etc.

Thanks again droidbug. As I mentioned earlier that my TV support DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and Volume Leveling or Normalizing will work only with DTS. I have tried everything on my TV but no success. I installed audiocodec exactly as per your instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I dont't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. So now I am just using my Z7+ as it came without any extra application as only purpose of this box is to watch tv with 4K content.

I have a question, some times a popup appears asking to download an external codec (see picture), so what should I do with it?

Can i ask what app you are in when that popup appears? ie. mytvonline/mxplayer or something? i have not seen this myself but only have had my box for approx two weeks myself. If it's related to mytvonline app or MXPlayer then i would go ahead and install so the codec can be installed. As i have not seen this myself i do not know if it's from an app you may have downloaded or something but you did mention you have factory reset the box, so i assume it is appearing when you are watching something via mytvonline? maybe that channel that supports dolby sound? if so then it probably asking you to install the codec so it can then play the audio.

Yes, It was MTO as I dont's use any other applications. This pop up is quite frequent on different channels but I always ignore it. I think it is nothing to do with audiocodec. I m using this box since January and this popup is common since beginning.

Quote from FanZ7+

Yes, It was MTO as I dont's use any other applications. This pop up is quite frequent on different channels but I always ignore it. I think it is nothing to do with audiocodec. I m using this box since January and this popup is common since beginning.

Ok i have never came across this and assume it's the mytvonline app needing you to install a codec as it pops up when in there although again never popped up for me so raises suspicion.

At this point i will tag @SAM as he may know if this is related to the app or possibly something else as to install the codec you have to download the addon linker as all previously mentioned.

The only thing i can think of at this point is in mytvonline in settings menu you can choose external player on or off, if on (should be off by default) and when you play VOD it then asks what player you want to use, now if that was on and it was only happening on VOD then i would assume the external player is requesting to install the codec as it would be using an external player to play the VOD content, but from what i gather this happens on live tv to? in this case i am not sure.

Give it sometime, i have tagged Sam and rest assured he will reply once he is back online.

Edit:

I uninstalled addon linker in hope it would uninstall the codec as cannot see codec under android > apps (even with system apps showing) and tried mytvonline and nothing appeared about installing a codec.

I have the box for a week and I already saw this popup when I changed to Nat Geo channel from my current provider! After downloading the codec, my TV gives the info that sound is on Dolby Digital when watching this specific channel! Nice...
Using MTO btw!

Quote from MarioCaires

I have the box for a week and I already saw this popup when I changed to Nat Geo channel from my current provider! After downloading the codec, my TV gives the info that sound is on Dolby Digital when watching this specific channel! Nice...
Using MTO btw!

oh really, well i will check later when by my box as i got these channels although i'm not sure if my provider stream channels with dolby digital, with this in mind it obviously needs the codec to play dolby digital audio. With this in mind @FanZ7+ i would go ahead and install. Thank you @MarioCaires

Quote from FanZ7+

Hi, I want to share an update. I changed my provider and while checking different groups, channels, I found one German channel (don't understand German) with Dolby sound. Just reminder, I was not able to install audio codec on my Z7+ (so this is just out of the box, without any additional software). Z7+ is great....Please see attached picture. It means that many feature are provider dependent.

I would really appreciate, if someone can guide me, how to solve the problem of Volume leveling or normalizing. It is pain (especially at night). Thanks in advance.

Thanks again. I am confused here as I am not tech savvy as well. Please see my earlier post where I mentioned that I have Dolby sound without any external codec and I just checked same channel and I am still getting Dolby (with popup). I have Discovery (with popup) with Dolby. I also checked National Geographic,no Dolby but the popup is there. So I am getting Dolby to some channels without any codec as I have not done it yet as per @SAM advice. The popup is there since beginning and I kept ignoring it.

Quote from FanZ7+

Thanks again. I am confused here as I am not tech savvy as well. Please see my earlier post where I mentioned that I have Dolby sound without any external codec and I just checked same channel and I am still getting Dolby (with popup). I have Discovery (with popup) with Dolby. I also checked National Geographic,no Dolby but the popup is there. So I am getting Dolby to some channels without any codec as I have not done it yet as per @SAM advice. The popup is there since beginning and I kept ignoring it.

In that case select 'do not show again' then 'ok' when it appears that should stop it from reappearing, it must be installed otherwise you would not be able to hear the audio on channels with dolby audio so i would not worry about it. Also you will only have Dolby sound if that channel is streaming dolby. I just checked and i found a channel (discovery science hd & discovery velocity hd) with Dolby Digital and it asked me to install codec, other channels though like Nat Geo etc are not streamed with Dolby Digital for me with my provider so dependant on each channel if it is streaming with dolby and you're provider from my understanding.

Thanks everyone. I am sorry if I have not make my question or problem more clear in my previous posts. Let me recapture it from posts.

As topic of this thread is Dolby and DTS, I will divide it in two segments. I am not a tech savvy but will try my best.

Dolby, as I mentioned earlier I am getting DD without any codec and DD is not my focus. So an external codec is nice to have but
currently not my requirement.

DTS, as mentioned earlier,I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4K tv with DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and has Volume Leveling (consistence volume) or Normalizing feature but it only works with DTS.

I installed Formuler audiocodec exactly as per instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I don't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. As codec is zip file and I don't know what audios will it support. Is DTS part of it? If yes, Will this codec will solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. It is pain (especially at night). Or anyone has some other solution. See at the bottom of attached pic.

I have read somewhere that licensing is a required for codecs, is Formuler doing anything about it? If it has already been addressed
and Formuler codec includes DTS then how to solve the issue of MTO crashing after installing audio codec. Thanks in advance.

Quote from FanZ7+

Dolby, as I mentioned earlier I am getting DD without any codec and DD is not my focus. So an external codec is nice to have but
currently not my requirement.

As previously mentioned install the codec and the popup will go away, whether or not you can hear the audio or not. From what i understand you have no issue with DD.

Quote from FanZ7+

DTS, as mentioned earlier,I am using Yamaha sound bar which support DD/DTS with a Vizio 4K tv with DTS TruVolume and SurroundSound and has Volume Leveling (consistence volume) or Normalizing feature but it only works with DTS.

I installed Formuler audiocodec exactly as per instructions one more time and left it there for more than 24 hours but MTO was keep crashing every 5 minutes or so. I have two providers and it happened with both. So finally I did a factory reset and now crashing has stopped. I don't know where is the problem, maybe it was due to that audiocodec. As codec is zip file and I don't know what audios will it support. Is DTS part of it? If yes, Will this codec will solve the problem of fluctuated volume (too high or too low) when changing channels. It is pain (especially at night). Or anyone has some other solution. See at the bottom of attached pic.

The audio codec zip file contains both DD and DTS codecs. Install it but not sure it will sort the volume levelling out, it seems like to me though this is to do with a setting elsewhere.

I have checked a vizio 4k tv manual out just a moment ago and did some research on DTS TruSurround and DTS TruVolume, from what i understand from the tv manual is DTS TruSurround is meant to give the feel of 5.1 surround sound using your tv internal speakers only.

According to the manual the Volume Levelling uses DTS TruVolume. Now doing some research it seems people find they actually make the sound worse so first i would try by turning auto volume levelling off, the manual does not say that DTS TruVolume requires the audio to be DTS, the manual says 'Volume leveling uses DTS TruVolume to maintain consistent volume levels during transitions between program content, AV formats, and input sources.'

What confuses me is if you have a sound bar the audio should be being sent to the sound bar for processing, so i would be looking at the sound bar settings not the tv settings.

on formuler box go to cog (icon) > android > sound > HDMI Output > What is it on, auto? try RAW as this will send the raw audio to the soundbar to process, if you select LPCM i believe the formuler box will process the audio before sending it to the sound bar. I guess it depends if you want the formuler box or the sound bar to process the audio, if it on auto try RAW then LPCM and see if there's any difference.

If the above changes nothing and the volume is still high/low when switching between channels still then it must be a setting on your soundbar as there is no other settings to be able to try on the formuler box and your tv. Your sound bar is where i would be looking.

Quote from FanZ7+

I have read somewhere that licensing is a required for codecs, is Formuler doing anything about it? If it has already been addressed
and Formuler codec includes DTS then how to solve the issue of MTO crashing after installing audio codec. Thanks in advance.

It was me who mentioned somewhere about licensing previously, just ignore that, the addon-linker which needs to be installed so you can install the audio codec zip file contains both DD and DTS, so yes please install it.

Download Addon Linker from the database, extract the .rar file on a fat32 formatted usb stick and install through file manager on the formuler box. Open Addon linker app -> go to Addon Download -> chose audio_codec_pack.zip and install.After successful install (message), reboot/restart your box. Now you will have DD and DTS.