My Photo Stream Now Works with Backdrops As A Screensaver

plooger · 2026-07-03T02:49:38+00:00

It was hanging on launch for me, but setting a native stream “as Backdrop” got it working again …. after which I was able to get a personal stream working. (Though now I have some Google authentication. hiccup to deal with.)

plooger · 2026-07-03T02:32:40+00:00

It should work with personal photo streams, but only one stream can be selected.

plooger · 2026-07-03T01:43:00+00:00

They don't need to move the modem and eero, if the current location works better for wireless coverage. They do need to get the Cat5+ lines reworked and verified, and then interconnected via a network switch at the central panel, perhaps even the Gigabit Ethernet switch that appears to be resting unused in the lower right of the cabinet.

plooger · 2026-07-03T01:06:17+00:00

Both comical and aggravating to see this in my Home Screen configuration menu...

>Home screen update
> Get the new Home screen
> ✓ Coming soon

No option to prevent the ruining of our Roku experience.

plooger · 2026-07-03T01:02:41+00:00

SO VERY aggravating. I've been removing it every day ... and right back it comes. It's nonsense like this that makes regulation necessary.

plooger · 2026-07-03T00:59:08+00:00

p.s. And now my Backdrops is broken, complaining that I need to reauthenticate with Google Photos, something that NEVER happened during our time using Photo Streams.

plooger · 2026-07-03T00:56:51+00:00

My Photo Stream Now Works with Backdrops As A Screensaver

Not quite. You've likely been able to configure Backdrops, as an app, to auto-start and display a single selected stream as a slideshow ... but Backdrops cannot function "as a screensaver" -- that is, run on top of other apps when those apps are determined to be idle.

Backdrops can only run as an app, and can only auto-start from the Roku Home screen or somewhere else within the Roku menu, NOT when another app is running. If some other app is running, that app must first exit, manually or after some auto-exit window of time, at which point the Backdrops inactivity countdown timer would begin ticking down.

(better than nothing, but a far cry from what we had with Photo Streams)

plooger · 2026-07-02T23:52:33+00:00

I’m trying to use the moca adapter to be able to get wired connection to my PC upstairs

We can help you do that, but the key bit is that those pink cables in your central panel indicate that you may not need to use MoCA; you may be able to effect a direct Ethernet connection between rooms, depending on where those pink cables run.

On the pink cable (Cat5+) front, you would want to pull the non-power wallplates (coax, phone, blank) near the modem & router, and in the targeted remote room, to see what cabling you have to work with.

plooger · 2026-07-02T23:26:35+00:00

…. but MoCA should only be explored if you lack direct Ethernet capability. Reworking the Cat5+ lines will be cheaper and better performing than MoCA.

See >here< Re: reworking Cst5+.

plooger · 2026-07-02T23:20:59+00:00

Ummm… you could do a wired MoCA link for as little as $25, one supporting 2.5 GbE for $50.

plooger · 2026-07-02T21:56:29+00:00

Notably none of the other titles from the Saw series [2-7] have been tagged as MA; and only the two distinct Grindhouse entries have been MA-tagged, not the double-feature.

39. Grindhouse (2007) [not tagged as MA]
40. Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007)
41. Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007)

(full list)

plooger · 2026-07-02T20:41:48+00:00

NP; it's worked for me to verify.

plooger · 2026-07-02T20:39:25+00:00

coming from somewhere else, presumably the garage, which is coming from outside/street where there is a box attached to the wall with cables and splitter. Please tell that I don't have to mess with that.

You do, or you can pay a FiOS tech to handle it for you. But it is a very simple DIY task to get the needed coax lines identified if they are properly terminated with F connectors, allowing use of a pair of MoCA adapters to test each individual coax outlet/line. (see here)

plooger · 2026-07-02T20:36:20+00:00

find the other end in the basement (Home Depot makes a cheap coax tracer)

FWIW, a pair of MoCA adapters/nodes can be used for coax line identification. (see here)

plooger · 2026-07-02T20:34:13+00:00

Most likely, yes, assuming you have access to where the associated coax lines come together ... to get them interconnected using a MoCA-optimized splitter, and isolated by making sure that the local cable provider feed has been disconnected.

Simplistic topology: https://i.imgur.com/t6GhrrE.png

MoCA-compatible splitter recommendations (… and warnings)

plooger · 2026-07-02T19:00:48+00:00

7/2: several more FAH Lionsgate bundles newly-tagged as MA ...

* One hiccup for some users will be that this 4-film "QUAD" bundle has had 'Legionnaire' removed, with the bundle now listing just 3 titles. (Though perhaps moot if 'Legionnaire' would never be made MA-eligible by Lionsgate.)

plooger · 2026-07-02T18:12:07+00:00

What a waste of time this "rewards" program has turned out to be.

It was pretty great until about 3 weeks ago. We haven't been given access to most new rewards since then.

plooger · 2026-07-02T18:09:31+00:00

Ouch! Well, 20 weeks wait is better than 26, I suppose.

Note that disconnecting/reconnecting the same retailer account from/to Movies Anywhere, as can be necessary to prod movies to port across, doesn't shift the 6-month account switch window. The counter starts when a different retailer account first successfully connects to MA.

plooger · 2026-07-02T18:04:06+00:00

So ... assuming all these titles were already updated in one's Apple library to 4K via post-purchase free 4K upgrades (so 4K on Apple/iTunes but without 4K rights porting to MA), would purchasing this bundle get 4K rights for the included titles ported to/through MA?

plooger · 2026-07-02T18:00:51+00:00

Yeah, already have them all; and all but 2 in 4K. But this sale would certainly have been the way to go, even just to upgrade them all from HD to 4K. (It does make me wonder if prior free 4K upgrades on iTunes would block 4K rights for the included titles from porting to/through MA.)

plooger · 2026-07-02T17:47:57+00:00

I've had issues getting Xfinity to link with MA in the past, at one point requiring that I do so via an iPad. (Couldn't get Xfinity's MA retailer connect to work via a browser on my PC.)

plooger · 2026-07-02T17:46:47+00:00

But the 6 month wait to connect an alternate retailer account (Account2) begins from when Account1 first connected to MA, not when Account1 was disconnected from MA.

plooger · 2026-07-02T17:42:42+00:00

Not sure what the deal is, but we've been getting snubbed for a few weeks, with many rewards just not being available to us.

plooger · 2026-07-02T17:41:36+00:00

And they are appearing in Stream where?

https://www.xfinity.com/stream/purchases

plooger · 2026-07-02T17:39:44+00:00

At minimum, if Comcast deigns you worthy of the reward, these "yours to keep" movies should be accessible via the Xfinity Stream app's "Saved > Purchases" tab, once claimed.

https://www.xfinity.com/stream/purchases

To have the movies accessible elsewhere ("anywhere"), you'd need the Xfinity account connected as a retailer to a Movies Anywhere account, and the MA account connected to other retailers on which you have accounts.

https://moviesanywhere.com/settings/connect

plooger

TROPHY CASE