Finding game files on an Android TV

[enricoo]

Hello.

I managed to install ScummVM on a Philips Android TV. So far so good.

But when I now try to open a game, I am having trouble navigating to the right folder. Because I did not know any better, I stored the game files under some folder Documents/Games in the TV's internal storage. But using the folder selection screen I do not seem to be able to navigate to that folder. When I enter /Documents for instance, this does not bring me to the Documents folder.

Does anybody have any tip for me on how to resolve this?

[Raziel]

if an android tv is anything similar to android phone devices i would start at the top

"/" and go from there
"/storage/emulated/0/Documents/" could then be the path you are looking for

[Praetorian]

Hello.

I managed to install ScummVM on a Philips Android TV. So far so good.

But when I now try to open a game, I am having trouble navigating to the right folder. Because I did not know any better, I stored the game files under some folder Documents/Games in the TV's internal storage. But using the folder selection screen I do not seem to be able to navigate to that folder. When I enter /Documents for instance, this does not bring me to the Documents folder.

Does anybody have any tip for me on how to resolve this?

Do you know what is the Android version of your TV?

For modern Android OS (about 10 and above) you need to follow a special process to grant ScummVM permission to see the files and subfolders under a selected folder. This is what they refer to as "SAF". We have documented the steps you'd need to follow here:
https://docs.scummvm.org/en/latest/othe ... ding-games

Some devices have restricted user accounts (some TVs or TV sticks do that) which don't allow you to use the native Files app to browse for a folder, so you won't be able to follow the above steps. If that's the case, you'd have to follow one of the alternative methods to put the game folders under the ScummVM's app storage, where you won't need to go through "SAF" to access the files with ScummVM.

Note: I'll be moving this topic to the Android Port subform where this discussion belongs (I'll do that in a few hours).

[enricoo]

Thanks a lot for your responses!

My Android version is 11. I tried to follow the instructions outline here...
https://docs.scummvm.org/en/latest/othe ... ding-games
... but the problem is that when I go to the root folder and hit <Add new folder> then this does not open the folder selection dialog. In fact, nothing happens when I hit this button; the file/folder list just becomes completely empty.

I also do not seem to be able to get to a folder called "/storage/emulated/0/Documents/".

[Praetorian]

Thanks a lot for your responses!

My Android version is 11. I tried to follow the instructions outline here...
https://docs.scummvm.org/en/latest/othe ... ding-games
... but the problem is that when I go to the root folder and hit <Add new folder> then this does not open the folder selection dialog. In fact, nothing happens when I hit this button; the file/folder list just becomes completely empty.

What shortcuts do you see at the top level (root) of the ScummVM file browser?

I think the most viable alternatives would be to either use the ScummVM LAN server feature (on you TV ScummVM app), access the LAN server from a PC (or such, where you game data folders are) in the same LAN, and send the data folders inside one of the ScummVM app storage folders ("ScummVM data (External)", "ScummVM data (Internal)").

The caveat here is that you can only use the device's integrated memory -- not an external SD Card, and if you uninstall ScummVM, then these game files will be also wiped.

A few months ago, I'd posted here in another topic a bit more detailed instructions on the transfer process using the LAN feature, which may help: viewtopic.php?p=100980#p100980

This is how you access the native storage access framework. This lets you access different Google Drive accounts directly and also access something like Adobe Suite app files too.

The ("ScummVM data (External)" and "ScummVM data (Internal)" shortcuts lead to locations that ScummVM can access without the extra layer of SAF. The "(Internal)" one is a location that only the ScummVM app can access. The "(External)" one is (at least in theory) also accessible from other apps, so you could click on the shortcut from the ScummVM file explorer, then see the actual path to it (it will appear in the text box under the "Select directory" on the top). You could use a third party Files Manager app to move your game files from your folder under "Documents" into that path that ScummVM can "see" in its external app storage space.


Edit: A possible reason that you can't see anything when going through the "<Add new folder>" (aka SAF) instructions, is that the native Files app that ScummVM uses to browse folders and be granted access is restricted on your device, or specifically for you user profile, or it is disabled. In this post from xdaforums, it's explained how you can find and check the status of the (native) Files app on your device (https://xdaforums.com/t/how-do-i-access ... t-85299787)

(...)
(2) Settings > Apps > Click the grayish icon to the right of "Your apps" (Filter and sort) > Toggle Show system apps to ON.
(3) Scroll down to F and you will see the default Android Files app is present and alive, just not directly accessible.
(4) How do you gain access to this?: I use the "Shortcut Maker" app from the Play Store. In this app, go to Activities, click on Files, and select "com.android.documentsui.files.FilesActivity" to make a shortcut to this app.

Number (4) above is to make it accessible via a shortcut and run it from your "home screen", but that itself won't fix or affect its behavior in ScummVM. It may provide a hint as to why it's not working though on your device. But it requires installing a third party app, so caution is advised.
Further below in the same thread someone suggests the "Files Shortcut" app from the Play Store which should try to launch the native Files app -- not sure what it will do, or if it will show an error message if it doesn't find it or if it's not enabled. Again, third party app, though.

[enricoo]

Hello. Thanks for all the hints.

This here is a video of what's shown on my screen. As you can see, there appears no folder selection dialog. Is this a bug?

If you see no easy fix for this then I would probably try the LAN server as you suggested.

[Praetorian]

Hello. Thanks for all the hints.

This here is a video of what's shown on my screen. As you can see, there appears no folder selection dialog. Is this a bug?

If you see no easy fix for this then I would probably try the LAN server as you suggested.

I don't see any easy fix, other than "investigating" whether there's a native Files app on your Android TV device, checking if it's disabled (and in that case, whether you can enable it).

When you click at "Add new folder" on an Android 11 device, you are supposed to be taken to the Android Files app so that you can select a storage folder that will be accessible to ScummVM. This does not happen in your case. This is not exactly a bug; it's that the native Files app is restricted or disabled on your device. Unfortunately without a similar Android TV it is difficult to test further, see extended log output and find a workaround.

So, I would suggest trying the LAN server route.