Zidoo doscontinued Z2600 earlier this year, so the only Zidoo player with two HDMI outputs is UHD5000.

1. The Zidoo products are not designed for streaming apps. Most apps either block running on media players or restrict the output. Disney+ will not run. Netflix is limited to 480P and stereo.

2. Yes the Zidoo products support HDMI-CEC.

3. Yes it will.

4. Yes, you can connect an external DAC by USB / TOSLINK / Coaxial.

5. If you mean both HDMI ports (i.e. the two HDMI ports on Z2600) and USB then no. If you mean one of the Zidoo HDMI ports and the USB DAC then yes.

6. Zidoo Home Theatre has excellent media info scraping. It's better for video content than music, but even music is now pretty good. I'm not familiar with Emby but it would need to use Zidoo's video player to use Zidoo hardware features.

DVD playback is lite menus with current firmware.

Try resetting the amp. Either a factory reset if it can do that or unplug it and leave for a few minutes before turning it back on.

https://manual.yamaha.com/av/20/rxa4a/en-US/319673227.html - 'Video initialization'.

If the Zidoo can output video+PCM over HDMI then it's extremely unlikely that there is a hardware problem. Much more likely a connection/handshaking problem with the amp.

I thin you have a Z20 Pro so I've moved this thread into the correct forum.

HDMI settings for Zidoo players are the same everywhere. With digital connections (HDMI) there are no differences between countries. The days of PAL / NTSC / SECAM are long gone.

Recommended settings here: http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/recommended-settings-and-other-useful-stuff-for-rtd-1619bpd-players.95967/

I'm not sure about Zidoo's forum. It may be that you need to post a minimum number of replies before you can post threads.

Slow drives are quieter so a budget option is any 5400 RPM drive.

Or for total silence use an SSD.

You'll find 2.5" drives are always very quiet, so another option is one of those in a caddy.

This forum isn't used a lot these days, since we sell only Zidoo and they have their own forum. I suggest Ebay.

"Is there any chance that the reconditioned Z9X Pro that I have has inherited a network access shortcoming from its previous brief outing? Should I flash it? Reset to Factory? Would either of those actions invalidate the guarantee?"

I think extremely unlikely. The network hardware on the Zidoo seem to be working fine (you have partial access), the problems are full access from the Mac side. I don't know Macs, but it sounds like access to the Zidoo is either being blocked by a firewall or other 'security' service on the Mac or the Mac doesn't fully support the SMB protocol used by Zidoo (in the case of SMB access). SMB access may also be a permissions problem in that the Mac doesn't recognise the permissions set by the Zidoo / the Zidoo's SMB server.

The correct method to reset Zidoo boxes is to flash the emergency firmware (this fully wipes the internal flash) and then update to latest firmware using the box menus.

For Z9X Pro, this: https://www.zidoo.tv/Support/support_guide/guide_target/FL%5Bld%5DTt7VF%5Bld%5D%2BLeq7k9e%5Bld%5D3ulg%3D%3D/guide_faq/raXr0bxKWKM%3D.html

Followed by installing the firmware here using a USB stick: http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/beta-version-v1-0-65-for-z9x-pro-z20-pro-z2000-pro-z2600-uhd5000-release.97040/