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When I first bought my Kindle Fire 2 a couple years ago I followed the instructions in the thread "[Root][Working 10.3.1]Kindle Fire 2 Root made easy" by Jordan011. I'm rooted on 10.2.4 but don't have TWRP or a backup, and I don't have a fastboot cable. I mainly use my KF2 for reading and browsing the net so I'm happy with the stock ROM.
My wife decided she wants a Kindle and was cool enough to suggest that I buy the new 7" HD and give her my Fire 2. So my question is, how can I reset my KF2 while keeping root so it'll be fresh for her to install what she wants? Since I'm keeping the stock ROM is there any benefit (bug fixes, performance increases, etc) to upgrading it to a newer version with root? Lastly, do I need a fastboot cable in order to install TWRP so I can make a backup?
Many thanks,
KindofBlues71
SOLVED! I simply used the Factory Reset in the settings menu and was still able to maintain root. It wiped the "SD Card" partition and it's running great.
So I managed to root my 2nd generation Fire TV, and rather than doing the proper research, I downloaded and installed the stericson BusyBox Installer .apk from the Play Store (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stericson.busybox&hl=en). Seemed to work fine, but when I was looking into installing DropBear/BusyDrop and found it would be easier to use adbfire to install system tools and I no longer needed sericson's BusyBox. Well, not having spent much time with Android in general, I failed to realize how badly that uninstall was capable of going, and I have managed to mess things up reasonably badly.
So, naturally, I would like to revert to stock and start the process over. Seemed simple enough. I followed this guide (not written for the 2nd gen aftv):
aftvnews.com/how-to-unroot-a-fire-tv-and-switch-back-to-stock-updates-from-amazon/
(Appears I am unable to post links, as this is my first post here.)
Unfortunately, I've run into at least one problem, and very possibly two. The major problem is that the cache partition on the 2nd gen Fire TV is only 242.1M, while the stock image is ~470M. So I can't push the update image to the cache partition. I tried pushing it to /sdcard/, but didn't have any luck with recovering from there either. This leads me to the second problem, the guide is obviously written for the 1st gen Fire TV, and the contents of my system differ from those indicated in the guide. Where the guide indicates to push the image to "/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery", I am finding "/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/by-name/recovery". I did push the recovery image to the path present on my system, but I am not sure whether to believe that recovery is failing to work because of the differences between the 1st and 2nd gen Fire TVs or because I am forced to push the update.zip to /sdcard/ rather than /cache/. I did modify the /cache/recovery/command file to reflect the new location of update.zip ("echo –update_package=/sdcard/update.zip > /cache/recovery/command").
Anyway, at this point, there's not a ton of documentation available on reverting the 2nd generation Fire TV back to stock, so I am hoping somebody with more familiarity with Android and the Fire TV can toss me a line (or a link).
Thanks,
William
Edit: Okay, so I found the correct images for my device on zeroepoch's site. I'm assuming at this point that system.orig.img is the update.zip (it's currently downloading), and I now know that I was definitely using the wrong recovery image for my system. Still, I will not be able to put the update.zip in /cache/ because of the space limitation on my system. Once I load the correct recovery image, will I be able to follow the steps here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2799779) and just perform a factory wipe/reset?
Thanks!
fecaleagle said:
Edit: Okay, so I found the correct images for my device on zeroepoch's site. I'm assuming at this point that system.orig.img is the update.zip (it's currently downloading), and I now know that I was definitely using the wrong recovery image for my system. Still, I will not be able to put the update.zip in /cache/ because of the space limitation on my system. Once I load the correct recovery image, will I be able to follow the steps here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2799779) and just perform a factory wipe/reset?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't use recovery at this point to revert an AFTV2 to stock so that thread will not work. It's also not an update zip it's a full /system partition image. You need to dd the image as root to revert. Actually if you are just trying to get to a clean rooted state you should dd the rooted image instead of the stock one.
There are some guides that cover the dd steps with the images, for example the first post of the root thread, along with other comments about it depending on what version you are on etc.
ImCoKeMaN said:
You can't use recovery at this point to revert an AFTV2 to stock so that thread will not work. It's also not an update zip it's a full /system partition image. You need to dd the image as root to revert. Actually if you are just trying to get to a clean rooted state you should dd the rooted image instead of the stock one.
There are some guides that cover the dd steps with the images, for example the first post of the root thread, along with other comments about it depending on what version you are on etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this! I'm really glad to know that recovery is off the table for my model (in the sense that I can move on to an approach that works) and also relieved that I can simply flash the entire rooted image with dd. I am reasonably comfortable with dd, so I will seek out the guide and go that route. Very much appreciated.
I've rooted Androids in the past but never owned one, so it's been a bit of an adjustment for me. Looking forward to getting another chance to take my time and get somewhat closer to doing it right this time around.
-William
Edit: Just read through the relevant section of the original guide and will be pushing and dd'ing the rooted image from @zeroepoch. Thank you so much for your help.
Assuming adbfire is not yet fully compatible with the aftv2, is the better approach to simply use the busybox build on @zeroepoch's page? My goal is to get DropBear or any sshd running at boot time so that I'm not limited to accessing it with adb and have the option of using an ssh client app as a terminal on my television. I will relocate these questions to other threads if I am unable to find reasonable answers to them by searching and RTFM. Thanks again for everything.
Thanks for this, I was running into the same issues you were seeing with the cache partition being too small. I'm trying to get a custom recovery installed so I was trying to downgrade to an earlier version.
Is there any way to get custom recovery working on the ftv2?
thepacketslinger said:
Thanks for this, I was running into the same issues you were seeing with the cache partition being too small. I'm trying to get a custom recovery installed so I was trying to downgrade to an earlier version.
Is there any way to get custom recovery working on the ftv2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't overly concerned with loading custom recovery, and @ImCoKeMaN seems to suggest that there aren't any options yet for aftv2, but dd'ing the rooted image gave me a rooted stock image, and that was all I was looking for. It is a bit of a concern though, because it basically means you're hosed if the system won't boot. I was unable to get it to boot into recovery mode at all, but that may be because I tried to install ClockWorkMod with adbfire. I have not checked on it since the restore, but I was just pleased to be able to flash a rooted or stock image back onto the device.
I'm assuming we'll just have to be careful until custom recovery for aftv2 becomes a reality. I'm using @zeroepoch's busybox binary as well, and everything is going smoothly this time around.
thepacketslinger said:
Thanks for this, I was running into the same issues you were seeing with the cache partition being too small. I'm trying to get a custom recovery installed so I was trying to downgrade to an earlier version.
Is there any way to get custom recovery working on the ftv2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am working on recovery. Should have something out soon. Although I don't know what you are going to downgrade to.
rbox said:
I am working on recovery. Should have something out soon. Although I don't know what you are going to downgrade to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. I was only looking to downgrade as a path to getting recovery installed, but it looks like that's not an option. Thanks for clearing that up!
Wondering if there is any updates on this. Currently have TWRP and a rooted ROM on my AFT2, and I'm throwing in the towel with its impossible interface and user/dev hostile environment. Looking to return it to factory for refund.
Hi all
A couple of weeks ago I upgraded my rooted gen 1 fire tv to os 5 software and used twrp (previously using clockwork mod as per guides online). Anyway, it worked but i dont think i blocked updates and have since updated to OS 5.2.1.0 and appear to have lost root. No biggie since i didnt use it anyway.
One thing which is really annoying though is that 1-2 times a day ill turn the tv on and the fire tv has reset and is on the twrp screen. I fix this by unplugging the power and the fire tv reboots to its normal homescreen. Im just wondering what is an easy fix for this? Can i get rid of twrp? Do i do a reset of some form? I dont want to lose all my apps and kodi if possible.
I assume it is doing this for a particular reason, maybe looking for updates or something? I havent blocked updates at my router and really dont care too much anymore and am happy to run stock.
Cheers
cbarre said:
Hi all
A couple of weeks ago I upgraded my rooted gen 1 fire tv to os 5 software and used twrp (previously using clockwork mod as per guides online). Anyway, it worked but i dont think i blocked updates and have since updated to OS 5.2.1.0 and appear to have lost root. No biggie since i didnt use it anyway.
One thing which is really annoying though is that 1-2 times a day ill turn the tv on and the fire tv has reset and is on the twrp screen. I fix this by unplugging the power and the fire tv reboots to its normal homescreen. Im just wondering what is an easy fix for this? Can i get rid of twrp? Do i do a reset of some form? I dont want to lose all my apps and kodi if possible.
I assume it is doing this for a particular reason, maybe looking for updates or something? I havent blocked updates at my router and really dont care too much anymore and am happy to run stock.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The device shouldn't be restarting by itself at all, let alone that often. Maybe wipe and reflash the ROM?
I figured it was something to do with it looking for updates but was surprised that It kept happening even after upgrading to a non pre-rooted rom.
Can I still flash a rom even if I don't have root? Which rom do I do?what the fire TV currently has ? Is there any way of just removing twrp?
cbarre said:
I figured it was something to do with it looking for updates but was surprised that It kept happening even after upgrading to a non pre-rooted rom.
Can I still flash a rom even if I don't have root? Which rom do I do?what the fire TV currently has ? Is there any way of just removing twrp?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds to me like it downloaded a stock update but never installed it. You're seeing it sitting on TWRP randomly because after downloading an OTA update, the Fire TV reboots into stock recovery to install the update. Since your stock recovery has been replaced by TWRP, the OTA update is rebooting into TWRP and just sitting there because rbox made it so TWRP wont install OTA updates.
If you want to have a rooted device, install the latest pre-rooted ROM (5.2.1.1) from within TWRP and block updates. You'll also want to follow the "If your device is rooted and still powered on" section of this guide to clear the pending OTA update that's causing the reboots.
If you want to unroot, remove TWRP, and go back to stock, then follow this guide.
I have tried to follow the guide to unroot as suggested at the bottom, but when i go to install in twrp it says "updater process ended with ERROR: 255" "Error installing zip file '/sdcad/sloane-5.0.4-rooted_r2.zip'
Any thoughts?
cbarre said:
I have tried to follow the guide to unroot as suggested at the bottom, but when i go to install in twrp it says "updater process ended with ERROR: 255" "Error installing zip file '/sdcad/sloane-5.0.4-rooted_r2.zip'
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SOrry, but I'm not familiar with that error. The only things I can suggest are wiping everything except system from within TWRP and then trying again. Otherwise, maybe @rbox can help.
Could it be that gen2 roms don't work on gen1?
hmm, dont know. Is there a Gen 1 option?
Don't know as i don't have a gen1 device. If i was you i would just upgrade to the latest prerooted rom and follow AFTVnews guide to remove any pending ota.
Afterwards you can block future ota's by issuing following command as root:
Code:
pm disable com.amazon.device.software.ota
WheelchairArtist said:
Could it be that gen2 roms don't work on gen1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cbarre said:
hmm, dont know. Is there a Gen 1 option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite sure what would happen if you tried installing a Gen 2 ROM on a Gen 1 Fire TV, but you definitely shouldn't be doing it.
Fire TV 1 pre-rooted ROMs are here.
Fire TV 2 pre-rooted ROMs are here.
It's odd that you say you installed an OTA update that removed root, yet you still have TWRP. OTA updates are incremental (partial) updates. Before installing, they check system and/or recovery to make sure everything is on the up-and-up. If the device is rooted, the check fails and the device will then download a full version of the latest update that includes stock recovery. So, going by everything I've observed, either you lose root and TWRP simultaneously, or the OTA update doesn't install. If you really did install an OTA update, lose root, and NOT lose TWRP, then it seems somehow you installed an incremental OTA update on a pre-rooted ROM. I don't know how to proceed from here because I've never heard of this happening and in theory it shouldn't ever happen.
WheelchairArtist said:
Could it be that gen2 roms don't work on gen1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have put an /s in that post
My advice would be the same as the one from AFTVnews. Just don't try do install a gen2 rom even though it shouldn't work.
Edit: Forgot this one: "updater process ended with ERROR: 255" "Error installing zip file '/sdcad/sloane-5.0.4-rooted_r2.zip'
As you see it doesn't work anyway.
AFTVnews.com said:
If you really did install an OTA update, lose root, and NOT lose TWRP, then it seems somehow you installed an incremental OTA update on a pre-rooted ROM. I don't know how to proceed from here because I've never heard of this happening and in theory it shouldn't ever happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this would be the case he could still install any prerooted rom since he still has trwp and so a working custom recovery. In the worst case he needs to wipe data/cache or something like that after flashing.
And so my advice would be: flash latest prerooted, keep root, follow your guide to clean pending ota or wipe data, block further ota's and profit.
I don't know how Rbox implemented this on gen1 but he could also try to install for example the first official full ota (not incremental) to android 5 manually in twrp to make sure the recovery returns to stock as well. But that is just off the top of my head, don't know if this works that way.
Someone has the recovery files for the Firetv Stick 4k, i need to remove twrp because i send it back to amazon
test10000001 said:
Someone has the recovery files for the Firetv Stick 4k, i need to remove twrp because i send it back to amazon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash original boot.img from the stock rom.
TLDR : If you have a registered running rooted prior to Fire OS 5 version, back it up! before you attempt any upgrades, if you have to wipe a Fire OS 5 install you'll be in trouble or at least have a lot of extra work, because you can't init/register without a connection, which would likely mean you lose root.
I've been staying on the latest pre-Fire OS 5 for a while because there was no reason to upgrade. I didn't want Alexa, etc.
I started running into the mbcache.db issue and I cleared that file which resolved the issue, but at about the same time the amazon content stopped showing up with unable to connect messages. Unsure if they are related as yet.
Eventually I wanted to watch some Prime shows so I decided to upgrade to an early version of 5, thinking it might resolve the issue. It did but I saw an updating message and I panicked thinking my update blocks had failed. I later figured out it was the remote that was updating, which is a concern in itself but that wasn't before I ran into difficulty.
(At this point I will point out it seems the likely reason for a remote update is so it can listen at all times, but that may not be of concern to some people.)
So thinking it had started a box F/W update I did a factory reset from TWRP and rebooted. The first thing I will note is the new boot menu selector looks very 'official' and I didn't know it would change from the old colorful RBOX boot menu. This freaked me out right away. I didn't see anywhere this would change.
Since I had done a factory reset wipe I had to go through initialization and registration. This no longer can be done without a network connection in Fire OS 5. Be AWARE! If it can be done I wasn't able to figure it out. Previous guidance about when to unplug and when to plug didn't work. It will just hang waiting for a connection.
So I had to revert to a the previous non 5 version. I did, but the new, less kitschy, less RBOX menu screen was retained. I didn't like that and wasn't sure if it was a problem, so I reinstalled the original RBOX boot menu. That may not have been necessary.
Since I had done a wipe I did have to reregister but this time it did work without a network connection using the old tried and true ways.
At this point I was back running, but Amazon content didn't show up. Sort of confirming that pre 5 OS will not load Amazon content. (Please disconfirm if you know that it CAN run. I'll probably go back if so.)
I had the sense to use TWRP to back up the 4 relevant partitions at this point, to save myself some trouble if I need to revert again.
Once I was registered under the old version, I was able to upgrade again but this time with a current stored registration. So it didn't need to initialize or install in Fire OS 5. This worked ok.
I didn't lose root, so I should be able to turn off Alexa.
Since my remote has been updated, I'm not sure I even could go back to before Fire OS5. If anyone has info regarding that please share.
Probably the smart thing to do would be to install the first TWRP version of the OS and back that up for safe keeping. Since it's working now I probably won't follow my own advice.
Hey, you and your diary: Make sure you block updates via # pm disable com.amazon.device.software.ota
And as I barely understand your post and what software revision is now installed on your box: use the latest rbox pre-rooted image, since it has an important security fix on blutooth.
Also there is a thread called "disable bloatware on the stick"... there are a lot of amazon things (alexa) you can savely disable if you don't want it.
I also don't want alexa, but the stick remote i use for the aftv has no microphone anyway.
Hi everyone, I have a 2017 7th-gen 7" Kindle Fire that's been unlocked and is running LineageOS. I'd like to give the tablet away to a family member to replace their older and much slower Kindle, but they say they need the Kindle specific reader app since the android "Kindle" app does not let you purchase new books. I was looking through this fourm to see if anyone else has asked about this, but the one thread i found seems to be specific to the original 2012 1st gen kindle fires, not the 2017 7th gen. How do i go about flashing the original fireOS to this tablet? I don't care if the custom recovery/bootloader stays, I imagine it would be easier to use those instead of the stock bootloader anyways.
Thanks!!
Small update, i was able to download the official stock fireOS from Amazon, but it's a .bin file and I'm not sure how to go about flashing that. Will TWRP understadn that format?
Thanks
Alright so this is my mistake, it does mention that you can return to the stock bootloader in the original tutorial post. It doesn't come up under a google search though, so for anyone else in the same boat as me, all you have to do is go here:https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ick-downgrade-fire-7-ford-and-austin.3899860/ and download the right file for your tablet. Enter TWRP recovery, and reboot to the hacked BL mode. Run the sudo ./stock-recovery.sh command, and itll reboot into the amazon firmware! From here you can restore the officially downloaded fireOS images from amazon's website.
EDIT: Nope, no you can't. Got a little ahead of myself there, the factory recovery will load back on but the updates always fail with a "failed to verify whole-file signature" error.