Develop Bugs

Ominous screen after downgrading and installing recovery

I rooted a new aftv last night and all went smooth. Today downgrading and installing cwm very different story.
My aftv now boots to a plain screen displaying the time (incorrectly), a lock symbol and the word "charged" I'm not sure which scared me more. But I'm not bricked. I could still connect with adb and reboot recovery. AND if I hadn't panicked I would've found out sooner that pressing the context menu key on remote takes me right back to the homescreen.
I swear I followed the guides on aftvnews (well done btw!) But every time there was a "if this happens" stipulation in the guides, it happened to me. I can't say it was hard but it was tedious.
Now my issue to I've pushed the correct Rom.zip to my sd card, rebooted recovery but the install fails with this error--Assert failed !less_than_int getprop ro.build.date.utc
I might be missing critical details here to help with diagnosing. Sorry. I've got to work. That process took way longer than expected. I'm hoping it might be enough info to get some ideas. I'll try to check back here later. Thanks.

KLit75 said:
I rooted a new aftv last night and all went smooth. Today downgrading and installing cwm very different story.
My aftv now boots to a plain screen displaying the time (incorrectly), a lock symbol and the word "charged" I'm not sure which scared me more. But I'm not bricked. I could still connect with adb and reboot recovery. AND if I hadn't panicked I would've found out sooner that pressing the context menu key on remote takes me right back to the homescreen.
I swear I followed the guides on aftvnews (well done btw!) But every time there was a "if this happens" stipulation in the guides, it happened to me. I can't say it was hard but it was tedious.
Now my issue to I've pushed the correct Rom.zip to my sd card, rebooted recovery but the install fails with this error--Assert failed !less_than_int getprop ro.build.date.utc
I might be missing critical details here to help with diagnosing. Sorry. I've got to work. That process took way longer than expected. I'm hoping it might be enough info to get some ideas. I'll try to check back here later. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's been a few people who have reported the lockscreen oddness. Once you install the update and do a factory reset it will be fine. As for the error, you are not using the correct update. You need to use the prerooted roms.

rbox said:
There's been a few people who have reported the lockscreen oddness. Once you install the update and do a factory reset it will be fine. As for the error, you are not using the correct update. You need to use the prerooted roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not being home right now...But following the guide and working from memory...I've got the latest cwm, unlocked boot loader and running 51.1.2.0, my next step would've been to flash
51.1.4.0
If those steps are accurate then from the info I put in the op, I did not install 51.1.4.0 and that's why it failed. I'll bet you're right but I'm pretty sure I pushed the correct version.
It's a bit confusing but doesn't this version require your boot menu. I'm fairly certain the newest cwm does need it. So assuming I pushed the correct version of prerooted fw...would not having boot menu cause the install to fail. Or maybe it's 2 errors on my part but I do remember downloading 51.1.4.0
Thanks a lot! It's in everyone's best interest you don't spend time assisting people like me with something that's probably simple. So if anyone has a comment on my posts please share.

KLit75 said:
Not being home right now...But following the guide and working from memory...I've got the latest cwm, unlocked boot loader and running 51.1.2.0, my next step would've been to flash
51.1.4.0
If those steps are accurate then from the info I put in the op, I did not install 51.1.4.0 and that's why it failed. I'll bet you're right but I'm pretty sure I pushed the correct version.
It's a bit confusing but doesn't this version require your boot menu. I'm fairly certain the newest cwm does need it. So assuming I pushed the correct version of prerooted fw...would not having boot menu cause the install to fail. Or maybe it's 2 errors on my part but I do remember downloading 51.1.4.0
Thanks a lot! It's in everyone's best interest you don't spend time assisting people like me with something that's probably simple. So if anyone has a comment on my posts please share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to get the ro.build.date.utc failure is by using a stock package. My prerooted roms simply do not have that check in them. It fails on that line precisely to prevent people from installing stock packages.

rbox said:
The only way to get the ro.build.date.utc failure is by using a stock package. My prerooted roms simply do not have that check in them. It fails on that line precisely to prevent people from installing stock packages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot! You probably saved me a lot of time trying to figure out where I went wrong. When I get home I'll delete the Rom I pushed, push the correct one, if it installs right I think my next move is your boot menu. But I'll double or triple check that later on tonight.
Edit--install 51.1.4.0 updated version then, if I follow correctly, I can install the latest prerooted fw.

I did everything I said I was going to do and it went smoothly. I'm now running prerooted 51.1.40
There's just one thing. I was certain I unlocked bootloader earlier today. From what I know it's not possible to have the latest cwm with a locked bootloader. But when I clicked unlock bootloader in adbfire (the program I use for my other aftv) it says "bootloader not unlocked"
So I was second guessing myself. But couldn't explain how I missed it and still had the latest cwm. I checked and aftv-unlock was there in my adb folder. I wouldnt have put it there if I didn't transfer it. But to be on the safe side I went back into the terminal and unlocked my bootloader (I believe for the 2nd time). THEN i hit the unlock bootloader on adbfire again and it still returns with "bootloader not unlocked"???
Is it because busybox was not installed through adbfire? If I use it on my other aftv it says "bootloader unlocked" so the software definetly can confirm it. It's just not...
Normally I'd go ahead and install rbox's boot menu then the latest firmware, but many more things have gone wrong in the last 24 hours (not tragically wrong) but just enough for me to wait for an answer on this and maybe stop for the night. Everything's working great (knock-wood) but I assume when rbox finishes android tv I'll need the boot menu. So I'll wait here patiently for both. Thanks.

Help needed after upgrade to 51.1.5.0_515030720

So, the other day i have started on rooting the AFTV of a friend of mine. i rooted mine a while ago and was comfortable enough to do it for someone else.
was following the AFTVnews.com guide (very well organized site and i would say a wiki for all aftv users). the initial version on the box was 51.1.0.1. have succesfuly rooted it, installed customer recovery, busybox, bootmenu, etc, all as per the guide. have upgraded it to 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated succesfuly as well again using aftvnews.com after which have installed the busybox again. now here the strange things happen. have decided to keep upgrading it to the latest version 51.1.5.0_515030720, according to the description i could upgrade straight to this version from 51.1.4.0_514006420. followed the same upgrade procedure and after the reboot in CWM i get the Amazon Fire TV logo and doesnt do anything, left it for about 10 min - nothing. power cycled it still the coloured logo. which means somehow it got software bricked.
started to google the ways of unbrick it and followed the procedure with the USB keyboard, it worked well for me. i got in to CWM recovery and did factory reset after which reboot. no luck, still showing the coloured logo.
got back in to recovery using the same USB keyboard method and did again factory reset after which decided to install the 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated custom ROM again which was already on my sdcard.
installed successfully, rebooted and started to configure the brand new aftv box - language, network, register, etc. after all this got on home screen, system to find out that it has the stock 51.1.4.0 version (51.1.4.0_user_514006420). what is interesting that the supersu is already there but without the option to launch it, only force stop, clear data and cash.
tried towelroot but obviously no luck, it sais your phone is not supported. so i guess that's it, no more root for me.
where the hell i missed it? i followed every step carefully.
and why in the first place after upgrade from 51.1.4.0_514006420 to 51.1.5.0_515030720 i got bricked?
please tell me there's still hope to root it.
Update: despite the fact that towelroot cant root my box anymore i was able to install busybox and kernel boot menu succesfuly and granted super user permissions. the adb shell shows as [email protected] something is not right, looks like a partial root to me.
please advise.
have attached below a few screen shots.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/development/prerooted-stock-images-t2882337
From the OP rbox:
"Starting with 51.1.4.1, these require FireTV Boot Menu. For the time being, you must update to 51.1.4.0 before updating to 51.1.4.1. Also, if you flashed 51.1.4.0, you must flash bootmenu afterwards. If you are already on 51.1.4.0, then you just need to flash bootmenu."

stutunaru said:
So, the other day i have started on rooting the AFTV of a friend of mine. i rooted mine a while ago and was comfortable enough to do it for someone else.
was following the AFTVnews.com guide (very well organized site and i would say a wiki for all aftv users). the initial version on the box was 51.1.0.1. have succesfuly rooted it, installed customer recovery, busybox, bootmenu, etc, all as per the guide. have upgraded it to 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated succesfuly as well again using aftvnews.com after which have installed the busybox again. now here the strange things happen. have decided to keep upgrading it to the latest version 51.1.5.0_515030720, according to the description i could upgrade straight to this version from 51.1.4.0_514006420. followed the same upgrade procedure and after the reboot in CWM i get the Amazon Fire TV logo and doesnt do anything, left it for about 10 min - nothing. power cycled it still the coloured logo. which means somehow it got software bricked.
started to google the ways of unbrick it and followed the procedure with the USB keyboard, it worked well for me. i got in to CWM recovery and did factory reset after which reboot. no luck, still showing the coloured logo.
got back in to recovery using the same USB keyboard method and did again factory reset after which decided to install the 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated custom ROM again which was already on my sdcard.
installed successfully, rebooted and started to configure the brand new aftv box - language, network, register, etc. after all this got on home screen, system to find out that it has the stock 51.1.4.0 version (51.1.4.0_user_514006420). what is interesting that the supersu is already there but without the option to launch it, only force stop, clear data and cash.
tried towelroot but obviously no luck, it sais your phone is not supported. so i guess that's it, no more root for me.
where the hell i missed it? i followed every step carefully.
and why in the first place after upgrade from 51.1.4.0_514006420 to 51.1.5.0_515030720 i got bricked?
please tell me there's still hope to root it.
Update: despite the fact that towelroot cant root my box anymore i was able to install busybox and kernel boot menu succesfuly and granted super user permissions. the adb shell shows as [email protected] something is not right, looks like a partial root to me.
please advise.
have attached below a few screen shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You kinda lost me there...but here's what I know
I'm almost certain its not possible for you to have boot menu and cwm without fully functional root privs
[email protected] is what it should say (does it go straight to that after inputting shell? Do you get the # sign?) That means bootloader is fully unlocked.
Supersu on aftv doesn't open and allow you to configure but it works. Not sure why but that's the way its been for a long time.
I think you're all set but sort of skimmed your post. Maybe someone else has insights.

stutunaru said:
So, the other day i have started on rooting the AFTV of a friend of mine. i rooted mine a while ago and was comfortable enough to do it for someone else.
was following the AFTVnews.com guide (very well organized site and i would say a wiki for all aftv users). the initial version on the box was 51.1.0.1. have succesfuly rooted it, installed customer recovery, busybox, bootmenu, etc, all as per the guide. have upgraded it to 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated succesfuly as well again using aftvnews.com after which have installed the busybox again. now here the strange things happen. have decided to keep upgrading it to the latest version 51.1.5.0_515030720, according to the description i could upgrade straight to this version from 51.1.4.0_514006420. followed the same upgrade procedure and after the reboot in CWM i get the Amazon Fire TV logo and doesnt do anything, left it for about 10 min - nothing. power cycled it still the coloured logo. which means somehow it got software bricked.
started to google the ways of unbrick it and followed the procedure with the USB keyboard, it worked well for me. i got in to CWM recovery and did factory reset after which reboot. no luck, still showing the coloured logo.
got back in to recovery using the same USB keyboard method and did again factory reset after which decided to install the 51.1.4.0_514006420 updated custom ROM again which was already on my sdcard.
installed successfully, rebooted and started to configure the brand new aftv box - language, network, register, etc. after all this got on home screen, system to find out that it has the stock 51.1.4.0 version (51.1.4.0_user_514006420). what is interesting that the supersu is already there but without the option to launch it, only force stop, clear data and cash.
tried towelroot but obviously no luck, it sais your phone is not supported. so i guess that's it, no more root for me.
where the hell i missed it? i followed every step carefully.
and why in the first place after upgrade from 51.1.4.0_514006420 to 51.1.5.0_515030720 i got bricked?
please tell me there's still hope to root it.
Update: despite the fact that towelroot cant root my box anymore i was able to install busybox and kernel boot menu succesfuly and granted super user permissions. the adb shell shows as [email protected] something is not right, looks like a partial root to me.
please advise.
have attached below a few screen shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you installed 51.1.4.0 AFTER installing the bootmenu. You're supposed to install 51.1.4.0 first, then the boot menu, then the latest ROM. It's a simple enough fix. Just follow the "Resetting with Recovery Mode" portion of my guide here: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-unbrick-and-prevent-bricking-an-amazon-fire-tv/#toc3.2

AFTVnews.com said:
Sounds like you installed 51.1.4.0 AFTER installing the bootmenu. You're supposed to install 51.1.4.0 first, then the boot menu, then the latest ROM. It's a simple enough fix. Just follow the "Resetting with Recovery Mode" portion of my guide here: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-unbrick-and-prevent-bricking-an-amazon-fire-tv/#toc3.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@AFTVnews.com here are two separate issues im trying to find explanation:
1. why after installing rooted 51.1.5.0 i got brisked even i was following the same guide as for 51.1.4.0. i think i haven’t missed anything in there.
2. during the recovery the only missed step was nr.2 (missed to wipe cash partition). the question is why as a result of flashing the rooted 51.1.4.0 i got the stock one? (51.1.4.0_user_514006420)?
and the bootmenu i have installed only after applied 51.1.4.0->BusyBox->bootloader.
all works as should except the towelroot and partially supersu. why partially supersu because it still does what should, grants permissions to application but i cant open it, cant remove it, cant update it.
should i go ahead and apply the last rooted release (51.1.5.0_515030720)?

KLit75 said:
You kinda lost me there...but here's what I know
I'm almost certain its not possible for you to have boot menu and cwm without fully functional root privs
[email protected] is what it should say (does it go straight to that after inputting shell? Do you get the # sign?) That means bootloader is fully unlocked.
Supersu on aftv doesn't open and allow you to configure but it works. Not sure why but that's the way its been for a long time.
I think you're all set but sort of skimmed your post. Maybe someone else has insights.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to AFTVnews.com the verification of unlocked bootloader was the adb shell. right after it i get [email protected]:/ #
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-check-if-your-fire-tvs-bootloader-is-unlocked/

cd2022 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/development/prerooted-stock-images-t2882337
From the OP rbox:
"Starting with 51.1.4.1, these require FireTV Boot Menu. For the time being, you must update to 51.1.4.0 before updating to 51.1.4.1. Also, if you flashed 51.1.4.0, you must flash bootmenu afterwards. If you are already on 51.1.4.0, then you just need to flash bootmenu."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and i did flash the bootmenu after 51.1.4.0. the question is why after rooted 51.1.4.0 i got 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 which is stock ROM. also why if i have all tools mentioned for root on my aftv the towelroot says not supported?
is there anyway of starting allover again beeing on 51.1.4.0?
it's probably easier to do that then to troubleshoot why all these happened

stutunaru said:
and i did flash the bootmenu after 51.1.4.0. the question is why after rooted 51.1.4.0 i got 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 which is stock ROM. also why if i have all tools mentioned for root on my aftv the towelroot says not supported?
is there anyway of starting allover again beeing on 51.1.4.0?
it's probably easier to do that then to troubleshoot why all these happened
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rbox ROMs and the stock ROMs are named identically, as far as I know. As far as I know
Towel root probably sees the preroot fw as unsupported because the same version of stock is most definetly unsupported. I never tried because I am rooted so there was never a need.
You are rooted
You have unlocked the bootloader
Supersu is working
You have cwm
When I said you lost me there...I meant from reading your op I can't see anything that indicates you screwed up. In fact, I accidentally tried to flash a stock ROM when I was going through that long process but it won't flash. Rbox designed it to fail so we won't brick. So as far as I know there is no way to be running stock with a custom recovery and to have custom recovery you must be rooted. I could be missing something but I don't see what?
Have you tried flashing a more recent update?
***but don't just try it without ensuring prerequisites are met. Like many others I do things like root and unlocknjust once. There's a definite order to this that can't be overlooked.

Just grab the seeder.apk and try to enable it.
If it enables successfully,then you have root access.

stutunaru said:
and i did flash the bootmenu after 51.1.4.0. the question is why after rooted 51.1.4.0 i got 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 which is stock ROM. also why if i have all tools mentioned for root on my aftv the towelroot says not supported?
is there anyway of starting allover again beeing on 51.1.4.0?
it's probably easier to do that then to troubleshoot why all these happened
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pre-rooted ROM and the stock software update report the exact same software version number when you look in the Fire TV's about section. Saying "i got 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 which is stock ROM" is silly since the pre-rooted ROM will also say 51.1.4.0_user_514006420. Also, SuperUser not launching is a known issue. It is that way for everyone using the SuperUser app that is included in the pre-rooted ROMs.
You bricked because you either did not install the boot menu or you messed up the boot menu installation. Simple as that.
If you're running 51.1.4.0 right now, then:
Install BusyBox
CAREFULLY install the boot menu
Test that the boot menu is working by restarting your Fire TV and using the boot menu to enter recovery
Then finally, install the latest pre-rooted ROM

AFTVnews.com said:
The pre-rooted ROM and the stock software update report the exact same software version number when you look in the Fire TV's about section. Saying "i got 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 which is stock ROM" is silly since the pre-rooted ROM will also say 51.1.4.0_user_514006420. Also, SuperUser not launching is a known issue. It is that way for everyone using the SuperUser app that is included in the pre-rooted ROMs.
You bricked because you either did not install the boot menu or you messed up the boot menu installation. Simple as that.
If you're running 51.1.4.0 right now, then:
Install BusyBox
CAREFULLY install the boot menu
Test that the boot menu is working by restarting your Fire TV and using the boot menu to enter recovery
Then finally, install the latest pre-rooted ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be. i might've overlooked something during the process.
last night have applied the latest pre-rooted ROM and so far so good.
appreciate all your help folks.
:good::good::good:

Reverting Rooted Fire TV (2nd Gen) to Stock?

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.

[root] [ZS570KL] Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe fast rooting method. Despite TWRP

Not tested on nougat.
I use adb and fastboot , twrp, supersu.
Files We need:
TWRP: It's bogus, in my phone the screen flips upsidedown: Connect a mouse thru female usb or try to figure out how to tap in a rotated screen with a non rotated touch panel.
TWRP Download -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0XMYw0cbs_cdm5FZW1DQXl4MFU/view
SuperSU file - > https://download.chainfire.eu/1021/SuperSU/SR3-SuperSU-v2.79-SR3-20170114223742.zip?retrieve_file=1
For ADB access thru MAC:
1.- First of all we have to get open USB debug mode to get adb acces to the phone by going to Settings -> About -> Software Information -> Tap 7 times over Build number.
2.- After we get Developer options available we have to put the phone on usb debugging by goig to "Settings-> Developer Options" Activate USB Debugging.
3.- Install android platform-tools on your PC/Linux/MAC , in my case had work on MAC and no devices acces thru ADB on PC :silly: .
platform-tools -> http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/0...ble-without-full-sdk-android-studio-download/
Here you have the 3 options to download ADB and FASTBOOT
4.- Connect your phone to the PC (USB) and copy SuperSu to the root of your phone, a place that its easy too acces, cause TWRP, for the moment flips the screen.
5.- Copy TWRP3.0.XXX.zip to the folder where you have platform-tools installed.
6.- Reboot your phone to bootloader and in Linux could work too:
./adb reboot bootloader [./ is placed cause I don't put platform-tools on the my PATH]
After the boot, then we have to boot on TWRP
./fastboot boot twrp-3.0xxxx.zip (you don't flash anything) If you want to flash TWRP, at your awn risk, ./fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.0xxxx.zip".
Well, now you have to see TRWP on your phone screen.
My recomendation is to play a little bit with the flipped screen if you don't have a female USB to plug a mouse.
7.- Trying to make a complete backup of the phone could be a good practice to move on TWRP with the flipped screen . Tap backup option and make a Backup. Always recomended!
8.- After Backup, you can go to INSTALL SuperSU.zip file. "Install -> look for your SuperSU.zip file "
9.- Go to Playstore and install supersu app.
Now you can test your root, after reboot for example tryin to install some APP that requires root. Fast move:
./adb shell
su root
It has to appear a screen to grant root access to the phone.
10. Done!
Well I think thats my second post at all, hope can help someone to root the phone.
I placed In Questions and Answers cause XDA says want to protect us from SPAM.
Feel free to correct me anything.
Kronen_75

Your links do not work.

jnmacd said:
Your links do not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Links are corrected. Thanks!

You can also substitute Magisk instead of Supersu if you need to use any of the pay apps or have root sensitive apps...

Without the right Twrp, many benefits to rooting are missing such as removing stock rom applications. Seems without being able to boot to a recovery, even Titanium cannot remove apps because it needs to clean the dalvic.. Can't do it without a recovery
Sent from my ASUS_Z016D using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Download the right twrp here: https://mega.nz/#F!EkFF1CJD!C8o2wXMARW3YJFOipDttbA

You should change your title !!
Tested on nougat.
The variant ZS550KL can be rooted with same method on latest firmware with nougat

Very nice guide, Thank you. Could you please provide updated links to both TWRP and SuperSU. I am currently using TWRP 3.1.1-0 and it functions properly after hanging for approximately 45 seconds on boot. This may be due to the fact my phone is encrypted. I initially rooted without installing TWRP (fastboot boot twrp.img) but have since flashed it. Both ways work well. The posted version of SuperSU did result in root but caused me to lose cell service! The phone could "see" the sim card but not use it. Updating to SuperSU 2.82 solved that issue. This was all done on my finally rooted ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (Z016D)!!!

I unfortunately figured something out the other day. Using TWRP 3.1.1-0 I am able to install zip files, complete wipes, make & restore backups. The issues only arise after you restore your nandroid image. Everything works except for two things.
1. The ability to hear audio during phone calls. The phone is actually able to place calls but you are unable to hear or record any phone audio. Oddly enough I was able to play music and use voice dictation. It was only in-call audio that seemed to be affected.
2. If you have a pin set when you create your nandroid image your pin will no longer work once restored. You will be locked out of your own phone!!
Fortunately both are fairly easily resolved and keep TWRP relatively useful, although a bit bothersome!
To resolve the pin issue it is necessary to use the TWRP file manager or ADB to delete 5 files (listed below) and regain entrance to your phone. Once deleted simply reboot the phone and reset your pin. If you remove your pin before creating a backup this issue is averted completely.
/data/system/gatekeeper.pattern.key
/data/system/gatekeeper.password.key
/data/system/locksettings.db
/data/system/locksettings.db-wal
/data/system/locksettings.db-shm
To re-enable call audio use TWRP (install zip) to reflash the same version firmware from the Asus website over your current install without wiping. This will restore any system apps you may have removed but you should still have root and can easily remove them again. There will be two errors when performing the flash, which is why I believe root is retained but the system image will be reflashed. Reboot and enjoy
I sincerely hope I have not caused anyone any issues! Or that someone else finds this information useful. I have tested everything in this post at least three times. All testing was done on the most recent Android 7 firmware on my ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (SnapDragon 821/6/256).

Sandman45654 said:
I unfortunately figured something out the other day. Using TWRP 3.1.1-0 I am able to install zip files, complete wipes, make & restore backups. The issues only arise after you restore your nandroid image. Everything works except for two things.
1. The ability to hear audio during phone calls. The phone is actually able to place calls but you are unable to hear or record any phone audio. Oddly enough I was able to play music and use voice dictation. It was only in-call audio that seemed to be affected.
2. If you have a pin set when you create your nandroid image your pin will no longer work once restored. You will be locked out of your own phone!!
Fortunately both are fairly easily resolved and keep TWRP relatively useful, although a bit bothersome!
To resolve the pin issue it is necessary to use the TWRP file manager or ADB to delete 5 files (listed below) and regain entrance to your phone. Once deleted simply reboot the phone and reset your pin. If you remove your pin before creating a backup this issue is averted completely.
/data/system/gatekeeper.pattern.key
/data/system/gatekeeper.password.key
/data/system/locksettings.db
/data/system/locksettings.db-wal
/data/system/locksettings.db-shm
To re-enable call audio use TWRP (install zip) to reflash the same version firmware from the Asus website over your current install without wiping. This will restore any system apps you may have removed but you should still have root and can easily remove them again. There will be two errors when performing the flash, which is why I believe root is retained but the system image will be reflashed. Reboot and enjoy
I sincerely hope I have not caused anyone any issues! Or that someone else finds this information useful. I have tested everything in this post at least three times. All testing was done on the most recent Android 7 firmware on my ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (SnapDragon 821/6/256).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The second issue happens in all the phones/twrp.
It's possible to install the firmware from asus website with twrp?? To update i flash the stock recovery, install the firmware, then reflash twrp and supersu. Didn't know that! It updates successfully with twrp??

Thank you Ryder for confirming my suspicion that the pin issue may have been a more common one with TWRP. This is the first phone I actually cared enough about to use a pin. I was thrown for a loop when I first booted my fresh nandroid restore and the pin I know I've been using was incorrect!
As for installing firmware, with the two errors that occurred during I don't know that you would be able to do full scale upgrade to a higher version. To reinstall the system partition however it does seem to work quite well. I tested this part four times. To do so download the correct device/version firmware to the phones storage, click install, and select that file. After it completes I like to wipe both the cache and the dalvik cache before restarting the phone. The audio issue was unfortunately easily reproduced on my phone, but thankfully equally easy to resolve. This worked for me each time without fail.

Sandman45654 said:
Thank you Ryder for confirming my suspicion that the pin issue may have been a more common one with TWRP. This is the first phone I actually cared enough about to use a pin. I was thrown for a loop when I first booted my fresh nandroid restore and the pin I know I've been using was incorrect!
As for installing firmware, with the two errors that occurred during I don't know that you would be able to do full scale upgrade to a higher version. To reinstall the system partition however it does seem to work quite well. I tested this part four times. To do so download the correct device/version firmware to the phones storage, click install, and select that file. After it completes I like to wipe both the cache and the dalvik cache before restarting the phone. The audio issue was unfortunately easily reproduced on my phone, but thankfully equally easy to resolve. This worked for me each time without fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said that the two issues occurred when you restored the nandroid backup and to fix one of them by installing the zip firmware from asus website with twrp... I don't understand. I can install zip firmware with twrp or i have to flash the stock recovery and install with it? Errors may occur using the twrp? Sorry

Everything done in my post so far has been in TWRP. Honestly I didn't even back up the recovery image. TWRP seemed to work flawlessly so I bit bullet and flashed it.
On a sidenote I am currently testing the usability of FlahFire on this device. It appears to create a very nice fastboot installable recovery image! I have yet to restore the image however. I will post my findings here once I have thoroughly tested it.

Sandman45654 said:
Everything done in my post so far has been in TWRP. Honestly I didn't even back up the recovery image. TWRP seemed to work flawlessly so I bit bullet and flashed it.
On a sidenote I am currently testing the usability of FlahFire on this device. It appears to create a very nice fastboot installable recovery image! I have yet to restore the image however. I will post my findings here once I have thoroughly tested it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I'm interested in flashing zip firmware to update. Never tried that. I thought that firmware can be installed only with stock recovery. The stock recovery can be downloaded in an asus forum website

This is the first time I have flashed anything in almost a year. I got to thinking and this is the most success I have had was flashing a stock image with TWRP! I doubt it will perform a full flash. I believe the errors are most likely for the boot and recovery partitions. As a save my butt reflash the system partition it does work. It sounds like it's time to find some TWRP changelogs!

Sandman45654 said:
This is the first time I have flashed anything in almost a year. I got to thinking and this is the most success I have had was flashing a stock image with TWRP! I doubt it will perform a full flash. I believe the errors are most likely for the boot and recovery partitions. As a save my butt reflash the system partition it does work. It sounds like it's time to find some TWRP changelogs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't care about stock images... If i can't flash the zip with twrp to update successfully then i reflash the stock recovery and after the update root again with twrp and supersu. By the way, the zip firmare contains factory images? I thought it contains different kind of files

Ryder. said:
By the way, the zip firmare contains factory images? I thought it contains different kind of files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lack the knowledge to answer that with enough certainty to even call it an answer! This is my foray into the insides of this phone and I don't want to start posting my hunches.
What I do know is you can flash the system partition using TWRP. I have done it several times. Asus's zips run as a script based zip install. You are offered no options during install. When the script runs you will see two errors quickly scroll past.

Ryder. said:
Download the right twrp here: https://mega.nz/#F!EkFF1CJD!C8o2wXMARW3YJFOipDttbA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you creating these TWRP builds? If so thank you very much! TWRP-3.1.1-0-Z016-20170826 seems to work flawlessly! No lag on boot and no known issues after restoring a backup unlike before.
I wanted to post my finding about FlashFire by Chainfire. I have had great success with the fastboot backup! It is the only option I have tested extensively however. I have been running the same fastboot restored phone since soon after my last post on this topic with no issues discovered.

Sandman45654 said:
Are you creating these TWRP builds? If so thank you very much! TWRP-3.1.1-0-Z016-20170826 seems to work flawlessly! No lag on boot and no known issues after restoring a backup unlike before.
I wanted to post my finding about FlashFire by Chainfire. I have had great success with the fastboot backup! It is the only option I have tested extensively however. I have been running the same fastboot restored phone since soon after my last post on this topic with no issues discovered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It's not me. It's another user which i don't remember the nickname

Ryder. said:
No. It's not me. It's another user which i don't remember the nickname
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thank you. If you happen to find out/remember please let me know. I would like to give credit with my project and thank them for their hard work.

[GUIDE] Root, custom recovery and ROMs for JEM [OCTOBER 2017]

My roommate gave me his Kindle 8.9 to play with and root if possible. I had been successful at rooting, flashing TWRP, but couldn't get a custom ROM to flash. Being stupid, I didn't do a test flash first, so I ended up wiping the system and storage, so I couldn't boot into anything aside from TWRP and ADB was unresponsive. It also caused a power error, causing the device to turn back on immediately when powered down.
I acquired two of these tablets from eBay, for $35.00 a Piece, in like-new condition. I replaced the one I broke and bought one for myself. The problem I had was, there is no single guide which 1) lists the current root method for this tablet 2) The files needed to flash a custom recovery once root is gained 3) the most up to date TWRP recovery available. I read a lot of stuff on XDA. I read a lot of stuff elsewhere. The root methods listed in most every thread, no longer root. It was very hard to find an updated TWRP recovery, but thanks to @ong14, who pointed me to a single post, that was possible. So, I created this guide as a single go to for the current methods to root, TWRP and install a custom ROM.
***THIS GUIDE WILL ROOT YOUR DEVICE AND INSTALL A CUSTOM RECOVERY FOR THE AMAZON HD 8.9 JEM TABLET ONLY***
This method is used with ADB which requires Windows. Please make sure the proper drivers are installed before performing these steps. Required files for rooting and custom recovery installation are available at the bottom of this post. Please see respective links for custom ROMs. I did not create any of this software or the files. I'm not responsible if your device is damaged or bricked.
1. Enable the installation of files from unknown sources in Settings > security.
2. Enable ADB debugging from Settings > device.
3. Using the Silk Browser, go to Kingroot.net and download, install and run the APK. Also from Silk, download and install Total Commander File manager and grant it root access. Once you do that, download FireFlash11.apk at the bottom of this post. Open Total Commander and navigate to /sdcard > Downloads. Install FireFlash, open it and grant it root access to use later. (You can locate FireFlash from Home > Apps.)
5. Download the rest of the files at the bottom of this post and place into a folder of your choice on your desktop. Then go here and download this file and this file and place them in that same folder. Then move the following files to your Kindle: freedom-boot-8.4.6, u-boot-prod-8.1.4, stack and kfhd8-twrp-3.0.2-2-recovery.img.
5. Please follow the steps below from @MeowDude which will tell you how to flash a custom recovery to your Kindle.
now if you moved the files straight to your kindle, then they should be on the sd card, if you downloaded these through silk, they'll be in the downloads folder in your sd card. Now open FlashFire11, and give it root access (if you haven't yet). You should be greeted with a somewhat complicated looking wall of text and checkboxes.
!IMPORTANT!
| | |
\/ \/ \/
1. So, let me now guide you through this app, first of all, there should be red print informing you that you're not on the 8.1.4 bootloader or something like that, so click on the checkbox (at the upper right. The one that says "install kfhd8uboot-prod-8.1.4.img or something like that)
2. Now go down, and you'll see some text that says "Boot Partition Image (boot.img) and a box under it that says "NOT FLASHED" tap it. it should bring up a file manager-like list. scroll down until you see your already downloaded "kfhd8freedom-boot-8.4.6.img" , and tap/select it. (I know it says 8.4.6, IT WORKS ON 8.5.1!).
now go slightly under it and check "apply stack override".
*Next, Go under that to find a line that says "Recover Partition Image (Recovery.img), and slightly under it a box that says "NOT FLASHED" tap that, and again, you'll be greeted with a list-like file manager. scroll down until you see "kfhd8-twrp-3.0.2-2-recovery.img" and tap/select it. last part! go slightly under that and tap the check box next to "disable auto recovery update".
*Now that you have all you options in order, verify that you have them in order, and correctly selected (refer back if needed) and scroll down until you see at the bottom, a box that will install/flash all these things, it will say something like "Execute Flash Script" tap it, and your all set. if you want to boot into recovery (immediately after flashing), go right under that box to find another box that says "reboot into recovery" click it, and wait a sec, your screen will black out, and you will first see the normal kindle fire logo, then a blue one, then some glitchy looking stuff, then it should show a TeamWin logo, and go into recovery.
NOTE: If you don't flash your device with android, the stock Amazon os will erase the recovery, so NEVER REBOOT INTO RECOVERY USING FIREFLASH! Only right after you install/re-install recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should boot back to recovery at this point and do a factory reset. Here is how to do that below:
1. Power off your Kindle.
2. Once off, press first and hold the volume down button, then the power button. Hold them both down until the device boots to the BLUE Kindle logo. Then release the power button then the volume down button.
3. You should see the "Team Win" logo come across the screen. Tap on wipe, advanced, and choose dalvik, data and cache. Ten swipe the wipe button. DO NOT SELECT THE SYSTEM OR INTERNAL STORAGE OPTION. This will do a clean install of FireOS 8.5.1 and get rid of Kingroot.
Installing a custom ROM
You can now use FireOS as you were able to before, but I was unable to get the necessary Gapps to work with each other properly. You can try, but I recommend installing a custom ROM. I've tried two so far and can confirm they both work. I will list the links below where you can get the ROMs and installation instructions.
1. The Candy Rom, based off of Lollipop 5.1.1, works on this tablet. Root is built in so you don't need to install or flash SuperSU, but the post does say you can flash it. I've had a lot of trouble with custom 5.1.1 ROMs when it comes to launchers. Be warned it doesn't play nice with Nova and will cause the SystemUI to crash and restart over and over.
2. Unofficial CyanogenMod (CM 13). I currently use this ROM. Root is also built in. I have had trouble getting used to the permissions for apps. I have to go in and set them myself. If you can't get the Google app to sign you in, go to settings > apps > Google App > permissions > grant all permissions. I cannot get Hangouts to work, but the dialer works perfect. I'm not sure if either of those issues are a fault of mine or just a fluke.
I own 3 Amazon tablets: Amazon Fire 7, rooted with a custom ROM. Amazon Fire HD 8, but unfortunately there's no root for it yet. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9, rooted, custom recovery and ROM. I have had great fun 'hacking' these things. I hate FireOS, but I will give Amazon credit for making some really bad ass tablets.

I didn't really feel too happy with the CM 13 ROM. It was pretty sluggish. Just overall performance was less than it should've been. So I decided to try another CM13 (Marshmallow 6.0.1) build by Temasek . This is by far the best ROM I've ever worked with on Kindle (Sorry Fire Nexus). Performance is off the chart. There's little to no lag. You HAVE to flash SuperSu, but it works really well. You don't see the App icon, just tap settings and SuperSU is listed. You also don't need to flash Viper4Android, already comes installed. Just select it in settings, grant it root access and select yes to download the driver. It will take a minute or two for it to update, but reboot when done and configure your Viper. Just make sure you have BusyBox installed and updated. You can get it from the play store. There are more settings and customization options I can list. Truly an awesome, well built ROM.

First off, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to post your very good guide for us new guys. Another superb tutorial can be found here...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72395624&postcount=55
Your and comwiz's guides that summarize MeowDude's excellent work are two of the best ones I've seen to date and they help us novices a lot.
I want to set my elderly father up with Google's new YouTube TV streaming service when I visit him after the holidays and they currently require an Android L device or better to activate the service and control their interface. All he had was a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 a relative gave him that he never uses, so he sent it to me a few days ago so I could modify it. I've read a few of your posts on this and other threads and you seem very impressed with Temasek's CM13 custom ROM, so that's good enough for me and the one I wanna try first. But I'm a little confused by your followup post when you say "you HAVE to flash SuperSu". Does this mean that one should root with that app instead of Kingroot as was described in your original guide? I'm also not totally clear on exactly where in the procedure BusyBox needs to be installed. Here's what I have done so far to date...
*performed factory reset on Kindle Fire HD 8.9 just to clean it up and get it back to stock
*installed ADB on PC and verified it communicates with the Fire HD (detects device and returns serial number)
*downloaded and installed Total Commander (nice looking file explorer at first glance, BTW)
*sideloaded Root Check and verified device is not rooted
*downloaded the following files to PC but have not yet transferred them to the Fire:
---NewKingrootV5.1.0_C176_B415_en_release_2017_05_11_20170511212237_105203.apk
---fireflash11.apk
---kfhd8-u-boot-prod-8.1.4.bin.img
---kfhd8-freedom-boot-8.4.6.img
---kfhd8-twrp-3.0.2-2-recovery.img
---stack
---SR5-SuperSU-v2.82-SR5-20171001224502.zip
---stericson.busybox.apk
---cm-13.0-20160827-V11-temasek-jem.zip
I think this is everything I need but I'm not yet comfortable enough with my current knowledge level to try rooting and flashing a custom ROM. If you or anybody else could tell me what I should do next or at least point me in the right direction that would be much appreciated. I figure it's better to ask some dumb noob questions now before I attempt anything rather than have to come back later and ask how to unbrick my tablet.

CornellEngineer said:
First off, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to post your very good guide for us new guys. Another superb tutorial can be found here...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72395624&postcount=55
Your and comwiz's guides that summarize MeowDude's excellent work are two of the best ones I've seen to date and they help us novices a lot.
I want to set my elderly father up with Google's new YouTube TV streaming service when I visit him after the holidays and they currently require an Android L device or better to activate the service and control their interface. All he had was a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 a relative gave him that he never uses, so he sent it to me a few days ago so I could modify it. I've read a few of your posts on this and other threads and you seem very impressed with Temasek's CM13 custom ROM, so that's good enough for me and the one I wanna try first. But I'm a little confused by your followup post when you say "you HAVE to flash SuperSu". Does this mean that one should root with that app instead of Kingroot as was described in your original guide? I'm also not totally clear on exactly where in the procedure BusyBox needs to be installed. Here's what I have done so far to date...
*performed factory reset on Kindle Fire HD 8.9 just to clean it up and get it back to stock
*installed ADB on PC and verified it communicates with the Fire HD (detects device and returns serial number)
*downloaded and installed Total Commander (nice looking file explorer at first glance, BTW)
*sideloaded Root Check and verified device is not rooted
*downloaded the following files to PC but have not yet transferred them to the Fire:
---NewKingrootV5.1.0_C176_B415_en_release_2017_05_11_20170511212237_105203.apk
---fireflash11.apk
---kfhd8-u-boot-prod-8.1.4.bin.img
---kfhd8-freedom-boot-8.4.6.img
---kfhd8-twrp-3.0.2-2-recovery.img
---stack
---SR5-SuperSU-v2.82-SR5-20171001224502.zip
---stericson.busybox.apk
---cm-13.0-20160827-V11-temasek-jem.zip
I think this is everything I need but I'm not yet comfortable enough with my current knowledge level to try rooting and flashing a custom ROM. If you or anybody else could tell me what I should do next or at least point me in the right direction that would be much appreciated. I figure it's better to ask some dumb noob questions now before I attempt anything rather than have to come back later and ask how to unbrick my tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Root" is built into the ROM. But, it's not full root. So the ROM maker tells you to Flash SuperSU once the ROM is installed and functioning. You have to do that because you wipe the system (pretty much all of it) before you flash the ROM. That wipes Kingroot, root etc. until you flash the new ROM. You're on the right track exactly. Just make sure your files are placed properly and use FireFlash to install TWRP. Just follow all the steps exactly and it should be successful. The good thing about this method, it doesn't wipe your data to install the recovery.

Okay, DF...thanks. When researching Kingroot & SuperSU I came across a ton of external links about how to get rid of the former if it was used to originally root a device and replace it with the latter. I even found another XDA thread last night where you posted that you yourself spent many hours reading about how to do just that. It seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through so I thought maybe it was better just to use SuperSU to root in the first place and be done with it. But this was all probably before you tried the new ROM you're now using and are apparently liking a lot. It sounds like Temasek's ROM version automatically takes care of most/all of the Kingroot exorcism that gave you such a headache. Apparently on many devices you can install TWRP first and THEN root with SuperSU afterward but I gather the Kindle Fire's funky bootloader unfortunately doesn't permit this.
I'll just keep reading threads over and over again as well as outside reference articles on other sites like I have been so far. Some of it must be finally sinking in because some posts are actually finally starting to make a little sense and in some cases I now understand what a few folks did wrong to cause them problems. When the vast majority of the posts and articles I read make sense and not just some of them then I'll give it a shot. Appreciate the guidance.

Okie dokie, DF...just a quick status report on how we're doing following your new guide. So far, so good...used Kingroot to root the device no problem, verified it was rooted with Root Check, gave Total Commander (which I had installed a few days ago) root access, and downloaded and installed FireFlash. But when I opened the app and clicked on "allow" to have root privilege there was a minor glitch...although I could see the FireFlash menu in the background there was an error message saying it did not have root access and that it was going to close, even though Kingroot verified it as an app that had permission. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling a few times but kept getting the same error message. Finally I simply rebooted the device and it worked fine after that...so if there are any fellow noobs out there who are one step behind me (and heaven help you if you are) you might wanna try a simple reboot during this step if you experience a similar problem to see if that solves it.
Before I do anything else I'm gonna use ADB to create some images of several of the now-rooted stock partitions and save them to my PC just in case I eff something up later on. You did not mention this in your guide but this was summarized nicely by comwiz in his very similar tutorial...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72395624&postcount=55
He also included many screenshots that one will see while following your guides...I found these visual aids to be very helpful in terms of what one could expect to see as you march through all the steps that you guys so graciously spent the time laying out for us newbies. I'm probably gonna hold off on installing TWRP and Temasek's custom ROM for a few days...I wanna read up more about TWRP and fastboot before I take the next baby steps. BTW, like you I just bought another used KFHD 8.9 in almost new condition on eBay today for about the same price that you paid...how's THAT for the ultimate "backup"???
Man, thank God for this XDA forum...no way I try this on my own without all the info and tools and help that experienced folks have taken the time to post here.

CornellEngineer said:
EDITED BY ME, "compjan"
Before I do anything else I'm gonna use ADB to create some images of several of the now-rooted stock partitions and save them to my PC just in case I eff something up later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PLEASE upload those images !!! if you are running 8.5.1 on a 32 gig model I NEED THEM !

compjan said:
PLEASE upload those images !!! if you are running 8.5.1 on a 32 gig model I NEED THEM !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wrote a guide on how to flash recovery on 8.5.1 without a computer. Swing around and check it out, its got all the updated files.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ki...t-install-twrp-android-fire-os-8-5-1-t3278286

MeowDude said:
I wrote a guide on how to flash recovery on 8.5.1 without a computer. Swing around and check it out, its got all the updated files.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ki...t-install-twrp-android-fire-os-8-5-1-t3278286
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Click to collapse
iRoot doesn't work anymore. At least not when I tried. Regardless of the method used to root, the quicker to get rid of them, the better it makes me feel.

MeowDude said:
I wrote a guide on how to flash recovery on 8.5.1 without a computer. Swing around and check it out, its got all the updated files.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ki...t-install-twrp-android-fire-os-8-5-1-t3278286
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
um, i do not have a working 8.9 tablet. i screwed it up and had a red screen of death for a couple years now. i have been off work due to knee surgery and decided to see if there was a working fix. member sd_shadow has me OFF red screen, now i need to get back to stock BEFORE i start playing with it. that way i can fix it right then if i mess it up again.
SO, i need a copy of the 3 partitions to get back to stock.
UNLESS. . . . i can get the partitions out of the 8.5.1 BIN i grabbed from amazon. that is how sd_shadow ( THANK YOU SIR ! ) got me back to a NOT booting but hung at the fire logo. i flashed the bin to SYSTEM and now i need the other 2 partitions.

UPDATE: GOT IT UP AND RUNNING AS 8.1.4 ! ! !
wife wanted it stock, so i loaded the 8.5.1 update from amazon in the root directory of INTERNAL STORAGE. not i a folder. re-booted and it installed the 8.5.1 update. worked fine . . . EXCEPT . . . .
the built-in amazon app store was buggy as hell. so was the silk browser. gapps worked fine until a re-boot. then crashed as soon as i launched play store.
SO. . . . i'm backing up the 3 partitions and going to load a ROM on this puppy.
EDIT: there is a NEWER 8.5.1 "update" at amazon, it will NOT auto install via the "check for updates" button (afaik. and i tried it on 2 different 8.9's) . download it, copy it to the ROOT of the 8.9, not in a folder. reboot. it will install all by it's self. fixed all my stock problems!! END EDIT

I got CM13 installed on my 8.9 but then having issue.
a. Can't boot into custom recovery. With volume down hold + power button -> Kindle Fire orange -> Kindle Fire blue -> then it either boots back into CM13 or getting "Fast boot".
b. In CM13, i don't have root access. How so? Weird. I am always under the impression that every custom image will come with root access. I maybe wrong though.
---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------
Well, my bad was I downloaded the wrong gapps, picked 7.1 instead of 6.0, so I wanted to boot back in recovery to install the correct gapps.

votinh said:
I got CM13 installed on my 8.9 but then having issue.
a. Can't boot into custom recovery. With volume down hold + power button -> Kindle Fire orange -> Kindle Fire blue -> then it either boots back into CM13 or getting "Fast boot".
b. In CM13, i don't have root access. How so? Weird. I am always under the impression that every custom image will come with root access. I maybe wrong though.
---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------
Well, my bad was I downloaded the wrong gapps, picked 7.1 instead of 6.0, so I wanted to boot back in recovery to install the correct gapps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If using temasek ROM, you'll have to flash SU. Use 2.7X. then update from play store. Root for regular CM is found in developer options. Settings > about device > tap build number 7 times and go back to Maine settings menu, scroll to bottom. For developer options. Enable root in that menu. Select both apps and ADB.

I am using the CM13 ROM by alexander_32, I guess the same one you're using.
Personally, it isn't as snappy as I wish but I'll give it some more time.
Also, the option to boot into recovery on the menu is so much better than using keys combination. Thumb up for that!

what is the optimal gapps to get from open gapps? there are so many options im not sure which works best on jem.

green_reaper said:
what is the optimal gapps to get from open gapps? there are so many options im not sure which works best on jem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost always use pico gapps.

DragonFire1024 said:
I almost always use pico gapps.
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so basically for jem im using CM13 (Marshmallow 6.0.1) build by Temasek . and for gapps should I use (platform = ARM , Android 7.0 and pico) ? or is there a better gapps build selection?

green_reaper said:
so basically for jem im using CM13 (Marshmallow 6.0.1) build by Temasek . and for gapps should I use (platform = ARM , Android 7.0 and pico) ? or is there a better gapps build selection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to opengapps website. Always download the gapps for the corresponding Android version. Always choose ARM.