Develop Bugs

Windows Phone 8.1 for HTC 8s would solve all problems

Hi all,
seriuously I think the worst part of this phone is the memory. With only 3 apps installed (Whatsapp, Instagram BETA and a simple To-Do-List app) my memory is constantly full. It gets so bad sometimes that the phone only shows a black screen and the clock like this.
With being able to install apps (and hopefully the app data) on the SD-card the phone would be really great again.
Does anyone know how the chances of getting 8.1 for this old phone are?

Why don`t you regularly keep fresh installations from the aps and games on your sd card?That`s how you will gain a lot of memory consumption time.
For the 8.1 update i think that we will not feel a lot performance difference cause the phone at this parent state is not so responsive like his windows phone "brothers" and "sisters" out there but surely we will get some more better options on it.
Im am particularly afraid of that "Cortana" database that they mention.I think if that thing is stored on the phone storage again it could possibly be our new space invader but let us see first, then we will talk.

cevi said:
Why don`t you regularly keep fresh installations from the aps and games on your sd card?That`s how you will gain a lot of memory consumption time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that's not the way a teenage girl (my GF's little sister) uses her low end smartphone. It keeps blacking out and not opening apps (e.g. just black sceen after tapping on the whatsapp tile). Resetting the phone frees the storage, but after some weeks it's the same all over again. Memory management seems to be totally absent on this thing. And it's so annoying to see the ~12GB free on the microSD-card.
I do not expect great performance on a sub-200$ phone. In fact, I think it's a great and beautiful phone. But I expect it to be able to handle 3(!) installed apps and their data on its own. You really shouldn't have to tinker with it to enable such basic usability.
And that"s where I hope the update will fix the phone. But doesn't matter anyway now, she'll get an iPhone 3gs, since at least that works, and she won't take any more smartphone-related advice from me after this fiasco :laugh:

phone reboots
anyone knows how to stop those reboots i get?
it looks like it started doing this after deve preview updated to :8.0.10521.155

vinscg said:
anyone knows how to stop those reboots i get?
it looks like it started doing this after deve preview updated to :8.0.10521.155
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Little off topic.You should try open a new tread for this but anyway.
I have the same firmware version and I don't have this problem of yours.
Any particular reason when does this occurs?While playing games, surfing the net, regular usage?
Sent from my Windows Phone 8S by HTC using Tapatalk

reboots
cevi said:
Little off topic.You should try open a new tread for this but anyway.
I have the same firmware version and I don't have this problem of yours.
Any particular reason when does this occurs?While playing games, surfing the net, regular usage?
Sent from my Windows Phone 8S by HTC using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at regular usage, must be hardware related?

vinscg said:
at regular usage, must be hardware related?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If hard reset doesn`t fix it, than definitely its a hardware failure.

Problem solved, 3 coats of scoth tape under sim card. Slide it in , et voila! There was a bad contact
Sent from my A620m using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Cant wait for wp8.1!!! Lets Hope it comes to 8S
Sent from my A620m using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

WP8.1 Installed
vinscg said:
Cant wait for wp8.1!!! Lets Hope it comes to 8S
Sent from my A620m using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed WP8.1 today on my HTC 8S via the Preview for Developers app.
First impressions are it's very slick and my phone appears to run quicker.
I needed 704.05 free space on my phone to install WP8.1. Therefore I had to uninstall most of my apps and a couple of games.
However when reinstalling them they can now be installed to the SD card!!

nice to hear! that saving apps to SD card would solve the HUGE memory problem im waiting forward to the official release !! Awesome !

charlatan1978 said:
Installed WP8.1 today on my HTC 8S via the Preview for Developers app.
First impressions are it's very slick and my phone appears to run quicker.
I needed 704.05 free space on my phone to install WP8.1. Therefore I had to uninstall most of my apps and a couple of games.
However when reinstalling them they can now be installed to the SD card!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much free space do you have internally after the WP update? Pretty excited for 8.1 to release as it basically gives the phone an excellent upgrade.

Free space
mgsstar said:
How much free space do you have internally after the WP update? Pretty excited for 8.1 to release as it basically gives the phone an excellent upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, all my apps are now on my SD card (except the Barclays app as I didn't want to go through the process of registering again and the Preview for Developers app).
I have 736.22 MB free in my internal storage.
The system shows as 2.49 GB.

Anyone know of a rom with US English(wanna try Cortana) cause my current one only has Canada and UK

charlatan1978 said:
Hi, all my apps are now on my SD card (except the Barclays app as I didn't want to go through the process of registering again and the Preview for Developers app).
I have 736.22 MB free in my internal storage.
The system shows as 2.49 GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you still get official updates from HTC after developer unlocking your phone?

HTC updates
mgsstar said:
Do you still get official updates from HTC after developer unlocking your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, yes you will still get official HTC updates (usually firmware updates).
I got further updates after downloading the GDR3 update early.

charlatan1978 said:
Installed WP8.1 today on my HTC 8S via the Preview for Developers app.
First impressions are it's very slick and my phone appears to run quicker.
I needed 704.05 free space on my phone to install WP8.1. Therefore I had to uninstall most of my apps and a couple of games.
However when reinstalling them they can now be installed to the SD card!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed 704MB required. I've had to do a factory reset to get previous updates on!
Installed the Dev preview app, done 4 updates since, now going to have a clearout to install this update. Let's hope it's a bit less gash with it's .1!

charlatan1978 said:
Hi, yes you will still get official HTC updates (usually firmware updates).
I got further updates after downloading the GDR3 update early.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright thanks for the reply! Could you guys get Cortona to work as I tried changing the region to US but it didn't work. Is there anyway to change the language on the phone to English (US) instead of English (Canada) as I don't see an option for it.
---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------
jonnug said:
Confirmed 704MB required. I've had to do a factory reset to get previous updates on!
Installed the Dev preview app, done 4 updates since, now going to have a clearout to install this update. Let's hope it's a bit less gash with it's .1!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I had to do it too. You would have to unlock your phone again after the reset and make sure your date is set correctly or it will create errors.

Cortana and keyboard
mgsstar said:
Alright thanks for the reply! Could you guys get Cortona to work as I tried changing the region to US but it didn't work. Is there anyway to change the language on the phone to English (US) instead of English (Canada) as I don't see an option for it.
Hi, I haven't tried getting Cortana to work.
On my phone if I go into settings > keyboard, then click the + add keyboards.
There is an option for English (United States), 22 MB.
Is this not available on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mgsstar said:
Alright thanks for the reply! Could you guys get Cortona to work as I tried changing the region to US but it didn't work. Is there anyway to change the language on the phone to English (US) instead of English (Canada) as I don't see an option for it.
---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------
Yeah I had to do it too. You would have to unlock your phone again after the reset and make sure your date is set correctly or it will create errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't bother factory resetting to get this update, I was able to delete enough apps to get it done without!
Anyone had any luck with Cortana? I've heard that it's possible by setting device region to US, although I had no luck.
charlatan1978 said:
Hi, all my apps are now on my SD card (except the Barclays app as I didn't want to go through the process of registering again and the Preview for Developers app).
I have 736.22 MB free in my internal storage.
The system shows as 2.49 GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't managed to install any extra apps on 8.1 - it always throws up errors. Anyone else having this trouble?

Uk Fire TV

Hi Guys, I've read a lot of stuff on here, and I'm a little confused.
I'm getting my Fire Tv to, with the intention of rooting it to use as an XBMC box.
I understand that it may come with frimware that can't be rooted (not without some soldering anyway) how could I check that?
Do I need to block the update sites in my router before switching it on?

seymour71 said:
Hi Guys, I've read a lot of stuff on here, and I'm a little confused.
I'm getting my Fire Tv to, with the intention of rooting it to use as an XBMC box.
I understand that it may come with frimware that can't be rooted (not without some soldering anyway) how could I check that?
Do I need to block the update sites in my router before switching it on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the UK and just received my Fire TV.
I blocked the updates at my router using the guide from aftvnews website.
However, my Fire TV won't complete the setup without updating.
It seems there is no way around this, so I either put it back in it's box and await some way to get around it, or I let it update and use it without root.

helicon9 said:
I'm in the UK and just received my Fire TV.
I blocked the updates at my router using the guide from aftvnews website.
However, my Fire TV won't complete the setup without updating.
It seems there is no way around this, so I either put it back in it's box and await some way to get around it, or I let it update and use it without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bugger. That's what I was afraid of.
Thanks for your reply mate.

Which firmware did your UK AFTV come installed with? Here's a list
http://www.aftvnews.com/software/

helicon9 said:
I'm in the UK and just received my Fire TV.
I blocked the updates at my router using the guide from aftvnews website.
However, my Fire TV won't complete the setup without updating.
It seems there is no way around this, so I either put it back in it's box and await some way to get around it, or I let it update and use it without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Still have my US bought one for ages ago, so will continue using that for now.
Out of curiosity, did you go through the install process anyway? If you did, just curious what firmware Uk ships with and what it attempts to download.
Cheers

eskay993 said:
Thanks for the info. Still have my US bought one for ages ago, so will continue using that for now.
Out of curiosity, did you go through the install process anyway? If you did, just curious what firmware Uk ships with and what it attempts to download.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went through the install process anyway as not too fussed about root as long as XBMC works.
I don't know what firmware it shipped with because I couldn't access it with letting the update run, but it asked me to select language on setup, so I assume it was one of the 51.1.3. versions.
Anyhow, it updated and firmware is now 51.1.4.0_user_514006420.
So looks like a brand new firmware. I won't hold my breath for root on this one!!

helicon9 said:
I went through the install process anyway as not too fussed about root as long as XBMC works.
!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, you can use XBMC without root? Even play media from a local usb drive?

seymour71 said:
Oh, you can use XBMC without root? Even play media from a local usb drive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can install and run xbmc without root, just sideload over adb.
Root just enables you to use it as a launcher, so you can skip the fire tv interface.

helicon9 said:
Yes you can install and run xbmc without root, just sideload over adb.
Root just enables you to use it as a launcher, so you can skip the fire tv interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AHHHHHHHHH,RIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHT.
I'll do that then, not that I have another option at the mo anyway!
Cheers.

helicon9 said:
I went through the install process anyway as not too fussed about root as long as XBMC works.
I don't know what firmware it shipped with because I couldn't access it with letting the update run, but it asked me to select language on setup, so I assume it was one of the 51.1.3. versions.
Anyhow, it updated and firmware is now 51.1.4.0_user_514006420.
So looks like a brand new firmware. I won't hold my breath for root on this one!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool thanks for the info. Wonder if new firmware is why I can't install Netflix from UK store on a US device. Time will tell!
---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------
seymour71 said:
AHHHHHHHHH,RIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHT.
I'll do that then, not that I have another option at the mo anyway!
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just one thing to note.. You also asked about playing media off an external usb device. I believe this does need root, but worth double checking that. XBMC works fine with media from a network share or NAS though without root.

eskay993 said:
Cool thanks for the info. Wonder if new firmware is why I can't install Netflix from UK store on a US device. Time will tell!
---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------
Just one thing to note.. You also asked about playing media off an external usb device. I believe this does need root, but worth double checking that. XBMC works fine with media from a network share or NAS though without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm, yes, i thought I'd read that. All the media is on a usb drive, so i'll check. Thanks.

Hi
I got mine today too, unrootable
I have sideloaded Kodi, seems to work fine, though the Helix alpha did not work, so am using gotham 13.2.
Would be nice to have xbmc on the home screen... very lame having to tool through several menus to get to xbmc every time... hopefully some clever sod will hack this so it will work with android free from amazon's suffocation.
Mark.

fredphoesh said:
Hi
I got mine today too, unrootable
I have sideloaded Kodi, seems to work fine, though the Helix alpha did not work, so am using gotham 13.2.
Would be nice to have xbmc on the home screen... very lame having to tool through several menus to get to xbmc every time... hopefully some clever sod will hack this so it will work with android free from amazon's suffocation.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to play media from the usb at all?

fredphoesh said:
Hi
I got mine today too, unrootable
I have sideloaded Kodi, seems to work fine, though the Helix alpha did not work, so am using gotham 13.2.
Would be nice to have xbmc on the home screen... very lame having to tool through several menus to get to xbmc every time... hopefully some clever sod will hack this so it will work with android free from amazon's suffocation.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A half decent workaround is to use Llama and a "dummy" app to make xbmc/kodi launch when you click the dummy app on the home screen. There's a guide below (look at the "Semi Bypass" Section). Been using it for a while and works fine, as long as you don't mind clicking a random icon to launch kodi.
http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV#Llama_.28automation.29_Events

I'm using mine with a NAS. I think attaching USB hard drives does require root.
I use SPMC (non launcher version) and it shows up in recently used apps at the top of Fire TV main menu, so no having to dig through the settings sub menus.
This may be because it's also in Amazon App Store (though shows as not compatible with Fire TV).

fredphoesh said:
Hi
I got mine today too, unrootable
I have sideloaded Kodi, seems to work fine, though the Helix alpha did not work, so am using gotham 13.2.
Would be nice to have xbmc on the home screen... very lame having to tool through several menus to get to xbmc every time... hopefully some clever sod will hack this so it will work with android free from amazon's suffocation.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried a few versions of xbmc, they all start up with the initial startup/config screen then instantly just boot back to the fire launcher, then when I click on xbmc to launch it looks like it's about to boot but then just comes straight back to the fire launcher.
Ive also installed plex with side load and that works ok?
Do you have any suggestions? thanks.

eskay993 said:
A half decent workaround is to use Llama and a "dummy" app to make xbmc/kodi launch when you click the dummy app on the home screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, thanks... alas too late, I have boxed my FireTV and put it on Ebay... too few apps that I like & want will work properly on this box, so I'm going to wait for a proper Lollipop Android TV !
chowynatt said:
I've tried a few versions of xbmc, they all start up with the initial startup/config screen then instantly just boot back to the fire launche
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had that with the first two versions I tried. I also tried to clean the data/cache on the app, see if that works?
seymour71 said:
Are you able to play media from the usb at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, I didn't try it and now my FireTV is in a box ready to be sold on ebay... I don't believe it will though, but don't know.
Mark

Fire Sale Fire Phones - Quick Start

So, I recently picked up a 64GB Fire phone in the latest fire sale on amazon.co.uk.
As such, I thought it might be useful to provide a very short "quick start" guide on the steps I took to get the phone unlocked and "Google'd up".
So, as soon as I got the phone, I contacted Amazon through the online chat system and asked for help to unlock the phone.
I was transfered straight away to someone else who took the serial number (found in Settings > Device >Get info about your Fire) or search and type in serial number and use that shortcut.
I was then able to put in a Three SIM and get the phone working with that straight away.
Next I ran the updates through the phone Settings > Device > Install System Updates, this found the 4.6.1 3320 update (not sure if you could skip this step). I ran this and then the updates to the various apps.
I then downloaded the 3820 download from http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201607550, Fire phone (Unlocked GSM) link. I found I had to download this on PC as it kept timing out on the device itself.
I copied this from the PC to the downloads folder on the device and went to install system updates again in settings. It picked up the file as a system update and installed straight from the device (no need to ADB or whatever).
Now I was on 3820, I downloaded ES File explorer from the Amazon App store.
I then downloaded the files from this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-phone/general/fire-phone-how-to-install-google-play-t2977237 and followed the instructions there for installing the Google Apps.
As I personally like and use Google's apps I was a lot more comfortable replacing the stock launcher with the Google Now launcher, replacing the keyboard with Google's version and Chrome for Silk etc.
And that was me, running the latest version, device unlocked, Google Apps working nicely Play Store and even connecting to my G-Watch R.
Got to say once I done the above, I am more than happy and at under £100 for a 64GB phone, I am even more over the moon. Once you replace the bulk of the Amazon "guff", I think the phone is more than useable and I think if it shipped in this state and at a decent price, it would have been a much bigger hit, but hey-ho, bargain for us now!
Hope the above is of some help to someone. Cheers.

While I welcome enthusiasm and sharing of knowledge, I can't help feel if your going all out Google there are better phones for the money or at least phones that will prove less problematic for you in the long run. I'm using this as my second phone because as a prime member I get free books etc.

Hi, can't agree more. I fully accept that getting the Play services on here is something of a fudge and something which no doubt could break at any time.
I probably like you bought this as a back-up device and something which failing all else I could use as a sort of media player for Amazon's services. I have managed to accumulate a lot of games for free through the regular free games/credits, so that helps.
Not in any way trying to knock Amazon, however the app store situation is pretty poor. As it is, without the Play store, I don't think I could really recommend this phone, but I do think it is a great bargain, nothing else for me comes close to the specs or build quality for similar money to what we paid.
As I say, just wanted to help anyone out who might have been in a similar situation and picked one of these up "on a punt".

Hi dampchimp,
I planning to order a fire phone but I can't use the O² network. Was the unlocking process so simple. I read earlier that many have problems with both amazon and O² to unlock their phones.
I can't see a 64GB but only 32 on amazon.co.uk
Thank you!

You can get an unlock code very easily via email these days.

ratbags said:
You can get an unlock code very easily via email these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, for me anyway, I just done a web chat and got one in 2 minutes, obviously no guarantee, but seems like they just don't care any more.

Strangely, I put the code in and got a message along the lines of "unlock failed" but it worked anyway.

Hey I am planning to buy Fire phone
dampchimp said:
So, I recently picked up a 64GB Fire phone in the latest fire sale on amazon.co.uk.
As such, I thought it might be useful to provide a very short "quick start" guide on the steps I took to get the phone unlocked and "Google'd up".
So, as soon as I got the phone, I contacted Amazon through the online chat system and asked for help to unlock the phone.
I was transfered straight away to someone else who took the serial number (found in Settings > Device >Get info about your Fire) or search and type in serial number and use that shortcut.
I was then able to put in a Three SIM and get the phone working with that straight away.
Next I ran the updates through the phone Settings > Device > Install System Updates, this found the 4.6.1 3320 update (not sure if you could skip this step). I ran this and then the updates to the various apps.
I then downloaded the 3820 download from http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201607550, Fire phone (Unlocked GSM) link. I found I had to download this on PC as it kept timing out on the device itself.
I copied this from the PC to the downloads folder on the device and went to install system updates again in settings. It picked up the file as a system update and installed straight from the device (no need to ADB or whatever).
Now I was on 3820, I downloaded ES File explorer from the Amazon App store.
I then downloaded the files from this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-phone/general/fire-phone-how-to-install-google-play-t2977237 and followed the instructions there for installing the Google Apps.
As I personally like and use Google's apps I was a lot more comfortable replacing the stock launcher with the Google Now launcher, replacing the keyboard with Google's version and Chrome for Silk etc.
And that was me, running the latest version, device unlocked, Google Apps working nicely Play Store and even connecting to my G-Watch R.
Got to say once I done the above, I am more than happy and at under £100 for a 64GB phone, I am even more over the moon. Once you replace the bulk of the Amazon "guff", I think the phone is more than useable and I think if it shipped in this state and at a decent price, it would have been a much bigger hit, but hey-ho, bargain for us now!
Hope the above is of some help to someone. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I am planning to buy Fire phone, but I am skeptic about side loading Google play store... as you are actually using it.. can you shed some light ? I have some quick questions like
1) Are all Google store apps working did you face any problem while using them.
2) I heard that the phone is slow when used with Google apps.
3) As an honest reviewer and taking into account as an heavy mobile user who plays around with apps how likely is it buy this phone.
Thanks in advance...

I'm looking at the deal on this phone today in the US also - $159 for the phone with a year of Amazon Prime so $60 for this phone a backup if anything happens to my current Xperia Z1.
I think for $60 it's a great deal but not also not sure of the functionality of it with Google apps. That'd be key for me.
Suggestions?

Absolutely no problems with Google play etc and I've been using for a month or so. Follow the various guides on this forum like I did and you'll be ok. Phone isn't any slower since I deployed gapps.

And if you don't want to bother with FireOS shenanigans, you can switch to CM11 and make it a normal Android phone. Don't get me wrong, FireOS is pretty stable even after sideloading Google services and stuff, but why bothering to Google up a heavily modified OS when you can just get the real stuff
At the price Amazon is selling it, it's a steal.

sergio687 said:
And if you don't want to bother with FireOS shenanigans, you can switch to CM11 and make it a normal Android phone. Don't get me wrong, FireOS is pretty stable even after sideloading Google services and stuff, but why bothering to Google up a heavily modified OS when you can just get the real stuff
At the price Amazon is selling it, it's a steal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but don't you need older firmware? I ordered one tonight that I expect to be running a unrootable firmware. I'm hoping to root before updating by blocking domains then registering and rooting quick. Of course if its running the latest that doesn't matter. Or can I root this?

No, the latest FireOS is rooted in less than 1 minute with KINGROOT 4.1 (⇐ download links and explanation included, READ it...)
Registering? You want to keep using FireOS? Meh, you can do it, until CM11 reaches gold status. ^^

Bingo Bronson said:
No, the latest FireOS is rooted in less than 1 minute with KINGROOT 4.1 (⇐ download links and explanation included, READ it...)
Registering? You want to keep using FireOS? Meh, you can do it, until CM11 reaches gold status. ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Kingroot it (just to have it rooted and flash ROMs), flash CM11 and enjoy a phone with great specs and a great price, and a year of Amazon Prime. Heck, you can even download the Amazon Appstore after you have de-Amazon'ed it and continue to enjoy the free app of the day and all that stuff.

Bingo Bronson said:
No, the latest FireOS is rooted in less than 1 minute with KINGROOT 4.1 (⇐ download links and explanation included, READ it...)
Registering? You want to keep using FireOS? Meh, you can do it, until CM11 reaches gold status. ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason I didn't wait for this is fear that Amazon would patch the exploit via an update.
Sent from my Fire Phone using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Does running CM11 solve the various notification issues? For example do top taskbar notifications and icon notifications work?

JetFan said:
Does running CM11 solve the various notification issues? For example do top taskbar notifications and icon notifications work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
Sent from my Fire Phone using the XDA premium app.

Thanks

arunhtc said:
Hey I am planning to buy Fire phone, but I am skeptic about side loading Google play store... as you are actually using it.. can you shed some light ? I have some quick questions like
1) Are all Google store apps working did you face any problem while using them.
2) I heard that the phone is slow when used with Google apps.
3) As an honest reviewer and taking into account as an heavy mobile user who plays around with apps how likely is it buy this phone.
Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the unlocked US version on Black Friday, sideloaded Google apps and activated on Net10 early December. Google Play Store tells you if an app is incompatible, I have sideloaded most of those from 1Mobile. That only works for free apps, so far I only have one paid app that I can't use (local commuter train).
Can't compare speed, didn't use it before sideloading Google but it seems pretty zippy to me.
Main problem will probably be Lollipop-only apps. I've run across a few incompatible apps, but nothing crucial yet. Looks like I have 123 apps in my grid, most from either Amazon or Google.
I'm using this as my main phone.

Okay thanks for info ...
Sent from my SD4930UR using Tapatalk

HBOGO on rooted Gen 2 Fire TV no longer working

Issue started this week after HBO updated (Mar 8, 2017) the app.
It plays the 8 second HBO ad/ratings clip but it does not play the main video. I just get 3 blue dots at the bottom of screen rotating
HBOGO does work on 3 different Fire TV 1 units (rooted) and PCs
Here is what I've tried in order they were tried
Soft and hard reboot of the unit
Cleared data & cache
uninstalled and reinstalled HBOgo
Factory Reset using TWRP
Reflashed 5.2.4.0 Rom
Tried "Hide My Root" (https://goo.gl/brVjro)

having the same problem

krawhitham said:
Issue started this week after HBO updated (Mar 8, 2017) the app.
It plays the 8 second HBO ad/ratings clip but it does not play the main video. I just get 3 blue dots at the bottom of screen rotating
HBOGO does work on 3 different Fire TV 1 units (rooted) and PCs
Here is what I've tried in order they were tried
Soft and hard reboot of the unit
Cleared data & cache
uninstalled and reinstalled HBOgo
Factory Reset using TWRP
Reflashed 5.2.4.0 Rom
Tried "Hide My Root" (https://goo.gl/brVjro)
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Click to collapse
theistus said:
having the same problem
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Click to collapse
Are your guys blocking some addresses thru OpenDNS or router ?
Some are reporting that they can not update/install some Apps with list blocking. You can try to see if that is the case after using both Method 5 & Method 1 on the update blocking guide.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-software-updates-on-the-amazon-fire-tv-or-fire-tv-stick/
Or it could be that HBO updated their app or their servers to check for root in a different way that the old Hide my Root can't bypass. I know the ATT Uverse app was already doing that.

Not blocking anything on my end. Running the pre-rooted 5.2.4 image.
---------- Post added at 01:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 AM ----------
HBO GO works fine on my rooted phone, btw, no need to hide anything. One thing I noticed is that if i got into HBO's settings on the firetv, it seems to think I am on 5.1.1.
I think i am going to try sideloading the regular google apk and/or the older version of it that worked fine prior to this "update"
---------- Post added at 02:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 AM ----------
well neither of the current (9.2.0.4) apks (leanback or regular) I downloaded worked.
But, the 9.1.0.11 leanback apk is working like a charm.
Honestly this is the kind of **** that really pisses me off. I have legal access to a crapton of content. I have a cable sub with a couple of premium channels, hulu, netflix, and a Prime account.
But I end up using Kodi most of the time because I like having it all in ONE EASY TO NAVIGATE yet feature rich app that actually keeps track of all the shows across all the services. Plus it's far easier for the wife to use than ping ponging around across disparate applications. I swear to god, if content providers could ever get their **** together to unify and simplify services they would stop piracy. Is it even piracy if you have legal access to it, are paying for it, but you just despise the way they want to make you watch it on their broken ****?
/endrant

Same Issue
Did anyone figure out a workaround outside of installing the leanback edition?
I'm having the same issue, but the newest version of the app just crashes and gives a service error. Updating to the latest Fire TV firmware did not change anything. The info section of the app still reads 5.1.1 when it comes to firmware, which is strange.
I guess a better question is: does the app work for anyone who is rooted? If so it must be something those of us who are having problems did, in which case a factory reset might be in order.

this is interesting. I haven't used the hbogo app since game of thrones concluded. I'll check my rooted ftv2 when i get home later tonight to see.

Seph25 said:
Did anyone figure out a workaround outside of installing the leanback edition?
I'm having the same issue, but the newest version of the app just crashes and gives a service error. Updating to the latest Fire TV firmware did not change anything. The info section of the app still reads 5.1.1 when it comes to firmware, which is strange.
I guess a better question is: does the app work for anyone who is rooted? If so it must be something those of us who are having problems did, in which case a factory reset might be in order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, I did figure out why it says 5.1.1. It's because that's the version of Android that the current firetv os is based on.
That's right, still on goddam lollipop. This might be the problem right here.
In any case, the new april update changed nothing, and neither did the new rbox 5.2.4.1 image.
I still don't think it's root, because hbogo works just fine on my rooted nexus 7 and on my rooted vs985.
hbo go app on amazon store has a ton of people saying it broke after the march update, so it's not just us.
If I'm feeling motivated I may try to grab a logcat and see if i can work it out, but as it's working with the pre-march leanback apk I'm not in a rush.

It's been a minute since this thread was active, but thought I'd post a logcat I finally got around to grabbing.
the meat of the thing is toward the end, but i included the whole logcat in case I missed something
I'm not terribly good with logcats, but it looks like a drminfo error, starting with :
W/mediaErrorLogger( 202): MediaError:MMSW_Metrics5.2.4.2:com.HBO.DRM_CANNOT_HANDLE=-2006 from DECRYPT
E/MediaCodec(16612): queueCSDInputBuffer failed w/ error -2006
E/ExoPlayerImplInternal(16612): Internal runtime error.
E/ExoPlayerImplInternal(16612): android.media.MediaCodec$CryptoException: Unknown Error
Thought I'd post it here in case anyone wants to poke at it

I use HBO NOW which stopped working a few weeks ago. Did a lot of clearing, uninstalling, etc. The problem was that the newer versions of NOW no longer worked. My fix, thanks to one of the nice people here was:
1. Block Updates in Application > Settings
2. Download the FTV Apps in Themes section at the bottom of the forum.
3. Unzip it.
4. Sideload the HBO app you need. For me NOW. For you GO.
Anyway, that worked for me. My thinking is that HBO doesn't like my Root, Xposed, or something else.
Maybe time to move on to some sort of generic streamer that lets me live free.

Unfortunately that didn't work for me on HBO GO. I downloaded HBO_GO_v9.2.0.4.apk from the pack and although it doesn't give an error message, it simply doesn't play.
In all honesty, I have no idea why I'm keeping root anyways (other than the "fun" of rooting something).

LakersFan_73 said:
Unfortunately that didn't work for me on HBO GO. I downloaded HBO_GO_v9.2.0.4.apk from the pack and although it doesn't give an error message, it simply doesn't play.
In all honesty, I have no idea why I'm keeping root anyways (other than the "fun" of rooting something).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too was having this problem and FINALLY found out the problem as actually my prerooted image from rbox.
He has since released a fixed prerooted image, hopefully this is also the same issue you're having?
Link to the post with updated prerooted firmware from rbox
rbox said:
July 27, 2017 - 5.2.4.2_r2 (md5sum: a96e73478cdbe8659f6758a5d27b4738
This includes updated firmware to fix Hulu and HBO.
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Yes, it fixed it. Sorry I should have updated my post.

HBO GO account
Never mind

xmxmxm said:
anybody know how to access the data on fire tv? I want to retrieve my old hbo go log-in information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't post in multiple places
I already answered you
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fi...re-tv-copy-t3810493/post76947862#post76947862

Blacklisted FireTV Bypass Registration?

Hello.
I recently purchased a firetv stick gen 2 from a market.
I couldn't register the device and amazon have informed me the device is blacklisted.
Is there any way to bypass this? Amazon will not help

I bought a lot of 17 of the firesticks from ebay and thought I was getting an awesome deal! Turns out I ran into the same issue on all 17. What I learned on from the fine forums here made it all worth it.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/firetv-firestick-stuck-update-screen-t3594843

Adrian806 said:
I bought a lot of 17 of the firesticks from ebay and thought I was getting an awesome deal! Turns out I ran into the same issue on all 17. What I learned on from the fine forums here made it all worth it.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/firetv-firestick-stuck-update-screen-t3594843
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you learn?

jezzymods said:
What did you learn?
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Click to collapse
I learned to use the fire tv remote app which gives you a settings gear button in top left corner. When connected to your network using the remote app an pressing settings button it allows you to bypass update screen. Then after going to enable usb debugging and unkown sources I was able to sideload with apps2fire the hyjack launcher, app starter, confireator, boot2appstarter. This allowed my blacklisted firestick to boot straight to appstarter launcher instead of getting hung up at update screen. I was able to sideload any third party apps that I wanted as well like mobdro, terrarium, kodi etc. I hope this helps and all the info I just stated is available in the link in my previous post with links to all necessary apks.

Has anyone found a workaround for new firmware? On the 2nd generation firesticks I can get to the settings but developer options are not there. On the 4k firestick I get past update to register but says my username and password dont exist. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

So Amazon bricks Fire TVs? How does that happen? Thanks.

Iwas told by amazon that my device thst I purchased off ebay was reported lost or stolen....

Adrian806 Did you ever find a fix for the newer 4k FireTV Stick?

jezzymods said:
What did you learn?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He learnt that he wasted his money buying 17 amazon fire tv sticks that are useless

Adrian806 said:
Has anyone found a workaround for new firmware? On the 2nd generation firesticks I can get to the settings but developer options are not there. On the 4k firestick I get past update to register but says my username and password dont exist. Any ideas would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you find an answer? having the same issue

nicholetuvk said:
Did you find an answer? having the same issue
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Click to collapse
Just some thoughts,
If you unlock it and install TWRP-
You can install a custom rom (firestick2 has a working rom, firestick4k has one with work in progress)
You can possible restore a back up from another one, but likely most things wont work.
There is post #3 here that claims to skip registration -
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/trying-to-skip-boot-update-brand-fire-t3752076
You will have to sideload apps or install a 3rd party appstore like F-Droid if you havent figured this out...
Good luck!

I did not see adb debugging options under the developer settings. Are those the same images you saw?

jezzymods said:
What did you learn?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you put that url which section

Adrian806 said:
I bought a lot of 17 of the firesticks from ebay and thought I was getting an awesome deal! Turns out I ran into the same issue on all 17. What I learned on from the fine forums here made it all worth it.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/firetv-firestick-stuck-update-screen-t3594843
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you type the https:// forum. Xda on my laptop or fire stick

Michajin said:
Just some thoughts,
If you unlock it and install TWRP-
You can install a custom rom (firestick2 has a working rom, firestick4k has one with work in progress)
You can possible restore a back up from another one, but likely most things wont work.
There is post #3 here that claims to skip registration -
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/trying-to-skip-boot-update-brand-fire-t3752076
You will have to sideload apps or install a 3rd party appstore like F-Droid if you havent figured this out...
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have TWRP why not just disable the setup package from there?