Develop Bugs

Need upgrade advice

I was so excited when I learned that the Fire TV would play XBMC (now Kodi) that I bought two units. I followed a forum guide that I lost the link to, but the guide got me to root and mod the units, install the Xposed Framework, Google Framework and Play Store, TowelRoot, SU, etc and his modded XBMC 14.0-alpha2 apk so it was set for launcher intent, and ever since, I've been pretty happily using the boxes to just stream my mkv's from my Windows SMB shares (like the WDTV boxes did that I replaced with the AFTs) but now I can't upgrade my Kodi to the latest release, and I also can no longer run the Amazon App Store from XBMC, which means I can't the Fire TV optimized apps (Facebook, Youtube, etc). Can someone recommend a way out of this mess? I want to save my paths from xbmc, but other than that, I don't have a lot of personalization on either box to care about, so I could just factor reset and start from scratch.
My needs are:
1. Need to be able to run Kodi and update whenever available
2. Need to run the Amazon App Store
3. Need to change the boot to launch into Kodi
What's my best bet? I'm very confused about what the right direction would be.
Thanks,
Jesse

jessenj said:
I was so excited when I learned that the Fire TV would play XBMC (now Kodi) that I bought two units. I followed a forum guide that I lost the link to, but the guide got me to root and mod the units, install the Xposed Framework, Google Framework and Play Store, TowelRoot, SU, etc and his modded XBMC 14.0-alpha2 apk so it was set for launcher intent, and ever since, I've been pretty happily using the boxes to just stream my mkv's from my Windows SMB shares (like the WDTV boxes did that I replaced with the AFTs) but now I can't upgrade my Kodi to the latest release, and I also can no longer run the Amazon App Store from XBMC, which means I can't the Fire TV optimized apps (Facebook, Youtube, etc). Can someone recommend a way out of this mess? I want to save my paths from xbmc, but other than that, I don't have a lot of personalization on either box to care about, so I could just factor reset and start from scratch.
My needs are:
1. Need to be able to run Kodi and update whenever available
2. Need to run the Amazon App Store
3. Need to change the boot to launch into Kodi
What's my best bet? I'm very confused about what the right direction would be.
Thanks,
Jesse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what's your question? You said you rooted the device & installed Kodi etc on it.. Not sure why you are asking what direction to go with?
Unless your first paragraph is some sort of typo..
Follow this here if you need to root the device..
Update to latest rootable FW.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-setup-a-new-fire-tv-without-blocking-root/
Root
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-root-the-amazon-fire-tv/
Block updates
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-ota-update-for-amazon-fire-tv-and-keep-root-access/
After that point, you can install the Google play store if you want, sideload Kodi apk onto the device. Use a custom launcher to load right into Kodi and bypass the default Amazon home screen. Once you do install Kodi and a launcher you can always go back to the default Amazon screen but just launching the KFTV launcher within Kodi.. So you never really lose access to it.
All that kind of info can be found here
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV

DHeffernan said:
So what's your question? You said you rooted the device & installed Kodi etc on it.. Not sure why you are asking what direction to go with?
Unless your first paragraph is some sort of typo..
Follow this here if you need to root the device..
Update to latest rootable FW.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-setup-a-new-fire-tv-without-blocking-root/
Root
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-root-the-amazon-fire-tv/
Block updates
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-ota-update-for-amazon-fire-tv-and-keep-root-access/
After that point, you can install the Google play store if you want, sideload Kodi apk onto the device. Use a custom launcher to load right into Kodi and bypass the default Amazon home screen. Once you do install Kodi and a launcher you can always go back to the default Amazon screen but just launching the KFTV launcher within Kodi.. So you never really lose access to it.
All that kind of info can be found here
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if I was unclear. My issue is kinda buried in my first post. When I wrote "modded XBMC 14.0-alpha2 apk so it was set for launcher intent", I"m not using a straight vanilla Kodi release, but a modded apk which appears to the unit as a launcher, and thus replaced the launcher on the unit so that it would boot straight into Kodi. What I need to do is upgrade the version of XBMC/Kodi to the latest. Should I scrub my boxes back to stock and use a different method to launch Kodi without the Amazon launcher? What is the preferred method of running Kodi as a launcher? Is there an alternative launcher replacement that I should be using instead?
Thanks and sorry for the ambiguity.
Jesse

jessenj said:
Sorry if I was unclear. My issue is kinda buried in my first post. When I wrote "modded XBMC 14.0-alpha2 apk so it was set for launcher intent", I"m not using a straight vanilla Kodi release, but a modded apk which appears to the unit as a launcher, and thus replaced the launcher on the unit so that it would boot straight into Kodi. What I need to do is upgrade the version of XBMC/Kodi to the latest. Should I scrub my boxes back to stock and use a different method to launch Kodi without the Amazon launcher? What is the preferred method of running Kodi as a launcher? Is there an alternative launcher replacement that I should be using instead?
Thanks and sorry for the ambiguity.
Jesse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just upgrade the current version you got using the below instructions. After that, just do the launcher mod from the wiki page I linked up top. No need to wipe your box, might as well maintain some of your XBMC config/setup.
For the cleanest launcher.. use Xposed and rbox module (Requires root). Which is described in the wiki page I linked.
XBMC can be upgraded through ADB without losing your settings. To do this, you must use a newer version of the package already installed on the machine.
Download the package to your machine
Make sure ADB is connected to the Fire TV
Run adb install -r <apk-file-name>
Installation is complete when it reports the message "Success"
XBMC will still go through the "first run" screen the first time it is launched but your settings will remain intact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DHeffernan said:
Just upgrade the current version you got using the below instructions. After that, just do the launcher mod from the wiki page I linked up top. No need to wipe your box, might as well maintain some of your XBMC config/setup.
For the cleanest launcher.. use Xposed and rbox module (Requires root). Which is described in the wiki page I linked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey guy's im haveing trouple finding 14.0 apk and above can you please help...

So I side-loaded the 14.0a3 and restored KFTV Launcher. After that, I side loaded the FiredLauncher and rbox module and now it boots straight into the updated Kodi release without losing settings so I guess this is as good as its gonna get but I'm a little confused. It looks like the KFTV launcher is still launching first before the FiredLauncher, which means KFTV is still using a ton of memory before Kodi starts. Can I prevent that from happening and boot directly to Fired?

[Q] remote downgrade

anyone know how to downgrade firmware on fire tv remote, i updated to latest and now lost features of it

can anyone even tell me were the remote firmware is located

what features did you loose.? I have the latest firmware and it still works with xbmc keymaps

paul.savo said:
anyone know how to downgrade firmware on fire tv remote, i updated to latest and now lost features of it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
paul.savo said:
can anyone even tell me were the remote firmware is located
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you upgrade FirmWare to 51.1.3.0_513011820 & your remote is not at 100%. That is because you have to do the following after a FW update to also update the remote.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-update-the-amazon-fire-tv-voice-remote-or-game-controller-software/
If not please explain if the lost features are only related to XBCM or ???

no not related to xbmc, actually related to the fire tv itself, i can no longer search for anything, within ftv, it does not recognise that i am searching

paul.savo said:
no not related to xbmc, actually related to the fire tv itself, i can no longer search for anything, within ftv, it does not recognise that i am searching
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it sound like you upgraded the firmware. You don't need to downgrade. Just follow the guide I posted above to update the FTV remote to match the latest FW & everything should go back to normal.
FTV controllers are known to loose functions after a FW upgrade until you also upgrade the remotes software to the new revision the new FW brought with it. Very easy to do. Just an extra step of FW upgrading.

1011
i thought that was what i did, i went to the settings picked controller, it gave me an update firmware and i selected it and downloaded but since then i had the problems, i now now longer have thr option to update again as it believes it is up to date, any ideas? i have a 2nd ftv, would it be pissible to copy any folders from it across?

paul.savo said:
i thought that was what i did, i went to the settings picked controller, it gave me an update firmware and i selected it and downloaded but since then i had the problems, i now now longer have thr option to update again as it believes it is up to date, any ideas? i have a 2nd ftv, would it be pissible to copy any folders from it across?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would probably be to complicated...
What Software version (prerooted or stock) is your FireTV @ ?
What Software version is your Remote @ ?
Is you FireTV routed ?
Do you have CWM Recovery installed ?
Will need that info to see what options you have... Could be a bad FW flash.

im just in work so dont have details to hand., fire tv is rooted, i have cwm,

paul.savo said:
im just in work so dont have details to hand., fire tv is rooted, i have cwm,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the pre-rooted FW ?
Also how did you get the new FW to CWM for flashing ? Push to cache (can give problems) or Sideloaded using one of the apss to SDCard & then flashed it from CWM ?

to be honest im not sure i bought it fully rooted with latest firmware and all xbmc/apps installed

paul.savo said:
to be honest im not sure i bought it fully rooted with latest firmware and all xbmc/apps installed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So there was a pending update only for the remote which you accepted ?? Did you see the "FireTV Remote update is complete" image ?
http://www.aftvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/controllerupdate-09.jpg
Did you power cycled the FTV for 20 seconds (Unplug, wait 20 sec & replug it back in) afterwards ? Are you having only voice search problems or text search problems too ?? Try to give a much info as possible.
It's better to do the soft reboot = simultaneously holding down the “Select” and “Play” buttons on the remote for a few seconds until it reboots. ( http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-safely-reboot-and-restart-the-amazon-fire-tv/ )

yes i only updated the remote
i followed the procedure in http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-update-the-amazon-fire-tv-voice-remote-or-game-controller-software/
i may have made a mistake im not sure but it appeared as though it updated as stated in guide.
both voice and text are affected, eg. if i type or say a movie "batman begins" as i type it recognises it and below were i type will be batman begins but when i select it, i then get a return saying somthing like no results returned, but when i do this on my other ftv which i did not update remote it will take me to amazon store and find movie/tv show/music that i searched for

just re your last, i did now power cycle off for 20seconds

paul.savo said:
just re your last, i did now power cycle off for 20seconds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Result of he power cycle ??
What version is the remote showing as ??

i gbink its the latest im not at device now im in work ( how can i check? does it show in settings?)

paul.savo said:
i gbink its the latest im not at device now im in work ( how can i check? does it show in settings?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thought you where at device since you just mention doing the 20 sec power cycle. Another way to reboot is simultaneously holding down the “Select” and “Play” buttons on the remote for a few seconds.
Yes version shows in the settings...
http://www.aftvnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/controllerupdate-04.png
You can also unpair it and re-pair it (pair = connected to the FTV)
Well no point of continuing to guess around. Post back once you are @ device.

ok thanks, sorry if u thought was at device, i meant when i updated it i did not power off for 20secs, will post version later

paul.savo said:
ok thanks, sorry if u thought was at device, i meant when i updated it i did not power off for 20secs, will post version later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you get home DON'T do the unplug thing. Just do the simultaneously holding down the “Select” and “Play” buttons on the remote for a few seconds until it reboots. Let it finish rebooting & then check search again.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-safely-reboot-and-restart-the-amazon-fire-tv/

does not appear to be remote but device itself, the updated remote works fine on new ftv but when i put the new remote on old ftv i have same issue, both remotes on diff firmware, 349/352
.do you know were search folder located in root menu on device and i could replace with new ftv

spmc setup

hi all,
im in the process of setting up my new aftv (UK no root)
im working my way through the guides to figure out how to sideload appss.
my questions are, which version of apk file do i download rom spmc website. launcher or non launcher? will launcher allow me to load from start even though im not rooted?
also, how do i get google play store onto aftv, would that allow me to download apps such as bt sport or are they all a no go for non rooted devices. just trying to figure out how much i can do with this nice little box

ratski said:
hi all,
im in the process of setting up my new aftv (UK no root)
im working my way through the guides to figure out how to sideload appss.
my questions are, which version of apk file do i download rom spmc website. launcher or non launcher? will launcher allow me to load from start even though im not rooted?
also, how do i get google play store onto aftv, would that allow me to download apps such as bt sport or are they all a no go for non rooted devices. just trying to figure out how much i can do with this nice little box
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 Non launcher is your only choice without root
2 no google play store without root
If the apps that you want to sideload from google play is a free app, then it can be done without root using APK Downloader. But that doesn't mean that they will actually work properly on the Ftv.

Thankyou thats exactky the info i was after.
Can i just ask what everyones uses to sideload apps. The original guide was a bit over tge top and then noticed aftv utility and adb fire.
I will also need sonething to move over zip files to allow install of navi x

How can I reinstall Firmware on FireTV?

Hi everyone,
I received a FireTV box from a friend who didn't want it anymore. The model # on the back says DV83YW. I believe this is FireTV 2nd Gen, correct?
Anyways, the FireTV box was working when I received it, but it would not install the YouTube app from the app store. I attempted to do a Firware update but it would not install that either.
After contacting Amazon support they told me to do a factory reset which completed successfully. However, now, after connecting to the internet and selecting language the firmware automatically goes into firmware update and fails. It looks like it fails to even download the update. Then, Amazon support basically told me that the FireTV box is bricked and they can't help further.
Is there any way to flash the latest firmware via the USB port to get it working again?
Thanks in advance for the help!

omairkha said:
Hi everyone,
I received a FireTV box from a friend who didn't want it anymore. The model # on the back says DV83YW. I believe this is FireTV 2nd Gen, correct?
Anyways, the FireTV box was working when I received it, but it would not install the YouTube app from the app store. I attempted to do a Firware update but it would not install that either.
After contacting Amazon support they told me to do a factory reset which completed successfully. However, now, after connecting to the internet and selecting language the firmware automatically goes into firmware update and fails. It looks like it fails to even download the update. Then, Amazon support basically told me that the FireTV box is bricked and they can't help further.
Is there any way to flash the latest firmware via the USB port to get it working again?
Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can root your FireTV via this, i think
https://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-2-box-running-latest-software-version-has-been-rooted/
After that flash TWRP, from there flash latest prerooted System Images.
If the prerooted images don't have updates blocked, when a system update is available then it will download it f for you which will be in update.bla.bla.bin format, copy that from your data partition to internal storage
This will be your stock rom, you can use TWRP to wipe the system and flash Stock if you want

SweenWolf said:
You can root your FireTV via this, i think
https://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-2-box-running-latest-software-version-has-been-rooted/
After that flash TWRP, from there flash latest prerooted System Images.
If the prerooted images don't have updates blocked, when a system update is available then it will download it f for you which will be in update.bla.bla.bin format, copy that from your data partition to internal storage
This will be your stock rom, you can use TWRP to wipe the system and flash Stock if you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I'll give this a shot but not sure if it will work. As it stands now, the Fire TV halts at the firmware update error screen after I select the language and connect to a network. I can't get into home screen or settings to enable the ADB Debugging. Hopefully it's already enabled, or is there another way to get into the settings via the remote?

So just as I thought I can't connect to the FireTv through adb since I can't get to the home screen or the settings. Any other ideas?

Also cannot update fire tv 2 sloane
omairkha said:
So just as I thought I can't connect to the FireTv through adb since I can't get to the home screen or the settings. Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will not help you but i am in a very similar predicament.
Got Fire TV 2 from friend on 5.2.6.0 which is OLD firmware, and i cannot get it to update. Many factory resets.
Amazon support is COMEPLETELY useless, but i would suggest contacting Amazon and beg them to return it for another.
On this one, although i AM able to access UI screen and use it, i cannot update it, in turn i cannot install Youtube TV - the one with cable tv channels not regular youtube. The primary purpose for me having this.

For anyone with a similar problem in 2022 , the fire tv 2 box aka sloane
had its last update at 5.2.8 I think . don't hold me to that lol.
Basically you aren't going to find that ROM update around after you unlock and flash the
box, its only shared on Amazon as source code and the available roms you would use
to restore are all pre rooted which usually blocks updates .
WHAT you NEED to do is search xda for unlocking and rooting fire tv 2 Sloane .
The process involves opening your box and shorting certain pins while you execute
Linux command and software .
Amazon purposely wants to phase out the usefulness and functionality of the fire tv Sloane , so this leaves users with a problem .
Closest ROM you can probably get to flash in twrp would be 5.2.7.6
For anyone looking to update the ROM beyond that , you would have to contact the
devs for help on a specific method to allow the updates again .
I'm sure there's a way to do it
I'm not a dev though , I just enjoy guiding people to see they find the help they need.
Peace.

Firetv2: need help unblocking updates, unrooting, etc

Hi guys. I have a FireTV 4k box. The 2nd gen one.
When I bought it way back upon release a few years ago, I rooted it, used it for a bit, and put it in a box. Just recently I took it back out and started using it again.
Whatever method I used to root it etc is unknown, as it was afew years ago, and I can't find anything similar anywhere online. At the time, downloader wasn't a thing, and you had to adb in and sideload apps.
I am currently on 5.2.6.3
The box won't update at all.
I adb' into the box, and found SU doesn't work. I was able to get temp root via mtk-su and successfully ran the pm unhide com.amazon.device.software.ota and pm enable com.amazon.device.software.ota commands.
The firetv will now at least SEARCH for updates (where it wouldn't before) but doesn't find any to install.
The manage_recovery command to check status won't run. Says manage_recovery not found.
I'm not sure what to do next.
I just want it back to completely stock.
I'm having issues with apps working, but upon restart of the firetv the somehow get transferred to a non-existent sd card and will no longer run.
Netflix in particular.
Can you guys give any guidance here?

zx7ninja said:
Hi guys. I have a FireTV 4k box. The 2nd gen one.
When I bought it way back upon release a few years ago, I rooted it, used it for a bit, and put it in a box. Just recently I took it back out and started using it again.
Whatever method I used to root it etc is unknown, as it was afew years ago, and I can't find anything similar anywhere online. At the time, downloader wasn't a thing, and you had to adb in and sideload apps.
I am currently on 5.2.6.3
The box won't update at all.
I adb' into the box, and found SU doesn't work. I was able to get temp root via mtk-su and successfully ran the pm unhide com.amazon.device.software.ota and pm enable com.amazon.device.software.ota commands.
The firetv will now at least SEARCH for updates (where it wouldn't before) but doesn't find any to install.
The manage_recovery command to check status won't run. Says manage_recovery not found.
I'm not sure what to do next.
I just want it back to completely stock.
I'm having issues with apps working, but upon restart of the firetv the somehow get transferred to a non-existent sd card and will no longer run.
Netflix in particular.
Can you guys give any guidance here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you wish to go back to stock but perhaps you may wish to use the new and improved root (Magisk or Supersu) and upgrade your box that way.
The Sloane 2nd generation Firetv Box can now be fully unlocked. This will allow you to upgrade your box to a more recent firmware.
A simple step by step guide can be found here :
[UNLOCK][ROOT][TWRP][UNBRICK] FireTV 2 (sloane)
Read this whole guide before starting. This is for the 2nd gen Fire TV (sloane) Current relase: amonet-sloane-v1.1 NOTE: This process does not require you to open your device if you're already rooted or you have TWRP. NOTE: If something goes...
forum.xda-developers.com
Hope this helps
Regards

That is a good idea, and may work. I'll give it a shot and see what happens, thanks!
Hopefully it fixes whatever bug is causing apps to flag as installed on a non-existent SD card and no longer run.
All I'm looking for, really.

zx7ninja said:
That is a good idea, and may work. I'll give it a shot and see what happens, thanks!
Hopefully it fixes whatever bug is causing apps to flag as installed on a non-existent SD card and no longer run.
All I'm looking for, really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's just really old firmware tbh so the cert.zip and/or the ota update apks are probably deprecated.
Goto unlock root twrp unbrick Sloane thread here :
[UNLOCK][ROOT][TWRP][UNBRICK] FireTV 2 (sloane)
Read this whole guide before starting. This is for the 2nd gen Fire TV (sloane) Current relase: amonet-sloane-v1.1 NOTE: This process does not require you to open your device if you're already rooted or you have TWRP. NOTE: If something goes...
forum.xda-developers.com
Just have a read through the OP on page one and familiarise yourself. Follow it to the letter and you'll be able to update your box no problem.
If you need any help just ask and someone will be around to help you out if need be.
Regards

Is there an advantage of doing this over the pre-rooted rooms flashed in TWRP? I have a rooted fire TV v2 that I have done periodic updates on but it seems like it always has another update to do. Updates are blocked but it pops a message randomly saying there is and update giving 60 seconds to respond or it reboots trying to update. Would this method of root/updates be easier or more up to date?

ottoguy said:
Is there an advantage of doing this over the pre-rooted rooms flashed in TWRP? I have a rooted fire TV v2 that I have done periodic updates on but it seems like it always has another update to do. Updates are blocked but it pops a message randomly saying there is and update giving 60 seconds to respond or it reboots trying to update. Would this method of root/updates be easier or more up to date?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely unlock Sloane with this new method.
IMO you have FULL control over the box. Also you have more easier management of your root access (Magisk Manager)
OTA can be handled easily either by adb command or use an app such as luckypatcher to disable/enable ota onscreen.
I would recommend this unlock to anyone wanting a more upto date root and fireos.