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I just went to setup one of my new units and even with the router blocking the 2 urls which worked fine yesterday my unit tonight did in fact take the update and is now at 51.1.4.0 !
Is anyone aware of a new server that Amazon is using to push updates when first setting up the unit??? This is very upsetting!
I CANNOT CHANGE THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD BUT DISCOVERED MY ROUTER WAS NOT BLOCKING URLS PROPERLY. WITH A NEW ROUTER THAT IS BLOCKING THE CURRENT URLS THE UNIT WILL NOT LOAD SO MY ASSUMPTION WAS INCORRECT AND I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY CONFUSION THAT THIS POST MIGHT HAVE CAUSED!!
(Perhaps a mod can change the title of this thread to a question instead of a statement???)
This is not good news. Hopefully someone has an answer for you as I am curious as well. I still have a couple that I need to set-up and really don't want to lose root.
fxbill said:
I just went to setup one of my new units and even with the router blocking the 2 urls which worked fine yesterday my unit tonight did in fact take the update and is now at 51.1.4.0 !
Is anyone aware of a new server that Amazon is using to push updates when first setting up the unit??? This is very upsetting!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine had something weird happen yesterday too. I was trying to backup my XBMC using adbFire and kept getting disconnected. So I'd connect again, get an error message, connect, then get disconnected. When it finally connected with a solid connection, I noticed that the Amazon Updates went from being turned OFF to ON. I unplugged everything and blocked all traffic through my modem before reconnecting. I've done a few reboots since then and everything is back to normal...on 51.1.1.0 with updates back off.
It felt like Amazon was trying to push an update to my unit, but I have no way to prove that. I'm very interested in seeing what is going on.
Well it is a possibility... Just glad I don't have to worry to much about it with CWM installed on all my FTV's...
Anyway... Guess @AFTVnews.com or some of those experiencing the problems can sniff if anything has changed using the WireShark prog. :cyclops:
Y314K said:
Well it is a possibility... Just glad I don't have to worry to much about it with CWM installed on all my FTV's...
Anyway... Guess @AFTVnews.com or some of those experiencing the problems can sniff if anything has changed using the WireShark prog. :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wish people weren't bricking their devices trying to load CWM...
spyder3 said:
Just wish people weren't bricking their devices trying to load CWM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem I've seen are folks starting from the same info point (guide/order) while their AFTV's are in different device states. It's not hard to do at all once you know from where you are starting. That way you can map out the correct order of steps with the Apps... You do have to choose weather to do it manually thru ADB or with an APP... I trust the APP more then doing it manually... I have seen folks trying to do stuff from the guides like the renaming of FW or Recovery files while trying to use the APP which is not necessary(Not sure if the .zip is being renamed twice, manually & by the app). Also RBox mentioned he is working on trying to stop the possible bricking....
Start at the first post here to get an idea how easy it should be. But the steps order or numbers can change depending what FW you are starting at & if it's a new out of the box or if its one that needs to be FW downgraded or both Recovery & FW downgraded.
Read page 47 just to familiarize yourself with the process. Don't try it right now.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2736774&page=47
If the problem is a new IP address that needs to be blocked. You need to wait for confirmation. If you can't wait then I would try to do the Stock Recovery Downgrade/ReRoot/Disable OTA Updates/FW Downgrade/CWM Installation, etc with only ADB allowed aka Offline. But not sure how some of the changes will require internet... Like to reconnect to your Amazon account. I would wait for confirmation of a new IP or other problem.. Probably offline...
spyder3 said:
Just wish people weren't bricking their devices trying to load CWM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know of anyone who bricked installing CWM.
rbox said:
I don't know of anyone who bricked installing CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely Correct... Some folks have run into problems during the downgrading. But even for them the keyboard trick with patience should/have get them back on the road to CWM. Got confirmation on a few threads here of folks getting CWM installed after getting stuck with the white Amazon screen or black screen.
I just tested with a Fire TV running stock 51.1.3.0_user_513011820 and it tried to download 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 from the same domain and URL as it always had. I then factory reset it and it again tried to download 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 during the initial setup form the same domain: amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net
So based on this test, I see no indication the update URL has changed. Of Course, it's possible Amazon is using a new URL for some Fire TVs while others are using the known URLs.
I'll continue checking periodically and report back if the URL changes for this particular FIre TV.
AFTVnews.com said:
I just tested with a Fire TV running stock 51.1.3.0_user_513011820 and it tried to download 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 from the same domain and URL as it always had. I then factory reset it and it again tried to download 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 during the initial setup form the same domain: amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net
So based on this test, I see no indication the update URL has changed. Of Course, it's possible Amazon is using a new URL for some Fire TVs while others are using the known URLs.
I'll continue checking periodically and report back if the URL changes for this particular FIre TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didn't indicate whether it took the new firmware or not....did it upgrade to 51.1.4.0 or download the firmware?
I had a thought about this last night, but of course it's too late to try it on my units, but my router has 2 options....One is to block specific URLs which is what I did. The other is to only allow specific urls to be accessed. I'm wondering if you only allowed firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com to be accessed since you need that to register the unit and complete the setup if you could still get through the setup routine. It wouldn't allow any connection except to firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com. Don't have a unit to try it with, but it might just work and if not the worst that would happen is that you wouldn't get through the setup....no harm done.
fxbill said:
You didn't indicate whether it took the new firmware or not....did it upgrade to 51.1.4.0 or download the firmware?
I had a thought about this last night, but of course it's too late to try it on my units, but my router has 2 options....One is to block specific URLs which is what I did. The other is to only allow specific urls to be accessed. I'm wondering if you only allowed firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com to be accessed since you need that to register the unit and complete the setup if you could still get through the setup routine. It wouldn't allow any connection except to firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com. Don't have a unit to try it with, but it might just work and if not the worst that would happen is that you wouldn't get through the setup....no harm done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the download domain blocked so it couldn't download the update. As for your suggestion, I tried it with one of the earlier units that would not proceed past a failed update. I monitored every domain it tried to access and slowly fed it more access one domain at a time. The result was always the same: it gives various error messages because it can't reach certain domains. It never got past the update point in the initial setup.
fxbill said:
I just went to setup one of my new units and even with the router blocking the 2 urls which worked fine yesterday my unit tonight did in fact take the update and is now at 51.1.4.0 !
Is anyone aware of a new server that Amazon is using to push updates when first setting up the unit??? This is very upsetting!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are blocking using a ASUS router that might be the problem. When I loaded the latest ASUS firmware on my RT-AC66U all my blocked URLs stopped being blocked. I had to step back to an old firmware to get the feature working again
krawhitham said:
If you are blocking using a ASUS router that might be the problem. When I loaded the latest ASUS firmware on my RT-AC66U all my blocked URLs stopped being blocked. I had to step back to an old firmware to get the feature working again
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Click to collapse
That's exactly what happened!!! I put facebook and ebay on the block list just to check and it wasn't blocking either of them! I'm off to get a new NetGear tomorrow. They have a "genie" program that is extremely easy to use for blocking sites or words (or update numbers) and it's only $39. I took one of the updated units back to Staples today and told them it had connectivity problems...( it really did....it connected with the darned upgrader!) and asked the girl in this tiny store if she would get one from the back that was way in the back and on the bottom of the pile if she could. She actually did for me! It's the lowest serial number I own now, but I'm not touching it until I get the new router and prove to myself that the sites are being blocked. I need the break and a little sleep anyway....too many hours at this for the last week.
By the way.... I do believe I have a way of downgrading the new firmware to any older firmware that was ever out. I'm going to have to sacrifice a unit to verify, but if they store the firmware on a TSOP I can do it. Clone time coming up!
I'm not a software guy, but am a hellofa hardware tech. Did it with satellite receivers for years..... ( Still love tubes more than any solid state stuff though!)
fxbill said:
That's exactly what happened!!! I put facebook and ebay on the block list just to check and it wasn't blocking either of them! I'm off to get a new NetGear tomorrow. They have a "genie" program that is extremely easy to use for blocking sites or words (or update numbers) and it's only $39. I took one of the updated units back to Staples today and told them it had connectivity problems...( it really did....it connected with the darned upgrader!) and asked the girl in this tiny store if she would get one from the back that was way in the back and on the bottom of the pile if she could. She actually did for me! It's the lowest serial number I own now, but I'm not touching it until I get the new router and prove to myself that the sites are being blocked. I need the break and a little sleep anyway....too many hours at this for the last week.
By the way.... I do believe I have a way of downgrading the new firmware to any older firmware that was ever out. I'm going to have to sacrifice a unit to verify, but if they store the firmware on a TSOP I can do it. Clone time coming up!
I'm not a software guy, but am a hellofa hardware tech. Did it with satellite receivers for years..... ( Still love tubes more than any solid state stuff though!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just dawned on me....with all of the excellent coders here and knowing that with Backtrack you can spoof a url or an IP. Someone could discover where the units are updating from and where they connect to and spoof the information..( along with the older firmware) and never actually have to connect with Amazon. The unit would think that it is connecting and download whatever it was fed and finish the initial install in order to root it.....just a wild thought, but I think a good programer could come up with a way to do it.
fxbill said:
It just dawned on me....with all of the excellent coders here and knowing that with Backtrack you can spoof a url or an IP. Someone could discover where the units are updating from and where they connect to and spoof the information..( along with the older firmware) and never actually have to connect with Amazon. The unit would think that it is connecting and download whatever it was fed and finish the initial install in order to root it.....just a wild thought, but I think a good programer could come up with a way to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RBox & AFTVNews.com & others have already looked into this. Do a search for spoofing on the full thread & u'll probably find it.. Basically there are parts that are encrypted & we can't give the FTV the right answer to allow the older FW to be flashed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/trick-amazon-update-url-redirect-to-t2900031
Y314K said:
RBox & AFTVNews.com & others have already looked into this. Do a search for spoofing on the full thread & u'll probably find it.. Basically there are parts that are encrypted & we can't give the FTV the right answer to allow the older FW to be flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are 2 things to spoof. One is the response from softwareupdates.amazon.com. Aside from the fact that if you spoof it the server has to be using a valid certificate (which you won't get), it's response is signed and encrypted. The second thing to spoof is the actual firmware download. That has to be signed or else it will reject it. It also has to match the version it's expecting to download. So you can't spoof the response that would make the fire tv download an old version, and you can't spoof the update itself because it won't match what it wants.
Furthmore... Backtrack has nothing to do with it. Backtrack is a huge piece of **** that doesn't do anything magical that any SANE Linux dist can't do. And what the... XDA censors? How lame is that...
fxbill said:
That's exactly what happened!!! I put facebook and ebay on the block list just to check and it wasn't blocking either of them! I'm off to get a new NetGear tomorrow. They have a "genie" program that is extremely easy to use for blocking sites or words (or update numbers) and it's only $39. I took one of the updated units back to Staples today and told them it had connectivity problems...( it really did....it connected with the darned upgrader!) and asked the girl in this tiny store if she would get one from the back that was way in the back and on the bottom of the pile if she could. She actually did for me! It's the lowest serial number I own now, but I'm not touching it until I get the new router and prove to myself that the sites are being blocked. I need the break and a little sleep anyway....too many hours at this for the last week.
By the way.... I do believe I have a way of downgrading the new firmware to any older firmware that was ever out. I'm going to have to sacrifice a unit to verify, but if they store the firmware on a TSOP I can do it. Clone time coming up!
I'm not a software guy, but am a hellofa hardware tech. Did it with satellite receivers for years..... ( Still love tubes more than any solid state stuff though!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fxbill said:
I just went to setup one of my new units and even with the router blocking the 2 urls which worked fine yesterday my unit tonight did in fact take the update and is now at 51.1.4.0 !
Is anyone aware of a new server that Amazon is using to push updates when first setting up the unit??? This is very upsetting!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would advice you add a note to the #1 post saying that it's been resolved & it was a Router Software problem (in bold). Maybe change the title of the thread too. Some folks might not read past the tittle or first posts & start to repeat that there is a new IP updating FTV's when that is not the case.
Tip: Tomato FW Routers block IP's like a BOSS!!!
Urls dont work
I have blocked the urls amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite softwareupdates.amazon.com through router before setting up my firetv and it had updated to the latest firmware uk version so just to let people know they do not work is amazon using new urls for updating
Y314K said:
I would advice you add a note to the #1 post saying that it's been resolved & it was a Router Software problem (in bold). Maybe change the title of the thread too. Some folks might not read past the tittle or first posts & start to repeat that there is a new IP updating FTV's when that is not the case.
Tip: Tomato FW Routers block IP's like a BOSS!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I plan on doing that, but only after I pick up the new router today and verify. Thanks for the tip on the router!
( Just discovered that I can't edit the title of the thread.)
rbox said:
There are 2 things to spoof. One is the response from softwareupdates.amazon.com. Aside from the fact that if you spoof it the server has to be using a valid certificate (which you won't get), it's response is signed and encrypted. The second thing to spoof is the actual firmware download. That has to be signed or else it will reject it. It also has to match the version it's expecting to download. So you can't spoof the response that would make the fire tv download an old version, and you can't spoof the update itself because it won't match what it wants.
Furthmore... Backtrack has nothing to do with it. Backtrack is a huge piece of **** that doesn't do anything magical that any SANE Linux dist can't do. And what the... XDA censors? How lame is that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only brought up Backtrack as an example. It's merely a collection of programs written by other coders. Say what you will about it. Makes no difference to me, but it has served me pretty well since I am not a coder and have little knowledge in writing my own codes. Kudos to you for being able to. As I stated, I'm a hardware person and a technician. I can design a board, but programming for me is an entirely different story. Years ago satellite TV receivers had a similar issue where a receiver would not accept a card that was not the correct card for the unit. It was called the ZKT...( zero knowledge test) The receiver had some information encoded in the prom... (supposedly some sort of question that it asked of the card). The card also had some info coded into it. Neither had any purpose by itself, but when a card was inserted into the unit the unit sent out the encoded "question". If the card responded with anything other than the correct information the unit would not function. A coder discovered a way to program eproms that did not have this ZKT information in it and after programming an eprom and replacing the prom in the unit with the newly coded eprom the unit would accept any card that was put into it.
I'm only stating this as an example. It might come down to cloning the eprom from one good unit to one that has the newer firmware on it, but I feel very confident that someone can and will do it at some point. I rarely ever say it can't be done....too many times have I been proven wrong by someone knowing much more than I do and no matter how good you might be at something someone a little or a lot better is going to come along and do what you couldn't.
Hi Chaps....
I recently had an upgrade from my isp,... and stupidly forgot to turn off my firetv,.... (I had it running perfectly,... no banners, and no intro to prime movies....)
IMy original update was the only one I ever had to do to allow xbmc (at the time) to be installed,... I them blocked updates through OpenDNS.
Off course I'm now on 51.1.6.3.
Now my problem may seem a little trivial, but I'm wondering if it might be something I may have done.
One of the few games that I installed through the firetv was "Hill Climb Racing",.. and I have just noticed that there is an update for it,.... (I do remember one previously, and that updated fine, on the older firmware).
But now when I go to update it all that happens is the game shows the screen where it states "Update App now" I click on it, and it just says "Update queued".
If I leave it until the screensaver kicks in and go back to it, the game has just gone back to saying that there is an update available again....
would it be anything to do with my open dnssettings...
these are what i have blocked..
Always Block:
a1910.d.akamai.net
amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net
atv-ext.amazon.com
softwareupdates.amazon.com
updates.amazon.com
Would be helpful if any one could point me as to which one may be blocking game updates,.... or could it be something different.
Help or ideas would be very much appreciated, thanks chaps..
slackbladder
-----------------------
It seems I have the same problem with bbc iplayer update and also a weather app update, .... in fact these dont even go to "update queued" screen, then just shrink back down as if I didn't click update.
decided to try installing ookla speed test, (i know its not compatible) but I just wanted to see if i could sync it,.... yep you guess it, I cannot sync anything either......
So it seems that it is impossible to sync apps that are deemed by amazon not to be compatible with the firetv,..... strange because they still allowed the free purchase to go through but it just wont sync,.... followed their instructions by the book, sync, go to apps folder, find app in cloud and install.
The only thing that has occurred recently is that F^&*ing update that got through...... I cannot believe I let that happen.... now I have to suffer a box that was working perfectly fine, just to have amaz0n F**k it up.
Hey all.
So I have a previously rooted FTV that is now unrooted and on 5.0.5.
Everything was great until just a couple of hours ago when I sideloaded Kodi via Apps2Fire. Everything seemed OK at first, but I quickly found after about 5 minutes that when on the main screen, I am unable to access the "Apps" section. When I scroll down to it, I am redirected up a couple of entries to "Movies." If I scroll up to the "Apps" section from beneath it, I am redirected down a couple of entries to "Photos." I tried a factory reset, but that did nothing for me.
What can I do?
I'd greatly appreciate any help that can be provided.
I'm seeing exactly the same behavior on a Fire Gen 1 and a Fire Stick. I had Kodi installed on both. I also tried a factory reset on one with no change.
So I can't help, but you're not alone .
Exactly same problem never rooted mine tho did. factory reset still same problem
Quicklyfrozen and skytcam, when did this issue start for you two?
I noticed it about an hour ago maybe a little more
justin526 said:
Quicklyfrozen and skytcam, when did this issue start for you two?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just noticed it today, but I don't normally use the apps category (usually just pick something from the recents list).
A couple days ago (probably Saturday) I noticed that my LLama + Classic TV solution wasn't working anymore to launch Kodi so I assume the software was updated around then. After searching for a bit on that issue, I read that side loaded apps were supposed to show up on the app list now so I thought I'd check it out (and found it broken).
BTW, I've never rooted either device, just enabled ADB and side-loaded Kodi and LLama.
I'm having the same problem. It only started early. This afternoon. I tried everything that others have tried but nothing doing.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Well then, I'm hopeful that this is a temporary issue on Amazon's side and that they'll resolve it. I guess we'll see.
Seems to have resolved itself on both my devices. Must have been a server side issue.
And after side-loading it again, Kodi does show up in the "My apps library" list.
Yep it's suddenly working on mine too. Hopefully it's all worked out.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
I had to deregister and sign back in and it worked
My apps library suddenly won't let me access it either.
My Fire TV suddenly started redirecting me to the movies or music sections every time I tried to click on the apps section. I haven't found a solution to get the apps tile function back, but it is simple to get around this sudden annoyance. I simply went to settings, then applications, scrolled down to manage applications, then scrolled down to the exact app I wished to open and hit the first choice, which was launch application. It was a round about way to open my favorite apps, but they still open and work fine with this method. I hope this helps.
Hello guys and girls,
I've been using the unofficial Amazon Video app (the one pulled from a Sony TV that's been floating around) for a while now and it worked pretty much OK (except for the functions triggered by the 4 coloured buttons).
But, because the update to Nougat, I decided to ditch the old app and use the one included with the update. Until my wife pointed out some obvious problems:
1. When the Shield goes to sleep (like when pausing the movie to go pop some more corn) the new Amazon Video app is closed. Restarting the movie implies restarting the app and navigate to the movie again. This was not the case with the unofficial app.
2. When restarting the movie, it is rewinded some 30 - 60 seconds, which is a little too much, especially when you've just seen that part 5 minutes earlier. This was not the case with the unofficial app.
3. The parental control seems to be active this time around. For example some episodes of Two and a half men need the pin code every time they are started and restarted. Problem is that we wouldn't need this feature at all, but cannot be disabled. Again, not the case with the unofficial app.
Have you noticed these quirks? Are they annoying to you too?
Sadly the old thread seems to have been deleted so I cannot recover the unofficial Amazon Prime Video app...
Wish you a great day!
I can't even get my Amazon Video app to load. I just get error message 1066 (this one) and all I can do is go back to the home screen
Amazon CS just denied that the Shield TV supports Amazon Video and Manuel Guzman from Nvidia can't pick up my error feedback, so no help really.
Andy4Shurr said:
I can't even get my Amazon Video app to load. I just get error message 1066 (this one) and all I can do is go back to the home screen
Amazon CS just denied that the Shield TV supports Amazon Video and Manuel Guzman from Nvidia can't pick up my error feedback, so no help really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just outta interest... And as I ran... (Well more like scatterbrained), also running into this Problem with Amazon. I would ask if your not running some kind of Proxy Service \ VPN App?
I happen to be currently using Keep Solids VPN, as it was One of the first such Apps to have appeared in the TV PlayStore. It worked better under Lollipop. But, I suspect the quriks with Nougat will improve a bit further down the road.
The uphsot of all this is, is if I forget to turn this Service back off again latter on, when I want to browe a bit on the Amazon App. It runs into nearly the same conditions such as you've described. Save being very, very lagy, and slow. When it actually does try to do something other than landing on a Black Screen.
I am using no proxy or VPN. There's no need for one or the other with the German Amazon Prime Video.
Ichijoe said:
Just outta interest... And as I ran... (Well more like scatterbrained), also running into this Problem with Amazon. I would ask if your not running some kind of Proxy Service \ VPN App?
I happen to be currently using Keep Solids VPN, as it was One of the first such Apps to have appeared in the TV PlayStore. It worked better under Lollipop. But, I suspect the quriks with Nougat will improve a bit further down the road.
The uphsot of all this is, is if I forget to turn this Service back off again latter on, when I want to browe a bit on the Amazon App. It runs into nearly the same conditions such as you've described. Save being very, very lagy, and slow. When it actually does try to do something other than landing on a Black Screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have VPN Unlimited installed but as I'm in the UK I have it disabled for Amazon Video as it's not needed.
Humm odd I'm from Germany (w/German Amazon), but am using VPN Unlimited, to purloin such Services, such as the BBC iPlayer, and as many US Catch-up Services that do NOT require a Cable Sub Login, to access it. Everything is working more or less.
Like I said sometimes I forget that I have it enabled to watch say iPlayer, than shut it down to play some Game or other. Than decide I go watch Some Top Gear um.. The Grand Tour, only to wonder what the heck was wrong with Amazon, and why it wouldn't load up, or if it did manage to load up. Why it would just sit and spin, till it timed out, with some Error. Which was near enough to the Ops Error Code. But I can't say if it was that very exact Code, or not.
It's about this time when I remember that I did in fact still have my VPN turned on. Once I go to the VPN Unlimited App, and then proceed to turn it back off again. It's at that moment when Amazon starts working for me again.
Ichijoe said:
Humm odd I'm from Germany (w/German Amazon), but am using VPN Unlimited, to purloin such Services, such as the BBC iPlayer, and as many US Catch-up Services that do NOT require a Cable Sub Login, to access it. Everything is working more or less.
Like I said sometimes I forget that I have it enabled to watch say iPlayer, than shut it down to play some Game or other. Than decide I go watch Some Top Gear um.. The Grand Tour, only to wonder what the heck was wrong with Amazon, and why it wouldn't load up, or if it did manage to load up. Why it would just sit and spin, till it timed out, with some Error. Which was near enough to the Ops Error Code. But I can't say if it was that very exact Code, or not.
It's about this time when I remember that I did in fact still have my VPN turned on. Once I go to the VPN Unlimited App, and then proceed to turn it back off again. It's at that moment when Amazon starts working for me again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't my VPN as I was disconnecting that but you got me thinking... I had a DNS service that I set up ages ago (and in fact don't even use) but it was still set in my static IP configuration in network settings!! I reset my network back to dhcp and it works now so THANK YOU so much. Amazon CS were useless and the the error message didn't tell me much at all.
I know lots of people (or probably most) still using Fire Phones probably flashed a newer custom OS to it, but I am still using the last Fire OS which I kind of like. Today, without me doing anything, the system seems to have "broken." The phone became de-registered from my Amazon account, and I learned how much the system was dependent on that registration (that's kind of like registering any Echo or Kindle device, etc). Now all my GUI settings are gone (the way I arrange my > 100 apps into folders) and worse, none of the apps that I got from Amazon's app store work.
And the settings for registering my device do not allow me to register to my existing Amazon account. I get an error message when I try to do it.
The only maybe-unique situation for me is, a few months ago I changed my Amazon password. Maybe for some reason the system needed that and it no longer matched. But a new registration is blocked. So others may not notice any issue if they have been using the same Amazon account including same password, since they first set up the device years ago.
The only fix I can think of is flashing a new OS on it, but in my mind that kind of defeats the purpose of having a Fire Phone. You can have the flashed OS on many devices, but only the Fire Phone can have this weird but kind of nice OS. I mean, making use of the bizarre extra cameras and all. It is a relic of a brief moment in time when Amazon sold its own phone....
This is not my primary phone. I just liked it for reading with the Kindle and other apps, and calling, texting, checking email, twitter (using the Talon app from GP store). Which reminds me, I should mention, only Amazon Store apps are not working. The apps I got from GP and F-Droid are fine.
One thing I'm thinking of doing is disabling the Amazon App Store and installing a side-loaded version that is meant for other androids. Then maybe when I sign into that, my Amazon apps (some of which I paid for....) will work again.
Just curious if anyone else had this issue, and if there is a way to salvage Fire OS on the phone, or if I should flash (and make use of all the hard work of people who worked out how to do that, etc). I'm not tossing this phone. It is very nice hardware that should work perfectly fine for basic things.