Develop Bugs

Looked everywhere, going nuts, can't get into home screen

hey guys, bought firetv a while ago in usa, worked perfectly, was a prime member so it came all setup for me. moved to canada, screen popped up:enter your existing PIN set for amazon instant video. i try what i think it is, like 00000 or 12345, doesn't work AND the error is A connection to the internet could not be established. Please try again later. got a new modem/router when i got internet here in canada, then switched to my original router from usa, still has the same problem.
i mostly use it as a media streamer using plex, i don't expect to get amazon instant video, but i can't even get past this screen.
thanks a ton!!

Did you try contacting Amazon support? They're usually very responsive.
Also, look up a way to remove the FireTV from your account so it can be reinitialized. It's probably confused because of the country change. You should find this from your Amazon account on the web.

Couldn't find the number!
Newcron said:
Did you try contacting Amazon support? They're usually very responsive.
Also, look up a way to remove the FireTV from your account so it can be reinitialized. It's probably confused because of the country change. You should find this from your Amazon account on the web.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

BradFazner said:
Couldn't find the number!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the Amazon homepage, all the way down to the right there's a link for 'Help'. Click on that and just follow the instruction. There's a bunch of options and one of the options is 'Call Us'. The last time I had to contact Amazon support I didn't find a phone number either, but after following the instruction I had the option for them calling me. They called me within 2 minutes!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/settings?ie=UTF8&ref_=aiv_rdr_pin
aka
http://amazon.com/pin

AHA! figured it out. plugged in ethernet cable, so internet works without having to log into my wifi, then code works one time out of a bunch of tries, then it still wants me to put in that code again for some reason at random times, so i factory reset it, and unplugged the internet, started and it prompted me to join a wifi connection. now it works great, but i took off the parental controls so it wouldn't ask me for my pin (i had fyi changed my pin to 00000 but it only worked every once in a while). thanks for the help guys

[Q] Unable to get past update screen on new FireTV

I hope I'm posting this in the right sub section. I purchased a FireTV last week at BB and rooted and blocked the updates via the guid on Aftvnews.
I grabbed another FTV today for a family member and I'm unable to get anywhere. After configuring network it goes on the the checking for updates but instead of just going past it (
amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net
softwareupdates.amazon.com are still blocked in router
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
) I get an "Unable to update your Amazon Fire TV. Try disconnecting the powercable for a few seconds and then plugging it back in.
Is this unit already updated and I'm not going to be able to root? Thanks in advance for the help!

Obviously unblock the update in your router and do the initial setup while making sure to follow the guide's prompts to disconnect your internet when updates might happen.
Leave your internet disconnected (router unplugged/ethernet unhooked) until the network settings are needed.
When you need to configure the Fire TV's internet,connect it until you are done configuring,and quickly disconnect it when the check for updates happens.
Edit:found it!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/general/guide-how-to-setup-fire-tv-blocking-root-t2849790
Leave your internet disconnected through the entire welcome video as well.

I couldn't pass the update screen by blocking the two sites, I went back to the router and used BLOCK KEYWORDS instead of Block sites and entered this to the Blocked Keywords 51.1.2.0_user_512073320 ( I read this stops the update getting through router ) I then unblocked the other two web sites, every Fire TV have done since has updated to the Rootable version 511070220 don't know if its working for sure or just luck I keep getting the version 511070220

Thanks guys, I'll give those a try.

Go it going! I'm rooted. Thanks!

djscrew said:
Go it going! I'm rooted. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what procedure worked for you as it will help others?, did you get it working by blocking Keywords?, I have updated two more today and l am still getting the rootable version by blocking the update through keywords

[Q] Fire tv. Just arrived

Hi all, I have just received my fire tv toda from Amazon uk.
I plugged in and tried to have a look at the UI. Anyway it wanted to update straight away and started downloading. I stopped this and have turned it off.
I wanted to check the FW version but I can't get that far.
Di I have to root first as I only bought this unit to install xbmc
Please help.
Thanks

k6? said:
Hi all, I have just received my fire tv toda from Amazon uk.
I plugged in and tried to have a look at the UI. Anyway it wanted to update straight away and started downloading. I stopped this and have turned it off.
I wanted to check the FW version but I can't get that far.
Di I have to root first as I only bought this unit to install xbmc
Please help.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm not mistaken UK units are shipping with the latest firmware.
But you don't need root to install xbmc.

Cool. Thanks. I'll boot it up and get it on.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Free mobile app

Follow this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-setup-a-new-fire-tv-without-blocking-root/
Let us know what firmware it came with.

Also got the FTV (UK): 51.1.40_user_514005520
I am assuming this is un-rootable?

can't seem to get xbmc/spmc to work on the UK version
it gets to the first run stage and then goes back to the applications part of settings...
i'm not bothered about root, but without xbmc this device is pointless for me...!

XBMC Works but not many add ons
bigviv said:
can't seem to get xbmc/spmc to work on the UK version
it gets to the first run stage and then goes back to the applications part of settings...
i'm not bothered about root, but without xbmc this device is pointless for me...!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can install and do most things with XBMC, but Icefilms or 1Channel cannot get to the content.

icefilms should work right? im in UK and it loads up on windows without spoofing IP
glad i imported the US version

johnnycab13 said:
Also got the FTV (UK): 51.1.40_user_514005520
I am assuming this is un-rootable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you positive that is your software version number? Others have reported getting 51.1.4.0_user_514006420, which is different from your version .

AFTVnews.com said:
Are you positive that is your software version number? Others have reported getting 51.1.4.0_user_514006420, which is different from your version .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, 100% positive. However, it was trying to update to the version you have mentioned - which I cancelled. Also, have problems with XBMC - which does not launch.

johnnycab13 said:
Yep, 100% positive. However, it was trying to update to the version you have mentioned - which I cancelled. Also, have problems with XBMC - which does not launch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it update to 51.1.40_user_514005520 during the initial setup, or were you somehow able to get through setup without updating?

AFTVnews.com said:
Did it update to 51.1.40_user_514005520 during the initial setup, or were you somehow able to get through setup without updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to get past the intial setup by pulling the ethernet connection method. Then went through the non-skip intro video etc. Whilst I was checking on the System tab; noticed that it was downloading the update and had the version number quoted by you. I had the option to cancel the update, which I did - the progress bar was around the half way mark.

Would it be possible to set up a fake update server providing an old version during the initial setup?
Or is that useless with the units that are being shipped out now?

johnnycab13 said:
I managed to get past the intial setup by pulling the ethernet connection method. Then went through the non-skip intro video etc. Whilst I was checking on the System tab; noticed that it was downloading the update and had the version number quoted by you. I had the option to cancel the update, which I did - the progress bar was around the half way mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. You're blowing my mind. Nobody has been able to get past the initial update with a Fire TV running 51.1.3.0 or newer. Either 51.1.40_user_514005520 is unlike all the other 51.1.3.0+ versions (meaning it does not refuse to proceed when it can't reach the update server), or you did something different that got you past the update.
Can you recall exactly what you did and when?

freezer2k said:
Would it be possible to set up a fake update server providing an old version during the initial setup?
Or is that useless with the units that are being shipped out now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It's been discussed multiple times. The communications is both encrypted and signed.
AFTVnews.com said:
Wow. You're blowing my mind. Nobody has been able to get past the initial update with a Fire TV running 51.1.3.0 or newer. Either 51.1.40_user_514005520 is unlike all the other 51.1.3.0+ versions (meaning it does not refuse to proceed when it can't reach the update server), or you did something different that got you past the update.
Can you recall exactly what you did and when?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible the forced flag wasn't set. It seems to not be an across the board thing for different versions. Remember, the german units shipped with the first 51.1.3.0 version and forced the update to the 2nd while the US units that were updated to the first 51.1.3.0 didn't have a forced update to the newer one.

rbox said:
It's possible the forced flag wasn't set. It seems to not be an across the board thing for different versions. Remember, the german units shipped with the first 51.1.3.0 version and forced the update to the 2nd while the US units that were updated to the first 51.1.3.0 didn't have a forced update to the newer one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't aware that someone with the first 51.1.3.0 in the US was able to get past an update during initial setup. Do you recall if it came with the first 51.1.3.0 brand new or if it was just factory reset with the first 51.1.3.0?

AFTVnews.com said:
I wasn't aware that someone with the first 51.1.3.0 in the US was able to get past an update during initial setup. Do you recall if it came with the first 51.1.3.0 brand new or if it was just factory reset with the first 51.1.3.0?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hrm, that's a good point. I don't know if it acts differently on a factory reset/fresh install vs just an update. I was talking about when we updated to the first 51.1.3.0 it seemed like all the german boxes were forcing to the second while we werent. But I don't think I ever tried a factory reset at that point.

rbox said:
Hrm, that's a good point. I don't know if it acts differently on a factory reset/fresh install vs just an update. I was talking about when we updated to the first 51.1.3.0 it seemed like all the german boxes were forcing to the second while we werent. But I don't think I ever tried a factory reset at that point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm starting to get more and more convinced that there is a difference between a first time setup and a factory reset, as far as forced updates are concerned. Either that or the German versions of 51.1.3.0 are somehow different from the US versions.
I know for sure that factory reseting a Fire TV running the first 51.1.3.0 will get past the blocked update to the second 51.1.3.0. I did this myself just the other day. Of course, that Fire TV did not come with 51.1.3.0.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've heard of anyone in the US getting anything above 51.1.1.0 on a new Fire TV.

AFTVnews.com said:
Wow. You're blowing my mind. Nobody has been able to get past the initial update with a Fire TV running 51.1.3.0 or newer. Either 51.1.40_user_514005520 is unlike all the other 51.1.3.0+ versions (meaning it does not refuse to proceed when it can't reach the update server), or you did something different that got you past the update.
Can you recall exactly what you did and when?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surprisingly, I did what was suggested on your site (I assume it is yours?). Anyways, I will try to remember the exact steps:
Powered the box without a network connection.
Paired remote and chose the language
IIRC, then there was the option to choose the network via Wi-fi
Plugged in the Ethernet connection
The box almost immediately picked up my registration details or pre-registered details?
Instantly pulled the Ethernet connection
I had a quick look around the menu system to familiarise myself
I went to System to check the version; it was and still is as I stated
Plugged the Ethernet back in
Noticed it was trying to update, whilst I was playing around trying to disable the dcp update via PC
Cancelled the update
The box has been sitting idle for a good few hours and not trying to update itself. I don't know the implications of this; my sole reason was to stop any further updates in case of a solution in the near future.

I'm annoyed with it. Can't even use NBC Sports Live App.... I can't press the play button with the remote, yet it's an app on the amazon store... So it's an app, I can't do anything with.
Tried an android controller, doesn't work - need root for that.
TBH, I thinking of sending it back and just doing what I done before. Downloading everything and sticking it on USB straight into the tele.

New url for updates!!!

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
Click to expand...
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.

Root new Fire TV, but get Update screen first

Hey all, trying to root a fire TV for a friend. I've already done quite a few units so it isn't my first time around the block.
However it's been probably 6months since I've done the last one and now when I power up this brand new unit (which has a low serial number so it should be rootable) I get prompted to start downloading an update right away.
No way to bypass this for now as I know before I was able to get into the home screen before it starts doing any sort of updating..

DHeffernan said:
Hey all, trying to root a fire TV for a friend. I've already done quite a few units so it isn't my first time around the block.
However it's been probably 6months since I've done the last one and now when I power up this brand new unit (which has a low serial number so it should be rootable) I get prompted to start downloading an update right away.
No way to bypass this for now as I know before I was able to get into the home screen before it starts doing any sort of updating..
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Pull the ethernet out as soon as you see checking for updates. If it fails reboot and try again. DO NOT UPDATE!!. You will loose all chances of root.

navigates said:
Pull the ethernet out as soon as you see checking for updates. If it fails reboot and try again. DO NOT UPDATE!!. You will loose all chances of root.
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Yah already got it going, applying my Kodi backup on this new Box.
Basically I just went and edited my hosts file on the macbook to block the 3 update domains for the fireTV which in turn just seemed to allowed me to finally bypass it on to sign in using my amazon account.

DHeffernan said:
Yah already got it going, applying my Kodi backup on this new Box.
Basically I just went and edited my hosts file on the macbook to block the 3 update domains for the fireTV which in turn just seemed to allowed me to finally bypass it on to sign in using my amazon account.
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Interesting. I'll try that next. Great it worked out.

Seriously, use OpenDNS to block those URLs. It's easier to do since all you need to do is update the DNS settings at your router plus OpenDNS filters out spam websites, too.

http://aftvnews.com/ has complete guides for this.
this might be what you need:
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-complete-the-fire-tv-initial-setup-without-updating/