Develop Bugs

FireTV & Netflix with Unblock US

I have an Amazon FireTV, am based in the netherlands.
It supports the Unblock US DNS solution when using the US, CA, MX, BR, AR & CO netflix versions, however all other countries (NL, UK, IRL, SW, DK, NO, FI) not. I tried them all
adb logcat shows request for playing via:
I/chromium( 5023): ", source: http s://secure.netflix.com/us/htmltvui/release-CadmiumSlim-218/cadmium_slim/p/720p/html/plus.html?platform_id=nero&video_height=1080&e=AMZNST2013-00002-000XXXXX&nettype=WIFI&setVideoSizeElement=true&build_id=JDQ39&build_time=1396217919000&version_release=4.2.2&version_incremental=1.0&video_width=1920&clearVideoSrc=true (0)
and then an
I/X509Util( 5023): Failed to validate the certificate chain, error: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found
error
So, a nice certificate path error. Looks like Amazon has hardcoded? the certs for the Americas only...
It uses the HTML5 interface, first request is via
http s://uiboot.netflix.com/apps/cadmiumtvui/upgrade_policy?v=2.0&first_boot=true&platform_id=nero&version_release=4.2.2&version_
incremental=1.0&build_id=JDQ39&build_time=1396217919000&nettype=ETHERNET&video_height=1080&video_width=1920
For me, this kinda suck, as I toggle often between US & NL versions, but this info can be helpful for those that want the US/Americas versions.
Sideloaded netflix apk does work , but that is touch/mouse based and I can't select season episodes with the FireTV remote (movie selection works good though, but yu also can't search w/ the remote, thus limited in functionality). A workaround is starting it on my phone, then immediatly stop it, start the sideloaded version and continue watching. But that is suboptimal, to say the least (but allows me to watch the spisodes on my FireTV, can leave the AppleTV detached).
WAF is sub-zero with this solution, as you might guess...
Will be waiting for root to see if I can get into the /data folder to see what we can do about this.

How are you setting your Unblock-us settings, in the router or the Amazon Fire TV network settings?
They may provide different results.

uluxus said:
How are you setting your Unblock-us settings, in the router or the Amazon Fire TV network settings?
They may provide different results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have them set on router level, also tried w/ full local settings, as well as setting FireTV hard to the Google DNS (so not using unblock us) for trying the NL Netflix, same results.

smart dns
There are plenty of smart dns out there right now. They are not created equal, some wont' work with your isp and some will. Most of them have free trial. You can try before subscribing. For me I'm with trickbyte for a while without problem at all. Support is great too.
If you watch only netflix and hulu, no need to spend $5/month like that. I'm using trickbyte.com it's only $2.99/month. You can save money and get the get the great quality. My dearest friend recommend me trickbyte for $2.99/month I enjoyed watching movies from US without worrying bandwidth.

Non US Netflix working after latest firmware update, ie SW and so on...

hajolo said:
Non US Netflix working after latest firmware update, ie SW and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with mine as well now, but, my FTV hasnt been updated yet! So looks like Amazon/netflix has pushed/changed something.
My Netflix version is still on v1.0.1, so guess it's a change on the server side of Netflix

JPDeckers said:
Works with mine as well now, but, my FTV hasnt been updated yet! So looks like Amazon/netflix has pushed/changed something.
My Netflix version is still on v1.0.1, so guess it's a change on the server side of Netflix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hola app in the play store works good to unblock Netflix for me, free and easy to do.

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nhumber said:
Hola app in the play store works good to unblock Netflix for me, free and easy to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem wasn't with unblocking Netflix (I use another service for that), but with that Netflix Certificates weren't installed for the EU countries. Resulting in the app being unable to stream movies / series. But that has been changed on the Netflix end recently.
And as I want to switch between multiple Netflix countries, hola wasn't really a solution anyways for me. But, YMMV.

JJ-KwiK said:
What? How?
Gives the error msg "Error trying to show the Android 4.0+ VPN service dialog".
I haven't updated to the newest FTV firmware yet. Have you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all i did was install it from the play store, open it, select the unblock option, i left the accelerator off, then you select the netflix app from further down the list, look for the icon as the app name is amazon specific. if you pick the netflix from the top, it will download the standard mobile version, not sure if thats working or not, didnt try.
hope that helps. still on the 51.0.0.1 or whatever the first OS is.

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JJ-KwiK said:
Yea, I'm getting an error when I try that. WTF... lol
What version of the app do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually, i sideloaded the netflix ftv app from a thread here since im out of country, after i installed it, it wouldnt start and said i had to purchase it.. so i visited the US amazon app store from my PC and purchased it there and it just started working after that.. then i did the hola thing and it also worked.

[Q] Fire TV in UK

I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?

(sorry m8 I'd never noticed the default list of TZs was so dang restricted...)

ipxsystems said:
I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi buddy i'm in the same boat as you.... If you figure out how to change the time let me know.

imtiajmeah said:
Hi buddy i'm in the same boat as you.... If you figure out how to change the time let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Netherlands, got this problem as well. Opened the Amazon settings apk, and those few time zones are hardcoded in the app/xml, so looks that amazon doesn't have any outside US plans for now.
Sideloaded a default Android Setting apk, but switching time zones didn't stick, same as via adb shell setprop persist.sys.timezone, so think we'll need to wait for root access to make it stick.

I installed "Time Zone Changer" from the playstore, worked for me, +2 GMT, even after reboot.

ipxsystems said:
I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
So are you saying that you have an amazon.co.uk account, but the Fire TV prime movies on your box are the USA movies? (I think that means you get about 2x as many choices AFAIK... which is fantastic. So is that true?
Also, how about NetFlix, is that UK or USA content?
tx
Mark.

..

JJ-KwiK said:
Everything on the FireTV is region restricted to the US. Including Prime, Netflix and Hulu. If you try from any other region, like UK or Canada as an example, you'll get an error msg when you try to load a video. The only way to get around the error is to use a VPN. So far, vpn apk's, like Hola, don't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy crap, so why are some people buying it in the UK on eBay... Some sellers saying it's UK ready...
Perhaps we'll get lucky with an Android TV announcement at Google IO.
Mark
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Here is my experience so far...
If you use a service like SmartDNS or Unblock-US, you can watch Netflix from anywhere in the world using your UK Netflix account. No need for VPNs. The services costs an extra $5 a month but worth it. Works great on all devices, including my Fire TV.
The service also works a treat for Hulu, but the Fire TV app is for Hulu. This needs a US credit card to subscribe.
For Amazon Instant Video (the pay to rent/buy service), you need a US Amazon.com account and a US credit card. You can use a service like US Unlocked (not to be confused with Unblock-US mentioned above ) which lets you register for a virtual US credit card with a US billing address and works great on Amazon and Vudu. Been using it a few years, but it does require a huge leap of faith to sign up for it - you need to send bank details etc for initial setup. I haven't had any issues so far, but appreciate many won't want to do this.
You can probably also get Amazon.com vouchers but have not tried this for Instant Video . Lots of sites sell them
The kick in the teeth for me is Amazon Prime and not having access to the UK service. On the Fire TV it's not an app that you launch so to speak, it's integrated into the menus. Everything that is served is the US content. Unlike Netflix, which uses the same app to server different content based on your region, Amazon has different apps for each region.
So to get UK Prime content, we need a UK version of the app sideloaded. At least that's my conclusion. The best version would be the Google TV apk (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.avod) and there are some discussion around about ripping it, but I don't think anyone succeeded. We would also need it to be the UK version of the app.
As an example, on PS3, to get UK Prime, I need the app from the US PSN store, and for US Prime you need the one from the US PSN store.
The other challenge is sideloading it. I tried sideloading this Amazon Instant APK just as a test, and I got an error saying com.amazon.avod already installed, which is the main Prime app on the Fire TV. Someone much smarter than me would need to figure out how to change the name of the app/package so it can be installed alongside each other. Even if you could, this app won't work anyway to get UK content (or even work at all with a remote), but it's one step closer if we can get two versions of the Amazon app installed side by side.
Hope that helps someone somewhere It's still a great piece of kit - only thing I'm missing is UK Prime.
Cheers

eskay993 said:
Here is my experience so far...
If you use a service like SmartDNS or Unblock-US, you can watch Netflix from anywhere in the world using your UK Netflix account. No need for VPNs. The services costs an extra $5 a month but worth it. Works great on all devices, including my Fire TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.

JPDeckers said:
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm you're right. I've been mostly watching US and only tested accessing UK content, not playing. Tried playing and it stalls at 40%.
As a test, I tried a different Netflix apk that I found and it works fine in terms of playing the movie, but this apk is designed for touchscreen and a bit crappy to use with the Fire TV remote.
So, either it's a bug with v1.0.1 of Netflix which comes with the Fire TV, or it' an extra region check they've added, which sucks. I suspect it's just a bug/restriction of this old version.
If we can find a version Netflix apk that works well with a remote, then this would be solved. Unfortunately most results that come up are for touch screens.
Sooo close to being the perfect box! Hopefully someone can figure out a way round it.
Cheers
UPDATE: Netflix UK now works for me as I mention below.

Unfortunately I haven't found a way around this. I am in the UK and bought a Fire TV whilst in the US. When returning none of the videos play, none of the applications load (apart from the ones I've sideloaded).
It is still useful, as I put XBMC on there but it would be great to be able to use an Amazon Prime UK account or even just set the timezone without faffing about.

boxst said:
Unfortunately I haven't found a way around this. I am in the UK and bought a Fire TV whilst in the US. When returning none of the videos play, none of the applications load (apart from the ones I've sideloaded).
It is still useful, as I put XBMC on there but it would be great to be able to use an Amazon Prime UK account or even just set the timezone without faffing about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plex works i use it everyday on fire tv,even with the things that dont work yet in the uk for the price and gta games working great it is a brilliant box.

JPDeckers said:
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if it's something I inadvertently did, or something that changed server side at Netflix/Amazon, but Netflix UK now works on my Fire TV! I tried US, Mexico and UK and all movies and TV shows play (no longer get stuck at 40%). Worth trying it again if you were having trouble before.
All that's left now is for the new Netflix client (coming soon later in the year) and for a way to get Amazon UK, and I'm sorted!

eskay993 said:
Not sure if it's something I inadvertently did, or something that changed server side at Netflix/Amazon, but Netflix UK now works on my Fire TV!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, somewhere around the last firmware update, Netflix started working! Uninstalled the sideloaded version, because this client is actually usable. Now wait for the updated one, but already really helps in usability.

Netflix Canada

Hey all,
I've smuggled a Fire TV into Canada and am trying to get some content up and running. I seems that I am not able to download the Netflix app as there must be region locks in place. I have tried the android version but it is touchscreen optimized and I do not want to hook a bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo if I can avoid it. I have also tried to sideload a version that has been pulled and uploaded to xda to no avail.
Anyone else outside the US able to get netflix up and running?

gullygossner said:
I've smuggled a Fire TV into Canada and am trying to get some content up and running. I seems that I am not able to download the Netflix app as there must be region locks in place. I have tried the android version but it is touchscreen optimized and I do not want to hook a bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo if I can avoid it. I have also tried to sideload a version that has been pulled and uploaded to xda to no avail.
Anyone else outside the US able to get netflix up and running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing the netflix native app worked for me when using Unblock Us and using my US Amazon account, you might want to try them (or alike service) for a free 7 day trial and then install Netflix.
But first make sure you are signed in with a US based Amazon account, I think their main check for eligibility of installing apps is with that. After installing you should be able to use Netflix CA without Unblock Us or alike, as the certs for the Americas versions of Netflix are already installed.
I myself am running the sideloaded touchscreen version, as EU certs aren't. It works, certainly not friendly, but "good enough", binge watching series etc. without any problems.

[Q] Amazon US firmware to UK firmware

Hey All,
With the release of the Amazon Fire TV in the UK later this fall, I was wondering since I and many of us here in the UK have the US version of the device will there be a possibility to somehow get the uk version of the firmware so we are able to use Netflix app etc ?
Regards

herohonda777 said:
Hey All,
With the release of the Amazon Fire TV in the UK later this fall, I was wondering since I and many of us here in the UK have the US version of the device will there be a possibility to somehow get the uk version of the firmware so we are able to use Netflix app etc ?
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The new firmware just released makes it a uk box even the time can be changed to uk time,and my prime now works great.

stewiebee said:
The new firmware just released makes it a uk box even the time can be changed to uk time,and my prime now works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's interesting... how does it know you are UK? Are you using a UK or a US Amazon account?

rbox said:
Well that's interesting... how does it know you are UK? Are you using a UK or a US Amazon account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm using a us account but still able to access all uk content apps like bbc iplayer etc guessing it knows it ip address is located in the UK

I have a UK Fire TV and a US Fire TV stick. I am based in the UK.
On the stick I am unable to set UK time and it fails to connect to the Amazon Web services, though it appears fine in my UK account device management.
I'm guessing I'll have to wait for the stick to be updated as the Fire TV was to allow it to access the content without errors.

mini__me said:
I have a UK Fire TV and a US Fire TV stick. I am based in the UK.
On the stick I am unable to set UK time and it fails to connect to the Amazon Web services, though it appears fine in my UK account device management.
I'm guessing I'll have to wait for the stick to be updated as the Fire TV was to allow it to access the content without errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On Your US Device are you using a US account or UK ?

UK Account, I'm assuming the current firmware has nothing built in for contacting the UK servers. Just as it doesn't have the option for the UK timezone.

Latest Amazon fire stick with smart vpn - will iplayer apps etc show up? :)

Hi,
I'm outside the UK. Using a smart VPN service, will apps like iPlayer, all4 etc show up or are Amazon too clever for that? Does anyone have any experience using the fire stick outside UK/US. Set up should be nor problem, I'm fairly technical.
Background: I already have a smart VPN service and have an new Android TV (Sony). The issue is that on the TV, apps like BBC iplayer don't show up - I have sideloaded the normal one but have to use a mouse.
Many thanks
:good: :fingers-crossed:

If you have an amazon account set to the region you want the apps from you'll be fine, I recently purchased a fire tv, for us over here in Korea and I used my UK account to download the UK apps I wanted, such as iPlayer, ITV Hub etc and then online I switched my UK account to US region setting, pretty easy to do, you don't need a VPN to download the apps, only when using them to watch content on. Hope this helps.

jupinkorea said:
If you have an amazon account set to the region you want the apps from you'll be fine, I recently purchased a fire tv, for us over here in Korea and I used my UK account to download the UK apps I wanted, such as iPlayer, ITV Hub etc and then online I switched my UK account to US region setting, pretty easy to do, you don't need a VPN to download the apps, only when using them to watch content on. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much! Gives me some hope. Currently using a Sony Android TV and I have no iPlayer etc working ..

The only way I got vpn working with kodi was to use vpn on my phone, have kodi on my phone, then mirracast it to your aftv then watch which ever addon from which ever region you like. I also tried putting a vpn on my fire stick but it just crashed everytime I loaded it, but it wasn't rooted. Will try again Once my aftv 2 it's rooted!
(Update)
No still no VPN even though I now have root, never mind