Hi Everyone,
A friend of mine was telling about the FTV and I thought I'd look into it. I currently have an ATV2 with XBMC installed. For the most part it works pretty good. Icefilms is hit and miss, but I don't use it very often. ATV2 is kinda getting slow and after reading about the FTV I want one. I was wondering if someone can sort me out.
First,
If I buy a unit from Amazon can it still be rooted? I heard there was a software update in June and wondering if it's been locked up like Apple does with their stuff?
Second,
I use a Harmony One remote and heard Flirc works with the Harmony Remote. Can anyone confirm this?
Third,
That same friend who told me bought the FTV said he watched a youtube video on the FTV with XBMC installed on it and said it ran really slow. Now the video was from April, so I'm hoping XBMC has made some big improvements so it works well with FTV.
Thanks,
Chevy
Yes
If you get a FireTV you will need to use URL blocking in your router to block the amazon URLs for updates before connecting the FireTV to your network. Then you will be able to use GeoHot's Towelroot to root it and disable the Amazon updater. You will want to look into SPMC (a modified version of XBMC with special patches for Android devices, etc.)
It general it is much better than ATV2......FLIRC works with Harmony remotes although I haven't got around to setting mine up yet.
All the necessary info is here on the forum. Just read through some of the the threads.
Since I don't wanna make a whole topic,here is something that makes Fire TV chug a little.
Try this expirimental WebGL thingy in Chrome for Android on Fire TV.
http://www.chromeexperiments.com/detail/eye-texture-raytracer/
It even makes my mouse controls lag a bit,but otherwise does a nice job considering how extreme the test is.
Edit:More things to look at on a Fire TV using Chrome or Opera browser.
http://www.threejs.org/
Thanks all. I'm going to get one. One question though, I was looking on eBay and found a bunch that were already rooted and had xbmc or spmc already installed. In the description they were saying "get them while you can as the new version is unrootable". Anyone think it's OK to buy from eBay or just go with Amazon?
Thanks,
Chevy
chevy2410 said:
Thanks all. I'm going to get one. One question though, I was looking on eBay and found a bunch that were already rooted and had xbmc or spmc already installed. In the description they were saying "get them while you can as the new version is unrootable". Anyone think it's OK to buy from eBay or just go with Amazon?
Thanks,
Chevy
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Is it cheaper/more expensive? Definitely get it from amazon. That way it is fully warrantied under your name if you have any problems they will help you. I got mine from Best Buy and it had the firmware 51.1.1.0_user_511069920.. It downloaded the next update automatically which is 51.1.1.0_user_511070220 (the last rootable firmware). I even clicked "check for updates" and it never pushed the un-rootable version.
I think they sent out a limited roll out of the unrootable firmware since the according to amazon this is the same version I have.
sorry cant post the link since im a new user search google for "amazon fire tv firmware" should be the first link
I would recommend to block the updates either on the router by blocking the amazon domains or using adb and disabling the apk which updates the ftv
chevy2410 said:
Thanks all. I'm going to get one. One question though, I was looking on eBay and found a bunch that were already rooted and had xbmc or spmc already installed. In the description they were saying "get them while you can as the new version is unrootable". Anyone think it's OK to buy from eBay or just go with Amazon?
Thanks,
Chevy
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Click to collapse
Was in the same boat as you couple of weeks ago, had a ATV2 got a FTV for someone else and realized how much faster and better it was so I sold my ATV for $250, and bought a FTV for myself. On top of that I bought 2 more to install xbmc and sell
Anyways, the FTV runs wicked fast with XBMC, not sure what you saw but there is a pretty good video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G23u1TtluE
I'd say just buy one from amazon, too bad they were just on sale for $84 a few days ago and staples even had them down as low as $65 after some coupon.
The rooting is simple and fast and to disable the updates is just 1 command you type in. I wouldn't pay more for a unit that's already rooted unless I didn't know wtf I was doing.
I would recommend to block the updates either on the router by blocking the amazon domains or using adb and disabling the apk which updates the ftv
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Do you know what the URL is for blocking the updates?
The rooting is simple and fast and to disable the updates is just 1 command you type in. I wouldn't pay more for a unit that's already rooted unless I didn't know wtf I was doing.
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I'm pretty handy at rooting and so forth. I've rooted my wife and myself android phones over the last few years so this should be pretty straight forward. I think I'll just get it through Amazon, just in case I need warranty or something.
Thanks,
Chevy
chevy2410 said:
Do you know what the URL is for blocking the updates?
I'm pretty handy at rooting and so forth. I've rooted my wife and myself android phones over the last few years so this should be pretty straight forward. I think I'll just get it through Amazon, just in case I need warranty or something.
Thanks,
Chevy
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There are instructions here, http://www.aftvnews.com/ for taking a new box and installing without getting updates and then blocking updates.
Thanks to everyone for all the info. I bought one from Amazon and should have it on Tuesday.
Chevy
What are the chances of getting an Android TV ROM put on the FireTV? Is the partial bootloader unlock that's out there enough to do this?
I'm curious what would happen if the Android TV Launcher was sideloaded on the FireTV? I doubt it would be that easy, but I know it's been possible to get Google Play Store working and linked to your account and the ability to show all apps.
Maybe someone with a little more knowledge can expand on this and what else would have to be packaged together for the TV Launcher to work properly.
Dhickory said:
I'm curious what would happen if the Android TV Launcher was sideloaded on the FireTV? I doubt it would be that easy, but I know it's been possible to get Google Play Store working and linked to your account and the ability to show all apps.
Maybe someone with a little more knowledge can expand on this and what else would have to be packaged together for the TV Launcher to work properly.
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My guess is it won't work because it requires lollipop stuff. I am currently working on a lollipop build. I have some time off work so maybe I'll be able to make some progress on it.
Android TV Launcher available (4.4 +):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.leanbacklauncher
Someone to test ?
Antechris said:
Android TV Launcher available (4.4 +):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.leanbacklauncher
Someone to test ?
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Well the stock Amazon OS is 4.2.2... so...
rbox said:
Well the stock Amazon OS is 4.2.2... so...
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Very stupide, I was sure it was 4.4. Sorry
rbox said:
Well the stock Amazon OS is 4.2.2... so...
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Give it a few weeks, I'm sure the AFTV will be updated to Kitkat at least.
RAFAMP said:
Give it a few weeks, I'm sure the AFTV will be updated to Kitkat at least.
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I highly doubt that. The kernel that Amazon is using does not have a kitkat branch. Plus they really have no reason to do that.
CM12...
Awesome!! Looking forward to trying it out!
rbox said:
CM12...
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Nice... Glad I got all my FTV's with partial unlocked bootloader, latest CWM & BootMenu ready to go....
rbox said:
CM12...
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will you still be making the prerooted stock roms?
rbox said:
CM12...
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This is awesome!
I'd love to know how successful we expect this to be? Not trying to push or anything, of course, but I'm very curious if we have audio and video acceleration working yet? Having seen this I think I'll pick up another Fire TV, but not sure where best to buy, to have best chance of rooting it? Staples or Amazon?
I've currently got an Amazon Fire TV with your kernel boot menu installed, and would be happy to play about with some CM12 builds if it is helpful to have another users perspective. If the network does not work I have an Android compatible USB ethernet adaptor, and also wifi adaptor.
Thanks!!
hearnia_2K said:
This is awesome!
I'd love to know how successful we expect this to be? Not trying to push or anything, of course, but I'm very curious if we have audio and video acceleration working yet? Having seen this I think I'll pick up another Fire TV, but not sure where best to buy, to have best chance of rooting it? Staples or Amazon?
I've currently got an Amazon Fire TV with your kernel boot menu installed, and would be happy to play about with some CM12 builds if it is helpful to have another users perspective. If the network does not work I have an Android compatible USB ethernet adaptor, and also wifi adaptor.
Thanks!!
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Amazon has been the best place to get rootable FTV's. Staples & BB are still sending a high number of rootable FTV's as long as folks follow AFTVNews.com guides on how to Root them without updating them.
---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 PM ----------
pbanj said:
will you still be making the prerooted stock roms?
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He will probably still be making them. It just happens that the latest FW update isn't much of an update Features wise. So no rush for an update. Plus Amazon is getting trickier with the FW too. So patience is a virtue..
Y314K said:
He will probably still be making them. It just happens that the latest FW update isn't much of an update Features wise. So no rush for an update. Plus Amazon is getting trickier with the FW too. So patience is a virtue..
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oh im patient i just wanted to know if he was stopping the prerooted ones or not. i wasnt asking for an eta or anything. i just know some devs stop one project when they move onto another
As for CM12, it is very far from something flashable. All I have right now is the boot animation and the "updating packages" dialog. Currently my main problem is that none of the required services are starting, so I have to start them manually. Even doing that, I think I'm not starting everything that is required because as it starts loading up things, it dies because storage isn't set up properly, and bypassing that it kinda just hangs starting some android services. I'll have to enable some debug in init tomorrow to see what's going on with that.
As for prerooted, I'll still be making those. To be honest, CM12 is just a fun experiment for me. I probably won't be using it much because I watch a lot of Amazon Prime, and Android TV currently doesn't support it. I didn't really hear anyone saying anything earth shattering is contained in the newest update, and I really need to spend some extra time on it to figure out what's wrong with SuperSU, so that's why I haven't released a new one yet.
rbox said:
As for CM12, it is very far from something flashable. All I have right now is the boot animation and the "updating packages" dialog. Currently my main problem is that none of the required services are starting, so I have to start them manually. Even doing that, I think I'm not starting everything that is required because as it starts loading up things, it dies because storage isn't set up properly, and bypassing that it kinda just hangs starting some android services. I'll have to enable some debug in init tomorrow to see what's going on with that.
As for prerooted, I'll still be making those. To be honest, CM12 is just a fun experiment for me. I probably won't be using it much because I watch a lot of Amazon Prime, and Android TV currently doesn't support it. I didn't really hear anyone saying anything earth shattering is contained in the newest update, and I really need to spend some extra time on it to figure out what's wrong with SuperSU, so that's why I haven't released a new one yet.
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That's awesome. If you can pull off CyanogenMod, it'll be epic! I know it's super early in the process, but forgive me, you got me all giddy and I couldn't hold back.
Y314K said:
Amazon has been the best place to get rootable FTV's. Staples & BB are still sending a high number of rootable FTV's as long as folks follow AFTVNews.com guides on how to Root them without updating them.
Thanks for the info - I did not realize it was still so likely to be rootable, so was unsure on buying a second.
Happy to say, I picked one up just now from Staples for $71.18 after tax in Duluth, GA. Rootable. Got that price by using a 15% off coupon, which was on their own website: http://www.staples.com/coupons
Great price, and rootable device!
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hearnia_2K said:
Y314K said:
Amazon has been the best place to get rootable FTV's. Staples & BB are still sending a high number of rootable FTV's as long as folks follow AFTVNews.com guides on how to Root them without updating them.
Thanks for the info - I did not realize it was still so likely to be rootable, so was unsure on buying a second.
Happy to say, I picked one up just now from Staples for $71.18 after tax in Duluth, GA. Rootable. Got that price by using a 15% off coupon, which was on their own website: http://www.staples.com/coupons
Great price, and rootable device!
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Nice.. I've gotten all my Rooted FTV's thru Staples site since Staples can really make things an awesome deal with their coupons...
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So I've gotten A LOT farther than I expected. I thought the kernel would have been a much bigger issue than it turned out to be. Anyway, right now I can get to the stock launcher and it looks like SystemUI is doing a crazy crash loop, so eventually the thing just dies. I'm going to try to get the Android TV launcher worker though. Then deal with SystemUI.
EDIT: Well I got the Android TV launcher starting... not sure what's supposed to happen with it though...
Any guesses as to how rootable the Amazon Fire TV 2.0 will be?
The current AFTV firmware hasn't been rootable ever since the past 12 updates, so my guess is that chances are really slim that someone will be able to find a way to root the AFTV 2.0.
What has me is that they're using a mediatek processor.
jamboss said:
What has me is that they're using a mediatek processor.
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I know! Anyone know how well Kodi will run on a SOC made by MediaTek?
Neo3D said:
I know! Anyone know how well Kodi will run on a SOC made by MediaTek?
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Well they're claiming it can stream play 4k so i imagine it has to be pretty powerful but still a mediatek. :/
4k streaming can be done mostly by GPU hardware decoding, so it does not require very strong hardware.
Neo3D said:
Any guesses as to how rootable the Amazon Fire TV 2.0 will be?
The current AFTV firmware hasn't been rootable ever since the past 12 updates, so my guess is that chances are really slim that someone will be able to find a way to root the AFTV 2.0.
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Why would they not go out of their way to lock it down? What would be different?
ldeveraux said:
Why would they not go out of their way to lock it down? What would be different?
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well once android 6.0 is released there will be a rooting tool just like towelroot and kingroot to support newer devices. so we shall see. hopefully amazon didn't patch the vulnerability they use in it just like kingroot
MrGHLover said:
well once android 6.0 is released there will be a rooting tool just like towelroot and kingroot to support newer devices. so we shall see. hopefully amazon didn't patch the vulnerability they use in it just like kingroot
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Someone would have to discover a new vulnerability in M, as of now, doubt there is one. And if I'm not wrong, there is no vulnerability in Lollipop either?
Hi all, I'm Mike and I'm new to the group. I was Wondering if anyone could give me an insite to something I got told a few days ago. I have a Samsung series 6 as it says in the title above. A relation of my partners came to visit us over Christmas and explained that the TV we have, the firmware could be upgraded to the 4k firmware because its already 4k enabled when it left the factory? Is this true? If so where could I get the firmware from for it? Personally myself I don't believe them, But 4k did come out around the same time as my TV. I have spent some time looking but can't really find any info on it. Any help or info is appreciated. Thankyou all.
I ordered the 4K stick with TV remote control as a backup device to my 2nd gen Sloan box (still scared to try and root it by opening the actual box up, hell to the no. If anyone could maybe simplify or point me to a guide other than the one posted by the root OP thread, cuz that still confused me on how to do this without bricking /breaking it I’d appreciate it), but anyway, I noticed after all those Amazon prime deal sales they went out of stock until February 17th. So although it’s purchased and ordered it won’t be here for a few more weeks which makes me worried about which firmware it’ll come in as I’m guessing these new 4K sticks are being freshly made as we speak from the factory and will come with the latest firmware, right? Otherwise how else will they bring more devices to re-stock, I doubt they have older made ones layout around somewhere that they’re shipping in? Lol
I’m so pissed I didn’t order when they had prime deal as these must’ve been sitting in the warehouse for awhile on a lower and probably root-able firmware.
Also if anyone is interested in getting one I believe only the 4K stick at $49.99 will auto apply a $20 discount making it $39.99, works as of 2/10/21
G S W said:
I ordered the 4K stick with TV remote control
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Nope, I doubt that the stick is vulnerable, amaz. fixed it months ago.
Best is if you return that stick and then go for a vulnerable used/second hand one...