Develop Bugs

[Q] General KF questions

I got some questions I hope you can help with. My mom has a Kindle Fire that she just got to use because she didn't have the proper internet (that's a long story).
Questions:
1. If she roots this and changes roms will she lose 'Kindle' functionality? Is there a workaround to get it back?
2. Does dual boot allow her to keep the original Kindle rom and have a custom rom?
3. She is out of town so I can't get to her Kindle right away. Does Amazon have some kind of OTA updates? Is there a way to disable them until she gets the opportunity to root? I don't want Amazon closing any security holes before the device gets modified.
Thanks!

bird333 said:
I got some questions I hope you can help with. My mom has a Kindle Fire that she just got to use because she didn't have the proper internet (that's a long story).
Questions:
1. If she roots this and changes roms will she lose 'Kindle' functionality? Is there a workaround to get it back?
2. Does dual boot allow her to keep the original Kindle rom and have a custom rom?
3. She is out of town so I can't get to her Kindle right away. Does Amazon have some kind of OTA updates? Is there a way to disable them until she gets the opportunity to root? I don't want Amazon closing any security holes before the device gets modified.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Certain priveleges, like Video On Demand and Lending Library, are disabled on rooted devices. OTA Rootkeeper and other similar apps can temporarily unroot the device to access these features. I've never done it so I couldn't say how effective it is.
2) Yes
3) MoDaCo ROM, is a customized version of the stock ROM with OTA disabled and various other improvements. Like any custom ROM it is rooted, so certain priveleges will be inaccessible until it is unrooted as mentioned before. Having said that, the likeliness of getting another OTA update for this device any time soon is pretty low.

soupmagnet said:
1) Certain priveleges, like Video On Demand and Lending Library, are disabled on rooted devices. OTA Rootkeeper and other similar apps can temporarily unroot the device to access these features. I've never done it so I couldn't say how effective it is.
2) Yes
3) MoDaCo ROM, is a customized version of the stock ROM with OTA disabled and various other improvements. Like any custom ROM it is rooted, so certain priveleges will be inaccessible until it is unrooted as mentioned before. Having said that, the likeliness of getting another OTA update for this device any time soon is pretty low.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. So you can't disable OTA on the stock rom? Does it give you the opportunity to decline the update? Like I said she just started using it so she probably doesn't have any updates on it yet.

bird333 said:
Thanks for the reply. So you can't disable OTA on the stock rom? Does it give you the opportunity to decline the update? Like I said she just started using it so she probably doesn't have any updates on it yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can disable OTA on a rooted device by renaming a certain file. Otherwise, if an OTA does come around, it can't be declined. Furthermore, OTA updates have been known to soft brick devices to a point where a factory cable is needed to fix them.
With that being said, rooted Kindle Fires, and Kindle Fires running custom ROMs, require a certain level of knowledge/maintenance to make sure everything stays running smoothly. Anyone not invested/prepared is open to certain problems resulting from it.
Simply put, having a rooted/modified device is probably not the best choice for the technically challenged.
[Edit:] Also, and this is very important, if the Kindle Fire in question is brand new or purchased since Nov. 2012, you may have a 2nd generation Kindle Fire, in which case disregard everything that has been said here because you could permanently brick the device by using any of the methods found in the these (KF1) forums.

soupmagnet said:
You can disable OTA on a rooted device by renaming a certain file. Otherwise, if an OTA does come around, it can't be declined. Furthermore, OTA updates have been known to soft brick devices to a point where a factory cable is needed to fix them.
With that being said, rooted Kindle Fires, and Kindle Fires running custom ROMs, require a certain level of knowledge/maintenance to make sure everything stays running smoothly. Anyone not invested/prepared is open to certain problems resulting from it.
Simply put, having a rooted/modified device is probably not the best choice for the technically challenged.
[Edit:] Also, and this is very important, if the Kindle Fire in question is brand new or purchased since Nov. 2012, you may have a 2nd generation Kindle Fire, in which case disregard everything that has been said here because you could permanently brick the device by using any of the methods found in the these (KF1) forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure it's version 1. She has had it over a year and hadn't been able to use it until now. I'll have her check the software version to be sure. Thanks for the help.

Getting Updates?

I just unblocked my rooted AFTV to check for the remote control update but it's not showing any. I also checked for a system update but none are showing there either. I rebooted the unit to see if that would trigger anything but nothing. I am currently on version 51.1.0.2....and my remote version is 349 (I believe the update is 351?) Any idea how to get the updates?
Thanks!!

Something tells me that is Amazon's scheme since we now have root access for the old and current update,and they are leaving it unaccessible until they patch root in the next update.
Now we have to risk bricking our Fire TVs when installing the update manually using root access.

retroben said:
Something tells me that is Amazon's scheme since we now have root access for the old and current update,and they are leaving it unaccessible until they patch root in the next update.
Now we have to risk bricking our Fire TVs when installing the update manually using root access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it's weird that others are getting the updates...there must me something to entice the update to start? PLus I'd be willing to unroot since I'm not really using it much anyway...I only sideloaded a few apps with Terminal....but I believe that can be done anyway...

mikespe said:
But it's weird that others are getting the updates...there must me something to entice the update to start? PLus I'd be willing to unroot since I'm not really using it much anyway...I only sideloaded a few apps with Terminal....but I believe that can be done anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to Amazon support, if you can get one who is even aware of the update, the update is being rolled out incrementally but he didn;t know if it was XXXX amount a night or a week.

retroben said:
Something tells me that is Amazon's scheme since we now have root access for the old and current update,and they are leaving it unaccessible until they patch root in the next update.
Now we have to risk bricking our Fire TVs when installing the update manually using root access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Humm.. couldn't you just do a "factory reset" I just assumed that option would restore your FTV back to "NEW" condition... hence wiping everything you've added, but I don't see how that would put you in risk of "Bricking"
I'm saying this, as I thought about this myself, because it seems so easy to add XBMC root, and sideload the few apps I use.
Of course my system is very simple and basic. the only options I've added is to launch XBMC using the 'Classic TV' llama app, swap ... and swapped out the preview graphic.
I could probably redue my whole system from scratch (including a restore from XBMC) in 15-20 mins.

Even without root, not everybody has the update yet.

Rooted Gen 1 FireTV - I don't really use Root, am I missing anything updating to 5.0?

So I rooted my 1st Gen FireTV as soon as I got it, and I think I'm on the very first Firmware. I had blocked OTA updates and as far as I know have never updated. that being said, I don't think I've ever done much that actually used the Root functionality. The only thing I really do is use Kodi 15.1 annnnndddd thats it.
I do own an Amazon Echo, and saw that Alexa is now part of the new FTV update. Not sure if I can link them together and just boss my FTV around via the Echo or not, but I like the idea of more / updated functionality from my FireTV
Soooo thoughts? Am I missing anything great by updating and giving up Root? I have seen that I could update with pre-rooted firmware but then I would have to install CRM / Recovery, then do incrimental upgrades after installing a Bootmenu, etc. That seems like a lot of stuff I need in place and a lot of points of failure or bricking for something I'm not sure I even need =/
If so, what would you suggest is the easiest way to re-enable OTA updates? I was going to ADB and use pm enable com.amazon.dcp Thanks for any advice, by the way, I'm pretty new at this.

Well OK then =/

Well, like many things, the answer is up to you.
If you have no need for root then you have no need to for root.
I like, many others, prefer the option of having root, recovery and unlocked bootloaders.
If you don't use anything Amazon and only use it for Kodi then root will give you the ability to freeze the FireTV Launcher have Kodi set as Home.
Installing recovery and a updated pre-rooted ROM isn't too difficult and you've done the 'hard' part by having root already.
Update wise, unless you want to be running the latest versions then yes you'll have to on top of it otherwise you can just update to the current version and be done with it.
You can check back every now and then to see what the additional updates from Amazon fix or what features it adds and decide then if you want to update.

Advice on firetv v1 about updating firmware...

Hi all,
I've decided to get out another firetv box that i initially purchased over a year ago and wanted to set it up with a bogus amazon account.
So far so good, ... sorted out the account, followed the instructions from aftvnews to pull the lan when required to bypass the initial setup.
email & password and all done.
Now I have just a couple of things i need help with please chaps.....
I know that 51.1.4.0 is not compatible with kodi (in any form).... although I believe that spmc may work on it.
Would it be possible to update a firetv with an original firmware from http://www.aftvnews.com/software/ to the first version that allowed kodi to run.
The reason I ask is that, that first fix by amazon still showed no advertising.
It would be much better if i could root it but as far as I know root is not available for my unit, I tested the serial number over at http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-serial-number-decoder/
and this is what it said:
Rootable: No
Likely Software Version: 51.1.4.0
Manufactured: By Foxconn on 10/7/2014
Hardware Revision: 03
Unit Revision: 09
Condition (New or Refurbished): New
So seeing as I cannot root is there a way to install somehow just the firmware update that i need without removing my opendns blocks.
What would be my best choice please chaps...

Kodi worked fine on my fire tv1 without root and works fine after update and the after root.
Why dont you let it update ( it wiill update if connected and not blocked) and root it ?

wouldn't it make sense to update it to 5.0.5 and root it with kingroot?
Then it would work with Kodi.
I don't think there would be a way to update it other than to have it communicate with amazon and pull the update from them as you don't currently have root access.

slackbladder said:
Hi all,
I've decided to get out another firetv box that i initially purchased over a year ago and wanted to set it up with a bogus amazon account.
So far so good, ... sorted out the account, followed the instructions from aftvnews to pull the lan when required to bypass the initial setup.
email & password and all done.
Now I have just a couple of things i need help with please chaps.....
I know that 51.1.4.0 is not compatible with kodi (in any form).... although I believe that spmc may work on it.
Would it be possible to update a firetv with an original firmware from http://www.aftvnews.com/software/ to the first version that allowed kodi to run.
The reason I ask is that, that first fix by amazon still showed no advertising.
It would be much better if i could root it but as far as I know root is not available for my unit, I tested the serial number over at http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-serial-number-decoder/
and this is what it said:
Rootable: No
Likely Software Version: 51.1.4.0
Manufactured: By Foxconn on 10/7/2014
Hardware Revision: 03
Unit Revision: 09
Condition (New or Refurbished): New
So seeing as I cannot root is there a way to install somehow just the firmware update that i need without removing my opendns blocks.
What would be my best choice please chaps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you think KODI does not work under 51.1.4?
Kodi works with all s/w versions rooted or un-rooted. BTW if you update to OS5 you will not be able to use DNS within the box. Will need to use set-up DNS through your router as one option.

Thanks for the replies chaps.... but i'm sure that kodi/variants will not work on 51.1.4.0_user_514005520,...
You can sideload it but it will never work.
That is the same firmware I had on my first box I got over a year ago,...
http://www.aftvnews.com/xbmc-kodi-incompatible-with-fire-tv-software-version-51-1-40_user_514005520/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/xmbc-fc-uk-aftv-t2917248
---------------
Routers out of the question to block updates... that's why I'm using opendns to block updates.
So it's obvious that trying to somehow install an update of my choice is out of the question.... it's either 5.0.5 or nothing. that's fair enough.
But I'm curious about kingroot.... especially as when and if I update then I have the problem of “Self destruct” eFuse added to kernel which gets triggered if an older bootloader is used".
I haven't found anyone yet who couldn't get root due to there particular model of firetv and have used kingroot. Surely kingroot will brick a firetv due to the efuse problem.
(I thought that's where the hardwired method of root came in).
I read that one cannot replace kingroot with supersu as that would also be a major faux par.
Also read that Rbox is working on a "custom recovery" but that still leaves me wondering,.... If the Efuse is triggered then that means one cannot unlock the bootloader... leaving one with a bricked firetv wouldn't it.?
Or does kingroot work in a totally different way to towelroot.
Thanks again for the replies chaps.... the more info I get the clearer it becomes.
One last thing.. I've also notices a lot of talk about firestarter no longer working under 5.0.5... and that adbfire will no longer communicate with a firetv to sideload,... and that ES file explorer is the only way to go.
But then again, maybe that's just chitchat from amazon.... cos you can bet your life they read every single post put on the net.

slackbladder said:
Thanks for the replies chaps.... but i'm sure that kodi/variants will not work on 51.1.4.0_user_514005520,...
You can sideload it but it will never work.
That is the same firmware I had on my first box I got over a year ago,...
http://www.aftvnews.com/xbmc-kodi-incompatible-with-fire-tv-software-version-51-1-40_user_514005520/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/help/xmbc-fc-uk-aftv-t2917248
---------------
Routers out of the question to block updates... that's why I'm using opendns to block updates.
So it's obvious that trying to somehow install an update of my choice is out of the question.... it's either 5.0.5 or nothing. that's fair enough.
But I'm curious about kingroot.... especially as when and if I update then I have the problem of “Self destruct” eFuse added to kernel which gets triggered if an older bootloader is used".
I haven't found anyone yet who couldn't get root due to there particular model of firetv and have used kingroot. Surely kingroot will brick a firetv due to the efuse problem.
(I thought that's where the hardwired method of root came in).
I read that one cannot replace kingroot with supersu as that would also be a major faux par.
Also read that Rbox is working on a "custom recovery" but that still leaves me wondering,.... If the Efuse is triggered then that means one cannot unlock the bootloader... leaving one with a bricked firetv wouldn't it.?
Or does kingroot work in a totally different way to towelroot.
Thanks again for the replies chaps.... the more info I get the clearer it becomes.
One last thing.. I've also notices a lot of talk about firestarter no longer working under 5.0.5... and that adbfire will no longer communicate with a firetv to sideload,... and that ES file explorer is the only way to go.
But then again, maybe that's just chitchat from amazon.... cos you can bet your life they read every single post put on the net.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well somehow I missed that. Sorry to say but you have a lot of misunderstood info here:
- firestarter works with 5.0.5 however some other apps do not i.e. Lama
- ADB works as well
- the process of rooting with kingroot does not brick your unit, removing it by instlling supersu-me does
- Updating to 5.0.5 and rooting using kingroot method will not trigger eFuse.

Thanks for the reply bula1ca,
Only just finished reading about the update to firestarter.... But what about the EFuse? I cannot seem to find anything about the Efuse which stopped a lot of users rooting in the first place.
Does anyone know if kingroot has somehow managed to solve the Efuse problem.
Has anyone here used kingroot on what was a previously unrootable firetv box because of the Efuse problem?
thanks chaps
slackbladder..

slackbladder said:
Thanks for the reply bula1ca,
Only just finished reading about the update to firestarter.... But what about the EFuse? I cannot seem to find anything about the Efuse which stopped a lot of users rooting in the first place.
Does anyone know if kingroot has somehow managed to solve the Efuse problem.
Has anyone here used kingroot on what was a previously unrootable firetv box because of the Efuse problem?
thanks chaps
slackbladder..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many including myself.....and no worry recovery will be available as well, from what I know rbox will release it soon. Whatever you decide to do just do not try to remove kingroot with supersu-me.
BTW eFuse did not stop rooting, Amazon updates blocked rooting method available at the time.

So I don't need to worry about this info here: http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tvs-efuse-explained-rooted-devices-not-at-risk-of-bricking/
Because it seems that its only about boxes that were able to be rooted...
And I was sure that my uk unit was not rootable...
Hence my posting of aftvnews serial decoder information:
Rootable: No
Likely Software Version: 51.1.4.0
Manufactured: By Foxconn on 10/7/2014
Hardware Revision: 03
Unit Revision: 09
Condition (New or Refurbished): New
I'm finding this very confusing....
Strangely enough, I had an upgrade from my service provider.. I stupidly forgot to turn off my working firetv box and it got updated to 51.1.6.3,.... I thought that was OS5,...
If you look on http://www.aftvnews.com/software/ and then look at the second part down it says this:
Fire OS 5.0 Developer Preview – First Version (Which I believe to be Lollypop 5.1)
but when I used firestarter and looked at my settings it says the unit is running 51.1.6.3 and that I'm still on 4.2.2 (Which I do believe is Jellybean).
I really thought that my working unit was on OS5 when it got updated but obviously I was wrong, or the website at aftvnews is wrong.... unlikely.
So if I do update the new box, and it does take the 5.0.5 update... I sideload kingroot (I don't really want to use the PC version of kingroot) and then run it..
Hope that last bit makes sense...

slackbladder said:
So I don't need to worry about this info here: http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tvs-efuse-explained-rooted-devices-not-at-risk-of-bricking/
Because it seems that its only about boxes that were able to be rooted...
And I was sure that my uk unit was not rootable...
Hence my posting of aftvnews serial decoder information:
Rootable: No
Likely Software Version: 51.1.4.0
Manufactured: By Foxconn on 10/7/2014
Hardware Revision: 03
Unit Revision: 09
Condition (New or Refurbished): New
I'm finding this very confusing....
Strangely enough, I had an upgrade from my service provider.. I stupidly forgot to turn off my working firetv box and it got updated to 51.1.6.3,.... I thought that was OS5,...
If you look on http://www.aftvnews.com/software/ and then look at the second part down it says this:
Fire OS 5.0 Developer Preview – First Version (Which I believe to be Lollypop 5.1)
but when I used firestarter and looked at my settings it says the unit is running 51.1.6.3 and that I'm still on 4.2.2 (Which I do believe is Jellybean).
I really thought that my working unit was on OS5 when it got updated but obviously I was wrong, or the website at aftvnews is wrong.... unlikely.
So if I do update the new box, and it does take the 5.0.5 update... I sideload kingroot (I don't really want to use the PC version of kingroot) and then run it..
Hope that last bit makes sense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are very confused.
Your box is still on OS3 @ latest s/w revision released (http://www.aftvnews.com/software/). and in this stage it is not rootable yet. You have two options: either let it upgrade to OS5 by itself and root it with kingroot or block updates and wait for rbox to release recovery and a way to upgrade to OS5 manually.

Well I removed the opendns block, waited a couple of minutes and checked for updates... nothing happened at first, tried again, still nothing,.. third time lucky, box reads that there is an update available.
First update went to 51.1.6.3 user 516012020,.... it took about 15 minutes to update, then rebooted, took a further 5 minutes.
I then checked again and this time an update to OS 5.0.5 (537174420)... after another reboot it took about another 10 minutes going through "optimizing system storage and applications"... I would think if I had kodi or anything else sideloaded that's where it might have caused a problem, (I'm guessing).
Then had an update come through for the remote.
So now I'm wondering what to do, because it feels like "toss a coin in the air, and hope I'm lucky with kingroot". Can anyone tell me what would be the worst case scenario that could happen when using kingroot.
Thanks for reading chaps..
slackbladder.
---
Sorry bula1ca, I never knew you replied.
I'm just thinking about sideloading kodi now,.... I'm sure I read somewhere that with the new update sideloaded apps appear on the homescreen,... So would I still need firestarter or not.?

You don't "need" firestarter with 5.0.5 it shows side loaded apps on the home screen in the apps section.

Thanks for that Ludacrisvp...
I was about to use "Install APK" with adbfire,.... To Install isengard 15.2,.... But I remember reading somewhere that one could use the "ADB Shell" and a command to clean up (remove the apk) once it has been run. I may be getting this mixed up with installing to an ipad, as I'm trying to remember something from months ago...

Kodi Jarvis 16.0 is the latest stable version that should be what you are using.
You can push the APK to the device then install it using File Explorer, or similar but then you'll have apk files floating about to clean up later.
Best idea would be to use adb to install the APK in a single step, it will transfer the APK and install it and clean up the data too.
ADBFire is handy if you're new to using ADB.

Thanks for the advice Ludacrisvp....
hhmmm not to sure about Jarvis yet.. maybe in a month or two. At the moment my Isengard isn't broken so there's no need to fix it.
Anyway I used adbfire and installed the apk for isengard. and ran it to go threw the setup procedure.
I then replaced the box running 5.0.5 with my box running 51.1.6.3 and using adbfire again did a backup. This took about 45 minutes.
A total of 1.24gb.
I then replaced that with the 5.0.5 box and did a restore, this was a painfully long experience... another 45 minutes.
I then ran Isengard under 5.0.5 and all was well, my setup was exactly the same,... Initially I was expecting problems due to the OS upgrade but it was fine,.. only thing missing was my personal wallpaper, so I pushed it to "SDcard", came out of settings on kodi and wallpaper appeared.
Now I don't know if this is my imagination but I tested iplayer and youtube and the video replay quality seemed grainy.... even though i had iplayer on best quality. And I tried a few videos that I've watched previously on youtube so I knew they were HD quality.
I'd like to test this 5.0.5 on a new TV to see if this would make any difference.
also when I rebooted the 5.0.5 box I had a short message appear saying something about reconfiguring installed software.... I've never seen that before and a loud crackle noise as the box was booting.
I'm just wondering about updating my unit that I've been using all the time with the old firmware on it,.... If I did would it be best to reset the unit to factory settings,... I'm just thinking because of kodi and firestarter and llama being on there would they cause a problem to the upgrade.

rooting 5.2.6.0

Pardon me if this is a stupid question or the wrong place - but I am new to this type of thing. Does anyone know if/when it will be possible to root a firetv version 5.2.6.0 ?

Hi. and welcome to the board.
For all things regarding the aftv, the site http://www.aftvnews.com/tag/guide/ is a good starting point.
It's also there than you can check to see if root for your software revision has become available. For starters it's always good to learn how to block on the air updates for your device asap, so that rooting vulnerabilities have not been patched already before we learn about them (which is the usual way: they got patched and we just learn about them afterwards when the new update already patched them).
As an answer to your question, there is no known way atm to achieve software root on a device with 5.2.6.0.

Yes, thanks. I actually did look at the aftvnews website and saw that my version was market in red, but it didnt give much details as to why its not do able.. it just said no possible. I was curious as to why the limitation

Which version is installed on new fire tv sticks ?
Which version is the latest one which is rootable?
If i buy a new fire tv stick today and first thing i will do, is block the ota update, can i root it or are the new sticks all unrootable, because they already have the new firmware which is not able to be rooted?