Develop Bugs

Softbrick after formatting system... Fixed

So not paying attention I formatted system and didn't flash new ROM before rebooting. Now I can't get into recovery, even trying alt+sysrq+i, and turning on the system just shows a black screen. The Ouya is being detected as MTP device and no adb/fastboot functions work. Is there any hope in getting this one back in working order?

So this morning I finally got it fixed with the keyboard shortcuts. There are plenty of posts talking about this method but none give any hints as to the timing, so here goes.
Turn system on.
Hold down alt+sysrq+i for five seconds then release for about a half second. Repeat up to six times.
Screen will flash and begin booting into recovery.
Some have mentioned that they get a black screen in recovery and that pressing the Home key repeatedly will bring up the screen.
Flash new ROM and enjoy your Ouya.
I wasn't able to find any general timings so I thought this would be a good place to share my findings. If this helped you please hit thanks!

BUS DR1V3R said:
So this morning I finally got it fixed with the keyboard shortcuts. There are plenty of posts talking about this method but none give any hints as to the timing, so here goes.
Turn system on.
Hold down alt+sysrq+i for five seconds then release for about a half second. Repeat up to six times.
Screen will flash and begin booting into recovery.
Some have mentioned that they get a black screen in recovery and that pressing the Home key repeatedly will bring up the screen.
Flash new ROM and enjoy your Ouya.
I wasn't able to find any general timings so I thought this would be a good place to share my findings. If this helped you please hit thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if that exact timing doesn't work? I've been able to use that method before, but I think I've fully bricked the system.

trevorftard said:
What if that exact timing doesn't work? I've been able to use that method before, but I think I've fully bricked the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do to the system?

Exactly same prob here, but the keyboard trick doesn't work for me
I messed up after flashing CWM Recovery and perform a full wipe.
Any chance to get it back ?

ElMeteK said:
Exactly same prob here, but the keyboard trick doesn't work for me
I messed up after flashing CWM Recovery and perform a full wipe.
Any chance to get it back ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have ADB access? I might not be the best person to field these questions, but I'll give 'em a try.:good:

BUS DR1V3R said:
Do you have ADB access? I might not be the best person to field these questions, but I'll give 'em a try.:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nop, no adb access.
Only showned as MTP device.

ElMeteK said:
Nop, no adb access.
Only showned as MTP device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I looked high and low for answers for this all day yesterday and must have tried the keyboard trick at least 100 times before I found a timing that worked for me. My only advice would be to keep trying slightly different timings. You may have to use the alt+sysrq+i key combo more times than I did. Try doing it about 10 or 15 times. Just remember to hold the keys for a few seconds, release, and hold again.
My screen eventually flashed green and the system rebooted straight into recovery.

BUS DR1V3R said:
Ah, I looked high and low for answers for this all day yesterday and must have tried the keyboard trick at least 100 times before I found a timing that worked for me. My only advice would be to keep trying slightly different timings. You may have to use the alt+sysrq+i key combo more times than I did. Try doing it about 10 or 15 times. Just remember to hold the keys for a few seconds, release, and hold again.
My screen eventually flashed green and the system rebooted straight into recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not working for me
I've tried for about an hour unsuccessfully (

ElMeteK said:
It's not working for me
I've tried for about an hour unsuccessfully (
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, it worked for me but I was at it for at least 4 or 5 hours before I finally got it to work. All I can tell you is either keep trying or run out and get a new system. :fingers-crossed:
We need a hardware mod to add a recovery button to existing units. As soon as one is available I may offer a cheap service to install any mods needed. Until then we are reliant on a somewhat flakey keyboard shortcut.

BUS DR1V3R said:
So this morning I finally got it fixed with the keyboard shortcuts. There are plenty of posts talking about this method but none give any hints as to the timing, so here goes.
Turn system on.
Hold down alt+sysrq+i for five seconds then release for about a half second. Repeat up to six times.
Screen will flash and begin booting into recovery.
Some have mentioned that they get a black screen in recovery and that pressing the Home key repeatedly will bring up the screen.
Flash new ROM and enjoy your Ouya.
I wasn't able to find any general timings so I thought this would be a good place to share my findings. If this helped you please hit thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rather then booting into recovery mine just goes to a black screen with OUYA and a red "!"
am i doing something wrong or do i just have to keep trying? or is it toast?

glitchhawk said:
rather then booting into recovery mine just goes to a black screen with OUYA and a red "!"
am i doing something wrong or do i just have to keep trying? or is it toast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try pressing the Home key on the keyboard. It may take multiple presses.

BUS DR1V3R said:
Try pressing the Home key on the keyboard. It may take multiple presses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh man thanks! first time i got into ! screen the menu opened. wow lol. WOOT!! there is still hope!!

glitchhawk said:
oh man thanks! first time i got into ! screen the menu opened. wow lol. WOOT!! there is still hope!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good stuff, glad you got it going!

I was able to get my Ouya into recovery mode one time after trying off and on for hours, but I had it plugged into my computer monitor and when I changed the monitor source back to DVI (my PC) to see which option in the recovery menu to choose and switched back, the HDMI source showed "no signal". I haven't been able to get it back to that screen since and I wasn't really paying attention to the timing (of course). It's odd to me that since I can see device in ADB while it's booted to black, but "adb reboot recovery" does nothing.
Can someone who has discovered the correct timing and can get into recovery consistently help with these questions? It might help with some other cues to know if you're doing it right rather than just "restart it over and over and try different timings".
1.) Does the power LED on the top of the Ouya stay on when it's in recovery mode?
Occasionally, my power LED will turn off but the device still says it's connected in ADB.​2.) If you have the Ouya plugged in via micro-usb when you turn it on, do you hear the USB connect sound?
I'm using Win 7 and depending on my timing I either DO or DO NOT hear the USB connect sound from my speakers as it's connecting as a ADB Composite Interface / MTP Device.​3.) Does your Ouya lose HDMI signal in the "boot to recovery" process?
I know not all TV's/monitors timeout at the same interval, but If I leave my Ouya alone it boots to a black screen, messing with the key combo sometimes make its turn blue and show "No Signal"​4.) If your USB keyboard has LED's on it to show when caps/num/scroll lock are pressed, do they illuminate when plugged into your Ouya?
I found some documentation on sysrq magic keys in the Android kernel docs, maybe one of the other key combos will have better results?
https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/common/+/experimental/android-3.8/Documentation/sysrq.txt

I finally stumbled upon the right key combo timing again through sheer dumb luck. I took my Ouya out of my office and back into the living room, connected it to my TV with a USB keyboard and gave it one last try before giving up - glad I tried one last time.
For anyone else that is having trouble still, here's some things that might help as well as answers to my questions from above. Some of it is just speculation, but maybe it'll help someone:
Timing: As SOON as I tapped the power button on the Ouya I immediately held down ALT on the keyboard and every few seconds also pressed SYSRQ+i (never letting go of ALT). I believe I did it a total of five times and I stopped as soon as I saw the LED on the top of the Ouya turn off. I didn't really hold down the keys and count a few seconds like I've heard others mention, I just tapped SYSRQ+i around five times while holding down ALT. Menu popped up after the power led turned back on.
Driver: Make sure you followed the guide from the Ouya docs and have the right version of the Google USB driver installed (here's the Windows guide https://devs.ouya.tv/developers/docs/setup#toc_61). When my Ouya was booting to black it was showing up as an Android ADB Interface and a MTP usb device that it couldn't find a driver for. The correct identification should be Android ADB Composite Interface
ADB Make sure you're running the lastest version of ADB (1.0.31 currently). When I ran adb devices on the black screen it would return my device serial number and the string "device" which refers to the state it was in (occasionally this value would "offline" when I'd tried a key-combo that failed to get into recovery mode).
Once I got recovery mode up and selected the adb sideload option adb devices would show my Ouya serial number and say that it was in the "host" state. When I tried the adb sideload otafirmwarefile.zip command, it would fail because adb sideload wasn't a valid command in the older version of adb I was running. Running the google SDK manager from the ADT bundle, removing/re-installing android platform tools and logging out / in to Windows fixed this for me next time I opened a command prompt. Now with the right ADB version running adb devices on my micro-usb connected PC showed my device serial number and "sideload" as it's state.
Answers to my previous questions:
1.) Does the power LED on the top of the Ouya stay on when it's in recovery mode?
Yes and No. The light turned on when I powered it on, after alt+sysrq+i presses the light TURNED OFF momentarily and then turned back on just as the recovery mode screen came up​
2.) If you have the Ouya plugged in via micro-usb when you turn it on, do you hear the USB connect sound?
Not sure, when I got into recovery mode I had my micro-usb cable disconnected. I reconnected it once I selected the second option in the recovery menu (adb sideload)​
3.) Does your Ouya lose HDMI signal in the "boot to recovery" process?
Yes, at least mine did. I had black screen at boot, then it went to "no signal" at the same time the LED at the top went out, then the screen came back on when the recovery mode screen came up​
4.) If your USB keyboard has LED's on it to show when caps/num/scroll lock are pressed, do they illuminate when plugged into your Ouya?
No, the LEDs on my USB keyboard never lit up, but the keyboard was working.​

I did something worng! Help!

I have the firetv rooted with xposed running and the xbmc launcher running. I tried to upgrade to beta xbmc 14 nightly but it did not work. So I then tried to uninstall xbmc fully with adb. Now my firetv will boot to the firetv animation screen and then go to black screen with the error: Acitivy org.xbmc.xbmc splash screen not found. I have tried to reinstall xbmc 13.1 for adb but it will not go thru. I've tried killing xbmclauncher (se.blunden.xbmclauncher.apk) with no luck. Tried to uninstall Xposed with no luck. I can connect to my firetv thru adb and can create a su adb shell, but can't get anything to work through adb. Please help this fool!

apazrjon said:
I have the firetv rooted with xposed running and the xbmc launcher running. I tried to upgrade to beta xbmc 14 nightly but it did not work. So I then tried to uninstall xbmc fully with adb. Now my firetv will boot to the firetv animation screen and then go to black screen with the error: Acitivy org.xbmc.xbmc splash screen not found. I have tried to reinstall xbmc 13.1 for adb but it will not go thru. I've tried killing xbmclauncher (se.blunden.xbmclauncher.apk) with no luck. Tried to uninstall Xposed with no luck. I can connect to my firetv thru adb and can create a su adb shell, but can't get anything to work through adb. Please help this fool!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i recommend a factory reset

If you have got to the point of desperation and no other help is forthcoming. I ran through this guide when I had an issue and it restored my AFTV.
It won't let me post the link. So have a look on firetvnews .com and you should see a way to restore the AFTV. Or read below, I just copied it:
If you’ve managed to brick your Fire TV or for whatever reason are unable to get to the settings menu to perform a factory reset, here is how to enter recovery mode without fully booting into the Fire TV’s operating system.
To do this you will need a USB keyboard with a “Print Screen” or “SysRq” key. Mac keyboards generally do not have this key so will not work. Before you get started, plug the USB keyboard into the Fire TV and unplug the Fire TV’s power. Now plug the power in and while the Fire TV is booting, you need to press the following 3 keys simultaneously: Alt + Print Screen + i
Pressing those 3 keys sends a “kill all tasks” command to the Fire TV. If you kill all tasks during boot up enough times, the Fire TV will enter Recovery Mode. So after pressing Alt + Print Screen + i, the Fire TV will flicker and restart the boot up process. While it’s trying to boot up a second time, press Alt + Print Screen + i again. Repeat this process several times until the Fire TV displays the message “The System Update was not successful.” When you see this message, you are now in Recovery Mode.
If you are having trouble getting into Recovery Mode, a good time to press Alt + Print Screen + i is as soon as you see the colorful boot animation. Pressing Alt + Print Screen + i should cause the screen to go black and the boot animation to restart. Press Alt + Print Screen + i every time the boot animation restarts. After 4 or 5 restarts, you should see a white Amazon logo followed by the “Update was not successful” screen. You can also try holding Alt + Print Screen + i through out the entire initial boot up process.
Once on the “Update was not successful” screen, press the Home key on your keyboard. This should bring up a menu in the upper left corner. Use the arrow keys to highlight the factory reset option and hit enter.

Yeah I've seen that factory reset method. I am almost at that point! I have a wireless k400, but it doesn't seem to work. I just need to get my hands on a wired keyboard. I was hoping there may be some better adb commands to accomplish removing xposed and xbmc launcher, but I guess probably not. Time to get a wired keyboard! Thanks for the quick responses! Cheers!

apazrjon said:
Yeah I've seen that factory reset method. I am almost at that point! I have a wireless k400, but it doesn't seem to work. I just need to get my hands on a wired keyboard. I was hoping there may be some better adb commands to accomplish removing xposed and xbmc launcher, but I guess probably not. Time to get a wired keyboard! Thanks for the quick responses! Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would use command "adb shell pm list packages -f" that way you can see what apps are installed on the Fire TV and exact package name.....
Next uninstall with "adb uninstall com.amazon.app.name" (no directory or .apk specification needed)
I was playing with some Xposed mods yesterday and locked the fire TV up as well, uninstalling mod fixed it. (Xposed Additions Module)

apazrjon said:
I was hoping there may be some better adb commands to accomplish removing xposed and xbmc launcher, but I guess probably not. Time to get a wired keyboard! Thanks for the quick responses! Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing I can think of is to try an adb install of xbmc with the -r flag set, then an uninstall of Xposed before uninstalling XBMC. The -r should force a reinstall and get you back to a useable interface but otherwise, yep, sounds like a reset'll be required.

roustabout said:
Only thing I can think of is to try an adb install of xbmc with the -r flag set, then an uninstall of Xposed before uninstalling XBMC. The -r should force a reinstall and get you back to a useable interface but otherwise, yep, sounds like a reset'll be required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If adb is working, adb reboot recovery should get you into recovery so you can do the factory reset.

reboot recovery does get me into the update download page but no buttons on my remote or my wireless k400 seem to get me to recovery for factory reset. Any thoughts?

apazrjon said:
reboot recovery does get me into the update download page but no buttons on my remote or my wireless k400 seem to get me to recovery for factory reset. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you already uninstall all Xposed modules and the Xposed framework ?

trying that next. It seems that adb will only work right after I reboot for some reason. Going to try again right now.

Just went ahead and got a $10 usb keyboard from walmart. Still couldn't get the home button to work for getting my into recovery. Then i decided to press shift + home and it worked. I don't know if it was the key combo or just good timing with the home button. Who knows. Back to factory now! Time to rebuild. Everything was set up perfect! Just couldn't leave well enough alone, lol! Thanks for all the help. My adb would only work for one time at a time and wouldn't uninstal anything. Cheers!

deleted content ..
sorry ., didn't notice I would have been duplicating what others already posted ....

rbox said:
If adb is working, adb reboot recovery should get you into recovery so you can do the factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, meant "only command flag in ADB you might try before going for a full restore"
I thought the OPs core problem was that xposed was telling his system to use a nonexistent app as the launcher, and he wasn't able to get the app back in even for long enough to uninstall Xposed, reboot, and then uninstall XBMC.

Smithy71 said:
Once on the “Update was not successful” screen, press the Home key on your keyboard. This should bring up a menu in the upper left corner. Use the arrow keys to highlight the factory reset option and hit enter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a gray screen and can't get rid of it. I'm rooted and have elmerohueso's Launcher installed. All has been working perfect until the other night when I got a "low memory" pop up with a request to uninstall some apps. After that, the screen grayed and that was that. I've gotten to the“Update was not successful” screen but cannot get the menu to show up. I'm using a usb keyboard and have tried home, shift + home, and every other combo I can think of but the menu will not show up.
Anyone have another suggestion?

When you are on the update unsuccessful screen, press alt + sys rq + i to reboot back to the update screen again and then press home to bring up recovery menu. That's what I did on my keyboard

Smithy71 said:
If you have got to the point of desperation and no other help is forthcoming. I ran through this guide when I had an issue and it restored my AFTV.
It won't let me post the link. So have a look on firetvnews .com and you should see a way to restore the AFTV. Or read below, I just copied it:
If you’ve managed to brick your Fire TV or for whatever reason are unable to get to the settings menu to perform a factory reset, here is how to enter recovery mode without fully booting into the Fire TV’s operating system.
To do this you will need a USB keyboard with a “Print Screen” or “SysRq” key. Mac keyboards generally do not have this key so will not work. Before you get started, plug the USB keyboard into the Fire TV and unplug the Fire TV’s power. Now plug the power in and while the Fire TV is booting, you need to press the following 3 keys simultaneously: Alt + Print Screen + i
Pressing those 3 keys sends a “kill all tasks” command to the Fire TV. If you kill all tasks during boot up enough times, the Fire TV will enter Recovery Mode. So after pressing Alt + Print Screen + i, the Fire TV will flicker and restart the boot up process. While it’s trying to boot up a second time, press Alt + Print Screen + i again. Repeat this process several times until the Fire TV displays the message “The System Update was not successful.” When you see this message, you are now in Recovery Mode.
If you are having trouble getting into Recovery Mode, a good time to press Alt + Print Screen + i is as soon as you see the colorful boot animation. Pressing Alt + Print Screen + i should cause the screen to go black and the boot animation to restart. Press Alt + Print Screen + i every time the boot animation restarts. After 4 or 5 restarts, you should see a white Amazon logo followed by the “Update was not successful” screen. You can also try holding Alt + Print Screen + i through out the entire initial boot up process.
Once on the “Update was not successful” screen, press the Home key on your keyboard. This should bring up a menu in the upper left corner. Use the arrow keys to highlight the factory reset option and hit enter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how to connect usb keyboard same time usb power? fire tv have no usb port

roy0175 said:
how to connect usb keyboard same time usb power? fire tv have no usb port
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTG Y Cable! It's an OTG cable that can also deliver power to the FireTV while you are using it with a mouse, keyboard, etc...

Another bricked AFTV can't enter recovery boot

Hello,
Only today I received my fire tv and rooted with ADBfire tool and disabled updates with pm disable com.amazon.dcp command ( this is the only method I used). Then installed busybox and wanted to mount USB drive with ADBfire tool but there was some errors so I uninstalled busybox and done factory reset. After this my box boots to Amazon fire TV colour logo and says "press start on the remote" when I press start for 2-3 times the led on the box starts to flash orange colour . I found that you can enter recovery mode with USB keyboard connected. I done everything but my box just keeps restarting and no recovery option. Is it possible that my recovery partition is corrupted? Is there something I can do to unbrick my box?

Just a follow up:
I'm still can't boot to recovery mode. What I tried:
Holding Print/I/ALT and after I see amazon colour logo press all buttons again. Then screen flickers and starts boot again. Then again after I see colour logo press all buttons. After 2-3 times box restarts and on TV shows message "No Signal' for about 1-2 sec and box starts boot again. Then I see black screen with Amazon logo but no recovery option nothing =. I was playing for about 1h and no recovery. Is it possible that my box can't enter recovery?

When entering recovery menu does ethernet must be connected? Does remote must be on? I'm trying everything but can't enter recovery mode. My box just restarts and that's it. Any info or help will appreciated

kodikas said:
When entering recovery menu does ethernet must be connected? Does remote must be on? I'm trying everything but can't enter recovery mode. My box just restarts and that's it. Any info or help will appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Have tried a differnt keyboard? or the keyboard without the HUB? (if you are using one)

[email protected] said:
Hi
Have tried a differnt keyboard? or the keyboard without the HUB? (if you are using one)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying with 4 different keyboards and connecting with or without hub. Then on 3 different TV + 3 different HDMI cables + removed batteries on remote + ethernet cable connected and disconnected + different combinations on keyboard NOTHING by my understanding this is because I done "disable com.amazon.dcp" and then factory reset. I'm planing to play more latter today and update if I will have any luck.

kodikas said:
I was trying with 4 different keyboards and connecting with or without hub. Then on 3 different TV + 3 different HDMI cables + removed batteries on remote + ethernet cable connected and disconnected + different combinations on keyboard NOTHING by my understanding this is because I done "disable com.amazon.dcp" and then factory reset. I'm planing to play more latter today and update if I will have any luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can verify it has nothing to do with disabling the updates in that manner.. I have factory reseted at least 10 times and each time I disable the updates immediately with pm disable. It must be something else you've done.

mastafunk said:
I can verify it has nothing to do with disabling the updates in that manner.. I have factory reseted at least 10 times and each time I disable the updates immediately with pm disable. It must be something else you've done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooted then installed busybox and that's it.

You are probably just using the wrong key presses or your timing is off. On my keyboard, its alt + sysrq + i. Do that a few times while booting up. If you do manage to get to the "update failed" screen, do the keypress again. The press home button on keyboard to bring up menu and choose factory reset. Or maybe when its booting and tells you to press home key on remote, use a keyboard instead and see if it gets any further.

{ParanoiA} said:
You are probably just using the wrong key presses or your timing is off. On my keyboard, its alt + sysrq + i. Do that a few times while booting up. If you do manage to get to the "update failed" screen, do the keypress again. The press home button on keyboard to bring up menu and choose factory reset. Or maybe when its booting and tells you to press home key on remote, use a keyboard instead and see if it gets any further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I see colour Amazon logo I'm pressing Alt+PrtSc/Sysrq+i then screen goes black and colour Amazon logon come up then again I'm pressing the same combination and then box just won't boot, then I wait for about 2 min and again box starts to boot first white Amazon logo then colour Amazon logo and I'm pressing combination again then box restarts 2 times and shuts down. I was trying left ALT right ALT 4 different keyboards but never saw failed screen. My friend have Amazon box and I booted to failed screen without problems with all keyboards. I think that I need to send box back to Amazon for replacement.

Could you fix the problem?
Hello,
I was reading some post of bricked FATVs, wondering if you fixed your proboem and if you did, how?
How can you brick a AFTV?
Thanks

kodikas said:
When I see colour Amazon logo I'm pressing Alt+PrtSc/Sysrq+i then screen goes black and colour Amazon logon come up then again I'm pressing the same combination and then box just won't boot, then I wait for about 2 min and again box starts to boot first white Amazon logo then colour Amazon logo and I'm pressing combination again then box restarts 2 times and shuts down. I was trying left ALT right ALT 4 different keyboards but never saw failed screen. My friend have Amazon box and I booted to failed screen without problems with all keyboards. I think that I need to send box back to Amazon for replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your able to boot to amazon logo did you try remote sequence to factory reset (back button and right arrow for 15 sec
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Just saw your post. Just tried and factory reset starts but after reboot stuck on the same Press (PLAY) to start.

davekaz said:
If your able to boot to amazon logo did you try remote sequence to factory reset (back button and right arrow for 15 sec
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you mean the keys on the keyboard or remote? Amazon white logo or color one? I'm stucking the white screen. Even after I press alt prtsc i then wipe data

4k Element Amazon Fire TV can't update

i have the tv on its launch firmware 5.2.5.0, and it is pretty buggy.
this tv has pretty much zero dev work going on, so it has a locked bootloader, no recovery, ect.
it has been rooted (kingroot) and had updates disabled.
i reenabled the updates (unblocked from router and fixed build number).
it downloads the update and tries to install it, but it is still on 5.2.5.0 when it reboots.
i tried factory resetting before and after i removed root. (which doesn't remove or restore anything aside from making me put my account back in)
anyone have any ideas?
maybe someone can tell me how to pull a logcat when trying to install the OTA?

well, alright then.

Did you ever get this resolved? I have the same issue...still stuck on 5.2.5.0

I have the same issue with my Element TV stuck at 5.2.5.0
Based on this link it should be at 5.2.6.2 http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-fire-tv-stick-software-update-history/
I need to figure out how to manually update the TV...any ideas?

To manually install a software update on your Element 4K Ultra HD Smart TV - Amazon Fire TV Edition:
1. From a computer, click the following link:
w w w. amazon. c o m /television-update
A .zip file named “firetvedition_update.zip” will download automatically.
2. Open the .zip file and extract the enclosed files by right-clicking the file and selecting “Extract All,” then following the prompts. (On a Mac, double-click the .zip file to extract the files.)
3. Next, plug a USB storage device into your computer with at least 4MB of available memory. If you’re already using a USB storage device with your TV to view photos or play music or videos, then this same device should also work for the software update. (The USB device must be FAT32 formatted.)
4. The USB storage device will appear as a removable drive on your computer. Drag and drop or copy and paste the files directly onto the USB device, making sure not to put them in a subfolder. Once the files have been copied, you can eject the USB device to safely disconnect it from your computer.
5. Unplug any external devices from your TV, then unplug the TV’s power cord.
6. Plug the USB stick into either USB port on your TV, then plug in the power cord for the TV. The TV will turn on by itself and begin installing the update. It will reboot during this time. Be sure to keep the TV and USB stick firmly plugged in. If prompted, press the power button on the front of your TV to finish the reboot process.
After your TV has rebooted, your software update is complete. You may remove the USB stick and reconnect any external devices. Your TV should download any future software updates automatically.
Unfortunately, my tv still doesn't boot up from the flash drive.
I have tried 5 different flash drives of different sizes.
I am going to write that image file using rufus on a flash drive and see what happens.
Maybe this will bypass having to mount it?
Anyone have any ideas?

I followed the steps and was able to boot from USB, but it didn't help much. (see the pictures attached)
Then I tried again to boot up but this time didn't boot at all from USB...no clue why.

fbuzila said:
I followed the steps and was able to boot from USB, but it didn't help much. (see the pictures attached)
Then I tried again to boot up but this time didn't boot at all from USB...no clue why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My usb only booted once but my controls were not working, so I restarted and I could never get it to boot off the usb again.

This tv will probably have to be rooted since I get permission denied on everything.
I was hoping maybe to copy the upgrade img somewhere on to the tv and maybe execute it from there.

Poopiepants74 said:
This tv will probably have to be rooted since I get permission denied on everything.
I was hoping maybe to copy the upgrade img somewhere on to the tv and maybe execute it from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am going to try wiping the image as mentioned in the link below, then try updates again.
w w w .aftvnews.c o m/how-to-unbrick-by-entering-recovery-mode-and-factory-reset-the-amazon-fire-tv/

Damn good news!!!
I finally got the damn thing upgraded, and no thanks to Amazon or Element.
They were both useless and kept sending me back and forth between support for both companies.
This is how you were able to break the Ouya console startup process when booting and it works for Element Fire TV's as well.
So it's a bit of a hit or miss, but I am pretty confident it will work if your patient.
1. Download the following file and put it on a USB stick
http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-fire-tv-stick-software-update-history/
Search for: Version 5.2.5.1 (Build 577224220) and download that file
Throw it on a flash drive formatted Fat32
2. Connect a usb keyboard to your Element Fire TV
3. Turn of your Element TV by pulling the power plug, wait 5 seconds and turn it back on with the remote.
4. As soon as you see the element logo start tapping on your "Left alt", "I "(key) and "Print Screen" at the same time. This will cause a break and restart the system. You will do this several times continuously every time you seem the Element logo. The TV should reboot about 3-4 times, so you should see the Element logo 3-4 different times while tapping the key combination. At some point you will see a screen that reads updating.
5. The first time you come across the updating screen wait 5 minutes and if the progress bar does nothing, it is frozen/stuck. Once again, "Left alt", "I"(key) and "Print Screen" at the same time and it will restart. Once again you will see the Element logo and repeat the key combo routine.
You will then see the 2nd upgrade screen and you should see the progress bar moving and it should complete this time around.
Notes:
Never restart if it is updating and you see the progress bar moving or your usb is flashing.
Please reply with any questions, successes or failures.
Good luck!
Poopiepants

Well, I somehow managed to update to 5.2.5.1. I used a combination of the methods that @Poopiepants74 described in post #5 and post #10. I used post #5 to get to the boot menu, and then I was running into the same error message that @fbuzila had in post #6.
So, I left the TV at the boot menu, removed the USB stick, downloaded and added the 5.2.5.1 update file to the USB stick, put the USB stick back in the TV and continued with the steps to "update from USB", which was successful.
Now my TV has been on 5.2.5.1 for 48 hours and has not attempted to update to a newer version. When I check manually through the settings, it says there is no update available.
I will give it a week or so to see if it 'checks in' and tries to update it its own.

still stuck on 6.2.6.0 here. can't find a newer package to download anywhere*sigh*

20 days later...still hasn't updated. I remain on 5.2.5.1 still.

Anyone know where to manually download the latest Fire OS 5.2.6.7 for Fire TV Edition 1 (Element) Edition? I am still stuck on 5.2.5.1. Since I was able to manually update to 5.2.5.1 I'd like to attempt to manually update to the latest 5.2.6.7

Please follow these troubleshooting steps to get the issue resolved.
@ Power off the device
@ Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet
@ Hold down the return button on the TV (on the bottom bezel, next to the power button) and plug in the TV
@ When on the 'Amazon system recovery' screen, release the return button on the TV
@ Using the volume down button on the bezel of the TV, move down to 'wipe data/factory reset' option
@ Press the power button on the bezel of the TV to select ‘wipe data/factory reset’
@ Using the volume down button on the bezel of the TV, navigate to the “Yes” option
@ Press the power button to select “Yes” with the power button
@ Select “reboot system now” with the power button
Please go through the steps and see if that fixes your TV issue.

The only available update to the Fire OS, I have been able to find online is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/television-update
release-margo-54.5.7.2
Build TIME : 2017-06-24 09:27:46
FireOS 5.2.5.1
The latest version Fire OS 5.2.7.0 is nowhere to be found on the internet.
Unfortunately, some apps like Bravo do not seem to work with 5.2.5.1.
I will be contacting Amazon and see if any updates are available.

So after contacting Amazon, they sent me a link to their source files.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/cust...e=UTF8&nodeId=201452680&qid=1564247290&sr=1-1

So if you have this issue you need the recovery pill file and not just an update.
The recovery file will contain the MstarUpgrade.bin file.
Here is 5.2.6.8 straight from Element.
A quicker way to get into the Recovery menu without a keyboard.
Disconnect the power cable from the wall for 20 seconds, while holding down the power button.
Plug the TV back in and it will turn on automatically.
Immediately hold down the input button which is right next to the power button (Pictured as a Box with an arrow), until you hit the recovery menu.
Select upgrade from USB and you should be set.
It's not recognizing my signature file, so hopefully I will here from them soon to resolve my issue.

Poopiepants74 said:
So if you have this issue you need the recovery pill file and not just an update.
The recovery file will contain the MstarUpgrade.bin file.
Here is 5.2.6.8 straight from Element.
A quicker way to get into the Recovery menu without a keyboard.
Disconnect the power cable from the wall for 20 seconds, while holding down the power button.
Plug the TV back in and it will turn on automatically.
Immediately hold down the input button which is right next to the power button (Pictured as a Box with an arrow), until you hit the recovery menu.
Select upgrade from USB and you should be set.
It's not recognizing my signature file, so hopefully I will here from them soon to resolve my issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. Doesn't recognize for me either...

Good news Element pushed an update which my TV was able to install.
5.2.7.1 is out and it worked for me.
The TV just prompted me out of the blue to install this update and it successfully completed.

Any chance to recover a dead Philips 48PFS8109/12?

Hi,
my Philips 48PFS8109/12 made problems for a long time already when trying to power it on: it needed several attempts to cut off the power, reconnect the power and let it try to boot, cut off the power and reconnect again, etc.
Sometimes it entered the famous boot loop, sometimes it freezed, showing the Philips logo on screen, sometimes it only enabled the Philips logo on the camera and the screen remained black.
Over time it got worse: the more and more power cycles were needed to let it successfully boot.
But now it seems to be dead forever: most of the times it remains black now, only sometimes the logo appears on screen and I didn't managed to get it to boot successfully again.
Repair costs are around 500€ and would result in different features, due to no availability of the original hardware.
I tried everything I found on the internet to try to recover it:
- Let it boot to safe mode, a) using the joystick button on the back with pressing it in every direction and directly for over a minute when connecting the power, b) using the remote control OK and power buttons for the same time
- Let it boot from a FAT USB stick containing a) the wipe data tool, b) the firmware upgrade package, either in root directory, or in an "upgrades" subdirectory
- Connect it via USB A-to-A cable, and try to connect to it via "adb" command
Nothing helped/worked.
Problem is, that I am unable to enable any developer settings, as I am unable to get it running at all.
Question to the community: is there any other possibility to rescue the device (e. g. access the Android storage without the need to power it on, any secret way to clean the internal storage via hardware access/shortcut of some contacts)?
Its such a pity, the other hardware is so excellent, its just the Android system (or what Philips degenerated it to) that prevents the system from running.
Any help greatly appreciated.

Hello,
I had the same problem, let me explain what I do :
- Unplug power cable. Boot to safe mode using the joystick button on the back only with down arrow (without pressing it)
- Wipe data partition
- Flash the rom
- Flash android with the last update
- reboot

tontonfrancky said:
Hello,
I had the same problem, let me explain what I do :
- Unplug power cable. Boot to safe mode using the joystick button on the back only with down arrow (without pressing it)
- Wipe data partition
- Flash the rom
- Flash android with the last update
- reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
thank you for your answer. As I wrote, I already tried this in the past.
But I tried it again now and it still doesn't works. I hold the button for approx. 15 minutes, but it does not boot into safe mode. It only shows the Philips logo after some times, then goes black again. At the beginning it took long a time to first show the logo (approx. 1,5 minutes) and the logo was diplayed approx. 8 seconds, then later on the cycles got shorter and shorter. At the end, the logo was displayed for a second only.
Does s. o. knows if it is possible to just use the display? E. g. take some old Android hardware and connect it to the display only?
I don't want to throw this thing away, as the hardware is so excellent.... :cyclops:

Hi,
maybe the hardware upgrade kit is a solution for you:
https://toengel.net/philipsblog/201...pgrade-kit-fuer-2013er-2014er-und-2015er-tvs/
[email protected]

Toengel said:
[..] maybe the hardware upgrade kit is a solution for you: [..]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and thanks for these informations.
This definitely is an option for me!
I already visited a certified Philips repair center and they offered me to replace the hardware which costs approx. 500 € all in all. I asked them for giving me the hardware to let me replace it on my own, but they denied it in answering that the new hardware has to be programmed, which is too complicated for an end user.
Using your informations, I will evaluate if this would be a doable approach for me.

Hi,
this "programming" is very easy... just putting 2 files on USB and start the TV... And 500 EUR is way to much... you should get it below 300 EUR.
[email protected]