Database Users

Kindle Fire in Australia

[UPDATED!]
Thread for Aussies to share Kindle Fire experience. I want eventually to have an ICS rom on this, but I'm no Dev so will need to share learnings.
Goals:
1. DONE - Order Kindle Fire using US Freight Forwarding company (I used www.shipito.com ) and Australian Credit Card
2. Set up and use Amazon.com US services
HELP - my broadband modem is locked so I cannot setup VPN on it - other options being investigated:
a - get VPN & working tun.ko on Fire for VPN on the device (best option)
see How to access android.net.vpn.SETTINGS?
and Kindle Fire tun.ko
b - get adhoc networking working so can run VPN on PC/laptop and then share adhoc wireless network
see [Q] Kindle won't pickup adhoc wireless my phone will??
and [Q] Will Adhoc WIFI be possible with software patching?
c - use a special wirless router to flash VPN on it e.g. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1494723
3. DONE! - Root (Dev forum thread
4. Install Google Apps (Dev forum thread)
HELP - Market loads but fails when trying to download any apps.
5. Install alternate launcher
6. Ummm... clockwork recovery and cyanogenmod 9 ICS eventually...
e.g. ROMs and DEVs compilation thread
EDIT - Other goals yet to be achieved
Add your own books to the Kindle
From the Use Kindle Fire in Europe thread:
mils69 said:
Here's my experience using the various Amazon 'services' from abroad - on the road for work, vacation or whatever.
Amazon Kindle - VPN into either US or UK IP ranges and then I can purchase books. Kindle app on Android doesn't seem to care where it is once book has been purchased.
Amazon MP3s - VPN into either US or UK and then I can purchase (and upload to Amazon Cloud player).. haven't tried playing MP3s with the cloud player as I have Google Music. Once disconnected from the VPN Amazon download app doesn't seem to care where I am when I download the actual MP3s.
Amazon Prime - Free Subscription to Amazon media library. Seems to be fine (on my PC) once I use an VPN. Haven't tried it on my Sensation.
Amazon AppStore - can't get it to work outside the US for love or money.
Assuming the products on the KF would behave in a similar fashion I can't see myself buying one any time soon, which is incredibly frustrating.
Hope this helps,
mils
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I VPN to a US IP?

I’m currently waiting for my kindle to arrive, I´m based in Spain and will be using unblock-us
I currently use this on my apple tv and ipad to view content from both the US and UK that is restricted to me here, this is a big step up from a VPN, it changes your DNS and not your ip address, it works at the same speed as your connection so streaming content via this will see no slowdown which I have always found happens using a VPN.
I’ve been using it for the last 3 months faultlessly but have not tried it on Amazon prime although I really don’t see why this won’t work.
Try it for free with the free months trial and please report back

Progress updated in first thread.
#1 - Root. This was very straightforward following the linked thread.
#2 - File explorer - had difficulties here, I ended up learning how to take an app off my phone (e.g. rootexplorer-1.apk from /data/apps) and install it on the fire using adb on my PC i.e. "adb install rootexplorer-1.apk".
I could get any number of apps off my phone using this method (e.g. homeswitcher & go launcher I really want!) but really I won't feel happy unless I can do this using the market
I tried following the link in my first post to get the market working, it opens but fails on trying to install any apps. Will give this another go later, but am concentrating on getting Amazon US services first.
On this note I have signed up to www.hidemyass.com for VPN as it seemed a good deal and I saw it before the above post about "unblock-us". So I have VPN on my PC, laptop, my android SGS phone and my wife's iPhone4, for about $70/year. Unfortunately our broadband wireless router is locked so I cannot set up VPN on it, so I am looking at options per my first post ie:
a - get VPN & working tun.ko on Fire for VPN on the device (best option)
see How to access android.net.vpn.SETTINGS?
and Kindle Fire tun.ko
b - get adhoc networking working so can run VPN on PC/laptop and then share adhoc wireless network
see [Q] Kindle won't pickup adhoc wireless my phone will??
and [Q] Will Adhoc WIFI be possible with software patching?
c - use a special wirless router to flash VPN on it e.g. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1494723

Kindle fire tried in Aussie land
I have got an amazon kindle from ebay and have successfully done the following
1. Rooted ...(Superoneclick)
2. Google market and youtube installed(needs market 3.3 and vendor.apk files
3. Installed go launcher
4. installed voodoo ota rootkeeper (for prime trailers to hide the su binary)
now waiting for custom ICS rom and recovery bootloader....
will try unblock-us to see if I can bypass the us restriction for amazon market store and video . Anyone tried this as I have heard we cant bypass this due to the credit card associated to amazon account. We need to have an us address associated with the card. One way to bypass this would be to get someone in US to post a Visa/matercard gift card so we can input that credit card in amazon.... anyone have any ideas ???

My Kindle arrived an hour ago here in Spain.
I have an Amazon account with my Spanish credit card and used a random us address.
I now have Amazon prime working nicely with the help of unblock-us which was straight forward, I also quickly installed ice cream sandwich launcher and will shortly root to add android market
So far everything works well with everything working just like being in the US

Kindle Fire - market app bombs
I followed all the instructions, rooted the kindle fire.
Installed the google pack, rootexplorer, go launcher, and vending apk.
Installed perfectly BUT it opens for a second, tried to display the terms of agreement then shuts down.
I tried to get around it by installing the market opener apk, same deal opens for one second then closes (as if something forces it shut).
Can someone please help.
Thanks

duquesa said:
My Kindle arrived an hour ago here in Spain.
I have an Amazon account with my Spanish credit card and used a random us address.
I now have Amazon prime working nicely with the help of unblock-us which was straight forward, I also quickly installed ice cream sandwich launcher and will shortly root to add android market
So far everything works well with everything working just like being in the US
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which address did you change and how?

Australian VPN On Kindle Fire
Hello everybody,
I have Kindle Fire and I am using Australian VPN with Superb VPN Services on it. I am very satisfied. Speed is fine and connection is reliable.

AnthonyBell said:
Hello everybody,
I have Kindle Fire and I am using Australian VPN with Superb VPN Services on it. I am very satisfied. Speed is fine and connection is reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you manage to set it up? Through the router (VPN method mentioned earlier) or directly on your Kindle? In which case it would be amazing

AnthonyBell said:
Hello everybody,
I have Kindle Fire and I am using Australian VPN with Superb VPN Services on it. I am very satisfied. Speed is fine and connection is reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Anthony, you mention Superb VPN Services. This looks like the right site:
superbvpn.com/android-vpn-service
It is a subscription service at $3.49/m. Is that what you used?
The site has an issue at the moment and I can't get to the purchase page.
Please confirm how you set this up.
Cheers.
Edit: I just found another option that has worked for a couple of AU users on this Whirlpool thread:
forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1819810
UnblockUs has a free trial for one week then it is $4.99/m
unblock-us.com
I will give this a try and see how it goes.
Cheers.

[Guide] Hulu Live TV on Fire TV without Root

So I know that Hulu will be releasing a new version of their app for the Fire TV that supports live TV (looks like the private beta for it may be starting today), but I've been wanting to watch live shows on the television that I have my Fire TV (2nd gen) hooked up to. Originally, I was hoping that it would be as easy as hooking up a wireless mouse and then side loading the Hulu app from my phone. I had done this already with my Nexus Player using an OTG cable and a Logitech wireless mouse. After I side loaded the Hulu 3.2.0.240243 apk, it loaded fine and I signed into my account, but unfortunately, after about 5-10 second I received an error that my location could not be determined. After some searching, I realized this is because the Fire TV doesn't have Google Play Services and therefore location services cannot be detected by apps such as Hulu.
Assumptions:
Download the apps below to your phone to then transfer them to your Fire TV. If you want to download them directly to the Fire TV or a computer, that will work as well but you'll need to copy them over to your Fire TV on your own since my instructions only cover Phone to Fire TV using ES File Explorer and having it open on both while they are connected to the same network.
Some basic ADB commands are going to be necessary, I'll give the step by step, but you'll need to be familiar with ADB over WiFi to connect to your Fire TV with the correct IP address.
Although the risk of damaging/bricking your Fire TV should be nearly impossible based on the instructions below, I am not responsible for any issues that you may encounter. Please proceed at your own risk.
Here are the steps that I took to get everything working and I assume this would probably work for other apps that Google location services to work as well.
Go into the Settings -> Device -> Developer Options and enable both ADB Debugging and Installing from Unknown Sources
Download the following 5 files (to your phone if you want to follow my instructions below, but you could do them to your computer or direct to the Fire TV if you'd prefer), I got them all from ApkMirror - Note the Google apps are all for Android version 5.1 since Fire OS 5.2.4.1 is on my Fire TV.
com.google.android.gsf.login_5.1-1743759-22_minAPI21(nodpi)
com.google.android.gsf_5.1-1743759-22_minAPI22(nodpi)
com.google.android.gms_11.0.56_(238-156935310)-11056238_minAPI21(armeabi-v7a)(480dpi)
com.android.vending_7.8.74.P-all_0_FP_157113528-80787400_minAPI14(armeabi-v7a)(240,320,480dpi)
com.hulu.plus_3.2.0.230243-230243_minAPI21(armeabi,armeabi-v7a,x86)(nodpi)
Download ES File Explorer from the Amazon app store on your Fire TV.
I then used ES File Explorer on both my Fire TV and my phone to transfer those 5 files from my phone to the Fire TV. I found this to be a lot easier than trying to download the files directly onto the Fire TV itself.
Next I installed the 5 files through ES File Explorer in the order they are listed above. The order probably doesn't matter, but I didn't test them in another order.
(Maybe Optional?) I long pressed the home button and then went to my apps and tried to open the Play Store. After 20 seconds or so, it timed out and returned to the home screen. I tried opening it again and after another long delay, I received a message that the version wasn't compatible with my device. I just clicked ok to exit out of it and then left it alone.
Download Fake GPS (available in the play store, but since it won't open on the Fire TV, google search for com.fakegps.mock version 3.610). I downloaded it from ApkHere to my phone.
Again, I used ES File Explorer to transfer the apk from my phone to the Fire TV.
Install the Fake GPS apk file through ES File Explorer.
On your computer, open a command prompt window and type the following lines to enable mock locations on your Fire TV.
adb connect <Fire TV IP Address>
adb shell
settings get secure mock_location <-- verify that the response to this is 0 which will indicate that mock location services are currently turned off
settings put secure mock_location 1
settings get secure mock_location <-- verify that the response to this is now 1 which will indicate that mock location services are turned on
You can now close that command prompt and then launch the Fake GPS app on the Fire TV.
Using my wireless mouse, I clicked on the search button and entered my local zip code. Once the mapped zoomed and and I adjusted it a little bit, I then clicked the button to activate the fake GPS.
Open Hulu and enter your username and password. It should now detect the fake GPS location and load without issues.
Hopefully Hulu will release the Fire TV compatible apk soon, but in the mean time, if you are impatient like I am, this should get you up and running.

Great guide! I've been trying for awhile actually to get mock locations working on the firetv.

No ads on lockscreen?

Just recieved my HD 10 2019, ad supported. I knew that there was supposed to be ads on lockscreen, but I haven't seen anything yet. Does they appear later on or I recieved one without ads to begin with?

asakurato said:
Just recieved my HD 10 2019, ad supported. I knew that there was supposed to be ads on lockscreen, but I haven't seen anything yet. Does they appear later on or I recieved one without ads to begin with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whey you unbox your Fire HD 10 2019. Do not register your Fire tablet with Amazon account. If your Fire tablet have registered with Amazon account, it appears the Amazon ads on lock screen like an adware. You need to reset your Fire tablet. You want to install Google API services.
Ways to bypass Amazon account registration:
1. Unbox your Fire tablet
2. Charge it at 8 hours before use it (Recommended)
3. Boot your Fire tablet
4. Select your language and font size and next
5. Select the nearby Wi-Fi networks with password and hit CANCEL button
6. Hit NOT NOW button and confirm.

AmznUser444 Dev said:
Whey you unbox your Fire HD 10 2019. Do not register your Fire tablet with Amazon account. If your Fire tablet have registered with Amazon account, it appears the Amazon ads on lock screen like an adware. You need to reset your Fire tablet. You want to install Google API services.
Ways to bypass Amazon account registration:
1. Unbox your Fire tablet
2. Charge it at 8 hours before use it (Recommended)
3. Boot your Fire tablet
4. Select your language and font size and next
5. Select the nearby Wi-Fi networks with password and hit CANCEL button
6. Hit NOT NOW button and confirm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I DID register tablet with Amazon, still no ads. I also installed google services without any problem with the toolbox.

Fire HD 10 9th gen (2019) Play Store and debloat Amazon

I just bought this tablet on a whim, just to try it out. I figured I could install Google Play Store and turn off most of the Amazon bloat. But when I searched here, I didn't find much for this generation tablet. But I was able to find the instruction elsewhere and thought I'd post them here.
#1 The first thing to do is turn on the Developer mode. On regular Android tablets, you do this by tapping the build number 7 times, but on this tablet, you instead do the tapping on the serial number in /Settings/Device Options/About Fire Tablet. Then go to there and turn them on and turn on USB debugging.
#2 Go to /Settings/Security & Privacy/Apps from Unkown Sources and enable the Silk browser. Open the Silk browser and enter https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/07/11/install-play-store-amazon-fire-tablet/ in the address bar. Follow the instructions to install the Google Account Manager, Google Services Framework, Google Play Services and Google Play Store. When done, you should now have a Play Store icon on your home page. (Along with a lot of unwanted icons.)
#3 If you try to disable any of the Amazon apps, you'll find most of them can't be disabled. To get around this, you need to install the Amazon Fire Toolbox V8.1 on a PC. You can find it here https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/development/official-amazon-fire-toolbox-v1-0-t3889604 Once its installed, use your USB cable to connect your Fire HD to the PC and launch the Toolbox. (This is why USB debuuging needed to be enabled.) Click on Manage Everything Amazon and disable as many Amazon apps as you desire.
note: None of this is my doing. I'm just showing the links to other people's work. Be sure to thank them for it.

Thanks for the write up, this got me started. However I think you can skip step #2 because the Fire Toolbox can setup all the Google services for you instead.

Amazon Fire Cube (Gen 2) - V7.6.1.4

Posed in error, sorry. Can’t see an option to delete.