Related
Long time reader, first time posting.
Install requires root.
Squirrel LLC just released an android version of their app Reflector ($7). This app can be installed fairly simply on the FireTV, turning it into an airplay receiver for screen sharing and display extension, not just video or audio playing.
This requires root (instructions here) and the google play store (instructions here- they are for kindle, but work) before you can install this program.
Once you have the play store installed and you are signed in, you will be able to install apps remotely. This is much easier, as the play store is somewhat difficult to navigate on the Fire TV itself. However, Google will think the Fire TV is not compatible with Reflector.
To circumvent compatibility restrictions, download Market Helper and install on your FireTV (sideload instructions here). This will allow you to spoof your device type and install the app. I used the Nexus 7 as the device type. Make sure you've run google play services and signed into the play store before you run this, so it can read your id. The activate buttons are invisible until you are selecting them, so just press down and over until you find what you want.
After setting up your Fire TV to look like a Nexus 7, head back to the play store and set Reflector to install remotely.
From here, you can use any airplay device to broadcast to the Fire TV!
Couldn't you use snappea instead of google play?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I wasn't able to get this to work in Extend Desktop mode with my Mac. Since there's only a 15 minute refund period, I already got the refund, so it's possible I was doing something wrong, but the Play description didn't mention Extend Desktop mode. I don't see how I was doing anything wrong though, since the only settings in the app is the Name and the Password (and I didn't set a password). I did remember to turn off AirPlay in my other AirPlay app before trying Reflector.
Prior to this, I was already using AirReceiver to handle IOS mirroring. If all you want is IOS mirroring, I believe it was less expensive. Since it was bought through the Amazon store, it shows up with an icon on main screen (in my Apps and Recent sections). I don't recall if you can buy it on the FireTV or not, but I think so. A Voice search for Air Receiver brings it up.
Thanks!
Hey Guys,
Sid from Squirrels here!
Thanks for the walkthrough and the instructions. We're glad you got everything working!
We've actually submitted Reflector to the Amazon Fire TV store. The approval process is a bit more lengthy and involved than normal Google Play submissions.
As for extended desktop from a computer. It should work alright. I'de be interested in seeing logs from this to see why it didn't work for you. You can email our support team and they'll be happy to get it working!
Thanks again for the instructions.
So why root?? Why not just side load reflector??
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
1975jamie said:
So why root?? Why not just side load reflector??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reflector is a paid app, and I have no experience sideloading paid apps / getting a signed apk out of one. I found it to be easier to root and install the play store than to bother with that. If you are aware of an easy method to get the APK out of a paid app, I'd love to hear it- I always pay for my apps, but sometimes I need to install them in a dev environment where the play store isn't available, and I'd like to know.
If you're concerned about rooting, I'd consider the advantages. Rooting is a piece of cake now thanks to Towelroot, and it gives you uped duper more functionality than you have without it, especially if you are using this device to run XBMC primarily.
sidneykeith said:
Hey Guys,
Sid from Squirrels here!
Thanks for the walkthrough and the instructions. We're glad you got everything working!
We've actually submitted Reflector to the Amazon Fire TV store. The approval process is a bit more lengthy and involved than normal Google Play submissions.
As for extended desktop from a computer. It should work alright. I'de be interested in seeing logs from this to see why it didn't work for you. You can email our support team and they'll be happy to get it working!
Thanks again for the instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the good customer support. I figured it was the Amazon store's lengthy submission process that was holding things up and not an actual compatibility issue, which is why I decided to hack this together.
I own no other Amazon devices (and probably won't), so it's to my advantage to keep all my purchases within one ecosystem. You may consider adding a little walkthrough on how to use the google play store to run your app on the firetv to your page, if you guys aren't fearful of the wrath of Bezos. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who bought the firetv for the android, not the amazon.
Taige said:
I wasn't able to get this to work in Extend Desktop mode with my Mac. Since there's only a 15 minute refund period, I already got the refund, so it's possible I was doing something wrong, but the Play description didn't mention Extend Desktop mode. I don't see how I was doing anything wrong though, since the only settings in the app is the Name and the Password (and I didn't set a password). I did remember to turn off AirPlay in my other AirPlay app before trying Reflector.
Prior to this, I was already using AirReceiver to handle IOS mirroring. If all you want is IOS mirroring, I believe it was less expensive. Since it was bought through the Amazon store, it shows up with an icon on main screen (in my Apps and Recent sections). I don't recall if you can buy it on the FireTV or not, but I think so. A Voice search for Air Receiver brings it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what happened there for you. Extended display was the default for me. That being said, the other app could have interfered, or maybe your settings in OSX weren't correct. I wish I could help you more, but Airplay is finicky enough as it is, without adding third party software. Maybe get in touch with Sid about that.
If anyone else is interested in this, my brother managed to get airsquirrel to work with reflector on the firetv, but it seemed to be more laggy than with true airplay. I'm not sure if that was the fault of his laptop or the software, so that might be worth looking into if you're a diehard windows user like I used to be.
hotterpop said:
Reflector is a paid app, and I have no experience sideloading paid apps / getting a signed apk out of one. I found it to be easier to root and install the play store than to bother with that. If you are aware of an easy method to get the APK out of a paid app, I'd love to hear it- I always pay for my apps, but sometimes I need to install them in a dev environment where the play store isn't available, and I'd like to know.
If you're concerned about rooting, I'd consider the advantages. Rooting is a piece of cake now thanks to Towelroot, and it gives you uped duper more functionality than you have without it, especially if you are using this device to run XBMC primarily.
Thanks for the good customer support. I figured it was the Amazon store's lengthy submission process that was holding things up and not an actual compatibility issue, which is why I decided to hack this together.
I own no other Amazon devices (and probably won't), so it's to my advantage to keep all my purchases within one ecosystem. You may consider adding a little walkthrough on how to use the google play store to run your app on the firetv to your page, if you guys aren't fearful of the wrath of Bezos. I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who bought the firetv for the android, not the amazon.
I'm not sure what happened there for you. Extended display was the default for me. That being said, the other app could have interfered, or maybe your settings in OSX weren't correct. I wish I could help you more, but Airplay is finicky enough as it is, without adding third party software. Maybe get in touch with Sid about that.
If anyone else is interested in this, my brother managed to get airsquirrel to work with reflector on the firetv, but it seemed to be more laggy than with true airplay. I'm not sure if that was the fault of his laptop or the software, so that might be worth looking into if you're a diehard windows user like I used to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an android phone that I download the google play app to and then use Es file explorer to back up the app. Then sideload it to the firetv.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Hello guys
EDIT: I have to mention that for some reason it seems Amazon has managed to bypass whatever cleverness Genesis Addon uses to give access to all the movies you want to see... so for people wanting to use FireTV as an XBMC box to watch movies (illegally) you will have big challenges. They have locked it down... so you'd have to try use proxy servers, virtual networks etc to get around that... but it is nowhere near as easy to use as a good Android TV box like the Tronsmart s89.
Having used it for about two hours, I've concluded the device is great if all you want to do is to watch Amazon prime video or netflix... but to run most other android apps, it is simply an awful experience. , these are a few of my least favourite things:
1/ Apps you sideload are not visible on the home screen. It takes you 19 (NINETEEN!!!) clicks to get from HOME to the list of apps you can "manage". From there you click more to scroll down to your app of choice and click to select it then click to load it.
2/ you cannot use the remote for inputting text via voice within an app, so in XBMC if you want to enter "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", you cannot do a voice search, so all input is very clunky.
3/ if you use a usb wireless keyboard/trackpad like the Logitech k400r (superb on an android box) you are limited to what keyboard commands the amazon stranglehold will allow
4/ xbmc is not listed as a recent app. If you press HOME by mistake, it is approximately 35 (THIRTY FIVE) clicks to get back to xbmc (more if you have sideloaded more than 13 apps... which makes me hesitant to sideload any more!) Alt-TAB works on the wireless keyboard to get back to the last app, but XBMC is not listed there - as it is on generic android tv boxes.
5/ on spotify, you cannot use just the remote, pressing Down does not take you to the next song, left and right do not navigate menus etc... so you have to use another device... the Logitech k400r is great, but again, you cannot do everything with that even... down arrow does not move to next songs, there are no keyboard shortcuts to move to the next song etc.
6/ TennisTV android app does not work at all... works on all my android phones, devices, tablets. This seems to be a common theme, extremely poor app support.
7/ apps added to your apps on Amazon.co.uk online do not (mostly) show up on your device after you have "synced amazon content" . Looking for apps on the device in the amazon store is a mystery, voice search does not work... so is one expected to BROWSE the whole library with the remote to find apps you want? Wow.
7/ Go online to get apps for Fire TV and Amazon says: no TED no IMDB no Wikipedia no ES File explorer no Facebook no Ebay no Google apps of any kind, no Dolphin or Chrome, no Box, no Dropbox, no Evernote no BBC Sport, no TVCatchup... the list goes on and on... pretty dismal IMO.
There is probably a LOT more, but Amazon have successfully strangled and suffocated a very nice bit of hardware. The interface is good, the fluidity is excellent... and for xbmc it is great but also censored by Amazon... but if you are used to a generic android tv box like the tronsmart vega s89, the FireTV does not come close, because what you can do with it is extremely limited. The cheap chinese android tv boxes in my lounge and bedroom are going to stay put, I cannot live with this FireTV. Buy this unit if you want a very good Amazon Prime Video / netflix box for £80... but if you want more than that, stay away.
Mark.
fredphoesh said:
Hello guys
Having used it for about two hours, I've concluded the device is great as an XBMC-only box an/or if you watch Amazon prime video or netflix... but to run most other android apps, it is simply an awful experience. , these are a few of my least favourite things:
1/ Apps you sideload are not visible on the home screen. It takes you 19 (NINETEEN!!!) clicks to get from HOME to the list of apps you can "manage". From there you click more to scroll down to your app of choice and click to select it then click to load it.
2/ you cannot use the remote for inputting text via voice within an app, so in XBMC if you want to enter "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", you cannot do a voice search, so all input is very clunky.
3/ if you use a usb wireless keyboard/trackpad like the Logitech k400r (superb on an android box) you are limited to what keyboard commands the amazon stranglehold will allow
4/ xbmc is not listed as a recent app. If you press HOME by mistake, it is approximately 35 (THIRTY FIVE) clicks to get back to xbmc (more if you have sideloaded more than 13 apps... which makes me hesitant to sideload any more!) Alt-TAB works on the wireless keyboard to get back to the last app, but XBMC is not listed there - as it is on generic android tv boxes.
5/ on spotify, you cannot use just the remote, pressing Down does not take you to the next song, left and right do not navigate menus etc... so you have to use another device... the Logitech k400r is great, but again, you cannot do everything with that even... down arrow does not move to next songs, there are no keyboard shortcuts to move to the next song etc.
6/ TennisTV android app does not work at all... works on all my android phones, devices, tablets. This seems to be a common theme, extremely poor app support.
7/ apps added to your apps on Amazon.co.uk online do not (mostly) show up on your device after you have "synced amazon content" . Looking for apps on the device in the amazon store is a mystery, voice search does not work... so is one expected to BROWSE the whole library with the remote to find apps you want? Wow.
7/ Go online to get apps for Fire TV and Amazon says: no TED no IMDB no Wikipedia no ES File explorer no Facebook no Ebay no Google apps of any kind, no Dolphin or Chrome, no Box, no Dropbox, no Evernote no BBC Sport, no TVCatchup... the list goes on and on... pretty dismal IMO.
There is probably a LOT more, but Amazon have successfully strangled and suffocated a very nice bit of hardware. The interface is good, the fluidity is excellent... and for xbmc it is great... but if you are used to a generic android tv box like the tronsmart vega s89, this does not come close, because what you can do with it is extremely limited. The cheap chinese android tv boxes in my lounge and bedroom are going to stay put, I cannot live with this FireTV. Buy this unit if you want a very good xbmc box for £80... but if you want more than that, stay away.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i picked one up last night, my impressions:
the UI is horrendous. ever review i read complimented the UI, but, nothing i want to use (plex) is easy to get to from the homescreen. have to scroll down, then over, etc. finding new apps, movies and tv shows is also difficult. i wish amazon allowed us to alter the homescreen to customize it to how we want it.
plex on firetv, again, the ui is just... just... i don't know, i don't use on deck, or que, or whatever. i have to scroll over, then down to get to what i want. again, i wish plex gave us more opportunity to customize how our splash screen is setup.
otherwise, i like the prime video on demand. this is the first time we have subscribed to an on demand stream service, having the content there, my kids like that there's spongebob and other nick shows. otherwise, our last 3 years of cord cutting has been handled through a rather extensive HTPC that i built running XBMC, sickbeard, couch potato and plex. i picked up the firetv to replace this unit because i'm tired of maintaining it.
fredphoesh said:
Hello guys
Having used it for about two hours, I've concluded the device is great as an XBMC-only box an/or if you watch Amazon prime video or netflix... but to run most other android apps, it is simply an awful experience. , these are a few of my least favourite things:
1/ Apps you sideload are not visible on the home screen. It takes you 19 (NINETEEN!!!) clicks to get from HOME to the list of apps you can "manage". From there you click more to scroll down to your app of choice and click to select it then click to load it.
2/ you cannot use the remote for inputting text via voice within an app, so in XBMC if you want to enter "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", you cannot do a voice search, so all input is very clunky.
3/ if you use a usb wireless keyboard/trackpad like the Logitech k400r (superb on an android box) you are limited to what keyboard commands the amazon stranglehold will allow
4/ xbmc is not listed as a recent app. If you press HOME by mistake, it is approximately 35 (THIRTY FIVE) clicks to get back to xbmc (more if you have sideloaded more than 13 apps... which makes me hesitant to sideload any more!) Alt-TAB works on the wireless keyboard to get back to the last app, but XBMC is not listed there - as it is on generic android tv boxes.
5/ on spotify, you cannot use just the remote, pressing Down does not take you to the next song, left and right do not navigate menus etc... so you have to use another device... the Logitech k400r is great, but again, you cannot do everything with that even... down arrow does not move to next songs, there are no keyboard shortcuts to move to the next song etc.
6/ TennisTV android app does not work at all... works on all my android phones, devices, tablets. This seems to be a common theme, extremely poor app support.
7/ apps added to your apps on Amazon.co.uk online do not (mostly) show up on your device after you have "synced amazon content" . Looking for apps on the device in the amazon store is a mystery, voice search does not work... so is one expected to BROWSE the whole library with the remote to find apps you want? Wow.
7/ Go online to get apps for Fire TV and Amazon says: no TED no IMDB no Wikipedia no ES File explorer no Facebook no Ebay no Google apps of any kind, no Dolphin or Chrome, no Box, no Dropbox, no Evernote no BBC Sport, no TVCatchup... the list goes on and on... pretty dismal IMO.
There is probably a LOT more, but Amazon have successfully strangled and suffocated a very nice bit of hardware. The interface is good, the fluidity is excellent... and for xbmc it is great... but if you are used to a generic android tv box like the tronsmart vega s89, this does not come close, because what you can do with it is extremely limited. The cheap chinese android tv boxes in my lounge and bedroom are going to stay put, I cannot live with this FireTV. Buy this unit if you want a very good xbmc box for £80... but if you want more than that, stay away.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use something called llama to create a shortcut to the homescreen (so to speak) of all side loaded apps and this is well documented on these forums.
Got my FTV at work so will give it a go when I get home to see if the list of apps is as bad as you say and if so will just use an amazon USA account.
Has anyone tried sideloading the prime video app on one of the tron boxes? They're interesting looking boxes.
As far as the UI goes: if you're able to root your system, you can set it to use xbmc as the launcher and only drop into the Amazon side when you want to watch prime video.
I don't mind the UI too much, either in xbmc or from Amazon, as I have low expectations for what a UI for a TV should be.
It's nice to see that if this dies, there may be other fairly competitive boxes which I can get Netflix and Prime on as well as xbmc.
roustabout said:
Has anyone tried sideloading the prime video app on one of the tron boxes? They're interesting looking boxes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Actually there was a recent change by Amazon, making the Prime Video app (supposedly) work with Android, but AFAIK it has not been achieved yet. When I tried last a couple of months ago, it would look like it was going to play, then crash. See the thread on Freaktab:
http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?17026-Amazon-Instant-Video
Mark.
fredphoesh said:
Hi
Actually there was a recent change by Amazon, making the Prime Video app (supposedly) work with Android, but AFAIK it has not been achieved yet. When I tried last a couple of months ago, it would look like it was going to play, then crash. See the thread on Freaktab:
http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?17026-Amazon-Instant-Video
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon video works on my phone and tablet pretty well. I did need to sideload the app from my phone to my tablet, but once I did so it was good.
I wonder if some of the issue being described in the thread above is like the one that some folks have with xbmc on the fire: XBMC won't 'let go' of the video hardware easily, so launching a video app from within the Android Apps menu of XBMC results in video not playing. I deal with it by killing XBMC once firetv launcher or netflix are running.
fredphoesh couldn*t summarize it any better. The hardware is great but the software does indeed cripple and limit the use beyong anything. This device is entirely made to only exist in the Amazon world and makes you buy Apps from their own App store and pay for instant video. Nothing else should and could be done with it flawless. See how hard the locked it. Unfortunately there are some more examples of locked down hardware in past time: Apple TV 3rd gen, Surface RT & 2 etc.
Thats why I put this useless brick on ebay as long as people go crazy for it - for whatever reason I don't know. For the same money you can get a very decent Android Box without and restrictions and full root access!
sebr said:
Thats why I put this useless brick on ebay as long as people go crazy for it - for whatever reason I don't know. For the same money you can get a very decent Android Box without and restrictions and full root access!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem that a decent Android box alternative, with the possible exception being the new Android TV, is they do not get Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu type apps to go along with XBMC. This is the very reason why people are going crazy for it. It is nice to have everything I need and that Amazon provides it all in one OTT box.
Might take a bit of effort but if you set it up right the fire TV can work very well. Mine is being used not only as an XBMC box but also as my download center and NAS. Couldn't be happier with it.
Nedle said:
Might take a bit of effort but if you set it up right the fire TV can work very well. Mine is being used not only as an XBMC box but also as my download center and NAS. Couldn't be happier with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am guessing rooted. The problems is that the folks doing the reviews now have never had the option to root. UK & GER shipped with rooting blocked.
Clearly out of the box the AFTV is not the most open/flexible experience. It is really easy to mod though. Root, install custom recovery, flash latest rooted rom, install Xposed (Fire TV Mods), alternate launcher, Google framework/play store and it's a completely different experience.
It is fine to complain, or give a bad review about a stock interface, but not here. XDA is a modding/tweaking community, I don't know why you are giving a review on a stock rom's nearly out of the box interface. A bit of work and most (if not all) of your complains are moot.
At least look around first to see if there are solutions to your complaints before just whining about them. :laugh:
Don't count this box out yet...now that someone has the ability to write custom kernels and we have a custom recovery I can only hope someone brings out an amazing AOSP build for the box or someone is quick to port over Android TV to it. Unfortunately I am not one of those capable of but would donate
goggles99 said:
Clearly out of the box the AFTV is not the most open/flexible experience. It is really easy to mod though. Root, install custom recovery, flash latest rooted rom, install Xposed (Fire TV Mods), alternate launcher, Google framework/play store and it's a completely different experience.
It is fine to complain, or give a bad review about a stock interface, but not here. XDA is a modding/tweaking community, I don't know why you are giving a review on a stock rom's nearly out of the box interface. A bit of work and most (if not all) of your complains are moot.
At least look around first to see if there are solutions to your complaints before just whining about them. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you have not read much of what's being said about the newest Firetv boxes... Unrootable and heavily censored blocking movie streaming sites on xbmc, and dismally poor app support too.
As it is now, it is useful for two things only, Amazon prime video and netflix... Neither of which I want or need.
fredphoesh said:
Perhaps you have not read much of what's being said about the newest Firetv boxes... Unrootable and heavily censored blocking movie streaming sites on xbmc, and dismally poor app support too.
As it is now, it is useful for two things only, Amazon prime video and netflix... Neither of which I want or need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was this confirmed outside of just one person's experience?
Also, devices get updates that prevent root all the time. Often, the devs figure out a way to root them. I'm waiting on my Fire TV I ordered from eBay, hoping it's rootable. But even if not XBMC and Netflix is all I really wanted it for anyway (and not to use the crappy streaming add-ons but my own collection)
If Android TV is somehow ported to the Fire, then this box will become a great device. Right now it's worth the 100 bux alone just to play around with imo.
fredphoesh said:
Perhaps you have not read much of what's being said about the newest Firetv boxes... Unrootable and heavily censored blocking movie streaming sites on xbmc, and dismally poor app support too.
As it is now, it is useful for two things only, Amazon prime video and netflix... Neither of which I want or need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think your having more of an "operator error" than anything.. amazon isnt messing with xbmc. The fireTV has been working fine for everyone else for like 6 months now. if you dont like it send it backm sucks theres no root for UK people yet.. but no need to whine about it on here..
From a new UK Fire TV user - I totally agree "DISMAL EXPERIANCE" :¬(
Spent a lot of money on Plex only to find it has to use fire tv sdk and so no 5.1 DD surround sound over HDMI - if you have MKV content :¬(
I can sideload xbmc which works! and is the reason why it cant be on the amazon store - But I cant find a skin that is nearly as nice as plex)
Blocking root is way annoying too
I sideload'ed chrome and firefox and they seem to have patched it so that the remote does not work - nice one fire tv peeps (the browser in ES file manager works better - grr)
Sometimes I think they try to PISS people off on purpose
guess it makes them chuckle all the way to bank
at least it only cost 49£ so im going to ritually destroy it and jump up and down on it till I get blisters
AND also bye bye amazon prime!
Did anybody do any research before pre-ordering & before & after the German launch (around 9/16/2014) to know what to expect. The majority if not all of this "issues" where known weeks or a month ago.... And some of this are not real issues at all. Like demanding not promise features. Or "operator error" issues... There is usually a FW update shortly after a launch to deal with true issues that arise from it. So be on the lookout for one.
fredphoesh said:
Perhaps you have not read much of what's being said about the newest Firetv boxes... Unrootable and heavily censored blocking movie streaming sites on xbmc, and dismally poor app support too.
As it is now, it is useful for two things only, Amazon prime video and netflix... Neither of which I want or need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I can see, you are the only one to have experienced this. Perhaps the dns servers for these sites are being recently blocked by your UK ISP (Your other devices may have the dns entries cached for a while). In any case, one person having this problem is not much proof of this, thus is hearsay.
Why go on a long tirade when your real complaint is that you cannot obtain root? Why post a non-modded devices shortcomings on a modding site that has solutions to all but one of your problems? join one of the other "rant because I can't root" threads.
goggles99 said:
Why go on a long tirade when your real complaint is that you cannot obtain root? Why post a non-modded devices shortcomings on a modding site that has solutions to all but one of your problems? join one of the other "rant because I can't root" threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually i dont care about root
i want to have the apps I can have on my android tv working on this box.
they dont
it is a giant fail largely due to facist isp's in the UK and control freakery by amazon.
fredphoesh said:
actually i dont care about root
i want to have the apps I can have on my android tv working on this box.
they dont.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They do for me
fredphoesh said:
it is a giant fail largely due to facist isp's in the UK and control freakery by amazon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong forum/web site then. This is what I have been saying all along.
Hey there! I put together a complete video walkthrough for converting your FireTV to an XBMC box.
This includes:
Root
Preventing Amazon updates
Making XBMC the launcher
Installing apps to XBMC homepage
Demo of Mupen64+(N64 emulator) and Reflector (Airplay)
Remember, if you are buying a new FireTV, make sure to follow the instructions here to make sure it doesn't update to an unrootable version. In short, either block access at the router level, or disconnect wifi / ethernet right after you start the device and connect to the network, before the download of the new version can finish.
Enjoy! Let me know if you'd like me to do video walkthroughs of anything else, like using stickmount, connecting to Windows computers over the network, etc.
hotterpop said:
Hey there! I put together a complete video walkthrough for converting your FireTV to an XBMC box. This includes:
Root
Preventing Amazon updates
Making XBMC the launcher
Installing apps to XBMC homepage
Demo of Mupen64+(N64 emulator) and Reflector (Airplay)
Remember, if you are buying a new FireTV, make sure to follow the instructions here to make sure it doesn't update to an unrootable version. In short, either block access at the router level, or disconnect wifi / ethernet right after you start the device and connect to the network, before the download of the new version can finish.
Enjoy! Let me know if you'd like me to do video walkthroughs of anything else, like using stickmount, connecting to Windows computers over the network, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, nice!
Great walk through wish I could use the whole lot.
Mainly using xbmc and its a great improvement on my Pi but as I am in UK no root so a "here's what you can do with unrooted AFTV" vid would nice, having said that the llama trick for short cut works great and I don't think I need much more
Great Effort. You should do another tutorial using FireTVUtility. I would be easier, w/o any commands to type directly in adb shell.
Legolas2 said:
Great Effort. You should do another tutorial using FireTVUtility. I would be easier, w/o any commands to type directly in adb shell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll look into it. It doesn't look like it really needs any help though- I haven't used this program in particular, but my experience with pc-side all in one solutions is that if they work, they work, and if they don't, there's not much the user can do to fix it. It also seems that the developer is pretty active, so any video I make may be out of date rather quickly. That being said, if other folks agree that there should be a tutorial for this, I'll put it together.
Thanks for passing this utility on, though. Tools like this were essential to me when I started messing with cm 10 on an old phone of mine last year, which extended its useful life until I got my (glorious) OnePlus in July. My experience there really hit me with the modding bug, and I have been messing with android since. The purpose of the video was to help introduce people to the idea that android is open and ready to tinker with, in addition to taking advantage of the FireTV's potential with Kodi. If you have any more requests though, I'd love to hear them, and I'll do my best to fulfill them as time permits
Launcher
Hey, Thx for the awesome Video. Just a question....How do you get it to automatically boot into XBMC? I want to use XBMC as my home screen/launcher like you have shown in your video. I really appreciate it! Thanks!
Correction: HDExposed section
Kdurahm said:
Hey, Thx for the awesome Video. Just a question....How do you get it to automatically boot into XBMC? I want to use XBMC as my home screen/launcher like you have shown in your video. I really appreciate it! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there,
Sorry about the confusion. Looks like in my hasty editing I accidentally cut out a step. I've added an annotation to the video that addresses this, so you should be set if you re-watch minutes 21-25 of the video. I accidentally forgot to include that you need to go into the Modules section of HDExposed and, using a mouse, check the two boxes there as well before you reboot.
Thanks for pointing that out!
This is a great tutorial! Thank you
I have a couple of other fire TVs to root that I'm going to pass off to my friends. If
I complete the root and disable the ota updates at my house, when they plug it in their home, the firetvs won't loose the root right? Should they still add the 2 sites to block
On their router?
Berrybare said:
This is a great tutorial! Thank you
I have a couple of other fire TVs to root that I'm going to pass off to my friends. If
I complete the root and disable the ota updates at my house, when they plug it in their home, the firetvs won't loose the root right? Should they still add the 2 sites to block
On their router?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there!
Glad you like my walkthrough. If you use the router-level blocking method, it will need to be applied to any and every network the FireTV connects to. This is a great way to guarantee that the FireTV does not update, but should only be considered a temporary method until you can disable updating permanently on the device itself. If you go to around minute 14 of my video, you'll see how to disable the update function on the device itself. This is the only way to guarantee that the device won't update in the future, no matter what it connects to.
Because of the issue with devices connecting and automatically updating to an unrootable version, I'd recommend you do the network-level update blocker (like it sounds like you've already done) and then use the device-level root prevention I described in the video.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Berrybare said:
This is a great tutorial! Thank you
I have a couple of other fire TVs to root that I'm going to pass off to my friends. If
I complete the root and disable the ota updates at my house, when they plug it in their home, the firetvs won't loose the root right? Should they still add the 2 sites to block
On their router?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ultimate protection is having CWM aka custom recovery install. On top of the disabled OTA Update. Both done very easily with the AFTV Utility app mentioned above... Everybody should keep their routers blocking the IP's. Specially if you are going to be working on non-rooted AFTV's. But you can run an CWM'd AFTV on an unblocking router if it can't be helped.
hotterpop said:
Hey there!
Glad you like my walkthrough. If you use the router-level blocking method, it will need to be applied to any and every network the FireTV connects to. This is a great way to guarantee that the FireTV does not update, but should only be considered a temporary method until you can disable updating permanently on the device itself. If you go to around minute 14 of my video, you'll see how to disable the update function on the device itself. This is the only way to guarantee that the device won't update in the future, no matter what it connects to.
Because of the issue with devices connecting and automatically updating to an unrootable version, I'd recommend you do the network-level update blocker (like it sounds like you've already done) and then use the device-level root prevention I described in the video.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I would wait for the next release of both apss (adbFire & AFTV Utility) since so much has change the last 24 hours (unlock bootloader + new CWM). I would love to see a video using the AFTV Utility app to take care of all including the new options. Including the Mount external USB storage script.... It would be massive but all encompassing. I think the only thing waiting for an update is RBox's [XPosed] Mod's... Specifically the menu items part...
Sounds great. Post here when the new software is ready and I will get recording!
hotterpop said:
Sounds great. Post here when the new software is ready and I will get recording!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great.. Will let you know when it gets posted..
hotterpop said:
Hey there!
If you go to around minute 14 of my video, you'll see how to disable the update function on the device itself. This is the only way to guarantee that the device won't update in the future, no matter what it connects to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an adb command to verify the "pm disable com.amazon.dcp" status. I ran this command months ago and have had no unwanted updates ruin root on the Fire TV. Perhaps, it is not necessary but just looking to be sure.
mjbxx said:
Is there an adb command to verify the "pm disable com.amazon.dcp" status. I ran this command months ago and have had no unwanted updates ruin root on the Fire TV. Perhaps, it is not necessary but just looking to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, but if you don't have router level blocking and you haven't received any updates, you are safe. Usually the update occurs quite quickly.
hotterpop said:
I don't know, but if you don't have router level blocking and you haven't received any updates, you are safe. Usually the update occurs quite quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for bumping, I just wondered if there was any advance on the new software/video?
I have an untouched UK AFTV and just waiting for this video with new software for the complete start to finish setup before i do something wrong!
Let me know if im better off just following your first video if this new software stuff is not going to be released for a while.
Thanks
My recommendation is always to code by hand. That's how I learned, and I feel like it's a great way to learn about how Android really works. That being said, it's not for everyone, and I understand any nervousness you may have.
I'll probably have the video using the tool by the end of the week.
hotterpop said:
My recommendation is always to code by hand. That's how I learned, and I feel like it's a great way to learn about how Android really works. That being said, it's not for everyone, and I understand any nervousness you may have.
I'll probably have the video using the tool by the end of the week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately im not very technically minded, and would end up messing up unless I followed a guide from someone who knows their stuff!!
I will keep it in the wrapper until you can bring out the new video, id feel a lot safer and not end up bricking it or non rootable forever!
If i can make one request, I really will just want to use the AFTV for XBMC and maybe some emulators... So if its possible to include how to have the quickest access to XBMC from boot, id really appreciate it. Not sure how easily that is done with a non rootable AFTV?
swiss_lis said:
Unfortunately im not very technically minded, and would end up messing up unless I followed a guide from someone who knows their stuff!!
I will keep it in the wrapper until you can bring out the new video, id feel a lot safer and not end up bricking it or non rootable forever!
If i can make one request, I really will just want to use the AFTV for XBMC and maybe some emulators... So if its possible to include how to have the quickest access to XBMC from boot, id really appreciate it. Not sure how easily that is done with a non rootable AFTV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand your concern. However, I would definitely consider rooting the device. While you can use XBMC and play emulators on the FTV without root, it is pretty inconvenient. Rooting isn't hard, and shouldn't be something that scares you at all.
If you are willing, my video shows you exactly what to type every step of the way. There's lots of support if you get lost, and you can always ask me questions here- I don't mind looking up documentation for you if you need it. If you have access to your router, once you have blocked the update sites there, you will be safe to take as long as you need to.
I'll try to have the other videos done soon. I wish I had more time in my life right now for stuff like that, but you know we all have to make a living somehow
I'll be sure to post in here when the tutorials are done.
swiss_lis said:
Sorry for bumping, I just wondered if there was any advance on the new software/video?
I have an untouched UK AFTV and just waiting for this video with new software for the complete start to finish setup before i do something wrong!
Let me know if im better off just following your first video if this new software stuff is not going to be released for a while.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
swiss_lis said:
Unfortunately im not very technically minded, and would end up messing up unless I followed a guide from someone who knows their stuff!!
I will keep it in the wrapper until you can bring out the new video, id feel a lot safer and not end up bricking it or non rootable forever!
If i can make one request, I really will just want to use the AFTV for XBMC and maybe some emulators... So if its possible to include how to have the quickest access to XBMC from boot, id really appreciate it. Not sure how easily that is done with a non rootable AFTV?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those that bought their FTV's in the UK or GER & did not import US FTV's. The best you can hope for right now is block the two IP's so it doesn't keep auto updating. In case there is ever a new rooting option. UK & GER FTV's can not be rooted. You should setup your FTV with XBMC & anything else you would like within the unrooted options.
Once you have properly blocked update IP's & boot up & check your FW version which 99.99% chance it will be 51.1.4.0_user_514006420 (Unrootable) . You should feel safe to play with your FTV...
What router do you have ?? This link just shows you pictures of different IP blocking router interfaces like Tomato, DD-WRT, Asus, NetGear, Untangle, OpenDNS..
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-block-amazon-fire-tv-update-to-ensure-rooting/
This one tells you what to block now...
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-setup-a-new-fire-tv-without-blocking-root/
Method 1: Domain blocking with Router – Recommended Method
1. Before powering on the Fire TV, go into your router’s settings and block access to the following two domains:
amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net
softwareupdates.amazon.com
If you do not know how to do this, you can refer to my guide or search the internet for instruction for your particular router.
NOTE: Do NOT block firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com as it is unnecessary for blocking updates and will cause problems during the initial setup if blocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start enjoying your FTV as soon as you block those IP's correctly after verifying the FW you's came with...
Want to thank you both for good indepth responses.
I will be giving it a go tomorrow hopefully. Hoping that if i block updates for now then a root option may become available somewhere down the line, but till then i will enjoy the improvement of XBMC on the FTV rather than my rather slow raspberry Pi.
Many thanks guys
I was lucky enough to purchase a rootable Amazon Fire TV and have customized it to be quite the awesome device, thanks in part to the wonderful XDA community for providing all sorts of hacks. I wanted to show off what this little device can do so here is a video showing my setup, including the hardware I use and all the customizations I've done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1nf2ffZT3s
HARDWARE
-----------------------------------
First off, I want to discuss hardware. Here is what I have connected to my FTV.
Insignia Powered USB HUB
(http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/computer-speakers-accessories/NS-PCH5431.html) - Without a powered USB, I wouldn't be able to do much. This one was cheap at Best Buy and is working flawlessly.
Logitech K700 Wireless Keyboard (http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Controller-Google/dp/B004VD4F1W) - I bought this several years ago to use with my old HTPC. It works well with the FTV, but not all the buttons function as it was designed for the Google TV. The keyboard itself works great, as does the trackpad and the navigation controls. This does function in CWM to, so I don't need a wired keyboard.
Motorola Bluetooth Mouse - Just a simple BT mouse that works.
Logitech F710 Game Controller (http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/f710-wireless-gamepad) - I've had this for use on my PC games, but it works well for the FTV. More about game controllers below.
Ouya Game Controller (http://shop.ouya.tv/products/ouya-controller) - This works well with the FTV, both as a controller and as a touchpad. More about game controllers below.
MODIFICATIONS
-----------------------------------
I followed many guides on http://www.aftvnews.com/ to modify my FTV and get it to do what I wanted. Here are a few. I won't go into details about them, you can get that on AFTVNews. But I wanted to list what I've done.
Root (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-root-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
Custom Boot Menu (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-install-a-kernel-boot-menu-on-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
ClockworkMod (http://www.aftvnews.com/recovery/)
Pre-Rooted Stock Update (http://www.aftvnews.com/roms/)
Customized Menu Items (http://www.aftvnews.com/menu-item-remover-mod-updated-with-51-1-4-0-compatibility/)
Mount System and Data to USB Drive (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-use-a-usb-drive-as-the-fire-tvs-internal-storage/) - This was a must for me. Once I was able to have virtually unlimited memory, it allowed all the customizations and extras to happen.
APPLICATIONS
-----------------------------------
SPMC [XBMC/KODI] (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc&hl=en) - An awesome media player with tons of addons. There is plenty of discussion over this on the XDA forums.
Google Play Store Install (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
Google Plays All Apps! (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-trick-google-play-store-into-allowing-all-apps/) - Make the FTV more compatible with apps on Google Play
OUYA Framework (http://www.reddit.com/r/ouya/comments/2d6byk/turn_any_device_into_an_ouya_tutorial/) - Turn your FTV into an OUYA.... sort of. Once installed, this sort of messes up the home button, taking you to a messed up OUYA system screen instead of the Amazon Launcher. I found a work around to allow the OUYA games to still function, but not mess up the system. Install this alternative OUYA launcher then disable the OUYA Launcher using Titanum Backup. (http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4436-BAXY-Custom-Launcher).
NOVA Launcher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher&hl=en) - My launcher of choice. It works well with the remote.
Wallpaper (http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/background-t3029985) - The FTV has system wallpaper turned off, making most custom launchers only have a black background. This hack turns it on.
ISSUES
-----------------------------------
Game controllers - The short, not all controllers work with all games. This is a hit or miss area with some buttons not working on certain games. One issue I did find was that having my keyboard connected seems to mess up certain games. For example, Shadowngun. When it's connected, the L2 and R2 buttons do not work on either of my controllers. I do not know if this would be the same with the Amazon Controller. If I unplug it and reboot, the L2 and R2 works. My suggestion, if you have a wireless keyboard, test games without it plugged in first. A BT keyboard might not have this issue though.
OUYA - Having the OUYA framework is wonderful for increasing the available games. It's downfall is that it screws up the home button functionality. A work around is to disable the OUYA Launcher using Titanium Backup, and have the alternative OUYA Launcher (BAXY) installed. This gives games access to the OUYA framework without screwing with the default launcher.
I hope this helps people see the capabilities of the Fire TV and unlocks it for those lucky enough to have a rootable FTV. My future goals are to mess with the game controllers to see if I can figure out why some games work and others don't. I want to get an Amazon controller and see how that works with the OUYA framework. unfortunately they're on backorder at the moment.
Lots of useless junk too. You even point to the fact that a lot of the games you have installed do not work, so why not uninstall them? It just seems like your setup is over doing it. Not tryin to be rude just stating my opinion. The thread is good and I like that you would point people to where they can find tweaks, but the video is horrible.
xm41907 said:
I was lucky enough to purchase a rootable Amazon Fire TV and have customized it to be quite the awesome device, thanks in part to the wonderful XDA community for providing all sorts of hacks. I wanted to show off what this little device can do so here is a video showing my setup, including the hardware I use and all the customizations I've done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1nf2ffZT3s
HARDWARE
-----------------------------------
First off, I want to discuss hardware. Here is what I have connected to my FTV.
Insignia Powered USB HUB
(http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/computer-speakers-accessories/NS-PCH5431.html) - Without a powered USB, I wouldn't be able to do much. This one was cheap at Best Buy and is working flawlessly.
Logitech K700 Wireless Keyboard (http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Controller-Google/dp/B004VD4F1W) - I bought this several years ago to use with my old HTPC. It works well with the FTV, but not all the buttons function as it was designed for the Google TV. The keyboard itself works great, as does the trackpad and the navigation controls. This does function in CWM to, so I don't need a wired keyboard.
Motorola Bluetooth Mouse - Just a simple BT mouse that works.
Logitech F710 Game Controller (http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/f710-wireless-gamepad) - I've had this for use on my PC games, but it works well for the FTV. More about game controllers below.
Ouya Game Controller (http://shop.ouya.tv/products/ouya-controller) - This works well with the FTV, both as a controller and as a touchpad. More about game controllers below.
MODIFICATIONS
-----------------------------------
I followed many guides on http://www.aftvnews.com/ to modify my FTV and get it to do what I wanted. Here are a few. I won't go into details about them, you can get that on AFTVNews. But I wanted to list what I've done.
Root (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-root-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
Custom Boot Menu (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-install-a-kernel-boot-menu-on-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
ClockworkMod (http://www.aftvnews.com/recovery/)
Pre-Rooted Stock Update (http://www.aftvnews.com/roms/)
Customized Menu Items (http://www.aftvnews.com/menu-item-remover-mod-updated-with-51-1-4-0-compatibility/)
Mount System and Data to USB Drive (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-use-a-usb-drive-as-the-fire-tvs-internal-storage/) - This was a must for me. Once I was able to have virtually unlimited memory, it allowed all the customizations and extras to happen.
APPLICATIONS
-----------------------------------
SPMC [XBMC/KODI] (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.semperpax.spmc&hl=en) - An awesome media player with tons of addons. There is plenty of discussion over this on the XDA forums.
Google Play Store Install (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-the-amazon-fire-tv/)
Google Plays All Apps! (http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-trick-google-play-store-into-allowing-all-apps/) - Make the FTV more compatible with apps on Google Play
OUYA Framework (http://www.reddit.com/r/ouya/comments/2d6byk/turn_any_device_into_an_ouya_tutorial/) - Turn your FTV into an OUYA.... sort of. Once installed, this sort of messes up the home button, taking you to a messed up OUYA system screen instead of the Amazon Launcher. I found a work around to allow the OUYA games to still function, but not mess up the system. Install this alternative OUYA launcher then disable the OUYA Launcher using Titanum Backup. (http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?4436-BAXY-Custom-Launcher).
NOVA Launcher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher&hl=en) - My launcher of choice. It works well with the remote.
Wallpaper (http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/background-t3029985) - The FTV has system wallpaper turned off, making most custom launchers only have a black background. This hack turns it on.
ISSUES
-----------------------------------
Game controllers - The short, not all controllers work with all games. This is a hit or miss area with some buttons not working on certain games. One issue I did find was that having my keyboard connected seems to mess up certain games. For example, Shadowngun. When it's connected, the L2 and R2 buttons do not work on either of my controllers. I do not know if this would be the same with the Amazon Controller. If I unplug it and reboot, the L2 and R2 works. My suggestion, if you have a wireless keyboard, test games without it plugged in first. A BT keyboard might not have this issue though.
OUYA - Having the OUYA framework is wonderful for increasing the available games. It's downfall is that it screws up the home button functionality. A work around is to disable the OUYA Launcher using Titanium Backup, and have the alternative OUYA Launcher (BAXY) installed. This gives games access to the OUYA framework without screwing with the default launcher.
I hope this helps people see the capabilities of the Fire TV and unlocks it for those lucky enough to have a rootable FTV. My future goals are to mess with the game controllers to see if I can figure out why some games work and others don't. I want to get an Amazon controller and see how that works with the OUYA framework. unfortunately they're on backorder at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I really liked it and I envy that screen! It looks pretty clear even from the camera.
Just 2 random things I noticed...I used nova launcher with xposed but probably wouldn't have reverted back if I got it looking the way you did. I played around with it on my phone awhile until I tried Google now with a few exposed tweaks. But I'm always on the lookout for a good launcher. Lots of people using nova but haven't found many good tutorials.
The other was fast reboot. I had this installed but the one persistent bug I have dealing with cec wasn't fixed by fast reboot. It needed an actual reboot. Then I read that those types of apps aren't always good for android. They included other "memory boosting" type apps as well. It didn't scare me but since it didn't help much I just uninstalled it. Then again, at the time I wasn't using a launcher so getting to the app was too tedious to make it worthwhile. Do you have any thoughts on that? Heard it might not be good for the device?
I enjoyed the video. Very impressive setup! Thanks for sharing!
porkenhimer said:
Lots of useless junk too. You even point to the fact that a lot of the games you have installed do not work, so why not uninstall them? It just seems like your setup is over doing it. Not tryin to be rude just stating my opinion. The thread is good and I like that you would point people to where they can find tweaks, but the video is horrible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is because many of them I have not tested out yet to see which work well and which do not. Sort of a mass install of games over the last two weeks and I've not had the time to sort through them all. Many will be uninstalled I'm sure, but frankly, that doesn't concern me at this point. They don't take up resources beyond hard drive space and I have 320 gigs worth. I've not even touched 10% of available space yet. The point of the video is to show what the FTV is capable of, not to show a well polished and final system.
The video isn't great because I'm on a projector, lighting is difficult. Too much light and the screen is washed out. Too little and the camera sensor suffers.
KLit75 said:
Well I really liked it and I envy that screen! It looks pretty clear even from the camera.
Just 2 random things I noticed...I used nova launcher with xposed but probably wouldn't have reverted back if I got it looking the way you did. I played around with it on my phone awhile until I tried Google now with a few exposed tweaks. But I'm always on the lookout for a good launcher. Lots of people using nova but haven't found many good tutorials.
The other was fast reboot. I had this installed but the one persistent bug I have dealing with cec wasn't fixed by fast reboot. It needed an actual reboot. Then I read that those types of apps aren't always good for android. They included other "memory boosting" type apps as well. It didn't scare me but since it didn't help much I just uninstalled it. Then again, at the time I wasn't using a launcher so getting to the app was too tedious to make it worthwhile. Do you have any thoughts on that? Heard it might not be good for the device?
I enjoyed the video. Very impressive setup! Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the support. I've been using both NOVA Launcher and Fast Reboot for about three years now and on multiple devices. I like how simple NOVA can be, yet is very customizable. Having it work well with the FTV remote was a big reason I went with it though. A more graphically pleasing look would be nice, but this does what I want it to do. I've read up a lot on the various memory clearing apps. Fast Reboot is simple and doesn't muck around in the weeds. I've been nothing short of happy with using it for several years now. It doesn't fall into the "memory boosting" apps, that try to tweak the system. Simply a quick way to clear memory cache.
xm41907 said:
That is because many of them I have not tested out yet to see which work well and which do not. Sort of a mass install of games over the last two weeks and I've not had the time to sort through them all. Many will be uninstalled I'm sure, but frankly, that doesn't concern me at this point. They don't take up resources beyond hard drive space and I have 320 gigs worth. I've not even touched 10% of available space yet. The point of the video is to show what the FTV is capable of, not to show a well polished and final system.
The video isn't great because I'm on a projector, lighting is difficult. Too much light and the screen is washed out. Too little and the camera sensor suffers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was not talking about the quality of the video, I meant that the video in general was horrible. The video capures what a lot of people do wrong when they post video of their devices. For one, you have too much going on in the video. If you wanna show us your setup, fine, but why do you have to show us every gadget you have? I for one think people that post videos about their device and for no reason show us 20 other devices are laughable. It takes away from what you are supposed to be showing us. Plus you have a lot of apps that you make no mention of. Like when you open up your utilities folder, you show the folder and do not say the names of any apps inside or what you have them installled for. I am not trying to say you did a bad job, cause like I said, the thread is nice, maybe you could go through your apps and tell us what they are and why you have them. You opened some games and showed off your launchers, but you should have gave us some more info on what your installed apps are. I will use the utilities folder as an example again, I like utility apps so I am sure others do too, but you have an awful lot of utility apps to not give us a simple rundown of what some of them are. Its different if you have a folder full of games that we can identify by looking at the icon, but when you have a folder full of apps that we cannot recognise then you should give us some input. Also, not everyone uses their Fire TV to play games or play with XBMC, so maybe you could show us something else besides launchers, SPMC and gaming. You have the important stuff listed on this thread, which is awesome, so you probably could have just made a video sayin to visit your thread for all info on the mods you have installed, maybe even showed them off a little, then got to the other less graphical non cool type of apps you have installed. Like I said its just an opinion, but the video really did seem like it was for show and nothing technical. Maybe you can make a part two and show us some of the other apps you have, and tell us what they do. People are into discovering new apps so maybe you can help someone discover something new besides something media or graphic driven. The video kinda reminds me of the unboxing videos where someone spends more time focusing on the cool accesories they have rather than the device itself.
porkenhimer said:
For one, you have too much going on in the video. If you wanna show us your setup, fine, but why do you have to show us every gadget you have? I for one think people that post videos about their device and for no reason show us 20 other devices are laughable. It takes away from what you are supposed to be showing us. Plus you have a lot of apps that you make no mention of. Like when you open up your utilities folder, you show the folder and do not say the names of any apps inside or what you have them installled for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I humbly disagree with your take on my video. My intention was to show you what modifications I have done with my system and I did just that. The specific devices I have are key to these modifications. I will give you that showing both a bluetooth mouse and a wireless keyboard/trackpad are slightly redundant, but if you're going to nitpick something like that, then just move on. I did not show every installed app, because again, it was to show you what modifications I have done, not to show you recommended apps I have installed. I believe you have completely missed the spirit of my post.
porkenhimer said:
You opened some games and showed off your launchers, but you should have gave us some more info on what your installed apps are. I will use the utilities folder as an example again, I like utility apps so I am sure others do too, but you have an awful lot of utility apps to not give us a simple rundown of what some of them are.
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The vast majority of apps in my Utility folder are stock apps on the FTV that I put into the folder because I have no need for them. Such as the Game Circle, Superuser, etc. If you want a video of me explaining what apps I have, I can do that, but that does not fall in the spirit of my post. The apps I mentioned were the key apps necessary for my mods. Others are insignificant to the modifications.
porkenhimer said:
not everyone uses their Fire TV to play games or play with XBMC, so maybe you could show us something else besides launchers, SPMC and gaming.
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Again, I did not post this for people to copy my setup, but to show functionality of mods.
porkenhimer said:
but the video really did seem like it was for show and nothing technical.
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Correct. If I were making a tutorial video on how to accomplish these mods, then it would have been a totally different type of video. It was simply to show some of the mods that can be used on the FTV with a little bit of personal experience using them.
porkenhimer said:
Maybe you can make a part two and show us some of the other apps you have, and tell us what they do. People are into discovering new apps so maybe you can help someone discover something new besides something media or graphic driven. The video kinda reminds me of the unboxing videos where someone spends more time focusing on the cool accesories they have rather than the device itself.
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I did spend a fair amount of time today weeding through the apps I have installed and maybe I will do an app video to accompany my setup. In a sense, you are right that this video is more of a unboxing video. My intention was to provide a glimpse into the modifications available for the FTV. A "modifications of" type of of unboxing video. I provided the links to many of the various modifications so that if someone wanted to achieve a function that I have, they would have the means to follow the tutorials that I followed.
Your setup is soooooo decent...thanks for the share!
Do I install Titanium and kill the AFTV launcher to use Nova as my main launcher? how do you go from Nova to Aftv back to Nova so easy? Now that i can do backgrounds I'll certainly like to use Nova instead of another custom one i'm using
nickyb003 said:
Your setup is soooooo decent...thanks for the share!
Do I install Titanium and kill the AFTV launcher to use Nova as my main launcher? how do you go from Nova to Aftv back to Nova so easy? Now that i can do backgrounds I'll certainly like to use Nova instead of another custom one i'm using
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Honestly, it's been a little while so I don't recall exactly how I got it functioning. I was toying around with lots of things and stumbled upon getting it working. Here's what I believe got it to work right. There isn't a function to set NOVA as the default launcher like on most android devices. Instead, you have to do some fiddling. Here is basically what I did.
Installed FiredTV Launcher - I used this for awhile before using the Llama app
Installed Nova Launcher - Froze KFTV Launcher using TB. This worked but I lost Amazon movies
Froze FiredTV Launcher and unfroze KFTV. This seemed to do the trick. I also have the Ouya framework installed, but with the Ouya launcher frozen or else it takes over.
Thanks for the video. I had given up on FiredTV and never got any launcher working right but you showed it could be done, so I went looking and found my answer.
Through the Xposed framework, I loaded a module which intercepts the "home" key and lets you define a launcher. I still use the fire tv stock launcher when absolutely required, but I launch it from within nova and when I press Home, I'm back to Nova.
I wanted to ask you about the USB drive. I had a flash drive and used the hack to mount data (or whatever it was) to the flash drive. Everything was SLOW -- unbearably so. I have a USB hard drive coming, so wanted to ask if you find the speed acceptable with the hard drive. I believe some of the tweaks from tvaddons.ag for xbmc were actually part of the problem. I ended up just starting over at one point.
ractar28 said:
Thanks for the video. I had given up on FiredTV and never got any launcher working right but you showed it could be done, so I went looking and found my answer.
Through the Xposed framework, I loaded a module which intercepts the "home" key and lets you define a launcher. I still use the fire tv stock launcher when absolutely required, but I launch it from within nova and when I press Home, I'm back to Nova.
I wanted to ask you about the USB drive. I had a flash drive and used the hack to mount data (or whatever it was) to the flash drive. Everything was SLOW -- unbearably so. I have a USB hard drive coming, so wanted to ask if you find the speed acceptable with the hard drive. I believe some of the tweaks from tvaddons.ag for xbmc were actually part of the problem. I ended up just starting over at one point.
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You're welcome! That is why I wanted to post a video and provide links. Are you refering to Rbox's Xposed module? I installed that too, but completely forgot about having it.
As for the flash drive, I tried one at first, it was horribly slow. Many others have had similar experiences. It's reference in one of the guides I posted. After switching to my external hard drive, it was just about as fast as stock. I was actually surprised, because my drive is a WD Passport, no external power supply. I simply used a powered hub and it works great. I would like an SSD, but not going to spend the money on one now.
The tweaks from tvaddons would only affect XBMC. They shouldn't have any affect on the FTV itself.
Yes, the addons only impacted kodi, BUT, kodi was the app I used the most at the time. I know kodi has a pretty small footprint for an android app, so for it to become painstakingly slow, pretty much ruined my fire tv experience. Of course, I was also using gotham "customizations" on kodi, which was also possibly a contributing factor.
Is a powered hub required for an external hard drive? I had purchased one powered hub and tried it with fire tv and it could no longer see my flash drive through the powered hub. With a powered hub, can the fire tv (via stickmount) see multiple storage devices?
ractar28 said:
Yes, the addons only impacted kodi, BUT, kodi was the app I used the most at the time. I know kodi has a pretty small footprint for an android app, so for it to become painstakingly slow, pretty much ruined my fire tv experience. Of course, I was also using gotham "customizations" on kodi, which was also possibly a contributing factor.
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I still doubt it was anything with kodi. FLash drives are known to be very slow for this.
ractar28 said:
Is a powered hub required for an external hard drive? I had purchased one powered hub and tried it with fire tv and it could no longer see my flash drive through the powered hub. With a powered hub, can the fire tv (via stickmount) see multiple storage devices?
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I first tried using it without a hub and the FTV didn't even register it was connected. Once I got a powered hub, all was well with the world. I just picked one up at Best Buy.
xm41907 said:
I was lucky enough to purchase a rootable Amazon Fire TV and have customized it to be quite the awesome device, thanks in part to the wonderful XDA community for providing all sorts of hacks. I wanted to show off what this little device can do so here is a video showing my setup, including the hardware I use and all the customizations I've done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1nf2ffZT3s
I hope this helps people see the capabilities of the Fire TV and unlocks it for those lucky enough to have a rootable FTV. My future goals are to mess with the game controllers to see if I can figure out why some games work and others don't. I want to get an Amazon controller and see how that works with the OUYA framework. unfortunately they're on backorder at the moment.
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im glad to see two of the modifications that i posted to good use. The Ouya Framework that i pulled from my madcatz mojo and freezing kftv launcher using titaniumbackup. the way that i got ouya to boot was i used autopilot to launch it at startup and when i need to exit i would simply hit the home button.
mejdam said:
im glad to see two of the modifications that i posted to good use. The Ouya Framework that i pulled from my madcatz mojo and freezing kftv launcher using titaniumbackup. the way that i got ouya to boot was i used autopilot to launch it at startup and when i need to exit i would simply hit the home button.
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Have you looked into the BAXY launcher for OUYA? Withe the normal OUYA launcher, it was hijacking my home button. I couldn't play the OUYA games unless it was active, but freezing it and running BAXY worked.
xm41907 said:
Have you looked into the BAXY launcher for OUYA? Withe the normal OUYA launcher, it was hijacking my home button. I couldn't play the OUYA games unless it was active, but freezing it and running BAXY worked.
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I have not used baxy, matter of fact i only own one fire tv left, i mostly changed to nexus player and im slowing getting rid of all my legacy boxes and making room for the razer forge tv.
i loaded the tv launcher so once autopilot booted into the ouya launcher i would install all the ouya apps and just go back to the tv launcher and launch the apps from that screen instead. im not really a gamer so all this was more for a proof of concept.
BTW, have you seen my thread of configuring IPTV on your fire tv? if not i would really look into it.
mejdam said:
i loaded the tv launcher so once autopilot booted into the ouya launcher i would install all the ouya apps and just go back to the tv launcher and launch the apps from that screen instead. im not really a gamer so all this was more for a prove of concept.
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That works too, but the OUYA framework would still hijack my home button at times, no matter what launcher I was using. Perhaps I might be able to keep that from happening with autopilot. I've just not taken the time to bother with OUYA stuff much once, games are installed, I haven't needed to go into the OUYA menus.
mejdam said:
BTW, have you seen my thread of configuring IPTV on your fire tv? if not i would really look into it.
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I played with it and have it working some. I have been really busy with a different project, until last Saturday. Now I've got some free time to fiddle more. I have some controller things I'm going to fiddle with first.
Awesome customization.. but wud be great if you could post some instructions to newbs like me on how to setup the NovaLauncher/Live Wallpaper and the external
HD for storage. I know it's a long list but hoping you could put some instructions down. (Or) @aftVNEWS if you happen to look at this post please try to put something if you can.
Cheers !
ncube2 said:
Awesome customization.. but wud be great if you could post some instructions to newbs like me on how to setup the NovaLauncher/Live Wallpaper and the external
HD for storage. I know it's a long list but hoping you could put some instructions down. (Or) @aftVNEWS if you happen to look at this post please try to put something if you can.
Cheers !
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Thanks. Did you not see all the links I posted below the video? They're there. Well, minus the Nova Launcher setup, but look at post #9.
Nice video, thanks for the info, checking out setting up the live wallpapers & nova launcher.
I have an Amazon Game Controller for the AFTV and I don't have a problem with compatibility with any games like I did using my Xbox 360 controller & a PS3 controller i have. Glad I picked one up.
Shadowgun HD 2.5 is what I have and it works great with the AGC. You can program which keys are what and it works with the shoulder buttons (tops ones, didn't try the bottom ones).
I do want to point out that the 2 shoulder bottom buttons don't work with many games unless they are program to use an analog steer & analog break (or at least something like that, forget what the games that see them call it).
And as for loading up a ton of games to check out later, I'm down. I've done the same thing. Most are crap or the ones the would be fun just don't work, but you know, it's the journey, right?
Apparently Netflix is going to start blocking rooted and unlocked users from downloading the app through the Play Store through safety net check criteria. I searched on my 6p for the Play Store just now and it did not have a listing but checking on my shield TV I did find it. I don't know if they are just blocking the rooted users from downloading the app or if they're planning on blocking rooted users from using the app. I believe this all has to do with DRM content.
To be fair I can't see much reason beyond adding Plex Channels (to Plex (durr!)), why anyone would even want to bother with root on the Shield TV. Thankfully that level of root can be achieved simply enough. Without opening the whole /system partition. By just symlinking the needed Directory outside of /system. But, the catch 22 of that is you still have to have a systemless root to do it which means you have to manually open, and shut the /system partition again afterwards. Alas I will have to "test" this out again eventually. But for the moment APV is working 100% under this config. The only place where this type of root fails is at AdAway (Blocking Ads). As I haven't been able to create a working simlink for it.
Besides, Phones are one thing the Shield is something totally different. Netflix doesn't need to be installed from the PlayStore. It's a system application, along with Amazon, BBC, and VuDu. As such I have made such a test as to uninstall the last Update, which I was able to reinstall just fine.
As to any further testing of Netflix I will wait a few more weeks untill my old Phone Contact runs out, and then invest that capital on a Netflix 4k Sub.
Otherwise I am bootloader unlocked. So we'll just have to see. But, does the Shield TV even have a Samsung type eFuse (e.g. Knox Flag?!) that trips if your unlocked?! I have to say that I'm not aware of there being one on the Shield TV. Again this 'practice' seems all to common on Phones. But, again the SATV is NOT a neither a Phone, nor does it run a Phone OS.
Until now is only on google side. To workaround this use magisk to root.
I recommend you to take a look at full android nougat development, you might be interested mostly for the next version when Nvidia is supposed to fix some major bugs and because zulu99 has an awesome solution in mind in response to google that will be implemented on next FAN version.
https://youtu.be/yTf55-PXC8k
Sent from my Tapatalk beta Hub
If I helped hit the Thanks button. Follow Me! ~ DroidMote user ~ Full Android for Shield TV and Nexus Player
lavero.burgos said:
Until now is only on google side. To workaround this use magisk to root.
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Does Magisk work for the Shield TV? Is there a tutorial anywhere?
colino17 said:
Does Magisk work for the Shield TV? Is there a tutorial anywhere?
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I know that it works with full Android nougat by zulu99, which is the ROM I use.
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If I helped hit the Thanks button. Follow Me! ~ DroidMote user ~ Full Android for Shield TV and Nexus Player
Ichijoe said:
To be fair I can't see much reason beyond adding Plex Channels (to Plex (durr!)), why anyone would even want to bother with root on the Shield TV.
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I think replacing the launcher is the primary reason people would want to root the shield. It's the only reason I've done it since Leanback is just sort of clunky.