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.

Fire HD 8 7th Gen ver. 5.4.0

I'm new to XDAdevelopers, so hello to everyone! I've read the majority of the posts concerning rooting the older Fire HD devices. While I have no expectations that anyone out there will have any new information concerning rooting this generation of Fire HD I'm going to solicit suggestions with respect to rooting the newest model of the Amazon device. I have an Samsung S10 that I use for my primary tablet at the moment, so short of turning this HD in to a "brick" I'm open to experimenting with it.
It's a nice little tablet, but the OS is less then desirable for anyone that does not want the Amazon-centric software. This device was purchased via Amazon's pre-order list and arrived on 7 June. Almost immediately the OS auto updated to the newest version i.e. 5.4.0, which as you might guess is not one that can be rolled back. The sole intention of purchasing this device was to root it eventually so I could go to a full Android OS. Yes, I was aware of the drawbacks of the Amazon OS beforehand and the close integration with their site and product lines.
That being said, I've been able to install Google Play and download some of my more useful apps. Of course any app that is already installed, such as Audible, will not download via Play Store, as one might expect. The purpose of this thread is to open dialog concerning rooting the 7th Generation Fire HD and sundry issues. Any comments and/or suggestions, experiences, etc, will be great appreciated.
Thank you all and it's great to be on board!
L...

Mine arrived this afternoon, and I went straight to instructions for the Playstore, etc. (For background, my Fire 7" works fine using a 3rd party launcher, and a full collection of gApps) I thought that I'd try the Fire 8 7th gen 5.4.0 for the extra memory. I have been pleasantly surprised how useful the 7" is, even without root, etc.
I'm slowly setting up my essentials, passwords, etc. The only very annoying bug that I've come across so far is GMAIL... It downloaded and synced properly, but now just shuts down after a brief second. (I've tried the usual fixes, but it's still not working). I'm curious... Have you managed to get GMAIL to work on yours?

I'm having the same issue with Gmail - hoping to root it in the near future - any advice anyone?

Gmail Alternative
I'm not using Gmail at all. After I installed Play Store I downloaded the same email client that I use on all of my Android devices i.e. K-9 Mail. This app works extremely well and will do what you need with a host of email sources. I have quite a few email accounts for business and personal use, so K-9 allows me to bring them all together in one app, and segregate the individual accounts. I've had this app for years and would recommend it to anyone. You might want to take a look at it and see if it meets your needs.
L...
mba123 said:
I'm having the same issue with Gmail - hoping to root it in the near future - any advice anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

BlackOPSSpook said:
I'm not using Gmail at all. After I installed Play Store I downloaded the same email client that I use on all of my Android devices i.e. K-9 Mail. This app works extremely well and will do what you need with a host of email sources. I have quite a few email accounts for business and personal use, so K-9 allows me to bring them all together in one app, and segregate the individual accounts. I've had this app for years and would recommend it to anyone. You might want to take a look at it and see if it meets your needs.
L...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion... I'll check it out.

I have had same issues with gmail, but i restarted the device, i opened gmail, it crashed within seconds, i left the device idle for 10 minutes and afterwards gmail works fine (i am using 5 gmail accounts without issues). Hope it may help you to sort this issue out.

Amazon Appstore FireOS only apps - any work arounds?

My son has a Fire HD 8 tablet that thanks to you all, I have installed LineageOS 7.1.2 on. It runs great now, but we'd like to install an application that is only available in the Amazon App store and designed to run only on stock FireOS. I think the app would run perfectly fine on the tablet with Lineage installed, but unfortunately the Amazon App store no longer recognizes the tablet as a Fire tablet and therefore blocks our ability to download the app.
Is there some sort of workaround that could be tried here? I've read about people modifying build.prop to spoof the device type and run "unsupported" apps, so perhaps that is the route we'd take here? I'm just sort of stumped here and really don't want to go buy another fire tablet just so we can run stock fire os for his game.
The apps in question are the Osmo kids learning series. Any help would be very much appreciated.
*edit - i have searched for .apks of the app online that would allow me to manually install, but i have been unable to turn any up.

ChrisULM said:
My son has a Fire HD 8 tablet that thanks to you all, I have installed LineageOS 7.1.2 on. It runs great now, but we'd like to install an application that is only available in the Amazon App store and designed to run only on stock FireOS. I think the app would run perfectly fine on the tablet with Lineage installed, but unfortunately the Amazon App store no longer recognizes the tablet as a Fire tablet and therefore blocks our ability to download the app.
Is there some sort of workaround that could be tried here? I've read about people modifying build.prop to spoof the device type and run "unsupported" apps, so perhaps that is the route we'd take here? I'm just sort of stumped here and really don't want to go buy another fire tablet just so we can run stock fire os for his game.
The apps in question are the Osmo kids learning series. Any help would be very much appreciated.
*edit - i have searched for .apks of the app online that would allow me to manually install, but i have been unable to turn any up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get Amazon Appstore for Android on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/get/amazonapp

Walmart Onn 4K Android TV - networking question on blocking OTA updates

Hey everyone - little new around XDA as this is my first post. Recently I had constructed a video tutorial of sorts for the average Onn TV box owner to get it running, achieve an unlocked boot loader and root, and use Tasker to remap the hardware based buttons (as the remap module zip I found on here did not work for me).
There is a Reddit thread here with more context and the video link:
See here
Anyways, I am trying to think about and implement a way to have the option to block OTA updates from happening automatically as I could not find any menu item to disable them. I’ve recently left the Amazon TV ecosystem as for I was tired of trying to always block updates / conform with their launcher and their software. I guess I’m slowly worrying that this TV may eventually have the same fate in terms of being locked down but I suppose I want to fight for this one over the Amazon products lol.
I have had 2 ideas that I have tried, one of which I’m at a dead end with and the other I am asking for a little assistance with - albeit I’m unsure it’ll work but I feel it makes sense and is worth a shot.
The first idea, I was trying to find and stop the service(s) associated with system updates through an app called Servicely. I am able to find 2 services related to system updates but am unable to stop/trial disabling them as the app quits when I try to do so.
The second idea is somehow devising a way to block network traffic specific to wherever the Onn Tv visits to check if there is a new update. I feel this would be a cleaner and safer method too. I tried using a couple of network traffic tracking apps and then navigating to settings and selecting “check for update” to generate the respective traffic with no avail.
So I am asking for help with this please, I’m sure there is a better or more thorough way to detect where the Onn TV is visiting online to check if there are new updates. Does anyone have an idea on how to detect / block this from happening to stop the automatic and manual check for updates (and thus hopefully the auto-update) from happening? Thank you.

You can try to remotely connect to the Onn using ADB and then freeze/disable those packages.
What are the package names for the OTA files you found?

Just bought HD10 11th (2021) 7.3.2.1. How to block updates and what to do?

Hello
Bought HD 2021, no ads version
In short:
1. Need to block the updates. How do I go about it? I have a router, so blocking the traffic to Amazon maybe?
2. I'd love to completely disconnect the tablet from Amazon. I wish to gain maximum intrussion on my privacy, so I'd love to get rid of Alexa etc. But if there's something which improves the chances of increasing compability with older apps installed from a pre-downloaded files, not from Google Play etc. I'd like that too. Basically "what would you do in the first place". Aside from the looks. I don't really care how my icons arrangement looks like or if I can get somewhere in 2 clicks instead of 3. Not sure if the launcher swap is for me then.
After spending some time googling, I found that there's no way to install LineageOS on this one. And people talk about bad 7.3.2.2 update. (I have 7.3.2.1)
So, please help a noob with some simple step-by-step advise on what should I do (no need to tell me the actual steps of each procedure, I can google, but keep in mind I'm a total noob to Android and PC-Android apps, so please don't use shortcuts which prelong my future googling by 1000x, thanks )
I just powered it on, checked the firmware version, and didn't connect the internet to it yet.

OK, so I needlessly worried after finding a 5 method list of removing the auto updates and comments about none working, and thought Toolbox is mainly for changing launchers.
To answer most of my questions:
- Toobox allows to disable the updates, has ALL the options nicely explained and you can just read through all the menu items to learn what to do and what's what. It allows to remove the spying Amazon crap (Alexa), allows to sideload apps without using any stores (not even google account required, I guess ), restores Google Play access and gives direct access to the filesysem for easy file transfer. Among other.
Awesome thing. I didn't finish using the Toolbox yet, but seems like I'll be able to use the tablet now.
I have a new question though. If my OS version is from 2021, and I don't want the new updates, what about security vulnerabilities? Am I now an easy target?
edit: Still have Alexa
Amazon Alexa is one service
and
Alexa - is the name of second service
Also, how do I disable the Google Assistant after replacing Alexa with it?
Lastly. I have only 1.3GB of 3GB RAM free? Or is this under developer settings in Android settings menu, not properly displayed?

Welcome here! I hope you'll take this discussion over to the Toolbox thread to benefit more readers:
[WINDOWS][TOOL]Fire Toolbox V30.2
Fire Toolbox V30.2 All-In-One Toolbox for Fire Tablets! The Fire Toolbox is a collection of useful ADB (Android Debug Bridge) tweaks that can be applied to Amazon's Fire Tablets. The Toolbox project aims to help users fully customize and...
forum.xda-developers.com