Just a few weeks after the Fire HD 8 had been rooted, that procedure has been applied to the Amazon Fire 7 tablet to give it the full rooting treatment, as first spotted by Liliputing. Amazon’s least expensive tablet has had its bootloader unlocked, TWRP custom recovery created for it, and there’s already even a custom ROM available to install.
Just as with the Fire HD 8 rooting method, the Fire 7 rooting procedure, posted on XDA by user k4y0z, requires using a Linux installation to run a script that roots the device. The rooting script works for either the 5th-gen Fire 7 tablet released in 2015 or the current 7th-gen Fire 7, that is available to buy right now on sale for $39.99, and was released in 2017.
If your Fire 7 is running the older 5.0.1 firmware, the rooting procedure can all be done with software. If it’s on a newer firmware, you’ll have to either risk bricking it by downgrading or open it up to connect two internal points together temporarily while it boots. This process is identical that used to root the Fire HD 8 and is necessary to root the newer firmware’s bootrom into download mode.
A custom ROM has been created by XDA user ANDROID2468 for both the 5th and 7th-gen Fire 7 tablets. This ROM comes with Gapps, to access the Google Play Store and Google services, as well as Firefox and Nova Launcher pre-installed. The ROM also disables automatic updates, and removes several the default components, such as the home pages, Silk browser, and Amazon Music.
If you’ve ever been curious about experimenting with rooting, this is a good point of entry since you’re only sacrificing a $39.99 tablet if you mess anything up. With TWRP custom recovery and an unlocked bootloader, once you get past the initial rooting process, you’re pretty much out of harms way since you can always use recovery to restore the device or fastboot to flash a new image thanks to the unlocked bootloader.
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AFTVnews
Would this allow hangouts calling to work?
I sideloaded playstore & dependencies on a HD 8 and while quite a few apps worked, hangouts dialer did not.
Dude…. why the hell would you want hangouts on a KINDLE??? Google is gonna shut it down anyway so there’s really no point in getting it.
or, you know, just buy a used more powerful tablet off craigslist/swappa/ebay.
I got the HD 8 for $40, could you suggest a (or a few) good used approx. 8″ tablet models under $50 to look out for?
I like Samsung, so:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4
Samsung Galaxy Tab E 8.0
Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0
It will transition from hangouts dialer but VoIP from google is not going away.
I have a 2015, 7″ tablet which I blocked updates on 5.0.1. I was able to root it with rootjunky’s command prompt tool. From what I understand, this only exploited a small loophole in the bootloader which allows for a command line fastboot to TWRP (hence me having to use the tool each time to boot to TWRP).
Am I correct in believing this will fully unlock the bootloader rather than just use the previous exploit? If so, I think I may give this a whirl.
I’m in the same boat, it would be great to replace recovery permanently rather that run it from a command. I am curious if the custom roms for the 5th will work on the 7th edition…
It sounds like we could unlock the bootloader now with the exploit, i think i will tear down one of mine to test and replace the recovery image.
I have other things to check first, namely the firestick 4k, using the same exploit to see if that can get rooted.
Elias, We also have TWRP Recovery for the Cube/Pendant now.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/general/fire-tv-3-needle-twrp-t3903578
Could you please start posting the Package Download Links,
so we can stay up to date?
Thanks.
Maybe someone can help.
I rooted my FTV Pendant. It worked great but since I’m an idiot tried to install google services and now it bootloops at white screen with amazon arrow. I installed a custom recovery hoping I can use integrated file manager to delete offending apk but it’s possible to load it only using adb and I can’t.
Any advice about how to boot directly into recovery mode wihout using adb (I can run fastboot)?
Thanks for any advice.
Pino
Forgot to mention fastboot doesn’t work using OTA cable needed to enable a keyboard / mouse.
I’ve got 2 of these at home. Haven’t used them in awhile. Both are rooted but you need to use Flashfire or fastboot recovery to flash anything. Hopefully the unlocked bootloader will attract more development. A custom kernel might turn it into a pretty capable tablet.
Just curious, is the Linage custom rom compatible to this? I have a 5th gen that i have been running lineage 12.1 on. I am on the old 5.0.1 firmware. It would be great it we ever had an new OS ported like Nougat, Oreo or Pie, something. It is definitely a $40 tablet….
Get a nice clean AOSP Rom on there, would make a decent Android Auto head unit
i have 3 2015’s with root and custom ROM , but only one has TWRP
the other could not get TWRP so i had to go the FF route
so does this mean that i can get TWRP on my other 2 rooted custom rom tablets now without opening the devices?