A reader of AFTVnews named Brandon Hammer has sent me a video showing that his Element Fire TV Edition television is rooted. Brandon says he was able to successfully root the device using the latest version of the KingRoot rooting utility, which is currently version 5.2.0. Brandon’s TV is running software version 5.2.5.0, which is not the latest software version for the Fire TV Edition televisions.
Software version 5.2.5.0 (572212620) is the version that comes on the device from the factory. There is a launch day software update that updates the device to software version 5.2.5.1 (577224220), which is currently the latest software version. It is unknown at this time if KingRoot can also root the latest software version.
If you have a Fire TV Edition television and are considering rooting it with KingRoot, I suggest you proceed with caution. Rooting itself is not harmful, but it’s the modifications you can perform once you’ve gained root that can end up bricking a device. That’s not a big deal with a $90 Fire TV or $40 Fire TV Stick, but is a much more serious loss if you brick a multi-hundred dollar television.
There is obviously no TWRP or ClockworkMod custom recovery available for the Fire TV Edition television, so if you make a change that prevents the TV from booting, there will be no way to recover from the mistake. Even with a custom recovery in place, many have managed to mess up their Fire TVs or Fire TV Sticks enough that recovery no longer worked. My inbox is a daily testament to this fact.
When the Fire TV Stick 1 was first rooted, I recommended that most people wait until custom recovery was released for the device, which at the time rbox announced he would do, before rooting. Things are different here because a custom recovery may never be released for the Fire TV Edition televisions. Without custom recovery, there will not be pre-rooted ROMs, and without either of those, a rooted Fire TV Edition television will never be able to update its software version without losing root.
If rooting is very important to you and there are specific things you want to do and need root to do them, root your TV but be very careful with the modifications you make. For others interested in rooting the Fire TV Edition television, I recommend doing what you can to block software updates, so that rooting remains a possibility, and hold off a bit to see what pans out from this.
Update
According to jvquintero1021 on XDA, the newer 5.2.5.1 software version is not rootable.
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I’ve never bricked a device but it happens all the time. Given the cost, Id expect Amazon to patch this quickly. People will kill their new tv and it might not be the family member who purchased it. Im thinking Mom or Dad might be very angry but a lot of that rage would be misdirected at Amazon.
5.2.4.0 (572212620) should be 5.2.5.0 (572212620)
Thanks for catching that! I’ve fixed it.
Besides the bragging rights… What’s the point of this exactly? Don’t get me wrong I love rooting my Phablets. But, in the case of the Fire TV, Shield TV, or these new Smart TVs. I just fail to see the point.
I guess doing this would give us the ability to run a stock Android TV Interface. But at What cost to the stability? Its one thing to brick a Box. Bricking an entire TV though? Is it really worth it?
You would root these for the same reason you would root a phablet, to run/do things you otherwise couldn’t.
For example, if you want to disable ‘Not In My House’ or run a different launcher (such as Fire Starter with home detection), you need root.
If you also want control over system updates on Fire devices (other than just blocking from the network level), you need root as well.
As of now, I do follow the ‘no recovery, avoid’ belief (unless some kind of alternative recovery is found e.g. fastboot), but if one comes out it would be interesting to see what people may try to do with these TVs.
BTW, one reason I’ve seen why people would root the Shield TV is to OC the SoC to run emulators better.
And, again if you brick an 80$ Box, it’s a bitch, and you move on. But you just bricked a 400$ TV, and then what? Perhaps I’m the Gen X’er in the Room, but TVs ARE not things to be disposed like last year’s Phone. Then again it’s not like I could afford to live like that either.
There are people out there who root $800+ phones, but as I said that’s why I’d also wait for a recovery before trying anything.
If we’re comparing Smart TVs to phones, bad news, they are becoming just like them.
There have been various Smart TVs which have lost support for different services over the years with the basic TV aspect being the one constant.
To me, any ‘Smart’ functionality is a bonus, not a reason to go for a TV.
Does this mean the current AFTV firmware is likely to be rooted too?
Someone tried the aftv2 current firmware with no success.
Not sure about 5.2.5.1 for this TV, either. Haven’t seen anyone try, and I’m not going to. XD
From a purely profit driven point of view…if someone brick’s their tv they would have to buy another….good for Amazon profits. Even if they don’t buy a Fire TV as long as they buy it through Amazon…Amazon profits.
Simultaneously it’s also bad for Amazon as you’ll have people returning their sets if within the warranty period.
I’m pretty sure rooting and bricking the device isn’t covered under the warranty