The original version of rbox’s Fire TV bootloader unlocking script had an issue which caused it to fail without notice on some Fire TVs. He has fixed the issue and uploaded a new version of his utility. Here is a simple way to determine if your Fire TV’s bootloader is fully unlocked or not, so that you know if you need to redo the unlocking procedure.
- Connect to your Fire TV via ADB.
- Run the command:
adb shell - If your Fire TV’s bootloader is fully unlocked, you will see
root@android on the screen. If your Fire TV’s bootloader is locked or partially unlocked, you will seeshell@android on the screen. - To double check, you should now run the command:
cat /proc/cmdline
If your bootloader is fully unlocked, you will seeandroidboot.unlocked_kernel=true among the printed text.
If you already went through the unlocking guide but your Fire TV is not unlocked, then you should:
- Connect to your Fire TV via ADB.
- Run the command:
adb shell - Run the command:
rm -f /data/local/tmp/aftv-full-unlock - Then follow the unlocking guide from start to finish again.
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Hi,
I am currently on the pre-rooted ROM 51.1.4.0_514006420 (updated one). So what would be the steps to upgrade to the latest pre-rooted rom? Do I still need to partially unlock bootloader to install the boot menu or the above steps will suffice? I think, the latter should suffice to install the boot menu, but just want to confirm.
By the way, this is an excellent, excellent site and one stop shop for all the fire tv news, tricks etc. Keep up the great work!! Also, excellent, excellent work by rbox.
Can anyone please confirm this for me? It’s much appreciated.
Just go to the Fire TV Custom Rom page, download the latest, follow the Boot Menu procedure FIRST (Latest version properly unlocks the Bootloader), transfer the Rom via adb and install via ClockworkMod Custom Recovery.
Good Luck
RMD
Also that’s the version I came from (420 to 920), so skip the downgrading instructions!
Well here’s my confusion and it might just be I’m not using common sense…When I input adb shell I get — shell@android:/ $
BUT
If I type “su” I get root@android:/ #
What does this mean? Should I get shell@android if I’m not logged in as superuser?
And I assume there’s no harm in running the unlock again even if you are unlocked?
If your Fire TV is unlocked, it will say “root@android” immediately after entering “adb shell” without entering “su”. So if yours says “shell@android” then your Fire Tv is not unlocked.
Whether your Fire TV is locked or unlocked, there is no harm in running the unlock script again.
I’ve tried everything variation possible but I cannot get past
“adb push aftv-full-unlock /data/local/tmp”
I get cannot stat ‘ aftv-full-unlock’: No such file or directory.
I can drill down and see the directory is there however. Must that file be placed in that location for this to work?
Spent literally another 2 hours of research and attempts to get past this today and haven’t got anywhere. >_<
Thanks!
Hi Elias,why not make a quick video like you did with rooting the fire tv 2 just a suggestion, because it looks confusing tx.
I started with an rooted and unlocked bootloader and have upgraded it to os5 (using your guide) and installed TWRP and the latest rooted firos5 rom but I noticed that now my bootloader shows as being locked. When I adb shell into the firetv I see shell@ not root@.
Has my bootloader become locked again? I still was TWRP installed and can boot into recovery so I think not, but when I connect I do see shell@ not root@
I’m in the same situation. After updating to the latest Fire OS 5 pre-rooted stock image (5.2.4.1_r2 from Fire OS 3 (and going thru all the necessary intermediate steps to do so), I’m now seeing that adb shell is giving me the shell@bueller:/ prompt. Prior to the update, I know that doing adb shell would return the root@ prompt.
I still do see that cat /proc/cmdline includes androidboot.unlocked_kernel=true in the response. Does this mean that my bootloader is fully unlocked even though I don’t get the root@ prompt when doing adb shell anymore?
Hi, I am running OS 5.0.5 on 1st get aftv. I rooted with Kingroot 4.1. I am trying to unlock bootloader but to no avail. When I check with this command cat: /proc/cmdline: Permission denied. Please help
If by Kingrooted 1st gen AFTV you mean it was already on OS 5 prior to rooting, then this post says the device is unable to be unlocked:
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-fully-unlock-the-amazon-fire-tv-bootloader/
Does this apply to Fire Stick as well?
I have rbox 5.2.4.1 running on a rooted fire stick 1.
Is unlocking bootloader possible?