The Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick will enter sleep mode after 20 minutes of inactivity. There is no option in the device’s interface to disable or modify this setting. If you have a rooted Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, here is how to set your own sleep timer value.
Note: This guide requires root.
- Connect to the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick via ADB.
- Enter ADB shell by running the command:
adb shell - Enter root by running the command:
su - Open the settings database by running the command
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db - Set the custom sleep time value you want by running the command:
update secure set value =’2147460000′ where name = ‘sleep_timeout’ ;
NOTE: Replace the number2147460000 in the above command with your desired value. This value is the number of milliseconds the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick will wait before going to sleep. The value2147460000 used above equals 24 days, which essentially disables sleep altogether. The default value is1200000 , which equals 20 minutes. - [OPTIONAL] Check that your sleep value was saved by running the command:
select * from secure where name = ‘sleep_timeout’ ;
NOTE: The number at the end of what gets displayed is the current sleep value. It will look like this:30|sleep_timeout|2147460000 - Close the settings database by running the command:
.exit - Exit root by running the command:
exit - Exit ADB shell by running the command:
exit
Thanks to mattgyver83 on reddit for figuring this out!
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Elias, big fan of the site thanks for all you do!
Thanks! And thanks for figuring this awesome tip out. It came up in the last podcast, so I figured I’d add it to my guides.
I get this message sh: sqlite3: not found
Hey I talk about this in my post but it may be worth either touching on in the article or deferring people to this comment to avoid confusion. I can’t confirm this works on any versions below 5.0.5.1 as I never tested it on that so officially I suggest users use the method we learned for older versions from my other post here which is rock solid for those versions, https://www.reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/2q9x60/allow_screen_saver_but_prevent_sleep/. That method only works on older versions but has the advantage of not requiring root and the reason things change in newer versions is due Android Lollipop honoring only the Daydream service settings and we need root to muck with it, we didn’t have to worry about that in previous versions. I have a strong suspicion using the sqlite method on older versions would cause a conflict and create timing wonkyness and should be avoided just to prevent confusion.
Also, for the sqlite method, if ones interest is along the lines of “I want to see the screen saver run for X minutes before sleeping” you need to extend whatever your desired sleep_timeout is by your currently configured screen saver start time set in your display settings or otherwise. This is because when your device starts to idle both your screen saver and sleep timers begin. So if your using a default start time of 5 minutes and wanted the screen saver run for 60 minutes before device sleep you should set your sleep time to 65 minutes, otherwise you will only get 55 minutes of the screen saver. Just a nuance worth knowing.
Just done this on my AFTV2 box on the latest prerooted version from rbox, for some reason the text on here didnt work when checking my sleep pattern time? or when i tried to change it? Maybe i added a extra space at the end whn i copy & pasted to the adb command window? But i copied it from the Reddit post & it worked fine. Thanks again AFTVNews & also to mattgyver83 for the find.
There is a non-root (and easier) method I just posted here; https://www.reddit.com/r/fireTV/comments/4jc22o/nonroot_prevent_sleep_on_fireos5/
I have 2 fire sticks and only one seems stay on with this hack and the other only stays on for 2 hours regardless if I enter a bigger number. Is there something preventing this other stick from extending its time past 2 hours? I verified the sleep timeout number and it’s what I entered. Also I have fire starter installed on both and the one that’s working the number in its timeout setting says 35971 and the other that’s not is 120. It doesn’t allow you to enter a bigger number than 120.
Never mind, I fixed the problem.
Use this line instead to set the sleep time to “never”:
update secure set value =’0′ where name = ‘sleep_timeout’ ;
I use this to play a screensaver slideshow as a poor man’s digital signage system.
When set to 24 days, the stick still sleeps after, well, 24 days, which isn’t what I wanted but may be perfectly fine for you. Setting the sleep_timeout to 0 effectively prevents the Fire TV from sleeping.