I’ll be live streaming this week’s episode of the AFTVnewscast at the usual time tomorrow at 1:30pm PT, as I do most Fridays. Post your questions or topics in the comments below for me to answer and discuss during the episode. If you have questions about 5.0.5.1, the FireStarter ban, or anything else, let’s hear them! It’s been a busy week, so keep your questions brief for the best chance of them being answered incase there are many questions this week. Even if you can’t watch live, ask your question now and catch the episode on YouTube later.
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I know you mentioned enjoying Bosch, wondering what else is some of your favourite content/shows you would recommend that are available on Amazon Prime or even Netflix.
I have the latest generation Apple Airport Extreme Wifi router with both a 2.4 gz and 5.0 gz network defined.
The Fire TV (gen 2) only sees the 2.4 Gz network name and cannot connect to the 5.0 gz even when manually configured to do so.
The Fire TV (gen 1) sees both networks and easily connects to both.
I also have noticed the same strange behavior with my FireTV (2nd Gen) that sees the 2.4Gz network without problems and always very High (5), but sees the 5.0Gz Signal very Low (1-2)!
I have also tried different routers Netgear, Dlink and Huawei, but always got on my FireTV (2nd. Gen. BOX), an extremely low 5.0Gz signal.
I also realized that this problem has been much worse after the last 2 updates, because before I never had problems connecting to the 5.0Gz signal.
Since I also have a FireTV (1st. Gen. Box) that always has worked flawlessly, and sees the 2.4Gz and 5.0Gz with same high intensity, I am starting to believe that maybe the FireTV 2nd Gen. handles differently the 2.4Gz and 5.0Gz network signals.
I ran into that same wifi problems on several other android devices. Switching to lower 5 ghz channels solved the problem.
This is the behavior of 2.4Ghz & 5.0Ghz by nature. Think of 2.4Ghz as a single lane road that stretches 10 miles and 5.0 Ghz as a 6 lane highway that stretches 2 miles, 1 can carry little traffic a long distance while the other can carry lots of traffic, but only a short distance. The 5.0Ghz range is better suited for HD content. As Fred has noted switching the channel that 5.0Ghz uses may yield a stronger signal or just move your router closer if possible.
OK but how come the Fire TV (gen 2) is the only device in my home which is having an issue with my 5.0 gz network?
What is between it and the router? What is the distance from the router? When I first set up my Fire TV my signal reception was poor to fair according to signal strength meter of the device, but once I tweaked my router by changing the channel the signal came up to good. Then I moved the router from 2 rooms away to 1 and the signal came up to very good.
The 5.0Ghz range does not pass through walls very well either.
Totally agree 2WhlWzrd and Fred Flint, and I am aware of the normal behavior of the 5.0Gz Bands.
But what we’re talking about here, is that the FireTV2 doesn’t behave like FireTV1, when used with the 2.4Gz and 5Gz Bands.
As I said before, the problem to access 5.0Gz has been much worse on the FireTV2 after the last 2 updates, however as the FireTV1 (Box) always sees 5.0Gz with much higher intensity than the FireTV2 (Box), could be some deficiency in the hardware used on newest FireTV models.
The problem is so severe that often the FireTV2 not even find the 5Gz signal at all, with the router located only 1-2 meters!
First off, your coverage and articles this week have been top notch. I couldn’t imagine having to dig through comments and forums for the info you provide. Thank you for this great resource.
You mentioned in a previous episode that you worked in software. Can you tell us more about your schooling and work before starting this site?
I would like to know if there are any new blocking developments, by device, gen 1/gen 2 routed/unrooted as to what we can and should be doing to block updates. I know there is a blocking guide, but is there anything else new we can do? What are the drawbacks to blocking and do you think Amazon will be able to “unblock” the blocks already put in place? I suspect this weeks podcast will be a “ratings buster!” Keep up the good work!
Do you know how the Fire TV knows its location? I’m using DNS Service Unlocator setup on my router to bypass the local blackout for MLB.TV. This works great on my laptop. But when running the MLB.TV app on my Fire TV (2nd Gen), the blackout is being enforced.
Unlocator customer support says: The MLB app for iPad, iPhone, iPod and Android (including Fire TV and Fire Stick) is not supported by Unlocator. This is due to the fact that It’s mandatory to have location services enabled, which includes GPS data.
But, from what I can tell, Location Services are disabled be default on Fire TV’s.
Any ideas?
p.s. I just recently discovered AFTVnews and you do a great job!
Does firetv 2 have Dolby digital if it does how to I set it
Go to: Settings > Display & Sound > Audio.
Hello there,
is it possible to disable the default amazon launcher, and then make a separate launcher or kodi load up, instead, effectively replacing the default launcher.
I know this apps to automatically load up applications on boot but I wish to disable the default launcher for performance, on my box, I realise the default launcher doesn’t use much resources, but want to disable anyway.
I also understand that I need to be rooted, to able to do this, I’m running on the following firmware 5.0.5
Thanks.
Any update on the rooted ftv gen 1 to get fire os 5.0.5 or latest?
after rooting, are there any custom roms that have kodi as the main feature AND the ability to get back into amazon’s prime content?
Any word on a second generation Fire TV Stick, especially now that Roku has announced a Stick more powerful than the current FTV Stick?
Hi Elias, given the occasion of my question, let me just take this opportunity to say that you are the man, I have really enjoyed AFTVNews and cannot say just how much I admire what you’re doing (as detailed in About AFTVnews) That and, as a father, your Christmas picture put me permanently in your corner. Live long and prosper my friend.
As to the context of my question, Amazon’s recent shenanigans with Firestarter on top of what they did on their site with Chromecast and AppleTV has left a really bad taste in my mouth. It also leaves me unavoidably suspicious of the official account of how the FireTV only had surround sound for Amazon Prime when it launched.
Like I said in another post, I WANT to give Amazon my money, but only as a customer, not as a subject. So, I’m moving on. I just completed purchase of an Nvidia Shield (from Amazon of course, see first sentence in this paragraph)
But then I realize there’s no one (of any merit) that will be offering me insider insight and weekly Youtube cast of my new favorite device. Suddenly I find there is one thing the FireTV has over the Shield that can’t be replaced.
So my question, have you considered trying an Nvidia Shield?
C’mon, what’s the harm? What’s the worst that could happen? Hey, look, NVTVnews.com is available… oh, and so it NVShieldnews.com… Huh, its like Fate is calling…
Just a few thoughts. Keep on keeping on, man. You’re doing it right.
Kind of surprised you haven’t mentioned (unless I missed it somehow) the national roll out of the Playstation Vue service. I feel like this may be, after Kodi, the most significant thing on Fire TV right now.
Playstation Vue is the primary reason why I just purchased two Fire TVs.
How do I stream my local files on Kodi using the FireTV Stick?
Hi. How can I create my own custom rom from an existing fire tv 2? I want to flash it to a new device, so that it is prerooted with initialization done, updates blocked and firestarter, kodi and paragon ntfs preinstalled. thx.
Hi Elias
First of all, I’d like to ask you if you’ve been able to capture the new Update URL Amazon is using. I know it’s SSL but I think my TP-Link router should be able to block it, although I’m not sure.
Secondly, I would like to ask you if you think Amazon’s boycott on launchers could be a test run for something bigger. What I mean is, do you think Amazon has started with FireStarter to see how the community reacts and what workaround solution the community come up with so they can further block it off and work out a more stable way of blocking it completly to then move on to other apps such as Kodi/SPMC/Plex/etc… I’m aware that the easy solution is to stay on an older firmware and prefferably pre-rooted to continue using Kodi or any sideloaded app regardless of Amazon’s blocks, but this new move could seriously hurt Kodi Box sellers (something I agree with completly) as any update to the device could completly shut the end user out of Kodi or any app. Also I suppose Amazon’s block on these apps is just a string of code implemented in a system file. Do you think there’s a chance of locating said string and RBox disabling the block before releasing a new pre-rooted rom, much like he has updates disabled as standard now? That would certainly make rooted devices updateable whilst maintaining root and all sideloaded apps active, as loosing the ability to update for new features whilst keeping all sideloaded apps could be a big game changer for Amazon’s sales.
Thanks in advance
Hello Elias,
I hope you are OK. Will be watching. A couple of questions today.
Does the power supply of the amazon echo dot support 220 volt as well as 110? My fire TV does (US version) so with an adaptor I can use it here in Europe. I will get a dot sooner or later but this would be good to know.
My father will be in US next week and will bring the 2nd gen fire TV and a stick back for me. These can be bought in staples right? Any other shops where you would be able to pick these up?
Do these shops also sells amazon tablets? Are there any shops that sell these?
Can you still use that coupon thing for staples? If yes how did that work again?
FYI: After the last update to my fire TV had major issues with the device responding. I guess the fire starter messed it up somehow. It was still working but on and off. The light on the front was slowly blinking. Had to do factory reset and now everything is fine.
So WEMO doesn’t work with the Fire TV right? Need to get a dot for sure then. But will be a long term plan seeing the back orders.
Thanks for all the great work. Lodewijk
Fire TV sticks support miracast well from Android tablets, but strangely, Amazon’s own 2015 7″ Fire tablet does not seem to support miracast. Any application or method to enable miracast on the tablet to work with Fire TV stick cast feature?
Any rumors of new fire tv for next week with the new kindles?
What is going on with the firetv not saving settings in Kodi after this last update. I noticed that my homepage shortcuts were disappearing after a reboot as well as other changes such as yahoo weather location settings. I have verified this is happening on all models of FTV. Have there been any reports from others?
Hi Elias,
I have a rooted AFTV First Gen using king root and I have disabled the Fire TV stock Launch in order to use XBMC Launcher – this is working as intended. The device is currently on 5.0.5, with the new update rolling out would the device unroot should it update to 5.0.5.1 even though the stock launcher is disabled?
I have seen your guide on disabling the updates however I am just curious regarding this scenario.
I have 2 questions that kind of go together.
I understand Rbox is busy, but if he gets around to the FTV Stick will he be able to make a pre-rooted rom or is that only for the devices with unlocked/hacked bootloaders?
I want to root my FTV Stick primarily for OTG capabilities, but I understand rooting causes Kodi to hang at 25 minutes. Do you see this being fixed in the future?
Why is it that even though I transfer all the apps that permit me to do so to my SD card the internal storage on my 2nd Generation Fire TV is filling up much faster than my SD card, which continues to show as nearly empty?
Isn’t the purpose of an SD card on the Fire TV to free up the internal storage as much as possible to keep all operations running smoothly?
Am I doing something wrong? Should I be concerned?
My 1st gen fire TV os 5.0.5 won’t load home screen keeps rebooting,rooted with King root been researching for a couple weeks now trying to figure out how to get my fire TV box working again….any idea how or where I can find information on what to do?….adb won’t connect can’t access firetv IP address..thx
Sorry if this question has been covered already. Can Amazon blacklist Kodi or any other sideloaded app with update 5.0.5.1 if they wanted? Or would they need to release another update in order to blacklist another app?
I am not to upset about Firestarter being blocked but I worried about Kodi being blocked. If I block updates after 5.0.5.1 would Amazon be able to blacklist Kodi?
I’ve seen on XDA just passing mentioned in 2 posts that DTS and dolby are “blocked” in the new update, maybe just in KODI. I have successfully blocked the update to this point, so wondering if you can confirm this.
Fire TV has had its own audio latency problems. This was noticeable in earlier GEN 1 boxes using optical out; however, this has largely disappeared with the current OS. I noticed recently that there is a file with the name “latency” on the device. Not sure if this is new with version 5.0.5.1, but it surely seems to be much better now. Any idea what this “latency” function file does? It’s certainly not accessible in user menus.
Specifically, “audio out latency measurement node” and “audio in latency measurement node” are two of the files that are not user accessible. Any idea of their function?
Hello Elias, I hope you are OK. I Will be watching live…
Sorry if this question has been covered already.
I would like to know why Amazon has changed the FireTV Remote Control from Bluetooth to Wifi Direct?
I am asking, because although that Amazon has corrected most of the problems and connection deficiencies with the latest updates, this Wifi Remote Control still continues to behave very strange because sometimes locks and loses the connection, and to continue using it you have to remove the batteries and insert it them again!
I do not know if you have noticed the same thing, but the Bluetooth Remote Control has always worked for me far better, because I find it much more precise and never lose the connection, no matter if batteries are not new!
Apart from the way to connect, the WIFI Remote offers something extra, that does not already have the Bluetooth model?
Ultraviolet movies can be played with the flixster app
Did you not do a podcast this week?
Xposed with AFTV. Are there any good Xposed modules? I know rbox made one for the first gen. But I have not seen much lately. What can you recommend?
Thanks for a very enjoyable and informative podcast
Mike. U.K watcher
here is the link to the live stream? this site is not designed very well nor are the streaming service sites you are using i have listened to many internet radio shows and they usually have a schedule and link to an upcoming show i do not use the cancer knows as twitter and i have no lcue how to use RSS ,so where do i find a link to the upcoming live show? you should have a link right at the top of your website that says link to upcoming live show stream and chat
i can’t find the link for the next show or the chat