I’ll be live streaming this week’s episode of the AFTVnewscast tomorrow at 1:30pm PT, as I do every Friday. Post your questions or topics in the comments below for me to answer and discuss during the episode. Anything goes for questions, whether it’s about the Fire TV, AFTVnews, or tech in general. Let’s hear them! Even if you can’t watch live, ask your question now and catch the episode on YouTube later.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Hello Elias,
As all fridays, I am watching you live.
I installed the FireStopper APP, until @sphinx02 could launch a proper update, and apart of Home Button (that I was aware that can not work anymore with 5.0.5.1), the FireStopper APP finally works Again very well.
However, I am a little worried because we have not heard anything from the developer of the FireStarter APP yet!
Do you or someone here knows if @sphinx02 is aware of the problem and would launch a new fixed version of the Firestarte APP soon?
As always thanks for your selfless help and excellent reports!
Forgot to mention that Y314K just told me that :
“Sphinx02 works on this app as a hobby. So when he has the time he will work on it. We know this by the time between the 3.2.2 & 3.2.3 release.
Luckily jkchr1s figured thing out & got a mod apk out.
Patience.”
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66306860&postcount=703
That is just my opinion from what I have observe over at the FireStarter thread. If I am not mistaken, Sphinx02 resides in Germany. So he has a different time schedule then most of us. And he might frequent German language forum(s) more often then XDA. Not sure.
The easiest way to know when he is working on an update for FireStarter. Is to monitor the GitHub page for FireStarter.
https://github.com/sphinx02/FireStarter
If you see a commit or something new committed or posted by Sphinx02. Then you know he is back at work on a new version. You can see on GitHub that he codes in spurts. He will work on a new build for a week & then go quiet for months. This is normal.
As for being worried whether he knows about the current state of FireStarter. I would think he would of gotten notified by GitHub when jkchr1s added his modded code to the project. Also he would see the “Issues” being added on GitHub. Which makes me believe it is a problem of having time then knowledge or will. I am not worried at all about the future of FireStarter. At least when it’s related to Sphinx02.
I do think it would be cool if Elias would interview Sphinx02 regarding FireStarter & his other projects. I think Elias would be great at article interviews And also at video interviews on YouTube. And if Elias would start with RBox or Sphinx02 as his interviewee. That would be awesome.
Sorry for this long note, but I thought that this information was very important…
I thought everyone would like to know that 12 days ago sphinx02 responded to a message on GitHub page for FireStarter, where apparently confirms that knows all the problems of the Firestarter APP with the latest FireOS 5.0.5.1 update:
https://github.com/sphinx02/FireStarter/issues/50
“sphinx0212 days ago
Can not yet confirm as none of my 3 devices has already received the 5.0.5.1 update.
If your reports are true, this is a really unfair measure by Amazon. The question is: what is the trigger for the uninstallation of FireStarter. Either it is a special characteristic or functionality of FireStarter which is triggering the uninstallation or they really start to blacklist Apps on the FireTV. If this is really true I do not want to think of which App is the next one being placed on their blacklist .. Kodi?, SPMC??
On one side the new built-in double-click home-button feature kind of replaces a part of FireStarter but on the other side this step by Amazon drastically restricts the possibilities the user have on the FireTV and will in future lead to more rooted / jailbreaked FireTV’s.
As soon as one of my devices has received the 5.0.5.1 update, I will further investigate and see what I can do. But this time this really sucks as it seems to be a measure targeted especially against FireStarter.
The whole circumstance shows how popular FireStarter has become in the last time and how many people are using it. Btw the last version (v3.2.2) had have over 3 million downloads on GitHub. I hope we can again trick Amazon somehow and help to provide a better FireTV experience with FireStarter..”
Y314K thanks for suggesting to follow up and monitor the GitHub page for FireStarter , to search and see a commit or something new committed or posted by Sphinx02!
What are the benefits of rooting the fire tv and what are the risks?
Will all the amazon services including prime and movie rentals still work after root?
Can i flash back to normal rom to remove root if required?
Thanks
The answer to the 2nd & 3rd ?’s is YES. Everything works like before. There are a few TV provider subscriber apps like ATT Uverse & XFinity that will try to block streaming on rooted devices. It does a Root check before playing a live stream. But RBox already explained how on FireOS 5 you can remove SuperSU from the PreRooted Firmware file to get past that.
And yes. You can just flash the stock Amazon Firmware & do a Factory Reset to revert the a Stock unrooted Amazon setup.
As for Rooting or not Rooting. To me it’s like fully owning the device vs. just renting it. Take a look at the guides link above & see how many of them have the first requirement be ROOTED FTV(S). On rooted FTV(S)’s you can disable specific components within an app. Non-Rooted FTV(S)’s you can only disable the entire app. Huge difference. I can go on and on.
I have a xiomi game controller.
It works well with the fire tv, my only problem is that 1 of the buttons are not mapped correctly and therefore i cannot play some games.
Any idea how to address this on a rooted and non rooted fire tv?
Tx
Philip
Hi,
Can you discuss the auto update feature for apps on the Fire TV (latest firmware,non-rooted)?
I noticed that my PS Vue app still had not been updated after several days so I resorted to deleting it and re-installing to get the latest version.
Thanks
Oh I do like a quiff type arrangement – I used to wear my hair like that but with a ponytail, very good style to have when the hair's a bit greasy! Love all your hair pics and can't believe you're a natural blonde – tell that to the weirdo in the pub who thinks you're Cher!
I used the Amazon Kindle prices for these and came out under $30 – I was hoping that would be okay – Amazon allows you to buy Kindle books to be gifted to a Kindle owner even if you don't own one yourself and if I were lucky enough to win, I'd rather get them in Kindle format anyway:C – Iron Crowned (Richelle Mead)E – When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Eloisa James)L – A Lot Like Love (Julie James)T – The Iron Queen (Julie Kagawa)jen at delux dot com
I don’t even know what to say, this made things so much easier!
I also have noticed the same strange behavior, because some apps like ES-File-Explorer and others, purchased from the Amazon Appstore, are not updated automatically as often as they should, and often I had to manually update them.
I need to know about fire tv 4k and kodi, it’s possible watch movies with dts hd O true hd audio?
Yes Kodi supports DTS true HD audio. I ripped blu ray into MKV and watch them via kodi with this audio quality.
Kodi does not support 4K on the AFTV.
how!! XD…. i try to play any mkv with dts hd 7.1 but my receiver don’t recognize… i dont have this problem with my blu ray…. please! some help!!
Check the settings in Kodi and enable pass through. Also select dots able receiver.
Elias, have you ever thought about doing interviews of notable FTV scene developers like RBox & Sphinx02 and others. I think you would be good on a written interview & even better on a video YouTube interview like your AFTVNewsCast. Even if you have to do minor edits of live streaming vs posted interview. I think it would a great new feature. Maybe doing one a month.
Also, any update on the plan to move to a stand alone forum login based comments section ?
Hopefully you have gotten starter on your 1st Gen Fire OS 5 upgrade guides. We know the testing face has started per RBox’s post over at XDA. But was wondering if you are helping with the testing. While at the same time giving you access to start on your guides. Not asking for an ETA but trying to get a measure at what stage the project is at.
As you can see above. I would love an edit option to fix things when I type to fast. And would love a way to get notifications when someone replies to a comment.
I would also love to see a AFTV News Community forum. In the mean time I do visit https://www.reddit.com/r/fireTV/ but some people over there can get aggressive/unfriendly as some of them feel they are “holier than thou”
Ok, I’m back. Turns out the otherwise awesome Nvidia Shield does NOT support 5.1 audio over Netflix through my optical only sound system (which works flawlessly with the FireTV when fed through my Vizio TV’s ARC) I believe this is related to how the FireTV’s implementation of surround sound on Netflix is AC3… or AAC…? I forget.
Anyways, it is passed through to my 5.1 system flawlessly with the FireTV. The Shield’s Netflix app only does surround sound though EAC, which isn’t supported through optical. So no hope there.
So even though the FireTV technically doesn’t support TOSLINK/optical connections, it still is more optical friendly than the Shield.
The Shield’s 60hz capability and 4k capable Youtube app was cool to be sure, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed the Nvidia Grid gaming and 4k over Kodi, but discovering the I wasn’t going to get surround sound over Netflix (or Youtube, which the Shield also otherwise supports) without a minimum $500 investment in new sound equipment made me run back to the FireTV after packing up the Shield for return.
So please forgive me, I’m safely back into the fold. Incidentally, between rashly ordering the Shield after Amazon’s ban on Firestarter, and receiving it Saturday, your reassuring “We’ll get around it” on the Friday newscast in reference to a future Kodi ban, and rbox releasing a rooted 5.0.5.1 made me realize that the world wasn’t ending and that we’ll continue to be able to use this marvelous box the (legal) ways that we want to, and suddenly it returned to being my favorite tech toy. So thank you for that.
And sorry for another long post, hope this newscast doesn’t run as long as last week’s did for you.
I have a new unopened ftv2 and thinking about rooting it but dont know how/where to start so can you please provide me with the correct links to do this?
Second question is the possibility of Amazon banning Kodi in future propels me to root my other ftv2’s that currently has 5.0.5.1 and 5.0.4 both has Kodi and firestarter that I wish to keep after rooting. If this helps I am currently I am not connected to the Internet So is it still possible to root these atv2’s? Love you to death Elias!
One more question:
Regarding to my first question, is it easier to install kodi first and then root or is it eaiser to root first and then install kodi?
Also how can I install google store in my frv2’s?
Hello Elias,
did you ever try some different launcher like the HALauncher with officially FireTV support (http://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B00VRV93H2/), the Google leanbacklauncher (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.leanbacklauncher) or TVLauncher 3 (http://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B00X1MVXXW/).
All 3 looking really nice. Specially the first. Some russian firetv sites mentioned the HALauncher.
I think about to do some test’s to use the elmerhouse script to integrate launcher and make an apk as launcher. Is that the right way?
Greetings by Daniel
hello. are there any confirmed ways to get ntfs access on a rooted / non rooted fire tv 2?
I use NTFS formatted external drives on my rooted Fire TV2 using the Paragon program. This is the version I use Paragon exFAT NTFS HFS_v1.26.apk. I use ES File Explorer to FTP new content to the drive.
thx. rooting and paragon ntfs worked fine. unfortunately only with ssd (not with spinning hd) but thats probably due to insufficient usb power supply.
I’ve noticed a couple of times Amazon gathering and uploading data, what data are they collecting (my collect app data turned off).
My first point of information with xda.Keep up the good work, thank you.
I am switching to Vue this weekend primtime and getting rid of cable. I will be using firesticks mostly. With me turning in my cable boxes with their remotes. I will only have the small remote for my firetv for the mrs. to use. It will not control the TV. Do you have a recommendation on a universal remote that can control tv functions and Fire stick functions to make it easier for my non tech family member to watch tv? Thanks. Love the podcast.
Hi Elias,
I hope you are doing well.
Is the power supply for the AFTV box1 and AFTV box 4K the same? Want to swap my old AFTV box for the new one but want to leave the same power supply. This will prevent quite some hassle.
Do you know how I can see how long the echo dot is back ordered? on the website it only says you can order with Alexa but now how long I have to wait for it.
It seems you website is getting more and more traffic. Congrats! It seems more and more challenging to cover everything. Would you ever consider more people working on it?
Thanks!
Lodewijk
Hi Elias,
Firstly, this is a fantastic site – you deserve much Kudos for all the work you put in to sharing this information with the AFT community. Thanks.
Secondly, I have 2 FireTV originals. One updated to OS5.0.5 and it has made the picture quality worse. There are so many dropped frames now that the motion is jerky and unpleasant to watch. Do you know of any possible fix for this?
The other AFT is one I procured that is on OS 51.1.4.3 and when I compare them, the performace is pretty much perfect on the older OS. I have blocked updates with OpenVPN for the time being, but I’m sure it’s just a question of time until one installs. Is there a way of rooting this AFT to prevent updates? I’m not interesting in side loading. I just want to get my picture quality back. I guess the one that is already updated can’t be downgraded so it’s not much use to me now.
Keep up the great work!
Wonko.
Yes if you root you can block updates & if you desire you can drop back to the firmware before on the AFTV2
What’s the best way to contact you privately? I emailed you using the link at the bottom of the site but didn’t receive a response.
My AFTV, 2nd Generation, is not putting KODI in first place in the recent apps, as you described that it would. Any ideas what I should do? Thanks.
Have you gone thru all the possible scenarios found here:
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-get-kodi-to-show-up-on-the-home-screen-of-a-fire-tv-or-fire-tv-stick/
how come you don’t put a link to the livestream where is the link for the upcoming live stream ? i do not use anti social media sites ,i just found this site and you have no links to your upcoming stream only to old ones , are you new users supposed to be psychics and just automatically know what service you use to livestream from?
He posts a new story with the link to the live stream build into it close to the time of the stream. You’ll see it. Just comeback a few minutes before 1:30pm PST & you will see it. keep checking the site.
He removes that story after the live stream. And then posts the audio/video podcast links as a new story the next day.
ok so it has links on the old episode to tunein and stitcher i have never used either one of these services before but i have listened to tons of pod casts and livestreams and all the services they use for their streams always have a link on their user page that has the date of then next scheduled upcoming show and a link to the stream so is this a limitation of those 2 services or is it that he just did not put in the next scheduled show? do stitcher and tunein now let you put in links to upcoming show streams?
If I am not mistaken. I think the live stream is only done/available thru YouTube video. Then Elias edits the video by getting rid of any long pauses & errors. And extracts the audio to post @ other services. Once he is done with that he will post the Video on YouTube & the audio @ all the other podcast services by the next day.
I don’t believe they stream live on the other services today. But I could be wrong.
BTW, post about today’s live cast is up with video link.
I’m seeing some people with problems connecting their stick to 2.4 ghz after the 5.0.5.1 update. Just curious if you have experienced or heard anything about this? Have a great weekend, Elias.
do you know of any good air mouse android or IOS apps? ]i see lots of mouse apps
but hardly any have airmouse support , it would be nice to be able to use
a cell phone or tablet as an airmouse to control fire tv or an android box
Hi, I have an Amazon Fire TV that is on version 5.04. I have been trying to use two usb microsoft 360 controllers on my amazon fire tv and only one controller will work at a time. I have used several usb hubs that have power through an ac outlet. I have a total of three usb 360 controllers are totally fine when working through a desktop or laptop. I was curious if I can’t use the same type of controller or this is something version 5.04. I have contemplated about buying a cheap bluetooth controller to tide my needs over or maybe the offical amazon firetv game controller if it goes on sale to a decent rate.
Do i need to reinstall twrp recovery everytime i install a new firmware?
No, once install. You should be set. It’s just there. Even updates will be done thru the PreRooted images release by RBox. The only way to remove TWRP is to flash a stock Amazon Firmware. Which would get rid of root too.
Just wanted to specify the XDA post I was asking about… Seems RBox finish his pre-beta testing version of TWRP, BootMenu & ROM for the 1st Gen last Sunday.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66298819&postcount=609
” I can confirm that I have TWRP and bootmenu fully working and a 5.0.5.1 prerooted rom completed. I just need to do some more testing. Unfortunately, based on the number of people who have needed to use the unbrick image on FireTV2, I need to put in extra testing to ensure the numbers of bricks are kept down. Unfortunately for people with locked bootloaders, I have no recovery method for bricks. ”
Just sharing he info. Hopefully there will and update this weekend. And don’t for get to donate to RBox. Have a great weekend.
By “update” I meant a post letting us know where in the testing he might be at. Not the actual mod/files release update.
Can you recommend a web browser for apk downloads that works well with the 5.0.5.1 OS? Most browsers no longer allow apk downloads with the new update, including the browser within ES File Explorer. Exceptions to this include Opera and Dolphin browsers. This bug may only affect certain devices like my FIRE TV 1, but it prevents the method of sideloading KODI with ES File Explorer. Do you have a goto browser that does everything with the new OS? Thanks.