Just a few days after the last software update for the Fire TV 3 made its way to most devices, another new update has just started rolling out. This latest update carries the same 6.2.1.2 version number as the last update, but its build number has increased from NS6212/916 to NS6212/918. A new update coming out so soon after the last is usually an indication that something was wrong with the last update or it didn’t fully fix an issue that was thought to be resolved.
Amazon still just says that these updates include “general improvements and bug fixes,” so there’s no way to know what they change without digging in and looking around ourselves. Amazon is likely just going through the list of issues that have surfaced since the Fire TV 3’s release and is fixing them. This is very similar to what happened when the Fire TV 2 was released, which saw the same pattern of rapid bug fix releases for several months.
Several people have reported that the last update fixed issues with Dolby Digital surround sound. The update prior to that seems to have fixed issues where the new Fire TV does not exit HDR mode after playing HDR content. Other reports say that stuttering in video apps, like Hulu, have now also been resolved. It would have obviously been ideal if the Fire TV 3 launched without these issues in the first place, but at least they’re being addressed quickly.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Can someone please test with SPMC although if you all have is Kodi I guess that’s ok for the CPU Usage bug? Original firmware had 1 cpu core always at 90%+ for all videos in spmc at least. Please play a few videos a either with a keyboard or with the Fire TV Remote app press O to look at the cpu stats. If Core 3 isn’t maxed with every single vidoe then Amazon fixed the bug. Thanks
You’re likely observing the difference between native support for h.264 and h.265 playback on different devices. Gen 1 Fire has dedicated hardware for h.264. Newer devices don’t.
Better tell Amazon that as their device pages say otherwise:
https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/device-specifications.html
Thank you, sir, for the kindly way of correcting me. As that document indicates, both Gen 1 and Gen 3 Fire TV devices have h.264 and h.265 hardware decoders. So, I am at a loss to explain why all four cores seem to load up so much when playing an h.264 file on an Element Fire TV. Perhaps this truly is a bug that is shifting all the work to the CPU rather than the h.264 hardware accelerator.
CPU percent is not the full story, you also have to factor in CPU clock.
For example, two cores at 50 percent with a clock of 10 percent of max vs two cores at 10 percent with clock of max. The latter is working much harder.
So you might see all cores in use but running a low clock. That means many threads are running but they are not working very hard.
Just for the record, so that someone doesn’t read Robert’s comment and get confused. The Gen 1 Fire TV does NOT have an h.265 hardware decoder. Neither does the Gen 1 Fire TV Stick. All other models, including the Element TV, have an h.265 hardware decoder.
Also, all models have an h.264 hardware decoder.
I’m sorry if you were offended by the tone of my response.
Again, I stand corrected. Misread the device specifications page. TYS.
Could someone please test it? Before I returned my fire tv 3 I tested it vs stick 2 and tv 1 and only gen 3 has this CPU bug. Core 3 was always maxed.
I can say this, that since updating to the last update I can no longer connect to my FireTV via the Apps2Fire android app on my smartphone. The day prior I connected to it and actually pushed a few apps to the FireTV this way. I don’t know if this will fix this but I guess I’ll have to wait and see. Just wanted to share that w/everyone.
It may be a new security feature? When connecting with adbLink, the “Connection status” panel showed “unauthorized”.
When I went to the device, there was a window asking for me to authorize connection from PC I was using to connect with. Once done, everything is back to normal.
Have never seen this before.
I got this same screen!
i am returning new firetv box. reminds me of constantly tweaking kodi. firestick is way better to install apps
The new one is called a pendant, not a box. And it is known that Kodi 17 doesn’t run well on it. The Kodi devs removed some audio format support on purpose. Most of us are running SPMC or Kodi 16.1 instead. SPMC is my main FTV media player and it runs great on my third gen.
You can but it’s likely that all Firedevices will be on this firmware soon enough and you’ll get the same warnings anyway.
I guess that’s why my family videos (gopro) are just perfects on my aftv2 and slow and lagging like anything on the Fire TV3 -through USB with the right adaptor- (full HD video should be just fine for a devise which can play 4k at 60fps).
Is Amazon planning to fix this issue ? the FTV3 is slower than the 2 … but i knew it before buying it … but not able to some basics videos on the tv is really annoying.
I have the FTV3 for a week, so sorry if it’s a known thing.
Thanks
Are you on the latest software version? They’ve been making a lot of playback improvements with these updates.
I check yesterday, and yes i have the latest update.
Still no 24Hz available :(
Apps2FireTV not working on this update, for me.
I have a FTV3 and a Roku 2 connected to the same television and same WiFi connection. The Roku works flawlessly, although it is noticeably slower when you browse inside apps, like Sling TV.
The FTV3 obviously has lots of horsepower but it’s just about more trouble than it’s worth. I’ve got the latest update and am now experiencing buffering issues with Hulu and Sling that are resolved by forcing the app closed and clearing the cache.
It’s not a network issue because the Roku and other Fire Stick devices in the house are having no such issues.
FTV3 is clearly not ready for Prime Time.
I have so much audio delay on kodi and iptv app. Sometimes I have slow downs on vlc so I replaced with MX player. Seems I’m going back to my flawless ftv1. Do you have any recommended configurations I can do to sort out kodi?
I can’t express strongly enough what a piece of dung this 3rd Generation Fire TV is…
I’m still getting stuttering and playback issues that I NEVER had on even my 1st generation STICK. I’m returning all the units I purchased — even at a steep discount. This device simply SUCKS!