[Q] Unroot and re-root to get prime music - good idea?
- Thread starter rootnooby
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- prime music
I have an 8.9 HDX. I unrooted mine and upgraded to get Prime music and then used towel root to re-root and installed xposed. Had no issues and then I also unrooted and installed the latest update to get better wifi. However there is a rumor going around that a their is an exploit to unlock the bootloader that does not work on the latest update. Since I do not care about a unlocked bootloader I upgraded to latest firmware and re-rooted with towel root and reinstalled xposed and updated su binaries. I have had no issues and all google and amazon services work without a problem. Also, I had to leave mine connected to wifi after the firmware upgrade to get the prime music installed. I believe on mine it installed around 4 hours later.
http://xdaforums.com/kindle-fire-hdx/general/warning-update-to-13-3-2-4-t2802320
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Thanks. I am in a similar position to you I don't have much interest in custom roms. Can you outline the steps you used to Un-root? Did you Uninstall exposed first and then use super su to clean up and un root? I want to make sure I get the steps correct.
All I did was root, install gapps, xposed, and play store.
I don't know if this is the correct way but this is what I did. I just ran the system update and installed the latest firmware. After the install the HDX is unrooted. I then ran towel root. After the reboot I ran xposed and reinstalled the framework and modules and then rebooted. After that I ran supersu and updated the binaries. Everything worked for me after that. I did not have to uninstall anything. Hope this helps.
I did not reroot until after I had verified Prime Music was installed. You can either open the music store and will look different and have Prime Music on it or go to manage applications and look at the icon. If the Amazon music icon is green it is the old version if it is orange it is the new version with Prime Music.
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All worked well for me. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. All the best to you.
Why do you want to unroot/upgrade when you could, with a bit of work, install a different ROM which would offer all the goodness of generic Android (think google play store access) along with all prime benefits.
If you still want to 'upgrade' fire OS no need to unroot. Upgrade will handle that nicely. I would dump Safestrap. Just asking for trouble with that in the mix.
It is possible to brick with safestrap, so go back to oem rom, and uninstall it before doing anything or you could be looking for trouble.
Whoa, help me understand. I thought installing a custom rom would cause you to lose all the benefit of having a prime membership. Am I wrong about that? I could still get prime movies and download to my device? I could still download a free book per month through the middle lenders library? What rom would you recommend? I am rooted 14.3.2.6 currently and gapps no longer work since the Google play services upgrade.
Many prime benefits are available on non-FireOS devices including:
- prime video (streaming only; can't download content)
- prime music (full functionality including download)
- Kindle books/magazines (but can't loan/lend; no freebies)
- all non-electronic services (eg: free shipping)
I have great luck with the Nexus variants by @ggow. I also use CM11 on an older Fire tablet; no complaints. However, Nexus remains my favorite.
With 14.3.2.6 you have several paths:
- rollback to 14.3.2.3, unlock bootloader, install TWRP and then flash Nexus or CM (runs natively)
- upgrade to 14.4.5.2, root, install Safestrap v4 and then flash either Nexus or CM. However, once you upgrade you can no longer unlock your bootloader which carries other benefits including the ability to run custom roms natively and more robust recovery capabilities should something go wrong.
- remain on 14.3.2.6, install Safestrap v3 and then flash Nexus v1 to a secondary slot. This option gives you the best of both worlds as you can boot into FireOS (for prime content) or Nexus (for for access to all things Google). However, both roms are Jelly Bean based which is two generations back from Lollipop.
The first path is preferred but more complex. The last is easiest (and least risky) but is an older solution with aging roms. The middle choice is primarily targeted at newer devices that can not roll back or unlock the bootloader (plus reduces your future options). You'll need to decide which is best for you.
Thank you for all the good information. A couple questions. The last option seems like the most interesting to me right now since I will be able to use all the Amazon features and have a better ROM where all the google services will work. However, I'm having a couple issues right now that I'm concerned about. The first is that Amazon music crashes. The second is that I installed GAPPS and the recent update of Google Play services has caused many small issues. Given this, should I factory reset first so I have a clean slate with 14.3.2.6? I want to be sure that a reset won't brick my device. I can root with the toolkit and install safestrap from there.
Also, does the last option work if I were to upgrade to 14.3.2.8? My understanding is that this firmware fixed some bugs in 14.3.2.6.
Thanks again for you input.
Also, does the last option work if I were to upgrade to 14.3.2.8? My understanding is that this firmware fixed some bugs in 14.3.2.6.
Thanks again for you input.
Safestrap v3 does work under 14.3.2.8. However, upgrading beyond 14.3.2.6 eliminates the possibility of unlocking your device's bootloader at a future time. While that may not seem like a big deal now you may ultimately regret the decision.
Factory resets always carry the risk of disabling your device...more so if rooted. You have limited recovery options if that happens with a locked bootloader. Unless the issues with 3.2.6 are severe I wouldn't change anything. Once Safestrap is installed you have some additional options that may prove beneficial in fixing up FireOS.
Cautions:
- make sure you snag the correct version of Safestrap (here). Apollo v3.75.
- ditto for Nexus (here). Safestrap-apollo-nexus-rom-v1.0.1.zip
- get familiar with Safestrap before flashing anything. It is very easy to overwrite the stock slot containing FireOS if you're not careful.
- Nexus goes in slot #1 which you will need to create in advance.
Do you homework (read the relevant threads) before acting. Go slow and know exactly what is expected from each step. Stop and ask questions as needed or if you run into trouble. Don't panic, do a factory reset or take other rash actions. Sounds scary but it only is if you go in blind.
Good luck.
The main issue I have with 14.3.2.6 right now is with Amazon music. It constantly crashes. Hopefully that can be fixed because I do use it regularly. I won't upgrade to version 14.3.2.8 for now. I agree that I may regret it later. I'll follow your instructions and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the links to the proper files.
Once you have Safestrap v3 and Nexus installed you can try to 'repair' FireOS in the stock slot. Safestrap v3 has some limited recovery options should something go wrong; you don't have those now making repair attempts risky. I can provide additional detail when ready. That said, you may find Amazon Music works fine in Nexus.
I now have safestrap and the nexus rom installed in slot 1. Seems to work well. I'd like to try to repair my stock 14.3.2.6 rom. Any insight you can provide slyly be great. Thank you.
Sorry for the delayed response. The process is actually quite simple and reasonably safe given you have Nexus to fall back on should something go wrong. See this post for FireOS images that can be Flashed from within Safestrap. Make sure you grab the correct one for your device. Then flash to the stock slot (verify you have toggled back to stock in Safestrap or you will overwrite the currently selected slot which is likely Nexus). The 14.3.2.6 image is rooted with OTA blocked. However, being a belt and suspenders type I would fire up HDX toolkit and block OTA again before enabling WiFi - just to make sure. You definitely do not want to take an update while Safestrap v3 is installed.
Post back if you have any questions.
---------- Post added at 11:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------
Sorry for the delayed response. The process is actually quite simple and reasonably safe given you have Nexus to fall back on should something go wrong. See this post for FireOS images that can be Flashed from within Safestrap. Make sure you grab the correct one for your device. Then flash to the stock slot (verify you have toggled back to stock in Safestrap or you will overwrite the currently selected slot which is likely Nexus). The 14.3.2.6 image is rooted with OTA blocked. However, being a belt and suspenders type I would fire up HDX toolkit and block OTA again before enabling WiFi - just to make sure. You definitely do not want to take an update while Safestrap v3 is installed.
If Amazon Music still crashes after the update then you can try uninstalling/reinstalling the app. You may need some additional tools to accomplish this as FireOS will likely resist attempts to remove preinstalled or 'system' apps.
Post back if you have any questions.
Thank you. I was able to reinstall 14.3.2.6 in the stock partition. Worked well. Also, I uninstalled updates for Amazon music. During the process, the older version was put installed. I was able to open that and play music, however, prime music features were not available. I found the latest APK for amazon music with prime and downloaded it. All it working now, including prime music. Thanks again.
With root you can attempt a complete uninstall/reinstall which may prove to be more stable. Download/sideload CCleaner which supports this capability in an easy-to-digest UI. There are more advanced tools/techniques if removal proves stubborn.
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Many prime benefits are available on non-FireOS devices including:
- prime video (streaming only; can't download content)
- prime music (full functionality including download)
- Kindle books/magazines (but can't loan/lend; no freebies)
- all non-electronic services (eg: free shipping)
I have great luck with the Nexus variants by @ggow. I also use CM11 on an older Fire tablet; no complaints. However, Nexus remains my favorite.
With 14.3.2.6 you have several paths:
- rollback to 14.3.2.3, unlock bootloader, install TWRP and then flash Nexus or CM (runs natively)
- upgrade to 14.4.5.2, root, install Safestrap v4 and then flash either Nexus or CM. However, once you upgrade you can no longer unlock your bootloader which carries other benefits including the ability to run custom roms natively and more robust recovery capabilities should something go wrong.
- remain on 14.3.2.6, install Safestrap v3 and then flash Nexus v1 to a secondary slot. This option gives you the best of both worlds as you can boot into FireOS (for prime content) or Nexus (for for access to all things Google). However, both roms are Jelly Bean based which is two generations back from Lollipop.
The first path is preferred but more complex. The last is easiest (and least risky) but is an older solution with aging roms. The middle choice is primarily targeted at newer devices that can not roll back or unlock the bootloader (plus reduces your future options). You'll need to decide which is best for you.1
I have an 8.9 HDX. I unrooted mine and upgraded to get Prime music and then used towel root to re-root and installed xposed. Had no issues and then I also unrooted and installed the latest update to get better wifi. However there is a rumor going around that a their is an exploit to unlock the bootloader that does not work on the latest update. Since I do not care about a unlocked bootloader I upgraded to latest firmware and re-rooted with towel root and reinstalled xposed and updated su binaries. I have had no issues and all google and amazon services work without a problem. Also, I had to leave mine connected to wifi after the firmware upgrade to get the prime music installed. I believe on mine it installed around 4 hours later.
http://xdaforums.com/kindle-fire-hdx/general/warning-update-to-13-3-2-4-t28023201
I don't know if this is the correct way but this is what I did. I just ran the system update and installed the latest firmware. After the install the HDX is unrooted. I then ran towel root. After the reboot I ran xposed and reinstalled the framework and modules and then rebooted. After that I ran supersu and updated the binaries. Everything worked for me after that. I did not have to uninstall anything. Hope this helps.
I did not reroot until after I had verified Prime Music was installed. You can either open the music store and will look different and have Prime Music on it or go to manage applications and look at the icon. If the Amazon music icon is green it is the old version if it is orange it is the new version with Prime Music.1
Safestrap v3 does work under 14.3.2.8. However, upgrading beyond 14.3.2.6 eliminates the possibility of unlocking your device's bootloader at a future time. While that may not seem like a big deal now you may ultimately regret the decision.
Factory resets always carry the risk of disabling your device...more so if rooted. You have limited recovery options if that happens with a locked bootloader. Unless the issues with 3.2.6 are severe I wouldn't change anything. Once Safestrap is installed you have some additional options that may prove beneficial in fixing up FireOS.
Cautions:
- make sure you snag the correct version of Safestrap (here). Apollo v3.75.
- ditto for Nexus (here). Safestrap-apollo-nexus-rom-v1.0.1.zip
- get familiar with Safestrap before flashing anything. It is very easy to overwrite the stock slot containing FireOS if you're not careful.
- Nexus goes in slot #1 which you will need to create in advance.
Do you homework (read the relevant threads) before acting. Go slow and know exactly what is expected from each step. Stop and ask questions as needed or if you run into trouble. Don't panic, do a factory reset or take other rash actions. Sounds scary but it only is if you go in blind.
Good luck.1Just to add another small piece to the discussion, the only thing that does not work on nexus or cm, is the prime lending library and some (most?) Kindle comics.
