KF2 + 2nd Bootloader + Do's and Dont's?

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Lister Of Smeg

Senior Member
Hi All,

Today I should be picking up a KF2 (Kindle Fire 2nd Gen) today from a friend. And although I have experience with this device in the past, as I rooted one a while ago, and installed Google PlayStore bits and bobs for another friend... This was a while back.

A few months back, I read somewhere although cannot find it now... That Amazon have rolled out a serious Update to most Kindles (KF2, KF-HD, and possibally KF-HDX) that has updated the baseband/kernel to a certain version. Which prevents Unlocking, and tampering with it could cause the device to Hard Brick...

So was wondering, what is the best procedure to tackle this? Easy method to Root / Recovery??

And what does this 2nd BootLoader actually do?? Does it allow you to DualBoot both original stock Kindle firmware as well as second partition for Custom Roms??


Thanks, Lister
 
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stunts513

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2013
2,238
635
New Braunfels, TX
OK first off which kindle do you have, because a kf2 is. Of a 2nd gen kfhd. If its a 2013 kindle fire HD, don't bother with second bootloader because it will just brick it. If it is in fact a kf2 then here's what second d bootloader does. Basically we can't unlock our devices bootloader so 2nd bootloader is a workaround. It allows us to run our own unsigned kernels and custom recovery. Once we have that we can flash a custom ROM like cm. And no no dual booting, Amazon's os is too different from cm to be able to.
To install 2nd bootloader + twrp you must be rooted, suggest kindle fire first aid for that, there's a tutorial in the dev section for kf2 for installing second bootloader + twrp here.

Make sure you check the md5sum of the bootloader before flashing it so you don't risk hard bricking, also I suggest putting the ROM and its gapps on the kindle ahead of time if your are running 10.4.8 because it will boot loop into recovery after the process until you flash a different rom, so its easier to have the ROM o. Ahead of time rather than "adb push" it.

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk
 
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Lister Of Smeg

Senior Member
Hi @stunts513,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you, my friend didnt bring the device in until yesterday...

I can confirm that it is a Kindle Fire 2nd Gen (Otter2), and it is running 10.4.6 firmware/baseband...

I tried to root it in work, on my Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 based PCs, and unfortunately it wasn't detecting it, or working with the ADB drivers....

I tried at home on my Windows XP and Vista setup, and again wasn't detecting it. However it did detect on my Windows 7 setup at home (triple boot). This must of been the partition I used for my friends one many months ago... (although I found various Kindle related files on each partition).

Anyway, I got the damn thing rooted now, thankfully... and shall move onto the 2nd Bootloader thing... However, is there any other way, or easy way of doing this other than whats in that post?? I don't mind doing it, and will follow it again. However late last night I was losing the will to live as it was hard work getting to do things... (compared to other Android devices that are a breeze to do...).

I tried to backup my partitions on the Kindle what it says to do at the start, and it kept saying it couldnt find these on the Kindle... I read in the guide that it said I could download them from a website, but all I could see was scripts and not backup partitions... Is it really important to backup my own ones, or could I just download someone else's Kindle Fire 2nd (8Gb) model??

And yeah, is there any other way to get custom recovery / rom on, other than the original guide...?? - not gonna give up, just last night kept falling asleep trying to follow it... when things werent working and patiently waiting for things to happen/work... lol

Anyway, thanks so much for replying to my question, and for all the help you have given me to get me started... much appreciated!! :)

Thanks, Lister
 

stunts513

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2013
2,238
635
New Braunfels, TX
Hi @stunts513,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you, my friend didnt bring the device in until yesterday...

I can confirm that it is a Kindle Fire 2nd Gen (Otter2), and it is running 10.4.6 firmware/baseband...

I tried to root it in work, on my Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 based PCs, and unfortunately it wasn't detecting it, or working with the ADB drivers....

I tried at home on my Windows XP and Vista setup, and again wasn't detecting it. However it did detect on my Windows 7 setup at home (triple boot). This must of been the partition I used for my friends one many months ago... (although I found various Kindle related files on each partition).

Anyway, I got the damn thing rooted now, thankfully... and shall move onto the 2nd Bootloader thing... However, is there any other way, or easy way of doing this other than whats in that post?? I don't mind doing it, and will follow it again. However late last night I was losing the will to live as it was hard work getting to do things... (compared to other Android devices that are a breeze to do...).

I tried to backup my partitions on the Kindle what it says to do at the start, and it kept saying it couldnt find these on the Kindle... I read in the guide that it said I could download them from a website, but all I could see was scripts and not backup partitions... Is it really important to backup my own ones, or could I just download someone else's Kindle Fire 2nd (8Gb) model??

And yeah, is there any other way to get custom recovery / rom on, other than the original guide...?? - not gonna give up, just last night kept falling asleep trying to follow it... when things werent working and patiently waiting for things to happen/work... lol

Anyway, thanks so much for replying to my question, and for all the help you have given me to get me started... much appreciated!! :)

Thanks, Lister

As far as i know offhand that method for the kf2 is the only method, which is kinda sad because its the same manual method as the other hd's, and the hd's have fireflash, but fireflash never had the support added in for the kf2 for some reason last i checked. I wouldn't worry too much about the backups, once you run the dd command on the partitions to store them on the sdcard folder, then even if adb pull doesn't work you can always copy them over mtp. i don't like how adb pull works on windows. Only image i would be concerned with storing is the boot0block.
If i made some incorrect references its probably because i vaguely remember it maybe having a different command than the hd model, but the hd's backup command would work on a kf2 as well.
 

Lister Of Smeg

Senior Member
Hi @stunts513,

Just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

With your help, you have helped me accomplish what seemed like a scary trip to KindleFire Bricks'ville... :(

But thanks to you, I am all rooted, TWRP'd and ready to go... Shall flash a rom, and sort dads Birthday Pressie now... :)

Really appreciated, top guy!! thank you... Lister


As far as i know offhand that method for the kf2 is the only method, which is kinda sad because its the same manual method as the other hd's, and the hd's have fireflash, but fireflash never had the support added in for the kf2 for some reason last i checked. I wouldn't worry too much about the backups, once you run the dd command on the partitions to store them on the sdcard folder, then even if adb pull doesn't work you can always copy them over mtp. i don't like how adb pull works on windows. Only image i would be concerned with storing is the boot0block.
If i made some incorrect references its probably because i vaguely remember it maybe having a different command than the hd model, but the hd's backup command would work on a kf2 as well.
 

dperry324

Member
Mar 28, 2014
6
0
Rooting KF2

Can you give a list of the links that you used to root you KF2?

I've tried to connect to my with ADB but I can't get it to see my device. I can connect my KF2 to my WINXP machine, and transfer files, but I can't get ADB to recognize the device, and I can't get any root options to work. Any help would be appreciated. Ultimately I would like to install a new ROM like CM, but until I can do the basics, I can't get that done.
 

stunts513

Senior Member
Feb 8, 2013
2,238
635
New Braunfels, TX
You should check to see if it has the driver installed for adb in the device manager, if it doesn't even show up as a adb device in device manager you probably haven't turned USB debugging on on the kindle itself.

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk
 

dperry324

Member
Mar 28, 2014
6
0
You should check to see if it has the driver installed for adb in the device manager, if it doesn't even show up as a adb device in device manager you probably haven't turned USB debugging on on the kindle itself.
Checked and verified that USB debugging is in fact turned on on my kindle.
Settings>>Security>>Enable ADB is ON.
Settings>>Device>>Allow Installation of Applications is ON

I still can't get adb to recognize my device.

I installed ADB from adt-bundle-windows-x86-20140321.zip if that makes any difference.

I had read in the forums that I might need a special cable for fastboot. Is that what I'll need to get?
 

dperry324

Member
Mar 28, 2014
6
0
For what it's worth, I just found and followed this tutorial:

EDIT: Well crap, this forum won't let me post the outside url. I guess if you search for "Setting up ADB driver for Kindle Devices" by David Isbitski" on developer dot amazon dot com, you will be able to find the tutorial

It was very helpful, and it was the first tutorial I've found that actually showed how to install adb windows drivers for the kindle fire.

In windows Device Manager >> Portable Devices >> Kindle is installed, then uninstall Kindle, as they are the wrong drivers.

In the SDK Manager
Go to TOOLS >> Manage Add On Sites
Go to the User Defined Sites tab
add the url found in the tutorial listed above, save and quit that window.

Back at the manager, do "Packages >> Reload" to update the list.

For the kindle fire 2nd generation, I had to expand "Android 4.0.3 (API 15) to find and install:
"Kindle Fire 2nd Generation"

Under Extras, install:
Amazon AVD Launcher (Windows)
Kindle Fire Device Deffinitions
Kindle Fire USB Driver

Once installed go to \extras\amazon\kindle_fire_usb_driver and run "KindleDrivers.exe"

You should then find "Device Manager >> Kindle Fire >> Android Cmposite ADB Interface"

You can then stop/start adb, then do a adb devices.

That is what worked for me!
 

Dustoff00

Member
Mar 28, 2014
23
1
New to the forum and trying to recognize what you are doing here......

I have a Kindle Fire 2nd Gen with 10.4.8 SW installed. Would like to dump a much newer Android version on it and looking for the correct path.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 

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    Hi All,

    Today I should be picking up a KF2 (Kindle Fire 2nd Gen) today from a friend. And although I have experience with this device in the past, as I rooted one a while ago, and installed Google PlayStore bits and bobs for another friend... This was a while back.

    A few months back, I read somewhere although cannot find it now... That Amazon have rolled out a serious Update to most Kindles (KF2, KF-HD, and possibally KF-HDX) that has updated the baseband/kernel to a certain version. Which prevents Unlocking, and tampering with it could cause the device to Hard Brick...

    So was wondering, what is the best procedure to tackle this? Easy method to Root / Recovery??

    And what does this 2nd BootLoader actually do?? Does it allow you to DualBoot both original stock Kindle firmware as well as second partition for Custom Roms??


    Thanks, Lister
    1
    OK first off which kindle do you have, because a kf2 is. Of a 2nd gen kfhd. If its a 2013 kindle fire HD, don't bother with second bootloader because it will just brick it. If it is in fact a kf2 then here's what second d bootloader does. Basically we can't unlock our devices bootloader so 2nd bootloader is a workaround. It allows us to run our own unsigned kernels and custom recovery. Once we have that we can flash a custom ROM like cm. And no no dual booting, Amazon's os is too different from cm to be able to.
    To install 2nd bootloader + twrp you must be rooted, suggest kindle fire first aid for that, there's a tutorial in the dev section for kf2 for installing second bootloader + twrp here.

    Make sure you check the md5sum of the bootloader before flashing it so you don't risk hard bricking, also I suggest putting the ROM and its gapps on the kindle ahead of time if your are running 10.4.8 because it will boot loop into recovery after the process until you flash a different rom, so its easier to have the ROM o. Ahead of time rather than "adb push" it.

    Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk