FireTV Partial Bootloader Unlock

[busventinc]

Excellent work rbox this is much appreciated

 

[puppinoo]

Awesome work.
Congratulations Rbox.
Just a maybe stupid (sorry for that) question.
Bootloader stays unlocked if I update to a newer pre-rooted image or I have to unlock at every update? (I havent the latest pre-rooted installed and I'd like to install it now that I unlocked the bootloader).

Regards.
Pino.

 

[loughrey101]

Hi, thanks for this! I am having problems with this. I have the required firmware so I don't need to downgrade and am rooted. But when I use step 2 via adb it says cannot stat 'aftv-unlock': no such file or directory. I'm presuming the file this is dependent on where your dowloded file is located? I generally stick mine on desktop for easy location or it automatically downloads to the download folder of windows 8. What do you write in the adb command instead? thanks!

 

[tavery]

If your just using a "command line" adb and not a gui like adbfire to push the aftv-unlock file to the Fire TV, the unlock file will need to be in the same folder as adb.exe if you just want to cut and paste the code in the instructions.

 

[Ipse_Tase]

This is not a full unlock and will not enable fastboot boot or fastboot flash. Obviously this will only work if you are rooted.

First, thanks rbox for all the work done on AFTV, it really makes me happy I ditched Ouya.

Secondly...I read the thread and associated comments on AFTVnews but didn't see explicitly stated that Netflix HD is NOT affected by this partial unlock.
I know from other devices that a locked bootloader is crucial for the security checks performed by Neflix when they authorize the device to get HD (or SHD).

Can you guys confirm there is no impact on Netflix when applying the unlock? Specifically SHD and Dolby+

 

[rbox]

First, thanks rbox for all the work done on AFTV, it really makes me happy I ditched Ouya.

Secondly...I read the thread and associated comments on AFTVnews but didn't see explicitly stated that Netflix HD is NOT affected by this partial unlock.
I know from other devices that a locked bootloader is crucial for the security checks performed by Neflix when they authorize the device to get HD (or SHD).

Can you guys confirm there is no impact on Netflix when applying the unlock? Specifically SHD and Dolby+

With this unlock, no one knows what's going on. I know Dolby still works. I don't know how to access the debug information with the new netflix like you could with the old, so I'm not positive on the resolution, but there is no way for Netflix to know about this.

 

[Y314K]

With this unlock, no one knows what's going on. I know Dolby still works. I don't know how to access the debug information with the new netflix like you could with the old, so I'm not positive on the resolution, but there is no way for Netflix to know about this.

Am I correct in thinking that once unlocked the bootloader can only be relocked manually (by choice using command: "/data/local/tmp/aftv-unlock lock") &/or also the way an FTV is unrooted (by re-installing/flashing Stock Recovery). ???

 

[Ipse_Tase]

With this unlock, no one knows what's going on. I know Dolby still works. I don't know how to access the debug information with the new netflix like you could with the old, so I'm not positive on the resolution, but there is no way for Netflix to know about this.

Fair enough...I guess I'll sit tight and maybe do a half-upgrade, with the old CWM and your latest pre-rooted ROM. That should not break anything.
Many people might not care so much about Netflix, but in my case it was the deciding factor: simple way to get SHD and Dolby+.
I have a ton of other Android devices that can do 1750kbps in Netflix (720x480) but AFTV is the one that truly gets 5800kbps (1980x1080/60fps).

 

[Y314K]

Fair enough...I guess I'll sit tight and maybe do a half-upgrade, with the old CWM and your latest pre-rooted ROM. That should not break anything.
Many people might not care so much about Netflix, but in my case it was the deciding factor: simple way to get SHD and Dolby+.
I have a ton of other Android devices that can do 1750kbps in Netflix (720x480) but AFTV is the one that truly gets 5800kbps (1980x1080/60fps).

Why not test it for us... Go the full-monty. Unlock bootloader & install latest CWM. And if you think you are not getting the same performance on Netflix, let us know... And just relock bootloader & downgrade CWM... You would be better prepare at figure out if Netflix is under performing... By your prior experience with it...

 

[rotor00ter]

Well it's a little early for Christmas... but here is a special gift. This will allow the bootloader to load things from boot or recovery without them needing to be patched. This is not a full unlock and will not enable fastboot boot or fastboot flash. Obviously this will only work if you are rooted.

As usual, this WILL void your warranty and I am NOT responsible for anything you do with this. Using this tool won't brick your Fire TV, but doing stupid things afterwards might. I will stress here that flashing something bad to boot is a guaranteed way to brick because if the kernel can't boot you have no way to get back to recovery. For testing kernels, it's best to flash recovery to the boot partition and the new kernel to test to the recovery partition.

To use:

1. Downgrade: You must first downgrade to 51.1.0.2. If you already have CWM installed, you can skip this.
2. adb push aftv-unlock /data/local/tmp/
3. adb shell
4. chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/aftv-unlock
5. su
6. /data/local/tmp/aftv-unlock unlock

Afterwards you should see this message:

Attempting to unlock... 
All done!

If not, something went wrong. If for whatever reason you want to relock the bootloader, you can use this command:

/data/local/tmp/aftv-unlock lock

You can download it here.

Gonna try this out soon. Great work as always!

 

[rbox]

Someone was asking about HD in Netflix. I found that F4 brings up a 3 line display that isn't as good as the old diagnostics, but it does show resolution and audio status. It shows 1080 and 5.1 for me. I wonder if there is a way to bring up the old diagnostics. I tried ctrl alt shift a - z and got nothing. And also tried all the F keys, which is how I found F4.

 

[o-I-c]

Have you seen the demo file on netflix "El Fuente: 60 MP10" not exactly what your looking for but does give some info.

 

[chickenmusket]

the file...

Thanks for your efforts.

When I download the file, it does not have an extension. What extension do I give it? .apk, .txt ... ?

Or, is it supposed to have no extension?

 

[Kramar111]

Thanks for your efforts.

When I download the file, it does not have an extension. What extension do I give it? .apk, .txt ... ?

Or, is it supposed to have no extension?

No extension

 

[D0ubl3_X]

Hey rbox,

any chance to get this working on the Kindle Fire HDX?
Could you provide sources or technical details on how this is done?

Thank you in advance :good:

 

[cwalk2this]

I'm currently on rooted 51.1.1.0_user_511070220, any tips on the easiest way to downgrade and unlock? Would an unlock on 51.1.1.0 ever be possible?

 

[lightning413]

I'm currently on rooted 51.1.1.0_user_511070220, any tips on the easiest way to downgrade and unlock? Would an unlock on 51.1.1.0 ever be possible?

Here's your best place to start
http://www.aftvnews.com/start/

You'll have to downgrade to 51.1.0.2 to unlock and then you can upgrade to one of AFTVNews Pre-rooted Roms

 

[derpeter]

@rbox thanks for the work. I roote my ftw yesterday with the emmc method and will do all the shiny downgrade stuff today.
Did you wrote down what the unlock does and why its neccessary for new CWM someweher. I'm interested in the techincal details (not an howto ).

 

[rbox]

@rbox thanks for the work. I roote my ftw yesterday with the emmc method and will do all the shiny downgrade stuff today.
Did you wrote down what the unlock does and why its neccessary for new CWM someweher. I'm interested in the techincal details (not an howto ).

Original CWM took advantage of a signing bug in the bootloader. It was annoying for me and could lead to bricking issues with people testing kernels. Then I switched to using a different bug in the bootloader which just allows it to boot unsigned code. The reason the new CWM requires it is because I got rid of the code for the signing bug.

 

[derpeter]

I tried to downgrade the FW of a german firetv running 51.1.3.0 rooted by emmc, i followed the instructions on aftvnews and copyed via dd an old stock recovery to the recovery partition.
I pushed a old stock image to /cache and placed the command file.
Sadly the "update" failed an in the last_log log of the recovery was the following error

Installing update...
script aborted: assert failed: !less_than_int(1397598677, getprop("ro.build.date.utc"))
assert failed: !less_than_int(1397598677, getprop("ro.build.date.utc"))
E:Error in /cache/update.zip
(Status 7)

EDIT:

fixed it. i realized by comparing the md5sums of the content of recovery before and after reboot that i should not reboot after the recovery downgrade and before the fw downgrade