Making Firestick 4K A Kodibox... should I root?

[Eroutina]

I’m deciding if rooting and flashing a rom onto the firestick with worthwhile for what I’m trying to achieve.
Currently the firestick is not rooted but is booting into wolf launcher to remove all those ads and videos for amazon prime and am using a debloat toolbox that disabled lots of amazon background apps like prime video and updates. These have greatly sped up the firestick making it much snappier. I also added launch on boot so kodi launches after the tv turns on so if I would like kodi it is preloaded all my widgets. And to keep my kodi snappy I removed all shadows and other visuals like background and such.

I’m only using my firestick as a kodi box so would rooting and flashing a debloated rom or even a custom rom help my purpose for a better kodi experience? The only possible plus I see is overclocking and maybe a better kill app method.
Could someone please list benefits for rooting that would improve my kodi experience. I don’t need to alter UI since wolf launch serves my purpose

 

[Bertonumber1]

I’m deciding if rooting and flashing a rom onto the firestick with worthwhile for what I’m trying to achieve.
Currently the firestick is not rooted but is booting into wolf launcher to remove all those ads and videos for amazon prime and am using a debloat toolbox that disabled lots of amazon background apps like prime video and updates. These have greatly sped up the firestick making it much snappier. I also added launch on boot so kodi launches after the tv turns on so if I would like kodi it is preloaded all my widgets. And to keep my kodi snappy I removed all shadows and other visuals like background and such.

I’m only using my firestick as a kodi box so would rooting and flashing a debloated rom or even a custom rom help my purpose for a better kodi experience? The only possible plus I see is overclocking and maybe a better kill app method.
Could someone please list benefits for rooting that would improve my kodi experience. I don’t need to alter UI since wolf launch serves my purpose

If youre wanting to rid your device of ads , bloatware and have it running smoothly on kodi and other streaming apps then the short answer to the question of root is yes .
If you want to use the stick for prime , netflix and other established legitamised apps then no, purely on the basis of losing 4K capability(netflix, prime) there is also the question of warranty and encryption and so on .

Pros of root are ;
admin privileges , blocking ads at root level , unlocked bootloader (for flashing zips) , custom roms, custom kernels, modifying build.prop and bootanimation and so on .

Cons of root are:
some apps wont allow root and wont load or stream , prime , netflix, peacock etc from what i hear are fussy with root .
Your warranty will be affected (if you have one)
The device can become less secure encryption wise (selinux etc) .

As i said, if you want the stick for kodi and stuff , adblocking from root , and to be able to customise your stick by all means go for it .

Further details and a step by step can be found here :

[UNLOCK][ROOT][TWRP][UNBRICK] Fire TV Stick 4K (mantis)

NOTE: There have been multiple reports of devices with serial numbers containing VM190 or higher being shipped with DL-Mode disabled in BROM. These devices cannot be unlocked using kamakiri. These devices do not show up at all on USB when...

forum.xda-developers.com

If you need any help at all just holler and someone will help out if need be m8

 

[Eroutina]

If youre wanting to rid your device of ads , bloatware and have it running smoothly on kodi and other streaming apps then the short answer to the question of root is yes .
Pros of root are ;
admin privileges , blocking ads at root level , unlocked bootloader (for flashing zips) , custom roms, custom kernels, modifying build.prop and bootanimation and so on .
As i said, if you want the stick for kodi and stuff , adblocking from root , and to be able to customise your stick by all means go for it .

ok I’ll be rooting thanks so what is the most barebone rom there is?

I be seen a few roms and this one seems to be the best for me just a debloated stock with some mods to increase preformance.

Fire TV Stick 4K (mantis) Debloated Rom 6.2.7.1 93/6.2.7.7 Revised

Debloated Rom For The Fire TV Stick 4K 6.2.7.1 93/6.2.7.7 Revised Steps: Boot into TWRP from either the OTG cable or through an ADB command by enabling ADB debugging in My Fire TV, Developer Options. After booting into TWRP, make sure to wipe...

forum.xda-developers.com

I’m guessing this one is more process heavy?

[Guide] [ROM] (mantis) Fire TV Stick 4K Prerooted Android TV Rom (6.2.7.6)

After so many trial and error, I've finally saved the latest version of my system with TWRP backup. I want to share this personal setup with you guys since it required a lot of work to debloat, install add-ons, apps, kernels and tweaks. This is a...

forum.xda-developers.com

LineageOS still not ready I’d assume would be best

I guess since I’d have admin privileges I could justremove and cut back even more Resources to prioritize kodi? I’m not very use to android so I guess it has a task manager where I can kill all tasks and have only kodi or prioritize kodi.

 

[Bertonumber1]

ok I’ll be rooting thanks so what is the most barebone rom there is?

I be seen a few roms and this one seems to be the best for me just a debloated stock with some mods to increase preformance.

Fire TV Stick 4K (mantis) Debloated Rom 6.2.7.1 93/6.2.7.7 Revised

Debloated Rom For The Fire TV Stick 4K 6.2.7.1 93/6.2.7.7 Revised Steps: Boot into TWRP from either the OTG cable or through an ADB command by enabling ADB debugging in My Fire TV, Developer Options. After booting into TWRP, make sure to wipe...

forum.xda-developers.com

I’m guessing this one is more process heavy?

[Guide] [ROM] (mantis) Fire TV Stick 4K Prerooted Android TV Rom (6.2.7.6)

After so many trial and error, I've finally saved the latest version of my system with TWRP backup. I want to share this personal setup with you guys since it required a lot of work to debloat, install add-ons, apps, kernels and tweaks. This is a...

forum.xda-developers.com

LineageOS still not ready I’d assume would be best

I guess since I’d have admin privileges I could justremove and cut back even more Resources to prioritize kodi?

Just go with fireos , debloat the junk and its all good , only other rom for mantis is LoS and its under construction just now .

 

[Eroutina]

So after some trial and error trying to properly flash the rom I finally got it correct using only adb and NOT flashing with fireos lol

actually is there a way to check if this version is debloated can’t really tell

 

[Bertonumber1]

So after some trial and error trying to properly flash the rom I finally got it correct using only adb and NOT flashing with fireos lol

actually is there a way to check if this version is debloated can’t really tell

You normally have to debloat yourself using either pm disable commands .
Example.
adb shell
su
pm disable com.amazon.ags.app

Alternatively you can go here :

Firestick Debloat Tool v3 (18th Sept) | TechDoctorUK

www.techdoctoruk.com

Install the app on your stick and grant its adb permissions. It will debloat some 40 junk amazon packages from /system/priv-app folder..

The answer to knowing if you have downloaded a debloated rom lies with where you downloaded it from. If its one of skel40 roms then some packages will have been removed . If its just preroooted rom then its untouched and you can debloat yourself .

 

[Eroutina]

Thanks for all your help now I’ll just start messing around with su and other tweaks trying to make it perfect for my needs

 

[Bertonumber1]

Thanks for all your help now I’ll just start messing around with su and other tweaks trying to make it perfect for my needs

No problem, you can change the bootanimation (logo) here :

FireTV boot animation replacement

Here is a replacement for the Amazon FireTV bootanimation. With the new root available for the Amazon FireTV2, I decided to make a new boot animiation for it. Here is a 1920x1080 version of the bootanimation.zip...

forum.xda-developers.com

Edit the build.prop tweak to make the stick performance run smoother/quicker here :

Fire TV Stick 4K Tweaks (Need Root, Need Keyboard) Works On Any Firmware

Before I start this tweaking guide for the Fire TV Stick 4K, I'm not responsible for what you do to your device. Please follow this guide carefully to prevent confusion. First of all, you need to be rooted and unlocked to add these tweaks to your...

forum.xda-developers.com

If you search the forum you'll find a lot more mods I currently have leanback launcher, Google voice search, Playstore and Kodi nolimits magic build all running smoothly.

 

[Eroutina]

Ok just so if someone comes across this I rooted my AVTV 4k with FireOS then flashed with a debloated rom that includes some tweaks that make it faster also removed animation which I needed to add one line to the section.

After that I disabled additional system apks that I didn't need and even some that people recommend not disabling but i did test my system stability before hand. You can get a list from lots of debloaters. After testing my stablity I went ahead and deleted all those that I could... some cannot be removed. After debloated and stipping down to the maximum (I lack some system functions but since I ONLY need KODI it's fine) I remove all alexa apks possible and anything prime or amazon related. If I was in doubt didn't remove it
https://github.com/esc0rtd3w/firestick-loader/blob/master/scripts/debloat/full-debloat.sh#L24

After kodi is installed and I have tested that the launcher for kodi works preperly I went ahead and DELETED amazons launcher (maybe you want to just disable it)

Launcher for XBMC™ - Apps on Google Play

Launcher for XBMC™ (formerly XBMC Launcher) is a helper app that allows you to set XBMC/Kodi as your launcher without modifying the XBMC/Kodi app. Should work with any version as long as the main activity name in the XBMC/Kodi app remains the same. Currently supported XBMC/Kodi variants: -...

play.google.com

I have no other launcher so when I press home it goes to kodi when I reboot (Press and hold select button + play button) It goes to kodi. I removed all other apps from kodi but depending on how you SKIN your kodi setup you can still launch android apps from kodi but I don't have that intention. Be aware that with the amount of stripping down I did I couldnt even access settings of firestick but I was careful not to delete any apk that holds settings. You may want a secondary launcher so you can go into firestick settings to connect to new network and such... I probably overdid the uninstalling but I'm satisfied.

I ended up with a fresh install no widget kodi having 51% free ram or just over 625MB free... based on calculations total memory avaliable would be around 1275MB. After my auraMOD skin with 13 widgets and 25 items each has loaded I end up with around 500MB of free ram on my Firestick. I also reduced some kodi settings which doesn't affect my experience like no background image, no effects like overlay and blur or shadows. My firestick has become in all practical sense a KODI box. Oviously there are still some background apk that run but I cannot do anything else to stop them. Before this I tried all android root apk to stop/freeze/delete apk from running in the background but from what I could tell nothing changed.

This has helped lots with random crashes I had with kodi and I made sure that my kodi cache was within 1/3 of the total free ram so I have good buffering room. An old post online states removing root might help additionally with random unexplained crashes or playback failures. I've had these issues but seems to be less frequent now that I've cleared up more ram and reduced cache slightly. I might try removing root next. The bootrom exploit doesn't remove as far as I know and I can always enter into recovery mode via adbLink and flash roms via TWRP if worse comes to worse

 

[Eroutina]

I ended up removing root via KingoROOT and will report back in a few days/weeks on if it improved my kodi stability with random crashes

 

[carpenter940]

Firestick Debloat Tool v3 (18th Sept) | TechDoctorUK

www.techdoctoruk.com

There is an updated debloat v4 tool @ techdoctoruk that deblots 90+ services. https://www.techdoctoruk.com/firestick-debloat-tool-v4-2021/

 

[Eroutina]

Ok so final update I have tested my “kodi box” firestick for just over a week and am 100% satisfied. Unrooting seems to have improved stability. I also removed sleep and screensaver in using adbLink and also increased sleep via kodi. Sleep seems to have caused some issues in kodi (seren specific I think)
Also removed widgets from 13 total to 4 as I noticed I didn’t use them as only leaving trending and recent films and trending shows and up next shows... also reduced artwork size to small and now have around 400-500 free ram which makes kodi fast and almost entirely crash free.