[WINDOWS][TOOL]Fire Toolbox V30.2

[SurroundSound]

Ok, after a long journey, due to my local parcel service my fire tablet from black friday deals is here and i´m ready to try it out with the toolbox. Just in case if something goes wrong i always can make a factory reset right ?

of course you can.

 

[Hawkeye0711]

of course you can.

Thanks. Ok first thing in noticed that i have Fire OS 7.3.2.4. so no solution to OTA update problem right now ?

If there will be an OTA Update, does it effect my installed goole play services and apps ? I really wanna use some of them on the fire tablet.....

 

[ghoster76]

Oh, this is really sad...
Fortunately is an overlay still working. e.g. Automate should do the trick.

Thanks for the tips, will switch to Automate

 

[balou911]

Thanks for this awesome app!
Bought a fire 10 HD because of it.
Fire is 7.3.2.1
Standard debloat.

Can't sideload amazon prime video. Says something about the service already installed.
Can't set time. When I try to set the timezone, screen crashes and I am back at settings.

Is there any other info you need?
What can I do?

 

[mohnish92]

Thanks for the app!
Have used it today to customize and debloat 3 of my Fire HDs.

1 request/issue though.
After installing Nova Launcher from your app > Custom Navibar Key + Automate invoker settings..
- The Home button on the tab screen works fine.
-- However, I also have the Amazon bluetooth keyboard setup, which has a home key shortcut.

When I press the custom home key from the tab touch screen, it works fine and lands me to the Nova home screen.
However I guess the Home Screen button from the bluetooth keyboard is not linked with the Nova home screen on the invoker code/flow as pressing the home key on the bluetooth keyboard lands me to the Fire Launcher homescreen.

Can you please help by adding this function too? Or let me know if I can do it somehow?

 

[jhford]

Hello all!
I just got a Fire HD 10 with following Build Date: 29 MAY 2021 Fire OS 7.3.1.9

First thing I did, is to download Toolbox v30 and get rid of the Ads, and install google play store. Then some of the Amazon Apps did not work anymore,device not supported. Thx to Blaacksheep I could resolve.

Following question, getting rid of the Apps in the version I am in, did it automatically block the OTA Updates?

I did read that some devices have problems with the launcher, what launcher works best with my 7.3.1.9 version?

Should I Update from this version?

any recommendations ?

Did you buy the HD 10 from Amazon? Were you able to assure that it was OS 7.3.1.9 before purchase? If so, how did you do that?
Thanks

 

[ande00]

I was about to release a guide on disabling OTA updates by blocking the servers with RethinkDNS when @Datastream33 released v30 of Toolbox with a new data-restricting method of blocking them. I waited a little bit to see the reaction to it and it seems that it blocks some other things too.

Without further ado, here's a preliminary guide to setting up RethinkDNS and Activity Launcher to block any DNS lookups for Amazon's update servers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, I've been testing this app for over a month and I haven't gotten any surprise "updates" just waiting for a reboot to install themselves! I haven't been turning off WiFi before rebooting, or taken any precautions to prevent updates other than just this app with the settings given here. I've only checked if there was an update waiting to install before turning my tablet off so I could delete it if I found one. My tablet has stayed on v7.3.2.3, while the most current release is 7.3.2.6. Using DNS66, I got surprised by the update from 7.3.2.2. I started watching for updates and had to delete them several times before I started using RethinkDNS. Using RethinkDNS has worked flawlessly in disabling OTA updates . The only caveate is that you can't run a "real" VPN along with RethinkDNS because it uses the VPN interface of your tablet in order to work. If you must run a VPN, you'll have to put my blocklist into your router's firewall rules so that the VPN interface of your tablet is free to run a VPN.

Step 1
Turn off your tablet's WiFi and disable DNS66 or any other VPN you are running.

Step 2
Get RethinkDNS from the source and sideload it to your tablet. The current version is v053k. Get Activity Launcher from UpToDown.com and sideload that to your tablet.

Step 3
Install RethinkDNS. Install Activity Launcher. (You can combine steps and just stream install them from your computer if you'd like.)

Step 4
Launch RethinkDNS. Tap "Apps" in the upper-left. A box will pop up saying "Start DNS and Firewall (default)". Tap "START". Another box will pop up saying "Attention!.....". Tap "Proceed". Another box will pop up saying "Connection request". Tap "OK". The app will start. Now you just need to configure it.

Step 5
Tap "Apps" in the upper-left once again. Now a list of installed apps will populate the screen. There are 4 apps you want to block to prevent OTA Updates. Scroll down the list and find each of these apps and tap the blue WiFi and the blue Mobile Data icon next to each of them so they toggle to red.

They are:

• DeviceSoftwareOTA - when you block this a box will pop up saying it will also block 3 other apps. Tap "Proceed". It will repeat that warning when you block both the WiFi and Mobile Network options. When you are done, both should change from blue to red and it should say "blocked" under DeviceSoftwareOTA.

• Forced OTA - Block both WiFi and Mobile Data on this. No popup boxes this time, the inicators just change from blue to red.

• System Updates (1) - This should already be blocked from the first app. If not, repeat the proceedure and block both WiFi and Mobile Data

• System Updates (2) - Again, this should be blocked from the first app and if not repeat the blocking proceedure.

Now to check if you are configured properly, look at the top and tap the "Blocked" heading. Your dispay should now list just those 4 apps and the indicators on the right should all be red. Tap to toggle any that are still blue.


Step 6
Now we need to use Activity Launcher to get to the hidden VPN settings of your tablet. Launch Activity Launcher. Let it load (it takes several seconds) and use the search glass in the upper-right. Type in "VPN" (without the quotes). At the bottom of the list under settings you'll see VPN. Tap it. Now find RethinkDNS on the list of installed VPN's and tap the gear at the right. Tap "Always-on VPN" to toggle it on. Tap "Block connections without VPN" to toggle that on. You'll get a warning screen, but acknowledge that and turn it on.

Edit: This can now also be done in Toolbox by going into Modify System Settings > Networking tab > VPN Settings if you don't want to install Activity Launcher, but Activity Launcher allows you access to other settings that Amazon hides.

Step 7
Turn on your WiFi now.

Congratulations! You're all done. You should be safe from further updates.

Optional:

There are other DNS changes that RethinkDNS can make. If you require them relaunch RethinkDNS and tap the DNS tab in upper-right to change DNS settings.

Your DNS lookups by default will use DoH (DNS over HTTPS). This makes it almost impossible for your DNS lookups to be redirected to a different site than what you typed into your browser. It also makes your DNS lookups unreadable by your ISP so they can't track what you do by your unencrypted DNS lookups (which happen even though your traffic may be encrypted). RethinkDNS also offers Dnscrypt, which is another method of doing the same thing. I believe DoH (the default) is most compatable and left that alone.

You can also use "filtered" DNS lookups to block offensive sites, block piracy sites, block adult sites, etc.

You can also use Cloudflare DNS, Google DNS, CleanBrowsing DNS, Quad9 DNS, or a custom DNS. If you know what you want, you can change your DNS settings here.

If you want to use additional blocklists in your DNS lookups, tap "On-device blocklists". Tap "Disabled" to enable this feature. Let it download the available blocklists. Tap "Configure". Under the "SIMPLE" tab, tap the filters you wish to use. Tap "APPLY".


You can change any other defaults if you wish. This includes all the settings in the settings menu. I left all these setting alone. I would recommend testing your internet after each change you make. If your internet stops working, go back to the defaults until you've determined that you really want to change that setting. Otherwise all the defaults will work fine for the purpose of blocking updates.

If needed, I'll post screenshots of the setup procedure.

NOTE: A reboot may be required after this procedure before you once again get internet access. (Thanks @smirnoff9969 )

First off all thank you for the guide and the support.

My Fire HD 10 KIDS is unfortunately on 7.3.2.6 because I did not pay attention in the beginning to it. So I have to deal with it. The tablet is planned to be used basically by my daughter in the Kids profile.

Nevertheless I wanted to do some mods with V30.0 in the parent profil like youtube and so on. All thinks working fine. In the end my plan was to freeze the settings with your guide. On one hand to prevent the system from further updates and on the other hand that some hidded / disabled apps still appear back on screen after a few days which i attribute to the automatic background updates.

But now I have the problem that every day my daughter switches on the tablet it says "ups, something went wrong". The tablet has to be restarted to get it normal working.

Might this be a problem due the blocking acc. to your guide? Did someone discovered something similar? Unfortunately I can only in a week again look for it because I am on business trip. First workaround for the girl is to shutdown it after using and fire it up on the next day.

 

[blaacksheep]

First off all thank you for the guide and the support.

My Fire HD 10 KIDS is unfortunately on 7.3.2.6 because I did not pay attention in the beginning to it. So I have to deal with it. The tablet is planned to be used basically by my daughter in the Kids profile.

Nevertheless I wanted to do some mods with V30.0 in the parent profil like youtube and so on. All thinks working fine. In the end my plan was to freeze the settings with your guide. On one hand to prevent the system from further updates and on the other hand that some hidded / disabled apps still appear back on screen after a few days which i attribute to the automatic background updates.

But now I have the problem that every day my daughter switches on the tablet it says "ups, something went wrong". The tablet has to be restarted to get it normal working.

Might this be a problem due the blocking acc. to your guide? Did someone discovered something similar? Unfortunately I can only in a week again look for it because I am on business trip. First workaround for the girl is to shutdown it after using and fire it up on the next day.

I have no experience with the Kids versions of the Fire tablets. I don't know what is causing that message. Also, I didn't do any investigation into whether or not RethinkDNS works on separate profiles (e.g. child and parent). It may require further setup to achieve blocking updates on both profiles. I may have to create a child profile on my regular HD 8 (2020) tablet to find out, but I'm going to assume it will be different on a "Kids" version tablet.

 

[blaacksheep]

Did you buy the HD 10 from Amazon? Were you able to assure that it was OS 7.3.1.9 before purchase? If so, how did you do that?
Thanks

I think he just reported the version he received from Amazon because of the way he worded his question.

 

[ande00]

I have no experience with the Kids versions of the Fire tablets. I don't know what is causing that message. Also, I didn't do any investigation into whether or not RethinkDNS works on separate profiles (e.g. child and parent). It may require further setup to achieve blocking updates on both profiles. I may have to create a child profile on my regular HD 8 (2020) tablet to find out, but I'm going to assume it will be different on a "Kids" version tablet.

Ok, thank you for your reply.

I will have a look to it when I am back. Try to enable the OTA functions and have a look the follwing days how it is working then.

Main reason behind the blocking is that I wanted to prevent the disabled amazon shopping app to appear again and again which is then locked in to the shopping account. There are also other grown up users whom I don´t want to gain access. May be I will use in the first step RethinkDNS to block the shopping app and hope that an upcoming amazon update will not break the whole setup.

 

[markbnj]

Snipping message for small parts:
My comments are bold-faced!

also Small item at end

[B]Jumbo100[/B] said:​

-> I've been using my Fire HD10 (2021, 11th Gen) for a while as my general utility "daily ->driver" and it's surprising effective ... there are some caveats.
* Me too, but i have the HD10+ WITH the keyboard/case combo!

-> Fire HD10 is great for content consumption, but a little awkward for content creation ... I STILL haven't mastered the onscreen keyboard.]

* I HIGHLY, highly recommend the 10+ keyboard/case/office 365 bundle (especially if you DONT have o365 yet. the 1TB (yes 1TB PER 5 accounts= 5TB storage is fantabulous!
But, wait for the sales, I got mine for about $100 off the original price, and it's great!

Side note I had an older 8in fire, with a 3rd party keyboard, and I could Not touch type on it. THIS 10inch one with built in case lets me touch type perfectly....
The case is perfectly balanced, and the ONlY downside is that the keyboard becomes part of the tablet (yes, it can bee removed, but you should re-attach when done, to protect unit!


Jumbo100 continued:
I tend to categorize HD10 apps into 3 classes: Amazon "native" apps, the "Google suite" apps, and "everything else".

I actually USE many of the Amazon apps : Amazon Shopping, Prime Music, Prime Video, Kindle. So I need my Amazon account to be active.
I use shopping, kindle, and once in a while prime video on this tablet.

Note this disclaimer! I agree!
Do NOT install the Amazon apps from Google Play Store ... that will only cause trouble. In addition, many of the "brand name" streaming and social media apps have ported to Amazon AppStore and have been coded specifically for the Amazon/FireOS environment and run well, without exception. I originally thought that debloating "everything Amazon" and using Play Store installed apps only would be preferred, but I've found from experience that the Amazon-coded apps to be less cumbersome. So approach Amazon debloating with caution.

The Google suite (Gmail, YouTube) run well with the exception that background notifications will not be posted.

Other productivity apps run well: Adobe (Acrobat Pro, Scan) Microsoft Office 360 suite, Teleconference (Zoom, Skype, Teams). All the web browsers (Edge, Edge Canary, Firefox, Firefox Focus, Brave, Chrome)

SO, my comments: buy the physical keyboard/case. My total cost for that was about $45.00 when bundled.
Office365? Yes, the storage is GREAT. I use that to stream and back up the tablet.
And I added the extra 15 months to my existing account!
cheers. markb

Additional note:
I use firefox (v107.0.1) on my pc for primary work. I tried to download FTB 30.1 and it failed. Apparently this newer version of FF autoMAGICALLY determined it was a PUP (potentially unwanted/dangerous Program), and refused to load.
by going into the menu, and clicking update and a new download button, it asked me If I STILL wanted to download this PUP.
I said yes, and now upgraded.

 

[markbnj]

Thanks for the quick reply. In fact, after checking firmware version on 2nd Fire Tablet 10 is has 7.3.2.2. So far with 7.3.2.2, I was able to installed google services, removed amazon ads(Lockscreen management), and have Standard debloat applied (Manage Amazon apps). The only task remain to do is remove fire tv launcher and have it replaced by Nova Launcher.

personally speaking, I returned a 10+ that had 7.3.2.2 and got a replacement with 7.3.2.1, and much happier

 

[fuquaforlife2]

Hi all,

Thanks for everyone's help -- got everything installed (and seems like I got lucky and have a 7.3.2.1 version).

Dopey question -- just want to check -- there is no issues with registering my device with Amazon now that I've disabled OTA updates? Didn't see anything in the instructions on the front page saying I shouldn't register, but don't want to accidentally trigger an update either

Thanks!

 

[blaacksheep]

Hi all,

Thanks for everyone's help -- got everything installed (and seems like I got lucky and have a 7.3.2.1 version).

Dopey question -- just want to check -- there is no issues with registering my device with Amazon now that I've disabled OTA updates? Didn't see anything in the instructions on the front page saying I shouldn't register, but don't want to accidentally trigger an update either

Thanks!

No issues with Amazon registration. The only reason that is even mentioned is when purchasing the tablet, they connect it by default to your Amazon account (which usually has all your WiFi and password information) and it will connect and update before you get through the setup. Once you've disabled OTA Updates, there's nothing they can do to trigger an update.

 

[chrbar]

Hello.

My Fire HD 10 (11th Gen) runs Fire OS 7.3.2.4.
I'd hacked it with Fire Toolbox and installed Google services.
All apps run correctly but I''ve lost Nova as default launcher after an OTP update.

I've tried to block OTA with DNS66 method but I didn't test it (because I prefered to wait a new Fire Toolbox release before to connect back it on Internet).

I would like to stop OTAs, to disable some Amazon apps, to be able to install all my apps and to replace the launcher by Nova.

Do you recommand to me to execute the brand-new method from v30.x including the factory reset of my Fire HD 10?
Do I have to use Fire Toolbox v30.0 or v30.1 ?

Thanks a lot for your help and advices
Chris

 

[Erenkasymaliev]

Hi bros,

I have some issues with the last Fire toolbox V30.1
I can't install Google services on my Fire HD8 2022 (Fire oS 8.3.1.1) Toolbox notified "The download has failed. the link could be dead or disabled"
Is this a common problem? what to do?

 

[blaacksheep]

Hello.

My Fire HD 10 (11th Gen) runs Fire OS 7.3.2.4.
I'd hacked it with Fire Toolbox and installed Google services.
All apps run correctly but I''ve lost Nova as default launcher after an OTP update.

I've tried to block OTA with DNS66 method but I didn't test it (because I prefered to wait a new Fire Toolbox release before to connect back it on Internet).

I would like to stop OTAs, to disable some Amazon apps, to be able to install all my apps and to replace the launcher by Nova.

Do you recommand to me to execute the brand-new method from v30.x including the factory reset of my Fire HD 10?
Do I have to use Fire Toolbox v30.0 or v30.1 ?

Thanks a lot for your help and advices
Chris

Yeah, OTA Updates will reset a lot of the modifications Toolbox makes.
I recommend using the latest version of Toolbox (30.1) because of the changes being made to improve downloading things like a launcher and Google Services, and for new features. The method you choose to block OTA Updates will depend on your needs and your usage. If you like to download streaming movies (like Prime Video or Disney), the new method will hinder you in doing that. If you use a real VPN for whatever purpose, the DNS66 or RethinkDNS methods will not work for you. If you don't use a VPN, I suggest the RethinkDNS metod outlined in the first link in my signature. Once set up, it runs without any issues and you don't need to be on your home network to use it. If you do use a VPN, download streaming videos for offline watching but don't use your tablet anywhere but your home network, I recommend either importing my blocklist into your router so that your router blocks the server access or to use a PiHole on your network.

 

[blaacksheep]

Hi bros,

I have some issues with the last Fire toolbox V30.1
I can't install Google services on my Fire HD8 2022 (Fire oS 8.3.1.1) Toolbox notified "The download has failed. the link could be dead or disabled"
Is this a common problem? what to do?

The problem is being caused by the unusually large number of people using Toolbox and the temporary online storage site for the apps being Google Drive. Google only allows a certain amount of bandwidth per day to a Drive account and when that's been exceeded, it will fail. Your best bet is to try it again tomorrow, much earlier in the day before the allotment gets used up.

 

[Erenkasymaliev]

oi

 

[Erenkasymaliev]

The problem is being caused by the unusually large number of people using Toolbox and the temporary online storage site for the apps being Google Drive. Google only allows a certain amount of bandwidth per day to a Drive account and when that's been exceeded, it will fail. Your best bet is to try it again tomorrow, much earlier in the day before the allotment gets used up.

Not the best option, especially when u have to install google on several tablets in limited time
I tried other option and sideloaded google files on Fire but it doesn't work properly. Play market keeps crushing out, some sideloaded programs freeze or don't respond properly.
any other options?