[Kindle Fire General] michaelkourlas:
There seems to be quite a bit of confusion about how exactly to root and install custom ROMs on the Kindle Fire, so I’ve created this how-to guide in the hope that what happened to me (nearly bricking my device) won’t happen to anyone else.

This guide was designed for 64-bit Windows 7, because that’s what I own. However, the instructions will work to some extent on other operating systems, but you might have to change a couple of things (like file paths and such).

SETTING UP ADB

Unfortunately, rooting does require a bit of prep work first. You’ll need to download the Android SDK and install it. Then, open up the SDK Manager and download two packages: the “Android SDK Platform-tools” under Tools, and the “Google USB Driver package” under Extras. If there’s an error during installation under Windows, try opening the SDK Manager with administrative privileges.

Then, open up Control Panel, click on "System and Security", then "System", then "Advanced system settings". In the dialog box that pops up, select "Environment Variables". In the bottom scroll box, scroll down until you see the variable “Path”. In the value box, add this string to the

end

:

;C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools

You WILL need to change this depending on where you installed the Android SDK – I chose the default installation path on 64-bit Windows 7.

Next, open up your user folder (“C:\Users\<your name>\”) and open up the “.android” folder. Open up the “adb_usb.ini” file (create it if it doesn’t already exist) and add the following string to it:

0x1949

Then, go into where you installed the Android SDK (again, in my case, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\”), and go into “extras”, then “google”, then “usb_driver”, and open up “android_winusb.inf”. Add the following to the [Google.NTx86] and [Google.NTamd64] sections:

;
;Kindle Fire
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1949&PID_0006
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1949&PID_0006&MI_01

Then, turn on your Kindle, and plug it into your computer. Go back into Control Panel, click on “Hardware and Sound”, then click on “Device Manager”. Go through the list, and you should find a device under “Other devices” with a small yellow triangle on the icon called “Kindle”. Right click on it and click “Properties”. On the dialog box that opens up, select the Driver tab, then press “Update Driver”. Select “Browse my computer for driver software” then specify the directory where “android_winusb.inf” is stored (in my case, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\extras\google\usb_driver”) and press next. The “Android Composite ADB Interface” should successfully install.

Congrats, you’ve completed the prep work and now your computer can access the Kindle Fire through the Android Debugging Bridge (ADB)!

ROOTING

This process has recently been made far easier by the Kindle Fire Utility (KFU), which is a script that simplifies the use of BurritoRoot, which is currently the only way to root the Kindle Fire. This root method currently works with the most current version of the Amazon firmware (v. 6.2.1).

Download the Kindle Fire Utility.

IMPORTANT: there seems to be a problem with version 9 (the latest version) with properly downloading the TWRP image, so install version 7 instead!

Next, unzip it and open “run.bat.” If your Kindle Fire is plugged into your computer and turned on, and you’ve completed the above prep work, you should see the following:

ADB Status: Online
ADB Rooted: No
Boot Status: 4000

Select option 3 (“Install Permanent Root with Superuser”). The utility will install BurritoRoot on your device, and when it’s finished, it will display “Press any key to continue…” And that's it! Your Kindle Fire has been rooted!

INSTALLING THE ANDROID MARKET AND OTHER GOOGLE APPS

Now, you’re probably rooting to gain access to the Android Market and other Google apps, so in order to do that, at the Kindle Fire Utility main menu, select option 6 (“Extras”) then option 2 (“Install Google Apps / Go Launcher EX”). You’ll need to be connected to the Internet for this step. Again, just wait, and it’ll install the required apps. Again, you’ll see “Press any key to continue...” when it’s finished.

INSTALLING TEAM WIN RECOVERY PROJECT (TWRP)

After you’ve rooted your device, you probably will want to test out CM7 or the latest ICS pre-alpha on your device. To do that, you’ll need to install a special recovery program called Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP). You can use the Kindle Fire Utility to do that too. Simply open it up and select option 5 (“Install latest TWRP Recovery”). Like before, you’ll need to be connected to the Internet.

Now, you need to really pay attention in this step. When you see “Press any key to continue”,

DO NOT PRESS ANYTHING RIGHT AWAY

. Look at your Kindle Fire, and wait for TWRP to install. When you see a “Reboot” button, press it, and wait for a yellow triangle to appear in the centre of the screen. When that appears, go back to the utility and press any key. Again, you’ll see “Press any key to continue...” when it’s finished.

FLASHING CUSTOM ROMS

Now, to flash a custom ROM, turn your Kindle Fire off first. Then, turn it back on. When you see the yellow triangle, press the power button until it changes from green to orange. TWRP will load, and you’ll be able to access a number of settings from there.

First, copy the ROM that you've downloaded to your SD card. To do this, click Mount and then Mount USB Storage. You’ll be able to access the card from your computer. When you’re done copying the file, click Unmount. Click the home icon at the top right hand corner to return to the main menu.

Next, in order to make a backup of your current ROM, click Backup, then Backup Now. When that’s finished, press the home icon to return to the main menu.

Now, click Wipe and click on Factory Reset. Click Yes on the following screen. This is to ensure that leftover data from your old ROM won’t mess up the new one. Click the home icon to return to the main menu.

Next, click Install, select the proper ROM, and press Install. When that’s finished, press Wipe Cache. When that’s complete, press the home button and reboot the device. Your new ROM is now installed!

TROUBLESHOOTING

Stuck at Kindle Fire Screen

If all you can see is the Kindle Fire boot screen, something probably went wrong with installing TWRP. Try opening up a Command prompt and issuing the following commands (with the Kindle plugged in):

fastboot -i 0x1949 oem idme bootmode 4000
fastboot -i 0x1949 reboot

Afterwards, try re-installing TWRP with the Kindle Fire Utility.

Stuck at Yellow Triangle

Again, if you've been staring at the yellow triangle for several minutes, something probably went wrong with the installation of TWRP. Plug in your Kindle and open up Device Manager. You should see either an "Unknown Device" or a device called "kindle." Manually install the ADB drivers by opening up "Properties" and selecting "Update Driver", then manually selecting "Android ADB Composite Interface" from the list instead of automatically searching for the proper driver (Windows won't be able to find it). Afterwards, try re-installing TWRP with the Kindle Fire Utility.