yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fire TV General] mjbxx:
I'd wait to see if [MENTION=3991724]rbox[/MENTION] or [MENTION=4396505]realbbb[/MENTION] can provide a custom ROM for this new update. Does not make much sense to kill root on the Fire TV. Then again, I use the SPMC launcher with the Black Glass Nova skin that affords easy access to the Amazon launcher on its home screen. I'd rather it be this way than having to look at that hideous Amazon UI whenever I fire up the Fire TV.
[Fire TV General] patt2k:
I use nova launcher and have all my icons in there and of course xposed rbox tools run custom launchers just fine.
[Fire TV General] navigates:
I know a place where you can still get the rooted new one. But the person has one. I can point you there if you want. You can then sell yours on ebay and loose about 20 bucks. I did that for myself.
[Fire TV General] patt2k:
It's fine but thanks for the help :D lol this thread was supposed to get opinions on the new update lmfao :good::highfive:
[Fire TV General] skeptic_always:
Early on I made the decision not to root my AFTV, I'd rather have bug fixes and other improvements, but USB storage has been the one big issue I have. I've just been patiently waiting for Amazon to release an update for USB storage OR a Google Android TV box to come out that meets my requirements. The default UI could be better, having side-loaded apps in the app section would be nice, but ultimately now that we are getting USB storage I have no complaints about my AFTV and will likely stick with AFTV for now and when future versions are released. Such a dumb little thing that should have been included from the start, now I can have all my kids' games installed at once instead of bouncing them back and forth to the cloud. For that matter, not only can I put The Bard's Tale back on I can actually let it install the high-res gfx version and see if it looks any better.

I guess you could say that's my long-winded "there are still reasons to root your AFTV, but not nearly as compelling and probably not worth the effort for most people" answer.
[Fire TV General] nickyb003:
Intentionally lose root after all the hard work? smh.......just wait for a pre-rooted custom rom.....remember once you lose root Amazon has full control on the box, and one of my greatest fears is if they choose to block Kodi.....and "I'm NOT SURE" but isn't there some mechanism in these updates that detect if you have root and bricks the fire tv? My opinion is just wait for a pre-rooted rom
[Fire TV General] symphonix:
If the new update gives you the ability to use USB storage and play games of the storage, wouldn't the same apply for Kodi? Would it not be possible to put Kodi and run it of the storage\USB device?
[Fire TV General] Jacksmyname:
Hi all. I have the FireTV stick. I bought it primarily for Amazon Prime, which works great. I'm also using it for Netflix, Kodi, and several others. Everything works great. I use Kodi to play movies stored on my PC. Kodi runs perfectly, but I'm very low on space on my PC.

I'm considering buying the FireTV set top box now that it will be able to use it's USB port for expanded storage. But I'm not 100% sure about whether it still needs to be rooted.

Will I be able to connect an external hard drive for movie playback with Kodi without rooting?

Thanks.
[Fire TV General] skeptic_always:
Correct, this latest update (supposedly) allows the use of USB storage without rooting the device.
[Fire TV General] diamantine:
Mass Storage in the New update does not work. It seems to be only for Outsourcing apk

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---------- Post added at 02:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 PM ----------

Looking at the release, it would seem this will exclusively apply to downloaded apps and games, rather than allowing for media access and playback.

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[Fire TV General] D33H:
Can anyone else confirm this? I was hoping to move my emulator roms to mass storage. So can we only use external storage for games and applications?
[Fire TV General] dk1keith:
Are you saying you have the update?
[Fire TV General] diamantine:
I habe gotten the Update yesterday night after a few searches for an update. And it only shows up an USB stick and no external hard drive on the USB port. I am so angry that i can not root the device.

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[Fire TV General] inserxtion:
Hi. Can I ask those of you with the update and using Kodi. Is it still working okay? There's another thread which someone suggests sideloading is not now working? Thanks guys.

ANSWER

To answer my own question. Kodi still works fine. Various people on aftvnews have now confirmed this.
[Fire TV General] skeptic_always:
I'm confused, why are you angry about USB flash drive support and not USB hard drive support? It's a bit disappointing, but unless you need to go above 128G the price isn't all that different, and with USB 2.0 the speed isn't really a factor either.

Anyone know the largest USB flash drive this update will support? I'm trying to figure out which size I want to buy (or maybe just use a 16G I have laying around), so knowing the max supported size may help with the decision.
[Fire TV General] callanish:
Well, I'm disappointed if the Fire TV doesn't support any hard drive whether portable or power connected. The reason I think its a big deal is my intent was to connect the fire TV to a hard drive full of movies. The Wdtv live was my go to device for playing them due to all the codecs it supported. The Amazon fire TV can run sideloaded apps like b.s player or even kodi that could play pretty much any format. If it turns out that the USB update only works with USB flash drives, I'd say that's a big let down. I've gotten my portable wireless hard drive to work with my fire TV stick, but it would have been nice to have had my WD external hard drive also work with the Amazon fire TV to replace the wdtv live. I thought the USB port was going to be capable of supporting any drive connected to it. Doesn't sound like that's the case.
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
I don´t think it´s related if it is a harddrive or stick. I suppose it´s more or less just an issue of the used filesystem. The official release notes state only support for FAT32 so when using a harddisk which is normally formatted in NTFS the filesystem won´t be recognized. Although it is not especially stated I would also try for an EXT3/4 partition since this might be supported out-of-the-box from Android.

Only one problem can raise in my opinion where it makes a difference if using a stick or a harddisk: many external 2.5" harddisks have a power consumption which is at start or spindown higher than a regular USB2.0 port must deliver (USB2.0 -> 5V/0.5A / 2.5" drives often need 0.7-0.8A at power up). So these drives must be used with a external power supply or an active USB hub to power them fully.
[Fire TV General] wonneil:
From the Amazon website...

About USB Storage for Amazon Fire TV

Compatible external storage devices, the type of content that can be stored, and how it's managed..

You can use the USB port on your Amazon Fire TV to connect extra storage for games and apps. Movies, music, and photos are streamed to your device, so no extra storage is needed . You cannot access any media that you side-loaded onto the USB device.

USB Storage Requirements

Drive Type Flash drive

USB Version 3.0

Size 128 GB or smaller

File Format FAT 32

With USB storage attached, some games and apps will automatically install on the USB device, while others will install on-device. However, you can manually select specific games and apps to move to USB storage:

1. Go to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications.

2. Select the app you want to move and then Move to USB Storage.

Note: Some critical apps, like Amazon Appstore, cannot be moved to USB storage. Every game and app will use a small amount of space on your Amazon Fire TV internal storage, even if it is stored on your USB storage. You cannot move USB storage with Fire TV games and apps to another Amazon Fire TV device.
[Fire TV General] HitcherUK:
My findings using the latest update (51.1.5.0).

Kodi still runs perfectly fine.

Kodi also runs fine from a USB stick.

Media stored on a USB stick plays fine using Kodi.
[Fire TV General] callanish:
After receiving the new update and doing some testing, it seems adapter powered or USB powered hard drives aren't even recognized. USB flash drives work both in Kodi and on the side loaded B.S player, but after testing about 10 hard drives both adapter powered and USB powered, I couldn't get the Fire TV to recognize any of them. Shame really, as I was hoping that my WD My book 4TB drive would work with it so I could get rid of the WDTV live box ( too many boxes ), but it looks like the Amazon Fire TV's update is only useful for small media storage. Not that I was expecting anything different after reading some of the comments on this thread, and network drives or wireless hard drives continue to function with it; I was Just hoping that this update would have provided me with an all in one media box where the USB port could connect to an external hard drive. Bottom line, it doesn't work.

The sleep mode using the home button is pretty handy. :)
[Fire TV General] patt2k:
One troll caused so much chaos... no sideloading is not broken and it wont be because amazon knows this brings SALES more people will buy because of this feature, yes kodi will work just fine.
[Fire TV General] mloftus11:
I did get my Shark Mini Bluetooth Keyboard working great!
[Fire TV General] nhumber:
did you try a FAT32 128GB partition on a hard drive. these are 2 requirements stated that you would need to meet to have any chance.
[Fire TV General] callanish:
No I haven't. Thanks for the tip. I'll try it and report back.
[Fire TV General] rbox:
It has nothing to do with that to begin with. They want developers to develop apps for the Fire TV, and sell them on their store, thus collecting money. Sideloading is how apps in development get loaded. If you can't sideload, you can't test your app, you're not going to develop it, they're not going to be able to sell it.
[Fire TV General] nusense949:
Anybody having problems with usb drives? the first time i plug it in, it reorganizes it and works fine. But after I Take the thumb drive out it, does not reorganizes the drive anymore. The only way to fix this and get it to reorganize the drive again is to restore, but after i disconnect the drive again. It fails to see it.
[Fire TV General] callanish:
I'm kind of seeing issues with that myself. Thought it was just me. Rebooting got it to recognize one of my thumb drives for the second time, but I'm having the same issue on all the flash drives I'm working with. Whether I'm using Kodi or BS player or using es explorer to check the file folders on the thumb drive, the media on the flash drive just isn't showing up consistently. The flash drives I'm testing are all different brands with all different sizes and with various types of media on all of them.
[Fire TV General] Montisaquadeis:
Sounds like they want you to plug it in once and then just leave it in.
[Fire TV General] callanish:
Good point. Even though my original objective was to just tinker with it, I'm starting to realize that the primary function for Amazon enabling the USB port had less to do with media playback and more about extending permanent storage for apps and games, hence the issues I'm coming across with trying to turn it into a plug and play media player. If that's the case, then I'll put up the white flag up and accept it for what it can do. Bit of a shame really, as it works perfectly well using kodi to stream media from a seagate wireless hard drive. If the USB port wasn't as limited, like the wdtv live, it would have been the perfect setup for me as it does everything else really well.
[Fire TV General] Viperise152:
I just got the update for my Fire TV and its remote. Kodi does still work. I have moved all my apps to the HDD i have plugged into it. I formatted a 168 gig fat32 external HDD plugged into 4 port powered hub connected to my Fire TV. HEre are a couple of images from within the FireOS and Kodi.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3THqMxSQFNHOUtvV2VvdEZ4OXM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3THqMxSQFNHOXZYX01ON3JYOFE/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3THqMxSQFNHdGdSeHRoWm9FcmM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3THqMxSQFNHYjZSRE51X2lvM1k/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3THqMxSQFNHY3hMWnZqS05abVU/view?usp=sharing
[Fire TV General] Magnesus:
No support for exFAT? Most large pendrives use exFAT not FAT32. :( (and with exFAT even a large hard drive would be usable)
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
You can use FAT32 even on large harddisks since the FAT32 filesystem can handle up to around 8TB of partition size. The often reported 32GB barrier is just an artificial restriction done by the MS Windows format command. When using 3rd party tools like the free h2format tool you can still format partitions larger than 32GB.

Only main problem is that there is still the 4GB filesize limit for FAT32 which has been AFAIK solved with the exFAT filesystem.
[Fire TV General] DN38416:
I just installed the latest pre-rooted update to test out the USB storage. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but it doesn't seem to work very well for me.

I still can't seem to install 2 of my games without filling up all of the internal storage. The games are KOTOR and XCOM:EW

I clicked on the 'move to usb' option, but it only seems to move a small amount of data over to the USB and leaves the majority of it on the internal :(
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
Move to USB does probably only copy the APK files. KOTOR has a small APK file which does download additional datafiles after first installation which won´t be moved to USB that way.
[Fire TV General] patt2k:
What's the best way to unroot? I think I decided and will unroot no need to mess with things anymore with kodi on recents and aftvluancher helper it will do the job just fine.

Unblock updates and RUN OTA should do the job? thanks guys.
[Fire TV General] DN38416:
So is there a way to get the whole game on USB (or at least most of it)?

Otherwise this new USB storage option seems almost pointless. I've gone ahead and moved every one of my apps (that could be moved) to my 64GB USB stick and somehow it's only used about 1 GB, but my internal storage is almost full!

I dunno.. maybe I've done something wrong. I'll play around with it some more tomorrow.
[Fire TV General] skeptic_always:
Have you tried uninstall (to the cloud) the re-install? I just ordered a 128G usb flash drive to use, and my AFTV hasn't updated yet anyway, so I haven't been able to check any of this. A number of games have small apk files, but large 1G+ downloads (which everyone here knows), so just moving the original install isn't good enough. I have to believe Amazon knows this as well and has some method to deal with it.
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
I don´t know if it can be tricked to run fully from external USB but since I´ve coincidentally installed today KOTOR on my LG tablet I´ve seen that the from Amazon installed APK is just more or less only a loader for the main data (after "successfull" KOTOR installation it did start some massive downloads). Since those move-to-sdcard (or in this case move-to-USB) functions normally just copy only the APK files to the extended storage they do not check where such additional data files are stored. So no moving of stored settings or user data from internal to external storage.

On the other hand it isn´t enough just to move those data files which could be probably done manually because you have to trick also the KOTOR game loader to search for those data files in the new place instead of the preprogrammed path. Maybe someone found a workaround for this problem but it won´t work just with the standard move-to-USB function.
[Fire TV General] dk1keith:
Is it possible I am still blocking the amazon sites with my router since the update is still not available. I know it is made available at different times but it seems weird that I still have not seen it. Is there a way to check and ensure I am not blocking the site? I don't think I am because I was able to download the stock fw from aftvnews site. Just curious more than anything. I have a rooted and un-rooted fire tv. Don't think I want to risk the boot menu install on my rooted fire tv, and that is the only way to get the rbox update.
[Fire TV General] Tight_wad:
I have 3 that are not rooted and never blocked. No update on any yet.
[Fire TV General] dk1keith:
That's what I thought. Thanks for the response.
[Fire TV General] Ultraschorsch:
Did anyone of the german members get the update yet?
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
Last check I did this night didn´t signalize a new firmware.
[Fire TV General] x02a:
i got the update on 1 of my 2 FTV in Germany ;)
[Fire TV General] D33H:
Has anyone from the UK received this update yet? I've been checking each day but nothing so far.

Edit: Update received 31/03/15 and working well. Can now store game roms externally so very happy.
[Fire TV General] magnoman:
Im in uk still waiting patiently

update Received 31/3/15
[Fire TV General] krawhitham:
This latest update expanded Bluetooth capabilities. under "Other Bluetooth Devices" it says “Add Bluetooth remotes, headphones, keyboards, and mice.”

Does anyone know of a 3rd party Bluetooth remote that has a headphone jack on it (like the roku 3) that will work with the Fire TV?

Thanks
[Fire TV General] 17days:
I'm in the UK and I got the update on Saturday 28th :)
[Fire TV General] Tight_wad:
I received the new update today on all 3. I'm in the US
[Fire TV General] shaksbeer:
Update received two days ago (germany)

Kodi working as before. USB Stick working. All is fine.
[Fire TV General] Nf13:
I can confirm that as well.
[Fire TV General] dk1keith:
got the update yesterday. Haven't been able to get the fire tv to recognize a thumb drive or usb hdd, both formatted fat32. Also is there supposed to be a shortcut item added? if so where is it?

---------- Post added at 08:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 AM ----------

Got the fire tv to recognize my thumb drive. For those that may not know you have to turn off usb debugging or the fire tv will not recognize anything connected to the usb port.
[Fire TV General] skeptic_always:
Updated w/128G USB 3.0 thumb drive. So far I have only tried to move two games that download extra data to the USB drive with mixed results. The first was Bard's Tale, which I had previously uninstalled to the cloud to make room on internal storage. I installed from the cloud, moved the game to USB, then downloaded the extra data. It asked me if I wanted to download to internal or USB so I chose USB which worked perfectly. Next up, Modern Combat 4 - first I tried just moving to USB, but as expected it moved the app but not the 1.1G of data. Then I uninstalled to the cloud, installed the app, moved the app to USB, then ran it and let it download data - which went back to internal storage without the option to download to USB. :crying:

I'll keep looking around, and hopefully someone can find a non-root solution.
[Fire TV General] Calibaan:
Received the update this evening. StreamStore 2.5" HDD with 500GB is recognized without using external power supply. USB drive is now shown within KODI and VLC as "extUSB". But it seems the FireTV does not like the spindown of external drives since it does reload directories content after powering up from "standby".
[Fire TV General] mgoodall:
Great news.

I guess I can now remove the update URLs from being blocked via my router :angel:
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Y.G.:
Why did Amazon disable YouTube casting in the Fire TV box but leave it enabled in the Fire TV Stick?
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] navigates:
I'm confused. do you mean the flip of the video from the youtube app on the phone to the FireTv. the Icon is still there and Youtube picks it up on the firetv. However the playback is a blank screen with only sound. Thats my problem. Don't know whats gone wrong with the new version of youtube.
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Y.G.:
Yeah. I only get the icon to cast when I have the YouTube app open on the Fire TV. Whereas on the Fire TV Stick, I have the button available to me all the time regardless of the status of the YouTube app.
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] navigates:
In my case I get the Cast Icon even if the firetv is switched off. Are you wired or wireless? I'm wired.
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KLit75:
I'm wired and noticed this yesterday--it only casts sound, no video.
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] navigates:
I did notice today that on my parents firetv, the cast icon is only available when the youtube app is running. Uninstalling it and re-installing it does not help. Wonder what's going on.? Is there a youtube cast service which we can check if it is enabled on auto start?
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KLit75:
Not that im aware of...but i really dont use this feature very often. Im sure more info will be made available soon.
[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Y.G.:
Wireless.

I did notice that my Fire TV Stick has a "WFD Client" apk that isn't in my applications list on my Fire TV. It makes me wonder if Amazon disabled casting to the Fire TV.
[AT&T HTC One (M8)] jimmisavage:
Hi all,

In a nut shell i have a pretty boring job and usually find myself watching movies on my phone but would prefer it if i can watch them on a pc screen without using works network connection? Basically using my phone's 4g network but with the picture in a resizable window on my pc monitor?

If this is possible I would really appreciate it if someone can tell me how :)

Kind regards

Jimmi
[AT&T HTC One (M8)] enzeem2010:
If you have a windows machine, Best Buy sells an adapter that does this. I don't know what it is called off the top of my head, I'm at work, but it works with all my android devices as well as my laptop.

Sent from my HTC One_M8
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] ERRoRC0DE9999:
So I got my turbo last week in blue nylon (and i'm loving it) but there's one horrid problem with it, the headphone jack doesn't want to work with some of my headphones. when I plug in my over the ear theres static the left ear, and a pulse of static on the right (kinda like a heartbeat). This occurs on my phone and my brother's, who got it in black. I've narrowed the problem down to the ones with 3 bands on the plug vs 2. Does anyone know what the hell is going on? any help would be appreciated, thanks!!
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] X_man.:
When I first got my Razr Maxx it did the same thing. I took some caned air with the little straw and blew it out really good and it was fine. Occasionally I had to do it again tho. But be careful I wouldn't stick it too far down inside the jack because sometimes that stuff is pretty powerful. Idk if this will help you but its worth a try.
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] ERRoRC0DE9999:
thanks dude, ill try it out when i get home today
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] ERRoRC0DE9999:
Tried it and it didn't work, oh well. guess i'm switching to bluetooth!
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] Ekkoria:
You should definitely be under warranty. I wouldn't settle for a phone with a broken piece if hardware. Just my two cents
[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] ERRoRC0DE9999:
i'll definitely send it in, but I won't have a chance to do so for a couple weeks. So i'll be using bluetooth anyway. thanks for your help btw!
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General] dnanj:
Update is pushing to my device right now. Better be Lollipop!
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General] dnanj:
[IMG="Screenshot"]https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsi3neukfb1jicy/Screenshots_2015-03-24-10-47-06.png?dl=0[/IMG]
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General] ericplatham:
1059.28MB update being received now... Too bad I am rooted and it probably won't load
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General] Carlito17_2000:
The times say afternoon but it also says today...Was this yesterday?
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General] xLordNitro:
Right now. Today.