yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] dk1keith:
This app has worked great for me. But for some reason on my Fire TV and Fire Stick it seems to be acting strange...for instance it won't boot into FireStarter. I have to go into apps and launch it. Also the double tap to return to Fire TV homescreen works but pressing home to return to FireStarter works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. I'm not on any of the developer preview OS 5 and have not upgraded from when it worked perfectly. Not sure why it's not performing the same...
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
According to this review (in German), Firestarter/Llama is just as broken on the AFTV 2, just as it is on the OS 5 preview:

http://stadt-bremerhaven.de/amazon-fire-tv-2015-probleme-mit-mediencenter-kodi/
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
Same here, got my AFTV2 today, install and s..t. ;)

Hope the dev can fix it for us :)
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
I just installed FireStarter on the ATV2 and it works...but with a few caveats.

1. After starting FireStarter or when the ATV2 reboots, you need to enter Developer options and turn ADB debugging off then back on.

2. When FireStarter is running the ATV2 shows up as "offline" when you adb connect to it, so you can't issue adb commands to the device. So stop FireStarter if you need to work with your device. This is also true of a v1 Stick running montoya.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
Will test later, yesterday FireStarter crash, got two messages (permanent), about write restrictions? I stop ADB only on PC :o

Hope your trick help :)

Start FireStarter, error

A: Clearing logcat failed.

B: Something went wrong, restarting HomeButtonObserver now...

Stop FireStarter.

llama.apk install failed , if I try to get kodi on iKoni TV

No uninstall option, no .apk available.

llama.apk must be on AFTV2? or adbFire install it?

Android 5.1
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Sphinx say he will look at this when OS5 hits the the original Fire:

https://github.com/sphinx02/FireStarter/issues/8#issuecomment-145506930

Anyone got wind of when that's likely to be yet?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] ldeveraux:
Soon ™

Realistically, who knows? Could be today, could be never. Whenever they feel it works well enough to support it.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] usenexus4:
I will install firestarter soon on my hdmi stick. I still have some questions:

My puprose is to JUST run Kodi on this stick. I don't want to see any other thing then kodi on this device.

Can the FireStarter start Kodi if the device is started and keep it in foreground?

What will happen if I exit kodi by purpose and how can I get back in Kodi?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
I recommend choosing to launch Kodi with a single press of the Home button, and Amazon Home with a double press. If you choose that option, and you want to launch Firestarter (to change settings, update, etc) you would need to dig it out of Manage Applications. Alternatively, if you prefer to use Firestarter as a launcher, you could bind the double ( or single) click to Firestarter, and launch Amazon Home from within Firestarter.

Either are great options. Bear in mind, OS 5 will break Firestarter and require you start and restart ADB debugging each time the device is booted. Hopefully, there's a fix on the way:

https://github.com/sphinx02/FireStarter/issues/8
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] usenexus4:
Ok thanks a lot. Since the device supports HDMI CEC I thought of not using the firetv remote control. Is there any way to reach my goals without the original remote control?

edit:

would it be better to use Llama for my purpose? Does it need the original RC to power on?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
The stock remote is excellent for Kodi, but is greatly enhanced by tweaking the keyboard.xml. You can swap it out with another that's compatible, but none will give you any increased power over launching apps.

Firestarter is still by far the best option going forward. Llama will not launch Kodi at all under OS 5..
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] mral70a:
FireStarter 2.7.2 Broken on New Amazon FireTV 4k UltraHD box

Just loaded FireStarter on the NEW Amazon FireTV 4K box. It was really unhappy and blew up. On the screen it cycles thru two different error messages:

FireStarter: Exception: Clearing Logcat Failed

and

Firestarter: Something went wrong. restarting HomeButtonObserver now...

Let me know what you would like me to supply you in addition to these if you need further info.

Using version 2.7.2 with Isengard 15.x and is being loaded on the new Amazon FireTV 4k UltraHD boxes. This works fine on the old standard Amazon FireTV boxes.

Thanks

Al
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
Link
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
This is a known problem. Turn adb debugging off then back on. Repeat this if you reboot the AFTV. Read back a page or so for more detail.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] mral70a:
There are days when i feel like i woke up and took my idiot pills for the day. For some unknown reason, I failed to draw the parallel between AFTV and Amazon FireTV. I saw those posts for AFTV and blew right past them thinking it was a different box. Will try this and let you know. Just to be clear... Anytime I need to reboot the box, i need to toggle the ADB on and off?

Thanks

Al

---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 PM ----------

That seems to have fixed the errors. The only thing that I am seeing now is some video flashing. When I switch to Kodi either on a single of a double click, the display flashes about 14 times on and off quickly then settles down and is solid with no apparent further issues. I will read back a page or so here also to pick up on what I have missed. I assume that a fix for this issue will be coming sometime moving forward? Great app btw, and it makes life so much easier for my wife. She wouldn't use the AFTV unless I was there before because she felt like she was always getting lost in the menu's to find and launch Kodi.

Thanks

Al
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
A further tip you might like to add to the workaround: have Firestarter boot you straight into Settings. That way you're halfway to the ADB switch. Once you toggle that, it's all good until next time you reboot.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
I must check also USB-debuging to fix the error messages .

Click/double click work, Kodi start flickering.

The remote dos not work, black screen, if AFTV start direct with Kodi.

The App "Wukong TV Remote" on smartphone work and will be a solution for somebody.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] mind20:
Remotes not working.

I also experienced a non-responsive remote issue. Not sure if this is related, but someone else already reported the same... However, virtual remote apps still worked, like the one in the FireTV Utility.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
That's clever :)
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Twoods196:
I got the new fire tv box an have same error as others. Toggling the adb debugging on an off doesnt seem to stop the errors for me
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Read this:

http://xdaforums.com/fire-tv/general/official-fire-tv-2-fire-os-5-including-t3219023
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
You read this? You see also USB-debug?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Please follow all the instructions, including setting the jumpback watchdog time to zero:

http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-temporarily-fix-firestarter-on-fire-os-5-and-the-2nd-gen-fire-tv/

More Fire 2 tips here:

http://xdaforums.com/fire-tv/general/official-fire-tv-2-fire-os-5-including-t3219023
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
v3

Big update. I have still no own FireTV2 with the real FireOS5 but there is one on the way to me ;). For now I tried to work with the Develooper Preview of FireOS5 on my FireTV-Stick. I optimized the ADB-Observation and created as an alternative a completely new non-ADB home-button detection with some disadvantages. Please read the changelog carefully and let me know if the features are working as described on your FireTVs, FireTV-Sticks and FireTV2s :)

v3

Optimized ADB connection mechansims for FireOS5. Should now work without disable + enable ADB after reboots. Still no parallel ADB connections possible.

Added shortcut to ADB settings in settings.

Added first try of completely new detecting home-button clicks without adb (which is also used as Fallback after 3 failed ADB connects). The new non-ADB observation of the home-button works only if you are on the original Amazon FireTV Home screen. This means if you are in any other App like Kodi, you have to click the home button once to get to the Amazon FireTV Home screen and then you can single or double click the home-button to perform the action desired. In practice that means, you can also add one home button click if you are in another app. If you are for example in Kodi, you can do a double-click to the home-button to perform the single click operation and according to this you can do a triple click to perform the double click action. Sorry for this strange behaviour but due to technical limitations of Android, there is no other possibility without ADB at the moment.

Removed restart-option and replaced it with notification how to restart with the remote.

Better handling of the jumback-detection -> fixes some unnessecary jumpbacks especially when the click-action is "- No Action -" or "FireTV Home". You can again safely use the jumpback detection (e.g. with default of 5000ms)!

Option to start click-action apps with FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK -> Previous instances of the App are cleared before start (e.g. the App then starts always on the first icon which is useful for some people with programmable remote's).

Everything only tested with FireOS4 on FireTV and with FireOS5 Developer Preview on FireTV-Stick. I am not yet able to test on a FireTV2 with the real FireOS5.

Hit THANKS button if you like it! :)

Or buy me a cup of coffee, donation-link on GitHub​
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] nabate79:
Confirmed Working with Amazon Fire TV 2. Thank you sphinx02 for your hard work and efforts.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
Looking good! Works fine with ADB detection off too.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] TuSpockShakur:
Bug found: v3 removed the FireTV Home app from the launcher screen.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
Check that it's not set to be hidden.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] TuSpockShakur:
It will work, but show system apps have to be enabled for it to show. With previous versions show system apps could be disabled and FTV Home would show.

Yes, it is not set to hidden.

edit: If show system apps is enabled the Fire TV Home shows up as KFTV Launcher.

edit 2: FWIW this is on the first generation Fire TV.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] ars_92:
This new behaviour will only show on lollipop right ? So for those of us still on jelly bean upgrading to firestarter 3.0, it would still behave like 2.7.2?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
That's odd. I have FTV Home showing on both FTV/1 (KitKat) and FTV/2 (Lollipop). System apps are hidden on both.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] TuSpockShakur:
Did you clear data or cache for FireStarter?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] jocala:
Seeing this message I did so with both boxes. No problems with FTV Home here.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
[MENTION=3172973]sphinx02[/MENTION]

Thx a lot, work perfect on my AFTV2.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Well this has made my day. Works perfectly on my AFTV2. It's like waking up and the headache you've had for weeks has suddenly disappeared. You sir, are the God of AFTV!

One thing it mightn't hurt to add - though I know you can effectively do it by deleting the app data - is to have a reset to default. Speaking of which, what do you recommend for a Jumpback setting?

Standing ovation!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
That is not correct, seems to be a specific problem on your device..

Correct, everything as it have been with 2.7.2! Anyway all behaviour changes are customizable via settings..

Jumpback default timing is 5000ms. It is also mentioned in the changelog.

Thank you [MENTION=6584860]Claude Koch[/MENTION], Thank you (the community) all! It is your postive feedback which motivates me, to keep the work up :)
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Thanks for the stat. That's probably a good proxy for how many are using Kodi, as well. Unbelievable!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] kibz25:
Thank you for your efforts, sphinx02. It's appreciated.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] aHcVolle:
One Question: this means when we're using FireStarter on FireOS5 we can't connect via ADB. How can we connect there then? Do we have to disable the "old" home-button-detection, turn ADB off an on and we're good to go?

Thanks for the update!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
Thats exactly it! To speed up I added a shortcut to the ADB settings directly beneath the "Use ADB Observation"-setting with which you can disable the "old" based on ADB observation.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Just added tips to cover the ADB conundrum. Can someone please double check to make sure I have it right? (Point 4)

http://xdaforums.com/fire-tv/general/official-fire-tv-2-fire-os-5-including-t3219023
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] aHcVolle:
looks good to me.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
I recommend the following if you want to use ADB tools like adbFire:

Option 1

Go to the App settings and disable "Home Detection via ADB.". Use the shortcut from the the App settings to open ADB settings and toggle (disable&enable) ADB. Now you can do your ADB business and you can still use your Single-Click or Double-Click actions from the Amazon Home screen. When you have finished ADB business, open the App with the alternative detection, go again to the App settings, use the shortcut from the the App settings to open ADB settings and toggle (disable&enable) ADB, and re-enable "Home Detection via ADB.".

Option 2

Go to the App settings and disable "Home Detection via ADB.". Use the shortcut from the the App settings to open ADB settings and toggle (disable&enable) ADB. Stay on the alternative home detection without ADB and live with the disadvantage, that clicks are only detected on the default Amazon Home screen.

PS: Restarting the FireTV is never needed, toggle ADB is sufficent!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] lucas_1188:
Backup feature not working?

Hey ! Thank you for your efforts and help in solving these issues.

I have noticed the backup feature does en empty backup, 0 bytes corrupted file that does not work to restore. Any ideas?

Thanks!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] AFTVnews.com:
Great job [MENTION=3172973]sphinx02[/MENTION] ! Home button detection is working perfectly for me on a 2nd-gen Fire TV running v5.0.2.1 (latest). Both the ADB method and the new non-ADB method work great. I personally prefer the new method. With Kodi set as single home press and FireStarter set as double home press, it gives you quick access to the default home screen, Kodi, and FireStarter. You couldn't do that previously.

I've written about the update so hopefully you'll get some new traffic and donations coming your way.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Thanks Sphinx, I've reworked it somewhat. I think if you go with ADB option, temporarily killing FireStarter is probably as quick as any temporary workaround. Switching to non-ADB is a maybe a bit more time consuming, especially with the pop-up help bubbles. I've mentioned both.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] krawhitham:
why was reboot removed?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] eXOBeX:
Non-ADB working fine on my original AFTV, which is good as it'll presumably free up ADB on FireOS5 for sideloading or Wukong Remote.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] clocks11:
Thanks sphinx02! I am using the non-ADB method.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] kay.si:
Hello, I have a question, why can I not do more at the new AFTV backup of Kodi? I use 15.1 and Kodi firestarter v 3, would be glad if you can help me
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] bingobill:
Exactly the same behaviour here, have to enable show system apps and then hide them all except KFTV launcher with it's butt ugly icon.

Mine is an original box that is rooted with latest firmware.

Is the previous version still available ? EDIT: yes it is, just found it on github.

Anyway thanks for the great app which makes the box everyday usable.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Shinyhead:
I have this issue as well...occurred after v3.0. Fire home is missing and can't set it back no matter what...
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
Seems to be a problem related to FireOS5, on the older FireOS it is still working. I check that!

Reboot has been removed, as it is only possible for the App to trigger a reboot via ADB. That means the setting only works if ADB background observation is enabled. As with the new version it is possible to use the App without ADB observation at all (Non-ADB home button detection), I removed this feature as it wouldnt work then anyway. You can simply restart the FTV with the remote (I added an info).

If you are trying to perform a Kodi backup via ADB, you are running in the known ADB problematic, see: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=63213722&postcount=252

Hm I checked it a few seconds ago, everything fine, FireTV home shows up as first icon even after deleting the app data. Perhaps this is due to the root-state of your devices? Are you all using any of this Xposed tweaks?
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Fine here, too. Non-rooted OS5 on AFTV2 and patched today.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Minkiu:
On mine it shows as well. (Stick with 4.4,non rooted)

There's a feature request I'd like to know if it's feasible, and it's the ability to kill apps from the main page of FireStarter, sometimes Kodi stops working and I've to, either reboot (which for some reason my stick struggles at grabbing the key combo) or use the Wukong remote app and "clean all" memory.

Or its something already in the app and I missed it?

Thanks for your efforts.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Shinyhead:
Rooted ftv gen1. Latest from. I have the bare apps for root and that's it...
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
Yes there is a possibility, press the menu/settings (three bars) button when Kodi is the highlighted app (in the App) and open the app settings where you can force-stop Kodi.

I am quite sure that the problematic comes together with the rooted state of the FTV. But I am not sure what exactly is the problem here. I will not root my FTV to test this, sorry..
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] bingobill:
No worries 2.7.2 works perfectly on my rooted FTV1, no real advantage updating on this box as far I can see, just the occasional nag to update but I can live with that.

I do have a FTV2 here which I haven't connected yet as I'm hoping for root :eek:
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] foshozee:
Thanks for the great application. One thing i notice is if I set 1 click for kodi and 2 click for amazon home, clicking once will take me to kodi and clicking once again takes me to amazon home (I do not need to double click). However, if I do vice versa where 2 click is kodi and 1 click is amazon home. Everything works as it should. Just wanted to report that. Thanks again
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] Claude Koch:
Home button detection only works from the Fire TV Home screen in non-ADB mode. So if you assign a single click to Kodi, the Home button will act as a toggle. Not a bad result in my book. Then you can assign a double-click to the FireStarter launcher which can give you quicker access to Settings, etc.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sphinx02:
v3.1

Again an update which fixes the settings export on FireOS5 and adds two new features. Thank you all for your feedback and help!

v3.1

Added setting to show background for app names in the app drawer (helps to read app names when wallpaper is used).

Added setting to hide left selection bar when on the main screen (app drawer).

Fixed backup (export/import) settings feature for FireOS5.

Updated russian and ukranian translations (thanks sem_top7 and Kramar111).

Hit THANKS button if you like it! :)

Or buy me a cup of coffee, donation-link on GitHub​
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] onlinespending:
Awesome update to be able to hide that left panel. I'll be promptly throwing a donation your way. Folder support seems to be about the only thing absent now. Keep up the great work

UPDATE: sent you a little something this morning. thanks for the great app!
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] dk1keith:
Already thought this was the best app for Fire TV/Stick but with this latest version it is by far the most useful app on my Firetv or Stick. Thanks again for a great app. Option to hide left menu makes this launcher perfect for my use.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] ulises.rodriguez:
Thanks for this new 3.1 update for FireStarter... It is really a Awesome update!

I really liked that now we are able to hide the left selection bar when on the main screen...!!!

However, although you has added a setting to show background for app names, that helps to read app names when wallpaper is used), ....... I'd suggest you to please consider adding if possible, to the names of the APPs selectable Colors...

This is the Best and only Launcher for the Fire-TV, that really works Flawlessly!!

So Keep up the Great Work.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] tball78:
Preserving FireStarter/Kodi by blocking Amazon FireOS updates

I have the Fire TV 4K box (2015) and thus FireStarter v3 has been a fantastic add-on allowing coexistence for Amazon FireTV services and Kodi on this very capable device.

In reality, it is unlikely that Amazon will release FireOS update that interferes with FireStarter and/or Kodi, since side-loading is core to the Android development and testing process, nonetheless I have found the following modified list of DNSmasq entries that, when added to my router, appears to allow my FireTV box (and other Amazon Instant Video capable devices in the house) access to Amazon Prime/Instant Video content while blocking FireOS updates to the FireTV device.

The DNSmasq entries listed below omits a single entry from a list originally found at a URL I am unable to post (due to limited post counts on this site) but can be found by searching Google for "Block Amazon Fire TV auto update (unrooted) – Method 2" in order to give credit where it is due.

Removed entry is:

address=/atv-ext.amazon.com/127.0.0.1

By removing that single entry and using ONLY the list below in your router's DNSmasq configuration, the device appears to have access to Amazon Prime/Instant Video while preventing FireOS "Check for Updates".

[B]address=/softwareupdates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/updates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/softwareupdates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net/127.0.0.1
address=/a1910.d.akamai.net/127.0.0.1[/B]

After adding entries, movies from Amazon's catalog stream fine; however, my manual "Check for Updates" testing results in "Unexpected error..." message. No guarantee that this will hold true forever, but at the moment, seems to do the trick.

Hoping this helps others take full advantage of FireStarter on their FireTV device by allowing "end-user/owner" to control if and when Amazon-delivered updates are applied to the FireTV device. I'm curious to see if others find this to work for them to prevent unwanted updates to their device.

Regards.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] sgs9:
You can put your list in code, with the # in menue.

address=/amzdigitaldownloads.edgesuite.net/127.0.0.1
address=/softwareupdates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/updates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/atv-ext.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/a1910.d.akamai.net/127.0.0.1
address=/softwareupdates.amazon.com/127.0.0.1
address=/firs-ta-g7g.amazon.com/127.0.0.1

go to advanced, to see your result before posting
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] tball78:
PLEASE NOTE: that the address=/atv-ext.amazon.com/127.0.0.1 is the line that must be removed for the FireTV to access Amazon Video content. If this entry is part of the DNSmasq, it will prevent consumption of media from Amazon Prime/Instant Video catalog. The remainder of the entries should be a part of the DNSmasq configuration.
[Fire TV Themes and Apps] binary01:
Wow this program keeps getting better and better! The only thing left on my wishlist is to be able to rename the app labels and change their icons. Thanks for such a wonderful program