yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Fire General] rivethead23:
Since root has been obtained and an alternative launcher can be installed, as has been mentioned there is really no need to stay on 5.0.0 anymore. I would recommend updating to 5.0.1. However, this procedure can still be applied to 5.0.1 and hopefully it'll prevent any future updates. (As of writing it 5.0.1 is the latest).

The steps are basically as follows:

Enable ADB by going to Settings> Device Options. Keep tapping on the Serial Number field until the Developer options field appears.

Under Developer options Enable ADB

Hook the Fire up to your computer and do the following commands:

adb shell pm hide com.amazon.otaverifier

adb shell pm hide com.amazon.device.software.ota

adb shell pm hide com.amazon.settings.systemupdates

I don't know which of three is the magic one, But you can not longer go to device options > system update. It also never appears to pull down the update in the background.
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
Rivethread23 - good work and many thanks for this :)

I know that you have the original Fire 7 with no system update but I wanted to see if any of your commands will work on 5.01. My device is on 5.01 has been in aeroplane mode since purchase, I have been using OTG Ethernet for connectivity and I have not signed into Amazon. Google Play is installed - basically a standalone device on 5.01 with no association with Amazon.

After running the commands and the ADB shell gave a [True State] after each command. Rebooted the device:

System Updates now gives the following error message: [The requested action is not permitted. Check Parental controls settings and try again]. As my device is not associated with Amazon parental controls have not been configured - so I browsed to a few proxy sites and such to confirm no filtering on web browsing etc

I've tried various launchers from Play store and every time the default Fire Launcher kicks back in again.

SD Card issue is still there.

When you tried the System Update button did you get the same error message as me? If so, I wonder if the Adb Shell command to disable OTA works on 5.01 as well?

Update 1: [adb shell pm hide com.amazon.firelauncher] disables the default Amazon launcher. I picked another launcher at random from Google Play. Halo installed and it worked with the default launcher hidden, however using the minimise middle button on the device forces the Parental Control Popup to appear.

So it is possible to hide the default launcher on 5.01 using ADB but it is causing issues. We need a better work around.
[Fire General] rivethead23:
Unfortunately this only blocks the update from occurring. I ran into another issue on the 5.0.0 tablet in that I can't get Google play store working. It just says cannot connect. So I don't know if one of the above things broke it. It was getting late so I went to bed. I'll keep plugging at it and see what I can do.
[Fire General] tufkal:
I might finally take both of mine out of the box today, can more people confirm this is working? [MENTION=2195665]Rivethread23[/MENTION], did you get the play store sorted out?

Couldn't wait, dove in. On an out-of-box Fire, running 5.0.0, these do in-fact keep the OTA updates from firing. I have been online, installing apps and customizing the tablet for over an hour with many reboots, no prompts or attempts of an update.

With this, and ads disabled, and the play store turned on we have a usable tablet!

F-Droid works as well, just sideload their APK to get access to lots of software:

https://f-droid.org/repo/org.fdroid.fdroid_96150.apk

Still stuck on Play Store in 5.0.0 *not working* for now.....same problem as OP
[Fire General] tufkal:
I can confirm that the Google Play Services, Login Services, and Framework are (at least partly) working, even though the Play Store is not. I sideloaded Gmail, and it automatically had my info, and downloaded my email.
[Fire General] xT29c:
Wait, I'm confused. In 1 post you say play store is on and working, then you're saying it's not...

Aside from the play store, it sounds like everything else is working fine! Is that correct. I'm asking because I'm thinking about buying a 2nd one of these, only if I can have it working 100% the way I have it now with my tablet, just with the ability to use a different launcher.
[Fire General] tufkal:
With the original 5.0.0 firmware, if you prevented the OTA update to 5.0.1:

+Can change launcher

+Can write to SD from apps

-Can't get Play Store to work (so far, but can manually side-load GApps (Gmail, Hangouts, etc))

In the other thread, people that have gone to 5.0.1:

-Locked to amazon Launcher when using HOME button

-Manual SD writing is disabled

+Google Play Store can be installed and 90% of the GApps work

--------

The key to take away is that if you get another one, and you do the fix in this thread to prevent OTA updates, you can simply wait til everyone gets things fixed and figured out. You can safely use it and not worry about getting pushed to a firmware that might be even more locked down.

On the other hand, if you're not worried about OTA updates breaking stuff, and want a working store, go to 5.0.1 and follow SD_Shadow's instructions in his thread on that subject.

Hopefully root comes soon and we can fix all these problems properly, but until then it's kinda hit and miss depending on what version you got. :)

Hope that helps.
[Fire General] rivethead23:
Thanks Tufkal was going to post something along those lines but you beat me to it.

Essentially you can prevent updates from further locking down the tablet. Who knows what future updates bring? I'll wait and update as thing warrant.

I have two one on 5.0.0 and another on 5.0.1. While I like being able to use the launcher of my choosing on 5.0.0, the working google store and updated amazon store and apps have me using the 5.0.1 one. I am keeping the other on 5.0.0 until development starts then I'll try my hand at making a ROM.
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
Your device that is on 5.0.0 Firmware have you signed into Amazon and associated your device? Or is it standalone like mine?
[Fire General] rivethead23:
Was on Amazon for a day. Factory reset it and am using it sans Amazon. Mostly using the 5.0.1 one myself.
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
Yep same here. 5.01 with no amazon sign in.

I've been playing around with the launcher again. Tried changing the hardcoded buttons and also with ADB Shell am force-stop pm disable on com.amazon.firelauncher to stop dependent services, ie hard buttons. All to no avail.

root definitely needed for this
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
Again good work on this :)

I picked up another new device yesterday morning. OTA updates disabled, Fire OS 5.0, no association to Amazon and connectivity via WiFi. Just like you I got Gmail, YouTube and other Google associated apps to work with the exception of the Play store. It finally let me sign in but comes up every time with the [Connection Retry] error.

I followed your instructions and installed AnyCut - and I have been playing around as I thought it might be possible by using shortcuts to load my Google account onto the device.

Shortcut [Add an account] - and the "Couldn't sign in - google server error" came back so not working for now.

Shortcut [Testing] - allows us to pull up more info on the Fire 7 with the 4 below options

Tablet Information - not working

Battery Information - working

Usage Statistics - working

WiFi Information - working

Shortcut [IP Settings] - gives us advanced WiFi options

A lot of the options try to load or there is a visible presence of starting to load and you can clearly see the device stopping them from loading. Basically we are trying to load Android Apps that are locked down by Fire OS which sits on top of Android.

Other apps with Permission Denied

[Log Manager]

[Crash Manager]

[Metrics Debug UI]

Looks like Amazon do not want us to have access to their inbuilt log files on their device :)

As I do not have access to Google store I have been using F-Droid for my apps. I have installed APK Extractor and it lists all the current APK's on the Fire 7. What is interesting about this is that there are APK's that where not findable using [AnyCut] but show up in APK Extractor.

Will update more in a bit
[Fire General] tufkal:
Here's an interesting note..... I'm on 5.0.0 and trying to get the Play Store working (I believe that 5.0.0 w/ Play Store is a better avenue to attack than trying to fix the launcher in 5.0.1)

For testing reasons I'm on an older version of the Play Store where the search icon is visible.

On the play store screen where it says no connection with the retry button, I hit the search icon and start typing "clas" It autofilled in clash of clans. Then i did "hang" and I see hangouts dialer. The play store app is communicating it would seem.....
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
What is the version of your Play APK please? As I have the latest version with no search - but still on 5.0.0
[Fire General] tufkal:
I'm trying all kinds, the one i was using for that test I got here:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...4&authkey=!AIVXLFXAOWDeM0Q&ithint=folder,.apk
[Fire General] rivethead23:
I'm with you I tried some work arounds on the 5.0.1 tablet but if we can get the play store working on 5.0.0 it seems to offer more opportunities.
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
Yep same here - it makes more sense to get Play store to work.

I think I might know what the issue is causing and I believe it is down to the Google Service Framework (GSF) on 5.0 not installing correctly and causing the sync issue when trying to connect. I installed [Device ID] app on 5.0 and there is no serial listed for GSF at all - on my 5.1 tablet GSF would load up on the screen and you could view settings but on 5.0 it does not.

When trying to open the Google Play some I found the following error in Logcat [.onClick: b/5160617: Reinitialize account] this relates to the GSF serial not being present. Logs also show permissions and api errors as well. The only

Looking into a GSF workaround if possible. It might be on the wrong track but I am going to see what else I can find out.

I thought I had found a back door into Google signin. Using an App calling [Applications Info] which I used to pull up the GoogleServiceFframework apk. From there I started to play around with the launch options for the applicable services.

Selecting launch on [Legal Services] takes you to Google Sign In - keyboard was not working for this so I had to adb shell input text of my gmail & password. Unfortunately the same old Google error was appearing even after I cleared the cache and re-installed Gapps.

The last screengrab shows that the System Updates on installed Google Service Framework is corrupt and not working properly. I have also launched other Gapps dependent activities from the services in [App Info] and again they either fail to load of abundance of errors. So installation issues for all of the Gapps in one way or another on Fire 5.0

Obviously there is a difference between the 5.0 Rom + 5.01 Rom that is stopping Gapps from working. Due to the amount of errors in Logcat and in Application Info and dependent services not working. My gut is saying that when we have root on 5.0 we have a better chance of getting Gapps working as we will have the ability to play around with not only System files but System commands too.

If anyone has any ideas or what else we could try please chip in.
[Fire General] redst:
running those commands will prevent any future update?

Right now I have 5.0.1 and I'm happy with it, I would like to avoid any bad surprises.
[Fire General] sd_shadow:
yes updates would be blocked until you run the unhide commands.
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
I'n not giving up on Gapps working on 5.0 but I have come to a complete standstill. I am not a developer and I am at the limits of understanding when it comes to program interaction. A fresh pair of eyes would help please :)

I'm hoping that the way all of us are coming up with different bits of info we may get it sorted soon. In the meantime most of my apps that I regularly use I can get on F-Droid. If longterm Gapps will never work on 5.0 (root or not) then F-Droid will serve my app needs. I could live without Gapps on 5.0 just to have a clean working launcher and no SD permission issues on the Fire 7.

Throw in root and it is the best £49 ever spent :)
[Fire General] glitchsys:
Question, with the Google framework and everything google installed and working except the Play store app itself... what happens if with your computer you go to play.google.com and buy an app and choose your Fire tablet as the device. This would cause Google to 'send' the app to the device. The google framework would get the MDM message and install it, I'm not sure if that requires the full functionality of the Play Store app or not, it could just be the GUI portion of the play store app that's not working but the backend stuff would still take a MDM message from Google and download and install an app.
[Fire General] tufkal:
Got an update, and it has to do with your question [MENTION=302875]glitchsys[/MENTION]

I installed the 1 Mobile App Marketplace (http://www.1mobile.com/)

I then used it to install Clash of Clans, GMail, Hangouts, and Google Play Music.

In COC it logged me in, and my village was there.

Gmail works, showed me all my mail and has notifications.

Hangouts logged in, and I can send and receive messages.

Play Music had all my uploaded music files, and allowed me to play them.

So to answer your question, it seems that it is JUST the store itself that doesn't work on 5.0.0. All the background services are up and running, and working correctly. You just need to get the apps a different way.

WARNING: I have seen some spam in my notification bar since I installed the 1 Mobile app, it seems to be kinda shady but it is getting the job done.
[Fire General] Angband:
What does that means ? I can't write my personal files: music/movies/pdfs ?
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
sorry could you explain to me what the sd card writing means please? im planning on buying a fire and was wondering what i will exactly miss if i just let it update on its own

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------

would it be like using a podcast app, and you go to save a podcast to your sd card but for some reason it wont save?
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
Also is it easy to reverse all this if I decide to update?
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
can anyone confirm if I can sign into the tablet with my amazon credentials to use the amazon market ive blocked the updates via adb was wondering if i can still use the amazon stuff
[Fire General] sd_shadow:
disabling updates, doesn't effect amazon services
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
thank you just signed in now, is it possible to update the google play services apk on 5.0.0? I cant get into youtube or gmail
[Fire General] sd_shadow:
google play is not going to work on 5.0.0
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
Yeah I understand that I've managed to get the Google play services updated and got YouTube working fine on 5.0

---------- Post added at 12:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------
[Fire General] rivethead23:
Sadly widgets don't work on 5.0.0 or 5.0.1 with Nova or Hola Launcher. Thanks for all the effort. Unfortunately life has kept me too busy to work much on the Fire.
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
I didn't realise widgets don't work amazon locked down a lot of things on this device its prob in case adding a widget on stock launcher messes with the launcher and causes weird stuff or crashes
[Fire General] tonyt3rry:
Can someone explain how to reverse this please. Im gonna update to 5.0.1 I want to get full working google play and am underground I can prob live with no write permissions
[Fire General] sd_shadow:
just use unhide in replace of hide command
[Fire General] jco23:
when I got my 6-pack, some of them had dead pixels. I asked for replacements, and when they arrived, both of them automatically updated to 5.01 on boot (no internet connection). so it looks like 5.0 is a thing of the past.
[Fire General] rivethead23:
I'll boot up my 5.0.0 one and make sure it doesn't v stories somehow force and update.
[Fire General] julianpaul:
Hey guys, will be getting my Fire soon but i'm confused about the information here.

Here's what i understand:

1. Staying on 5.0.0 won't allow play store but you can write to SD

2. Moving to 5.0.1 allows play store but limits SD writing from apps (what does this mean exactly? can I still say copy files like movies/music/books to the sd card via USB from a PC? Can i transfer said files say via bluetooth/wifi from another device?)

3. Root. Can both the above versions be rooted? And how does being rooted affect the above two points?

I'm a fairly advanced user so don't keep it too simple! thanks
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
I rooted 5.0 the other night and spent along time trying to get the play store to work but to no avail. I thought root might have given me a chance but no luck.
[Fire General] julianpaul:
so this doesn't work on 5.0?
[Fire General] k3ll0gs:
No not at all - no play on 5.0 root or 5.0 non root
[Fire General] sd_shadow:
there is no advantage to stay on 5.0.0.

5.0.1 can be rooted which allows r/w of SD card, google framework , and replacement of stock launcher.
[Fire General] julianpaul:
OK! that's the kinda answer I was looking for. Thanks!

So, the OP means the previously mentioned conditions were only applicable since we didn't have root yet?

Do we have any limitations at all on a fully updated and then rooted KFFOWI as compared to say, a bone stock rooted android tab?
[Fire General] stultus2:
1) Yes

2) It's running Fire OS instead of bone stock Android. But they're working on custom roms. It also has a lot more bloat pre-installed (and I'm finding it someome limited in the # of apps I can install as a result), but you can hide/delete bloat as per your risk tolerance.
[Fire General] rivethead23:
I updated the original post to reflect the ability to root.
[Fire General] scottharris4:
What do I do if I only want to enable SD card write access but not disable OTA?
[Fire General] Vlasp:
Then go to 5.0.1, root, install NextAppSDFix, and do not disable the apks in the op.
[Fire General] scottharris4:
OK I did all that. Every app that needs to be granted write permission gives me the screen where I am supposed to select the SD card but the only thing I have access to is Recents and Internal Storage.

EDIT:

As shown in this screencap, there is no SD card access

[IMG="No SD card access"]http://i.imgur.com/rOm1Dbf.png[/IMG]
[Fire General] julianpaul:
Would there be any way to disable automatic OTA, but still show that an update is available?

Looking at the three filenames above, I just disabled the first 2 with ota in them, and left the last systemupdates one be. Now it does go into system update, but when I tap check updates, it says unable. I think it would be useful to know if and when an update comes out without having it forced. I know i'm being captain obvious here, but just sayin...
[Fire General] rivethead23:
I'm sure updates will be posted and mentioned here. Without an update pending we have no way of knowing if it works as you want.
[Fire General] julianpaul:
Yeah but at least someone would have to have ota fully enabled then, and it would still be a 'surprise'...
[Fire General] fredm77:
How to enter adb command line?

Solved.
[Fire General] Smood:
Will this work on fire OS 5.1.1?
[Fire General] julianpaul:
I have a few points that need clarification: (note: i'm on 5.0.1 and fully rooted and debloated. ota stuff was hidden early on. I have NOT hidden com.amazon.settings.systemupdates)

1. otaverifier folder (and apk) in /system/app

2. com.amazon.otaverifier in /data/data​

what is the difference, and why are there two of these?

3. DeviceSoftwareOTA in system/priv-app

4. com.amazon.device.software.ota in /data/data​

same question as above

5. DeviceSoftwareOTAContracts in system/priv-app

6. persist.sys.ota.verified in data/property (file contains failure)

7. otacerts.zip in system/etc/security​

what are these?
[Fire General] julianpaul:
Someone please address this issue. My main concern is that even after blocking the ota apks in system, the same/similar apks still exist in data/data.

Could this be a risk ?
[Fire General] Vlasp:
In the /data/data/ folder, data is kept for the apps installed. Since we are manually uninstalling those OTA apps, the Android uninstall script isn't run, so therefore the folders associated with the app aren't removed. Those folders can't do anything without the app, so anything in those folders are rubbish without the apps for them. We might be able to get the image file for the update from these folders (Someone can use Voodoo Root Keeper before the update and then apply the new update, then copy the new update image), and we will be able to have the new update.bin.
[Fire General] julianpaul:
Thanks for replying Vlasp.

The thing is, the folders in data aren't empty, they have the apks in them!

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------

Btw, all I did to find these was go to device root (/) in es file explorer and used the search function for OTA
[Fire General] jco23:
thanks for this. just noticed my son's Fire automatically took the 5.1.1 update, so I quickly hid the OTA updates on the other three devices.
[Fire General] Killerfish1450:
I have ran into an issue disabling the OTA using the supertool. I used the tool to gain root but it freezes when trying to disable updates. Does anyone know the command lines needed to disable them manually using ADB on 5.1.1?
[Fire General] chemie99:
I have the same issue. The .bat file locks up. When I manually issue the commands from adb:

adb shell su -c "pm disable com.amazon.otaverifier

it locks up there too.

(5.1.1 rooted with Su via Supertools)
[Fire General] Killerfish1450:
After failing to disable the OTA and trying to stay stock, I decided to follow the tutorials and flash the SlimLP rom. Honestly I didn't care about any of the Amazon features so now I can treat it like a normal tablet.
[Fire General] chemie99:
I would like to stay on Kindle rom if I can just for my wife who has a 8.9" HD one too. But I am worried that with OTA disabled apparaently failed, I could end up with something that later can't move to Slim...

Would like to fix OTA if anyone can suggest fix?
[Fire General] DoLooper:
Use a file explorer to rename the extension of these files from "apk" to "apk_"

/system/priv-app/DeviceSoftwareOTA/DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk

/system/app/otaverifier/otaverifier.apk

Or run these commands at command prompt one at a time:

adb shell "su -c 'mount -o remount,rw /system; cd /system/priv-app/DeviceSoftwareOTA/; mv DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk_'"
adb shell "su -c 'mount -o remount,rw /system; cd /system/app/otaverifier/; mv otaverifier.apk otaverifier.apk_'"
[Fire General] chemie99:
Thanks but I turned to the dark side and flashed to Resurrection Rom instead...wife will need to get her own ;)
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KruseLudsMobile:
Where can I buy the Wireless Charger Pack (it's a case, see picture)
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sultanshariff51:
Kassel you have register on Samsung Web site after buying phone then it will directly come to your registrated residential address
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KruseLudsMobile:
I am registered on the Web site, it does not show as being on sale there.
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tinman0:
Hi all,

Would someone be willing to extract the samsung car mode apk and post it online so that I can install on my AT&T Note 5. Apparently AT&T made a deal with Samsung to not allow this particular app in the Galaxy app store. I guess they see it as competition with AT&T's drive mode app. Thanks in advance!
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jainyankee1993:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...0.21.19664.apk
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ECdOc:
I got a 404 error trying to grab the file.

edit: nevermind did save target and think i got it.
[Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jainyankee1993:
Mirror: https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0Byjdl88tN40ZYmh4Qm4zanVldDg/edit this should work