[Fire General] bibikalka:
Update - Dec. 15th, 2018: Recently I attempted a couple of freshest ROM installs (update-kindle-37.6.0.5_user_605485120.bin and update-kindle-37.6.2.6_user_626533320.bin), and the device bootloops with the 5.1.2 bootloaders (cycling through the "Amazon" logo - looks like the newest kernel is incompatible with the older bootloaders). Using recovery, I had to sideload 5.1.2 again (which older bootloaders allowed me to do!), and re-root it using these instructions via Kingoroot. As such, the most recent version that I recommend here is update-kindle-37.5.7.9_user_579279320.bin (FireOS 5.4.0.1).

News : The update file for 5.3.1.0 is posted on the Amazon site, so time to upgrade! Note that you cannot get root by downgrading 5.3.1 to 5.1.2 (& Kingroot), because the 5.3.1.0 bootloaders will brick if rolled back (so stay put for now ...) :

http://xdaforums.com/amazon-fire/help/installing-custom-rom-fireos-5-3-1-0-t3418541

Rootless in Seattle ...

[Updated July 16th, 2016]

Flashfire almost replicates TWRP functionality, thus I've significantly re-written this post to include branches for people who managed to keep TWRP from the old days of 5.0.1, and those who have to use Flashfire because of newer bootloaders (and thus lacking TWRP ...). If you want to quickly upgrade (or downgrade ?) your *rooted* FireOS while avoiding potential bricking issues, the post is for you (if you are not rooted yet, and have stock 5.3.1.0, do not attempt to downgrade, it'll brick the Fire !!!).

Before proceeding, remember these IMPORTANT points :

Take a note of your current bootloaders, this will be important later on. If you forgot what version you have, please follow this post to identify it:

http://xdaforums.com/amazon-fire/development/identify-bootloader-version-t3424634

If you disabled the stock launcher via "pm hide", please re-enable it again before the procedure, or install some other launcher as the user app. For example, if you converted Nova or other launcher to a system app, it will disappear upon upgrade, so you need some other launcher operational. Until I fixed Nova, the tablet would freeze at the end of the "optimizing applications" stage because at this stage there was no working launcher (can be fixed by adb command line, but still a bit of a mess)

Turn on Airplane mode, so that you don't "catch" an update right after this upgrade (and before you have a chance to disable it)

A : TWRP Install instructions [if you still have the "good" 5.0.1 bootloaders]

0) install ADB and Fastboot drivers on your PC, and boot into TWRP ( http://xdaforums.com/amazon-fire/orig-development/twrp-recovery-t3242548 ):

adb reboot-bootloader
fastboot boot TWRP_Fire_2.8.7.0.img

1) boot into TWRP and:

do factory reset (skip if don't want to),

flash whatever ROM you want from this post, for example, 5.3.1.0 ( rename *bin to *zip such that TWRP can recognize it):

update-kindle-37.5.7.9_user_579279320.bin

(Previous recommendation - update-kindle-global-37.5.5.2_user_552153420.bin)

flash the attached fire_boot_53820.zip . The objective of this file is to overwrite all the problematic bootloaders after 5.1.x update back to 5.0.1 version (53820 variety). This will allow to go into fastboot and then TWRP just like before.

flash Supersu.zip ( SR5-SuperSU-v2.82-SR5-20171001224502.zip; previous recommendation - https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip )

flash Xposed for Lollipop 5.1 (if you want it for misc modules, highly recommended to do this just in case)

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3034811

(version xposed-vXX-sdk22-arm.zip )

flash Pico (Uni) GAPPS for 5.1 :

http://xdaforums.com/android/software/tk-gapps-t3116347

B: Flashfire Install instructions [Note that you will have 5.1.2 (or 5.1.1) bootloaders after this procedure]

Given that FlashFire is no longer supported, I recommend version v0.51 with the date hack in order to pass the date check (adb shell; su; busybox date -s "201509221745"). Copy all the necessary files to the local Fire storage, such as /sdcard/upgrade. In Flashfire, chain the following files as ZIP or OTA flashes in one batch (same options in each case, no R/W for /system partition by default):

the OTA file you want renamed to zip, such as this one update-kindle-37.5.7.9_user_579279320.bin

the attached fire_boot_5.1.2-5.4.2_542168620.zip (or fire_boot_5.1.1-5.4.1_541112720.zip). This will replace whatever bootloaders the OTA file has with those from 5.1.2 (or 5.1.1), in order to allow upgrades/downgrades without bricking. Preserving 5.1.2 bootloaders may seem a bit pointless now, but it's still good to freeze these as some hackable bugs may be discovered in the future, so the older bootloaders one has - the higher the chance they have useful bugs ! Again, if you still have 5.1.1 bootloaders, do use fire_boot_5.1.1-5.4.1_541112720.zip here !!! (thanks to Kramar111 for reminding of the rooting trick that works with 5.1.1 bootloaders [fastboot oem append-cmdline "androidboot.unlocked_kernel=true"]

flash Supersu.zip ( SR5-SuperSU-v2.82-SR5-20171001224502.zip; previous recommendation - https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip )

Xposed for Lollipop 5.1 (if you want it for misc modules, highly recommended to do this just in case)

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3034811

(version xposed-vXX-sdk22-arm.zip )

Pico (Uni) GAPPS for 5.1 :

http://xdaforums.com/android/software/tk-gapps-t3116347

After you've verified everything, hit the "FLASH" button.

See the screenshot below as an example of how the Flashfire screen should look. Note that Flashfire gives no margin of error because it reboot immediately, so if you are flashing a bricking FireOS (relative to your bootloaders), make sure that fire_boot_5.1.2-5.4.2_542168620.zip (or the 5.1.1 version !) is flashed immediately after !!! I've carefully followed this procedure, and verified that the bootloaders do get restored to 5.1.2 version regardless of what was in Amazon's OTA file.

2) reboot to FireOS 5. Verify that SuperSu works.

3) if step 2) fails, you get into working recovery by pressing "Pwr & Vol+". If you still have 5.0.1 bootloaders (getting rare by now ...), then sideload the old 5.0.1 update and root it: http://kindle-fire-updates.s3.amazo...ZjK/update-kindle-37.5.2.2_user_522054520.bin If you have 5.1.2 bootloaders, sideload 5.1.2 instead (the last rootable version as of now) : https://kindle-fire-updates.s3.amaz...ate-kindle-global-37.5.4.2_user_542168620.bin If you have 5.1.1 bootloaders, sideload 5.1.1 !

4) block OTA updates (to prevent surprises): In Explorer go to /system/priv-app/DeviceSoftwareOTA and rename DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk to .apk_

Want to say thanks by clicking the "Thanks" button ? ;)