[Fire TV General] beatbreakee:
true, thats what i was confirming, because several threads in this and the other android development forum had replies from ppl who claimed that the currently sold Firestick 4k was being shipped with a version of FireOS that was not exploitable via the Kamakiri method... basically claiming that the 2018 firestick 4k (as marketed by Amazon) and the CURRENT released 4k are somehow different, which in fact they are absolutely NOT. Theres not a single difference in the board layout or chipset.

Then theres ppl claiming that the updated builds after 6.2.8.1 have patched the access to the pre-loader. Well even if that was true, there would have to be some form of hardware modification that would have had to take place, or at the bare minimum Amazon would have had to trigger an E-fuse to be blown during your initial setup, that would make it unable to downgrade via the short method. BUT they did do exactly that with the Firestick 2nd Gens, that were re-released as some other model, i forget. But i know for a fact that this did happen because i have 3 of those which do not recognize the short, and will not advance past the very 1st file when connected using the NO SHORT method. They freeze immediately and lock up the process. So i was simply doing both a CONFIRMATION to those who stated that there were no UNLOCKABLE versions being sold by Amazon right now, because that is an outright lie... The ONLY firestick 4k being sold by Amazon IS the Unlockable version.... AFAIK the only BLOCKED version being sold is the 4k Max... There is not a "NOT UNLOCKABLE" Firestick 4k being sold anywhere. BUT i also was warning everyone that if you DO purchase a new 4k with the intent of unlocking it, that they need to be aware that Amazon is sneaking an option into the order where you can just check YES and it will come pre-connected to your prime account.

(Some lesser knowing individual might see this as a GOOD OPTION, because they think they wont have to worry about connecting it to the internet to set it up, and risk updating the firmware... but this is EXACTLY Amazon's intent; They WANT ppl to have them link the device before they ship it because that insures that the newest FW is installed onto it, before it leaves the warehouse, thus rendering any mitigations useless if indeed they have patched out the pre-loader exploit!)

I have a few friends in the Software dev team in Cali, and they have told me it is COMPLETELY an ongoing process to disable or nullify all possible methods to Unlock/Alter the bootloader of some current, and ALL future FireOS devices, because they have gotten some pretty nasty legal issues directed at them for allowing system mods that are enabling these 3rd party apps which provide access to Unreleased and In theatre Movies, as well as FREE access to many of the paid streaming platforms! Paramount, Peacock, Hulu, and HBO to name a few have all blamed Amazon for not doing something to prevent the installation of these apps and services which are cutting into their profit margin. Mainly because companies like ROKU disabled all access to their Custom channel lineup, and the ability to use secret codes to install 3rd party apps, on ALL their devices, new and old!.

So just was warning any "Novelty" unlockers, that they need to make sure to not allow Amazon to pre-configure their devices. Hell several features have been removed already in just a few builds... namely the Permissions manager. I hsve one 4k stick here now that is UNLOCKED but the owner has installed several OTA updates to keep it current, and there is literally NO PERMISSIONS manager AT ALL, so several 3rd party apps wont even load. It also has no way to install the Settings V2, so theres, 1. No permission mgr, AND 2. No Accessibility options to grant access for some apps which request it.