AFTV Dies Tonight

[mmartell]

"Uhhh, dad.. there's something wrong with the tv!"

Not exactly the tv, but the Amazon Fire TV. It was sitting on "Update Failed, please wait and the unit will reboot shortly or unplug for three seconds and it should boot normally". But, no it doesn't. Storms rolled in and I guess it picked a bad time to power off...

So I plugged in a usb keyboard and got to the stock recovery. This gives me four options:

Reboot now
Apply update from ADB
Wipe data/factory reset
Wipe cache partition

Factory reset went through its steps but rebooted into the exact same place I was in before.

Is it safe or even necessary to wipe cache partition ? I've read what seems like the best option isn't available as its basically disabled (update from adb).

Anyone have ideas or is this thing bricked ?

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

And thats supposed to be AFTV DIED Tonight but can't change the title I guess.

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

For those that don't know this box is essentially an Android. Surely some of you must be familiar enough with Recovery mode to give some advice ?

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

ADB gives away the fact that it's android.

do you run windows, or Linux - and can you download a flash file for it?
WARNING - you cant flash down - version must be the same or higher.

if you can get the flash, i'll upload the adb & fastboot utils for the pc side.

oh yea, to answer your question - feel free to wipe the Dalvik cache - it's the config files used by the app's
it's common to wipe it after upgrades anyway to avoid strange shit happening.

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

I downloaded the latest flash but it's in a .bin format ? Not sure what format the aftv is expecting because I've only ever used .zip and .apk of course.

Windows. I can find these utilities need to find a A-A usb cable.

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

fastboot can probably flash the bin.

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

Ok will try tonight. Is .bin flashable or should I zip it up maybe ?

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

fastboot -h says:

usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>

commands:
update <filename> reflash device from update.zip
flashall flash boot + recovery + system
flash <partition> [ <filename> ] write a file to a flash partition
erase <partition> erase a flash partition
getvar <variable> display a bootloader variable
boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] download and boot kernel
flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] create bootimage and flash it
devices list all connected devices
reboot reboot device normally
reboot-bootloader reboot device into bootloader

options:
-w erase userdata and cache
-s <serial number> specify device serial number
-p <product> specify product name
-c <cmdline> override kernel commandline
-i <vendor id> specify a custom USB vendor id

btw, adb says

adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the bootloader or recovery program

did you try the recovery menu?

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

Can't try tonight as I didn't have time to procure a usb cable.

Yes I can get into the Recovery Menu as stated in my first post; a Factory Restore did nothing and I can't yet connect to the device as I am only connected to it over ethernet.

Unless there's a way to do this over ethernet ?

[goontron]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

WARNING - you cant flash down - version must be the same or higher.

nonsense!

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

it's not nonsense, it was recently implemented because people found a way to root the older firmware.

btw, lots of stuff here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv

[goontron]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

it's not nonsense, it was recently implemented because people found a way to root the older firmware.

btw, lots of stuff here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv

never seen a device able to do that..... usually just flash the old bootloader and your good!

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

ok have everything connected and need advice. How do I connect to the aftv ?

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

boot the device and run adb or fastboot on the pc - they should recognise it.
that's the first thing.

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

with what switches ?

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

If I do

fastboot usb

I get..

<waiting for device>

and it keeps waiting lol

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

I'm pretty sure I'm not connecting to the aftv and I'm not sure if it's even possible ??

[stj]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

it knows it's usb, just try fastboot -h.

on linux it is anyway, on windows i suspect it would be /h

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

I just get <waiting for device>

When it boots I hear a Windows sound that I had to look up. First sound is "Device Failed to Connect" followed about 15 seconds later by "Device Disconnect".

Driver problem ?

[mmartell]

Re: AFTV Dies Tonight

Any suggestions here or is this one toast ?