Android Market

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by beej231

I'm going try a factory reset and l'm sure that will do it. It's just that today I had a low tolerance for this kind of stuff. I would have happily "bricked" it right out my window. Thanks for putting up with my whining.

Been there and done that! Not with my Kindles but my PC and my Router the other night. My new neighbors moved in the next unit and got the same ISP I did and the next thing I know no wireless connection. I already had a migraine and hubby had to have internet connection to do his school work as his assignment was due that night. So I spent the next 3 hours fighting with my router and just when I thought it won I suddenly did something and it worked again.

After that I had to go through all the wireless devices and set them up again.

This happens each time I get new neighbors in the building who use my ISP and take my channel.

[beej231]

Originally Posted by MikeGolf

I left everything installed, ran the utility, rooted the device, installed fire fire fire, and then installed Google apps. I can't say it enough times. It's really not as bad or as difficult as some people will make you believe. In fact, it's really only modifying a small chunk of code. My fire runs just like everyone else's.

Unrooted kindles crash just like rooted ones.

What is fire fire fire?

[beej231]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Been there and done that! Not with my Kindles but my PC and my Router the other night. My new neighbors moved in the next unit and got the same ISP I did and the next thing I know no wireless connection. I already had a migraine and hubby had to have internet connection to do his school work as his assignment was due that night. So I spent the next 3 hours fighting with my router and just when I thought it won I suddenly did something and it worked again.

After that I had to go through all the wireless devices and set them up again.

This happens each time I get new neighbors in the building who use my ISP and take my channel.

What fun. Some days it doesn't pay to chew though the restraints.

[MikeGolf]

Originally Posted by beej231

What is fire fire fire?

It's a back-up and recovery boot tool for the Kindle. If anything goes wrong during a root or installing a different ROM, you run fire fire fire on the boot and you can bring your system back to stock.

[Hope]

Originally Posted by beej231

Just 8 hours ago I was happy as could be--well maybe thinking for rooting and now I'm considering sending it back.
Today alone: Could not download from the music store unless I bought songs "in the style of" rather the original music from the original artist. When I would search for the original artist it could not be found. When I finally got that all straightened out, the music would not download from the cloud to the device. I don't care what the current trend is, music streamed from the cloud is often jerky and reminds me of of a beat up vinyl record. Stuff on the cloud is useless when you aren't near any wifi.With help from Amazon (and many cautions that the music is "safer" in the cloud) I downloaded one song and then dashed for my iMac and iTunes where the music is always safe with Apple and if you lose it, they will happily assist you to retrieve it for free. It is also safe on my iPhone, iPod, and Time Capsule and iMac.

Touch interpretation is way off today. A sigh will cause pages to be flipped, apps to start and close, while actual finger pounding does not accomplish anything at all. I turned it off and gave it a rest for about a half hour, charged it up and turned i t back on. I now have one book in the carrousel. None on the other bookshelves. About half my apps are gone.

Logging in at various places has been a challenge with the keyboard bouncing up and down as if on springs. It disappears when I need to type and springs back when I don't. And that's just a few of the things that have gone wrong today.

The touch sensitivity issue with the KF screen has been a problem for me since I received the unit. I remember my husband laughing at me trying to deal with the keyboard and the settings/notification bar when i first got it and it's still a problem. Very frustrating. Bounce, bounce.

Part of it may be my getting used to dealing with a touch screen but I've had an Archos 500 for 4 years and a couple of Sharp Zauruses for much longer and no issues with them whatsoever as far as their touch screens. Also have a Kodak touchscreen camera, come to think of it.
Anyway, I wanted to send it back when i first got it because of those problems.

[Hope]

Originally Posted by MikeGolf

It's not that difficult and I agree that it's well worth it. Go to the XDA forums and get the Kindle Fire Utility v0.93. It will root and install all of the google apps for you.

Mike, has someone written a SIMPLE walkthrough on how to install Kindle Fire Utility v0.93 and FIREFIREFIRE? The thread at XDA is rife with people's problems and not clear on how to actually root the device.

The first post in the thread has a link to download Kindle Fire Utility v0.93 but I don't see a link to FIREFIREFIRE anywhere.

I have flashed my Linux Zauruses many times so I am not totally unfamiliar with the procedure, but I want to have a CLEAR road map and procedure IF I decide to try this. It does not look that simple to me from the postings in that thread.

[diba]

FFF is installed with 0.9.3 as well as the rooting procedure is done with it.

[beej231]

Originally Posted by beej231

I'm going try a factory reset and l'm sure that will do it. It's just that today I had a low tolerance for this kind of stuff. I would have happily "bricked" it right out my window. Thanks for putting up with my whining.

Everything went well with the factory reset. But the battery died. I usually have 2 cords with me at work--nothing. I tossed the place looking for a cell phone charger. Nothing. Couldn't believe it. grrr

[Hope]

Originally Posted by diba

FFF is installed with 0.9.3 as well as the rooting procedure is done with it.

I don't see any clear step by step instructions about how to use 0.9.3 or I might try this.
For instance,
1.connect the KF to your Windows PC via the USB cable, be sure you have a full charge on the device.
2. turn on the KF
3. choose option #3 on boot up menu see here
4. allow device to reboot
5. select #2 on the menu (how do you select anything anyway? does touch screen work?)
6. reboot
7. choose option #4
8. reboot

Anyway, do you see what I mean, there's virtually no info on how to precede??

Does SDK have to be installed on your PC as other sites have explained?

Surely, someone has written a web page on the exact procedure, no??

[Anabran]

Although have no interest in "Rooting"my device
It seems from reading these instructions that us Mac OS users ,who don't have ready access to a PC, would not be able to do the procedure anyway:

"Step 1: Turn on your Kindle Fire and tap the top bar, near the battery and Wi-Fi icons; press More... from the drop-down menu, then Device, and tap Allow Installation of Applications to On.
Step 2: Download the Android SDK from the Android Developer site. Get the version with an installer app (installer_r15-windows.exe).
Step 3: Download the Java Development Kit (version 7, at the time of this writing). Make sure to download the appropriate version of the Java Development Kit for your PC--I'm on a 32-bit Windows 7 PC, so I downloaded the Windows x86....etc etc etc "

Just FYI

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by Anabran

Although have no interest in "Rooting"my device
It seems from reading these instructions that us Mac OS users ,who don't have ready access to a PC, would not be able to do the procedure anyway:

"Step 1: Turn on your Kindle Fire and tap the top bar, near the battery and Wi-Fi icons; press More... from the drop-down menu, then Device, and tap Allow Installation of Applications to On.
Step 2: Download the Android SDK from the Android Developer site. Get the version with an installer app (installer_r15-windows.exe).
Step 3: Download the Java Development Kit (version 7, at the time of this writing). Make sure to download the appropriate version of the Java Development Kit for your PC--I'm on a 32-bit Windows 7 PC, so I downloaded the Windows x86....etc etc etc "

Just FYI

There is a new utility for that now. I did mine manually via terminal.

[beej231]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Been there and done that! Not with my Kindles but my PC and my Router the other night. My new neighbors moved in the next unit and got the same ISP I did and the next thing I know no wireless connection. I already had a migraine and hubby had to have internet connection to do his school work as his assignment was due that night. So I spent the next 3 hours fighting with my router and just when I thought it won I suddenly did something and it worked again.

After that I had to go through all the wireless devices and set them up again.

This happens each time I get new neighbors in the building who use my ISP and take my channel.

Factory reset improved things immensely. I downloaded a few essential apps and left a lot of stuff off. I never used half of it. I just like having lots of apps. Keeping it cleaner for now.

[MikeGolf]

Originally Posted by Hope

I don't see any clear step by step instructions about how to use 0.9.3 or I might try this.
For instance,
1.connect the KF to your Windows PC via the USB cable, be sure you have a full charge on the device.
2. turn on the KF
3. choose option #3 on boot up menu see here
4. allow device to reboot
5. select #2 on the menu (how do you select anything anyway? does touch screen work?)
6. reboot
7. choose option #4
8. reboot

Anyway, do you see what I mean, there's virtually no info on how to precede??

Does SDK have to be installed on your PC as other sites have explained?

Surely, someone has written a web page on the exact procedure, no??

I can't think of a website since the developer has made it so User friendly.

1 plug in your kindle and ensure it comes up as a kindle in your windows explorer.

2 extract the kindle fire utility to a folder on your hard drive and run the batch file labled run

3 select root your device

4 allow your system to reboot and do exactly what the prompts say.

You now have a rooted kindle with fire fire fire

5 select install google apps.

6 allow your system to reboot

You now have google market, mail, plus, calendar and a few other apps installed and ready to run.

[Hope]

Originally Posted by MikeGolf

I can't think of a website since the developer has made it so User friendly.

1 plug in your kindle and ensure it comes up as a kindle in your windows explorer.

2 extract the kindle fire utility to a folder on your hard drive and run the batch file labled run

3 select root your device

4 allow your system to reboot and do exactly what the prompts say.

You now have a rooted kindle with fire fire fire

5 select install google apps.

6 allow your system to reboot

You now have google market, mail, plus, calendar and a few other apps installed and ready to run.

What about installing the drivers on the pc - don't you have to do that first so that the device is recognized by the pc?
Do you lose any paid apps doing this?
Still unconvinced. Looks like MANY people have posted to that thread with installation confusion and problems.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Hope

What about installing the drivers on the pc - don't you have to do that first so that the device is recognized by the pc?
Do you lose any paid apps doing this?
Still unconvinced. Looks like MANY people have posted to that thread with installation confusion and problems.

You mention having rooted some Linux based devices, but everything about your posts sounds like you're far better off running stock with full manufacturer support and warranty.
Rooting and it's associated activities is a hobbyist endeavor for folks willing to experiment and assume some additional risk.
Regardless of how easy some utilities make it, it is still the "off-piste skiing" of the electronics world.
If you're unconvinced, by all means, don't do it. Stay on the marked trail!
Personally, I don't go down that path unless I have some reason to. With some iPods and other devices, I have. With the Fire, I so far have not.