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Questions & Discussions
Worth loading Lineage OS?
I just bought the HD 8 on sale for like $59 or so, its the kind with amazon ads, i am hoping they dont mess with actiontiles at all! do they?
Also, are most people not loading android like lineage os on these things? it seems the hardware was cracked w/ a cpu exploit and you can load unlocked android on to these things for a while now and it seems like its quite stable?
if so, are there performance gains from removing amazon crap/bloat/os and loading stock android w/ lineage os? any downsides/upsides?
it seems most use fully kiosk browser w/ android fire os, so maybe its pointless? thx
Answers
Don't know much about Lineage (and haven't looked it up), but to the best of my knowledge, there are no known practical ways to root nor re-ROM any Amazon Fire tablets (except very old models). The available method requires removing the case and electrically shorting a couple of internal pin points, and a bunch of complicated steps after that.
The primary issue with using a FireOS tablet as a wall-panel is that there is no way to disable the "lock screen" upon sleep. The lock screen exists even without ads, and takes only a simple swipe to open if you don't have a lock screen PIN / password.
The practical solution is to enable "Developer Options" (tap serial number 7 times) and set "Never sleep when powered", and leave it plugged in all the time. Use Fully or perhaps other Kiosk browsers, if you wish, to timeout to full dim (i.e., black screen with faint backlighting) or to a screen saver URL, including, if you wish, DAKboard.
The only other big limitation with FireOS is the lack of Google services, particularly the Play Store (but also, Chrome, Maps, etc.). There are lots of articles and videos describing how to install Google Services - but we recommend against this, because the side effects on performance are unpredictable. If you need certain Apps not found in Amazon App Store, then just search for an APK or alternative App store.
They found a way to unlock the boot loader on the 2018 HD 8 without opening the hardware using some kind of exploit they found in the mediatek Cpu: https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/orig-development/unlock-fire-hd-8-2018-karnak-amonet-3-t3963496
I think I might try it, worse case I lose $60, best case its a better actiontile device afterwards.
Good news, I was able to load lineage 16 on the Fire HD 8 with no opening it at all. Its android 9 Pie and its running really well so far. The only issue with 16 is the front facing camera doesnt work but I think it does with version 14 so if you want motion detection you can use that.
based on the eye test it seems a lot faster, less bloat really makes a difference. action tiles runs great so far with dakboard screensaver w/ fully.
No lock screen issues! very nice for $59!!!
Nice, I got 2 of them when they were on sale for $50 a few weeks ago. I have one rooted and de-bloated. Considering putting lineage on the other one for comparison.
nice they sold them as cheap as $50??? i thought $59 was the lowest I saw, i will have to keep an eye out as I am going to need more.
Please report back and let us know the side by side comparison!
Customer support service by UserEcho
Good news, I was able to load lineage 16 on the Fire HD 8 with no opening it at all. Its android 9 Pie and its running really well so far. The only issue with 16 is the front facing camera doesnt work but I think it does with version 14 so if you want motion detection you can use that.
based on the eye test it seems a lot faster, less bloat really makes a difference. action tiles runs great so far with dakboard screensaver w/ fully.
No lock screen issues! very nice for $59!!!
They found a way to unlock the boot loader on the 2018 HD 8 without opening the hardware using some kind of exploit they found in the mediatek Cpu: https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/orig-development/unlock-fire-hd-8-2018-karnak-amonet-3-t3963496
I think I might try it, worse case I lose $60, best case its a better actiontile device afterwards.