If you often connect a non-FAT32 USB drive or microSD card to a Fire TV, you’re probably familiar with the message that appears asking if you want to format the drive or card. This guide will show you how to disable this message on a rooted Fire TV 1 or 2.

One thing you should know before following this guide is that disabling the formating message may cause some menus in the Fire TV’s settings area, like the “About” menu under “System,” to not open correctly. If you ever need to access a menu that is affected, you will first have to re-enable the formating message and restart your device.

How to disable the message

1. Connect to your device via ADB.
2. Enter ADB shell by running the command: adb shell
3. Enter SU by running the command: su
4. Disable the message by running the command: pm disable com.amazon.tv.settings/com.amazon.tv.settings.tv.usb.FormatDriveActivity
5. Exit SU by running the command: exit
6. Exit ADB shell by running the command: exit

How to re-enable the message

1. Connect to your device via ADB.
2. Enter ADB shell by running the command: adb shell
3. Enter SU by running the command: su
4. Disable the message by running the command: pm enable com.amazon.tv.settings/com.amazon.tv.settings.tv.usb.FormatDriveActivity
5. Exit SU by running the command: exit
6. Exit ADB shell by running the command: exit
7. Restart your device.

By default, the Amazon Fire TV only recognizes USB drives and microSD cards formatted with a FAT32 file system. This poses a problem for storing and accessing files larger than 4GB, since that’s the limit of the FAT32 file system. If your device is rooted, you can mount drives and cards using other file systems, like NTFS, and access files stored on them within apps like Kodi and ES File Explorer. This guide will show you how to mount non-FAT32 USB drives and microSD cards on a rooted Fire TV 1 or 2.

Your device must be rooted to follow this guide. If you want to play media files that are larger than 4GB on a non-rooted device, see this guide. You will also need a mouse connected to your device to complete this guide.

You cannot move apps and games onto a non-FAT32 drive or card. To do that, you must use a FAT32 formated USB drive on the Fire TV 1 or a FAT32 formatted microSD card on a Fire TV 2. Non-FAT32 external storage can only be used to store media and files.

Guide

1. Sideload the app Paragon exFAT, NTFS & HFS+ onto your device. You can download it from here or here.
2. Launch Paragon
   
3. Select “Grant” from the popup to allow the app SU access on a rooted device.
   
4. Using a mouse, click the “NEXT” button in the upper right.
   
5. Click the red “SKIP” button at the bottom of the screen.
   
6. Select “YES” on the SELinux message.
   
7. Plug in your NTFS microSD card or USB drive. If you’re asked to format, select “Cancel” to dismiss the message.
   
8. Your card or drive should automatically be mounted. Pay attention to the “Mounted on” directory listed. This is where you will navigate to access the files on the NTFS card or drive.
   
9. To safely disconnect your card or drive, launch Paragon and select the “UNMOUNT” button. If you’re having trouble finding your files, try checking the following locations:
   • /sdcard/ParagonNTFS
   • /data/media/0/ParagonNTFS
   • /storage/emulated/legacy/ParagonNTFS
   • /storage/emulated/0/ParagonNTFS
10. [OPTIONAL] Follow this guide to disable the message that asks you to format your drive or card.

After taking about a month off due to travel and being busy, rbox is back in the swing of working on TWRP custom recovery for the 1st generation Fire TV. If you recall, some people were having looping/blinking issues with the original version of TWRP for the Fire TV 1. A test version of TWRP, labeled bueller-twrp-test8.img, that fixed some of the issues was released by rbox about a month ago, and now he is picking up where he left off to finalize the necessary fixes. Rbox just released a new version of TWRP for the Fire TV 1, labeled bueller-twrp-test9.img. If you’re still having issues with TWRP on the older Fire TV and are willing to help test new releases, try this new version of TWRP and report back in the XDA thread to help rbox out. Once TWRP for the Fire TV 1 is stable for everyone, rbox can move on to creating pre-rooted ROMs of the latest 5.2.1.0 software update, and then work on TWRP and ROMs for the Fire TV Stick.

After getting back to work on TWRP custom recovery fixes for the Fire TV 1, it didn’t take long for rbox to figure out the issues causing some first generation Fire TVs to loop/blink when trying to access recovery. A new final version of TWRP custom recovery for the Fire TV 1 has been released, labeled TWRP Image 3.0.0-7. This new version also fixes issues where owners of 720p TVs were seeing duplicate/overlapping menu items. You can download the new TWRP release from the usual XDA thread and use these instructions to install it.

If you’re not having any issues with TWRP on your Fire TV 1, you don’t need to install this new version. When you install the new 5.2.1.0 pre-rooted ROM, which has also just been released, the ROM will automatically update TWRP to this new version. The only people who need to explicitly install this new standalone TWRP version are the ones who could not get into TWRP custom recovery on the Fire TV 1. If you’ve been holding back updating a rooted Fire OS 3 1st-gen Fire TV because of the TWRP issues, now would be a good time to finally update Clockworkmod to TWRP and install a Fire OS 5 pre-rooted ROM.

As always, if you have the means, donate to rbox to thank him for continuing to release updates for the Fire TV1.

This is a new method of blocking software updates on a rooted Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. It involves setting a custom software version number in the device’s build.prop configuration file. Rbox came up with this idea and asked me to test if it works. The main advantage to this update blocking method is that it can be implemented from within TWRP custom recovery before the device boots. That means, if you factory reset (i.e., wipe data partition) a Fire TV, you can ensure the device does not update during the initial setup process. Prior to this method, you had to rely on external router or OpenDNS update blocking methods when going through the Fire TV initial setup process after factory resetting. Now you can block updates internally before starting the initial setup process. If you have a rooted device and are blocking updates using the “pm disable …” method (method 1 in my blocking guide), it’s a good idea to also follow this guide to have an additional update blocking method in place.

Important

This update blocking method MUST BE REDONE EVERY TIME YOU INSTALL A ROM. That is why it’s best to use both this method and the “pm disable …” method (method 1) from my blocking guide. This blocking method does survive a factory reset, which method 1 does not. So this method will cover you when factory resetting your device, and method 1 will cover you if you flash a new ROM but forget to re-apply this method, since method 1 survives installing a new ROM.

You can implement this update blocking procedure from within TWRP or within Fire OS. Obviously, if you are following this method to block updates during the initial setup process, you need to implement this update block from within TWRP. If your device is already setup and you are following this guide to just have an additional blocking method in place, then it’s actually simpler to implement this method from within Fire OS.

Guide using TWRP

1. Boot into TWRP Custom Recovery. Be sure you are following this guide AFTER you’re done installing a ROM. Installing a ROM will remove this blocking method, so it should be done last, just before you boot into Fire OS.
2. Select Mount from the TWRP main menu.
3. Check the box next to System and then return to the main menu by pressing the home shaped button in the bottom center.
4. You now need to transfer the file /system/build.prop from your Fire TV to your PC. You can do this using ADB or by copying it to a microSD card or USB drive connected to your device.

   To transfer the file using ADB:

   1. Connect to your device via ADB. You will need to be connected over ethernet and the IP of your device is displayed in the upper left of the main TWRP menu.
   2. Transfer the file to your PC by running the command:
      adb pull /system/build.prop [PATH-ON-YOUR-PC]
      Be sure to replace [PATH-ON-YOUR-PC] with the directory on your PC where you want the file to be saved.
      Mac example:
      adb pull /system/build.prop /Users/AFTVnews/Downloads/
      Windows example:
      adb pull /system/build.prop C:\Users\AFTVnews\Desktop\

   To transfer the file using a microSD card or USB drive:

   1. Insert the microSD card or USB drive into your Fire TV.
   2. Select Mount from the TWRP main menu.
   3. If it is not already checked, check the box next to Micro SDCard or USB (depending on which one you’re using). Then return to the main TWRP menu by clicking the home shaped button in the bottom center.
   4. Click Advanced from the TWRP main menu.
   5. Click File Manager from the menu.
   6. Click the system directory.
   7. Click the build.prop file.
   8. Click Copy File from the menu.
   9. Click the external_sd if you’re using a micro SD card, or select usb if you’re using a USB drive.
   10. Click the Select Current Directory button in the lower right.
   11. Click the Swipe to Confirm button to copy the file to your external storage device.
   12. Press the home shaped button to return to the main TWRP menu. Go back into the Mount menu and uncheck your external storage device. You can now remove your microSD card or USB drive and connect it to your PC.
5. Now that you have the build.prop file on your PC, open it with a plain text editor.
6. Find the line (near the top) that starts with ro.build.version.number=
7. Replace the numbers on that line with 987654321 and save the file.
8. Now you need to transfer the file back to your Fire TV.

   To transfer the file back using ADB:

   1. Run the command:
      adb push [PATH-TO-build.prop-ON-YOUR-PC] /system/build.prop
      Be sure to replace [PATH-TO-build.prop-ON-YOUR-PC] with the location on your PC where the build.prop file is stored.
      Mac example:
      adb push /Users/AFTVnews/Downloads/build.prop /system/build.prop
      Windows example:
      adb push C:\Users\AFTVnews\Desktop\build.prop /system/build.prop

   To transfer the file using a microSD card or USB drive:

   1. Insert the microSD card or USB drive into your Fire TV.
   2. Select Mount from the TWRP main menu.
   3. If it is not already checked, check the box next to Micro SDCard or USB (depending on which one you’re using). Then return to the main TWRP menu by clicking the home shaped button in the bottom center.
   4. Click Advanced from the TWRP main menu.
   5. Click File Manager from the menu.
   6. Click the external_sd if you’re using a micro SD card, or select usb if you’re using a USB drive. (You may need to select “Up A Level” first.)
   7. Click the build.prop file.
   8. Click Copy File from the menu.
   9. Click the system directory. (You may need to select “Up A Level” first.)
   10. Click the Select Current Directory button in the lower right.
   11. Click the Swipe to Confirm button to copy the file to your /system directory.
   12. Press the home shaped button to return to the main TWRP menu.
9. That’s it. To confirm the custom version number is saved correctly, do one of the following:
   If you’re connected via ADB, run the following command:
   adb shell cat /system/build.prop | grep number

   Or, within TWRP, go to Advanced, then to Terminal, and type the following command:
   cat /system/build.prop | grep number

   You should see ro.build.version.number=987654321 printed out. If you get the original version number printed out, then you did something wrong and need to repeat this guide from the beginning.

Guide using ES File Explorer within Fire OS

1. It will be a lot easier to follow this guide if you have a keyboard and mouse connect to your device. First, install the app ES File Explorer onto your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick from the Amazon Fire TV appstore.
2. Open ES File Explorer.
3. Scroll down the menu on the left and turn on the “Root Explorer” option under the “Tools” sub-menu.
4. Grant su permission if you’re asked.
5. Press back or escape to dismiss the pop-up menu.
6. Scroll up the menu on the left and select “Local”.
7. Select “Device” from the options that appear.
8. Scroll down and select the “system” folder.
9. Scroll down and select the “build.prop” file.
10. Select to open it with “ES Note Editor”
11. Select the pencil icon in the top right to edit the file.
12. Find the line that starts with ro.build.version.number and replace the number on that line with 987654321. It’s best to use the arrow keys on your remote or keyboard, instead of clicking with a mouse, to edit the number.
13. Click the back arrow icon in the upper left. Not the one in the upper right.
14. Click “Yes” when asked if you want to save.
15. Click the back arrow icon in the upper left again.
16. To verify your changes were saved, open the build.prop file again and ensure the number next to ro.build.version.number is still 987654321. You can also verify by connecting to your device via ADB and running the command:
    adb shell cat /system/build.prop | grep number
    You should see ro.build.version.number=987654321 printed out.

In the video above, I show how the Amazon Fire TV 1, Fire TV 2, and Fire TV Stick 1 each handle playing video encoded with the h.264 and h.265 codec. I run all three devices through several different test videos at various bit rates. The purpose is to show that, as long as the video codec being used is supported by the device’s dedicated hardware decoder, the CPU of the device is nearly irrelevant when it comes to playing high quality video. This is why, even though the Fire TV Stick has a fairly weak CPU, it can still play video as well as the Fire TV boxes. Continue on if you’d like to read the transcript of the video.

Video Transcript

This is a quick video comparing the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick, 1st-gen Fire TV, and 2nd-gen Fire TV relative to how they each handle h.264 encoded video vs h.265 encoded video. I’m often asked if the Fire TV Stick is a good device for video playback, since it has a much weaker CPU than the Fire TV boxes, so I put together this video to show you that as long as you’re playing video using the right codec, the CPU is almost irrelevant for video playback, because all of these devices have dedicated hardware decoders.

On the left of the screen is the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick, in the middle is the 1st-gen Fire TV, and on the right is the 2nd-gen Fire TV. All videos are being played using the latest stable version of Kodi on stock devices running the latest Fire OS software version. At the top I’ve indicated the video codec being used, the bit rate of the video, and I’ve enabled Kodi’s codec overlay so you can see each device’s CPU usage and player bit rate.

What you’re watching right now is a 40 Mbps h.264 video. This is around the quality you can expect from a Blu-ray video and, as you can see, all three devices are playing the file smoothly without overwhelming the CPU. That’s because all three devices have dedicated hardware designed to decode h.264 video.

If we bump up the bit rate to 60 Mbps, you can see the playback is still smooth and the CPU usage stays pretty much unchanged. At this bit rate we’re already way above the quality of video streamed by services like Netflix and Amazon, which both stream 1080p at less than 10 Mbps. Notice that the bit rate reported by the player is right around 60 Mbps, which is where we expect it to be.

Moving up to the extreme case of a 100 Mbps video, which nobody would realistically use, we start seeing the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV struggle. Notice that even though the devices can’t keep up with the video, their CPU usage hasn’t changed much. You might expect to see 100% CPU usage, but the dedicated video decoder is still the one handling the daunting task of decoding the video, so the CPU doesn’t have much to do. You can see the bit rate reported by the player on the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV is not reaching 100 Mbps, this indicates the hardware decoder is just not capable of decoding this much data fast enough, but the bit rate reported by the player on the 2nd-gen Fire TV is reaching high bit rates, which is why playback is still smooth even at this high of a bit rate.

Now we’ll move to a video encoded with the h.265 codec and start things off at a measly 3 Mbps. Immediately you can see the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV are struggling. That’s because neither device has a hardware decoder capable of decoding h.265 video. The CPU on both devices is pretty much maxed out because it has to take on the task of decoding this video since the dedicated hardware decoder does not support h.265 video. The 1st-gen Fire TV, with it’s more powerful 1.6 Ghz quad-core CPU, is able to almost keep up with the 2nd-gen Fire TV’s dedicated h.265 hardware decoder, resulting in smoother playback than the much weaker 1 Ghz dual-core Fire TV Stick. Neither device was made for h.265 encoded video, so even though it’s just a 3 Mbps bit rate video, it results in a relatively bad viewing experience.

The 2nd-gen Fire TV, on the other hand, does have an h.265 capable hardware decoder. That’s because it’s a 4K device and h.265 is the prefered codec for 4K video streams from Netflix and Amazon Video. Just like with the h.264 videos from before, the 2nd-gen Fire TV’s CPU isn’t doing much work because all the heavy lifting is being done by the dedicated hardware decoder.

Moving up to a 15 Mbps h.265 video, which is around the quality used by Netflix and Amazon for 4K streaming, we can see the 2nd-gen Fire TV handles this without any issues because it was designed with dedicated hardware to handle this exact codec and bit rate. With the previous 3 Mbps h.265 video, the 1st-gen Fire TV was almost watchable due to its CPU capabilities alone, but now at 15 Mbps, the 1st-gen Fire TV’s CPU just can’t keep up anymore, and the Fire TV Stick just has no hope of processing this much data using it’s CPU alone.

Lastly, we’ll bump up the bit rate to 100 Mbps, which again, nobody would realistically use. The 1st-gen Fire TV Stick and Fire TV have no hope of processing this amount of data using their CPU alone, so they’re practically displaying a slideshow of static images at this point. The 2nd-gen Fire TV is handling this 100 Mbps h.265 video without a sweat, thanks to its h.265 capable hardware decoder.

For comparison, let’s switch back to the h.264 video at the same bit rate of 100 Mbps to remind you how well even the relatively weak 1st-gen Fire TV Stick was able to handle this extreme bit rate when a codec that the hardware was designed for is used.

I hope this video was able to demonstrate that, when it comes to playing high quality video, the CPU of a device is not nearly as important as the capabilities of the dedicated hardware decoder. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to hit that like button on YouTube to let me know you’d like to see more videos like this one, and while you’re there, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I host a weekly series called the AFTVnewscast where I discuss the Fire TV and topics like this on a weekly basis. And of course, keep it locked to AFTVnews.com for all things Fire TV.

Woot currently has the refurbished 1st-gen Fire TV and the refurbished Amazon Tap on sale. The refurbished Fire TV 1 is $52.99, which is $3 more than the lowest price I’ve ever seen for it. If you’re looking for something a bit more powerful than the Fire TV Stick but don’t want to spend the money for the Fire TV 2, the Fire TV 1 is still a very capable device. Plus, it’s the only model that has an optical audio port, which many can’t live without. The refurbished Amazon Tap is $79.99, which is not that enticing of a price, considering the brand new Tap was on sale for just $10 more just a few days ago.