A Bad Weekend for My Fire TV Sticks

ArskinF on 23/10/2023 - 10:26
Last edited 23/10/2023 - 10:41 by 1 other user

I have (had ?) two Fire TV (4K max) sticks around the house. I purchased a third a couple of weeks back, but had to return it- it would go to sleep after 20 minutes no matter what. The usual hack via the Developers Options wasn't available. It seems to me the Developer Options have been blocked entirely on the newer 4K sticks.

Being a little pissed off with it, when my Prime subscription came up for renewal around the same time I cancelled it.

Last week Fire TV #1 went black. It's 14 months old. This one was prone to dropping the WiFi connection.

Last Friday Fire TV #2 went black. It's a little older.

Needless to say I've gone through all the motions of trying to refire the Fire TV sticks but they are quite dead.

The little guy on my shoulder speculates it's because I cancelled the Prime sub.

</sigh>

Electrical & Electronics Amazon Media Player

Comments

  • bohn on 23/10/2023 - 10:54
    +4

    long live google chromecast? ;)

    • ArskinF on 23/10/2023 - 11:10

      Yup. Just ordered two GoogleTV/Chromecast thingies….

      • minty on 20/11/2023 - 11:22

        All I hear is people suggesting Firestick to sideload Smartube for adfree YT, is the same possible on Chromecast?

        • ArskinF on 20/11/2023 - 11:40

          I know it works on ANdroidTV, and the Smartube github page claims support got GoogleTV as well.

          UPDATE: You'll need developer options enabled. There are instructions on Smartube's Github page.

  • Muzeeb on 23/10/2023 - 10:55
    +3

    @jeff bezos

    Is this true?

  • AusNugz on 23/10/2023 - 11:15

    The usual hack via the Developers Options wasn't available. It seems to me the Developer Options have been blocked entirely on the newer 4K sticks.

    You have to go to about in the settings and click it 7 times to unlock developer options.
    I did it the other day on a “new fire stick 4k max.”

  • ArskinF on 23/10/2023 - 11:19
    +1

    "You have to go to about in the settings and click it 7 times to unlock developer options.
    I did it the other day on a “new fire stick 4k max.”

    I'm aware. It did not work on the stick I returned. In any case, the way it would go to sleep even when streaming Amazon Prime made me wonder about its robustness.

    • AusNugz on 23/10/2023 - 11:24

      Skill issue

      • ArskinF on 23/10/2023 - 11:24

        Prolly my Oldtimers' Disease….

  • jv on 23/10/2023 - 15:05

    We have a nvidia shield pro which has been awesome.

    We use a Google TV for the bedroom and never had a problem…

    • Muzeeb on 23/10/2023 - 15:29
      +3

      We use a Google TV for the bedroom and never had a problem…

      That's great. I'm happy for you. How is the Google tv though?

      • jv on 23/10/2023 - 15:32

        How is the Google tv though?

        It still works.

        • Muzeeb on 23/10/2023 - 15:44

          No Electronic Disruption (ED) issue then. Awesome.

          • jv on 23/10/2023 - 15:48
            +1

            @Muzeeb:

            No Electronic Disruption (ED) issue then

            Unlike the Fire…

  • ECE on 23/10/2023 - 15:51
    +2

    I have a handful of firesticks and didnt have any issues. I dont have prime subscription.

  • dbell on 20/11/2023 - 09:58

    Why didn't you return them at all? Voided warranty or what?

    • ArskinF on 20/11/2023 - 10:34

      The one that was 14 months old is with Amazon Tech. I haven't heard back yet. The other was a bit older and I couldn't be bothered.

      Both had Developers Options enabled. To overcome the 20 minute sleep mode. I'm not sure if that voided anything. However, AFAIK it's 12 mnths warranty anyway.

  • ArskinF on 26/11/2023 - 09:01

    UPDATE: I received a replacement FS 4K Max from Amazon last Friday. It works, so whatever went amiss with the two I had remains a mystery.

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