# Anyone else hacking the Amazon FireTV Stick or XBMC?



## Hackerman (Feb 5, 2016)

I was never into gaming or XBox so I never really understood the XBMC crowd but when I got busted for hacking, it was by DirecTV for reverse engineering the encryption of their Satellite TV card so TV has always been a pet of mine.

Although, I don't watch TV, a friend was talking about how there was a hack for the new Amazon Fire TV stick so I did a little research, went to Best Buy and bought a standard Fire TV stick and in less than an hour, I was watching free TV. It's not really a hack. It's more of a side load. The Amazon bootloader is replaced with another which enables us to boot into an OS called KODI (this is the new name for the old XBMC (XBox Media Center). 

From there, it's really just a menu. A sort of consolidator of all the audio and video content that is available on the entire internet. Legal AND illegal so you have your choice if your guilt or morals don't allow you to view downloaded content, there is plenty of legal content (which is what I am discussing here and now).

I have really just started playing with it and I am totally amazed at the KODI setup. It is very well laid out, easy to operate, has more features and options available than any set top box I have ever seen (and, I have seen plenty for all the years I used to hack TV boxes). Kudos to the people who put KODI together because it is really well done. Just about anyone with minimal computer ability could do this without any real learning curve. It's pretty simple

The reason I brought it up here is that amount of content that is available is amazing. Everything from old episodes of Lost in Space and I Love Lucy to current streaming TV from all the latest channels. Not to mention, every movie ever made. Although, I am against people watching commercial television, I do watch an occasional Leave it to Beaver or one of the other classics (without commercials, of course). LOL

In one of the add-ons that is available for KODI, I found a considerable amount of Stoner TV channels. LOL Along with all the classic Cheech and Chong stuff and The Cannabis Kid (If you have not seen The Cannabis Kid, it's pretty good), it also has a bunch of pot related TV channels. Who would have guessed that there are TV channels totally dedicated to pot.

Most of them are just YouTube channels but some of them are actually very well produced talk shows centering around cannabis. So far, I have found..

Weedmaps TV
Greenhouse Seeds TV
High Times TV
Nug Porn TV (this one was pretty funny)
Strain Hunters TV
Stonerr420 TV
Cannabis Channel

Just wondering if anyone else is into this.


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## Budlight (Mar 23, 2017)

I run a  raspberry pie with Kodi and have for a long time now just love it just recently learned how to install all the old retro arcade games as well as all the Nintendo games it's pretty awesome


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## Hackerman (Mar 23, 2017)

The Pi is a great way to run KODI. I have the OSMC loaded on my PI just to check it out and it's... like you said, awesome.

Anyone who has internet access and a TV should have KODI. It's not for everyone but if you're open minded and a little patient, the rewards are worth it. Virtualy anything that's ever been on TV is available. I love watching retro TV. Mr Ed, Leave it to Beaver, Lost in Space... LOL

On a related note, I recently found a TV series on KODI staring (and written by) Eugene Levy. My humor is a little weird so this show might not be for everyone but I found the characters very enjoyable. And, Eugene Levy is a master. It's called Schitts Creek. Not sure what network produces it but it's pretty funny.


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## WoodHippy (Mar 23, 2017)

Can just any fire stick be used. I would do this.


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## Hackerman (Mar 23, 2017)

Yes, any FireTV Stick or FireTV box will work. Actually, there are a zillion ways to run KODI.

Here is the official KODI site for all the latest downloads.

https://kodi.tv/

Here is the KODI Wiki if you want to read up on it a little see where and what it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodi_(software)

KODI can be run on anything from a computer with an HDMI output to an old phone you have laying around (some old phones). It will run on the Raspberry Pi as well as it's original media... The XBox. Here is a list of the boxes and platforms that KODI will run

http://kodi.wiki/view/devices

As for loading it specifically on the FireTV Stick, do a search of "How to load KODI on FireTV Stick" and you'll hit a bunch of methods.

If you like following You Tube tuts, there are a bunch. Here is just one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGq7DiFP_1A

Other results show a pictorial step-by-step. Like this one http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Install_Kodi_on_Fire_TV 

If you have a computer there are methods to use a computer to program the FireTV Stick. If you don't have a computer, there are ways to program it without a computer.

So, pick your flavor and follow your favorite tutorial. If you have problems, just post here. I'll walk you through it. It's pretty easy. Even for non-dweebs.


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## WoodHippy (Mar 23, 2017)

I think it will be easy enough, Got my firestick need to find my tv remote to change Aux. I have been wanting to watch Strain Hunters


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## Budlight (Mar 23, 2017)

WoodHippy said:


> I think it will be easy enough, Got my firestick need to find my tv remote to change Aux. I have been wanting to watch Strain Hunters



 Watch this video woodhippy it will show you how to setup kodi 

http://youtu.be/A7utDCAM-DY


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## WoodHippy (Mar 23, 2017)

Thanks HM and BL I will have time to play with it later this week, Might not need that 140 buck a month Sat. Bill


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## Locked (Mar 24, 2017)

Yeah I have had an android TV box with Kodi for over a year now. Also got a fire stick and side loaded Kodi on that as well. I am very close to cutting the cord. Kodi rocks. 
Oh another great thing to get is Plex.  I have Plex on my PC and a 8 TB hard drive that I have been filling with TV, movies and music content. It is like having your own personal Netflix. And Plex can be loaded on the fire stick,  PS4, Xbox etc. Between Plex and the Fire Stick I rarely watch regular TV anymore.


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## St_Nick (Jun 19, 2017)

Can you run this on a Roku box?


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## Budlight (Jun 19, 2017)

St_Nick said:


> Can you run this on a Roku box?



 I'm pretty sure you can do a YouTube  search and it should pull it up and show you how to do it


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## Hackerman (Jun 19, 2017)

I'm not sure you can do it on a Roku. Here is a list of the devices it works on.

http://kodi.wiki/view/devices

However, just FYI, Dish Network just filed a bunch of lawsuits against the people who are making the addons for KODI so Phoenix is gone and a few others said they are dropping out. I'm sure there will be new addons to replace the old ones but if DISH keeps pounding, you will see an end to this someday. Meanwhile, it might take a little more tweaking than normal to get it all working 100%. KODI in itself is not illegal. It's just an open source media player. It's the addons that get the free movies and stuff so it's the addon coders that DISH is going after.

I hacked DirecTV for over 10 years and Dish network as well but when News Corporation (DirecTV's owner) sued me and my team for 16 million dollars, that **** stopped RIGHT NOW. LOL

They just can't let it go unchecked. It grows way too fast. Back in those days, I ran a forum for hacking DTV and we had over 200,000 members. Every one of them getting DTV for free. That's just too much money for them to ignore. And, we were one of many sites doing the same thing.


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## St_Nick (Jun 19, 2017)

Yeppers, I had 3 cards wiped on Black Sunday myself.


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## Budlight (Jun 24, 2017)

https://youtu.be/-pyAFswIGU0  New Kodi fire stick program


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## mojosat (Aug 9, 2017)

No Roku cannot be used for KODI. Also, things are changing and if you are or have been using one of the popular addons or repos for piracy without a VPN, you can probably expect your lawsuit letter within 6 months. Not judging anyone that uses them, but if you have or continue to do so (especially without a good VPN) you are going to be sued. Three of the largest repo domains that were shut down last month are now registered to one of the same law firms that handled a lot of the DirecTV piracy suit in the early 2000s. Be careful, the average cost of those settlements was around $6k.


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## Hackerman (Aug 9, 2017)

As far as I have heard, no consumer lawsuits have been filed by DISH. They did file a lawsuit against TVaddons.ag server owner and several of the addon coders were mentioned in the suit.

It's always been a game of cat and mouse. First Warner Cable, then DTV, then DISH, now KODI addons.

There are no guarantees in a game like this but if you update to KODI 17.3 and delete all the old TVaddons.ag addons, you should be OK for now.

Covenant is the addon that replaced Exodus and is probably one of the better addons. The ZenTV addon is now Elysium.

As with all things that are illegal, there are always risks.


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