I know it’s been a while since I provide an update to the blog, but don’t fret. This is the first of many more tutorials in the pipeline.

I’ve received numerous requests to show how to restore to the stock Kindle Fire interface after installing CyanogenMod 7 using my tutorial…

For that reason, I’ve decided it would be appropriate to release this video tutorial that shows you how to do just that.

To accomplish this tutorial, you will need a few things:

Kindle Fire Utility v0.9.1
Kindle Fire Software Update 6.2.1

This tutorial also assumes you have an ADB connection to your Kindle Fire since you used ADB to get CyanogenMod or whatever custom firmware you’re using to begin with. To learn more, about ADB, check out our Kindle Fire rooting tutorial and our CyanogenMod 7 tutorial.

How to Restore Your Kindle Fire to the Stock Kindle Interface

Step 1: Download the Kindle Fire Utility and the Kindle Fire Software Update using the links above. Place both on your desktop and extract the Kindle Fire Utility folder.

Step 2: Rename the update-kindle-6.2.1_D01E_3103920.bin to update.zip

Step 3: Connect your Kindle Fire to your computer via micro USB. Open the Kindle Fire’s root folder, and drag to update.zip file from your desktop to the root folder. If another update.zip already exists, rename that file to update_old.zip and then drag the update.zip from your desktop to the room folder.

Step 4: Open the Kindle Fire Utility folder and run run.bat as an administrator and select option 5 and press enter. If you get a error stating We are unable to locate your Kindle Fire, you may have to reinstall your Kindle Fire’s drivers. See our rooting tutorial for more details. If all else fails you can use SuperOneClick’s advanced tab to Check for drivers. See video for more information.

Step 5: Your Kindle Fire should reboot to the yellow flame logo. This is the TWRP 2.0 Recovery. This will allow you to recover to the stock Kindle 6.2.1 firmware.

Step 6: Hold the power button until it turns orange, and eventually you will see a selection of menus.

Step 7: Tap Wipe > Cache > Wipe Cache > Back

Step 8: Tap Dalvik-Cache > Wipe Dalvik-Cache > Back

Step 9: Tap the Home Icon > Install > Update.zip > Flash

Step 10: Tap Reboot System and you Kindle Fire will reboot back to your stock 6.2.1 Kindle Fire interface!

That’s pretty much it. It’s super easy to restore your Kindle Fire. The hardest part for me was getting the driver to be recognized again. Using SuperOneClick cleared that up.

Was this able to work for you? Let me know in the comments below.

CyanogenMod 7 has been released for Kindle Fire, and I’ve installed it successfully. Be aware that there are a few caveats to the install thus far, so proceed with caution and on your own accord.

In this video, I show you how to install CyanogenMod 7 on your Kindle Fire in less than 8 minutes…likely it will take you longer, but this is a pretty straightforward installation.

Again, I am not responsible for any damage you may do to your Kindle Fire or any of your equipment because of this. Remember, this install lacks any sound, and there may be other issues as well.

How to Install CyanogenMod 7 on Kindle Fire

Note: I HIGHLY recommend you watch the video above before proceeding with these instructions, it should make it more clear. Again, this install has no sound for the time being.

Step 1: Root your device. See my tutorial on how to Root your Kindle Fire

Step 2: Download cm7files.zip and extract to the root directory of your Android SDK installation

Step 3: Connect your Kindle Fire to your PC, and copy log, last_log, update.zip, and updaterecovery.img to your Kindle Fire.

Step 4: Eject your Kindle Fire from your PC

Step 5: Go to Start > CMD to open your Command Prompt

Step 6: At the command prompt navigate to the platform-tools directory of AndroidSDK installation. e.g. mine would be C:\Android\platform-tools

Step 7: Type the following
adb shell
cd cache
mkdir recovery (may already exist)
cp /sdcard/log /cache/recovery/
cp /sdcard/last_log /cache/recovery/

Step 8: Type the following
cd /
dd if=/sdcard/updaterecovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mmci-omap-hs.1/by-name/recovery
"idme bootmode 0x5001"
reboot

Step 9: Watch your Kindle Fire reboot. It should start flickering and load Clockwork.

Step 10: Once Clockwork is loaded, press the power button a few times until the installation begins.

Step 11: Once install is complete, type the following at your command prompt:
adb push c:/Android/cm7files/stockrecovery.img /sbin
adb shell
dd if=/sbin/stockrecovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mmci-omap-hs.1/by-name/recovery
reboot

Step 12: Your Kindle Fire should reboot, and you should now be in CyanogenMod 7.

Special thanks to JackpotClavin on the XDA forums for posting the original how to. I followed his how-to fairly closely, although I did do some portions different. If you have trouble feel free to reference his original work.

Let me know, did this work for you? In a future tutorial, I will show you how to restore back to the stock Kindle Fire interface. Happy modding!

It looks as if the first real port of Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich has been ported to Kindle Fire by an XDA developer.

Though the port still has a long way to go, it’s encouraging to see that much progress is being made in a relatively short amount of time…

Right now only the touch panel and hardware graphics work. There’s still no audio, WiFi, Light Sensor, or accelerometer support.

As soon as a more thorough version of ICS is available on Kindle Fire, I will create a video walkthrough that shows you how. Until then, enjoy the teaser photo.

What do you think?

[Steven's Android Apps via XDA]

A few days ago Amazon updated the Kindle Fire software automatically over-the-air.

According to Geek.com Amazon automatically applies the software update when on Wi-Fi and you’re device has at least 40% battery remaining.

The download weighs in at a hefty 181 MB, so it’s no tiny update either…

What’s annoying about the 6.2_user_3003020 update is that it removes root access if you previously rooted your device.

Fortunately, rooting still works as explained in our initial rooting video, and can be quickly reapplied by running SuperOneClick and selecting root again.

Want to verify whether your device is on the latest software version? Check out our video below.

Have your received an update? Did you re-root your device?

There’s been a lot of talk about how difficult Kindle Fire screenshots are to capture, but in reality, it really isn’t all that hard.

True, it’s a lot less simple than pressing the Home + Power button on an iOS device, but it’s not exactly rocket science either. Inside, I’ll show you how…

How to Capture Kindle Fire Screenshots

Note: You must have Android SDK installed, and have the Kindle Fire USB driver installed. See our rooting tutorial for more info. You don’t have to actually root, just install the drivers and SDK.

Step 1: Navigate to your Android SDK Directory via the CMD Prompt. (Start > Type ‘CMD’ press enter) My Android SDK directory is C:\Android, but yours may be different depending on where you installed the SDK.

Step 2: Once in the SDK directory, navigate to the tools directory (CD tools).

Step 3: Type: ddms to run the Dalvick Debug Monitor

Step 4: Make sure your Kindle Fire is plugged into your PC’s USB connection, and select your device.

Step 5: Go to the ‘Device’ menu and select ‘Screen capture…’ You can then rotate, refresh, and save screenshots from your Kindle Fire as PNG files.

Example of a Kindle Fire Screenshot:

What do you think? Still too difficult?

So now you know how to install Android Market and gain access to many more apps than you normally have with Kindle Fire. But what if you want to launch the Android Market directly from the Kindle Fire bookshelf?

Inside I’ll show you how to Launch Android Market directly from Kindle Fire’s UI…

Special thanks goes to munday from the XDA forums for creating this APK to launch the Market from Kindle Fire’s UI.

How to Launch Android Market from Kindle Fire

Note: You must already have Android Market installed on your device. This is basically just a shortcut to the already installed Market. If you don’t have Market installed, you will receive an error.

Step 1: Open a browser and download and install the MarketOpener.APK

Step 2: You should now see the MarketOpener in your carousel. Tap and hold on it and select save to favorites to save it in your bookshelf. Now you can launch Android Market directly from your Kindle Fire interface.

Was this helpful for you? Let me know in the comments below!

Case-Mate is one of the first 3rd party accessory manufacturers to jump on the Kindle Fire bandwagon, and they have some pretty interesting looking cases available for purchase.

The two cases, the Venture case, and Tuxedo case, each bring their own function and form to the table for Kindle Fire owners…

Case-Mate has put together two nice promo videos showcasing each case. Be sure to check out the Kindle Fire case videos below:

Kindle Fire Venture Case on Video

Kindle Fire Tuxedo Case on Video

What do you think? Are you feeling either case? Personally, I think the Kindle Fire Venture case looks the best, but I’d take either one if it meant protecting my Kindle from the inevitable drop of two.

The Tuxedo case is interesting, because it actually uses a reusable adhesive to secure your Kindle in the case. That eliminates the need for those little yucky holder things in the corners like you see on iPad cases. And speaking of iPad’s the case highly reminds me of Apple’s own Smart Covers, except these and the Kindle itself lack the Smart Cover screen on/off functionality.

Head over to Case-Mate’s website for more details on ordering.

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Not only do I appreciate the support, but your doing so affords me the opportunity to dedicate more time to make more videos…

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Again, I really appreciate your support, and I look forward to a long tenure with Kindle Fire Wire, making great Kindle Fire video content, and reporting all of the latest news, rumors.

Jeff

What if you don’t want to completely unroot your Kindle Fire just to watch Amazon Instant Video. Is there another option?

Well, yes there is, and it’s called OTA RootKeeper, a free app that’s downloadable from Android Market…

OTA RootKeeper allows you to temporarily revoke your root access, giving you the ability to watch Amazon Instant Video Content.

It’s super easy to install and use as the above video shows you.

How to Temporary Unroot Kindle Fire

Note: This tutorial is assuming you are rooted and have Android Market installed. You can refer to my other tutorial for help on these subjects.

Step 1: Install OTA RootKeeper from Android Market

Step 2: Tap “Temp. un-root (keeps backup)”. This will temporarily unroot your device and saves a protected copy of su

Step 3: Go to More > Settings > Applications > Amazon Instant Video > Force Stop to kill the Amazon Instant Video app

Step 4: Restart Amazon Instant Video and now your “Watch Now” button should play your video when you tap it

I highly suggest watching the video for more verbose direction. OTA RootKeeper is super easy to install and use, and best of all, it’s free!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Say you upgraded to the Ice Cream Sandwich Launcher or Go Launcher, but for some reason you want to switch back to Amazon’s stock Kindle Fire Launcher?

Or maybe you just want to bring back the option that gives you the choice of selecting which launcher you want to use?

There’s an easy want to change your Kindle Fire’s launcher, and I’ll show you how to do so in the following video:

How to Change Kindle Fire’s Default Launcher

Step 1: Go to Settings > More > Applications

Step 2: In the filter select “All Applications”

Step 3: Find the launcher that you are defaulting to: e.g. “Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0″ and tap on it

Step 4: Under “Launch by default” tap “Clear defaults”

Step 5: Tap the home button, and you should get a launcher selection if you have multiple launchers installed. From here you can check the “Use by default for this action” selection, and select the Kindle launcher to revert back to the default Amazon Kindle Fire launcher.

Was this tutorial helpful? If so, give me a holler in the comments below.