Troubleshooting Your Amazon Fire TV Stick

Try some basic steps to fix common issues with your Amazon Firestick.

One of the first things you should do if your firestick was working and then stopped is a reboot.  The easiest way to reboot is to unplug the power cable from your firestick or the outlet for a few seconds and reconnect it.

Firestick will not connect to WiFi

Verify that you have chosen the correct router WiFi signal to connect to.  Make sure you have entered the correct password.

Check your networks Internet connection

There may be a problem with your internet service.  Verify that other devices can access the WiFi signal without any issues.  You can also look under Settings > Network to verify that you are connected to correct WiFi source and that there is an active internet connection.

Check your physical setup

If your firestick is a long way from your WiFi source then you could have a weak WiFi signal.  Walls and even the TV connected to the firestick can reduce the WiFi signal strength.  If you look under Settings > Network your WiFi source should report a status of at least “good”.

Try using the HDMI extension cable to get the fiirestick a few inches away from the TV.  This can improve the WiFi signal by reducing interference from the TV.  Try the firestick on a TV that is closer to your WiFi source in your home.  Make sure you are using the power supply that was shipped with the firestick.  They can be sensitive to power and if you plug it into a USB port on the side of your TV or a different power source you could get substandard performance.

Cycle power to your Network Connection and Fire TV Stick

Resetting your WiFi source and firestick can resolve many issues.  The easiest way is to unplug the power to both devices for 30 seconds then reconnect them.  Wait about five minutes to make sure your router has fully restarted.  Try to connect your firestick to WiFi again.

Amazon Fire TV Stick is Frozen But has a Picture

If your firestick is frozen but or not responding but you can see the home screen then try these troubleshooting steps.

Verify that the remote has good batteries.  You can also install the Fire TV app on your smart phone and try to control the firestick with the app.  If the Fire TV app can control the firestick then you are dealing with a remote problem.  If replacing the batteries in the remote didn’t work, try holding the Home button on the remote for about 30 seconds to re-pair the remote.  If the remote will not pair, try removing the batteries in the remote, cycle power to the firestick, and reinsert the batteries back into the remote.  Hold the Home button again.

Verify that you are using the correct power supply that shipped with the firestick.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Has No Picture

If you can’t get a picture to display from the firestick to your TV try the following.

Make sure that you are using the power supply that shipped with the firestick.  Make sure that the source or input on your TV is set to the HDMI port that you have the firestick connected to.  If you are using an HDMI cable, try plugging the firestick directly into the HDMI port on the TV.  Try a different HDMI port on your TV.  Try changing the resolution on your TV, 720P and 1080P are good choices if they are available.  If you press the UP and Rewind buttons simultaneously for about 5 seconds on your firestick remote, it will cycle through all available output resolutions pausing at each one for 10 seconds.  When you get a picture select Use Current Resolution.

KODI issues

Some common issues with KODI.

KODI Freezes Or Does Not Respond

Occasional KODI may lockup and stop responding to commands.  This seems to be very common with version 17.x on the firestick.  It tends to happen most often when KODI has a lot of addons to update.  Press the Home button on the remote then go to Settings > Application > Manage Installed Applications.  Scroll to KODI, select it and choose Force Stop.  There will be no indication that anything happened.  Launch KODI again, it is OK to do this from the same menu that you are currently in. It should now be unfrozen.  If it’s been a few weeks since you’ve last used KODI and it has dozens of addons to update you might have to do this a couple times.  Make sure you give it a couple minutes before deciding that KODI has frozen.  Sometimes it will recover after a short while.

KODI Addon Stopped Working

Addons stop working in KODI all the time.  This is fairly normal and you will eventually encounter this problem.  Independent developers that have no association with KODI maintain these addons and need to repair the addon to restore functionality in many cases.  Sometimes addons are abandoned completely.  The best thing you can do is a search on the internet for the addon in question and learn what is happening with it.  If there is a fix available there are usually easy to follow instructions and videos available.  If the addon is abandoned, sometimes alternatives or the developers follow on addon can be found and installed.

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