Repurpose an AT&T TV / DirectTV Stream device

Playground Hardware
#1

I recently ended my service with AT&T TV / DirectTV Stream. So now I am stuck with two of their AndroidTV devices. I tried to bring them back to the store. Was told they are mine to keep as I purchased them outright. So now I’m stuck with them. But of course they are branded. Do any of the technology gurus here have an ideas on how install a vanilla version of AndroidTV on these devices without all the AT&T BS. The device is a [Quad Core, 1.6GHz 16GB] Android Streaming Media Player - C71KW-400

Or even where to begin to look on how to do something like this.

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#2

I don't think you can change the OS, but you may be able to change the leanback launcher.

Something like Block Android TV Adverts With Wolf Launcher | TechDoctorUK

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#3

try this search c71kw-400 root - Google Search

#4

Unfortunately the devices appears to be locked down pretty good. Yeah, they will still download apps and even update the OS. But can’t do much on settings. And the bundleware are not uninstallable. And the “unknown sources” permission is completely missing so everything I have looked in to so far will not work.

#5

How familiar/comfortable are you with ADB? You might be able to do some of the similar stuff that was done with TiVO Stream 4K+. Check out the directions for that over on the TiVO Community Forum:

You'll probably have to do a lot more guesswork on what to install by looking at the packages, but they can always be reinstalled if something goes wrong. You can also then install the Google TV Launcher to get to something a bit more generic, but it is worth noting there are some compatibility issues even on the TS4K+.

#6

Well actually got limited progress using the ADB method and got GoogleTV launcher to run, but will not stay the default primary launcher. But it does ask if I want to use LauncherX or DirecTV Stream. And I still haven’t gotten any of the bundleware out. But keep in mind I’ve only spent an hour using this method and it’s promising I could get LauncherX running. I’ll keep you posted on any further progress.

#7

Did you have any luck with this?

#8

I pretty much lost interest in the project after a couple of days. Primarily because those devices, even fresh from AT&T with AT&T TV/DirectTV Stream service, were painfully sluggish. I also have a very limited background familiarity with Android.

But what I did find from my few hours of work on it is:

  • The devices will work without AT&T TV / DirectTV Stream service.
  • If you know some tricks you can get rid of some of the ATT&T bloat.
  • There are a lot of resources out there to help people de-brand their android based devices. I would say the same basic principles used to unAmazon a fire device can be applied.

I only spent a few hours and I managed to get a tolerable setup going with Plex and Channels clients. If I were better skilled and had been willing to devote more time to the project I am sure they could be turned in to respectable stand alone devices. So I would never discourage anyone from trying. Good Luck!

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#9

How did you get past the att login page? Mine are useless without a subscription. Id love to repurpose them.

#10

Give me a day or two I find one of my devices and try to remember what my procedure was. It’ll be a fun little distraction. Plus since the time I made the original post here I needed to repurpose an Amazon Fire tablet to be a wall hanging always on weather station so I am slightly more framilar with android now.

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#11

Tardy to the party... as usual....

Use the voice command to open the extremely locked down setting, open play store, netflix etc.

I unlocked the pathetic dev mode but didn't do anything with adb.

Anyway even force stopping everything directv didn't stop it from overpowering the launchers for me.

I did consider jtagging the damn thing it getting a firmware dump from a uart serial connection.

Last time I did that was the xbox360 days. Even then we had a massive community and I just followed a guide.

Shame really, for 1080p boxes they really are the right mix of affordable and well built/soild specs. I tore mine down. The antenna are nice.

They use a broadcom arm processor for anyone more experienced but you probably knew that from Wistron NeWeb Corporation website.

Shame they took the bulk contract instead of making them on their own. I read they design custom devices for clients. It's a big money startup but they could have sold so many more and had a way better profit margin. Especially during covid outbreak.

That's my 2 cents. Good luck to anyone so digging.

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#12

Faster Android TV devices go for around $30-$40. It just doesn't' seem worth the effort to do this.

But thanks for more e-waste tech companies!

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#13

The remote for the box is awesome, and seems difficult to re-purpose.

Aside from that, very little reason to want to reuse the box itself

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#14

Is it not a standard BT remote? And if it is IR, a Flirc added to whichever Android device you prefer would make short work of that, too.

#15

It is bluetooth, but from memory only a couple of buttons work. Its a nightmare to pair as well

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#16

I also have been trying to root/unblock the stream device. I did manage to work around the issue, but.. Do not turn your device off or you will have to do this step every time. I have a separate remote for my tv.

using device remote:

  1. press the assistance button and say "settings" , this will take you to the settings of the device. go to GENERAL and then APPS.
  2. Force stop all directv apps.
  3. You can now request what ever you need, PLAY STORE if you need to install apps, or just request your installed app.

Hope this helps!!

if anyone figures out how to remove the DIRETV apps, let me know.

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#17

So I don’t know if the phone call I made made a difference but it happened to me yesterday I called DirectTV and they told the only way to gain access is to subscribe to a plan then reconnect to google, I’m not doing that cause I’m already peeping the tactics
I called again today a different rep took the serial number did something then told me to sign in with my old credentials. That worked…

#18

Bernardo, in your outline you indicated I needed to force stop all Directv Applications running. How can I do that?

The box i have in not subscribed and is as setting up a new box

George

#19

Hi George,

You have to go into settings. Then find the apps. You need to enter each app individually and select force stop.

Happy New Year

#20

You'd be better off also disabling the app, so they do not start back up when you reboot.