Amazon’s next-gen Kindle Fire HD may have a locked bootloader, but that hasn’t stopped the talented folks at XDA Devs from rooting the tablet and installing Google’s Play Store.
And as we previously reported, Kinfauns of XDA Devs recently came up with a method for Fire HD owners to backup and restore system software – without having to perform a custom recovery.
Essentially, the backup and recovery process involves a shell script that’s able to create a backup directory on an inserted SD card.
Now all this may be very fine and good as a stopgap measure, but modders and devs alike have been waiting with bated breath for a full-on bootloader bypass that will allow for custom recovery and the installation of custom ROMs.
Fortunately, a developer by the name of Hashcode has been steadily working on a method for hacking the locked bootloader, which could go live at some point in the very near future. Dubbed SafeStrap, the hack essentially hijacks the bootloader process, allowing users to create a multi-boot system.
So instead of swapping the Kindle Fire HD’s built-in OS and recovery tools, SafeStrap is designed to install custom recovery and custom ROMs on a separate portion of the tablet’s storage. Meaning, you’ll be able to choose which to run when the device is activated.
“This should allow you to return to the stock operating system if anything goes wrong, but it should pave the way for developers to port CyanogenMod, AOKP, MIUI, and other popular custom ROMs to run on Amazon’s latest,” explained Liliputing’s Brad Linder.
“Right now there aren’t any custom ROMs available for the Kindle Fire HD, and installing any ROMs developed for the original Fire or other devices could turn your tablet into a useless brick. But the good news is that as soon as Hashcode’s SafeStrap tool for the Fire HD is available, you’ll be able to to use it to make or restore a complete backup of your device.”
