TABLE OF CONTENTS



IMPORTANT: 


The native resolution of all browsers (The default Silk browser, or any browser you may load onto it) for the Firestick and Fire TV is 960x540. This cannot be adjusted. To get your Custom Screen to look as close to what the Firestick can produce, click on the gear ICON in the upper right-hand corner of the Screen Editor and set the Aspect Ratio to Custom, then the Resolution to 960x540. This will set the Screen resolution to match the Firestick's resolution. You can then further improve the individual blocks by adjusting their font sizes. You can manually type in the Font size to lower it further than 8px. For the Predefined screen, you can use any layout you want, but to make it fit the screen the best under Settings & Defaults change the Base Font Size to X-Small to get the best results. To learn more check out our article How to Get Your Screen to Fit Your Browser


Follow the instructions below to use your Fire TV or Firestick as a DAKboard display.


You can also purchase a ready-to-go DAKboard Wall Display, or get a DAKboard CPU to make any TV or monitor a DAKboard!


Amazon's DAKboard App:


A new DAKboard "App" is available for newer Fire TVs, Firestick, and some newer Fire Tablets. This was developed by Amazon for us. If you have the latest versions of these devices, you can download the App now. This app is still restricted to the same resolutions mentioned above.


This APP is simply a Webview that allows you to access your DAKboard account from the Fire TV devices. You will need to log into your DAKboard account from the APP, this will occasionally log you out based on Amazon's security policies so if you go to use the APP and see a login screen, simply log back into your DAKboard account to regain access.


The APP uses the default Screen associated with your account. This is automatically set to your Predefined Screen, however, you can change this to any Custom Screens you design if you prefer. To change this, you will need to set your Default Screen from another device as this cannot be accessed from the Fire TV App. See our article How to Access and Update the Account Defaults to see how to update your Default Screen. Once you have successfully logged into your DAKboard App, and have your Default Screen set, use the Back button on your remote until it exits the app, then restart it to see your Default Screen.


When using this app, some versions of the Firestick and Fire TV may not need the steps to disable the Sleep Features like with the old setup method. If your display does go to sleep, first, you will need to go to Settings, click on Display & Sounds, then Screen Saver, and finally Sleep Timer. From there, you can set the sleep timer to Never to disable it. Then follow the steps below in the section called Configure Fire TV or Firestick Sleep Timer & Screen Saver to complete the disabling of the Sleep Tools on your Fire TV device. 


If you are using an older Fire TV device, you can continue with the steps in the section called For Older Fire TV or FireStick.



Create A Custom Screen Or Setup Your Predefined Screen:


Access the Screens Page and click the Green ADD button in the top right to create a custom screen.  See our Screen Configuration Article Group for help creating your screen.





For Older Fire TV or FireStick:


The following steps are for older Fire TVs or Firestick devices. All of these steps need to be completed for this service to work.



In your DAKboard account, go to Displays & Devices, click the "Add" button, and give the device a name. Select the Screen you would like to use in the Assigned Screen section. Give the Display a name and click SAVE:




Next, on your Fire TV or Firestick, open the Internet app (the Silk web browser):



Type in https://dakboard.com/link. This will generate a code on the Display as in our example below:




Navigate back to Displays & Devices and click on the three dots to the right of the name of the device you added earlier for the Fire TV or Firestick, then select Link with Device or TV:



Enter the Code from the Fire TV or Firestick in the block under Step 3 as seen below, and then click Link Device:



Make sure to Bookmark your DAKboard page, in your Browser on your Fire TV or Firestick, to make it easier to get back to it. If you don't bookmark it you can relink the page using the steps above to the same device.


Configure Fire TV or Firestick Sleep Timer & Screen Saver:


If you plan to use your Fire TV or Firestick as a full-time display, you will need to adjust the default settings so the screen does not timeout or run the screen saver. The default sleep timer cannot be configured via the GUI as it is hardcoded to 20 minutes. To change this, we will need to do some additional steps outlined below. 


First, you will need to download adbLink software so we can change the hardcoded settings on the Fire TV or Firestick. The software can be found here http://jocala.com/adblink.html for Windows, Mac, or Linux. Unfortunately, this method will not work using a phone or tablet. 


NOTE: Mac computers will not automatically allow you to install adbLink, however, you can get around this. To install adbLink on your follow the following steps:


  1. Download the MacOS version of adbLink
  2. Open your download folder on your Mac
  3. Right-click the adbLink package and choose Open With > Installer as seen below:
  4. Once the installer opens you will be guided through the steps to install the software
  5. Follow the steps and you will be asked to enter your password to proceed as see below:
  6. Once you have completed this you can continue with the remaining steps.



IMPORTANT:


For these steps, you will need to ensure your Fire TV or Firestick is on the same network as your computer or accessible on the same network via IP for adbLink software to work properly. 


If you are using the latest version of Fire TV software, you will need to initiate the Developers Options. To do this Navigate to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Fire TV (or Firestick) and click this 7 times. A countdown of the number of clicks will arise after the third click to let you know how many clicks are left. In the end, a message will pop up telling you that you have enabled Developers mode, or that you are currently in Developers mode.


Next, we need to turn on ADB debugging with your Fire TV or Firestick. Navigate to Settings > My Fire TV > Developer Options. Click on ADB debugging to turn it ON:



You need to determine the IP of your Fire TV or Firestick. To find this on the device, navigate to Settings > My Fire TV > About. Click on Network to see the IP of the device. Take note of this for the next steps.



Open adbLink on your computer (from the first step in this section). Click the New button:



Give the Fire TV or Firestick a name in the Description Field. In the Address field, add the IP of the device, and then click Save:



Click the Connect button. You will have a screen pop up on the Fire TV or Firestick asking for approval for your computer to connect to it. Check the box and click Yes. You should see the name of your device in the Connected Devices box and under Connection status, you should see the IP connection if successful. 


NOTE: If you do not see your device IP in the Connected device box, there is an issue with the network connection to the device, or path between the computer and the device which will require additional troubleshooting of your network



Next, click Utility in the toolbar, and select Set Timers from the dropdown, or if you are using the latest version of the software, click Edit Timers:



A new screen will pop up. Sometimes this screen can take a moment to open as adbLink communicates to the Fire TV or Firestick so you may need to give it a moment. Once the screen opens, click on Sleep Off, Screensaver off, and then click OK:



You're all set! Enjoy your DAKboard screen anywhere on your Fire TV or Firestick!


Rotate the Fire TV or Firestick Screen:


If you would like to change your Fire TV or Firestick to portrait/vertical orientation, you can follow the steps we have documented here: Screen Rotation for non-DAKboard OS Devices


Tips, Tricks, and Notes:


  1. Bookmark your screen URL in Silk to easily pull up if your device reboots.
  2. You can use the adbLink application to sideload applications like Firefox and more.
  3. To hide the Silk toolbar, scroll to the bottom of the screen and both the cursor and toolbar will hide.  When your screen fully refreshes every 6 hours, this URL will reappear and you will need to hide it again.
  4. The Silk browser will display video, but will not automatically play.  You will need to use the remote to start the video on the DAKboard screens.  If autoplay video is necessary for your installation we suggest a DAKboard CPU/Wall Display/DIY Raspberry Pi device.
  5. Loops unfortunately will not work with the Silk Browser at this time. You can only use them in sideloaded browsers running at the native resolution of 960x540 for all Screen resolutions. If you are looking to use Loops to their fullest, we suggest a DAKboard CPU/Wall Display/DIY Raspberry Pi device.
  6. Different TVs and Monitors have varying resolutions. Using smaller font adjustments in each block in your custom screen should be used to maximize your screen space as the native resolution of all browsers on Firestick will be set to 960x540.
  7. Loops will ONLY work with the browser built-in to the Downloader app. The Downloader app has the advantage of being able to go full screen without a URL bar, but its cursor remains on the screen as a large red circle. If this is ok visually for you, to use the Downloader app to display DAKboard, use the following steps:
    1. Install the Downloader app from the Amazon App Store (Make sure it is the app called Downloader)
    2. Once installed click on Browser on the left side of the screen.
    3. Type dakboard.com/link into the browser URL and follow steps 3-5 of the section Link Your Fire TV Or Firestick To Your DAKboard Account as seen earlier in this document
    4. Click on the three bars to the right of the URL bar to save this page to your favorites to access your page easier next time
    5. To make the screen fullscreen, click on the three bars again and select Fullscreen Mode to expand the image
    6. Move the point to somewhere you don't mind seeing it and enjoy
  8. When using the Fire TV in portrait mode, you will not be able to rotate a Video Block on your screen using the steps in our article Display Rotation for non-DAKboard OS Devices. This is because the Silk browser overwrites the changes you would apply to this block type. If you load a different browser on your Fire TV and use that as the browser to view your screen the rotation CSS should work.