‘This is courting disaster’ warns Amazon Fire Stick user over common mistake that risks breaking gadget permanently

AMAZON Fire Stick owners have been urged to check their TVs to make sure they’re not making a mistake that could break the gadget.

A popular ‘cable clearing hack’ that went viral on TikTok could lead to the Fire Stick not getting enough power to turn on properly.

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The ‘hack’ saw people plug their Amazon gadget’s into the back of their TVs with a hidden USB, instead of a wall socket.

This meant customers could avoid having an extra wire leading out to the mains.

It also freed up plug space for those who live in older properties with fewer wall sockets.

While a Fire Stick can be powered by the TV alone – because the telly is already plugged into the mains – it occasionally can’t get enough power to turn on.

This is because the Fire Stick has no power when the TV is switched off.

Often, USB ports on TVs don’t carry a whole lot of amperage.

If either of these occurs during an ‘update,’ the code is corrupted and your Fire Stick is ‘bricked’ (temporarily or permanently) or boot-looped.

Reddit user

This means the Fire Stick has to reboot each time it is switched on which can take a very long time.

Or the gadget can stay stuck on the startup logo, in a scenario referred to as ‘boot-loop’.

“There is still a lot of FireStick owners who insist on using their TV’s USB port to power their Sticks (especially for ‘wall-mounted’ TVs where they don’t want the power cord showing),” a tech savvy Fire Stick owner wrote on Reddit.

“And those ports are often UNDERPOWERED or supply NO POWER when the TV is turned off.

“This is courting disaster!”

Permanent damage

A Fire Stick may suffer permanent damage if it tries to update itself while it is underpowered or has zero power, the Reddit user warned.

“If either of these occurs during an ‘update,’ the code is corrupted and your Fire Stick is ‘bricked’ (temporarily or permanently) or boot-looped.

“This still could happen to a Fire Stick that gets power from the Adapter Plug, but only if the internet connection drops briefly during an update.

“But you have eliminated the low/no power issue.”

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk