Confirm you have the right Show, then gather the handful of things the procedure needs. Nothing here is exotic, but two of them (a micro-USB data cable and a Linux live USB) are easy to overlook.
Flip the Show over. The label on the bottom carries a model number. The one that was ordered reads C76N8S, the first character a C, which is the 2021 second-generation Echo Show 5, codename cronos. That is the model techo5's author uses daily and the one this whole site is written for.
| Model on the label | What it is | techo5 |
|---|---|---|
| C76N8S | Echo Show 5, 2nd gen, 2021 (cronos) | Best supported. Use this site as written. |
| H23K37 | Echo Show 5, 1st gen, 2019 (checkers) | Works, but needs the checkers exploit and ROM, tested on one unit. |
| C7H6N3 | Echo Show 8, 1st gen, 2019 (crown) | Works, newest port. |
| anything else | Show 5 3rd gen (2023), Show 8 2nd gen or later, Show 10, Show 15 | No public unlock. Cannot be used. |
In software: Settings, Device Options, About, and read the device name and the Fire OS version. The version matters for the next page.
| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Screen | 5.5 inch, 960 × 480 IPS, capacitive touch |
| Processor | MediaTek MT8163, four Cortex-A53 cores at up to 1.3 GHz |
| Memory | About 1 GB usable RAM, 8 GB eMMC storage |
| Audio | One speaker on a MAX98396 amplifier, two-microphone array captured at 16 kHz with hardware echo cancellation |
| Camera | 2 MP front camera with a mechanical privacy shutter |
| Radios | MediaTek MT7668 Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz) and Bluetooth |
| Buttons | Volume up, volume down, microphone mute. After the unlock these also select boot modes. |
| Ports | Barrel power jack (its own 15 W adapter) and a micro-USB port on the back |
| Sensor | Ambient light sensor, used for auto-brightness |
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| The Echo Show 5 and its own power adapter | The unlock and every flash must run on mains power, never on a USB supply. |
| A micro-USB data cable | Charge-only cables are common and will look like "device not detected". Any cable that syncs a phone or a camera is fine. |
| A PC with a USB-A port booted from a Linux live USB (Ubuntu on an 8 GB thumb drive), or a Windows PC | The exploit re-enumerates USB midway. techo5's author says a Mac or a virtual machine tends to lose the device at that moment; a live Linux boot on any spare laptop is the reliable path. Windows works with the Kindle Fire USB driver installed. |
| Python 3, git, and Android platform tools (adb and fastboot) | For the techo5 installer. On the Mac: xcode-select --install then brew install android-platform-tools. The installer itself can run from the Mac; only the unlock wants Linux. |
| Home Assistant with the ESPHome integration | Already running at ha.daha.us; ESPHome is installed. |
| Wi-Fi password for the 2.4 or 5 GHz network the Show will live on | Entered twice: once in Fire OS to update it, once in LineageOS so techo5 inherits the connection. |
Nothing needs to be opened, soldered or shorted on this model. The 2021 exploit is triggered entirely from the buttons and the USB cable.
| File | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| amonet-cronos zip (the newest attached) | First post of the XDA unlock thread (needs a free XDA account to download attachments) | techo5 requires v2.0.1 or newer. An older package can leave the bootloader locked while everything looks fine. |
| LineageOS 18.1 for cronos, v0.4 or newer | amazon-oss/releases on GitHub, tag lineage-18.1-cronos-v0.4 or later | Earlier builds lose audio after a few days. No Google apps package is needed; techo5 replaces Android anyway. |
| techo5 repository | git clone https://github.com/HuskerMinion/techo5 | The installer downloads the matching release (boot image plus root filesystem) by itself and checks its hash. |