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geekmaster · 06-15-2012, 09:59 AM

I tested MfgTool in Wine. I runs, but it cannot see any USB devices. Research showed that Wine (as shipped) does not support "Windows-style" USB devices. There was an experimental Wine patch I found that was SUPPOSED to add USB support, but I was not able to get it to work.

I run MfgTool on my linux mint host PC by running it in an XP VM in VirtualBox. That lets me swap the USB port between windows and linux WITHOUT interfering with the USB connection, so I can set fastboot mode in the windows VM, the tell VirtualBox to release the port so linux sees it, then use linux fastboot to flash partitions on my kindle.

For most people, it would be easier to stay in windows and use the win32 fastboot, but that requires libusb-win32 installed and properly configured for your kindle.

***

Instead of porting MfgTool to linux, there is a simpler smaller command-line tool (sb_loader) that also support USB Downloader mode. I was not able to get the freescale version working (yifanlu said that he got it working, but he did not share "how to" details AFAIK). I got a linux version (for RockBox) "almost" working.

06-15-2012, 09:59 AM	#207
geekmaster Carpe diem, c'est la vie. Posts: 6,433 Karma: 10773668 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Multiverse 6627A Device: K1 to PW3	I tested MfgTool in Wine. I runs, but it cannot see any USB devices. Research showed that Wine (as shipped) does not support "Windows-style" USB devices. There was an experimental Wine patch I found that was SUPPOSED to add USB support, but I was not able to get it to work. I run MfgTool on my linux mint host PC by running it in an XP VM in VirtualBox. That lets me swap the USB port between windows and linux WITHOUT interfering with the USB connection, so I can set fastboot mode in the windows VM, the tell VirtualBox to release the port so linux sees it, then use linux fastboot to flash partitions on my kindle. For most people, it would be easier to stay in windows and use the win32 fastboot, but that requires libusb-win32 installed and properly configured for your kindle. *** Instead of porting MfgTool to linux, there is a simpler smaller command-line tool (sb_loader) that also support USB Downloader mode. I was not able to get the freescale version working (yifanlu said that he got it working, but he did not share "how to" details AFAIK). I got a linux version (for RockBox) "almost" working. Last edited by geekmaster; 06-15-2012 at 10:04 AM.