Kindle 3 "Special offers" edition Screensaver hack help

[Aarony]

Just got my Kindle 3 in the mail. Applied the latest 0.7 jailbreak, followed by the 0.22 screensaver hack 'successfully' without bricking the device, but the hacks are not taking effect on the Kindle 3.2 "Special offers" edition version.

Ads are still showing on the bottom of the home menu, and all screensaver cycles.

Appreciate help!

[HarryT]

You've bought it at a discount in exchange for displaying ads, haven't you? Aren't you trying to cheat the system in now trying to get rid of the ads?

[JeremyR]

This is probably why Amazon is only selling it for $25 less....

[DiapDealer]

You're apparently the guinea pig for the screensavers hack on 3.2. Everyone will appreciate the results of your experiment.

[metr0man]

Wondering the same thing. I got mine as a gift by someone who didn't know the diff between wifi versions. I'm ok with the home screen ad banner but the screensaver is hard to take.

SS hack didn't work at all...

[tubemonkey]

I got "rid" of the screensavers on my KSO without a hack. Here's how:

1. when done reading, close cover
2. slide power switch off
3. when ready to read, slide power switch on
4. open cover and start reading where you left off

At no point in this process are the screensavers visible to you. Enjoy

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by metr0man

Wondering the same thing. I got mine as a gift by someone who didn't know the diff between wifi versions. I'm ok with the home screen ad banner but the screensaver is hard to take.

SS hack didn't work at all...

Could you not ask the person who was kind enough to get it for you to return it, and pay them the $25 extra for the normal Kindle? You have 30 days in which to return it.

[Bikeridr]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I got "rid" of the screensavers on my KSO without a hack. Here's how:

1. when done reading, close cover
2. slide power switch off
3. when ready to read, slide power switch on
4. open cover and start reading where you left off

At no point in this process are the screensavers visible to you. Enjoy

Excellent solution

[metr0man]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Could you not ask the person who was kind enough to get it for you to return it, and pay them the $25 extra for the normal Kindle? You have 30 days in which to return it.

I don't want to seem ungrateful. I think it would be awkward. Plus it's opened and used, I think Best Buy only will take back opened hardware if its defective. I don't know, I might stick with it (I hear there's an "1 mp3 album for $1" offer floating around that might show up at some point,), or just sell it on craigslist for a slight discount and get the wi-fi or maybe just go ahead and go 3G) then.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You've bought it at a discount in exchange for displaying ads, haven't you? Aren't you trying to cheat the system in now trying to get rid of the ads?

Are you being funny?

Ads are poisonous to the mind, it is everyone's natural right to disable them.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Are you being funny?

Ads are poisonous to the mind, it is everyone's natural right to disable them.

Not if you've taken the conscious decision to accept ads in exchange for the lower price. That's a contract that you've entered into willingly and freely.

[luckily7]

Will the font hack work? I dont mind seeing ads in screen but I do need change the fonts. I ordered the KSO and am waiting for it. I wonder anyone tried the fonts hack.

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not if you've taken the conscious decision to accept ads in exchange for the lower price. That's a contract that you've entered into willingly and freely.

Have to agree with HarryT on this one. A discount was accepted on the product with the understanding that it will show ads. If it is okay to circumvent this contract, then is it okay for Amazon to place ads on non-discounted Kindles?

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Are you being funny?

Ads are poisonous to the mind, it is everyone's natural right to disable them.

I'm no fan of ads, but I agree with Harry's position in this case. The proper way to disable ads on this model is to purchase the ad-free model for $25 more.

[metr0man]

If anyone cares I have figured out how to replace the ad screensavers. At least temporarily. It's also a cumbersome manual process.

However, since I saw a special offer today that I liked and took advantage of (10 dollars off 20 dollar amazon gift card) i've made the decision to keep the ads. If i'm actually going to use this system I shouldn't circumvent it.

That's purely an ethical choice though. I'm a firm believer in the whole "you buy it you own it" principle of hardware. If you buy a piece of hardware you should be free to do whatever you want with it PERIOD as long as you're not breaking any laws. The ads are just GIF files sitting there on your hardware. It's your hardware, you should be able to mess with GIF files on your own hardware. It's your device. Just like a PC, or iPhone.

Of course if you break Amazon's TOS (not a law btw, and applies only to their 'service', not the hardware itself) they also have the right to, say, block you from their online Kindle store, you may own your hardware but you don't own the Kindle Store, I believe that as well. Those are the conditions they set down when giving you access to their online store.

I also have no idea what happens when wi-fi is on, and Amazon makes the decision to update the ads in the future. There must be some connection or mechanism for "switching on" certain ads (like aforementioned gift card ad which just appeared today despite sitting on the Kindle since day one). Will they detect that you've tinkered with the ads, and do something? I have no clue.

So the faint of heart or overly anxious should probably not try it.

Purely on research front, I tested it out by replacing an Oil of Olay ad with one of my own and it worked (I've since put the Olay ad back in it's original place). Long story short, you enable viewing hidden files in your Folder View options (PC), go into the system folder on your kindle and in an assets subfolders are number-string folders, each ad has it's own folder with GIF assets. It's literally just an image replace.

It's cumbersome because you would have to replace each one individually. Putting aside the ethical thoughts elaborated on above, it's just way too much effort for me. Curious that it's so publicly available and easily accessible. It's definitely a risk tinkering with them since Amazon could do any number of things if they found out.