Kindle DX Homebrew - It works with Java!!

[DairyKnight]

A lot of people have successfully built binary code to run on Amazon Kindle DX. But the hard part has always been how to work with the e-ink framebuffer driver, to correctly refresh the screen.


I have spent some time digging/reverse engineering the Amazon Java library
and have just found a solution with Java code. So you will just need to know some basic Java/Awt stuff to program for your kindle

A sample program has been attached. The key lies in the JNI adapter 'FrameBufferJNI.java', for which the binary file is /usr/java/lib/libjniframebuffer.so It supports partial, fully and black-white out screen refreshing, which is basically all what you can do with the device.

To run the program -
1. Download JDK/Java ME SDK/NetBeans from Sun
2. Build the program, scp the whole directory to your Kindle DX.
3. Run: /usr/java/bin/cvm cdcapplication1.Main

Have fun! I'm looking forward to some programs ported to Kindle DX, e.g. FBReader for Java.

[dr_g100k]

Cool!!!
Can you show me how to handle key (and 5 way controller) events?

[vessenes]

Okay, this got me to crack open my kindle 2 and start poking around. I'm working on compiling your sample app now.

Thanks for the work! I can't believe you're not getting more kudos here -- to me a working framework for java apps seems like the key to getting the kindle 2 whipped into shape and submitting to its masters.

[dr_g100k]

package com.lab126.util.framebuffer;

public class FrameBufferException extends RuntimeException{
    
    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
    private int errorCode = 0;

    public FrameBufferException() {
        super();
   }

    public FrameBufferException(String msg) {
        super(msg);
    }

    public FrameBufferException(Throwable t) {
        super(t);
    }

    public FrameBufferException(String msg, Throwable t) {
        super(msg, t);
    }

    public int getErrorCode() {
        return this.errorCode;
    }
}

I think this version is more readable

[bdaddy]

When you run a java program from the command line like this that uses the eink frame buffer, how does sharing work with the framework app? Do both apps just use the frame buffer simultaneously?