Kindle Touch 5.1, Jailbreak, and Screensaver Hack

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Portia

I'm guessing these are some of the really basic things that the developers here assume everyone knows, but that's giving me waaaay too much credit.

That is true but not limited to "developers".

It is almost a part of the "human condition" among people who's experience is mostly with a single computer operating system.
Not so much an assumption but just things so familar (and perhaps apparently trivial) that they are not often mentioned.

Here it is common that a user's main experience is with a computer operating system other than the one used to run the Kindles.

And for the people who are familar with two or more computer operating systems, including the one used on the Kindles, it has just become automatic to take the differences into account.

So it is mostly the people who are just starting out to use their "second" computer system that get caught by these "trivial" differences.

A couple of examples -

Filenames:
*nix - file name extensions (dot three or four characters) are not significant to the operating system. Although they might be significant to a specific application program.

Others - file name extensions are significant to the operating system and the default view setting is to not display them to the user.

Common commands:
*nix - "cd" without any arguments returns you to your home directory.
Others - "cd" without any arguments reports where you are in the file tree.

That difference gets a lot of "new to *nix" people "lost" in the file tree.

There are quite a few of these "trivial problem causers" -
Maybe enough that perhaps a "cheat sheet" should be put up somewhere for the aid of the "new to *nix" folks.

[geekmaster]

Linux for DOS users: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/uni...dos_users.html

[knc1]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

Linux for DOS users: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/uni...dos_users.html

That page is starting to show its age but it is a lot better than no reference at all.

So unless (or until) someone finds or creates a better one, use the link provided by GM as the "cheat sheet" I mentioned.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@Portia: The '.png' stuff smells like Windows hiding common file extensions, and you ending up with a .png.png file... Check your explorer settings.

Recently, there have been many problems in many posts in this forum, all caused by Windows users who have default Windows Explorer settings hiding things from them that they need to see, such as hidden file extensions (such as .png) and hidden files and folders.

Another HUGE problem is that Windows is not case-sensitive but linux IS case-sensitive. Capital letters on file names really DO matter. But Windows LIES about the true case of filenames, changing them to "look pretty" in explorer even though the "pretty" version is NOT what is stored on disk.

You need to change the windows explorer settings to show you "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth". That is ALWAYS the FIRST thing that I do when working on ANY windows computer (my own AND those of my clients). ALWAYS... This is ESPECIALLY critical when working on ANYTHING that may end up on a linux (or freebsd) computer, such as a web server on the internet. You need to use the command prompt to see the REAL file name. It really gets you when you are using old DOS style filenames with all-uppercase letters. Luckily, most linux filenames are all-lowercase.

How to make Windows Explorer show EVERYTHING:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24...how-everything

Microsoft says that Windows Explorer changes the filename case to make it "more readable" (but that sure breaks linux compatiblity): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130598
At that microsoft knowledgebase web page, you just gotta "love" their #1 suggested workaround example. They recommend renaming FILENAME.EXT to FILENAM,.EXT (change the E to a comma) so that you can see the real case of the rest of the letters. What were they THINKING?

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

Microsoft says that Windows Explorer changes the filename case to make it "more readable" (but that sure breaks linux compatiblity): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/130598
At that microsoft knowledgebase web page, you just gotta "love" their #1 suggested workaround example. They recommend renaming FILENAME.EXT to FILENAM,.EXT (change the E to a comma) so that you can see the real case of the rest of the letters. What were they THINKING?

[knc1]

The #1 example does show using a comma.
But the #1 example says to use an "extended character" - whatever that is in en_M$ language.

I think that in 8.3 terms it means non-alphanumeric.
Try: F_NAME.TXT (anything that fits in 8.3 using an underscore)

Hmm...
We also need to see the mount options of /mnt/us while it is in USBfile mode.
Will probably require someone who has Wifi SSH enabled to look that up for us.
(The options will tell us how the VFAT driver is handling filename case.)

Here is a quick (non-Kindle) example of a VFAT option string:

/dev/sde1 on /media/A80E-9247 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks)

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ixtab

I got bit by that a long time ago. I was asked to fix a little problem on a website CGI script back in about 1996 or so. I was using Windows. The web server was using FreeBSD. In windows, the config file was shown in explorer as Config.ini, which I renamed as Config.ini.bak. Then I created a new Config.ini with the settings we needed. After uploading to the web server, the entire website broke. During a painful interlude during which the web host service provide called me an idiot, I discovered that the CGI scripts were looking for a (now missing) CONFIG.INI file. About 5 years later, the web hosting service owner who called me an idiot hired me as lead software developer and senior tech support analyst.

[sparrowlight]

Originally Posted by Portia

Sparrowlight, thanks for your help. And thanks for the help of ixtab and geekmaster, et al, on the other thread that you pointed me to. All is good for me now.

Glad I could help!

[decat88ba]

I just logged in to thank Portia, SparrowLight and Ixtab. I'd been having this screensaver nightmare for a while and it was freaking me out, since I can often not tell whether the device is locked or not. Can't tell you all the pains my little kindle has gone through, but I'll gladly describe the last few steps, in case someone else runs into this surprisingly annoying indiscernible screensaver thing.

Had already tried soft booting, hard booting, back to factory settings (and therefore having to rearrange 150+ books and articles in their collections all over again) and reinstalling custom screensaver 2.0 and uninstall and reinstall simple screensaver and screensavercopy. Was mustering the courage to follow the super intimidating unbricking guide when I stumbled upon this thread.

What ended up working was:
-deleting the screensaver folder
-installing simple screensaver
-uninstalling custom screensaver 2
-rebooting
-pressing the power/lock button
-crying in joy at the sight of The Doctor smiling at me from the lock screen

Hope it helps someone else



UPDATE:
The problem returned, and after some thinking, realized screensavers started failing after displaying one which did not have the appropriate (600*800) resolution. Corrected resolution for all pngs and it seems to work fine now.