A hack to display/ERASE the log Amazon collects?

[FF2]

I know there's a long thread on "Big Brother Features" but in some other threads the issue of what Amazon collects on NON-amazon books, possibly de-drm-ed books and other info has come up.

The UNtalented amongst us would like to know if there might be a simple method to displaying the log info and possibly erasing or pruning it?

I/we don't know from the usb-networking and accessing the linux partition or boot info. Might a hack be created that at least copies the log file to the root of the kindle? Going further a hack like the new jailbreak that looks for a (blank) file called ERASE_LOG or PRUNE_LOG that could clean it out periodically?

I'm sure that I would not be the only one to appreciate such an ability. If only I had not given up programming under the IBM 360!!!!

[Shbek]

I would LOVE this as well. Everything I've seen on how disable Amazon's big brother features is a above my skill level. =(

I've also been looking for something to permanently disable indexing, again without having to go through usbnetworking. Slightly annoying to type in the commands to disable it after every reboot.

[kranu]

Originally Posted by Shbek

I would LOVE this as well. Everything I've seen on how disable Amazon's big brother features is a above my skill level. =(

I've also been looking for something to permanently disable indexing, again without having to go through usbnetworking. Slightly annoying to type in the commands to disable it after every reboot.

Besides updates, which rarely come out, there's no particular reason to restart your Kindle in the first place.

[abookreader]

definitely - with a special emphasis on the Untalented in my case. I've read thru some of the threads here but you guys go so far over my head that I'm reluctant to try some of the things.

Love the Kindle, hate the Big Brother aspects.

[Mike L]

Originally Posted by kranu

Besides updates, which rarely come out, there's no particular reason to restart your Kindle in the first place.

Sometimes the Kindle simply locks up. It's happened to me two or three times in the last couple of years. In those (rare) cases, a restart is the only solution.

[snipenekkid]

like any other computer, even the Kindle should be restarted periodically, for garbage collection if no other reason. I don't care that it's a Linux kernal, it still needs periodic memory cleaning as we have no idea how clean is the code Amazon is running.

[FF2]

I might go along with the restart periodically but I'm not sure that is sufficient. This morning I installed the new jailbreak, restarted, installed the screensaver hack and restarted. I just dumped the log file (via the search box ;dumpmessages) and it shows data from Feb 20. So rebooting does not clean it out. And even "dumping" it to a file does not clean it out since I had done one last night, too.

Of course, I admit, I have no idea whether there are MORE logs on the device that might be cleaned by a restart. But I would not mind being able to do my own house cleaning of what I probably mistakenly think of as MY KINDLE.

[snipenekkid]

Sorry if I was confusing in my post, sort of got ahead of myself but I mentioned nothing about deleting any log files. Generally speaking, a restart should have nothing to do with deleting and reinitializing most log files, a few, yeah, but not many and even they it's put into append not overwrite mode. I specifically mentioned garbage collection which is a different issue and more involved that I have the energy to explain...haha, yeah, I'm feeling THAT lazy today. But my observation is all devices need periodic restarts everything from servers to cell phones. It has to do with garbage collection and memory fragmentation. In fact most so called "re-installs" of an OS are actually just restarts and system cleaning once the techs get your systems into the back room. Especially true of systems brought in with what are really phantom malware infections. Odds are there is NO malware just the system has not been properly setup to keep itself in proper order.

[abookreader]

Personally I vote that the new log file say something along the lines of

"Hey Amazon! Mind Yer Own Beezwax!!!"

or something like that.

But regardless, I got as far as installing the usbnetworking but I'm just too clueless to know what to do with it or get up the guts to try. I have a feeling most are like me. I also suspect that a large number of users here would employ this if it were simple enough to install or execute.

A Disable BigBrother For Dummies.

[yifanlu]

I looked into this a while ago. First of all before putting you tin hat on, know that Amazon doesn't have the time to read through the logs of millions of Kindles. The only possible downside of having your logs sent (other then just the privacy issues) is that if your kindle breaks, they COULD deny you service because it was hacked. However, I know tons of people with broken kindles that are jailbroken and hacked (without even uninstalling them) and amazon replaced them. However, if you really want to disable the sending of logs. I'm looking into this right now by capturing the Wifi packets the Kindle sends. When I find out exactly what Amazon sees, I'll report back.

EDIT
Ok, my first attempt at stoping logging.
removed... bad idea
Untested. Requires jailbreak.

What I did is find how amazon finds "where" to send the logs and redirect them to a non-existant url. However, I do not know if Amazon sends other stuff through other means.

Included in the zip is tcpdump-arm. ONLY IF YOU'RE AN ADVANCED USER: Copy and chmod +x tcpdump to the kindle (/mnt/us/). Disable wifi. Run "./tcpdump-arm -w packets.pcap -i ppp0 -s 0". Now use the kindle as normal for a few minutes, then leave the kindle alone for an hour or so, preferably overnight. After a long time, SSH back into kindle. "killall tcpdump-arm" to kill it or restart the kindle. Find packets.pcap and analyze it with wireshark. If you don't know what to look for, send me the pcap.

[FF2]

yifanlu:

Thanks for looking at this. I'm sure that I would not be the only one to appreciate the ability to "put a tin foil hat" on my kindle!

And while I suspect you are right - they will not be poring over my log with the million others, one never knows - they could farm it out to a cheap labor locale.

Oh, wait, I was replying to your original post - I did not see that you had worked something up!!!! Wonderful. I certainly won't mess with the ADVANCED USER stuff.

Hopefully, I can test. Of course, I won't know if it works....

UNTIL I get an email from Amazon telling me they are terminating my life or my kindle or my contract because they don't seem to be getting any logs from me.

So:

[yifanlu]

Ok, I found out how the kindle sends logs along with more stuff...

1) Your kindle "identity" is stored in /var/local/java/prefs/certs/client.p12. This file is like the username and password that ties you to Amazon's whipernet. You need a password to unlock the certificate. I found this password and it's not the best password in the world, but I do not know the legalities of releasing it. (With all this PS3 key and suing going on, it's better to be safe).

2) The kindle uses this certificate to authorize you to Whispernet. There it can do stuff like sync books, download books, send logs, etc.

3) (Cool fact) If you find the password and import the certificate into your computer, you can access Whispernet from your computer and send custom book numbers to sync or check if anything new is ready to be synced, etc.

4) In /opt/amazon/ebook/config/ServerConfig.conf, the URLs for various Whispernet servers are listed along with "commands" for doing things. Each entry starts with a "name", "paramaters", and "url" which points to a URL on the bottom of the file. The kindle reads it as:
https://url/name/parameter=value&parameter2=value2&etc

5) To stop the Kindle from sending logs, the easiest (don't know about best) way is to edit the "name" as it won't potentially "hurt" anything else. I wrote a script that does this. It requires a jailbreak, and it does modify amazon files so you need to uninstall this before updating.

Again, someone should log the kindle overnight and see if my hack works.

[FF2]

I just downloaded this new zip. So, it supposedly will stop the log being sent but will allow other syncing and downloading of new content or books?

I just turned on my kindle, figuring I would allow it to contact Amazon or whatever.

I just moved it over and it was updated successfully and it restarting.

I will probably read for about half and hour and then put it to sleep (and me, too). I will see what's what in the morning Pacific time. There's my password prompt... rebuilding my collections...

What can I expect or not expect in the log?

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by FF2

I just downloaded this new zip. So, it supposedly will stop the log being sent but will allow other syncing and downloading of new content or books?

I just turned on my kindle, figuring I would allow it to contact Amazon or whatever.

I just moved it over and it was updated successfully and it restarting.

I will probably read for about half and hour and then put it to sleep (and me, too). I will see what's what in the morning Pacific time. There's my password prompt... rebuilding my collections...

What can I expect or not expect in the log?

The log isn't changed. I just made the kindle send the log to an nonexistent URL.

[abookreader]

cool - shiny new tinfoil hat!