Disable BigBrother features

[yifanlu]

I don't know if this is posted yet, but in /opt/amazon/ebook/config/ServerConfig.conf, you see

#
# sendLog
# Args: 0 (key) - Server data key
#
cmd.send.log=log
cmd.send.log.urlkey=url.cde
cmd.send.log.params=key
cmd.send.log.global.params=currentTransportMethod, currentCountry

#
# sendSyslog
# Args: 0 (key) - Server data key
#
cmd.send.syslog=MessageLogServlet
cmd.send.syslog.urlkey=url.det
cmd.send.syslog.params=key
cmd.send.syslog.global.params=currentTransportMeth od,currentCountry

#
# uploadLogs - uploads anonymous logs
# Args: 0 (key) - Log key
#
cmd.upload.logs=DETLogServlet
cmd.upload.logs.urlkey=url.det.unauth
cmd.upload.logs.params=key
cmd.upload.logs.global.params=currentTransportMeth od,currentCountry

Can't we just comment those out?

[Siliverst]

Originally Posted by ebs

As I described previously, "todo" server pushes download requests to Kindle, firmware update files are automatically downloaded to the user partition and later applied when Kindle goes to sleep.

If you want to disable automatic update "execution", change /usr/bin/process_update script:

--- process_update~orig 2009-07-25 22:08:55.000000000 -0700
+++ process_update      2009-07-25 22:41:11.000000000 -0700
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@
                exit 0
        fi

-       # Start updatewait in background and exit
-       ${_UPDATE_WAIT} &
-       msg "Started ${_UPDATE_WAIT}" I
+       msg "Auto updates are disabled, exiting..." I
        exit 0
 fi

Note that manual updates are not disabled - you can still apply downloaded updates from UI.

Please, explain, the need to remove lines from a script marked with a minus sign?

[cleanwelllighted]

Hello,

I'm new to the forums, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the information available here.

I am very interested in shutting off sending of most/all data to Amazon, but not at the expense of losing the functionality of the Kindle.

In other words, I want to keep automatic bookmarks on, logs of my highlights and comments, etc, and to use the built-in 3G wireless occasionally - but I don't want any of that info sent to Amazon, which I believe it has no right or need to have.

My question is, is the script at the beginning of this thread the way to acomplish this entirely, or is there anything else I should do?

I know there is another very popular thread that adresses "jailbreaking and accessing fonts/screensavers", but that just doesn't seem like what I'm after.

I might like to do that kind of thing, too, eventually (as well as add ePub functionality, which I have read is also a possibility), but my primary concern is stopping the phoning home with my private info.

I've searched the forums pretty carefully and this thread seems to be the closest thing to what I'm after. It does seem a bit complex, though. Is there an automated script that can perfom these changes, or maybe a zip file that could be overwritten? Or, if it's really not as hard as it seems, perhaps a there is a newbie walkthrough to perform this? I have no coding skills, and it seems like some might be needed.

Anyway, thanks for the attention and help, I feel very strongly about the right to privacy, and I don't want to sacrifice the funtionality of something I've paid for (the 3G connectability) at the expense of other functionality of the device (the automated settings, etc).

Thanks again for any help, better or more elaborate explanations, links, etc.

[TheArtfulPenguin]

I do not like that Amazon is uploading any information. They should be downloading books when I want them but not snooping on me.

I see that there are ways to turn this off. You say just go in and edit XXXXX files. How do you get to the point of editing the files?

thanks.

[babs_johnson]

stupid John Connor reference.

[SunLight]

Does this work on Kindle 3 3G? I do not want my Kindle to upgrade automatically to any new firmware.

[wassname]

The patch in the first post doesn't seem to work for the kindle wifi as the file is different and I can't find the lines of modify.

For those who want to know how to access and modify the file, you need to jailbreak your kindle, then enable USBnetworking. This thread explains how to jailbreak. And a filed is attached to that thread which allows you to enable USBnetworking. This post has instruction for USBnetworking for the kindle 3.

[statethatiamin]

IMHO I don't really mind the info that's sent to Amazon. I'm far too uninteresting to warrant being "spied" upon. They probably just use the information to generate statistics based on location, what people are reading most, etc... most likely, to improve consumer experience. I'm happy to supply Amazon with that.

That being said, I completely understand that some people wouldn't want that information to be sent.

[the-equinoxe]

The easiest way to disable sending the files is:
comment out the line
"/var/log/messages 256"
in the file etc/tinyrot-files.conf

the tinyrot configuration is invoked by:
/usr/bin/showlog

The tinyrot.conf ask tinyrot-files.conf which files to be send by showlog,with our new confiruration: nothing

[theblop]

Originally Posted by the-equinoxe

The easiest way to disable sending the files is:
comment out the line
"/var/log/messages 256"
in the file etc/tinyrot-files.conf

That would disable the rotation of /var/log/messages which is not a good idea...

To disable showlog, on my Kindle 3.0.3 I replaced:

OUTFILE=/dev/stdout
with:
OUTFILE=/dev/null
(around line 156)

and:
OUTFILE="$1"
with:
OUTFILE=/dev/null
(around line 178)

Disabling the whole script with a call to "exit" near the top would achieve the same effect.

[dsmid]

Originally Posted by theblop

That would disable the rotation of /var/log/messages which is not a good idea...

Exactly, running out of space on system partition could brick your Kindle.

[the-equinoxe]

Originally Posted by theblop

That would disable the rotation of /var/log/messages which is not a good idea...

To disable showlog, on my Kindle 3.0.3 I replaced:

OUTFILE=/dev/stdout
with:
OUTFILE=/dev/null
(around line 156)

and:
OUTFILE="$1"
with:
OUTFILE=/dev/null
(around line 178)

Disabling the whole script with a call to "exit" near the top would achieve the same effect.

OK, thanks for the advise.
I'll be messing around with the showlog file and check if the var/log/message file doesn't grow out of proportions

[ezy_ryder88]

How specific is the location data that gets sent to Amazon? I have a Wireless Kindle 3 and I'm wondering if I should keep the wireless off.

[kranu]

Originally Posted by ezy_ryder88

How specific is the location data that gets sent to Amazon? I have a Wireless Kindle 3 and I'm wondering if I should keep the wireless off.

It gets the latitude and longitude coordinates as close as it can. It's not 100% accurate though, because the Kindle doesn't have GPS. A good example is going to Google maps and clicking the Find my Location button.

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by kranu

It gets the latitude and longitude coordinates as close as it can. It's not 100% accurate though, because the Kindle doesn't have GPS. A good example is going to Google maps and clicking the Find my Location button.

I'm not sure about the Kindle 3, but I know kindle 2 has gps.