Is there a kindle.info file on Kindles updated to 2.5.X?

KevinH · 09-09-2010, 10:40 AM

Hi,

If anyone has a Kindle with firmware updated to 2.5.X or later, would you please look to see if there is a kindle.info or a .kindle_info or some file similar in name to that on the Kindle.

I am wondering if software similar to KindleForPC.exe is being used on the Kindle's themselves and if so, whether information from the kindle.info file can be used to determine the book/user specific PID similar to how it is being done with the KindleForPC application now.

Thanks,

KevinH

DiapDealer · 09-09-2010, 11:14 AM

I've searched the filesystem (and I'm still searching) for anything that might be the Kindle's equivalent of the kindle.info, with no luck.

The only info used from the kindle.info file to build the book specific pid (in K4PC) is the random mazama number and the kindle account token. The rest comes from Windows user and hardware info, plus a token from the ebook itself.

I remain convinced that they didn't completely reinvent the wheel on the Kindle device (or the Mac for that matter). I'm banking on a combination of: random number, hardware(serial?) info, registration info/account token and ebook token (exth 209).

pdurrant · 09-09-2010, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

If anyone has a Kindle with firmware updated to 2.5.X or later, would you please look to see if there is a kindle.info or a .kindle_info or some file similar in name to that on the Kindle.

Not as far as I can tell. :-(

ATDrake · 09-09-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I remain convinced that they didn't completely reinvent the wheel on the Kindle device (or the Mac for that matter).

Well, for what it's worth, K4Mac keeps its version hidden in ~/Library/Application Support/Amazon/Kindle For Mac/storage/.kindle-info

Unfortunately, I had no luck while pointing the usual Windows tools at it when I tried on the chance that it might possibly work.

DiapDealer · 09-09-2010, 12:32 PM

With Windows, the kindle.info file is created upon install and modified upon registration. It's encrypted (and unencrypted) using Windows' crypt32.dll library--which is responsible for basic Certificate and Cryptographic Messaging functions. I imagine the first step for a Mac solution would be finding the equivalent built-in cryptography library that is used for this same purpose.

EDIT: Which I'm guessing would have something to do with Mac's Keychain Services API.

Tiersten · 09-09-2010, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Unfortunately, I had no luck while pointing the usual Windows tools at it when I tried on the chance that it might possibly work.

It uses various pieces of information like your username and the volume serial number to decrypt the file. If you move the file to another machine it won't work which is why you couldn't decrypt it with the Windows tools.

I don't know what the Mac Kindle app uses as the volume serial number. HFS partitions do have one but I don't know whether it uses it.

NiLuJe · 09-09-2010, 01:14 PM

Speaking of random, they did add a 'guid' in the 2.5 update. (Cf. /etc/guid & /etc/init.d/guidinit). It creates a short md5sum of a bunch of random data from urandom.

No idea if it's related to the DRM scheme for the books, or for something else (KDK?).

KevinH · 09-09-2010, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

With Windows, the kindle.info file is created upon install and modified upon registration. It's encrypted (and unencrypted) using Windows' crypt32.dll library--which is responsible for basic Certificate and Cryptographic Messaging functions. I imagine the first step for a Mac solution would be finding the equivalent built-in cryptography library that is used for this same purpose.

EDIT: Which I'm guessing would have something to do with Mac's Keychain Services API.

I have decoded things on the Mac OSX side to the point where I have all of the correct CharMap1 through 4 strings identified (CharMap2 is different from its Windows counterpart) and so all I have to do is figure out how the data in the kindle_info file is encoded with the equivalent the Windows crypt32.dll side on the Mac.

It could be the Keychain services API (but no new keychain entry was added when Kindle4Mac was installed - I ma not sure if that means anything at all), but it could also be the OpenSSL library which has been statically linked into the executable.

I have looked but I can not figure it out.

I am beginning to think an "unswindle" style approach might be the way to move forward on the Kindle4Mac side of things.

Oh well,

KevinH

09-09-2010, 10:40 AM	#1
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,644 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Is there a kindle.info file on Kindles updated to 2.5.X? Hi, If anyone has a Kindle with firmware updated to 2.5.X or later, would you please look to see if there is a kindle.info or a .kindle_info or some file similar in name to that on the Kindle. I am wondering if software similar to KindleForPC.exe is being used on the Kindle's themselves and if so, whether information from the kindle.info file can be used to determine the book/user specific PID similar to how it is being done with the KindleForPC application now. Thanks, KevinH

09-09-2010, 12:32 PM	#5
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,548 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	With Windows, the kindle.info file is created upon install and modified upon registration. It's encrypted (and unencrypted) using Windows' crypt32.dll library--which is responsible for basic Certificate and Cryptographic Messaging functions. I imagine the first step for a Mac solution would be finding the equivalent built-in cryptography library that is used for this same purpose. EDIT: Which I'm guessing would have something to do with Mac's Keychain Services API. Last edited by DiapDealer; 09-09-2010 at 12:46 PM.

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09-09-2010, 11:14 AM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,548 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I've searched the filesystem (and I'm still searching) for anything that might be the Kindle's equivalent of the kindle.info, with no luck. The only info used from the kindle.info file to build the book specific pid (in K4PC) is the random mazama number and the kindle account token. The rest comes from Windows user and hardware info, plus a token from the ebook itself. I remain convinced that they didn't completely reinvent the wheel on the Kindle device (or the Mac for that matter). I'm banking on a combination of: random number, hardware(serial?) info, registration info/account token and ebook token (exth 209).

09-09-2010, 01:14 PM	#7
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012494 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Speaking of random, they did add a 'guid' in the 2.5 update. (Cf. /etc/guid & /etc/init.d/guidinit). It creates a short md5sum of a bunch of random data from urandom. No idea if it's related to the DRM scheme for the books, or for something else (KDK?).