How to trigger reading location sync via cron?

[siebert]

Hi,

I use my Kindle 3 WiFi on my commute where it has no WiFi connection.

The Kindle is rooted and I'd like to create a cron job which wakes the Kindle at times when it should be in a place with WiFi available (home, work) and force it to sync the current reading location with the amazon network, so I can continue reading with the Kindle App on my Android.

I already found the command for waking up the Kindle (lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 1), but how do I start the syncing and can I put the Kindle back to suspend mode via another command or would I have to wait until it suspends automatically?

Any help on this is very appreciated, because if I can't find a way to accomplish the sync I'll have to buy a 3G Kindle

Ciao,
Steffen

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by siebert

Hi,

I use my Kindle 3 WiFi on my commute where it has no WiFi connection.

The Kindle is rooted and I'd like to create a cron job which wakes the Kindle at times when it should be in a place with WiFi available (home, work) and force it to sync the current reading location with the amazon network, so I can continue reading with the Kindle App on my Android.

I already found the command for waking up the Kindle (lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 1), but how do I start the syncing and can I put the Kindle back to suspend mode via another command or would I have to wait until it suspends automatically?

Any help on this is very appreciated, because if I can't find a way to accomplish the sync I'll have to buy a 3G Kindle

Ciao,
Steffen

Although there is probably a better way, you can send key codes to automatically navigate the menu system. The source code for launchpad should help there. launchpad writes keycode events to /proc/keypad and /proc/fiveway.

EDIT: It would be much better to find and launch the sync app directly. Navigating the menu can be unreliable due to different options greyed out on different units, or at different times.

[siebert]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

you can send key codes to automatically navigate the menu system. The source code for launchpad should help there. launchpad writes keycode events to /proc/keypad and /proc/fiveway.

This seems to work at least in principle. Is there also a way to simulate the power switch to bring the Kindle back into suspend mode?

EDIT: It would be much better to find and launch the sync app directly. Navigating the menu can be unreliable due to different options greyed out on different units, or at different times.

I agree that blindly navigating the menu is rather unreliable.

So any information about the sync app is still very appreciated.

Ciao,
Steffen

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by siebert

This seems to work at least in principle. Is there also a way to simulate the power switch to bring the Kindle back into suspend mode?



I agree that blindly navigating the menu is rather unreliable.

So any information about the sync app is still very appreciated.

Ciao,
Steffen

I need some sleep now, but I think changing the 1 to a 0 on the lipc powerd command will make it sleep (lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 0). Too tired to test it now. Try it and post the results.

[siebert]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

I need some sleep now, but I think changing the 1 to a 0 on the lipc powerd command will make it sleep (lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 0). Too tired to test it now. Try it and post the results.

Doesn't work:

[root@kindle root]# lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 1
[root@kindle root]# lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd wakeUp 0
com.lab126.powerd failed to set value for property wakeUp (0x8 lipcErrNoSuchProperty)

Any other suggestions?

Ciao,
Steffen

[siebert]

Ha, found it!

Next to /usr/bin/powerd is a binary /usr/bin/powerd_test which gives the following usage hint when executed:

powerd_test: Utility to test powerd
Options:
  s          : Print status
  i          : Simulate input event
  p          : Simulate power button pressed event
  h          : Simulate power button held event
  l          : Simulate low batt low event
  d <value>  : Set defer sleep property to given value
  r          : Simulate a random series of events at random intervals.
               Max interval is 10s by default.
  b<optional>: Set fake battery level if a value is provided. Remember to
               there is no space between b and value.  If no value is
               provided, it interactively accepts values from you and sets
               fake battery level
  t <value>  : Max interval between events in seconds.
               Valid only when used with -r
  NOTE       : Only one of i,p,d, b and r can be used at one time

Using strings on powerd_test reveals that the following command toggles the power state:

lipc-send-event com.lab126.powerd.debug dbg_power_button_pressed

And this command gives information about the current state:

[root@kindle /]# lipc-get-prop com.lab126.powerd status
Powerd state: Screen Saver
Remaining time in this state: Unknown
defer_suspend:0
suspend_grace:0
prevent_screen_saver:0
drive_mode:off
Battery Level: 92%
Last batt event at: 92%
Charging: Yes
batt_full=0
Battery logging: On

I still haven't found a way to trigger the whispersync without simulating key presses...

Ciao,
Steffen