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Old 02-27-2009, 10:27 PM   #16
JSWolf
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Actually, it's not a screensaver. eink does not need to be screensaved. There's probably a name for it that Amazon understands, but when you say screensaver, they think you mean a screensaver which is not what it is so they get it wrong. Figure out the name for it or describe in detail what it is you are trying to tell/ask them.
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Old 02-28-2009, 10:01 PM   #17
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Here's what Amazon.com replied to my email with:

Hello,

Thanks for writing about changing the screen saver on the Kindle 2 and that you are aware that would be considered an alteration and would void your warranty. However you would still like to see a approved manner in which to do this.

Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us. I'll send your comments to the Kindle team.

Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle.
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Old 03-01-2009, 01:36 AM   #18
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While some folks used the Kindle 1 hack to put pictures of their loved ones on their Kindles others did less savory/legal things.

Think about the comments NBC made about Apple and the "pirate ipod platform" and that was NBC.

The publishing industry is far far more conservative.

People start violating copyrights with screensaver images and next thing you know the platform is fit only for pirates and Amazon is accused of aiding and abetting for not shutting them down.

It takes but a few bad apples to spoil a nice thing for everyone.

My suggestion is to nicely ask Amazon for the ability to email screen saver images to your Kindle. You can also suggest to them you might consider buying screen saver packs/images if they offered an ability to publishers to sell them.
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Old 03-01-2009, 01:47 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf View Post
Actually, it's not a screensaver. eink does not need to be screensaved.
As was demonstrated repeatedly on the irex readers you do indeed need to save eink. The safest storage state of eink is 50% grey where the black and white ink capsules are completely mixed in the middle of the oil suspension matrix. This keeps the ink capsules from drifting outside of the EMF produced by the electrophoresis drive grid.

When I got my new Kindle 1 to replace the one that died during the firmware update I was shocked by how much contrast I'd lost over time on my original launch day Kindle 1.

I think the closest publishing term to what the images are would be "illuminations". Interesting images used to fill otherwise dead empty space and provide a sense of warmth and enjoyment.
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Old 03-01-2009, 03:14 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scotty1024 View Post
People start violating copyrights with screensaver images and next thing you know the platform is fit only for pirates and Amazon is accused of aiding and abetting for not shutting them down.
I'm not quite sure I understand how replacing the included images in the Kindle with pictures of my kids is violating any type of copyright?

BOb
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Old 03-01-2009, 04:04 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob View Post
I'm not quite sure I understand how replacing the included images in the Kindle with pictures of my kids is violating any type of copyright?

BOb
I think he was saying that people were using images that were not their families (perhaps everyone was using your family?) and that the publishers shut it down due to copyright concerns.

I don't know that it is a copyright violation in the sense that publishers might care...I don't see Fox breaking my door down for my Lena Heady as Sarah Connor computer background, for example. And Apple certainly has not been sued or charged for giving me the ability to use that picture. And I am not profiting from it. And I would assume the same standards would be the case for the Kindle.
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Old 03-02-2009, 03:23 PM   #22
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See, I'm new to Kindle and never knew any other screensavers! If I had a picture of my husband or pets, it would just remind me I should be spending time with them. You know, taking my husband for a walk and playing fetch with him -- watching TV on the couch with my dogs while we discuss our days.
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Old 03-02-2009, 11:26 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichelleR View Post
See, I'm new to Kindle and never knew any other screensavers! If I had a picture of my husband or pets, it would just remind me I should be spending time with them. You know, taking my husband for a walk and playing fetch with him -- watching TV on the couch with my dogs while we discuss our days.
Talk about woman's best friend!
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Old 03-03-2009, 02:38 AM   #24
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Hey, my husband is not neglected -- I make sure to scratch his belly.
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Old 03-03-2009, 01:18 PM   #25
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From Amazon CS on their website:

Custom Screen Savers
Amazon.com Customer Service does not support or provide instructions for adding custom images to your Kindle to be used as screen savers. However, should you choose to do this on your own it will not void your warranty.

http://tinyurl.com/cpwaul

Janet
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Old 03-03-2009, 04:42 PM   #26
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Yes I saw that was posted as well, does not void jack. What I think everyone needs to do is urge Amazon to update the software to add a "save as screen saver" option on the menu when in picture mode. If you do load pics, which I have, you get a menu when viewing that gives many options, including full screen... I have a feeling they consider this but opted not to do it.
Oh and "screen saver" is the correct term, or at least the term Amazon uses. On the k1 when you hit alt-shift-0 up pops a window that asks if you want to import or save as a "screen saver".

I think not giving users this option is just silly and short sighted on Amazon's part.
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Old 03-04-2009, 05:19 PM   #27
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So I finally got around (avoided work enough) to looking at the K2 to see about custom screen savers. I used the 2.0.1 update binary and Igor Skochinsky's work to create a fake update and dump the /opt/amazon directory to the user accessible portion of the flash memory.

Things of note:
1) On the kindle 1 screen savers were raw 2bit images that were gzipped. K2 just uses standard PNGs.
2) There doesn't seem to be a way to add custom screen savers, but I'm admittedly bad at trying to disassemble java class files and figure out what's going on.
3) I was, however, able to create another update binary that does nothing but change the SCREEN_SAVER_DIR variable in /opt/amazon/ebook/config/framework.mario.conf from the default location of /opt/amazon/ebook/screen_saver to /mnt/us/system/screen_saver and this lets me put any PNGs I want into my system/screen_saver folder and have custom screen savers again.

Hopefully someone better at reverse engineering compiled java classes can figure out if there's a way to use our own screen savers without editing system files. But until then this method is working for me at least.
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Old 03-04-2009, 05:27 PM   #28
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BINGO. Someone has a solution with mucking with the internals of the system but I think a lot of users out there just want custom screensaver without making a cable, take the device apart to access the debug port as outlined by Igor.

Update: Since there is way to make your own custom binary file, is it easy to patch the binary to contain other fonts?

Last edited by stevenmoy; 03-04-2009 at 05:33 PM.
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Old 03-04-2009, 05:50 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevenmoy View Post
Update: Since there is way to make your own custom binary file, is it easy to patch the binary to contain other fonts?
Not likely. If you look at Igor's original file list, the K1 system had several fonts already on it, but the java front-end only let you use the ones it wanted. I don't really feel like doing full filesystem listing for my K2, but I'd imagine it's the same situation.
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Old 03-04-2009, 07:33 PM   #30
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===========================================
EDIT: This version is old, see later posts for newer version.
===========================================


Oh yeah, for those that are impatient, lack caution, or are just interested in the code, I'm attaching my K2 screen saver hack. It works for me, but I can't guarantee it won't DESTROY YOUR KINDLE 2.

Honestly, if you can't view the source code and understand what it's doing then you should just stay away.

And if you're still around after those warnings:

Code:
==============================================================================
WARNING: Use at your own risk!  This is an UNOFFICIAL update to allow custom
Kindle2 Screen Savers.  This file is NOT from Amazon.com and any harm it
causes your Kindle2 will be your own fault.
==============================================================================

Instructions for use:
---------------------
1) Plug your Kindle2 into your computer.
2) Copy "Update_kindle2_user_screen_savers.bin" to the root of your Kindle2.
3) Change directories to the "system" folder.
4) Create a new folder called "screen_saver"
5) Place any 600x800 PNG image files into the system\screen_saver folder that
   you just created.
6) Unplug your Kindle2
7) Press the "Menu" button on your Kindle2 and select "Settings."
8) At the Settings page press "Menu" again and select "Update Your Kindle."
9) When the "update" is done your Kindle2 will reboot and you are done.


To go back to the default Kindle2 screen savers:
------------------------------------------------
1) Plug your Kindle2 into your computer.
2) Copy "Update_kindle2_restore_default_screen_savers.bin" to the root of your
   Kindle2.
3) Unplug your Kindle2
4) Press the "Menu" button on your Kindle2 and select "Settings."
5) At the Settings page press "Menu" again and select "Update Your Kindle."
6) When the "update" is done your Kindle2 will reboot and you are done.


More Information:
-----------------
You can change images at any time, but you must reset your kindle for them to
appear (press and hold the slider for 15 seconds).  If there are no images 
then a blank screen will be shown when you go into sleep mode.

It's possible that images in other formats besides PNG work, or in other
resolutions besides 600x800, but I wouldn't know.

After the update, the update bin will be gone, but there will be two new
files in the root of your kindle: "framework.mario.conf.orig" and
"framework.mario.conf.new"  You can delete these if you want, they are
simply copies of the config file (before and after) the screen saver
directory was changed in it.

The "src.tar.gz" has the code (modified from Igor Skochinsky's code) to
generate the update bin yourself.  You can see that all the update really
does is a single sed(1) command to change the path of the SCREEN_SAVER_DIR
variable.
Attached Files
File Type: zip kindle2_screen_saver_hack.zip (5.3 KB, 1016 views)

Last edited by clarknova; 03-05-2009 at 10:56 AM.
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