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HJ99 · 07-10-2022, 12:36 PM

Ok, registered just to comment on this thread. For some years now I used Kindle for PC 1.17 in WINE. Finally Amazon unregistered it and refused to let it be reregistered. I looked around and somebody posted somewhere getting like version 1.30 working with slight modification to WINE 6.0 or newer. Yep and stupid simple modification, basically add an empty directory.

Dont even need the modification anymore, think that was only with WINE6 and Kindle 1.30. Think I am using like WINE 7.1 with Kindle for PC 1.34. Its fine. Installs and runs ok. One thing that makes it more stable do WINE configuration and set it to identify as windows7 for Kindle app. You will then get this goofy warning that windows7 no longer supported when app opens. But it will be super stable and let you register. I suspect indeed you can not buy books through the app if it detects its running on windows7 or WINE identifying itself as windows7, but I never did that anyway. Bought with browser and then used the app to download and read offline. Most of what I read via Kindle app is fiction, and frankly dont give a fig about rereading it.

Now occasionally do want a long term copy and frankly not impressed with ongoing battles between Amazon and Apprentice Alf. And dont want to buy an old Kindle gizmo to play games that way.

So I figured out way to use a freeware automatic screenshotter run in WINE combined with my own small linux script and couple linux programs to first auto advance pages on kindle app which forces the screen shotter to take lowest resolution png snapshot of that page only not whole screen. I set the app to take shot anytime pixels significantly change. Your screen clock advancing will not trigger a shot... whereas the Kindle app advancing to next page will. When done, yea you can just leave them in a directory and read with an image viewer (nomacs works great and has auto advance slideshow function), or you can combine the png snapshots into a pdf using Image Magick on linux. Actually thats best way to look at them using pdf reader, but one can then use Calibre to convert pdf to epub and use epub reader. Very readable however you want but in epub version you cant really change font or such cause its still a string of png photos not text. You would have to further convert using OCR software if you wanted to get back to text you could change font, etc. This page snapshots strung together also gives rather large file compared to normal epub book. But it is an end run around all this DRM nonsense. Without waiting for Apprentice Alf to catch up with latest protection scheme by Amazon. Its the "analog" endrun much like copying a paper book on a photocopy machine.

Oh I have got quite comfortable installing and using WINE (be aware you may have to add WINEHQ repository to get latest, most linux distributions have some ancient version in their repositories) Alternatively install PlayOnLinux (front end for WINE) and let it install version WINE you want. Can make it stupid simple to get WINE installed and working. I have went through periods where POL wasnt most cooperative due to way I connect to web, so if you can, I do suggest you do you own install either manually or through package manager with WINEHQ repository added. But PlayOnLinux is currently working and makes life really easy. Once an app is installed via POL, then even if POL gets bit wonky, app should still work.

Oh there are appimage and snap and such versions WINE out there. Appimage makes it closest to portable as you will probably find. I found great WINE5 appimage (included 32bit libraries), but the WINE7 version sucked and didnt work. Neither were official versions, but ones individuals had cobbled up. And like say you need WINE6 or newer for current versions Kindle for PC. Too bad cause that WINE5 appimage was a really good one.

07-10-2022, 12:36 PM	#119
HJ99 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2022 Device: none	Ok, registered just to comment on this thread. For some years now I used Kindle for PC 1.17 in WINE. Finally Amazon unregistered it and refused to let it be reregistered. I looked around and somebody posted somewhere getting like version 1.30 working with slight modification to WINE 6.0 or newer. Yep and stupid simple modification, basically add an empty directory. Dont even need the modification anymore, think that was only with WINE6 and Kindle 1.30. Think I am using like WINE 7.1 with Kindle for PC 1.34. Its fine. Installs and runs ok. One thing that makes it more stable do WINE configuration and set it to identify as windows7 for Kindle app. You will then get this goofy warning that windows7 no longer supported when app opens. But it will be super stable and let you register. I suspect indeed you can not buy books through the app if it detects its running on windows7 or WINE identifying itself as windows7, but I never did that anyway. Bought with browser and then used the app to download and read offline. Most of what I read via Kindle app is fiction, and frankly dont give a fig about rereading it. Now occasionally do want a long term copy and frankly not impressed with ongoing battles between Amazon and Apprentice Alf. And dont want to buy an old Kindle gizmo to play games that way. So I figured out way to use a freeware automatic screenshotter run in WINE combined with my own small linux script and couple linux programs to first auto advance pages on kindle app which forces the screen shotter to take lowest resolution png snapshot of that page only not whole screen. I set the app to take shot anytime pixels significantly change. Your screen clock advancing will not trigger a shot... whereas the Kindle app advancing to next page will. When done, yea you can just leave them in a directory and read with an image viewer (nomacs works great and has auto advance slideshow function), or you can combine the png snapshots into a pdf using Image Magick on linux. Actually thats best way to look at them using pdf reader, but one can then use Calibre to convert pdf to epub and use epub reader. Very readable however you want but in epub version you cant really change font or such cause its still a string of png photos not text. You would have to further convert using OCR software if you wanted to get back to text you could change font, etc. This page snapshots strung together also gives rather large file compared to normal epub book. But it is an end run around all this DRM nonsense. Without waiting for Apprentice Alf to catch up with latest protection scheme by Amazon. Its the "analog" endrun much like copying a paper book on a photocopy machine. Oh I have got quite comfortable installing and using WINE (be aware you may have to add WINEHQ repository to get latest, most linux distributions have some ancient version in their repositories) Alternatively install PlayOnLinux (front end for WINE) and let it install version WINE you want. Can make it stupid simple to get WINE installed and working. I have went through periods where POL wasnt most cooperative due to way I connect to web, so if you can, I do suggest you do you own install either manually or through package manager with WINEHQ repository added. But PlayOnLinux is currently working and makes life really easy. Once an app is installed via POL, then even if POL gets bit wonky, app should still work. Oh there are appimage and snap and such versions WINE out there. Appimage makes it closest to portable as you will probably find. I found great WINE5 appimage (included 32bit libraries), but the WINE7 version sucked and didnt work. Neither were official versions, but ones individuals had cobbled up. And like say you need WINE6 or newer for current versions Kindle for PC. Too bad cause that WINE5 appimage was a really good one.