MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

yifanlu · 06-26-2011, 12:27 AM

When I made the 3.1 updater for K2/DX, I included a custom kernel that allows people to recover from potential bad flashes. Some people asked me for a similar thing for the Kindle 3, so I made one. The patches are the same as described here, but the offsets and stuff are different.

Basically, this kernel adds the following recovery features:
-Export entire filesystem (including linux rootfs) to the USB from the recovery menu with Alt+E
-Install custom recovery packages signed with the jailbreak keys (to make a custom recovery package, copy the Kindle rootfs using "dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p1 of=/mnt/us/rootfs.img", then you can mount the image and modify it on your computer (if you want). After your done, gzip rootfs.img, sign it using the jailbreak key and package rootfs.img.gz and rootfs.img.gz.sig into an update. Change the first 4 bytes of the header from "FC02" to "FB02" and you're done.

If you don't know what this is or how it's useful, it's not for you. This is for people who want to mess with the kindle filesystem, but are afraid of bricking. A safety net for those people. With this kernel, you can pretty much recover from most "bricks" (bad fonts, deleted system files, etc) in the future without the need to access the serial port. The only exceptions are if you broke the bootloader or the kernel. Also if you somehow wiped the rootfs clean, you can upload this kernel via recovery serial and make a recovery package with a backup rootfs.img.

I may also add additional linux features if I have time and if there are any that people want. The kindle comes with a pretty bare linux kernel.

Oh, and so far, it's only for Kindle 3.1. I don't have a KSO, so I can't test 3.2/3.2.1.

Download
http://yifan.lu/p/kindle-custom-kernel

EDIT:
seaniko7 has modified this to work with the 3.3 kernel: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=45

06-26-2011, 12:27 AM	#1
yifanlu Kindle Dissector Posts: 662 Karma: 475607 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Amazon Kindle 3	Custom kernel for Kindle 3 When I made the 3.1 updater for K2/DX, I included a custom kernel that allows people to recover from potential bad flashes. Some people asked me for a similar thing for the Kindle 3, so I made one. The patches are the same as described here, but the offsets and stuff are different. Basically, this kernel adds the following recovery features: -Export entire filesystem (including linux rootfs) to the USB from the recovery menu with Alt+E -Install custom recovery packages signed with the jailbreak keys (to make a custom recovery package, copy the Kindle rootfs using "dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p1 of=/mnt/us/rootfs.img", then you can mount the image and modify it on your computer (if you want). After your done, gzip rootfs.img, sign it using the jailbreak key and package rootfs.img.gz and rootfs.img.gz.sig into an update. Change the first 4 bytes of the header from "FC02" to "FB02" and you're done. If you don't know what this is or how it's useful, it's not for you. This is for people who want to mess with the kindle filesystem, but are afraid of bricking. A safety net for those people. With this kernel, you can pretty much recover from most "bricks" (bad fonts, deleted system files, etc) in the future without the need to access the serial port. The only exceptions are if you broke the bootloader or the kernel. Also if you somehow wiped the rootfs clean, you can upload this kernel via recovery serial and make a recovery package with a backup rootfs.img. I may also add additional linux features if I have time and if there are any that people want. The kindle comes with a pretty bare linux kernel. Oh, and so far, it's only for Kindle 3.1. I don't have a KSO, so I can't test 3.2/3.2.1. Download http://yifan.lu/p/kindle-custom-kernel EDIT: seaniko7 has modified this to work with the 3.3 kernel: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=45 Last edited by yifanlu; 10-30-2011 at 08:40 PM.