DX(G) Using USB Network for sync?

[quimbe]

I'm very curious if/how I can get my DXG (still registered) to be able to connect to the internet again. If this works, I figure I could sync my notes & marks, as well as downloading new books (I downloaded all my books from amazon before the deadline) as if the whispernet was still connected.

Thanks to NiLuJe's post (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=88004) I have jailbroken and installed USB network.

As well as poking about with gateway settings `route add default gw 192.168.2.1` (per https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=214163) and adding `nameserver 8.8.8.8` to `resolv.conf` (per https://askubuntu.com/questions/1304...ia-resolv-conf).

I am now able to:

• ssh into my kindle DXG
• ping local addresses
• ping remote IPs (e.g. 8.8.8.8)
• ping remote domains (e.g. google.com)

But I still can't to get the "Sync & Check for New Items" to work.

I have also set the time, as I've seen that listed as a sync issue, as well as installing the MKK certs assuming some certs may have been expired.

Is there anyone who has managed to get this working? Any useful debug steps on the shell I could run? Anything I might be missing?

[Frogm4n]

MKK certs wouldn't have any effect on connecting to Amazon servers, because they are for 3rd party devs. You might need to pull certs from a more recent Kindle device and put those on the DXG. That might not be enough, though, as the encryption standards used back then might not be valid for using the updated certs anyway. It might need a whole rebuild of the stack, which would be a royal PITA.

[quimbe]

Thanks, thought MKK were likely not relevant certs, but it was there so I tried it.

Super surprising, but after a reboot, my DX was suddenly on the network again with 2 bars, and new books delivered and notes and marks synced. It even shows [EDGE] when the menu is open. I guess I must have caught a waft of an old cell tower.

[this was with USB disconnected, so I know it wasn't that]

So, at least I know certs & all are good, now maybe I keep getting lucky on this 3G, but ideally I'd figure out how to get the device sync working over the USB.

[Quoth]

EDGE is a high speed GSM-2G. More reliable than 3G and nothing at all to do with 3G. About 245 kbps. Basic modem based GSM-2G is 14.4kbps per channel and was charged per second connect time. The EDGE may be charged per second or by kilobyte, depending on era, operator and contract.

In Europe GSM-2G used lower bands than 3G. Later 3G took over some GSM bands and then in turn those became 4G. In Ireland the current Electricity Smart Meter roll-out uses 2G-GSM-EDGE and 3G. The 3G is mostly gone. So here indeed the DXG no longer connects on 3G but uses EDGE.

However the K1 and K2 and original DX have poor screens and old Mobil, no better AZW3/KF8. The DXG was a cynical update as it was simply a better screen on the DX. It doesn't have the RAM of the K3 (slightly earlier), nor WiFi. So the K3 got azw3/KF8.

The DX/DXG was also hyped for PDF, but it's garbage for PDF with the lack of RAM, slow CPU big margins and only 150 dpi. The PW3 works better for PDFs (as do all the Kindle 6" 300 dpi models).

I regard my DXG as a museum exhibit. I was mad wasting money replacing the battery and wasting time jailbreaking. In the end I only left the Sleep screen mod. Now that we have abandoned old mobi / KF7 production & test I might put the better Serif font mod.

What were Amazon thinking of from K1 in 2007 till they did the AZW3/KF8 (later backported to K3 and later)? Basically almost 20 years obsolete in computer terms, with only Left To Right, no emebedded or user fonts, just normal, bold, italic and bold italic of an ugly Serif, sans and monospace. Only Latin-Roman with a few Scandinavian and Greek characters. So stupid. Eink was no excuse.

[quimbe]

based on https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=232

if you want to access the internet you type `usbQa and connect your Kindle to your computer.

That hasn't worked for me (yet).

I see something about 192.168.2.200 here (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=250), which I will try a bit later, and give feedback too.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by quimbe

…
but ideally I'd figure out how to get the device sync working over the USB.

It may never work, because there was no WiFi version. A cell / Mobile connection over IP works quite differently to WiFi or USB over broadband. For a start there is usually a Carrier's NAT. An IP connection really has to be initiated by the terminal device modem or a special mobile protocol. It's dailup on demand like ISDN, not an always on, or nearly always on, connection like FWA, Cable, xDSL or Fibre (all true Broadband schemes).

On the K3 I don't even need to select Check for Items. If the WiFi is on, then eventually a new ebook will appear. On the DXG you do have to "Check and Sync", which makes sense as it's dialup (even 4G is really a dialup modem). There is a SIM card and an assigned identity / phone number. No doubt when any of the Kindles with Cell/Mobile modems are registered (even if an Oasis 2 with WiFi), Amazon links their mobile operator account and device phone number. Indeed the Oasis 2 I had also "fell back" to EDGE mobile if there was no WiFi as there is no 3G here. I arranged the "no WiFi".

[quimbe]

I realise it may never work, but I figure it's worth a try, that's why we're here hacking away

Having a peek through /mnt/us/usbnet/etc/config, I see this setup for the IPs, so I figure the .200 was a red herring and leaving it at .1

#!/bin/sh
#
# $Id: config 9680 2013-08-09 20:13:06Z NiLuJe $
#

# WARNING: Take note that we're essentially a shell script, se we absolutely *M
UST* use UNIX line endings!
# WARNING: To avoid leaving your system in an undefined state,
#          do *NOT* modify this file while usb over ethernet is enabled!
#          (That means when the the auto enable feature is in use, too!)

# Tweak these to match your setup (IPv4 only, no hostname aliases)
# NOTE: The K4 has a specific default
HOST_IP=192.168.2.1
KINDLE_IP=192.168.2.2

Can definitely still get the IP and DNS working from the shell, so that's somewhat positive. Wondering how `usbQa is supposed to work, if anyone knows?

[quimbe]

Okay, so the best info I can find on `usbQa is here: https://web.archive.org/web/20111106...ur-kindle.html about the kindle 2, via https://web.archive.org/web/20111123...-kindle-2.html

Based on that, on the kindle 2 in 2009, you needed to:

1. ;debugOn
2. `usbNetwork
3. `usbQa
4. THEN connect the USB cable

But when I do that with the current jailbreak / usbnetwork hack on the dx, it went straight into USB drive mode.

So it occured to me that I could try the DISABLED_auto to auto rename. I did this and now on connection the device directly connects, but still no joy.

With the EDGE/3G ppp0 connected, I see the following routing, which may be interesting.

[root@kindle /bin]# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
10.64.64.64     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.255 UH    0      0        0 ppp0
192.168.2.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 usb0
0.0.0.0         192.168.2.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 usb0

That single route to 10.64.64.64 as a private IP has me curious, I must say.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by quimbe

That single route to 10.64.64.64 as a private IP has me curious, I must say.

With mobile/cell you are usually not ever connecting direct to the Internet, but via a NAT based gateway, so it can indeed use a private LAN IP.