Developing kindlets on the K4 NT

[ger1972]

Hi folks,

I have only recently (this week in fact) been given a Kindle 4 NT and would like to try developing a kindlet to run on it. I have been reading as many posts as I can find on the wiki, and followed the steps for jailbreaking and accessing the root via PuTTY. So far so good.

There's a few things I'm not clear on which I'd appreciate some help with. I'm a software developer by trade, but haven't used unix in 20 odd years, never used PuTTY and I'm new to the Kindle, so can somebody fill in the gaps for me?

1. Does I need to put my Kindle into Diagnostics mode every time I want to access it using PuTTY?
2. How do I copy my kindlet from my PC to the correct location on the Kindle? Do I just copy it to a directory I can access on the Kindle via USB and then copy it to another location using PuTTY?
3. Should I be able to run the "Hello World" kindlet on my Kindle 4 NT (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...php?t=102386)? I have built the program on my PC, but through PuTTY the only directories I can see on the Kindle under /opt are eink, ar6k and factory. There is no amazon directory as per the steps detailed here.
4. The final step in the post above states "Copy signed jar into Kindle". Where do I copy it to?

Any advice appreciated,

Ger

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ger1972

Hi folks,

I have only recently (this week in fact) been given a Kindle 4 NT and would like to try developing a kindlet to run on it. I have been reading as many posts as I can find on the wiki, and followed the steps for jailbreaking and accessing the root via PuTTY. So far so good.

There's a few things I'm not clear on which I'd appreciate some help with. I'm a software developer by trade, but haven't used unix in 20 odd years, never used PuTTY and I'm new to the Kindle, so can somebody fill in the gaps for me?

1. Does I need to put my Kindle into Diagnostics mode every time I want to access it using PuTTY?
2. How do I copy my kindlet from my PC to the correct location on the Kindle? Do I just copy it to a directory I can access on the Kindle via USB and then copy it to another location using PuTTY?
3. Should I be able to run the "Hello World" kindlet on my Kindle 4 NT (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...php?t=102386)? I have built the program on my PC, but through PuTTY the only directories I can see on the Kindle under /opt are eink, ar6k and factory. There is no amazon directory as per the steps detailed here.
4. The final step in the post above states "Copy signed jar into Kindle". Where do I copy it to?

Any advice appreciated,

Ger

You can add SSH to the main partition by starting diags SSH, then mount the main partition and copy the /usr/local folder across. This is described in more detail in some threads here, and perhaps in the K4 hacking wiki. You can get there from Master Index sticky, K4, then find the K4 hacking wiki link...

To run your own kindlets, you need to install the combined developer keys. Look in the kindlets wiki index.

[ger1972]

Thanks geekmaster. That answers question 2. Can you help with the other questions. The more specific you can be the better.

1. Do I need to put my Kindle into Diagnostics mode every time I want to access it using PuTTY?
3. Should I be able to run the "Hello World" kindlet on my Kindle 4 NT (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...php?t=102386)? I have built the program on my PC, but through PuTTY the only directories I can see on the Kindle under /opt are eink, ar6k and factory. There is no amazon directory as per the steps detailed here.
4. The final step in the post above states "Copy signed jar into Kindle". Where do I copy it to?

Regards, Ger

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ger1972

Thanks geekmaster. That answers question 2. Can you help with the other questions. The more specific you can be the better.

1. Do I need to put my Kindle into Diagnostics mode every time I want to access it using PuTTY?
3. Should I be able to run the "Hello World" kindlet on my Kindle 4 NT (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...php?t=102386)? I have built the program on my PC, but through PuTTY the only directories I can see on the Kindle under /opt are eink, ar6k and factory. There is no amazon directory as per the steps detailed here.
4. The final step in the post above states "Copy signed jar into Kindle". Where do I copy it to?

Regards, Ger

Those questions should be answered where I told you to look. Instead of saying RTFM, here:
1. No. You can copy the /usr/local folder from diags to main, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.
2. You can put it in the documents folder. Follow the instructions provided with other kindlets. Be sure to install the combined developer keystore, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.

[ger1972]

Thanks geekmaster, just a few more clarifications:

1. No. You can copy the /usr/local folder from diags to main, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.
Can I just clarify, when you say K4 Hacking Wiki - do you mean here -> https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle4NTHacking. I dont see where this is covered. Do you mind adding a link to the post to the page you're referring to?

2. You can put it in the documents folder.
After that, what do I do to run the kindlet?


3. Follow the instructions provided with other kindlets. Be sure to install the combined developer keystore, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.

Can you add a link to where you mean by "Follow the instructions provided with other kindlets"

Apologies if this makes you feel like a broken record.

Thanks, Ger

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ger1972

Thanks geekmaster, just a few more clarifications:

1. No. You can copy the /usr/local folder from diags to main, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.
Can I just clarify, when you say K4 Hacking Wiki - do you mean here -> https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle4NTHacking. I dont see where this is covered. Do you mind adding a link to the post to the page you're referring to?

2. You can put it in the documents folder.
After that, what do I do to run the kindlet?


3. Follow the instructions provided with other kindlets. Be sure to install the combined developer keystore, as shown in the K4 Hacking wiki.

Can you add a link to where you mean by "Follow the instructions provided with other kindlets"

Apologies if this makes you feel like a broken record.

Thanks, Ger

There should be at least one kindle in the Kindlet Index wiki, linked from the Master Index sticky thread. Others can be found by searching for "kindlet", or look in the "kindle hacks" sticky...

To run kindlets, just click on them just like documents, on your home screen...

[ger1972]

Thanks geekmaster, I'm starting to find my way around a bit better now.

One final question for now. Is there any difference between Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 NT kindlets? Assuming I have installed the combined developer keystore should I just be able to drop an .azw2 file that works on a Kindle 3 onto my Kindle 4. Do I need to rebuild the source for a Kindle 4 NT?


Ger

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ger1972

Thanks geekmaster, I'm starting to find my way around a bit better now.

One final question for now. Is there any difference between Kindle 3 and Kindle 4 NT kindlets? Assuming I have installed the combined developer keystore should I just be able to drop an .azw2 file that works on a Kindle 3 onto my Kindle 4. Do I need to rebuild the source for a Kindle 4 NT?


Ger

It depends on the kindlet and what features it uses. The k4 does not have sound, for example.

[ger1972]

Thanks again geekmaster, it worked like a charm.

For any other newbie kindlet developers out there with a Kindle 4 NT, I can confirm the following works to get a custom kindlet installed and working.

1. Jailbreak your Kindle are describe on the Kindle4NTHacking wiki
2. Download a kindlet to your PC. I took the kindlet named kapp.azw2 contained in the tar file kapp.tar.bz2 from the "Guide: How to write a Kindlet" page as the source code is also there.
3. Copy the keystore file to your Kindle through USB. In kapp.tar.bz2 this is under the dist directory, named developer.keystore.
4. Copy the .azw2 file to the documents directory on your Kindle via USB
5. Connect to your Kindle using PuTTY and copy developer.keystore to /var/local/java/keystore/developer. You will find developer.keystore under /mnt/us after you copy it to your Kindle.
6. Restart you Kindle and you should see your application (in this case kapp) listed with your documents
7. Click on your application and it should load.

Hope this helps,

Ger

[thomass]

Originally Posted by ger1972

For any other newbie kindlet developers out there with a Kindle 4 NT, I can confirm the following works to get a custom kindlet installed and working......
.....

Hope this helps,

Ger

you can use merged developer keystore to be able to use "all" kindlets at the same time

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ger1972

Thanks again geekmaster, it worked like a charm.

For any other newbie kindlet developers out there with a Kindle 4 NT, I can confirm the following works to get a custom kindlet installed and working.

1. Jailbreak your Kindle are describe on the Kindle4NTHacking wiki
2. Download a kindlet to your PC. I took the kindlet named kapp.azw2 contained in the tar file kapp.tar.bz2 from the "Guide: How to write a Kindlet" page as the source code is also there.
3. Copy the keystore file to your Kindle through USB. In kapp.tar.bz2 this is under the dist directory, named developer.keystore.
4. Copy the .azw2 file to the documents directory on your Kindle via USB
5. Connect to your Kindle using PuTTY and copy developer.keystore to /var/local/java/keystore/developer. You will find developer.keystore under /mnt/us after you copy it to your Kindle.
6. Restart you Kindle and you should see your application (in this case kapp) listed with your documents
7. Click on your application and it should load.

Hope this helps,

Ger

Welcome to the "2600 club".