Firmware Update Kindle Paperwhite Update Warning

[dpbmobi]

Please read this fellow members. WARNING.

Keep your Kindle setting to Airplane Mode ON - disable wireless.

Last night my Kindle Paperwhite 1 was connected to Wi-Fi and Amazon downloaded, without notification and without asking permission, an upgrade to Version 5.6.1.1. This version locks in bloatware and changes your reader settings. It also disables any jailbreaks or fixes you may have added on to your device. This upgrade cannot be reversed and cannot be circumvented as of this posting.

I am letting fellow members know what has happened because this upgrade has made it impossible for me to continue reading my legally purchased ePub books on Kindle using the software that the incredibly generous and inventive people on this site have developed. I want to prevent as many of you from making the same mistake I did.

I spent hours last night trying to fix this, more time today demanding that Amazon downgrade my version again, and filing a complain against their underhanded tactics, to no avail. My only hope is that some ingenious person out there will develop some sort of workaround.

The only hacks I used were to add extra fonts and have an ePub reader. Now I can't even do those things. And I have all sorts of garbage loaded on my device. And some of my books have been deleted. I know there is software out there to prevent upgrades, so that might work for some of you. But it's too late for me. I will probably have to try to sell my Kindle and buy a Kobo.

Please pass on this warning. Keep reading.


David

[cvkemp]

Why not use calibre to covert the epub to awz so you can read them on the kindle.

[eschwartz]

If you had been keeping an eye on our Developer's Corner subforum you would have spotted the previous discussion about this.

Since you had an EPUB reader on your Kindle, I assume you weren't just using the USE_ALT_FONTS trick, and were jailbroken. In which case, take a look at the jailbreak thread, and the linked hotfix. Depending on how recent your jailbreak was, that might just do the trick.

And if you successfully apply the hotfix, and still want to revert the firmware (get rid of the goodreads integration etc.) you can still do that with some effort, see the general idea here: http://ixtab.tk/kindle-touch-images/PW2/README.txt
You can get the system image for the old firmware by ripping open an update_*.bin with kindletool.

[dpbmobi]

Hi:

My experience is that conversion in Calibre is very uneven from .epub to mobi. Sometimes the formatting works out, but often it doesn't and you wind up with a real mess of a text. And the point is that there was a perfectly good .epub reader for Kindle Paperwhite using the Kobo platform that no longer works with this so-called update. I hope it will be re-introduced for 5.6.1.1., along with the ability to add fonts, enhanced .pdf viewing, and other helpful applications.

Thanks for your comment.

D.

[dpbmobi]

Hi Eschwartz

I very much appreciate your information and will be going to the subforum to see what can be done. I've just joined and haven't searched around that much yet. Any other information or references you have would be very much appreciated as well. I think I just wanted to get out there a warning to people about this intrusive update because there are many users like me who rarely access their wireless connection and can avoid this headache by simply keeping it off. If I had known what the update would do, I would have just left my wireless connection off and kept things as they were. Someone else needed access to an online purchase, so I connected for them. So it goes.

Thanks again for the information.

D.

[eschwartz]

Well, everyone has to start somewhere.

Here's to hoping the hotfix works for you.
And keep in mind -- this is why we like to recommend using things like the backdoorlock hack before disaster strikes.

[dpbmobi]

BTW, Eschwartz, could you guide me to the jailbreak thread and the developer's forum? I'll look around as well. Yes, you're exactly right. I did the jailbreak and fonts fix and then the jailbreak, the KVP booklet and the koreader, all from github. It worked out very well. I thought, I bought my device, it's out of warranty, so I should be able to configure it as I like.

D.

[eschwartz]

The Kindle Developer's Corner forum is a subforum of this one.

Jailbreak thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=186645

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by dpbmobi

Hi:

My experience is that conversion in Calibre is very uneven from .epub to mobi. Sometimes the formatting works out, but often it doesn't and you wind up with a real mess of a text. And the point is that there was a perfectly good .epub reader for Kindle Paperwhite using the Kobo platform that no longer works with this so-called update. I hope it will be re-introduced for 5.6.1.1., along with the ability to add fonts, enhanced .pdf viewing, and other helpful applications.

Thanks for your comment.

D.

Personally I've never had any issues converting mobi to epub but tbh if you really want to read epub a kindle is not for you. I have both a kobo and a kindle but I read the same books on each device it all depends on what device I pick up at the time. I have never jailbraked my kindle, its not worth the trouble.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

Why not use calibre to covert the epub to awz so you can read them on the kindle.

Because Mobipocket is obsolete. Best to convert to KF8.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Because Mobipocket is obsolete. Best to convert to KF8.

You keep saying this but I always covert to mobi as you can't email KF8 to the Amazon clould and get the book cover. Mobi works fine. It's also the only kindle format other book sellers sell.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

You keep saying this but I always covert to mobi as you can't email KF8 to the Amazon clould and get the book cover. Mobi works fine. It's also the only kindle format other book sellers sell.

If you're sideloading books, though, KF8 is a much better choice for converting from ePub. It will preserve all the formatting features of the ePub book, whereas converting to Mobi can (depending on the book) lose formatting. Personally I sideload all my books from Calibre, hence the reason I use KF8.

You're right, though: if you intend to upload the book to Amazon's Cloud storage, Mobi is the only option.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you're sideloading books, though, KF8 is a much better choice for converting from ePub. It will preserve all the formatting features of the ePub book, whereas converting to Mobi can (depending on the book) lose formatting. Personally I sideload all my books from Calibre, hence the reason I use KF8.

You're right, though: if you intend to upload the book to Amazon's Cloud storage, Mobi is the only option.

I sometimes take my Fire to work and other times my Voyage so for me the cloud is the better option. Maybe because my books are simply text and just novels I don't see any issues with mobi

[eschwartz]

I have never personally had MOBI lose formatting. I shouldn't think it would happen for anything that MOBI supports.
Which is practically everything likely to show up in a novel.

Fonts will be stripped -- to me that's a plus.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I have never personally had MOBI lose formatting. I shouldn't think it would happen for anything that MOBI supports.
Which is practically everything likely to show up in a novel.

Fonts will be stripped -- to me that's a plus.

Whatever works for you, of course, but I convert quite a lot of books from ePub format, and often find that the results are better when converting to KF8 than to Mobi. One thing that very commonly comes across better, to give a specific example, is drop caps at the start of a chapter. It's only a minor feature, certainly, but I just personally prefer KF8.