Is a jailbreak worth it?

plutarion · 03-05-2016, 08:22 AM

Hi.

I recently got a Kindle Touch 2 for 48 euros.
I have quite a lot of epub books, I am using calibre to copy them onto the kindle. I have no intention of buying books from amazon, only the price got me this device.

Question:
Should I jailbreak the kindle?
I am currently not sure if it is worth the trouble. Currently there appears to be firmware version 5.6.5 on it, which should be jailbreakable.

Is a jailbreak worth it? What can I do with it?

shamanNS · 03-05-2016, 08:31 AM

I doesn't cost you anything except 3 minutes to copy couple of files, open browser and touch 2 buttons.
It's better to have it (jailbreak) and don't use it than not to have it. There is always a chance you could change your mind about wanting some of the hacks and extra functionality, but it would be to late then if you Kindle is already running newer firmware that can't be jailbreak-ed.

Jailbreak itself has zero influence on performance of the device and it's firmware.

el_topo50 · 03-05-2016, 08:48 AM

It's definitely worth it: screensavers, JB Patch, Better Collections, Koreader, Kual and ikt extensions, custom fonts... Jailbreak all the way!

plutarion · 03-05-2016, 11:00 AM

Ok, I did the JB

Am I right the JB Patch is not possible with 5.6.5?

el_topo50 · 03-05-2016, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plutarion

Ok, I did the JB

Am I right the JB Patch is not possible with 5.6.5?

Yes, you are right. Sorry, I was talking about jailbreak in general, and got carried away.
JB Patch requiremts:
Kindle Touch, Firmware 5.1.0 - 5.3.2.1, or Kindle Paperwhite, Firmware 5.3.1 - 5.3.4. However, the only firmwares that are actively supported are 5.1.2 (Kindle Touch) and 5.3.4 (Paperwhite).
You can check it out here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=175512

But hey! In 5.6.5 you have fonts, screensaver, koreader, kual extensions! Congrats on taking the step!

Cinisajoy · 03-05-2016, 11:38 AM

Which kindle do you own?
The Kindle Touch 2 or a Paperwhite?
They have different firmwares.
Go here https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Serial_Numbers to see which one you own.
Then come back and you will be led to the correct thread for your device.

plutarion · 03-05-2016, 12:07 PM

Its a touch 2, fw 5.6.5

Cinisajoy · 03-05-2016, 12:10 PM

Now that we have that established, someone should be around later to help you.
Note everyone here is an unpaid volunteer. So patience please.

Barbara1955 · 03-05-2016, 03:23 PM

Or go check out these Amazon Forums... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=150

eschwartz · 03-06-2016, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plutarion

Is a jailbreak worth it? What can I do with it?

Congrats on taking the first step.

Personally, the things I like most about having a jailbroken Kindle are:

Managing collections through the calibre plugin "Kindle Collections" -- invaluable.
Custom screensavers (cover of currently open book).

Skipstone browser by @baf -- much nicer than the builtin one, quite handy on the go.
Terminal shell because it is ALWAYS nice, and opens the door to infinite random one-off possibilities

Some people like using KOReader as their reader app, especially if they read PDFs. The builtin PDF renderer is garbage. Also reads EPUB, but you should probably just convert those to AZW3 anyway. In fact, calibre already did that automatically for you -- right?
Some people actually care about fonts -- I certainly don't. But if you do, the font hack is there for you and allows you to override the system fonts with your own fonts.

JainaSJedi · 03-12-2016, 05:24 PM

Hi, I'm thinking of buying another Kindle. The last one I had was a Kindle 3, with the keyboard, and I gave up on it because it was a pain to add books to collections. I have a large ebook collection organized in Calibre. So my question is, with the jailbreaking, does that make it easy to transfer Calibre Collections to a Kindle? And is jailbreaking available for the newest Kindles on Amazon? Or should I look for a used one on Ebay?

CalbertAmu · 03-13-2016, 12:59 PM

You don't need jailbreak to use Calibre. Yes, Jailbreak is available for latest kindles. But not on the latest firmwares, so when you buy one, don't connect to a Wifi because it will update.

eschwartz · 03-14-2016, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JainaSJedi

Hi, I'm thinking of buying another Kindle. The last one I had was a Kindle 3, with the keyboard, and I gave up on it because it was a pain to add books to collections. I have a large ebook collection organized in Calibre. So my question is, with the jailbreaking, does that make it easy to transfer Calibre Collections to a Kindle?

Yes. The aforementioned "Kindle Collections" plugin is quite powerful and once set up allows you to simply export collections to your Kindle and then import them using the the Kindle hacks mentioned in the plugin instructions.

Quote:

And is jailbreaking available for the newest Kindles on Amazon? Or should I look for a used one on Ebay?

See our Developers Corner subforum for more details.
Essentially, as long as your Kindle is not running on firmware >= 5.7.x you can easily jailbreak.

It is a reasonable bet that Amazon will continue to ship Kindles with firmware 5.6.x, at least until their current stock is used up and they begin selling the models assembled after the firmware 5.7.x release.
How long you may have, I don't know.

03-05-2016, 08:22 AM	#1
plutarion Member Posts: 14 Karma: 83458 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: different	Is a jailbreak worth it? Hi. I recently got a Kindle Touch 2 for 48 euros. I have quite a lot of epub books, I am using calibre to copy them onto the kindle. I have no intention of buying books from amazon, only the price got me this device. Question: Should I jailbreak the kindle? I am currently not sure if it is worth the trouble. Currently there appears to be firmware version 5.6.5 on it, which should be jailbreakable. Is a jailbreak worth it? What can I do with it?

03-05-2016, 12:07 PM	#7
plutarion Member Posts: 14 Karma: 83458 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: different	Its a touch 2, fw 5.6.5 Last edited by plutarion; 03-05-2016 at 12:37 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Hacks Kindle (3) Keyboard : Upgrade and Jailbreak or Jailbreak and Upgrade??	prado	Amazon Kindle	3	06-11-2021 10:13 PM
Troubleshooting after jailbreak, my pw2 auto updated, can I re-jailbreak?	duqiaochai	Amazon Kindle	12	04-05-2015 07:43 AM
KPW - to jailbreak or not to jailbreak	BeccaPrice	Kindle Developer's Corner	19	01-19-2013 07:43 PM
PRS-T2 Difference jailbreak.zip/rupor-jailbreak.7z & minimal-root-zeam.zip/rupor-minimal.7z?	hyperstruct	Sony Reader Dev Corner	9	01-06-2013 02:05 PM
Touch Is it worth having both?	Titania	Barnes & Noble NOOK	4	06-22-2012 10:41 AM

03-05-2016, 08:31 AM	#2
shamanNS Wizard Posts: 1,108 Karma: 12000222 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Serbia Device: Kindle PW5, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle PW1	I doesn't cost you anything except 3 minutes to copy couple of files, open browser and touch 2 buttons. It's better to have it (jailbreak) and don't use it than not to have it. There is always a chance you could change your mind about wanting some of the hacks and extra functionality, but it would be to late then if you Kindle is already running newer firmware that can't be jailbreak-ed. Jailbreak itself has zero influence on performance of the device and it's firmware.

03-05-2016, 08:48 AM	#3
el_topo50 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 647162 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: Kindle Voyage (5.7.2.1. JB)	It's definitely worth it: screensavers, JB Patch, Better Collections, Koreader, Kual and ikt extensions, custom fonts... Jailbreak all the way!

03-05-2016, 11:00 AM	#4
plutarion Member Posts: 14 Karma: 83458 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: different	Ok, I did the JB Am I right the JB Patch is not possible with 5.6.5?

03-05-2016, 11:38 AM	#6
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Which kindle do you own? The Kindle Touch 2 or a Paperwhite? They have different firmwares. Go here https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Serial_Numbers to see which one you own. Then come back and you will be led to the correct thread for your device.

03-05-2016, 12:10 PM	#8
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Now that we have that established, someone should be around later to help you. Note everyone here is an unpaid volunteer. So patience please.

03-05-2016, 03:23 PM	#9
Barbara1955 Non-Techy Posts: 4,455 Karma: 15499273 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: WV---USA Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders	Or go check out these Amazon Forums... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=150

03-12-2016, 05:24 PM	#11
JainaSJedi Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Hi, I'm thinking of buying another Kindle. The last one I had was a Kindle 3, with the keyboard, and I gave up on it because it was a pain to add books to collections. I have a large ebook collection organized in Calibre. So my question is, with the jailbreaking, does that make it easy to transfer Calibre Collections to a Kindle? And is jailbreaking available for the newest Kindles on Amazon? Or should I look for a used one on Ebay?

03-13-2016, 12:59 PM	#12
CalbertAmu Connoisseur Posts: 86 Karma: 28 Join Date: Feb 2016 Device: Kobo Aura One	You don't need jailbreak to use Calibre. Yes, Jailbreak is available for latest kindles. But not on the latest firmwares, so when you buy one, don't connect to a Wifi because it will update.

Advert

Advert