Enabling USB networking

[DanielSt]

Hello All,

I have been trying to downgrade my Kindle Basic 7th generation (KT2, I believe) to a previous firmware version and have been running into quite a number of snags along the way. I have been following these instructions:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=272132

I have managed to successfully get through a number of the steps, now the next step for my downgrade is to enable USB networking. I have been following the instructions for this on the following link: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kin...USB_Networking

I've run into another snag however.

I have successfully installed the USB networking package using Mobile Reader Package Installer via QUAL. So the next step would be: "See this site to enable NDIS based USB networking on your PC". The site is:
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/NDI...er_setup_on_pc
and its instructions are the following:

"For Windows users: You'll probably need to install a specific driver, if Windows fail to autodetect everything. This .inf file should do the job (except on Windows XP, see the next paragraph). If not, check if something on this page does the job for you. For Windows 7 also check this method ("...Sharing Device" Network Adapter also works).
For Windows 10 only: Your Windows 10 computer may already recognize a Kindle as a network adapter. In that case, it will appear in your 'Network and Sharing' center as an unrecognized network. Congratulations, you are set. If not, see this Win10 RNDIS Driver Tutorial"

I don't understand what to do here. When I open the "Network and Sharing" center on my Windows 10 PC I don't see the Kindle as an unrecognized network. The Win10 RNDIS Driver Tutorial (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=3283986) says:
【Situation】
"On Windows 10, when jailbroken Kindle with enabled USBNet is plugged via USB, it will appear as a "Serial USB device (COM3)" in device manager."

But when I go to my device manager, I don't see any "Serial USB device (COM3)".

Part of these instructions (i.e. the Wind10 RNDIS Driver Tutorial) say "In Device Manager, expand "Ports (COM & LPT)", R-click "Serial USB device (COM3)" > Update Driver Software..." There is no such "Ports (COM & LPT)" listed in my Device Manager. I searched on the internet and there is a page describing what to do if Ports (COM & LPT) is not showing on the device manager: https://support-bradyid.force.com/s/...Device-Manager
It says you have to go to "Action" and select "Add Legacy Hardware". But this option is not there in my "Action" menu.

I have Windows 10 Version 1607 (OS Build 14393.2214) on an Ideapad 100S Laptop.

If anyone can help me further, I would be grateful. Thank you in advance!

[katadelos]

The first thing you should check is whether USB networking is enabled in the first place - this would be the case if your Kindle shows up on your PC as a mass storage device when plugging it it.

What message is printed to your screen if you open KUAL, select "USBNetwork" and press "USBNetwork Status"? If it's something like "USBNetwork: disabled (usbms, sshd down)", press "Toggle USBNetwork".

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by katadelos

The first thing you should check is whether USB networking is enabled in the first place - this would be the case if your Kindle shows up on your PC as a mass storage device when plugging it it.

What message is printed to your screen if you open KUAL, select "USBNetwork" and press "USBNetwork Status"? If it's something like "USBNetwork: disabled (usbms, sshd down)", press "Toggle USBNetwork".

Thank you katadelos. My understanding from the instructions I have been following (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=272132) is that USB networking is not enabled automatically but needs to be specially installed (the link from those instructions explaining how to do so is: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kin...USB_Networking)

If I plug in my Kindle to my PC, it shows up as a mass storage device, as it always has. My understanding is that this is different from USB networking, in which the PC has to recognize the Kindle not as a mass storage device, but as a network.

When I open KUAL on my Kindle, there is no "USBNetwork" option -- there is only "KUAL," "Helper" and "Quit". "KUAL" leads me to "Sort menu ABC", "Save and reset KUAL log," and "Quit", while "Helper" leads me to "Install MR Packages."

I already installed the USB Networking package via "Install MR Packages," but there is something I need to do first to my PC in order to recognize my Kindle as a network, as per https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kin...USB_Networking ("See this site to enable NDIS based USB networking on your PC"). "this site" links to https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/NDI...er_setup_on_pc)

This is where I had the problem, as detailed my previous message.

[katadelos]

If you don't have the USBNetwork menu item in KUAL, it hasn't been installed properly. Download the appropriate version matching your device from this thread, extract the .bin file within to the "mrpackages" folder on your device then select "Install MR Packages" from KUAL again.

[DanielSt]

Originally Posted by katadelos

If you don't have the USBNetwork menu item in KUAL, it hasn't been installed properly. Download the appropriate version matching your device from this thread, extract the .bin file within to the "mrpackages" folder on your device then select "Install MR Packages" from KUAL again.

Excellent! Thank you katadelos, it worked this time.

I now have USBNetwork on Kual. When I touch this button, I get many options. I selected "Toggle USBNetwork" with my Kindle plugged to my PC via USB. However, the Kindle still doesn't appear as a "Serial USB Device (COM3)" in my Device Manager.

When I touch the button "**USBNetwork Status**", I get the message: "N * USBNetwork: disabled (usbms, ssh d down) *"

What do I need to do now? Thanks again.

Update: I played around with toggling the USB Network with the USB cord unconnected, then connected it again. Now when I touch "USBNetwork Status" I get the message: "N * USBNetwork: enabled (usbnet, ssh d up) *", but I still don't see anything in my Device Manager (or in my Network and Sharing Center)

Update 2: Now in my Device Manager when I click "Ports (COM & LPT)" I see "USB Serial Device (COM4)". Is this the Kindle? And if so, should I now download and install the driver as described in the 【TL;DR】section of mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3283986 ?

Update 3: I installed the driver, then in Device Manager, expanded "Ports (COM & LPT)", right clicked "USB Serial Device (COM4)", then selected, Update Driver Software...
I browsed to the folder with the driver software I downloaded, but got the message "The best driver software for your device is already installed".

If this step is done correctly, according to the instructions, "You should see a new network card Kindle USB RNDIS Device (USBNetwork enabled) in "Network and Sharing Center"" I don't see any such network card in my Network and Sharing Center.

I notice in the instructions, the prerequisites are:
【Prerequisites】
Jailbroken Kindle (tested on PW3 5.6.5)
KUAL, MRPI
installed mrpackage kindle-usbnet
A Windows 10 PC (x64 edition)

I have a Windows 10 PC, 32-bit.

[eddie.t.h]

I do not know what exactly you want to achieve but it is much easier to install a koreader that has a built-in ssh server. You will then connect via wifi without installing any drivers and other problems with Windows 10.

[katadelos]

Hard to say what exactly is the problem here as I'm not a Windows user, looks like somebody faced a similar issue to you though:

Originally Posted by tshering

Maybe you have a similar problem as I had (see some posts above). If I remember correctly the final trial I did was:
(in device manager) "Serial USB device (COM3)" > "Recognize New Device" (or something similar to that effect; I am not sitting in front of my pc right now); then "Update Driver Software." The driver was updated and a new network card appeared.

I think I had done these steps already in previous trials, but I was always informed that the driver is up-to-date. But finally it worked.

Originally Posted by eddie.t.h

I do not know what exactly you want to achieve but it is much easier to install a koreader that has a built-in ssh server. You will then connect via wifi without installing any drivers and other problems with Windows 10.

He's trying to manually downgrade to a version with the old UI by flashing the rootfs and kernel from the KT2 factory firmware from diags using CRP. Could do it over the serial port but that would require opening the device and enabling SSH over WiFi from KOReader would likely make the device attempt to upgrade to 5.12.2.

[eddie.t.h]

Originally Posted by katadelos

Could do it over the serial port but that would require opening the device and enabling SSH over WiFi from KOReader would likely make the device attempt to upgrade to 5.12.2.

A Wi-Fi connection does not have to mean connecting to the Internet. You can always disconnect the WAN port from the router for a while.

[DanielSt]

[QUOTE=katadelos;4198266]Hard to say what exactly is the problem here as I'm not a Windows user, looks like somebody faced a similar issue to you though:


Thank you. It still didn't work on my PC, but I tried on my friend's PC and was successful -- the new network card appeared in the Network and Sharing Centre.

Now the question is how to access the Kindle from my friend's PC.

The steps at https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kin...USB_Networking
are:
"Then go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings. Find the Local Area Connection # with small text "Unidentified Network, RNDIS/Ethernet Gadget" below, Right click on it and click properties, choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties, click "Use the following IP address" and enter IP address 192.168.15.201, and 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask, click OK twice. (take a look at the discussion page if you have problems finding the RNDIS connection)
Open your remote terminal application, and connect as root to the address 192.168.15.244, leaving the password empty (or use mario if all else fails)."

I did the "change adapter settings" bit and entered the IP address 192.168.15.201, and 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask.

Then I opened PuTTY and tried typing in both 192.168.15.201 and then 192.168.15.244 (according to the instructions at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=272132 : "6. Once USB networking is enabled you should be able to ssh into the Kindle - in PuTTY connect to 192.168.15.244 ip address, leaving the port to default (22); enter root as the username and mario as the password - you should see the root prompt"

In both cases, I just got a blank black screen and nothing happened. There was no prompt for username and password, and I don't know how to "connect as root." I simply typed each of the two ip addresses into PuTTY, with no success either time.

I have never used PuTTY before and am a novice in this whole area. Does anyone know what I need to do to get into the Kindle via PuTTY now? This would enable me to proceed with the next steps (from 7. onward) of the downgrading instructions (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=272132)

Thank you in advance!