K5 FW 5.x ScreenSavers Hack

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

to actually do a full uninstall (wiping user content), enable the 'flag for complete uninstall' button before running the uninstaller. (Or remove the linkss folder & extension manually afterwards).

That's the thing. I did exactly that, and it didn't uninstall - it even said it succeeded, but didn't. I didn't want to manually remove things without talking to you first since it's the PW I read on the most. It even froze at one point, non-responsive and the screen, text, images looked broken and in unmatched pieces. All new behavior for me.

Thanks for the info about the other things. The cover mode behavior switches definitely weren't working unless it takes a very long time without gawk - not sure what that is. I never could get the other two cover mode styles to work, only the last screen. I'll try another time. Got a little nervous after freeze and uninstall not taking.

I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

[NiLuJe]

How did you check if the uninstall did something or not?

(If that was by checking if the KUAL extension was still there, too bad, there's a very stupid logic oversight in the uninstall script . Everything gets wiped except the KUAL extension).

When did it freeze, exactly? Check if it's not looping indexing a book.

last is *NOT* a cover mode setting. It's one of the mutually exclusive general 'modes' of the hack: either a series of pictures, a semi-random series of pictures, the last thing on screen w/ an overlay, or the cover or the last book opened. Switching to/from any one of these requires a framework restart.

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

How did you check if the uninstall did something or not?

(If that was by checking if the KUAL extension was still there, too bad, there's a very stupid logic oversight in the uninstall script . Everything gets wiped except the KUAL extension).

Everything was still in KUAL, just as before, and all extensions still existed. I got the last screen as image when I checked screensaver. I thought about just removing it, but as mentioned I didn't want to brick anything, especially after the freezing. I believe the freeze was after the uninstall when I exited from KUAL to home after I got the last screen image and went back into KUAL.

Sorry can't be more precise, it was a bith of a week and I'm dog-tired.

ETA - no book loop indexing, just checked and checked yesterday, too.

[NiLuJe]

@pghaworth:

Hmm, the 'flag for complete uninstall' button doesn't actually uninstall anything, you do have to run the uninstaller after that .

When you say you get the last screen as a screensaver, was that with or without any 'sleeping' overlay at the top/bottom?

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@pghaworth:

Hmm, the 'flag for complete uninstall' button doesn't actually uninstall anything, you do have to run the uninstaller after that .

That was after running the uninstaller.

When you say you get the last screen as a screensaver, was that with or without any 'sleeping' overlay at the top/bottom?

What do you mean by sleeping overlay? I saw nothing but the last page I was reading, with the light gone, like it was sleeping.

[NiLuJe]

@pghaworth: Okay, then, yeah, still in cover mode, but in a broken state, consistent with what happens when switching to/from it without restarting the framework .

(And yeah, the KUAL extension still being there is a bug, but the hack was indeed uninstalled).

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@pghaworth: Okay, then, yeah, still in cover mode, but in a broken state, consistent with what happens when switching to/from it without restarting the framework .

(And yeah, the KUAL extension still being there is a bug, but the hack was indeed uninstalled).

So, having uninstalled it, using the flag and the uninstaller, being told it was successful, and then still functioning and showing a hack screensaver is normal? I feel like I'm missing something here. At any rate, it's reinstalled and working at present, though I have much less confidence in the install/uninstall than on my test PW2. Onward and upward.

The test PW2 hack install and subsequent use was butter smooth, no glitches, screensaver showed immediately as stretched even though I forgot the same steps - stretch, and cover file, no extra restarts required, no wrinkles. Huge difference and leaves me wondering why.

Thanks again for your input!

[pghaworth]

Huge difference and leaves me wondering why.

Wonder if it's related to the 5.4.5.1 update file? Mildly corrupted in some small way or something.

[NiLuJe]

@pghaworth: If the uninstall was done through MRPI, then, yeah, it *might* take a restart to take, depending on exactly what state the setup was a that point. If not, gremlins? I've (very, very rarely) seen update processes churn into the wind, usually because of a weird behavior of the userstore proxy.

As for the difference: vanilla vs. not: previous installs, previous settings, cached stuff, userstore or indexer weirdness...

EDIT: Nope, first, it'd take serious hw issues for a corrupt full update to be applied, and you'd most likely end up with an unbootable device.

[pghaworth]

I plugged in a post just as you were answering. My theory - see above your post.

ETA - and definitely gremlins!

[knc1]

Originally Posted by pghaworth

Wonder if it's related to the 5.4.5.1 update file? Mildly corrupted in some small way or something.

The possibility of that happening is extremely, extremely, slim.

Every bit of the package is included in a one-way, crypto, hash and the hash is crypto signed.

As NiLuJe pointed out in a reply to another of my posts, the package's headers are not included in the signed hash.
But the most likely result of changes to the headers is the package would be refused by the installer (fail internal consistency checks).

[pghaworth]

Originally Posted by knc1

The possibility of that happening is extremely, extremely, slim.

Thanks for the info. Oh, well. Sigh. I'm not sure if I love mysteries or hate them, but I definitely don't like them related to devices or computers when they're unsolved.

[hitower]

I used the individual screensaver before my PW2 got FW 5.6.1 update. Now I can't modify it to the previous screensaver using the guidance with LINKSS and PYTHON (current version).
When I copied the files to the PW2 and go to SETTINGS, "UPGRADE" is not available; only RESTART option.
Any idea what is missing ?

[knc1]

Originally Posted by hitower

I used the individual screensaver before my PW2 got FW 5.6.1 update. Now I can't modify it to the previous screensaver using the guidance with LINKSS and PYTHON (current version).
When I copied the files to the PW2 and go to SETTINGS, "UPGRADE" is not available; only RESTART option.
Any idea what is missing ?

If you had jaibreak >= 1.13 installed before your update, you can recover.

If not, say: "Thank You, Amazon "

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by hitower

I used the individual screensaver before my PW2 got FW 5.6.1 update. Now I can't modify it to the previous screensaver using the guidance with LINKSS and PYTHON (current version).
When I copied the files to the PW2 and go to SETTINGS, "UPGRADE" is not available; only RESTART option.
Any idea what is missing ?

As knc1 said...without JB of >=1.13 you're currently out of luck.
If you do have JB of 1.13 or greater, you will need to reinstall the SS hack and Python via the MRInstaller extension of KUAL.