Downgrade a jailbroken Kindle 10th gen from 5.15.1

[Barbas]

Hi there,

I have a jailbroken Kindle 10th gen that, due to a temporary deactivation of the renamed OTA files, upgraded to firmware version 5.15.1

I still can ssh into it, but am unable to "install" KUAL (the kindlet doesn't show up).

I'd like to know if there's a way to manually downgrade it back to 5.14.2 (or earlier).

Thanks a lot.

[dhdurgee]

Originally Posted by Barbas

Hi there,

I have a jailbroken Kindle 10th gen that, due to a temporary deactivation of the renamed OTA files, upgraded to firmware version 5.15.1

I still can ssh into it, but am unable to "install" KUAL (the kindlet doesn't show up).

I'd like to know if there's a way to manually downgrade it back to 5.14.2 (or earlier).

Thanks a lot.

You need the booklet version of KUAL.

Dave

[Barbas]

Originally Posted by dhdurgee

You need the booklet version of KUAL.

Dave

Thanks for you answer.

I'll try to explain myself a bit better.

What I mean is that, even though the installation of KUAL Coplate through ;log mrpi is successful, the "KUAL cover" doesn't show up in my library. Thus I can't run any KUAL extension.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Barbas

Thanks for you answer.

I'll try to explain myself a bit better.

What I mean is that, even though the installation of KUAL Coplate through ;log mrpi is successful, the "KUAL cover" doesn't show up in my library. Thus I can't run any KUAL extension.

Does KUAL show up when you use list view instead of grid view?

[Barbas]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does KUAL show up when you use list view instead of grid view?

Nope.

[shamanNS]

Well if you can SSH into your Kindle you can (as a temporary solution until you downgrade & fix KUAL) just directly execute the scripts & commands that KUAL extension's button "action" would normally do.

As for the downgrade: you could either do necessary edits to
that /etc/version.txt manually via SSH / USBNetworking as mention in original discussion of that latest downgrade method:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=346784

or download and copy "Downgrader 2.0" KUAL extension:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=347165

And execute the appropriate script command (that you would find and copy from extension's "menu.json", you would need to either use absolute path instead of the relative one written inside "action" property or cd into extension directory) via SSH to automate that file edit and triggering device reboot and firmware downgrade.




I"ve noticed that your profile's device info states that you have "Kindle Paperwhite 10th gen" and you original post you're asking about "Kindle 10th gen". So, which model is this discussion about?

Read both those threads very carefully especially the last couple in Downgrader 2.0 thread and seriously consider possibility of clearing all the necessary database files via SSH before doing a downgrade from 5.15.1.
And double-check that those 2 ota binary files are indeed restored otherwise that older firmware install will fail.

[Barbas]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

Well if you can SSH into your Kindle you can (as a temporary solution until you downgrade & fix KUAL) just directly execute the scripts & commands that KUAL extension's button "action" would normally do.

As for the downgrade: you could either do necessary edits to
that /etc/version.txt manually via SSH / USBNetworking as mention in original discussion of that latest downgrade method:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=346784

or download and copy "Downgrader 2.0" KUAL extension:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=347165

And execute the appropriate script command (that you would find and copy from extension's "menu.json", you would need to either use absolute path instead of the relative one written inside "action" property or cd into extension directory) via SSH to automate that file edit and triggering device reboot and firmware downgrade.




I"ve noticed that your profile's device info states that you have "Kindle Paperwhite 10th gen" and you original post you're asking about "Kindle 10th gen". So, which model is this discussion about?

Read both those threads very carefully especially the last couple in Downgrader 2.0 thread and seriously consider possibility of clearing all the necessary database files via SSH before doing a downgrade from 5.15.1.
And double-check that those 2 ota binary files are indeed restored otherwise that older firmware install will fail.

Thanks a lot for the tips!

I was thinking about executing the scripts when SSH'ed, but I was afraid I could break something.

And I hadn't read about cleaning the databases...

So I will try out your suggestions.

Cheers!


P.S. I edited my profile, I now own a 10th gen Kindle Touch Basic.

[Barbas]

Hi there,

I haven't tried yet to downgrade my Kindle.

I have a question, though. Looking at my device's info (see picture), I see that the firmware version is 5.15.1, but the code that follows (352856) points to 5.11.1.1 version. However, the minor part (042) corresponds to 5.15.1

How's that? Should I be worried that my device is messed up? Is there a way to check what actual firmware version it is running other than by looking at those info?

Thanks again.

[katadelos]

5.15.1.1 may or may not be a hotfix to address an issue that causes the UI to break, I remember half of /r/kindle getting very upset about this the other week. I wouldn't worry about the version numbers not corresponding.

[Barbas]

Hi all,

something weird happened!

After trying a downgrade (/etc/version.txt had been modified and "ota" commands restored to their original filename) my kindle is stuck as per enclosed picture.

I tried several times to reboot, nothing happens, but I can connect my kindle to my PC through the USB port. The memory is filled with crash files (eg rcm_1396_042-juno_1501_jaeger_rex-352856.core).

Is the device bricked? If not, what can I do to bring it to life?

Thanks a lot for your help.

[katadelos]

Did you have USBNet installed before the downgrade? Some logs from the device would be helpful to work out what's going on here.

You might have luck with adding an empty file named "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" to the device over USB and forcing a reset by holding the power button down.

[Barbas]

Originally Posted by katadelos

Did you have USBNet installed before the downgrade? Some logs from the device would be helpful to work out what's going on here.

I did, but right now the Kindle in USB storage mode and I have no way to access the logs (except crash report files or whatever they are).

Originally Posted by katadelos

You might have luck with adding an empty file named "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" to the device over USB and forcing a reset by holding the power button down.

I didn't think of that, actually. Will try it out.

Thanks!

[Barbas]

Originally Posted by katadelos

You might have luck with adding an empty file named "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" to the device over USB and forcing a reset by holding the power button down.

Thanks, that did the trick! Thanks a lot!

I'm now trying to re-install the JB Hotfix (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...postcount=1597). The "Update your Kindle" option is greyed out, I tried a "Hard reset", but the updating didn't go through (update error: 2).

[katadelos]

Originally Posted by Barbas

Thanks, that did the trick! Thanks a lot!

I'm now trying to re-install the JB Hotfix (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...postcount=1597). The "Update your Kindle" option is greyed out, I tried a "Hard reset", but the updating didn't go through (update error: 2).

You'll probably need to jailbreak your device once more if there's no output from typing ;log mrpi in the search bar.

[Barbas]

Hi there,

I thought it was good to update:

Success:

1. I was able to install the hotfix;

2. I installed KUAL, USBNetwork, Python3, renameotabin, MRPackages installer, MailPush, KOreader.

Failures:

1. KOreader icon/booklet doesn't show up in Kindle library;

2. Whole system is quite unstable.

I haven't tried a proper downgrade yet.


Cheers!