K5 FW 5.x ScreenSavers Hack

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@GoSharks: Yup.
.....*snip*...
I'm not sure switching to and fro cover mode would have helped anyway, nothing is ever deleted, so the broken image always has ways to get back in the pool.

In this case would clearing the cover cache (via KUAL) and a restart have fixed things? (Just trying to think of easier first steps than 'uninstall, delete linkss folder, reinstall' with all the accompanied restarts)

[NiLuJe]

@GoSharks: Only if the image somehow got corrupted later. If the source image is broken or IM generates crap for some reason, that's a deterministic process, so it'll just regenerate a new, but still broken, image .

[Gonza116]

I've got a single question. That "blank file at linkss folder" in cover mode, wich format has? .png as a image? .txt? I'm really confused?

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Gonza116

I've got a single question. That "blank file at linkss folder" in cover mode, wich format has? .png as a image? .txt? I'm really confused?

blank means no format whatsoever.

Formatting requires content.

It shouldn't have a file extension either.

It would be best to use KUAL to toggle modes via the menu -- it saves you these problems.

[Gonza116]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

blank means no format whatsoever.

Formatting requires content.

It shouldn't have a file extension either.

It would be best to use KUAL to toggle modes via the menu -- it saves you these problems.

Ok, thanks
But I'm still getting the stock screensavers. Pyton is installed, and so do the Screensaver Hack. So, what's the problem?
(I've noticed that the linkss/screensavers is empty beacuse I erased the default one. Is that a problem?)

[NiLuJe]

@Gonza116: Yup. The hack disables itself if the folder's empty.

[Gonza116]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@Gonza116: Yup. The hack disables itself if the folder's empty.

Shall I put there any image?

[NiLuJe]

@Gonza116:

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

A small reminder of the file format & size you have to use:
One the Touch: PNG files, 600x800. Grayscale if possible, but color works too (you can even play with an alpha channel if you like).
One the PaperWhite: PNG files, 758x1024. Grayscale if possible, but color works too (you can even play with an alpha channel if you like).
You NEED to follow these directives: non-PNG files will be discarded by the hack, and broken files or files in the wrong resolution will confuse the framework and trigger weird issues.

[Gonza116]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@Gonza116:

That was a problem: I read 768 indeed of 758. That was all the problem.
Thank you, now it works

[Calleja]

Hey, I have a quick question: How do you guys prepare images to look so good on Kindle?

I'm trying to insert a cover to a book I bought, which I've been doing with all Tor books since they just use a title page with text instead of the actual cover, and the result in the Kindle is a pixelated mess. I tried converting to grayscale on OSX by just sliding the saturation all the way to the left, but the result is exactly the same either way.

Is there any way to adjust an image so the Kindle can display it properly?

This is the cover I'm trying to use: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jbidni2d7...0of%20Law3.png

[NiLuJe]

By using the swiss-army knife of CLI image processing, ImageMagick, to properly scale & dither down to the (nearly) exact palette of colours supported by the eInk tech.

For ref, the default settings:

convert Alloy\ of\ Law3.png -filter LanczosSharp -resize "758x1024" -background black -gravity center -extent "758x1024" -colorspace Gray -dither FloydSteinberg -remap ~SVN/Configs/trunk/Kindle/Touch_Hacks/ScreenSavers/src/linkss/etc/kindle_colors.gif -define png:bit-depth=8 -quality 75 "BR_MBSS_AL.png"

(Don't mind the crazy path to the colour map, I'm on a laptop, the file is shipped with the hack).

(The same kind of results can be achieved with any decent image editor, if you're somehow allergic to CLI [But, FWIW, I just did that on OS X with IM installed via Homebrew]).

TL;DR: Yes, it usually ends up looking way better than what the default reader does, but it's also an order of magnitude slower .

[Butterflyyogi]

Can someone please help me? I have spent the last few hours trying to get the screensaver hack to work. I jailbroke my Kindle, no problem then installed python and linkss. Then I put a blank text document called cover in the linkss folder and I remembered to unplug the usb before updating and restarting. But, I cannot for the life of me get it to work. I am trying to get it to display the last cover of the book I am currently reading. When I press the button on my kindle (paperwhite 2) I get the 'The screensavers hack has been successfully installed!' I'm sure it has something to do with the cover file. It is a blank txt file and I have hidden the extension. Here is a screenshot.
I would be really, really grateful, if someone could explain where I am going wrong.

[NiLuJe]

@Butterflyyogi: Have you restarted the device since you created the 'cover' file?

Also, there might be some Finder trickery involved, because I see *two* 'cover' files, which means (at least) one of them HAS an extension.

Provided your Kindle drive appears as 'Kindle', firing up Terminal (hidden away in Applications > Utilities [Or the "Other" group in Launchpad]) and entering

touch /Volumes/Kindle/linkss/cover

should do the trick.

EDIT: FWIW, in Finder's preferences, the "Show all filename extensions" checkbox in the "Advanced" tab is your friend .

EDIT^2: Unless that's not actually Finder at all, but a Linux file manager trying to look like Finder, in which case, which DE are you running?

EDIT^3: Nope, definitely looks like Finder in three panes view .

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Butterflyyogi

It is a blank txt file and I have hidden the extension.
Here is a screenshot.
I would be really, really grateful, if someone could explain where I am going wrong.

DO NOT "HIDE" the extension - set your file browser to show all extensions!

Rename the file to NOT HAVE AN EXTENSION, none, zip, zilch, nada extension.

[Butterflyyogi]

Thank you so much for your fast reply. You were right, there were 2 cover files. I deleted the text file and it is now working!!! Thank you so much I really appreciate it.