Font, ScreenSaver & USBNetwork Hacks for Kindle 2.x, 3.x & 4.x

[bartveld]

Originally Posted by OakIris

That would teach us and prevent others from going down this same dark path! To my (limited) knowledge, this is the first firmware update that disables the ability of the end user to go back to a "vanilla" set up....

It's quite simple, actually: I want my fonthack more than minor updates or the ability to sync between devices. If need be, I'll stick with 3.03 forever and never again turn on my wifi.

[kranu]

Originally Posted by bartveld

It's quite simple, actually: I want my fonthack more than minor updates or the ability to sync between devices. If need be, I'll stick with 3.03 forever and never again turn on my wifi.

Or just disable updatin and enjoy free WiFi

[mdietz39]

Okay, you all have me thoroughly confused. I just got my Kindle a few days ago. On the Kindle board they referenced screen savers, fonts, and this forum. In perusing through all the hundreds of messages I saw that Amazon had updated to 3.1 so I did it. Now it looks as if I can't use the hacks to put in screen savers, at least at this time.

My question is this. Is there any kind of a document available that has the correct information about all of this? Also is there any guide to programming on the Kindle, i.e., language, SDK, etc.?

Thank you
Mike

[snapper.fishes]

Originally Posted by dsmid

Here's the implementation I promised.

This link deserves more attention if I am understanding this correctly. Installing this will stop OTA updates from pushing 3.1 to your Kindle. Am I correct?

[FF2]

Originally Posted by mdietz39

Okay, you all have me thoroughly confused. I just got my Kindle a few days ago. On the Kindle board they referenced screen savers, fonts, and this forum. In perusing through all the hundreds of messages I saw that Amazon had updated to 3.1 so I did it. Now it looks as if I can't use the hacks to put in screen savers, at least at this time.

My question is this. Is there any kind of a document available that has the correct information about all of this? Also is there any guide to programming on the Kindle, i.e., language, SDK, etc.?

Thank you
Mike

I think the problem would be having to wade through all of the replies in this thread.

The bottom line is that you would have needed to install the jailbreak and other hacks before upgrading to 3.1. Recent threads discuss that having the hacks and then 3.1 would lock those hacks on the k3 unless someone comes up with another workaround. Some folks did not want to be locked so they chose to remove the hacks. I turned off wifi to prevent upgrades at this time.

There is some discussion of a developer's kit but it appears Amazon is stingy with it.

[dsmid]

Originally Posted by snapper.fishes

This link deserves more attention if I am understanding this correctly. Installing this will stop OTA updates from pushing 3.1 to your Kindle. Am I correct?

Yes, you are. It will make Amazon firmware appear like an illegal update after installing & rebooting.
But the main purpose of this hack is to enable installing/uninstalling hacks after upgrading to 3.1 (the upgrade is possible after switching the updates provider to 'amazon' & rebooting)

[SurfKahuna]

Hello all. I am new to the forum, and I just ran into a problem after jailbreaking and installing custom screensavers. Following the instructions on page 1, I jailbroke my Kindle DX Graphite, which is running 2.5.5. I also installed the screen saver hack. I put two screensaver on my device.

Both screensavers work, but when I go to screensaver mode (slide the power switch), I can see previous text through both images. Is this a common issue with custom screensavers (standby screens) on the DX Graphite, or is something wrong?

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by SurfKahuna

Hello all. I am new to the forum, and I just ran into a problem after jailbreaking and installing custom screensavers. Following the instructions on page 1, I jailbroke my Kindle DX Graphite, which is running 2.5.5. I also installed the screen saver hack. I put two screensaver on my device.

Both screensavers work, but when I go to screensaver mode (slide the power switch), I can see previous text through both images. Is this a common issue with custom screensavers (standby screens) on the DX Graphite, or is something wrong?

This sounds like ghosting to me and has nothing to do with the screensaver hack. Ghosting is common with an e-Ink screen and can be cleared by hitting the Alt-G buttons on your keyboard when your Kindle is on (not in screen saver mode.) Do a search in the Kindle forum for "ghosting" and you'll come up with quite a few threads referencing this easily fixed problem/annoyance. (It is not a "problem," per se, just a consequence of the e-Ink technology.)

Holly

[the-equinoxe]

I don't see the problem with this 3.1 update..
The complete jailbreak can be regained when you either installed usbnetwork before.
(besides that, the other hacks ss & fonts also enable the possibility to regain fully jailbroken again using an emergency.sh script).

What I did?
1) got my K3w 3.02 jailbroken
2) installed usbnetwork and made sure it worked, changed the root pwrd
3) backuped my /usr/sbin/otaup file (this one is changed in 3.1 to break your jailbreak)
4) downloaded the full 3.1 update bin (rather than wait to get the partial pushed) & upgrade
5) logged in using my favorite SFTP prog (that is transmit for os x) using my SSH credentials as root
6) renamed my new /usr/sbin/otaup file to: /usr/sbin/org_otaup
7) copy the old otaup backup back to /usr/sbin/ (after mntroot rw )
8) chmod it to 755 (to make it executable)
et voila: jailbroken 3.1 with all keys working again

Don't even attempt to do this when you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about!
So if you are unable/find it too risky (which it is..): Wait until someone (else) makes a nice (safe) script for you which does the same.

(PS when you have SSH root via Wifi ; log in when your partner is using the kindle and give the command "jabberwocky" on the command-line. Fun if the volume is up )

[sfam]

First off, thanks so much for the hacks. I love adding my own screens to the Kindle 3. I've also done the Font hack, and have the droid ones that come with the instructions on the first page.

My problem is I'm trying to get the Georgia font to work with the Kindle 3. I've tried taking the .ttf pages from here:

http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/fonts/

and replaced the files in the /linkfonts/fonts directory. Unfortunately when I do, I can no longer open any of the books on my Kindle. Has anyone successfully gotten Georgia to work on the Kindle 3, and if so, is there a way to do this without installing a python dev environment on my Windows machine?

Thanks in advance.

[kranu]

Originally Posted by the-equinoxe

I don't see the problem with this 3.1 update..
The complete jailbreak can be regained when you either installed usbnetwork before.
(besides that, the other hacks ss & fonts also enable the possibility to regain fully jailbroken again using an emergency.sh script).

What I did?
1) got my K3w 3.02 jailbroken
2) installed usbnetwork and made sure it worked, changed the root pwrd
3) backuped my /usr/sbin/otaup file (this one is changed in 3.1 to break your jailbreak)
4) downloaded the full 3.1 update bin (rather than wait to get the partial pushed) & upgrade
5) logged in using my favorite SFTP prog (that is transmit for os x) using my SSH credentials as root
6) renamed my new /usr/sbin/otaup file to: /usr/sbin/org_otaup
7) copy the old otaup backup back to /usr/sbin/ (after mntroot rw )
8) chmod it to 755 (to make it executable)
et voila: jailbroken 3.1 with all keys working again

Don't even attempt to do this when you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about!
So if you are unable/find it too risky (which it is..): Wait until someone (else) makes a nice (safe) script for you which does the same.

(PS when you have SSH root via Wifi ; log in when your partner is using the kindle and give the command "jabberwocky" on the command-line. Fun if the volume is up )

I have USBNetwork and all of the things you talked about. However, I've already upgraded to 3.1 without backing up the file. Could you possibly give your file to me? I have a K3G, so it might work.

[the-equinoxe]

since the whole file probably is copyrighted I will just post the important differences of the old and new otaup
usr/sbin/otaup

line 32 in the new file is:

KEYYFILES="/etc/uks/pubprodkey01.pem /etc/uks/pubprodkey02.pem "

change this back into:

KEYFILES=$(ls /etc/uks/*pem)

line 124 in the new file is:

    _BUNDLE_FILES=$(find $1 ! -type d | grep -v \\.sig$)

change this back into:

    _BUNDLE_FILES=$(find $1 -type f | grep -v sig$)

should work

And don't forget to chmod 755the new file, otherwise execution is impossible.
BTW I tested it from shell

just download eg. update_backup_0.01.zip (this is a backup hack from this forum which doesn't install anything, but you do need 800 megs of free space for the backup to store! )
Try to run from commandline:
otaup /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3##_install.bin
this will give you feedback if an error should occur..

in my case:

Welcome to Kindle!

root@192.168.15.200's password: 
#################################################
#  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  # 
#################################################
Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to
switch back to a writable rootfs.
#################################################
[root@kindle root]# mntroot rw
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
[root@kindle root]# otaup /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.bin 
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
system: I otaup:def:processing update /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.bin
4+0 records in
4+0 records out
system: I otaup:def:version is "FC02"
32+0 records in
32+0 records out
19+1 records in
19+1 records out
system: I otaup:def:update image checksum OK
19+1 records in
19+1 records out
install.sh.sig
install.sh
update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.dat
update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.dat.sig
7688+0 records in
7688+0 records out
..etc etc..

Now you have both keysets working again both the amazon as the hack key

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by the-equinoxe

since the whole file probably is copyrighted I will just post the important differences of the old and new otaup
usr/sbin/otaup

line 32 in the new file is:

KEYYFILES="/etc/uks/pubprodkey01.pem /etc/uks/pubprodkey02.pem "

change this back into:

KEYFILES=$(ls /etc/uks/*pem)

line 124 in the new file is:

    _BUNDLE_FILES=$(find $1 ! -type d | grep -v \\.sig$)

change this back into:

    _BUNDLE_FILES=$(find $1 -type f | grep -v sig$)

should work

And don't forget to chmod 755the new file, otherwise execution is impossible.
BTW I tested it from shell

just download eg. update_backup_0.01.zip (this is a backup hack from this forum which doesn't install anything, but you do need 800 megs of free space for the backup to store! )
Try to run from commandline:
otaup /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3##_install.bin
this will give you feedback if an error should occur..

in my case:

Welcome to Kindle!

root@192.168.15.200's password: 
#################################################
#  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  # 
#################################################
Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to
switch back to a writable rootfs.
#################################################
[root@kindle root]# mntroot rw
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
[root@kindle root]# otaup /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.bin 
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
system: I otaup:def:processing update /mnt/us/update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.bin
4+0 records in
4+0 records out
system: I otaup:def:version is "FC02"
32+0 records in
32+0 records out
19+1 records in
19+1 records out
system: I otaup:def:update image checksum OK
19+1 records in
19+1 records out
install.sh.sig
install.sh
update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.dat
update_backup_0.01_k3w_install.dat.sig
7688+0 records in
7688+0 records out
..etc etc..

Now you have both keysets working again both the amazon as the hack key

The only problem with modifying the otaup file is that future updates that modify this file will fail, so be sure to keep a backup.

[kranu]

Originally Posted by yifanlu

The only problem with modifying the otaup file is that future updates that modify this file will fail, so be sure to keep a backup.

Yep he noted to rename the original as "otaup_orig"

[yifanlu]

Ok, so I was bored today and decided to try to jailbreak the 3.1 kindle. My tools were the 3.1 otaup (modified to run on my mac) and the Kindle signing tools. After hours of trying different methods, I have finally managed to create a update package that passes the verification tests in 3.1 otaup. However, my Kindle isn't on 3.1 yet, so I can't test it. If anyone's feeling risky PM me and I'll let you beta test it (if I believe you're trustworthy).

I'm not going to release it until Amazon "officially" releases 3.1 (so they don't patch it last second). The bug I'm exploiting is a weird bug in the otaup script that deals with filenames. Again, I believe my linux sh knowledge is fairly good, but the script is completely untested so if you want to risk it, send me a PM and I'll let you test a "Early Preview Release".