Tools Introducing WinterBreak - Better Late Than Never

[vrihad]

My jailbreak attempt on 3rd May 2025.
Kindle Model - Paperwhite 10th Generation
Firmware version - Kindle 5.16.3

I am following the Winterbreak guide on the Kindle Modding Wiki.
I downloaded the latest Winterbreak release from the website.
Put kindle in airplane mode.
Restarted the kindle.
Copied all the files and folders including the .active_content_sandbox folder.
Clicked on the Store icon, turned off the airplane mode after the prompt.
Automatically connected to an active internet connection.
The Mesquito Launcher opened successfully.
Clicked on the WinterBreak icon.
I can see the first line as follows when WinterBreak attempts to jailbreak,
**** WinterBreak JAILBREAK ****

After this there is no progress even if I leave my kindle for around 10 minutes.
Fearing the automatic updates, I do not let the internet connection run for over 10 minutes.

I have done this 7 times.
Am I missing something?
I have attached the screenshots of the WinterBreak Jailbreaking process (7th attempt).

On my fifth attempt I tried to install the hotfix anyways thinking that the jailbreak was successful, but there was an error and I had to reboot the device.

Do I have to manually update the device to 5.17 and try again?
Or should I try to do this process some more times as suggested on some reddit threads.

After the 6th attempt I removed the temp update file that was downloaded and filled the internal storage leaving only 17MB of free internal storage to prevent download of automatic updates.
Even then there was no progress.

Can someone guide me as to what should be my next step.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Crank

Hello, please tell me what to do. The device is Kindle PW5. There was firmware 5.16.2.1.1 with Language Break installed, but accidentally had been updated to the latest 5.18.1. Is there a chance to restore jailbreak?

This is not the correct thread for LanguageBreak. This is for WinterBreak.

[vann]

Does this mean that the Winterbreak jailbreak won't survive a device reset? Or am I misunderstanding?

If you reset your Kindle in a jailbroken state with OTABlocker, then your Kindle may be in a broken state

https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaki...m-a-reset.html


edit: I guess this is ment for the factory reset, not the simple OS restarting.

[upwiz]

Hi,

Much appreciate the good work being done here. Thank you for all of these resources.
But I am logging in to report an issue faced while trying to setup koreader in my Kindle Paperwhite 5th Generation (PW1, FW: 5.6.1.1). I have followed the WinterBreak method instructions from the Kindle Modding Wiki Page.
I have successfully managed to jailbreak and have installed the hotfix.
In the next step i have installed the MRPI and KUAL (Coplate) by pasting the
"Update_KUALBooklet_*_install.bin" into the "mrpackages" folder following the instructions from the same Wiki. I then used the ";log mrpi" method to install KUAL, which also completed successfully.
Beyond this point is where i am facing trouble, because upon opening the KUAL booklet i am getting a blank white screen with top status bar( which shows time kindle name) alone. No menu or anything of that sort which is the usual case appears. As mentioned in the trouble shooting i copied the "Update_KUALBooklet_hotfix_c6ac782_install.bin" into the kindle root folder, but it shows an update error on opening the kindle: " An invalid update file has been loaded on your device "
I would really love to get koreader up and running on my kindle, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thank You

[kenstl]

Originally Posted by sandman

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to jailbreak my Kindle 10th Gen (2019, Basic model) running firmware 5.16.3 using WinterBreak.

Originally Posted by vrihad

My jailbreak attempt on 3rd May 2025.
Kindle Model - Paperwhite 10th Generation
Firmware version - Kindle 5.16.3

I have a Kindle Paperwhite (10th Generation) - PW4 with 5.16.3 firmware on it and I too was only getting **** WinterBreak JAILBREAK **** and nothing else when running WinterBreak. Since both of you had the same output as each other and both have 5.16.3, I assumed there is an issue with 5.16.3. I noticed others in this thread having newer firmware so I sought after finding a way to download the 5.17.1.0.3 firmware from Amazon and I did figure it out. After factory resetting and signing in and visiting the Kindle store and clicking on a book on 5.16.3, I put it in airplane mode and manually upgraded to 5.17.1.0.3 and then rebooted and then factory reset and logged back in and visited the kindle store and clicked on a book and put in airplane mode. Not sure if all those steps were necessary but I was trying to make sure everything that could be done was done. I retried WinterBreak and it completed and I was able to go through the rest of the steps and now have KOReader installed. The hotfix did give an error getting back to the gui but I just hit ok and kept moving through the process once back to the main screen. Also during the KOReader install from the scriptlet, the screen stayed white for a long time, but did eventually complete. Below are the links to the Amazon servers for 5.17.1.0.3 firmware for both the Kindle (10th Generation) - KT4 and the Kindle Paperwhite (10th Generation) - PW4. It may be possible to download other versions by changing the version numbers in the url if you know a different valid version number, but I'm not sure as I only tried 5.17.1.0.3 out. That's how I figured out these url's is by starting to download the 5.18.1 firmwares and then stopping it and then checking my browser history and then bookmarking it and then editing the bookmark to copy the url and then modifying the version number. You can goto Amazons Kindle download page and try it yourself to be sure. Also maybe the devs will eventually figure out what the issue is with 5.16.3 and fix it in a new version of WinterBreak so you can stay on 5.16.3. If you don't mind upgrading though, this might work for you. Thank You to the developers for making all this possible!


Make sure you download the right one for your device. Use at your own risk!

Kindle (10th Generation) - KT4
update_kindle_10th_5.17.1.0.3.bin

Kindle Paperwhite (10th Generation) - PW4
update_kindle_all_new_paperwhite_v2_5.17.1.0.3.bin

[martin5]

I have a Kindle 11th generation and I am trying to install the files via Android File Transfer (as I am on a Mac) but I keep having issues with installing the '.active_content_sandbox' file onto the device.

I get the error "Could Not Create Folder // try reconnecting or restarting your device."

Any advice on how to proceed?

[DNSB]

What is your firmware revision? 5.18.1 or higher?

[martin5]

Oh Yes it is - I missed that it was not supported. So there is no way to install on my device currently?

[DNSB]

At this time, yes. There is work being done on a new jailbreak but no time line.

[a2597]

well, I was on 5.16 ...
installed jailbreak, installed hotfix, copied MRPI, and when trying to install KUAL apparently it updated. now says I'm 5.18.1, and I can't seem to install KUAL. *sigh*
What was I supposed to do to prevent an update at this stage? I was following the guide here:
https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaki...ing-kual-mrpi/

I still see my hotfix book, along with several cvm_##### books.


edit...weirdly, the device just rebooted...and when I ran the ;log mrpi it installed something, then said application failed, restarting UI, and now I have KUAL? But I'm on 5.18.1?!


Edit again...well... I'm on 5.18.1, but was able to install Kobo, block future OTAs...apparently I'm still jailbroken? Slightly confused, but not complaining.

[Frogm4n]

Yes, while 5.18.1 cannot be jailbroken, you can recover a preexisting jailbreak if you did it before the update.

What was I supposed to do to prevent an update at this stage?

Turn airplane mode back on ASAP after the Store part, and also check for a downloaded update before any step that reboots the Kindle.

[mossfoot]

I did the jailbreak and hotfix fine, got up to installing KUAL following the step by step guide... problem is while it does install and does show the icon for KUAL when it reboots, I just get a white screen (except for to the top black bar with the Kindle name, wifi, battery and time on it)

Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Frogm4n]

What firmware version and what version of KUAL did you install?

If your Kindle is running 5.16.3 or higher then you must use kindlehf versions of software.

[mossfoot]

Yeah, the problem turned out to be my Kindle was so old! I had to use the legacy software even though it's a paperwite

[Frogm4n]

Paperwhites can be old and legacy. The first one was released way back in 2012.