PW5 Can PW5 be downgraded to 5.14.2, it came with 5.14.3.0.1.

[grzesiek123]

I just downgraded the PW5-8GB from 5.16.2.1 to 5.14.2.
After LanguageBreak, I installed KUAL and then the downgrader extension.
After running the downgrader and rebooting, I copied the 5.14.2 firmware to the device and then did the Upgrade from the menu.
To get rid of the Register message, I had to run restore factory settings after the upgrade.

[Donaldb]

Originally Posted by grzesiek123

I just downgraded the PW5-8GB from 5.16.2.1 to 5.14.2.
After LanguageBreak, I installed KUAL and then the downgrader extension.
After running the downgrader and rebooting, I copied the 5.14.2 firmware to the device and then did the Upgrade from the menu.
To get rid of the Register message, I had to run restore factory settings after the upgrade.

On 8GB it may be possible as it's done by you, but on 16GB version released last September I could only go as low as 5.14.3.0.1 which is default firmware.

[KetchupCider]

Originally Posted by Donaldb

On 8GB it may be possible as it's done by you, but on 16GB version released last September I could only go as low as 5.14.3.0.1 which is default firmware.

Jumping in super late to the topic, but can you provide any details about what happened when you tried to downgrade to 5.14.3.0.1? Any errors etc?

I'm researching how possible it is to downgrade a PW5 from 5.16.x to 5.14.2. The firmware page seems to indicate that the PW5 does have a 5.14.2 firmware update available:
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Firmware

[KetchupCider]

Sorry to double post!
Adding an update here, I was able to successfully downgrade my PW5 from 5.16.2.1.1 to 5.14.2!

I had to do this over SSH via USB, as the KUAL Downgrade didn't work for me on 5.16.x. I've learned a lot has been broken in 5.16.x, which was the primary reason I wanted to downgrade in the first place. Huzzah!

[ryanwaldroop]

Originally Posted by KetchupCider

Sorry to double post!
Adding an update here, I was able to successfully downgrade my PW5 from 5.16.2.1.1 to 5.14.2!

I had to do this over SSH via USB, as the KUAL Downgrade didn't work for me on 5.16.x. I've learned a lot has been broken in 5.16.x, which was the primary reason I wanted to downgrade in the first place. Huzzah!

Help! How? I was able to jailbreak and downgrade my new 16GB PW5 from 5.16.2.1 to 5.14.3.0.1 by changing versions.txt to 001-juno_14030001_malbec_bellatrix-378310 and then I could SCP the .bin and reboot and it worked, but I can't downgrade further to 5.14.2 to get rid of the "Cloud not Available" error.

When I downgraded to 5.14.3.0.1 I was able to factory reset and run the hotfix to re-gain root and can still SSH over USB.

So when you say you downagraded over SSH, what command did you run? Thanks!

[JSWolf]

In order to downgrade Kindle firmware, your Kindle has to be jailbroken.

[ryanwaldroop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

In order to downgrade Kindle firmware, your Kindle has to be jailbroken.

Yeah, pretty much everyone in this thread is talking about jailbroken kindles.

[JSWolf]

Never buy a Kindle expecting to jailbreak it. You may have to use it as is.

[ryanwaldroop]

OK, I wrote this and deleted it earlier, but I can't help it now. I may have just joined this forum, but I've been visiting since I got my first kindle in 2008. You have over 73,000 posts and I've seen you around a lot. And you have yet to say anything helpful or constructive. Read the thread. Everyone is talking about kindles that have already been jailbroken. My kindle is jailbroken. I want to downgrade the software. I don't want your opinions about using Amazon's software as is. If it works for you, great. If you don't have any advice on downgrading a PW5, just say so. Or better yet, keep it to yourself.

[KetchupCider]

Originally Posted by ryanwaldroop

Help! How? I was able to jailbreak and downgrade my new 16GB PW5 from 5.16.2.1 to 5.14.3.0.1 by changing versions.txt to 001-juno_14030001_malbec_bellatrix-378310 and then I could SCP the .bin and reboot and it worked, but I can't downgrade further to 5.14.2 to get rid of the "Cloud not Available" error.

When I downgraded to 5.14.3.0.1 I was able to factory reset and run the hotfix to re-gain root and can still SSH over USB.

So when you say you downagraded over SSH, what command did you run? Thanks!

Hey, I am so sorry to see this so late - nearly a year later! I have not been active in the forums in quite a while.

If memory serves me right, I used the following downgrader:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=347165

I used the shell script within the zip file on that page. I had to execute it via SSH on my jailbroken PW5, because KUAL add-ons were not working properly on that version before I downgraded.

Downgrade shell script code (in case you’d prefer to just run these commands individually or avoid SCP file transfer):

#!/bin/sh
VER=$1
cp /etc/version.txt version.txt.backup
mntroot rw
sed -i -E "1 s/(-)([0-9]+)$/\1${VER}/g" "/etc/version.txt"
mntroot ro
reboot

I remember I added the respective 5.14.2 update file onto the Kindle's filesystem into the correct "update" location (I think it was the root of the device, but again, it's been a while and I don't so much remember what the file name or path should have been).

Once I was SSH'd in to the PW5, I located the folder of the extracted downgrader zip, and checked the code in menu.json to find how the menu selection command executed this for the PW5:

bin/downgrade.sh 376678

EDIT: This version number seems to correlate to 5.14.0.1 on the PW5, which would then allow the update to 5.14.2; see this post and thread for more information

You can see the options for other devices like the excerpt below from the menu.json file, for reference if anyone is seeing this and needs it for other devices:

...
"name": "Downgrader",
			"priority": 0,
			"items": [
				{
				"name": "Kindle Paperwhite (11th Generation)/PW5", 
				"priority": -1, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 376678",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Oasis (10th Generation)/KOA3", 
				"priority": 2, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 355615",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle (10th Generation)/KT4", 
				"priority": 3, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 352856",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Paperwhite (10th Generation)/PW4", 
				"priority": 4, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 336034",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Oasis (9th Generation)/KOA2", 
				"priority": 5, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 325069",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle (8th Generation)/KT3", 
				"priority": 6, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 298743",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Oasis (8th Generation)/KOA", 
				"priority": 7, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 288285",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation)/PW3", 
				"priority": 8, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 263413",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Voyage (7th Generation)/KOV", 
				"priority": 9, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 244367",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle (7th Generation)/KT3", 
				"priority": 10, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 244369",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Kindle Paperwhite (6th Generation)/PW2", 
				"priority": 11, 
				"action": "bin/downgrade.sh 206145",
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"internal": "status OK,rebooting"
				},
				{
				"name": "Author", 
				"priority": 1000,
				"exitmenu": false,
				"checked": true,
				"status": false,
				"refresh": false,
				"action": "xxxx",
				"internal": "status opossun from 4pda.to"
				}
			]
		}
...

With the update file in the correct location and with the right filename, this shell script should mount the filesystem to read/write, rewrite the version.txt, and reboot the device to run the update.

Sorry I couldn't provide more details, and my deep apologies for missing this for so long too! Hopefully this helps someone.