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

[NiLuJe]

And to expand a bit on the FreeType override feature:

First of all, FreeType is the name of the library used to render the fonts on the Kindle. Meaning, it's the most important part (software-wise) of the font rendering chain, and it can have a *huge* impact on how your fonts will look.

As I said a couple of times already, the settings used for FT on the default firmware changed drastically in FW 3.x, and while it may be a bit crisper than before, it depends hugely on the quality of the fonts. (In short: it can look very nice, but it's less compatible, it doesn't handle crappy fonts very well).

Now, with this, you can choose if you want to use FT's autohinter (like FW 2.x), or the fonts native hinting (like FW 3.x). In both cases, the FT lib used is way, way more recent (especially in the FW 2.x case, which is using a prehistoric version of FT that must be patched all to hell), so, even if you choose the same type of rendering that the default on your FW, it *will* look different (at least slightly).

There is also another choice, the 'light' autohinter. It tries to preserve the glyph's shape better than the classic autohinter, at the expense of a slightly fuzzier rendering. It's a bit like OS X's font rendering. But, it will garble the glyphs shown in the Symbols & Note popups, and the browser address bar. (Which work fine with the other two settings). I don't think there's anything we can do about it, it probably stems from the fact that, for some (stupid?) reason, the Kindle renders fonts without hinting nor antialiasing in these popups...

Take into account that I'd consider this a fair bit more intrusive than usual, that's why it's not enabled by default. That also means it should be considered experimental, as it may be on the crashy end of things (crashy as in 'make the framework crash & restart', not lockup). I've tested this on a K2i & a K3 without any apparent issues in the Menus/Reader/Topaz reader/Apps/Browser.

And finally, to enable this (it's already specified in more detail in the first post, but here we go ):

To use FT's autohinter: Drop a blank "autohint" file in the linkfonts folder.
To make FT use native hinting: Drop a blank "bci" file in the linkfonts folder.
To use FT's light autohinter: Drop a blank "light" file in the linkfonts folder.

If both files are present, autohint will be used.

You will *have* to do a *full* Restart for this to be taken into account.

On the good news front: It very well *may* fix the 'blank fonts' issue some of you are having on FW 3.x. So I'd gladly welcome feedback on that front, given that I still can't reproduce this on my Kindle .

[NiLuJe]

Tiny update to USBNet v0.30.N:
* Killed some forgotten unreachable debug code.

So, if you snatched v0.29.N, that's not really a problem .

[Nathan Campos]

I got an error while trying to update the usbnetwork from 28 to 30. It says:

Update not successful
Your Kindle is restarting

[Tvangeste]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

And to expand a bit on the FreeType override feature

Good news! Thanks for all the updates!

For those of us who never saw autohinted fonts in Kindle2, may I ask to post a couple of screenshots for comparison purposes?

Meahwhile, time to upgrade!!

[NiLuJe]

@Nathan Campos: With what error code on the bottom left of the screen?

@Tvangeste: All the K2 screenshots you'll see will be of autohinted fonts (ie. nearly everything attached in the first few posts). (You may want to take a look at this post, too [Obviously, we use the grey renderer ont the Kindle, not the LCD subpixel one ]).

[Nathan Campos]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@Nathan Campos: With what error code on the bottom left of the screen?

At the bottom left, the error code shown was U007

[NiLuJe]

@Nathan Campos: That means your Kindle isn't jailbroken.

[montalex]

Thanks a million, NiLuJe! You've done it again. I just updated both fonts and screensaver hacks, and everything is great. I did have a surprise when I went back into Duokan, though! I was unable to use USB connect without returning to Kindle OS, and, of course, I had lost my bookmarks in Duokan, and the Duokan fonts. I did what you had suggested previously, and renamed the auto file in linkfonts folder, and all is good. USB and fonts are back.

Maybe installing Duokan at this early stage was not such a great idea. I'll wait for updates.

[NiLuJe]

@montalex: Still no idea why it would affect Duokan, especially on the USB front... I assume you'd done a full restart after applying the updates?

[Bismar]

Question, how do i update my kindle from 3.0.1 to 3.0.3 after installing the jailbreak/ ss?

[montalex]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@montalex: Still no idea why it would affect Duokan, especially on the USB front... I assume you'd done a full restart after applying the updates?

Yep! I had done a full restart, and I switched to Duokan to check the fonts there. When I saw that they weren't working, I plugged my KIndle into my computer, and there was no USB connection. The image on the Kindle screen did not change, and, although my computer showed a storage drive plugged-in, it did not identify it as Kindle (which is usually does), and I could not open the drive. Changed "auto" to "otua" (so I'll remember what I did!), and everything was back to normal.

Like I said, I'm going to wait for some kind of update before messing around with Duokan. I would like to finish a couple of books that I'm reading....

Thanks,

M

[Dusty Star]

I need some clarification when doing the font package. There is a file title CREDITS in the font package folder...is that to be in any of the Kindle folders? If so, in link/fonts or perhaps link/fonts/fonts? Or ignore it entirely? Thanks

EDIT TO ADD: BINGO! As you well know, been struggling with the K3 font hack for several weeks. With the new update for font 4.0 K3g I was able to install the BIG 125% font.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU NiLuJe!!

Now I can read the menu text (book titles/authors names) without using a magnify glass. You can't possibly imagine how thrilled I am, to finally have my K3 set up perfectly with the larger font. This is awesome for anyone who has vision issues and their Kindle.

Again, from bottom of my heart...THANK YOU

Dusty Star

[NiLuJe]

@Bismar: The usual way, the hacks don't change a thing.

@montalex: That looks like what happens after an update ran with usbnetwork enabled, so, unless you yourself are using usbnet, I'd blame this on Duokan messing around with the USB gadget modules . [This specific issue has been somewhat fixed in usbnet .29.N, BTW].

@Dusty Star: Nope, the credits file is just, well, to credit the authors of the fonts in question in the package itself, you don't need to put it on your Kindle .

Did you use one of the new FT override option to make it work, or did it just suddenly work with this update?

[Dusty Star]

"@Dusty Star: Nope, the credits file is just, well, to credit the authors of the fonts in question in the package itself, you don't need to put it on your Kindle .

Did you use one of the new FT override option to make it work, or did it just suddenly work with this update?"

RE CREDIT: Well I bow down to the authors who made this all possible

Well here's the thing. I already had the BIG 125% font folder on my desktop...waiting for that magical day I could finally install it on my K3 (blank screen issues). As you may recall, I had installed it on my K2i with no problem, very happy with it.
Spoiled and wanted it on my K3 too.

So today, seeing you had a new font update (4.0 for K3g) I installed the bin update, then the Big 125% font package....same thing...blank screen. So thinking about this...I decided to install one font from the folder...and restarted...seeing what changed...as I went along, installing each one at a time, restarting...everything else was getting darker, crisper...till finally I installed the Serif_Regular.ttf and there is was...The menu enlarged exactly way it looked on the K2. No blank screens or issue per each install/restart. As per previous post above...you know how thrilled I am.

I have no idea why the full install of the font package would not work. I forget now which of the 12 fonts I did installed individually...only about 5 of them. No need for me to add the others, everything is perfect as is. I am now reading books on the 3rd level from the Aa font size choice, whereas prior till today I had to read it on the 6th level to read comfortably. The menu text (the real issue I had, having to read it with magnify glass) is enlarged and easy to read book titles and authors now.

Again, THANK YOU!

[bartveld]

Hats off once again! I'm still quite happy with the Georgia font and the Times LT Semibold still doesn't do it for me (in spite of autohint), but now I can try out other fonts at my leisure, knowing that I have more options in how FT renders them.