Does amazon know my Kindle is jailbroken?

[dedeca]

I lost the Cover Display option after updating kindle to version 5.14.3.0.1, I thought it was a bug and figured it would be fixed in a future update. So yesterday a new update to 5.14.3.2 came out, and the Cover Display option still hasn't appeared. It's strange because downgrading to 5.14.2 solves the problem, however updating the firmware to a newer version makes this option go away.
Is it possible that Amazon knows my device is jailbroken and has decided to remove the Cover Display option?

[mergen3107]

Usually, when Kindle updates, install the latest JB Hotfix ASAP. Then reinstall all the packages you use.

Regarding your specific case, maybe there are stock binaries/scripts that the Cover Display package relies on, but on newer FW it was removed?

[shamanNS]

My experience with the exact same firmware version (5.14.1.1 on PW5) with and without jailbreak:
pre-jailbreak I had Display Cover option appear seconds after registering the device to my Amazon account

and post-jailbreak while still on the same firmware and re-registered to the same Amazon account that cover option didn't appear even after days spent online (with ota binaries renamed, and before renaming ota binaries I did the actual registration and gave it couple of minutes online then connected to computer to delete firmware update it started downloading & then renamed ota binaries).
So it doesn't seam to be related to firmware version itself?

When trying to troubleshoot that issue myself I had a hypothesis that maybe it has something to do with that debug flag file being created by jailbreak procedure and I've managed to brick / bootloop that PW5 unit when I've edited jailbreak bridge script to comment out a function call for the function that creates that file (I've introduced a syntax error [empty if.. then block] and thus broke Upstart and boot procedure, it loops even before exporting storage so no can do on the whole "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" thing) to stop it from recreating that file on each reboot.

Anyways, while I was waiting for replacement PW5 to come other people have figured out the solution for Display Cover option:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...20&postcount=3

So, you'll need to insert the missing "experiment" info into that SQLite database.

I've done that and it works. Before going that route I've even tested doing a factory reset after jailbreak (since jailbreak script messed about some other database file (appreg??, whatever is in device & firmware specific zip "payload" used by jailbreak script) to check if that clears problems with that missing Display Cover option and with Goodreads... and no dice : Display Cover hasn't appeared so I had to enable it myself via database edit.

[tekkasit]

Me too. I think it is a plausible explanation.

I jailbreak my Oasis 3 (v5.14.2) with "watchthis-jailbreak", and upgrade to 5.14.3, and 5.14.3.0.1. After that, I realized that the Cover Display option was gone.

[dedeca]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

Anyways, while I was waiting for replacement PW5 to come other people have figured out the solution for Display Cover option:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...20&postcount=3

Yeees That worked! Thank you so much!

[dedeca]

Originally Posted by tekkasit

I jailbreak my Oasis 3 (v5.14.2) with "watchthis-jailbreak", and upgrade to 5.14.3, and 5.14.3.0.1. After that, I realized that the Cover Display option was gone.

The above method worked on my pw3. On my pw5 I did it a little differently. As my pw5 was still at version 5.14.2 and in this version there is no Display Cover problem, all I did was copy the file /var/local/KWISClient.db from version 5.14.2 to 5.14.3.2. I don't know if it's a recommended method, but it worked.

[tekkasit]

It didn't work for my device (Oasis 3). After reboot, the Display Cover option still does not show.

[root@kindle root]# cat /var/local/java/prefs/BookCover.preference
#User preferences for Book Cover Preferences
#Sun May 29 18:17:30 GMT-06:00 2022
BookCoversEnabled=false
isBCSettingAccessed=true

[root@kindle root]# sqlite3 /var/local/KWISClient.db
SQLite version 3.26.0 2018-12-01 12:34:55
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> SELECT extra_identifier, experiment, treatment FROM main.experiments;
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_FALLBACK_328845|C
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_MALBEC_FALLBACK_370896|C
CuratorBookCovers|EREADER_CURATOR_BOOK_COVERS_307723|T2
sqlite> .exit

P.S. My Oasis 3 had removed ads already.

[shamanNS]

Try setting "BookCoversEnabled" to true?

[tekkasit]

Okay, I found out.

You just need to insert a few records into KWISClient.db. No BookCover.preference file needed.


INSERT INTO main.extra_identifiers( extra_identifier, poll_interval ) VALUES ('CuratorBookCovers', 0);
INSERT INTO main.experiments( extra_identifier, experiment, treatment ) VALUES ('CuratorBookCovers', 'EREADER_CURATOR_BOOK_COVERS_307723', 'T2');

and single reboot.

sqlite> select extra_identifier, poll_interval from extra_identifiers;
DecanterChromeV1|30
KINDLE_EINK_REMOTE_LICENSE_RELEASE_V2|0
CuratorBookCovers|0
sqlite> select extra_identifier, experiment, treatment from experiments;
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_FALLBACK_328845|C
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_MALBEC_FALLBACK_370896|C
CuratorBookCovers|EREADER_CURATOR_BOOK_COVERS_307723|T2
sqlite> .exit

I think for my case, the extra_identifiers table has no CuratorBookCovers value (PK for experiments table).

[tekkasit]

Oops. The option was gone again in a few minutes while I'm online.

I think Amazon service keeps calling home, and reverting values back.

I found out that my extra_identifiers table now have only one record, the 'KINDLE_EINK_REMOTE_LICENSE_RELEASE_V2' row was gone!

sqlite> select extra_identifier, poll_interval from extra_identifiers;
DecanterChromeV1|30
sqlite> select extra_identifier, experiment, treatment from experiments;
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_FALLBACK_328845|C
DecanterChromeV1|DECANTER_CHROME_V1_MALBEC_FALLBACK_370896|C
sqlite> .exit

Manually insert of the missing record back doesn't restore it back. After reboot, it will have only one record. (T_T)

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by tekkasit

Okay, I found out.

You just need to insert a few records into KWISClient.db. No BookCover.preference file needed.

Originally Posted by tekkasit

Oops. The option was gone again in a few minutes while I'm online.

I think Amazon service keeps calling home, and reverting values back.

Is KWISClient.db something that from your point of view never needs to change once it is how you like it?

If so, you can use chattr +i on it.

[dedeca]

I decided to change the location of my amazon.com.br account to amazon.com in order to have access to the grouping of series (Group Series in Library) and Goodreads (in my country these resources are not available). Unfortunately doing so causes me to lose the Display Cover option again. So to fix this I have to replace the KWISClient file again with the one I had saved from the 5.14.2 firmware.
I also noticed that if I restart the kindle with wifi on, the Display Cover option simply disappears. For some very strange reason the kindle needs to be restarted with wifi off.

I compared the entries of the file KWISClient (with Display Cover) with KWISClient (without Display Cover). It seems that in this last one some values ​​besides the 'CuratorBookCovers' are missing. I wonder if this can somehow interfere with future features that the kindle can receive, since the KWISClient file I'm using belongs to firmware 5.14.2 and not the latest one.

[Mike Li]

could you please tell me how to downgrade the system WITHOUT JB?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Mike Li

could you please tell me how to downgrade the system WITHOUT JB?

Not possible.

[tekkasit]

Hi dedeca

Is it possible to share your /var/local/KWISClient.db contents?

I would like to populate those two tables on my Oasis 3, because I have no backup of this file before I realized what happened.

Now I had only three records (extra_identifiers - 1, experiments -2). T^T