PW4 Original Sox Media Player KUAL extension update

[dhdurgee]

This is an updated release of the original Sox media player extension. I have had to create two different versions, one for early firmware and one for HF firmware. The functionality should be the same between them with only the required binaries differing.

I don't have an HF firmware Kindle, so testing is limited and it is possible further updates will be needed.

Once this release is solid I would hope the creator of the v2 player can likewise update his release,

I hope this extension is still useful.

Dave

PS: files updated 2025-07-18

[dhdurgee]

Over 1,000 views and no replies? Does that mean there are no problems with this release?

Dave

[Robert45]

Hi! I wanted to share some feedback after trying out the HF version. The MP3 and .wav file playback works great for me! The radio feature doesn’t work on my end, but that’s not an issue as I don’t use it.

For future improvements, I have a few suggestions that I think would make the experience even better:

Ability to Skip or Choose Specific Recordings: It would be great to have a way to skip a specific recording, or choose any recording from a list to play.

Re-order Recordings: Being able to re-order the list of recordings would be really helpful, especially for audiobooks or playlists.

Support for Folders: Adding folders would allow users to organize and store different audiobooks or sets of recordings on the device at the same time.

Playback Seeking Tool: I’d love to see a playback tool where you can click on a progress bar (like in most media players) to skip to a specific point in the current recording. I realize that with SOX, playback would have to restart at the chosen point using a trim command, but this would still be very useful for navigation.

Improved UI with Illusion Framework: I’d also suggest improving the UI by using something like the Illusion framework, which is designed to make web apps on Kindles. You can find more information about it here: https://github.com/polish-penguin-dev/Illusion It was made my @penguins on the kindle modding discord. (That's where I saw this originally)

Thank you again for your hard work on this project! The current progress is awesome, and these features would make it even better. If you need any help or clarification, please let me know—I'd be more than happy to share what little knowledge I have.


P.S. I will be correcting the page on https://kindlemodshelf.me/ with this thread!

[Robert45]

I just realized that illusion will not actually work for this because it's a web app lol

[dhdurgee]

Interesting. Yours is the second report of an internet radio problem. If you have the time and inclination please run one of the menu entries in a terminal window and see what messages you see. All the URLs in the menu entries work with vlc on my laptop, but maybe SoX has a problem of some kind.

Dave

PS: I believe I have corrected the problem. Please replace file in extension with one in the attached zip.

[Robert45]

Originally Posted by dhdurgee

Interesting. Yours is the second report of an internet radio problem. If you have the time and inclination please run one of the menu entries in a terminal window and see what messages you see. All the URLs in the menu entries work with vlc on my laptop, but maybe SoX has a problem of some kind.

Dave

PS: I believe I have corrected the problem. Please replace file in extension with one in the attached zip.

I will try when I get home! Thank you! Have you considered my idea of adding folders?

[dhdurgee]

Originally Posted by Robert45

I will try when I get home! Thank you! Have you considered my idea of adding folders?

That is beyond the basic KUAL interface and would require either dynamically rebuilding the menu or another UI entirely. Many of your requests were implemented in the V2 release which uses Python to regenerate the KUAL menu. I would suggest you contact the author now that this basic version appears functional. He should be able to create new releases of his version.

Dave

[Robert45]

Sorry, I didn't realize it was quite that big of a request! Thank you so much for making it work on HF!

[Robert45]

I was able to make a few basic changes to the scripts to include folders and make it a bit easier to navigate.

[Neposeda]

There is at least one bug in menu on this pretty cool new version.
I fill "Audiobook 1" and "Music" folders, then try to play music and… unexpectedly hear my audiobook

This behavior lies on menu — "Music" item look for /mnt/us/music folder while there need to dive more to get real music
Perhaps /mnt/us/music folder can use as a base folder and add subfolders from menu? It will look better and more "clear"… imho.

One more suggestion: dynamically create "player" submenu on player's start based on /mnt/us/music folder content.
Probably need to clean bookmark and progress files in case of absent folder but I think you will come up with something.

[Neposeda]

Does anyone know why the PW5 keeps closing the BT connection (telling me to pair the headphones) after 20 minutes even though I'm using them?

[eggbert]

I have frankensteined the original v2 and the new Sox HF.

Sox v2 HF

Requires: Python 3
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=367713


Features: Refresh menus/folders
Play, Next Track, Pause, Stop.
Playing disables the screensaver, screensaver is re-enabled after playlist is finished or with the Stop button.

Tested on: Kindle 11, Python 3.11
Known issues:
>Manually have to reload menu after playing music.
>Stopping music, press Stop again if menu did not reload.
>Volume adjustment does not work.

I do not have much scripting or python knowledge, I cannot fix these issues. If you do and are able improve the scripts, go ahead.

[eggbert]

Sorry for the double reply, it won't let me edit my post.

I'm just now noticing that 20 minute timeout for Bluetooth, I guess disabling the screensaver isn't needed if it'll still disconnect. Here's the Sox without the unnecessary screensaver disabling.