[Kindle Touch] Font Hack

[kevinpars]

You are right yiming. I spoke too soon.

When I updated it from 5.0.4 to 5.1 it updated correctly to the new firmware and the new fonts I had added were still being used. But when I tried to open the program itself, it did not work and I got the message you referenced.

Since I have loaded the fonts that I want, it is not an issue for me since I don't think I would do any more changes. However, what would happen if I uninstalled the font hack without first restoring the original fonts using the fonthack program?

Like I said, not a big deal for me, but something to consider for others using the program. And it may be that ixtab will be able to find out what broke the program and do an update at some point in the future.

[yiming]

hi ixtab

i didn't uninstall the Fonthack before upgrading to 5.1.0. is it safe to uninstall using the uninstall .bin now? the reason i ask is because i nearly brick my KT when i uninstalled the freetype engine after upgrading. is there a way to manually uninstall Fonthack? thanks.

[eureka]

Hey, ixtab, it looks like Lab126 wanted to help you and implemented Fontconfig part of alternate font support in 5.1.0. There is a new configuration file in /etc/fonts/conf.d (lab126-altfonts) and it is fully commented. There is also new /usr/bin/fc-cache.sh for refreshing Fontconfig cache.

[ixtab]

Short update:

@yiming: it is safe to uninstall
@kevinpars: all modifications are removed on uninstallation, so no worries.

I'll look into the compatibility issues soon and keep you updated.

[ixtab]

Status update:

I got it running on 5.1.0. Quite a few things changed under the hood, so this will still require a bit of work (a lot, actually). So don't hold your breath.

In the mean time, I made the source code available. Beware: it's rather messy, undocumented, and could need some refactoring. The version that is currently checked in should, in principle, work on both 5.0.* and 5.1.0. But it's totally ugly on 5.1.0.

FontHack 1.3.0 will most probably drop support for KT firmwares < 5.1.0.

[jglerner]

FontHack 1.3.0 will most probably drop support for KT firmwares < 5.1.0.

@ixtab,

Short question for a short answer:

Is it safe to upgrade to FW 5.1 without uninstalling FontHack?

[jglerner]

Adding to my prior question:

My KT is jailbroken and FontHacked only.

[wolftail]

Originally Posted by jglerner

@ixtab,

Short question for a short answer:

Is it safe to upgrade to FW 5.1 without uninstalling FontHack?

If you don't have the custom libfreetype you may run into some problems like I did if the Kindle doesn't like the custom fonts you chose. But theoretically you should be able to update. (I was and my Kindle survived. :P) If your Kindle shows the Kindle needs repair screen at reboot, don't panic, connect it to the computer and it should go away. Install the custom libfreetype and it should not appear anymore.
I was forced to uninstall some of the hacks (including libfreetype) otherwise the update would fail for me. But if you want to keep your custom fonts don't uninstall fonthack. A new version of the FontHack is in the works and should be ready soon (according to ixtab) and if you want to play safe, you can uninstall the current version before the update and install the new one when it's ready.

[urbster1]

Originally Posted by jglerner

@ixtab,

Short question for a short answer:

Is it safe to upgrade to FW 5.1 without uninstalling FontHack?

I uninstalled all modifications including jailbreak, except for FontHack, and mine updated ok, but the original fonts came back.

edit: I did not install a custom libfreetype

[ixtab]

My current "knowledge state" is:

- IF you have the modified freetype library installed, you should uninstall it before updating (though you can re-install it after the update if you want).
- other than that, the update does not cause problems, even if fonthack is installed.
- after the update, your previous font settings *will* have survived. In general, this means that custom fonts continue to work (not always though. In case they don't, you'll simply get the default fonts).
- however, there is no simple way to change the custom font settings for the time being (because the Kindle bitches about incompatibilities with the application; I have sorted these out with the upcoming version).

As said, I'm currently looking into these things, and there will soon be an update. Until then, just "live with it", i.e., with all the oddities you may get.

The bottom line for now is: font hack may (usually), or may not (occasionally), continue to work on the new firmware. At least it doesn't seem to horribly break anything.

[ixtab]

I just uploaded version 1.3.0 (for KT 5.1.0+ ONLY) to http://ge.tt/3ZRY9XE/v/01

I'm not a 100 percent sure about everything, but it should at least *run* on 5.1.0+ Kindles. That said, it should work at all, but I can't tell if it really works correctly. (in my particular case, overriding the "normal" (serif) font did not have any effect.

I need some other testers for this, so please report back here.

UPDATE: That means: please test-drive as much as you can. Change all font styles, look at where you expect changes to appear, and whether they work or not. Ideally, check all of the four different font substitutions (serif/sans serif/monospace/condensed) and report back about what works and what doesn't.

[urbster1]

Hi ixtab, since dev cert and kindlet were necessary for the previous FontHack I guess they were still installed, so the FontHack 1.3 installed just fine, and it runs. However, like you, I cannot get the default font to change. Thanks for all your hard work!

edit: Weirdly, though, I can still change the Sans-serif font! So, I can still read in the font I prefer if I change the setting in the menu to sans serif (although the font is actually serif). Funny workaround but it will do for now.

Condensed and monospace fonts also seem to change, just not serif. The settings did keep from the previous version.

[jglerner]

- after the update, your previous font settings *will* have survived. In general, this means that custom fonts continue to work (not always though. In case they don't, you'll simply get the default fonts).

Ok, I started upgrading to FW 5.1.0 without uninstalling FontHack.

- First phase, around a minute,
-Self reboot,
-Second phase, around seven to eight minutes,
-Self reboot,
- Fonts were back to originals,
Tried to start Font Hack by ixtab, got an error.
-Tried a manual reboot,
-Same error,
-Installed version 1.3.0
-Got to enter (no error messages). The same fonts as prior version (working) were selected, still original fonts showing,
-Got to System, Rebuilt font cache and waited few minutes till finish,
-Restart(ed) framework,
-Still original fonts showing.
Tried again a manual reboot,
-Same original fonts showing,
Tried to mess with Serif, Sans Serif, Monospace and Condensed but showing fonts were the originals.
All new features of 5.1.0 are present but FontHack doesn´t changes my fonts.

The bottom line for now is: font hack may (usually), or may not (occasionally), continue to work on the new firmware. At least it doesn't seem to horribly break anything.

True enough, although no results using FontHack 1.3.0

[jglerner]

Adding to my prior post:

Tried several reboots and a hard reset, every time I was able of enter Font Hack, choose different fonts at no avail, still stuck on default fonts.

[yiming]

Originally Posted by ixtab

My current "knowledge state" is:

- IF you have the modified freetype library installed, you should uninstall it before updating (though you can re-install it after the update if you want).
- other than that, the update does not cause problems, even if fonthack is installed.
- after the update, your previous font settings *will* have survived. In general, this means that custom fonts continue to work (not always though. In case they don't, you'll simply get the default fonts).

@ixtab

yes, i confirm that it is not safe to remove libfreetype after updating to 5.1.0. it is also not safe to uninstall fonthack after the update. i got into trouble and have to reset my KT to resolve the problem.

my Chinese font settings remain even after the fonthack has been uninstalled. i've also removed libfreetype, and i'm not sure if it causes my Chinese fonts not able to show bold typeface.

i want to reinstall libfreetype to see if bold can be restored. do you think you can update the libfreetype installation package for 5.1.0. many thanks.