Hacks K2 Screensaver hack on DX?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by clarknova

You really need to get over this. Since the kindle DEV team calls it a screensaver, then so will I.

So you'll be incorrect too then. It's not a screen saver. There is nothing that needs saving. What it should be called is a slide show. And all it really does is use extra battery.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So you'll be incorrect too then. It's not a screen saver. There is nothing that needs saving. What it should be called is a slide show. And all it really does is use extra battery.

You really have to get over this thing you have with the term screensaver. True very few current electronic devices need a screensaver or screen saver but it's a hold over term now which has a new meaning.

You're just making yourself crazy.

[Mac Jones]

Ok i'm game. what shall the official forum name be?

shall we call it "Ugly Author"?

[sirbruce]

"privacy saver" -- since it covers up what you were reading.

[Mac Jones]

I don't really get that part of it. Maybe I should but I don't really care if someone know's I read trash.

[sirbruce]

So some further investigation has revealed that Amazon has rather deliberately changed some things with the Kindle DX to render the method used to make the Kindle 2 screensaver hack work no longer possible. All hope is not yet lost, but it's a very petty thing for Amazon to do, IMHO. It would be trivial for them to simply add this as an officially supported feature; what are they worried about?

[sirbruce]

IT WORKS!

Expect the release of the DX screensaver hack soon!

[clarknova]

The DX differs from the K2, in that the screen saver directory is no longer a variable that's specified in the framework config, but has been hardcoded. We worked around it by doing a simple symlink to the USB partition as discussed in another thread. Instructions are below, basically the same as the K2 hack, so I hope someone else will re-write them since I'm an awful writer.

Again, the thanks for this all go to igorsk, porkupan, and sirbruce (for bravely risking his brand new DX and doing all the work). Oh, and apologies to JSWolf for continuing to use the phrase "screen saver."

==============================================================================
WARNING: Use at your own risk!  This is an UNOFFICIAL update to allow custom
Kindle DX Screen Savers.  This file is NOT from Amazon.com and any harm it
causes your Kindle2 will be your own fault.
==============================================================================

Instructions for use:
---------------------
1) Plug your Kindle DX into your computer.
2) Copy "update_DX_screensaverhack-install.bin" to the root of your Kindle DX.
3) Optional Steps:
  3a) Change directories to the "system" folder.
  3b) Create a new folder called "screen_saver"
  3c) Place any 824x1200 PNG image files into the system\screen_saver folder
      that you just created.
6) Unplug your Kindle DX.
7) Press the "Menu" button on your Kindle DX and select "Settings."
8) At the Settings page press "Menu" again and select "Update Your Kindle."
9) When the "update" is done your Kindle DX will reboot and you are done.

If you choose not to do step 3, the system will create the system\screen_saver
folder for you and place the default screen savers in it.  You can then remove
or replace these, or mix them with your own -- it's up to you.

To go back to the default Kindle DX screen savers:
--------------------------------------------------
1) Plug your Kindle DX into your computer.
2) Copy "update_DX_screensaverhack-uninstall.bin" to the root of your
   Kindle DX.
3) Unplug your Kindle DX.
4) Press the "Menu" button on your Kindle DX and select "Settings."
5) At the Settings page press "Menu" again and select "Update Your Kindle."
6) When the "update" is done your Kindle DX will reboot and you are done.


More Information:
-----------------
You can change images at any time, but you must reset your kindle for them to
appear (press and hold the slider for 15 seconds).  If there are no images 
then a blank screen will be shown when you go into sleep mode.

As with the K2, JPG/PNG/GIF files all work -- From sirbruce: "...you can use
JPG, PNG, GIF, any size, although obviously 824x1200 works best. Smaller
images are anchored in the upper left corner."

If you would like to restore the original screen savers without removing the
hack, simply delete the screen_saver folder and reset your kindle, and the
folder will be recreated with the original images in it.

Any official kindle DX updates that patch the file will fail (gracefully)
if this is installed (ie. 2.1 to 2.1.1).  Use the remove procedure,
to restore the default screen savers, then apply the official update, and
all will be well.

Many thanks to the MobileRead forum members: igorsk for doing everything,
porkupan for updating igorsk's update maker tool to work for the DX,
and sirbruce for doing all the legwork (this hack is mainly his doing).

Source code for the install script, uninstall script, and the init script are all in a tarball the zipfile.

[sirbruce]

[Mac Jones]

Thanks!

Wonderful!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

You really have to get over this thing you have with the term screensaver. True very few current electronic devices need a screensaver or screen saver but it's a hold over term now which has a new meaning.

You're just making yourself crazy.

We could actually call it what it really is then... Sleep Mode Indicator. Would that be more appropriate?

[daffy4u]

Well now that the new screen saver hack for the DX is up, is there a DX owner willing to handle the Visual Kindle Guide wiki page for it? I'm guessing the K2 hack could be used as the template and the appropriate images added.

[unrequited]

woohoo! Thanks!

[srmalloy]

I don't think it would make any difference with regard to having to uninstall it to get updates from Amazon to install, but with Amazon releasing the source code for all versions of the Kindle, it should be possible for the screensaver code to be modified to put the directory back in the framework config. It might make the screensaver mod cleaner.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by srmalloy

I don't think it would make any difference with regard to having to uninstall it to get updates from Amazon to install, but with Amazon releasing the source code for all versions of the Kindle, it should be possible for the screensaver code to be modified to put the directory back in the framework config. It might make the screensaver mod cleaner.

I suggested that, but since they hardcoded the path and removed the variable macro from the config, the code might not respect the variable anymore. The new hack works fine and will be more difficult for Amazon to work around if they want to try to disable it again.