Kindle 3.1 software for Kindle 2, 2i, & DX (under construction)

[dpavlin]

Originally Posted by DickeFix

I have also problems with the female TTS voice. If I unpack tts-files.tar (so I get a "data/" folder in the root directory of the Kindle) I can hear the female voice sporadically but with very large pauses between the sentences. After just one or two sentences the Kindle gives up and reverts to the male voice which works good (except from the crackling noise).

In order to remedy this I compiled an update including the TTS-files (with SKIP_TTS_FILES="") but then the Kindle hanged both for the male and female voice.

Any ideas why this occurs and how to fix it?

From quick glance using htop, it seems that fuse which is used to access /mnt/us takes considerable CPU resources, and produce strange-sounding female TTS. However, male voice (which is on rootfs) does sound good to me in beta4 (with already mentioned ticks from time to time).

My log for beta4: http://mjesec.ffzg.hr/~dpavlin/kindl...ke-package.log

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by DickeFix

I have also problems with the female TTS voice. If I unpack tts-files.tar (so I get a "data/" folder in the root directory of the Kindle) I can hear the female voice sporadically but with very large pauses between the sentences. After just one or two sentences the Kindle gives up and reverts to the male voice which works good (except from the crackling noise).

In order to remedy this I compiled an update including the TTS-files (with SKIP_TTS_FILES="") but then the Kindle hanged both for the male and female voice.

Any ideas why this occurs and how to fix it?

The problem is that the kindle 2 filesystem is too small to fit the 3.1, so I removed the least amount of files that does the least amount of notice. You can always change the skip_tts variable to skip the male voice if you like the female one. It's slow because access to the fat is slow. I can resize the rootfs, but you will lose all your books and stuff.

[DickeFix]

Originally Posted by yifanlu

The problem is that the kindle 2 filesystem is too small to fit the 3.1, so I removed the least amount of files that does the least amount of notice. You can always change the skip_tts variable to skip the male voice if you like the female one. It's slow because access to the fat is slow. I can resize the rootfs, but you will lose all your books and stuff.

Yifanlu, thanks for the explanation. That is probably the reason why Amazon didn´t release 3.1 for the Kindle 2 and DX/DXG. I wouldn´t mind to resize the rootfs partition since I have only pdfs and free books on my Kindle DXG but for others with protected books it would indeed be a problem. I could live without the female voice. By the way, do you know how large the rootfs.img partition is on Kindle 3G?

Do you also have the problem with crackling sound on your upgraded devices? If not, maybe the problem only occurs if the non-US Kindle3G (000A) is used to build the DXG upgrade and that it works with the US version of Kindle 3G. Or maybe the audio drivers differ between the DXG and the DX. Any ideas?

[fry@pocketbook]

I like to test it. I have a Kindle DXi and DXG...but I do not have Kindle 3G can anybody help me?

@Yifanlu you make a perfect job!!!

[Shike]

Hey everyone,

Was searching around and noticed something interesting. Amazon has released the source code for their firmware.

Is there a chance the tool can use this in the future to get rid of the need for a host device?

[jft]

Hi,

I tried beta4 with my DXi and used a k3w host. The packages were generated successfully and my DXi upgraded without any problems. However, the amazon software seams to freeze instantly. After the home screen is shown the Kindle fails to respond to any input key. Connecting the usb cable also fails to enable the storage mode. Only the slider is working.

Emptying the usb partition changed nothing.

Currently, only the jailbreak is installed on the client. Some time ago I used Duokan (5.13) and removed it yesterday with the built-in uninstaller.

I am restoring 2.5.8 atm. Has anybody else experienced the same problems?

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by jft

Hi,

I tried beta4 with my DXi and used a k3w host. The packages were generated successfully and my DXi upgraded without any problems. However, the amazon software seams to freeze instantly. After the home screen is shown the Kindle fails to respond to any input key. Connecting the usb cable also fails to enable the storage mode. Only the slider is working.

Emptying the usb partition changed nothing.

Currently, only the jailbreak is installed on the client. Some time ago I used Duokan (5.13) and removed it yesterday with the built-in uninstaller.

I am restoring 2.5.8 atm. Has anybody else experienced the same problems?

Can you please submit your logs?

[jft]

Attached are the requested logs.

[hawhill]

Originally Posted by Shike

Hey everyone,
Was searching around and noticed something interesting. Amazon has released the source code for their firmware.

Is there a chance the tool can use this in the future to get rid of the need for a host device?

I think most developers are aware of these sources. The problem, however, is that they are not the sources for the firmware, but rather for some parts of the firmware. The most crucial pieces that make the difference between 2.x and 3.x are not part of it, namely the Java code for the viewer and the native interfaces (JNI) they use.

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by jft

Attached are the requested logs.

This is weird.

deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/core/snd.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/core/snd-timer.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/core/snd-pcm.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/core/snd-page-alloc.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/core/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/arm/mxc-alsa-pmic.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/arm/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/sound/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/netfilter/xt_tcpudp.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/netfilter/x_tables.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/netfilter/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/ipv4/netfilter/iptable_filter.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_tables.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_queue.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/ipv4/netfilter/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/ipv4/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/net/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/lib/crc-ccitt.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/lib/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/nls/nls_utf8.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/nls/nls_ascii.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/nls/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/fuse/fuse.ko
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/fuse/
deleting lib/modules/2.6.22.19-lab126/kernel/fs/
...

It seems like on your Kindle, it's not reading the filelist of things to keep. Are you sure you used a newly generated rootfs.img with the latest version of this?

Also, I can confirm that this works with getting 3.2.1 on DX and K2 too. However, you won't see any ads, it shows the regular screen savers. Weird.

Oh, and one more thing. I've decided to start sending precompiled images to anyone who doesn't want to jailbreak their kindle 3 or something. PM me for it. I'll assume you own a Kindle 3 and can use the files.

[DickeFix]

I am still so excited about this update. It has converted the DX/DXG to be really useful both as a pdf reader AND browser. I needed to use Duokan before to use the pdf function efficiently because many pdfs need contrast enhancement to be readable. Now I am using the Kindle OS all the time except for two-columns pdfs which Duokan still is superior to handle.

I am a bit surprised that not more than around 100 Kindle owners have downloaded the software until now. I guess the explaination is twofold. Firstly, many with Kindle 2 software do not know how much better the 3.1 firmware is. Secondly, they probably don´t search outside Amazon site for it. Who would think it would be possible that someone outside the Amazon Kindle team could port 3.1 firmware (made for a six inch device with different screen size, hardware and resolution) to the Kindle 2/DX/DXG? This task demands a lot of knowledge both in Linux and the internal details of the Kindle OS. Thank you again Yifanlu!

The only problem which still is a bit annoying is that I no longer can use the Kindle for mp3 listening due to the crackling noise. Yifanlu, do you experience similar problems on your Kindle2/KindleDX or is it only Kindle DXG that has this problem?

[yifanlu]

Originally Posted by DickeFix

I am still so excited about this update. It has converted the DX/DXG to be really useful both as a pdf reader AND browser. I needed to use Duokan before to use the pdf function efficiently because many pdfs need contrast enhancement to be readable. Now I am using the Kindle OS all the time except for two-columns pdfs which Duokan still is superior to handle.

I am a bit surprised that not more than around 100 Kindle owners have downloaded the software until now. I guess the explaination is twofold. Firstly, many with Kindle 2 software do not know how much better the 3.1 firmware is. Secondly, they probably don´t search outside Amazon site for it. Who would think it would be possible that someone outside the Amazon Kindle team could port 3.1 firmware (made for a six inch device with different screen size, hardware and resolution) to the Kindle 2/DX/DXG? This task demands a lot of knowledge both in Linux and the internal details of the Kindle OS. Thank you again Yifanlu!

The only problem which still is a bit annoying is that I no longer can use the Kindle for mp3 listening due to the crackling noise. Yifanlu, do you experience similar problems on your Kindle2/KindleDX or is it only Kindle DXG that has this problem?

I have that problem with my DX US and K2 US. I don't know where the problem is so far, nothing out of the ordinary are in the logs (no errors). I may have to replace the files with an older version from 2.5.8 or something.

I've noticed that playing files from ssh "aplay music.wav" or mplayer doesn't have the static, so it's not driver or audio daemon or alsa problems. It may be broken in the framework, if so it would be very hard to fix.

I also realized that the static isn't constant. Like if I play a file again and again, it would work clearly a few times or so.

After some tests, I can say that the audio problem won't be fixed for a while. I suggest using the mplayer hack if you really want music.

[DickeFix]

Yes, mplayer works! I still can hear intermittent "clicks" but it is barely noticeable. It is very surprising since the player in Duokan had the same crackling noise as the Kindle player so I thought it had to be the driver. However, in Duokan there is no noise in the TTS function

Anyway, thanks for the discovery of the workaround. Now I can also enjoy music on the Kindle again.

[biodu]

I used 3.1 on my DXG with yifanlu's solution and it worked very fine . What I would like to ask the experts whether it is somehow possible to run Duokan (pdf crop, folder view) on a 3.1 DXG.

I tried the installer but they dont work. DickeFix' solution to use as host a Kindle 3 with Duokan installed is working but I dont have an access to such a Kindle.

Is there another solution? Could the Duokan installer being modified somehow?

Thanks a lot

[jft]

I finally got my DXi also working with 3.2.1 Thank you very much yifanlu!

Therefore one "No" vote has to be removed