Kindle Paperwhite Jailbreak?

[tbjoe]

Hi guys,

I have no experience with jailbreaking stuff like the Kindle Paperwhite, I hope you can answer some short questions for me

- Is it safe to jailbreak it, if you follow the instructions correctly?
- Can you disable the "feature" that amazon gets your data when you connect to wifi? That is actually the main reason why I'm thinking about it


Greetings,
tbjoe

[HarryT]

Moved to the Kindle Developer's forum.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tbjoe

Hi guys,

I have no experience with jailbreaking stuff like the Kindle Paperwhite, I hope you can answer some short questions for me

- Is it safe to jailbreak it, if you follow the instructions correctly?
- Can you disable the "feature" that amazon gets your data when you connect to wifi? That is actually the main reason why I'm thinking about it


Greetings,
tbjoe

1) Yes.
2) Yes, there are add-ins for that general purpose (several of them).

[tbjoe]

Thanks for the answer

(Just to complete the thread so that others can also profit from it: )
I've asked for further advice in the IRC channel because I didn't find much stuff related to Kindle Paperwhite, but they told me, that this link (https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Touch_Hacking) is working for the Kindle Paperwhite.

PS: To 2) could you tell me the name of these then?

[knc1]

1) https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=237083
2) KUAL Firewall / BBB (block big brother) filter.

[tbjoe]

1) Yeah I get it, I could find it myself. I just don't have an overview yet and need to look up so many things. It's confusing
2) Thank you again

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tbjoe

1) Yeah I get it, I could find it myself. I just don't have an overview yet and need to look up so many things. It's confusing
2) Thank you again

If you know the prefix for the PW1 (K5) then you can filter all of these posts by that prefix or look things up in the wiki prefix index.

But at the time we did that, we did not know there would be a PW2 a year later (using a different SoC).

[tbjoe]

Figured that K5-Thing out already
Is it a problem with the two different PW versions?

Another question, I'm sorry I have so many of them. I jailbreaked my device now and in the wiki it says I should install usbnet now, to make a full backup. That sounds reasonable and I'm a fan of backups.
However in the instructions it also says, that I should have the knowledge of a linux CLI sysadmin which I certainly don't have (at least some knowdledge though).

What would you suggest me to do? Is there an easier way to do a backup? Or in case I don't have a backup: Will it still be possible to restore my device if broken somehow? I'd not care too much about the personal data that would be lost.
If yes, I'd leave out the usbnet part I guess, and go straight to MKK, KUAL and probably one or two other things that seem useful.

[HarryT]

Doing this kind of stuff without understanding what you're doing is VERY dangerous. You run a very real risk of permanently bricking your PW. I'd strongly urge you to be very cautious.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tbjoe

Figured that K5-Thing out already
Is it a problem with the two different PW versions?

Yes, plus Amazon did not give us warning they would introduce a PW2 a year after we started lumping the PW1 in with the KTouch.

Originally Posted by tbjoe

Another question, I'm sorry I have so many of them. I jailbreaked my device now and in the wiki it says I should install usbnet now, to make a full backup. That sounds reasonable and I'm a fan of backups.
However in the instructions it also says, that I should have the knowledge of a linux CLI sysadmin which I certainly don't have (at least some knowdledge though).

What would you suggest me to do? Is there an easier way to do a backup? Or in case I don't have a backup: Will it still be possible to restore my device if broken somehow? I'd not care too much about the personal data that would be lost.
If yes, I'd leave out the usbnet part I guess, and go straight to MKK, KUAL and probably one or two other things that seem useful.

Install USBnetworking, be sure you have it working **NOW**.
You may well regret not having it later, even if you don't use it until then.

There is a "button set" for KUAL that makes using USBnetworking easier than when the warnings where written.
(But the "button set" and KUAL is not required, so warnings are still valid for those who "go it alone".)

PW1 "backup" -
The PW1 factory "update" images are full system images.
So just keeping a copy of the Amazon image file (and anything needed to install it) will get you back to original **FOR THE SYSTEM IMAGE**.

All models "backup" (including PW1) -
You will need to backup the device and user specific information that is stored **OUTSIDE** of the partitioned areas of the flash.

Currently, that requires use of the command line (over a remote {USB networking} terminal or the serial port).
Also required is knowledge of some basic Linux (*nix) commands.
mount, umount, dd, probably a few others.
Geekmaster wrote up the backup procedure, and also a script.

A KUAL "button" (script) could probably be written to capture the device and user specific information into a file.
twobob and I worked out a script for that purpose, but that was never actually released, its use lead to too many problems.
So better that the user "do it by hand".

You may need that copy of the device and user specific information later;
Specially if you intend to play with the diags "erase all" function
(yup, that works, it does what it says, I guarantee that you will regret pressing it).
Mostly: **DON'T** press "erase all".

[tbjoe]

@HarryT: Thank you for the clear words.

@knc1: Thanks again for answering with so many details.

I'm not so sure anymore if I really want to go through all of this trouble, to get some more control over my device.
I know what telnet, SSH etc are, know the Linux commands you mentioned, but I'm not really practically experienced with all that stuff.

Well if I'm gonna do this - I'm just installing usbnet (simply extract to the root folder and update the device).
What then exactly?
Take a backup the way it's described in the wiki? (using netcat and dd).
Or first install MKK + KUAL to use the "buttons" you mentioned?
Or something completely different?

I don't have the overview of this whole thing at the moment.


PS: Can I turn off OTA-Updates, as I read that they can mess things up, too? I'd rather not "change the running system", when there is no reason to and deal with all that stuff again, after everything is properly working

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tbjoe

@HarryT: Thank you for the clear words.

@knc1: Thanks again for answering with so many details.

I'm not so sure anymore if I really want to go through all of this trouble, to get some more control over my device.
I know what telnet, SSH etc are, know the Linux commands you mentioned, but I'm not really practically experienced with all that stuff.

Well if I'm gonna do this - I'm just installing usbnet (simply extract to the root folder and update the device).
What then exactly?
Take a backup the way it's described in the wiki? (using netcat and dd).
Or first install MKK + KUAL to use the "buttons" you mentioned?
Or something completely different?

I don't have the overview of this whole thing at the moment.


PS: Can I turn off OTA-Updates, as I read that they can mess things up, too? I'd rather not "change the running system", when there is no reason to and deal with all that stuff again, after everything is properly working

Yes.

*) MKK
*) KUAL
*) Backdoor Lock (a KUAL button set) - gives control over OTA updates
*) USBnetworking - at least check that you can connect (I.E: have the network addresses setup properly)

- - - -

An interesting thought -
I don't think we ever checked if your device received an OTA update during all the trouble with the indexer.

If it did -
that may explain part of the "indexer problem"
and it may explain the changes in other behavior.

You can find your current firmware version in the settings menu.

[tbjoe]

Thanks for the reply again.

So I'll do the following:
1) (Jailbreaking already done)
2) Install MKK
3) Install KUAL
4) Install Backdoor Lock and Firewall with BBB filter
5) Install USBNetworking
6) Try to connect / Test USBNetworking

Until this point nothing should go wrong, if I stupidly follow the instructions right?

Where are the real risks of bricking my device? As far as I see it, Step 1-6 are actually very straight-forward, well 6 may be a bit more difficult but it sounds straight forward too, if you know how to access a Command Line.
What are the numerous warnings aimed at exactly?




- - - -

I'm not sure what the text under these " - - - -" is supposed to mean. I've not had troubles yet (only jailbreaked so far), but my version is: 5.4.2

[knc1]

Originally Posted by tbjoe

- - - -

I'm not sure what the text under these " - - - -" is supposed to mean. I've not had troubles yet (only jailbreaked so far), but my version is: 5.4.2

Must be a think'o on my part - had a different problem in mind.

Here is a series of threads under prefix "Tutorial" including PW1 setup of various things. Use the forum prefix filter to find them.

This one, although old, may help understand the process (the process is the same, links and packages are probably out of date):
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=204450

[NiLuJe]

Oh, good point on the wiki, that warning should be toned down for PW1/PW2 users, since Amazon does effectively essentially ships us nearly-complete 'backups' with every update.

EDIT: done.