Hacks Possible to never connect Kindle Scribe to Internet?

[RequisiteAngle]

I got a Scribe with the expectation that it could be used without requiring Internet access, and without an Amazon account. I would like to be able to use this Kindle completely offline, only using Calibre. However, upon entering setup, the Kindle prompts me to connect to WiFi, with no "Set Up Later" option that is present on other Kindles, so I have not been able to complete setup. I am able to connect it to a PC and view its home file directory, and Calibre also detects it through USB. Calibre is even able to send books to it, though I cannot read the book without completing setup. From its home directory, a file suggests that its firmware version is 5.16.0. Is there a way for me to bypass this setup menu without connecting to WiFi? Thanks in advance.

[Quoth]

Even it you can do it, it will be crippled if you never register and never use Amazon's servers.

[Claude_C]

Hmm… Maybe you set up a fake Amazon account. Connect your Scribe to it and then delete the Amazon account?

[mergen3107]

There is no way to bypass Amazon log in, even with Jailbreak.
At least, no one has ever found yet.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Hmm… Maybe you set up a fake Amazon account. Connect your Scribe to it and then delete the Amazon account?

It needs to be temporarily real before it's deleted.
And then the Scribe is a bit crippled.

[tomsem]

You should just return for refund. It does not meet your expectation.

At a minimum you need to register it just to start using it (then you can deregister and it will stay offline).

If you don't care to use the Pen for anything, then maybe it is as workable offline as any other Kindle is. Which is to say, you are better off with a different brand.

[RequisiteAngle]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Even it you can do it, it will be crippled if you never register and never use Amazon's servers.

All I want to do with this Kindle is to read with it, anything else, including anything to do with the pen, would be secondary, and for me, none of those are a good tradeoff for connecting this thing to the Internet.

I have considered making a throwaway Amazon account to register, and then keeping it offline, however, that would be a last resort.

Is there any known method to modify the firmware in some way before entering setup? Or, was there an earlier version of the Scribe firmware that did not require registration, and maybe I could downgrade to that? Will the Kindle execute files I leave in the root directory? I understand that Kindle's OS is based on Linux, is there some way to enter the bootloader without going on into setup itself?

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by RequisiteAngle

I got a Scribe with the expectation that it could be used without requiring Internet access, and without an Amazon account. I would like to be able to use this Kindle completely offline, only using Calibre.

You seem to have confused Kindle with Kobo. You can use a Kobo completely offline with Calibre, but this is not the case with Kindle. As tomsem said, you should return it for a refund and buy a device that can actually do what you want.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by RequisiteAngle

All I want to do with this Kindle is to read with it…

I have considered making a throwaway Amazon account to register, and then keeping it offline, however, that would be a last resort.

The Kindles I've had do work when dergistered (no collection creation even locally). Only a Factory Reset triggered demand to log in. So you can try registering, sync, deregister, delete Amaazon account.

Originally Posted by RequisiteAngle

Is there any known method to modify the firmware in some way before entering setup? Or, was there an earlier version of the Scribe firmware that did not require registration, and maybe I could downgrade to that? Will the Kindle execute files I leave in the root directory? I understand that Kindle's OS is based on Linux, is there some way to enter the bootloader without going on into setup itself?

Not for the Scribe.
You don't have root directory access. The directory you see is a separate one (guarded by MTP anyway) and doesn't have the OS or database.

An unregistered Kindle has no Series info and no new Collections.

Also a current Kindle model (and most older FW) can't have Collections or Series managed by Calibre without a jailbreak.

You can't downgrade Kindle FW without a jailbreak.

I've had maybe 6 different models of Kindles in about the last 10 years. I still have 3 models. Only the DXG is jailbroken (which was nearly pointless). I gave away an Oasis gen 2, a Kindle Basic and a PW1.

The Kindle Scribe is the most restricted Kindle eink ever.

Either use it registered as Amazon has intended or send it back.


If you personally bought it of Amazon, then you already have an Amazon account. There used to be a way to register without giving Amazon an address or payment method. You got someone to send you a Amazon Gift card/token bought (ONLY) on USA Market place using a real email address you have. The buyer can have an Amazon account on any other Marketplace. Then you use that real email address, a new password (write it down) and the serial code of the gift token you got in an email. The Kindle registers and you have a new Amazon account in the USA. You can buy USA Kindle store ebooks by someone sending you the gift tokens.

However I suspect this no longer works. It would cost $10 to try it. If it did work, you can use up the $10 on ebooks, and see if the Kindle still works if you deregister on it, without it asking for a login. WiFi is needed to deregister (which used to be doable on web site but now only on Kindle).
An unregistered Kindle behaves like a blacklisted one. The only difference is you can never re-register a blacklisted kindle.
If you find that the Kindle immediately does the Setup/Registration screen after deregistering (a Scribe owner can confirm what happens) and feel brave, you could login again and then report the Scribe as lost/stolen to Amazon and it will be blacklisted. Though I don't know what happens to a blacklisted Scribe. Regular Kindles just have Sideloading only, no series and no collections if blacklisted. They even used to be sold with this limitation advertised.

[HLS]

Why buy a scribe if you do not want an amazon account. makes no sense. Are you getting pirated books?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by HLS

Why buy a scribe if you do not want an amazon account. makes no sense. Are you getting pirated books?

Moderator Notice
Do not ask that question. A positive answer would be a violation of MR guidelines and why put someone in that position? The policy here in regard to piracy, to put it baldly, is "Don't ask; don't tell."

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by HLS

Why buy a scribe if you do not want an amazon account. makes no sense.

Have you not noticed over the years that number of people who have posted in this and other forums who do not want their devices connected to anything not under their direct control? While I am not quite that worried about others having access to my devices, I can understand the justifiable worries by others about allowing access. Can you really say that any profit driven corporation, government, stray hacker or any others who might access your device have earned your trust? You may fall on the more trusting end of the spectrum, others might fall on the less trusting end often with good reason.

“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”―Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I know that I am paranoid, I just don't know if I am paranoid enough.—unofficial motto of anyone who has worked in IT.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by HLS

Why buy a scribe if you do not want an amazon account. makes no sense. Are you getting pirated books?

Only about 1% of my Kindle ebooks, when I mostly used a Kindle, were bought. A large number were works being proofed and the rest were from Gutenberg, about 95%. The original aim about 10 years ago was to read PD from Gutenberg without paper or laptop and to stop printing proof copies.
Even today about 95% of our calibre library is still PD, due to fibre broadband, more searching etc. It's about x10 bigger. Not a single pirate copy.

I'd still be using Kindle if I'd not discovered Kobo.

Edit:
Privacy about what you read is a life & death, or at least imprisonment, issue for the majority of the world's population.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Quoth

A large number were works being proofed and the rest were from Gutenberg, about 95%.

Not to mention the millions and millions of fanfic stories out there.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Not to mention the millions and millions of fanfic stories out there.

If that's your thing. I almost never read fanfic; not because I'm snobbish and only read tradpubs - not at all, I read lots of self-published stuff. But for me to want to read anything it must usually be an original story with original characters. 'Original' is a relative term, of course. Very little is truly original with thousands of years of writing history, and I don't mind overused plots, tropes or character types. But I don't want to read a story that explicitly uses other authors' world and characters, except in very few cases where the original author has wished their world to be shared by others. It's not a complaint from a moral or ethical standpoint, just a personal preference. It doesn't matter to me whether the original work is still in copyright or the author has been dead for hundreds of years; I don't read any Sherlock Holmes or Shakespeare fanfic either (does Shakespeare fanfic even exist?).

I've made an exception a few times and read stuff that can be classified as fanfic, but that's very rare for me.

This is not meant to be disparaging to fanfic, and I'm not saying fanfic shouldn't exist. I'm well aware lots of people love both to read and write it. It's just a matter of personal taste. There are other genres I'm not interested in and almost never read. Everyone has their likes and dislikes, and for me fanfic falls in the latter category.