Firmware Update Kindle firmware 5.16.3

[jhowell]

Kindle firmware version 5.16.3 now available for 10th and 11th generation Kindles and Kindle Scribe. No update for older models.

Version 5.16.3 – July 2023

Here's what's new:

Performance improvements, bug fixes, and other general enhancements.

Other changes discovered:

• Connect Kindle Scribe over USB using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) instead of emulating a disk drive.

I will update this post with more information when it becomes available.

[tomsem]

Update got 'stuck' on a couple of my Kindles: Update option never enabled. The .bin file was renamed, which normally precedes the enabling of Update option.

The issue persisted even after deleting the renamed .bin and copying it over again.

Finally resolved it on both Kindles by clearing the .bin file, doing a Restart, copying the .bin over again. The Update option was enabled this time (perhaps after a few seconds).

I think I have encountered 'stuck update' once before, and after not much consideration, did a Restart. The update did get triggered, but resulted in an unstable result, which fortunately was resolved by applying the update again.

Based on this experience, I would strongly recommend NOT Restarting if the update button is not enabled as expected.

Instead, connect to USB and verify there's a .bin file there (there won't be one if the wrong update .bin was copied, as it will get deleted). Delete it, disconnect, Restart, and then try again.

[dedeca]

The book layout menu has been expanded. Are they preparing for new options?

[dedeca]

Wait, I'm wrong. It seems like it's always been like this.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Kindle firmware version 5.16.3 now available for 10th and 11th generation Kindles and Kindle Scribe. No update for older models.



Other changes discovered:

• Connect Kindle Scribe over USB using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) instead of emulating a disk drive.

I will update this post with more information when it becomes available.

Indeed:

The UI displayed on Kindle when connected to USB has changed, and you need to tap the Disconnect button to disconnect. It no longer appears as a drive in Finder.

Apparently Android File Transfer is now required on Mac (sigh) to transfer content.

Calibre still detects it, but Eject this device no longer works (closes the calibre connection but leaves it connected to Mac), and Show books seems to show things it didn't used to (things in Internal Storage/), and what it shows as In Library matches some of these Internal Storage/ items. Send to device seems to work. No doubt we are going to need a calibre update to fix some of this.

It looks like there are alternatives to Android File Transfer, but so far I have found no 'native' solutions. It's encouraging that calibre doesn't need anything extra, at least for Kindle. I guess I'll install AFT and see how that goes. I really do want some sort of scripting access.

macOS has built-in support for MTP (through the application "Image Capture"[27] but no (third-party) drivers to mount MTP devices as drives.

Windows has had MTP support built in since Windows Vista. But Kindle will no longer mount as a drive letter, but rather as a 'named device'. I have not tried it out myself yet.

Windows does not assign drive letters or UNC pathnames to devices connected via MTP; instead, they only appear as named devices in MTP-aware applications such as Windows Explorer. Compared to devices that implement USB mass storage, such devices cannot be accessed programmatically by scripts or normal Windows programs that depend on drive letters or UNC paths. Instead, files must be manipulated using Windows Explorer or applications with specially written MTP support.

(emphasis added)

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by tomsem

, and you need to tap the Disconnect button to disconnect. It no longer appears as a drive in Finder.

Android File Transfer is now required on Mac (sigh) to transfer content.

Calibre still detects it, but Eject this device no longer works (closes the calibre connection but leaves it connected to Mac), and Show books seems to show things it didn't used to (including things in Internal Storage/), and what it shows as In Library matches some of these Internal Storage items. Send to device seems to work. No doubt we are going to need a calibre update to fix some of this.

I don't know what has changed for Windows or Linux, but perhaps someone else will report about those.

MTP is horrible. The only advantage is to hide the real file system. A second reason was maybe to do with DRM on the Zune. Also only one process can connect. As MS invented the horror for the Zune (possibly) Windows now has some cunning method of sharing MTP to the processes. I think in Vista if the Media Player was open nothing else could connect to MTP device.

On Linux you have to disable "automount" of MTP or else your filemanager is the ONLY way to do I/O. Some Linux desktops don't disable MTP automount, so you have go to System Monitor > Processes, browse for gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor and right click "stop" (not Kill or it auto-re-spawns). Then connect the device and Calibre can detect it & use it. I think Android uses it since version 4 or 5, but it's actually MS USB-MTP. Naturally I find my Android phones and tablets annoying.

One wonders is it a plan to ditch having a FAT32 partition and use the superior Ext4 (which Windows doesn't understand) for all of the Scribe.

This makes the Scribe less attractive. However the worse ereader for connection is still the reMarkable. It uses USB networking (or WiFi to reMarkable's server) and the only alternative to reMarkable client SW is to use a browser, drag & drop one file at a time to the browser.

Not in Finder? Well, MTP is Media Transfer Protocol, not a file system!

Edit
MS Zune release November 14, 2006
MS Vista release November 8, 2006

Of course Vista had the new MTP built in, and oddly Zune didn't support Plays For Sure

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

MTP is horrible. The only advantage is to hide the real file system. A second reason was to do with DRM on the Zune (MS Plays for Sure, which now won't) Also only one process can connect. As MS invented the horror for the Zune (possibly) Windows now has some cunning method of sharing MTP to the processes.

On Linux you have to disable "automount" of MTP or else your filemanager is the ONLY way to do I/O. Some Linux desktops don't disable MTP automount, so you have go to System Monitor > Processes, browse for gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor and right click "stop" (not Kill or it auto-re-spawns). Then connect the device and Calibre can detect it & use it. I think Android uses it since version 4 or 5, but it's actually MS USB-MTP. Naturally I find my Android phones and tablets annoying.

One wonders is it a plan to ditch having a FAT32 partition and use the superior Ext4 (which Windows doesn't understand) for all of the Scribe.

This makes the Scribe less attractive. However the worse ereader for connection is still the reMarkable. It uses USB networking (or WiFi to reMarkable's server) and the only alternative to reMarkable client SW is to use a browser, drag & drop one file at a time to the browser.

Not in Finder? Well, MTP is Media Transfer Protocol, not a file system!

As I am learning.

Is there any reason to think the other Kindles with this update won't get this 'feature'?

Okay. Now I'm going to have to check Windows...

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by tomsem

As I am learning.

How did you know it is just for Scribe? Any reason to think the other Kindles with this update won't get this 'feature'?

Okay. Now I'm going to have to check Windows...

So, Windows.

So, as expected: no drive letter assigned. Windows asks what you want to do with it, one of those choices is View Files.

Windows Explorer then shows it under My Computer as "Kindle Scribe" with a volume named "Internal Storage". Properties show a generic 'device' icon, looks like you can change Name to something other than "Kindle Scribe" and with Model Name "Kindle Scribe" and Manufacturer "Amazon".

It shows all folders and files starting with '.', including .notebooks folder.

And confirmed that other Kindles still use USB drive mode on Windows.

...

Looks like Python has no standard package for this, and 3rd party packages are 9 years old.

A 10 year old Stack Overflow post says "Check calibre code, it does this". Looks like I'll be doing this.

AFT does let me explore and do file stuff. But command line stuff is gone.

This makes my day. Bad.

[bulltricks]

Firmware for the PW5 has the MTP module, but not the user-space components.

Maybe it's just being enabled on the Scribe to flush out user complaints.

Switching to MTP eliminates both a jailbreak exploit and the ability to prevent firmware updates.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by bulltricks

Firmware for the PW5 has the MTP module, but not the user-space components.

Maybe it's just being enabled on the Scribe to flush out user complaints.

Switching to MTP eliminates both a jailbreak exploit and the ability to prevent firmware updates.

Yes, it is not a welcome change, for many use cases.

It is good at least that calibre works with MTP and might be a starting point for more work with it.

However I miss command line access.

Calibre has an (undocumented) ebook-device CLI that lets you do some things with device content, but it no longer works with Scribe (raises exception right away).

[bulltricks]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Yes, it is not a welcome change, for many use cases.

It is good at least that calibre works with MTP and might be a starting point for more work with it.

However I miss command line access.

Calibre has an (undocumented) ebook-device CLI that lets you do some things with device content, but it no longer works with Scribe (raises exception right away).

Thank you for being the vanguard and testing this for the rest of us.

I'd be really bummed to give up my 'mount/ebook-convert/umount' workflow.

It looks like the underpinnings of mass-storage are still there, but I can't find anything obvious to switch it back.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by bulltricks

Switching to MTP eliminates both a jailbreak exploit and the ability to prevent firmware updates.

Assuming airplane mode, how can MTP force an update?

With airplane mode off and a device within 200MB of full, how can MTP force an update.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Assuming airplane mode, how can MTP force an update?

With airplane mode off and a device within 200MB of full, how can MTP force an update.

My interpretation is that the hacks to prevent OTA update (to the extent they are effective) can not be installed.

Obviously the only sure way is to keep wifi off.

But Scribe has not been jail broken, with this update, probably can never be. Keeping it offline permanently also cripples it if you want to make pen annotations or Notebooks (no real way to export). Online services are part of its value proposition.

[jhowell]

I suspect that the change to MTP is intended to "modernize" access to the Kindle over USB by making it work like a connected Android device, while at the same time reducing potential hacking vulnerabilities by eliminating unfettered access to the raw disk partition.

It could also be a step toward eliminating access to content downloaded from Amazon's servers. Doing that, combined with further reducing access to download-and-transfer via USB, would better lock down Amazon's DRM.

[jhowell]

The change to MTP makes visible folders that were previously hidden. I wonder whether that was a mistake. Using MTP they can easily block all access to system files including cover thumbnails (used by calibre) and Scribe notebooks (forcing access only through their service.)