Kindle VNC viewer (native app, GPLv2)

[tmp_user]

Amazing stuff. I love those kindle jailbreak thingyis, anyway.

If i connect with my vnc server it only repaints the kindle display at the top bar and not really frequently.
Does someone have the solution?

[fezzzza]

Originally Posted by tmp_user

Amazing stuff. I love those kindle jailbreak thingyis, anyway.

If i connect with my vnc server it only repaints the kindle display at the top bar and not really frequently.
Does someone have the solution?

For the KT(4Gen) and above, here's a quick solution to implement the fix to the display refresh issue:

Adapting the KUAL extension, ie, once you have installed it, create or edit these files in your extensions/vncviewer directory:

launchVNC.sh:

/mnt/us/extensions/vncviewer/refresh.sh &
/mnt/us/kindlevncviewer/kvncviewer.sh HOST:PORT

(Dont forget to substitute HOST:PORT)

refresh.sh:

while :; do eips ''; usleep 90000; done;

menu.json - replace the main line
Code:
{"name": "VNC Connection", "priority": 1, "action": "/mnt/us/extensions/vncviewer/launchVNC.sh"}
Then just use the button in KUAL to launch your session

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by hawhill

You can't, aside from adapting the sources and recompiling. I'm in a mood to do a rewrite of it soon, though. I'll have that on my list then. I'll probably migrate to implement much of the blitting in LuaJIT/FFI, so that would be highly scriptable. Another plan is to make it usable on the Kobo, too. I'll also implement the proper ioctl for newer devices' (K5, KPW) eink updates, so that awful "eips" loop can go away.

I know i am replying to an old post. But can this be rewritten so it works on the Kobo readers with the 4.23.15546 firmware (current firmware)?

[rabe3ab]

does it works on kpw3?
and how can i control it since it doesnt have keyboard or buttons?

[robotfish]

Hi,

I realise this is a really old thread, but I'm hoping the dev is still around.

I'm using my Kindle 4 as a screen for a status display for temperature, ph, and salinity on my reef tank. I've got a server running Grafana and the vnc viewer from this thread displaying it through a full-screen firefox window. It works pretty well, except that the connection drops roughly once or twice a day and I have to manually restart kindlevncviewer from the KUAL menu. I ran strace on the vnc viewer process and got this at the moment of the disconnect:

ioctl(3, FBIO_EINK_UPDATE_DISPLAY_AREA, 0xbea26a88) = 0
select(8, [4 5 6 7], NULL, NULL, {300, 0}) = 1 (in [7], left {272, 172293})
read(7, 0x4070a0a0, 8192) = -1 ETIMEDOUT (Connection timed out)
gettimeofday({1607389609, 204967}, NULL) = 0
open("/etc/localtime", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(2, "08/12/2020 01:06:49 ", 20) = 20
write(2, "read (110: Connection timed out)"..., 33) = 33
write(2, "error while handling RFB message"..., 34) = 34
close(7) = 0
munmap(0x406bf000, 360448) = 0
brk(0xe4000) = 0xe4000
stat64("192.168.1.42", 0xbea26978) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
socket(PF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_IP) = 7
connect(7, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(5901), sin_addr=inet_addr("192.168.1.42")}, 16) = -1 ETIMEDOUT (Connection timed out)
gettimeofday({1607389609, 242614}, NULL) = 0
open("/etc/localtime", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(2, "08/12/2020 01:06:49 ", 20) = 20
write(2, "ConnectToTcpAddr: connect\n", 26) = 26
close(7) = 0
gettimeofday({1607389609, 269107}, NULL) = 0
open("/etc/localtime", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(2, "08/12/2020 01:06:49 ", 20) = 20
write(2, "Unable to connect to VNC server\n", 32) = 32
ioctl(4, EVIOCGRAB, NULL) = 0
close(0) = 0
ioctl(5, EVIOCGRAB, NULL) = 0
close(1) = 0
ioctl(6, EVIOCGRAB, NULL) = 0
close(2) = 0
close(3) = 0
exit_group(-1) = ?
+++ exited with 255 +++

The connection times out, and then it can't find /etc/localtime.

I had a second connection running to the vnc server from my desktop at the time, and it's still going, so it's not the server dropping the connection.

Any thoughts on what I should do next?

[NiLuJe]

I wouldn't hold my breath . @hawhill is around, but fairly busy with Life.

[robotfish]

If anyone stumbles on this, I did find a (rather ugly) way to "fix" the problem.

I edited the kvncviewer.sh script to restart the vnc client every six hours, forever. My script file is:

#!/bin/sh
cd $(dirname "$0")
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd preventScreenSaver 1
eips -c
sleep 5

while true
do
 ./kindlevncviewer -config config.lua "$@" & pid=$!
 #sleep 10
 #eips -c
 #eips ''
 sleep 21600
 kill "$pid" &
done

lipc-set-prop com.lab126.powerd preventScreenSaver 0

exit 0

If anyone else wants to use their kind as a non-interactive info display, here's how! Be warned, though, once you start this up, the only way to end the vnc client is either to ssh into your kindle and kill the process or reboot the device.

[juegos]

Would anyone know if this still works for Kindles on the latest firmware, arm hf? For instance the recently jailbroken Kindle Scribe. Thank you!

[DNSB]

Considering the last update was in Oct. 2012, the chances of this package working on an ARM hf device is close to negligible. IIRC, the original Paperwhite came out around that time.