KPW - to jailbreak or not to jailbreak

[BeccaPrice]

I've just received a shiny new Paperwhite. I haven't even put any books on it yet (waiting til the cover arrives), nor have I updated to the latest version.

I'm half thinking about jailbreaking it, so I can use the collections manager, but (I admit) I'm scared to try it. (I did try the USE_ALT_FONTS trick, and feel very smug with myself that it worked). I'm not a hardware geek or a software geek, and I'm terrified that I'll do something to mess up my device.

All I want to do is be able to use the collections manager. I've looked at the directions, and it seems rather complex. It's not just installing one jailbreak, but installing a bunch of stuff.

Too, I'm not sure how the collections manager actually works - that is, starting from new books on the device, what is it that i do to get the books into a collection? does it work hand-in-hand with the Kindle Collections plugin in Calibre?

so, my questions are: 1) should a total neophyte like myself risk the jailbreak? and 2) could somebody give me a brief description of how to use the jailbroken collections manager, so I can decide whether it's worth it?

Thanks,

-Becca

[eureka]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

should a total neophyte like myself risk the jailbreak?

I think, if Kindle jailbreak was renamed to "sweet puppy certificate" or to "itty bitty kitty certificate" (and it deserves such the renaming, even from the technical point of view) you'd feel less risk pressure.

(To developers: yeah, I know that current PW jailbreak installs a bit more than plain certificate(s).)

[NiLuJe]

To be blunt, I'd classify the USE_ALT_FONTS stuff as *messier* than the JailBreak(s) & CM, so, if you're using the messier of the bunch, why not the rest? It also has the added bonus that we actually *know* how our stuff is supposed to behave, which might not entirely be true for the ALT_FONTS trick.

[eureka]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

To be blunt, I'd classify the USE_ALT_FONTS stuff as *messier* than the JailBreak(s) & CM, so, if you're using the messier of the bunch, why not the rest? It also has the added bonus that we actually *know* how our stuff is supposed to behave, which might not entirely be true for the ALT_FONTS trick.

Last sentence is hurting me personally, as I've dug into Java code to find out how precisely USE_ALT_FONTS works and behaves, because there wasn't any description of this thing ATM and I wanted to describe it completely (and I did it). Though I was lucky enough to discover it on 5.1.x, where Java code wasn't so horribly obfuscated yet. Also note that major underlying part of USE_ALT_FONTS method is related to Fontconfig which have extensive documentation.

OTOH, I don't know how jailbreak for recent PW "works", because I didn't look into assembly, where ixtab was looking. But I have high-level techincal description that ixtab provided and it's enough for me.

I understand that it wasn't personal attack, so I'm not claiming any damages from your wordings. But USE_ALT_FONTS method already have some myths connected to it (requirement of full restart, for example), so, please, don't add your expert judgement's weight to it's misleading image of black magic thing.

[twobob]

The power of Voodoo.

[NiLuJe]

@eureka: Ouch. No harm intended, at you or anyone else. I simply meant that since none of us wrote it and it's closed source, it's by definition potentially somewhat murkier than the rest. Quite frankly didn't even think about what you or others might have gone through to look into it. Mea culpa .

Speaking of, remind me to plug it into the Calibre Kindle Collection plugin, it's used by a fair number of people to use the same trick on older devices, but it doesn't handle this one yet.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I'm half thinking about jailbreaking it, so I can use the collections manager, but (I admit) I'm scared to try it. (I did try the USE_ALT_FONTS trick, and feel very smug with myself that it worked). I'm not a hardware geek or a software geek, and I'm terrified that I'll do something to mess up my device.

if you are thinking about jailbreaking, the very first thing is: do not let the Kindle update itself to the newest firmware.
To achieve this, do not switch WiFi on.

The current version of jailbreaking process does not work on the newest firmware 5.3.3

You need firmware 5.3.1 for jailbreak. You can install it manually.

After jailbreak you can use
Coolection manager
JBPatch
CoolReader3
and I believe many others in future.

[ixtab]

@all: This is most probably a logical follow-up to this discussion.

@BeccaPrice: I abstained from jumping in on this topic until now, simply because I'm too involved to contribute a non-biased opinion (for me, everything is simple and logical). Nevertheless, here is a short explanation:

Yes, CM requires multiple prerequisites:
- the actual device jailbreak (or, in fact, as eureka pointed out, simply a certificate file), which allows to install update files from independent developers. On every paperwhite, two such files already exist (for allowing updates signed by Amazon... such as the 5.3.x ones), and the jailbreak merely adds a third one.
- the developer certificates. This is pretty much the same as above, except that it only pertains to active content (Kindlets, or "Apps").
- the Kindlet jailbreak. This is a mechanism which allows Kindlets to break out of their sandbox and to access the entire Kindle system. It is required for CM, because otherwise, it wouldn't be able to read or manipulate the collections database, or any file on the system (as required for calibre import and export, for example).

It was a conscious decision to modularize these into multiple packages. For instance, if you only want to install NiLuJe's screensaver hack, you only need the jailbreak as such. If you want to install a Chess game from an independent developer, you only need the jailbreak and developer certificates, etc. And these three things together allow to open pretty much all of the doors that the Kindle tries to jam by default, so it's unlikely that you will need more than them. Any other hack can make use of them as well, if required - without having to reinvent the wheel.

So those multiple dependencies don't make things more complex, but actually simpler, more logical, and more independent. The only drawback is that you need all of them, which initially requires multiple installations (but they're all a piece of cake...)

Concerning CM, its interface, and its usage, I'll let you judge yourself by looking at the CM thread.

@NiLuJe/eureka: I'm sure that there was no offense intended either way. But I do agree with what NiLuJe said: at least, for the stuff that we program and release, we have the source code (for everybody to check), and we know why things are programmed the way they are. And if we don't know, we can ask the developer.

[eureka]

Originally Posted by ixtab

@NiLuJe/eureka: I'm sure that there was no offense intended either way. But I do agree with what NiLuJe said: at least, for the stuff that we program and release, we have the source code (for everybody to check), and we know why things are programmed the way they are. And if we don't know, we can ask the developer.

I do agree with your statement too.

But knowledge of why things are programmed the way they are wasn't the matter which I pointed to. I was pointing to the fact that there is a solid knowledge about how USE_ALT_FONTS method is programmed/implemented and how it's behaving and this knowledge is based on thorough techincal examination, not on empirical evidence.

I do have byte code for Java part of USE_ALT_FONTS thing, which I can read as well as real source file (just order of magnitude slower and harder). And there is source code for Fontconfig used in Kindle. And there is easily accessible source for ;fc-cache command (it's a simple shell script).

There is nothing magical in USE_ALT_FONTS method and I just wanted to stress it. The fact that behavior of this thing could be examined only with reverse engineering have no value now, when this reverse engineering was already done and results were posted.

[Isles8008]

USE_ALT_FONTS just got broken by the 5.3.3 update. Did anyone figure out a fix yet?

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by eureka

I do agree with your statement too.

But knowledge of why things are programmed the way they are wasn't the matter which I pointed to. I was pointing to the fact that there is a solid knowledge about how USE_ALT_FONTS method is programmed/implemented and how it's behaving and this knowledge is based on thorough techincal examination, not on empirical evidence.

I do have byte code for Java part of USE_ALT_FONTS thing, which I can read as well as real source file (just order of magnitude slower and harder). And there is source code for Fontconfig used in Kindle. And there is easily accessible source for ;fc-cache command (it's a simple shell script).

There is nothing magical in USE_ALT_FONTS method and I just wanted to stress it. The fact that behavior of this thing could be examined only with reverse engineering have no value now, when this reverse engineering was already done and results were posted.

You're forgetting one thing: the way that it was handled before isn't necessarily the way that it's handled now. Are you sure that newer firmwares still behave like the one that you examined?

I have thoroughly investigated the way that reader font sizes were handled in previous versions, and from what I understand, they are still (mostly) handled in the same way now. Mostly, but not exactly: the font sizes patch behaves exactly as it should on the version where I examined it, but it does a few odd things on new firmwares - and I don't know why.

I have also thoroughly investigated the jailbreak method for the Paperwhite 5.3.1 - and yet, even if the 5.3.3 firmware works almost exactly like the older one, it's not doing "that one important thing".

The point is: yes, you provided valuable insight into older firmware versions, and yes, much of it probably also holds for newer ones. But unless you go through the entire procedure of re-evaluating and re-confirming every single one of your findings again, your statements are not much more than educated guesses. Sad but true.

PS: I guess that by now, we scared BeccaPrice away. Sorry, Becca.

[eureka]

Originally Posted by ixtab

You're forgetting one thing: the way that it was handled before isn't necessarily the way that it's handled now. Are you sure that newer firmwares still behave like the one that you examined?

I have thoroughly investigated the way that reader font sizes were handled in previous versions, and from what I understand, they are still (mostly) handled in the same way now. Mostly, but not exactly: the font sizes patch behaves exactly as it should on the version where I examined it, but it does a few odd things on new firmwares - and I don't know why. I have also thoroughly investigated the jailbreak method for the Paperwhite 5.3.1 - and yet, even if the 5.3.3 firmware works almost exactly like the older one, it's not doing "that one important" thing.

The point is: yes, you provided valuable insight into older firmware versions, and yes, much of it probably also holds for newer ones. But unless you go through the entire procedure of re-evaluating and re-confirming every single one of your findings again, your statements are not much more than educated guesses.

PS: I guess that by now, we scared BeccaPrice away.

Yep, you are right.

And (partially contradicting with one of my previous statements) I don't think I will look into Java part on new firmwares, because it will be painful experience.

I think, I can't argue furthermore, because I confirm that it's possible that Java UI in new firmwares does unknown things when it notices USE_ALT_FONTS marker (Fontconfig part and ;fc-cache part are still behaving the same, I did examine them).

(Still, it feels right for me to think about all parts of USE_ALT_FONTS method, including Java UI part, as having solid foundation, that has been proved once, hasn't been disproved since and could been proved again in any moment, but not as about some black box having incomprehensible, voodoo behavior.)

Sorry, BeccaPrice.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I've just received a shiny new Paperwhite. I haven't even put any books on it yet (waiting til the cover arrives), nor have I updated to the latest version.

I'm half thinking about jailbreaking it, so I can use the collections manager, but (I admit) I'm scared to try it. (I did try the USE_ALT_FONTS trick, and feel very smug with myself that it worked). I'm not a hardware geek or a software geek, and I'm terrified that I'll do something to mess up my device.

All I want to do is be able to use the collections manager. I've looked at the directions, and it seems rather complex. It's not just installing one jailbreak, but installing a bunch of stuff.

Too, I'm not sure how the collections manager actually works - that is, starting from new books on the device, what is it that i do to get the books into a collection? does it work hand-in-hand with the Kindle Collections plugin in Calibre?

so, my questions are: 1) should a total neophyte like myself risk the jailbreak? and 2) could somebody give me a brief description of how to use the jailbroken collections manager, so I can decide whether it's worth it?

Thanks,

-Becca

IMHO, the best thing to do is this:

Install the jailbreak, then let the PW update to 5.3.3. And then do nothing. You won't even know, smell, or see that there is an extra certificate sleeping on your Kindle.

Then you load books and start reading.

If you are after a while not satisfied with the normal functionality of collections, then you have options. Start researching on your own time if jumping through all the hoops is worth it. As ixtab said, the installation process of jailbreak and further installation files is simple, fast, and easy. Everything has very easy to follow instructions. Most of them are exactly the same. (plug Kindle in computer, copy a update-blablah-install.bin file to Kindle, unplug cable, go to menu -> settings, go to menu -> update your kindle, wait a little bit, done). In case of the CM you also need to copy a "book" (the .azw2 file) into your documents. I am pretty sure you know that drill of sideloading in and out already.

So again my suggestion: Jailbreak now, update to 5.3.3, leave it sit, and you are future proof in case you want to give CM a try in a month.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

So again my suggestion: Jailbreak now, update to 5.3.3, leave it sit, and you are future proof in case you want to give CM a try in a month.

Sounds like a plan to me.
Just be sure to block the 5.3.3 update (use airplane mode) until you install the 5.3.1 Jailbreak.

The Kpw jailbreak does add files other than just the MR certificate, but you'll never notice them - lab126 didn't

[BeccaPrice]

no, I'm not scared away, just busier at work than normal.

What I do wish is that I could have someone who knew what they were doing looking over my shoulder as I did the jailbreaks. Or that I could mail the PW to someone to set it up for me.

I am carefully reading the posts, though.

The whole point of my wanting to jailbreak it is so I can use the collections manager, at least the first time I start using the PW. When my case comes, I'll be dumping maybe 100 books onto the PW, and the thought of having to use the Amazon painful collections process to sort them all out gives me the cold grue - half of them, the only reason I remember what they're about is by the tag I have set up in Calibre for them (is this one a mystery or a romance, or romantic suspense?) - getting the PW set up initially will be a painstaking process without some sort of collections manager.