KT Cannot get to USB Downloader mode

[Rouffian]

Hi.

I am not sure how, but I borked my KT so that it only ever displays whatever the screen was when it turned itself off.

So I tried the obvious solution, Kubrick. Which is brilliant, although not simple to run for me. I had to both burn a CD and then make a bootable USB stick, so it boots off the stick and reads the image from the CD. Anyway, it all goes swimmingly up until that point, but the stupid device won't go into USB Downloader mode, so Kubrick just sits there waiting for the device.

I also tried this in plain Windows mode with no success, it doesn't show up in Device Manager as a USB Human Input Device. So, sodomy, really.

My PCs are all Windows 7, except one Vista machine of which I am not administrator.

OK, so I am a bit dim, so I used my brain like a hammer and upgraded to FW 5.3.7, as I saw that it's a complete re-install, and I thought that might enable me to go to USB downloader mode and then use Kubrick to revert to 5.1.2, but now I have a fully-featured, fully-working (Still apparently Jailbroken, but probably not) KT 5.3.7.

So, again I say "sodomy". I actually quite like 5.3.7, but I want custom screensavers. And I want to know that my Kindle is hacked, for no good reason other than that it is.

So, does anyone have any clear ideas? I would love to use Kubrick, but I am pretty much OK with any fix that works, now.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Rouffian

Hi.

I am not sure how, but I borked my KT so that it only ever displays whatever the screen was when it turned itself off.

- - - -

So, again I say "sodomy". I actually quite like 5.3.7, but I want custom screensavers.

- - - -

So, does anyone have any clear ideas? I would love to use Kubrick, but I am pretty much OK with any fix that works, now.

Did the original symptom start **AFTER** you tried to setup custom screensavers?

If so, it may not have been broke in the first place.
The system can be set to use the last screen displayed as the 'screensaver'.

Of course, at this point, that ship has sailed.

- - - - - - -

Please tell us what all you have tried to do and the results of each trial since you installed firmware 5.3.7

[Rouffian]

Gaah! I hate the timeout feature on this board. I just typed a page full and then it made me re-log in, and I lost the lot.

Anyway, while I was doing it I had a useful thought. But, to the point.

Thanks for the reply knc1. Well, it was a "new" Kindle (see later comment) as I had my Kindle stolen by some French scofflaw, so I first jailbroke it. Then I ran the custom screensavers fix update_kindle_touch_custom_screensaver_1.0_install .bin
Immediately after the update I was doing something else, so I left it a while, and when I came back I thought it had frozen, as I could see the menu but it wouldn't so anything. So I restarted it and it was suddenly fine, and eventually I realised what had happened. It was just freezing with the last displayed page. Why anyone would want that I have no idea.

So I messed and faffed and tried to Kubrick and failed and couldn't reinstall 5.1.2, but tried, and that was about it. It's difficult to say if I actually did anything, as everything I tried failed.

Now, what I thought. I am in Paris, and I don't live here. My luggage and Kindle was stolen on the train. I need a Kindle and I stay near a shop that sells second hand phones, tablets, laptops etc, so I looked in there and there was a Kindle Touch like my old one. It was advertised as being without ads, and it had a plain pencil picture. I tried it out quickly, and it worked, but was in French, so I did a reset and selected English. Then I loaded up a book or two and went about my business. Then later that night I decided to personalise it and you know the rest.

My concern is that I might have bought a ready-hacked version of an ad-supported version and that the custom screens fix may have behaved badly as it's not supposed to work with ad-supported Kindles.

I guess I need to find a WiFi network and see if I have ads.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Rouffian

I guess I need to find a WiFi network and see if I have ads.

Try this:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221949
to answer the "do I have ads" question.

[Rouffian]

I should try not to lose sight of the target here. My aims are simple, I want my Kindle jailbroke so that I can customise my screensavers. That's about it. If I can get a custom screensaver and keep 5.3.7. I will be happy enough, or if I can revert to 5.1.2 I would be almost equally happy as I could hack my way out of the rough from there.

There are 4 identical KTs in my house, all are naked and all are jailbroken with custom screensavers so that we can all identify our own machines easily. I guess I could get a decal or something to mark mine, but I want a picture of Colonel Roy Mustang as my screensaver.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by Rouffian

I should try not to lose sight of the target here. My aims are simple, I want my Kindle jailbroke so that I can customise my screensavers. That's about it. If I can get a custom screensaver and keep 5.3.7. I will be happy enough, or if I can revert to 5.1.2 I would be almost equally happy as I could hack my way out of the rough from there.

There are 4 identical KTs in my house, all are naked and all are jailbroken with custom screensavers so that we can all identify our own machines easily. I guess I could get a decal or something to mark mine, but I want a picture of Colonel Roy Mustang as my screensaver.

Duh . . . .

Well then copy out the /dev/mmcblk0p1 (main mode firmware) from one that works and copy it into the one that does not.

Then change the single screensaver image file.

If you are "Windows Handicapped" - it can be done from the Kubrick command line using the 'manual' tools included on the Kubrick CD rather than using the wizard.
Some recent posts on that subject here.

Directions to be found in the 'Original' de-bricking thread(s).

[Rouffian]

OK, thanks. I assume that the manual Kubrick tools will still work without my being able to get into USB downloader mode? It would be good to know before I start.

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by Rouffian

Hi.

So I tried the obvious solution, Kubrick. Which is brilliant, although not simple to run for me. I had to both burn a CD and then make a bootable USB stick, so it boots off the stick and reads the image from the CD.

Why? The CD is bootable. And if the USB stick is created according to the instructions, it doesn't require a physical CD either, because it contains the CD image.

Anyway, it all goes swimmingly up until that point, but the stupid device won't go into USB Downloader mode, so Kubrick just sits there waiting for the device.

Booting into USB downloader mode is a hardware feature of the SoC. If the home button is pressed while it starts up, then the device will boot into USB downloader mode. The only two reasons why it wouldn't are a) a hardware fault, or b) you have a different SoC in the Kindle than everybody else. To be honest, both of these aren't terribly likely

So please describe exactly what you are doing, and whether the device behaves any differently from what the Kubrick instructions say. For instance, the instructions say something like "once the light turns off..." - if the light was never turned on in the first place, or never turns off, please post that. Things like that. Also post the output of the "lsusb" command before and after trying to get the device into usb downloader mode. (Press Alt+F2 while running Kubrick to get an interactive console).

And of course, the most obvious thing: have you tried a different USB cable and/or USB port?

[NiLuJe]

The initial issue just sounds like a crappy ScreenSavers hack (where did you get it?) or a PEBKAC, because that's the behavior of the framework when it hits a screensaver file it doesn't like: it does nothing, just goes to sleep without updating the screen.

Now, with the new device, your best bet is to jailbreak it through Kubrick, which, like ixtab just said, should work.

FYI, the K5 ScreenSavers hack lives here.

[Rouffian]

hi ixtab.

Good help, thanks.

Originally Posted by ixtab

Why? The CD is bootable. And if the USB stick is created according to the instructions, it doesn't require a physical CD either, because it contains the CD image.

It does boot from the CD, but then it gets there and displays a command prompt and complains that there's nothing to boot from. It's weird, as it looks OK, and I created it literally step by step following a guide on this forum.

As you say, the booting into USB downloader mode should be a no-brainer.

What I do is plug it in, sometimes while it's turned on, sometimes not, and then hold the power switch until the led goes out, then press and hold the home button, and then release the power button and then the home button. The led comes on again the moment I release the power button, and before I release the home button.

Whenever I do this it's basically dead, so after I unplug it I have to press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, release it and then press it once to restart.

I hadn't tried a new cable until you suggested it. Since it's perfectly good at copying data it didn't occur to me, but I did try just now. I have also tried both of my USB ports. They are both USB 3.0 which has been a problem for me previously, when trying to install Windows 7 from a memory stick.

I am going to try Kubrick again and will try to note the error messages I get with both methods before I get to the dual input method that works and do the lsusb.

Thanks again. There's something very comforting about your help style. I bet people like you.

[NiLuJe]

@Rouffian: Also try booting it in downloader mode while it *isn't* plugged to anything.

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by Rouffian

hi ixtab.

Good help, thanks.


It does boot from the CD, but then it gets there and displays a command prompt and complains that there's nothing to boot from. It's weird, as it looks OK, and I created it literally step by step following a guide on this forum.

Yeah, right... It might be that the Linux kernel does not support your CD/DVD/whatever drive. That leads to the somewhat schizophrenic behavior where Kubrick boots from the CD, but then says it can't find the CD. There's not much to do about it, except using a bootable USB stick.

As you say, the booting into USB downloader mode should be a no-brainer.

What I do is plug it in, sometimes while it's turned on, sometimes not, and then hold the power switch until the led goes out, then press and hold the home button, and then release the power button and then the home button. The led comes on again the moment I release the power button, and before I release the home button.

Whenever I do this it's basically dead, so after I unplug it I have to press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, release it and then press it once to restart.

That's actually a good sign, because it indicates that your Kindle does boot into USB downloader mode, and waits there.

I hadn't tried a new cable until you suggested it. Since it's perfectly good at copying data it didn't occur to me, but I did try just now. I have also tried both of my USB ports. They are both USB 3.0 which has been a problem for me previously, when trying to install Windows 7 from a memory stick.

I am going to try Kubrick again and will try to note the error messages I get with both methods before I get to the dual input method that works and do the lsusb.

Thanks again. There's something very comforting about your help style. I bet people like you.

Given all that information... Could it be that you're using a brand new computer? It's quite possible that Kubrick (more specifically: its kernel) simply can't handle all of your hardware. That seems like the most plausible explanation to me right now. If you can, just try with an older PC or laptop.

I will eventually update Kubrick with a newer kernel (and a few other new features), but that's not likely to happen before... a couple of months from now.

[knc1]

The "USB 3.0 Ports" is most likely the cause of the problem.

As ixtab said - try an older computer.
Since your running a memory resident LiveCD version of Linux, whatever is on the older computer is "safe" - so it could even be a borrowed computer.

[Rouffian]

Well, my laptop is a Dell XPS about 3 months old, so yes, it could be too sexy. I guess I just have to wait until I get home and I can try on one of the older PCs there. I have them going all the way back to XP, so if it's about compatibility there's a good chance it could help.

I will see if I can boot from the stick at work, but it's the Banque de France and they are a little bit anal-retentive about foreigners messing about with their PCs so it may be disallowed to boot from anything other than the hard drive. I try not to piss them off on the basis that the security guards have access to an actual arsenal.

Anyway, thanks chaps. I guess I have a project for the weekend while my wife would rather I was tiling the downstairs bathroom. I will get back to you to give more info, whether it works or not. Information is always good.

[Rouffian]

Hi ixtab.

As promised I am getting back to you. I got home to my PC collection and used my old desktop running XP (Not that that should matter) and the CD boot worked perfectly. As people said, it's pretty much impossible to screw up with Kubrick. That pretty much validates your theory that it's the new PC hardware that caused the problem, so it's useful information to have for the next time a clueless user fails to boot Kubrick from a shiny new laptop. Now I am going to try a personalised screensaver hack. I assume that the firmware that came from the Kubrick thread didn't introduce the advertising, so the standard fix should work.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. It is very much appreciated.