PW4 FW 5.10.2-5.13.3 Software Jailbreak for PW4

[macsek]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

to coplate, knc1, NiLuJe, Branch Delay, SenorClean, hius07, et. al. without whom this wouldn't be possible.

Thanks ilovejedd for your contribution, especially this very good jailbreaking guide. It is so clear, seems easy to follow step by step. I do remember when I was following the guide some years before and I did need to ask for clarification.

And thanks of course for @coplate, @knc1, @NiLuJe, @Branch Delay, @SenorClean, @hius07, et. al. without whom this wouldn't be possible.

[DNSB]

Just wanted to say thanks to !ilovejedd for help with jailbreaking a PW4. Just after I made my request, was when the jailbreak went public.

Now for a bit of a vent.

Spoiler:

<vent mode on>
Bit of background: A friend of mine wanted to buy the PW4 though I did my best to talk him into a Clara HD. Since he had a antique Kindle keyboard, he decided to go with the PW4 but wanted to keep using calibre for collections. Since he does not have a Prime account due to a restricted income, I purchased it for him on Oct. 13th. Finally arrived on Dec. 11th, got the jailbreak info and had it jailbroken and delivered to him on Dec. 13th. Usual warnings about leaving it in airplane mode and not connected to WiFi to prevent updating, yadda yadda yadda.

I got a call on Sunday, Dec. 21st that calibre would no longer manage collections on it. Got him to check settings and he was on 5.13.4. Evidently, when I said don't connect it to WiFi, I didn't make it clear that I meant any WiFi network and not just his home network.

Shortening the story, he was parked outside Tim Horton's enjoying a coffee and donut when his phone informed him that a pre-order was available. Instead of waiting till he got home, he enabled WiFI and downloaded the book using Timmy H's WiFi. Somehow, always leave it in airplane mode got translated as leave it in airplane mode at home. I had to explain that there was no way to restore the jailbreak.
<Vent mode off>

Life happens.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Just wanted to say thanks to !ilovejedd for help with jailbreaking a PW4. Just after I made my request, was when the jailbreak went public.

Now for a bit of a vent.

Spoiler:

<vent mode on>
Bit of background: A friend of mine wanted to buy the PW4 though I did my best to talk him into a Clara HD. Since he had a antique Kindle keyboard, he decided to go with the PW4 but wanted to keep using calibre for collections. Since he does not have a Prime account due to a restricted income, I purchased it for him on Oct. 13th. Finally arrived on Dec. 11th, got the jailbreak info and had it jailbroken and delivered to him on Dec. 13th. Usual warnings about leaving it in airplane mode and not connected to WiFi to prevent updating, yadda yadda yadda.

I got a call on Sunday, Dec. 21st that calibre would no longer manage collections on it. Got him to check settings and he was on 5.13.4. Evidently, when I said don't connect it to WiFi, I didn't make it clear that I meant any WiFi network and not just his home network.

Shortening the story, he was parked outside Tim Horton's enjoying a coffee and donut when his phone informed him that a pre-order was available. Instead of waiting till he got home, he enabled WiFI and downloaded the book using Timmy H's WiFi. Somehow, always leave it in airplane mode got translated as leave it in airplane mode at home. I had to explain that there was no way to restore the jailbreak.
<Vent mode off>

Life happens.

If it was already jailbroken and had hotfix installed before updating to 5.13.4, then it probably still has the actual jailbreak.

All add-ons just need to be re-installed every time the firmware updates. Yeah, annoying which is why I just keep mine on lower firmware.

As long as the jailbreak and hotfix are still there, you can also re-do the steps (diags fw downgrade - factory fw jb - jb hotfix), install customer firmware 5.10.x or 5.11.x, and use KUAL Helper+ add-on to block updates so this doesn't happen again.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

If it was already jailbroken and had hotfix installed before updating to 5.13.4, then it probably still has the actual jailbreak.

All add-ons just need to be re-installed every time the firmware updates. Yeah, annoying which is why I just keep mine on lower firmware.

As long as the jailbreak and hotfix are still there, you can also re-do the steps (diags fw downgrade - factory fw jb - jb hotfix), install customer firmware 5.10.x or 5.11.x, and use KUAL Helper+ add-on to block updates so this doesn't happen again.

It was jailbroken and likely, I could still restore the jailbreak. It was more that after being told not to turn off airplane mode, it was in one ear and out the other. I would prefer not to work on his device at this time while the chances of being able to walk him through the process are on the slim side. A nice guy but when it comes to technology, he's all thumbs.

[With.fame]

Can i jailbreak my kindle voyage v 5. 13. 1

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by With.fame

Can i jailbreak my kindle voyage v 5. 13. 1

Only using the hardware serial port method:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=267541

[dodicono]

thank you Ilovejedd so much you sent me this method when it was a secret and successfully jailbroken my pw4 several months ago, thank you

[Aga-Akile]

Merry Christmas to everyone!


I have PW4 5.13.2. I followed all the steps described by @ilovejedd but I don't seem to create/manage collections using Calibre. I receive the same message as before, when I hadn't the jailbreak.

What I think I did wrong. At step 9, I downloaded
https://s3.amazonaws.com/firmwaredow..._v2_5.11.2.bin

and I flashed and I continued to step 10. Maybe I should've go back to step 1 again after flashing the 5.11.2 version?

[Aga-Akile]

Later edit: I found this topic: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=244202

I have created some collection but it doesn't seem to update on my kindle.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Aga-Akile

Later edit: I found this topic: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=244202

I have created some collection but it doesn't seem to update on my kindle.

The Kindle Collections plugin needs to be used in tandem with LibrarianSync on modern Kindles.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=244202

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Main Features

• Because of changes in how collections are managed on newer devices, on the Kindle Touch, PaperWhite, PaperWhite 2, Basic, Voyage, PaperWhite 3, Oasis, Basic 2, Oasis 2, PaperWhite 4 & Basic 3, this plugin MUST be used in tandem with a third-party tool (either Collections Manager, or LibrarianSync), which implies JailBreaking the device. On those devices, the plugin is useless on its own. In addition, I'll reiterate what's said in the CM thread: on the PW/PW2/KT2/KV/PW3/KOA/KT3/KOA2/PW4/KT4, Collections Manager is only usable on specific firmware versions, so do take care to read CM's instructions properly first (FYI, LS will probably handle those pesky FW versions better). If you have an older, non-touch device, this doesn't concern you .

[skstrobel]

Thanks for the excellent guide! I just used it successfully on a brand new PW4, serial G8S0 PP..., model PQ94WIF which was initially running V5.12.4. The following are a couple of notes/suggestions that might help others who, like me, need things spelled out in detail...

Download each of the files used in the process into separate folders. When extracting them, some of them create multiple files, and this helps keep track of what is what.

On Windows you can check the file hashes from a command prompt. In the Windows Explorer address bar enter "cmd" and press enter. That will open a command prompt in the current folder. Then type

certutil -hashfile <filename>
   or
certutil -hashfile <filename> md5

to get the SHA1 or MD5 hash, respectively.

When the instructions say to do "Home -> Menu -> Settings -> Menu -> Update Your Kindle" I had to do "Home -> Settings -> All Settings -> Device Options -> Update Your Kindle -> OK" instead.

When I ran the diagnostic mode, it said "Abnormal battery status". I don't know if that means there is a problem with my Kindle or not; it is new so I don't know how the battery performs. It is fully charged.

After double-extracting K5 Factory JailBreak, I had to look in the FactoryJB folder to find main-htmlviewer.tar.gz.

After entering ";installHtml" in the search bar, it displayed the message “No results found in your library or the store” before automatically rebooting. When I first saw that message, I was worried that I had done something wrong, but apparently it is a normal part of the process. The same thing happened later after I entered ";log mrpi" in the search bar.

After running the jailbreak, I was unsure how to delete the "You are Jailbroken" document. I first deleted the "\documents\You are Jailbroken.sdr" folder. When that didn't help, I went looking again and deleted the "\documents\You are Jailbroken.txt" file.

When installing "customer" firmware, I assumed that the same steps applied as when installing the diagnostic mode and K5 JailBreak Hotfix: Copy the file to the root of the Kindle, safe USB disconnect, unplug, then Home -> Settings -> All Settings -> Device Options -> Update Your Kindle -> OK.

After installing the "customer" firmware (I used 5.11.2), when it rebooted it prompted for me to connect to WiFi. There wasn't a visible option to skip that step, so I pressed the button, then cancelled out of setup. That worked fine.

It took me a while to figure out that the KUAL Helper package from the same NiLuJe download page was the key to turning off OTA updates. Perhaps that step should be included as part of the rooting process, as without it you could end up getting an update that would undo all of your work. Specifically:

• Download the KUAL extension called "Helper" from https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=225030
• Check the MD5 (optional).
• Double-extract using 7-Zip. That will create an "extensions" folder, which contains a "helper" folder. Copy the "helper" folder to the extensions folder which is already on the Kindle (from the earlier step with MRInstaller).
• Eject the Kindle USB drive, run KUAL, and look under Helper+. Tap on "PREVENT OTA Updates". You should see a check mark show up to confirm that it worked.

Thanks again for the help.

[usdblades]

Hey All,

I am working through the jailbreak guide and after installing the jailbreak, I received the document saying I am jailbroken. I then put the hotfix in the root directory and try to update the kindle but it is grayed out. Any suggestions?

[skstrobel]

Originally Posted by usdblades

Hey All,
I am working through the jailbreak guide and after installing the jailbreak, I received the document saying I am jailbroken. I then put the hotfix in the root directory and try to update the kindle but it is grayed out. Any suggestions?

I can tell you exactly what I did; maybe that will help:

• After getting the "You are Jailbroken" messages, I connected the USB cable and deleted main-htmlviewer.tar.gz, then changed to the documents folder and deleted the "You are Jailbroken.sdr" (folder or file, I can't remember which).
• That didn't get rid of the "You are Jailbroken" message, so I reconnected, went back to the documents directory and deleted "You are Jailbroken.txt".
• I downloaded JailBreak-1.16.N-FW-5.x-hotfix.zip, checked the MD5, then extracted it and copied Update_jailbreak_hotfix_1.16.N_install.bin to the Kindle. Safe eject, unplug USB. On the Kindle, Home > Settings > All Settings > Device Options > Update Your Kindle > OK. In a few seconds it rebooted. When it restarted, it was running 5.10.1.3.
• I then installed "customer" firmware, selecting 5.11.2 and continued following the instructions.

[usdblades]

Originally Posted by skstrobel

I can tell you exactly what I did; maybe that will help:

• After getting the "You are Jailbroken" messages, I connected the USB cable and deleted main-htmlviewer.tar.gz, then changed to the documents folder and deleted the "You are Jailbroken.sdr" (folder or file, I can't remember which).
• That didn't get rid of the "You are Jailbroken" message, so I reconnected, went back to the documents directory and deleted "You are Jailbroken.txt".
• I downloaded JailBreak-1.16.N-FW-5.x-hotfix.zip, checked the MD5, then extracted it and copied Update_jailbreak_hotfix_1.16.N_install.bin to the Kindle. Safe eject, unplug USB. On the Kindle, Home > Settings > All Settings > Device Options > Update Your Kindle > OK. In a few seconds it rebooted. When it restarted, it was running 5.10.1.3.
• I then installed "customer" firmware, selecting 5.11.2 and continued following the instructions.

following your process, I was able to update my kindle by extracting the .bin file and it gave me the option to update after that. Did not realize it said .bin in the directions. I just tossed the .zip onto root.

[dkaine]

Firstly thank you for the very thorough guide.
Secondly, simple question, does downgrading FW factory reset the device, or will my sideloaded books be safe?

Thanks!
dkaine