Tools Introducing WinterBreak - Better Late Than Never

[chronoreverse]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

You can already remove the dictionaries without jailbreaking. In general there is not a huge interest in the community to streamline the firmware in this manner as 3GB is in fact enough to easily hold several hundreds or even thousands of regular books, which should be enough for most people. The limit can be reached quickly with graphic novels, but if this is what you're interested in then I'd suggest you get a Kindle with more than 4GB of storage in the first place.

Thanks for the info. Another question, would it be possible to turn off the autostandby without disabling standby altogether? Alternatively setting it to something longer than 1 hour (even 4 hours) would be enough for me.

[sparkyboy]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

The 5.17.3 firmware is now available for both the 2022 and 2024 Scribes. Has anyone tested that it is still vulnerable to WinterBreak and if so can it be upgraded to and the jailbreak maintained by running the hotfix afterwards? I'd love to have the new Side Panel Margin feature, but obviously I like having the jailbreak as well.

I just used WinterBreak to jailbreak a fresh 5.17.3 Scribe 2024 model and it worked without any issues. Also, the expandable margins are awesome.

[NPT1506]

I am on 5.17.1.0.3 at the moment and when I pressed the icon, it boot up the jailbreak and only say "jailbreaking, please wait" for more than 10 minutes. Shall I continue waiting or just redo the process?

[Frogm4n]

Scribe 2022 update from jailbroken 5.17.2 to 5.17.3 was a success, with hiccups.

I was finally willing to risk the update with @sparkyboy's report that it is still jailbreakable, if the update failed and had to start over. I first tried using MRPI to install the update by copying it to the mrpackages folder and running KUAL-> Helper -> Install MR Packages but it failed when/after validating the package and automatically deleted it. Since it is a system update I decided instead to use UYK. I ran KUAL -> Rename OTA Binaries -> Restore and waited while it rebooted. Then I copied the update .bin to the root folder. That enabled regular UYK in More -> Settings -> three dot menu -> Update Your Kindle. I let that run and it was successful. Of course KUAL would not launch, as expected. At this time I'd forgotten to check if MRPI worked via the search bar, but I'll get back to that. I tried running the HackerDude Run Hotfix booklet, but it failed with an error message at the bottom of the screen that said something akin to 5.12.2.x ):. I restarted the Kindle and ran it again. This time Run Hotfix ran and printed *** Squash JB *** and then rebooted as I expected. I tried KUAL again and it still failed, but I finally remembered to check MRPI with ;log mrpi, and that worked. I then re-installed KUAL by copying the .bin into the mrpackages folder and running ;log mrpi. With that I'm back to a working jailbreak and on 5.17.3. With KUAL working I was able to run Rename OTA Binaries -> Rename and let it reboot the Scribe. With the fresh update I now get to see the annoying always-on Expandable Margin icon when reading reflowable KFX documents. They really, really, should have made that a toggle like/with the writing toolbar.

It might have been a good idea to restore OTA before trying anything, so that the Kindle wouldn't be left unable to re-install the system with UYK if I'd broken something.

[JSWolf]

If you are thinking of jailbreaking a Colorsoft, take a moment to decide if you really want to do so as you cannot undo the jailbreak once done because there is no unjailbroken firmware you can install to remove the jailbreak.

[Luke_]

Originally Posted by SquirrelUK

Sorry, Maybe this will help too???

Running 'install.sh' for 'linkss 0.25.N I W+Z+R+B' (Update_linkss_0.25.N_install_pw2_and_up.bin) @ Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:36:38 +0001

system: I linkss:install::using the default paperwhite5 custom screensaver
system: I linkss:install::installing custom directory
./install.sh: line 106: ./xzdec: not found
tar: short read

Hu oh... Got return code 1 . . .

Hey dude, I have the exact same problem and was wondering if you ever managed to fix it? Python package fails for me too with the same error as linkss, which leads me to believe its a problem with kual or MRPI... Im on Kindle paperwhite 10 (PW4) firmware 5.15

[SquirrelUK]

Originally Posted by Luke_

Hey dude, I have the exact same problem and was wondering if you ever managed to fix it? Python package fails for me too with the same error as linkss, which leads me to believe its a problem with kual or MRPI... Im on Kindle paperwhite 10 (PW4) firmware 5.15

Hey buddy, sorry nope, I tried a few more times and always get the same result. I was hoping the gentleman frog could help as he seems very knowledgeable, just hoping he has an idea and wades in (See what I did there.) Otherwise if you find the answer please let me know!!!!!! :-D

[BionicGecko]

The issue you guys are facing is that the python extension hasn’t been rebuilt for the latest firmwares. Since version 5.16.3 (or so), Amazon has made fundamental changes to the firmware; this broke a lot of hacks, as they need to be specifically rebuilt for “hardware float”.

This was done for some packages, but not all. Python is one of the packages which hasn’t been updated for HF. And since the screensaver extension has a dependency on python, it also doesn’t work.

So until a developer releases a HF compatible version of python, not much can be done. If you guys are technically inclined you can try to build it yourself; otherwise for older devices there’s also a possibility to downgrade to 5.16.2.1.1 (the last non-HF firmware) and thus avoid the whole HF issue.

[csm_walkabout]

my device is firmware 5.16.5 kindle pw 11th generation - Jailbroken - the squash text shows up but mesquito fails to load and I get an error on start up saying a home link is not working (?mesquito) - not sure why.

On installing Kual - went ok and mrpi log states that it succeeds but then follows with unable to remount root fs read only then states it really cant remount it ??? is that expected behaviour...

I wondered if that was caused by being in flight mode as error log showed this might be the case but the same problem occurred after leaving it connected. (unable to mount root f/s)...

Can I downgrade my firmware to a version pre hard float - Im pretty sure my kindle came with 2.15.?? but is there someway to check which downgrade is possible? And a pointer on how to do this?

Thanks heaps for any advice!

[Frogm4n]

You need a functional jailbreak to downgrade.

[beecom]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

Downgrading is accomplished by running a script, and AFAIK installing the hotfix is necessary in order to be able to run scripts at all, so this step cannot be skipped.

Then the easiest way to downgrade is through a KUAL extension, which requires MRPI and KUAL to be installed. However there is also a scriptlet to do just that available on the Discord (see the invite link in HackerDude's signature in the first post of this thread). Scriptlets can be run directly from the Kindle library, and do not require installing KUAL or MRPI so if you go this route those steps could probably be skipped.



To completely remove the jailbreak you have to reinstall the official firmware you're downgrading to twice, without running the hotfix between the installs. Just keep in mind that some files might be left over in the root of your Kindle - a reset does not reformat the storage.

Thanks BionicGecko.
I successfully downgraded firmware without removing the jailbreak. I followed the instruction of Winterbreak introduction page.
I found that all the steps up to 'Disabling OTA Updates' procedure should be followed to downgrade firmware. Without that, I couldn't setup hotfix after downgrade. So I had to reset my Scribe and jailbreak again.

[beecom]

I jailbroke my Kindle Scribe (5.17.2) using Winterbreak, but unlike in version 5.16.8, the font used for Korean hints in WordWise has changed to one with very poor readability. (I edited the WordWise database and replaced the hints with Korean text.) The Kindle Paperwhite does not have this issue with the latest firmware.

After learning about KindleTool, I unpacked the firmware for both 5.17.2 and 5.16.8 and found that they contain a code2000.ttf file, which appears to be responsible for rendering the Korean WordWise hints.

I am considering three possible solutions to replace this hard-to-read font with a more legible Korean font:

1. Replacing the code2000.ttf file with a modified version.
This could involve editing the Korean glyphs in code2000.ttf or renaming a Korean font to code2000.ttf as a replacement. It seems that USBNetwork was used in the past to access the Kindle’s Linux file system.
Can this method still be used on a Scribe running recent firmware? If so, which version of USBNetwork should I use?

2. Applying a font hack
I read that before custom font support was officially added, a font hack was used to replace system fonts.
Can this method still be applied to recent Kindle firmware? If possible, this would be the simplest solution.

3. Modifying and reinstalling the firmware
Would it be possible to use KindleTool to unpack the firmware, replace the code2000.ttf file, repack it, and install the modified firmware on my jailbroken Scribe? This seems to be the riskiest approach, but is it technically feasible?

I’d appreciate any insights or suggestions!

[Drybonz]

From the link in the first post... the instructions for the hotfix mention there are two versions but the download link immediately below that only provides one file. Is it safe to use that one? I'm on a Scribe 2024. Thanks for the help.

[elimisatailor]

For the PW4 (and maybe other models), on 5.17.1.0.3 and consistently getting the "Unexpected Error" page on the kindle store no matter what you try, I finally had a breakthrough and was able to load the winterbreak page on mine and complete the jailbreak. Assuming I didn't just get lucky, here's my info:

What I tried:

• Standard instructions on kindlemodding
  
• Troubleshooting instructions on kindlemodding with the reset, different sequence, early airplane mode
  
• Every combination of blowing away .active_content_sandbox at different points in the process and replacing it with the winterbreak version
  
• Trying to make .active_content_sandbox readonly (no effect)
  
• Trying to break the kindle's ability to write LocalStorage by placing a regular file there (seemingly did prevent it from writing, but same error on the screen)
  
• Trying the non-airplane mode timing trick at least one other user mentioned where you let the wifi connect and then try to hit the kindle store button right at that moment

But what finally worked for me: creating a network issue to encourage the kindle to use the cached version of the store (the winterbreak page). For me, this was setting my pi-hole (custom home DNS) to block all .*amazon.* DNS requests, but I realize most people won't have this setup available. Here's a potential list of things to try, from easiest to hardest. If anyone gets these to work, please reply so other users can know the quickest path:

1. Unplugging the internet connection from your wireless router (so the router is still running and producing a wifi network, but it can't actually talk to the internet)
   
2. Moving the kindle to the very edge of the wifi range, to make the network flaky
   
3. Saturating the network by running speed tests (or some other heavy download) on as many devices as possible when you open the kindle store and turn off airplane mode
   
4. Connecting to a phone hotspot in a location with bad phone service
   
5. Setting your router's DNS server to an invalid address, like 0.0.0.0, which would hopefully break all DNS (obviously set this back afterwards)
   
6. Setting up pi-hole on your computer, setting your router's DNS server to your pi-hole/computer, then blocking .*amazon.* like I did (this is an advanced setup, and if this doesn't make sense to you, please don't attempt it)

[n0toriety]

Hiya - Developer query - can someone a lot more knowledgeable than me confirm if running Java applets is still viable in versions 5+. Looking through my Kindle Paperwhite 7th Generation in ssh, there are libraries for Swing and AWT that I can see. Just curious as I wrote an applet some time ago that has been collecting dust and would be very cool to see it up and running again especially on my device.

Cheers.