Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Amazon Kindle > Kindle Developer's Corner

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 12-22-2012, 12:23 PM   #1
joblack
Wizard
joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,745
Karma: 4382514
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere on earth
Device: Onyx Boox Tab X
Get rid of Kindle Paperwhite's backlight

If you're like me you like the higher resolution of the Kindle Paperwhite but hate that it isn't possible to turn the backlight off. The hint to the system device name came from another forum user so thanks for it.

What do you need?

- Jailbroken Kindle Paperwhite (check the other howtos in this forum section)
- Installed USB Network Hack
- USB cable
- Putty (or any other ssh client)
- Linux (or Windows with USBNet driver)
- Make sure you know a little bit about Linux command so you won't accidentally delete your Kindle root partition. And of course no guarantee from my side.
  1. SSH to your Kindle PW
  2. mntroot rw
  3. vi /etc/crontab/root
  4. press i to go into the insert mode
  5. add the following lines to the file
    Code:
    # get rid of the nerve ranking backlight
    * * * * * /bin/echo -n 0 > /sys/devices/system/fl_tps6116x/fl_tps6116x0/fl_intensity
  6. save the file (with :x)
  7. mntroot ro

Reboot the device. That's it. After most after a minute uptime your backlight is off. If you enabled it again (woke the Kindle up?) you just need to wait another 60 seconds (you can already use the Kindle PW - it will be disabled).

I haven't found a way to include this in the GUI or change the default values for the backlight. Maybe somebody has an idea where to find it (I suspect it's hidden somewhere in the JAR files).

The disadvantages of this 'quick and dirty' approach is that you can't enable the lighting again without changing the cron file and maybe your Kindle needs a little bit more energy.

Last edited by joblack; 12-22-2012 at 01:02 PM.
joblack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2012, 12:49 PM   #2
hawhill
Wizard
hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hawhill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
hawhill's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,379
Karma: 2155307
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Goettingen, Germany
Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Mini
Hm, did you check how much energy it consumes? It will run every minute, even when in standby and lying on the shelf... I would consider it risky, I guess.

Then anybody who wants to do it should probably
a) be aware of the risks, but you wrote that in your guide
b) know "vi" (heh, that's a clever move to keep the newbs away :-P ) - but then there may be other options,
c) do backups. DO BACKUPS!
d) add in step 7: mntroot ro

And I guess this thread belongs into the developer's board.
hawhill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2012, 12:57 PM   #3
joblack
Wizard
joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,745
Karma: 4382514
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere on earth
Device: Onyx Boox Tab X
Quote:
Originally Posted by hawhill View Post
Hm, did you check how much energy it consumes? It will run every minute, even when in standby and lying on the shelf... I would consider it risky, I guess.

And I guess this thread belongs into the developer's board.
No I haven't. I created the patch just an hour ago. So far it's working.

Maybe it will consume more energy, maybe less (the light is off so that counts for something). There are other entries in the crontab file (which run every 15 minutes) and the cpu frequency governor is set up to 'ondemand' so IMHO it won't eat much of your energy.

Yes it should be in the dev section but I know of no way to move it. Maybe a moderator can move it? Thanks.

Last edited by joblack; 12-22-2012 at 01:00 PM.
joblack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2012, 05:05 PM   #4
joblack
Wizard
joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,745
Karma: 4382514
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere on earth
Device: Onyx Boox Tab X
After a day of testing I can say:

- it works fine
- energy usage isn't more than before
- no 'bricking' ...
joblack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-24-2012, 03:51 AM   #5
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Allow me to point out that the PW doesn't have a "backlight". No eInk screen can be backlit, for the very simple reason that the screen is opaque. Even a glance at a PW should show you that it's frontlit - the LEDs which provide the lighting are clearly visible.

As developers, I think it's important to get these things right!

Last edited by HarryT; 12-24-2012 at 04:00 AM.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2012, 02:07 PM   #6
siejas
Junior Member
siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!
 
Posts: 2
Karma: 100000
Join Date: Dec 2012
Device: K3
Hi!

joblack, thanks for the hack! Worked flawlessly. Great idea based on what geekmaster did here.

Still, there was quite a drawback - once you put lighting off in cron, you won't be able to easily turn it on again (at least for more than a minute). Therefore I propose other solution:

Code:
* * * * * var=$(cat /sys/devices/system/fl_tps6116x/fl_tps6116x0/fl_intensity | grep -e '[0-9]'); if [ "$var" = "FrontLight(Intensity) = 1" ]; then echo -n 0 > /sys/devices/system/fl_tps6116x/fl_tps6116x0/fl_intensity; fi
Simply put it in crontable instead of joblack's code. Every minute it checks if the lighting is in the lowest setting available by kindle interface and if so, it turns the light off completely. But it won't do anything if the setting is other than the lowest. So you can easily use PW both with and without light with no need of further changes in crontable.
siejas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2012, 03:21 PM   #7
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Is there really any point in this? If you're in an environment in which you can read the PW's screen unlit, you're not (in my experience) going to see the slightest difference between the light being off, and being on its lowest setting of "1".
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-25-2012, 03:42 PM   #8
siejas
Junior Member
siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!siejas rocks like Gibraltar!
 
Posts: 2
Karma: 100000
Join Date: Dec 2012
Device: K3
Well, that's a decent point. Frankly, I do agree with you, there is not much difference.

However, a friend of mine was about to return his PW just because he was so upset not being able to turn the lighting off completely. I've applied the hack on his demand and it worked fine, so I believe there is a small number of PW users that for various reasons consider it a really huge issue. It might not be my case, but still.

So I don't recommend going through all those steps including jailbreaking your device and setting up usbnet if you aren't absolutely sure this is exactly what you need. But if you do, I'm glad to help!
siejas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-26-2012, 11:30 PM   #9
centhena
Enthusiast
centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.centhena can successfully navigate the Paris bus system.
 
centhena's Avatar
 
Posts: 43
Karma: 36968
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: Kindle 3, Kindle Paperwhite
Just to throw my 2 cents in. I would absolutely LOVE the ability to easily turn the light completely off and back on at my leisure. It was the first thing I noticed when I got my new paperwhite and it was a disappointment. After years with my old Kindle, I do notice the difference, so your work on this is not without a grateful audience.
centhena is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-27-2012, 01:53 PM   #10
joblack
Wizard
joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,745
Karma: 4382514
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere on earth
Device: Onyx Boox Tab X
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
Allow me to point out that the PW doesn't have a "backlight". No eInk screen can be backlit, for the very simple reason that the screen is opaque. Even a glance at a PW should show you that it's frontlit - the LEDs which provide the lighting are clearly visible.

As developers, I think it's important to get these things right!
Yeah, yeah I know it's not a real back light but it's close enough. You'll get the official smartass award.
joblack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-27-2012, 02:01 PM   #11
joblack
Wizard
joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.joblack ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 1,745
Karma: 4382514
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere on earth
Device: Onyx Boox Tab X
Quote:
Originally Posted by centhena View Post
Just to throw my 2 cents in. I would absolutely LOVE the ability to easily turn the light completely off and back on at my leisure. It was the first thing I noticed when I got my new paperwhite and it was a disappointment. After years with my old Kindle, I do notice the difference, so your work on this is not without a grateful audience.
I can confirm your statement. Even on the lowest (=1) light level it's not pleasant to read. This annoyance was the reason I was investing time in a solution.
joblack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2012, 04:59 AM   #12
ProDigit
Karmaniac
ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.ProDigit ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 2,553
Karma: 11499146
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Miami FL
Device: PRS-505, Jetbook, + Mini, +Color, Astak Ez Reader Pro, PPW1, Aura H2O
DAAAAMNN you amazon!
I just read it right now! Not able to turn off the light?
What kind of crap is that???

I was expecting to be able to increase/decrease the light of the paperwhite.
Why not program a menu to turn on/off the led (and if possible increase/decrease the intensity)?
Is that too much to ask, for this basic function?

Come on, I was expecting to see this feat in the PPW, and just simply can't believe Amazon engineers did not think of this feat! No need to have the LED on while reading in daylight!

And if possible, make for very dark light settings; I like dark light settings at night!
ProDigit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2012, 06:04 AM   #13
kacir
Wizard
kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
kacir's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,447
Karma: 10484861
Join Date: May 2006
Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post
Why not program a menu to turn on/off the led (and if possible increase/decrease the intensity)?
Because without the light, the screen would look exactly like the screen of any other e-ink reader. A journalist or a blogger might take a photo and ... can you imagine the PR disaster? "Kindle PaperWhite isn't Paper White, but grey like any other reader with an e-in screen"
kacir is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2012, 09:30 AM   #14
HarryT
eBook Enthusiast
HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.HarryT ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
HarryT's Avatar
 
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProDigit View Post
DAAAAMNN you amazon!
I just read it right now! Not able to turn off the light?
What kind of crap is that???
A serious question - have you used a PW?

I honestly defy you to be able to tell whether or not the light is set to "1" or is off in daylight, unless you hold the PW on edge and peer down the bezel to look at the LEDs. A setting of "1" is so close to off as to be absolutely indistinguishable unless you're in a dark room.

Quote:
I was expecting to be able to increase/decrease the light of the paperwhite.
Which you can do (it has 24 different intensity settings, with a slider). That's the reason for my question as to whether or not you've actually used one.
HarryT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-28-2012, 09:45 AM   #15
kacir
Wizard
kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kacir ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
kacir's Avatar
 
Posts: 3,447
Karma: 10484861
Join Date: May 2006
Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
A serious question - have you used a PW?
I have been using it for about a month.
The inability to switch off backlight annoys me more than other things.
kacir is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Amazon launches Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Lending Library in Europe HarryT News 18 10-13-2012 10:24 AM
Total newbie: bought Kindle; freaked out, no backlight tonbo0422 Introduce Yourself 14 04-12-2012 03:11 AM
Kindle Touch, can't get rid of the ads. Conserv Amazon Kindle 7 02-25-2012 09:31 PM
PRS-300 Does this have a Backlight???? k0077 Sony Reader 4 08-14-2010 06:34 AM
Reasons I got the Kindle and got rid of my Sony Reader byebyeSony Amazon Kindle 21 04-29-2008 03:42 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:55 PM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.