Busted Kindle Touchscreen - everything else ok - can I hack it?

[TheBR]

Hey all,
I have a Kindle KT2 with a busted touchscreen but everything else works. I was wondering if it was still possible to hack it to get ssh access so that maybe i could so some things with it passively - like use it as a weather screen, email notifier - that sort of stuff.

I followed the guide here - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=275877

And got as far as needing to implement the Jailbreak but at this part i need to:-

Search bar, enter Code:

;installHtml

Press 'return'
Yes, the semi-colon is part of the search bar command string.

Which i obviously cannot do. Additionally i cannot even copy to the USB drive right now as after the factory reset, until you go through initial setup it just shows up as a ghosted USB drive.

So am i goosed - should i consign the kindle to the dustbin and be done with it or can i coax some life out of it yet?

[knc1]

It is not junk yet - install a connection to the serial port, you can install the jailbreak from there.
There are threads here on the subject.

= = = =

How are you going to use the Kindle as a display if the screen is broke?
Please give more detail than just: "broke".

If you mean the display screen still works, but the touch sensor does not . . .
It is not a 'touchscreen' - it is an IR scanner.
The KT, KT2 and KT3 are all IR scanners.

I don't see how you can break a scanner.

[TheBR]

Originally Posted by knc1

It is not junk yet - install a connection to the serial port, you can install the jailbreak from there.
There are threads here on the subject.

= = = =

How are you going to use the Kindle as a display if the screen is broke?
Please give more detail than just: "broke".

If you mean the display screen still works, but the touch sensor does not . . .
It is not a 'touchscreen' - it is an IR scanner.
The KT, KT2 and KT3 are all IR scanners.

I don't see how you can break a scanner.

Sorry i wasn't clear enough - it is the IR Scanner that broke, the screen functions perfectly.

I took it apart and can see a "burnt out" area, although that really does make it sound worse than it was, around the ribbon cable connecting what I think is the IR scanner around the screen to the mainboard on the IR scanning hardware side.

On close inspection the ribbon cable had a burnt out line. I ordered another from china for a couple of quid but it still didn't work.

I don't have the electronic expertise to diagnose it further but, being honest, it looked like potential water damage that caused a short although im not sure where or how the water got in there. There seemed to be a green powdery residue on the IR scanner hardware in the area.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by TheBR

Sorry i wasn't clear enough - it is the IR Scanner that broke, the screen functions perfectly.

I took it apart and can see a "burnt out" area, although that really does make it sound worse than it was, around the ribbon cable connecting what I think is the IR scanner around the screen to the mainboard on the IR scanning hardware side.

On close inspection the ribbon cable had a burnt out line. I ordered another from china for a couple of quid but it still didn't work.

I don't have the electronic expertise to diagnose it further but, being honest, it looked like potential water damage that caused a short although im not sure where or how the water got in there. There seemed to be a green powdery residue on the IR scanner hardware in the area.

salt water damage.
somehow salt water got into the container ship container it traveled in from the factory.
end result: copper chloride where you don't want it.

serial port is your only choice, since you already tried to repair the scanner.