Tutorial Working Cheap Bluetooth page turner on PW6 (5.18.5)

[liquidguru]

[GUIDE] Working Bluetooth page turner on PW6 (5.18.5) — what actually worked after a lot of digging

When I saw the kindle-hid-passthrough project by @zampierilucas I got excited — I grabbed a cheap AB Shutter 3 Bluetooth remote thinking it would be a quick win for page turning on my PW6. It wasn't. Several days later I had something working, and since I couldn't find anyone else who'd documented this for the PW6 on 5.18.5, here's the full story.

Full guide on GitHub Gist → https://gist.github.com/liquidguru/1...4d2a94b220c90a

Why it wasn't simple:

• The stock Amazon reader on 5.18.5 (krpp architecture) has no working LIPC page-turn API — fakeKeyEvent, fakeTap, pageTurnkeyConfig all silently do nothing
• KOReader looked promising but its PW6 device profile disables key input entirely (hasKeys=false) since the physical device has no buttons — standard key mapping never gets off the ground
• The solution ended up being KOReader's HTTP Inspector API, which works independently of the key input system

What the final stack looks like:

• kindle-hid-passthrough → pairs the remote via Classic Bluetooth, creates a virtual keyboard at /dev/input/event2
• kindle-button-mapper (Rust, compiled as musl static ARM binary — important, standard glibc build won't run on the Kindle) → reads key events, calls shell scripts
• Shell scripts → call KOReader's HTTP Inspector on localhost (GotoViewRel/1 and GotoViewRel/-1)
• Watchdog + upstart job → survives sleep/wake cycles automatically, no manual intervention needed

Tested on:

• Kindle Paperwhite 6 (12th gen, MT8110 Bellatrix)
• Firmware 5.18.5
• KOReader v2026.03
• AB Shutter 3 (YiChip BT chip, Classic Bluetooth)

Most AB Shutter 3 clones should work out of the box. Other remotes may need minor key code adjustments — the guide covers how to identify codes for any remote using evtest.

Happy to answer questions. Big credit to @zampierilucas for the HID passthrough tool that makes all of this possible.

It's not for the faint-hearted — cross-compiling Rust binaries, digging through LIPC APIs, writing watchdog scripts — but once it's running it's genuinely amazing. Close the cover, open it, pick up your remote and just... read. Exactly what it should feel like.

What remote did I use?
This one from Amazon Australia — CamKix Wireless Bluetooth Shutter Remote, about $10 AUD:
https://www.amazon.com.au/CamKix-Wir.../dp/B0113W6A84

Any similar AB Shutter 3 style remote should work — they're available for $2-5 on AliExpress too.

[liquidguru]

Update — upstream fix incoming

For anyone following this thread — @zampierilucas (the kindle-hid-passthrough author) has just merged a commit into koreader-base adding a uevent listener for input device hotplug on Kindle:

https://github.com/koreader/koreader...5ff836e9d1adf6

This will allow KOReader to natively detect UHID keyboards (created by kindle-hid-passthrough) after startup, which may enable direct key-based page turning without the HTTP API workaround documented in the guide.

Once this lands in a KOReader release, it's worth testing whether the shutter buttons work natively before going through the full setup. I'll update the guide accordingly when I've had a chance to test it.

[priccis]

Nice! This is one of the reasons I upgraded my Kindle to one with Bluetooth. Just waiting for the JB