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#1 |
Zealot
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Karma: 629
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California, USA
Device: Kindle DX
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Disable BigBrother features
Please note that the modification/patch doesn't work on the K2i. [note added by moderator in 2012]
WARNING: Multiple Kindle Touch owners have reported that their Kindle Touch was bricked (no longer usable) after applying this modification. This may be dangerous for the Kindle Touch! [note added by moderator in 2012] There is some functionality in Kindle firmware which I consider violating user privacy and I intend this thread to provide information on how to disable such stuff.
Last edited by pdurrant; 01-31-2012 at 05:06 PM. Reason: added note regarding k2i. |
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#2 |
You kids get off my lawn!
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Karma: 73492664
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of
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I don't have a Kindle, but if I did, I'd definitely be using your update.
Thanks for sharing! |
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#3 |
Enthusiast
![]() Posts: 32
Karma: 45
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle DX, PRS505
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It is really a shame that Amazon is allowing our Kindles to upload this kind of personal information without our permission. Ebs, thank you very much for investigating this and providing a patch.
-robert |
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#4 |
Zealot
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Karma: 629
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California, USA
Device: Kindle DX
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Here is some information about "todo" server.
Periodically Kindle connects to a special "todo" web service and downloads list of items it then "executes". These items can be download/upload requests (to get a new book you just bought, upload syslog, etc), there is also a delete request (this is what I think was used in the recent debacle)... Firmware updates are probably also pushed this way. Default location is https://todo-g7g.amazon.com/FionaTodoListProxy. Kindle uses "getItems" request to download "todo"list: https://todo-g7g.amazon.com/FionaTod...10&prl_rev=402 When all items are processed, "removeItems" request is used to clean-up todo list. You can completely disable this functionality (although I don't recommend this) by redirecting all requests to some other location. I chose to direct all requests to a fake server running on my host which emulates (to a some extent) standard Amazon services. To do this, edit /opt/amazon/ebook/config/framework.mario.conf: These are my changes (CDE_SERVER and uploadServer point to another webservices - metadata sync/download and upload servers). Code:
TODO_SERVER : http://192.168.2.1/FionaTodoListProxy/ CDE_SERVER : http://192.168.2.1/FionaCDEServiceEngine/ uploadServer : http://192.168.2.1/DeviceEventProxy/ Code:
HTTP_NON_PROXY_HOST : *.amazon.com|*.images-amazon.com|192.168.2.1 Somebody can even write a simple http/https proxy running locally on Kindle doing some kind of filtering ![]() Personally, I don't really care about Amazon deleting my books (I always make sure I take full control of stuff I buy from them - nothing can compete with good old backups ![]() However, I have proof of concept hack that disables remote ebook removal, I've been running it since last weekend and it doesn't seem to break anything for me. I can post firmware update here if somebody thinks it will be useful. |
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#5 |
Wizard
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Karma: 3799999
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA
Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2
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#6 |
Zealot
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Karma: 629
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California, USA
Device: Kindle DX
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Well, I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories and I don't think there are any evil intentions. That syslog upload thing is probably a diagnostic feature, however this doesn't change a fact that they do receive this kind of information and I don't really feel like sharing this stuff with some Amazon engineer. I hope it is still a learning process for them, we'll see...
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#7 |
Wizard
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Karma: 3799999
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA
Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2
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I'm not a conspiracy theorist either, but they really are doing very little to make it seem like it is actually yours.
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#8 |
Zealot
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Karma: 629
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California, USA
Device: Kindle DX
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Disable auto updates
As I described previously, "todo" server pushes download requests to Kindle, firmware update files are automatically downloaded to the user partition and later applied when Kindle goes to sleep.
If you want to disable automatic update "execution", change /usr/bin/process_update script: Code:
--- process_update~orig 2009-07-25 22:08:55.000000000 -0700 +++ process_update 2009-07-25 22:41:11.000000000 -0700 @@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ exit 0 fi - # Start updatewait in background and exit - ${_UPDATE_WAIT} & - msg "Started ${_UPDATE_WAIT}" I + msg "Auto updates are disabled, exiting..." I exit 0 fi Last edited by ebs; 07-26-2009 at 02:45 AM. Reason: Fix typo |
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#9 |
Enthusiast
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Karma: 45
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle DX, PRS505
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#10 |
Zealot
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Karma: 224
Join Date: Sep 2008
Device: eeepc 901
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Many thanks EBS.
Now if you discover the registration info (that confirms the device has been activated once on whispernet) on your firmware travels I will be forever in your debt |
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#11 |
Zealot
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Karma: 629
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California, USA
Device: Kindle DX
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Well, registration is done through Amazon webservice, so it's not just some piece of data on Kindle, it's also a record at Amazon. I think you have to go through this process if you really want you Kindle to be registered - no amount of local hacking will do this.
As far as I can tell, there is very little on Kindle which is device specific - serial number written in NOR flash, SSL client certificate signed by Amazon (probably Kindle downloads it during registration process) and some simple text file that tells UI that Kindle is indeed registered. |
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#12 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2009
Device: Kindle DX
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Ebs,
Can you tell us which file is the COMMS log, the one with the Base ID etc? |
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#13 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2009
Device: none
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How does one apply the patch?
Thanks! |
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#14 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2009
Device: Kindle
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Do the logs only contain information about content you downloaded from Amazon? Does the Kindle also log data (and send said data to Amazon) regarding, for instance, a random text file you put on your Kindle?
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#15 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: none
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Great thread, but answers to the questions asked in the last few posts would be really nice
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