Custom Screensaver On The Non-touch Kindle 4 (2024)

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98 Comments

Mike Szczys

January 5, 2012

[Kubbur87] put together a guide to replacing the Non-touch Kindle 4 screensavers with your own images. We’ve already seen a way to remove the Special Offers banners from the newest version of Kindle Hardware, this hack lets you use your own600×800 Portable Network Graphics (.png) file instead of the images pushed to the device by Amazon.

Frankly, we’re shocked at how easy this hack is. [Kubbur87] puts the device into developer mode, enables SSH, and then goes to work on the Linux shell within. It seems the only line of protection is the root password which he somehow acquired.

After the break you’ll find his videos which show how to enable developer mode and how to perform this hack. By putting a file named “ENABLE_DIAGS” with no extension on the device when it is recognized as a USB storage device you’ll gain access to the diagnostic menu system. From there it’s just a matter of cruising that menu to get SSH access. Like we said, you’ll need the root password, that that’s as easy as naming your favorite video game character from the 1980’s.

Getting into developer mode:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZEhsCKgMHw&w=470]

Replacing the screensavers:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG_pGDMsAYo&w=470]

So amazon set the root password to “mario”??? That’s not even a long password. I would expect a bunch of random numbers and letters. I mean seriously that’s the most secure thing they could come up with?

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1. but… it’s-a me, mario!
  
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  1. LMAO XD
    
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2. the administrator password for all of the computers, and the root password for all of the switches/routers on the network at my highschool was ‘wintergreen.’ and it’s not even a small school district; my graduating class was 900 students.
  
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3. Sadly, that password doesn’t work for me.
  
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  1. u can use this to generate the password
    http://members.ping.de/~sven/kindle.html
    
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  2. Root PW Gen.
    http://members.ping.de/~sven/kindle.html
    
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4. IFAIR, mario and luigi are hardware and/or software revisions of the kindles. But it’s long since I worked with this so it could be wrong.
  
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Buy a Nook Touch.
Cheaper, smaller, 4 page-turn buttons, appears as a USB storage device (where you can upload any books you want just by copying them there), and there’s even a nice “screensaver” image folder built-in.

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1. Not only that, but you can also get it rooted with android.
  
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  1. you can also get it rooted with the root password Kubbur87 provided…
    
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  2. Nice work, but why does everything need to be a friggin youtube video now. root password + the folder the screensavers are in would save me nearly 5 minutes of incredibly slow typing and sh*t music
    
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    1. But then the “uploader” cant make money from you which is why they are youtube videos ego and cash .. rather than a five line text page
      
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So will Amazon replace it when you connect online

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1. it hasnt done it with my kindle yet
  
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simpe: In the Description in the video:
user: root
pass: mario
if that doesnt work try this http://members.ping.de/~sven/kindle.html

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You might want to note that this is only for non-special offers kindle from what I can tell. Spent 5 minutes doing this before I realized this wasn’t compatible with the other kindle hack.

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1. did u try it out ?
  
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2. I realized that as well, but not until I had restarted my kindle several times over, constantly going into the filesystem of the kindle to figure out how to remove the “special offers”. Maybe next time.
  
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See http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Touch_Hacking

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So… How do I get out of development mode? :P

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1. go to exit, reboot or disable diags – disable diagnostics – and press the left button on the 5 way button
  
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2. Just kidding, i found out how. Just go into the last menu and select disable development mode (or something like that, i forget already)and restart it
  
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I just got THIS hack working with my KSO 4NT.
After you setup the folders like in the video, run these 4 simple commands.
/etc/upstart/framework stop
mv /var/local/adunits /var/local/adunits.bkp
touch /var/local/adunits
/etc/upstart/framework start
src: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139279

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1. I had trouble removing ads and getting the screensaver to work on my Kindle 4 with Special Offers, but after some trial and error, the following has worked. I’ll report back if the ads come back:
  mntroot rw
  mkdir /mnt/us/screensaver
  mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
  mv mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  ln -sfn /mnt/us/screensaver /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  mnt/base-mmc/etc/init.d/framework stop
  mv /var/local/adunits /var/local/adunits.bkp
  touch /var/local/adunits
  mnt/base-mmc/etc/init.d/framework start
  Reply if it worked for you
  
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  1. Hi, this method was successful. It seem to work even when I’m on line- no ads were downloaded.
    One thing bothers me- Before using this method I already had created “screen_saver” and had two pictures in it. After using Your method these pics were seen as screen savers. When I added some new pics to this folder, they didn’t show up as screen savers.
    What I did was repeating whole thing with your method, and now all the pictures that were in “screen_savers” are used as they should be :D
    Thanks for this great idea :D
    
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  2. I worked!!! Thanks so much ;)
    
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    See Also
    Yes, You Actually Can Change Your Kindle Wallpaper, Here’s How –How to change your Amazon Kindle's screensaver How to Make a Book Cover Your Kindle Screensaver How To Change Screen Saver On Kindle | CitizenSide
2. Thank you!! I can verify that this works on a KSO 4NT for v4.1.3.
  
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why I always got access denied when typing the password? I am pretty shure the password is fionaldef (serial number 1331440003), can any one help me? thank you..

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I used these:
mntroot rw
mkdir /mnt/us/screensaver
mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
mv /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old
ln -sfn /mnt/us/screensaver /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
But I get an error half way through. I’ve never used Linux before, so I don’t know what’s going on. =(
login as: root
root@192.168.15.244‘s password:
#################################################
# N O T I C E * N O T I C E * N O T I C E #
#################################################
Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to
switch back to a writable rootfs.
#################################################
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mntroot rw
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mkdir /mnt/us/screensaver
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
mount: /dev/mmcblk0p1 already mounted or /mnt/base-mmc busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/mmcblk0p1 is mounted on /cust

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1. im not sure whats going on there, all the commands seem to be correct
  did you figure it out already perhaps ?
  
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Dear All,
I can do it upto SSH and got root reply, but the password really tripped me a lot: it replied me “access denied” all the time after I input password. I got password “fionaldef” for my serial number “1331440003” from Putty, and the website mentioned above as well, but it seems it was wrong or something else I did not do it right?
Thanks for advice.

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Got it and worked through overall steps. But after I put .png file into “screensaver” folder and turn off, the screen is a blanket one, my god!! How can I solve it?

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1. did you restart the kindle after putting the pictures on it ?
  restarting means going to the settings menu, pressing the alternative menu button and highlighting restart and pressing the middle way button
  
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  1. I “restart” several time but in vain, the sreen still showed “blank” when Kindle slept or I pushed the power button.
    Let me make sure one thing I was doing right or wrong: after SSH and write in those commands shown in your video, I leave diagnostic mode and restart Kindle, then it showed a “screensaver” folder under Kindle, on my Windows screen. Then I drop in .PNG file into the folder, then I restart Kindle. Is the procedure right?
    Thank you for reply.
    
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  2. >>did you restart the kindle after putting the pictures on it ?
    restarting means going to the settings menu, pressing the alternative menu button and highlighting restart and pressing the middle way button
    I “restart” several time but in vain, the sreen still showed “blank” when Kindle slept or I pushed the power button.
    Let me make sure one thing I was doing right or wrong: after SSH and write in those commands shown in your video, I leave diagnostic mode and restart Kindle, then it showed a “screensaver” folder under Kindle, on my Windows screen. Then I drop in .PNG file into the folder, then I restart Kindle. Is the procedure right?
    Thank you for reply.
    Yung Jung Chang
    
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  3. verify the symbolic link in the console by typing
    “ls -l”
    without the quotas
    you should see a symbolic link to the screensaver folder in the root, if not, you have done something wrong
    
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I’ve had good success with the screensaver hack. However, I notice that now the screensavers don’t transition through the images. A new image only shows up after you take it out and put it back into screensaver mode. Is there any way to set a transition timer for it to go through the photos in the folder?

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1. thats like that without the hack…
  
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So, this worked great, but now I’m in a bind. I have a small scratch on the surface, and I want to swap it out before the warranty is up. Is there a reverse to this? I thought the factory reset would work, but it didn’t. Now, instead of custom screensavers, I’ve got blank white?
Any thoughts?
Thanks.

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1. delete the screensaver folder and then
  go back to console and remove the 600×800 folder, then rename the 600×800.old to 600×800 and you should be fine
  command for remove a folder is rm -r “folder”
  command for rename is mv “/pathtofolder/folder.old” “/pathtofolder/folder”
  all this without quotas
  example:
  #mv /home/kubbur/sdb/backup /home/kubbur/sdb/backup.old
  ##this renames the folder backup to backup.old
  example:
  #rm -r /home/kubbur/sdb/backup
  this removes the folder backup and all its contents
  just remember to enable write access when u start the console with “mntroot rw”
  
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  1. Thank you for responding. I tried doing this a couple times before giving up. I’m just now seeing that the reason I was having difficulties was because the backup folder was created wrong. In the pastebin.com raw data, the 4th step shows up as two lines, so it created a folder called /mnt/base-
    Thank you so much for your quick response and help.
    
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  2. Tried this, but received this message in putty:
    mv: can’t rename ‘/mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old’: No such file or directory
    I followed your original guide, so the folders should be as you’d listed?
    Any help would be appreciated.
    
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My Kindle won’t enter developer mode. I have a Mac OSX 10.5, with a Kindle 4.1. Can anyone help me out here? Thanks.

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1. mount the kindle, notice where it mounts, go to terminal and cd to the root of the kindle and do
  “touch I_CANT_REMEMBER_THE_FILENAME”
  without the quotas
  
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Thanks Kubbur, now I successfully hacked kindle 4 and I can put one picture into it and it showed on the screen when I turns the kindle off.
But, however,screensaver can only show one pic and the name need to be 01N .png, even I rename the other pic as:
02N2, 03n4, 04N, 05N”.”.”””
Again, Thanks for helping so farm

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Hi Guys,
First of all thanks for tips and advices. But i have some problems. I’m not good with these things.
According to the video, after clicking on the right button in the enable usbnet section my kindle’s connection with my computer’s lost. Is it normal?
Second problem, i really don’t know how to use PuTTY :S and that’s why i can’t connect that with my kindle. By the way do i have to change my ip address to kindle’s?

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FInally, I got through it.
I deleted linked 600×800 folder and made another 600×800 folder, then I copied all the new .png files I want into this new folder, with the file name coding 01N, 02N2, 03N2, 04N, 05N……as original screensaver files.
Then it worked!!
Note it is really a SSH work, but that is not so difficult as I thought before.
Thnak you all especially Kubbur’s great help!!

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1. An Update:
  Directly put 600×800 *.png file into the path as below, and no need to change file name,IT ALSO WORK!! every pic will be displayed.
  /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  
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If you have access to a *nix shell, whether that’s a Linux/BSD box, a Mac, or even an Android phone with local shell, here’s a script to find the password for a Kindle 4 Non-Touch. Just change the second line so that the value of $serno is your Kindle’s serial number.
#!/bin/sh
serno=LOLNOTTELLINGTHEINTERNET
echo fiona$(echo $serno | md5sum | cut -b 8-11)

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so once you’ve gotten into the diag menus how do you return to the normal kindle… It froze up on me!!! HELP I THINK I KILLED IT

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WELL…I GOT A CHALLENGE FOR YOU UNLIKE ANY OTHER. I GOT A “STORE MODEL” KINDLE DX DEMO. AND IT ONLY PLAYS THE “DEMO SCREEN” OVER AND OVER AGAIN… HOW CAN I GET IT TO BE A REGULAR KINDLE DX AGAIN AND GET THE “DEMO MODE” OFF?? NOBODY…I MEAN NOBODY HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT. ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO HELP ME WITH IT?? I WILL BE VERY HAPPY IF YOU CAN!

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See Also
How to change your Kindle ebook covers
1. what are you trying to accomplish with your caps lock button ?
  but i would need a ssh access to your kindle to check it out
  
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  1. ACTUALLY, IM SORRY, BUT MY CAPS BUTTON IS STUCK. EMBARRASSING, YES. DONT WORRY IM NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE WITH CAPS ALL THE TIME. I SHOULD BE GETTING MY NEW ON IN THE MAIL SOON. BUT THANK YOU FOR RESPONDING TO ME. I REALLY APRECIATE IT. BUT ANYWAYS, YEA, IS THERE SOME KIND OF ‘FORCE OVERIDDE” THAT YOU CAN LINK ME TO SO I CAN WIPE EVEN THE FIRMWARE THATS ON IT AND THEN RE INSTALL THE SOFTWARE?
    
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i followed all the steps but my png files wont show up. it keeps saying ‘please connect wirelessly to download the latest special offers’
anyone else getting this?

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1. http://y42k.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/img_3530.jpg?w=223&h=300
  this is the screen i get
  
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So I have done the hack and get my screen savers to come up when I hit the button. When I go to register with my account it replaces them with the ads and I can’t get them back (I am sure I can reset to factory defaults and do everything again if I need to).
Is there a way to have custom screensavers and register to make buying books easy? or will I have to download purchased books to computer and then transfer them that way.
Thanks!

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Any1 help me too? I can’t even get in diag mode… I edit the diag thing in the kindle root then go to settings and restart. then nothing happens. it just restarts as it should. the video doesn’t explain much. Am I doing it wrong?

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Edit: got to enable usbnet but idk how to use puty properly. it gives an error when trying to connect

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Bummer, I followed the instructions and get a white screen. I saw the answer to the other person who got the white screen, but I am new to putty and have no idea how to delete and replace lines of code. I am now stuck with a white screen kindle, or can restore back to the ads. I appreciate the instructions, but I wish it was correct straight from the beginning. I have a beautiful star trek screen I wanted to use.

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I did the hack and everything seems to have taken however I a white screen after I restart my kindle at ideas?
Thanks

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you need to place wallpapers in the folder before restart and they have to have the specific format. What I can’t seem to do is connect with putty. it gives a timeout error and idk how to fix it

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anyone in the UK that can do this for me ?? if i posted it to you

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For Mac´s, you have to know which device to configure. In Terminal:
MacBook-Air:~ aramos$ ifconfig
lo0: flags=8049 mtu 16384
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
gif0: flags=8010 mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0 mtu 1280
en0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
ether 58:55:ca:fa:2f:45
inet6 fe80::5a55:caff:fefa:2f45%en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
inet 192.168.0.13 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
media: autoselect
status: active
en4: flags=8863 mtu 1500
ether ee:29:00:00:00:15
inet6 fe80::ec29:ff:fe00:15%en4 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5
inet 169.254.64.99 netmask 0xffff0000 broadcast 169.254.255.255
media: autoselect (10baseT/UTP )
status: active
vboxnet0: flags=8842 mtu 1500
ether 0a:00:27:00:00:00
MacBook-Air:~ aramos$ sudo ifconfig en4 192.168.15.1
Password:
MacBook-Air:~ aramos$ ssh root@192.168.15.244 -p 22
The authenticity of host ‘192.168.15.244 (192.168.15.244)’ can’t be established.
RSA key fingerprint is a7:cc:49:1d:64:b0:3c:73:ab:38:fd:dd:6e:a0:aa:aa.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? y
Please type ‘yes’ or ‘no’: yes
Warning: Permanently added ‘192.168.15.244’ (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
root@192.168.15.244‘s password:
#################################################
# N O T I C E * N O T I C E * N O T I C E #
#################################################
Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to
switch back to a writable rootfs.
#################################################
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mntroot rw
system: I mntroot:def:Making root filesystem writeable
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mkdir /mnt/us/screensaver
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
and the rest of directions…

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Hi, I cannot mount mmcblk0p1
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
mount: /dev/mmcblk0p1 already mounted or /mnt/base-mmc busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/mmcblk0p1 is mounted on /cust
so I tried:
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# mv /cust/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 /cust/opt
/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old
mv: can’t rename ‘/cust/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800’: Read-only file system
I’m stuck now… any idea?

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This tutorial ERASE all the files necessary to Kindle screensaving, so be careful. Do a copy in your computer before playing with your Kindle. Even I was unable to restore the files by doing a firmware update, ´cause my Kindle is in the last update and doesn´t permit upgrades to it.

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1. Erase? It’s only “make directory”, “rename” and “create link” commands, they can’t erase anything! It shows you to enter the mode when you can erase important files all right, but if followed verbatim it does not delete anything from your Kindle. “Backup files” is always good advice none the less.
  
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Hello
I have a problem – only one of screensavers is ever shown. I don’t care so much, but I’d love to have all 3 rotate around. Any ideas what I might get f*cked up?

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hi, my computer is not reading the kindle after i enable USBnet and exit out, so I’m stuck on that stage of this process. any ideas?

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OMG! I AM THE PASSWORD!

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I’ve done this correctly, but now there’s an update for the software, and the install fails. There’s some way to undo the hack and install the update? Please, help!

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Please, help me. I’ve managed to use my screensavers but now i can’t update the software with the new 4.10 version. Here’s someway i can undo the hack? Please!

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1. Have not tested it myself, but it should work (will test it this evening, don’t have time now.
  follow the same procedure, BUT:
  instead of typing these 2 commands:
  mv /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old
  ln -sfn /mnt/us/screensaver /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  use these 2:
  unlink /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  mv /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  this should revert everything (all the other stuff was just to get to a position where you could type those commands ;)
  If it doesn’t work, I’ll leave a reply this evening (Europe)
  
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  1. Yes, it works.
    You will have to use this http://members.ping.de/~sven/kindle.html?# to get your root password.
    I have not re-applied the wallpaper hack yet, but I guess this hasn’t changed, since the hack is just to exchange the default wallpaper folder with a link to the windows-mountable device.
    
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  2. Thanks, but it doesn’t work, at leaste on my kindle. When i type
    unlink /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
    it says -sh: unlink not found
    and when i type the other command, it says “no such file or directory”.
    I am afraid i wrecked up something O.o
    
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  3. Oh yes, sry, use
    rm /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
    instead of unlink, since kindle doesn’t know unlink.
    But don’t do this unless you can also do the next step (if you have already done this, the ln command from the tutorial will undo this).
    And now to the second step:
    did you already move the folder into your custom-screensaver folder? look if it is there And tell me. (If you executed the second command before the first (or after the first one failed), you may have moved it there ;) )
    did you use another tutorial? If yes, can you give me a link?
    use
    ls /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/
    to get a list of files/directories in this directory. Is there anything that looks like a backup of the original screensavers? the “adunits” (or similar) folder is unimportant here.
    Or: where did you move the original folder? (tell me how the mv command you used looked like)
    Just to tell you what you’re even doing ;)
    ln arg0 arg1
    arg0 is an existing file or folder, arg1 a non-existing one.
    creates a link from arg1 to arg0
    rm arg0
    removes/deletes arg0
    mv arg0 arg1
    arg0 is an existing file folder
    if arg1 is a folder: moves arg0 into this folder
    otherwise it will move arg0 to arg1 (and overwrite an existing file)
    and sorry for this a-bit-untidy-post ;)
    
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  4. As i tought i screwed something. When i list the resources in the screen_saver folder, there is only the adunits foder, and nothing else. Maybe i managed to delete the old screensavers? Can i do something to fix it?
    
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  5. Ah no, i was wrong: there are two things inside the folder, 600×800 and adunits. There’s not 600×800.old folder.
    
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  6. The 600×800 folder: which files does it contain?
    ls /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800/
    are those your custom screensavers or the original ones?
    If they are your custom screensavers, just ignore them, they will be deleted by the rm command.
    If they are the original ones, you’re done.
    
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2. Find them in the internet (or somewhere else).
  Make sure that they are complete and unchanged (I think the update procedure checks your device for modifications, and when it detects the custom screensavers, it is cancelled)
  copy them to your kindle (plug it in in normal mode, like you would copy your custom screensavers) into a new folder (e.g. a new folder named “orig_screensavers”
  then repeat the whole procedure, but instead of the mv command, use:
  cp -r /mnt/us/orig_screensavers /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
  PS: if you can access another kindle with existing wallpapers, you can copy them to the drive you could insert to your PC with
  cp -r /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 /mnt/us/orig_screensavers
  (you need to gain console access again – you know the procedure ;)
  In this case, only use the mntroot and mount commands; those will not change anything that lasts until after the reboot.
  PPS: cp: works like mv, but copies instead of moving; -r to copy whole folders.
  
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3. I have the same problem, but none of the passwords will work any more, mario worked when i first did the hack, but now it doesn’t, and neither does the one that that website provided after putting in my serial code. Help Please!
  
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Hello sylar_5,
I followed carefully your instructions and executed all these commands in order:
mntroot rw
mkdir /mnt/us/screensaver
mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/base-mmc
rm /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
mv /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800
This has restored the original wallpapers, but I still cannot upgrade to 4.1 (erreor U006).
What should I do?
Thanks for your help!

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1. I am no expert on this device. I just knew what I did when applying this hack because it’s some simple linux commands…
  Get to know the Linux shell (at least a bit) and then try to restore the original folder. Maybe download the original wallpapers again and then store them at the right location.
  If you execute those commands twice, you may have deleted the original folder.
  And never apply such hacks if you do not know what you are doing!!
  A quick google search for “kindle update error u006” gave me:
  http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181493
  Maybe this will help.
  Use some kindle forums to discuss your problem. A comment thread doesn’t seem appropriate…
  
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Hmm…
Trying to remove hack to upgrade sw from 4.0.1 to 4.1, but the host password appears to have changed.
I’m sure that it was ‘mario’ when I applied hack, but that no longer works.
Tried the serial-number-generator, but the ‘fionaxxx’ passwords aren’t working either. (tried using the serial no on box & a different one under ‘settings’ on kindle itself)
Any ideas?

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1. This is what I mean, i want to remove it, but it appears the password has changed since i applied the hack! please help!
  
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Just reverted my 4.0.1 hack back to normal to install 4.1.0! It took a while (mainly due to my absent-minded decision to delete the .old file that backs it up) but this is what I did:
1. The password here worked for me: http://members.ping.de/~sven/kindle.html# I typed in my serial code sans spaces and it worked first time.
2. If you still have the .old folder, do the mv /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800.old /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 command. Make sure to take care when copying and pasting commands, as my putty client replaces Xs with ?s.
3. If you don’t, you can find all the old screensavers here: http://www.kubizo.com/kindle-screensaver-images/displayimage.php?pid=3411. DO NOT RENAME THE IMAGES. Their names are exactly how the kindle likes them. Put them all into a folder on your kindle root.
4. Do a ls /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/ command to see what files are there. If you have 800×600 and adunits, that’s fine. If your 800×600 file has vanished (like mine!) do a mkdir /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 command to make it. Fill this folder with the images in step 3, by doing cp -r /mnt/us/>>FILENAME<>IMAGENAME<< /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 for each image. When I did the move command for a folder, it just slapped the folder into the destination folder, which is no use. If you know a better way, use it!
Basically, the ideal solution is to have ls /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/ report back '800×600' and 'adunits', and ls /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/800×600 to report back all the files from the link above with their correct names. If any directories exist which are weird, use rm -r -f <> to get rid of them.
Once I had it set up as such, trying an update worked! :)

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Will any of this work with 4.1? I’m reluctant to try until I hear of some successes. Also, the root password generator page doesn’t have a listing for 4.1, so I don’t know if the generated password will work.

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1. Yes, it does work with 4.1. The root password generator works as well.
  Before you start, take some time to read all the steps and get an idea of what you are doing. It always helps.
  – Get root password
  – SSH to your device using the password by the usbNet method
  – Backup the existing folders by renaming [Very important step]
  – execute the commands to link custom screensavers folder
  This method is much better than some of the other methods you’ll find that involve updating firmware on the device.
  It is possible to revert to default setting, by just removing the links and reverting to the backed-up folders. Hence, always remember to backup and cross-check before proceeding.
  
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  1. Can you please give more info? I used this hack when I first got my kindle, and I want to do the software update, and remove the hack, but I don’t know how. Also it appears that the root password has changed since I did the hack, is that possible?
    
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does anyone have the stuff inside
/mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/
everything the 800×600 and adunits

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Hey all,
For linux users trying to ssh into the kindle 4, assign the ip via ifconfig to usb0. For me to get it to work (after trying all the basic approaches) I needed to put the desired wallpapers directly into a real folder (not symlink) located at /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800. The symlink wouldn’t work – someone else mentioned this in the comments and that tipped me off, but I thought I’d explicitly second this approach.

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Does it have to be a youtube video? Can some reply with a step-by-step? Please? Youtube doesn’t work on my computer. :(

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Rather than replacing the screensaver, is there a way to just keep the current book page displayed when it powers down?

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Soo, I’m on 4.1.1 now and even copying the files directly to /mnt/base-mmc/opt/amazon/screen_saver/600×800 does nothing. Any ideas?

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1. Found it, just change the adunits folder in /var/local to a limited access file (like 444) with the same name and voila! Information wants to be free!
  
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Tell the guy making this video to wake up rather than sounding half asleep. Edit the video- who really cares to see the system reset?

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1. do it yourself biatch!
  
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