Wednesday, November 8, 2023

New-to-me Kindle DX Graphite and My Struggles With It

At the VCF Mid Atlantic swap meet, held October 28, 2023, I acquired an Amazon Kindle DX. For some reason, I have always been fascinated with e-kink devices, and ebook readers, specifically. That doesn't mean that I actually read many books on computers, or online, it's just something about the tech that I love.

This particular Kindle DX is a "Kindle DX Graphite", and is in very nice condition, coming wrapped in a fake leather case, which I believe is the stock one from Amazon. The battery was dead, as would be expected for a >13-year-old device, but that was easily replaced. The software side would not be nearly as easy!

When I first powered the Kindle up, it seemed to work fine, showing me leftovers from the previous owner. I immediately factory-reset the device, to make sure that I didn't keep any personal data. Once reset, the Kindle informed me that it needed to be registered, which I figured would be no problem, as I do have an Amazon account, and own quite a number of free and purchased ebooks that are visible in my desktop and iOS Kindle apps. On that front, I could not possibly have been more wrong!

Apparently, the Kindle DX has a 3G modem and SIM card installed, and with the shutdown of the US 3G cellular network, there is no more connectivity. That normally wouldn't be a big deal, but the Kindle DX predates the addition of WiFi to the Kindle line.

Once I discovered this blocker, I went looking for a way around the registration problem, because it blocked my access to most of the settings on the device. I quickly found the MobleRead forum, which has an unbelievable amount of information. That amount of information was somewhat overwhelming for a Kindle newbie like me, but I eventually, through much trial-and-error, figured out how to get this device set up.

For anyone else (or even me, in the future, when I forget all about this!) with a Kindle DX Graphite, here are the steps needed:

  1. All of the links that you need are here, on MobileRead
  2. Jailbreak the Kindle
    1. Download the following archive, and extract it
    2. Connect the Kindle to your PC with a USB micro cable
      1. Make sure the cable has data capability, as many manufacturers cheaped out and made charging-only USB micro cables
    3. Copy the file "Update_jailbreak_0.13.N_dxg_install.bin" to the root directory of the "Kindle" virtual drive that was mounted on your PC
    4. Eject the "Kindle" drive
    5. Press the "Home" button on the Kindle
    6. Press the "Menu" button on the Kindle
    7. Use the joystick to move down to "Settings", and then click the joystick
    8. Press the "Menu" button, again
    9. Use the joystick to select "Update Your Kindle"
      1. If the selection is greyed out, in the menu, you have copied the wrong file. "dxg" refers to the US version of the Kindle DX Graphite. "dx" refers to the original Kindle DX
    10. The Kindle will then install the update and restart.
    11. Once the Kindle is back up, the jailbreak is complete
  3. Install USBNetwork
    1. Download the following archive, and extract it
    2. Connect the Kindle to your PC with a USB micro cable
    3. Copy the file "Update_usbnetwork_0.57.N_dxg_install.bin" to the root directory of the "Kindle" virtual drive that was mounted on your PC
    4. Eject the "Kindle" drive
    5. Press the "Home" button on the Kindle
    6. Press the "Menu" button on the Kindle
    7. Use the joystick to move down to "Settings", and then click the joystick
    8. Press the "Menu" button, again
    9. Use the joystick to select "Update Your Kindle"
    10. The Kindle will then install the update and restart.
    11. Once the Kindle is back up, the USBNetwork installation is complete
  4. Activate USBNetwork
    1. Push the "Del" button on the Kindle's keyboard, to bring up a search field
    2. Type ";debugOn" and press the Kindle's "Return" key (right below "Del", marked with an arrow)
    3. Push the "Del" button on the Kindle's keyboard, to bring up a search field
    4. Type "`usbNetwork" and press the "Return" key
      1. Note that the command starts with a backtick "`" character, and this must be typed
    5. Connect the Kindle to your PC with a USB micro cable
    6. Configure the USB network interface that now appears, as follows:
      1. IP address: 192.168.2.1
      2. Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
      3. Disable DHCP
    7. Bring the network interface online
  5. Register the Kindle
    1. Using ssh, login to the Kindle as root:
      1. ssh root@192.168.2.2
    2. The password is blank
    3. Type "mntroot rw"
    4. Type "vi /var/local/java/prefs/reginfo" and add the following content to the file:
      1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>                                          
        <response>                                                                      
           <user_device_name> Alex's Kindle DX </user_device_name>                      
           <global_device_name> jjacocks@mac.com </global_device_name>                  
           <given_name> kindledxg </given_name>                                         
           <name> Alex's Kindle </name>                                                 
           <alias>alex</alias>                                                          
        </response>
      2. You can edit the fields to your liking, but make sure that you leave the formatting exactly as I show it
    5. Hit the "Esc" key on your keyboard, and then ":wq" to save the file
    6. Your Kindle should now be registered
    7. As before, reboot, and you are set to go

 Hopefully this helps someone else, as it took a heck of a lot of reading and research and mistakes, on my part, to get this working.

 Here are some links that can get you started:

 

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