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The Amazon Kindle custom screensaver thread

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How-to Geek guide said:
If you’re less than delighted with the default screensaver pack on the Kindle relief is just a simple hack and a reboot away. Read on to learn how to apply a painless jailbreak to your Kindle and create custom screensavers.

Note: We originally published this article last year, but we’ve updated it to work with the latest version of Kindle, so we’re republishing for everybody.

Unlike jailbreaking other devices like the iPad and Android devices—which usually includes deep mucking about in the guts of your devices and the potential, however remote, for catastrophic bricking—jailbreaking the Kindle is not only extremely safe but Amazon, by releasing the Kindle sourcecode, has practically approved the process with a wink and a nod.

Installing the jailbreak and the screensaver hack to replace the default screensavers is so simple we promise you’ll spend 1000% more time messing around making fun screensaver images than you will actually installing the hack.

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poster from mobileread said:
Hi Guys!

I've been lurking around here using the hacks, so I decided I should try and contribute something, even if it is small. Basically, I have a bunch of Kindle formatted screensavers that I downloaded from the internet, but I wanted to make them look more authentic, so I decided to stamp each one with a "Slide and release the power switch to wake" message to each one.

However, doing this manually would be a tedious task, so I created an action in Photoshop to do so. To start, download the Kindle Stamp.zip file in the attachments section of this post. Once you extract it, you will find two files: stamp.png (self-explanatory file name) and Kindle Stamp.atn (A Photoshop Action File). Open Photoshop and open the Actions window if it is not already open (Window -> Actions). Then, in the top right corner of the Actions Window, click the menu icon to open a menu. Click the Load Actions option and navigate to the Kindle Stamp.atn file that you extracted.

Now that you've loaded the actions file, you need to load the stamp. First, open the stamp.png file in Photoshop. Then, select all (Ctrl+A) and copy it (Ctrl+C). Once you do that, you are ready to batch stamp your screensavers.

I'm using Photoshop CS5, so it might be different on your computer, but when you open the Batch Processor (File -> Automate -> Batch), select the action you should have just imported and the folder containing all of the screensavers. Then, choose a folder where you want to save the stamped screensavers, and if all goes well, you should have a nice set of authentic looking images.

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Zip contains Photoshop action file, and the "Slide and release the power switch to wake" .png

http://upload.willhost.it/1/250rs.zip

/re-hosted images and file
 
I thought I would start with these due to all the ASOIAF mania. I just noticed that some seem to still have part of the HBO branding on the lower left corner. It's not really noticeable on the device. *edit- Went ahead and fixed them.

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A great source of wallpapers

At the bottom right-hand corner of each image is a "view large" hyperlink. Save the large version to the kindle, not the one displayed on the front page. It says as much in the "About" sidebar, but I didn't read that the first time, and all my wonderful new wallpapers came with ugly white borders. (Thanks to whoever originally posted this tumblr. I searched, but couldn't find the OP for credit.)

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Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Applying the screensaver hack and font hack were the first things I did when I got mine. Nice to get rid of those creepy author pictures.
 

ultron87

Member
Thanks for posting this!

I've got the hack installed, and the screen saver directory is showing up in my Kindle's directory, but it won't switch to any pictures I put in there. It just goes to a blank screen when I turn it off. Any ideas?

Edit: Just had to restart it.
 
ultron87 said:
Thanks for posting this!

I've got the hack installed, and the screen saver directory is showing up in my Kindle's directory, but it won't switch to any pictures I put in there. It just goes to a blank screen when I turn it off. Any ideas?

In the linkss folder there is a file called "autoreboot." Copy and paste that into the same folder. It should be called "autoreboot - Copy." Rename that "reboot", and un-mount the kindle. It will then reboot itself(after a few seconds), and automatically deletes the reboot file that you created. After that all you images will show up.

I think it just needs is a hard reboot after you add images, but I'm not sure what buttons to hold to make that happen.

Edit: *Looks up* Or that.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
I wonder what will happen to this hack when the AD-Supported kindle comes out...

hacks like this could easily remove them ads.
 
For anyone wanting to make their own awkward author screensavers, I've uploaded the Kindle font.

http://upload.willhost.it/1/8xek6.otf

It is Caecilia LT Std - 55 Roman - 48pt (and if you are using Photoshop - use the "Smooth" option)

I checked Google and Wikipedia, and apparently typefaces/fonts are not copyrightable in the US. I did a design patent search and nothing came up, but if it's an issue I can delete it.
 

Davedough

Member
I did this a few months ago and I love the results. I'll have to post my screens when I get home. They're nothing fantastic, but I like them.
 
Foob said:
is a song of ice and fire the only series of books you fuckers have ever read

With what... six(?) topics on the OT front page about ASOIAF I thought I would give people what they are currently obsessing over. Super sorry if that offended you. At least we have your contributions to this thread to really balance us out.

I made this for you. It has nothing to do with ASOIAF:

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You're welcome.

These were made from the Zelda art thread in gaming:

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Edit: edited in image.
 

Foob

Member
HiroProtagonist said:
With what... six(?) topics on the OT front page about ASOIAF I thought I would give people what they are currently obsessing over. Super sorry if that offended you. At least we have your contributions to this thread to really balance us out.

apology accepted
 

Mike M

Nick N
BannedEpisode said:
Dont like giraffes?
Giraffes are awesome, they just seem to be greatly disproportionately represented in Kindle wallpapers I've seen. If anything, I guess I'd have expected zebras to be popular or something.

Anyway, is there anything else interesting that can be done with a jailbroken Kindle?
 
Mike M said:
Giraffes are awesome, they just seem to be greatly disproportionately represented in Kindle wallpapers I've seen. If anything, I guess I'd have expected zebras to be popular or something.

Anyway, is there anything else interesting that can be done with a jailbroken Kindle?

Dont know, I'm just trying to figure out if the new cheaper ad supported one is jailbreakable to begin with. Not a whole lot of info out there yet.
 
swoon said:
can you do this with the o.g. kindle? all the instructions i've seen are for the dx and up

I found this for ya:

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_1_Screen_Saver_Hack


Mike M said:
Giraffes are awesome, they just seem to be greatly disproportionately represented in Kindle wallpapers I've seen. If anything, I guess I'd have expected zebras to be popular or something.

Anyway, is there anything else interesting that can be done with a jailbroken Kindle?

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You can also apply a font hack.
http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Font_Hack_for_all_2.x_and_3.x_Kindles
 

SyNapSe

Member
subscribed! I'll have to jailbreak my kindle tomorrow. Can I save some of the images directly from the links in this thread? I assume they are already the appropriate size, etc?
 
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