Jailbreaking an Ancient Kindle (Part 2)

After my partial success with the K4 Kindle, I decided to see if I would have better luck with an older K3 model I had kicking around.

Jailbreak

Model D00901

Kindle Modding Wiki

Identify device page

Model K3/K3G

Firmware version 3.4.2

Hack method: NiLuJe's hacks

Installing the jailbreak involved downloading the jailbreak zip and copying Update_jailbreak_0.13.N_k3gb_install.bin to the root of the Kindle's drive, then ejecting and running 'Update Your Kindle' via the menu on the Settings screen.

USB network

Installing the USB network hack was done similarly with the Update_usbnetwork_0.57.N_k3gb_install.bin file, then following the instructions in the README_FIRST.txt file.

My Kindle got stuck on the 'Update Successful' restarting screen, and I needed to hold the power slider for 30-40s to hard reset it.

Where I first went wrong:

  • Then running ;debug on, ~usbNetwork via the book-list search menu.
  • This did not seem to work - no device was detected by my PC and nothing appeared in dmesg.
  • So I restarted the Kindle...no change
  • So I tried re-installing the USB network update...no change
  • And then...I noticed my toolishness: the command is not ;debug on but ;debugOn !!

So the initial update might not have worked, but there's no way of knowing.

The correct steps:

  • run ;debugOn and ~usbNetwork

For K3, the default IP for the kindle is 192.168.2.2 and the expected IP for the PC is 192.168.2.1.

(For K4, the defaults are apparently 192.168.15.201 for the PC and 192.168.15.244 for the Kindle)

  • Then on the PC (on Endeavor/Arch): sudo ip address add 192.168.2.1/24 broadcast + dev enp7s0f1u4i1
  • ...and finally ssh root@192.168.2.2 with a blank password gets me a shell!

KUAL install

Following instructions here...

I had to restart the Kindle to stop the USB network getting in the way of mounting the Kindle's drive over USB.

  • extract kual-mrinstaller-1.7.N-r19303.tar.xz into the Kindle's root folder
  • copy KUAL-KDK-1.0.azw2 to the documents folder
  • eject the Kindle and try running the KUAL document...

...but it would not run. It gave a message that my Kindle was not registered as a 'test Kindle'.

But again I had forgotten to install the Mobileread Kindlet Kit!

  • copy Update_mkk-20141129-k3gb-B00A_install.bin to the Kindle's root, then eject and update the Kindle via the Settings menu...

It installed and restarted fine...

...but KUAL wouldn't start because those weren't the most up-to-date certificates.

  • Extract and copy the Update-mkk-20250419-k3gb-B00A_keystore-install.bin file to Kindle, then Settings->Update...

...and now KUAL runs!!

KOReader install

This was as simple as downloading the Kindle Legacy release from the Github page, extracting it to the Kindle root over USB, ejecting, and launching it via KUAL.

Conclusion

This seemed to work just fine, and KOReader renders my mobi books much more clearly than the standard Kindle reader.

This process has also given me an idea about what went wrong with the K4 install. With this K3, I had forgotten that there was a new version of the DevCerts, so I installed the old one first. However, with the K4 I think I only installed the newer archive. Perhaps installing the older devcerts as well on the K4 will cure the 'Mobileread Kindlet Kit is not installed' error. Something to try another time (earliest after a cup of tea).