Customising Kindle

Created at: 2025-04-10

Kindle paperwhite 11th generation

Note: Most of this information is available in https://kindlemodding.org/.

  1. The nickname for the kindle is PW5.
  2. The recommended jailbreak is WinterBreak < 5.18.1.
  3. The Kindle must have been connected to wifi and have a saved wifi.
  4. Download the WinterBreak patch.
  5. Extract it: tar xf WinterBreak.tar.gz.
  6. Note that there are hidden files (.github).
  7. Turn airplane mode on.
  8. Reboot the Kindle (hold the power button for a while and choose Restart).
  9. Connect the Kindle to your PC.
  10. Run the following script to mount the Kindle and copy the relevant files.
       WINTER_BREAK_FOLDER=~/Downloads
   DEVICE=/dev/sda
   sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
   sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

   cd $WINTER_BREAK_FOLDER
   sudo cp -r .active_content_sandbox /mnt/kindle
   sudo cp -r apps /mnt/kindle
   sudo cp jb.sh /mnt/kindle
   sudo cp -r mesquito /mnt/kindle
   sudo cp patchedUks.sqsh /mnt/kindle
  11. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
  12. Open the Kindle Store (cart icon in the home screen).
  13. When prompted to turn off airplane mode, tap yes.
  14. Click on the WinterBreak icon when it loads.
  15. Wait for the jailbreak to finish (it is very fast).
  16. Turn airplane mode on again.
  17. Download the hotfix .bin in the website.
  18. Plug the kindle onto the PC.
  19. Move the hotfix to the Kindle root directory.
        HOTFIX_FOLDER=~/Downloads
    DEVICE=/dev/sda
    sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
    sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

    cd $HOTFIX_FOLDER
    sudo cp Update_hotfix_universal.bin /mnt/kindle
  20. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
  21. Tap the three dots, and go to settings.
  22. Tap the three dots again and select "Update Your Kindle".
  23. Tap "Update".
  24. Once the hotfix is installed, you have to run it.
  25. Select the hotfix from the home library (Run Hotfix or Run Bridge). NOTE: You will need to run the hotfix booklet after every OTA update.
  26. You will need to install KUAL (Kindle Unified Application Launcher) and MRPI (MobileRead Package Installer) to run homebrew on your Kindle.
  27. Download MRPI from the website.
  28. tar xf kual-mrinstaller-khf.tar.xz
  29. Download Kual (Coplate)
  30. Connect your kindle to your pc and copy the relevant files to your kindle
        FILES_FOLDER=~/Downloads
    DEVICE=/dev/sda
    sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
    sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

    cd $FILES_FOLDER
    sudo cp -r extensions /mnt/kindle
    sudo cp -r mrpackages /mnt/kindle
    sudo cp -r Update_KUALBooklet_ALLDEVICES_KS2_install.bin /mnt/kindle/mrpackages
  31. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
  32. On the Kindle search bar, type: ;log mrpi and hit enter.
  33. It didn't work, so download KUAL again, but put it in the root directory
        FILES_FOLDER=~/Downloads
    DEVICE=/dev/sda
    sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
    sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

    cd $FILES_FOLDER
    sudo cp -r Update_KUALBooklet_ALLDEVICES_KS2_install.bin /mnt/kindle/
  34. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
  35. Go to settings -> update kindle. Wait a bit
  36. Now tap the KUAL file, you can see your extensions there.
  37. Disable OTA updates so that once you enable wifi amazon doesn't try to remove the jailbreak. Follow on next steps.
  38. Find the firmware version: Home → Menu → Settings → Menu → Device Info
  39. In my case: Kindle 5.17.1.0.3 (4351900007) - 70971
  40. Download the renameotabin extension.
  41. Plug kindle to the PC and Copy the renameotabin folder from the zip to theextensions/ folder on your Kindle.
        FILES_FOLDER=~/Downloads
    DEVICE=/dev/sda
    sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
    sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

    cd $FILES_FOLDER
    sudo cp -r renameotabin /mnt/kindle/extensions
  42. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
  43. Open the KUAL application launcher
  44. Tap "Rename OTA binaries"
  45. Select "Rename" and wait for the Kindle to reboot.
  46. You can now safely turn off Airplane Mode and re-enable WiFi. Your Kindle will connect to the internet but will not download or install OTA updates.
  47. Download KOReader (https://github.com/koreader/koreader/releases) for my firmware that meant the kindlehf version.
  48. Plug kindle to the PC and Copy the extensions and koreader to the root
        FILES_FOLDER=~/Downloads
    DEVICE=/dev/sda
    sudo mkdir /mnt/kindle
    sudo mount $DEVICE /mnt/kindle

    cd $FILES_FOLDER
    sudo cp -r extensions/koreader /mnt/kindle/extensions
    sudo cp -r koreader /mnt/kindle/
  49. Eject the kindle from the PC, and then umount it:
       sudo umount /mnt/kindle
   sudo rm -rf /mnt/kindle
    Notes: - Start KOReader: The designed way to start KOReader - Start KOReader (no framework): Temporarily "kills" the Kindle UI to allocate more resources to KOReader. - Start KOReader (ASAP): Skips a couple of checks and starts KOReader as soon as possible

Resetting

If you want to factory reset, downgrade or update your Kindle, you will need to restore the binary by opening KUAL, selecting Rename OTA Binaries and then selecting Restore instead of rename.