Hacks Kindle DX - Any way to disable screensaver?

[Gearhead]

ebs, thanks for this. It really increases the usability of the DX for reference documents. I'm wondering if you noticed where the sleep timeout of 10 minutes is set? My preference would be to allow the DX to stay on for an hour before sleeping. A one hour timeout worked well for me on my Sony. I'm not concerned about battery usage since I keep the wireless off. This could work as an alternative or in conjunction with your current fix.

Left justification rather than the enforced full justification is another usability issue that i've been keen to solve on my DX. I've made some progress in this regard by following your usbnetworking auto start thread. I'll start a new thread in the developer's section if anyone is interested in turning back on the justification toggle in the font menu.

-robert

[ebs]

Originally Posted by Gearhead

I'm wondering if you noticed where the sleep timeout of 10 minutes is set?

I think it was already mentioned in this thread - /etc/powerd.conf

[Gearhead]

Originally Posted by ebs

I think it was already mentioned in this thread - /etc/powerd.conf

Thanks for that. I missed seeing it in the thread. I had a quick peak inside the file, it looks like the

t1_timeout setting: 600

was removed from the DX. I may try adding it back in case the powerd daemon still reads the timeout.

[Jagasian]

ebs,

Can you release a new version of this mod, with the sleep timeout increased to 1 hour?

[muddyglass]

Originally Posted by Jagasian

ebs,

Can you release a new version of this mod, with the sleep timeout increased to 1 hour?

ebs, i'd be interested in a version with the 1 hour increased timeout as well, if it won't take up too much of your time to tweak the existing mod. thanks again for the mod either way. your work is appreciated.

edit: oh, and i've noticed a minor bug in the mod. from time to time, while reading a pdf file, the sleep mode will display the lock icon at the top of the screen rather than at the bottom as intended. it's not a big deal and i can't reproduce it at will, but it does happen every so often.

[ebs]

OK, but I think a separate mod is better (it can be used independently from my screensaver hack). I'll cook something up tomorrow

[ebs]

Originally Posted by muddyglass

edit: oh, and i've noticed a minor bug in the mod. from time to time, while reading a pdf file, the sleep mode will display the lock icon at the top of the screen rather than at the bottom as intended. it's not a big deal and i can't reproduce it at will, but it does happen every so often.

Yeah, I noticed this as well, unfortunately I wasn't able to reliably reproduce this problem - that's the price you pay for such hacks

[ebs]

Originally Posted by Gearhead

t1_timeout setting: 600

was removed from the DX. I may try adding it back in case the powerd daemon still reads the timeout.

I have it on my DX and it does seem to work

[muddyglass]

Originally Posted by ebs

OK, but I think a separate mod is better (it can be used independently from my screensaver hack). I'll cook something up tomorrow

very cool. a separate mod might even allow me to have a custom xkcd screensaver along with the ability to read math/music. pure awesomeness. i added to your karma. amazon should be paying you money for all this.

[ebs]

Here is a standalone Kindle DX/2 hack which you can use to adjust screensaver timeout.

By default, it changes timeout to 3600 seconds (1 hour), but you can customize this update - create "screensaver-timeout" text file containing desired value (must be 60 seconds or greater) next to the update *.bin file BEFORE performing manual update.

Please, refer to README for more info.

[muddyglass]

Originally Posted by ebs

Here is a standalone Kindle DX/2 hack which you can use to adjust screensaver timeout.

By default, it changes timeout to 3600 seconds (1 hour), but you can customize this update - create "screensaver-timeout" text file containing desired value (must be 60 seconds or greater) next to the update *.bin file BEFORE performing manual update.

Please, refer to README for more info.

thank you! this timeout mod is working nicely with the custom screensaver mod that's already out there. excellent job!

[Gearhead]

Originally Posted by ebs

I have it on my DX and it does seem to work

Very strange. I wonder if I have a different version? My DX reports Kindle 2.1 (337560062) on the bottom of the settings screen. Is this the update that is just now coming out?

Here is my factory fresh /etc/powerd.conf

## Name of the configuration.  This name is also used for 
## controlling this daemon through pmond
## No spaces or speal characters in the name
config_name=powerd

## The command used to start the process followed by arguments to pass.
## Make sure the process does not daemonize itself.  
## If a start command is not provided, you must provide a PID file
## to monitor
start_cmd=/usr/bin/powerd -f

## Environment that should be passed to the program. Use the format:
## env=<env name>=<env value> <env name>=<env value> ...
#env=

## Where to find the PID file of the device.  This is not
## necessary if the daemon is started by pmon
pid_file=/var/run/powerd.pid

## This is the maximum memory the process is allowed to use.  
## If the mem limit exceeds, the process is restarted
## The value is in KB
mem_limit=5000

## The initial state of the process.  If the init state is 
## start, the process is started when pmond starts.  If the
## init state is stop, the process is not started until it is
## explicitly started.  If there is no start command specified,
## this param is ignored.
init_state=stop

## How frequently the process should be looked at by pmon.  If a
## process is started by pmond and if the process dies, it is restarted
## immediately.  This interval applies to mem checks and 
## when a process is not a direct child of pmond
process_interval=20

## If sent to 1, any output from the process is directly sent to syslog
#output_to_syslog=1

## Following file's timestamp is checked every given iterations.
## If it is not updated it is noted as a strike.  If the number of
## strikes reach a given max number, the process is determined to be
## hung and restarted
heartbeat_file=/var/run/powerd.stamp

## Check heartbeat file once in this many iterations.
## Default is 5 (amounts to 1 minute if the process interval is 
## left default)
#heartbeat_itr=5

## Give the process this many chances to touch the heartbeat file.
## Default is 3
#heartbeat_strikes=3

-robert

[ebs]

Originally Posted by Gearhead

Very strange. I wonder if I have a different version? My DX reports Kindle 2.1 (337560062) on the bottom of the settings screen. Is this the update that is just now coming out?

Here is my factory fresh /etc/powerd.conf
...

Nope, this is /etc/pmond/powerd.conf

[Gearhead]

Originally Posted by ebs

Nope, this is /etc/pmond/powerd.conf

Ack! I'm sure you are right though I don't have a usb cable with me today to verify. I bet I botched the scp command line args when I made a copy of the file system. Thanks for solving the mystery.

-robert

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

No, you can't. But honestly I don't think it would be a problem; it wakes up in seconds. During a meeting, hitting next page would keep it awake.

I think there should be a way to prevent Kindle from sleeping. I can think of at least two use cases:
1) you want Kindle to download anything that is sent to it immediately, instead of when it wakes up (let's assume it has external power so there's no battery drain, and you are not around to keep it awake)
2) you have some sort of chart or table or list of phone numbers you need to reference intermittently as you are working nearby (but not reading).

In both cases, the fact that Kindle sleeps (and turns off wireless) if it is not prodded introduces a level of inconvenience (you have to physically wake it up).

I don't see any reason it should go to sleep if it has external power. Privacy, I suppose? Maybe, but at least there should be a mode you can toggle so it never sleeps.