KINDLE FORCED UPGRADE

[TxHawkeye]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Have you exited (shut down) the app and gone back to it? If the older version has "stuck" then it's like the Kindle cover issue: they force it once per new upgrade per account, rather than specifically recognizing the older version each time you use it.

Yes, I have shut down and restarted the older (1.24) K4PC multiple times after uninstalling 1.30. No forced upgrade has (as yet) occurred since re-installing 1.24.

I will continue to monitor and will consider options from jackie_w and jhowell to prevent future unwanted upgrades.

[haertig]

Is this "storage" folder only create the first time it is needed? I can find Kindle.exe, but no storage folder in that directory.

In my case, I am running KindleForPC on Linux, under Wine (PlayOnLinux wrapper for Wine, specifically).

Here's my "Kindle Directory":

$ pwd
~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/kindle_1.17/drive_c/Program Files/Amazon/Kindle
$

And it's contents:

$ ls
audio               icuuc46.dll          langmap            Microsoft.VC90.CRT  Qt5Core.dll               Qt5Sensors.dll        ssleay32.dll
CFLite.dll          icuuc55.dll          libeay32.dll       msvcp100.dll        Qt5Gui.dll                Qt5Sql.dll            uninstall.exe
D3Dcompiler_47.dll  JavaScriptCore.dll   libEGL.dll         msvcp120.dll        Qt5Multimedia.dll         Qt5WebKit.dll         vccorlib120.dll
fonts               KindleBook.ico       libfsdk_win32.dll  msvcr100.dll        Qt5MultimediaWidgets.dll  Qt5WebKitWidgets.dll  WebCoreViewer.dll
icudt46.dll         Kindle.exe           libGLESv2.dll      msvcr120.dll        Qt5Network.dll            Qt5Widgets.dll        zlib1.dll
icudt55.dll         kindlekey.pyw        libjpeg.dll        platforms           Qt5Positioning.dll        Qt5WinExtras.dll
icuin46.dll         KindleMagazine.ico   LibWebCore.dll     plugins             Qt5PrintSupport.dll       Qt5Xml.dll
icuin55.dll         KindleNewspaper.ico  libxml2.dll        pthreadVC2.dll      Qt5Script.dll             renderer-test.exe
$

I can create the "storage" file manually easy enough, but wanted to check if the file location may be somewhere else depending on KindleForPC version (I'm using 1.17).

Or, I could make the Kindle directory and all it's subdirectories read-only, so no new storage directory could be created anywhere. That might have a few unintended consequences though.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I'm on Windows 10 using Kindle for PC v1.24.51068

My observations are that it is fairly easy to avoid the unwanted upgrade but it will be tedious if you open it many times per day.

When the Kindle app is opened it starts to download this file - whether you want it or not:

C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\updates\KindleForPC-installer.exe

When you close the app it runs this downloaded installer. So you can avoid the update running by deleting this file before you exit.

It should work for now but I wouldn't expect this workaround to be anything more than a sticking plaster until Amazon find a more sophisticated way to force their upgrades and KFX format on you.

Additional info. Whilst this file is downloading its filename is actually

C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\temp_%1%2

Once it's finished it's put into

C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\updates\KindleForPC-installer.exe

creating the updates subdirectory if necessary.

So perhaps try creating 2 read-only zero-length files:

C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\updates
C:\Users\<myusername>\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\temp_%1%2

so the download can't happen (for now )

[odamizu]

In K4Mac, the "updates" folder is located in User > Library > Application Support > Kindle folder. If you can't find it there, try: Application Support > Containers > com.amazon.Kindle

I replaced it with an empty txt file named "updates" (no extension), which seems to be thwarting update attempts. An update starts to download but cannot complete. Instead of auto-updating, K4Mac asks me if I want to download a new version (every time I launch K4Mac).

ETA: Per jhowell's awesome tip, applying chmod -w to the "updates" folder also works.

Note: chmod -x still works on 1.30.0 as long as you remember to right-click to download instead of open books, so getting auto-updated to 1.30.0 on Mac isn't necessarily a problem.

[Terisa de morgan]

Mine has done the same, thank you for the bat, jhowell.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Mine has done the same, thank you for the bat, jhowell.

Don't thank me yet. There was a major bug in my batch file. Anyone who downloaded and ram the first version needs to download and run the update to fix it!

[TxHawkeye]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Another way to disable Kindle for PC updates is to replace the "updates" folder with a file of the same name. That prevents an update from being downloaded. Kindle for PC will still ask if you want to download the new update each time it is restarted, but it will not be able to do so.

Your BAT file replaces the 'storage' folder with a file of the same name.

I renamed my 'storage' folder to 'xxxstorage' and created a 'storage' file. Upon restarting K4PC 1.24.51068 on Windows 10, K4PC prompts me to agree to terms of use. After doing that I find that my registration has been removed as reported in Options/Registration. This behavior occurs on every attempt to start K4PC.

After removing the 'storage' file and changing the 'xxxstorage' folder back to 'storage', everything goes back to normal (no prompt for terms of use, registration is restored).

Question: Does the installed version of K4PC affect what happens when replacing the 'storage' folder with a 'storage' file?

Another question: Should the folder name be 'updates' rather than 'storage' as others have observed an 'updates' folder being created when the forced upgrade to 1.30 occurs?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by TxHawkeye

Another question: Should the folder name be 'updates' rather than 'storage' as others have observed an 'updates' folder being created when the forced upgrade to 1.30 occurs?

Yes, it should be '"updates", not "storage". I fixed the batch file and replaced it with a new one that disables the proper folder and also fixes the wrong one. You will need to re-register after the fix. Sorry!

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Don't thank me yet. There was a major bug in my batch file. Anyone who downloaded and ram the first version needs to download and run the update to fix it!

Ditto. and thank you again.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by julesy

Thank you for this. I ran the .bat file. We will see if the Kindle for PC 1.17 gets updated again. What a pain it was to restore to the old version!

Did you remember to rename render-test.exe for 1.17 so you don't get KFX?

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Did you remember to rename render-test.exe for 1.17 so you don't get KFX?

You don't need it in 1.17

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

You don't need it in 1.17

But if you don't rename it or delete render-test.exe, you could end up with KFX.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you don't rename it or delete render-test.exe, you could end up with KFX.

1.17 doesn't support KFX.

[TxHawkeye]

Some additional information regarding the forced upgrade to K4PC 1.30 on Windows 10. I'm running version 1.24.51068.

I created a file called 'updates' in %localappdata%\Amazon\Kindle as suggested by others.

I then ran ProcMon (from Sysinternals) to monitor what kindle.exe does when starting up.

--------------
Out of the thousands of registry and file actions performed, there are a couple relevant to the forced updates:

1) kindle.exe queries registry entry HKCU\Software\Amazon\Kindle\Install\Version. In my case, the value returned is 51068 (from 1.24.51068)

2) Immediately after that, kindle.exe attempts to create file "C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\updates\ KindleForPC-installer.exe" where 'xxx' is my userid.

This gets a 'PATH NOT FOUND' result from Windows.

After many other registry and file actions, kindle.exe attempts to create the above file a second time and gets the same result.
--------------

The net result is that kindle.exe completes its startup actions and displays its window without indicating an upgrade is available or that an upgrade was attempted.

The ProcMon output shows that creating the 'updates' file thwarts K4PC's attempt to force an upgrade. Unless and until Amazon finds another way to force updates ... like not allowing old versions to run at all ...

[p38lightning]

Getting the following message when running the most recent batch file: Cannot disable downloads - Kindle for PC is not installed at expected location.

My Kindle for PC is on my C drive under Amazon/Kindle in Program Files (x86).

Any help appreciated.