Hacks Kindle Screensaver

sfernald · 12-12-2007, 01:09 PM

I haven't seen this mentioned too often, but I must admit one feature I like is the screensaver of the Kindle that loads a random picture when it goes into sleep mode.

I really like the pictures it has. Kinda reminds me of the artwork I see in Starbucks and Barnes and Noble.

It seems like there are quite a few pictures in the library. Does anyone know if the Kindle actually will go online and download new pictures for the screensaver.

You guys like the screensaver too?

tsgreer · 12-12-2007, 01:57 PM

What I want to know is how to get pics onto the Kindle that keep the same quality as the screensaver artwork. The screensaver artwork really does use 4 grayscales and looks great. When I have tried to get pics to the Kindle, amazon converts them to .azW (un-DRM'd mobi format) and the pics look terrible. The one big flaw I see in mobi format is how it handles images...

igorsk · 12-12-2007, 04:46 PM

The pictures are stored inside the firmware. There are 34 images, and they're raw 2-bit 600x800 bitmaps.

tsgreer · 12-12-2007, 05:01 PM

Maybe someone will come up with a hack that allows us to change those pics out with our own. That would be cool, but probably low on the list of things to hack.

I can't because I'm not smart enough to hack.

Alexander Turcic · 12-12-2007, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsgreer

I can't because I'm not smart enough to hack.

Something makes me think that igorsk might be your man.

gadams999 · 12-17-2007, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

The pictures are stored inside the firmware. There are 34 images, and they're raw 2-bit 600x800 bitmaps.

Igor,

Is the firmware accessible in any way? As a USB Mass Storage device I don't see any sign of the kernel, so I'm guessing it's giving us a chroot'ed view of the documents folders, etc.

I'd love to change up the images too. Time to make a request to Amazon...

phuocle · 02-07-2008, 03:46 AM

Here's how to do your own... I didn't discover this, just re-posting for your convenience:

1. Attach the Kindle to a computer using the USB cord.
2. Using Windows Explorer (or whatever you use to see individual files/folders) , you should see a new drive called Kindle under My Computer. Go to that drive. (Or if you have an SD card in your Kindle, you can go to the SD drive.)
3. Create a new folder called “pictures” and a subfolder called “screensavers” under it. Make sure both folder names are all lowercase.
4. Copy your image files into the screensavers folder. Your pictures should be 600×800 pixels and black & white. I’ve only used .jpg files. [[Note: I've used .png files as well]]
5. After copying is complete & it is safe, remove the Kindle from the USB connection.
6. Go to your Home menu and press alt-z. This will create a new book called “screensavers” . Open it. You’ll see each of your pictures. You can advance through them with the prev. page and next page buttons. [[Note: The new book will appear at the END of your book list]]
7. While viewing your pictures, look at the bottom of the Kindle screen. If you see your battery indicator & Menu prompt, press alt-F to go into Full Screen mode.
8. On each photo, press alt-shift-0 (i.e., alt-shift-zero) . After a brief delay, you’ll get a message that your picture has been exported as screensaver. Click Close on the message.
9. Navigate to each of the pictures you want to use and repeat the above step.
10. When you’ve got all your pictures loaded, test them by going into & out of sleep mode. Alt-aA (i.e., alt-font size button) puts it to sleep & wakes it up again. Each time it sleeps, it should use a different image. If you see the same image all the time, relook at Step 3.

If you want to get rid of your custom screen savers, follow these steps:

1. Attach the Kindle to a computer using the USB cord.
2. Using Windows Explorer (or whatever you use to see individual files/folders) , go to your Kindle drive under My Computer.
3. If you see a folder called system, skip this step. If you don’t see the system folder, click on the Tools menu & then Folder Options. Go to the View tab, and look at the Advanced Settings. Under Hidden Files and Folders, select Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Apply, then OK. You should now see a system folder.
4. Under the system folder, you’ll see a screen_saver folder. Delete all the files that are in that folder.
5. After you disconnect from the USB, you may see your last custom screensaver one more time, but after that it will revert back to the pre-loaded Kindle screensaver images.

schulzmc · 02-07-2008, 09:53 AM

This is so awesome! Thanks. I was getting tired of those default images, and now I have about ten family photos instead.

Hopefully I don't get tired of my family... (grin)

jrdew · 02-12-2008, 11:20 AM

Is the Kindle screensaver supposed to rotate through those images, or just pick one and keep it displayed until you wake it up? Seems like mine is just holding on one image. But I've only had the thing for a day, so perhaps I haven't noticed.

tsgreer · 02-12-2008, 02:10 PM

Mine only holds one image as well. I can't get it to rotate through custom pics.

badgoodDeb · 02-12-2008, 03:10 PM

Even with the included screen savers, it doesn't change while it is in sleep mode. (That would take power) It does rotate through different images each *time* you sleep it, but not during the sleep period.

jrdew · 02-12-2008, 03:35 PM

Sounds good to me. Just wanted to make sure my Kindle was acting correctly. I guess old fashioned screen "burn in" isn't an issue with e-ink?

phuocle · 02-12-2008, 04:36 PM

That's supposed to be one of the advantages of E-ink... no burn in.

tsgreer · 02-13-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Even with the included screen savers, it doesn't change while it is in sleep mode. (That would take power) It does rotate through different images each *time* you sleep it, but not during the sleep period.

This is true. Sorry I didn't make myself clear, but with my user images, it doesn't rotate throught the images each time I put it to sleep. It will just use the last image that I exported to screensaver.

But if I use the default screensaver, then it it rotates through the images fine each time I sleep it.

phuocle · 02-15-2008, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsgreer

This is true. Sorry I didn't make myself clear, but with my user images, it doesn't rotate throught the images each time I put it to sleep. It will just use the last image that I exported to screensaver.

But if I use the default screensaver, then it it rotates through the images fine each time I sleep it.

Gotcha... it is random so you may get 2 of the same images in a row. I get that with the built in screen savers. Are you always getting the image with the custom screen saver? If that's the case, you may want to make sure that you're exporting your images properly to the screen saver. Do you get the message that it was successful after pressing Alt-Shift-0 on each picture?

If that's the case, I'm not sure what to tell you. Also, see step #10.

02-07-2008, 03:46 AM	#7
phuocle Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle 1, Kindle DX, Kindle Touch, iPad 1	Here's how to do your own... I didn't discover this, just re-posting for your convenience: 1. Attach the Kindle to a computer using the USB cord. 2. Using Windows Explorer (or whatever you use to see individual files/folders) , you should see a new drive called Kindle under My Computer. Go to that drive. (Or if you have an SD card in your Kindle, you can go to the SD drive.) 3. Create a new folder called “pictures” and a subfolder called “screensavers” under it. Make sure both folder names are all lowercase. 4. Copy your image files into the screensavers folder. Your pictures should be 600×800 pixels and black & white. I’ve only used .jpg files. [[Note: I've used .png files as well]] 5. After copying is complete & it is safe, remove the Kindle from the USB connection. 6. Go to your Home menu and press alt-z. This will create a new book called “screensavers” . Open it. You’ll see each of your pictures. You can advance through them with the prev. page and next page buttons. [[Note: The new book will appear at the END of your book list]] 7. While viewing your pictures, look at the bottom of the Kindle screen. If you see your battery indicator & Menu prompt, press alt-F to go into Full Screen mode. 8. On each photo, press alt-shift-0 (i.e., alt-shift-zero) . After a brief delay, you’ll get a message that your picture has been exported as screensaver. Click Close on the message. 9. Navigate to each of the pictures you want to use and repeat the above step. 10. When you’ve got all your pictures loaded, test them by going into & out of sleep mode. Alt-aA (i.e., alt-font size button) puts it to sleep & wakes it up again. Each time it sleeps, it should use a different image. If you see the same image all the time, relook at Step 3. If you want to get rid of your custom screen savers, follow these steps: 1. Attach the Kindle to a computer using the USB cord. 2. Using Windows Explorer (or whatever you use to see individual files/folders) , go to your Kindle drive under My Computer. 3. If you see a folder called system, skip this step. If you don’t see the system folder, click on the Tools menu & then Folder Options. Go to the View tab, and look at the Advanced Settings. Under Hidden Files and Folders, select Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Apply, then OK. You should now see a system folder. 4. Under the system folder, you’ll see a screen_saver folder. Delete all the files that are in that folder. 5. After you disconnect from the USB, you may see your last custom screensaver one more time, but after that it will revert back to the pre-loaded Kindle screensaver images. Last edited by phuocle; 02-07-2008 at 02:20 PM.

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12-12-2007, 01:09 PM	#1
sfernald Zealot Posts: 102 Karma: 101 Join Date: Oct 2006	Kindle Screensaver I haven't seen this mentioned too often, but I must admit one feature I like is the screensaver of the Kindle that loads a random picture when it goes into sleep mode. I really like the pictures it has. Kinda reminds me of the artwork I see in Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. It seems like there are quite a few pictures in the library. Does anyone know if the Kindle actually will go online and download new pictures for the screensaver. You guys like the screensaver too?

12-12-2007, 01:57 PM	#2
tsgreer Lovin' the e-book life... Posts: 633 Karma: 2509 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Device: Ebookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle, BeBook (with OpenInkpot)	What I want to know is how to get pics onto the Kindle that keep the same quality as the screensaver artwork. The screensaver artwork really does use 4 grayscales and looks great. When I have tried to get pics to the Kindle, amazon converts them to .azW (un-DRM'd mobi format) and the pics look terrible. The one big flaw I see in mobi format is how it handles images...

12-12-2007, 04:46 PM	#3
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	The pictures are stored inside the firmware. There are 34 images, and they're raw 2-bit 600x800 bitmaps.

12-12-2007, 05:01 PM	#4
tsgreer Lovin' the e-book life... Posts: 633 Karma: 2509 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Device: Ebookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle, BeBook (with OpenInkpot)	Maybe someone will come up with a hack that allows us to change those pics out with our own. That would be cool, but probably low on the list of things to hack. I can't because I'm not smart enough to hack.

02-07-2008, 09:53 AM	#8
schulzmc Zealot Posts: 108 Karma: 112 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Kindle	This is so awesome! Thanks. I was getting tired of those default images, and now I have about ten family photos instead. Hopefully I don't get tired of my family... (grin)

02-12-2008, 11:20 AM	#9
jrdew Member Posts: 11 Karma: 34 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle	Is the Kindle screensaver supposed to rotate through those images, or just pick one and keep it displayed until you wake it up? Seems like mine is just holding on one image. But I've only had the thing for a day, so perhaps I haven't noticed.

02-12-2008, 02:10 PM	#10
tsgreer Lovin' the e-book life... Posts: 633 Karma: 2509 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Device: Ebookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle, BeBook (with OpenInkpot)	Mine only holds one image as well. I can't get it to rotate through custom pics.

02-12-2008, 03:10 PM	#11
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,515 Karma: 64095689 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Even with the included screen savers, it doesn't change while it is in sleep mode. (That would take power) It does rotate through different images each time you sleep it, but not during the sleep period.

02-12-2008, 03:35 PM	#12
jrdew Member Posts: 11 Karma: 34 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle	Sounds good to me. Just wanted to make sure my Kindle was acting correctly. I guess old fashioned screen "burn in" isn't an issue with e-ink?

02-12-2008, 04:36 PM	#13
phuocle Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle 1, Kindle DX, Kindle Touch, iPad 1	That's supposed to be one of the advantages of E-ink... no burn in.

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