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Kindle 4 Russian language. Amazon Kindle Fire - partial Russification

Preface

You can use this hack in for any purpose(including for commercial purposes). You can modify it at your discretion. Also, those who wish can obtain a translation program and translate the firmware into another language.

Attention!!!

This hack is incompatible with official updates firmware, because it will change the core files of the Kindle 3. When you try to install an update over Russification, you will get . To install the update, first uninstall the crack!

Instructions for entering Russian characters

  1. Button - causes standard window with symbols.
  2. Button + — calls up a window with Russian letters.

Installation instructions

  1. To begin with, you need to put jailbreak. How to install it and where to get it, read a separate article
  2. Download the latest version of the Russifying hack: . Similar to jailbreak, copy the install file corresponding to your device to the root of the Kindle. In this case, the file name contains:
    • k3w— Kindle 3 Wi-Fi [ Serial number begin with B008]
    • k3g- Kindle 3G [Serial number starts with B006]
    • k3gb- Kindle 3G UK [Serial number starts with B00A]
  3. If you need a keyboard other than Russian or want to make your own layout, then: Copy the *.keyb file you need to the root of your Kindle. You will find some prepared keyb files in the archive, or you can make your own.
  4. Launch Update Kindle. There should be no errors.
  5. After installation, a folder should appear in the root of the Kindle localization with the install.log file. Do not delete this folder! If you delete it, the crack will automatically turn off after you reboot the device. If you reset the settings to factory settings (the folder will be deleted), then by manually creating this folder you will enable localization back.

Uninstallation instructions

  1. We proceed similarly to installing this hack (see paragraph 2), except that you need to take the file uninstall.bin
  2. During the uninstallation process, the folder localization will be deleted automatically, which means that original files restored and the hack uninstalled.

History of changes

—Version 0.15 from 10/12/2011—
+ Support for Kindle DX Graphite with firmware 3.2.1 installed on it
+ Minor edits in translation

—Version 0.12 from 05/19/2011—
+ Support for firmware 3.2
+ Kindle Special Offers (KSO) support

—Version 0.11 from 04/06/2011—
* Minor edits in translation

Today I got my hands on a Kindle 4 touch and I’ll try to Russify it, looking at some of the pros and cons of this device along the way.

So, let's begin. The Kindle 4 touch itself was purchased directly from Amazon.com through a forwarding company. The customer also bought a leather cover with a flashlight for it. Let me remind you that the e-ink screen itself does not glow, so if you plan to read in the dark, better cover buy one with lighting right away.

If anyone is interested in how to buy a Kindle or in general how you can buy on Amazon.com yourself, welcome to visit us. , if you don’t find it, ask, they won’t leave you without attention. In this review, I decided to show the Kindle live. Those. take a photo live rather than downloading a photo. Here is this cute animal, in an equally cute cover.

The first impression is very positive. The book is neat, lightweight, and the screen responds quite quickly to pressure. And after the device has been placed in the cover (the cover, in turn, is made of very high quality and in addition has a frame made of dense rubber), you begin to receive truly aesthetic pleasure. First of all, I updated the firmware to the latest. I have already described how this is done earlier, but I will repeat it.

  1. Download the update file from here.
  2. We connect the Kindle to the computer using USB.
  3. Copy the downloaded file to the root of the Kindle.
  4. Disconnect the device from the computer.
  5. Go to Menu->Settings Menu->Update Your Kindle again and wait.
  6. After the reboot, go to Menu->Settings Menu->Device info again, there should be your firmware version in the “Firmware Version” line.

(All my actions are carried out with firmware 5.0.3) First we install jailbreak from Yifan Lu (for firmware versions 5.0.0 or 5.0.1) or from ixtab (for 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.3). We install it as follows:

  1. Download the jailbreak file from the links provided above and unpack it.
  2. Connect the Kindle to the computer.
  3. Copy the file data.tar.gz to the root of the Kindle
  4. Restart Kindle Menu->Settings Menu->Restart

After you unpack the downloaded jailbreak archive, I would advise you to read the readme.txt file. It describes the installation process and possible problems.

Now you can actually start Russification. Let's start with the Russian keyboard. Here's a guy who made a Russian keyboard and, in fact, there are installation instructions and all the necessary additional material. Now let's try to Russify it ourselves. So, in order:

  1. Download the package itself and unpack it.
  2. Connect the Kindle to the computer.
  3. We drop the file update-kt-install-keyboard-ru- into the root of the Knidl .bin
  4. Disable Kindle
  5. Go to Menu->Settings, Menu->Update Your Kindle, confirm.

After the update, an icon with a symbolic image will appear on the keyboard field globe. When you select this icon, the keyboard layout will be changed to Cyrillic. To return to English layout You should select the globe icon again. To enter the letters “ё”, “x”, “b”, “zh”, “e”, “b”, “yu”, press the letter “y” and hold the touch for 2-3 seconds. After that over top row keyboard there will be a number of additional Cyrillic letters. (This row will also appear from holding the letter “z” for a long time). To remove the Cyrillic layout, copy the file update-kt-uninstall-keyboard-ru- .bin to the root of the Kindle USB drive, then on the Kindle enter Menu section-> Settings, call Menu again and select "Update Your Kindle", then confirm the update by clicking "OK". Unfortunately, at the time of writing, there was no Russification of the interface yet. But work is underway. Track it here. The same forum thread was used to write this material. In addition, I will provide links to dictionaries for Kindle.

Just yesterday the courier called me and informed me about a parcel from the states. The long-awaited Fire arrived after a month of waiting for pre-order. Let’s skip all the difficulties of ordering and delivery to Ukraine, because... The tablet is already sold in many domestic online stores.
Let me warn you right away that for me this is the first tablet and the first device on Android based. So there will be a lot of seemingly banal things.
I won’t say anything special about the native firmware, because... There are already a bunch of reviews about it on YouTube. Let's move on to the most interesting part, namely:
Receipt root access A;
Installing the Russian keyboard (in standard delivery there is no way to change the layout);
Installation Android market(optional in the next article).

Getting root access to Amazon Kindle Fire
Step one: Download and install Android SDK. You may need the JDK, but the installer will tell you where to get it. You need to install Android 2.3.3 (API10) in the SDK and Google USB Driver Package.
Step two: Let's go to the folder %Users%/%Username%/.android(for Windows 7). We find the file there adb_usb.ini and write it to him at the very end 0x1949. After that, go to the folder where we installed the SDK, find there android_winusb.inf (\extra\google\usb_driver\) add to sections And next text:
;Kindle Fire
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1949&PID_0006
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_1949&PID_0006&MI_01

Step three: We connect the tablet and feed Windows the patched inf.
Step four: Download Super One Click from shortfuse.org - I used version 2.2.
Step five: Launch Super One Click and click Root. After a few manipulations, the program will boot your tablet.
That seems to be all, but for some reason I didn’t have Superuser. The problem was solved quite simply...
Go to the tablet settings, then Device, and allow installation from unknown sources (Allow Installation of Applications From Unknow Sources). Next, in the built-in browser, type root explorer apk (the application is for an amateur - the first one I found). Download, install and launch. Go to the System\App folder and launch the Superuser.apk application there.
Voila - applications can now gain root access to the system.

Installing Russian keyboard and locale on Amazon Kindle Fire
In principle, when I bought the Fire, I didn’t expect to see Russian localization, but the hope of seeing the possibility of switching to the Russian layout died the moment the tablet fell into my hands.
But having root access, changing the default keyboard does not pose any problem.
First, let's download a keyboard that supports changing the layout. Again, you won’t find such joy in your native Amazon Market, but after a little googling I found Hacker’s keybord apk. Unfortunately, after apk installation nothing happened, it was the default application without changing the layout - it remained that way. There is no option to change the keyboard application by simply changing the settings.
To install a keyboard with the ability to change layouts, we will need:
  1. Amazon Kindle Fire with root access;
  2. Program for WiFi tablet Transport (available in Amazon market);
  3. Program on the tablet Root Explorer(where to get it, see above);


Having installed the above programs, we will begin Russification.
Step one: Launch Root Explorer, go to the folder /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases
and copy the settings.db file to the clipboard. Then go to the /sdcard/download folder and paste it there.
Step two: We launch WiFi Transport and connect via ftp to the tablet and copy the settings.db file to the computer.
Step three: Having first saved a copy of settings.db in a safe place, we begin editing using SQLite. Go to the Browse Data tab, select the secure table. We need fields with name enable_input_methods And default_input_method. By default there will be com.android.inputmethod.latin/.LatinIME. For Hacker’s Keyboard, change the values ​​to org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard/.LatinIME. Save the file and upload it back to the tablet.
Here is another list of values ​​for different keyboards(taken from xda):
Swiftkey ( paid version): com.touchtype.swiftkey/com.touchtype.KeyboardService
Swiftkey Tablet (paid version): com.touchtype.swiftkey.tablet.full/com.touchtype.KeyboardService
Swype: com.swype.android.inputmethod/.SwypeInputMethod
SymbolsKeyboard & TextArt Pro: com.mobisters.textart.pro/.AsciiTextArtKeyboardPro
SlideIT: com.dasur.slideit/.SlideITIME
Graffiti Pro: com.access_company.graffiti_pro/.Graffiti
FlexT9: com.nuance.flext9.input/.IME
Beansoft Thumb Keyboard: com.beansoft.keyboardplus/.LatinIME
Hacker's Keyboard: org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard/.LatinIME
Simeji: com.adamrocker.android.input.simeji/.OpenWnnSimeji
Step four: Using the same Root Explorer, copy the modified settings.db file to the folder /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases. Then we give it the attributes rw-rw---- (if you don’t do this, you’ll get a brick).
Step five - change the locale to Russian: Download the MoreLocale 2 program. Having installed it, you can change the locale to Russian without much effort.
Step six: Reboot the tablet and get a Russian keyboard and a partially Russified interface.

P.S. I express my sincere gratitude to the xda developers forum.
P.P.S. If something doesn’t work out, write me, I’ll help you figure it out if possible.

UPD: In some cases, after rebooting the tablet, you can get a brick - the download freezes on the logo. May I help hard reset- hold the power button for about 20 seconds. If it doesn't help, look

Despite the development of technology and widespread implementation them to ours daily life, reading until recently remained on the sidelines of progress. Various e-readers on phones from any manufacturer are convenient in terms of compactness, but not very pleasing to the eye. And the autonomy of such a solution is questionable - almost all smartphones need daily charging. This is tolerable at home, but can lead to a lack of communication on the road - finding an outlet, for example, on a train is problematic. The first signs of changes in the reading process, which in the future could put an end to traditional book publishing, were specialized viewing devices text files. elink technology, electronic ink, was a breakthrough. Concern for the preservation of vision has found visible embodiment. The advantages of electronic ink are undeniable - from a week to two months without recharging, the screen is close to regular paper (in the latest, high-contrast elink). The disadvantages include extreme fragility - just one fall or pressing too hard on the screen is enough - and that’s all, functionality is restored only in the service, by replacing the burst part. The fact is that almost all existing e-readers are produced on a glass substrate, where the elink screen lies. It is notorious for its inimitable fragility, and replacement costs approach 50% of the price of the device. Which, by the way, is not encouraging with low numbers. The fragility disease was overcome by replacing glass with flexible plastic and optimizing the design, but the price increased even more. Cheap e-readers on elink were an unattainable dream until the monster of online trading, Amazon, paid attention to this market. Its series of reading devices, collectively called Kindle, has lowered price tags to pleasant levels. For example, a very easy-to-use reader with 6 inch screen one of the most last generations– Kindle 4, retails for $69, ships worldwide. Customers are expected to spend their money in the built-in online store buying books. In the post-Soviet space this, without a doubt, useful opportunity not available. And the majority of our fellow citizens, let’s face it, consider it beneath their dignity to pay for virtual goods. Like, why pay for something that is on thousands of sites, just two clicks away? Leaving aside the legality of using collections in online libraries (the topic of copyright is vast and multifaceted), let's talk about something else.

Attention! All instructions apply to e-readers without touch screen and only for Kindle 4!

Having unpacked the small box, our fellow citizen is faced with a surprise - the number of formats is limited to mobi, txt, pdf. Not a lot, considering that on “these Internets of yours” the fb2 format is more familiar to a Russian-speaking user. And converting each book separately is still a pleasure. Of course, with the help of built-in Wi-Fi and special email address, where the file is sent, you can get the book back already in mobi format and download it directly to your device. But unfortunately, open access The network is not available everywhere. You can pre-redo all the texts of an excellent Caliber program. In our opinion, these are half measures. It is much more interesting to teach Kindle 4 to understand all formats (including fb2), teach it Russian and slightly modify the built-in software. It's not so easy to do all this, but just once.

Kindle 4 update

Those who want to reflash their Kindle without any risk can take it out, placing it closer to the computer - we are starting our show. Press the Home button, go to the menu, go to Settings. Scroll down to see the version software. If the numbers are identical to 4.1.0, that's good, one step is eliminated. If the numbers are smaller, you need to update first. Connect your device to your computer and upload the file ( http://yadi.sk/d/oBbwwG_J1gl6q) to the reader without creating any folders. Feel free to disconnect your Kindle, and after going through the confusing menu along the path Home -Menu -Settings - Menu -Update Your Kindle, select the last item. Don't be alarmed by reboots, everything is ok. When the device calms down, look at Settings and see if the version numbers have been updated.

Hack the Kindle 4 reader

Received the reader current version firmware, but that's not all. Now we have to force the Kindle to accept programs that were not originally intended for it. Otherwise, Russification and reading fb2 will not take place. In order for the device to gain full functionality, you need to play the role of a hacker for a couple of minutes and hack the device. Let's do that. Download the archive ( http://yadi.sk/d/y2c-AUi51gntc) . Unpack it anywhere. From there we need to take the data.tar.gz archive, the ENABLE_DIAGS file, and the diagnostic_logs folder. Copy them to your Kindle memory without making folders on the device. Disconnect the cable and reboot the device (menu-settings-menu-restart). The reader will reboot into text menu. Use the joystick to navigate to point D) Exit, Reboot or Disable Diags. Select it (joystick left or right). In the submenu you will see the logical items reboot system; after selecting it, the device will ask if it understood you correctly. Choose to continue. Kindle will finally agree with you by going into reboot. For a few seconds, the text Jailbreak, familiar to everyone, will hang on the screen iPhone owners. The reader will again display a text menu on the screen. It is clear that it is impossible to use even a jailbroken device in diagnostic mode, so we force the Kindle to go into standard condition. Go to Exit, Reboot or Disable Diags, disable diagnostics, confirm to the distrustful device that you know what you are doing (to continue). We remind you that selecting and moving through items is done with the joystick. The reader will playfully wink at the screen and reboot. In the list of books you should see new book You are Jailbroken. This is a kind of humorous test of the correctness of hacking.

Adding Russian language to Kindle 4 after hacking

Let's add Russian to the list of supported languages. Download this archive if you have a gray device ( http://yadi.sk/d/LCOO3bG31guS6) or this ( http://yadi.sk/d/jupN3q0c1guiG), if black. In both the first and second options, move update_ru_RU_4.07_k4b/w_install.bin and russian.keyb to the hardware. Update through the item in Home -Menu -Settings -Menu - Update Your Kindle. Now the Russian language will appear in the settings (in Device Language). The reader will restart, showing us the Russian-language menu and virtual keyboard.

Connect the reader to Wi-Fi

The firmware was updated, hacked, Russified, but what about the goals set for us? Don’t worry, the time has come for the cynical introduction into the device of features that the excellent company Amazon did not invest in it. If you have not yet registered your device on the company's website, do so. We hope it's open Wi-Fi hotspot near you, fortunately, after the free distribution of routers by many providers around, there are plenty of them. Connect your Kindle to Wi-Fi. There is a Turn Wireless item in the menu. Select On and see if there is a connection. Since this way the device connects only to access points that supply IP to connected devices, not all points will be accessible. Connection failed or do you need to enter a password? Go to Home-Menu - Settings -Wi-Fi Networks (view). There, scan for available access points again, select the one you need and click connect. You can enter the network name manually and set a password in the enter other Wi-Fi networks section there. You can check if there is internet in your browser at Home > Menu > Experimental > (launch browser).

Register your Kindle with Amazon and install an alternative reader in fb2 format

The network is available, let's proceed to registration. It is located in Menu-settings-registration. Have you passed? Install the program Cool Reader, which can read fb2 and pleases with the richness of its settings. Download it from here ( http://yadi.sk/d/3jLuUBix1gtI6), put it on the memory card, unpacking everything into the device memory without changes. Do not forget that after any archive we have abandoned, you must disconnect your Kindle from your computer. Update the device with the update item, as you did just above. After restarting, the menu will appear Cool program Reader. We'll probably update that too. Get the archive from here ( http://yadi.sk/d/NWyuzNAQ1gva0), transfer it to the reader and the cr3 folder (it is already there), replacing the files. All that remains is to customize the fully functional program to your liking. Launch CR3 Runner, go to menu-settings. By manipulating the joystick, get to the language settings (press down, center button, confirm switching to Russian). Now we go back through home-menu-close. By re-launching the program, you will see that everything has become clearer and more pleasant - we are greeted by a Russian-language menu. Going to the same menu, press the joystick to the right, there is a “Page” and “Styles” tab. Adjust the font size and line spacing as you like. All settings are made using the joystick, which is not surprising, since there is no touch screen. You can apply the changes made if the cursor is not on the numbers in the windows. Just click Home.

The last thing we do today would upset Amazon. All e-readers costing $69 come with advertising, which, however, does not bother you, acting as a screen saver. Since, as already mentioned, our countries are not included in the number of full-fledged clients of the online store, advertising does not help the company sell, nor help us buy. Let's eliminate this oversight in the most cynical way by turning off advertisements completely. Download (http://yadi.sk/d/1rf-aQR61gwvw) and extract update_noads_0.5_k4x_install.bin from the archive. Having turned off your conscience, move the file to the device’s memory, remembering to then disconnect it from the computer. Update your Kindle using the tried-and-true Update Your Kindle option in Settings. The next time you reboot, you won't see the latest ads.

So, by tinkering with Kindle 4, we made it more interesting for people who speak Russian. Nothing stops us from enjoying reading anymore. Indeed, contrary to the opinion of the older generation, young people read a lot. Not particularly keen to return to the old image of paper books. In addition, the price of a dozen such works printed on plain paper will more than pay for the purchase of the device, and then you will only save. Looks like it's time for publishers and stores to start thinking about pricing and moving online before they're forced into retirement by companies like Amazon.

Currently, jailbreak is only possible for firmware 3.3 and lower. Therefore on latest models Kindle can't install it yet. After all, only the Keyboard version has firmware 3.3, while the regular Kindle has 4.0.1, Touch version– 5, and Kindle Fire – 6.1. Although the latter is more of a tablet than eBook. We have already talked about the differences between the models. Now let’s talk about what hacks are already available on the Kindle Keyboard.



We do jailbreak. Installing jailbreak is the hack that is needed to get everyone else working. It is recommended to place it on the last one possible firmware. In this case you will receive latest opportunities firmware, and features from hacks. Installation of any of the hacks follows the following algorithm:

  1. Download and unpack the archive with the hack. It is better to download from the author's website. For jailbreak this is the mobileread forum.
  2. Select the install file based on the version of your device. Details on how to do this are always in the readme.txt inside the archive.
  3. Upload this file to the root of your Kindle.
  4. Let's launch Update. To do this, click , then , select Settings, then again and there is Update.
  5. The installation of the update should complete without errors, that is, you will see a check mark on the screen, not a question mark.
  6. In case it is necessary to remove this hack, for example before installation new firmware, then you need to select the appropriate uninstall file and follow steps 2-5.

We install Russification. Russification of Kindle is available thanks to the efforts of SirAlex. On his website you can find latest version Russification. It exists in the following versions:

  • Russification of the Kindle 3 interface + Russian virtual keyboard (loc_ru)
  • Russian virtual keyboard and 24-hour time format (keyb)

It should be noted that the last two options are incompatible with each other. I personally prefer to put the first and third options. Then there is no change in the format of the notes, but more on working with notes another time.

Add khaki to your taste. Here is a list of the hacks I use.

  • Kindle-fonts one of the popular hacks that come with jailbreakom. Designed to replace native Kindle fonts with your own.
  • Kindle-SS another popular hack. Allows you to use your pictures as Kindle screensavers. They should be 600x800 in size and, of course, in grayscale.
  • usbnetwork A hack needed for developers that allows you to connect to your Kindle via SSH. This allows you to both modify files operating system Kindle and download books via WiFi. Personally, it’s more convenient for me to use USB or kinlde-mail for this, but if you want to try, here are the instructions in Russian.