Hack Your Kindle
By @edent
· barcamp barcamp brighton bcb5 ebooks hacking kindle xkcd · 7 comments · 350 words · read ~11,541 times.
I gave a quick talk at BarCamp Brigton about how to hack the Amazon Kindle 3G. These hacks come in two flavours - easy and very easy.
Very Easy - Pictures
Wouldn't it be great to view pictures on your Kindle? Well? OK - pictures, perhaps not so much - but comics? Yes please!
For best results, image files should be the same resolution as the Kindle. 600px * 800px - and grey-scale.
Let's use the XKCD comics - mostly because they're already the right size and mostly in black and white. And they're awesome.
This hack can be done in under 30 seconds.
- Plug you Kindle into your computer using the USB cable.
- In the root folder, create a new folder called "pictures"
- In the new folder, create another folder called "XKCD"
- Copy the pictures into the XKCD folder.
- Eject the Kindle & unplug it.
- From the Kindle home screen, press ALT and Z at the same time.
- The screen will now show an XKCD book. You can scroll through the pages using the normal page scroll buttons.
- You can also change the size of the pictures.
Very Easy - Screenshots
Hold down ALT, SHIFT, G, at the same time. Done. The .gif files are stored in your documents folder.
Very Easy - Diagnostic Information
To get this diagnostic information do the following.
- Turn the Kindle on and unlock it.
- Press Menu
- Press Settings
- Hold down the Alt key
- While holding down Alt, type Y Q Q
- Ta da!
You can also type R Q Q to get this screen. 
Easy - Jail Breaking and Screensavers
These are fairly easy hacks. Copy a file onto your Kindle and hit update. For up todate files and instructions, visit the MobileRead Wiki on Kindle Jailbreaking.
Found This Useful?
If you've enjoyed this post, or found it useful - you can buy an Amazon Kindle via my referral link.
Voynich Manuscript for Kindle and other eBook Readers
graham says:
you can also try alt and U Q Q (711) for wi-fi info
chris says:
There's a free Minesweeper game if you press ALT+SHIFT+M.
w brown says:
There’s a free Minesweeper game if you press ALT+SHIFT+M.
.................................................................................................. http://www.kindleinuk.co.uk
Peter Parslow says:
I don't get anything for 411 or 611, but 711 works as described (& Minesweeper).
It's only this morning that I found Alt-QWERTYUIOP gives numeric input in any text field.
david says:
So, putting a bunch of images in kindle is a hack these days, eh? What a google-whore you are!!
Hi everyone!
On http://www.kubizo.com there are 2000 screensavers for the Kindle and a COMPLETELY AUTOMATIC application that does the installation for you. You don't need to worry about jailbreaking and hacking.
Hope you like my website!
http://www.kubizo.com
D