Araucaria Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 [quote user="sid"]My Kindle connects at home no problem, and it's the same for visitors who wish to connect laptops or iphones, they only have to enter the WPA-PSK code (I DO have security enabled even though the nearest house is some distance away). .........[/quote]Sid - is your Kindle the US version of the Kindle 3, with a serial number starting B006? And is your Livebox a Sagem Livebox 2?I ask because I wonder if these connectivity problems relate to specific Kindles and specific versions of the Livebox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Hi, My Kindle is the latest basic version, often referred to as Kindle 4, serial no starting B00E (it's the one without a keyboard and has only USB and Wi-Fi connectivity). My home router is a Netgear DG834 but I have no trouble connecting to that. The problem router for me in the UK is a BT HomeHub2 apparently, as I have just learned.If you Google "Kindle will not connect" or similar you'll find a huge number of hits; it's obviously not an isolated case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Sam Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Sid, if your problems continue I suggest you post here; http://tinyurl.com/cnh6rz9Very helpful crowd, and if you don't get an answer that works, I'll be very surprised! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Thanks SS. In fact I've browsed the site already, but not posted. As usual with this sort of problem you find that everyone has a slightly different set-up and it's often difficult to pin down the real cause. I'm not due to be travelling for a while so I won't be able to replicate the problem or even try out other wi-fi connections in the near future. If I find anything useful I'll be sure to post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Sid - the new Sagem Livebox 2 (according to Orange) has more robust security arrangements than the original ("open-book"-shaped) Livebox, and I think it was that caused my own connectivity problems. It may be possible to disable them but if so I haven't succeeded.I've had no problems at all with the Kindle itself, and I think it's a great bit of technology.I would also echo your recommendation of Calibre. It converts other formats quickly and well, - except PDFs of course which are difficult to convert easily, so these are often converted into something badly formatted. It also helps keep track of what is in your Kindle. But I have to admit that I was tempted by having Calibre to go a bit further and I did the small adjustment that lets me get rid of the Amazon screensavers ("key-lock" screens) and put in my own pictures. Much nicer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Sam Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 [quote user="Araucaria"] But I have to admit that I was tempted by having Calibre to go a bit further and I did the small adjustment that lets me get rid of the Amazon screensavers ("key-lock" screens) and put in my own pictures. Much nicer.[/quote]Something I was tempted to do, then I read doing so is likely to invalidate the warranty. As I've benefitted from two warranty claims, I'm certainly glad I didn't carry out any 'modifications'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I've been tempted to "jailbreak" the Kindle to load my own screensavers but at these early days I decided that a warranty claim would be invalidated and it's better to hang on. Adding my own screensavers is only a bit of vanity really (like having a personalised number plate on the car... which I DID have in UK ! [:$] ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote user="sid"]I've been tempted to "jailbreak" the Kindle to load my own screensavers but at these early days I decided that a warranty claim would be invalidated and it's better to hang on. Adding my own screensavers is only a bit of vanity really (like having a personalised number plate on the car... which I DID have in UK ! [:$] ).[/quote]It's possible to "unjailbreak" it and put it back the way it was, with the original screensavers. And if my own experience is anything to go by, if you have the most typical Kindle problem, a broken screen, they don't ask you to send the old one back when they supply a new one under warranty. So they won't know what you've done to it's innards.But you are at least partly right about the vanity bit: mine now also shows pictures of my children and other family members. However the real spur was to get rid of Agatha Christie, a writer I really dislike, Jules Verne (overrated), and Ralph Ellison, no doubt a nice enough man but he really only wrote one novel. They have been replaced by Robertson Davies, Neal Stephenson, and Ursula Le Guin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote user="Araucaria"][quote user="sid"]I've been tempted to "jailbreak" the Kindle to load my own screensavers but at these early days I decided that a warranty claim would be invalidated and it's better to hang on. Adding my own screensavers is only a bit of vanity really (like having a personalised number plate on the car... which I DID have in UK ! [:$] ).[/quote]It's possible to "unjailbreak" it and put it back the way it was, with the original screensavers. And if my own experience is anything to go by, if you have the most typical Kindle problem, a broken screen, they don't ask you to send the old one back when they supply a new one under warranty. So they won't know what you've done to it's innards.But you are at least partly right about the vanity bit: mine now also shows pictures of my children and other family members. However the real spur was to get rid of Agatha Christie, a writer I really dislike, Jules Verne (overrated), and Ralph Ellison, no doubt a nice enough man but he really only wrote one novel. They have been replaced by Robertson Davies, Neal Stephenson, and Ursula Le Guin. [/quote]Go on then.... it's just too tempting. How do I do it?p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote user="Gyn_Paul"][quote user="Araucaria"][quote user="sid"]I've been tempted to "jailbreak" the Kindle to load my own screensavers but at these early days I decided that a warranty claim would be invalidated and it's better to hang on. Adding my own screensavers is only a bit of vanity really (like having a personalised number plate on the car... which I DID have in UK ! [:$] ).[/quote]It's possible to "unjailbreak" it and put it back the way it was, with the original screensavers. And if my own experience is anything to go by, if you have the most typical Kindle problem, a broken screen, they don't ask you to send the old one back when they supply a new one under warranty. So they won't know what you've done to it's innards.But you are at least partly right about the vanity bit: mine now also shows pictures of my children and other family members. However the real spur was to get rid of Agatha Christie, a writer I really dislike, Jules Verne (overrated), and Ralph Ellison, no doubt a nice enough man but he really only wrote one novel. They have been replaced by Robertson Davies, Neal Stephenson, and Ursula Le Guin. [/quote]Go on then.... it's just too tempting. How do I do it?p[/quote]It's all HERE. This may look a little daunting, but explained briefly it's a matter of finding, from that list, the right file that matches your own Kindle (both the Kindle model and the Kindle Software version), copying that file into your Kindle, then restarting the Kindle. To change the screensavers you have to go through this process twice, with different files. The first time is the "jailbreak", which slightly modifies the Kindle software so you can change the screensavers. The second time you use a screensaver modification file, a "hack": and this copies your existing Kindle screensavers into a backup directory in the Kindle, and creates a new directory for you to put your own screensavers in. As far as I remember the new directory will initially also contain all the original screensavers, but now you can delete those and add your own. I am also fairly sure that if you pick the wrong "jailbreak" file, nothing will happen at all beyond an "update failed" message, so you can try again with the right one, if you can find it.There are huge numbers of free alternate screensavers available on the web which you can download, but it's very easy to do your own: you reduce a picture, eg a jpg, to a size of 600 x 800 dpi, or smaller, and change it to black and white if it wasn't that already. Then you copy it to the new screensaver directory in the Kindle.I borrowed a picture of John Brown (the one whose soul goes marching on) from the Library of Congress, and reduced it to screensaver size. This was the result:[URL=http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/Vanman15/?action=view¤t=johnbrown.jpg][IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/Vanman15/th_johnbrown.jpg[/IMG][/URL]The advantage of these old images is that they are already black and white, and as far as I know the Library of Congress allows non-commercial reproduction without any copyright problems.I recommend the Mobileread forums generally, for finding sources of free e-books other than Project Gutenberg. The Mobileread library versions are often better formatted than the Gutenberg ones.I should add that I'm not a Kindle expert and you do all this at your own risk. It took me a while to work up enough courage to risk doing it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 My Kindle doesn't have screensavers like those (famous authors); it has trendy images associated with writing/publishing... a block of typeface, some pencils and other insignificant stuff so memorable that I've forgotten what they are! Maybe that last bit is just an age thing? [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote user="sid"]My Kindle doesn't have screensavers like those (famous authors); it has trendy images associated with writing/publishing... a block of typeface, some pencils and other insignificant stuff so memorable that I've forgotten what they are! Maybe that last bit is just an age thing? [8-)][/quote]Sid - this thread on the Mobileread forum has a set of the Kindle 3 "dead people" screensavers attached to one of the posts, if you want to see what they look like. But you won't be able to change your own screensavers at the moment as no-one has yet worked out how to modify the Kindle 4 software.And my apologies to Judith for hijacking her thread. Have you now been able to get your Kindle to connect to your livebox? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I was sure that I had seen some instructions for jailbreaking the v4 but I can't find them now! Oops! It's not urgent and I think someone will find a way eventually.One other thing I meant to mention. The Kindle will accept documents/images (as attachments) which are sent to its special individual email address; I tried to use this feature while over in UK and found that the documents didn't arrive. They had been sent by my son. When I got back home here in France there was an email waiting in my home email box, from Amazon, saying that an email to my Kindle had been rejected because the sender's email address was not on my list of approved senders, and any subsequent attempts would also be blocked. It's a simple matter to add the address, but it's fiddly to do with the Kindle browser if you're away from home, and anyway you have to know that it's necessary in the first place. Much easier to do it before you leave home!Now we really have hijacked Judith's thread. Apologies, Judith ! I hope you're having success with your connections! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote user="Araucaria"]And my apologies to Judith for hijacking her thread. Have you now been able to get your Kindle to connect to your livebox?[/quote]Thank you! Isn't interesting where post s gallivant off to .... no, I've not yet succeeded in connecting to any wifi network....though I have seen the various pieces on advice on here not had any time to try them out .... I'm continuing to download my books via USB which I prefer - but I was hoping to use the Kindle as an email checker when travelling (not often, but for when it happens) which is why I was trying to get it working.... though 3G might be my saviour.I finally read my first book on it - a favourite which I have in hard copy which is so well used it is falling to pieces - out of copyright so easy to find free. So far I've downloaded a lot of freebies, and so far see no need to buy any (now that won't please Amazon!).Kindle seems to be a very emotive subject, I must admit I was dubious about it, but now I'm very pleased with it - the one place I don't like reading it is in bed - it's too exciting and not conducive enough for sleep !!! PS - I LIKE the screensavers - I find them fascinating - but I wish I know what some of the woodcuts were about ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 [quote user="Judith"][quote user="Araucaria"]And my apologies to Judith for hijacking her thread. Have you now been able to get your Kindle to connect to your livebox?[/quote]Thank you! Isn't interesting where post s gallivant off to .... no, I've not yet succeeded in connecting to any wifi network....though I have seen the various pieces on advice on here not had any time to try them out .... I'm continuing to download my books via USB which I prefer - but I was hoping to use the Kindle as an email checker when travelling (not often, but for when it happens) which is why I was trying to get it working.... though 3G might be my saviour.........PS - I LIKE the screensavers - I find them fascinating - but I wish I know what some of the woodcuts were about ..... [/quote]One of the screensavers is from the Lindisfarne Gospels, which you can see in colour here, and I came across this list, though you have to go quite a long way down the page to find it, but it does seem to tell you what is what. However I can't see what some of them have to do with books - the Samian Sibyl, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Thank you - found it. Yes, even more interesting when you know what they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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