Tutorial
Improving Early Kindles
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In July 2010, Amazon released the Kindle 3, also known as the Kindle Keyboard. With a smaller footprint than the Kindle 2, more internal storage, and an improved display, the Kindle 3 was a marked improvement. Even now, long over a decade past its release, it’s still a joy to use.
My mother gifted me one she acquired for cheap a few years back, but it was in a non-operational state. Cosmetically it looked mint, yet it refused to turn on, even after charging for extended periods of time.
I went out on a limb and purchased a battery from Amazon. Following iFixit’s Kindle 3 Battery Replacement guide, I managed to get things sorted. It wasn’t too difficult of a process. The hardest part was simply prying off the back, which I ended up achieving with the edge of a butter knife.
With the replaced battery and a bit of charge, the Kindle was up and running. I put it to use immediately but identified a few gripes. Thankfully, the MobileRead Forums exist and play host to a whole collection of hacks and tweaks.
It took me a while to trawl through all the information required to get things up and operational - thanks largely due to the age of the device, meaning most resources have fallen victim to link rot - so this is a brief write-up of my chosen tweaks and modifications. These notes describe the process on the Kindle 3, but some of the information is transferable, and I’ve also taken very similar actions on a Kindle 4 and a Kindle 5. Most of what is written here is inapplicable to Kindles succeeding the Kindle 5.
This isn’t a guide for the technically inexperienced, merely a collection of notes to wrap the fantastic but fractured works done by others into something a bit more comprehensible.
Resetting and Updating
If you haven’t already, it’s worth resetting your Kindle prior to modding it, just to be certain it doesn’t have existing cruft. It’s especially worth doing if the Kindle previously belonged to someone else.
To do so, first hit the Home button to go to the main menu screen. Then press Menu and then select Settings. Press the Menu key once again and select Reset to Factory Defaults. Note that this will wipe all content on the Kindle. Then wait, as it takes a while for it to reset itself.
The next step is to make sure you’re on the latest software available. Open Amazon’s Kindle E-Reader Software Updates page and follow the instructions for your model.
Hacks
First things first, you’ll need the gaolbreak. The MobileRead Wiki has a short little guide on how to gaolbreak your Kindle. You’ll want to follow that down, stopping at the screen-saver 1 hack section.
While you can install the screen-saver hack and even the fonts hack, which allows you to take control of your font customisation if you so wish, you’re much better off installing KOReader, as is covered later in this guide, which completely overhauls the experience and gives you the aforementioned options in addition to many more and a much nicer overall experience.
KUAL
The Kindle Unified Application Launcher (KUAL) is a very handy little application which various hacks and things can hook into. You’ll want to install this so you can have a graphical interface to change your settings.
You’ll first need to install the Mobileread Kindlet Kit (MKK). This will let you open and use custom Kindlets, such as KUAL. 2 You can grab the install from NiLuJe’s Snapshot thread and then follow the installation guide halfway down the MKK page to install it.
Next, you’ll want to install KUAL itself. Grab it from the Snapshot thread, then follow the installation guide on the KUAL thread. After that, check that it opens fine by selecting it from your main library page.
Now, you can jump back to the Snapshots thread, grab all of the extensions, and install them as outlined on the KUAL page. Opening KUAL now, you should see that you have lots of settings and options.
KOReader
KOReader is pretty much a complete replacement for the Kindle’s default operating system. It is especially handy on older Kindles which haven’t seen software updates in years and therefore lack many modern comforts. They provide a full guide on getting everything installed and set up on their GitHub wiki.
KOReader can be used on a variety of devices, including computers and Android phones, so you might consider testing it before installing it to see if it is to your liking. The experience is largely identical across devices, though it is worth remaining aware that the older Kindles don’t have touchscreens. Navigating KOReader with button inputs certainly works but can be finicky at times. At any rate, the installation of KOReader is revertible if you’re so inclined.
Once installed, the out-of-the-box defaults are more than suitable, but you can also extensively edit and tailor the experience to your specific needs. There exists a myriad of useful plugins available to use with KOReader, including one I developed myself to interface with Jellyfin.
KOReader truly does allow full and granular control over every part of the reading experience with so very many settings to tinker with. It is worth taking the time to peruse the settings and get everything dialled in to your preferences, as well as to get a grasp of all the quality-of-life tweaks and additional conveniences offered over the Kindle’s default operating system.
If you’re looking for a dictionary to use with KOReader, the GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English is free and rather comprehensive.
Congrats, you’ve got your Kindle ready to go! You now have advanced control and configuration options available to you and hopefully the potential for a better reading experience.
I recommend having a look through the MobileRead Forums and all the cool stuff it has to offer. I also recommend switching off wireless unless you’re using it, as I’ve found it can be quite the battery hog. A magnetic cable is also of great value to help minimise wear to the fragile Micro USB connectors.