# Georgia2 on my 2.5 K2!



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Update: I'm having problems getting the font to change on my K2-US, so this may not yet be ready for prime time. Sorry for any premature false hopes. 

*Update to the update: looks like it's fixed now* 

See this thread at the MobileReads forum. I'll try to have a copy of the files and instructions up at my blog later tonight.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Congrats!  Unfortunately it doesn't cover the font I use, but at least there's progress.


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## davem2bits (Feb 2, 2009)

Thanks for the heads up, Nogdog.  Looks like I might finally upgrade to 2.5.2.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I'll be waiting.. I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to be doing by reading that thread...


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> I'll be waiting.. I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to be doing by reading that thread...


Same here.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

VictoriaP said:


> Congrats! Unfortunately it doesn't cover the font I use, but at least there's progress.


Psst....

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=973781&postcount=10


> ....But if you don't want to bother with that, don't be shy, reply with the the URL of the font hack you'd like to be updated, and I'll happily do it for you, and make them available here for everyone .


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## lovesangelrn (Dec 28, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> I'll be waiting.. I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to be doing by reading that thread...


I think I almost understand most of the post (after re-reading it over and over for about 45min), until I get to the part about installing a different font. I downloaded the files to my computer (just to see what all was in them) and the "font" folder in the src folder has ALOT of stuff in it, and i have no idea if we are supposed to keep it all.....or just copy and overwrite with the new font (I would like Georgia 2). So NogDog, if you read this, could you please simplfy or explain the last bit of the process when you write your blog


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

This looks promising. I'm testing it out on my K2i right now. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

lovesangelrn said:


> I think I almost understand most of the post (after re-reading it over and over for about 45min), until I get to the part about installing a different font. I downloaded the files to my computer (just to see what all was in them) and the "font" folder in the src folder has ALOT of stuff in it, and i have no idea if we are supposed to keep it all.....or just copy and overwrite with the new font (I would like Georgia 2). So NogDog, if you read this, could you please simplfy or explain the last bit of the process when you write your blog


Ok, based on the instructions provided there is a src folder, I didn't see that in the Winzip file I downloaded, am I missing something.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

It's at the very top of the list...

I missed it the first go around too..


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Well, I linked Ted-san's page to that thread, but honestly, this doesn't sound anywhere near as foolproof as our previous method.  There's been a larger than typical number of people hitting on issues with the screensaver hacks, and this one isn't even as clearly spelled out in non geek terms as that one was.  I'm usually pretty savvy on this stuff, but I'm not grasping this for some reason.  I'll probably sit on the sidelines for a wee bit longer...


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

Well that went well. I've had to do a factory reset and reinstall everything from scratch. Fortunately, I backed everything up before beginning. Before you panic, there is good news. The screensaver part works just fine. I followed the instructions all the way to the fonts. When I started messing with the fonts, that's where things went wrong.

nogdog (or anyone else for that matter): How exactly do you change fonts? After installation of the hack, I would copy the new fonts into the /linkfonts/fonts folder and then restart. The new fonts would overwrite some of the files there, but not all. After the restart, nothing seemed to change. I did that several times, with no apparent changes. I then deleted all the fonts in that folder, and then copied over a new set of fonts. On reset, it got stuck in a endless reset cycle. That would be where I messed up. But how?

I'm going to take another stab at it, after copying everything back over of course.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

stormmaster said:


> Well that went well. I've had to do a factory reset and reinstall everything from scratch. Fortunately, I backed everything up before beginning. Before you panic, there is good news. The screensaver part works just fine. I followed the instructions all the way to the fonts. When I started messing with the fonts, that's where things went wrong.
> 
> nogdog (or anyone else for that matter): How exactly do you change fonts? After installation of the hack, I would copy the new fonts into the /linkfonts/fonts folder and then restart. The new fonts would overwrite some of the files there, but not all. After the restart, nothing seemed to change. I did that several times, with no apparent changes. I then deleted all the fonts in that folder, and then copied over a new set of fonts. On reset, it got stuck in a endless reset cycle. That would be where I messed up. But how?
> 
> I'm going to take another stab at it, after copying everything back over of course.


Agreed - I am running into the same situation as storm, however, I am not starting from the factory reset. I copied all of the Helvetica2 files over to the linkfonts/fonts folder. It overwrote some of the files like storm indicated, but not all - when I did a re-start, same fonts from before, nothing new. Any thoughts?


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

You don't have to do the factory reset because you didn't delete the other fonts in the font folder like that other fool stormmaster did. ;-)

After the reset, I lost all of my collection data. The collections are there, but they're all empty. Anyone know of a way to save that? Think copying the collections.json file in the systems folder might be it?

chilady1, how many times did you reset? I reset just once after each new set of fonts were put into the fonts folder. From the instructions, that should have done it, but clearly not, if its not working.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

stormmaster said:


> Thank you for this tidbit of info, saved me from a factory reset. Sorry you had to do it. That sucks![/color]
> 
> After the reset, I lost all of my collection data. The collections are there, but they're all empty. Anyone know of a way to save that? Think copying the collections.json file in the systems folder might be it?
> 
> chilady1, how many times did you reset? I reset just once after each new set of fonts were put into the fonts folder. From the instructions, that should have done it, but clearly not, if its not working. I added all the files from the Helvetica folder which according to the instructions, overwrites the default fonts in that linkfont/fonts folder. NiLuJe said that is exactly what should happen, I only restarted once after putting the new files in the folder. There is something missing because in her instructions she talks about making sure all the fonts are copied over otherwise the hack won't take.


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I've been checking in every day (sometimes several times a day!) to see if there is any news about the updated fonts.  I was thrilled when I found this post!

This is great progress.  However, I think, like VictoriaP, I'll exercise some patience and make sure there are no problems with this before I update to 2.5.3 and try the new fonts.  I have suffered from a lack of patience in the past and have paid for it!

Anxious to hear more feedback on how they're working.


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## PhillipA82 (Dec 20, 2009)

Nice, congrats


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'm having problems getting the font to change on my K2-US, so this may not yet be ready for prime time. Sorry for any premature false hopes.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

I know have the font hack successfully installed on my Kindle2 US, with 2.5.2 and screensaver. <Sigh of relief>

Much thanks to NogDog for bringing it to my attention and NiLuJe for helping me (us) get this done. It was a matter of the wrong files placed in the winzip folder but he/she was able to quickly find the problem and now I am golden!!!!!!!!!!! Very happy camper


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yep, looks like it's working now. I've successfully put the Helvetica2 on my K2us, and now have switched to Georgia2.


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

*happy dance happy dance*

w00t! It works! To echo the others, turns out a few misplaced files messed up the script. Simple mistake. Custom fonts ftw!

Just to note, I thought it didn't work at first, even with the fix, but when I opened up a story, it was using the correct font. Turns out the font used for Collections and the font used for story titles are different. I have exactly 10 collections, so when I sort by Title, the first page are all collections. Important thing is, it now works! I'm using the font Fontin, for the record. Very readable even at the smallest setting. I had been reading at 3; now I'll switch back to 1 or 2.

Thanks to all the NeLuJe for the hard work!


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## jglerner (Jan 31, 2010)

Not very intuitive but, after some effort and fiddling, I´m done!

Georgia2 on this side.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

My paraphrased instructions on my blog: http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/font-hack-for-kindle-version-2-5


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

I did some more fiddling with the fonts and I have some interesting news. It looks like the font sets aren't completely complete. For example, when the Fontin fonts are copied as a whole over, only the serif_something fonts are actually Fontin. The mono_something fonts are KindleBlackBoxC and the sans_something are helveticaneue lt. Kindle seems to use the serif fonts for book titles and the book text, and the sans fonts for the titles, menus, and collection names. What does this mean? You can mix and match to get the exact look you want! Right now, I'm using the serif fonts from Fontin and the mono and sans fonts from the droid_sans package (called deja vu sans and droid sans respectively).

The inevitable question comes up, how do you tell? I just select the font on my computer, and hit enter. It brings up a font viewer with info about the font and a sample. (I'm running Ubuntu Linux, so it may be a tad different for ya'll on vista.)

Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, in case it needs to be said, you don't need to reinstall the bin files each time you change fonts. Just upload the fonts to the kindle, eject the kindle, and then restart the kindle from the settings menu. Easy as pie. (Whatever that means?)


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## cloudyvisions (May 21, 2009)

Hooray! This is what I have been waiting for! Thanks for the paraphrased instructions, they are much clearer now.

I'm off to uninstall the old hacks, update to 2.5 and get my hacks back on. *crosses fingers that it goes easily*


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Thanks. I'll look into ot on the morning.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

stormmaster said:


> I did some more fiddling with the fonts and I have some interesting news. It looks like the font sets aren't completely complete. For example, when the Fontin fonts are copied as a whole over, only the serif_something fonts are actually Fontin. The mono_something fonts are KindleBlackBoxC and the sans_something are helveticaneue lt. Kindle seems to use the serif fonts for book titles and the book text, and the sans fonts for the titles, menus, and collection names. What does this mean? You can mix and match to get the exact look you want! Right now, I'm using the serif fonts from Fontin and the mono and sans fonts from the droid_sans package (called deja vu sans and droid sans respectively).
> 
> The inevitable question comes up, how do you tell? I just select the font on my computer, and hit enter. It brings up a font viewer with info about the font and a sample. (I'm running Ubuntu Linux, so it may be a tad different for ya'll on vista.)
> 
> ...


Hmmm...I liked having all mine basically the same font (my menus are darker than the default ones, as is my regular text), so I wonder if that's still possible?

Like Heather, I'll take a closer look at this tomorrow when I'm more awake!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Have been following the instructions in NogDog's blog. I'm past the part where I've copied the linkfonts and then update file bin, unplugged and updated software of the KDX. Now it says to copy the contents of the fonts folder on the computer to the inside of the fonts folder in the kindle. But it says they are already there and do I want to replace them. What would be the point of replacing them with the same files?

Sorry. Just reread the instructions and it does have us say yes to overwrite them. I'll do that now.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I addition to my previous question, how would I select the Helvetica2 font to use?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The font files that are initially in the fonts folder on the Kindle are the stock fonts (I think, or whatever the hack developer wanted them to be?). To change to Helvetica2 after you've done the hack install, you only have to copy the font files from the separate Helvetica2 file into the font folder now on the Kindle. Then when you restart, those new font files are incorporated and used instead of the font files that they replaced.

I hope that's clear: it's been a long day with a lot of looking at this computer screen for the last few hours.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Hm, cant get those font files anymore - am partway through.  Help!


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## sem (Oct 27, 2008)

This is good news but it is 10:30 here and I didn't get much sleep last night. I think that I will pass on this until tomorrow when my brain regains some measure of function. 

Nog, you are the best and I doff my virtual hat in your direction - night all!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Pushka said:


> Hm, cant get those font files anymore - am partway through. Help!


Which files where?


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

The Georgia and Helvetica. This is the screen I get (the first few are fine and will download):
Beep beep BEEP!

We're sorry. Your call request cannot be completed as dialed entered.

The number address you dialed entered - "http://charles-reace.com/public_html/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Georgia2.zip" - either does not exist or has been temporarily disconnected. Please double-check the number address and then try again.

If you continue to experience problems and believe it is due to an equipment a stupid webmaster error at our end, please contact us.

Charles-Reace.com Home Page


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Pushka said:


> The Georgia and Helvetica. This is the screen I get (the first few are fine and will download):
> Beep beep BEEP!
> 
> We're sorry. Your call request cannot be completed as dialed entered.
> ...


Ah, OK, a simple cut-and-paste error on my part. It'll be fixed in a couple minutes...


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Ah, OK, a simple cut-and-paste error on my part. It'll be fixed in a couple minutes...


Yes, that was my problem, actually.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Sorry about that...should be better now if you refresh the page.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Oh great, I put the fonts on and copied over the font files that were duplicates, ejected the kindle, and couldnt do the restart the USB connected page stayed on.  Put it to sleep, and now when I wake it, it goes to the next screensaver.  I cant get it to wake up!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Pushka said:


> Oh great, I put the fonts on and copied over the font files that were duplicates, ejected the kindle, and couldnt do the restart the USB connected page stayed on. Put it to sleep, and now when I wake it, it goes to the next screensaver. I cant get it to wake up!


Try holding the on/off switch to the right for 30-40 seconds until the Kindle begins to do a restart, then wait for it to finish. (Did you make sure to do the disconnect device thingy on your computer before pulling the USB cord?)


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Sorry about that...should be better now if you refresh the page.


Refreshed your blog page but still getting for Helvetica2:

_Beep beep BEEP!

We're sorry. Your call request cannot be completed as dialed entered.

The number address you dialed entered - "http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Helvetica.zip" - either does not exist or has been temporarily disconnected. Please double-check the number address and then try again.

If you continue to experience problems and believe it is due to an equipment a stupid webmaster error at our end, please contact us.

Charles-Reace.com Home Page_

Let us know if you are calling it a night and I will wait until tomorrow. Thanks.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Yes, I did the 'eject kindle' thing, but I have noticed since the 2.5.3 update, the kindle page doesnt always go back to the home screen when it says it is ok to disconnect.  PHEW< just did your suggestion NogDog and all is good!   Thankyou Thankyou!  Now. Off to sleep for you.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Georgia2 zip file downloaded, but Helvetica2 didn't.  I'll put Georgia2 on there for now and will check back tomorrow.  Thanks.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

mlewis78 said:


> Refreshed your blog page but still getting for Helvetica2:
> 
> _Beep beep BEEP!
> 
> ...


*sigh* I left a "2" out: http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Helvetica2.zip

I must be tired.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

GO get some sleep Nog. Morning comes early enough.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> GO get some sleep Nog. Morning comes early enough.


Yeah, I'm off to bed now, so y'all are on your own until late morning. 

(And I thought I might finish the last 1200 locations of the book I'm reading tonight.  )


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## cloudyvisions (May 21, 2009)

HOORAY! It worked like a charm! I actually like this system better, it's easier to change fonts to see which I like best. 

Is there any chance of getting the Helvetica, not the Helvetica2, files up for adding sometime?


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Thanks, Charles.  I'm all set up now with Helvetica2 in my K2 and KDX.  Thanks very much for doing all of this and fixing it so late at night.  Love how it looks and now I will go read.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

NogDog said:


> My paraphrased instructions on my blog: http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/font-hack-for-kindle-version-2-5


Is there a missing sentence in your instructions?

Back in the 2.5-fonts-3.1.N folder, find the "update_fonts_3.1.N_XX_install.bin" for your Kindle type, where the "XX" is "k2″, "k2i", "k3″, or "k3i". Once you've done that, disconnect your Kindle from your PC, and initiate an update (Home > Menu > Settings > Menu > Update Your Kindle). When the update is done, immediately go back to the Settings screen, and this time do a Menu > Restart. This will apply the default fonts that come with the hack.

It says 'once you've done that' - I presume that means put the relevant install file somewhere. Is it in the root directory of the Kindle? Never done a font hack before so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I start!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Yes, it goes in the root Kindle folder.  I just finished doing this myself with two Ks.


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## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

I just wanted everyone to know that I had a few hiccups during my font hack installation. 

I installed everyone (individually of course) and a few times had the problem where the menu button wouldn't work, or it would work but when I would click settings the settings page wouldn't show up, but if I clicked the menu the settings menu would come up. A hard reset fixed the first issue without trouble, and a normal restart through the menu fixed the second.

(I kept going even after I had those issues and currently have both hacks installed.) It may be an issue with my computer or my Kindle, but I just thought I would let everyone know in case someone else ran into it, they hopefully panic a little bit less.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

RiddleMeThis said:


> I just wanted everyone to know that I had a few hiccups during my font hack installation.
> 
> I installed everyone (individually of course) and a few times had the problem where the menu button wouldn't work, or it would work but when I would click settings the settings page wouldn't show up, but if I clicked the menu the settings menu would come up. A hard reset fixed the first issue without trouble, and a normal restart through the menu fixed the second.
> 
> (I kept going even after I had those issues and currently have both hacks installed.) It may be an issue with my computer or my Kindle, but I just thought I would let everyone know in case someone else ran into it, they hopefully panic a little bit less.


Yes, I had a similar experience to you. The settings page didnt come up to do the restart; instead, the kindle went to the 'Deregister kindle' option. It seemed like my menu button got hijacked in some way. Anyway, it finally worked but there were a few tense moments.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Woohoo! 2.5 + SS & Font hacks... sooooo happy now! Thanks Nog!


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> I'll be waiting.. I can't make heads or tails of what I'm supposed to be doing by reading that thread...


Well if luvmy4brats won't try it I'm not going near this. She'll try anything, this must be bad.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

If you check NogDog's blog it is way better. Luvmy4brats will be onto it very quickly.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

I don't have time to fool around with this til this evening after work but you can be assured I'll be giving it a try as soon as I can.

Lets hear Three Cheers for NogDog!!!!

Hip Hip Hoooorayyyyy
Hip Hip Hoooorayyyyy
Hip Hip Hoooorayyyyyyyyyy!!!


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

So happy!!!  After I read thru all these posts (to avoid any problems) - I will get this installed.  Thanks to whoever did this!!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

PaulGuy said:


> Well if luvmy4brats won't try it I'm not going near this. She'll try anything, this must be bad.


Lol!  Well, I do abuse poor Morty (my Kindle) sometimes, but he's such a good sport about it. Once I wake up a bit more, I'll give NogDog's a shot.


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## Christina (Feb 4, 2009)

I'm so happy, I've been holding off on updating until a Helvetica2 font hack was available, so I followed NiLuJe's instructions on MobileReads, and NogDog's as well - *many thanks to you both!* - and I now have my K2 US updated to 2.5, with my own screensavers and beloved Helvetica2!

I did also experience problems with my Menu button not working - at all - after I'd copied over the fonts to my Kindle, but doing a hard reset with the power switch forced the restart and all was well then.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

I've never had the font hack before but since I did the new screensaver hack this time (never had it before either), I think I'll try it also.  Many thanks to the MobileRead person who posted the new hack and to NogDog for distilling it on his blog in an easy-to-follow format.

A question -- is there somewhere that shows the different fonts side-by-side so I can see them for comparison?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

mrscottishman said:


> I hear she is so daring she . . .
> 
> eats her ice cream cones holding them upside down!
> takes her toast out of the toaster with a fork!
> ...


That's SO not true!! I've never even played badminton.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

Just an FYI, NiLuJe came up with the font hack and I worked with him/her last night.  However, I would probably go with NogDog's instructions because he actually included screen shots which I think will help folks tremendously as they go through the process of putting the hacks on their Kindle.  I actually find this method to be a little easier than before.  That's just me.  

Good luck everyone, I know most of you are probably just as ecstatic as I was putting my beloved Helvetica back on my Kindle.  I like the Amazon stock font, but I am not in love with it.  It will do but I much prefer Helvetica and I am sooooo happy to finally have my font back on my Kindle.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Can someone help me - I just installed the font hack - and it applied the default font hacks.. but I'm not sure how to replace the .tty files under linkfonts/fonts to use a different font.. Do I just delete everything that is already there and then copy all the tty files extracted from the georgia zip file?  The website says:

If you want to change the fonts used by the hack, you'll have to upload them in the linkfonts/fonts directory, strictly following the usual naming scheme. (Type_Style.ttf) (for example, Serif_Regular.ttf for the regular Serif fonts (the one used in the reader)). The default fonts installed by the hack are the usual non-cjk unicode fonts (Droid Sans, Droid Serif & DejaVu Sans Mono). I have attached four other fonts sets:


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I got it to work.. didnt delete anything.. just copied over and restarted.. yay!


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## ElAguila (Dec 25, 2009)

I am having a problem with the jailbreak file. I download the zip and when I try to extact it I get an error that says archive is either in an unknown format or is damaged. Is it the same file as this one:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=963004&postcount=2


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I had installed the screensaver hack awhile ago so didn't have to reinstall the jailbreak file.. but sounds like your zip file is corrupted.. try copying it down to your pc again,


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

bordercollielady said:


> Can someone help me - I just installed the font hack - and it applied the default font hacks.. but I'm not sure how to replace the .tty files under linkfonts/fonts to use a different font.. Do I just delete everything that is already there and then copy all the tty files extracted from the georgia zip file? The website says:
> 
> If you want to change the fonts used by the hack, you'll have to upload them in the linkfonts/fonts directory, strictly following the usual naming scheme. (Type_Style.ttf) (for example, Serif_Regular.ttf for the regular Serif fonts (the one used in the reader)). The default fonts installed by the hack are the usual non-cjk unicode fonts (Droid Sans, Droid Serif & DejaVu Sans Mono). I have attached four other fonts sets:


DON'T DELETE THOSE FILES! DON'T DELETE THOSE FILES!

Sorry for shouting, but I did that, and had to do a factory reset and reload everything from scratch. Then sort all 300 books back into their collections! Not fun. (FYI, I wasn't getting any results following the instructions, and decided to experiment. Turns out it was an error in the script.)

All of those files need to be there. To change fonts, you grab one of the other packages (like Georgia2, which is popular) and unzip it. Then you copy those files into the linkfont/fonts folder you copied to the root of your kindle earlier. This should overwrite some of the files already in there, specifically the serif_something.ttf, sans_something.ttf, and the mono_something.ttf files. The overwriting is fine, since the files are still there. Make sure you restart your kindle from the settings menu right away after you eject your kindle from your computer. After it starts up, the new fonts will be used.

Let us know if you have any more questions.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm getting frustrated. I've done it three times and I still have the default font. I've tried Helvetica2, Georgia2, and Droid_sans. Nothing has changed.

I don't need to do the jailbreak file because I already did it with the SS hack.
Moved the linkfonts folder over
installed the update_fonts_3.1.N_k2i_install.bin (it says update successful)
restarted
copied the fonts over (from computer to Kindle)
restarted
still have default

ARGH!!!!!


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## RamTheHammer (Apr 17, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> copied the fonts over (from computer to Kindle)
> restarted
> still have default


Did you copy the font files to the linkfont/font subdirectory?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

yes. copied and replaced... <sigh>


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

You're having the same problem we did last night, luv. Go get the current versions of the files. There's an error in the script from the first version of the file, which is causing this. The links on the first post should have been fixed.


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

On a completely unrelated note, WE'RE FREE! w00t!

Allow me to explain. I noticed that the files we use to change fonts are nothing more than .ttf files. Those look suspiciously like the standard font file format you see everywhere on the web. On a whim AND AFTER BACKING EVERYTHING UP (always back up your work before experimenting with your precious precious kindle), I download a cursive font, since it would make success or failure stand out, renamed them properly, chucked them on my kindle, and restarted. No apparent change at first, but when I cracked up a book:



   

That was on the 3rd largest setting though, so cursive fonts not recommended for reading.

You can now add whatever fonts you want. The key is to rename them properly. As I posted earlier (or maybe elsewhere? I forgets), the sans_something fonts are used for menus and collection names, the serif_something fonts (I renamed the font i download serif_regular.ttf) for book text. Not sure about the mono_something fonts yet. Maybe text entry?

Have fun!


----------



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Ah... I see. That's probably it. I think I'm using the files I downloaded yesterday. 

(I KNOW I was following the directions and putting things in the correct place..I mean come on, it's ME we're talking about   I don't ever do ANYTHING wrong   Ok, well there was that time.....  )

Headed off to download and try again....


----------



## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> Ah... I see. That's probably it. I think I'm using the files I downloaded yesterday.
> 
> (I KNOW I was following the directions and putting things in the correct place..I mean come on, it's ME we're talking about  I don't ever do ANYTHING wrong  Ok, well there was that time..... )
> 
> Headed off to download and try again....


As storm said, this is exactly what we ran into last night but LiNuJe realized he had put the wrong files in the update_fonts_3.1.N_k2i_install.bin - I do believe NogDog asked him if he has replaced this with the updated files and the answer was yes. Essentially, the wrong files are not telling the Kindle to use the custom fonts, once you use the right files, now the Kindle will use the custom fonts not the standard ones. Good Luck Luv, let us know how it turns out.


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Ah, OK, a simple cut-and-paste error on my part. It'll be fixed in a couple minutes...


I'm still getting the "beep-beep" error message. 12:30 PM EST


----------



## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Does anyone know how to map one of the fonts in the linkfont/fonts folder (on the Kindle) to the book font?  I really like the one on the HOME page, and would like that to be used for my books?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Well, that's what I get for not reading completely back through all the posts. I thought I had. Anyway, downloaded the new files and I now have the font hack on my Kindle.

All is well.


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

bordercollielady: My experimentation has shown that the sans_something fonts are used on the homepage (i think its the bold one specifically) and for titles and the like. The serif_something fonts are used for the book text.

Glad to hear it luv! =D


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

stormmaster:  Thanks for the info.. I updated to the CModBold set and now I'm happy..  finally can read the 4th font size without a problem..


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

mrscottishman said:


> I hear she is so daring she . . .
> 
> eats her ice cream cones holding them upside down!
> takes her toast out of the toaster with a fork!
> ...


And don't forget running with scissors! LOL


----------



## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> Well, that's what I get for not reading completely back through all the posts. I thought I had. Anyway, downloaded the new files and I now have the font hack on my Kindle.
> 
> All is well.


Okay, all in now. Tonight after work!


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm wondering, how many of you who tried this new hack have K2US?  Would it work any differently or have more problems than K2i or DX?


----------



## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

Nogdog has a K2US, and he was the first to try it. It works for him. I have a K2i, and it works great. I don't know of anyone who has installed this on a DX.


----------



## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

Like NogDog, I have a K2US and it is working fine for me as well.


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm so tempted...but chicken!  But, like NogDog said, the worst that could happen is I have to replace Kindle for $189.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

DD said:


> I'm so tempted...but chicken! But, like NogDog said, the worst that could happen is I have to replace Kindle for $189.


DD - I would tell you that if you are hesitant and ok with the stock fonts that come on the K2, then just go with that for now. I don't really like the font that Amazon provides, it was fine for the time, until someone could provide additional options, but again, if you are uncomfortable about trying this, then hold off.

I probably should be more like you instead of jumping right into the new hacks but fortunately everything worked out for the best. Good Luck whichever way you decide.


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

No, I'm not happy with the stock fonts at all but I haven't yet upgraded to 2.5.x, so I still have the old font hack and don't want to give it up.

Everything works normally I assume after you did the new hack?  No slower page turns, etc.?  Do you still have the new larger font choices that came with the 2.5.x update or are they erased with the hack?


----------



## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I'm not having any problems after installing the font hacks.. and then overlaying the initial ones with CModBold.. Initially - my menu button didn't work..  but that's ok now too.  And still have 8 font sizes


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Posting this question separately because it may get buried in my last post:

Does the new 2.5 font hack negate the new font sizes that are in the 2.5 update?  I haven't updated to 2.5 yet but am looking forward to some more size choices.  Does the font hack work with the new sizes and just make them even larger, depending on which font hack you use?


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Oh, good, bordercollielady.  Thanks for the answer.  We must have been posting at the same time.    I had just asked this question in a new post.


----------



## lveale (Jun 8, 2010)

I put the new font hack for 2.5 on my K2US last night and am thrilled to have my Helvetica2 font back.  No problems of any kind (except for a brief eye-crossing when trying to work out the instructions to install them from the Mobilereads forum).  I should have waited for NogDog's much clearer explanation this morning--but I just couldn't wait


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## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

I installed the font hack on my K2 US today and other than the few hiccups I posted about earlier in the thread everything went and is fine. I would just follow the instructions and go for it.


----------



## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

lveale said:


> I put the new font hack for 2.5 on my K2US last night and am thrilled to have my Helvetica2 font back. No problems of any kind (except for a brief eye-crossing when trying to work out the instructions to install them from the Mobilereads forum). I should have waited for NogDog's much clearer explanation this morning--but I just couldn't wait


Me neither, that's why I was up doing the same thing last night.


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm going in, people.  Installing the 2.5 update now.  I'll report back.


----------



## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

DD said:


> I'm going in, people. Installing the 2.5 update now. I'll report back.


Good Luck - I am thinking positive thoughts for you DD! You can do it!!


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

DD said:


> I'm still getting the "beep-beep" error message. 12:30 PM EST


Which file? I think I've got all the broken links fixed. You may need to refresh the page on your browser in case it's using a cached version.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Linjeakel said:


> Is there a missing sentence in your instructions?
> 
> Back in the 2.5-fonts-3.1.N folder, find the "update_fonts_3.1.N_XX_install.bin" for your Kindle type, where the "XX" is "k2″, "k2i", "k3″, or "k3i". Once you've done that, disconnect your Kindle from your PC, and initiate an update (Home > Menu > Settings > Menu > Update Your Kindle). When the update is done, immediately go back to the Settings screen, and this time do a Menu > Restart. This will apply the default fonts that come with the hack.
> 
> It says 'once you've done that' - I presume that means put the relevant install file somewhere. Is it in the root directory of the Kindle? Never done a font hack before so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I start!


Added a sentence. Thanks!


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

OK!  I have the 2.5 update AND my Georgia2 font!  The only glitch was, as some of you reported, on the last restart my menu button wouldn't go to Settings and I had to do a hard restart.

Thanks to NogDog and NiLuJe for figuring this out!


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Added a sentence. Thanks!


I noticed this too, NogDog, while just doing the font hack and figured you meant to say put that file into the root directory. I just went back to NiLuJe's instructions to cross reference and be sure. All is working well.


----------



## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Okay, I got the font hack installed and fonts installed (had some trouble there, had to do a hard restart as it locked up and wouldn't give me any menu access, but the hard restart worked).

But...after having installed that hack, I've noticed something weird and wondered if anyone else has.  On the home menu, when sorting by Most Recent First -- are your newest 'most recent' defaulting to the END rather than the BEGINNING?  I've opened up a Collection and a book, and when I closed out of them, those two items are now on page 179 (I know, I know) rather than page 1.  A restart didn't help, sync and check didn't help.  Anyone else seeing this?


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Steph H said:


> Okay, I got the font hack installed and fonts installed (had some trouble there, had to do a hard restart as it locked up and wouldn't give me any menu access, but the hard restart worked).
> 
> But...after having installed that hack, I've noticed something weird and wondered if anyone else has. On the home menu, when sorting by Most Recent First -- are your newest 'most recent' defaulting to the END rather than the BEGINNING? I've opened up a Collection and a book, and when I closed out of them, those two items are now on page 179 (I know, I know) rather than page 1. A restart didn't help, sync and check didn't help. Anyone else seeing this?


I've not noticed it. Is your Kindle's clock setting correct? Mine got out of sync for awhile once when I was not connected to the wireless for an extended period, and once it connected and updated the clock, a lot of weird sorting occurred until I opened up items and thus updated their last access times.


----------



## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

Thats happened to me a few times without the hacks, usually a reset or sync and check has helped but since you already did that I would try it again and see. Also open a book again and see of its fixed. it may not show it first until you reopen it again.


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Steph H said:


> Okay, I got the font hack installed and fonts installed (had some trouble there, had to do a hard restart as it locked up and wouldn't give me any menu access, but the hard restart worked).
> 
> But...after having installed that hack, I've noticed something weird and wondered if anyone else has. On the home menu, when sorting by Most Recent First -- are your newest 'most recent' defaulting to the END rather than the BEGINNING? I've opened up a Collection and a book, and when I closed out of them, those two items are now on page 179 (I know, I know) rather than page 1. A restart didn't help, sync and check didn't help. Anyone else seeing this?


Yes, that's the first thing I noticed. But after I found the book I was reading and opened it, it now is listed on top.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Well, at least it wasn't just me.   I tried restart and sync-and-check a couple more times and finally one of them 'clicked' and all is well again.  Except I did still have to go back to the collection and book that were at the end and re-open them to get them to the beginning where they belonged (I had tried that a couple of times in between, too, without it working until this last time).

Now I'm almost afraid to play with any other fonts besides the one I put in first (Helvetica, I think)... LOL


----------



## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Which file? I think I've got all the broken links fixed. You may need to refresh the page on your browser in case it's using a cached version.


I just clicked on the link Pushka mentioned in her post and refreshed. Still get the error message. This is the link I tried:

http://charles-reace.com/public_html/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Georgia2.zip


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

The link is actually:

http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Georgia2.zip

You can find them all at this page:

http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/font-hack-for-kindle-version-2-5/#more-60


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

Steph H said:


> The link is actually:
> 
> http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/Georgia2.zip
> 
> ...


Yep, these work perfectly.


----------



## MrTsMom (Jun 13, 2009)

Thank you so much, all of you. I worked through all of the instructions and it went off without a hitch until the very last step, but again, thanks to you I knew to do that hard reset. I'm so happy! I had found myself getting irritated at those stock fonts they had on there. 

Ah, what a day. New iPhone delivered, activated and working well. My Kindle back in perfect working order. The sun is shining. Vacation is only 2 days away. Yes, Live is good.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Started a page with some font screen-shots. More to follow eventually.

http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/kindle-font-hack-samples


----------



## Basketmaker Amy (Apr 1, 2009)

Thank you so much for the clear and concise instructions!  I am so happy to have the dead authors gone and my favorite fonts back!


----------



## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

Oh oh! I am trying to install on my DX (US) and everything was going well until the end when I 'lost' the menu key. I'm having difficulty doing a hard restart. How long do I need to hold the power switch in order to do a hard restart? I tried for about 30 seconds but it is not restarting, just taking me back to the home page with the menu key still kaput. Help!


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

I have seen Pidgeon92 post that some Kindles take longer to restart than others. She has said 45 seconds or even more for some. I would try longer and see what happens.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Oh oh! I am trying to install on my DX (US) and everything was going well until the end when I 'lost' the menu key. I'm having difficulty doing a hard restart. How long do I need to hold the power switch in order to do a hard restart? I tried for about 30 seconds but it is not restarting, just taking me back to the home page with the menu key still kaput. Help!


I've only had this problem once, among at least 6 font changes. I held mine for about 40 seconds, let go, waited a few seconds, then turned it on again for just a second and it started rebooting. I'm not sure if it was already doing the reboot process when I slid it that second time or if that instigated it.


----------



## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Wisteria - When my Menu key froze,  I plugged the USB cable back into the Kindle and my PC - and got back the screen about its being connected..  from there.. after I did the eject and unplug..  my menu key worked again.


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## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

Ack. Still just coming back on at the home page without rebooting. I held the switch for sixty seconds (my longest try) then tried letting go and switching it on again in a few seconds....home screen. Oh no....


----------



## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

bordercollielady said:


> Wisteria - When my Menu key froze, I plugged the USB cable back into the Kindle and my PC - and got back the screen about its being connected.. from there.. after I did the eject and unplug.. my menu key worked again.


Ok, just tried this but still no menu key. Trying not to panic here.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

Well.......whew. The DX would not restart no matter how long I held the switch, and the last time I tried it the home screen appeared screwy. The cursor line went right through the middle of each title instead of under the title, and clicking on a collection no longer opened it. I almost had a heart attack! Started pressing buttons at random in panic and all of a sudden the DX restarted--I have no idea why it chose that moment. But now all is well--Georgia 2 is installed and makes a huge difference as this is one of the older DX models and the original fonts on it have never had a very good contrast. So I am a happy camper--thank you all for holding my hand through this. But--- Oh. My. God. No way I am going to mess with the fonts on my new K2i. It already has a pretty good clarity and my nerves are not strong enough for this!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

My collections were doing that for a while, but eventually I think they settled down and my Reading Now collection is on top.  I don't know what that was about or if it even had anything to do with the font hack.

I'm so happy to have the Helvetica1 font now.  I read a lot last night and then again after I couldn't sleep.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

So it does seem there are some issues in this update after installation. I had several as I tried a few fonts. The worst time was when clicking the wake button simply changed to the next screensaver. Yikes. 
Ps that wasn't my link btw it was the link created by the error message I got tryin to download Nog Dogs file which I copied and pasted along with the error text.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I'm doing fine with mine, but along the way at one point when I should have updated, I opened a collection and then it froze, so I had to do a hard reset with the top switch for a LONG time.


----------



## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

I've tried several times and haven't been able to get it installed.  

I originally downloaded the files before Nog put up his instructions.  Used those with Nogs directions.  It didn't install.  
I read that there was an error in the original file that kept it from installing so I re-downloaded the "fonts 3.1" file and tried again.  It still did not install.

Should I try to uninstall and delete the "linkfonts" folder and start completely over? 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I've been messing with this on 2 Kindles since last night and am very frustrated.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

That's what I wound up doing. As soon as I uninstalled, downloaded the files again and re-installed it worked on the first try.


----------



## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

NogDog said:


> My paraphrased instructions on my blog: http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/font-hack-for-kindle-version-2-5


Eureka! It worked - so nice to see my Helvetica again! Thanks for the paraphrased instructions - the other ones were a tad scary for my non-tech brain! I did forget to restart after I put the Helvetica on and froze poor Pearl, but had already read through the thread so knew not to panic & did a reset with the on/off switch.

Just noticed that my sorting was messed up & checked the clock - the time was off. So now I've got Whispernet on to sync up the time. Time is correct again and "Reading Now" collection went back at the top of the list of collections after I opened and closed it. So (knock on wood) all's well with my Kindling world! Thanks again Nog Dog!


----------



## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Thank you Nogdog! I have Georgia2 on my k2i now. I've always used the cmodbold large before, but the large isn't on offer, so I thought I'd try a new one. I like it   .


----------



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Started a page with some font screen-shots. More to follow eventually.
> 
> http://charles-reace.com/kindleminds/2010/06/23/kindle-font-hack-samples


After seeing your screen-shots, I liked the look of the Fontin, but now that it's on the Kindle it seems kind of hard for me to read. I'll probably go back to the Georgia2.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> After seeing your screen-shots, I liked the look of the Fontin, but now that it's on the Kindle it seems kind of hard for me to read. I'll probably go back to the Georgia2.


Yeah, I tried it for awhile several months ago, and for the most part I really liked it; but there were a couple particular characters or character combos that were confusing, plus the period (full stop) was too small for me. So I'm back to Georgia2, which I'll probably stay with unless I figure out how to get something like Lucida Sans or maybe Palatino Linotype on there.


----------



## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Finally got it to work.  

Thanks, Luv.


----------



## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

I'm back to Fontin2.  YAY!!!!!  I can see!!  And even back to the default #3 instead of #4.

May give Georgia2 a try later.  You just copy over the old font with the files of the new one?  No need to uninstall  Sounds kinda like a miracle to me.  

Thank you so much to everyone involved, whether you hacked or blogged or questioned or clarified or announced.  You're all THE best!!!


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Well, tackling the job now.  Just unhacked my 2.3 K2US, and am in the process of adding 2.5.2.  I think I'll do the screensavers immediately, but I do want to take a look at the supposedly improved fonts before I'll make a final call on those.  If nothing else, I'm trying to give Amazon the benefit of the doubt on this one before dismissing it outright.  LOL

So we'll see.  I went a whopping two hours the last time I said I was going to go without CModNarrow, maybe I can hold out a bit longer this time?   

Edit:  *snort*  I'm thinking about 2 minutes.  This royally sucks.  The font isn't even across the page, did an Alt + G refresh and there's absolutely no change.  No, it's not in sunlight either, it's just a crappy font.  NEXT!


----------



## lovesangelrn (Dec 28, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> After seeing your screen-shots, I liked the look of the Fontin, but now that it's on the Kindle it seems kind of hard for me to read. I'll probably go back to the Georgia2.


haha, looking at the pics, I too think I might like the Fontin font and am considering seeing what it looks like on the kindle (I'm a Georgia2 girl as well). However, I haven't worked up the nerve to try the hack yet; all the people needing to hard restart is making me kinda nervous as to the stablity of the hack. Eh, it's been a long day, maybe I'll have the nerve tomorrow, lol


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Success!

Two quick notes:  

Take it slowly, especially if you've never hacked your Kindle before.  I think some people are hitting on errors in part because the temptation is there to do things like unplug the Kindle without ejecting it fully first from your desktop, to try and get the menus to come up when the Kindle is still trying to process the last command, etc.  Every time I tried to rush, it pushed back at me a bit.  Every time I let it do its thing at its own pace, it was fine.  No hard resets or major glitches, Jailbreak, Screensaver, and Font hacks all worked exactly as described.

Think about adding an uninstall folder to your root folder--I titled mine "uninstalls" and it shows as the last folder on the Kindle that way.  The uninstall files for all three current hacks are in there.  This worked brilliantly for uninstalling the SS and Font hacks for 2.3 before starting the update process for 2.5.2--this time, I didn't have to go hunting for them on my hard drive first, just copied them up to the root folder itself (one at a time only!) to get the update process started.  Should you ever need to remove the hacks, you won't have any trouble finding the files you need to do so.  Adding the files into that folder won't compromise the operation of your Kindle, and will save you some time later.

Now I suppose I'm off to work on Collections...


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> Success!
> 
> Two quick notes:
> 
> Take it slowly, especially if you've never hacked your Kindle before. I think some people are hitting on errors in part because the temptation is there to do things like unplug the Kindle without ejecting it fully first from your desktop, to try and get the menus to come up when the Kindle is still trying to process the last command, etc.


I have done the hacks mutliple times, and in this instance the kindle was safely ejected each time. But I experienced difficulties anyway. The menu button was seemingly disabled.


----------



## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

NogDog said:


> So I'm back to Georgia2, which I'll probably stay with unless I figure out how to get something like Lucida Sans or maybe Palatino Linotype on there.


nog, all you need is the .ttf file. i've already tested it a random font I've downloaded off the internet, and it seems to work fine.


----------



## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

Pushka said:


> I have done the hacks mutliple times, and in this instance the kindle was safely ejected each time. But I experienced difficulties anyway. The menu button was seemingly disabled.


Ditto here. I can only speak for myself, but I am ridiculously compulsive about not ejecting my kindle until the computer tells me it is ok to do so. And I followed the instructions meticulously--it all went without a single hitch until the very end, which is where everyone seemed to have a problem. The trouble with my DX was that it just didn't want to do a hard restart. There are quite a few of us here who've experienced this now: Pushka, MLewis, myself, and even Nogdog said that his kindle did the same thing on one of his font-hack installations [note to Nog--what, you didn't think to mention this to us before??!]

My theory is that all kindles are slightly unique (why else would we feel compelled to give them their own names?): some have sun fade, others don't; some have loud clicks, others not so much, etc. And it appears that some become hung up and have problems restarting after this font hack installation. I think we should accept the fact that this may be a problem and make sure everyone knows that there is some risk involved here, rather than assume that if something goes wrong it is because the install wasn't done correctly.

Maybe the wonderful folks who have been working so hard to create this hack and provide us with better fonts could take a look at what is making the menu key become disabled at the end, and figure out how to prevent that? The safer we can make this hack, the better. I'm just saying...


----------



## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Yes. I appreciate your thoughts Wisteria Clematis. I also posted a warning on mobilereads where I have been a member for a while, not to heap stuff on to the developers but simply to let people know that these problems may occur and not to panic but try to do a hard restart. The actual developer then posted to say he had experienced exactly the same issue and knew what I was talking about. 
As a matter of curiosity after my last post I  decided to try the fontin fault. Everything was fine and I took it very slow, even getting a drink before ejecting the kindle after copying the new font. It went to the home screen and so I tried the menu to restart. Nothing. I clicked the menu button again and got the de register button. So a hard restart again, attach to the computer again and all ok. So it is a buggy update but none the less I am happy to use it anyway.


----------



## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

I had a similar experience as well.  I first downloaded the Fontin2 font and had the problem at the end.  Then I decided to try the Georgia2 font, same thing but it seemed to not be so much.  Then I put the Fontin2 back on and had the issue where the Kindle didn't want to restart but as soon as I turned it on from a blank screen, it went into the process.

Now here is an interesting item.  I had worked on Collections, thinking I had everything pretty much in order.  Collections sort the way they do but always Most Recent First, right?  Well, mine doesn't do that any more.  In fact, the order of the Collections seems to never change now.  Weird.

Guess I'll go back to sorting by Title.  *shrugs*


----------



## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

I had to do the hard restart (as posted above) when I tried out my first font.  But I decided to go ahead and try another font when I got home last night, and it worked without any problems that time, I was able to get back into the menus and do the restart the regular way. So even having to do a hard restart one time doesn't guarantee you'll have to every time you change the font.

Vicki, try another restart, or a 'sync and check' with Whispernet on.  That happened to me yesterday too (also as posted above), essentially I got 'unsynched' from the Amazon time server and had to set that for the 'most recent first' time setting to work correctly again.


----------



## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> [note to Nog--what, you didn't think to mention this to us before??!]


All I can say is WOW 



> I think we should accept the fact that this may be a problem and make sure everyone knows that there is some risk involved here, rather than assume that if something goes wrong it is because the install wasn't done correctly.


It's in the 1st paragraph on the mobile read and Nogdog's directions. Read it myself day before yesterday. I assume the warning is still there.
I'm sorry some people are having difficulties. I have put several from Nogdog's page on my kindle to decide which I want without a problem. I have a Mac, I don't know if that matters, but not even a hiccup. I appreciate all the work they did to get us the hack, and understood from the second I found myself reading the directions I was making a choice, myself, and that it could be "unsafe" for my Kindle. The stated warning didn't seem vague to me.


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Vicki G. said:


> Now here is an interesting item. I had worked on Collections, thinking I had everything pretty much in order. Collections sort the way they do but always Most Recent First, right? Well, mine doesn't do that any more. In fact, the order of the Collections seems to never change now. Weird.
> 
> Guess I'll go back to sorting by Title. *shrugs*


You can set your collections to sort by most recent, title, or author. I had fontin, and Georia2 on at different times and it worked like it did before the hack. I put the hack on through my computer, which is a Mac, I don't know if that would make a difference.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> Ditto here. I can only speak for myself, but I am ridiculously compulsive about not ejecting my kindle until the computer tells me it is ok to do so. And I followed the instructions meticulously--it all went without a single hitch until the very end, which is where everyone seemed to have a problem. The trouble with my DX was that it just didn't want to do a hard restart. There are quite a few of us here who've experienced this now: Pushka, MLewis, myself, and even Nogdog said that his kindle did the same thing on one of his font-hack installations [note to Nog--what, you didn't think to mention this to us before??!]


I did not have any such problems myself until about the 5th time I changed the font, some time yesterday. After hearing of other people's issues, I added a note at the top of my instructions. Sorry I did not have my precognition turned on when I first posted the instructions. 



> My theory is that all kindles are slightly unique (why else would we feel compelled to give them their own names?): some have sun fade, others don't; some have loud clicks, others not so much, etc. And it appears that some become hung up and have problems restarting after this font hack installation. I think we should accept the fact that this may be a problem and make sure everyone knows that there is some risk involved here, rather than assume that if something goes wrong it is because the install wasn't done correctly.
> 
> Maybe the wonderful folks who have been working so hard to create this hack and provide us with better fonts could take a look at what is making the menu key become disabled at the end, and figure out how to prevent that? The safer we can make this hack, the better. I'm just saying...


I'm sure they are, but they do not do this for a living (nor do I post the info in my blog for a living) and have other things to do that pay for their food and shelter. If, on the other hand, the Amazon Kindle development team (who _do_ get paid for this) would get their heads out of their [bleep] and create an update with features we've wanted -- and have been hacking for over a year -- instead of "social media" features no one was asking for, we wouldn't have to depend on these hacks in the first place to get the features we really want.


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## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

Hey Nogdog! I totally appreciate all you do to help the rest of us navigate through these hacks and absolutely did not intend any offense! Just wanted anyone who is on the fence about installing the hack right now to be aware that there are still some issues with it so they should be prepared for that. Kudos to yourself and all the developers who've worked so hard to make these new fonts possible, maybe we should all give a donation like we do for Calibre.

And I totally agree with you that the Amazon techs seem to be sitting around on their duffs. WHY would they assume that social networking is more important to a reader than clear fonts Don't they know that ninety percent of us bookoholics are introverted and actually prefer reading to socializing?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> ...
> And I totally agree with you that the Amazon techs seem to be sitting around on their duffs. WHY would they assume that social networking is more important to a reader than clear fonts Don't they know that ninety percent of us bookoholics are introverted and actually prefer reading to socializing?


To be fair, it is likely that it was that the _marketing_ people who really pushed for it as a way to get free advertising all over Facebook and Twitter.


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## uncrules (Nov 14, 2009)

I really like the Georgia 2 font, but it is a little to large for my liking.  I wish I could find a version that is comparable in size to the Helvetica.  The smallest size of the Georgia font is equivalent to the second smallest Helvetica font, but I like to read with the smallest Helvetica size.


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## BruceS (Feb 7, 2009)

This could be user error on my part or a permissions problem on my Mac, but I don't think so.

When I downloaded "the jailbreak Zip file" from NogDog's site and attempted to unzip it, I kept getting a message telling me that the file was damaged.

I refreshed NogDog's page and downloaded the file multiple times without success.

Then I just downloaded the "2.5 Screensaver Hack", unzipped it with no problems and used the jailbreak found there instead.

After that everything went fine except needing one hard reset.

Now I am back with Georgia2 installed and it is easy to read on my kindle again.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

NogDog said:


> To be fair, it is likely that it was that the _marketing_ people who really pushed for it as a way to get free advertising all over Facebook and Twitter.


True - and they could've given us both fonts AND social networking. My "fear" is that the choice of fonts will be a feature on the next model of Kindle. Then again, as long as the hacks are still around I'll be okay. I'm so happy when I wake up Pearl now and see Helvetica again (not to mention my personal screensavers while she's sleeping). And I am happy to have collections - so I'm choosing to see my Kindle glass as 90% full!


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## dobes (Feb 22, 2010)

I think I may have a new problem to report!  Installed the font hack and as somewhat expected, the menu key was disabled. Hard restart, and it was OK.  I added the 12 Georgia2 files and followed directions back to the home page ... WHICH WAS NOW WITHOUT COLLECTIONS!  Uninstalled, still no collections.  CANNOT BELIEVE I have to make all my careful collections AGAIN!

If people are tempted to use the font hack -- I know I was, 2.5.2 did not deliver the darker font I had hoped for - be a little smarter than I was and back up your entire Kindle before you start!


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## BruceS (Feb 7, 2009)

dobes said:


> I think I may have a new problem to report! Installed the font hack and as somewhat expected, the menu key was disabled. Hard restart, and it was OK. I added the 12 Georgia2 files and followed directions back to the home page ... WHICH WAS NOW WITHOUT COLLECTIONS! Uninstalled, still no collections. CANNOT BELIEVE I have to make all my careful collections AGAIN!
> 
> If people are tempted to use the font hack -- I know I was, 2.5.2 did not deliver the darker font I had hoped for - be a little smarter than I was and back up your entire Kindle before you start!


Make sure your whispernet is on and do a Sync & Check for items.

As long as you did this at least once since your collections were created, your collections should be saved on amazon's servers and they should re-appear on your kindle.

Depending on how many books you have, it may take a while before they are visible again on your kindle.


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

dobes, mine did that, but when I turned on whispernet and did a sync everything showed back up again.


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## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

LauraB said:


> It's in the 1st paragraph on the mobile read and Nogdog's directions. Read it myself day before yesterday. I assume the warning is still there.
> I'm sorry some people are having difficulties. I have put several from Nogdog's page on my kindle to decide which I want without a problem. I have a Mac, I don't know if that matters, but not even a hiccup. I appreciate all the work they did to get us the hack, and understood from the second I found myself reading the directions I was making a choice, myself, and that it could be "unsafe" for my Kindle. The stated warning didn't seem vague to me.


There is a difference between a potential problem, and a problem that a LOT of people appear to be having.ESPECIALLY since people WERENT having these types of problems in this number with all of the other hacks. Most people assumed it would go exactly the same as the previous hacks had, and thats without issue if you followed instructions, and it seems for many that it DOESNT go as smoothly And the paragraph at the top of nogdogs blog wasn't there till yesterday so I'm not sure how you read it the day before yesterday

(BTW nog, I don't blame you or feel you should have put the extended warning on your site since you didnt know at the time)


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

@ Riddle: He couldn't put a statement about problems "a lot of people are having" when he put the hack and instructions up on his blog, because "a lot of people" hadn't done it yet. And I'm not going to argue with you about when I put the hack on my Kindle. I don't know what paragraph is up there now to compare it to, but there was a clear statement, when I put it on, that said it was risky. If you don't blame Nogdog, which I agree, what is it exactly that you take issue with in my post? That I put the hack on on the 22nd (with no problems)  and took the warning on the page that I did so at my own risk seriously That is all I can guess you take issue with, although it makes little sense.


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## jheydt (Dec 16, 2008)

I believe i had the Georgia 2 font on my K before the system update but of course I deleted it prior to the update.  However, after the update I kind of like the font that came with it.  A serif font is easier to read for me and the font is dark enough at least on my Kindle.  With all the problems people are having I think I just use the font that came with the system update.  

John


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

Steph H said:


> Vicki, try another restart, or a 'sync and check' with Whispernet on. That happened to me yesterday too (also as posted above), essentially I got 'unsynched' from the Amazon time server and had to set that for the 'most recent first' time setting to work correctly again.


Steph, that did work. I inadvertantly did it when I synced for my "work day" (reading on Kindle for PC) but only just now realized that it cleared up the problem with Collections sorting on my Kindle.

Thanks.


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## lewchee (Dec 4, 2008)

Try http://www.fontsquirrel.com for a source of free fonts...


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## dobes (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks, guys.  I did the sync but no luck.  Spent the evening recreating.....oh well, no permanent damage done!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Just for the record, as far as warnings go, the first was that we are calling this a "hack". 

Secondly, in what was initially the first paragraph in my instructions article, I had clearly typed in a different font color that you proceed at your own risk. It was not until after there was a distinct if random trend of people having to reboot that I put up the new warning paragraph at the top of the article.

That being said, I do not know of anyone yet to have "bricked" their Kindle as a result of this hack. Yes, it's a bit more convoluted to install, and yes, it will give you _agita_ if your menu malfunctions or locks up and you have to do a hardware reset. Welcome to the world of computers. (How many people have suffered the "blue screen of death" on their PCs when there wasn't even any "hacking" involved?)

Yes, I wish there was a simple, one-step, one-click way to install my desired font (are you listening Amazon?), but at least there is _something_ I can now use if I'm willing to take what seems to be some risk of having to do a restart (how often have I had to restart PC's in my life for one reason or another?) and what to date seems to be a very, very small risk of any actual damage to the Kindle's operation (i.e. "bricking" it).

But in the end, this _is_ a hack, and if you have absolutely zero tolerance for the very slight possibility of screwing up your Kindle permanently and a low tolerance for possibly having to do a reboot, repeat steps because you missed one, etc., _then I do not recommend you attempt this hack._

Now I'm off to post another note recommending you do a Sync before you attempt the hack.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

And maybe about doing a sync after completing the hack...


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

The only reason I had a problem with the menu button was *my own fault*. I had installed and then didn't do the restart FIRST. I started opening a collection without restarting. Once I did the hard reset it was fine and I am very happy with the result.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

lewchee said:


> Try http://www.fontsquirrel.com for a source of free fonts...


What can you do with this? Download the fonts and then move them over to the kindle?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Shhh! Quiet! I think one of the moderators is looking!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Stepping in and asking those involved to step back and take a deep breath. Personal attacks aren't allowed. I've deleted a couple that were in my opinion crossing the line. Your points have been made. It's time to move on.

I really don't want to have to lock a thread about a font hack.

~Luv


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

As one of the first people to try this out (hell, I even beat luvmy4brats to doing it ) and I did report early problems to NogDog that night (well, it was my nightime).  And yes, even then at this stage, his website reported as he described, that this was a hack and that neither he nor the developer on Mobile reads can be held responsible for any damage caused to your kindle.  So it was certainly clearly 'user beware'.

And I have no gripes at all, in fact I am really pleased to have both screensavers and preferred fonts back on.  My reason in posting initially was to get some help for my revolving screensavers as I couldnt restart the kindle.  And no-one else had reported issues so there was no other assistance online to work that out.  But NogDog was around and helped me out.  Perhaps at that time he might have thought I had done something wrong and not followed the instructions.

Then I read of other people having problems so I knew it wasnt just me.  So, for those people doing this hack for the first time, it is rather scary seeing your kindle do things that it shouldnt do.  So I think a fair warning is to say exactly that!

So, thankyou to Nog Dog and the original developer of the hacks, your efforts are greatly appreciated.  Oh yeah, always back up and sync everything before you think of fiddling!


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

I installed the Georgia2 on my K2i and KDX US last night. The only unexpected thing that happened (on both) was after adding the new fonts to the font folder the Kindles froze after ejection which made the menu button inoperable so I could not get to the re-start. So I just held the start switch over to the right until the screen went blank and it re-booted just fine with no issues. I have my preferred font back and I thank you NogDog. 

My opinion is the disclaimer proceed at you own risk is viewed by most people as a CYA statement that they take note of but don't consider seriously. Think about it, you're downloading a program to run on your device which will make changes to it's software to allow it to do things the manufacturer never intended. The source of this program is some guy you never met called NogDog. Yet you still choose to go ahead and give it a try. Sorry, but if you're willing to take a risk like that and loose that gamble that was your mistake. Certainly not NogDog's whose hack has worked on many devices (mine included) and who did warn you think before you leap. 

My first hack install ever was a year ago, a screen saver hack. It worked, but when I re-booted my archive read 0. I panicked, freaked out, thought I lost all the books I bought. They were gone from the server right? No, just needed to re-connect to whispernet. Scared the shot out of me though.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

PaulGuy said:


> ...The source of this program is some guy you never met called NogDog....


And I'm just the messenger: I'm not educated enough to have written the hack. (Note how I did not say "not smart enough"?)


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## PaulGuy (Jul 9, 2009)

Apparently smart enough to be a Phillies fan.  

Philadelphia born and raised here, currently in exile.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I'm forever grateful no matter what it took to get it on.. since I couldn't envision reading forever with the built-in fonts set on size 5 (the only way I could see them)..  Now I can read without turning the page every few lines.    And that is why they call it a "hack".. there's always risk.  But well worth it!  My two cents..


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

PaulGuy said:


> Apparently smart enough to be a Phillies fan.
> 
> Philadelphia born and raised here, currently in exile.


I was born near Chicago and grew up a Cubs fan, but I've been in the Philly area (NJ) for over 30 years now, and I've eventually evolved into a Phillies phan. Besides, since I've been here the Phillies have won two World Series and been in 3 others (unless I'm forgetting any?), while the Cubbies -- well, enough said.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

If you lose your collections, I think in another thread Amazon has been recommending you De-register your Kindle (option available on the Settings page) and then Re-register it. On that thread, I think it's had a 100% success rate in recovering 'lost' collections.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Hello 

Sorry, I didn't catch this thread earlier, so I'm a bit late to the party, but here's some info for those of you having some troubles/feeling a bit scared to try it after some of the posts...

First, there was a nice warning, with a shiny ASCII art /!\ in my original post about the potential issue with the menu key & cie, _when switching the fonts_, so, that shouldn't have come completely out of the blue . I probably should have made it clearer, but I didn't think people would right away try to switch the fonts, and I personnally had only encountered the issue when trying broken fonts, so at that time, I thought the issue came from one particular set of fonts, and wouldn't really be a problem for most of the users. My bad .

Good news: Thanks to some new tricks shared by the community around a chinese hack, I'm working on a way to automatically reboot the Kindle when unplugging it, in order to avoid these potentially scary issues .

But, I won't be available for the next few days, so it probably won't be ready until sometime next week. So, if you're hesitant about trying the hack, you're welcome to wait for the next version .

Regarding the lost collections, it appears to be a more or less common problem since the 2.5 update, even with vanilla Kindles, so, pretty sure the hack doesn't have any impact on this appart maybe stressing the original cause of the issue (which, as far as we know, is unknown) a bit more, but I'll add a warning to backup the json file anyway next time I update the post .

Note that, unless you modify the font config files in linkfonts/bin, the issue encountered by some people in the first hours when deleting the fonts shouldn't happen again, there's a safety check aborting the hack if we're missing a font. So, with the actual version, nothing you do _should_ cause you to have to do a factory reset. .


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Thanks for the update, NiLuJe, and keep up the good work.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

lewchee said:


> Try http://www.fontsquirrel.com for a source of free fonts...


Also, be aware that many of the fonts available on the web, including from Font Squirrel, are not TTF fonts. I'm not sure how the Kindle will react to another font format, so use caution and proceed with non-TTF fonts at your own risk.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, Freetype (the library used to render fonts on Linux, and on the kindle), supports most font formats, but I wouldn't try another type than truetype. If you really like a font that's not available in the truetype format, use Fontforge to export it in truetype. (It's free software).

Even with truetype fonts, I'm not sure the java frontend of the kindle support advanced Opentype specs. In fact, I'm pretty sure one of the only fonts that didn't render correctly at all in my tests, was an advanced opentype aware font.


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## linda~lou (Mar 29, 2009)

I didn't over think or stress about any potential problems, I just jumped in and now thrilled to say I have my screensavers and fonts back!  Yea!  

Question, though.....when I had both hacks installed on 2.3, when you went to the settings page, on the bottom next to the serial number, you saw + ss and font hack.  Now all I see is ss 0.4, nothing indicating I have the font hack.  

What do you guys have at the bottom of your settings page?

And here's a stupid question.  The Georgia font file had options for bold, italics etc.  I don't want bold or italic, but say I did, how do you choose what style font you want?  

And I just want to thank everyone and especially nog dog for all their hard work, I'm a very happy Kindle kamper!


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## cloudyvisions (May 21, 2009)

I don't have anything at the bottom of my settings page either. I don't think that there will be anything on the bottom of the page since it's not really a hack...it's a bunch of font files in a folder, so there's no reason to have a hack # at the bottom. I guess it just means to make sure to remember to uninstall the fonts when we get upgrades.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

By default, I don't add anything at all to the version tag in the Settings page with my hack. (Although, it's easy to do it if one wishes so).

And as for which fonts does what, refer to: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=977006&postcount=97

As for the updates, as specified in my original post, you'll just have to delete one file and reboot, no need to uninstall completely. (This restriction *might* disappear in the next version... It's doable, but I kinda like not being able to update right away, that makes it possible to take a peek inside the entrails of the update... ^^)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

linda~lou said:


> I didn't over think or stress about any potential problems, I just jumped in and now thrilled to say I have my screensavers and fonts back! Yea!
> 
> Question, though.....when I had both hacks installed on 2.3, when you went to the settings page, on the bottom next to the serial number, you saw + ss and font hack. Now all I see is ss 0.4, nothing indicating I have the font hack.
> 
> What do you guys have at the bottom of your settings page?


The hack as currently implemented does not alter the version string (geek-speak for a bunch of text characters). There's a way you can manually change it, but I'm not losing sleep over it myself, so I'll leave it to you to search the MobileReads forum for it if you are. 



> And here's a stupid question. The Georgia font file had options for bold, italics etc. I don't want bold or italic, but say I did, how do you choose what style font you want?
> 
> And I just want to thank everyone and especially nog dog for all their hard work, I'm a very happy Kindle kamper!


In general, the various bold/italic options are used within the text where the book formatting specifies _Italics_, *bold*, or _*bold Italics*_.


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## linda~lou (Mar 29, 2009)

Gotcha!  Thanks, NiLuJe and NogDog, you guys are the best!


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## MetalDragon (Mar 27, 2010)

GREAT job to NiLuJe and NogDog!

Followed Instructions to the letter and no problems at all.

Now i can enjoy my reading even more.

Thank you!


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## lovesangelrn (Dec 28, 2009)

Well, I finally broke down and put the Georgia2 font on my kindle.  I had the same issue with the menu key being unresponsive and having to hard reset after changing the text from the default hack font to the Georgia2.  I have several topaz format books (.azw1 files in Calibre) that the hack does't work for, thus I'm able to see the difference in contrast from the default font to the hacked font (seeing something on the kindle is so much different than looking at screenshots).  I have to say, the update did seem to increase the darkness of the default font quite a bit, as I can notice only a slight increase in darkeness with the Georgia2.  

Update:  I changed fonts again (just to see what a different one would look like), and this time, my menu button sorta worked the first time I used it, but instead of the page refreshing, it just kept piling up stuff on the current page.  Had to do a hard reset again.  All this is making me slightly uncomfortable, and since I don't hate the default font, I've decided to uninstall the font hack for now.  I'm keeping my SS hack though, lol....those dead authors are just too creepy.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

lovesangelrn said:


> I have several topaz format books (.azw1 files in Calibre) that the hack does't work for, thus I'm able to see the difference in contrast from the default font to the hacked font (seeing something on the kindle is so much different than looking at screenshots).


Topaz books don't utilize the default font. They are more like scanned images of a printed page. My experience with them so far has been terrible, the most recent encounter resulted in me requesting a refund due to the bleached out look of the text in Joseph Finder's _Killer Instinct_.

I definitely agree with you about the screenshots on a computer screen vs the actual appearance on the Kindle's screen. There is very little similarity.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Okay, the fonts & ss hacks have been updated! (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88004)

Among other things, that should 'fix' the disappearing menu issues. .


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

NiLuJe said:


> Okay, the fonts & ss hacks have been updated! (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88004)
> 
> Among other things, that should 'fix' the disappearing menu issues. .


Are there any changes to the font files, or just the font hack install/uninstall files?


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

No change to the existing font sets, only the zip bundle of the hack & scripts from the first post.

And, obviously, the new font sets added to the third post .


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

NiLuJe said:


> Okay, the fonts & ss hacks have been updated! (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88004)
> 
> Among other things, that should 'fix' the disappearing menu issues. .


Thank you for your hard work and also for taking the time to post this here! =)


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

I re-updated my screensavers hack with NiLuJe's file today and got into a pickle but got it sorted out after an hour or so.  But a few issues needed to be fixed so a little stressful.

I also received a new kindle today, and not sure if I am imagining it, but the default text and display is WAY clearer on it.  It was with great fear I hacked into it using NiLuJe's hack and ss hack, fearing similar issues that I had with my kindle.  It took, maybe, 5 minutes from start to finish.  It is hubby's kindle - he has a few books published, so I did a word 'cloud' on the text of his books and used those as individual screensavers.  I was very impressed with myself!   I only did the ss hack as the font looks so much better than my kindle.


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

So, I've been enjoying the screensaver hack for the last number of weeks but have not done the font hack.  *IF* I were going to install the font  hack, should I uninstall the hacks I've been using and start all over with the latest and greatest update?  If so, how does one uninstall?  I have the file, just don't know what to do with it. (I assume that Jailbreak just stays the same, yes?) Thanks!


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

If you're happy with what you have installed right now, and don't particularly care about having to uninstall them to install official updates, I'd say don't bother, especially if you're not comfortable with all these things.

If you do wish to change hacks, you'll have to follow each of your actual hack's uninstall instructions. Most likely running the uninstall update, doing a full reboot, and cleaning up custom directories on your Kindle should do it, but you'd better check the real documentation of your hacks just to be sure .

And, no, you don't have to touch the Jailbreak. (Except if it's not clarknova's or mine, and you want to be able to install official updates).


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

The jailbreak I used was Clarknova's.  My screensaver hack has an uninstall file but no directions on how to use it.  Do you just drop it into the system folder?  Thanks.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Not even in any folder, just right in the root, alongside the system & documents folder


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

Wonderful!  Thanks so much.


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## Christina (Feb 4, 2009)

NiLuJe, after using the uninstall bins for your fonts and ss hacks and rebooting, do we then delete the linkfonts and linkss folders before using the updated installation bins and copying over new linkfonts and linkss folders?  Just want to make sure that I don't delete anything that I shouldn't, thanks.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

You can safely overwrite the linkss and linkfonts folders with the updated ones without removing the old ones beforehand. Nothing to worry about  Even if something important in the linkfonts/ folder was missing, the hack would simply not be applied.

But you might want to avoid overwriting your custom fonts in linkfonts/fonts. (And for the screensavers, skip the default custom file, 00_kindle_def_600.png, in the linkss/screensavers folder)


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## Christina (Feb 4, 2009)

Got it, and thank you so much NiLuJe! Your hard work is very much appreciated!


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## moohoo (Jun 24, 2010)

I JUST received my K2i today from Woot and I immediately came to this thread to install both the SS and Font hacks after I upgraded to 2.5.3. After lurking around KB for two weeks, I knew exactly what my Kindle needed  Installation was a snap and everything worked like a charm! I am now dead-author-free and happily reading with my new font. Actually, I'm not really using a new font, since I really liked Caecillia (the default font) but found it too light, I just set the bold type as my Serif_Regular. I did try out Georgia2 and Helvetica2, but I disliked the lack of spacing between each line...

Anyway! Real point of the post: thank you so much, NiLuJe!!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

moohoo said:


> I disliked the lack of spacing between each line...


An old trick that doesn't get talked about much any more is to press the ALT and UP ARROW keys at the same time as you press any number 1-9 which will increase or decrease the spacing between lines. 5 is normal I think, so 1-4 tighten up the space and 6-9 add some extra space.


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## moohoo (Jun 24, 2010)

Well, that certainly solves the problem!! Thanks a lot, Jason


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

911jason said:


> An old trick that doesn't get talked about much any more is to press the ALT and UP ARROW keys at the same time as you press any number 1-9 which will increase or decrease the spacing between lines. 5 is normal I think, so 1-4 tighten up the space and 6-9 add some extra space.


It's a good tip - but it won't work on a DX because they've incorporated the numbers into the top line of letters and you have to press the Alt key to get a number - and you can't press the Alt key while you're um... holding down the Alt key!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

I know, but this is a K2 thread and I was replying to a post regarding a K2. =)

That missing row of number keys on the DX is a significant reason why I'm not interested in the DX... would it really have killed them to fit in some number keys? Really?!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yep, that's why I'll wait for a "graphite" K2/K3 should I decide to upgrade, as the ability to increase line-spacing is extremely useful to help compensate for the macular pucker in my right eye. (I think 3 or 4 is the default, as I usually _increase_ it to 5 in most books.)


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

NogDog. Do you find the main menu difficult with your vision? I am buying my mum who has MD but think she will not manage the main menu and selection of a book. So I will have to open the book for her and then she can manipulate the font.

Is there a way to make the home page *font really large*? In that hack?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Pushka said:


> NogDog. Do you find the main menu difficult with your vision? I am buying my mum who has MD but think she will not manage the main menu and selection of a book. So I will have to open the book for her and then she can manipulate the font.
> 
> Is there a way to make the home page *font really large*? In that hack?


I am not aware of a way to change the menu or various navigation screens' font sizes. I don't know if the font files can be adjusted to make the menu fonts larger or not, but I may look into it. (I seem to remember some of TedSan's fonts being generally larger?) Maybe NiLuJe can provide some insight?

I get by OK with it as it is, but certainly would appreciate a somewhat larger font, not for the book titles which are OK for my eyes, but for some of the other screens and ancillary text, the "window" where you type notes, and so forth. My mother has somewhat similar problems with her eyes, and seems to get by OK, but she does not really use any of the features such as notes, and pretty much just needs to find the book title in the home page to click on it, so she may not be a good test case. 

For my case, it's still a much better experience than reading a paperback.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I tried some of TedSan's fonts when I first got my DX. . .just to see what the fuss was about. . .a couple of them made the size of even home screen things pretty large. . . . . . .


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

That is interesting Ann.  I reckon it can be done. Must ask on mobile reads too. 
NogDog, there is no way she could use notes and even I find that hard. But for her to able to select the next book on the home page would be great.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Like I said on MR, we can always try to tweak the scaling of the font used for the book list (Serif_Bold), but, we would also need to scale exactly the same way the whole Serif family to avoid scaling discrepancies in books, and, make sure the font isn't too tall in order to still fit for the 10 books/page of the Home screen.

If you've got some time to spare, give me a Serif family and I'll do some experiments, if you're unfamiliar with FontForge .

As for other parts of the UI, it's basically the same thing, I'm pretty sure most of the UI has a fixed size, so we can only make small adjustments.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

Ok, now I feel totally stooopid.  I just did the uninstall file for the font hack, thinking to put on the new one.  And everything is cool except that the font appears to be the same.  

Did I do anything?  lol  sighhhhhh  Sometimes this stuff is easy and sometimes it just refuses to click with my old brain.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

@Vicki: I'm not sure I'm following you, you just *uninstalled* a font hack for now, you didn't try to install a new one yet? If that's the case, did you reboot your Kindle?


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

That's right.  I uninstalled the old font hack, did the "Update Your Kindle" and all seems to be fine.  Except that the font still looks the same as the hacked font.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

I just installed the most current "hack" file.. 3.3.N_k2-install.bin.  Nothing has changed.  The font is still the hacked font - Caecilia Bold.  I'm assuming now this doesn't need to be removed UNLESS I no longer want the hacked font.

Sorry if I'm confusing you.  I'm confused too!!  lol


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Okay, same question: Did you do a full reboot of your Kindle?

Also, what was your previous Font hack? And do you have something special appended to the version in the Settings page?


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

The previous Font hack was one of yours, perhaps the second edition because I waited for the problems to be ironed out when it first came out.  I just read on here that the file has been changed and that everyone should use the latest version.  I've done a font hack many times sooo...  my mind read to "uninstall" the old one and then install the new one.  I expected when I uninstalled the old file for the Kindle to revert back to it's former unhacked status.  It didn't.  Each time I installed a file, whether it was the "uninstall" or the new "install" and went to the menu, "Update Your Kindle" was available.  I chose that, the Kindle reset just as it was supposed to.  

I guess I'm making too big an issue about this.  It's just that I'm wondering why when the uninstall was done, the Kindle didn't revert back to it's unhacked status.  Guess if I ever need to remove the font hack, we'll find out then if it is in fact removable.

There is nothing after the version .. Version 2.5.2 (490480060).

Thanks.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, that was one of the issues of the first two versions, the uninstall didn't really have any effect until a full Kindle reboot . That's not the case anymore with the latest versions .

And there's nothing after the version by default, so, that's fine too.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

Is this the way it is supposed to be?  Is Update Your Kindle considered a full reboot?  Or do I then need to do a Restart as well?  

And if I ever need to uninstall it, I use the corresponding 3.3N uninstall file?

Thanks again.  I appreciate your help.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

"Is this the way it is supposed to be?" > What part in particular? The version string? Yes, it's okay . (Sorry, can't get a proper quote working with Google Chrome/Chromium )

And, no, 'Update Your Kindle' doesn't do a full restart. (Warning, geek speek ahead: Technically, it switches to runlevel 3, then run the updater, and then switches back to rc5 (the default 'GUI + framework' runlevel). The first versions of the hacks were started in rcS, (single-user), meaning it ran very very early at boot, and at boot only, and never stopped. We assumed that a reboot/shutdown would take care of everything anyway. So it needed a full restart to be taken into account, because it was started too early in the boot process, and not stopped before running the updater. That's not the case anymore, now, the hacks start on rc5, and are stopped on rc3 before the updater (they're also stopped on shutdown & reboot). (Note that the update process is a bit more complex with major official updates, when there's a kernel switch involved).).

As for the uninstaller, all my uninstallers are backward compatible (meaning, if you have v3.3.N installed, you can uninstall it with the v3.3.N uninstaller, but also with the one from v3.4.N, v3.5.N, etc. )

EDIT: How to kill a thread in one quick lesson, by yours truly.


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

I'm glad to hear the hack uninstallers are backwards compatible. That's useful to know.

I was able to follow the geek speek, even if I have no idea what to do with that information.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

NiLuJe, I sorta killed it myself seeing as how I had NOT done the second step of the reboot process - i.e. Restart.  Some of us are not near as techno savvy as you are so you gotta speak to us in plain words and then explain the plain words.  

Reboot = Update Your Kindle PLUS Restart it too!!!

My Bad!!!!


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, when I say 'reboot', I mean 'restart', my bad... I'm used to both terms, but in that particular case, I never remember the one that's actually used in the Kindle UI...


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## ElAguila (Dec 25, 2009)

Just a quick question before I jailbreak and install the font hack. Is this the most current instructions here:
http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Font_Hack_for_all_2.5.x_Kindles


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

ElAguila said:


> Just a quick question before I jailbreak and install the font hack. Is this the most current instructions here:
> http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Font_Hack_for_all_2.5.x_Kindles


Looks pretty good to me.


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## TomC (Jun 13, 2010)

Thanks so much for this font hack/upgrade (I don't really care about the screen-saver one).  

Since the last 2.5.3 upgrade my k2i (~4 months old) has been great but my DXi (~7 months old) has been a bit weak (contrast-wise, in comparison).  In fact, I was almost ready to send my DXi back to Amazon to have it checked out.

Thanks to the good instructions I had no problems installing this font hack.  I tried a few of the fonts and found that the Helvetica2 worked best on my DXi.  This seemed to give me the best combination of improved contrast (darker text), line spacing (since we DX users cannot change this), and a nice right-justified text.

I only found one small glitch when changing fonts.  I added the blank reboot file as recommended in the latest instructions.  This did not seem to do anything until I actually selected a book.  Then it rebooted and worked fine.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

@TomC: That's because there's a timeout of ~10s between the USB PlugOut event and the actual reboot . (That's done on purpose)


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

I've uninstalled jailbreak and font hacks from my K2us and want to know what do do with the "linkfonts" folder and anything else the font hack added.  I want to return the Kindle to the way it was before the font hack.  Will a "return to factory default" get rid of these extra files without erasing my collections and the books I have on the Kindle?

I have a K2us running the latest 2.5.4 software update.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

You can safely delete them once the hacks have been uninstalled. (And done a full restart of your Kindle if you were using an old version of the hacks). [Basically, as long as you see the default fonts instead of the custom ones, it's safe to delete the directory].


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

DD said:


> I've uninstalled jailbreak and font hacks from my K2us and want to know what do do with the "linkfonts" folder and anything else the font hack added. I want to return the Kindle to the way it was before the font hack. Will a "return to factory default" get rid of these extra files without erasing my collections and the books I have on the Kindle?
> 
> I have a K2us running the latest 2.5.4 software update.


There's no need to do a 'return to factory default' to get rid of unwanted files. Just delete them as you would any other file. The factory default option will do exactly what it says - return your Kindle to how it was when it left the factory.


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## DD (Nov 9, 2008)

NiLuJe said:


> You can safely delete them once the hacks have been uninstalled. (And done a full restart of your Kindle if you were using an old version of the hacks). [Basically, as long as you see the default fonts instead of the custom ones, it's safe to delete the directory].





Linjeakel said:


> There's no need to do a 'return to factory default' to get rid of unwanted files. Just delete them as you would any other file. The factory default option will do exactly what it says - return your Kindle to how it was when it left the factory.


Thank you both. That worked just fine.


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## prickles (May 1, 2010)

Okay, I'm lost... 
I have a K2 US, version 2.5.2 installed with screensaver and font hacks. I'm trying to uninstall the font and screensaver hacks to upgrade to the latest 2.5.x and then upgrade to the latest hacks. My problem is that I've run the uninstaller files several times and I still can't upgrade to the latest 2.5.x for some reason - I get an error message that the update has failed. The font hack is definitely off. And the old screensavers are back when I put my kindle to sleep, but in the setting menu, it still lists my version as 2.5.2 (blah blah) + SS 0.3. Does this mean the screensaver hack is somehow still on? I tried the original uninstall file, as well as the most recent since it was stated that it's backwards-compatible. But still no dice.

When I try to manually update from the file that has been downloaded via whispernet, I continue to get an error. Any ideas?

Thanks!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Have you tried the 0.4 uninstall file? http://charles-reace.com/Kindle_Hacks/hack2.5/kindle-2.5-ss-0.4.N.zip (I don't have a 0.3 version anywhere.)


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Yeah, when I said the uninstaller are backwards compatible, I meant *whith my own hacks* .

You, on the other hand, were using another ss hack (since mine never added anything the the version tag). And indeed, in this case, the uninstallers had a bug for a little while, where it failed to remove the + SS 0.x, which would explain why your official update fails.

Long story short: use the uninstaller from clarknova's ss hack, that should do the trick: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=963004&postcount=2


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## prickles (May 1, 2010)

Thank you Kindle geniuses! That did it. Whew... I was getting worried...


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

For those interested in really large fonts everywhere, in case you don't follow the MR thread: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1021472&postcount=278


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## naropano (Jul 25, 2010)

Thank you Kindle geniuses!


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Quick note for those not following the MR thread. Updated to 0.10.N/3.7.N.

Nothing new for existing users, but for new users, I dropped my stupid idea of manually uploading the custom directory. The update itself will now take care of it (and still keep your current fonts/screensavers when doing an update). That potentially simplify the install & update process, and avoid having the hacks installed in an inconsistent way (ie. some missing/corrupt files causing confusing behaviour).


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Thanks for keeping us updated here NiLuJe... just curious, are you planning on getting a K3?


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Hey Jason, if he isnt, we will all chip in and buy him one! 

I can say that safely because NiLuJe posted on MR that he expects to receive one in the first batch.  Which gives them a couple of days to work on the hacks and post them before I get mine to Australia on around Sept 1.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Indeed, first batch! And I'll be (hopefully ^^) all nice and relaxed after a week in London .


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

NiLuJe:

In the current version of the MobileRead form post, you say:


> First of all, no need to touch the jailbreak. Just forget about it


Does this mean new "hackers" no longer need to install the jailbreak first, or something else?

Thanks yet again.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Not for first installs, no, that comment only apply when updating the hacks .


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

NiLuJe said:


> Not for first installs, no, that comment only apply when updating the hacks .


OK. At first I thought it meant you were in some way incorporating the jailbreak into the hack installs, then I read it again and wasn't sure, so I figured I'd just go to the source.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

. I just updated the post to rephrase that in a bit less ambiguous way .


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Quick note for those not following the MR thread. Updated to 4.1.N.

There's a whole bunch of new stuff, most importantly something that should help fix the 'blank fonts' issue some of you were suffering from on K3 .


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