# K3: How do you disable the screensaver / sleep mode?



## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

Hello, I just got my Kindle 3 and its been nice to read, however most of the books I have bought are guitar notation books. Basically books with scales, chords, charts and music that you read from as you play the guitar. Only problem is that the Kindle seems to go to sleep while I'm in the middle of reading the notation and charts and playing along with my guitar. How do I disable this?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Sorry, you can't. It goes to sleep after 10 minutes.


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## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

That basically makes this entire device 100% useless. Real books don't go to "sleep". 

Do you know what Amazons return policy is for this and all the now useless books I own?


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Pippers said:


> That basically makes this entire device 100% useless. Real books don't go to "sleep".
> 
> Do you know what Amazons return policy is for this and all the now useless books I own?


Well, it won't go to sleep as long as you continue to turn the page.

As for returning it, contact customer service. Any books can be returned within 7 days, The Kindle can be returned within 30 days.


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## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

Can't turn the page while you're playing an instrument. At least, not a two handed one. Seems silly they would even sell books that require the device being turned on without going to sleep.

Anyways, thank you. I'll look into other e-readers in the meantime.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Don't you have to turn the page with paper sheet music books? It's not all on one page is it? I mean, with the kindle, it's not like you're even taking the time to turn a page. You're just tapping a button. (I seem to recall having to turn the pages in my music books when playing the flute...)

I believe the larger DX has a sleep time of 15 or 20 minutes.. I don't have one, and can't remember off the top of my head.

I don't know about the Sony, but I do know that the nook puts itself to sleep as well.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

There is a hack around that disables the screen saver. I've also seen one that will put the Kindle to sleep and leave the last page read on the display with a lock symbol at the top or bottom.

I wasn’t interested in either, so didn’t pay much attention. A Google search would probably turn something up. Possibly neither works on the K3 yet.


Mike


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## Kindleing (Aug 19, 2010)

In the "Screensaver Hack for Kindle 3" thread there is a link to a Mobileread.com discussion about hidden commands for the Kindle 3. One of those commands is "~disableScreensaver". I don't have my Kindle yet, so I don't know how this works but it might be worth checking out.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1098081

Wally


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

If you really want to use the books, download a copy of Kindle for PC (assuming you have a computer, of course) and set your screen time-out to like 30 minutes. The download is free and you can then download your guitar books.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I have a Sony 300, and the screen goes blank after an hour.


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## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

Kindleing said:


> In the "Screensaver Hack for Kindle 3" thread there is a link to a Mobileread.com discussion about hidden commands for the Kindle 3. One of those commands is "~disableScreensaver". I don't have my Kindle yet, so I don't know how this works but it might be worth checking out.
> 
> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1098081
> 
> Wally


Thanks Wally, I'll check this out tonight. If this works, it'll have saved the day.

Just seems there should be an option for this in the setting somewhere, or at least a way to set the timer. When you're doing practicing things like scales and riffs, you're not likely to be turning the page for a long time as you practice the same notes over and over and over. So it's kind of a big deal for me.


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## w5jck (Aug 30, 2010)

Pippers said:


> Thanks Wally, I'll check this out tonight. If this works, it'll have saved the day.
> 
> Just seems there should be an option for this in the setting somewhere, or at least a way to set the timer. When you're doing practicing things like scales and riffs, you're not likely to be turning the page for a long time as you practice the same notes over and over and over. So it's kind of a big deal for me.


No offense, but if you bought a Kindle for practicing scales, you bought the wrong device. Ebook readers all turn off after a period of no use. Otherwise the batteries would go dead a lot faster. Kindles and other ebook readers were designed for reading, not displaying static text for hours at a time, so getting angry over the auto turn-off feature is rather ridiculous.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

Actually, they're perfect for that purpose, since displaying a static page without power drain is *exactly* what the e-Ink screen does .

Cf. the screensavers.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

I think the main reason they use screensavers at all is to increase battery life. Not because displaying the image is using up juice, but because a lot of people never turn off their wireless. Therefore, the longer delay in going to sleep, the shorter overall battery life the device would have. 

If NiLuJe would quit posting here and get back to his basement to figure out the jailbreak for the K3, you could always save your music sheets as images and then set them as screensavers. That way your music would stay on screen as long as you like. Might be kind of a pain if you have a lot of music though. It's a moot point however, until the K3 is hacked.

Just kidding NiLuJe, I know you're waiting right along with the rest of us!


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## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

The ;debugOn and ~disableScreensaver works like a champ. Even after the new firmware update.

Also, the Kindle devices are perfect for static pages as they're slates, and they're very easy to sit on a sheet music rack.

Ever mess around with a guitar tab book on one of those? It's annoying having to bend the spine and pages so it sits properly. The kindle is THE perfect device for this, now that the screensaver can be disabled.



w5jck said:


> Kindles and other ebook readers were designed for reading, not displaying static text for hours at a time


You might want to let Amazon know this, then. As they're selling literally hundreds and hundreds of books that are meant to display static text for hours at a time.


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## NiLuJe (Jun 23, 2010)

You might want to go back to ;debugOff right after that. ;debugOn spews a LOT of crap in the logs. That may drain the battery/strain the CPU a bit more.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

911jason said:


> I think the main reason they use screensavers at all is to increase battery life. Not because displaying the image is using up juice, but because a lot of people never turn off their wireless. Therefore, the longer delay in going to sleep, the shorter overall battery life the device would have. .......


But surely the wireless doesn't switch off anyway? The battery still drains on a K with the wireless on, even in sleep mode. Books keep on indexing, subscriptions still download etc. As far as I can tell, it doesn't actually go into a standby mode or anything. The sleep screen is just so you know that the keys are locked and you need to move the slider to release them (rather than thinking that the K has frozen) and to protect your privacy if you've left it lying around.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> But surely the wireless doesn't switch off anyway? The battery still drains on a K with the wireless on, even in sleep mode.


My wireless definitely seems to switch off when I put it in sleep mode. When I wake it up, the wireless takes a few seconds to come back on so it must turn itself off in sleep mode.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

history_lover said:


> My wireless definitely seems to switch off when I put it in sleep mode. When I wake it up, the wireless takes a few seconds to come back on so it must turn itself off in sleep mode.


Yes, I've noticed that too, but I just thought it was the system checking on the status so it knew what to display since there could have been a change since the sleep screen displayed.

I did think that subscriptions downloaded while it was 'asleep' and so assumed the wireless must be on. Perhaps they just download the second you wake it up? I really must pay closer attention.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

I would sure think it would go into a reduced power mode during sleep, maybe the wireless just checks the network occasionally to see if anything is waiting for delivery?


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

911jason said:


> I would sure think it would go into a reduced power mode during sleep, maybe the wireless just checks the network occasionally to see if anything is waiting for delivery?


I think that's how wireless works anyway - unless you do a manual sync and check it only 'phones home' periodically. Perhaps it just does it less often when it's asleep? I've noticed that sometimes after you've switched on it says 'items downloaded' but it's impossible to tell if it means 'just now as I woke up' or 'while I was asleep'. It happens too quickly to be able to open the Menu item to check on downloading documents.

The fact remains that a Kindle in sleep mode with the wireless on drains power faster than one in sleep mode with it off. So the wireless connection has to be live and doing _something_.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> I did think that subscriptions downloaded while it was 'asleep' and so assumed the wireless must be on. Perhaps they just download the second you wake it up? I really must pay closer attention.


I don't know about subscriptions but I have sent a lot of samples to it from the website while in sleep mode and I noticed it downloads when I wake it up, it does not download while asleep. I distinctly remember waking it up and seeing it say "Items downloading" and thinking "what is it downloading? Oh yeah! I sent a bunch of samples to it an hour or two ago".


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Downloads definitely happen while the Kindle sleeps. . . . . .I have subscriptions. . . . .My normal thing is to turn wireless on in the morning for a few minutes until the new issues come down and then turn it off again.  But several times I noticed the battery fairly low at the end of the day, so I've plugged it in, turned on wireless, and put it to sleep.  My content was invariably there when I woke it up the next morning.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

history_lover said:


> I don't know about subscriptions but I have sent a lot of samples to it from the website while in sleep mode and I noticed it downloads when I wake it up, it does not download while asleep. I distinctly remember waking it up and seeing it say "Items downloading" and thinking "what is it downloading? Oh yeah! I sent a bunch of samples to it an hour or two ago".


I think rather than 'items download*ing*' what it actually says is 'items download*ed*' after it's finished with no indication as to when it happened.


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## Pippers (Sep 1, 2010)

I've had the screen saver off since early last night, and woke up this morning and the battery charge hasn't budged. 

I always have wireless off, though. I only turn it on when I need to get a book or check email.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> I think rather than 'items download*ing*' what it actually says is 'items download*ed*' after it's finished with no indication as to when it happened.


Okay I just tested it and this is what happens:

In sleep mode, I went to the website on my pc and sent a sample to my Kindle. After several minutes, giving it plenty of time to have downloaded it in sleep mode, I woke it up. The Wifi symbol was not immediately there but then connected. For a good 5 seconds or so after that, the sample did not appear (nor was there any notice of items having been downloaded). Then, in the top left corner that little circle swirled and afterwards it said "Items Downloaded". After a few seconds, the "Items downloaded" notice disappeared.

I don't know about you guys but to me, that says wifi was not connected in sleep mode and after waking it up, it first connected to wifi and then downloaded the sample.


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## kcrady (Dec 17, 2009)

history_lover said:


> Okay I just tested it and this is what happens:
> 
> In sleep mode, I went to the website on my pc and sent a sample to my Kindle. After several minutes, giving it plenty of time to have downloaded it in sleep mode, I woke it up. The Wifi symbol was not immediately there but then connected. For a good 5 seconds or so after that, the sample did not appear (nor was there any notice of items having been downloaded). Then, in the top left corner that little circle swirled and afterwards it said "Items Downloaded". After a few seconds, the "Items downloaded" notice disappeared.
> 
> I don't know about you guys but to me, that says wifi was not connected in sleep mode and after waking it up, it first connected to wifi and then downloaded the sample.


I suspect that in sleep mode the Kindle will not ping the amazon servers as frequently - once per hour perhaps instead of once every 5 minutes (just guessing here at the frequencies). I'd try the same experiment overnight - turn on wireless, put Kindle to sleep, then send some samples. Check in the morning to see what happened overnight.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

kcrady said:


> I suspect that in sleep mode the Kindle will not ping the amazon servers as frequently - once per hour perhaps instead of once every 5 minutes (just guessing here at the frequencies). I'd try the same experiment overnight - turn on wireless, put Kindle to sleep, then send some samples. Check in the morning to see what happened overnight.


Well, that's difficult because I read in bed and don't return to my laptop before going to sleep. But I know I have seen the same process after a few hours of it being asleep.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have definitely put my Kindles to sleep at night, plugged in, with wireless on. . . . . .and content was there in the morning. . .without me having to ask to have it sent.


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## Kindleing (Aug 19, 2010)

For what it's worth, in Chapter 1, page 30 of the K3 users guide, it says:



> Tip: Your Kindle will also go to sleep by itself after ten minutes if you are not using it.
> If your Kindle had wireless on prior to going to sleep, it will continue to receive your
> regularly scheduled subscriptions while in sleep.


Hopefully my Kindle will be here in a day or two and I can start using it instead of just reading about it.

Wally


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Wait.. this thing came with a manual!?


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Kindleing said:


> For what it's worth, in Chapter 1, page 30 of the K3 users guide, it says:


It doesn't say it'll get samples and books sent to it while asleep though, only "scheduled subscriptions". So it sounds like it does minimize the wifi usage while asleep.


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