Let's put Tailscale on a jailbroken Kindle

https://tailscale.com/blog/tailscale-jailbroken-kindle

by Quizzical4230 • 8 months ago

329 86 8 months ago

tailscale.com

Havoc2• 8 months ago

is available for all but the most up-to-date Kindles

Bought one from eBay to try it out. Silly me connected it to wifi and suddenly it’s up to date and no longer breakable

jsheard2• 8 months ago

If you want a cheap rooted eReader I think you're better off getting a Kobo instead, they don't officially support rooting but AFAICT they make basically no effort to prevent it.

tfsh• 8 months ago

+1 to a Kobo, they cheaper and better than Kindles, with full Calibre support (https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibre - OSS which has been in development for ~20 years!).

The way you install additional software is literally just moving files into folders whilst its plugged into your computer. I'm sure it could handle Tailscale.

kaladin-jasnah• 8 months ago

Kobo is great. I use Plato and KOReader on mine. They worked better than the original reader software for reading manga.

whoisburbansky• 8 months ago

The only (tiny) issue I've had with Tailscale on Kobo has been that the tailscale daemon prevents me from using the Kobo in Mass Storage Mode while it's active, so I have to disable/quit KOReader to be able to plug it in again, which is admittedly not frequently warranted anyways.

enthdegree4• 8 months ago

The latest Kobos use MediaTek SoCs with locked bootloaders. The Kobo Clara BW's MT8113, for example. As far as I know, one of the early bootloaders it, BL1, refuses to execute the next bootloader (BL2) unless its signature is valid. We can get the device into a mode where BL1 waits for upload of a BL2 via USB using an exploit called Kamakiri, but in public there is neither an exploit to get BL1 to boot an arbitrary BL2, nor an authorized BL2 image to upload. See here: https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient/issues/1332

Kobo devices have root exposed but don't let users boot their own kernels (and the kernel they ship was not compiled with kexec either).

I really don't know the reason so many devices these days don't have an unlock method. It seems predatory. Who knows where in the chain this happens... maybe it's Kobo, or maybe MediaTek won't sell you their SoCs for mass-market devices unless you lock them.

maximilianburke• 8 months ago

I used to like my Kobo a lot but recently it's got some pretty severe unreliability issues, usually around reading non-Kobo epubs and PDFs. Like, if I open of those files, the device usually crashes and when it recovers after a reboot, the file disappears.

dotancohen3• 8 months ago

Same with the Barnes and Noble Nooks. I've never rooted one, but via ADB one can install a launcher and most Android applications run. I've used four generations of Nooks to run AnkiDroid.

Just beware to check what version of Android the Nook is using before you buy, and what your app needs.

Havoc2• 8 months ago

I was more after a eink display in a shape that is cheaper than new boards for a DIY project

ycombinatrix• 8 months ago

Been there before with the OG pixel.

cyberax• 8 months ago

There is a new jailbreak, that is currently unpatched. You might need to make sure your Kindle doesn't get updated first by filling in all the disk space.

devilbunny• 8 months ago

Resell it, or wait six months. FWIW the 10th generation Kindle Paperwhite (the "PW4" in kindlemodding/mobileread lingo) doesn't have as large a screen as the newest models, but its maximum supported OS is currently 5.18.1 (and you can download that update directly from Amazon and transfer over USB), which is vulnerable to AdBreak. I just jailbroke and Tailscaled my PW4 this weekend after numerous failed attempts over a period of about a year to use the previous WinterBreak exploit.

I read mostly on my iPad; the Kindle is really just for reading outside, like at the beach/pool. But it was such a neat idea that I couldn't just pass it up.

IAmBroom• 8 months ago

That's a (very) minor plotline in The Naked Gun (2025).

marinhero• 8 months ago

Excellent. This plus OPDS will make for easier transfer of files locally.

atrus• 8 months ago

Or even not locally!

wkat42422• 8 months ago

Yes and with kavita there's now even progress sync with koreader! I use it on my kindles too.

_fzslm2• 8 months ago

You can also run Syncthing on a jailbroken Kindle. That opens up a world of possibilities!

epiccoleman• 8 months ago

Whoa, now that sounds like the use case I've been looking for since I jailbroke mine.

I have calibre set up to just email books to my Kindle, but that's an extra layer of indirection that I really don't need. I'll have to check that out.

zikduruqe• 8 months ago

If you have calibre, just turn on the wireless connection and have your Koreader connect to it.

https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/calibre

boneitis• 8 months ago

I too have heard about syncthing for the first time today but from a different submission[0] you might care to be aware of.

Although, I realize Android != Kindle's OS, so I'm not sure how much concern there should be.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184730 "Syncthing-Android have had a change of owner/maintainer"

pidgeon_lover• 8 months ago

I've been experimenting with Syncthing on Kindle (https://github.com/Darthagnon/syncthing-kindle), but have had no luck seemingly because the Linux kernel included is too old and doesn't support network connections, or because the CPU is too weak.

Is there a project other than the one I forked?

_fzslm2• 7 months ago

I switched over to an Onyx Boox reader, so I don't have a Kindle anymore. But I definitely used the same project as you. I used a Kindle Paperwhite 11th gen. The linked project says it works with Kindle Touch, which is VERY old, so I don't think you're having network issues.

It's been a while, but I think I enabled SSH on my Kindle and set it up that way. I started Syncthing via KUAL, then used an SSH reverse proxy to configure Syncthing on my laptop.

It -was- kind of a pain, but once it was good, it was good!

2OEH8eoCRo0• 8 months ago

What kernel version is it running?

I wanted to add an old paperwhite to a kubernetes cluster and the ancient kernel held me back.

humanfromearth9• 8 months ago

Same for me. I wanted to use it for HPC...

usefulposter• 8 months ago

How many Kindles to run a LLaMA 7B model?

vessenes2• 8 months ago

I used Tailscale on my remarkable tablet for a while; synchronizing documents over ssh is a lot easier with a static IP. It's fairly hard to get stuff to start on boot on the RM, or at least it was at the time, so I eventually moved off that plan. But it was pretty awesome to be able to ssh in from anywhere in the world.

svat• 8 months ago

Oh that sounds cool! What do you do now instead?

vessenes2• 8 months ago

Rmapi calls to sync. My use case is updating an annual calendar pdf which is inked on tablet but shows calendar updates day to day, so I run it on a cron

yegle• 8 months ago

Now do Tesla! I had to resort to running an oauth-proxy to access my Plex on Tesla.

switz2• 8 months ago

I have tailscale running on my robot vacuum. It's my own little autonomous mesh vpn node that lets me connect back to my home network when I'm on the go.

eyjafjallajokul• 8 months ago

Please share more details! This sounds so cool!

switz2• 8 months ago

You can root certain models of robot vacuums and then ssh into them. Most run some variant of linux. Then just install tailscale. There are a few blogs out there of people who have done it[0][1].

It's taking a cloud-based product, de-clouding it, and then connecting it to your own private 'cloud'. Pretty cool all things told.

[0] https://kazlauskas.me/entries/tailscale-doesnt-quite-suck

[1] https://tailscale.com/blog/tailscale-sucks

citruscomputing• 8 months ago

Oh, this will be very useful. My current solution is incredibly hacky, I run an unauthenticated SSH server on the Kindle (key-based wasn't working), port scan to find it, and SFTP new files. At home, at least, I have a static IP. The whole system falls apart enough that I usually just connect to calibre's remote server and send books that way, though. I wonder what the battery impact of running tailscale on a Kindle is.

fodkodrasz2• 8 months ago

This is pretty interesting write-up*, though I'm not sure my employer would be happy with me putting out EULA-violation instructions to our company homepage.

* - at least for me, as the bugs in the stock reader drive me nuts, and have been waiting for this opportunity for a while

carlosjobim2• 8 months ago

I heard that a lord two provinces to the North had seven of his serfs severely whipped when he found out that they had been talking about how to violate the EULA. These agreements have to be respected!

fodkodrasz2• 8 months ago

Well, you can always pray to only get a DMCA takedown request, because possibly you might get something, if not the whip. Surely the internet snarky comment coins will allow you pay the rent.

beepbooptheory• 8 months ago

Love the splash Jameson quote in the first pic.

If everything means something else, than so does technology

jll29• 8 months ago

Kudos to all involved in freeing up Kindles around the world.

d1egoaz• 8 months ago

I thought this was a random blog post, but it's coming directly from Tailscale, https://tailscale.com/blog/tailscale-jailbroken-kindle

wrxd2• 8 months ago

That’s cool, and unexpected from a corporate blog.

Ma favourite e-reader setup still is the Kobo + Booklore combination. Editing a configuration file on the device I can have it connect to my Booklore library that adds my own ebooks seamlessly on top of the one I can get from the Kobo store.

I haven’t setup Tailscale on it yet but it’s possible.

veverkap• 8 months ago

Do you have any more information about this?

Larrikin2• 8 months ago

The setup is

install Tailscale on your Kobo

install Koreader

Install Tailscale on the machine that host your eBook collection app of choice

Add the OPDS URL from the collection app, replacing the local machine URL with the Tailscale URL

You can now browse and download your private collection from anywhere.

I went with Kavita since I wanted my eBooks treated as equals with my manga.

wrxd2• 8 months ago

This explains how to integrate Kobo with BookLore https://booklore-app.github.io/booklore-docs/docs/integratio...

I haven’t personally setup Tailscale yet, but looking at this it seems possible and not too difficult https://github.com/videah/kobo-tailscale

sphars• 8 months ago

If you're looking for a good resource on jailbreaking and installing KOReader on your Kindle, I highly recommend the guides at https://kindlemodding.org/

skeptrune• 8 months ago

yes, let's definitely do that

FlyingSnake3• 8 months ago

Kindles are amazing devices for hacking and turning into cute little dashboards. The kindle modding community is wonderful and full of people experimenting with it. If you have an old kindle, give it a new lease!

Shameless plug: I wrote about my experience here

https://samkhawase.com/blog/hacking-kindle/

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43822251

scary-size2• 8 months ago

I love just how non-intrusive an e-ink dashboard is sitting in a room. Definitely can recommend it as a base device that gets you display, wonky Linux, a battery and networking in neat little package.

Also recently showed my dashboard here: https://franz.hamburg/writing/kindling-e-ink-dashboard.html

jack_tripper4• 8 months ago

You don't need to ball out on eink for that.

An old oled android phone is even easier to mod for that.

Eink is like the Rust of displays for hobby projects. Everyone defaults to it even when it's not necessary.

zaggynl• 8 months ago

Can someone correct me on this: Is using Tailscale effectively putting your firewall at someone else's PC?

teejmya• 8 months ago

https://archive.is/QR3By

Let's put Tailscale on a jailbroken Kindle

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