After about six weeks of testing [Yifanlu] has released a stable version of the Kindle 3 firmware for use with Kindle 2 hardware. Everything seems to be working just fine with the patched firmware. We immediately jumped to the conclusion that the upgrade must run pretty slow on the older hardware. [Yifanlu] addresses that assumption in his post. The Kindle 2 hardware is not as fast as the Kindle 3, but it sounds like the upgraded firmware is no slower than the stock firmware was on the older units.
Since the firmware is proprietary, the upgrade method requires that you own both Kindle 2 and Kindle 3. Three scripts will pull the firmware image from the older hardware, copy it over to the new hardware and patch it at the same time, then copy the fully patched package back to the old hardware for use.
After the break you can see a video of a Kindle DX running 3.1 firmware. There’s also a link to the Reddit post where commenters have linked to pre-compiled versions of the patched package.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMFIYSGLz4M&w=470]
[Thanks Jason via Reddit]
it would be awesome if he found a way to solve the constant lockup problems the kindle seems to have
Just in time for those of us that got the $85 Refurb Kindle 2 3G on woot last week.
Kindle 3 has the same processor as kindle 2. The only difference as kindle 3 has 256mb of ram vs 128 on kindle 2.
At any rate, I’ve been waiting for a version that does not require a kindle 3 host. I’d been toying around with this idea myself but never got around to actually doing it.
+1 for doing what amazon is being too corporate to do themselves.
I think the post mentioned this, but there is a precompiled image (aka no host required):
http://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/hmyo5/hack_to_install_kindle_3x_on_kindle_2_and_dx/c1wofmx
@tux
You aren’t talking about the issue they found where clip on covers were shorting the battery?
@Bill: That’s not what it does: http://www.eevblog.com/2010/12/23/eevblog-135-kindle-case-mythbusting/
now if only we could get the ability to checkout epub books from the library like most other ebook readers…
Does anyone know the main differences between the two firmwares or a link to a list somewhere. I’m just curious if there’s anything compelling enough to make me change over.
@.
Amazon admitted the problem and offered replacements for the case. I more inclined to believe that then some random blogger.
Not bad! It works for me. I think it would be fun to have a totally homebrew firmware, though.
Look up duokan. It’s an alternative for kindle OS.
Incredibly useful, especially since Amazon started re-selling the Kindle DX. Thanks!