Front Light Master
v0.1
The "Front Light Master" is an extension for the Kindle Paperwhite 1 and 2 models (i.e. the ones that have a front light). Based on the idea of the FLToggle extension by DuckieTigger (a copy of which you can download at http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=116) it adds multiple more features.
Same features as FLToggle:
- turns off LED if brightness is below a certain value at power-on
Additional features:
- works with Paperwhite 2 (needs verification for Paperwhite 1)
- turns off LED if you change the brightness below this value at any time, not only at power-on
- at power-on, makes sure that the LED has a minimum brightness for some time, so you have a chance to change it before it turns off (very helpful if you lie in bed and want to read a book with the lights off)
- define which brightness to use depending on the time of day
After power-on, if you change the brightness manually, no auto-changes will be made to the brightness until you turn the Kindle off again. This gives you full control over your Kindle's frontlight brightness.
Disclaimer
As of version 0.1, this extension has only been tested on a Kindle Paperwhite 2.
If you get this extension to run on your device, please provide feedback here.
It is recommended to test the extension manually prior to activating auto control. To do so, select "Test auto-control" from the Front Light menu in KUAL. This will run the controller in the background. It can be stopped via "Kill test auto-control" or by rebooting your Kindle. If you notice any unwanted side effects, simply restart your Kindle.
Either way, as usual please be advised that you are using this extension on your own risk.
Prerequisites
- You need a Paperwhite 1 (not tested yet) or Paperwhite 2 (tested).
- KUAL is recommended.
Installation
Unzip the downloaded file into the extensions folder (/mnt/us/extensions when using SSH, otherwise the extensions folder at root of the Kindle volume when connected to your PC).
Configuration
Edit frontlightmaster/bin/config.sh, all available options are described here. Note that you MUST use an editor that supports Unix line endings. On Windows, use e.g. the free notepad++ application.
Use
Run KUAL and enter the "Front Light" section. You will see the following options:
- "Turn off front light" - This will turn the front light LED off until you set a new brightness.
- "Test auto-control" - Run the auto control in the background. Will only run until you stop it or reboot the device.
- "Kill test auto-control" - Kill a running test.
- "Auto-Control - enable" - Enable auto-control permanently, including after a reboot of your Kindle. Strongly recommended to only do this once you have tried the test auto-control.
When auto-control is active, the menu items will disappear and be replaced by "Auto-Control - disable", which will disable the auto-control.
All these functions can be done also on a terminal on your Kindle (e.g. via ssh). Just go to /mnt/us/extensions/frontlightmaster/bin where you will find the following scripts:
- checkschedule.sh - checks whether your configured schedule makes sense
- config.sh - your configuration
- disable.sh - disable auto-control
- enable.sh - enable auto-control
- frontlightmaster.sh - the auto-control, run manually to test and see debug output (depending on your config)
- turnoff.sh - turn off the front light
Uninstalling
It is recommended to disable auto-control via KUAL or the disable.sh script prior to deleting the folder from the extensions directory.