ScreenSaverZ

Custom screensavers on your Kindle, applied globally. Drop in your own images and they show up everywhere the device sleeps. No KOReader, and the ad screensavers can go too.

Heads up: this writes to system files on your Kindle. If it eats your data, bricks the thing, or voids your warranty, that's on you. Run Create Backup before you touch anything else.

About

This is an English translation of madebyKir/ScreenSaverManager, a KUAL extension originally written in Russian by @Shalom_Kir / @Made.by.Kir. @wellthatsnothing (also known as Life, on Discord) dug it up, translated it, and wrote the image-prep tool that ships with it. Everything's localized here: the KUAL menu, the on-device messages, and the docs, plus that tool so you don't have to wrestle with ImageMagick by hand.

What you need

• A jailbroken Kindle with KUAL installed.
  • Newer devices (Paperwhite 6 / 12th gen, Colorsoft, etc): Sanctuary
  • Older devices (Kindle 11, etc): WinterBreak
  • Never done this before? Read the jailbreak FAQ first.
• A Windows PC to prep images. ImageMagick does the actual conversion, and the included tool installs it for you if you don't already have it.
• A USB cable.

Confirmed working on Kindle 11 (2022) with WinterBreak, and on Paperwhite 6 (12th gen) / Colorsoft with Sanctuary.

What's in here

ScreenSaverZ/
  ScreenSaverManager/       the KUAL extension, this is the part that goes on the Kindle
    bin/                    scripts and the fbink binary
    backup_screensavers/    the stock screensavers (Restore Backup pulls from here)
    screens/                your processed images go here (bg_ss00.png, bg_ss01.png, ...)
    config.xml
    menu.json               the English KUAL menu
    readme.txt
  tools/
    process-images.ps1      resizes, greyscales and renames your images
  README.md

Setup

1. Download

Code > Download ZIP, or clone it, then unzip.

The thing that trips people up: on the Kindle the folder has to be named exactly ScreenSaverManager. Not ScreenSaverManager-main, not ScreenSaverZ. The scripts point at /mnt/us/extensions/ScreenSaverManager/ internally, so any other name just quietly does nothing. If you copy the inner ScreenSaverManager folder out of this repo in step 3, you're already fine.

2. Prep your images

Screensavers have to be the right size, greyscale, 8-bit PNGs named bg_ss00.png, bg_ss01.png and so on. The tool takes care of all of that.

1. Drop your pictures (.png) into the tools folder.
2. Right-click process-images.ps1 and Run with PowerShell.
3. Pick your Kindle model from the dropdown. Hit Preview to check one before doing the whole batch.
4. Click OK. The finished files land in tools/ProcessedImages, named bg_ss00.png, bg_ss01.png, and so on.
5. Copy those into ScreenSaverManager/screens.

Models and resolutions

Resolution	Devices
600 x 800	Kindle 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 10, Kindle Keyboard (K3)
758 x 1024	Paperwhite 1st / 2nd gen
824 x 1200	Kindle DX
1072 x 1448	Kindle 11 (2022), Kindle 2024, Paperwhite 3rd / 4th gen, Oasis 1st gen, Voyage
1236 x 1648	Paperwhite 5 (11th gen) and Signature Edition
1264 x 1680	Paperwhite 6 (12th gen) and Signature, Oasis 2nd / 3rd gen, Colorsoft and Signature
1860 x 2480	Scribe, Scribe 2024
1980 x 2640	Scribe Colorsoft, Scribe 3
Custom	whatever width and height you type in

Colour devices (Colorsoft, Scribe Colorsoft) keep colour. E-ink devices get converted to dithered greyscale.

Rather do it yourself or online? The original author has a web tool for it: https://madebykir.github.io/kindle_custom_ScreenSaver/

3. Put it on the Kindle

1. Plug the Kindle in over USB.
2. Copy the ScreenSaverManager folder into the Kindle's extensions folder (/mnt/us/extensions/). Make the extensions folder yourself if it isn't there.
3. Eject.

4. Run it from KUAL

Open KUAL, go into Screensaver Manager, and run these in order:

1. Create Backup. Saves your current screensavers so you can get them back later. Do this first.
2. Update screensavers. Copies everything from screens over the stock ones.
3. Disable Ads. Stops the ad screensavers from coming back. Reboot for it to take effect.

Your images should show up now whenever the Kindle sleeps.

Going back

• Restore Backup puts the originals back.
• Enable Ads turns the ad screensavers back on (needs a reboot).
• About the Author shows the credits and version.

If something's off

• Nothing changed after Update screensavers: check the folder is named exactly ScreenSaverManager, your files are named bg_ssNN.png (two digits, starting at 00), and that you rebooted.
• Ads keep coming back: run Disable Ads and reboot. It installs a small boot job that unloads the ad module every time the Kindle starts.
• Images look stretched or cropped weird: run the tool again and pick your exact model, or use Custom with your resolution.
• KUAL doesn't list the extension: it has to sit in /mnt/us/extensions/ScreenSaverManager/ with its config.xml and menu.json (both included). Reopen KUAL.

Credits

• @wellthatsnothing on Discord, also goes by @Life. Found this obscure Russian project, translated it, worked out the whole process, and built the image-prep tool. None of the English side happens without him.
• @Shalom_Kir / @Made.by.Kir (madebyKir). Wrote the original ScreenSaverManager. All the actual on-device work is his.
• Sanctuary and the KindleModding crew, for making any of this possible on locked-down Kindles.

License

This is a translation of a project that shipped without a license. The original code and the bundled screensavers belong to whoever made them (see Credits). Posted here for the Kindle community. If you're one of the original authors and want something changed or taken down, open an issue.