J5 Mini and Purchased Content⌗

A friend of mine recently finished his sentance at a facility that allowed them to purchase the JP5 Mini tablet for use while incarcerated. After his release, JPay removed the in-facility restrictions and allowed them to retain the media they purchased from JPay over the course of their sentancing. However, due to the conditions of their release, they are unable to operate such electronic devices. They still wanted to keep their purchased media, so I figured I would try my hand.

The Problem⌗

The JP5 Mini uses a custom fork of Android 4.2.2 (release date: 2012). This custom version of Android contains a lot of security features that prevent tampering from inmates. So no opening up the build version and enabling developer settings. No ADB capabilities. No mounting for file system access over USB. The tablet does have what appears to be a small storage module soldered to the board where I think the SD card reader would be. This prevents inmates from swapping cards and eliminates a potential attack vector for hacking. So no just popping it open either.

The Solution⌗

Luckily, this version of Android DOES allow for APK installation. APKs are Android applications. Think of them like a Windows .exe. There are lots of websites that host APK files too for you to download. We need an APK that runs an FTP server on the tablet.

The APK⌗

The built in broswer is pretty difficult to use given the size and resolution the built in screen has. However, it’s what we need to use. I used this FTP APK (not affiliated, and I make no guarantees about availability or functionality) and it worked pretty well.

The FTP Server⌗

FTP is an old protocol that allows files to get shared over a network. You can pull files from the remote server or push files to it, depending on permissions. We’re going to be pulling the purchased media. If you’re using the APK I linked above, there are some configuration steps. Make sure the tablet is connected to WiFi and that you know the tablet’s IP (Settings -> Network, I’m not sure specifically).

Server Configuration⌗

  1. Click on the Settings cog in the app.
  2. Create new server, give it a name (the name doesn’t matter).
  3. Click the Users tab at the top of the app.
  4. Create a new user. Both the username and the password are arbitrary but make sure you remember them because you will need it later. Leave the Document Root as /
  5. Save the user and server settings.
  6. Back at the main page of the app, click Start to run the server.

The FTP Client⌗

Now that the tablet is running a server, you need to download an FTP client on your computer. For Macs, I really enjoy using CyberDuck. On Windows, you can use FileZilla. Again, no affiliations or guarantees about these products. Get one downloaded and let’s configure it together.

Client Configuration⌗

Remember the username and password you set in the server on the tablet above. You’ll need them here. Also get the tablet IP if you didn’t before.

  1. Connect to a new host. This is the IP from the tablet. The server should also have generated a random port number. Put that in the Port portion of the connection settings.
  2. Enter the username and password from the server settings in their places too.
  3. Click Quick Connect, and you should be given a file tree in the connection window.

Getting The Files⌗

The tablet uses that memory module as a virtual SD card, and it’s accessible a few places. I found it easiest in /storage/sdcard/. Here are all of the internal media like Music, Pictures, Mail, etc. Right click whichever folder you want to download and click the Download option in the context menu. The network speeds on this device are not fast, so be patient as they download.

The Conclusion⌗

This is a pretty weird device without a lot of documentation out on the internet. I hope that this guide can show up in more searches when other folks go digging for information on the JP5 Mini.