MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Kindle Touch bricked after firmware update

john_pb · 02-04-2012, 09:46 PM

Googling the above particular issue, I came across this forum so naturally I thought I'd run it past the local gurus:

My new Kindle Touch 3G developed a random reboot problem, which was not going away just by doing a re-set. Another annoying issue was the occasional turning of two pages even after only a very light tap on the screen.

Several users at the Amazon forum reported this issue went away after a firmware upgrade to version 5.0.3 (my device had 5.0.1 installed).

I downloaded the firmware binary from the official Amazon link and installed as per their instructions. The Kindle then rebooted twice, as according to Amazon was to be expected; however on second boot, it got stuck and eventually ended up on the "Your Kindle needs repair" screen.

Hard reboot (i.e. the 20-second hold of restart button) makes no difference.

The device is not modified (i.e. no jailbreak).

When plugged into a USB port on my main Linux computer, it shows up as "Amazon Kindle" in dmesg, but comes up with "cannot enumerate device". It cannot be mounted, so no file transfers into the root drive is possible.

On a Windows machine, it shows briefly as a "Removable Drive", but trying to open the folder gives a "Please insert disk into drive X" error.

Having read the majority of this forum's messages & wiki related to bricked Kindle Touch, I am now of the opinion this device cannot be fixed and will need to be sent back for a replacement. I am a fairly experienced Linux user (10+ years), but certainly not a developer and some of the stuff you guys here discuss is way over my abilities - hence the decision to send it back.

What I would like to know though is how I can avoid this problem in the future. I live in Australia, and Amazon does not officially sell the 3G model here, so getting a replacement is a little more complicated than it should be & will take a least a month, which is a pain - hence I'd rather not have this happen again.

The only idea I have as to why the upgrade bricked the device is that perhaps the downloaded binary was corrupt. Amazon does not provide any checksum file which would allow to check the download before installing.

Is there any way to make the upgrade less likely to fail?

I'd be keen to hear any comments you may be willing to offer.

Cheers.

John

02-04-2012, 09:46 PM	#1
john_pb Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Kindle Touch bricked after firmware update Googling the above particular issue, I came across this forum so naturally I thought I'd run it past the local gurus: My new Kindle Touch 3G developed a random reboot problem, which was not going away just by doing a re-set. Another annoying issue was the occasional turning of two pages even after only a very light tap on the screen. Several users at the Amazon forum reported this issue went away after a firmware upgrade to version 5.0.3 (my device had 5.0.1 installed). I downloaded the firmware binary from the official Amazon link and installed as per their instructions. The Kindle then rebooted twice, as according to Amazon was to be expected; however on second boot, it got stuck and eventually ended up on the "Your Kindle needs repair" screen. Hard reboot (i.e. the 20-second hold of restart button) makes no difference. The device is not modified (i.e. no jailbreak). When plugged into a USB port on my main Linux computer, it shows up as "Amazon Kindle" in dmesg, but comes up with "cannot enumerate device". It cannot be mounted, so no file transfers into the root drive is possible. On a Windows machine, it shows briefly as a "Removable Drive", but trying to open the folder gives a "Please insert disk into drive X" error. Having read the majority of this forum's messages & wiki related to bricked Kindle Touch, I am now of the opinion this device cannot be fixed and will need to be sent back for a replacement. I am a fairly experienced Linux user (10+ years), but certainly not a developer and some of the stuff you guys here discuss is way over my abilities - hence the decision to send it back. What I would like to know though is how I can avoid this problem in the future. I live in Australia, and Amazon does not officially sell the 3G model here, so getting a replacement is a little more complicated than it should be & will take a least a month, which is a pain - hence I'd rather not have this happen again. The only idea I have as to why the upgrade bricked the device is that perhaps the downloaded binary was corrupt. Amazon does not provide any checksum file which would allow to check the download before installing. Is there any way to make the upgrade less likely to fail? I'd be keen to hear any comments you may be willing to offer. Cheers. John