Hacks Dog chewed on my kid's new kindle

[bean61]

The 4-way rocker switch in the lower right corner no longer works. I've been searching eBay for a broken or blacklisted kindle for parts. I'm thinking that the easiest fix might be to buy a blacklisted kindle, open it up, and replace the serial number chip with the same chip from my daughter's kindle. Anybody know which chip this is? Is the plan feasible? If not, anybody have a better plan (besides the obvious: buy a new one)? I'm a chip engineer and have lots of debug experience, but don't have the equipment to desolder/resolder a large pin-count device. Thanks in advance!

[Tiersten]

Talk to Kindle CS first. They may offer to replace it for free or to give you a discount on replacing it. Somebody else had a Kindle 3 that got chewed by a dog and Amazon sold them a refurb for significantly less.

The serial number is inside the Samsung flash in the small shielding can on the left. It is a BGA chip so you're going to need the correct SMD rework tools to replace it properly. Reflashing the block with the serial number is risky due to the presence of the bootloader as well and it may not actually be possible to write to the first block without further changes.

[yerxa]

I read in another thread that amazon will sell you a refurb unit for $56 or $72 depending on which unit you have. Call them and see what they can do for you.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by bean61

The 4-way rocker switch in the lower right corner no longer works. I've been searching eBay for a broken or blacklisted kindle for parts. I'm thinking that the easiest fix might be to buy a blacklisted kindle, open it up, and replace the serial number chip with the same chip from my daughter's kindle. Anybody know which chip this is? Is the plan feasible? If not, anybody have a better plan (besides the obvious: buy a new one)? I'm a chip engineer and have lots of debug experience, but don't have the equipment to desolder/resolder a large pin-count device. Thanks in advance!

welcome to the forums! as has been said, try customer service, they are amazingly helpful! I had a kitten that teethed on my kindle, hence the moniker

[jbcohen]

As former President Bill Cinton would said feel your pain.

[reech]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

As former President Bill Cinton would said feel your pain.

...followed by, "Hey, want a cigar?"

Amazon do seem to be keen to encourage goodwill amongst its Kindle customers at a moment, seemingly replacing Kindles for a variety of reasons. It's worthwhile calling them up and asking if they can help out.

[stargazir]

Originally Posted by yerxa

I read in another thread that amazon will sell you a refurb unit for $56 or $72 depending on which unit you have. Call them and see what they can do for you.

This was me. It was $53 though and available at any time. Basically they send you a refurbished one and you send them your damaged one. I was told it didn't matter if it was out of warranty.

Having said that...there seem to be a LOT of people who have had units replaced for free. I'll admit i'm kinda jealous.

[bean61]

Thanks everybody for the great advice. I called Kindle CS today and they're shipping a free replacement out! Woo hoo! They're even paying shipping both ways. Sure beats opening the little beastie and trying to replace parts!

[chyron8472]

I was sure they would.

My mother put her K2 in her purse naked for a few weeks and... (no surprise!) the screen cracked. Amazon replaced it with no cost to her.

Amazon really is outstanding with their CS. ppl gotta bash them for not having ePub support and junk, but I would bet real money that Sony doesn't have this kind of customer service.

[stargazir]

Originally Posted by bean61

Thanks everybody for the great advice. I called Kindle CS today and they're shipping a free replacement out! Woo hoo! They're even paying shipping both ways. Sure beats opening the little beastie and trying to replace parts!

Can I ask if you were honest about how it broke or did you take some creative license? Amazon seem to replace for a wide number of reasons and i'm wondering if they use any specific guidelines.

[MrPLD]

I think Amazon is really going all out to ensure that their Kindle system really takes the big piece of the eBook pie, they're certainly going about it all the right ways. I'm wondering if the whole ePub (lack of support) is more about minimising rendering issues than being about lockout/elitism?

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by bean61

Thanks everybody for the great advice. I called Kindle CS today and they're shipping a free replacement out! Woo hoo! They're even paying shipping both ways. Sure beats opening the little beastie and trying to replace parts!

That's wonderful! I was fairly sure they would replace it free. Amazon has the ultimate customer service, often replacing items even when they are broken by the customer. This is why they have so many loyal customers, myself included.

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Amazon really is outstanding with their CS. ppl gotta bash them for not having ePub support and junk, but I would bet real money that Sony doesn't have this kind of customer service.

And really, with Amazon's selection and great prices, there is no reason to shop anywhere else anyway. The only reason one may want epub support is for library borrowing which is hit or miss anyway as far as reading what you want when you want.

Someone on this forum once said "I'm not locked into Amazon, you're locked out of it." I wish I could remember who so I could give credit but I think this quote says it all.

[MrPLD]

Another good example - we received a batch of printed books years ago that had sustained partial water damage, it wasn't really bad but it did make the pages crinkle up and part, though the books were still entirely usable. Phoned up Amazon (we're in Australia), they dispatched a replacement set of books and told us to just keep the damaged ones; we subsequently gave the damaged ones to friends and family to enjoy

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

That's wonderful! I was fairly sure they would replace it free. Amazon has the ultimate customer service, often replacing items even when they are broken by the customer. This is why they have so many loyal customers, myself included.




And really, with Amazon's selection and great prices, there is no reason to shop anywhere else anyway. The only reason one may want epub support is for library borrowing which is hit or miss anyway as far as reading what you want when you want.

Someone on this forum once said "I'm not locked into Amazon, you're locked out of it." I wish I could remember who so I could give credit but I think this quote says it all.

The library ePub thing is all fine and good..but if you are having difficulties with ADE, then the whole thing is more aggravation it's worth..I love my Kindle. I have had nothing but positive experiences and I've had the Kindle since they first came out.

[bean61]

Originally Posted by stargazir

Can I ask if you were honest about how it broke or did you take some creative license? Amazon seem to replace for a wide number of reasons and i'm wondering if they use any specific guidelines.

Stargazir, I was 100% honest about what happened: new Kindle for Xmas, 15 year old daughter fell asleep reading, dog chewed on 5-way switch. The CS rep did ask detailed questions about the extent of the damage (probably trying to figure out if they could refurb the unit after getting it back). He was also a dog owner, said he was on his fifth Jack Russell terrier, and we commiserated for a few minutes on the trials and tribulations of owning small hyperactive dogs. So he empathized with me a little, and that probably helped too.