Original "Simple" debricking methods for K5-Touch, K4-Mini, & K3-Keyboard

[sciopath]

Hi everyone!

My K4NT didn't wake up two days ago. After a long press on power button the boot screen (with the tree) appeared then... nothing.

After a maybe +15 hours of charging nothing changed. Kubrik couldn't help me (the combination power + down key works but it gets stuck at fastboot checking).

What I noticed with dmesg is: a short time after fastboot mode, my Kindle disconnect automatically from my computer. I opened it up then measured my battery power, I have 3.04V instead of the 3.7V rated ? Do you think I need a new battery ?

Thanks!

[knc1]

YES
( Should be closer to 4.2v )

[rinno]

Thanks for all your replies, guys. I have one more question. While I charging my bricked Kindle using wall charger, it should show green LED of charging status anyway? Or bricked Kindle show orange LED anytime?

Sorry for my english.

[rinno]

I try to flash my kindle again. In process (near 70%) power LED turning off, but flashing don't break. It's normal or it's battery problem?

[vengeancecube]

Hey all! My wife's Kindle Touch decided to turn black one day and no amount of restarting would fix it. I tried charging it and everything. Eventually I found my way here and began working through the n00b's guide. After many days of experimenting and frustration (mostly with mediafire not letting me download files) I finally reached the point where I was able to use fastboot to flash the necessary images and reboot to diags. Unfortunately when diags comes up it immediately goes to a "movinand test" and after a few moments it will VERY briefly show a menu with lines through most of the options and then cut to a message that reads "DIAGS FAILED 1.0.6.215 SEND THIS UNIT TO REWORK" and I am unable to press the x) Exit. That's as far as I've been able to get. Any insight on what might be the problem? My wife misses her kindle desperately! Note, I'm fairly new to this stuff and I'm working with Windows 7. But I'm willing to learn and try just about anything! Thanks!

[knc1]

That all sounds consistent with having a bad flash memory chip.

Diags mode would not have started to test the flash memory on its own without some indication from the flash memory's controller that there was trouble.

This is followed by the confirmation that the flash memory fails the testing.

A properly equip'd SMD / SMT rework shop could replace just the flash chip.
If you don't have access to such, that rework could be hired-out.
But in the end, it is probably cheaper to just replace the entire Kindle.
(You might want to e-bay the dead one for parts.)

You should probably open this one up and remove the battery - -
It could be trying (during the black screen) to repair the file systems stored on the defective flash chip - which will only over-discharge the battery.

[vengeancecube]

Originally Posted by knc1

That all sounds consistent with having a bad flash memory chip.

Diags mode would not have started to test the flash memory on its own without some indication from the flash memory's controller that there was trouble.

This is followed by the confirmation that the flash memory fails the testing.

A properly equip'd SMD / SMT rework shop could replace just the flash chip.
If you don't have access to such, that rework could be hired-out.
But in the end, it is probably cheaper to just replace the entire Kindle.
(You might want to e-bay the dead one for parts.)

You should probably open this one up and remove the battery - -
It could be trying (during the black screen) to repair the file systems stored on the defective flash chip - which will only over-discharge the battery.

You know...that figures. Every time I got to the black screen and let it sit it would get to the charge screen after an hour or two telling me that whatever was happening was draining the battery fast. I wouldn't say that I have access to a "properly equipped" rework shop but I might give it a go anyway. Any idea which chip it is that needs replacing and where I could obtain a replacement? Is it just a swap and suddenly it starts working or do I need to flash some software to it?

I REALLY appreciate the quick response. Can't tell you how many times I've posted to forums with device issues and gotten nothing back! Thanks!!!

[knc1]

We have "tear downs" of the Kindle devices indexed in the master index pages.

To save you a few clicks:
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/c...39#photopaging

It is a BGA (Ball Grid Array) mounted device inside of a shield.
It **WILL** take a fully equipped re-work shop to change it.

It **is** a commodity part, your favorite web-search thingy can find you a distributor (or distributors).

It does not come pre-programmed - you get to do that yourself.
The SoC has a "Downloader Mode" burnt into it, you can use that to do the initial programming.
**IF** you have the image files.

**BIG NOTE:** Our "repair image files" **DO NOT** include the area of the flash chip that contains the personal and device specific information!

You will have to copy that out of your bad flash chip, somehow, before you start cooking off the old flash chip.

If that isn't possible, then cook off the old flash chip (with minimum temperatures and exposure time) - mount it an appropriate chip-tester, and use that to copy out the parts of the storage area required.

Note, assuming that you have that chip-tester - then you can mount your new flash chip in it and re-program it before cooking it onto the Kindle board.
(PS: That is how the factory does it - program before soldering).

**OR**
e-bay it as-is for parts, put money towards new Kindle.

PPS: Most re-work shops will not even answer the 'phone for less than the price of a new Kindle.

Welcome to the land of consumer devices with the useful lifetime of a fruit fly.

[vengeancecube]

Originally Posted by knc1

We have "tear downs" of the Kindle devices indexed in the master index pages.

To save you a few clicks:
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/c...39#photopaging

It is a BGA (Ball Grid Array) mounted device inside of a shield.
It **WILL** take a fully equipped re-work shop to change it.

It **is** a commodity part, your favorite web-search thingy can find you a distributor (or distributors).

It does not come pre-programmed - you get to do that yourself.
The SoC has a "Downloader Mode" burnt into it, you can use that to do the initial programming.
**IF** you have the image files.

**BIG NOTE:** Our "repair image files" **DO NOT** include the area of the flash chip that contains the personal and device specific information!

You will have to copy that out of your bad flash chip, somehow, before you start cooking off the old flash chip.

If that isn't possible, then cook off the old flash chip (with minimum temperatures and exposure time) - mount it an appropriate chip-tester, and use that to copy out the parts of the storage area required.

Note, assuming that you have that chip-tester - then you can mount your new flash chip in it and re-program it before cooking it onto the Kindle board.
(PS: That is how the factory does it - program before soldering).

**OR**
e-bay it as-is for parts, put money towards new Kindle.

PPS: Most re-work shops will not even answer the 'phone for less than the price of a new Kindle.

Welcome to the land of consumer devices with the useful lifetime of a fruit fly.

Nuts. After looking at some teardown pics already I was hoping it was the winbond screen controller chip. I thought I could get away with replacing the screen and the chip along with it. That didn't make sense to me though because the screen seemed to be working fine. It's funny that I'm able to flash anything at all though. Oh well. As much as I hate to admit defeat I will defer to your experience and start looking for a new Kindle. Thanks for taking the time to lay all this out for me! At the very least I learned a lot about jailbreaking Kindles! Both of our Kindles are unmolested because they did everything we wanted them to. But I love getting into this stuff so maybe I'll investigate further. Might be interested to see what these devices are capable of.

[knc1]

Thanks.
You had a well described problem, so a well described answer seemed called for.

Besides, this thread gets a lot of views and your Kindle is not the only one that is starting to "age-out".

So this part of the thread should see some re-use by visitors in the future.

[vengeancecube]

Originally Posted by knc1

Thanks.
You had a well described problem, so a well described answer seemed called for.

Besides, this thread gets a lot of views and your Kindle is not the only one that is starting to "age-out".

So this part of the thread should see some re-use by visitors in the future.

Heh, age out. Is it just me or does anyone else feel like these things should last more than a year and a half??? Oh well. Since I do seem to be able to flash images to it, is there anything I can use it for since it's likely never going to work as a Kindle again?

[knc1]

Originally Posted by vengeancecube

Heh, age out. Is it just me or does anyone else feel like these things should last more than a year and a half??? Oh well. Since I do seem to be able to flash images to it, is there anything I can use it for since it's likely never going to work as a Kindle again?

First - Try using KUBRICK on it (more than once if required).

The controller on the flash chip is relatively smart - repeated flashing might give it a chance to find and disable the failing erase blocks.

That controller also has "management" control instructions, but no one here has (yet) written a chip diagnostic/repair routine that can be loaded with the USB downloader mode.

It is worth using for a learning experience at least.

**KEEP** it on the charger - you can't trust the internal battery management when the firmware is not working properly!!!

[vengeancecube]

Originally Posted by knc1

First - Try using KUBRICK on it (more than once if required).

The controller on the flash chip is relatively smart - repeated flashing might give it a chance to find and disable the failing erase blocks.

That controller also has "management" control instructions, but no one here has (yet) written a chip diagnostic/repair routine that can be loaded with the USB downloader mode.

It is worth using for a learning experience at least.

**KEEP** it on the charger - you can't trust the internal battery management when the firmware is not working properly!!!

Sounds like it's worth a try! On a side note, is there any way other than the diags to force it to mount as a usb drive on my computer? I'd like to be able to clone all that information from the chip in case I ever do get access to a rework setup. It'd be a shame to get it functional again only to not be able to use it because it lacked the user data. Or can I just re-register it? Geez if I designed electronics I'd make the software environment SO much more user-friendly.

[knc1]

If you get it running enough to install the KUAL launcher, it would be possible to write a KUAL button that backs up the "hidden" part of the system image to files on the user's, USB storage partition.

[geekmaster]

I noticed this thread has been renamed "Alternate" simple debricking method. Where is the "other" simple debricking method thread? If there are now two threads that go by the "simple debricking method" name, I would like this one renamed to "s/Alternate/(Original)/"...

I just don't want to fade into obscurity around here, after all the work I (and others) put in to help make this place the valuable resource that it is today...