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Old 02-25-2012, 04:59 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john_pb View Post
Thanks geekmaster for more instructions. Looking over the amount of work you've been doing on this, I wonder if you ever sleep? ;-)
...
Specifically I thought I'd test out the /usr/sbin/factory_reset approach, but it did not work. The RUNME.sh appears to have been executed as the Kindle showed two output files - RUNME.done and RUNME.out - but it did not display the text message and it is back to the "...needs repair" screen.
Sleep? What's that? I hear that you can sleep all you want to after you are dead.

You can reset the "needs repair" boot counter by adding this to your RUNME.sh:

echo 0 > /var/local/upstart/lab126_gui.restarts

And you must delete RUNME.done to enable RUNME.sh to run again after you change it.

Sometimes you also need to replace missing or damaged files that the factory reset does not do (especially if you applied one of the "no big brother" or "no special offers" hacks).

I have recently come to the conclusion that all this complicated repair work would be unnecessary if we could just flash our firmware back to a virgin "factory fresh" condition. And we can, using the fastboot tool (see the "fastboot manifesto" thread). The only problem is that a partition backup image contains proprietary amazon code and script files, so could be problem. Even so, there are Touch mmcblk0p1.img "forensic" image files available if you know where to look (gitbrew).

Last edited by geekmaster; 02-25-2012 at 05:15 AM.
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Old 02-25-2012, 06:35 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by geekmaster View Post
Sleep? What's that? I hear that you can sleep all you want to after you are dead.
Yeah, no doubt that's true. Alas I find sometimes if I try too hard & too long to fix some particularly annoying problem, it's better to give up and leave it till the morning when I will be more likely be able to think clearly again.

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Quote:

You can reset the "needs repair" boot counter by adding this to your RUNME.sh:

echo 0 > /var/local/upstart/lab126_gui.restarts

Thanks, I'll try that.

Quote:
And you must delete RUNME.done to enable RUNME.sh to run again after you change it.
Yes, I am aware of this.

Quote:
Sometimes you also need to replace missing or damaged files that the factory reset does not do (especially if you applied one of the "no big brother" or "no special offers" hacks).
The device has not been modified in any way. The only change that was attempted was the application of the original Amazon firmware update binary.

Quote:
I have recently come to the conclusion that all this complicated repair work would be unnecessary if we could just flash our firmware back to a virgin "factory fresh" condition.
Absolutely. As much as I am no great fan of Apple and abhor their restrictive approach & iTunes, the way they have set up the backing up & restoring of iPhones & iPads is precisely what the Kindle needs as well.

Quote:
And we can, using the fastboot tool (see the "fastboot manifesto" thread). The only problem is that a partition backup image contains proprietary amazon code and script files, so could be problem. Even so, there are Touch mmcblk0p1.img "forensic" image files available if you know where to look (gitbrew).
I guess also for those people who have more than one identical Kindle - like me - it should be relatively easy to just copy the healthy image across.

Anyway, thanks again and I'll play with this some more next weekend as I won't have any spare time till then.

Cheers.

John
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Old 02-25-2012, 07:03 PM   #18
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Just a quick follow-up:

Adding your line above to RUNME.sh has stopped the "Your Kindle needs repair" message, but the device is now stuck on the Kindle Tree screensaver image.

So clearly the factory reset is insufficient to repair whatever damage has been done.

I've also tried to use a variation of the RUNME file so as to get the device to produce a boot error log, but that has not worked for some reason.

Clearly only a full restore of the system partition will get this thing back on its feet.

Cheers.
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Old 02-25-2012, 09:02 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john_pb View Post
Clearly only a full restore of the system partition will get this thing back on its feet.
Please exactly follow steps in this thread and see if it works. First I had the same conclusion as yours but finally it worked (not by chance).
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:25 PM   #20
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Please exactly follow steps in this thread and see if it works. First I had the same conclusion as yours but finally it worked (not by chance).
Hi, I did follow those instructions (as mentioned earlier in this thread), but to no avail.

Just out of curiosity, what was the reason for your Kindle to die in the first place?

Note that for my device, it was the simple task of running the official Amazon firmware update, on an otherwise unmodified KT.

I think it is safe to assume that if the firmware image for some reason was corrupted, the factory reset will be insufficient to fix it and a full re-flush of the firmware will be required.

I am certainly no expert though, so I may be wrong.

Cheers.

John
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:40 PM   #21
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Arrow simple kindle touch (and k4nt) debricking method

Read this:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1989038

It will solve your problems.

Last edited by geekmaster; 03-02-2012 at 10:04 PM. Reason: moved to new thread
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:45 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by cscat View Post
Please exactly follow steps in this thread and see if it works. First I had the same conclusion as yours but finally it worked (not by chance).
Having just tried this again, I do not get the text file displayed. The Kindle simply goes back to the diagnostics screen and on another reboot, reverts to "Your Kindle needs repair" screen.

My guess is the whole thing is totally screwed up.

Never mind, I'm certainly not giving up on it.
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:49 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john_pb View Post
Having just tried this again, I do not get the text file displayed. The Kindle simply goes back to the diagnostics screen and on another reboot, reverts to "Your Kindle needs repair" screen.

My guess is the whole thing is totally screwed up.

Never mind, I'm certainly not giving up on it.
Read the post just before yours. It will work. It is easier than previous methods. No RUNME.sh required.
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:23 PM   #24
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Thank you Geekmaster.

I have read the Fastboot Manifesto thread to get an idea of how to use the tool.

I downloaded and successfully compiled it from yifanlu's git tree on my main Linux PC.

I then used Mfg Tool in Windows XP in VirtualBox to launch into the fastboot mode. So far so good.

However that's where the good news stops. I seem to be having a problem similar to that described by several others on the Fastboot Manifesto thread - namely that when launching the tool on the host Linux PC, it gets stuck on "waiting for device".

Here's where it's at:

The Mfg Tool successfully loads the fastboot profile. At that point, the Kindle disappears from the list of available USB devices in VBox.

Running lsusb on the host PC cannot see the device.
Running dmesg gives the following:

Code:
[13826.928216] usb 1-1: Product: Kindle
[13826.928221] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Amazon
[13826.928225] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 00XXXXXX
[13828.288060] usb 1-1: reset high speed USB device number 10 using ehci_hcd
[13828.434124] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 10
[13973.993075] usb 1-1: new high speed USB device number 11 using ehci_hcd
[13974.108477] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=15a2, idProduct=0052
[13974.108486] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[13974.108494] usb 1-1: Product: NS Blank CODEX 
[13974.108499] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Freescale SemiConductor Inc 
[13974.109787] generic-usb: probe of 0003:15A2:0052.000C failed with error -22
[13975.733063] usb 1-1: reset high speed USB device number 11 using ehci_hcd
[13976.017075] usb 1-1: reset high speed USB device number 11 using ehci_hcd
[13981.182749] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 11
[13981.416078] usb 1-1: new high speed USB device number 12 using ehci_hcd
[13981.531175] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1949, idProduct=d0d0
[13981.531184] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[13981.531191] usb 1-1: Product: Kindle
[13981.531196] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Amazon
[13981.531201] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 00XXXXX
[13982.967076] usb 1-1: reset high speed USB device number 12 using ehci_hcd
[13983.113088] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 12
It would seem the device is seen, but is immediately disconnected.

The KT itself is showing the default tree image with no further output.

Clearly I'm doing something wrong. Bummer...!

Last edited by john_pb; 03-03-2012 at 12:00 AM.
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:41 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by john_pb View Post
Thank you Geekmaster.
It would seem the device is seen, but is immediately disconnected.

The KT itself is showing the default tree image with no further output.

Clearly I'm doing something wrong. Bummer...!
Your information shows that you are successfully connecting to it, but it quickly disconnects. As I have mentioned in various posts, this is a sign of a discharged battery. Please leave it connected in fastboot mode for several hours (preferably overnight). A bricked kindle discharged the battery to exhaustion, because battery charging is controlled by software (and you cannot trust the LED). It can receive a full charge in fastboot mode, which has the required battery charging code. You cannot do much useful in low-power mode though, so you must give your battery a full charge first. Then proceed with your recovery.

I put simple step-by-step information in a new thread. Perhaps I need to complicate those instructions a little by adding battery recharging instructions...

Last edited by geekmaster; 03-02-2012 at 11:47 PM.
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:54 PM   #26
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Your information shows that you are successfully connecting to it, but it quickly disconnects. As I have mentioned in various posts, this is a sign of a discharged battery.
OK, thanks for that. You are most likely correct as I have been away for a week and the Kindle was sitting on my desk with the "Your Kindle needs repair" message on its screen.

I will charge it overnight using iPad charger. It seems to get the job done very quickly.

I'll report further tomorrow.

Thanks again & cheers.

John
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Old 03-03-2012, 01:52 AM   #27
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OK , some more progress...we're getting there, with a bit of luck.

After some trial and error (like shutting down the VBox guest Windows OS altogether before trying to run the fastboot command on the host machine) I managed to get this far:

Code:
jpb@amd:~/installs/kindle/fastboot> sudo ./fastboot flash diags mmcblk0p2_ssh.img
downloading 'diags'...
OKAY [  2.112s]
writing 'diags'...
OKAY [  5.799s]
finished. total time: 7.911s
Now restarting the VM and rebooting in diags mode using Mfg Tool, I was able to connect from the host:

Code:
# ssh root@192.168.15.244
The authenticity of host '192.168.15.244 (192.168.15.244)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 40:12:84:14:08:43:a6:4f:3a:19:75:46:45:ba:8a:41.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.15.244' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
root@192.168.15.244's password: 
#################################################
#  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  *  N O T I C E  # 
#################################################
Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to
switch back to a writable rootfs.
#################################################
At this stage, I have stopped there.

Now what I need to know is whether it is safe to:
- Mount rootfs read-write
- Copy the "forensic" images to their locations using dd

The Kindle has now frozen at the diagnostics screen and I cannot get it to export its USB drive so as to be able to upload the mmc* images. But perhaps that is because it needs some more charging.

So assuming - hopefully - that it just needs to charge and I can then upload the image files, it may be possible to get it back to working order?

Cheers.
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Old 03-03-2012, 02:45 AM   #28
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Hmmmm...seems like I have a new disaster in the making...

The Kindle now cannot be rebooted. It's stuck on the diagnostics page and non-responsive. Holding the power button for up to a minute makes no difference. Plugged into my Linux machine, it gives out the following repetitive message in dmesg:

Code:
[26675.484789] EXT4-fs error (device sdc2): ext4_lookup:1045: inode #2: comm gam_server: deleted inode referenced: 731521
[26676.842993] EXT4-fs error (device sdc2): ext4_lookup:1045: inode #2: comm gam_server: deleted inode referenced: 731521
It does not get picked up after the "magic boot" either. Looking at /var/log/messages, I see the following change:

Code:
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.038069] usb 2-1: new high speed USB device number 43 using ehci_hcd
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.153933] usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=15a2, idProduct=0052
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.153942] usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.153950] usb 2-1: Product: NS Blank CODEX 
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.153956] usb 2-1: Manufacturer: Freescale SemiConductor Inc 
Mar  3 17:43:16 amd kernel: [27010.155862] generic-usb: probe of 0003:15A2:0052.001E failed with error -22
Mar  3 17:43:17 amd kernel: [27010.839609] EXT4-fs error (device sdc2): ext4_lookup:1045: inode #2: comm gam_server: deleted inode referenced: 731521
Any ideas what's gone wrong? No changes to the file system were made in the previous fastboot session.
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Old 03-03-2012, 03:30 AM   #29
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OK, scrap that...I managed to get back in to diags.
Let's have another go.
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Old 03-03-2012, 04:05 AM   #30
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I'm being truly thick here, no doubt...

Having successfully connected to the Kindle in diagnostic mode via ssh, I am now failing at the last step - trying to overwrite /dev/mmcblk0p1 with the "forensic" image.

I have copied the mmcblk0p1.img file using the USB export function in diagnostic mode, but when I now cd into /mnt/us, there seem to be no files or folders there.

Unsurprisingly, dd fails:

Code:
[root@[192_168_15_244] /]# dd if=/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p1 bs=4K
dd: can't open '/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1.img': No such file or directory
I've followed Geekmaster's instructions to the letter.
What am I doing wrong?
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