Constant crashes Kindle Touch

Zeph3r · 01-17-2013, 07:52 PM

I bought a Kindle Touch about a year ago. It crashes frequently and randomly, sometimes it will crash when I am scrolling through the list of books, sometimes even when I am reading a page and not touching the Kindle at all. These crashes happen with both the 5.0.4 and 5.1.4 firmwares. Just a few moments ago I turned on the Kindle to read something, and it crashed. After a hard reset it now displays the Repair Needed screen. I know how to reflash it and/or wipe the settings.

Ok, here is the question: How can I stop these crashes?

I have jailbroken, but that makes no difference in the crash rate.

Kindle OS is Linux under the hood, so could I load something else? Or would that be too much trouble? Screen drivers? ect.?

All my books are in .txt format except for the kindle users manual and one amazon store book.

IT CAN"T EVEN READ A PLAIN TEXT FILE WITHOUT CRASHING IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!!!

I would appreciate any thoughts or help on what to do.

Thank You,

-Zeph3r

pidgeon92 · 01-17-2013, 10:27 PM

Sounds like you have a corrupt file on your Kindle. I'd do a factory reset, and re-load the files slowly to see what is crashing the system.

HarryT · 01-18-2013, 01:22 AM

Agreed.

Zeph3r · 01-18-2013, 01:46 AM

I am not sure what you mean by a corrupt file. Could you please clarify?

HarryT · 01-18-2013, 01:52 AM

You have a file on your Kindle which is damaged.
It has nonsense data in it which the Kindle can't handle.

Zeph3r · 01-18-2013, 02:36 AM

I know what file corruption is. But what file is the Kindle trying to read? And why would it be trying to read it? Does the Kindle try to read/index all files?

HarryT · 01-18-2013, 03:10 AM

Yes, the Kindle indexes all its files. To see if it's got stuck indexing, do a search for a nonsense string (eg "aaaaaa") and see if the result says "X files not yet indexed". If it does, tap on that line (it's a hyperlink) and it'll take you to a screen showing which files aren't indexed. One of these file will be the culprit.

Zeph3r · 01-18-2013, 03:11 AM

Cool, I'll try that.

Blossom · 01-18-2013, 03:26 AM

With all the crashing a factory reset is the best option before it bricks and then I would up the firmware to the latest just fix any bugs with the older firmware.

ixtab · 01-18-2013, 07:27 AM

The Touch seems to sometimes just go mad and do all kinds of interesting things, including crashes or even self-bricking. It's rare, but it happens, and nobody really knows why.

Anyway, I would propose something even more radical than Blossom. A factory reset does not necessarily erase everything that could be causing problems. Since you know how to flash images, you're essentially on the safe side, because it's almost impossible to permanently brick the Touch. So, what I would do:

- flash diags w/SSH, if you haven't done so
- from diags, flash a pristine 5.1.2 main partition and kernel, delete everything on the user partition (/mnt/us) except for the tts folder, and blast partition 3 ("dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=1024 count=1024", or so)
- reboot to main. You now have a completely factory-fresh Touch.
- at your discretion, install jailbreak and/or update to 5.3.2

Zeph3r · 01-21-2013, 01:02 PM

I flashed the kindle with a jailbroken 5.1.2 then upgraded to 5.3.2

I like the new features of 5.3.2 but, the crashes are still occurring.

There are no corrupt files.

Any ideas anyone?

HarryT · 01-21-2013, 01:08 PM

Sounds like it may be faulty. I'd suggest contacting Kindle Customer Service.

Zeph3r · 01-21-2013, 01:21 PM

Sadly, I am not in a position to easily do that.

HarryT · 01-21-2013, 01:43 PM

You don't need to speak to them - just email from the Amazon site. You presumably have an Amazon account? Kindle CS are extremely helpful.

phoeagon · 01-22-2013, 12:45 AM

Could you try the debrick method in the Developer forum? If not, contact the Amazon CS staff.

01-17-2013, 07:52 PM	#1
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Constant crashes Kindle Touch I bought a Kindle Touch about a year ago. It crashes frequently and randomly, sometimes it will crash when I am scrolling through the list of books, sometimes even when I am reading a page and not touching the Kindle at all. These crashes happen with both the 5.0.4 and 5.1.4 firmwares. Just a few moments ago I turned on the Kindle to read something, and it crashed. After a hard reset it now displays the Repair Needed screen. I know how to reflash it and/or wipe the settings. Ok, here is the question: How can I stop these crashes? I have jailbroken, but that makes no difference in the crash rate. Kindle OS is Linux under the hood, so could I load something else? Or would that be too much trouble? Screen drivers? ect.? All my books are in .txt format except for the kindle users manual and one amazon store book. IT CAN"T EVEN READ A PLAIN TEXT FILE WITHOUT CRASHING IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!!! I would appreciate any thoughts or help on what to do. Thank You, -Zeph3r

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01-17-2013, 10:27 PM	#2
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	Sounds like you have a corrupt file on your Kindle. I'd do a factory reset, and re-load the files slowly to see what is crashing the system.

01-18-2013, 01:22 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Agreed.

01-18-2013, 01:46 AM	#4
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	I am not sure what you mean by a corrupt file. Could you please clarify?

01-18-2013, 01:52 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You have a file on your Kindle which is damaged. It has nonsense data in it which the Kindle can't handle.

01-18-2013, 02:36 AM	#6
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	I know what file corruption is. But what file is the Kindle trying to read? And why would it be trying to read it? Does the Kindle try to read/index all files?

01-18-2013, 03:10 AM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes, the Kindle indexes all its files. To see if it's got stuck indexing, do a search for a nonsense string (eg "aaaaaa") and see if the result says "X files not yet indexed". If it does, tap on that line (it's a hyperlink) and it'll take you to a screen showing which files aren't indexed. One of these file will be the culprit.

01-18-2013, 03:11 AM	#8
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Cool, I'll try that.

01-18-2013, 03:26 AM	#9
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	With all the crashing a factory reset is the best option before it bricks and then I would up the firmware to the latest just fix any bugs with the older firmware.

01-18-2013, 07:27 AM	#10
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	The Touch seems to sometimes just go mad and do all kinds of interesting things, including crashes or even self-bricking. It's rare, but it happens, and nobody really knows why. Anyway, I would propose something even more radical than Blossom. A factory reset does not necessarily erase everything that could be causing problems. Since you know how to flash images, you're essentially on the safe side, because it's almost impossible to permanently brick the Touch. So, what I would do: - flash diags w/SSH, if you haven't done so - from diags, flash a pristine 5.1.2 main partition and kernel, delete everything on the user partition (/mnt/us) except for the tts folder, and blast partition 3 ("dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=1024 count=1024", or so) - reboot to main. You now have a completely factory-fresh Touch. - at your discretion, install jailbreak and/or update to 5.3.2

01-21-2013, 01:02 PM	#11
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	I flashed the kindle with a jailbroken 5.1.2 then upgraded to 5.3.2 I like the new features of 5.3.2 but, the crashes are still occurring. There are no corrupt files. Any ideas anyone?

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01-21-2013, 01:08 PM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Sounds like it may be faulty. I'd suggest contacting Kindle Customer Service.

01-21-2013, 01:21 PM	#13
Zeph3r Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 2954 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Sadly, I am not in a position to easily do that.

01-21-2013, 01:43 PM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You don't need to speak to them - just email from the Amazon site. You presumably have an Amazon account? Kindle CS are extremely helpful.

01-22-2013, 12:45 AM	#15
phoeagon Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle Touch	Could you try the debrick method in the Developer forum? If not, contact the Amazon CS staff.