[OtterBooks]

If there's anyone around who still has an unlighted cover that was causing the well known issues, I've been experimenting with a solution (if you could call it that). This is not an alternative to contacting customer service if you have not done so, but I know many people were able to keep the cover after getting a refund from Amazon and may like an option the allows them to use it once more.

This isn't yet tested sufficiently, because success with two covers (mine and a friends) is hardly a definitive result.

If you feel so inclined, or curious, this is what you'll need:

1 dryer sheet. The kind you put in with laundry in a dryer ("Bounce", "Snuggle", or what have you).

Remove the Kindle from the cover if it is not already. Place the dryer sheet atop where the Kindle normally is mounted, so that once the Kindle is in place it sits atop it. Dryer sheet size may not be standard, but mine fit perfectly so that it was invisible once the Kindle was re-attached. Reattach Kindle. The sheet should hold in place without assistance once the Kindle is inserted.

Theory: The freezing/reboot issue is caused by static electricity building up in the material of the cover, then discharging through the hinges when it reaches a high level. Dryer sheets are conductive (treated with a conductive chemical, usually), which is how they mitigate "static cling." Placing it in the cover allows static to run off before building up.

This idea was inspired by the results some people have been getting by removing (yes removing) the coating on their hinges, making them similar to the exposed hinges on the lighted cover. The exposed hinges, freely conductive, mitigate static buildup in the cover. So I began thinking of a way to recreate this effect without altering the case.

If you don't have a dryer sheet, but happen to have an anti-static bag, you can trim off a small square of that material and use it instead. You could probably get creative, but I chose materials I felt would be relatively common and simple to apply.

If you're adventurous, at least insofar as anything involving laundry products is adventurous, feel free to post results/lack thereof.

This post was far too long for "put a dryer sheet under it."