MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Troubleshooting Kindle Voyage memory malfunction

ledres · 06-04-2022, 12:42 PM

Hello,

my Kindle Voyage started malfunctioning recently. It seems that the state of the device's memory is not remembered between restarts.
If I upload new books to the Kindle via USB (to the "documents" folder) or delete old ones, these changes are not visible after the device restarts.
The reading progress of the books is not remembered between restarts as well.
It is not possible to reset the device to factory settings - choosing this option results in an ordinary restart of the Kindle.
Uploading the "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" file to the device's root folder and restarting also does not work (probably because the file disappears when restarting).
I even tried formatting the flash memory using the OS tools on my laptop and that does not work either - the memory appears to be empty until the Kindle is restarted, afterwards the contents from before the format are visible again.

Can something be done to repair this malfunction? I really like the Voyage's form factor, so I don't want to exchange it for another model. Besides, I have been taking good care of it, so it is basically in perfect condition apart from this issue, therefore I would not like to throw it away.

Google says that this is a malfunction that does occur sometimes, caused by a hardware issue with the flash memory, and that it cannot be fixed. I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to:

1. Buy a new memory chip and replace the old one - I opened the device, the memory chip is SDIN7DP2-4G. There are some chips like that available on AliExpress. This would of course require some soldering, which I'm not able to do, but I could pay someone to do it for me. I do wonder about some issues here though:
- does the chip have to be exactly the same make and model, or is eMMC standardized enough so that any chip would do?
- would the reader even boot with a new empty memory chip installed, or does it need some bootloader data to be loaded on it beforehand?

2. Buy a used Kindle Voyage (preferably with a damaged screen, as it wold be cheaper) and scavenge its motherboard. This would probably be easier, as it would require no soldering and I could probably do it myself. On the other hand, the device (even damaged) would be more expensive than just the memory chip, and the availability of Kindle Voyages is not that great.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions appreciated.

06-04-2022, 12:42 PM	#1
ledres Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2022 Device: Kindle Voyage	Kindle Voyage memory malfunction Hello, my Kindle Voyage started malfunctioning recently. It seems that the state of the device's memory is not remembered between restarts. If I upload new books to the Kindle via USB (to the "documents" folder) or delete old ones, these changes are not visible after the device restarts. The reading progress of the books is not remembered between restarts as well. It is not possible to reset the device to factory settings - choosing this option results in an ordinary restart of the Kindle. Uploading the "DO_FACTORY_RESTORE" file to the device's root folder and restarting also does not work (probably because the file disappears when restarting). I even tried formatting the flash memory using the OS tools on my laptop and that does not work either - the memory appears to be empty until the Kindle is restarted, afterwards the contents from before the format are visible again. Can something be done to repair this malfunction? I really like the Voyage's form factor, so I don't want to exchange it for another model. Besides, I have been taking good care of it, so it is basically in perfect condition apart from this issue, therefore I would not like to throw it away. Google says that this is a malfunction that does occur sometimes, caused by a hardware issue with the flash memory, and that it cannot be fixed. I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to: 1. Buy a new memory chip and replace the old one - I opened the device, the memory chip is SDIN7DP2-4G. There are some chips like that available on AliExpress. This would of course require some soldering, which I'm not able to do, but I could pay someone to do it for me. I do wonder about some issues here though: - does the chip have to be exactly the same make and model, or is eMMC standardized enough so that any chip would do? - would the reader even boot with a new empty memory chip installed, or does it need some bootloader data to be loaded on it beforehand? 2. Buy a used Kindle Voyage (preferably with a damaged screen, as it wold be cheaper) and scavenge its motherboard. This would probably be easier, as it would require no soldering and I could probably do it myself. On the other hand, the device (even damaged) would be more expensive than just the memory chip, and the availability of Kindle Voyages is not that great. What do you guys think? Any suggestions appreciated.