I deleted the old ksonoads and removed it from the CONFIG file, and I installed the new one. My K5 had a full charge (green LED, plugged into USB for two days). After installing the new noads hack, it rebooted to a "dead battery" screen, with usbnet off and showing up as an empty USB drive (low power mode). A long power hold reset reboots to "dead battery" mode. It is acting like a dead battery. But it was plugged in and (supposedly) fully charged. it went from indicating a full charge, to completely empty, during a reboot. I will plug it into a power cube now...
Perhaps the version of 5.1.0 firmware that I have installed lies about the battery state, and it completely discharged my battery while reporting that it had a full charge. Even fastboot does not work. I will need to leave it on a wall charger for awhile so that fastboot mode can work again. What good is a green LED with a dead battery in 5.1.0 ?
Could the noads hack somehow prevent screensaver powerdown mode from operating in certain conditions? The last thing I had run was the demo in the tcc package, and it pauses and resumes the framework. I tend to suspect the firmware, but it is worth considering other possible causes in any case.
It is on a wall charger now. I will check it again in the morning. Sleep now.
UPDATE: It is in fastboot mode now, but still acting like a dead battery. I will let it continue charging in fastboot mode. Good night.
Why are these things so darned delicate? It seems that they brick if you look at them wrong, and the latest firmware update did not help, and perhaps made it worse. 
I will have to test this noads patch after my kindle decides it wants to boot again.