Bricked K3? Comments please...

pmul · 07-21-2012, 10:21 AM

Hi Everyone,
first off, I have searched the forum, and while I was able to find quite a bit of stuff on the subject of bricked K3s, I could not find the definitive answer (perhaps none exists...). Anyway, I have a two and a half year old K3 3G, and recently I started to hear something rattling inside it. Foolishly I ignored this, and a while later (~couple of months) my poor K3 locked up. I popped it open and 6(!) screws fell out, they were securing the PCB. I assume one or more of them had caused a short. I screwed them back in, but my K3 did not recover. Here is a summary:

K3 is frozen.
GUI will not respond.
Occasionally it will reboot of it's own accord, currently it is doing it every few minutes. It can go days without spontaneous reboots though.
When it does boot to the main menu, it is usable for a few minutes or seconds, until it freezes again.
Tried to reset the device (hold power switch for ~20secs), didn't help, device will usually not respond to the reset other than the led goes out.
Enter+Reset boot to the menu with "Export filing system to USB" does work, (provided I catch the system at the right point in it's spontaneous boot loop), but I don't know what to do here.
Volume '-'+Reset to boot to the low level USB "SE Blank Ringo", also works (also provided I catch the system at the right point in it's spontaneous boot loop), also I don't know what to do here. Even in this mode, it spontaneously disconnects and reconnects from Windows every few minutes.
Tried a factory reset, made no difference.
Talked to Amazon, they only want to replace it for $$.

Even if I could do one of the reflashing methods I see talked about here, where can I get an image to reflash? The Kindle firmware files supplied by Amazon seem to only be incremental. I asked the Amazon support people for a suitable image, but, as I say, they only want to replace it.

Any suggestions/comments? Given that a short probably occurred, am I looking at a real hardware fault? Or can it be rescued?

geekmaster · 07-21-2012, 10:37 AM

It seems unlikely that all six screws spontaneously came loose unless often exposed to extreme vibration. Even so, there should be a lot of friction keeping the screws from turning. More likely they were never tightened the last time somebody had them out.

HarryT · 07-21-2012, 10:39 AM

If a short occurred, the Kindle is probably physically damaged. I have to agree with GM that it's vanishingly unlikely that 6 screws would come out of their own accord, without any human intervention.

I'd recommend you to take Amazon up on their offer of a replacement; they're generally extremely generous in these cases.

pmul · 07-21-2012, 11:19 AM

Thanks for replies,
I certainly never had them out (I had to buy a pry-tool recently in eBay to open it), I had heard rattling before (now and again), but it had always stopped after a while, possibly one or the other screw getting jammed into some tight spot, only to free up weeks/months later? Possibly they were not correctly tightened from the start?
Anyway, I will probably go with a replacement, it's cheaper than buying a new one. I had hoped that given that the unit starts up, that the short had possibly only caused corruption of the flash memory somewhere, and a re-flashing of the whole unit might fix it.

07-21-2012, 10:21 AM	#1
pmul Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 11764 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: K-1, K-2-3G, K-3-3G, K4PC, K4iPhone, K4iPad, K-Touch-Wifi, K-Fire, DXG	Bricked K3? Comments please... Hi Everyone, first off, I have searched the forum, and while I was able to find quite a bit of stuff on the subject of bricked K3s, I could not find the definitive answer (perhaps none exists...). Anyway, I have a two and a half year old K3 3G, and recently I started to hear something rattling inside it. Foolishly I ignored this, and a while later (~couple of months) my poor K3 locked up. I popped it open and 6(!) screws fell out, they were securing the PCB. I assume one or more of them had caused a short. I screwed them back in, but my K3 did not recover. Here is a summary: K3 is frozen. GUI will not respond. Occasionally it will reboot of it's own accord, currently it is doing it every few minutes. It can go days without spontaneous reboots though. When it does boot to the main menu, it is usable for a few minutes or seconds, until it freezes again. Tried to reset the device (hold power switch for ~20secs), didn't help, device will usually not respond to the reset other than the led goes out. Enter+Reset boot to the menu with "Export filing system to USB" does work, (provided I catch the system at the right point in it's spontaneous boot loop), but I don't know what to do here. Volume '-'+Reset to boot to the low level USB "SE Blank Ringo", also works (also provided I catch the system at the right point in it's spontaneous boot loop), also I don't know what to do here. Even in this mode, it spontaneously disconnects and reconnects from Windows every few minutes. Tried a factory reset, made no difference. Talked to Amazon, they only want to replace it for $$. Even if I could do one of the reflashing methods I see talked about here, where can I get an image to reflash? The Kindle firmware files supplied by Amazon seem to only be incremental. I asked the Amazon support people for a suitable image, but, as I say, they only want to replace it. Any suggestions/comments? Given that a short probably occurred, am I looking at a real hardware fault? Or can it be rescued?

07-21-2012, 10:37 AM	#2
geekmaster Carpe diem, c'est la vie. Posts: 6,433 Karma: 10773668 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Multiverse 6627A Device: K1 to PW3	It seems unlikely that all six screws spontaneously came loose unless often exposed to extreme vibration. Even so, there should be a lot of friction keeping the screws from turning. More likely they were never tightened the last time somebody had them out. Last edited by geekmaster; 07-21-2012 at 10:57 AM.

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07-21-2012, 10:39 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	If a short occurred, the Kindle is probably physically damaged. I have to agree with GM that it's vanishingly unlikely that 6 screws would come out of their own accord, without any human intervention. I'd recommend you to take Amazon up on their offer of a replacement; they're generally extremely generous in these cases.

07-21-2012, 11:19 AM	#4
pmul Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 11764 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: K-1, K-2-3G, K-3-3G, K4PC, K4iPhone, K4iPad, K-Touch-Wifi, K-Fire, DXG	Thanks for replies, I certainly never had them out (I had to buy a pry-tool recently in eBay to open it), I had heard rattling before (now and again), but it had always stopped after a while, possibly one or the other screw getting jammed into some tight spot, only to free up weeks/months later? Possibly they were not correctly tightened from the start? Anyway, I will probably go with a replacement, it's cheaper than buying a new one. I had hoped that given that the unit starts up, that the short had possibly only caused corruption of the flash memory somewhere, and a re-flashing of the whole unit might fix it.

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