Kindle froze for no apparent reason and won't charge or turn on

websboo · 09-14-2022, 10:04 PM

Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum and I have a problem. I'm the owner of a Kindle Paperwhite since march of this year and have never had any issues with it until yesterday. Last morning, my device was still functioning, I used it from 7 AM to 9 AM and kept it in my backpack for the rest of the day. At 8 PM, I got home, took it out of my bag and noticed the screen was still the art from the last book I read and a few minutes later, attempted to unlock it to show my friend something but it refused to let me. I tried several times, plugged it on the charger and yet, it didn't work. It wasn't out of the battery as I charged it recently, it wasn't in contact with water and I didn't drop it at all during the day, it remained in my bag all up until I got home. The only thing that was different from what I normally do was that the AC left my classroom way too cold, but there's no way to know if that was what kickstarted this reaction as I didn't take it out then.

I left it in the charger for 24 hours and nothing happened. Pressed the power button for 40 seconds and it was the same. Connecting it to the laptop does nothing, it doesn't even show as a device. I thought the problem could be the memory because I've downloaded too much stuff and used the experimental browser religiously, but my friend told me her boyfriend's sister's never done this before. Can someone please tell me if it's salvageable or fixable? I really need my Kindle

websboo · 09-14-2022, 10:34 PM

I can't find a way to delete the thread so I might as well say that I got it wrong. My Kindle isn't Paperwhite, it's a model from the 10th generation, hope this clears things up! Sorry!

Barbara1955 · 09-14-2022, 11:15 PM

Did you buy from Amazon? IF Yes contact them

haertig · 09-15-2022, 10:42 AM

If you have a different charger plug-in and cable, from some different electronic device, connect to that for 24 hours or more. Then after it's had that full day to try and charge, try holding down the power button for a minute or more (time it, don't guess) while it's still plugged into the charger. If that works, consider upgrading the firmware on the device if it's not the most current version. And/or consider performing a factory reset. The device will have to be responsive before you can do either of these things though. If you can't get it responsive on your own, call Amazon and let them deal with it under warranty.

FWIW, when my Paperwhite was young, it would freeze up intermittently. I was always able to get it unfrozen using the above technique. Upgrading firmware did not keep the freezing from returning though. So I sent it to Amazon. They supposedly upgraded the firmware (although it was on the latest firmware before I shipped it to them). They sent it back, and it would still freeze up. And then ... it stopped freezing up all on its own. I did nothing to it. It just cleared up its own problem by itself. It hasn't frozen up since (the last freeze was years ago).

My experiences weren't exactly the same ones you are having. But there was a time when I could not get mine unfrozen easily. I tried and tried, as you have. But it wouldn't unfreeze. But leaving it plugged in for a long time, and then holding that power button down for a long time, eventually worked. Either that, or it was coincidence. But it finally unfroze.

I think the problem with these devices is that they are never turned completely off. They are still operational at a very low level even after you have turned the power off (because you are not really turning them completely off). That's why they say "hold the power button down for 40 seconds". That wouldn't do anything differently than holding it down for 1 second if it were truly powered down. But it's not actually powered down. So at a low level it can still "time" how long you hold that power button down for (unless it's totally lost its brains). It may be that all's they need is a good solid power-down reboot. But you can't actually do a solid power-down reboot. Letting the device sit unused for months and months while the battery completely drains itself is not a workable solution to get to a solid reboot. I think they need a separate reset button that TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY disconnects power and also facilitates draining any capacitors holding residual charge.

09-14-2022, 10:04 PM	#1
websboo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kindle 10th Generation	Kindle froze for no apparent reason and won't charge or turn on Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum and I have a problem. I'm the owner of a Kindle Paperwhite since march of this year and have never had any issues with it until yesterday. Last morning, my device was still functioning, I used it from 7 AM to 9 AM and kept it in my backpack for the rest of the day. At 8 PM, I got home, took it out of my bag and noticed the screen was still the art from the last book I read and a few minutes later, attempted to unlock it to show my friend something but it refused to let me. I tried several times, plugged it on the charger and yet, it didn't work. It wasn't out of the battery as I charged it recently, it wasn't in contact with water and I didn't drop it at all during the day, it remained in my bag all up until I got home. The only thing that was different from what I normally do was that the AC left my classroom way too cold, but there's no way to know if that was what kickstarted this reaction as I didn't take it out then. I left it in the charger for 24 hours and nothing happened. Pressed the power button for 40 seconds and it was the same. Connecting it to the laptop does nothing, it doesn't even show as a device. I thought the problem could be the memory because I've downloaded too much stuff and used the experimental browser religiously, but my friend told me her boyfriend's sister's never done this before. Can someone please tell me if it's salvageable or fixable? I really need my Kindle

09-14-2022, 10:34 PM	#2
websboo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kindle 10th Generation	My Mistake! I can't find a way to delete the thread so I might as well say that I got it wrong. My Kindle isn't Paperwhite, it's a model from the 10th generation, hope this clears things up! Sorry!

09-14-2022, 11:15 PM	#3
Barbara1955 Non-Techy Posts: 4,455 Karma: 15499273 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: WV---USA Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders	Did you buy from Amazon? IF Yes contact them Last edited by Barbara1955; 09-14-2022 at 11:20 PM.

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09-15-2022, 10:42 AM	#4
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,897 Karma: 31522252 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	If you have a different charger plug-in and cable, from some different electronic device, connect to that for 24 hours or more. Then after it's had that full day to try and charge, try holding down the power button for a minute or more (time it, don't guess) while it's still plugged into the charger. If that works, consider upgrading the firmware on the device if it's not the most current version. And/or consider performing a factory reset. The device will have to be responsive before you can do either of these things though. If you can't get it responsive on your own, call Amazon and let them deal with it under warranty. FWIW, when my Paperwhite was young, it would freeze up intermittently. I was always able to get it unfrozen using the above technique. Upgrading firmware did not keep the freezing from returning though. So I sent it to Amazon. They supposedly upgraded the firmware (although it was on the latest firmware before I shipped it to them). They sent it back, and it would still freeze up. And then ... it stopped freezing up all on its own. I did nothing to it. It just cleared up its own problem by itself. It hasn't frozen up since (the last freeze was years ago). My experiences weren't exactly the same ones you are having. But there was a time when I could not get mine unfrozen easily. I tried and tried, as you have. But it wouldn't unfreeze. But leaving it plugged in for a long time, and then holding that power button down for a long time, eventually worked. Either that, or it was coincidence. But it finally unfroze. I think the problem with these devices is that they are never turned completely off. They are still operational at a very low level even after you have turned the power off (because you are not really turning them completely off). That's why they say "hold the power button down for 40 seconds". That wouldn't do anything differently than holding it down for 1 second if it were truly powered down. But it's not actually powered down. So at a low level it can still "time" how long you hold that power button down for (unless it's totally lost its brains). It may be that all's they need is a good solid power-down reboot. But you can't actually do a solid power-down reboot. Letting the device sit unused for months and months while the battery completely drains itself is not a workable solution to get to a solid reboot. I think they need a separate reset button that TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY disconnects power and also facilitates draining any capacitors holding residual charge.

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