K4 Stuck dead / bricked...? Salvageable?

[noner666]

Hi everybody,

I have a curious case at hand So I had two Kindle 4 touch devices. Both worked fine. Then, at some point I let one of them (let's say it's number 1) discharge for a long time after which I was not able to turn it on anymore. I tried charging with charger, via PC, original cable, some other cable, removing battery, holding the power button forever etc etc etc... Nothing. The charging orange light never turned green or went off. As if the device was locked in permanent charging. "Dead battery" I thought and got me a new one. But it didn't help one bit. Having nothing or very little to lose I opened both devices and cross-connected the FFC (flexible flat cables): screen 1 to mainboard 2 and viceversa.

Now the duo of screen 1 and mainboard 2 was working fine (which proves the screen 1 was fine in itself), except the touch controls were still coming from device 2 (I did not expect that - I though the image and touch controls would all be coming via the FFC). Meanwhile, screen 2 + mainboard 1 still wouldn't start. Which leads me to conclusion that the mainboard 1 was somehow damaged.

So - what might have been the cause of this, how to find what is actually broken and if there is any way to fix it?
This is more a case of curiosity rather than necessity, but still

[eddie.t.h]

Is the device detected in any way by the computer? Try using kubrick, perhaps it's just a software problem.

[noner666]

Originally Posted by eddie.t.h

Is the device detected in any way by the computer? Try using kubrick, perhaps it's just a software problem.

Thanks for getting back to me. So my KT is not detected by any computer in any way. The light on the device turns on (orange) and that's about it.

I have tried with Kubrick, but ran into issue after issue
1. first, my ISP blocks these specific download pages (this should be illegal). I got around this using proxy.
2. Then, booting up Kubric resulted in the infamous "Missing required Java files. Kubrick will not work." error (I use USB stick). This was solved by kmc76 in another topic ("instead of "POWEROFF" I typed "EXIT" and lo and behold Kubrick started"), which allowed me to put the Kindle into download mode.
3. lastly, I hit the same fastboot wall as AlexPatridge: ("Besides being able to get it into recovery mode I get absolutely nothing from the device. I cannot get it into fastboot mode, nor can I boot the diagnostics tools either. Kubrick sits at the 'Waiting for device...' prompt on the fastboot screen")

I have no idea what to do with this now... I got hopeful when it was recognized by Kubrick and I was able to put it in download mode, but now I am lost...
Might be the same case as Alex's, that this Kindle is beyond saving?
(https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=344416)

TLDR: my KT won't go into fastboot mode.

[eddie.t.h]

To be 100% sure, you would need to connect a serial port monitor. Unfortunately, in this model, Flash memory damage is very common.

[noner666]

Originally Posted by eddie.t.h

To be 100% sure, you would need to connect a serial port monitor. Unfortunately, in this model, Flash memory damage is very common.

You mean like a software monitor or a hardware?

By the way - what could have caused this flash memory damage?

[eddie.t.h]

Basically both. You need to have a USB-rs232 1.8V interface best but it can also be 3.3V. And the terminal program, eg putty.

Flash drives, unfortunately, have it to themselves that over time they become slower and slower, badsector appear until it finally stops working completely. Voltage loss (completely discharged battery) and clearly accelerate this process.

[noner666]

Originally Posted by eddie.t.h

Basically both. You need to have a USB-rs232 1.8V interface best but it can also be 3.3V. And the terminal program, eg putty.

Flash drives, unfortunately, have it to themselves that over time they become slower and slower, badsector appear until it finally stops working completely. Voltage loss (completely discharged battery) and clearly accelerate this process.

I get it... well, it's probably this exact case, so it's time to say goodbye. Especially that I was thinking about PW for quite some time now anyway.

Thanks a lot, Eddie, I appreciate your time and help!