Warning/Minor Rant: Unable to (re)register older Kindle with Amazon

MegDreamsofBooks · 12-10-2025, 03:49 PM

So a warning for older Kindles: I have a Kindle 4, with the 5-way navigation button and side buttons which I much prefer over a touch screen. It's been registered to my Amazon account for about 6 months, updated to the newest available software for that version.

Unfortunately over the weekend I wanted to try changing to a new Amazon account for ebooks, and de-registered the Kindle 4 from my main account.

Now it cannot be registered to either my original or new account, the initial attempt goes through and generates the One Time Passcode, but entering the OTP results in the error that the Kindle is "unable to connect" and a prompt to restart.

After resetting the Kindle didn't help, I tried a chat with Amazon support. And their answer is basically "too bad, go buy a new device."

So older Kindle users beware, if you reset your device, you may not be able to add it to your account again.

To quote the agent:

Quote:

This is because the device software is outdated

Trade in is the only option left

This is especially disappointing for those of us who like to link our books to Calibre and the older Kindles work better for this. But I guess now I have a device I don't have to worry about breaking or losing if I take it out of the house for reading (with books sideloaded from Calibre.)

tomsem · 12-10-2025, 04:19 PM

Did you add the OTP to end of your password? I think that is what is required.

Customer Service is ignorant most of the time unfortunately. I have yet to see anyone verify older Kindles (with WiFi) cannot be registered.

MegDreamsofBooks · 12-10-2025, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

Did you add the OTP to end of your password? I think that is what is required.

The instructions from the agent and in the email were to just put it as the password, which is what worked when I originally registered this Kindle last summer. But I did try it with adding the OTP to the end of the password as well, and no luck.

tomsem · 12-10-2025, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MegDreamsofBooks

The instructions from the agent and in the email were to just put it as the password, which is what worked when I originally registered this Kindle last summer. But I did try it with adding the OTP to the end of the password as well, and no luck.

Okay, that is new then. I wonder which models are affected?

I have a Kindle Touch and PW4 as backup options, but prefer using the Kindle for PC environments I have set up, for various reasons.

Frogm4n · Yesterday, 01:07 PM

I just tried on a spare K3 running 3.4.3, and using a US Amazon account, and was successful. The only hiccup was that the wifi dropped out in the middle, so I had to toggle wifi off/on in between.

Attempt to log in with password: failed as expected
Recieved SMS with 6 digit OTP
Attempt to log in with OTP in place of password: success

Does your account have 2FA/MFA enabled? That might put a wrench in it.

MegDreamsofBooks · Yesterday, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

I just tried on a spare K3 running 3.4.3, and using a US Amazon account, and was successful. The only hiccup was that the wifi dropped out in the middle, so I had to toggle wifi off/on in between.

Attempt to log in with password: failed as expected
Recieved SMS with 6 digit OTP
Attempt to log in with OTP in place of password: success

Does your account have 2FA/MFA enabled? That might put a wrench in it.

Well, this is good to hear. That's the same method I tried but it didn't work for me, glad to hear it might just be an issue with this Kindle or my account.

I have one account with 2FA enabled, and my new account does not have it. But I can't get this Kindle registered to either account. The CS rep said it was properly de-registered from my original account, but I'm wondering if the serial number got blacklisted somehow.

DNSB · Yesterday, 06:33 PM

If you contact Amazon support either by phone or online chat, they will be able to tell you if the device is blacklisted. They can't do anything about it but at least, you will know.

MegDreamsofBooks · Yesterday, 06:58 PM

I did contact them via chat, they told me the device was "unregistered" but did not say anything about it being blacklisted.

DNSB · Yesterday, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MegDreamsofBooks

I did contact them via chat, they told me the device was "unregistered" but did not say anything about it being blacklisted.

So you should be able to register it. You might need to enable 2FA on the account you want to register your K3 to. At least that worked for my PW1.

12-10-2025, 04:19 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,050 Karma: 27060353 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Did you add the OTP to end of your password? I think that is what is required. Customer Service is ignorant most of the time unfortunately. I have yet to see anyone verify older Kindles (with WiFi) cannot be registered. Last edited by tomsem; 12-10-2025 at 04:25 PM.

Yesterday, 01:07 PM	#5
Frogm4n Fanatic Posts: 533 Karma: 4000001 Join Date: Jul 2023 Device: Scribe 2022, OA2, PRS-350	I just tried on a spare K3 running 3.4.3, and using a US Amazon account, and was successful. The only hiccup was that the wifi dropped out in the middle, so I had to toggle wifi off/on in between. Attempt to log in with password: failed as expected Recieved SMS with 6 digit OTP Attempt to log in with OTP in place of password: success Does your account have 2FA/MFA enabled? That might put a wrench in it. Last edited by Frogm4n; Yesterday at 01:12 PM.

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DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 48,923 Karma: 174631582 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	If you contact Amazon support either by phone or online chat, they will be able to tell you if the device is blacklisted. They can't do anything about it but at least, you will know.

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MegDreamsofBooks Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 1218912 Join Date: Jun 2021 Device: Pocketbook InkPad Lite, iPad	I did contact them via chat, they told me the device was "unregistered" but did not say anything about it being blacklisted.