Kindle Touch bricked after firmware update

[john_pb]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

From diags SSH, try:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4K

then reformat.

[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4
dd: writing '/dev/mmcblk0p3': No space left on device
8388609+0 records in
8388608+0 records out
33554432 bytes (32.0MB) copied, 59.903201 seconds, 547.0KB/s
[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# exit

Mate, you are a genius! If you are ever in Queensland, be sure to let me know as I owe you a beer or a few.

The Kindle is back on its feet now.

My wife did say that considering what the thing costs to buy new and the amount of time I've spent on it, my hourly rate amounted to probably one or at most two dollars, so as an IT consultant, I would surely starve...! ;-)

Lucky I don't do it for a job then!

Thank you again; now I can run the Amazon firmware update again, without concern if the Kindle turns into a brick again.

Cheers.

John

[john_pb]

Just some further feedback on this, in case someone comes across the same problem:

Once the Kindle booted properly, I registered it and checked that the firmware it was running was 5.0.0 - as expected with the "forensic" drive image.

I then uploaded the most recent Amazon firmware (5.0.4), making sure it was transferred to the device properly before disconnecting it from the PC.

Running the update went fine until reboot. This time there was no "Your Kindle needs repair" message, but it got stuck on "Please wait for your Kindle to reboot".

After about 2 hours of leaving it sit, I rebooted into diags using Mfg Tool, connected via SSH and once again ran
"dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4"

The Kindle then managed to boot and came back as a new, unregistered device. The firmware version is back to 5.0.0.

Can anyone shed any light on why the update fails like this? Is it possible to go from 5.0.0 to 5.0.4?

I will refrain from updating it for now. Needless to say, I'm not all that keen to update the second KT, which is running 5.0.1, either.

Cheers.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by john_pb

My wife did say that considering what the thing costs to buy new and the amount of time I've spent on it, my hourly rate amounted to probably one or at most two dollars, so as an IT consultant, I would surely starve...! ;-)

John

Welcome to the world of Open Source Software developed, tested and maintained by unpaid volunteers.

Mention to wife that this is one of those things a person does for Love, not Money.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by john_pb

Just some further feedback on this, in case someone comes across the same problem:

Once the Kindle booted properly, I registered it and checked that the firmware it was running was 5.0.0 - as expected with the "forensic" drive image.

I then uploaded the most recent Amazon firmware (5.0.4), making sure it was transferred to the device properly before disconnecting it from the PC.

Running the update went fine until reboot. This time there was no "Your Kindle needs repair" message, but it got stuck on "Please wait for your Kindle to reboot".

After about 2 hours of leaving it sit, I rebooted into diags using Mfg Tool, connected via SSH and once again ran
"dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4"

The Kindle then managed to boot and came back as a new, unregistered device. The firmware version is back to 5.0.0.

Can anyone shed any light on why the update fails like this? Is it possible to go from 5.0.0 to 5.0.4?

I will refrain from updating it for now. Needless to say, I'm not all that keen to update the second KT, which is running 5.0.1, either.

Cheers.

5.0.3 and earlier just patched existing files, which could cause problems on systems with modified files.

Amazon changed their upgrade method after I explained to their high-level techs that this was causing kindle bricking, and the return cost from some countries is much too high, so I have been helping debrick them. The techs I talked to agreed with my suggestions, but they could only make recommendations to the people who make these decisions. After I requested that amazon NOT continue their potentially dangerous upgrade method, they released 5.0.4 using a safer method, so that adds a lot to the respectability of the technical decision makers at amazon (at least in my book).

5.0.4 contains complete copies of files, and instead of patching them, it replaces them. Most of the files it writes during the update are identical to the original files for earlier versions, so it replaces modified files with originals in many cases, instead of patching them in ways that could brick a kindle. 5.0.4 also replaces the linux kernel used to boot the main partition.

So, it is MUCH safer to update to 5.0.4 than earlier versions.

A side effect is that a few hacks such as "screen rotation" are disabled when one of their modified files got replaced. This can be fixed by restoring their modified file, or reinstalling that hack.

[john_pb]

Thanks once again for the responses. I do appreciate the work you guys are doing.

Just as a further feedback:

The Kindle will not reboot successfully. It either gets stuck on ""...wait till your Kindle restarts" or at a blank screen.

I rebooted it using the "magic" restart while connected to the Windows guest, with Mfg Tool running.

Once detected and the "main" profile loaded, it restarts normally and now shows that the firmware has been upgraded to 5.0.4. It then runs fine, with all functions including 3G operating without noticeable problems; unless shut down, from which it again goes to a blank white screen and cannot be re-booted without Mfg Tool.

"Hard" reset - holding down the power button - makes no difference.

Geekmaster, would you know of any reason why this might be the case?

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by knc1

Welcome to the world of Open Source Software developed, tested and maintained by unpaid volunteers.

Mention to wife that this is one of those things a person does for Love, not Money.

Umm... You suggest letting the wife find out about your secret love for the kindle, so it becomes "the competition" ?

Some wives do *not* appreciate outside love interests, whereas they *can* understand money with a more rational mind than where love is involved.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by john_pb

Thanks once again for the responses. I do appreciate the work you guys are doing.

Just as a further feedback:

The Kindle will not reboot successfully. It either gets stuck on ""...wait till your Kindle restarts" or at a blank screen.

I rebooted it using the "magic" restart while connected to the Windows guest, with Mfg Tool running.

Once detected and the "main" profile loaded, it restarts normally and now shows that the firmware has been upgraded to 5.0.4. It then runs fine, with all functions including 3G operating without noticeable problems; unless shut down, from which it again goes to a blank white screen and cannot be re-booted without Mfg Tool.

"Hard" reset - holding down the power button - makes no difference.

Geekmaster, would you know of any reason why this might be the case?

Try changing the idme bootmode variable to "main".

You should be able to boot to diags, and then use the "disable diagnostics" menu.

Or in diags SSH (or in a RUNME.sh) do "idme -d --bootmode main". You can do "idme ?" to see that they current bootmode var contains.

Or in fastboot mode (using MfgTool to get there), do "sudo ./fastboot setvar bootmode main".

Do you have a hack installed that is depending on a file that got replaced with an original amazon file during the update? If so, you need to either fix that, or flash a good main system partition image from diags, using "dd if=/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/mmcblk0p1 bs=4K" from diags SSH or RUNME.sh (with ENABLE_DIAGS).

Flashing a partition that you booted from can cause problems, so you need to be in diags mode. The main system partition is too big to flash with fastboot, so you need the above "dd" command for that.

See the "simple debricking" thread.

[john_pb]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

Try changing the idme bootmode variable to "main".

You should be able to boot to diags, and then use the "disable diagnostics" menu.

OK, I've done that and can now see a message that says:

device.info.xml not found check device settings

Or in diags SSH (or in a RUNME.sh) do "idme -d --bootmode main". You can do "idme ?" to see that they current bootmode var contains.

[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# idme -d --bootmode main
Devmode enabled
Reading vars from temp storage...
...None found, Copying vars from /proc
Setting bootmode to main
Writing new vars to temp area
You must reboot before new values will take effect

Running "reboot" over the SSH console at this step has successfully managed to get the Kindle to shut down and reboot.

Once again, thank you.

Other than that, with regards to your last comment: There are no hacks installed on this Kindle; at least not yet. ;-)

Cheers.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by john_pb

OK, I've done that and can now see a message that says:

device.info.xml not found check device settings

[root@[192_168_15_244] root]# idme -d --bootmode main
Devmode enabled
Reading vars from temp storage...
...None found, Copying vars from /proc
Setting bootmode to main
Writing new vars to temp area
You must reboot before new values will take effect

Running "reboot" over the SSH console at this step has successfully managed to get the Kindle to shut down and reboot.

Once again, thank you.

Other than that, with regards to your last comment: There are no hacks installed on this Kindle; at least not yet. ;-)

Cheers.

device.info.xml is normally used to change idme settings from an xml file, in a different diags menu item. Perhaps it was confused because you already changed the idme bootmode var manually, after which you should also remove /mnt/us/ENABLE diags if that exists, and then you SHOULD do the reboot command.

The "Disable Diagnostics" menu item does not work right if you change the idme var bootmode var manually like I suggested.

"Once again, thank you" seems to imply that your kindle works now, but you did not implicitly state whether it works or still cannot boot to the main system framework.

Question: Is your kindle working now?

[john_pb]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

"Once again, thank you" seems to imply that your kindle works now, but you did no implicitly state whether it works or still cannot boot to the main system framework.

Question: Is your kindle working now?

My sincere apologies...I had a quick go at that reboot problem last night, so my response to your message was missing the most important part:

Yes, my Kindle is as good as new. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now I can start hacking it to see if I can break it again...!