Original "Simple" debricking methods for K5-Touch, K4-Mini, & K3-Keyboard

[murz_07]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

Okay... it looks like you have SSH installed in diags. And with RUNME.sh you are running code as root... and you removed your serial number and other identifying info (good)... What is it you want to do here?

If you cannot boot main, you might have a bad script listed in the output messages. Or a missing script...

You can SSH in and fix the problem on the main system partition, or replace the partition with a good one with "dd" as documented may time in other posts.

You can change the bootmode from diags to main with:

idme -d --bootmode main
rm /mnt/us/ENABLE_DIAGS
reboot

What else do you want to do here?

I did "dd" mmcblk0p1 with your backup file.
I did as you said and NOTHING happend again. LED turned off and that's all.
What problem can I have and how cam I fix it using SSH?

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by murz_07

I did "dd" mmcblk0p1 with your backup file.
I did as you said and NOTHING happend again. LED turned off and that's all.
What problem can I have and how cam I fix it using SSH?

If SSH works, it is probably not a hardware problem. If you used dd to write a good image file that is not damaged and not the wrong one, and you have the idme bootmode var and ENABLE_DIAGS removed as needed for booting to main,
then perhaps your main linux kernel is damaged.

As mentioned before, I plan to write a script to extract kernel images from mmcblk0.img backups.

There is a kernel image in the 5.0.4 update that you could extract, and burn that (but make sure it has the correct flash header on it). Or if you have access to another device, you can make a backup copy of the first 32MB of /dev/mmcblk0 and extract the main kernel from that (offset 0x41000, length in the flash header rounded up to the next 4KB block size).

Or... wait for somebody else to do it for you...

[murz_07]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

If SSH works, it is probably not a hardware problem. If you used dd to write a good image file that is not damaged and not the wrong one, and you have the idme bootmode var and ENABLE_DIAGS removed as needed for booting to main,
then perhaps your main linux kernel is damaged.

As mentioned before, I plan to write a script to extract kernel images from mmcblk0.img backups.

There is a kernel image in the 5.0.4 update that you could extract, and burn that (but make sure it has the correct flash header on it). Or if you have access to another device, you can make a backup copy of the first 32MB of /dev/mmcblk0 and extract the main kernel from that (offset 0x41000, length in the flash header rounded up to the next 4KB block size).

Or... wait for somebody else to do it for you...

Yes, regarding my previous experience I will wait *somebody* to do it.
I don't think I can make it any worse, but I have never made anything better myself. I mean Kindle
Thank you anyway!

[curb]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

You are welcome. I added your "Successful Debricking Report" to the first post in this thread.

UPDATE: I added the download link for the K4 mmcblk0p1 image file to the first post too.

Badnews，after the unbricking, i successfully registered，turn on wi-fi，and began to copy pdf and mobi files into k4.

then the windows explorer stunk! i waited for a while, and still no response. i have to close explorer in the task manager， and kindle turn white and bricked again. to be worse, there's no response of the power button. is there any possibility to wake it up?

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by curb

Badnews，after the unbricking, i successfully registered，turn on wi-fi，and began to copy pdf and mobi files into k4.

then the windows explorer stunk! i waited for a while, and still no response. i have to close explorer in the task manager， and kindle turn white and bricked again. to be worse, there's no response of the power button. is there any possibility to wake it up?

Holding the power button for 20 seconds should reset it by cycling the power. You can select which partition to boot using the procedure shown in the "Select Boot" thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=169645

P.S. You are not the first person to express the opinion that windows explorer had a bad smell (stunk!).

[geekmaster]

I was looking at the kindle 3 u-boot source code, and it contains these interesting bits:

include/configs/imx35_luigi.h: "uboot_net=tftpboot 0x84000000 u-boot.bin\0" \
include/configs/imx35_luigi.h: "diags_net=tftpboot 0x84000000 diagmon.uimage; run bootargs_diag; bootm 0x84000000\0" \
include/configs/imx35_luigi.h: "bootcmd_kernel_tftp=tftp 0x87f40400 uImage; bootm\0" \

So, it looks like instead of having fastboot or diags bootmode, it can instead boot images from a tftp server. I wonder now whether AdvancedToolKit has a built-in tftp server, or if you need to supply one in addition to the AdvancedTookKit program...

[js1d3]

Greetings, I have been reading all the posts and trying to use the MfgTool in VM (Windows xp). I can"t access in fast boot mode or get the kindle in other mode. Sorry for the ignorance in linux codes and exactly I don't really understand anything, my problem started one week ago, and I can'† find any information on the internet despite this great portal.

I use a mac and my Operation System is Leopard OSX, and got the kindle touch 3g+wi fi. My problem started when I restarted the kindle since the kindle system, probably the recently updated is the reason and I have the screen showing the boy reading under the tree without answer. I cant turn off or turn on but the battery charged ends and continually tried to run mfgtool with all the indications with no success.

I read in the previous posts that I need a windows and Linux to fix it, but I beg if someone can explain how to introduce the linux codes in a Ubuntu version with the virtual machine. And to access in fast boot mode in other way without mfgtool, I suppose that mac is the reason that it can´t works. Thanks.

[ixtab]

Don't forget that this isn't the only method of debricking. It certainly is the most powerful one, but for "simple" brick cases, (i.e. when the Kindle still appears as a USB drive), the data.tar.gz method could still work. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose:

1. Plug the Kindle to your computer. If it shows up as a usb drive, put both files from here on that drive, then eject it.
2. Reset the Kindle (press power for ~20 secs, until it restarts)
3. The jailbreak will be installed, at the same time trying a factory reset. This sometimes hangs after execution, so if you see the jailbreak screen for, say, 2 minutes, just reset it again.

No guarantees, but I know this method has worked for at least 3 people whose Kindle was stuck in the same state as yours.

[js1d3]

Originally Posted by ixtab

Don't forget that this isn't the only method of debricking. It certainly is the most powerful one, but for "simple" brick cases, (i.e. when the Kindle still appears as a USB drive), the data.tar.gz method could still work. Give it a try, you have nothing to lose:

1. Plug the Kindle to your computer. If it shows up as a usb drive, put both files from here on that drive, then eject it.
2. Reset the Kindle (press power for ~20 secs, until it restarts)
3. The jailbreak will be installed, at the same time trying a factory reset. This sometimes hangs after execution, so if you see the jailbreak screen for, say, 2 minutes, just reset it again.

No guarantees, but I know this method has worked for at least 3 people whose Kindle was stuck in the same state as yours.

Thanks man for the help, i didn't mention that my computer not recognize as a usb drive too, and still keeps the boy behind the tree.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by js1d3

Thanks man for the help, i didn't mention that my computer not recognize as a usb drive too, and still keeps the boy behind the tree.

Which update version did you install?

Normally, only the main partition and main linux kernel are updated, and should be the only things that COULD be damaged. You should still be able to boot to the diagnostics menu using MfgTool, and from there you can export your USB drive so you can put the files mentioned by ixtab onto it. Then reboot.

Do as suggested in the first post:

1) Plug kindle into computer USB port.
2) Hold power button until LED turns off.
3) While still pressing the power button, press the Home button (4 black stripes below screen).
4) Release power button.
5) Release Home button.
--- your kindle touch should now be in USB Downloader mode ---
6) Use MfgTool. Select "diags" from drop down list. Press green Start button.
7) Your kindle should boot to the Diagnostics menu.
8) Select "U) USB device mode."
9) Copy files from USB drive to host PC that you want to keep.
10) Copy ixtab's files to the USB drive.
11) Reboot.

*** If any of these steps does not work, your battery probably needs charging.

To charge the battery, use MfgTool to boot to fastboot mode, and leave it connected for several hours to recharge the battery. Monitoring the serial port status messages shows that fastboot mode has an excellent battery charging algorithm.

*** After the battery is recharged, repeat the above steps.

EDIT: For ixtab's data.tar.gz to work, you need to delete the ENABLE_DIAGS file from the USB drive if it contains one.

[ixtab]

@js1d3: Which device do you actually have?
This thread is about KT and K4.

(My method only works for KT, you'll probably need Yifan Lu's data.tar.gz and a modified RUNME.sh for the K4, sorry for always forgetting about that device)

In any case, your user info says you have a K3. This *might* be why it doesn't work.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by ixtab

@js1d3: Which device do you actually have?
This thread is about KT and K4.

(My method only works for KT, you'll probably need Yifan Lu's data.tar.gz and a modified RUNME.sh for the K4, sorry for always forgetting about that device)

In any case, your user info says you have a K3. This *might* be why it doesn't work.

@ixtab: Good catch! I missed that detail. I am simultaneously working on many things and I do not always notice these "little" details.

The K3 has its own jailbreak procedure, and it does not have a separate diagnostics partition to boot from. On a K3 Diags is just a program you run during startup of a main boot if it sees the ENABLE_DIAGS file.

It *does* source the /var/local/mntus.params file though, so many of the repair methods used in the "Select Boot" thread could be adapted to work here *after* you get a custom mntus.params file installed using an *existing* (modified) K3 jailbreak. I am not aware of anybody having done this yet, though, so for *now*, I recommending using the external serial port for a simple serial port recovery.

Seaniko7 has posted a youtube video showing just how easy it is to recover a K3 using the serial port:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OCpJbkGb7M

[geekmaster]

You can download it here, and run it at a DOS prompt:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=2000997

Each kindle needs its own set of libusb-win32 device drivers installed, to work with fastboot for windows. There are multiple ways to do this, and multiple versions of libusb drivers for windows.

You can read some details about how *I* installed them for my K4 and Touch here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=2001621

You still need to know which libusb-win32 version, and what installers to use, and more (that you can learn from the libusb websites). More information will be provided later (perhaps in a wiki page). Hopefully there is enough information at the above links for you to figure out how to use it now if you need it.

This eliminates the problem of needed Windows for MfgTool and linux for fastboot, and the problem of the kindle dropping out of fastboot mode when the USB connections is disconnected or reset (by rebooting the host PC or VM). But it has the added complication of needed Windows device drivers.

At least there are alternative methods of using MfgTool and fastboot now, so you can use whichever method works best for you.

[Poetcop]

Oh frabjous day! Caloo calay! My Kindle Touch is unbricked, freed from the black screen of death! I'm so grateful to the friendly wizards on this board, especially hostar and double especially geekmaster. You have achieved amazing things. Let me put down the steps precisely, in case it might help someone:

* First, I installed hostar's windows port of yifan lu's fastboot tool, fastboot_win_alpha. That was the key. The only complicated part was the libusb-win32 installation, but I got through it by following the instructions on the sourceforge page carefully:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/libusb-win32/wiki
geekmaster's screencaps should also help.

* Then I booted into fastboot mode, for the thousandth time, but this time to actually do something. In case you don't know, you hold down the power button until the light goes off, and then, without releasing, press the home button and then release the power button.

* Then I ran the following commands:
fastboot flash diags mmcblk0p2_ssh.img [from the first post in this thread]
fastboot setvar bootmode diags
fastboot reboot
That got me into diags mode, for the first time in weeks, and my heart sang!

* I started ssh, following geekmaster's instructions to "Select menu items N) U) Z) X). Wait 20 seconds for dropbear to startup"

* In linux on my mac os x, entered ssh root@192.168.15.244, with password mario. It complained that the device had a different signature or some such, so I had to delete the line containing 192.168.15.244 from known_hosts, at which point I was able to get in.

* I'd forgotten to copy mmcblk0p1.img to my /mnt/us, and I discovered that the USB mode option in diags didn't work after starting ssh, but on choosing Reboot (D, R from the main menu) it did work again. Then I went back in with ssh.

* dd if=/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p1 bs=4
which took 137.6 seconds.

* Now to reboot into main. Disable Diagnostics didn't work, with the message "device_info.xml not found, check device settings", but no problem with my new fastboot powers, I just chose "Install fastboot bundle" and then ran fastboot setvar bootmode main, fastboot reboot.

* The normal, healthy Kindle reset screen, and the same screens I saw when I first bought it. I wonder if this was affected by me running fastboot setvar bootmode factory at one point. I had to unplug and plug the usb back in to get the normal directory to mount, but when I did unlike when I exported it before, it was populated with the expected folders.

And then the home screen came up!! After more than a month, and my girlfriend giving me a $140 Amazon gift certificate for my birthday (so little faith!) it's resurrected. Have I learned my lesson? Not on your life! As long as I don't step on the thing, I now feel like my Kindle is INVINCIBLE! I want my awesome Mac Plus-themed screen savers, and I want my keystrokes not to be logged. Now back to where it all began, with Yifan Lu's mp3 hack...

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by Poetcop

...
And then the home screen came up!! After more than a month, and my girlfriend giving me a $140 Amazon gift certificate for my birthday (so little faith!) it's resurrected. Have I learned my lesson? Not on your life! As long as I don't step on the thing, I now feel like my Kindle is INVINCIBLE! I want my awesome Mac Plus-themed screen savers, and I want my keystrokes not to be logged. Now back to where it all began, with Yifan Lu's mp3 hack...

I am glad that you got it working again, and the whole plan here is to make the new kindles a LOT less fragile for development work...