Kubrick: Live CD to debrick Kindle 3, 4, and Touch

[knc1]

How about some whitespace in your posts?
Its cheap and we usually don't charge you extra if we can read the post.

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Doukan == probably screwed the pooch.

You can try this CD, might as well, things can't get much worse.

[Legacy Hardware]

Originally Posted by knc1

How about some whitespace in your posts?
Its cheap and we usually don't charge you extra if we can read the post.

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Doukan == probably screwed the pooch.

You can try this CD, might as well, things can't get much worse.

Sorry. Didn't mean to hit you with a wall of text. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Once I secure a computer that doesn't have secure boot. :/


Edit: Could this be run through Virtualbox?

[eschwartz]

Theoretically yes, but it is discouraged:

Originally Posted by ixtab

Make sure that you are performing steps 3 and 4 with physical hardware, i.e., on a real computer, and with a real CD/DVD or USB stick, not in a virtual machine!

Spoiler:

Yes, I do know that it also works in a Virtual Machine, provided that you make sure the device (which enters 3 different modes) is actually seen by the VM in all of these modes. For the average end user, the VM simply constitutes another layer of potential trouble - which is why I don't suggest to run Kubrick in a VM.

You should be able to disable secure boot, and hopefully simulate BIOS mode -- that will break booting into Windows, but allow booting old-style systems and you can then switch your UEFI settings back when you are done.

[San Zamoyski]

Hi!

Few months ago i bought motherboard from Kindle Keyboard 3g reader (without modem and screen) - it was unknow to work. Few days ago i bought 'working' WiFi version. I was wondering if i can replace WiFi mobo with 3G version. Idea seems to be ok, but wanted to check if old one works.
I connected battery from smartphone to it and was able to swich it into download mode. connected it to Kubrick on my secondary laptop (it did not want to boot on my primary one) - it was recognised and recovering started, but...
Flashing kernel took about 1-2 sec. Flashing rootfs too. Ofcourse it still wont boot - does this mean this mobo is totaly dead?

By the side note. I've tried to extract kubrick folder from iso and run it from my linux system (sudo kubrick.sh) - it worked! But situation was same as with booting Kubrick from USB.

Best regards!

[knc1]

The wifi-only version does not have the 3G antenna, you'll have to move that also.

[San Zamoyski]

Yes i know - i have one (forget to mention), but thats not the point. Point is if my mobo works...

[knc1]

Originally Posted by San Zamoyski

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Flashing kernel took about 1-2 sec. Flashing rootfs too. Ofcourse it still wont boot - does this mean this mobo is totaly dead?
- - - - -

No, just that the eMMC (flash) chip is dead, replace it.

[San Zamoyski]

It does not sound easy...

[knc1]

Originally Posted by San Zamoyski

It does not sound easy...

I thought that your having the special SMD Rework station required was one of the things you forgot to mention.

[San Zamoyski]

Only hot-air and someone who can use it .
But it is not worth a try, i think (i should buy other dead mobo/working memory), since prices of this kind of parts in Poland are quite... hmm.

But thanks for helping!

[montalex]

@San: I have replaced wifi motherboards a couple of times with 3G boards, and they work fine. Mine were used, and came with the antennae.

Interestingly, there are different SIM cards in my 3 Kindle Keyboard 3Gs. I can manually set them to work on Telus network here in Quebec, but only one Kindle finds a signal when I am in the country. I've never been able to get the others to work on the 3G network when I am at my country place. All work fine in Montreal. I always bring the one that works in the country when I travel, and it works fine in Europe and North America.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by montalex

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Interestingly, there are different SIM cards in my 3 Kindle Keyboard 3Gs.
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I bet they all have different model fields of their serial numbers also:
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Serial_Numbers

[Pipeliners]

Hi! I seem to have a problem with K4 and would like to know if there is something I can do to fix it. Especially, there is a high chance of hardware damage and I'd like to know how one can detect if that is the case.

Preamble: about a year ago, it fell into water and was not responding to power button. After several months I decided to give it another try, charged -- and it just worked.

About a month ago, it suddenly showed the same behavior: no response to power button. So tomorrow I tried to boot it again, and it showed that "Your Kindle Needs Repair" screen. There were some wet USB cables involved...

Kubrick booted without a problem on an old Dell laptop from an USB stick. I followed its instructions, and have successfully put Kindle into download mode. The problems started on second step: according to Kubrick, it just won't enter fastboot mode.

I have not charged it fully yet as suggested (that is my next step to try) and will write here if that solves the problem. I'd like however some advice on what to do if that does not help.

Thanks!

[knc1]

Last things first: It will not solve the problem.

tl;dr: Its an out of warranty failure.
Often you can talk Amazon into giving you a credit towards a new Kindle in exchange for it.

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The K4 is the model that is glued together.
Makes it difficult to service but does not make it waterproof, not even water resistant.

A bit of background on electronics and water -
(Presuming the water is conductive enough, and it usually is):

The first failure is due to the presence of moisture disrupting the electronics.
(You described that.)

As that initial moisture bath dries out, it leaves behind the compounds that will become and/or encourage corrosion.
Also, sometimes not all of the moisture can escape (which just speeds things up).
(You described that stage.)

At this point the corrosion components are established, but have not yet grown enough to fatally disrupt the electronics.

The device is put back into operation and it may well work.
(You described that.)

Now the residue of the bath and the electrolytic action of having power on the circuits makes the corrosion grow.
It will grow to the point where the device will eventually fail (again).
(You described that.)

Bottom Line:
Its junk and being glued together there isn't much hope of fixing it.
Trade it in or e-bay it as "spare parts".

[Pipeliners]

Thanks for such a verbose reply knc1!

While that's sad news that Kindle is probably really dead, I am glad to hear supportive voice here.

Spoiler:

I live far away from US so even if Amazon sends new device and only charges for shipment that would still probably be more expensive than to buy some cheap Chinese device in local store. Is glued corpus really making repair impossible?