Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Readers > Amazon Kindle > Kindle Developer's Corner

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 11-13-2012, 04:27 PM   #1
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Dazed and confused.

I recently replaced the motherboard on my Kindle 2 only to find that it wouldn't register. (I either get a "can't connect at this time" message or no message and it stays unregistered. The Kindle techs weren't very helpful, although they did register the serial number for me. It didn't "take" however. After talking to the people who sold me the new motherboard I was told that my old motherboard was the "international" version, and that the old 3G module I had wasn't compatible, so they sent me a new one. However, I got the same results with the new one. The 3G will work to connect to the Amazon storefront, but I can't register it.

One thing I don't understand about all of this is that apparently the international version serial numbers begin with B0003. Well, both of my boards have serial number that begin with B0003. Or, at least, the old one did and the serial number reported in Settings with the new board starts as B0003.

I was told on one of the other forums that I can actually write a new serial number to the firmware provided I know the old serial number and mac address. I still have the old board, but it's not connected and though I could connect it, it would be a bit of a pain. I have the old serial number, but not the mac address. Is it, perhaps, located somewhere else, like on the board itself or on the case somewhere?

Were are the instructions on how to change the serial number and/or mac address for this new board? Which of these 3G modules should I use? Is this board actually the US version and I only gen the B0003 serial number because it's referencing my old id chip?

I've done some programming including in machine language, although it has been some time ago, but I do have a bit of technical knowhow.

--Scott
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 04:30 PM   #2
qlob
Official Lurker
qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
qlob's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,050
Karma: 7096675
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: Kindle 3.4
Didn't the old K2's have the serial # on the back of the metal plate? Now I have to go look at mine...

EDIT: Oh wait, you're looking for the MAC address.... Nevermind... :doh:
qlob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 04:58 PM   #3
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Actually, I'm trying to recall where I saw the mac address because it's not in settings anywhere. Is it on the SIM card? If the mac address is associated with the SIM card then all I'd need to do is change the serial number of the board to the old one, right?

I know I saw that mac address *somewhere*.
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 05:10 PM   #4
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
I should say that my old board works well enough to connect to the internet via 3G and browse the story, and I could probably re-register it. I might have seen the mac address on the K2's registration page.
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 05:12 PM   #5
NiLuJe
BLAM!
NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.NiLuJe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
NiLuJe's Avatar
 
Posts: 13,477
Karma: 26012464
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Paris, France
Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E
It's indeed in the Settings' device info popup, it's also in a bunch of logs (and in the output of one of the *11 commands), and available through the idme tool.
NiLuJe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 06:07 PM   #6
knc1
Going Viral
knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
knc1's Avatar
 
Posts: 17,212
Karma: 18210809
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Central Texas
Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA
Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheeling View Post
I should say that my old board works well enough to connect to the internet via 3G and browse the story, and I could probably re-register it. I might have seen the mac address on the K2's registration page.
Look in your router's logs for the MAC address.
knc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 06:21 PM   #7
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NiLuJe View Post
It's indeed in the Settings' device info popup, it's also in a bunch of logs (and in the output of one of the *11 commands), and available through the idme tool.
That occurred to me, but since it's not registered I don't think it shows up. At least I couldn't find it in the ALT-411 or ALT-611 output. It's also not going to show up in my router's information since it's a 3G connection. I think that once I register it'll be there. Bit of a catch 22 though.

Anyway, where are the instructions for changing it? In the mean time I can reinstall the old board and see if I can register it. I'm pretty sure the mac address shows up as part of the registration.
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 06:24 PM   #8
qlob
Official Lurker
qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
qlob's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,050
Karma: 7096675
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: Kindle 3.4
Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheeling View Post
That occurred to me, but since it's not registered I don't think it shows up. At least I couldn't find it in the ALT-411 or ALT-611 output. It's also not going to show up in my router's information since it's a 3G connection. I think that once I register it'll be there. Bit of a catch 22 though.

Anyway, where are the instructions for changing it? In the mean time I can reinstall the old board and see if I can register it. I'm pretty sure the mac address shows up as part of the registration.
If you have command line access on the kindle, doing the below will show mac, serial, and others..
Code:
idme ?
EDIT: You can also set those variables as well, IIRC
qlob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 06:46 PM   #9
knc1
Going Viral
knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
knc1's Avatar
 
Posts: 17,212
Karma: 18210809
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Central Texas
Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA
Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheeling View Post
That occurred to me, but since it's not registered I don't think it shows up. At least I couldn't find it in the ALT-411 or ALT-611 output. It's also not going to show up in my router's information since it's a 3G connection. I think that once I register it'll be there. Bit of a catch 22 though.

Anyway, where are the instructions for changing it? In the mean time I can reinstall the old board and see if I can register it. I'm pretty sure the mac address shows up as part of the registration.
You where asking about the MAC address, that is associated with the Wifi.

The 3G modem/radio has its own, internal MAC address.
Which you can not access.
What you want to do when you change out the motherboard but keep the 3G card, also keep the SIM card.
(The modem/radio on the card is "paired" with the SIM card.)
knc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 06:52 PM   #10
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by knc1 View Post
You where asking about the MAC address, that is associated with the Wifi.

The 3G modem/radio has its own, internal MAC address.
Which you can not access.
What you want to do when you change out the motherboard but keep the 3G card, also keep the SIM card.
(The modem/radio on the card is "paired" with the SIM card.)
I don't understand. I used the original modem and SIM card and it didn't work. What do you mean "modem radio on the card"? Which card? The SIM card?

There has to be something that ids the motherboard, though, because I've tried using the original SIM and modem.
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 07:07 PM   #11
knc1
Going Viral
knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
knc1's Avatar
 
Posts: 17,212
Karma: 18210809
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Central Texas
Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA
Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheeling View Post
I don't understand. I used the original modem and SIM card and it didn't work. What do you mean "modem radio on the card"? Which card? The SIM card?

There has to be something that ids the motherboard, though, because I've tried using the original SIM and modem.
That was "modem/radio" because both are on the same card - in fact, within the same SoC on the card.
It is the only mini-PCIe shaped card in the device.
The Subscriber Information Card (SIM) also holds identifying information **of the M2M (Machine-to-Machine)** 3G account.

There is also indemnifying information in the Kindle's flash memory (that identifies the Kindle and the Wifi M2M account).
One of those things is the MAC address used by the Wifi connection.
When you see "Kindle MAC address" phrase in this forum, it refers to the one associated with the Kindle and its Wifi (the one stored in the Kindle's flash).

The system image of the 3G modem/radio is a locked, signed image. There is no changing what is in that, only what is on the SIM card.
knc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 07:24 PM   #12
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by knc1 View Post
That was "modem/radio" because both are on the same card - in fact, within the same SoC on the card.
It is the only mini-PCIe shaped card in the device.
The Subscriber Information Card (SIM) also holds identifying information **of the M2M (Machine-to-Machine)** 3G account.

There is also indemnifying information in the Kindle's flash memory (that identifies the Kindle and the Wifi M2M account).
One of those things is the MAC address used by the Wifi connection.
When you see "Kindle MAC address" phrase in this forum, it refers to the one associated with the Kindle and its Wifi (the one stored in the Kindle's flash).

The system image of the 3G modem/radio is a locked, signed image. There is no changing what is in that, only what is on the SIM card.
OK, so you're calling the modem/radio module a card. I guess it is, now I think of it. But I'm getting lost with regard to the term "WiFi" because the Kindle 2 wasn't sold with WiFi. The Kindle 3 came with 3G and WiFi, but I just have 3G. The 3G card and the Sim card are paired, so how does the motherboard come into that?

Again, what do I need to change to get this to work?

What do I have to change to get this to work?
  Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 07:29 PM   #13
knc1
Going Viral
knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.knc1 ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
knc1's Avatar
 
Posts: 17,212
Karma: 18210809
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Central Texas
Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA
Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheeling View Post
OK, so you're calling the modem/radio module a card. I guess it is, now I think of it. But I'm getting lost with regard to the term "WiFi" because the Kindle 2 wasn't sold with WiFi. The Kindle 3 came with 3G and WiFi, but I just have 3G. The 3G card and the Sim card are paired, so how does the motherboard come into that?

Again, what do I need to change to get this to work?

What do I have to change to get this to work?
If you don't have a Wifi, you don't have what this forum is talking about as a MAC address.
In fact, I don't know if 3G on the K2 was on the motherboard or was a plug-in card.
What you might do is check if either of the machines (new or old) was uploading a firmware image to the 3G module (in whatever form it is implemented in on a K2).

If the Kindle 2 is anything like the Kindle DX (or DXG - case color does not matter), then the machine specific information is in the mtdblock device not the mmcblk device.

I don't have the information about the K2.

Last edited by knc1; 11-13-2012 at 07:32 PM.
knc1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 07:42 PM   #14
qlob
Official Lurker
qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.qlob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
qlob's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,050
Karma: 7096675
Join Date: Apr 2012
Device: Kindle 3.4
3G was a plugin card IIRC.
qlob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-2012, 07:46 PM   #15
freewheeling
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by knc1 View Post
If you don't have a Wifi, you don't have what this forum is talking about as a MAC address.
In fact, I don't know if 3G on the K2 was on the motherboard or was a plug-in card.
What you might do is check if either of the machines (new or old) was uploading a firmware image to the 3G module (in whatever form it is implemented in on a K2).

If the Kindle 2 is anything like the Kindle DX (or DXG - case color does not matter), then the machine specific information is in the mtdblock device not the mmcblk device.

I don't have the information about the K2.
I think I identified that I was interested in the K2 in the first sentence I posted. Once the Kindle is registered on Amazon a mac address appears next to the Kindle name on the Amazon account. I assume that since my old 3G module didn't work on the new board, that the mac address is for the board itself or one of the soldered chips. There is a little 3G module with an antenna connection that plugs into the board that's interchangeable. I have two of them at the moment, as well as 2 boards. They look identical to me.

Searching the forum I found the following reference to a method of changing the mac address and serial number, but it's not clear if it will work on the Kindle 2 since it appears to be for the Kindle 3. If this method also works with the Kindle 2 then all I need to get is the mac address associated with the original board.

Kindle 3 Diagnostics


Update 1: Works on the Kindle 2 as well. You can set the serial number and the ID for the eInk screen and something called the "PCBA ID" but there isn't a mac address that can be set. Furthermore the PCBA ID is blank. Not sure what that means. What I can try is to replace the original 3G module and set the Serial Number to the old one. Any reason that wouldn't work?

Update 2: BTW, it only works if you save the text file without an extension: "ENABLE_DIAGS" no ".txt"

Last edited by freewheeling; 11-13-2012 at 08:24 PM.
  Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
PLEASE help me...I'm so confused!!! Synful Library Management 18 02-13-2011 01:11 AM
Unutterably Silly Do you ever get confused ... poshm Lounge 10 01-18-2010 09:57 AM
Dazed and Confused (by all the options, Help!) Delia575 Which one should I buy? 21 12-01-2009 08:06 PM
Hello from confused matopping Introduce Yourself 3 05-12-2009 12:37 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:34 PM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.