Troubleshooting PW 2 [6th gen] - frozen screen, charging and resetting didn't help

[haeki]

Hi there,

I own a Kindle Paperwhite 2, which is the 6th generation of kindles. I didn't use it for a while and now I have the problem that it's not booting anymore. The lights are on but it only shows the attached screen. I already tried to charge it over night and tried to reboot it by holding the power button till it blinked and rebootet.

As well it's not beeing recognized as a storagedevice, when I connect it to my mac.

As it is out of warranty the customer support told me I should throw it in the trash and get a new one, where I would get a little discount (arround 20$...wow!)

If that would be a solid hardwarefailure ok, but for me it seems like a bug in the software and so I think I should try to repair it instead of buying a new one. It makes me angry as well as we throw so much stuff away which we could still use.


So is there a way to connect to the device via a linuxdistribution, delete the storage and then reinstall the firmware manually as I can't "push" any buttons on the screen?

In the developerscorner I read something about jailbraiking, don't know if that's the correct way and there was so much information I couldn't find the right stuff for a 6th. generation kindle and my mac. :-)

Any suggestions? Would be pretty happy If I could repair that little peace of hardware.

Regards,
Fabian

[IFixKindles]

With it unplugged, press and hold the power button a full 30 to 40 seconds. Release the power button. Then using a USB cable you know still works to charge another device, plug it into the USB port of a computer for 24 hours or until it reboots properly, whichever comes first. The computer must remain on, but can sleep.

Does the yellow charge light come on?

Unfortunately, being frozen on this screen often doesn't recover. Good luck.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by haeki

- - - -
Any suggestions? Would be pretty happy If I could repair that little peace of hardware.
- - - -

Read and follow the suggestions given in the post above, but in summary:
That does not look good for the future of that PW2.

= = = =

You don't mention what country Amazon you contacted.
Amazon.com (USA) is offering an additional trade-in bonus (in addition to the standard 20USD) plus free return shipping.

Getting past the first two questions of the trade-in offer (for the non-technical person) in this case:
Is the screen cracked? No
Does the battery hold a charge? Yes
(It does not work, but they never ask you about that.)

= = = =

What you would have to do, just to find out what is going on, on the insides, is connect to the serial port.

One of the problems you had in finding information in the Developer's sub-forum here, is that the titles of threads reflect what model the poster was using when they can up with the content.
I.E: Just because the title of a thread does not contain "PW2" and "MacOSx" does not mean the content does not apply to you.

The thread you want for connecting to the serial port is:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=267541

That is for ANY touch screen Kindle, only the firmware package name changes depending on the model.

Those directions are written for a Windows user (just because that is what the author had).
And so are the on-screen pictures.

Linux and MacOSx people have to translate.
The only thing that needs translation is the name of the terminal emulator program.
And most likely, your Linux or MacOSx distribution already has what you need (MiniCom) pre-installed.

[haeki]

Hey, I tried these things a few months ago. Maybe it weren't full 24hours but I guess it were around 20, but I can try it again. Does it have to be charged via computer or is a regular usb-charger ok as well?

If that doesn't work, isn't there any chance to flush the storage and do a complete reinstall via linux? I would guess there is a standard usb-controller inside which should be able to connect to somehow? Am I wrong?

-----

@knc1 just read your answer now...
The screen isn't cracked and the battery seems to work as well, as I can reboot the device without having it connected via usb. The only problem is, that after the empty rebootscreen, the kindle freezes at the screen I attached above.

I am gonna give the thread you mentioned a try.

[knc1]

A wall charger is the desired device.

When computers 'go to sleep' they often also turn off the power to their USB ports.
So the device just might not have gotten re-charged.

There are some internal failures that the device can 'fix' (recover from) itself during start up.
But they can take days (although you should see the screen change from time to time).
So go for the full 24 hours on a wall charger.
(If it is self-repairing, it will need the constant power.)

[IFixKindles]

Originally Posted by knc1

A wall charger is the desired device.

When computers 'go to sleep' they often also turn off the power to their USB ports.
So the device just might not have gotten re-charged.

However, sometimes connection to a low power charger such as a computer USB port is what is needed to get the Kindle to begin to charge.

I've worked on over a thousand Kindles. Many will recharge off of a wall charger, but there are some that have only started charging when connected to a computer USB port. If I have one that won't light up the charge indicator light while on a wall charger, then I will try another reboot and put it on a computer for a while. If the charge light then comes on, I'll leave it on the computer for a while before moving it to a faster wall charger. If neither works then I open it and test the battery. Any battery found with 0.0 Volts on the outer 2 pins has completely failed and needs replacement.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by IFixKindles

However, sometimes connection to a low power charger such as a computer USB port is what is needed to get the Kindle to begin to charge.
- - - -

As I read the O.P.'s post, they have already tried that way.

[haeki]

The battery seems to be fine. While charing its orange and now its green, but I am going to leave in plugged in, as you said, that it might start to repair itself, when it's turned on.

For the other method I recognized that I need an extra controller and it seems like it's pretty long and complicated method. As the kindle is recognized by mac and by windows but not mounted as storage I am going to take a look what kubrick is going to say. Or is that senseless?

Regards

[knc1]

Originally Posted by haeki

The battery seems to be fine. While charing its orange and now its green, but I am going to leave in plugged in, as you said, that it might start to repair itself, when it's turned on.

For the other method I recognized that I need an extra controller and it seems like it's pretty long and complicated method. As the kindle is recognized by mac and by windows but not mounted as storage I am going to take a look what kubrick is going to say. Or is that senseless?

Regards

Senseless.
Read the KUBRICK title, look at model of Kindle you have.

[haeki]

Damn, so Kubrick is not working for any Paperwhite?

So without buying an extra usb-controller there is no chance to to a fresh reinstall or so? That's sad

[knc1]

Originally Posted by haeki

Damn, so Kubrick is not working for any Paperwhite?

So without buying an extra usb-controller there is no chance to to a fresh reinstall or so? That's sad

It may be dropping into "USB downloader mode" -
If it is then:
The good - you could probably re-install the firmware.
The bad - if it is entering "USB downloader mode", it is due to hardware failure that re-installing firmware will not fix.

Time to take advantage of that extra credit, trade-in promotion going on now (the usual $20 plus upto another $35 + free return shipping).

[haeki]

Well, I am living in Germany, so I guess that these offers are only available in the us.

My mom gave me her kindle so I don't really need a now one, but I thought I could fix mine somehow without investing into some new hardware.

[baalajimaestro]

Try if serial ports can help you!