Troubleshooting Kindle Touch slows down gradually until I restart it

vedg · 01-15-2019, 08:23 AM

My Kindle Touch slows down gradually over time, so I have to reboot it each week or two. The worst effects of the slowdown are lagging page turns and slow translation (navigation to a dictionary and back). I'm using a dictionary often, so this might be a reason for this behavior. I've found a description of the same symptoms here.

My Kindle firmware version: 5.1.2.
Jailbreak version: 5.0.3 (installed it years ago).
I installed a Russian keyboard years ago (keyboard_alff31_v0.1.0). Suspected that it caused the slowdown and uninstalled it. But the slowdown remains.

Is this a known issue and is there a community fix? If not, is upgrading firmware to the latest official Amazon version likely to help? If I do upgrade the firmware, can I downgrade it later?

badgoodDeb · 01-16-2019, 01:24 PM

I wonder if this could be caused by a book that is wedged in the "indexing" algorithm.

If you go to HOME, and search for a nonsense word (xxyyzzy, say) It'll either say "not found" or something different, to imply that some book isn't indexed yet. (I forget exactly what it says.) You could then delete that troublesome book, see if you problem goes away, and re-add the book later for a second try.

vedg · 01-16-2019, 03:58 PM

@badgoodDeb, I just tried this and the results seem normal: "Search Results (0)", "No Results Returned". But I guess it's worth trying to remove most of the books, which I've read already. Perhaps the problem is with the large number of items (182).

badgoodDeb · 01-16-2019, 04:31 PM

Errr, that's not very large! I've got an Oasis 1, but I've got more than 300 currently, and know of others whose count is in the thousands. That SHOULDn't be the problem, but who can tell.

BookCat · 01-23-2019, 03:23 PM

Does it start slowing down after you've loaded new books onto the reader? And does the battery seem to run down quickly at around the same time?

It could be that indexing the new books is slowing your reader; doing a restart often "kicks the indexing up the bum" and speeds the process.

If this is the case, it's just the way ereaders work. Best thing you can do to speed the indexing is leave it charging for a while.

vedg · 01-23-2019, 04:12 PM

No, loading new books doesn't seem to be an issue. I rarely add books and only a few at a time.
In a few days after I removed more than a hundred books without adding new ones, the reader slowed down and froze eventually. The reboot helped as always. I forgot to mention that it doesn't just slow down, but also freezes from time to time, usually when it is quite slow already.
I'll wait and see if it slows down after the last reboot while I don't add or remove any books.

vedg · 02-07-2019, 04:59 AM

Removing most books and not adding any new books didn't help. There are only 22 books on my device now, but it got annoyingly slow yesterday and forced me to reboot.

soulfuldog · 02-07-2019, 12:01 PM

When you say you are rebooting it, how are you doing that? Perhaps if you are doing it through the menu it's only a soft restart, but if you hold the power button for 40 seconds it'll do a proper reboot. Maybe that will help?

See DuckieTigger's post here (related to the Oasis but same should be true of other models).

NiLuJe · 02-07-2019, 12:58 PM

That's basically the difference between pressing the "Reset" button (assuming it's forwarded to a soft-reboot by your OS) on your computer, and unplugging the power main like a savage (if you forget the millions things Windows & your BIOS might be doing to speed up a warm reboot, because that doesn't apply here).

On a Kindle, a soft reboot should be enough in 99.99% of the cases.

You only want to hard-reboot when you *cannot* do otherwise (i.e., the device deadlocked, which should be pretty 'effing rare).

vedg · 02-07-2019, 01:17 PM

I used to hold down the power button for 20 seconds as I read something to that effect a long time ago. I just held it for 50 seconds, but it rebooted like it always did: the same view on the screen and for about the same time. I suppose pressing the button for 40 seconds is different only for new devices or newer Kindle Touch firmware.

I suppose I have 2 options now: update the firmware or reset the device to factory defaults. Not sure what's safer or more likely to help... Perhaps resetting is less risky as I haven't bought any books from Amazon and converted all my e-books with Calibre.

NiLuJe · 02-07-2019, 03:51 PM

Nope, the really-long-press (i.e., ~10 to 15s, there's no other threshold, it's just that the screen just might take a few dozen seconds to react, which is why you get people mentioning delays of 30s and upwards. The power LED (usually) is a better indicator of what's happening) has pretty much always meant "cut the power from the battery", and still does.

soulfuldog · 02-08-2019, 05:39 AM

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/cus...deId=201734090

According to this its pretty much 40 seconds to do a restart on all and so there's not a short or long hold difference.

Quote:

To restart your Kindle Paperwhite (5th Generation), and any Kindle e-reader model 6th generation or newer:

Press and hold the Power button for seven seconds until the Power dialog box appears.

Tap Restart.

Note: If the Power dialog box doesn't appear, press and hold the power button for a full 40 seconds to restart your Kindle.

To restart Kindle Touch (4th Generation), and Kindle (5th Generation):

Press and hold the Power button for a full 40 seconds. After the first 6 to 8 seconds, the screen will go blank, which is normal. Continue holding the Power button.

After 40 seconds, release the Power button.
The charge indicator light will turn on after a few seconds.

NiLuJe · 02-08-2019, 10:46 AM

AFAICT, what this does is simply ensure a restart after the power down, without having to guess when exactly the device finally shut off.

Which very much makes sense for information aimed at Joe Random

.

vedg · 03-14-2019, 07:13 AM

Since there are no better suggestions, I decided to upgrade firmware to the latest official Amazon version.

Moved my original post with backup questions to the dev. forum as Harry suggested: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=316022

HarryT · 03-17-2019, 07:20 AM

You need to ask that question in the dev forum, not here.

01-15-2019, 08:23 AM	#1
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	Kindle Touch slows down gradually until I restart it My Kindle Touch slows down gradually over time, so I have to reboot it each week or two. The worst effects of the slowdown are lagging page turns and slow translation (navigation to a dictionary and back). I'm using a dictionary often, so this might be a reason for this behavior. I've found a description of the same symptoms here. My Kindle firmware version: 5.1.2. Jailbreak version: 5.0.3 (installed it years ago). I installed a Russian keyboard years ago (keyboard_alff31_v0.1.0). Suspected that it caused the slowdown and uninstalled it. But the slowdown remains. Is this a known issue and is there a community fix? If not, is upgrading firmware to the latest official Amazon version likely to help? If I do upgrade the firmware, can I downgrade it later? Last edited by vedg; 01-15-2019 at 08:25 AM. Reason: Improve the title wording

02-07-2019, 12:58 PM	#9
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	That's basically the difference between pressing the "Reset" button (assuming it's forwarded to a soft-reboot by your OS) on your computer, and unplugging the power main like a savage (if you forget the millions things Windows & your BIOS might be doing to speed up a warm reboot, because that doesn't apply here). On a Kindle, a soft reboot should be enough in 99.99% of the cases. You only want to hard-reboot when you cannot do otherwise (i.e., the device deadlocked, which should be pretty 'effing rare). Last edited by NiLuJe; 02-07-2019 at 01:00 PM.

02-07-2019, 03:51 PM	#11
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Nope, the really-long-press (i.e., ~10 to 15s, there's no other threshold, it's just that the screen just might take a few dozen seconds to react, which is why you get people mentioning delays of 30s and upwards. The power LED (usually) is a better indicator of what's happening) has pretty much always meant "cut the power from the battery", and still does. Last edited by NiLuJe; 02-07-2019 at 03:54 PM.

03-14-2019, 07:13 AM	#14
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	Backing Kindle Touch up before upgrading firmware Since there are no better suggestions, I decided to upgrade firmware to the latest official Amazon version. Moved my original post with backup questions to the dev. forum as Harry suggested: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=316022 Last edited by vedg; 03-17-2019 at 01:38 PM. Reason: Moved the post to the dev. forum

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01-16-2019, 01:24 PM	#2
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,501 Karma: 64095689 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	I wonder if this could be caused by a book that is wedged in the "indexing" algorithm. If you go to HOME, and search for a nonsense word (xxyyzzy, say) It'll either say "not found" or something different, to imply that some book isn't indexed yet. (I forget exactly what it says.) You could then delete that troublesome book, see if you problem goes away, and re-add the book later for a second try.

01-16-2019, 03:58 PM	#3
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	@badgoodDeb, I just tried this and the results seem normal: "Search Results (0)", "No Results Returned". But I guess it's worth trying to remove most of the books, which I've read already. Perhaps the problem is with the large number of items (182).

01-16-2019, 04:31 PM	#4
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,501 Karma: 64095689 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Errr, that's not very large! I've got an Oasis 1, but I've got more than 300 currently, and know of others whose count is in the thousands. That SHOULDn't be the problem, but who can tell.

01-23-2019, 03:23 PM	#5
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Does it start slowing down after you've loaded new books onto the reader? And does the battery seem to run down quickly at around the same time? It could be that indexing the new books is slowing your reader; doing a restart often "kicks the indexing up the bum" and speeds the process. If this is the case, it's just the way ereaders work. Best thing you can do to speed the indexing is leave it charging for a while.

01-23-2019, 04:12 PM	#6
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	No, loading new books doesn't seem to be an issue. I rarely add books and only a few at a time. In a few days after I removed more than a hundred books without adding new ones, the reader slowed down and froze eventually. The reboot helped as always. I forgot to mention that it doesn't just slow down, but also freezes from time to time, usually when it is quite slow already. I'll wait and see if it slows down after the last reboot while I don't add or remove any books.

02-07-2019, 04:59 AM	#7
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	Removing most books and not adding any new books didn't help. There are only 22 books on my device now, but it got annoyingly slow yesterday and forced me to reboot.

02-07-2019, 12:01 PM	#8
soulfuldog I ♥ Calibre Posts: 2,073 Karma: 5678911 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Voyage, Sony PRS-350, Hudl2	When you say you are rebooting it, how are you doing that? Perhaps if you are doing it through the menu it's only a soft restart, but if you hold the power button for 40 seconds it'll do a proper reboot. Maybe that will help? See DuckieTigger's post here (related to the Oasis but same should be true of other models).

02-07-2019, 01:17 PM	#10
vedg Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2019 Device: Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi, ad-supported	I used to hold down the power button for 20 seconds as I read something to that effect a long time ago. I just held it for 50 seconds, but it rebooted like it always did: the same view on the screen and for about the same time. I suppose pressing the button for 40 seconds is different only for new devices or newer Kindle Touch firmware. I suppose I have 2 options now: update the firmware or reset the device to factory defaults. Not sure what's safer or more likely to help... Perhaps resetting is less risky as I haven't bought any books from Amazon and converted all my e-books with Calibre.

02-08-2019, 10:46 AM	#13
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	AFAICT, what this does is simply ensure a restart after the power down, without having to guess when exactly the device finally shut off. Which very much makes sense for information aimed at Joe Random .

03-17-2019, 07:20 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You need to ask that question in the dev forum, not here.