Troubleshooting Paperwhite frozen while reading

[melovesflying]

Hi. I was reading a sideloaded book when it suddenly froze. I tried doing the 6 to 8 sec reset but all that happens is that the light blinks for a bit then nothing. 40 sec reset also doesn't do anything.

Just a background, it drained last night and I was able to fully charge it today. I even got to finish a book before starting on this new sideloaded book when it froze. I'm thinking it's possible that this book I'm reading when it froze was a buggy one.

Amazon isn't helpful and they're just trying to sell me another one. Can I still fix this? It's currently plugged in to my Macbook since I've read somewhere to leave it plugged in this way for more than an hour. I already tried plugging it in to a power outlet for a few minutes but the 40 sec restart didn't happen.

[HarryT]

Leave it plugged into a wall socket (not your Mac) for 24h, and then try the 40s restart.

[melovesflying]

Okay I'll do that. Thanks.

Edited: Should I do the 40 sec restart while it is still plugged in or unplugged? Was it a bad idea that I accidentally drained it?

[patrickt]

I have done 40 sec. resets plugged in and on battery and it didn't seem to matter. A few days ago my Paperwhite quit responding but if I waited long enough, 20 seconds, the page would turn and that sort of thing. It took a while but I did a reset using settings and it sorted the problem. Runs fine now.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

Hi. I was reading a sideloaded book when it suddenly froze.

I tried doing the 6 to 8 sec reset but all that happens is that the light blinks for a bit then nothing.

The 40 sec reset also doesn't do anything.
- - - - -
It's currently plugged in to my Macbook since I've read somewhere to leave it plugged in this way for more than an hour.

I already tried plugging it in to a power outlet for a few minutes but the 40 sec restart didn't happen.

You don't mention which 'Paperwhite' but on any Kindle model as new as the original Paperwhite or newer should be able to handle a 'bad' book.
**Should**
So I will have to score this as a: "Maybe"

Short press of the power button:
That only wakes up or puts to sleep the Kindle system.
The light blinking in acknowledgment is normal.

Long press of the power button:
That should stop and restart (reboot) the system.
It should also pop-up a confirmation panel (unless you are describing the original Paperwhite running a very old firmware version).

Many computers and their operating systems are designed to turn off the power to their USB ports when they go to sleep.
That is almost a solid rule for portable computers.
So don't expect plugging the Kindle's charging cable into a portable computer, then leaving it sit like that, to do anything other than hold the ends of the USB cable off of the table.

For a relatively low cost consumer device, the Kindles have a fairly sophisticated battery management device.
But it can't work miracles, a 'few minutes' on a wall charger will not do anything noticeable.
Why? Because the Kindles do have a maximum charging rate.
You could plug them into Hoover Dam and they wouldn't charge faster than their maximum rate.

Originally Posted by melovesflying

- - - - -
Should I do the 40 sec restart while it is still plugged in or unplugged?

Was it a bad idea that I accidentally drained it?

In this condition, I would say leave it plugged in. Normally the advice would be to unplug it.
Why? Because during the restart (reboot) the Kindle will do some internal checks and some of the things it might find will require a lot of run time and use a lot of battery charge to fix.

= = = =

With all of that said -
Follow HarryT's advice above -
Leave it on a wall charger for at least 24 hours.

The long time is because that battery management system is partially controlled by the firmware, and the firmware is not currently running properly.

After a short time, it should have enough charge to show you the 'recharge me' screen.
Then after an hour or two, it should show you the boy under the tree (but perhaps not the progress bar).

It might appear to be 'frozen' at this point, it isn't, it will look like that the entire time it is trying to recover from whatever it finds wrong internally (file system errors).
And it could stay like that for a day or two while on the wall charger if the file storage system has accumulated a lot of errors.
Although that is rare, it can happen and still be: "normal".

It is never a good idea to run the battery down to nothing.
But just once or twice should not hurt it.
Letting it do that all of the time before recharging it is a: Bad Idea (tm).

[melovesflying]

Sorry. It's the PW3. I thought the list on my profile would be sufficient for that that's why I didn't write it down. My bad. :P

Did I get this right:
- plug in for 24 hours (it's been plugged in now for 3 hours and counting, charging light is still amber, and the screen is still stuck on the page I was reading)
- try restarting by holding it for 40 secs without unplugging and holding it for exactly 40 seconds and not until the screen flashes like it usually does during a hard reset
- leave it alone while still plugged in and wait if the screen changes

I didn't notice when exactly it ran out of battery because I fell asleep while reading and it wasn't until hours after I woke up that I got to charge it to full, plugged in directly to an outlet.

Another Amazon rep I talked to also told me to keep it plugged in for more than an hour then do the 40 sec restart. He said that the PW will work again since the amber light turned on and that means the device isn't dead.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

Did I get this right:
- plug in for 24 hours (it's been plugged in now for 3 hours and counting, charging light is still amber, and the screen is still stuck on the page I was reading)

Yes. Connected to a wall charger, not your Mac.

[melovesflying]

Yup, it's connected to a wall charger.

Should I remove the cover as well? I noticed there were a few times that the light stays on and the PW doesn't go to sleep even if I already closed the cover.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

Yup, it's connected to a wall charger.

Should I remove the cover as well? I noticed there were a few times that the light stays on and the PW doesn't go to sleep even if I already closed the cover.

Shouldn't matter, but might be as well to take the sleep cover off just to be on the safe side.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

Sorry. It's the PW3. I thought the list on my profile would be sufficient for that that's why I didn't write it down.
- - - -

It **should** but in general, not specifically yourself, it has turned out to be unreliable.

"Every dog should have a few fleas, just to remind it that it is a dog."

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by knc1

It **should** but in general, not specifically yourself, it has turned out to be unreliable.

You reminded me that my profile list was out of date. Now fixed! .

[melovesflying]

Originally Posted by knc1

It **should** but in general, not specifically yourself, it has turned out to be unreliable.

"Every dog should have a few fleas, just to remind it that it is a dog."

I'll remember that next time.

Anyway, almost 6 hours in and the charging light is still amber. Should I be alarmed?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

I'll remember that next time.

Anyway, almost 6 hours in and the charging light is still amber. Should I be alarmed?

No. You should not look at it for at least the next 18 hours.
Remember a watched pot never boils.

[melovesflying]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

No. You should not look at it for at least the next 18 hours.
Remember a watched pot never boils.

Great analogy I guess you can attribute my paranoia to the fact that I already have a Glo HD that had suddenly become an expensive paperweight because of software issues.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

Great analogy I guess you can attribute my paranoia to the fact that I already have a Glo HD that had suddenly become an expensive paperweight because of software issues.

How long had you had the Glo HD before it turned into a paperweight?
I get your paranoia.