Restore Broken USB Port in Kindle Paperwhite 4?

[pavel-s]

Hi,

I was tinkering with my jailbroken Kindle Paperwhite 4 quite a long time ago over ssh. The device was connected via a USB cable with a magnetic head. Occasionally, it fell on the floor and stopped detecting by the PC. Luckily, it hadn't lost the charging ability, and the USBNetwork hack was configured with WiFi, and id_rsa.pub was written to the device. Immediately, I wrote a couple of big files to the kindle storage (/mnt/us, left around 60MB of free space) using dd util to prevent OTA updates. But the burden was too hard to use the device itself, and I left it on a shelf for a very long time.

A couple of days ago, I dug the dust from the kindle and read a book on it. Today, I decided to open KOReader and attempt to update it. There was no free space on the device. So, I cleaned around 260MB from the storage and run the OTA update. The KOReaded update was unsuccessful because, again, of not available free space. But the kindle's silent update was successfully installed in the background because I saw the "restart your device" message. I prematurely did what the message asked, the device restarted, and I lose the jailbreak. Ironically, I was also left with 260MB of free space that I can't free without USB and USBNetwork.

Is it possible to restore jailbreak without USB access? Or fix/replace the USB itself? Or at least clean the available space (most likely device reset can do the job)? Or any combinations of the above?

[NiLuJe]

@pavel-s: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...63#post3961863

[pavel-s]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@pavel-s: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...63#post3961863

Thanks, but the USB port on the device isn't working, and the unpacking to the USB storage isn't possible. Well, at least without soldering. I though about soldering another micro-usb temporary but it seems like my cheap SMD station isn't capable of melting the solder on the circuitry of the device during low temperature (480 ℃ max).

[NiLuJe]

Oops, I mistakenly thought you still had ssh access, my bad ;p.

[JSWolf]

How did the USB cable with magnetic head break the USB port on your Kindle?

[pavel-s]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How did the USB cable with magnetic head break the USB port on your Kindle?

The kindle just fell on the floor - the cable detached from its head, the head left sitting in the port, and hit the floor (the main point of the hit went directly to the head which protrudes a bit). Visually there is no damage, but the kindle stopped detecting by any devices. Changing cables does not solve the issue.

Images:

Spoiler:

[Winkelschraube]

I have such an magnetic usb plug on my smartphone. That is great.

Originally Posted by pavel-s

Thanks, but the USB port on the device isn't working, and the unpacking to the USB storage isn't possible. Well, at least without soldering. I though about soldering another micro-usb temporary but it seems like my cheap SMD station isn't capable of melting the solder on the circuitry of the device during low temperature (480 ℃ max).

That is strange. I opened my Kindle (PW2) two weeks ago and took a look at the device. There was nothing riveted or anything. Did you check the connections with a multimeter? A micro usb cable cut off, that multimeter on the cable and behind the USB port on the PCB?

[pavel-s]

Originally Posted by Winkelschraube

I have such an magnetic usb plug on my smartphone. That is great.



That is strange. I opened my Kindle (PW2) two weeks ago and took a look at the device. There was nothing riveted or anything. Did you check the connections with a multimeter? A micro usb cable cut off, that multimeter on the cable and behind the USB port on the PCB?

Yeah, and it works perfectly with micro-USB as well as with USB-C.

No, I haven't checked it with a multimeter because I don't have a spare micro-USB cable to cut (yet). But sure it should be the next first step. Thanks.

I'm also wondering which temperature needed for a soldering iron on PW4.

[AbdulHamdy]

Not much.. Scraping the coating is the issue here.. Once your remove the waterproofing coating... Everything is easy