KV Kindle Voyage problem--please help

[Theologian]

Hi,
I have a Kindle Voyage, serial 9013, wifi only, with firmware 5.9.4
Never jailbroken. It's restart and resetting itself to an earlier state randomly. Here's what I've tried:
(1) Factory reset from the menu. It just reverts itself to an earlier state, but not factory.
(2) Manual reset by holding the power button for 30s. Also reverts itself to an earlier (the same) state.
(3) Manual update thru usb: it reverts itself to the same earlier state.
(4) Manual downgrade thru usb: doesn't work. update in menu always greyed out, no matter what I try.

So, basically, it doesn't do update, manual update, reset, or anything else I've tried. The only thing it does is to revert back to an earlier state which is registered to me and with a few books downloaded. From that state, if I download new books to read, it will randomly restart and do weird stuff, but I haven't find anything that works. Please help.

Thank you.

[dhdurgee]

How long have you owned this unit? Sounds a lot like a hardware failure, probably the memory module.

If it is a recent Amazon purchase contact them and ask to exchange it.

Beyond that how are your manual skills? If you have the right equipment you can open the unit and access its serial port to get the diagnostics output when the unit boots. That should assist in diagnosing the problem. Of course you risk damage to the unit if you use the wrong equipment or are not sufficiently careful to work on a delicate system.

If it is indeed the memory chip and you have no chance to exchange it you likely have only spare parts on your hands. It requires a high end workstation to replace the memory chip and proper procedures must be followed to preserve your system identification information to restore it after the new chip is installed.

Dave

[Deskisamess]

Is it in a Smart Cover? It's not running the most updated firmware, is it connected to WiFi?

I have some odd memory about Kindles needing to be connected to WiFi to reset to factory correctly, but have no idea if that's correct.

The most updated firmware is 5.13.1

[Theologian]

Thank you, Dave, for helping. I purchased KV from Amazon in March, 2017. It's my 2nd kindle, so I've not used it often. But I've had these problems for about a year or so, and just thought it might need an software update which I didn't get around to. When I finally did (having more time because of the Pandemic), I realize that I can't get it done.

Is there any other things to try before I disassemble the hardware?

Peter

[Theologian]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Is it in a Smart Cover? It's not running the most updated firmware, is it connected to WiFi?

I have some odd memory about Kindles needing to be connected to WiFi to reset to factory correctly, but have no idea if that's correct.

The most updated firmware is 5.13.1

It's not in any cover at the moment. I just try to manually update to 5.13.1 thru USB with the wifi connected. It reverts to the same earlier state (about 2018). Any other ideas?
Thank you by the way.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Theologian

It's not in any cover at the moment. I just try to manually update to 5.13.1 thru USB with the wifi connected. It reverts to the same earlier state (about 2018). Any other ideas?
Thank you by the way.

Do you mean you downloaded the correct BIN file, placed it on the main directory of the Voyage, disconnected from the computer, and ran the Update Kindle on the Voyage?

Explain with some detail of the steps you took.

[Theologian]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Do you mean you downloaded the correct BIN file, placed it on the main directory of the Voyage, disconnected from the computer, and ran the Update Kindle on the Voyage?

Explain with some detail of the steps you took.

Yes, that's essentially what I did.
I downloaded KV 5.13.1, connected KV via USB, copy the bin file to Kindle drive (not in a folder), then I disconnect the USB, go to the Kindle, hit menu, setting, menu, update. Then, it goes thru what looks like a reboot and update, but at the end when it boots all the way up, it's back to 5.9.4 and an earlier state. I've tried the same by reformatting the Kindle drive on PC, updating while connected to wifi or disconnected from the wifi. The result is the same.

[Theologian]

Originally Posted by dhdurgee

How long have you owned this unit? Sounds a lot like a hardware failure, probably the memory module.

If it is a recent Amazon purchase contact them and ask to exchange it.

Beyond that how are your manual skills? If you have the right equipment you can open the unit and access its serial port to get the diagnostics output when the unit boots. That should assist in diagnosing the problem. Of course you risk damage to the unit if you use the wrong equipment or are not sufficiently careful to work on a delicate system.

If it is indeed the memory chip and you have no chance to exchange it you likely have only spare parts on your hands. It requires a high end workstation to replace the memory chip and proper procedures must be followed to preserve your system identification information to restore it after the new chip is installed.

Dave

Do you have a picture of what the memory module in KV looks like? Thanks

[gebn]

Originally Posted by Theologian

Do you have a picture of what the memory module in KV looks like? Thanks

Chiming in Late, but my KV is open for a serial jailbreak, It's BGA so it's not easy to replace