Kindle Fix

Every so often I post some tech help when I learn something new, so here’s a fix for the kindle paperwhite that may be useful.  If you have a new kindle and are having trouble with it here’s a tip.  The kindle will read PDF files, but if the file is large or high resolution the kindle chokes on it.  The kindle will act like it’s stuck and won’t exit or reset properly.  This is because even after you turn off the kindle it wants to go back to the file you were viewing when you turned it off.  That means that if it choked on the file last time it will choke on it again.  You need to reset your kindle, but simply turning it off doesn’t do that.  So what you want to do is reset your kindle entirely.  The new kindles can not be opened so what you do is first make sure that you unplug the recharging cord from the USB or power supply.  Then hold down the power button for a good thirty or forty seconds.  You really need to drain the life out of the thing.  A quick reset will not do.  Drain the life out of it.  It needs to be declared dead, be buried, and it’s marker engraved.  After you are certain the thing is dead as Darwin release the button, but you have to wait before turning it back on.  A good minute maybe.  Then press the power a single time and give it some time (be patient) and it will reset.  Be patient!  It takes a long time to boot back up properly.

If you don’t drain the thing properly you might have to do this twice, but if you do it correctly by holding down the button a good long time you will probably get it to reset the first time.  Don’t assume that it didn’t work just because it doesn’t reset immediately.  Give it a good two or three minutes after you turn it back on.  If the screen is still stuck and won’t do anything just repeat the process.  Remember to hold that power button down again for a good 30 seconds or more and suck the life out of the thing.  If you are patient with the kindle it will reset properly and it will be fixed.  Now delete that stupid oversized PDF because that’s what made it choke in the first place.

By the way, the amazon support people are great.  We had a kindle we thought was broke and they had already said they were sending us a new one without charge when I figured out how to reset the original one properly.  They had suggested resetting it, but we didn’t hold down the button long enough, otherwise that would have fixed it initially.  Their solution was the correct one, but we just had no idea how long it takes to kill the thing.  Even though we didn’t need the replacement kindle they sent us we decided to pay for it and keep it because we liked the kindles so much.  Now everybody has one.  I’m not a big fan of digital books because their is no permanent record of what was written, but I love the kindle device overall.  I like that because it reads PDF (those that are of a reasonable resolution mind you) and text documents I can store a ton of notes on it and not rummage through my notes and papers to find what I need.

Hope this info helps.

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