Comments on: Kindle 2 Recovery Mode

By: john

john — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:13:18 +0000

I have a Kindle 2nd gen. It recently saw a couple of months of shelf time, however charged right back up the other day.

However, once charged the 5-way controller “enter function” (i.e. push down on the lever) no longer works. I can scroll up, down, and sideways, but the “ok” or “enter” does not actuate a select of the underlined menu item.

I tried reboot, factory reset, factory reset with software update, and Kindle CS. All to no avail.

Any other ideas or should I call it a brick and see if someone wants it on ebay?

By: gordon

gordon — Mon, 02 May 2011 00:28:30 +0000

So I went through a whole ordeal of trying to get my kindle dx back up and running after hitting the frozen startup screen. This site was helpful in that I managed to get to the recovery screen on my DX easily (slide power switch right for 20 secs, then hold down Home until screen flashes and boots to startup, then type “RESET”)

However, I did not realise that I could then attach the Kindle via USB, then download firmware from amazon website, drag and drop the .bin to the mounted DX, then repeat the steps above. Now and back and running. Yay! Thanks to this site.

By: phil

phil — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:06:42 +0000

I screwed up my kindle 3g the most- accidentally deleted some stuff in /usr directory of the root filesystem. Wifi no longer works, and neither does text to speech or music playing :(

By: Bram

Bram — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:44:32 +0000

This is how I fixed my Kindle which was stuck in a “Recovery Mode” screen as mentioned about.
1. While in recovery mode I plugged it into my Laptop.
2. I then downloaded “update kindle2 2.5.4.bin” from Amazon, and transferred that into the root folder of the kindle.
3. Then I slide the power switch to the right and held it there for 25 seconds, and then released the button.
4. After about 5 to 10 seconds the Kindle 2 started flashing on and off several times.
5. IMMEDIATELY after you see the screen recover press and hold the “1″ button for 20 seconds and let go.
It should now bring you to your “My Kindle” screen listing of all the books, mags, etc.

I hope this helps :)

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:50:06 +0000

I just downloaded a book onto my Kindle 2 via USB and after I ejected my device, I got the Table of Contents page. I tried turning it off but it wouldn’t do anything and then when straight to Recovery Mode. I pressed “R” and it restarted perfectly and I’m not having any issues.

By: NED

NED — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:54:08 +0000

Recovery is still there, after you type “RESET” press and hold home key until it goes into recovery. I have 2.5.2.

By: ANA

ANA — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:52:21 +0000

Thank you, It recovered my device.

Is there a reference or more information about Recovery Mode for Kindle DX and Kindle 3 ?

By: ctduc

ctduc — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:45:12 +0000

hi Alex,

you can reenter USB Drive Mode flow below steps:
1. plugin usb
2. restart your kindle
3. you will be on usb drive mode after the progress bar is finish

I thinks a bricked my kindle after try usbNet hack, it not recognize my USB, thanks god I found this :)

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:47:15 +0000

I’ve tried entering the recovery mode trick and it use to work. Now, for some reason, if you hold the home button while the Kindle is rebooting, the Kindle says: “Type ‘RESET’ to reset to factory defaults”. I think I’ve found out why. I think recovery mode was removed from firmware version 2.5. I think it only worked in version 2.3.

By: Nelson Lam

Nelson Lam — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:49:36 +0000

I bought the Kindle 2 International last Sept but have screwed it up after I tried to install a unicode hack. But after reading a few postings, I manage to enter into recovery mode and connect the Kindle with a PC.

I have deleted a few files and left with two – font.properties.orig and netfront.ini.org. Since then, I have kept the unit in Recovery mode and would not dare to do anything further until I know the next step.

Does that mean I have not bricked the unit and can reinstall the firmware? What should I do?

If possible, I would like to know how to correctly reinstall and upgrade proper unicode hack for Chinese.

Many Thanks

By: Jessica White

Jessica White — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:19:54 +0000

Margaret–Apparently, it’s not even safe by your bedside, since you say you dropped it off an end table. Things break when you drop them–it’s tough luck for sure, and I think I would cry if I broke my Kindle, but it’s not to be blamed on Amazon.

My kindle froze and I held the slider switch for about 20 seconds, and nothing appeared to be happening, so I clicked the Home button to see if I would get a response. I ended up at the screen described above, and just clicked “R” to get out of it. The kindle rebooted gracefully and all is well now. Thanks for the information.

By: Margaret Trevett

Margaret Trevett — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:25:30 +0000

the comment is useless because the screen is frozen, it cannot be moved, nothing works. The Kindle is dead!!! I am out $359.

By: Margaret Trevett

Margaret Trevett — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:07:06 +0000

I just lost permanent use of my kindle. It fell off the end table and it is unrecoverable. I called to find out what to do, the device is less than three months old, and was told that I could get a reconditioned kindle for $179. I can buy a lot of books for that. If the device is so sensitive it dies after dropping it, it is not tough enough to use anywhere but by your bedside. To me that is not very user friendly and I am very disappointed with both Amazon and kindle.

By: George

George — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:40:33 +0000

Actually, you can restart or recover your Kindle 2 from the Menu. You must first go to Menu and select Settings and then press the Menu key again. I did something unforeseen to the K2 software which caused it to behave erratically and was able to recover with a restart.

Your suggestion is a very useful one and I’ll keep it in mind if I get in trouble again experimenting with my K2.