A small debricking guide for noobs

By Silver18 To be honest, what youre about to read is a journal on what I did to debrick my Kindle. I write this just because it sums up most of the things needed in a standard bricking. I did all the process in Windows (XP in my case) and I worked on my Kindle Touch 5.1.0 (K5), so everything here applies to this version of Kindle. First of all, lets list all necessary tools: KindleSelectBoot containing MfgTool.exe to select boot mode. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=82836& d=1329798296 Fastboot_win_public needed to replace images and/or kernels http://www.mobileread.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=83827& d=1331579769 Kindle-Fastboot.inf and libusb-win32-bin-1.2.6.0 needed to make your PC read Kindle in fastboot mode http://www.mediafire.com/?t8myi35pk6323h2 http://www.mediafire.com/?yb8fbasxw002arj Linux.inf needed to make your PC read Kindle in SSH http://www.mediafire.com/?qbb5a6b4l6st1cs Kindle forensic images, i.e. all img files and kernels. I used 5.0.0 images. o diags_kernel.img: diags kernel. http://www.mediafire.com/?wxv0eat6lcz6mx6 o mmcblk0p2_ssh.img: diags partition. http://www.mediafire.com/?un3qrdfblfyl1d0 o kernel-kt-5.0.0.img: main kernel. http://gitbrew.org/~dasmoover/kindle/touch/forensic/kernel-kt5.0.0.img.gz o mmcblk0p1-kt-5.0.0.img: main partition. http://gitbrew.org/~dasmoover/kindle/touch/forensic/mmcblk0p1-kt5.0.0.img

 Putty: a simple SSH implementation for Windows and Unix http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty.exe HAVING A GUIDE TO FOLLOW DOESNT MEAN YOU CAN TURN OFF YOUR BRAIN! READ

ALL THE GUIDE BEFORE STARTING DEBRICKING AND UNDERSTAND ALL

STEPS! Ok, you should have all files needed to start debricking. First of all, lets get clear: some kindles could be debricked in a simpler way, by entering diags mode and using a RUNME.sh file to fix the problem. I tried it, but I didnt manage to make my Kindle work again. IMHO, although its faster and it doesnt involve playing with images, I found this way a bit confusing as I needed to swap from diag partition to main partition N.B Check the last page for some more images! N.B It should be totally clear that: - main kernel version MUST MATCH main partition version - diags kernel version MUST MATCH diags partition version - main partition doesnt necessary have the same version of diags partition

BOOT IN FASTBOOT MODE

1) Unzip KindleSelectBoot.zip

2) Plug your bricked Kindle into USB port 3) Press and keep pressed the power switch until LED turns off, then press the home button (while power switch is still pressed) and finally release the power switch

4) You should now see Kindle detected as a USB/HID Device

5) Run MfgTool.exe in KindleSelectBoot folder

6) In MfgTool, press Scan Devices: you should see HID-compliant device. Select now Kindle fastboot from profile menu e press Start

7) Soon, youll see your Kindle detected as a new device. Your PC shouldnt be able to find any driver, so lets help it: point the driver path where you stored Kindle-Fastboot.inf and let the PC load the driver. I had another problem while in this process: my PC lacked of libusb0.sys and thats why I added the link for libusb-win32-bin-1.2.6.0. You can point your PC to it and youre done! 8) You should now see a Kindle-Fastboot device in Windows Device Manager!

FLASH NEW DIAGS WITH SSH AND KERNEL

1) Unzip Fastboot_win_public.zip in an easy-to-reach place (if youre not good at using DOS, create a new folder called fastboot in C drive. Youll end having C:\fastboot)

2) Unzip kernel-kt-5.0.0.img.gz and mmcblk0p2_ssh.img.gz to C:\fastboot folder. WinRAR and 7-Zip work fine for this.

3) Press Windows key+R and run cmd

4) Type cd \ you should now be in C:\>

5) Type cd fastboot: you should now be in C:\fastboot> 6) Type fastboot.exe: if everythings OK you should see the fastboot help page

7) Now lets flash the new diag partition with built-in SSH. Type: fastboot flash diags mmcblk0p2_ssh.img And, along with it, the new diag kernel. Type: fastboot flash diags_kernel diags_kernel.img You should get something like this: C:\fastboot>fastboot flash diags mmcblk0p2_ssh.img downloading 'diags'... OKAY [ 3.109s] writing 'diags'... OKAY [ 6.406s] finished. total time: 9.516s C:\fastboot>fastboot flash diags_kernel diags_kernel.img downloading 'kernel'... OKAY [ 0.241s] writing 'kernel'... OKAY [ 0.925s] finished. total time: 1.167s

8) In the same way, we can flash the new main kernel. Type: fastboot flash kernel kernel-5.0.0.img You should get something like this: C:\fastboot>fastboot flash kernel kernel-5.0.0.img downloading 'kernel'... OKAY [ 0.234s] writing 'kernel'... OKAY [ 0.938s] finished. total time: 1.172s

9) Now lets reboot in diags mode. Type: fastboot setvar bootmode diags fastboot reboot

PLACE NEW MAIN PARTITION AND COPY IT

Now, the main partthis is what really debricked my Kindle! 1) You should now be in diag mode

2) Tap USB device mode and wait a little: soon youll see a kindle drive in your PC. Copy mmcblk0p1-kt-5.0.0.img into it, rename to mmcblk0p1.img and safely remove USB drive. Than tap exit on your kindle screen to return to diag main screen. 3) Select this exact sequence of menu items: N) U) Z) X) than wait 20 seconds. Your PC should see a new device (another one!!). If it cant install it, use linux.inf as described before and install the kindle as a new network adapter. It should now be seen as a Linux USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget device.

4) From device manager, network adapters, Linux USB Ethernet/RNDIS Gadget, properties, advanced, IP address: set 192.168.15.201 as IP address and 255.255.255.0 as subnet mask

5) Now open putty.exe and type 192.168.15.244 as host name (or IP address) with port 22 and SSH connection selected. Click on open and press YES at security alert

6) Now type root at login as prompt and mario as password prompt

7) Lets copy the main partition and fix our Kindle! Type: dd if=/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p1 bs=4K dont worry if also putty seems to be bricked (!!!), its just working! After a while it should be back on its feet! 8) If you want to be double sure, you can also delete /var/local partition (it deletes collections). Type: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4K count=1K NB: If you dont want to zero out mmcblk0p3 (which will erase your settings and collection), and youre stuck at Your Kindle Needs Repair screen, you can reset the boot counter with this command: echo 0 > /var/local/upstart/lab126_gui.restarts 9) Now the magic moment: lets see if it worked! Type: rm /mnt/us/ENABLE_DIAGS idme -d --bootmode main reboot

NB: rm /mnt/us/ENABLE_DIAGS could give you this error: rm: cant remove /mnt/us/ENABLE_DIAGS: No such file or directory This happens because you dont have any ENABLE_DIAGS file in /mnt/us. If so, don't bother and jump to next command (idme -d --bootmode main).

This is what you should see in Putty after all these commands: login as: root root@192.168.15.244's password: ################################################# # N O T I C E * N O T I C E * N O T I C E # ################################################# Rootfs is mounted read-only. Invoke mntroot rw to switch back to a writable rootfs. ################################################# [root@[192_168_15_244] root]# dd if=/mnt/us/mmcblk0p1.img of=/dev/mmcblk0p1 bs=4K 89600+0 records in 89600+0 records out 367001600 bytes (350.0MB) copied, 238.393246 seconds, 1.5MB/s [root@[192_168_15_244] root]# [root@[192_168_15_244] root]# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4K count=1K 1024+0 records in 1024+0 records out 4194304 bytes (4.0MB) copied, 0.025542 seconds, 156.6MB/s [root@[192_168_15_244] root]# idme -d --bootmode main Devmode enabled Reading vars from temp storage... ...None found, Copying vars from /proc Setting bootmode to main Writing new vars to temp area You must reboot before new values will take effect [root@[192_168_15_244] root]# reboot

Now wait with your fingers crossed. Your kindle should reboot in main mode, you should see the under the tree screen and, hopefully, the main screen!!!

NOTES
Your Kindle has now 5.0.0 firmware, so youll need to upgrade it as usual. You can change commands using other images as needed (i.e. change file names according to what youre using and unzip if needed). 5.1.0 main kernel: http://www.mediafire.com/?sc3mvazvlxsage1 5.1.0 main partition image (thanks to Deep): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29927061/mmcblk0p1-kt-5.1.0.img.tar.bz2 If you find your Kindle with the low battery screen, dont worry: you can charge it in fastboot mode or using a wall charger. Charging in diags mode seems to take much longer! Remember to always match kernel and partition!

USEFUL LINKS
1) Simple debricking method for K5 (touch) and K4 (mini), with K3 links

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170929
2) Select Boot for K4 and Touch

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169645
3) Select Boot for Windows: Pictorial Guide to Installation and Usage

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1972836
4) Fastboot for Windows

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2000997
5) Windows and fastboot mode

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2001621

CREDITS
I would like to thanks Geekmaster, Thomass, Knc1, Deep and everyone who helped me debricking my Kindle. Everything you find in this guide is just a collage of what I found, I read and I discovered. I didnt invent anything, I just put everything together. Most of the credits goes to Geekmaster who was so kind to publish everything in Mobileread Forums!

MORE IMAGES LINKS

As we now have lots of new images, you can really choose which you want to use. Just make sure to use consistent images and to match versions as described in the second page. Here are some links to download images:

http://pastebin.com/Wdw4L7yT
And here are 5.0.0 and 5.1.2 image:

http://ixtab.tk/kindle-touch-images/
Please note that images come packed in different ways. You can find: **.img **.gz **.tar.gz **.zip **.rar

If your image ends with one of the last 4 extensions, it should be unpacked first in order to use it with fastboot.