Kindle 2: If your battery is fully depleted, you might need this procedure

[Van in Arlington]

A friend of mine inadvertently left his Kindle 2 and Whispernet on and untouched (in sleep mode, of course) for 5 days or so.  When he returned to the Kindle, he found a "new" screen showing that the battery was fully depleted.  There was a message on the screen that the Kindle could not be used until it was recharged and that it might take some time before the Kindle could be used at all.  My friend began to recharge the Kindle using a wall outlet.  After just a few minutes, the Kindle restarted (this was visible on the screen).  The Kindle failed to restart.  It was as though the battery had enough power to start a restart but not completed it.  A firmware issue perhaps?  After a few more minutes, the Kindle tried to restart again.  Same result.  The Kindle was apparently "remembering" that it was on when the battery was depleted, and therefore was trying to restart each time the battery acquired a little juice.  The challenge: how to turn the Kindle 2 off when the Kindle would not respond to do so.  Pressing the on/off switch didn't actually turn the unit off.

Here was the actions that worked.  Unplug the Kindle 2.  Hold the on/off switch "on" for 30 seconds (probably a few more seconds than actually needed).  Holding the switch while the Kindle was plugged in did NOT turn off the unit.  This was the process to turn the Kindle off.  Plugging the unit in at this point charged it up as expected with no repeated attempts to restart.

Best advice:  don't let your battery get totally depleted at least while the unit is on.

[drenee]

Five days (or so) without touching it???  Wow.

[dollcrazy]

Five days (or so) without touching it???  Wow.

That's the part that has me shaking my head too.

[Van in Arlington]

That was my first thought also.  He was actually called on to do some extensive and unplanned work and just couldn't find time to Kindle.  I guess Kindle can be a verb since almost anything else can.  I am so attached to my Kindle that I can't imagine leaving it untouched for even 1 day.  Of course, my friend is a harder worker than I am!  Anyway, I hope you never need the procedure.

[KMA]

It's good to know, though. Knowing what to do helps abate the panic one feels when a precious device isn't working.

[DawnOfChaos]

OK, this is bad. After reading this, I remembered that my battery was getting a little low and I needed to charge it.  Care to guess what I found?

The exact screen says:

Critical Battery

Your battery is empty.

To continue using your Kindle, connect it to a power source.

It may take a few minutes of charging before your Kindle starts.



I'll let you know how it goes.  Argh...

[DawnOfChaos]

Yay!  A couple of screen flickers and its charging without problems. 

[pomlover2586]

Oh wow this is good to know! thanks!

[Van in Arlington]

DawnOfChaos, good to hear that your didn't need the slightly more complicated process.  Maybe your Kindle wasn't really dead, dead, dead.

[puzzled.daily]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew what the more complex procedure is.

I neglected my kindle for a few weeks because I had real books to read. I tried to use it, it said I was low on battery power so I plugged it in. It seemed to be working and charging.

I left it plugged in all day and when I checked that night it said "Your battery is empty," etc.

I tried the 30 second trick, even the 30 second one way and 20 seconds the other trick. Plugged, unplugged, every which way, nothing worked.

Nothing.

It does show the logo sometimes with the progress bar. It gets about a quarter filled and then blinks and goes back to the "Your battery is empty" screen.

I am at a loss. I'm in graduate school and I have stuff that I can only read on my computer screen or kindle and obvious I want my kindle to work. For many reasons!

If anybody has any hints I'd be uber grateful!

Thanks!

[Betsy the Quilter]

Here was the actions that worked.  Unplug the Kindle 2.  Hold the on/off switch "on" for 30 seconds (probably a few more seconds than actually needed).  Holding the switch while the Kindle was plugged in did NOT turn off the unit.  This was the process to turn the Kindle off.  Plugging the unit in at this point charged it up as expected with no repeated attempts to restart.

Best advice:  don't let your battery get totally depleted at least while the unit is on.

The above is the complex procedure (from the first post in this thread).  If this doesn't work, you should call Kindle CS.

Inside the United States: 1-866-321-8851, Outside the United States: 1-206-266-0927.

Betsy

[b3nder]

My Kindle2 did this last week.

Just got off the phone with Amazon's Kindle support. Very quick, very painless. Tech had me try the reset procedure and after telling him that the charging cable works with my DX he put in an order to replace the 2. Should be here Monday.

[KindleDXinGermany]

Hello all "battery fully depleted" sufferers,

i had the same problem.
Even using several times the "30 seconds trick" didn't work.

So here is what may be help you (it solved my problem)
(But please don't make me responsible for any damage. This should be used only if all other tricks don't work):

1. Hold the on/off switch in the right position.
2. Stick something in so that the switch can not flip back. (A srewdriver that fits worked fine).
3. Plug in the power source cable. (The yellow led should be on all the time. That's most important.)
4. Let it load several hours.

and ... voila ... the Kindle is alive again

[Annalog]

Question: If someone had access to a computer with a powered USB port, wouldn't charging it that way prevent the Kindle from trying to boot without enough power? It seems that this could work as the Kindle normally acts as an external drive. I understand that it would charge more slowly but it could be a way to at least provide enough charge to get it started.

[icebeak]

Hello all "battery fully depleted" sufferers,

i had the same problem.
Even using several times the "30 seconds trick" didn't work.

So here is what may be help you (it solved my problem)
(But please don't make me responsible for any damage. This should be used only if all other tricks don't work):

1. Hold the on/off switch in the right position.
2. Stick something in so that the switch can not flip back. (A srewdriver that fits worked fine).
3. Plug in the power source cable. (The yellow led should be on all the time. That's most important.)
4. Let it load several hours.

and ... voila ... the Kindle is alive again

This worked for me after everything else failed. My Kindle 2 refused to charge. The orange charge indicator light would go off after about half an hour or so.  The "30 second" reset trick also fails (the screen did not blink after releasing the power button, just stays frozen). Here is what worked for me:
1.   Hold the power switch in the right position
2.   Use masking tape to tape the button in the right position
3.   Plug in power cable (orange light should stay on now)
4.   Left it overnight
5.   Unplug power cable
6.   Remove tape, do reset again (this time the unit blinks but still does not reach the Amazon logo page)
7.   Plug power cable back in (this time the orange charge indicator light stays on)
8.   Charge for 2 hours
9.   Unplug power cable
10.   Do another reset
11.   This time unit completely resets (reaches Amazon logo page and returns to normal)

Note Reset Procedure is outlined here
http://epistemist.com/critical-battery-on-kindle-2-hard-reset/