What just happened to my Kindle?! (part of screen froze)

Cafe Society
1

I am up at a lake, reading. Put Kindle away. Take it back out - now the top third of the screen is frozen on the “off screen”. No drops, impacts, water or other damage - it just started doing this.

Any ideas? There may be a reset button on the bottom but sticking a paper clip in there does nothing. Argh.

2

You can reboot it. Hold the power slider across for 20 seconds.

3

First of all - thanks. Second - I did what you recommended and it rebooted, but the top of the screen is still frozen. Argh.

4

My WAG would be that this ribbon cable connector has come a bit loose.

5

Again - thanks. The photo in the article you link to can’t be displayed on my iPhone. Argh. But it sounds like I’d be opening up the Kindle anyway - I would wait to do that at home. Heck I’ll use the Kindle app in this phone for now.

Part of me wants to make a sarcastic crack about technology but I had similar FUBAR’s with books while traveling. It just stinks to have my reading groove screwed up - reading was kinda the point of being away.

6

I am down two Kobos to e-ink screens cracked while travelling. I feel your pain.

7

Is your Kindle still under warranty? My Kindle’s screen completely froze halfway between the screen saver (John Steinbeck) and the main menu when I went to wake it up a few weeks ago. Rebooting did nothing, so I called Kindle tech support. Apparently, rebooting is the only troubleshooting you can do, and if it doesn’t work, it’s bricked. They sent me a new one, no questions asked, so long as I returned the dead one within 30 days.

8

I had the same basic experience as Jadis, except mine was a few months old. I called Amazon, and they AM Overnighted me a new one the next day.

9

Amazon’s Kindle customer support numbers are:
Inside the United States: 1-866-321-8851
Outside the United States: 1-206-266-0927

10

Back from being away. I called and yeah, apparently when the screen partially freezes it is a hardware problem. They are sending me a new one, per your experience above. Fine by me.

I bet their margins on each Kindle are something like 80% or higher; each one probably costs < $50 to make so they have no problem just swapping them out…