iFixit - Answers With Device "Kindle 3"

Kindle 3: How to diagnose a frozen screen

Mon, 19 May 2025 04:09:44 -0700

I recently got a Kindle with the screen stuck in the loading screen (not reading a book under a tree with a loading bar) no matter what I do.

I tried using the Kubrick tool found here, which went through successfully.

So now I have a Kindle with a fresh firmware 3.4 but the screen is still unresponsive.

Considering I was able to put the Kindle in download mode and flash something, I don’t think it’s a motherboard fault like in this thread.

I suspect it may be the e-ink display but I don’t want to order it online just yet if I’m not sure, partly because I don’t trust the build quality of random Chinese sellers on the internet - I’m assuming the OEM part is of a better quality, so if there’s nothing wrong with it, I hope to keep using it.

Other clues I’ve gathered are that despite charging for really quite long, I don’t get a green LED (in the above iFixit thread, the user mentions getting a green LED after fully charged)

I read somewhere that you can control the screen using the UART. I don’t mind trying that if I knew how haha

If anyone has any suggestions for me to fix this I’d greatly appreciate it.

Kindle 3: Troubleshooting Case Light Not Turning On

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:12:03 -0700

I recently bought a used kindle keyboard that came with a case-the kind that has a light in the upper right corner that slides out to power on and connects on the left side with two pins. The kindle is working great so far but I have not been able to get the case light working. Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot it/restart it/repair it? It would be really handy to use the light.

Has anyone successfully repaired one of these? The only forums I've been able to find have been from 2011-2012 and have said to replace the cover.

What I've tried so far:

Restarting the kindle

Pulling the light out all the way

Ensuring the pins are attached correctly & re attaching them

Any info would be appreciated, thanks :)

Kindle 3: Is there anyway to boot kindle without battery or get a cheap battery

Tue, 09 May 2023 04:15:41 -0700

i have this old kindle, but no battery, i was wondering if there is anyway i can boot it without having a battery installed, i do have a 3.7 volt battery that does supply enough energy for it but the kindle wont boot as it doesn't think its a amazon original battery, i dont want to spend the money on a battery as those can cost up to $20+. thanks (if u got anymore questions about it i would be happy to answer)

⟐ Edited by author May 09, 2023 at 4:15 MST

Kindle 3: run kindle without battery.

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:45:13 -0700

quick question, is it possible to run a kindle without the battery?

⟐ Commented March 09, 2023 at 16:45 MST

Kindle 3: Unresponsive to all fixes, shows amber light but will not turn on.

Sat, 17 Dec 2022 17:14:08 -0700

Hello! I got a Kindle 3 Keyboard from a friend. She said the battery needed to be replaced, and it was stuck on the “Low Battery” page. No lights came on when charging or switching power button. I replaced the battery no problem (I’ve done this successfully before). After replacement, amber charging light came on when plugged in. I waited for it to charge, then tried to turn it on. No success, so I held the power switch for 20 seconds, then for 30 seconds. Nothing. I held power switch for 30 seconds then held home button for 45 seconds - screen started flashing, but it stayed blank and did not pull up the “Recovery” screen. I held “R” just in case, but nothing happened. Now, switching the power button does absolutely nothing. When plugged in, the amber light still comes on, but power switch does nothing. I opened the back and it looks like everything is properly connected and free of dust, but I’m not enough of a tech person to know if something is wrong back there. The screen connector (thing on the left side/bottom left??) is connected, and the little wire moves when the power button is moved, so that is all working. I don’t know any other way to fix this, but I also don’t know enough to consider it a lost cause just yet. Any help welcome!

Forgot to mention that the screen is currently blank, but you can see (very faintly) the “Low Battery” page, as if it did not completely go blank. I don’t know if this is relevant or not.

⟐ Edited by author December 17, 2022 at 17:14 MST

Kindle 3: Is there a way to fix the spring for the power slider button?

Sun, 20 Nov 2022 21:31:24 -0700

I've had this Kindle for ages and it has worked fine until recently. The power/wake switch used to have some kind of tension and it would always spring back when you slide it over, only now it doesn't. You can slide the button over and it will just stay. I've opened it up and there's a sortof R-shaped spring thing that is only partially attached, but I can't see how to get it re-attached on the left side (I think perhaps there was a bit that bent down into the slot on the button but it has broken off? Hard to tell). I've googled every way I can think to describe this, but haven't found anything besides general breakdown instructions. The attached picture is one I found online of how it's supposed to look, but I can't tell if the left side bends down to go into the hole or if I'm missing some other detail completely.

Kindle 3: cracked case causing page turning issues

Sat, 30 Oct 2021 11:00:50 -0700

where can i order a new case for a Kindle 3?

⟐ Commented October 30, 2021 at 11:00 MST

Kindle 3: My kindle won't show on my pc.

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 08:35:27 -0700

my kindle works but won’t show on my PC no matter what i try.Can’t load books on it .Have only dictionaries and user guide .

Kindle 3: 5 Way, Menu, Back and Home keys won't work now so can't open books

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 07:27:44 -0700

After replacing the battery, I must have damaged a part on the inside opening the case because now I can not get the 5 Way, Menu, Back or Home keys to work and so can not open any books. I do not want to try doing a hard reset as I have 775 unread books and don’t want to have to down load them all again if I buy another Kindle.

Kindle 3: Kindle 3 select button on the 5 way button does not work

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 12:38:09 -0700

Everything else on my kindle works except for the select button on the 5-way button.

I would like to either be able to fix this, or somehow substitute its function but I can’t find any solutions for this so far.

This mean I can’t choose a book to read, sync or change wifi, rendering my otherwise fully functioning device totally useless. Hate to throw away something for such a small flaw.

Kindle 3: My screen froze mid book - changed but then never again

Mon, 04 May 2020 07:12:06 -0700

Hi! I accidentaly dropped my kindle yesterday. Immediately my screen froze mid book. I did everything I could with the on off slider but nothing changed so I charged it. About 30’ in, the screen changed to a “loading kindle” kind of screen but then there’s a loading bar that is stuck midway. I’ve tried everything I can think of: alt + r, typing reset + ok key, holding the slider 40 secs, 30 secs, 15 secs, holding it forever.. I even took the back off and the battery but nothing changed. I charged it overnight too..

Any tips? I can’t shake the feeling that if it had been the screen or motherboard then it wouldn’t have changed screens once.

Thanks!

Kindle 3: Kindle 3 appears to be jammed

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 04:36:42 -0700

My screen saver remains on all the time and the power button will not switch it off. When charging the orange light remains on and never turns green indicating fully charged.

Kindle 3: I have a blank screen and but have instructions

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 10:57:13 -0700

How do I fix it myself and how

Kindle 3: My Kindle 3 screen has gone black

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 02:49:45 -0700

I have Kindle 3 keyboard. My initial problem was frozen white screen. I thought it might be dead battery problem and installed a new one. The problem still persists. Only once the screen blinked, light turned green and the booting splash screen appeared. Then it froze. Now screen is off, black. If I insert the charger, the orange light comes up for around 10secs and goes off. I tried all tricks but now it is responding. Please suggest ideas. This Kindle was a gift from a dear friend and I want to revive it.

Edit: I opened the unit and was fiddling around and felt that there is loose contact of either the power switch or the charging port. If I held it in one position, it continued charging and also booted successfully. I have given the unit to a local repair technician. I hope he fixes it. I will update with outcome.

Edit: I am still hanging on with hope for my 8 year old Kindle 3.

I took it to multiple technicians but to no avail. One said USB port is gone and is unable to find a replacement. Another was not too willing to fix.

Latest observation: if I blow air hard into the USB port, (if the device is charged), then suddenly the device starts booting!! Then green light turns on in the power switch and it will be On for a while and normal actions are fine. Again the device switches off.

This blow job solution is very unique and I can't figure out the solution!

⟐ Edited by author January 01, 2020 at 2:49 MST

Kindle 3: My Kindle will not charge.

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 11:54:02 -0700

I replaced the battery and it doesn't charge. I plug in the charger the orange light comes on for 10 seconds and then disappears. The old battery was behaving the same. Tried with different charger. Still the same.

⟐ Answer deleted November 16, 2019 at 11:54 MST

Kindle 3: kindle 3 freeze and reboot randomly, why?

Sat, 21 Sep 2019 12:57:59 -0700

Hi,

my old but loved kindle 3 (wifi version) has started to freeze and after some seconds reboot randomly, and often after this it keep to be freezed (a sort of boot-loop google nexus style). I tried:

to do a factory reset: no results;
to change the battery: no results.

Can you help me? I read on internet there is a way to reach the recovery mode and then doing a hard reset, but my it seems my kindle doesn’t want to do it.

Kindle 3: Charged after putting in a new battery but screen remains gray

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 17:24:37 -0700

My Kindle Keyboard wouldn’t charge after a couple of years of not using it. I ordered and installed a new battery. It charged up just fine with the amber light turning to green after a couple of hours. I took off the charger, slid/released the on button and nothing. Tried all the holding of the slide bar (the green light comes on, blinks, then goes off), tried the Alt/r, Alt/shift/r, soft drop on the carpet, but nothing has helped. Although the screen is gray I can see the tree in the background and what looks like the reboot/download? bar that looks like it is about 1/3 filled. Any suggestions? I saw one guy who opened his up and “shorted” some terminals but holding off on that for now!

Kindle 3: freezing after battery running low; new battery doesn’t help

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 08:20:01 -0700

My old friend stopped working after I used it when the battery was very low. I believe, it tried to go to a waiting regimen; and screen now shows one of the pictures, but inverted with number of white horizontal lines. I did charge it many times, but the device never revived. I suspected battery death and decided to buy a new battery. Unfortunately, it did not help at all. I tried many times to press and hold power button for 30-40 sec. Did not work. I charge it almost every day, but it seems something wrong with other things. I feel that there is not enough impulse for initiation. And may be battery is not charging well (I did not measure voltage yet), or its controller is not working. Any advice much appreciated.

Kindle 3: Your Kindle needs repair error

Fri, 19 Apr 2019 05:23:56 -0700

My kindle battery died. It has now been replaced and recharged. Each time I carry out a reset it goes through a boot up and displays a page, “Repair needed contact Amazon”. In the bottom left of the screen is displayed the word battery.

I did read some advice to add a file in the root directory but my laptop cannot access the drive .

Any ideas??

Kindle 3: Why is the kindle not responding to anything

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 11:59:56 -0700

It is open to one page but will not move anywhere else. I am charging it but am pretty sure the battery is charged from just a few days ago.