FROZEN Kindle

Here in the UK we are in the grip of "Extreme (Cold!) weather", and my Kindle keeps on freezing !

It's on the Screensaver screen, when I slide the power switch over it doesn't wake up instantly. I've been resetting by holding the power switch over for up to a minute; but this is so annoying! (it takes me back to the Main menu screen, not the last page I was reading.)

I read mainly on the way to & from work (on the bus). I carry my Kindle (in a cover) in a cotton tote bag along with other miscellaneous stuff I need for my day. Do I need to start putting a hot water bottle in there too?

Looking online as this has been becoming a daily problem I have seen that the Kindle struggles in low temperatures, and may even give up the ghost completely?!

I never had any trouble with a paperback freezing in the cold! One of the things I like about the Kindle is the fact that you don't have to struggle to turn pages if you're wearing gloves :D

Am I really supposed to store my Kindle away- somewhere warm- until we thaw out over here ?

I'd call customer service and ask them. I've never had my Kindle freeze because of cold -it's about the same here so I'm going to take mine with me when I go out in a bit and see what happens. I don't think it's normal, though. You might also ask over on Kindleboards.com.

You might want to try a full reset, but I agree with auntmarge, I would call KindleCS first. Is it possible that you have a corrupted file on there? Sometimes that can cause problems too.

Good luck,

k4k

wonderlake....do you keep your kindle in a leather cover (the one without the light?) There was an article in the Metro last week stating that the Kindle was a top seller this xmas but the one slight problem was that it had been reported as "freezing" when kept in the leather cover....I did find this report somewhat worrying as I got a Kindle for xmas with a leather cover...however so far I have had no problems. Those who had trouble with the leather cover said the problem disappeared when the kindle was removed and read on it's own...which kinda defeats the obect as the cover is there to protect :(

oops, sorry, posted before reading. never mind....

>runner56 - how very interesting. I just got a leather cover for mine a week ago and last night it "froze" for the first time ever. I also have a skin on my Kindle as well. I originally thought it had something to do with password protect - I didn't enter the correct pswd initially and then it froze but now I wonder if it's the cover. Strange.

>4 runner56: I really doubt it has anything to do with a cover.

I have had a leather cover on mine for three years and it has never frozen up.

I would add I have a leather cover on my kindle and so far have had no trouble with mine.....let's hope it stays that way!

I had the same problem until I removed the hinged, unlighted cover. Not a bit of trouble afterward. Amazon asked me to return the cover to them, which I did. Let's hope it'll serve a good purpose.

The freezing begins as the cover loosens up and the hinges start touching the light connection inside the unit. I noticed a connection between the cover and the freezing when I bent the cover backwards, which pushed the hinges inward slightly, and the unit froze up and rebooted.

With most people it doesn't start immediately. As the cover loosens up, it starts manifesting.

You're talking about the Kindle 2, this is K3 that's got the problems.

ahhh, sorry, I have the Kindle 2.

Happened to a friend of mine also. She called Amazon and they told her to download the latest software update. So I tried that but even after I did it still froze up. Now I just leave it out of the cover unless I am taking it somewhere.

I am banging my head against the wall.

Have you ever had trouble getting an old paperback to open? Short of having dropped it in a vat of molasses? Any trouble with being able to start reading your book when you turn to it?

My Kindle2 has been increasingly finicky lately. Won't start, unresponsive, requiring hard reboot each time I want to use it. We know where this ends up: these kind of problems don't tend to get better on their own.

So tonight's the night, as Rod Stewart sang.

Hard reboot won't work. The thing is dead. I feel like a fool for buying in to a high tech means of reading a damn book. I've read books my whole life with no problem. No interface between me and the page. And now I get sold on some high tech device to make my reading even more convenient.

What good does my e-copy of my book do me now, sitting with electrons not flowing in a dead device?

Amazon customer service immediately identified the problem: the leather cover I bought with it in 2010 has been reported as defective. It is causing the exact problem I am reporting. They are sending me free and forthwith a new updated cover. Removing the Kindle from the cover should immediately solve the problem.

Great! It is nice to have a responsive customer service department.

Cover removed. Hard reboot attempted. Nothing. The thing doesn't work.

A book is a reliable friend. A piece of technology goes bad. I am disillusioned. The e-book thing wasn't easy for me to accept in the first place.

If I wasn't in the middle of a book, I'd go pick out a paper book to read. Under the circumstances, I'm going to read on my iPad. ;)

And the end thought here is: Do not use covers. They are badly done for the most part and harm the kindles. :)

If in fact that has anything to do with this. After all, Amazon said the Kindle should work fine once I remove the cover. But, yeah, on general priniples, I'd say youre safer without one.

It would have worked fine if it had been removed when problems started. I suspect that the damage is already done. I suspect that some electronics got fried because it could not cool off or something like that because of the cover.

Oh well - mine does not have one and I had been lagging it in my purse for a year now.

Call Amazon back and say the problem has not been fixed. Since it is still probably caused by their cover, they may send you a replacement kindle.

I use the m-edge cover with the battery-operated light. Secures the kindle at 4 points and works well.

k4k

Thanks guys. I'll report back.

What really bothers me is having to accept the dark side of an e-reader: it may malfunction at the very wrong time, leaving you without your book precisely when you want to read it.

Yes, there will be a replacement. But if there's one property of a book compared to a toaster, it's that the book is dependable.

Sometimes I think I'm really a Luddite at heart.

Yes, true. The acute danger of being left in the lurch at just the wrong moment is very real. I am glad you have an ipad to help alleviate the pain.

On the other hand, the number of times I needed something to read and it was 3 am, no suitable books in the house, are uncountable. Maybe I just don't plan well. My kindle has solved that problem.

I really, really hope they send you a replacement!

k4k

I have to apologize to Amazon. Not that I am not concerned about their conquest of the world, about the end of the publishing industry, about job loss in retail.

But it turns out that after rebooting my Kindle without the cover, it is now working fine.

For the record, I never removed the cover or lited the Kindle from the back. It just malfunctioned with the old cover. Have to admit, I am surprised that simple removal from the cover could fix it. But it did.

Wow, that's a problem I never had with a Kindle, although I did with an iPad. So bizarre, and so glad it cleared up!

Amazing! So glad you don't have to replace it. k4k