Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gadget Technicians Are So Funny

I was 80% into our current book club read when I decided to turn on my Kindle to check out a novel I'd just heard about. The last-page read appeared per normal. I went to Menu and turned on the 3G/WiFi. Then attempted to access the Kindle Store.

That's when I received the "no access" message. Now, I was seated in the exact same location I always occupy when reading and perusing books on my Kindle, so I know darned well I have Wi Fi and 3G access from that site.

Nevertheless, I turned off the 3G/WiFi, turned off the Kindle, tried everything all over again. This time I'd lost all my books as well as access to 3G/WiFi. And the menu items were non-responsive. Nothing I did remedied the situation.

With Kindle in hand, I went to the computer to visit Amazon's Kindle Troubleshooting site. Of the FAQs, none really addressed the frozen menu and lost books that I was experiencing in addition to lack of Wi Fi access. But I tried the option related to the no Wi Fi access message. There I read that when all else fails I should enter:  Home > Menu > Restart.

Which I did.

Except -- when the Kindle is frozen, nothing happens when the Menu button is pressed!!

So I used the email option under "Contact Us" to explain the problem.

And a Kindle technician responded in a timely manner.

The solution to my problem?  Go to the Menu and press "Restart."

"Doh!"

Fortunately, immediately after sending my email to the Amazon Kindle Troubleshooting site I Googled "frozen Kindle" and located a chat room where I was reminded to hold the power button for 15 seconds. Obviously, I should have done this instead of going to the Kindle Troubleshooting page.

I held the power button for 15 seconds (which I remembered doing before when I got the "no WiFi access" message). My Kindle rebooted, and all my books were recovered. I had to scan to the last-page read for the book club novel (regrettably I lost all my highlights/bookmarks/notes -- but hey, the book was back!) and all was well with the world again.


  1. I love it when the gadget technicians advise you to use the features of the device that aren't working in order to solve the problem you're having with the electronic wonder. 
  2. I've never had this problem with a good old-fashioned, ink-on-paper, bound book. Misplaced, food/drink spilled, pages torn or stuck together, etc. But never have I had a book freeze up or disappear in my grip.
I am currently purging my bookshelves to slim down my personal library -- but I will never, ever give up printed books. They never need to be recharged in the middle of the climactic scene.

1 comment:

Linda Benson said...

This would drive me Up. A. Wall. (and over the darn wall.) I have not read anything on an E-reader yet, and I don't know if I'd like it, but I've been tempted to at least look into them because of the whole "E-book revolution" thing. But I am a "Real" Book Person at heart. I love the smell, the feel, the actual weight of the book in my hand. I "might" someday read on a Kindle, and I can understand their value in some instances, but I'm afraid these kind of techie issues would destroy the whole reading experience for me. Thanks for sharing.