Troubleshooting PW2 6th Gen sticking on USB Drive Mode

[Araucaria]

I have a PW2, 6th Gen.

When connected to a laptop, the laptop says the USB device is unrecognised, but the Kindle screen shows USB Drive Mode and the device charges. It is not visible in Windows File Explorer.

When unplugged, the Kindle continues showing the USB Drive Mode screen, and the only way to get back to a useable device is to do a reboot - hold in the power switch for 30+ seconds.

The lead and the laptop can be used with my other Kindle, which is recognised and visible to File Explorer and Calibre.

This problem does not occur when the device is just plugged in to a mains charging adaptor.

It is inconvenient not to be able to plug into the laptop, or use Calibre direct by USB cable, though I have now set it to receive books from Calibre by e-mail. E-mailing books is a slow process - I blame Amazon's servers. And the 30 second reboot is fiddly if your fingers are as old and inflexible as mine.

I have also tried a factory reset (several times).

Can anyone suggest a diagnosis (other than a damaged USB port on the Kindle)?

It is, of course, well out of warranty (2016 I think).

[eddie.t.h]

See the USB port carefully through the magnifying glass. Maybe there was some dirt or corrosion of the contacts. If everything is ok, unfortunately, the option of a damaged port remains. Often, the tracks on the motherboard break or the surge protection system is damaged.

[Araucaria]

Thanks Eddie.

It's very difficult to see inside the USB port on the Kindle, but it looks OK - certainly no dirt or fluff. But it is hard to see all of the contacts. One side looks OK, while the other is almost invisible.

As I seem to have tried everything, I guess I'll just have to put up with a Kindle that can't be linked up to a laptop.

Amazon will let me send files to it by e-mail, though they seem to be messing around right now with the kind of files that are allowed.

What really puzzles me is why the laptop's inability to recognise the USB drive causes the Kindle to freeze (on the "USB Drive Mode" screen) and need rebooting. I have tried leaving it connected and then turning off the laptop: same results. And connecting it to a simple USB charger after it has frozen lets charging continue, but it is still frozen.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[BookCat]

Have you tried tickling the usb port with something soft? Maybe a brand new make-up brush or equivalent.

This might dislodge any dirt or dust without damaging the port.

Or have you got some setting on your laptop which has disabled the connection with the kindle? I'm no techie, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the computer's error.

[Quoth]

Also disable any AV before plugging in the Kindle. Sometimes that causes problems (and there is good reason for it for anyone that might plug in a random USB memory stick they find).

Also in Windows 10 and later check the Drive Manager that Windows hasn't decided to block assigning a drive letter. That happened to me on Windows 10 to an SD card after an update.

[Araucaria]

Book Cat: it doesn't work on other people's laptops either, so I don't think it could be a problem at the laptop end.

I blew out the port carefully using a low pressure airline. There's no fluff (nor can I see any detached bits of tiny contacts inside there either).

Quoth: turning off anti-virus made no difference.

But Drive Manager? That at least takes me a step further forward. I opened the "Device Manager" (presumably that's the one) and under "USB Controller" one of them is flagged with a warning triangle and the words "Unknown USB Device: Device Descriptor Request Failed". If I rightclick on that, under "general" I get

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

A request for the USB device descriptor failed.


There are some details of the driver I can't cut and paste, though the driver number is 10.0.19041.488

And under "properties" I get this lot:

Device USB\VID_0000&PID_0002\6&db71ae5&0&4 was not migrated due to partial or ambiguous match.

Last Device Instance Id: USB\VID_1A40&PID_0101\6&1eb6a6e8&0&2
Class Guid: {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}
Location Path:
Migration Rank: 0xF000FFFFFFFFF122
Present: false
Status: 0xC0000719


This means nothing to me, but it's the only sign I've seen beyond the initial disappearing error message that anything is connected to the laptop. This right-click also suggests I might update the driver, but only by looking for something in the laptop, or doing it manually. Or uninstall it.

Do you have any suggestions?

[Quoth]

Well, Device manager is a separate thing. I forget where the drive letter assignments (or removing one) are in Windows 7/10/11.

However, it looks like either Windows has a problem or the Kindle has.

VID_1A40&PID_0101\6&1eb6a6e8&0&2 etc is info unique to maker and model of device.

Except that VID and PID is the ID of a USB hub, not a Kindle. See:
https://devicehunt.com/view/type/usb...40/device/0101

From MS site

Single-Interface USB Devices

When a new USB device is plugged in, the system-supplied USB hub driver composes the following device ID by using information extracted from the device's device descriptor:

USB\VID_v(4)&PID_d(4)&REV_r(4)

Where:

v(4) is the 4-digit vendor code that the USB committee assigns to the vendor.

d(4) is the 4-digit product code that the vendor assigns to the device.

r(4) is the revision code.

So you DO have communication on USB.

According to MS, this CAN be caused by improper eject, ancient BIOS, bad device driver etc (One dodgy suggestion is to try Windows Repair) or an incompatible device. The Kindle doesn't need any special device drivers.

If a USB memory stick works AND the Kindle won't work in another PC OR "removing" the USB port in Windows Device Manager doesn't work (Reboot and it will automatically be added again), it's likely a faulty Kindle.

Do try a USB hub in-between in-case all the PCs have very fancy USB3.0 ports or something. Sometimes that works.

On another site:

11. Replace the hardware. A problem with the device itself might be causing the Code 43 error, in which case replacing the hardware is your next logical step. In most cases, this is the solution to a Code 43 error

[Quoth]

Also this:

VID_0000&PID_0002

That would be vendor ID 0 and device 2 by that vendor / maker. I think that just means Windows has been unable to read the USB ID.
It seems to be a kind of generic result. It can sometimes be fixed by Windows repair, a different port/hub, changing power management settings etc or even changing the cable. However often it means the device is faulty.

[Araucaria]

Thanks Quoth.

I have tried just about everything now, including connecting via a USB hub.

The last try was to connect it to my wife's Windows 7 laptop. That gave a slightly simpler error message. Paraphrasing just slightly, the device wasn't recognised, so try another port, and if that doesn't work, replace the device.

It does sound as if it is a hardware problem with the Kindle.

I'll continue using it as a WiFi only book reader.

Thanks very much for taking the time to help.