I had a tough time learning how to UN-brick my wife's AND my friends Kindle Fire devices. I'm going to liberally add links to things around the site because I found them extremely useful and educational, but I could not find all of the things I needed in one place. Both of the Kindle Fire devices I had to fix were Kindle Fire first generation devices, so I can only speak to these fixes. However it may help you at least get your head straight to understand what you are doing, what you have and what you need to do. My intent with both of these devices was never to root them or replace the ROM's, although I have done that to my own phones and love the Android OS, it was simply to get both working again so my wife could read and check email and my friends kids could play their games.
What I had and the issue with each device:
Kindle Fire (1) - no more space on the device, stuck at logo.
Kindle Fire (2) - originally USB connector separated from the circuit board, I had a local electronics guy solder a new one back on and upon start up it was stuck at the logo also (it worked before he fixed the board).
Utilities you need:
Kindle Fire factory cable - quality cable get one from here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20380015&postcount=9
Minimal ADB and Fastboot Utility: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=42407269
Kindle Fire Utility 0.9.9 - get it here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2192818
Fix the Kindle Fire Utility run.bat file - It would not run on my WinXP or Win7 machine and the fix works no matter which version you are running: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1737671
Information about TWRP, it comes with the Kindle Fire Utility: http://www.teamw.in/project/twrp2
Information about FireFireFire: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/firefirefire-custom-bootloader-for-the-kindle-fire/ FireFireFire comes with the Kindle Fire Utility and allows you to get into recovery when not connected to the computer, install FireFireFire after TWRP.
Informative video on using Kindle Fire Utility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ21pr6_SHI
The Forum recommends reading these first, do yourself a favor and READ THESE FIRST:
Kindle Fire for Beginners (very helpful): http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1552547
Kindle Fire for Beginners - Supplemental How-To Guide: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1638452
The PROCESS of UN-bricking:
1, Install Minimal ADB and Fastboot:
2, Install Kindle Fire Utility - I just put it into the Minimal ADB install directory so its all in one place.
3, In the Kindle Fire Utility directory run "install_drivers.bat" without the device connected (does not matter what version of WinXP or Win7, I have no idea if these will work on Win8 I did not try it). Reboot if you need to.
4, Plug the factory cable into your device, then plug the cable into the USB port on your computer and the Kindle Fire will boot into FASTBOOT all by itself. You can tell by the White/Orange logo and the screen is brighter than normal.
NOTE: This is the part that drove me bat crazy! With a stock Kindle Fire when using the stock bootloader (plain "kindle fire" boot logo), the fastboot command must always specify the custom vendor ID used by the Kindle Fire, ie "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices", where 0x1949 is the stock vendor ID. Also ADB and Fastboot are mutually exclusive, meaning you can only be in and use one at a time, never both. ADB commands will not work in fastboot mode or with the factory cable, you must use a regular USB cable for that and not be in fasboot mode. Even at the logo with a standard USB cable ADB would connect, but it's READ ONLY.
5, Run the Minimal ADB shortcut to the ADB prompt or open a CMD shell, navigate to the directory and run "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices". If it returns something like "0123456789ABCDEF fastboot", the number being your device number then you are in fastboot mode.
6, In the Kindle Fire Utility directory run the "run.bat" file, a CMD window with a menu will open.
NOTE:
You will see something like the below in the CMD window, ignore it, the stock Kindle Fire always shows this. If you want to make sure you are still in fastboot Run the Minimal ADB shortcut to the ADB prompt or open a CMD shell, navigate to the directory and run "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices" again and make sure your device shows up.
ADB Status: Offline
Boot Status: Unknown
7, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads, select option 3 and install TWRP, let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will not change yet.
8, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads, select option 5 and install FireFireFire, let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will still be white and blue logo.
9, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads if you want to root select 2 "Install Permanent Root with Superuser", let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will still be white and blue logo.
10, Hold the power button until the device shuts down, unplug the factory cable from the computer, then the device.
11, Tap the power button and the device should start to boot. At the bottom you will see the boot select prompt, hold power button a couple of seconds and a menu should pop up. Tap the power button to change menu item until recovery is selected "--Recovery--" and leave it until it boots into TWRP.
12, Once you boot into TWRP select WIPE,
13, On the bottom of the next screen swipe "Swipe to factory reset", let it finish and select the back button.
14, Select REBOOT and then SYSTEM (this resets Fastboot mode to 4000 if you changed it to 4002 or screwed with it otherwise).
15, At one point I was asked if I want to root it and install SU. On my wife's I did and on my friends I did not, kids have a habit of pushing the right combination of buttons and bricking them. I don't recall when it actually asked me to do the root, but it probably has to do with me doing step 9 above on one and not the other.
16, After it reboots and it takes a while the first time again, reconfigure your Factory Stock Kindle Fire as you would out of the box. All of your stuff will synch back to it, unless you used a USB cable to transfer data to it, that stuff may be gone, but I did not have any of that to worry about.
17, Since the Kindle was already registered both your Kindle books and Amazon apps should be there but you will have to reinstall the apps and lose saved game data.
Again, this is how I chose to do the repair based on my knowledge level (and frustration level) after a lot of research, reading, testing and rebooting. Like I said, all I wanted was a stock fresh Kindle Fire, so this worked for me. I might at some point wipe it and install a custom ROM and Kernel but for now they are both grateful and happy to have their devices back without buying new ones.
Also, I am grateful to all the people who posted here before me that allowed me to learn more about the Android OS devices and repair them. It was actually a fun and frustrating adventure, but the thrill of beating it into submission was well worth the learning curve on another device!!!
Jocco-
What I had and the issue with each device:
Kindle Fire (1) - no more space on the device, stuck at logo.
Kindle Fire (2) - originally USB connector separated from the circuit board, I had a local electronics guy solder a new one back on and upon start up it was stuck at the logo also (it worked before he fixed the board).
Utilities you need:
Kindle Fire factory cable - quality cable get one from here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=20380015&postcount=9
Minimal ADB and Fastboot Utility: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=42407269
Kindle Fire Utility 0.9.9 - get it here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2192818
Fix the Kindle Fire Utility run.bat file - It would not run on my WinXP or Win7 machine and the fix works no matter which version you are running: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1737671
Information about TWRP, it comes with the Kindle Fire Utility: http://www.teamw.in/project/twrp2
Information about FireFireFire: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/firefirefire-custom-bootloader-for-the-kindle-fire/ FireFireFire comes with the Kindle Fire Utility and allows you to get into recovery when not connected to the computer, install FireFireFire after TWRP.
Informative video on using Kindle Fire Utility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ21pr6_SHI
The Forum recommends reading these first, do yourself a favor and READ THESE FIRST:
Kindle Fire for Beginners (very helpful): http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1552547
Kindle Fire for Beginners - Supplemental How-To Guide: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1638452
The PROCESS of UN-bricking:
1, Install Minimal ADB and Fastboot:
2, Install Kindle Fire Utility - I just put it into the Minimal ADB install directory so its all in one place.
3, In the Kindle Fire Utility directory run "install_drivers.bat" without the device connected (does not matter what version of WinXP or Win7, I have no idea if these will work on Win8 I did not try it). Reboot if you need to.
4, Plug the factory cable into your device, then plug the cable into the USB port on your computer and the Kindle Fire will boot into FASTBOOT all by itself. You can tell by the White/Orange logo and the screen is brighter than normal.
NOTE: This is the part that drove me bat crazy! With a stock Kindle Fire when using the stock bootloader (plain "kindle fire" boot logo), the fastboot command must always specify the custom vendor ID used by the Kindle Fire, ie "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices", where 0x1949 is the stock vendor ID. Also ADB and Fastboot are mutually exclusive, meaning you can only be in and use one at a time, never both. ADB commands will not work in fastboot mode or with the factory cable, you must use a regular USB cable for that and not be in fasboot mode. Even at the logo with a standard USB cable ADB would connect, but it's READ ONLY.
5, Run the Minimal ADB shortcut to the ADB prompt or open a CMD shell, navigate to the directory and run "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices". If it returns something like "0123456789ABCDEF fastboot", the number being your device number then you are in fastboot mode.
6, In the Kindle Fire Utility directory run the "run.bat" file, a CMD window with a menu will open.
NOTE:
You will see something like the below in the CMD window, ignore it, the stock Kindle Fire always shows this. If you want to make sure you are still in fastboot Run the Minimal ADB shortcut to the ADB prompt or open a CMD shell, navigate to the directory and run "fastboot -i 0x1949 devices" again and make sure your device shows up.
ADB Status: Offline
Boot Status: Unknown
7, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads, select option 3 and install TWRP, let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will not change yet.
8, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads, select option 5 and install FireFireFire, let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will still be white and blue logo.
9, Once Kindle Fire Utility loads if you want to root select 2 "Install Permanent Root with Superuser", let it finish and it will reboot the device, hit enter back to the main menu. The logo will still be white and blue logo.
10, Hold the power button until the device shuts down, unplug the factory cable from the computer, then the device.
11, Tap the power button and the device should start to boot. At the bottom you will see the boot select prompt, hold power button a couple of seconds and a menu should pop up. Tap the power button to change menu item until recovery is selected "--Recovery--" and leave it until it boots into TWRP.
12, Once you boot into TWRP select WIPE,
13, On the bottom of the next screen swipe "Swipe to factory reset", let it finish and select the back button.
14, Select REBOOT and then SYSTEM (this resets Fastboot mode to 4000 if you changed it to 4002 or screwed with it otherwise).
15, At one point I was asked if I want to root it and install SU. On my wife's I did and on my friends I did not, kids have a habit of pushing the right combination of buttons and bricking them. I don't recall when it actually asked me to do the root, but it probably has to do with me doing step 9 above on one and not the other.
16, After it reboots and it takes a while the first time again, reconfigure your Factory Stock Kindle Fire as you would out of the box. All of your stuff will synch back to it, unless you used a USB cable to transfer data to it, that stuff may be gone, but I did not have any of that to worry about.
17, Since the Kindle was already registered both your Kindle books and Amazon apps should be there but you will have to reinstall the apps and lose saved game data.
Again, this is how I chose to do the repair based on my knowledge level (and frustration level) after a lot of research, reading, testing and rebooting. Like I said, all I wanted was a stock fresh Kindle Fire, so this worked for me. I might at some point wipe it and install a custom ROM and Kernel but for now they are both grateful and happy to have their devices back without buying new ones.
Also, I am grateful to all the people who posted here before me that allowed me to learn more about the Android OS devices and repair them. It was actually a fun and frustrating adventure, but the thrill of beating it into submission was well worth the learning curve on another device!!!
Jocco-
