topic Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users in Community Chat

ALERT for KINDLE Users

Marp — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 00:25:36 GMT

Own a Kindle? Listen up — this one’s relevant to you. If you were an early adopter of one of these popular e-readers, you’ve got to update your software, and we mean stat, otherwise your trusty device may go kaput. Well, nothing that drastic, but you get the sense of urgency. In a new post found on its Help & Customer Service page, Amazon has informed its customers that those “using an outdated software version on Kindle e-readers require an important software update by March 22, 2016, in order to continue to download Kindle books from the Cloud, access the Kindle Store, and use other Kindle services on their device.”

This isn’t a warning to be taken lightly — the online retailer stresses, “If you do not update your device by March 22, 2016, you will receive the following message on your device: Your Kindle is unable to connect at this time. Please make sure you are within wireless range and try again. If the problem persists, please restart your Kindle from the Menu in Settings and try again. If you see this message on your device on or after March 22, you will need to manually install the latest software update for your device.” And that, my friends, would be fun for no one.

Happily, Amazon is doing everything it can to make the process easier (and for our part, we’re spreading the word). There’s a handy-dandy chart you can refer to in order to determine which Kindle needs which updates, and where and how you can download the necessary software.

Balance of artical and CHART: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/attention-kindle-owners-software-220924508.html

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

wismiss — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:03:52 GMT

Well, I'm going to plead complete ignorance here. I have no idea how you would update the software. There have been two or three times when I have turned my Kindle on that it says something to the effect that it is updating (I can't remember what it is updating) and it could take up to ten minutes, but usually it is only a minute or two and my home screen comes on. Am I safe? I don't know what I would do without my Kindle.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

esmerelda — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:04:39 GMT

Anything about this on amazon.com?

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

Tribesters — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:14:12 GMT

@wismiss wrote:
Well, I'm going to plead complete ignorance here. I have no idea how you would update the software. There have been two or three times when I have turned my Kindle on that it says something to the effect that it is updating (I can't remember what it is updating) and it could take up to ten minutes, but usually it is only a minute or two and my home screen comes on. Am I safe? I don't know what I would do without my Kindle.

What version Kindle do you have? I just found instructions on Amazon for my version. If you go to the Amazon Kindle Help Forum they have instructions for every version.

It's under this: Critical Software Update for Kindle E-Readers

Don't think I can post the link since it's to another retailer.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

Tribesters — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:16:43 GMT

@esmerelda wrote:
Anything about this on amazon.com?

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

gidgetgh — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:24:46 GMT

I have the original kindle. A week or so ago they emailed me about the update. I plugged my kindle in, turned on the wifi and it updated. I can't remember now but I knew when it was done. Oh... I know. I looked at my list of books and there was a message in there saying update successful. That's how I knew it was done. It didn't take long.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

StillFuntoShop — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 01:56:50 GMT

@Marp, thank you for posting this, but I am wondering why this update can't happen automatically?

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

Tribesters — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 02:03:09 GMT

@StillFuntoShop wrote:
@Marp, thank you for posting this, but I am wondering why this update can't happen automatically?

I think it will update automatically IF you connect to wifi. I have a couple Kindles I don't use much. I keep the wireless off to save the battery. As long as you you've connected to wifi since October I think you're fine. It doesn't hurt to double check though.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

willdob3 — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 02:58:29 GMT

I should need to update (have the original Paperwhite from 2012) but did not receive an email. I keep mine connected to Wi-Fi & I wonder if it automatically updated. No idea how to check that. No messages in my Amazon account.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

deedledeedeedle — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 03:49:22 GMT

@Marp wrote:
Own a Kindle? Listen up — this one’s relevant to you. If you were an early adopter of one of these popular e-readers, you’ve got to update your software, and we mean stat, otherwise your trusty device may go kaput. Well, nothing that drastic, but you get the sense of urgency. In a new post found on its Help & Customer Service page, Amazon has informed its customers that those “using an outdated software version on Kindle e-readers require an important software update by March 22, 2016, in order to continue to download Kindle books from the Cloud, access the Kindle Store, and use other Kindle services on their device.”

This isn’t a warning to be taken lightly — the online retailer stresses, “If you do not update your device by March 22, 2016, re update for your device.” And that, my friends, would be fun for no one.

Well, I dug out my old Kindle but I can't get it to hold a charge. Drats. I have loads of classic books downloaded from a friend that I haven't re-read yet. I have been using the Paperwhite thinking I could choose a book selection from the old Kindle at my leisure.

dee

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

NickNack — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 11:46:51 GMT

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and a Kindle Keyboard. I got an e-mail telling me how to update the Kindle Keyboard. I haven't done it yet, but will have to do it today. My Kindle Paperwhite updated itself a couple of weeks ago.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

Eileen in Virginia — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:48:13 GMT

A friend told us about this a little over a month ago, but, being procrastinators, we forgot about updating our Kindles until I saw this thread yesterday. Soooo, thank you Marp for posting this. I thought I had the original Kindle, but it turns out it's a 2nd Generation with 3G. I wasn't able to do the automatic update (it was "greyed out" in the menu), so I tried the manual download. It downloaded to my laptop, but my Kindle wouldn't show up as a device on my laptop. I used a Live Chat with Amazon Customer Service (an very nice and patient person) who worked with me for about 45 minutes before deciding that the white power cable that I use to recharge my Kindle wasn't registering with my laptop. We found another/newer Kindle USB cable that worked with both my older Kindle and my laptop (over the years, my husband's accumulated 4 or 5 Kindles). A cheer went up from the crowd and it only took about 15 minutes to transfer the download from my laptop to my Kindle.

Some things I learned from this experience:

The March 23rd deadline only applies to the automatic download. You can do the manual download at your convenience.
Amazon Customer Service rocks! Even though Amazon's website said they were experiencing unacceptable wait times for Live Chat, I only had to wait a minute or 2 before my chat began. The person who worked with me was the best!
I found everything I needed to accomplish the update at Amazon's Help link in the Devices area (and no one will ever describe me as Tech Savvy). If I'd had a USB cable that my laptop "recognized", I could have completed the update pretty quickly.
My 2nd Generation Kindle's still alive & kicking.

My husband initially told me to skip the upgrade, since I don't use my old Kindle that much anymore. But I do use it sometimes and I didn't want to relegate it to the old devices pile. Now that he's seen how easy it is to complete the update, he's thinking about updating some of his older devices.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

riley1 — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:11:24 GMT

I have not received any email regarding updating my Kindle which is about 5 yrs old - would it have updated itself?

..

debic — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:25:03 GMT

@riley1 wrote:
I have not received any email regarding updating my Kindle which is about 5 yrs old - would it have updated itself?

I could have if you've had your wireless on. If you haven't turn it on for a couple days. One of my showed it needed an update right on the kindle (wireless had not been turned on for a very long time) The other 2 apparantly did it it's self and showed nothing, yet they are both updated. In the past I've usually had to do it manually. Check on the site and you can see if it's already done.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

ChynnaBlue — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:30:48 GMT

@deedledeedeedle wrote:
@Marp wrote:
Own a Kindle? Listen up — this one’s relevant to you. If you were an early adopter of one of these popular e-readers, you’ve got to update your software, and we mean stat, otherwise your trusty device may go kaput. Well, nothing that drastic, but you get the sense of urgency. In a new post found on its Help & Customer Service page, Amazon has informed its customers that those “using an outdated software version on Kindle e-readers require an important software update by March 22, 2016, in order to continue to download Kindle books from the Cloud, access the Kindle Store, and use other Kindle services on their device.”

This isn’t a warning to be taken lightly — the online retailer stresses, “If you do not update your device by March 22, 2016, re update for your device.” And that, my friends, would be fun for no one.

Well, I dug out my old Kindle but I can't get it to hold a charge. Drats. I have loads of classic books downloaded from a friend that I haven't re-read yet. I have been using the Paperwhite thinking I could choose a book selection from the old Kindle at my leisure.

dee

@deedledeedeedle, anything you've downloaded from Amazon onto an older Kindle is stored in the Amazon cloud. You can easily download it onto a newer kindle. When you go to the Library, just make sure you take Cloud instead of On Device and you should all all the books you've ever downloaded from Amazon in the Cloud list. From there, just press the book title or image to download to your newer device.

If you downloaded a PDF or library book or anything else from a non-Amazon site, I don't know if they're stored in the Amazon Cloud and those may be an issue.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

Isobel Archer — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:30:57 GMT

@riley1 wrote:
I have not received any email regarding updating my Kindle which is about 5 yrs old - would it have updated itself?

First go to Amazon - manage devices - to be sure which Kindle you actually have. This matters because the way to check current versions is different between say the Kindle Keyboard and the Kindle Touch.

I was going crazy trying to figure out how to update the Kindle Keyboard (that the email said I had) when it was actually the Touch - and the whole way to check is different - and the version number is different as well.

Once you check your current version, you can see if you need to do anything. If so, follow their directions and it should work. If not, call them.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

chrystaltree — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:47:45 GMT

I called Amazon yesterday, my friend emailed them. We got the same info. The 3-22 updste only applies to specific models of the Kindle Ereaders. If you call Amazon cs, they will tell you how to find out if you need to do anything. The upgrade does not apply to Kindle Fire. Which is what the article says but all my friends and even people sitting next to us in a restaurant Saturday were all in a tizzy and I thought I had it wrong. I woke up at 5am yesterdsy thinking about.

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

chrystaltree — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:56:34 GMT

@Tribesters wrote:
@esmerelda wrote:
Anything about this on amazon.com?

.....And this is why I should read ALL the responses before I respond.....or panic....lol

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

riley1 — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 19:22:58 GMT

Thank you for your responses! I'm not tech savvy at all!

Re: ALERT for KINDLE Users

VaBelle35 — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 20:20:43 GMT

Thanks for the alert. I just went to Amazon Help and my software is up to date.

It's really the older models.