Downgrading Your Kindle

A jailbroken Kindle is required - You cannot downgrade a Kindle on stock firmware

Before You Start

• You do this at your own risk
• You obviously cannot downgrade to a lower firmware than the one your Kindle originally had. You also cannot downgrade with updates marked for other devices different than yours
• Backup any important data from your Kindle as this process will wipe everything in the device
• Restore OTA updates (Click on Restore)
• Disable USBNetwork (USBMS mode) if you have the USBNetwork extension installed

Prerequisites

• A PC
• A jailbroken Kindle (using the Universal Hotfix)
• Appropriate Update Firmware .bin you want to downgrade.

Downgrading

1. Turn on Airplane Mode, disable USBNetwork and enable OTA updates.
2. Download the Allow Downgrade scriplet created by Marek.
3. Plug your Kindle into your PC and copy the scriplet into the documents folder.
4. Eject and unplug your Kindle.
5. Navigate your library and click on the “Allow Downgrade” booklet.
6. Your Kindle will print text on screen for a couple of seconds and will return to the library menu. Downgrading should be enabled now.
7. Copy the update_kindle_*.bin file to your Kindle root directory. Do not unplug your Kindle, hold the power button until your device reboots.
8. Your Kindle will now install the firmware you copied to it.

Post-Downgrading

Congratulations! Your Kindle has been downgraded.

Devices using the Universal Hotfix will need to re-install it and re-run the booklet.

Large jumps in firmware versions might cause your Kindle to display a white screen after downgrading. This can be easily fixed by plugging your Kindle back into your PC, sideload an empty file named DO_FACTORY_RESTORE (without extension) into the root directory and force a reboot by holding the power button for 20 or 30 seconds.

Keep in mind that not every extension out there was not made for hard float firmware (>=5.16.3) or soft float firmware (<=5.16.2.1.1), if you make a jump between those two updates, make sure you’re installing the correct packages and extensions.

Some devices may let you skip the initial device set-up by simply restarting the device. But if your device keeps prompting the set-up, do it quickly (skipping Wi-Fi), and then delete the partial OTA download located in your Kindle root directory.

After downgrading, you will need to re-do the post-jailbreak instructions:

Setting Up A Hotfix

Credits

• Written by Bucks, adapted from Neon