# Unable to launch



## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Suddenly, I'm getting the "unable to launch Shop" on my kindle fire 8.9hd.  Obviously, I've done the "hold for at least 30 seconds" reboot; no change. I've googled it, and found no real solution. Anybody got anything on this problem? Thank you all again for ALL of the help I get here!!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Usually when I see that sort of message it's a connection issue. So the first thing is to make sure your network has a good connection -- unplug your modem and/or router for a half a minute and then plug them back in. 

Once it's all back -- probably will take a few minutes -- if the Fire still isn't connecting properly, toggle wireless off and then on again on the kindle and let it re-connect. 

If it's an app other than the kindle store, sometimes uninstalling it and re-installing it fixes problems.  

OR . . . less 'invasive' . . . go to 'applications' in settings and manage applications.  Find it and do a 'force stop'.  I think you may even be able to do that with the kindle store.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Thank you Ann. Will try these suggestions today.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Nope...neither of the first two worked. I think the app is the Amazon store app...it's one of the things across the top of the Kindle...shop, games, apps, books..etc. Nothing worked..tried the force stop, reset, no luck. Geez, I hate to call Amazon over this really little thing, but it IS annoying. Makes me wonder if that's just the first of things to go and maybe there's another problem. My year isn't over until March, so...... lol....


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I can access the SHOP from my HDX....I would contact them via their email and ask them to call you.  It's what they are there for.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

I don't have the HDX yet, Betsy...I really want one, but like I said, I've not had my hd a year yet... I sure hate to reset to factory for that one glitchy thing, but if it's a harbinger of things to come, I want to know that too. Sigh, maybe I will have to call Amazon


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah, I don't have an HD to test...but sometimes there could be a problem with the Shop on the server end...

Let us know what you do!

Betsy


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Just got off of the phone with CS; first time I've gotten someone with a foreign accent. Not a problem; just hard for me in my Southern Drawl to understand and be understood..lol. Short story long, we tried everything except factory reset. I told him if we could fix it without doing the reset, I'd prefer that. I have so many 1mobile games installed, I hate to lose them. He is sending it up the line for further tech help, so no harm, no foul.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

While he's checking on it, Suzsmarme, you might want to use ES File Explorer to find those apk files that you downloaded from 1mobile and save them to somewhere off-device, like  a Dropbox folder.

Let me know if you need help on how to do that.

Betsy


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Ok...letting you know. I've read "Dropbox" here before, but had no clue. I'll start with I DO have ES file explorer (yay for me; figured THAT one out).  Would love help. Thank you so so much for all you do, Betsy. I know this is old hat for you guys, but will really be great in case I have to do something I don't want to do..hehehe.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Dropbox is a service that lets you access data on a cloud account from your PCs, laptops, and iOS and Android devices. I've been using it for years.

*Dropbox.*

You obviously have turned on Settings > Applications > Apps from Unknown Sources > On since you're using 1Mobile.

Go to https://www.dropbox.com/android in your browser on your Fire to get the app. Tap on the blue Download for Android button. Say OK if/when it prompts you that the file must be downloaded.

Tap on the menu bar in the upper left hand corner and tap on Downloads. You should see the Dropbox.apk file. Tap on it to install it. Tap on Next and then Install. Open it.

On the first screen, tap Start, then create your account. (If you already have an account, as I do, you can just sign in.)

*OK, now you're set to back up your apk files!*

Open ES File Explorer.

ES File Explorer will open to show you the contents of the /sdcard directory on your Fire. One of those will be *onemobile_download*. This is where the apk files you've downloaded from 1Mobile will be. If you aren't viewing the /sdcard dirctory, navigate to it.

Press and hold on the first apk to be copied (any of them really). It will highlight and the top menu bar will change to show how many you've selected. You can tap on the four boxes in the upper right to select all of the apps in the directory.










Then, tap on "More" in the lower right hand corner.

Tap on Share, second item down. Add to Dropbox should be one of the items. Tap on that.

The Dropbox menu "Choose Location" should appear. You can create a new folder and call it say, "Apk files," by tapping on the little grey folder icon to the right of Dropbox in the grey bar. Once you tap create you will be automatically in that folder. Tap on the green Add button.

If you now open Dropbox and go to the folder you created, you should see it uploading your files to Dropbox. Once they are all there you're set!

*Reinstalling apps from Dropbox.*

Easy peasy.

Reinstall Dropbox using the instructions under "Dropbox" and sign in to your account.

Go to the folder with your apk files. Tap on the apk you want to install. It will open and ask if you want to install.

Hope this helps!

Betsy

(edited to clarify reinstall instructions)


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Betsy - THANK YOU for this post! I've been trying rather unsuccessfully to figure out exactly this.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Glad to know I'm not the only one; thanks, HappyGuy for making me feel better about bugging Betsy..lol. Just to make sure I understand, Betsy, if I have to reset to factory or they send me a new one, I just go to Dropbox on my computer and have it send my files to my new/reset Kindle, correct?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Glad  to help, HappyGuy!

Suzsmarmie--never be afraid to ask--if you have the question, more than likely others do, too, as you can see!

If you have to reset your Fire or get a new one, just turn on allowing apps from outside sources, as I mention:

Settings > Applications > Apps from Unknown Sources > On.

Then, on your Fire, using the Web browser, go to the Dropbox link I provided and reinstall Dropbox per the instructions and sign in, as you'll have created an account already.  You'll be able to see the folder you created with your apk files in it.  Just tap on the apk for the app you want to install and it will install directly from the Dropbox folder.

Betsy


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

Suzsmarmie, the "unable to launch" happened to me last Friday on my 7HD-13 as well.  It was working fine on my 7HDX at the same time, so it wasn't the wifi connection.  The only solution that really worked for me was to reset it to factory default... twice.  I don't know why... maybe to clear out all of the cached data and anything interfering with the processing unit.  Anyway, good news is that the shop finally launched properly and zippily (if there is such a word).  I only have 2-3 apps that are not from Amazon, so it wasn't as bad as having to replace the unit.  However, just the "wondering if I needed to replace my unit" was stressful... and I lost a few hours of sleep over the worry and workarounds (multiple times, I rebooted, force stopped, clear cached, the works...).  I'm all good now... and you will be too.


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## SheilaJ (Apr 10, 2011)

Suzsmarmie, since you got these other apps from 1mobile, can't you just make a list of them, do a factory reset and redownload them?  I had to do just that with my HD7 and haven't had a problem since and it has probably been 8 months or so.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

SheilaJ said:


> Suzsmarmie, since you got these other apps from 1mobile, can't you just make a list of them, do a factory reset and redownload them? I had to just that with my HD7 and haven't had a problem since and it has probably been 8 months or so.


Yep, I could, and probably should since I'd be doing a general clean out of apps (games) I THOUGHT I wanted, but then Amazon finally came out with them.



Brownskins said:


> Suzsmarmie, the "unable to launch" happened to me last Friday on my 7HD-13 as well. It was working fine on my 7HDX at the same time, so it wasn't the wifi connection. The only solution that really worked for me was to reset it to factory default... twice. I don't know why... maybe to clear out all of the cached data and anything interfering with the processing unit. Anyway, good news is that the shop finally launched properly and zippily (if there is such a word). I only have 2-3 apps that are not from Amazon, so it wasn't as bad as having to replace the unit. However, just the "wondering if I needed to replace my unit" was stressful... and I lost a few hours of sleep over the worry and workarounds (multiple times, I rebooted, force stopped, clear cached, the works...). I'm all good now... and you will be too.


It was just bizarre, Brownskins...out of the blue. Amazon CS said to give them a couple of days to work on a solution, but I know I'll be ok.... . I'm like you; I only have 3 months before my year warranty is out, and I can just see it now..2 days after it is over, the darn thing crashes and burns. So I'm just making sure CS knows and makes a note of the problems I am having.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

In the ongoing saga, I just got a call from Amazon CS (the same person I spoke with yesterday). He said the tech team's solution is to remove my 1mobile app completely (along with the downloads) because apparently somewhere down the line, I downloaded the 1mobile app for Amazon, thus preventing the installed Amazon app from opening. Once I remove the app and downloads, they will, sometime this month (he had no idea when or how) giving me the fix for this problem. Then I can reload the 1mobile app and downloads. I told him I could do that, but I had to do without all of my 1mobile apps until they decide to push the fix (sometime in Jan of 2014). I told him I use more apps from 1mobile than I do from Amazon, and that really would be an inconvenience without a date certain. He agreed, said he'd make more notes, and get back to me.  Sounds to me like a factory reset is going to be the ultimate solution after all, but I'm going to wait it out. Stay tuned....


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Now that you say that, Suzsmarmie, that actually makes sense.  I got a FaceBook or Words With Friends update once automatically through 1Mobile -- can't remember which now -- but it HOSED the thing.  Just stuck, couldn't do any thing with it.  I had to completely delete the relevant app and then re 'purchase' it from Amazon.  I then went to the 1Mobile app and made sure the 'auto update' thing was UNCHECKED.  THAT is what was causing the problem.  So if you're saying that you had some apps from there that were also on Amazon, I bet that's what happened.  I really think as long as you are careful not to download the same app from more than one place you'll be fine, once you get it all cleaned up.


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

It does make sense, but there should be some way to delete the app itself from 1mobile or my device or something without getting rid of the whole 1mobile app and its downloads until Amazon sends me the fix sometime this month.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Suzsmarmie said:


> In the ongoing saga, I just got a call from Amazon CS (the same person I spoke with yesterday). He said the tech team's solution is to remove my 1mobile app completely (along with the downloads) because apparently somewhere down the line, I downloaded the 1mobile app for Amazon, thus preventing the installed Amazon app from opening. Once I remove the app and downloads, they will, sometime this month (he had no idea when or how) giving me the fix for this problem. Then I can reload the 1mobile app and downloads. I told him I could do that, but I had to do without all of my 1mobile apps until they decide to push the fix (sometime in Jan of 2014). I told him I use more apps from 1mobile than I do from Amazon, and that really would be an inconvenience without a date certain. He agreed, said he'd make more notes, and get back to me. Sounds to me like a factory reset is going to be the ultimate solution after all, but I'm going to wait it out. Stay tuned....


So, as I understand it, you apparently (inadvertently) downloaded the Amazon (shopping) app from 1Mobile, which Kindle CS says broke the native Amazon app which is built into the software and not separately downloadable for the Kindle Fire--not compatible with any of the Fires as it is built in.

That makes sense.

What does not make sense to me is removing 1mobile and your apps before they have a solution? Though I do think if you've broken the Amazon app somehow, a factory reset may or may not resolve the issue. I'm not sure a factory reset restores changes to the firmware. It doesn't roll back updates, for example.

Keep us posted.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Right. The 1mobile app and apps you got from there aren't really the problem. When I had a similar problem, I just had to remove the one problem app. But in this case, the problem app is built in, so it seems to me the only fix is a factory reset. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Right. The 1mobile app and apps you got from there aren't really the problem. When I had a similar problem, I just had to remove the one problem app. But in this case, the problem app is built in, so it seems to me the only fix is a factory reset.
> 
> Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX.


Maybe. I'm not sure a factory reset will fix messed-up firmware. But it would be the logical next thing to try, I would think.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, it might not . . . . but I'm thinking it will.  The store is, after all, an "App" even if it's not separately loadable.  The reset may not roll back updates, but I think it'll put the device, otherwise, to 'like new' condition.  Which means the version of the store and kindle etc that were ON the device when you got it.  No log in info or anything like that.  

If it DOESN'T work . . . . I think the only solution is to request a replacement.  It should be covered as it's under warranty. Suz wasn't doing anything with the device that wasn't allowed by installing the app from unknown sources.  And, though you get warned about doing that, it doesn't say that you've voided anything . . . just that it might not work correctly.

Before doing that . . . I think I'd go into 'applications' and do a force stop, empty cache, etc.  Whatever it'll let you do.

And definitely find the toggle in the 1Mobile app that automatically updates things and turn it OFF!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah, it's definitely worth a try.  I'm not sure, one way or the other.  I just wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work. 

Betsy


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

I'll definitely wait and see if they come up with anything else. If it's giving this much thought and conversation here, just imagine what's going on at Amazon's "Techies" office...!! In any event, the only app that won't launch is THAT one; none of the other tabs are affected and I can still access Amazon even inside other apps (like games for in app purchases).


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## Suzsmarmie (Sep 11, 2010)

Well, I finally found my solution...without having to factory reset thanks to a wonderful helpful person on the Amazon Kindle Boards. I hadn't heard from CS in a week, so decided I'd try one more time to see if I could find a fix myself. That's when I came across this reply:

I found what worked for me. Use your ES File Manager app. Go into your system apps by pressing SYSTEM and then APPS. At the bottom is an app called windowshop apk. Press that. It's going to ask if you want to install it. Install it. The shop button should work then. At least that's what worked for me.

And, it worked for me as well. Just thought I'd pass along in case anyone else experiences this.  Thanks for all the help, support, Dropbox goody tip, and replies from everyone here!!

Debbie


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