title_body: Which Kindle Paperwhite model/generation do I have? I need to determine which firmware update to download. The Amazon site is helpful if you know exactly which generation or model of Kindle you have. But they give no guidance as to how to determine which generation or model I own.
  
  Is there some way on the hardware or within the software to determine which generation of Kindle Paperwhite I have?
upvoted_answer: While impossible for me to find on my own, an external link brought me to this page by Amazon with hints as to how to identify which of the many Kindle models you may have:
  
  
  Which Kindle E-reader do I have?
  
  
  From the blog post, How to Tell Kindle Paperwhite Generations Apart, I learned this:
  
  
  The first Paperwhite has big “Kindle” logo on back, versus “Amazon” for the 2nd and 3rd Paperwhites.
  The 2nd generation of Paperwhite has a light “Kindle” logo on front versus the 3rd generation that has a blacked-out “Kindle” logo on the front.
  
  
  Generations
  
  
  The first generation of Paperwhite is also known as “Kindle 5th Generation”. (firmware updates)
  Second is “Kindle 6th Generation”. (firmware updates)
  Third is “Kindle 7th Generation”. (firmware updates)
  
  
  Flowchart
  
  I distilled the information from the articles linked above into this flowchart.