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Old 08-20-2024, 12:24 PM   #176
Gymnar
Junior Member
Gymnar began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 4
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2024
Device: Kobo/Tolino Vision/Libra Color
Just registered here to write about my journey to turn my tolino Vision Color to a Kobo Libra Color:

I started my journey with a fully updated tolino Vision color, running version 5.1.186250
It worked on my device, but it may brick yours. I was just happy to accept driving this device against the wall, but it worked. So proceed at your own risk.

Steps:
1. Install the tolino-qt6-recovery-5.0.175773.zip recovery, which is for the Shine color model (kobo13 instead of kobo11)
2. After installing and rebooting, activate developer options via "devmodeon" in the search bar
3. Go to the last page of developer options and change product to Kobo in the tolino subsection
4. Let it reboot and settle
5. Install 5.1.184318 for the tolino Vision Color
6. Optional: Install 5.1.186250 to be on the latest version as of writing this post

Explanations:
- I could not find a Vision Firmware which allowed enabling developer mode to switch the device to act like a Kobo device, so I went for the earliest firmware for the color eink devices of kobo. The firmware for the shine color appears to miss some crucial features of the Vision, for example, Notebooks won't open and starting the Notebook app will crash the device.
- Once the tolino is converted like this, it registers and activates with kobo just like a regular kobo
- The change survives updating with official tolino firmware, as of this writing (this loophole could be closed in the future)
- After updating to a Vision firmware, handwriting and notebooks work again
- Updating to 5.1.186250 removes the developer mode. I am not sure if it's required, but it's gone. If needed, downgrading re-enables the developer mode
- The device feels way snappier after changing it to identify itself as a kobo device
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