Aura ONE Factory reset v. manual reset

[issybird]

I’m toying with the idea of resetting my Aura One, to see if that will fix the failure to sync issue (and related battery drain). However, I also can get along as is; the biggest drawback is that my OverDrive books don’t download, but that’s more of a nuisance rather than a dealbreaker. Repairing my account worked the first few times I tried it, for a bit, but now that also goes into the endless cycle.

So I have two questions, and I apologize as I know this is ground that’s been covered.

1. Is there an advantage to one reset method over the other? Kobo’s troubleshooting page (yeah, stop laughing) says to try the factory reset first, but is there any benefit in not cutting to the chase with a manual reset?
2. Am I running a risk in a factory or manual reset, so that I’m better off managing with the device as is, especially since my purchases still download?

[geek1011]

I'm not sure exactly which reset you are referring to (e.g. the one Kobo is referring to changed behaviour last year). For sync issues, a sign-out should be enough to fix it.

Signing out is the simplest type of reset. It only clears the KOBOeReader partition, which is then regenerated on the next reboot, and requires you to sign in and add your books again. It also clears some config files from the rootfs, but this isn't really relevant for users. It is generally used to fix database issue. I don't remember if it preserves sideloaded books or not (by only removing the .kobo folder).

The next type is the factory reset from the device info settings page. This one is pretty much the same thing on recent firmware versions.

Finally, there is the hard/manual reset, which is triggered from the developer options (or the device info page on older firmware versions), the boot process, or the critical error screen. This reset will also restore the firmware in the rootfs from fs.tgz in the recoveryfs partition. This will work in all cases, except for if /bin/busybox (including /bin/sh and other symlinks), /etc/u-boot/*, and /usr/local/Kobo/pickel are missing on the rootfs on certain devices which don't seem to be able to trigger it directly from u-boot. There is a small risk when doing this kind of reset since the bootloader is overwritten and restored during the process (I once ran into this issue when resetting my Mini).

As a last resort, for devices with a SD card, the SD card image can be restored. This is obviously the most risky, as it requires opening the device. I am currently looking into the possibility of doing this without opening the device, but I'm not sure if anything will come out of it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by geek1011

I'm not sure exactly which reset you are referring to (e.g. the one Kobo is referring to changed behaviour last year). For sync issues, a sign-out should be enough to fix it.

Signing out is the simplest type of reset. It only clears the KOBOeReader partition, which is then regenerated on the next reboot, and requires you to sign in and add your books again. It also clears some config files from the rootfs, but this isn't really relevant for users. It is generally used to fix database issue. I don't remember if it preserves sideloaded books or not (by only removing the .kobo folder).

This doesn't touch the sideloaded books. They will still be there and get imported after the setup is done. Some of the changes in the config files in the rootfs do affect the user, as it will remove any saved WiFi networks.

The next type is the factory reset from the device info settings page. This one is pretty much the same thing on recent firmware versions.

It wipes the book partition. I assume that it formats it, but, I've never checked.

Finally, there is the hard/manual reset, which is triggered from the developer options (or the device info page on older firmware versions), the boot process, or the critical error screen. This reset will also restore the firmware in the rootfs from fs.tgz in the recoveryfs partition. This will work in all cases, except for if /bin/busybox (including /bin/sh and other symlinks), /etc/u-boot/*, and /usr/local/Kobo/pickel are missing on the rootfs on certain devices which don't seem to be able to trigger it directly from u-boot. There is a small risk when doing this kind of reset since the bootloader is overwritten and restored during the process (I once ran into this issue when resetting my Mini).

I think the risk is pretty minimal. And it probably is mainly for people fiddling under the covers. Or, if the internal storage is failing. The biggest risk might be the battery running out at exactly the wrong time.


@issybird: To me, it depends on how much time you have, and what you have already done. I tend to do the signout, and if it fails, just go to the full factory reset. I haven't had the latter fail on me.

It is interesting that purchased books are syncing, but OD books. That to me suggests the link between your OD and Kobo account has been lost. You could sign out of that and back in. But, at this point, I think I'd cut my losses and do the factory reset.

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by davidfor

This doesn't touch the sideloaded books. They will still be there and get imported after the setup is done.

That's good to know.

Some of the changes in the config files in the rootfs do affect the user, as it will remove any saved WiFi networks.

I meant that is wasn't relevant since that's what you'd expect if you didn't know the details of what it removes.

It wipes the book partition. I assume that it formats it, but, I've never checked.

It does format it.

I think the risk is pretty minimal. And it probably is mainly for people fiddling under the covers. Or, if the internal storage is failing. The biggest risk might be the battery running out at exactly the wrong time.

When it happened to my Mini, it was fully charged and without any tinkering. Something like this happened to my Aura a few weeks ago when the SD failed into read-only mode (I mentioned this in some other threads) and got stuck in the recovery bootloader.

@issybird: To me, it depends on how much time you have, and what you have already done. I tend to do the signout, and if it fails, just go to the full factory reset. I haven't had the latter fail on me.

I'd agree with that.

It is interesting that purchased books are syncing, but OD books. That to me suggests the link between your OD and Kobo account has been lost. You could sign out of that and back in. But, at this point, I think I'd cut my losses and do the factory reset.

Another possibility would be corruption in the encrypted BookReader.sqlite DB, which stores details about things like OverDrive.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by geek1011

Another possibility would be corruption in the encrypted BookReader.sqlite DB, which stores details about things like OverDrive.

That's a good point. I've removed it a couple of times (bath accidentally and deliberately, but more often the former) and it was recreated. But, I don't use OD much, so I don't know what happens to currently borrowed books.

[issybird]

Thanks for the input. I’ve already tried signing out of and back into OD, as well as signing out of the device.

This seems to be a sync issue. Sync gets stuck in “Starting sync.” I suspect that I can download purchased books because I can sidestep the full sync process and do a straight download. There are other indications of some communication; I know my reading status from another device updated when I was fiddling with it. But I can’t leave it connected to WiFi, or once it goes into sync mode, it’ll drain the battery. Perhaps I’ll try signing out of OD again and trying a sync before signing back in.

This is mildly annoying/frustrating, but it also means I don’t want to break it trying to fix it. Having to repopulate my reader would also be annoying, and I’ve already had to do the redownload of Kobo items once when I signed out. It would be worth it if it resolved the issues once and for all - or at least longer than a couple of weeks!