"Mounting" the Kobo internal uSD card in Windows 7 x64

[Ken Maltby]

There is probably an easier way but this isn't too bad.

First you will need BOOTICEx64.

Then you can remove your Kobo device's internal uSD card, from your device and plug it into the reader on your PC.

Open Bootice and check that the "Destination Disk" is your uSD card.

Select the "Parts Manage" button and "Backup Partition Table", to save the existing partition arrangement so it can be restored easily after you are done. [I save mine in the same folder I keep my backup image files.]

Then select the "KOBOeReader" partition and click on the "Set Accessible" button. It should move to the top of the list. Now backup the partition table again and give it a name like; "AuraHD_FAT1st.dpt"

Close and exit Bootice. Open Windows Explrer and you should now have the FAT32 partition mounted and you can modify its contents.

When you are done, you open Bootice and restore the original partition table, that you saved earlier. Your uSD card should now work in your Kobo device again, with the changes you made in effect.

So...Now all you need to do to "Mount" the uSD card with the FAT32 accessible (for updates, ect.), is to "Restore" the FAT1st version of the partition table. Make your changes and then restore using the backup of the original partition table.

[My AuraHD all of a sudden gave me a "Code 43 Device has a problem" message and my USB connection won't work. Trying to fix it has not been pleasant. The Code 43 error is keeping me from getting any of the USB connection options (Nickel's, your Start Menu's, or Sergey's) to work, therefor I needed another way to do upgrades. Windows normally can't read the kobo devices internal uSD card, but this way I can read and write to the FAT32 partition, and do my upgrades/modifications. My AuraHD has a hatch that lets me remove the uSD card easily, so I can still make changes/upgrades even though I no longer have a working USB connection.]

Does anyone know of an easier way to mount the card in Win7 x64?

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

I am not sure whether this is easier then yours, but that is how I do it.

• I make an iso image from the sd with Flash Drive Image Creator (It is time and space consuming, but I want to have backups of the sd before and after editing anyway).
• Then I use PassMark OSFMount to mount the partitions (from the iso image) and do the changes.
  (In order to access the Linux partitions [also with PassMark OSFMount] I use Ext2Fsd.
• I write the image back to the sd with Flash Drive Image Writer.

The location of Flash Drive Image Creator and Writer has changed several times in the past, currently (May 2018) you can find them here: https://www.vconsole.com/download

[Ken Maltby]

I use Ext2FSD 0.51 on my PC's SD reader drive, for Linux files as well. I make the occasional image backup of the internal uSD card but not for most updates. It takes me 30 minutes to create or write the 8GB image files. The Bootice approach only takes a couple minutes all together.

Good to see that there is an alternate way to do it.

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

[My AuraHD all of a sudden gave me a "Code 43 Device has a problem" message and my USB connection won't work. Trying to fix it has not been pleasant. The internal card in my AuraHD is easily accessible.]

Somehow I don't understand how things are related. Was the code 43 the reason for you editing the FAT partition? If yes, how did you repair it? Or was it the result of you editing the FAT partition? If yes, how did you repair it?

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by tshering

Somehow I don't understand how things are related. Was the code 43 the reason for you editing the FAT partition? If yes, how did you repair it? Or was it the result of you editing the FAT partition? If yes, how did you repair it?

The Code 43 error is keeping me from getting any of the USB connection options (Nickel's, your Start Menu's, or Sergey's) to work, therefor I needed another way to do upgrades. Windows normally can't read the kobo devices internal uSD card, but this way I can read and write to the FAT32 partition, and do my upgrades/modifications. My AuraHD has a hatch that lets me remove the uSD card easily, so I can still make changes/upgrades even though I no longer have a working USB connection.

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

I guess you checked the windows device drivers, and established that the device itself is defect. This must be a pain.
Another way to handle your problem would be to put the concerning files/directories on the external sd and copy them with a script to the internal sd. In the Kobo Start Menu, you can browse the external sd for scripts and execute them ("scripts > external sd > list sh on sd.msh").
The script on the external sd could be something like
copyKoboRoot2internalSd.sh

cp /mnt/sd/KoboRoot.tgz /mnt/onboard/.kobo/

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by tshering

I guess you checked the windows device drivers, and established that the device itself is defect. This must be a pain.
Another way to handle your problem would be to put the concerning files/directories on the external sd and copy them with a script to the internal sd. In the Kobo Start Menu, you can browse the external sd for scripts and execute them ("scripts > external sd > list sh on sd.msh").
The script on the external sd could be something like
copyKoboRoot2internalSd.sh

cp /mnt/sd/KoboRoot.tgz /mnt/onboard/.kobo/

I hadn't thought of that. Would your example generate the update handling options in your Start Menu?

Right, I have no problem with windows recognizing my other/backup AuraHD. This one was working fine even after I "upgraded" to FW 3.2.0, for a few weeks at least. Windows7x64 is using a generic driver for this, I didn't see any specific to Kobo driver being installed.

Thanks;
Ken

[tshering]

I think this is more comfortable, since you can see when the process of copying is finished. During copying the update animation is shown, but of course it is not updating.

#!/bin/sh
sourceFile=/mnt/sd/KoboRoot.tgz
targetDir=/mnt/onboard/.kobo

if [ -e $sourceFile ]; then
# start animation
    /etc/init.d/update-animator.sh &
# copy
    cp $sourceFile $targetDir
# stop animation
    killall update-animator.sh
fi

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Would your example generate the update handling options in your Start Menu?

Generally speaking, yes. And if for some reason it doesn't, it will after a power circle.