Broken power button

[nowy]

I managed to broke my power button during opening of back cover.
I put a card under the circuit board and damaged something responsible for turning reader on/off.

I exchanged memory card in order to switch to android. After assembling up the device I tried to turn it on and nothing happened.
I opened it up again and unfortunately I think the power button is broken for good. I found some tiny loose plastic and metal parts in area of power switch.
I put back old memory card and connect reader to pc. It turned on.

Is there anything I could do to assign power button with light button either in android or original software?

I can still use reset button to power on reader but it won't be very handful.
Can I put memory card with android in and instead of switching on reset device or connect it to computer? Will it work the same as with Nickel?
I don't want to risk loosing contact with my device. Power button seems to be quite important:/ I could live without light one. I wish I broke this one instead.
So guys if you're opening it for the first time be careful. Especially when you're opening it close to power button.

One more question:
There are some covers with auto on/off. Where is the sensor located? Is it work independent of power switch mechanism? Will it works on android?

Thank you for any

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Update:

I've tested it a little more.
The only way to turn it on when it's in turn off state is to connect it to a computer. Reset works only in sleep mode. Looks like android on my Kobo is out of reach:/
I've tried to find and press something responsible for turning it on near the switch but with no results. Not sure what this slider was pressing but probably it's destroyed.

Does anybody know whats the chances that the cover with turn on/off feature will help? Is it turn in on by the same sensors?

I am still quite happy that it is still usable. I can connect it to computer at home and use reset when outdoor. Just hope I will don't need to use power button any more.

[denverh]

The same thing happened to me as well. I had removed the cover a number of times without any trouble, but that one time I managed to get the card I was using to loosen the catches a bit too far under the cover and off came the power switch.

I didn't worry about it too much because I had already discovered that the reader powers up when you plug in a USB cable, and you can power it off through menus. Later I soldered the switch back on. It's surface mount, so it's a delicate operation, and there are several parts to the switch so I had to figure out how it went back together, but it wasn't an impossible job. If you haven't done any surface mount soldering before you might want to think twice about trying that.

Yes, it's possible to live without the power switch, whether you're using stock firmware or Android. You can power it off through menus, and power it on, or wake it up, by plugging it into a computer or charger. That's certainly not as convenient, but it will work.

The magnetic sleep switch is near the lower right hand corner of the screen. You can test it with any small magnet. As soon as you get near the right spot the reader will go to sleep, and wake up when you move away. However, as far as I know, it only works with stock firmware, not Android.

Thanks,

Denver

[WS64]

Originally Posted by nowy

There are some covers with auto on/off. Where is the sensor located? Is it work independent of power switch mechanism?

On the right side, around the middle. Just put any magnet there and see if it turns on/off.

[nowy]

Thanks for all the information.
I have four plastic/metal parts apart. They look quite messy. I don't feel up to repairing it by myself. I am not very technical person and I would probably completely brick it;]
It's good news I can still try android on my device and cover wake up function will work too.
The only magnet I found home was refrigerator one. It seems that it isn't strong enough.
I will play a little bit with android and if decide to go back to original firmware than I'll buy cover.

[WS64]

Oops, I checked once more, the magnet is NOT in the middle but actually pretty low. And I can turn my Mini on/off with a very small fridge one...

[nowy]

Thanks. I've found the spot My magnet is large and unhandy and it wasn't easy to find it. It's nice that I can wake it up without power cable. Eventually I will buy some cover.
It looks like my Kobo is still quite usable