Preventing upgrades

[pgaunt]

Is there a way of preventing my Aura from upgrading to the latest firmware?

I don't like 3.15.0 for a couple of reasons and went back to 3.12.1. Trouble is every time I run sync it downloads 3.15.0 again and then updates if I then happen to power the Aura off and on again.

Short of not running sync, never turning it off or removing the upgrade files is there any way of stopping this happening?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by pgaunt

Is there a way of preventing my Aura from upgrading to the latest firmware?

I don't like 3.15.0 for a couple of reasons and went back to 3.12.1. Trouble is every time I run sync it downloads 3.15.0 again and then updates if I then happen to power the Aura off and on again.

Short of not running sync, never turning it off or removing the upgrade files is there any way of stopping this happening?

Is there a reason none of those is an option for you? The first two are typically entirely doable, I would have thought. And it's likely that this will be a short-term issue.

[Ken Maltby]

This may seem an odd question, but why do you sync? Do you have the Kobo site managing your library? Is it just to easily find where you left off, in a book you are reading on several devices? I understand that the Pocket syncing is a separate thing.

For the user initiated sync, I would think it is something I can live without. You can alter the database on your device, so that the "phone home" address is not functional.

Luck;
Ken

[GERGE]

There is a patch for this: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=255401

And downloading books and previews from Kobobooks usually requires syncing. I usually buy my books from there but I download with ADE, but syncing is the only way for previews.

[pgaunt]

The main reason I want to disable it is that I sometimes hit sync on the home screen by mistake. Simple as that really. The idea of changing the 'phone home' url appeals - which one is it though? There are quite a few.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by pgaunt

The main reason I want to disable it is that I sometimes hit sync on the home screen by mistake. Simple as that really.

If that's the only reason, you can try using Kobo Utilities to dismiss the Sync tile from the homescreen.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by pgaunt

The main reason I want to disable it is that I sometimes hit sync on the home screen by mistake. Simple as that really. The idea of changing the 'phone home' url appeals - which one is it though? There are quite a few.

It has been those in the "user" table of the KoboReader.sqlite file. If you can remove or invalidate the user id, the contact with the server becomes more anonymous. Kobo has added to the user table cells with the firmware updates, so there may be a differently constructed series of entries required to create the results you are looking for. For my older FW all I do is just zero out any alphanumeric cells (including urls) and set all the true/false cells to false.

Luck;
Ken

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

It has been those in the "user" table of the KoboReader.sqlite file. If you can remove or invalidate the user id, the contact with the server becomes more anonymous. Kobo has added to the user table cells with the firmware updates, so there may be a differently constructed series of entries required to create the results you are looking for. For my older FW all I do is just zero out any alphanumeric cells (including urls) and set all the true/false cells to false.

What columns are you talking about? The user table is:

CREATE TABLE user(
UserID TEXT NOT NULL,
UserKey TEXT NOT NULL,
UserDisplayName TEXT,
UserEmail TEXT,
___DeviceID TEXT,
FacebookAuthToken TEXT,
HasMadePurchase BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
IsOneStoreAccount BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
IsChildAccount BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
RefreshToken TEXT, 
AuthToken TEXT, 
AuthType TEXT,
PRIMARY KEY (UserID))

I don't see anything there that looks to be related to the firmware version. And I checked a few older versions. No columns have been removed, so, so I can't see what you are referring to.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by davidfor

What columns are you talking about? The user table is:

CREATE TABLE user(
UserID TEXT NOT NULL,
UserKey TEXT NOT NULL,
UserDisplayName TEXT,
UserEmail TEXT,
___DeviceID TEXT,
FacebookAuthToken TEXT,
HasMadePurchase BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
IsOneStoreAccount BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
IsChildAccount BIT DEFAULT FALSE, 
RefreshToken TEXT, 
AuthToken TEXT, 
AuthType TEXT,
PRIMARY KEY (UserID))

I don't see anything there that looks to be related to the firmware version. And I checked a few older versions. No columns have been removed, so, so I can't see what you are referring to.

I said Kobo has added columns, over time with the firmware updates.

My boilerplate on this:

If you just want to read your ebooks and do not want to use any of the sync features then you can use your Kobo device without registering. [This is what I have done all along. My memory may not be the greatest anymore but even I can find my place in a book I am reading on multiple devices. Sync is not of much use if you read a book from a single device.]

1. The tool you need.


3. This should let you use the sqlitebrowser File>Open database function to find the "KoboReader.sqlite" file in the .kobo folder of your device.

4. Tshering's original description of the procedure:

"there are several explanations at this forum. I cannot find them myself right now. Anyway, in order to initialize the reader without registering you can add a new line to the "user" table of the database. Fill in any fitting values. Depending on your reset firmware version, the number of values varies.
Example for FW 1.9.12:

Code:
INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0");

Example for FW 2.5.0:

Code:
INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0", "0","false")

I think you use the SQLite Database Browser. Right? Open the database file "KoboReader.sqlite". Select "Browse Data" and choose the table "user". Look at line 1 and try to establish whether the values of one of the two examples might fit or whether you have to make some modifications. I guess the second example might be correct for the Mini. Choose Execute SQL, enter the command "INSERT INTO user VALUES ..." and press "Execute query".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tshering"

For my user for AuraHD 3.1.1:

INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0", "0","false","false","false")

You can just type the string you need into the "SQL string:" box in the "Execute SQL" tab.
Then click on the "Execute query" button.

5. After you have a zeroed out user and have saved the file, just restart your device and you should be good to go.

Luck;
Ken

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

I said Kobo has added columns, over time with the firmware updates.

Yes, you did. But, the context of the thread is blocking firmware updates. And your response was to a post about changing the "phone home url". With that, I read your post as saying that you block the updates with the settings in the user table. As I have spent a lot of time looking at the database, I couldn't remember anything that was related to the firmware version, so I checked and didn't see anything. Hence my question to you.

For my curiosity, I did a test using my Touch. I set everything in the user table to zero (either the character, number or false) and did a sync. Watching the status, it showed "Checking for update". It didn't find anything as it already had the latest firmware available to it. Then it tried to do a sync. That didn't work, but it also didn't complete. So, I put an earlier firmware on, and this time it did download the latest. That says that the firmware checks are independent of the logged in user. Which does make sense as the device check for an update during setup before signing in.

If the OP is not needing to sync books, the simplest thing to do is to remove the sync tile from the home screen. That reduces the chance of accidentally hitting it and reclaims the space. If the OP needs to sync books, then the only choice is to patch the firmware to change the URL used for the firmware check.

[Ken Maltby]

You put on an earlier firmware and made a new KoboReader.sqlite, with a device ID, in the new "user" table? Did you then zero out the user table in that database, before contacting Kobo?

Luck;
Ken

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

You put on an earlier firmware and made a new KoboReader.sqlite, with a device ID, in the new "user" table?

I didn't clear the database, I just changed all the values in the one row in the user table to zero. Which is effectively what you do.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I didn't clear the database, I just changed all the values in the one row in the user table to zero. Which is effectively what you do.

So, " So, I put an earlier firmware on, " doesn't include rebuilding the database? Including the user table?

Luck;
Ken

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

So, " So, I put an earlier firmware on, " doesn't include rebuilding the database? Including the user table?

No. What I was testing was whether I needed to be logged into a real Kobo account to get firmware updates. Just changing the entry in the user table should be enough for that.

But, maybe that isn't enough. So I removed the database, let the device create an empty one and used one of your inserts to add the user row. Again, it checked for a firmware updated when I started the sync.

[Ken Maltby]

The main intended benefit of this is to prevent the forced automatic "upgrades" that you encounter after a factory reset or when you wish to use an earlier firmware. It is not going to prevent it, if you are using the "Sync" function (Thus the first paragraph of my boilerplate.). I can see where my original reply could have implied that. If the OP can live without deliberately calling the Sync function, he can use the older firmware, as I use older firmware.

You are right, of course, the actual "Phone Home" URLs are not maintained in the database. (I thought it might be in "etc", where the other hosts are, but I didn't find it.)

Luck;
Ken