Kobo Aura H2O boot problem

NickKnaque · 01-24-2024, 11:36 AM

I have an original Kobo Aura H2O (model N250) and recently it has begun having a boot problem:

when turned on, the screen is lit up and it shows the 3 dots but after a short time it then starts to show apparently random blocks of blacked out screen at different positions. This goes on for a long time until I get bored and turn it off by holding the button down.
The 2nd boot then works as normal - hooray

Is this a known problem? I'd really prefer step 1 to be omitted as it always used to be. Nothing has happened to the device other than loading more books.

I have tried no corrective action as I have the latest firmware I believe (4.38.21908) and before factory resetting etc, I wanted to know if the problem is known to exist - or is my device now faulty in some way?

TIA

JSWolf · 01-24-2024, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickKnaque

I have an original Kobo Aura H2O (model N250) and recently it has begin having a boot problem:

when turned on, the screen is lit up and it shows the 3 dots but after a short time it then starts to show apparently random blocks of blacked out screen at different positions. This goes on for a long time until I get bored and turn it off by holding the button down.
The 2nd boot then works as normal - hooray

Is this a known problem? I'd really prefer step 1 to be omitted as it always used to be. Nothing has happened to the device other than loading more books.

I have tried no corrective action as I have the latest firmware I believe (4.38.21908) and before factory resetting etc, I wanted to know if the problem is known to exist - or is my device now faulty in some way?

TIA

Why are you truing off your H2O? They are designed to be left in sleep mode when not being used so it wakes up quickly.

DNSB · 01-24-2024, 09:20 PM

Jon, while you may not turn off your ereaders, someone who uses their ereader less often may decide to do so.

Nonetheless, the boot behaviour the OP is seeing is not normal and telling them not to turn their ereader off is less than helpful.

For me, the issue is not normal and I would suggest backing up his device database and trying the various factory reset options

The options in order of less drastic are:

Use the sign out option from Settings => Accounts menu

Use the Factory reset your eReader from Settings => Device information

Bring up the search box and type devmodeon.and tap Go.
Under Settings => Device information, you now see a new entry labelled Developer options. Tap on view and the last page should have Factory reset your eReader.

To revert Developer Mode to off, type devmodeoff in the search box and tap Go.

The first option resets the contents of the .kobo directory back to factory but does not remove other content. After the clear, any sideloaded books will be re-imported.

The second option wipes the user information and anything else stored in the exposed partition but does not revert the firmware version to factory.

The third option wipes everything back to factory. Firmware updates, reloading sideloaded books, fonts, etc. will be needed.

NickKnaque · 01-25-2024, 04:22 AM

Thanks for your responses.

NickKnaque · 01-27-2024, 02:07 PM

Update
All is Ok now, it seems.
I took the sd card out and did a chkdsk on it; it was ok.
I logged out of the account and did the re-verify thing again, ok.
It booted ok without the sd card.
Put the sd card back in and booted it and let it do the whole import again.
Now all seems fine

DNSB · 01-28-2024, 02:58 PM

So your internal µSD card is okay but the issue was with the content on the external µSD card? There were reports back when the external µSD cards were common about occasional and erratic issues with them.

NickKnaque · 01-28-2024, 05:31 PM

Hard to say what was wrong. The sd card itself was ok, the Calibre kobo utilities plugin said the kobo database was ok. If they can somehow come out of sync with each other, then maybe the rebuilding of the database cured the problem, having logged out of the account, or maybe it was re-authorising the device. I didn't try to restore my backup of the database as I didn't need the metadata and I was just happy that all was ok. With KOreader, Plato and NickelMenu, all is better than before now.

01-24-2024, 11:36 AM	#1
NickKnaque Variable Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: 3rd quadrant, alpha section Device: Kobo Aura H2O (original)	Kobo Aura H2O boot problem I have an original Kobo Aura H2O (model N250) and recently it has begun having a boot problem: when turned on, the screen is lit up and it shows the 3 dots but after a short time it then starts to show apparently random blocks of blacked out screen at different positions. This goes on for a long time until I get bored and turn it off by holding the button down. The 2nd boot then works as normal - hooray Is this a known problem? I'd really prefer step 1 to be omitted as it always used to be. Nothing has happened to the device other than loading more books. I have tried no corrective action as I have the latest firmware I believe (4.38.21908) and before factory resetting etc, I wanted to know if the problem is known to exist - or is my device now faulty in some way? TIA Last edited by NickKnaque; 01-25-2024 at 03:00 AM. Reason: Correct a speling mistayk ;-)

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01-24-2024, 09:20 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 39,095 Karma: 153098470 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Jon, while you may not turn off your ereaders, someone who uses their ereader less often may decide to do so. Nonetheless, the boot behaviour the OP is seeing is not normal and telling them not to turn their ereader off is less than helpful. For me, the issue is not normal and I would suggest backing up his device database and trying the various factory reset options The options in order of less drastic are: Use the sign out option from Settings => Accounts menu Use the Factory reset your eReader from Settings => Device information Bring up the search box and type devmodeon.and tap Go. Under Settings => Device information, you now see a new entry labelled Developer options. Tap on view and the last page should have Factory reset your eReader. To revert Developer Mode to off, type devmodeoff in the search box and tap Go. The first option resets the contents of the .kobo directory back to factory but does not remove other content. After the clear, any sideloaded books will be re-imported. The second option wipes the user information and anything else stored in the exposed partition but does not revert the firmware version to factory. The third option wipes everything back to factory. Firmware updates, reloading sideloaded books, fonts, etc. will be needed.

01-25-2024, 04:22 AM	#4
NickKnaque Variable Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: 3rd quadrant, alpha section Device: Kobo Aura H2O (original)	Thanks for your responses.

01-27-2024, 02:07 PM	#5
NickKnaque Variable Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: 3rd quadrant, alpha section Device: Kobo Aura H2O (original)	Update All is Ok now, it seems. I took the sd card out and did a chkdsk on it; it was ok. I logged out of the account and did the re-verify thing again, ok. It booted ok without the sd card. Put the sd card back in and booted it and let it do the whole import again. Now all seems fine

01-28-2024, 02:58 PM	#6
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 39,095 Karma: 153098470 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	So your internal µSD card is okay but the issue was with the content on the external µSD card? There were reports back when the external µSD cards were common about occasional and erratic issues with them.

01-28-2024, 05:31 PM	#7
NickKnaque Variable Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: 3rd quadrant, alpha section Device: Kobo Aura H2O (original)	Hard to say what was wrong. The sd card itself was ok, the Calibre kobo utilities plugin said the kobo database was ok. If they can somehow come out of sync with each other, then maybe the rebuilding of the database cured the problem, having logged out of the account, or maybe it was re-authorising the device. I didn't try to restore my backup of the database as I didn't need the metadata and I was just happy that all was ok. With KOreader, Plato and NickelMenu, all is better than before now.

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