Pocketbook Touch HD 3 clock broken.

[rv0000]

Disconnect the internal battery to make the clock tick again? It sounded extremely weird to me.

But....., it worked! :-) Clock is ticking again.

Pocketbook Touch 5, PB628

[wold]

This also fixed my Lux 5. Thanks! Do be careful with the connector, its plastic cover can peel off.

Note this unit kept the correct date to within a day, with the time incrementing very slowly, appearing almost stuck. KoReader was never installed.

Thinking about it, one idea was the hardware clock producing ticks with random deviations. Over a longer period these could still average out. But this seems rather far fetched after +- 3 months.

Then it seems there are two variables keeping time, or parts thereof. Note time on linux (as used by PB readers) is usually expressed in seconds since "Epoch" (=1970). So keeping time involves incrementing a variable with these seconds. IIRC, sometimes this variable is split into a date and a hour part. The hour part can then be a smaller variable (i.e. <32-bits, with the full epoch time being 64-bits to account for dates after 2038).* An issue with the hour part could explain the UI and annotation date time issues.

As for the battery disconnect, it could reset a variable or the clock increment function**.

* reducing memory usage on embedded devices is a thing; but also consider backward compatibility with older devices.

** A signed vs unsigned integer issue? Both are represented differently IIRC.

[Dryhte]

I'd like to attempt this fix on my Pocketbook Touch HD3 I'm wondering two things:
- will I damage the waterproofing doing this? (EDIT: now I see how it's 'waterproofed', obviously this will damage the waterproofing)
- how do I disconnect the battery? It seems to be wired in a very fragile way and I don't see if I should pull the plug out or up... or some other direction.

[rv0000]

Originally Posted by Dryhte

- how do I disconnect the battery? It seems to be wired in a very fragile way and I don't see if I should pull the plug out or up... or some other direction.

Yeah, be very careful here. You don't want to break the wires.

Check the photo's in this thread, in my case i have to wiggle the plug UP with a tweezer. Tooling is important here, using your fingers will not work. A magnifiying glass will help too.

[KecajN]

I have a number of Pocketbook readers:
- Inkpad 3
- Inkpad 3 Pro
- Inkpax X
- Era
So far, clock did not fail only on Era as it is a brand new device. I am personally using Inkpad X and the clock failed 2 times during warranty period, and I am just waiting for post-warranty repair right now. FixIt told me that repair will cost 350PLN (~80 EUR). Each time they claim that they are replacing motherboard. If they are only resetting a clock by reconnecting a battery, it is just fraud...

[Amalthia]

I have the same problem with my Pocketbook Verse. After sending video proof of the problem I'm sending my device back to Pocketbook. The problem with the broken clock is that it impacts sleep/power off mode since the clock isn't working. otherwise, I wouldn't care all that much about not having a clock on the device.

[Amalthia]

P.S. In regards to sending my device back for repair, they do not make it easy!

I mean the least they could have done is create a Fedex/USPS shipping label. Instead, I'd have to pay for shipping, they also want proof of purchase, model number, and etc..it's a lot. I'm wondering if it's even worth it. Knowing that the device won't turn off on it's own can be worked around. I've just been turning it off myself when I'm done reading. Or my cover will make the device go to sleep if I'm just temporarily putting the device down.

In any case, I'm going to consider this line of devices a lemon and to fix it is too much of a pain to recommend this device to anyone. It would have been nice if they'd just done a straight return and replace.

Amalthia

[neil_swann80]

I've recently returned my HD3 for a warranty repair after the e-ink screen failed. I was offered a collection, or dropping the device to a courier customer point. I opted for mailing the device off myself as it was more convenient for me.

The procedure was simple enough, record the return under their FIXIT online system and print off the emailed sales invoice I received at POS.

If I get the device back and all is well I'll be happy enough, although it's not a great feeling that my first PocketBook is the first device I've ever had to return - having owned many other brands of ereader.

[Amalthia]

I think I was lucky with my previous Pocketbook HD2 purchase, everything worked right out the gate.