Kobo Original N416 - Looking for r22907 1.8.3 Firmware

[tonyyng]

I've recently acquired one of these and determined that there is more current firmware that the 1.0 firmware that is installed. However, I can't find it anywhere. I'm hoping that someone has a copy stored away.

Thanks

[geek1011]

I think I have it. Can you tell me the model ID of your Kobo so I can be sure? It's in the .Kobo/version folder and looks like a bunch of dash separated zeroes with a number at the end.

[geek1011]

Nevermind, I figured it out myself. Here it is: https://send.geek1011.net/download/7...ICppvD4ZS4oL2Q

[tonyyng]

Thanks. I found the same file here (http://download.kobobooks.com/firmwares/kobo/kobo-upgrade-1.8.zip) by trying different URL's until something worked.

Contents of the .kobo/version from my reader:
00:08:54:E3:15:01,NickelEReaderKoboLinux,1.0,Nicke lEReaderKoboLinux,NickelEReaderKoboLinux

Do you know how this upgrade is applied?

It only contains the following 3 files:
fs.img
u-boot.bin-eb600em
uImage-eb600em

And doesn't look like any of the other upgrade version files.

I tried a number of different approaches, none of which worked.

• Copying the zip to the .kobo directory and restarting
• Extracting the files to .kobo directory and restarting
• Formatting an SD card as ext3 and copying the files there. Restarting with Menu/DPAD held down.

I also tried putting the kobo into Upgrade mode as described here. When I plugged the kobo into my computer, I didn't see a partition I could copy files to. (I did see an error in Device Manager showing a device with missing drivers).

My guess is that the old version of Kobo Desktop knew how to write to this device when it was in upgrade mode.

I did try installing the version of Kobo Desktop that comes with the Kobo original. However, it kept upgrading itself to a current version, which doesn't support the original Kobo.

[tonyyng]

There are two links that mention the firmware file as: kobo-sd-restore-1.8.tgz

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=111475
https://www.reddit.com/r/kobo/commen...kobo_original/

Anyone have this file?

[geek1011]

I responded to most of your questions on the GitHub issue. As for your last post about kobo-sd-restore-1.8.tgz, davidfor probably has it.

[davidfor]

Sorry, I can't help. I have absolutely nothing for the original Kobo ereader. And know even less about them.

[nicke]

I obtained an original Kobo that was Bluetooth only about two years ago. I think it was the N416, but I am not 100% sure since I gave the Kobo to a friend. I also struggled to get it upgraded to version 1.8. What worked for me was to install the ancient version of Kobo desktop in 32-bit Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS following the instructions in this post:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/3381...ktop-on-ubuntu

From memory:
I tried to install Ubuntu in a virtual machine, but couldn't get the usb to detect the Kobo. What finally worked for me was to get the Live CD iso on a bootable USB using Rufus. Once booted into Ubuntu, I had to manually download and install the dependencies libicu44_4.4.2-2ubuntu0.11.10.1_i386.deb, libssl0.9.8_0.9.8o-7ubuntu3.2_i386.deb, and libzip1_0.9.3-1_i386.deb. The others weren't needed. Then, I installed the kobo-desktop.deb. When kobo-desktop was running and I was signed in, I plugged in the kobo and it automatically downloaded and installed the update 1.8.

Once upgraded to 1.8, the Kobo Bluetooth was very similar to the Kobo Wifi on 1.9.12. I was never able to get the Bluetooth to work properly with any device. I think it was designed to work with Blackberry. Anyway, I could sideload books either manually or using Calibre from my everyday Windows 7 machine, so the bluetooth was unnecessary.

I still have the *.deb files archived if you cannot find them on the net.

NickE

[tonyyng]

Thanks for those details. I'd like to give it a try. Can you post the various files I need somewhere I can download?

Thanks in advance

[tonyyng]

I managed to find the kobo-desktop.deb file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c5i2s0iff...sktop.deb?dl=0

And got it installed with all its dependencies.

I created a video of the application trying to update the reader: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ghWm1BspVAsvvQJ59

The application

• Detects the ereader
• Determines there is an update available (00:40 sec )
• Downloads the update (confirmed that it downloaded the same kobo-upgrade-1.8.zip)
• Prompts me to put the reader into Upgrade mode. 1:15 (The actual button press is Menu-DPAD-Power)
• Asks me to confirm that it is in Upgrade mode. 1:39
• Briefly flashes a screen warning not to interrupt the update 1:41
• And jumps to a update success screen. 1:42

These steps are described in this post

When I use the paperclip to reset the Kobo, it still has the old firmware.

I've tried this several times. Initially, I just tried it with a livecd, but then tried by installing Ubuntu on two different laptops. Each time I got the same results.

I'm so close...but I've run out of ideas of what to try next.

[nicke]

These are the kind of issues I was seeing when trying to do the update from a 64bit Ubuntu. It was switching to a 32bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS that allowed it to finish.

You might look at dmesg and see if there are some clues. The usb shows up as a different device in upgrade mode than in regular connection mode.

[tonyyng]

Originally Posted by nicke

These are the kind of issues I was seeing when trying to do the update from a 64bit Ubuntu. It was switching to a 32bit version of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS that allowed it to finish.

You might look at dmesg and see if there are some clues. The usb shows up as a different device in upgrade mode than in regular connection mode.

I'm using 32bit Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS. I do see a different device in upgrade mode:

[ 1434.014011] usb 1-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 7
[ 1436.772834] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 8 using ehci-pci
[ 1436.866033] usb 1-1.2: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x81 has invalid maxpacket 64
[ 1436.866046] usb 1-1.2: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x3 has invalid maxpacket 64
[ 1436.867239] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=5345, idProduct=1234
[ 1436.867250] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 1436.867256] usb 1-1.2: Product: SEC S3C24X0A SMDK B/D
[ 1436.867261] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG CO.,LTD.

tony@tony-Vostro-2520:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 152d:2329 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JM20329 SATA Bridge
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 5345:1234 Owon PDS6062T Oscilloscope
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:6473 Microdia
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver


This post reported the same things I see, including the strange Owon Oscilloscope device. However, he reports at the end that the upgrade worked, which unfortunately is not my case.

[tonyyng]

Well, with all the messing around, the device now won't start properly. It gets to three black boxes and then hangs.

Oh well. I have other readers. I was just hoping to get this one on more recent firmware.

[RandomInsano]

As a fun co-incidence, I was playing around in Linux-land on the device and thoroughly bricked it by mounting one of the NAND filesystems in such a way that it modified some magic value and now UBoot refuses to load Linux.

I've been digging around for the last hour trying to find a firmware image. Thanks for sharing this!

Update: Here are the steps to get this working from a 32bit Ubuntu 12.04.5 live CD:

cat /etc/issue # Should return "Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS \n \l"

DEB_LOCATION=/home/ubuntu/Desktop/kobo-desktop.deb

# Dependency junk and installation
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libjpeg.so.8 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libjpeg.so.62
sudo dpkg -i libicu44_4.4.2-2ubuntu0.11.10.1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libzip1_0.9.3-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libssl0.9.8_0.9.8o-7ubuntu3.2_i386.deb
sudo dpkg --force-depends -i $DEB_LOCATION

# Now run Kobo Desktop from the dash

[tonyyng]

Originally Posted by RandomInsano

As a fun co-incidence, I was playing around in Linux-land on the device and thoroughly bricked it by mounting one of the NAND filesystems in such a way that it modified some magic value and now UBoot refuses to load Linux.

I've been digging around for the last hour trying to find a firmware image. Thanks for sharing this!

Update: Here are the steps to get this working from a 32bit Ubuntu 12.04.5 live CD:

cat /etc/issue # Should return "Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS \n \l"

DEB_LOCATION=/home/ubuntu/Desktop/kobo-desktop.deb

# Dependency junk and installation
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libjpeg.so.8 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libjpeg.so.62
sudo dpkg -i libicu44_4.4.2-2ubuntu0.11.10.1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libzip1_0.9.3-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i libssl0.9.8_0.9.8o-7ubuntu3.2_i386.deb
sudo dpkg --force-depends -i $DEB_LOCATION

# Now run Kobo Desktop from the dash

I'm not sure I understand the information you provided.

These appear to be commands you run from a shell session in a 32bit Ubuntu environment right? What is their purpose?

My Kobo is basically bricked and the Desktop isn't seeing it.

I'm missing the basic understanding of how you get a shell session on the Kobo. Can you explain?