Glo Kobo Glo internal storage frozen!?

John Package · 07-04-2013, 03:18 PM

TL;DR; It would appear that the internal storage of my Kobo Glo has entered some permanently frozen state. All existing books work fine, but any new books simply disappear from the file system. Firmware upgrades fail. Factory reset does nothing. Signing out has no effect. Deleted files magically reappear even after format.

---

So my girlfriend has been using a Kobo Glo for a couple of months. Earlier this week I downloaded and placed some new books on her Kobo Glo. After disconnecting the device from my PC the freshly added books were not available in the library. In fact, the Kobo Glo did not even trigger a library update. I reconnected the device to find that the folders and files I just created were gone. However, all the previous folders and files were still there. I copied the files again, did a proper eject from Windows, disconnected the device and.. still no books.

So I decided it was time for a firmware upgrade. This, unfortunately had no effect: The device would simply lockup at 100% download.

I signed the account out. The device restarted and.. I was signed in again!

Then I tried a soft reset with the pin-hole followed by a firmware upgrade: lockup at 100%.

Then I tried a true factory reset with the light-button disco-ball technique. The device takes a minute or two to restore, reboots and.. nothing has changed. All books are still there and my girlfriend's account is still signed in.

I reconnected the device to my PC and deleted the entire contents of the device, followed by a system format of the device. I disconnected and rebooted the device, only to find all the original books still present on the device. The device is fully functional. I can read all books and when I connect the device to my PC all files are still there.

Uschiekid · 07-04-2013, 09:16 PM

That is bizarre. Sounds similar to what would happen if it were possible that the data lock had been locked on the internal SD card..which is obviously impossible unless you've had the device open and been playing with the internal sd card...

Can't wait to hear the MR geniuses solve this one!

davidfor · 07-04-2013, 10:13 PM

I don't know immediately what is happening either. One thing I am curious about is if it keeps track of the book status while reading. If you open a book, read a few pages and close it, does it reopen to the same place? What if you power off and on in between?

How did you do the factory reset? From the settings options? Or using the buttons? If the latter, did you make sure the device was powered off before doing this? The device must be powered off for these options to work.

When you tried the factory reset, what happened? It should restart, display a couple of different black screens with (from memory) an hour glass. From memory the two different screens will have something about restoring and installing software. Then it should boot to the usual smiley face and five squares. It doesn't sound like the first two screens are being displayed.

It does sound like something screwy has happened to the internal SD card. If the factory reset isn't working, then restoring an image of the SD card is the way to go. This means opening the device, removing the card and putting it into a PC. Then writing an image to that. Or getting a new card and using that. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122 for some details. That is about changing the SD card for a larger one, but the process is basically the same. I have an image you can get if you need to do this.

meeera · 07-04-2013, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

It does sound like something screwy has happened to the internal SD card. If the factory reset isn't working, then restoring an image of the SD card is the way to go. This means opening the device, removing the card and putting it into a PC. Then writing an image to that. Or getting a new card and using that. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122 for some details. That is about changing the SD card for a larger one, but the process is basically the same. I have an image you can get if you need to do this.

Just be aware that this will void your warranty if you have one, so a replacement under warranty might be a better option for you, if it's convenient.

davidfor · 07-04-2013, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeera

Just be aware that this will void your warranty if you have one, so a replacement under warranty might be a better option for you, if it's convenient.

I hadn't thought about that. The Glo should still be under warranty, so maybe talk to Kobo or the shop you got it from.

One thing I forgot earlier, are you using Windows, Mac or some sort of Linux? It shouldn't matter, but ...

07-04-2013, 03:18 PM	#1
John Package Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	Kobo Glo internal storage frozen!? TL;DR; It would appear that the internal storage of my Kobo Glo has entered some permanently frozen state. All existing books work fine, but any new books simply disappear from the file system. Firmware upgrades fail. Factory reset does nothing. Signing out has no effect. Deleted files magically reappear even after format. --- So my girlfriend has been using a Kobo Glo for a couple of months. Earlier this week I downloaded and placed some new books on her Kobo Glo. After disconnecting the device from my PC the freshly added books were not available in the library. In fact, the Kobo Glo did not even trigger a library update. I reconnected the device to find that the folders and files I just created were gone. However, all the previous folders and files were still there. I copied the files again, did a proper eject from Windows, disconnected the device and.. still no books. So I decided it was time for a firmware upgrade. This, unfortunately had no effect: The device would simply lockup at 100% download. I signed the account out. The device restarted and.. I was signed in again! Then I tried a soft reset with the pin-hole followed by a firmware upgrade: lockup at 100%. Then I tried a true factory reset with the light-button disco-ball technique. The device takes a minute or two to restore, reboots and.. nothing has changed. All books are still there and my girlfriend's account is still signed in. I reconnected the device to my PC and deleted the entire contents of the device, followed by a system format of the device. I disconnected and rebooted the device, only to find all the original books still present on the device. The device is fully functional. I can read all books and when I connect the device to my PC all files are still there.

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07-04-2013, 09:16 PM	#2
Uschiekid Tenrec Posts: 724 Karma: 1076988 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kobo Aura One, Kobo Glo	That is bizarre. Sounds similar to what would happen if it were possible that the data lock had been locked on the internal SD card..which is obviously impossible unless you've had the device open and been playing with the internal sd card... Can't wait to hear the MR geniuses solve this one!

07-04-2013, 10:13 PM	#3
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I don't know immediately what is happening either. One thing I am curious about is if it keeps track of the book status while reading. If you open a book, read a few pages and close it, does it reopen to the same place? What if you power off and on in between? How did you do the factory reset? From the settings options? Or using the buttons? If the latter, did you make sure the device was powered off before doing this? The device must be powered off for these options to work. When you tried the factory reset, what happened? It should restart, display a couple of different black screens with (from memory) an hour glass. From memory the two different screens will have something about restoring and installing software. Then it should boot to the usual smiley face and five squares. It doesn't sound like the first two screens are being displayed. It does sound like something screwy has happened to the internal SD card. If the factory reset isn't working, then restoring an image of the SD card is the way to go. This means opening the device, removing the card and putting it into a PC. Then writing an image to that. Or getting a new card and using that. See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122 for some details. That is about changing the SD card for a larger one, but the process is basically the same. I have an image you can get if you need to do this.

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