My firmware update disaster (long, sorry!)

[zero10]

I just wanted to come on here and share my story with you guys. This forum has proven invaluable in helping me to get my Kobo up and running again, but ultimately I ended up going a bit beyond what I have found in the threads here. I want to thank everybody who posted any bit of advice that helped me along the way.

Here is my story: I have a black Kobo, bought online from the Chapters store and I received it June 21, 2010. It had firmware 1.0 on it and the text resizing bug was getting very annoying since the vast majority of books/documents I had on the device were converted from .txt files using Calibre, so I thought I would upgrade it to 1.4 in an attempt to repair this issue.

I plugged in the Kobo to my windows machine (Windows 7 ultimate, 64-bit, english) and installed the desktop software, then ran it. This was the first hint things were going to go badly.
When you open the program it says an update is required, so I tell it to go ahead and update. It then pops up a window that says it is trying to gracefully close the Kobo application, but the Kobo application never closes. The installer gets part-way through then displays an error writing file "Kobo.exe". I saw that the application was still running but I could not close it so I used task manager to kill it, then allowed the update to run. After it finished I got a bit paranoid so I closed the application and re-opened it, it worked fine, so I rebooted then re-opened it again and still it worked fine. Convinced the problems were behind me I went through the upgrade steps for my Kobo, which initially completed without any problems. After the update was applied I did not get asked to re-enter the date and time on the Kobo, and all of the pre-loaded books were missing. I tried to browse to the settings menu but my Kobo froze.

I reset the Kobo and went directly to the settings menu, where it displayed that my firmware version was 1.4, but the revision field was blank. I tried to open an EBook I had on the device but it froze. I reset it, then tried again, another freeze. This book was on the SD card (yes I did remove it during the upgrade as required) so I removed the SD card and reset the Kobo again. Now it would not even start up. It gets to the start-up screen and only 3 dots of 7 appear and it hangs indefinitely. I was getting kind of angry at this point.

I go back to my computer and try to launch the Kobo application but now I only get an error message Kobo.exe failed to start with the error code "0xc000007b". I plugged my Kobo into my computer hoping to copy the installer over and try this all over again, but now my Kobo is no longer recognized as a mass storage device. I tested this under Windows, Linux (Fedora 12) and Macos (10.5.8), it doesn't show up under any operating system. I dug through the forums here for a while and the Koboreader.com site and had no luck at all finding a download link for the program. I was about 7 steps past angry now. Finally I remembered that I had been slightly cautious and had copied the installer to my desktop before running it. I un-installed and re-installed the program and now I had it running again, however I could not get my Kobo into upgrade mode since it would not power off. It would always freeze before turning off or going to sleep.

I figured out the following trick to get the device into upgrade mode:
Hold the menu button with your left pinky finger, and power button with your left index finger. Use your left thumb to keep a firm grip on the device. Use your right thumb to hold the center D-pad button then your right index finger to push the paperclip on the reset button. Hold it for a second then release ONLY your right index finger. During the reboot it will notice the buttons are held and will go into firmware upgrade mode.

I tried re-updating it 3 times before finally giving up, it only got worse and worse with each flash. By the end of it the device only recognized the internal storage as being 168MB instead of 802 (or whatever it is supposed to be), and I could barely get into any menus at all before it would crash/freeze.

I called Kobo tech support. I was kept on hold for 11 minutes before my call was answered. I outlined all of the steps I took for the agent and he basically said "Yeah, that is a return-to-depot kind of thing. We mail you an envelope, you put it in, mail it back, we fix it then mail it back to you". I asked how long it takes and he said around 2 weeks. I mentioned that I read on here that they could mail me an SD card and he confirmed they could, and that it would likely only take 2 days instead of 2 weeks. Now we are getting somewhere I thought, but with this confirmed I thought I would ask one more question: Did you mail these cards to the Chapters stores for them to do the flashes? He confirmed they did. Great, now we have gone from 2 weeks to repair it down to 1 hour, about the time it takes to pack up my wife, baby and Kobo, then head to the local Chapters. Why this was not his first suggestion I will never know. I mean seriously, you tell your customers to wait 2 weeks when there is an easy solution that will take 1 hour? Come on.

At my local chapters I was greeted by a VERY friendly guy who was very knowledgeable about the entire upgrade process and confirmed that they do have the SD cards available for flashing. I was given a $10 gift certificate (to chapters, not Kobobooks...) for my trouble, a coupon code for a free book (1 of 3 choices) and a card with more information about the firmware update. The only thing that went wrong here was I had to show him the reset trick to get it into SD card update mode since it would not power off (it is very similar to the above, except you don't hold the power button). It blinked in and out of SD update mode 3 times and rebooted inbetween without any intervention before finally starting the update process. Within 10 minutes I was headed out the door with my Kobo alive once again. The person who updated my Kobo for me was very helpful and even offered to bend the rules and replace my device if he couldn't get it going again, even though I was well past the return period (14 days IIRC). I won't post the store details here as I do not wish for this person to find himself in any trouble over this matter, but to be honest he is the ONLY reason my Kobo is not for sale on EBay right now.

All-in-all the update process took 5 hours and nearly resulted in the smashing death of my Kobo e-reader from sheer frustration.
Distributing the desktop software SOLELY on a device that CAN FAIL is a terrible idea, and obviously this firmware update process was not tested well enough because this was a complete nightmare for me.

Unless firmware 1.5 (or whatever the next one is) makes this device shoot freakin' rainbows out the front I will never EVER update the firmware on this device again, and I will be recommending that each of my friends buys the Kindle and not this disaster-in-a-box.

[zoran]

As time goes by, I'd suggest to put SD card version 1.5 on line.
And just one "sticky" to explain ins and outs of upgrade process.
Best regards.

[HamsterRage]

So let me understand this. You had an unexpected status/error condition 5 minutes into the upgrade process. Instead of calling the Helpline, or taking it in to the store for them to do it for you, you proceeded to spend hours dreaming up novel reset key sequences and repeatedly performing the same, doomed, process over and over until you were exasperated and ready to smash the device.

Finally, you called Kobo and within a few minutes you determined that they could deal with it for you in one of the stores. The staff at the store offered to replace your unit on-the-spot if they couldn't fix it for you. It was fixed in less than 10 minute at the store.

And yet you're totally, over the top, tips of your ears bright red and smoking, pissed off at Kobo?

[JPenguin]

While I can completely understand how frustrating it must be for people who do have the upgrade fail I really don't think it's a case of not being tested thoroughly enough. I've done the update on 2 Kobos with absolutely no problems what so ever.

Also as far as I can tell Kobo sent every single Kobo owner (who did supply their email address when purchasing, I was asked in store) an email with details about 2 options for performing the upgrade:
- doing it yourself with the software
- having it done in-store at a Chapters/Indigo location

I think the idea of offering to do it in-store was a brilliant move.

It does surprise me that the tech support person didn't mention all the different options for resolving your firmware issue.

[zero10]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

So let me understand this. You had an unexpected status/error condition 5 minutes into the upgrade process. Instead of calling the Helpline, or taking it in to the store for them to do it for you, you proceeded to spend hours dreaming up novel reset key sequences and repeatedly performing the same, doomed, process over and over until you were exasperated and ready to smash the device.

Finally, you called Kobo and within a few minutes you determined that they could deal with it for you in one of the stores. The staff at the store offered to replace your unit on-the-spot if they couldn't fix it for you. It was fixed in less than 10 minute at the store.

And yet you're totally, over the top, tips of your ears bright red and smoking, pissed off at Kobo?

The problem you are referring to came with updating the Kobo application itself, and after I got the program to successfully update I exhausted all reasonable measures to ensure that the program was actually functioning correctly and that I was not setting myself up for continued failure. To suggest calling technical support over such an issue is similar to calling your mechanic to inspect your car because a bird pooped on the windshield.

I do not think it is at all unreasonable to tackle the steps I tried myself, I do not see any way in which tech support would have been helpful here. When I mentioned this issue to tech support later they said I did all the right things for it and that they had never ever heard of the update failing before. I fail to see how this would have changed the outcome as even if they had repaired the application issue they would then have suggested that I update the firmware on the device using their program, exactly as I performed.

The firmware update process itself produced NO indication whatsoever that there was any kind of issue. You had to try to use the Kobo device itself to understand that the process went seriously astray. When a company develops a method of updating the firmware on their device, they need to take extremely stringent measures to ensure that the firmware is updating PROPERLY. Obviously somewhere along the way either the image being transferred was incorrect or the procedure for writing the image was failing, at NO point did the windows program or the device itself VERIFY the changes it had made, or this problem would not have existed.

Also, I called Kobo and THEY told me it would take over 2 weeks, I had to suggest the solutions I FOUND ON THESE FORUMS in order to get a shorter resolution. Once I understood that they actually would mail out SD cards it occurred to me that perhaps they would have already mailed them to the stores, and when I asked this, sure enough it was confirmed.

If you read the email that was sent to notify Kobo owners of the update it specifically mentions that you should use the program to update the Kobo, or take it to a store and they will do it for you. They make no mention of the stores performing a different method of updating the devices, so it is reasonable that I interpreted this to mean that the store could perform the USB update, or I could do it myself at home. Trying to make this process as pain-free as possible I elected to perform the latter.

I also mentioned that the in-store experience was excellent, beyond what I could have expected, then you ridicule me for explaining that is how it was resolved?


What I am mad about here is the lack of quality control from the people who produce the software and firmware for the Kobo. There appears to be no verification of any kind involved in the process, and by being so secretive about the entire process (not releasing a firmware 1.0 image for me to downgrade to, forcing me to use their application to upgrade, and not providing any download links for the firmware or the program through their web site) they have only served to make the process of a legitimate upgrade more difficult and painful than it needs to be.
Worse than that, when you call tech support the first answer they give you is one that may take in excess of 2 weeks to repair the problem, when they could fix it within 2-3 days themselves, or same-day with the help of in-store staff. Why is it their technical support staff is suggesting these easier, faster solutions first?


Please do remember that I posted this thread in an attempt to do 2 things:
1) Help anybody else who finds themselves in the same position as I am
2) Express my frustration with the process that has been recommended by the people who produce the Kobo, as well as my frustration with the blatant lack of quality control and intelligent design from their software and firmware packages

You came into this thread to do 1 thing, attack and insult a person who is already frustrated with problems that were only partially within their control solely for the purpose of making yourself feel superior. Congratulations, obviously you are so much better than me because you never would have found yourself in this situation or any other situation even remotely resembling this one. Nobody forced you to read this thread, and if this is the way you choose to conduct yourself and express your opinions, please take them to another thread.

[Solicitous]

I'd be rather interested to know what is on the SD card. I wonder if it is possible to use the Kobo software to download the firmware update, take the files from a temp directory, load on a SD card and then flash.

Something that astounds me is Kobo's fascination with their 100 free books. Latest firmware allows you to hide them, but why not delete them? It's like they are saying "You bought this Kobo, now you MUST keep these free books". Not that it is an issue for me, if I can find a solution to this firmware updating I'll be more inclined to look at buying one.

[sabredog]

I do agree. An SD card upgrade path seems to be the most trouble free way to update firmware.

[marleyfan]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

if I can find a solution to this firmware updating I'll be more inclined to look at buying one.

Do you mean you'd be more inclined to buy a kobo if the firmware updating were problem free? Cuz if you buy one now it comes loaded with the 1.4 firmware already. No need to update unless you want whatever firmware is released next. I suspect that as kobo streamlines the process and works out the growing pains the process will become easier. Kobo is one of the most responsive companies I've seen lately. They seem like they are very serious about customer support. When v1.5 comes out I will take the plunge, despite the problems I've seen on this forum, cuz I know that kobo is working hard to make things better.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by marleyfan

Do you mean you'd be more inclined to buy a kobo if the firmware updating were problem free? Cuz if you buy one now it comes loaded with the 1.4 firmware already. No need to update unless you want whatever firmware is released next. I suspect that as kobo streamlines the process and works out the growing pains the process will become easier. Kobo is one of the most responsive companies I've seen lately. They seem like they are very serious about customer support. When v1.5 comes out I will take the plunge, despite the problems I've seen on this forum, cuz I know that kobo is working hard to make things better.

I'm not looking at the issues people are having with firmware updates (though I do believe they are USB related). My issue is I run purely Linux-based systems at home, so without a Windows or OSX machine I am unable to perform a firmware update. Allowing me to update via SD card would resolve this issue (and given people have been sent SD cards and some stores have them shows they have the systems in place to allow us to do this).

Now briefly with the USB issues I feel it might be. There had been some discussion on the Astak forum about the Pocket Pros stalling and/or not connecting properly via USB. This has been worked out to be caused by the USB chipset that people have in their computer. My laptop has issues with smart USB2.0 devices and copying of files, Linux stalls and eventually keeps going, when it had XP on it a few years ago I would get a Not Responding in Windows Explorer (though dumb usb devices such as USB thumb drives work without hassle, nor do i have issues with older USB1.1 devices connected, such as my old camera). However connect the same device to my media centre with a different USB chipset and it worked flawlessly. My testing appears to be hardware and not software related (hence both the same issue in Win XP or Linux). I certainly would not feel comfortable risking an update with a USB chipset that stalls throughout the writing process.

[HamsterRage]

Originally Posted by zero10

You came into this thread to do 1 thing, attack and insult a person who is already frustrated with problems that were only partially within their control solely for the purpose of making yourself feel superior. Congratulations, obviously you are so much better than me because you never would have found yourself in this situation or any other situation even remotely resembling this one. Nobody forced you to read this thread, and if this is the way you choose to conduct yourself and express your opinions, please take them to another thread.

Wow!

I've reread my post and I don't see the bits where I "attack" or "insult" you. I don't remember implying any superiority on my part either.

My point was simply that I thought your anger was somewhat misdirected. The fact is that software sometimes goes wrong, especially in the Windows world. I think Kobo has acknowledged, in this forum, that this first upgrade was a big deal, no going back once you start, process. Something went wrong for you, and they fixed it within minutes.

Tearing a strip off me for pointing out that your initial post seemed unfair to Kobo doesn't seem very constructive to me. For that matter, I find it hard to find anything constructive in your initial post, considering that it ended with this:

Unless firmware 1.5 (or whatever the next one is) makes this device shoot freakin' rainbows out the front I will never EVER update the firmware on this device again, and I will be recommending that each of my friends buys the Kindle and not this disaster-in-a-box.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

Wow!

I've reread my post and I don't see the bits where I "attack" or "insult" you. I don't remember implying any superiority on my part either.

My point was simply that I thought your anger was somewhat misdirected. The fact is that software sometimes goes wrong, especially in the Windows world. I think Kobo has acknowledged, in this forum, that this first upgrade was a big deal, no going back once you start, process. Something went wrong for you, and they fixed it within minutes.

Tearing a strip off me for pointing out that your initial post seemed unfair to Kobo doesn't seem very constructive to me. For that matter, I find it hard to find anything constructive in your initial post, considering that it ended with this:

Nobody consider you attacking. People simply have their own life.
Some of them do not use windows, some of them do not use linux.
See? Hardware should not be silo-ed to any kind of "must".
If you read carefully, you will see that original poster have the point.
He knows his hardware and all about it's bad manners. There comes
time to go around and install using the most simple way: SD card.
There is no reason to post version 1.4 now. 1.5 is fine, since months
have past. Good enough?
I don't know if kobo guys are still around. If yes, they do not answer
as we think they might. Seems users have more interest for device?
Best regards.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by zero10

The only thing that went wrong here was I had to show him the reset trick to get it into SD card update mode since it would not power off (it is very similar to the above, except you don't hold the power button). It blinked in and out of SD update mode 3 times and rebooted inbetween without any intervention before finally starting the update process. Within 10 minutes I was headed out the door with my Kobo alive once again.

I almost forgot to ask about that.
Kobo way is to press middle button and power up the device.
SD card should be mounted, just as ext3 file system has no
reason to be on otherwise. After upgrade, device powers down.
SD card out and power up. I assume reader was on cause up-
grade failure?
Best regards.

[zero10]

Originally Posted by zoran

I almost forgot to ask about that.
Kobo way is to press middle button and power up the device.
SD card should be mounted, just as ext3 file system has no
reason to be on otherwise. After upgrade, device powers down.
SD card out and power up. I assume reader was on cause up-
grade failure?
Best regards.

You are right, I made a mistake in my post. The person in-store was repeatedly holding the power button and/or the center d-pad button trying to get it to first power off, then to power back on into the SD card update mode.
Unfortunately when your reader does not update properly you are _NOT_ able to power it off, so you cannot directly enter this mode from the "off" state. Some people have had luck forcing a reboot by plugging it into their computer, I used the paperclip method since there was no computer at the stand where he was working on it.
After allowing the person in-store to try a couple times I offered my help. I held the center d-pad button then tapped the reset button, and it booted up into the SD card update mode, the screen blinked once, then back to the normal Kobo loading screen, it blinked again and went back to the SD card update mode, blinked, back to the Kobo screen and it ran all 7 dots, then back to the SD card update screen where it properly updated.

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

My point was simply that I thought your anger was somewhat misdirected. The fact is that software sometimes goes wrong, especially in the Windows world. I think Kobo has acknowledged, in this forum, that this first upgrade was a big deal, no going back once you start, process. Something went wrong for you, and they fixed it within minutes.

If you find it difficult to locate anything constructive in my initial post then allow me to re-iterate the constructive points for clarity.

The people at Kobo suggested that the only way to repair my device was to return it to them for service, a process that takes "about" 2 weeks. It was only with the help of these forums that I knew of a shorter method, and once they acknowledged this was something which was done in Canada it occurred to me that perhaps they would also have shipped the SD cards to the stores and then I arrived at an even faster resolution to the problem.

If somebody calls Kobo with a similar issue, the resolution process should go as follows:
1) Are you in a major city / near a chapters store? If so, take it in, they have the SD cards and can fix it on the spot
2) If you are unable to make it to a Chapters location (due to working hours, locations or whatever), do you want an SD card mailed out? It is a much faster way to fix it!
3) If both 1 and 2 are no, THEN let's send out an envelope and return it to Kobo for service. This should never be the first solution given the amount of time involved.


Also, when performing firmware updates on a device your company provides, you should be taking extra measures to verify that the firmware is properly written to the device. People in this thread have misunderstood this statement to read "Kobo should test the firmware more thoroughly". This is NOT what I have said, I am sure they tested it on a variety of computers and devices and were quite thorough about the process.

What I am saying is, the program itself needs to be more thorough in verifying the firmware was correctly written. They can test it all they like but they must still expect the odd failure in the real world. Obviously it is not properly verifying this part or it should have displayed an error about the firmware update process going astray. If they could detect the situations where the firmware updates are failing they could gather more information back in these situations and would stand a chance of remedying the root cause of this issue for future users. I have lost faith in this update process, I am left sitting here feeling like if I ever attempt another USB firmware update it will fail in exactly the same way.

I understand every product on the market is not perfect, I understand the firmware and software were written by people, who like all people in this world, are flawed. However, what I do not understand is the blatant disregard to the gravity of this situation being displayed by the software development staff at Kobo, this is not simple human error. They are updating the firmware on their device, they have the power to make these devices completely inoperable and unrepairable if they are not careful. They need to be more diligent in detecting, tracking and resolving these situations to prevent future issues.

I will post my full hardware configuration here for the people at Kobo in the interest of providing as much information as possible to allow them to be more thorough in their development methods going forward.

[zero10]

Here is my hardware configuration. This was taken under Linux, but as mentioned above the update failed under Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit, english

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8600M GT (rev a1)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
03:01.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev ff)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection (rev 02)

I think the only thing not listed there is that I have a core 2 duo T7500 and I have 4GB of RAM, of which I can locate the specifications if required.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by zero10

3) If both 1 and 2 are no, THEN let's send out an envelope and return it to Kobo for service. This should never be the first solution given the amount of time involved.

I am in this situation. There is no option to either go to the shop
or get mailed card. I _have_ to get SD card image.

Originally Posted by zero10

What I am saying is, the program itself needs to be more thorough in verifying the firmware was correctly written. They can test it all they like but they must still expect the odd failure in the real world. Obviously it is not properly verifying this part or it should have displayed an error about the firmware update process going astray. If they could detect the situations where the firmware updates are failing they could gather more information back in these situations and would stand a chance of remedying the root cause of this issue for future users. I have lost faith in this update process, I am left sitting here feeling like if I ever attempt another USB firmware update it will fail in exactly the same way.

As a user you did more than necessary. You post your point of view
and how you solved an issue. I see this community as the way to check
out firmware, try it out, say what is wrong and what to expect. What
any manufacturer might ask for?