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Old 07-25-2012, 04:56 PM   #1
starky158
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Stupid registration prevents sideloading for gift?

Got a Kobo Touch as a gift for someone and figured out you can't actually use the damn thing unless you register for their garbage bloaty software. The person I am giving this too is pretty technologically illiterate and lives 300km away. I was planning on sideloading a couple hundred epubs and set them up on a stable firmware (IE .17 and giving it to them. I would then help them physically every time I am up there put on some new books.

So now I know how this is going to go down:

Me: Okay, now go to kobosetup.com and download the file, install it
Them: Where did I save it? I don't see it
Me: how the hell should I know, probably in your downloads folder
Them: how do I get there?

4 hours later

Me: Okay now put in your email address to register
Them: Whats my password, its set to automatically log in so I don't know

5 more hours and making a throwaway gmail account they will end up losing / forgetting:

Me: Okay now its set up and we can at least put books on it now, you need to download files that end in .epub or mobi

Them: oh it froze, the power button doesn't work

Me: they released another garbage firmware update that causes it to freeze every 30 seconds, take a folded paperclip and stick it in the pin hole in the back

Them: I give up




It doesn't have to be this hard Kobo... remove the damn bloat and let people actually control their device when they unbox it... a friendly (SKIPABBLE) reminder on first start to Update firmware, register an account and enter store information is fine, don't hold people hostage please.


tl;dr

Is there work around to turn it into a usable device as a gift without registering to an email address they will never use and possibly lose, while giving them the possibility of registering later to use the store and other garbage?
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Old 07-25-2012, 06:16 PM   #2
mconh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by starky158 View Post
Is there work around to turn it into a usable device as a gift without registering to an email address they will never use and possibly lose, while giving them the possibility of registering later to use the store and other garbage?
Load firmware 12.
http://download.kobobooks.com/firmwa...ade-1.9.12.zip

With 12 no registration is required or needed. Upgrading beyond that to 14 or higher requires registration. As a simple reader 12 is fine.
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Old 07-25-2012, 07:40 PM   #3
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If you side load books onto SD card those books have always survived upgrades, reset to factory firmware version or what ever. You can even upgrade reader then plug in card after signing out of reader account then signing back in to reader account and books are still there.

I use calibre to transfer books from SD card in reader to computer fill but can also copy then past all books from SD card to a computer file.
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Old 07-25-2012, 08:03 PM   #4
starky158
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Originally Posted by filmo View Post
If you side load books onto SD card those books have always survived upgrades, reset to factory firmware version or what ever. You can even upgrade reader then plug in card after signing out of reader account then signing back in to reader account and books are still there.

I use calibre to transfer books from SD card in reader to computer fill but can also copy then past all books from SD card to a computer file.
Hmm ... I have kobo of my own.

If i put sideloaded epubs on a microsd and use them in MY ebook reader to check them, then eject the card and put it in his -- will it work or does it use some DRM / account things on the microsd when it populates the kobo?

I might just leave it unactivated, run him through setup and tell him to put the microSD in that I will include -- problem is that runs into the problem of him getting another unstable turd firmware like 2.0 or having the kobo hate the SD card and freeze outright every other page


maybe the best bet will be just to register a throwaway email after all -- it shouldn't be that convoluted but if they really want it registered, fine.
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Old 07-26-2012, 11:22 AM   #5
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Side loaded books have no DRM unless your loading ADE books with DRM removed. If your giving away those DRM books they still include code that identify you as who bought that book.

Only problems I had with SD cards were because of books with format problems. Loosing covers with over 1500 books. I use 4Gb Sandisc SD cards full over write formatted with SD association software without any problems loaded with 2500+ books.
I have updated to 2.0 after factory reset and after it had account reauthorized inserted SD card loaded with books without any problems.

I gave my sisters touch readers not Kobo but Sony T1 because $59 price and better software. (still not perfect)
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Old 07-28-2012, 06:25 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by starky158 View Post
Hmm ... I have kobo of my own.

If i put sideloaded epubs on a microsd and use them in MY ebook reader to check them, then eject the card and put it in his -- will it work or does it use some DRM / account things on the microsd when it populates the kobo?
As far as I can tell as long as the ebooks on the microsd have no DRM you can exchange cards with no problem. All data concerning the page you were on, what font you had it set to are saved in YOUR kobo's sqlite db. In their reader it will just look like a new ebook. If the ebooks do have DRM they probably will not work on a device not registered under your name/account.
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Old 07-30-2012, 11:08 AM   #7
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I think this is what you are looking for.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...68#post1998068

Although if the intended receipient is as "technologically illiterate" as you suggest then perhaps you should fully configure it for them first. Including switch the wifi to airplane mode.
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