Can I use Forma patched firmware on H2O?
 

Can I first say thank you to the people who have developed the patches.:thanks:

I have just patched my new Forma and the instructions are as clear and unambiguous as any I've seen, so well done. And it works beautifully.

I've seen it mentioned a few times that the firmware on Kobos is exactly the same and device-independent, but that seems too good to be true and I hope you don't mind if I ask someone to confirm that I can apply exactly the same KoboRoot.tgz file to my Aura H2O as I have just applied to my Forma, to update the patched firmware I put on a couple of years ago? I'd hate to mess up my H2O.

Is it really as easy as that?

Thank you :)

No. You have to download the firmware for Aura H2O (the same version You have on the device) and apply again the patches. Each device has its own firmware.

Thank you - I don't know how I got the idea that they were all the same, but I'm glad I asked. :)

Actually, yes you can, and this is unlikely to change in the future. Just make sure you install the full firmware first on both device.

Edit: And if it does change in the future, it will be mentioned in the release notes and will also require some restructuring of the automated tests on my part.

Edit 1: Currently, the only differences in full firmware packages are in the upgrade folder and a few kernel modules, config files, and scripts. Nickel itself is identical.

Oh! That's why I got that idea!

Thank you geek1011, as you are one of the patch-creators, I'll take your advice :)

I'd forgotten about installing the regular firmware first though, and since I've not updated my H2O firmware since new, I'll do that first.

Thanks again.

Your Kobo has to be running the same firmware version as you are patching. If not, you can brick the device and you would then need to do a factory reset to fix it.

A quick follow-up if I may please.

After installing the patch, I have changed a few of the settings and generated a new patch.
Can this be installed right over the previous one, or do I need to start again from the Kobo firmware as issued?

You can install over the previously patched firmware. I've done it trying to get some settings as I want.

Thanks Jon :)

Your welcome.

Sorry I was wrong, so the various firmware for the various device are the same?

The KoboRoot tarballs generated by the patch tools are *currently* universal.

Full, official updates are *NOT*, on the other hand.

kobopatch only changes between 1 and 4 files. Those 4 specific files are the same (currently) for all Kobo models.

That's correct, and it's also the recommended way to do it.

For completeness, just confirming Forma and H2O both now fully updated and patched :)
You guys made it easy, thank you.