Thank you DNSB for such a meticulous reply! It was helpful to have those steps written out.
I did download again and reinstall the nightmode Kobo root file. One of the things that occurs is that there is a zipped file within that root file and when i previously installed it, I unzipped it - that was where the etc, mnt and extra folders come from.
So this time i didn't unzip that .tar folder and left as is.
The nightmode kobo root folder didn't seem to result in a separate nightmode.ini file. However, the config file that you thoughtfully included appeared in a file simply called nightmode. And both the nightmode and nightmode.sh files appeared in a subfolder called extra under the .kobo folder.
My Kobo Glo did appear to install something - e.g. it took time to reboot - but there was no change.
So I tried to systematically troubleshoot.
I turned the invertActive to yes. No change but left it as yes.
I moved the nightmode and nightmode.sh files out of the extra subfolder and into the .kobo folder on their own. No change.
i've leaned on that light button for some time thinking maybe i'm not holding it down long enough but it doesn't seem to change anything.
interestingly, when it's in a powered off state but attached by usb cable to my computer and shows a book cover, it does appear in nightmode. But as soon as I power on, that disappears even if i try to just hold the light button down.
Between each change I powered down/on. I have scanned my kobo and it doesn't appear to have any viruses.
I'm stumped. i feel like i must be close??? Is it possible to go back to an earlier firmware version if there's nothing further to be tried?
any further ideas? I am very grateful even if you're not able to help as i know how busy everybody's lives are.
Alison