Quote:
Originally Posted by gustophersmob
Its an interesting coincidence you asked this today, as I was going to ask the same question.
I'm new to Kobo, coming over from Kindle. I got a Clara BW on Monday, and was in an area without wifi access when I tried to set it up. There was no option to setup without wifi. I was trying to use my phone hotspot, but kept having issues such that it could not complete the update before activation screen. Eventually, after several failed attempts, I got a pop-up saying something to the effect of, "continue without wifi." I clicked yes and was bale to use the device. This was before I learned that sideload mode was a thing.
Yesterday, I got a second Clara BW (to compare screen and backlight quality) and tried to bypass the activation screen again, but was unable to get that same pop-up. I'm not sure what I did to trigger it the first time, but trying to mimic what I did on the first device was unsuccessful.
I had read in an older article somewhere that you could sign out of your account on the device to enter sideload mode, so I went ahead and created a Kobo account and activated the second device. But when I sign out of the account, it just takes me back to the initial setup screen (select language, connect to wifi, etc).
I'm glad to hear you found a way to make it work, and I will see if I can duplicate your method later, though I would really like to know how I got that pop-up on the first device (which I will be keeping).
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Interesting. I bought my Kobo used, so it could be it had the most recent firmware update that doesn't give the continue without Wifi option? But it's more likely that the continue without Wifi only pops up with a failed update download like you said. After connecting to Wifi once (it checked and verified latest update) to see if I could continue without an account, I backed out and didn't try again. I didn't attempt to register an account at all on the Kobo or my computer.
I just did a factory reset to try it again, and yes I was still able to connect to PC at the "Let's get started" screen and configure sideloaded mode (Kobo eReader.conf > adding SideloadedMode:true under [ApplicationPreferences]". Hope it works for you!
Something that is strange is that the factory reset downgraded the 4.40.23081 (8/19/24) firmware to 4.39.22427 (11/6/23) firmware, despite the prompt saying software update is preserved. It's just strange since the Kobo Clara BW was released in 2024 and the listed firmware isn't even on the list of available firmware over on pgaskin. I forgot I still had my Kobo plugged into my computer when doing this so maybe that enabled some type of factory-factory reset? When it booted back up, it has the illustration of the Kobo in a dotted circle like you receive out of box.