Suspected Broken Screen Kobo Aura HD, What Next?

[qwert]

Problem: Stuck on the same sleep screen picture. Will connect to computer by pressing the area where the Connect/Cancel pops up when connecting to the computer with a USB cord.

Used Kobo Aura HD the night before, then in the morning, couldn't switch it on. It was frozen on the sleep screen and wasn't hit or dropped meanwhile. Thought the random button combos tried when I couldn't open it glitched it so came home and looked up the resets. Tried factory resets, basic resets, draining power, everything. Browsed through a few threads on broken screens, and they suggested that you can connect it to the computer and tap where connect screen should be. It connected, so broken screen could be a real possibility.

Upon close inspection, there are a few, around five or six, faint evenly spaced horizontal lines about a cm long closely grouped coming out from the right hand frame that is visible when the light turns on. They're not new. Are these cracks? If it's not a hardware problem, I'd rather not try opening the Kobo because with my clumsiness, if it wasn't cracked before, it would be soon.

The Kobo connects once I press the general connect to the computer area that pops up when you connect with a USB. If the screen responds and does connect it to the computer even though it is still stuck on the sleep screen of the last book I read, is it really broken? It's just stuck on the same picture.

If it's a hardware problem, and I open the Aura HD, what should I look for? If anyone can recommend some forums/videos on this topic preferably with pictures that have labels that would be great. I just looked at some, but even after it's opened, I have no idea what to do. It seems that in some cases, it still functions with cracked screens so what should I be looking for?

Any help is appreciated, and thanks in advance.

The fact that I might have to buy another ereader 1.3ish years later is super disappointing especially since I've been so careful with it. Never dropped or hit. H2Os are waterproof, but are they this delicate as well?

[meeera]

Can you post a good photo? (Check the forum photo size guidelines first.)

An e-ink reader doesn't need to be dropped or hit to break. Flexion, torsion and temperature extremes can do it also.

[qwert]

The lines are so faint that it doesn't show up on camera. The sleep screen picture is perfectly fine.

Is there any way to tell if the screen's problem is with cracks? If it's broken, why was it still possible to select the button to connect it to the computer? The software is still working fine, but the picture's not refreshing.

Apparently there's some sort of flashing with an SD card that exists. Would that help in this instance?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by qwert

The lines are so faint that it doesn't show up on camera. The sleep screen picture is perfectly fine.

Is there any way to tell if the screen's problem is with cracks? If it's broken, why was it still possible to select the button to connect it to the computer? The software is still working fine, but the picture's not refreshing.

The touch mechanism is not in the screen surface, it's IR detection just above the screen. So a broken glass substrate does not affect touch detection.

Some people have had substrate breaks right at the very edges of the screen. With good lighting and a reasonable camera, you should be able to get a photo of the lines, if you can see them.

Apparently there's some sort of flashing with an SD card that exists. Would that help in this instance?

Not if the screen is broken, but we don't know that yet. Hopefully someone else will come along with more suggestions. One way of knowing for sure whether it's broken is to disassemble it and look at the back of the display, if you're willing to do that (you'd need to do it to switch out the SD card anyway).

[Ken Maltby]

If you opened it up you should check that both ribbon cables from the screen are well connected in the Zero Insertion Force (zif) connectors. While a cracked glass substrata is the most likely cause of the problem, everything except the internal SD card, battery connection, and those two ribbon cables, is packaged tightly together and won't come loose. If the factory didn't get the ribbons clamped down properly, or if the zif connector were faulty the ribbon might get jarred loose.

Luck;
Ken