Help - EReader

Maxine McGonigal · 01-07-2012, 03:24 PM

Just received a Kobo EReader for Christmas and am getting very frustrated in installing it on my laptop. Followed instructions in booklet and then tried installing Adobe Digital Editions manually. Still I am stuck!!

HarryT · 01-07-2012, 03:28 PM

Please ask questions in the correct forum. This is not "news" and does not belong in the "News" forum. I'm moving it to the Kobo forum.

The Terminator · 01-07-2012, 03:46 PM

Do you mean that you are having trouble installing the Desktop app? I had a problem like that as well, it just kept saying that some of the required folders and files were missing, I haven't been able to fix this yet.

PeterT · 01-07-2012, 03:50 PM

Maxine; can you give us a few hints please as to what is happening...

You do know that after you connect the Kobo via USB to the Laptop, you need to hit the "connect" option on the Kobo's screen for the laptop to see it..

Maxine McGonigal · 01-07-2012, 04:14 PM

I don't get any message at all when I connect the usb cable from the reader to the laptop.

Harry_W · 01-07-2012, 04:39 PM

The Kobo should ask what to do, after you plug in the USB cable. If you select to connect to a computer it should be recognized. If not, try another USB cable or connector. I use the KT on several computers running WinXP, Win7-64, Ubuntu and Debian. No problems at all, it works fine on all machines and operating systems.

Maxine McGonigal · 01-07-2012, 04:53 PM

thanks - I just tried another cable, but still nothing. It seems that it is not recognizing the reader at all

Maxine McGonigal · 01-07-2012, 04:55 PM

I do not get a "connect". Should this pop up on the kobo screen or do I go thru the menu

filmo · 01-07-2012, 05:07 PM

Which Kobo e-reader do you have?

What have you done to set it up?

Have you charged your new Kobo?

plib · 01-07-2012, 05:08 PM

Maxine,

You are not alone. We got two Kobo Touch's for Christmas. One wasn't recognized at all, after testing on three computers with three different operating systems and two different cords. The other was recognized and started charging, but wouldn't come out of the charging screen after being disconnected. Both were returned by my wife, with a little hassle to ensure she still obtained the pre-Xmas sale price on the repurchases.

Of the two replacements my wife's appears to be working fine, so far. Mine will connect to my computer but the USB connection dies after one access to the device. I've tried it on separate computers, different ports and hubs, different cords - it's all 100% reproducible.

This happens on hardware and USB connections which support two separate drives, a 2TB and a 1.5TB, feeding a home network entertainment system, a router connected NAS drive and also sundry other devices such as iphones, GPS, Palms, etc.

The fault is definitely in the Kobo's USB hardware. There appears to be definite problems with the USB hardware in the current edition of the Kobo Touch, at least in the units delivered in our area.

My wife has just volunteered, though I somewhat objected, to go through yet _another_ return and replacement at Chapters. I made sure she knew the relevant paragraphs of the "of merchantable quality and fit for purpose sold" sections of our Sale of Goods Act in case she ran into problems ;-) But I have to say that based on our current experience over the last couple of days I have serious doubts about the "merchantable quality" of at least some of the current generation of Touches.

My advice is take it back and try again. I'm not a computer novice by any means but I got really fed up beating my head against Kobo's brick wall. Do yourself a favour and return it, and keep returning it, until you get one "fit for the purpose sold".

filmo · 01-07-2012, 05:23 PM

Operate on off switch holding it after sliding for Kobo Touch or after pushing switch for 5 seconds then release. This will turn your Kobo off or on from off. Give it a minute time or more to do it's thing before assuming it isn't doing anything.

If you plug USB cable from Kobo USB socket into turned on computer USB socket LED lite will come on indicating it is charging. Let it charge for 3 hours or more. Then see if it works better.

Maxine McGonigal · 01-07-2012, 05:28 PM

Thank you both for responding to my issues/questions.
Filmo - It is a "Kobo EReader Wireless"
I have fully charged it and tried to follow the instructions in the booklet which came with it, but I am not getting any prompts at all when attached with usb cable. Then installed the Adobe Digital Editions, changed usb cables. I have also read through some of the guide on the reader.
Plib - maybe you are right and I should return it, although you have mentionedl the Kobo Touch. Mine is the EReader.

plib · 01-07-2012, 05:32 PM

All good advice by filmo, and should be tried if you haven't already. Just be aware that I also performed everything recommended by filmo, with zero result. At a certain point you just have to accept that you may have got a lemon and take it back.

I note that the USB on the previous generation of Kobo, the "D" pad that my wife inherited from her father, which prompted the Touch purchases and the heirloom-ing through one more generation of the D-pad, had a mini-USB connector, not a micro. Given that micro are inherently more fragile just by the nature of their size and construction than a mini maybe that's part of the reason? Or maybe it's just a bad batch of parts and/or assembly?

filmo · 01-07-2012, 05:41 PM

No response when plugged into computer can be bad cable or cable not fully inserted. Also try plugging into another port or computer. Sometimes need different Kobo.

plib · 01-07-2012, 05:43 PM

Maxine.

I'm not sure if the Ereader is what I'm referring to as the "D-pad" but if so the one we inherited worked fine. Mind you we inherited it from my father-in-law who, although a Scotsman, possesses a temper which would allow me to grant him honorary Irishman status ;-) If there was any problem on his original purchase it would have been sorted immediately, while flames issued from the shop windows!

Other than that I can't really speak to the Ereader, other than to say don't bother calling Tier 1 support. They're a waste of time and temper. If you still have the chance to return it save yourself a lot of grief, wait time and general frustration and do the return.

01-07-2012, 03:24 PM	#1
Maxine McGonigal Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: kobo ereader	Help - EReader Just received a Kobo EReader for Christmas and am getting very frustrated in installing it on my laptop. Followed instructions in booklet and then tried installing Adobe Digital Editions manually. Still I am stuck!!

01-07-2012, 05:08 PM	#10
plib Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 6356004 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Touch	Maxine, You are not alone. We got two Kobo Touch's for Christmas. One wasn't recognized at all, after testing on three computers with three different operating systems and two different cords. The other was recognized and started charging, but wouldn't come out of the charging screen after being disconnected. Both were returned by my wife, with a little hassle to ensure she still obtained the pre-Xmas sale price on the repurchases. Of the two replacements my wife's appears to be working fine, so far. Mine will connect to my computer but the USB connection dies after one access to the device. I've tried it on separate computers, different ports and hubs, different cords - it's all 100% reproducible. This happens on hardware and USB connections which support two separate drives, a 2TB and a 1.5TB, feeding a home network entertainment system, a router connected NAS drive and also sundry other devices such as iphones, GPS, Palms, etc. The fault is definitely in the Kobo's USB hardware. There appears to be definite problems with the USB hardware in the current edition of the Kobo Touch, at least in the units delivered in our area. My wife has just volunteered, though I somewhat objected, to go through yet _another_ return and replacement at Chapters. I made sure she knew the relevant paragraphs of the "of merchantable quality and fit for purpose sold" sections of our Sale of Goods Act in case she ran into problems ;-) But I have to say that based on our current experience over the last couple of days I have serious doubts about the "merchantable quality" of at least some of the current generation of Touches. My advice is take it back and try again. I'm not a computer novice by any means but I got really fed up beating my head against Kobo's brick wall. Do yourself a favour and return it, and keep returning it, until you get one "fit for the purpose sold". Last edited by plib; 01-07-2012 at 05:10 PM.

01-07-2012, 05:32 PM	#13
plib Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 6356004 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Touch	All good advice by filmo, and should be tried if you haven't already. Just be aware that I also performed everything recommended by filmo, with zero result. At a certain point you just have to accept that you may have got a lemon and take it back. I note that the USB on the previous generation of Kobo, the "D" pad that my wife inherited from her father, which prompted the Touch purchases and the heirloom-ing through one more generation of the D-pad, had a mini-USB connector, not a micro. Given that micro are inherently more fragile just by the nature of their size and construction than a mini maybe that's part of the reason? Or maybe it's just a bad batch of parts and/or assembly? Last edited by plib; 01-07-2012 at 05:46 PM.

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01-07-2012, 03:28 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Please ask questions in the correct forum. This is not "news" and does not belong in the "News" forum. I'm moving it to the Kobo forum.

01-07-2012, 03:46 PM	#3
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	Do you mean that you are having trouble installing the Desktop app? I had a problem like that as well, it just kept saying that some of the required folders and files were missing, I haven't been able to fix this yet.

01-07-2012, 03:50 PM	#4
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,367 Karma: 78877538 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Maxine; can you give us a few hints please as to what is happening... You do know that after you connect the Kobo via USB to the Laptop, you need to hit the "connect" option on the Kobo's screen for the laptop to see it..

01-07-2012, 04:14 PM	#5
Maxine McGonigal Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: kobo ereader	I don't get any message at all when I connect the usb cable from the reader to the laptop.

01-07-2012, 04:39 PM	#6
Harry_W Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony PRS-T1	The Kobo should ask what to do, after you plug in the USB cable. If you select to connect to a computer it should be recognized. If not, try another USB cable or connector. I use the KT on several computers running WinXP, Win7-64, Ubuntu and Debian. No problems at all, it works fine on all machines and operating systems.

01-07-2012, 04:53 PM	#7
Maxine McGonigal Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: kobo ereader	thanks - I just tried another cable, but still nothing. It seems that it is not recognizing the reader at all

01-07-2012, 04:55 PM	#8
Maxine McGonigal Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: kobo ereader	I do not get a "connect". Should this pop up on the kobo screen or do I go thru the menu

01-07-2012, 05:07 PM	#9
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	Which Kobo e-reader do you have? What have you done to set it up? Have you charged your new Kobo?

01-07-2012, 05:23 PM	#11
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	Operate on off switch holding it after sliding for Kobo Touch or after pushing switch for 5 seconds then release. This will turn your Kobo off or on from off. Give it a minute time or more to do it's thing before assuming it isn't doing anything. If you plug USB cable from Kobo USB socket into turned on computer USB socket LED lite will come on indicating it is charging. Let it charge for 3 hours or more. Then see if it works better.

01-07-2012, 05:28 PM	#12
Maxine McGonigal Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: kobo ereader	Thank you both for responding to my issues/questions. Filmo - It is a "Kobo EReader Wireless" I have fully charged it and tried to follow the instructions in the booklet which came with it, but I am not getting any prompts at all when attached with usb cable. Then installed the Adobe Digital Editions, changed usb cables. I have also read through some of the guide on the reader. Plib - maybe you are right and I should return it, although you have mentionedl the Kobo Touch. Mine is the EReader.

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01-07-2012, 05:41 PM	#14
filmo Wizard Posts: 1,326 Karma: 1077205 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kobo Touch, Sony T1, Kobo Mini	No response when plugged into computer can be bad cable or cable not fully inserted. Also try plugging into another port or computer. Sometimes need different Kobo.

01-07-2012, 05:43 PM	#15
plib Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 6356004 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Touch	Maxine. I'm not sure if the Ereader is what I'm referring to as the "D-pad" but if so the one we inherited worked fine. Mind you we inherited it from my father-in-law who, although a Scotsman, possesses a temper which would allow me to grant him honorary Irishman status ;-) If there was any problem on his original purchase it would have been sorted immediately, while flames issued from the shop windows! Other than that I can't really speak to the Ereader, other than to say don't bother calling Tier 1 support. They're a waste of time and temper. If you still have the chance to return it save yourself a lot of grief, wait time and general frustration and do the return.