Aura HD Screen broken?

[iKaroliina]

Hello,

I have been the owner of Kobo Aura HD now for 2,5 months but today it fell down. I have cover and a screen protector but it still wasn't enough. My screen now looks like this:


[Click to enlarge]

Is there any way to fix it? If not, where can I get replacement screen?

New e-reader costs too much for me so I really appreciate if someone knows how to fix it.

I'm reading now like this It's annoying...


[Click to enlarge]

[frostschutz]

Do the other parts still work? Just that stripe in the middle missing? Or is the entire screen frozen in place?

At first glance it doesn't seem like a traditional broken display. Either way you'd have to contact service.

[iKaroliina]

Everything still works except that there is a grey stripe across the screen. I contacted the place where I bought it from and they said that it would cost too much to replace the screen.

[frostschutz]

Contact Kobo, show them the pic (make a better one that shows the whole screen), tell them everything but the stripe still works, ask them if it's covered by warranty. If it is you might either get a replacement from them directly or have better chances with the place you bought at

[iKaroliina]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

Contact Kobo, show them the pic (make a better one that shows the whole screen), tell them everything but the stripe still works, ask them if it's covered by warranty. If it is you might either get a replacement from them directly or have better chances with the place you bought at

I live and bought it from Estonia. Kobo doesn't offer Costumer Care for my country.

[frostschutz]

In that case you have to convince the store...

Failing that you could open it up and re-seat the display cable, although I doubt it will change anything. You could verify that the display is not actually broken and then check if you find something else wrong with the device...

Or you could leave it like that and convince the software to not use the damaged area, either by getting the line spacing just right, or maybe it could be done better with KOReader so you don't lose all that space.

[iKaroliina]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

In that case you have to convince the store...

Failing that you could open it up and re-seat the display cable, although I doubt it will change anything. You could verify that the display is not actually broken and then check if you find something else wrong with the device...

Or you could leave it like that and convince the software to not use the damaged area, either by getting the line spacing just right, or maybe it could be done better with KOReader so you don't lose all that space.

I might have found a place where they repare e-readers. But if that place fails, do you know how can I convince the software not to use the damaged area? I happen to be IT student but I still have no experience with this kind of stuff.

[frostschutz]

Repairing readers (if it means new display) is usually not worth the monies. The display is the most expensive, and hardest to reach part in a reader. So it's expensive for parts AND the work time it takes to actually perform the replacement itself once you got the parts.

For Kobo's stock software I can't help you, but KOReader is open source so it could probably be done, and you'd have to ask KOReader devs for a pointer.

[pdurrant]

That's certainly not a broken substrate (the glass part of the screen under the E-Ink layer). It looks more like a problem with the connections to the screen. It might be worth opening it up and re-seating any cables.

[iKaroliina]

I was able to still contact Kobo. They told me to do a factory reset on my device. unfortunately that didn't reslove my problem.

[iKaroliina]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That's certainly not a broken substrate (the glass part of the screen under the E-Ink layer). It looks more like a problem with the connections to the screen. It might be worth opening it up and re-seating any cables.

I have been thinking also that it might be connection. I don't want to do it myself (I'm affraid I might do more damage) but at least I have found a place near where I live where they repair e-readers and I'm about to go there and see if they can fix it for me. You all have been so helpful.

[iKaroliina]

So I just got back from the repair place. They said it probably is broken but they will still take a look at it. I should get their responce in wednesday.

[LuisG]

Hi iKaroliina.

My Kobo Aura 6" screen had a very similar problem. With no apparent reason the screen failed horizontally in a specific area. I took it back to the store, they sent it to Kobo for inspection and after a week I was notified that the problem was covered by warranty and I would get a new Kobo.
Broken substrate, although having horizontal/vertical missing lines as well, is mainly detected by diagonal lines, which yours doesn't seem to have.
It would be a problem covered by warranty.

[iKaroliina]

So I got the device back. It still is a broken screen. Does anyone know if I can get a new screen from somewhere and is it too hard to replace?

[pdurrant]

The problem here is that it replacing just the screen might not fix the problem at all, as it might be a fault in the screen controller electronics instead. It's certainly not the usual form of screen failure, which is a broken glass substrate.