Glo Kobo Glo randomly powering off

MissStandfast · 07-06-2017, 09:00 PM

Hello, I hope you can all help me figure out what's up with my Kobo Glo.

Short version: It powers off randomly. Multiple factory resets have failed to deal with the problem. Battery is apparently full.

I can only wake it up by plugging it into my computer, but most of the time when I try this the screen just flashes at me and then powers off again. Sometimes it behaves long enough for me to try another factory reset, but I've had it crash in the middle of reformatting it. Can anyone guess what might be wrong? Is there any way I could fix this?

Context, and a second question:

The problem first manifested about 66% of the way through a book I'd got off Amazon and converted to EPUB via Calibre, and I'm a little concerned that this may have triggered the problem? The majority of what I have had loaded onto the Glo is *not* from the Kobo store: I use it to read Project Gutenberg books, ebooks that I've formatted myself in Calibre (I am a self-publishing author), ebooks from libraries via Adobe Digital Editions, and ebooks that I've bought from Amazon and converted to EPUB via Calibre. Should I be concerned that this motley collection somehow fouled up the device's software? Should I be worried that this will happen again if I get a new Kobo Glo?

Thanks in advance.

robko · 07-06-2017, 10:15 PM

That sounds like a hardware issue. If a book managed to screw things up (and I doubt it did) then a factory reset should correct whatever it did.

davidfor · 07-07-2017, 02:14 AM

Yes, any problem a book can cause will be fixed by a factory reset. Trying the same book might cause the same problem, but, other should be OK.

It's most likely a hardware issue. It's worthwhile opening it and reseating the cables and the internal SD card. And if that doesn't fix it, you can replace the card an restore an image to it. If that doesn't fix it, there isn't anything else you can do.

embryo · 07-07-2017, 05:26 AM

Maybe a broken power button?

BobC · 07-07-2017, 01:35 PM

A long shot but is your Glo in a cover ? I had a problem with a Glo switching off at random which I traced to it being in a third party sleep cover. What was happening was that when the Glo was snapped into the cover it exerted pressure at the top, near the power button and any slight flexing while in use would trigger the Glo to switch off.

IIRC the problem went away after I opened the Glo up and used a puffer to get rid of any dust, etc near the power switch, carefully re-closed the unit and then used a different cover that didn't use a snap-in approach.

BobC

MissStandfast · 07-07-2017, 06:43 PM

H'mmm. Actually, I bought this Glo secondhand and the power button has never worked. I got my brother to open it up to fix it, but he wasn't able to find anything wrong with the button. I then bought a third-party sleepcover so I could put it to sleep and wake it up again, and that worked nicely for over a year, until this new problem manifested. One of the first things I did when trying to fix it was take it out of the sleepcover, and that hasn't fixed it; but after at least one of my resets I noticed that the power button had decided to work again.

So maybe this is the old power button problem manifesting in a new way.

Deskisamess · 07-07-2017, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissStandfast

H'mmm. Actually, I bought this Glo secondhand and the power button has never worked. I got my brother to open it up to fix it, but he wasn't able to find anything wrong with the button. I then bought a third-party sleepcover so I could put it to sleep and wake it up again, and that worked nicely for over a year, until this new problem manifested. One of the first things I did when trying to fix it was take it out of the sleepcover, and that hasn't fixed it; but after at least one of my resets I noticed that the power button had decided to work again.

So maybe this is the old power button problem manifesting in a new way.

Sort of a pertinent piece of information left out of your first post, dontcha think?

MissStandfast · 07-09-2017, 07:51 PM

Not by malice aforethought, Dekisamess

Thanks everyone for the help! I pried the back off the Glo and pulled the insides out and rattled them around a bit, and then I put it all back together and voila - it works as well as ever, which is not to say that the power button works now, but that it's no longer crashing. Thank you all so much.

BobC · 07-10-2017, 06:34 AM

The power "button" on the Glo has, to me, always been a bit problematical. The design which means the slider which is part of the case has to connect mechanically to the actual microswitch on the PCB can be troublesome.

Operating the slider can be awkward to get the full movement needed to engage with the microswitch as the slider does protrude from the case for fat fingers. When I need the switch I tend to pry it across with my thumbnail.

BobC

07-06-2017, 09:00 PM	#1
MissStandfast Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2017 Device: Kobo Glo	Kobo Glo randomly powering off Hello, I hope you can all help me figure out what's up with my Kobo Glo. Short version: It powers off randomly. Multiple factory resets have failed to deal with the problem. Battery is apparently full. I can only wake it up by plugging it into my computer, but most of the time when I try this the screen just flashes at me and then powers off again. Sometimes it behaves long enough for me to try another factory reset, but I've had it crash in the middle of reformatting it. Can anyone guess what might be wrong? Is there any way I could fix this? Context, and a second question: The problem first manifested about 66% of the way through a book I'd got off Amazon and converted to EPUB via Calibre, and I'm a little concerned that this may have triggered the problem? The majority of what I have had loaded onto the Glo is not from the Kobo store: I use it to read Project Gutenberg books, ebooks that I've formatted myself in Calibre (I am a self-publishing author), ebooks from libraries via Adobe Digital Editions, and ebooks that I've bought from Amazon and converted to EPUB via Calibre. Should I be concerned that this motley collection somehow fouled up the device's software? Should I be worried that this will happen again if I get a new Kobo Glo? Thanks in advance.

07-07-2017, 06:43 PM	#6
MissStandfast Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2017 Device: Kobo Glo	H'mmm. Actually, I bought this Glo secondhand and the power button has never worked. I got my brother to open it up to fix it, but he wasn't able to find anything wrong with the button. I then bought a third-party sleepcover so I could put it to sleep and wake it up again, and that worked nicely for over a year, until this new problem manifested. One of the first things I did when trying to fix it was take it out of the sleepcover, and that hasn't fixed it; but after at least one of my resets I noticed that the power button had decided to work again. So maybe this is the old power button problem manifesting in a new way. Last edited by MissStandfast; 07-07-2017 at 06:48 PM.

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07-06-2017, 10:15 PM	#2
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	That sounds like a hardware issue. If a book managed to screw things up (and I doubt it did) then a factory reset should correct whatever it did.

07-07-2017, 02:14 AM	#3
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Yes, any problem a book can cause will be fixed by a factory reset. Trying the same book might cause the same problem, but, other should be OK. It's most likely a hardware issue. It's worthwhile opening it and reseating the cables and the internal SD card. And if that doesn't fix it, you can replace the card an restore an image to it. If that doesn't fix it, there isn't anything else you can do.

07-07-2017, 05:26 AM	#4
embryo Fanatic Posts: 529 Karma: 64554 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Kobo Glo, GloHD	Maybe a broken power button?

07-07-2017, 01:35 PM	#5
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	A long shot but is your Glo in a cover ? I had a problem with a Glo switching off at random which I traced to it being in a third party sleep cover. What was happening was that when the Glo was snapped into the cover it exerted pressure at the top, near the power button and any slight flexing while in use would trigger the Glo to switch off. IIRC the problem went away after I opened the Glo up and used a puffer to get rid of any dust, etc near the power switch, carefully re-closed the unit and then used a different cover that didn't use a snap-in approach. BobC

07-09-2017, 07:51 PM	#8
MissStandfast Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2017 Device: Kobo Glo	Not by malice aforethought, Dekisamess Thanks everyone for the help! I pried the back off the Glo and pulled the insides out and rattled them around a bit, and then I put it all back together and voila - it works as well as ever, which is not to say that the power button works now, but that it's no longer crashing. Thank you all so much.

07-10-2017, 06:34 AM	#9
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	The power "button" on the Glo has, to me, always been a bit problematical. The design which means the slider which is part of the case has to connect mechanically to the actual microswitch on the PCB can be troublesome. Operating the slider can be awkward to get the full movement needed to engage with the microswitch as the slider does protrude from the case for fat fingers. When I need the switch I tend to pry it across with my thumbnail. BobC

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