Aura H20 Frozen

[vosadrian]

Hi All,

I have done some research and tried all the recommended reset methods with no success, so apologies for querying a subject that has probably been done many times.

My daughters H20 is a couple years old (so original version). She was using it recently and when she went to wake it up by opening the cover, it did not respond in any way. Basically it just has the book cover of the book she is reading on the screen from the last time it went to sleep and it is stuck on that. She put it on charge thinking it must be flat, and it did not change anything. I have tried powering it off by holding power button for 15+ seconds. I have reset it with a pin for a short and long press. I have charged it for hours. I have tried holding the power and tapping the bottom corners of the screen. None of this has changed the state of the device. I have tried plugging into a Mac and PC, and I can't see it come up as a device.

The only response I get is that the white LED on the power button will flash for 15-20 seconds after I press the reset and also if I press the power button when it has not been touched for a while. Also the screen backlight will come on after the LED stops flashing sometimes.

There is no evidence of any physical damage to the device.

Can anyone suggest what might be wrong? I am an electrical engineer and pretty handy with repairing things. I have read about issues with internal SD cards and people pulling them apart to disconnect the battery etc. I can try these things, but prefer to do my research first which is why I am here.

Any help appreciated!!

Cheers!

[frostschutz]

If the power LED flashes, the screen should be updating too. If it didn't work at all (defective microsd or whatever), it probably wouldn't flash the LED as that is already controlled by software as far as I'm aware...

So very likely it's physical damage to the display. While this type of damage often causes visible artifacts, we've also had cases in this forum where it was completely invisible on the front side of the display but it was broken regardless.

You've already tried the available soft reset methods; if you decide to open it to access the SD card, be very careful when removing the front bezel, as there is glue all around.

Once you have it open, maybe you can also check the display substrate for damage.

Old posts of mine:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...66#post2998466

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...84#post2998984

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Also if you extract the MicroSD and the fat32 partition only has an empty filesystem, with .kobo folder, it also means the factory reset was a success and the problem is with the display.

It could be a loose display connector although there should be no way for this to become loose ever...

These displays just break very easily :-(

[vosadrian]

Thanks so much for your response!

So the way I hear this is that there is nothing else I can do short of pulling it apart. Is there a way to connect to this with a PC with the screen in the situation it is in? At least that way I could probably verify the SD card is working?

I need to test this again.... but if I power up the device, I get the flashing LED for 20 seconds or so and then it goes out. Sometimes I get the backlight coming on, and I think it is after a screen touch.. or it might just be after a delay after power up. It sounds like there is some software running.

Sounds like most likely is not visible damage of the screen. This happened when we were travelling so it was packed in bags and when arrived at the next destination it did not respond. It may have copped something. It looks perfect and has a kobo screen cover on it, so not sure how much protection that provides.

Cheers!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by vosadrian

So the way I hear this is that there is nothing else I can do short of pulling it apart. Is there a way to connect to this with a PC with the screen in the situation it is in? At least that way I could probably verify the SD card is working?

Not really. eReaders aren't actually MSDs. The software on the ereader is what presents one of the partitions on the internal SD card as a drive. Until it is running, and you select the connect option, the PC won't see it at all.

I need to test this again.... but if I power up the device, I get the flashing LED for 20 seconds or so and then it goes out. Sometimes I get the backlight coming on, and I think it is after a screen touch.. or it might just be after a delay after power up. It sounds like there is some software running.

It sounds like something is trying to start, but, what you are seeing could be a failing internal SD card. Or the file system has become corrupted enough it cannot start.

Sounds like most likely is not visible damage of the screen. This happened when we were travelling so it was packed in bags and when arrived at the next destination it did not respond. It may have copped something. It looks perfect and has a kobo screen cover on it, so not sure how much protection that provides.

Unfortunately, it still could be a damaged screen. The covers are good protection, especially from impact. But, the breakage can be from twisting and this seems to be cumulative. Generally, you can see the cracks, but sometimes it is in a corner or a part covered by the bezel. A few people have reported no obvious issues from the front, but when they opened the device and looked at the back of the screen, the cracks were obvious.

I think you are at the point were you need to open the device and test the card. Or restore an image to it and try that.

[vosadrian]

Thanks again for the info!

Before I open it up, is it possible to select the connect option in its current state to see if it can connect to a PC? If it was or was not able to connect to a PC would this give more info on whether it is the SD card or the screen?

It sounds like both possible failure modes need it opened up anyway, so perhaps I should just open it up anyway?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by vosadrian

Thanks again for the info!

Before I open it up, is it possible to select the connect option in its current state to see if it can connect to a PC? If it was or was not able to connect to a PC would this give more info on whether it is the SD card or the screen?

If the screen is broken and the device is starting and reaching the home screen, then you can connect to the PC and tap where the connect button should be. I don't have my Aura H2O with me, but on the Glo HD, the button is about a third of the way up from the bottom and slightly left of centre. If you start from the middle if the screen and tap a few time moving down, you should get it.

If the factory reset has been done, its a bit harder. I've no idea where the buttons for that are. But, thinking about this, if the device is powered off after the factory reset, connecting it to the PC should turn it on and automatically connect. I think that's right, but it has been a while since I did this.

It sounds like both possible failure modes need it opened up anyway, so perhaps I should just open it up anyway?

Unfortunately, yes.

[nikev]

I had this problem with my own H2O at some point as well, and was connvinced it was a hardware failure.

However, it turmed out to be a faulty USB cable and a totally dead battery — using a different cable caused the unit to charge and eventually start normally.

Might be worth a try before the scredrivers come out!

Nike

[frostschutz]

Worth a try, but a dead battery does not have a flashing power LED. :-/

[vosadrian]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

Worth a try, but a dead battery does not have a flashing power LED. :-/

Yeah, I have tried multiple cables and verified another H20 we have charges off the cable.