Mini I've made a terrible mistake, can anyone help please?

paola · 08-17-2013, 05:59 PM

The short of it: I have taken out the SD card from my kobo and I would like to delete a file on it, but I don't know how to do it on my Windows 7 machine.

My machine does not recognise the card when I put it in the card reader and asks to format it (which obviously I have not done). I have found a porgramme to read the card on windows (this one) and I can see the file I want to delete, but this programme does not allow me to. Can anybody help please?

The background: playing around with Tshering's hack, I decided to uninstall, which is done by a tgz file. After rebooting, I saw that the directories created by Tshering programme where still there, so I deleted them manually. But then after another reboot the device game me a blank page. As I had just backed up the device, I saw on the backup tha tthe .tgz file was still there: so I guess when I try and reboot the .tgz file goes looking for something it does not find. I presume that if I can get rid of the .tgz file all will be well again (or similarly if I copy back the directories I had erased manually).

tshering · 08-17-2013, 06:19 PM

I am sorry to hear this. You have to copy the original rcS file (extract it from the firmware update) file to /etc/init.d. (I have also provided it in the uninstall folder).Under windows you need a driver for ext3 in order to read and write to this partition (I write again when I found the link). From the description provided by your link it seems, your prog can only read it, but not write.

PeterT · 08-17-2013, 06:25 PM

One option might be to download a linux live image. This is an ISO image that you burn to a CD and then boot from. It won't install anythijg to your hard drive but should allow you to plug in the SD card and "massage: it.

For instance, look at Fedora 19 and it's Installable Live Media.

paola · 08-17-2013, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tshering

I am sorry to hear this. You have to copy the original rcS file (extract it from the firmware update) file to /etc/init.d. (I have also provided it in the uninstall folder).Under windows you need a driver for ext3 in order to read and write to this partition (I write again when I found the link). From the description provided by your link it seems, your prog can only read it, but not write.

Tshering, thanks, as I said it was entirely my fault! So don't you think it will be enough just to eliminate the extra KoboRoot.tgz file? The rest of the directory looks exactly like my backup, so I don't think anything has been written on it.

Indeed you are right, I can read the card perfectly, but I cannot write on it.

paola · 08-17-2013, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

One option might be to download a linux live image. This is an ISO image that you burn to a CD and then boot from. It won't install anythijg to your hard drive but should allow you to plug in the SD card and "massage: it.

For instance, look at Fedora 19 and it's Installable Live Media.

Thanks Peter, so it is like booting my machine as a linux machine?

tshering · 08-17-2013, 06:41 PM

I think I am using http://www.ext2fsd.com/ for reading and writing ext2/3... I am not sure, since I am not at my PC now.
No, eliminating KoboRoot.tgz. is not the solution. You need to replace rcS by the original file.
If you do not have too many unsaved annotations, a factory reset might be the easiest way.

Edit: you can also extract the kbmenu folder from my KoboRoot.tgz file and copy it to .kobo. Then select install update from the menu (provided you have still the original KoboRoot.tgz on the reader).

Edit 2: If it is about the annotations: Since you have reading access to the SD, you could just copy the KoboReader.sqlite, and then make a factory reset.

PeterT · 08-17-2013, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paola

Thanks Peter, so it is like booting my machine as a linux machine?

Exactly!

paola · 08-18-2013, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tshering

I think I am using http://www.ext2fsd.com/ for reading and writing ext2/3... I am not sure, since I am not at my PC now.
No, eliminating KoboRoot.tgz. is not the solution. You need to replace rcS by the original file.
If you do not have too many unsaved annotations, a factory reset might be the easiest way.

Edit: you can also extract the kbmenu folder from my KoboRoot.tgz file and copy it to .kobo. Then select install update from the menu (provided you have still the original KoboRoot.tgz on the reader).

Edit 2: If it is about the annotations: Since you have reading access to the SD, you could just copy the KoboReader.sqlite, and then make a factory reset.

thanks Tshering, the problem is that I cannot do a factory reset from the machine, as it is not responsive. I will try your other method, thank you.

Thank you Peter, I completely forgot that I have another very old machine with ubuntu on, if that has a card reader, it may be the solution.

tshering · 08-18-2013, 06:34 AM

Paula, I hope your mini has already recovered. If not you should be able to trigger a factory reset.

This is what is happening: The rcS file is called each time the reader is powered on. It creates the necessary environment and starts finally nickel. I modified rcS in order to call the menu tool. Since you deleted the folder containing the menu tool, the rcS script breaks when attempting to call the menu tool, and cannot start nickel. At this point only the OS is running, there is no mechanism to interact now via touching the screen. But you should still be able to power off.
1) push the power slider to the right side and hold it for 20 seconds
2) hold the reset button and push the power slider to the right; hold both until the led becomes red.

paola · 08-18-2013, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tshering

Paula, I hope your mini has already recovered. If not you should be able to trigger a factory reset.

This is what is happening: The rcS file is called each time the reader is powered on. It creates the necessary environment and starts finally nickel. I modified rcS in order to call the menu tool. Since you deleted the folder containing the menu tool, the rcS script breaks when attempting to call the menu tool, and cannot start nickel. At this point only the OS is running, there is no mechanism to interact now via touching the screen. But you should still be able to power off.
1) push the power slider to the right side and hold it for 20 seconds
2) hold the reset button and push the power slider to the right; hold both until the led becomes red.

first of all thanks for taking the time - this is all of my own making, and I very much appreciate you taking the time to pick up my pieces!

I have copied the rcs file from the firmware update (I am still on 2.6.1) in the /etc/init.d directory as you suggested, I have also removed the koboRoot.tgz file, reinserted the sd card in the mini, and no joy.

I noticed that the original file on-animator.sh in the /etc/init.d had a different date than on my sd card, so I copied that one too, put the card back, and no improvement.

I also tried your reset procedure, with both a release of the start button between 1) adn 2) and without releasing it, but the led simply does not come on in any colour if I press the reset button at the back.

I can copy and delete stuff from my card, so perhaps there is something else I could try, but I don't want to abuse your patience. I guess if worse comes to worst I can copy another image that has been distributed in this forum and copy that one on my sd card - but first I'll try and see if I can salvage mine.

tshering · 08-18-2013, 07:50 AM

If replacing the rcS by the original file does not help, I do not know what to do. One last idea: There are two linux partitions on the SD card. One is the system partition and one is the recovery partition. They have similar content. Are you sure that you are copying the file to the system partition? Since you were comparing the file dates with the 2.6.1 FW and they are corresponding in several cases, I guess you are dealing with the system partition. So this seems not to be the problem. That your on-animator.sh has a different date seems to indicate that you have KoboLauncher installed, this is not part of the problem.

Maybe a new image is the best idea now. For later analysis an image of your current sd might be interesting. But I guess you don't have the time and mood to create one.

For creating and writing flash images, I find these tools very convenient under Windows:
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=28
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=29

I am sorry to be not able to give you more help.

paola · 08-18-2013, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tshering

If replacing the rcS by the original file does not help, I do not know what to do. One last idea: There are two linux partitions on the SD card. One is the system partition and one is the recovery partition. They have similar content. Are you sure that you are copying the file to the system partition? Since you were comparing the file dates with the 2.6.1 FW and they are corresponding in several cases, I guess you are dealing with the system partition. So this seems not to be the problem. That your on-animator.sh has a different date seems to indicate that you have KoboLauncher installed, this is not part of the problem.

Maybe a new image is the best idea now. For later analysis an image of your current sd might be interesting. But I guess you don't have the time and mood to create one.

For creating and writing flash images, I find these tools very convenient under Windows:
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=28
http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=29

I am sorry to be not able to give you more help.

thanks tshering, you've helped enough already, please don't worry, and maybe I'll learn something :-)

Yes I did note the recovery partition, but was not copying from there. For what is worth, I did take an image of my sd card before either copying the rcS file or removing KoboRoot.tgz, so in the name of progress

I will be happy to share it if it is of any help to anyone (I am assuming that reflashing it on my device won't improve the situation).

Incidentally, my Mini's sd card has 4GB capacity.

If I reflash on the card, do I have to format it in any way, or will it simply be overwritten? The card will be overwritten.

davidfor · 08-18-2013, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paola

Incidentally, my Mini's sd card has 4GB capacity.

A few people have noticed this when they opened their devices. If this isn't all used, you can safely expand the data partition to use the full capacity of the card.

paola · 08-19-2013, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

A few people have noticed this when they opened their devices. If this isn't all used, you can safely expand the data partition to use the full capacity of the card.

Thanks David, this is what I did, and so I have much more room now.

It was very scary for me to begin with, but gosh that was so silly, as being afraid of drilling a hole in the wall (which in effect can have far worse consequences, especially if you drill through a water pipe

).

So grateful for all the helpful people around this forum!

08-17-2013, 05:59 PM	#1
paola Wizard Posts: 2,840 Karma: 5843878 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK Device: Pocketbook Pro 903, (beloved Pocketbook 360 RIP), Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura	I've made a terrible mistake, can anyone help please? The short of it: I have taken out the SD card from my kobo and I would like to delete a file on it, but I don't know how to do it on my Windows 7 machine. My machine does not recognise the card when I put it in the card reader and asks to format it (which obviously I have not done). I have found a porgramme to read the card on windows (this one) and I can see the file I want to delete, but this programme does not allow me to. Can anybody help please? The background: playing around with Tshering's hack, I decided to uninstall, which is done by a tgz file. After rebooting, I saw that the directories created by Tshering programme where still there, so I deleted them manually. But then after another reboot the device game me a blank page. As I had just backed up the device, I saw on the backup tha tthe .tgz file was still there: so I guess when I try and reboot the .tgz file goes looking for something it does not find. I presume that if I can get rid of the .tgz file all will be well again (or similarly if I copy back the directories I had erased manually).

08-17-2013, 06:41 PM	#6
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	I think I am using http://www.ext2fsd.com/ for reading and writing ext2/3... I am not sure, since I am not at my PC now. No, eliminating KoboRoot.tgz. is not the solution. You need to replace rcS by the original file. If you do not have too many unsaved annotations, a factory reset might be the easiest way. Edit: you can also extract the kbmenu folder from my KoboRoot.tgz file and copy it to .kobo. Then select install update from the menu (provided you have still the original KoboRoot.tgz on the reader). Edit 2: If it is about the annotations: Since you have reading access to the SD, you could just copy the KoboReader.sqlite, and then make a factory reset. Last edited by tshering; 08-17-2013 at 06:55 PM.

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08-17-2013, 06:19 PM	#2
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	I am sorry to hear this. You have to copy the original rcS file (extract it from the firmware update) file to /etc/init.d. (I have also provided it in the uninstall folder).Under windows you need a driver for ext3 in order to read and write to this partition (I write again when I found the link). From the description provided by your link it seems, your prog can only read it, but not write.

08-17-2013, 06:25 PM	#3
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,511 Karma: 78910202 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	One option might be to download a linux live image. This is an ISO image that you burn to a CD and then boot from. It won't install anythijg to your hard drive but should allow you to plug in the SD card and "massage: it. For instance, look at Fedora 19 and it's Installable Live Media.

08-18-2013, 06:34 AM	#9
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	Paula, I hope your mini has already recovered. If not you should be able to trigger a factory reset. This is what is happening: The rcS file is called each time the reader is powered on. It creates the necessary environment and starts finally nickel. I modified rcS in order to call the menu tool. Since you deleted the folder containing the menu tool, the rcS script breaks when attempting to call the menu tool, and cannot start nickel. At this point only the OS is running, there is no mechanism to interact now via touching the screen. But you should still be able to power off. 1) push the power slider to the right side and hold it for 20 seconds 2) hold the reset button and push the power slider to the right; hold both until the led becomes red.

08-18-2013, 07:50 AM	#11
tshering Wizard Posts: 3,489 Karma: 2914715 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: kobo touch	If replacing the rcS by the original file does not help, I do not know what to do. One last idea: There are two linux partitions on the SD card. One is the system partition and one is the recovery partition. They have similar content. Are you sure that you are copying the file to the system partition? Since you were comparing the file dates with the 2.6.1 FW and they are corresponding in several cases, I guess you are dealing with the system partition. So this seems not to be the problem. That your on-animator.sh has a different date seems to indicate that you have KoboLauncher installed, this is not part of the problem. Maybe a new image is the best idea now. For later analysis an image of your current sd might be interesting. But I guess you don't have the time and mood to create one. For creating and writing flash images, I find these tools very convenient under Windows: http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=28 http://www.vconsole.com/client/?page=page&id=29 I am sorry to be not able to give you more help.

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