Aura H2O Kobo Aura H2O - need a little help...

[patrick9]

Hello there,

I have a Kobo Aura H20 which is running the latest Start Menu with nightly builds of KOreader.

I am normally usig Koreader for my daily reading, but I have just noticed that Nickel will not start up at all... KOreader and the Start Menu are still running fine.

When I select Nickel on Start Menu, it starts to boot up, seeing the five squares where it hangs for a few seconds and then resets itself. Sometime booting back to Start Menu, sometimes back again into attempting to start Nickel.

What does this mean? Is this what's called "bricked"? How would I be able to restore it without being able to boot into Nickel?

Thank you for any help, as it's a bit worrying...

Many thanks,

Patrick

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by patrick9

Hello there,

I have a Kobo Aura H20 which is running the latest Start Menu with nightly builds of KOreader.

I am normally usig Koreader for my daily reading, but I have just noticed that Nickel will not start up at all... KOreader and the Start Menu are still running fine.

When I select Nickel on Start Menu, it starts to boot up, seeing the five squares where it hangs for a few seconds and then resets itself. Sometime booting back to Start Menu, sometimes back again into attempting to start Nickel.

What does this mean? Is this what's called "bricked"? How would I be able to restore it without being able to boot into Nickel?

Thank you for any help, as it's a bit worrying...

Many thanks,

Patrick

I had that too (in addition, I also couldn’t boot into Koreader anymore) and the only way to fix it was to uninstall KSM via its menu.
I haven’t given it another try but I think I will use fmon next time I need Koreader...

[tshering]

Originally Posted by patrick9

Hello there,

I have a Kobo Aura H20 which is running the latest Start Menu with nightly builds of KOreader.

I am normally usig Koreader for my daily reading, but I have just noticed that Nickel will not start up at all... KOreader and the Start Menu are still running fine.

When I select Nickel on Start Menu, it starts to boot up, seeing the five squares where it hangs for a few seconds and then resets itself. Sometime booting back to Start Menu, sometimes back again into attempting to start Nickel.

What does this mean? Is this what's called "bricked"? How would I be able to restore it without being able to boot into Nickel?

Thank you for any help, as it's a bit worrying...

Many thanks,

Patrick

You say that the device is sometimes booting to KSM, and sometimes to nickel. Are you aware that KSM by default starts nickel if you do not select any menu entry in the first 20 or so seconds after booting? Is it possible that this is what you are seeing? (By default the device boots every second time to KSM, and every other time to nickel. But I guess you changed this setting already. Right?)

A potential cause for problems is that KSM uses fmon to communicate with nickel. Did you follow this part of the install instructions?

check that all images (exit_nickel.png, switchtokoreader.png, etc.) are listed in the library and their thumbnails are displayed there, and at least once as tiles on the home screen. Only then proceed to step two.

If you did not do this (or maybe not completely; or if the database was recreated since then), there could arise a situation that nickel cannot start. But usually this would not lead to rebooting the device, but only to falling back to KSM. You could anyway try to start nickel by a different way:

• select tools > nickel divers.msh > start nickel without fmon.sh
  (this is possibly not the exact wording, but you will find the relevant entries; I do not have my device with me, so I cannot verify the wording.)

If this starts nickel, then open exit_nickel.png, switchtokoreader.png, etc. and then power off the device (you cannot return to KSM in this situation directly). Next time you should be able to start nickel the regular way.

If you cannot start nickel in the way just mentioned, than there is a different problem unrelated to the pngs. When nickel hangs for a certain amount of time for some reason, the device gets rebooted. For instance, a corrupted database can cause nickel to hang. You could check the integrity of the database with a database tool on your pc, or you can also do it by selecting

• tools > nickel divers.msh > check db integrity.sh (or similar)

[patrick9]

Thank you for your help tshering and johnnyb, however now I'm afraid I've lost all functionality (I mean, with my own colourlessness, not because of anyone's advice!)

My Kobo now only starts onto the 5 squares and hangs there. So I'm afraid it's completely blocked, and have followed the different factory reset methods to no avail as I can't prompt it to do anything. I have lost KSM and KOreader so have zero functionality, and cannot mount the device via USB cable either

Oh well, I'm not sure what I can do with it now, except use it as a mug coaster, perhaps...

[davidfor]

If the device is booting to the squares and hanging, you should be able to do a factory reset. Follow the last set of steps on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Aura_H2O.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by patrick9

My Kobo now only starts onto the 5 squares and hangs there.

How did this happen? What has changed?
I hope one of the methods Davidfor linked to will work for you. If you tried them several times and none did work, you can still try something. Have a look at this thread, read especially posts #1 and #9. You have to use a unix style editor, cf. post #15. Take your time, and do not rush into things.

As the last resort, you can open the device and write a new image to the internal sd. You will however need some skills for doing this. If you do not have those skills, ask somebody to help you. The device will also not be any longer water proof.

[patrick9]

Hi tshering,

I had already tried all of the reset methods (and was looking next at opening the device) but finally the tapping reset method worked! So I'm back in, and luckily all of my reading materials are kept on the external card as opposed to internal. Smartest thing I did...

So I have learned some lessons about patience and fiddling with things which ought not be fiddled.

Thank you so much for all your help - I'll just read quietly now.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by patrick9

Hi tshering,

I had already tried all of the reset methods (and was looking next at opening the device) but finally the tapping reset method worked!

And that's why the last line is there about there about getting the timing right. I've only ever done this on both my Aura H2O or Glo HD to test it, but, I know I needed a few tries each time.

So I'm back in, and luckily all of my reading materials are kept on the external card as opposed to internal. Smartest thing I did...

Well, I hope that isn't the only place you have the books. Relying on that tiny little card probably isn't the best idea.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Well, I hope that isn't the only place you have the books. Relying on that tiny little card probably isn't the best idea.

why is it any different from relying on the tiny little (internal) card inside the H2O?

best wishes koboy

[PeterT]

coz the external card can pop out and get lost.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by PeterT

coz the external card can pop out and get lost.

it could depending on the user, i find having multiple backup cards comes in rather useful.

best wishes koboy

[booklover6]

Those cards can also fail. I've had 2 or 3 fail.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by koboy

why is it any different from relying on the tiny little (internal) card inside the H2O?

best wishes koboy

It's not necessarily different. I think the point was that hopefully he has his books stored in another location(s) as well. A PC, USB drive, cloud space...

Never a good idea to have just one copy.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Those cards can also fail. I've had 2 or 3 fail.

of course they can, although thankfully that hasn't happened to me and hopefully it won't, but even if it did i have backups on various storage devices so it would very easy to write onto a new card.

best wishes koboy

[koboy]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It's not necessarily different. I think the point was that hopefully he has his books stored in another location(s) as well. A PC, USB drive, cloud space...

Never a good idea to have just one copy.

indeed i agree it would be rather foolish to only have one copy.

best wishes koboy