Aura H2O2 Weird problem with screen

Chapu · 08-27-2020, 06:02 PM

Hello, everyone. Since is going to be long, I apologize in advance (and also thank anyone who reads to the end). For the past six months or so I've been having a weird issue with my Kobo Aura H20 edition 2. Let me be specific:

I bought it new directly from Kobo Canada on July 2019. Up until, say, January this year it worked flawlessly. Then one day I was reading and when I swiped to the next page I noticed the image was somewhat blurry. I thought nothing of it, but then on the next page the issue got worse. It's hard to describe, but it seemed to insert very thin vertical lines all across the screen. The effect looked like the text was "dripping", so to speak. After a few more page swipes it got so blurry as to be unreadable, and then the top third of the screen got locked in a solid image, and only the bottom two thirds of the screen would refresh on every page swipe. At this point, the part of the screen that was still refreshing wasn't showing the "dripping" effect anymore, but the whole page was compressed to fit that space, sort of like it had been forcefully resized, so the text was still unreadable.

After a reset, it went back to working properly. But then some time later it happened again. I had to let the battery run completely dry, and the screen would still show the upper portion locked (I'm attaching a pic for reference). Only after several days of the device being absolutely out of power and unresponsive (to the point that turning it on will not even try to refresh the screen and display the "no battery" message), the screen will eventually restore itself to emptiness, and then I can plug it in for a charge and keep on using it until the next time this happens.

I've gone through this whole cycle about 4 times already, and frankly it's extremely annoying. Just last weekend I was reading, turned the Kobo off and left it to do something else, and maybe an hour later when I got back to it the screen was in the upper-third-frozen state.

Some more clarification: the device has never been hit, dropped or physically mistreated in any way whatsoever. I bought the sleep cover with it and always used it. Never applied any pressure to the screen or anything like that (and besides the fact that the screen eventually fixes by itself makes me think this is not a broken hardware problem). Sending it back for warranty is out of the question, maybe I could've done it sox months ago when this started happening, but I bought it in Canada and took it back home with me (I live in Argentina) so sending it over mail was not an option anyway.

Finally, questions: has anyone else experienced this problem? Does anybody know if there is anything I can do to fix this for good? Maybe some firmware hack or something? As far as I remember, the Kobo is up-to-date firmware-wise.

Thanks a lot in advance!

NiLuJe · 08-27-2020, 06:46 PM

That is... weird

.

I'd have said badly seated flex cable, maybe, but after looking at the pic, eeeeh, dunno.

Have you ever caught it breaking right under your nose, or is it always broken/fixed after a reboot and/or suspend/resume?

How does the boot progress bar look during a reboot?

Chapu · 08-27-2020, 06:58 PM

Thanks for your reply, NiLuJe. Yes, I've caught it in the act. It will be working fine, then a page swipe and it starts going funky, a couple more page swipes and it ends up like in the pic. During reboot, the progress bar (the three dots, actually) stay in the bottom two-thirds that actually refresh, and look compressed like everything else. I could try and record a wee video of that if you think it could help you diagnose.

davidfor · 08-27-2020, 09:49 PM

I'm with @NiLuJe, that's weird.

The first thought that came to mind for me was temperature. If it is overheating you could be getting strange behaviour. I have used my devices on days when it is well over 30ºC outside and was in a non-air conditioned house. I can't say what it was inside, other than "Hot". I haven't noticed any issues my devices under these circumstances. At the other end, someone recently asked about low temperatures as well, but, that was the screen updating much slower than expected.

Humidity was also a thought. But, it is supposed to be waterproof, so I would hope that is not it. But, I would opening the case and checking that the cables are all seated properly, and that there is no obvious damage.

And, I suppose enabling developers mode and turning on some logging could help. There may be some error shown when it happens. I'm not expecting anything, but, it is something to try.

NiLuJe · 08-27-2020, 09:51 PM

Mmh, that would rule out an extremely weird software glitch, so I'm back to the "badly seated flex cable" theory ;p.

EDIT: Too slow ;p.

NiLuJe · 08-27-2020, 09:57 PM

Mild lightbulb moment: do check the logs as @davidfor mentioned, I just remembered that we've seen some pretty weird things happening on PocketBook in KOReader when the device was trying to suspend erratically on its own.

Anything power management related should be fairly obvious in there.

davidfor · 08-27-2020, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Mild lightbulb moment: do check the logs as @davidfor mentioned, I just remembered that we've seen some pretty weird things happening on PocketBook in KOReader when the device was trying to suspend erratically on its own.

Anything power management related should be fairly obvious in there.

If that is the case, I wonder if turning of sleep, or the cover detection might be it. Or exactly where the cover is when it happens.

Maybe take it out of the cover for a while. (But don't tell @JSWolf.

)

In any case, it is always good to reduce the variables. Turn of the cover detection, WiFi and anything else you can think of. Then see if it happens. And then turn them on to see what does happen.

Chapu · 09-01-2020, 06:46 PM

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I thought it might have been overheating as well, but I never felt it hot or even warm to the touch, and the screen glitch happened nonetheless. I have used it in the sun, but nothing that I would consider extreme temperatures.

Also thought about the sleep cover, disabled the recognition function in the software, still the same issue. I wonder if maybe the magnet in the cover might be causing this somehow, I might take it off... Oh, and the wifi is always off, I don't care for it, just sync with Calibre over USB.

My next bet would be to open it and try reseating all the cables. I'll have to find a torx screwdriver that's tiny enough. Right now I'm waiting for the screen to just reset itself to blank (the battery is completely dry for over a week but the screen is still showing the upper-third fixed image, I guess e-ink does indeed retain position for a long time). I might try turning the logging on when I charge it again. Never used it, though, so any instructions on this?

08-27-2020, 06:02 PM	#1
Chapu Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: non-EPUB Sony PRS-500	Weird problem with screen Hello, everyone. Since is going to be long, I apologize in advance (and also thank anyone who reads to the end). For the past six months or so I've been having a weird issue with my Kobo Aura H20 edition 2. Let me be specific: I bought it new directly from Kobo Canada on July 2019. Up until, say, January this year it worked flawlessly. Then one day I was reading and when I swiped to the next page I noticed the image was somewhat blurry. I thought nothing of it, but then on the next page the issue got worse. It's hard to describe, but it seemed to insert very thin vertical lines all across the screen. The effect looked like the text was "dripping", so to speak. After a few more page swipes it got so blurry as to be unreadable, and then the top third of the screen got locked in a solid image, and only the bottom two thirds of the screen would refresh on every page swipe. At this point, the part of the screen that was still refreshing wasn't showing the "dripping" effect anymore, but the whole page was compressed to fit that space, sort of like it had been forcefully resized, so the text was still unreadable. After a reset, it went back to working properly. But then some time later it happened again. I had to let the battery run completely dry, and the screen would still show the upper portion locked (I'm attaching a pic for reference). Only after several days of the device being absolutely out of power and unresponsive (to the point that turning it on will not even try to refresh the screen and display the "no battery" message), the screen will eventually restore itself to emptiness, and then I can plug it in for a charge and keep on using it until the next time this happens. I've gone through this whole cycle about 4 times already, and frankly it's extremely annoying. Just last weekend I was reading, turned the Kobo off and left it to do something else, and maybe an hour later when I got back to it the screen was in the upper-third-frozen state. Some more clarification: the device has never been hit, dropped or physically mistreated in any way whatsoever. I bought the sleep cover with it and always used it. Never applied any pressure to the screen or anything like that (and besides the fact that the screen eventually fixes by itself makes me think this is not a broken hardware problem). Sending it back for warranty is out of the question, maybe I could've done it sox months ago when this started happening, but I bought it in Canada and took it back home with me (I live in Argentina) so sending it over mail was not an option anyway. Finally, questions: has anyone else experienced this problem? Does anybody know if there is anything I can do to fix this for good? Maybe some firmware hack or something? As far as I remember, the Kobo is up-to-date firmware-wise. Thanks a lot in advance! Attached Thumbnails

08-27-2020, 06:46 PM	#2
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047202 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	That is... weird . I'd have said badly seated flex cable, maybe, but after looking at the pic, eeeeh, dunno. Have you ever caught it breaking right under your nose, or is it always broken/fixed after a reboot and/or suspend/resume? How does the boot progress bar look during a reboot? Last edited by NiLuJe; 08-27-2020 at 09:51 PM.

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08-27-2020, 06:58 PM	#3
Chapu Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: non-EPUB Sony PRS-500	Thanks for your reply, NiLuJe. Yes, I've caught it in the act. It will be working fine, then a page swipe and it starts going funky, a couple more page swipes and it ends up like in the pic. During reboot, the progress bar (the three dots, actually) stay in the bottom two-thirds that actually refresh, and look compressed like everything else. I could try and record a wee video of that if you think it could help you diagnose.

08-27-2020, 09:49 PM	#4
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	I'm with @NiLuJe, that's weird. The first thought that came to mind for me was temperature. If it is overheating you could be getting strange behaviour. I have used my devices on days when it is well over 30ºC outside and was in a non-air conditioned house. I can't say what it was inside, other than "Hot". I haven't noticed any issues my devices under these circumstances. At the other end, someone recently asked about low temperatures as well, but, that was the screen updating much slower than expected. Humidity was also a thought. But, it is supposed to be waterproof, so I would hope that is not it. But, I would opening the case and checking that the cables are all seated properly, and that there is no obvious damage. And, I suppose enabling developers mode and turning on some logging could help. There may be some error shown when it happens. I'm not expecting anything, but, it is something to try.

08-27-2020, 09:51 PM	#5
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047202 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Mmh, that would rule out an extremely weird software glitch, so I'm back to the "badly seated flex cable" theory ;p. EDIT: Too slow ;p.

08-27-2020, 09:57 PM	#6
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,506 Karma: 26047202 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Mild lightbulb moment: do check the logs as @davidfor mentioned, I just remembered that we've seen some pretty weird things happening on PocketBook in KOReader when the device was trying to suspend erratically on its own. Anything power management related should be fairly obvious in there.

09-01-2020, 06:46 PM	#8
Chapu Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: non-EPUB Sony PRS-500	Thanks everyone for your ideas. I thought it might have been overheating as well, but I never felt it hot or even warm to the touch, and the screen glitch happened nonetheless. I have used it in the sun, but nothing that I would consider extreme temperatures. Also thought about the sleep cover, disabled the recognition function in the software, still the same issue. I wonder if maybe the magnet in the cover might be causing this somehow, I might take it off... Oh, and the wifi is always off, I don't care for it, just sync with Calibre over USB. My next bet would be to open it and try reseating all the cables. I'll have to find a torx screwdriver that's tiny enough. Right now I'm waiting for the screen to just reset itself to blank (the battery is completely dry for over a week but the screen is still showing the upper-third fixed image, I guess e-ink does indeed retain position for a long time). I might try turning the logging on when I charge it again. Never used it, though, so any instructions on this?

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