Is Kobo Discover supposed to work without an account?

[minosimo]

Hello,

I'm trying to set up calibre-web sync with my Libra H2O. It's not working: I added the api_endpoint, but sync fails and nothing appears.

Now, I am not sure if this is related, but the Discover tab always shows "Network Error", even though the web browser works fine. I do not want to use a Kobo account, and bypassed the login with the usual `sqlite3 INSERT INTO user(UserID,UserKey) VALUES('1','');`

Some time ago I believe I disabled the Kobo store/Discover page. I cannot remember for the life of me where I found the instructions to do this; I seem to remember it was on the same page with another tweak, I saw "disable store" and thought cool, I'll run that one as well.

I have since reset my kobo, also tried the hard reset with holding buttons, though I'm not sure if that's actually different. I updated the hosts file with one from this thread, in case the store was being blocked by the hosts file: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=162713

Discover still doesn't work, nor does sync.

The main question is, for those of you who bypassed the login with the above method, does the Discover page work for you?

Thanks!

[JSWolf]

In another thread it's said that that fake registration does not work. So don't do it.

DO NOT EVER FAKE REGISTER! Fake registering did not work on two firmware updates and you have to lose everything and start over.

[minosimo]

By fake registering, you mean setting UserID to 1? It's always worked fine for me, no reason to be scared of it. In what contexts does it break?

In other news, I figured out more about calibre-web. With the fake login, I was unable to get calibre-web to work. After factory resetting, logging in with a Kobo account, and changing the custom api_endpoint provided by calibre-web to httpS, it works and loads the books in my library! Unfortunately it doesn't get the book covers or let me download any of the items.

In conclusion, it's normal for Discover to not work if you use the "fake login" method.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by minosimo

By fake registering, you mean setting UserID to 1? It's always worked fine for me, no reason to be scared of it. In what contexts does it break?

In other news, I figured out more about calibre-web. With the fake login, I was unable to get calibre-web to work. After factory resetting, logging in with a Kobo account, and changing the custom api_endpoint provided by calibre-web to httpS, it works and loads the books in my library! Unfortunately it doesn't get the book covers or let me download any of the items.

In conclusion, Discover should not work if you use the "fake login" method.

It may not break anything. But some firmware updates caused the need to reset the Kobo. So you could update your Kobo one day and because you've fake registered, your Kobo would need to be reset. It's happened twice and could easily happen again.

There is no reason not to do a proper registration. I've had an account with Kobo for over 10 years. I also have had a Kobo for 10 years. I've been properly registered. There has never been a single issue.

The reason that Fake registration no longer works is because something changed in the firmware since that hack was created.

[minosimo]

Gotcha, good to know. Valuing privacy and avoiding tracking is the main reason to not log in.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by minosimo

Gotcha, good to know. Valuing privacy and avoiding tracking is the main reason to not log in.

Kobo is in Canada and takes the privacy laws very seriously. So you have nothing to worry about with a proper registration.

[minosimo]

I'll bite

Surveillance is worth opposing on principle. I am not worried about any particular repercussions against me personally if I log in, but I don't want to live in a world where the current levels of data collection are normalized, so if I have the choice between sending more or less data about myself to third parties, I always choose to send less.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by minosimo

I'll bite

Surveillance is worth opposing on principle. I am not worried about any particular repercussions against me personally if I log in, but I don't want to live in a world where the current levels of data collection are normalized, so if I have the choice between sending more or less data about myself to third parties, I always choose to send less.

You get more data collected about you by having a bank account, credit card, library card, account with the electric company, your ISP, etc the you do with Kobo.

[minosimo]

Yes, and the fact that data collection is forced upon us in our daily lives is exactly why it's worth resisting where possible. It would be great if everyone paid cash, if DNS were encrypted so ISPs couldn't spy on their users, if electric companies still came to check your meter once a month, rather than your consumption being transmitted to them in realtime.

I haven't analyzed what kobos send, but at a guess, they probably log when they're turned on, off, how much time is spent reading what. This information alone transmitted to Rakuten can reveal quite a lot about the person doing the reading, far more than a library or electric provider.

[Aleron Ives]

You probably won't find much help with this, because your method of bypassing registration is outdated. You no longer need to use database editing. Just connect the Kobo to your PC, enable sideload mode in the configuration file, eject, and reboot. Both the Home and Discover tabs will be eliminated from the UI, and My Books will become the main tab.

It's not surprising that the Discover tab doesn't work, since the whole point of the Discover tab is to buy books directly from your e-reader. If you don't have a Kobo account linked to your device, then you can't buy anything, and the Discover tab isn't going to work.

[DNSB]

As mentioned above, the Discover tab is connected to your account so hardly a surprise that it does not work with an unregistered Kobo. Even sync will have some issues since it will try to connect to your account to download new books/remove deleted books/etc.

Personally, I prefer the fake email address method for those who are worried about their privacy.

[Ghostcat]

Originally Posted by minosimo

Yes, and the fact that data collection is forced upon us in our daily lives is exactly why it's worth resisting where possible. It would be great if everyone paid cash, if DNS were encrypted so ISPs couldn't spy on their users, if electric companies still came to check your meter once a month, rather than your consumption being transmitted to them in realtime.

I haven't analyzed what kobos send, but at a guess, they probably log when they're turned on, off, how much time is spent reading what. This information alone transmitted to Rakuten can reveal quite a lot about the person doing the reading, far more than a library or electric provider.

DNSCrypt