Sudden increase in problems

[Darnielle]

My Vox had been relatively problem-free before today; it froze a handful of times and WiFi has been patchy, but other than that it worked smoothly.
This morning around 12PM I was given a prompt that an update was available for the Vox. "Great!", I thought, "This'll be Kobo fixing some problems."
I clicked to update and then the device locked up. I restarted it, and the touchscreen wouldn't accept input. I restarted it, and this time the screen worked fine. I checked the Firmware Update app and it says Firmware is up to date.

But now, problems with WiFi have skyrocketed, to the point that I have to toggle it five or six times to get it to work at all. The wake from sleep bug now happens two out of three times the device enters sleep, and typing seems less responsive. I'm not sure whether the lock-up during the update caused this or whether it's just bad timing, but I thought I'd better make a thread since the circumstances are unique.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? Can someone shed some light on the situation?

[Jesslynne]

I am definitely having the same type of issues. Wifi won't connect to a remembered network unless I do so manually, and if I put it to sleep it's guaranteed I have to hard boot it because it won't wake from sleep and when it DOES, the screen is frozen.

I've tried a factory reset but it hasn't helped at all.

[KoboJW]

Is this the first time you updated since you bought your Vox? We have not pushed a new update since early November...

[Jesslynne]

I myself hadn't updated recently. My problems have just grown phenomonally large.. and I haven't done anything all that differently. It's just started and now it's frustrating me to no end..

I demo my own Kobo normally, so I keep it in sleep mode during work (normally all day really...) and now it just either wakes itself from sleep freezes and drains my battery when I don't have it on me to notice.. or never wakes from sleep ever.

[Darnielle]

@JW: No, my Vox was up to date before the update notification appeared... I checked here and found it strange that a thread hadn't been made.

An icon, the android mascot with one arm raised, appeared on the notification bar while I was reading. I opened the tray to see what it was, and it said something along the lines of 'An update is available for your Kobo Vox'. I don't have any apps that would cause a notification like this to appear, and the fact that it gave the device name makes me think it's unlikely to be a virus or malware. I was thinking it might've been a techie at Kobo jumping the gun with an update.

[oldyellr]

From the Kobo Vox user guide:

Updating your Kobo Vox software

Your Kobo Vox regularly checks for software updates by itself. Software updates offer new features and typically better stability. You can also manually check for updates.

To check for updates:
1. Tap the Home button on your Kobo Vox.
2. Tap the Menu button on your Kobo Vox.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap About Kobo eReader.
5. Tap System Update.
6. Follow the onscreen prompts to install software updates.

I also came across an item in the settings somewhere called "Update Firmware", or something like that, but I can't find it again. Where is it and what does it do different from the system update? How do I know if my firmware needs updating? If I find it again, should I click it to see what happens? Since my Vox has been running fine for the last couple of weeks since I've had it (updated to 2011/11/17 when I started it) except for one instance of having to wake it with a 10-second reset, I don't really want to try anything that might mess it up.

[KoboJW]

So you already applied the November update?

Can you tell me the build number you now have?

You can find it under:

Settings > About Kobo Reader > Build Number

Thanks!

[KoboJW]

Firmware update is found in the application page. It is there because very occasionally part of the first update does not successfully apply, so the app fixes it. If you aren't experiencing problems, you have no need to run it.

[taming]

By first update, are you referring to the setup that people did when the Vox was brand new and had never been set up at all? I seem to remember that a small % of devices purchased within a fairly narrow time period needed this, but most did not.

[Darnielle]

My build number is:

imx51_bbg-eng 2.3.3 GRI40 eng. 
UK.20111115.151942.39970 test-keys

[mr_nobody]

Since the most recent patch was pushed out on Nov. 17 and yours is dated Nov. 15, that's a little bit suspicious looking...

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Darnielle

My build number is:

imx51_bbg-eng 2.3.3 GRI40 eng. 
UK.20111115.151942.39970 test-keys

"test-keys" looks wrong to me. The software should be signed with an official Kobo key, not a "test key", these tests keys are for development work only.

Also, note the "eng" at the end of the build number, this would indicate this is an Engineering build (for development only), as opposed to a Release build (for production).

[KoboJW]

OK, I didn't realize you were in the UK. By the build number, it looks as though your device failed to update. Can manually check for updates again and let me know if it still thinks you need to apply the update? Make sure your device is well charged first, please.

Thanks,
James

[Darnielle]

'Current firmware V15 is up to date. No update is needed.'

If the Vox failed to update, aren't the build descriptors afv011 pointed out somewhat strange?

[Reader Paradice]

Originally Posted by afv011

"test-keys" looks wrong to me. The software should be signed with an official Kobo key, not a "test key", these tests keys are for development work only.

Also, note the "eng" at the end of the build number, this would indicate this is an Engineering build (for development only), as opposed to a Release build (for production).

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My 'official' Kobo download (other than the initial one after bringing home) also has 'test key' at the end of the string. That is the one that was downloaded after james said that a download was available....


imx51_bbg-eng 2.3.3 GRI40 eng.
CAN.20111117.18253940022 test-keys

I have had no issues with this one that I can see....