Aura E2 Kobo still "frozen" after new image installed

[d.fyc.kobo]

Hi all,

My kobo has been dead. I'll describe the symptoms, steps I've tried to resolve it and what I did leading up to the freeze.

Symptoms:
1) When I hold the power button, the LED light comes on, then flashes and then goes off.
2) The backlight on the screen then comes on indefinitely.

What I tried:
1) Factory reset steps (no reaction from the Kobo)
2) Charging it for 12 hours+ straight
3) Getting a new SD card and installing a new image according to https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=311227

Things I did leading up:
1) I loaded the most recent firmware to the Kobo. The kobo worked perfectly fine with the new firmware. I could access it, I could connect to the Wi-Fi, I could download books from overdrive.

2) I stopped reading for awhile and left the Kobo sleeping. It reached a low battery state and I didn't charge it just yet.

3) After a week or two, I decided I wanted to use it again and plucked it into a charger, a few boxes appeared on the screen and it just froze. That's how it got "frozen", "bricked".

Now, the Kobo is extremely new, between steps unboxing and step 3 would have been 3 weeks at most.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. I bought it in the US, but I won't be back in the US for some time, so sending it back in is going to be a hassle. Anybody has suggestions or similar experiences?

Thanks!