Old Kobo Aura H2O question on downgrading firmware

sparklemotion · 07-22-2025, 09:32 PM

Hi everyone, I have an old Kobo Aura H2O (2014 version) that still works great, but the page turns have been painfully slow which is why I don't use it much anymore. I recently noticed someone online saying they had the same issue and they downgraded the firmware on theirs and now it's back to being zippy. (A factory reset didn't help mine, and it also retains the newest firmware)

Has anyone done this with their Aura H2O due to it lagging? Can anyone please advise what firmware would be a good bet for me to downgrade to? I'm currently on the latest 4.38. I found a couple sites with older versions, but it becomes a bit confusing which one to safely download.

DNSB · 07-22-2025, 10:41 PM

If you want to revert the firmware to factory, you will need to do the true factory reset. If you type devmodeon in the search box and search, you will find a Developer options setting at the end of the More => Device information. The factory reset from that menu will revert your firmware. Or you can do the Manual reset your Kobo Aura H2O procedure.

Basically, the procedure has you restarting your Kobo H2O 5 times without allowing the boot process to finish which triggers the factory reset.

As for which firmware to run? I've always stuck with using the latest firmware and haven't noticed the slowdown you are mentioning so can't offer much help there. If you want to run a downgrade firmware, you can download older versions from Patrick Gaskins' Kobo Firmware Downloads site. The download links there go directly back to Kobo's servers.

Please note that going back to earlier firmware versions is done at the risk of running into incompatibility with database updates. I would recommend a factory reset before downgrading.

John F · 07-23-2025, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

Hi everyone, I have an old Kobo Aura H2O (2014 version) that still works great, but the page turns have been painfully slow which is why I don't use it much anymore. I recently noticed someone online saying they had the same issue and they downgraded the firmware on theirs and now it's back to being zippy. (A factory reset didn't help mine, and it also retains the newest firmware)

...

Have you tried using kepubs?

Quoth · 07-23-2025, 06:56 AM

Kepubs do use a different renderer. They have extra spans. I've never noticed faster page turns with them.

I did have an original Aura HD H2O and only annotation was too slow. Later FW updates fixed that. I never found page turns slow. Try switching to swipe only and and don't have refresh on every page.

cavy · 07-23-2025, 08:09 AM

The page turning on my Kobo Aura H2O also becomes very slow with the successive versions starting from 4.35. So, although I try the one that comes out, I always go back to the 4.34.20097 that goes well.

sparklemotion · 07-23-2025, 09:38 AM

Thank you all so much for your replies! I really appreciate it.

DNSB, I will try the factory reset to get it back to its original state I am hoping that will solve the issue. Thank you for all the info your provided. Much appreciated.

John and Quoth - Thank for you the kepub mention! I have tried kepubs and it makes no difference for me, unfortunately. :/

Cavy - Thank you for that info on what version the slow down starts for you. That's helpful! I do think in my case it's a firmware issue.

sparklemotion · 07-23-2025, 12:13 PM

ok so I tried to factory reset from the developer menu but it won't accept my wifi password now (which I'm positive is correct, tried it multiple times) and it won't let me set it up without connecting to wifi so I'm not sure what to do. I receive the "Something went wrong, please try again" message. Hmm. I'm guessing the older kobo firmware isn't compatible with newer wifi systems? Any ideas would be appreciated. (tried using my phone as a hotspot but that didn't work)

sparklemotion · 07-23-2025, 01:50 PM

Got it going again by trying a bunch of different usb cords and hitting upon the right one I guess. Connected to kobo desktop, although never could connect to my wifi. What a pain to get it going again, shouldn't be so hard. Page turns are not as painfully slow, but definitely not as fast as they were when I first got the reader. Also I noticed my firmware is at 4.38 so I guess when I connected to kobo desktop it upgraded it to the latest, likely why not much difference in my page turns.

JSWolf · 07-23-2025, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparklemotion

ok so I tried to factory reset from the developer menu but it won't accept my wifi password now (which I'm positive is correct, tried it multiple times) and it won't let me set it up without connecting to wifi so I'm not sure what to do. I receive the "Something went wrong, please try again" message. Hmm. I'm guessing the older kobo firmware isn't compatible with newer wifi systems? Any ideas would be appreciated. (tried using my phone as a hotspot but that didn't work)

I've never noticed a slowdown of page turns with ePub on the H20. I may be at 4.35.20400 so I cannot say about newer firmware.

Anyway, Kobo did say you need to have at least 4.35.20400 in order to use the Kobo ecosystem. Kobo did this is the 1st quarter 2023.

sparklemotion · 07-23-2025, 04:02 PM

Ah I wasn’t aware of that. Thank you for the info. Curious how fast your page turns are on your H2O if you have/still use it? Mine used to be instantaneous, but when I upgraded at a certain point they markedly slowed down. It’s a good few seconds now, trust me it seems very slow. My kobo Libra 2 (the older BW one) is pretty much instantaneous but this experience is making me leery to update that reader now too. My H2O is still perfect in all other ways, I just wish it wasn’t so darn slow. My really old kindle paperwhite page turns are still very fast but I prefer the Kobo readers.

07-22-2025, 09:32 PM	#1
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,860 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	Old Kobo Aura H2O question on downgrading firmware Hi everyone, I have an old Kobo Aura H2O (2014 version) that still works great, but the page turns have been painfully slow which is why I don't use it much anymore. I recently noticed someone online saying they had the same issue and they downgraded the firmware on theirs and now it's back to being zippy. (A factory reset didn't help mine, and it also retains the newest firmware) Has anyone done this with their Aura H2O due to it lagging? Can anyone please advise what firmware would be a good bet for me to downgrade to? I'm currently on the latest 4.38. I found a couple sites with older versions, but it becomes a bit confusing which one to safely download.

07-23-2025, 12:13 PM	#7
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,860 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	ok so I tried to factory reset from the developer menu but it won't accept my wifi password now (which I'm positive is correct, tried it multiple times) and it won't let me set it up without connecting to wifi so I'm not sure what to do. I receive the "Something went wrong, please try again" message. Hmm. I'm guessing the older kobo firmware isn't compatible with newer wifi systems? Any ideas would be appreciated. (tried using my phone as a hotspot but that didn't work) Last edited by sparklemotion; 07-23-2025 at 12:27 PM.

07-23-2025, 01:50 PM	#8
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,860 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	Got it going again by trying a bunch of different usb cords and hitting upon the right one I guess. Connected to kobo desktop, although never could connect to my wifi. What a pain to get it going again, shouldn't be so hard. Page turns are not as painfully slow, but definitely not as fast as they were when I first got the reader. Also I noticed my firmware is at 4.38 so I guess when I connected to kobo desktop it upgraded it to the latest, likely why not much difference in my page turns. Last edited by sparklemotion; 07-23-2025 at 02:14 PM.

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07-22-2025, 10:41 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,288 Karma: 169098402 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	If you want to revert the firmware to factory, you will need to do the true factory reset. If you type devmodeon in the search box and search, you will find a Developer options setting at the end of the More => Device information. The factory reset from that menu will revert your firmware. Or you can do the Manual reset your Kobo Aura H2O procedure. Basically, the procedure has you restarting your Kobo H2O 5 times without allowing the boot process to finish which triggers the factory reset. As for which firmware to run? I've always stuck with using the latest firmware and haven't noticed the slowdown you are mentioning so can't offer much help there. If you want to run a downgrade firmware, you can download older versions from Patrick Gaskins' Kobo Firmware Downloads site. The download links there go directly back to Kobo's servers. Please note that going back to earlier firmware versions is done at the risk of running into incompatibility with database updates. I would recommend a factory reset before downgrading.

07-23-2025, 06:56 AM	#4
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,094 Karma: 105211945 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Kepubs do use a different renderer. They have extra spans. I've never noticed faster page turns with them. I did have an original Aura HD H2O and only annotation was too slow. Later FW updates fixed that. I never found page turns slow. Try switching to swipe only and and don't have refresh on every page.

07-23-2025, 08:09 AM	#5
cavy Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 124668 Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Sony PRST2, Kindle DXG y PW2	The page turning on my Kobo Aura H2O also becomes very slow with the successive versions starting from 4.35. So, although I try the one that comes out, I always go back to the 4.34.20097 that goes well.

07-23-2025, 09:38 AM	#6
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,860 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	Thank you all so much for your replies! I really appreciate it. DNSB, I will try the factory reset to get it back to its original state I am hoping that will solve the issue. Thank you for all the info your provided. Much appreciated. John and Quoth - Thank for you the kepub mention! I have tried kepubs and it makes no difference for me, unfortunately. :/ Cavy - Thank you for that info on what version the slow down starts for you. That's helpful! I do think in my case it's a firmware issue.

07-23-2025, 04:02 PM	#10
sparklemotion dangerous when cornered Posts: 1,860 Karma: 22891237 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Kobo H2O, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite	Ah I wasn’t aware of that. Thank you for the info. Curious how fast your page turns are on your H2O if you have/still use it? Mine used to be instantaneous, but when I upgraded at a certain point they markedly slowed down. It’s a good few seconds now, trust me it seems very slow. My kobo Libra 2 (the older BW one) is pretty much instantaneous but this experience is making me leery to update that reader now too. My H2O is still perfect in all other ways, I just wish it wasn’t so darn slow. My really old kindle paperwhite page turns are still very fast but I prefer the Kobo readers.

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