Clara HD signing out of Kobo account

[porcupine59]

I've had the Clara HD for a few years (3?) and I have a love/hate relationship with it. Love the device, hate the fiddley software/hardware operations.

All my books are side-loaded, and I swear the device used to work when, under Settings, I was "signed out" of my Kobo account. After a recent database-destroying restart and subsequent re-setup of the device, I have tried a couple times to sign out of the account, but each time it jumps all the way back to my having to re-setup the device.

My question, then, is a simple one: Should I be able to run the ereader without signing in to my Kobo account? If so, what's the right combination for getting to that state?

Thanks for any advice.

[bluepeter]

Yes, you ought to be able to sign out of your Kobo account and still use your e-reader. Although I'm currently using a Clara BW, rather than an HD, it's not signed into my Kobo account, and is working exactly as it should. The same is true of my Mini and Libra H2O.

You say that you sideload all your books, but are you using it in sideloaded mode? FWIW, I do. Having said that, I don't think that it's necessary.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by bluepeter

Yes, you ought to be able to sign out of your Kobo account and still use your e-reader. Although I'm currently using a Clara BW, rather than an HD, it's not signed into my Kobo account, and is working exactly as it should. The same is true of my Mini and Libra H2O.

You say that you sideload all your books, but are you using it in sideloaded mode? FWIW, I do. Having said that, I don't think that it's necessary.

AFAIK you'll have to sign in to your account, unless you enable the sideloaded mode. Which can be done by adding the following line to the configuration file:

SideloadedMode=true
under [ApplicationPreferences]

[Aleron Ives]

In the past, you had to edit the database to fill in fake account credentials, but as Sirtel said, sideload mode is the preferred way to do it now. Just connect the Clara over USB, edit and save the configuration file, eject the Clara, and then power cycle it. When you turn it back on, you should skip setup and directly enter the My Books page.

[porcupine59]

Holy smokes! Folks, this is just tremendous. I thought I was sideloading before, but this is the real thing. I see with this config change, the Home screen goes away, as do Kobo store sales pitches, etc. This is what I was wanting all along. I should be hanging out here more often instead of poking around for answers on Reddit or letting ChatGPT lead me on a wild goose chase.

THANK YOU!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

In the past, you had to edit the database to fill in fake account credentials, but as Sirtel said, sideload mode is the preferred way to do it now. Just connect the Clara over USB, edit and save the configuration file, eject the Clara, and then power cycle it. When you turn it back on, you should skip setup and directly enter the My Books page.

If you edit the database to fake an account, eventually, it could all go away when Kobo changes something in the firmware. Kobo has already done this twice and anyone fake registered lost everything and had to start over.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by porcupine59

Holy smokes! Folks, this is just tremendous. I thought I was sideloading before, but this is the real thing. I see with this config change, the Home screen goes away, as do Kobo store sales pitches, etc. This is what I was wanting all along. I should be hanging out here more often instead of poking around for answers on Reddit or letting ChatGPT lead me on a wild goose chase.

THANK YOU!

Remember, there is no syncing. If you want to sync, you have to use a real account.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Remember, there is no syncing. If you want to sync, you have to use a real account.

You can't sync sideloaded books even with a real account.

[porcupine59]

Got it. Thanks!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You can't sync sideloaded books even with a real account.

I never mentioned syncing side loaded books. I mentioned sync because using sideloadedmode means no syncing.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I never mentioned syncing side loaded books. I mentioned sync because using sideloadedmode means no syncing.

The OP said they sideload everything, so there's nothing to sync.

[Aleron Ives]

You can still sync firmware updates and dictionaries while in sideload mode. You just can't sync books from a Kobo account, since you're not using one.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You can still sync firmware updates and dictionaries while in sideload mode. You just can't sync books from a Kobo account, since you're not using one.

Thanks for that bit of info.