Windows wants to format my Glo ????

Texel2001 · 09-10-2014, 04:22 PM

Hi all,

After being very happy with my Aura HD i decided to get a Glo for my girlfriend.
So got the thing from the shop and fired it up. Connected the Wifi and the update started and after a few minutes of installing and rebooting the Glo came to life. Hooked it up to my Win-7 Pc and after the windows PLOINK of recognizing the USB device there it was: You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it. DUH?!? KOBO.exe is unable to update (seems to lose the USB connection) Calibre does not recognize the Glo (no device button) Grrrrrrrrrr.

So i dit a Factor reset and started all over and connected to a Windows 8.1 machine. Same story no connection possible and Windows wants to format the Glo.

I spend some time on the interwebs looking for similar behavior and found a few, non helping, references to this problem. So i tried connecting the Glo to my MacBook et voila Calibre recognized the glo and presto. But im not happy with that because my gf does not have a mac and i want her to use her own pc. So i went to the store and swapped the Glo for a new one.

After returning home i tried the Glo and GRRRRRRRRR EXACTLY the SAME thing happened. I am only able to connect to the Glo using my mac, all other Windows based machines want to format the disk ?????

Tried sideloading older fw but still the same problem when connecting to Windows machines.

Help is appreciated in this case.

Greetings,

Pieter

dordale · 09-11-2014, 12:42 AM

Are you connecting to the Windows machine through a USB hub? If so, try connecting directly and try different ports on the computer.

Good luck!

hleo12 · 09-11-2014, 01:10 AM

Also, try installing the Kobo desktop software and update it via usb after doing a factory reset...

davidfor · 09-11-2014, 01:43 AM

At this point, I would let Windows do what it wants. It will only format the visible portion of the drive. Make sure it formats the partition as FAT32. After that, run the Kobo desktop and let it do its thing. When you disconnect, it should be OK. Then connect again and see what happens. If there is a problem at this point, take it back and get a replacement.

Texel2001 · 09-11-2014, 01:52 AM

Thanx for the advice.

#1 Its directly connected to my laptop, so no hubs or whatever.

#2 I did try the update with Kobo desktop (after a factory reset) and it fails after 10 seconds of updating saying i disconnected the reader from the PC.

#3 If you let windows do what it wants; Formatting fails ! Unable to format disk. Taking it back again to swap ?!?

Greetings Pieter

davidfor · 09-11-2014, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel2001

Taking it back again to swap ?!?

Yes, do that. A new device shouldn't behave like this.

Texel2001 · 09-11-2014, 04:38 AM

Hi,

I took the Glo to the office and a collegue of mine and i spent some $$$ hours tinkering with it.

#1 Factory reset.
#2 Setup using Wifi (updatetd itself to 3.8.0)
#3 Connected to PC
#4 ! PROBLEM ! Glo not recognised.
#5 Started MiniTool Partition Wizard
#6 Assigned a drive letter to the partition
#7 Set the partition INACTIVE ?????? It was active
#8 Magically the drive and contents appeared in explorer

#9 Calibre works like a charm and uploaded my library to the Glo

(#10 I wonder what is going to happen at 3.9.0)

Thanx for hanging in there with me,

Pieter

jackastor · 09-12-2014, 08:49 AM

Just curious here. Was it a new sealed unopened box? Was it a refurbished unit? Some times the flash image is corrupt because of problems during the production of the image ( they are usually done like hard drives cloned assembly lines and multiples at once.)

regards

Jack

Texel2001 · 09-12-2014, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackastor

Just curious here. Was it a new sealed unopened box? Was it a refurbished unit? Some times the flash image is corrupt because of problems during the production of the image ( they are usually done like hard drives cloned assembly lines and multiples at once.)
regards
Jack

Jack,

The first one i had problems with was NIB and sealed. The second one could have been a refurb, but the only hint to that would be the clock running at the right time at the moment of setup.

grtz,

Pieter

mkeles84 · 05-05-2016, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel2001

Hi,

I took the Glo to the office and a collegue of mine and i spent some $$$ hours tinkering with it.

#1 Factory reset.
#2 Setup using Wifi (updatetd itself to 3.8.0)
#3 Connected to PC
#4 ! PROBLEM ! Glo not recognised.
#5 Started MiniTool Partition Wizard
#6 Assigned a drive letter to the partition
#7 Set the partition INACTIVE ?????? It was active
#8 Magically the drive and contents appeared in explorer

#9 Calibre works like a charm and uploaded my library to the Glo

(#10 I wonder what is going to happen at 3.9.0)

Thanx for hanging in there with me,

Pieter

It save your life, wonderful solution

Psiuyo · 05-11-2016, 11:33 PM

Thanks for posting this, I just had the same problem with my new Glo HD. Windows (multiple machines, cables) would keep wanting to format, usually with an unknown disk size. Even linux and Android had trouble recognizing the partition.

Clearing the active/boot flag on the partition prior to setup seems to have fixed everything. Looking at it now, after successful setup and fw update, the partition is marked as active again but everything works as normal. My old Touch appears to be partitioned similarly.

frostschutz · 05-12-2016, 06:04 AM

I'm not sure which active/boot flag you talk about.

The Kobo exports the filesystem directly as a block device, without an additional partition table. In Linux that means you mount /dev/sdx, not /dev/sdx1 (sdx being the entire block device, sdx1 would be a partition that does not exist in the case of Kobo).

So is there a boot flag or whatever as a property of the filesystem itself?

If we could understand this issue better maybe it would be possible to mod the firmware / tell Kobo about it so in future firmwares this issue never comes up in the first place.

Psiuyo · 05-12-2016, 11:46 AM

Well, that might explain why the partitions in fdisk looked off when I plugged the Touch into my linux box. The (working) Touch was seen and the devices created but the Glo HD didn't even register a block device. I didn't spend much more time on it since I had never hooked up a kobo to linux previously and I had already read this thread so I went straight to the solution here.

FYI, what did notice was that prior to the device setup when windows wanted to format the device it would at least know the size and the format would complete. I was then able to copy firmware to the Glo HD and upgrade. I could perform wireless setup regardless of the firmware but as soon as the setup was complete Windows would want to format again but was unable to determine the drive's capacity so the format failed. Attempting to performed a wired setup with the desktop software appeared to briefly initiate but within a second or two lose connection and sit at the "please plug in your kobo to continue" screen.

After clearing the active/boot flag on partition 1 with MiniTool Partition Wizard in Windows I was able to run the wired setup with no issue - I don't even think I needed to reformat the device, just unplug and plug back in.

My Glo HD was not new in a sealed box and was not claimed to be refurbished but easily could have been.

Mook4Nook · 05-12-2016, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texel2001

Hi,

I took the Glo to the office and a collegue of mine and i spent some $$$ hours tinkering with it.

#1 Factory reset.
#2 Setup using Wifi (updatetd itself to 3.8.0)
#3 Connected to PC
#4 ! PROBLEM ! Glo not recognised.
#5 Started MiniTool Partition Wizard
#6 Assigned a drive letter to the partition
#7 Set the partition INACTIVE ?????? It was active
#8 Magically the drive and contents appeared in explorer

#9 Calibre works like a charm and uploaded my library to the Glo

(#10 I wonder what is going to happen at 3.9.0)

Thanx for hanging in there with me,

Pieter

Wow Pieter, I congratulate you for your patience, but that's ridiculous that you had to jump through so many hoops. I mean what if you weren't as technologically savvy, I would have returned just in case something else goes weird.

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09-10-2014, 04:22 PM	#1
Texel2001 Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 13110 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kobo GLO	Windows wants to format my Glo ???? Hi all, After being very happy with my Aura HD i decided to get a Glo for my girlfriend. So got the thing from the shop and fired it up. Connected the Wifi and the update started and after a few minutes of installing and rebooting the Glo came to life. Hooked it up to my Win-7 Pc and after the windows PLOINK of recognizing the USB device there it was: You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it. DUH?!? KOBO.exe is unable to update (seems to lose the USB connection) Calibre does not recognize the Glo (no device button) Grrrrrrrrrr. So i dit a Factor reset and started all over and connected to a Windows 8.1 machine. Same story no connection possible and Windows wants to format the Glo. I spend some time on the interwebs looking for similar behavior and found a few, non helping, references to this problem. So i tried connecting the Glo to my MacBook et voila Calibre recognized the glo and presto. But im not happy with that because my gf does not have a mac and i want her to use her own pc. So i went to the store and swapped the Glo for a new one. After returning home i tried the Glo and GRRRRRRRRR EXACTLY the SAME thing happened. I am only able to connect to the Glo using my mac, all other Windows based machines want to format the disk ????? Tried sideloading older fw but still the same problem when connecting to Windows machines. Help is appreciated in this case. Greetings, Pieter Last edited by Texel2001; 09-10-2014 at 04:30 PM.

09-11-2014, 12:42 AM	#2
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Are you connecting to the Windows machine through a USB hub? If so, try connecting directly and try different ports on the computer. Good luck!

09-11-2014, 01:10 AM	#3
hleo12 Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 5078890 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kobo Glo (deceased), Kindle 4th, Kindle Basic 10th Generation	Also, try installing the Kobo desktop software and update it via usb after doing a factory reset...

09-11-2014, 01:43 AM	#4
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	At this point, I would let Windows do what it wants. It will only format the visible portion of the drive. Make sure it formats the partition as FAT32. After that, run the Kobo desktop and let it do its thing. When you disconnect, it should be OK. Then connect again and see what happens. If there is a problem at this point, take it back and get a replacement.

09-11-2014, 01:52 AM	#5
Texel2001 Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 13110 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kobo GLO	Thanx for the advice. #1 Its directly connected to my laptop, so no hubs or whatever. #2 I did try the update with Kobo desktop (after a factory reset) and it fails after 10 seconds of updating saying i disconnected the reader from the PC. #3 If you let windows do what it wants; Formatting fails ! Unable to format disk. Taking it back again to swap ?!? Greetings Pieter

09-11-2014, 04:38 AM	#7
Texel2001 Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 13110 Join Date: Sep 2014 Device: Kobo GLO	I got it working !!! Hi, I took the Glo to the office and a collegue of mine and i spent some $$$ hours tinkering with it. #1 Factory reset. #2 Setup using Wifi (updatetd itself to 3.8.0) #3 Connected to PC #4 ! PROBLEM ! Glo not recognised. #5 Started MiniTool Partition Wizard #6 Assigned a drive letter to the partition #7 Set the partition INACTIVE ?????? It was active #8 Magically the drive and contents appeared in explorer #9 Calibre works like a charm and uploaded my library to the Glo (#10 I wonder what is going to happen at 3.9.0) Thanx for hanging in there with me, Pieter

09-12-2014, 08:49 AM	#8
jackastor Wizard Posts: 1,847 Karma: 3212428 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iphone stanza, kobo touch,ASUS TF300,KOBO GLO, Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Mini	Just curious here. Was it a new sealed unopened box? Was it a refurbished unit? Some times the flash image is corrupt because of problems during the production of the image ( they are usually done like hard drives cloned assembly lines and multiples at once.) regards Jack

05-11-2016, 11:33 PM	#11
Psiuyo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kobo original	Thanks for posting this, I just had the same problem with my new Glo HD. Windows (multiple machines, cables) would keep wanting to format, usually with an unknown disk size. Even linux and Android had trouble recognizing the partition. Clearing the active/boot flag on the partition prior to setup seems to have fixed everything. Looking at it now, after successful setup and fw update, the partition is marked as active again but everything works as normal. My old Touch appears to be partitioned similarly.

05-12-2016, 06:04 AM	#12
frostschutz Linux User Posts: 2,282 Karma: 6123806 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: none	I'm not sure which active/boot flag you talk about. The Kobo exports the filesystem directly as a block device, without an additional partition table. In Linux that means you mount /dev/sdx, not /dev/sdx1 (sdx being the entire block device, sdx1 would be a partition that does not exist in the case of Kobo). So is there a boot flag or whatever as a property of the filesystem itself? If we could understand this issue better maybe it would be possible to mod the firmware / tell Kobo about it so in future firmwares this issue never comes up in the first place.

05-12-2016, 11:46 AM	#13
Psiuyo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: Kobo original	Well, that might explain why the partitions in fdisk looked off when I plugged the Touch into my linux box. The (working) Touch was seen and the devices created but the Glo HD didn't even register a block device. I didn't spend much more time on it since I had never hooked up a kobo to linux previously and I had already read this thread so I went straight to the solution here. FYI, what did notice was that prior to the device setup when windows wanted to format the device it would at least know the size and the format would complete. I was then able to copy firmware to the Glo HD and upgrade. I could perform wireless setup regardless of the firmware but as soon as the setup was complete Windows would want to format again but was unable to determine the drive's capacity so the format failed. Attempting to performed a wired setup with the desktop software appeared to briefly initiate but within a second or two lose connection and sit at the "please plug in your kobo to continue" screen. After clearing the active/boot flag on partition 1 with MiniTool Partition Wizard in Windows I was able to run the wired setup with no issue - I don't even think I needed to reformat the device, just unplug and plug back in. My Glo HD was not new in a sealed box and was not claimed to be refurbished but easily could have been.