Libra colour bricked

Jsloubet · 04-19-2025, 11:01 AM

Hi,

I bought a used kobo libra colour which was stucked on the home screen.
I tried several reset, soft and hard, tried to unplug and reconnect the battery, without success.
I put another battery in it (from my personal working libra colour) and it finally shows an empty screen then a yellow one. If I reboot it, same pattern, and it ends up to a yellow screen, without text nor image.

It is not detected by my computer.
I guess it is a firmware issue, but the motherboard being without sd-card, how to solve it ?

Do you have any idea ?

Many thanks

DNSB · 04-19-2025, 12:39 PM

Not very helpful but you could try contacting Kobo for a warranty return. With the release date being April 30, 2024, the warranty should still be effect.

Jsloubet · 04-19-2025, 01:06 PM

Unfortunatly no, the seller bought it refurbished, with a 6 month warranty, which is over …

Marek · 04-19-2025, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsloubet

Hi,

I bought a used kobo libra colour which was stucked on the home screen.
I tried several reset, soft and hard, tried to unplug and reconnect the battery, without success.
I put another battery in it (from my personal working libra colour) and it finally shows an empty screen then a yellow one. If I reboot it, same pattern, and it ends up to a yellow screen, without text nor image.

It is not detected by my computer.
I guess it is a firmware issue, but the motherboard being without sd-card, how to solve it ?

Do you have any idea ?

Many thanks

Have you tried the key combo to force a full reset?

Jsloubet · 04-19-2025, 01:51 PM

If a full reset is page down or page up + power button, yes I tried. But it still ends up to the empty yellow screen

JSWolf · 04-19-2025, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsloubet

If a full reset is page down or page up + power button, yes I tried. But it still ends up to the empty yellow screen

I'd contact the seller and try to get your money back.

Jsloubet · 04-19-2025, 03:23 PM

I bought it for parts. It was a bet, I lost …
So we agree that with this model we can’t flash manually the firmware ?

Apollyon202 · 04-20-2025, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsloubet

I bought it for parts. It was a bet, I lost …
So we agree that with this model we can’t flash manually the firmware ?

Probably not, but worst case scenario you only have to swap out the motherboard. At least it's not as expensive like the E-Ink screen.

Jsloubet · 04-20-2025, 03:28 PM

I tried to plug the screen in my working libra colour, it works ! So yes, I only have to swap out the motherboard.
But it’s a shame I have to do it because of a software issue …

Apollyon202 · 04-20-2025, 04:37 PM

It could be a hardware issue...
Like one chip on the board is dead, or the storage itself. Which ideally should be swappable like in earlier models.

Jsloubet · 04-26-2025, 03:27 AM

A quick update.
I finally bought a new motherboard and the libra colour now works rock solid.

The motherboard comes with a firmware v4.39.224439. I’m not able to set the VCOM value, the iFixit method doesn’t work.
Maybe the new firmware is able to set it automatically ….

04-19-2025, 11:01 AM	#1
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	Libra colour bricked Hi, I bought a used kobo libra colour which was stucked on the home screen. I tried several reset, soft and hard, tried to unplug and reconnect the battery, without success. I put another battery in it (from my personal working libra colour) and it finally shows an empty screen then a yellow one. If I reboot it, same pattern, and it ends up to a yellow screen, without text nor image. It is not detected by my computer. I guess it is a firmware issue, but the motherboard being without sd-card, how to solve it ? Do you have any idea ? Many thanks

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04-19-2025, 12:39 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 45,928 Karma: 168959602 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Not very helpful but you could try contacting Kobo for a warranty return. With the release date being April 30, 2024, the warranty should still be effect.

04-19-2025, 01:06 PM	#3
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	Unfortunatly no, the seller bought it refurbished, with a 6 month warranty, which is over …

04-19-2025, 01:51 PM	#5
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	If a full reset is page down or page up + power button, yes I tried. But it still ends up to the empty yellow screen

04-19-2025, 03:23 PM	#7
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	I bought it for parts. It was a bet, I lost … So we agree that with this model we can’t flash manually the firmware ?

04-20-2025, 03:28 PM	#9
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	I tried to plug the screen in my working libra colour, it works ! So yes, I only have to swap out the motherboard. But it’s a shame I have to do it because of a software issue …

04-20-2025, 04:37 PM	#10
Apollyon202 Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 251718 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Clara HD, Aura, Touch	It could be a hardware issue... Like one chip on the board is dead, or the storage itself. Which ideally should be swappable like in earlier models.

04-26-2025, 03:27 AM	#11
Jsloubet Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2025 Device: Libra colour	A quick update. I finally bought a new motherboard and the libra colour now works rock solid. The motherboard comes with a firmware v4.39.224439. I’m not able to set the VCOM value, the iFixit method doesn’t work. Maybe the new firmware is able to set it automatically ….