Clara BW Cannot get rid of DevMode

[laubz83]

I have a Clara BW, which I've tinkered with, activating devmode. Now that I want to sell the device, the devmode stubbornly remains on, after resetting the device to factory settings (see image below) and although I can manually turn it off, this can only happen AFTER activating the device and logging in.
Is there no way to properly reset to factory condition, and get rid of this pesky DevMode ON that won't quit?

Moved oversized image to attachments


Thank you kindly, for your suggestions

[DNSB]

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I've moved your oversized images to attachments. Please see Section 9 of the Guidelines.

Have you tried a search for devmodeoff to disable Developer Mode before doing the factory reset? Or using the real factory reset from the More => Settings => Device Information => Developer options?

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I've moved your oversized images to attachments. Please see Section 9 of the Guidelines.

Have you tried a search for devmodeoff to disable Developer Mode before doing the factory reset? Or using the real factory reset from the More => Settings => Device Information => Developer options?

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, and yes, I did turn it off before resetting, several times, and also reset from the developer options, while in Dev Mode - same result

[DNSB]

Just tested on a Kobo Libra Colour. Turned developer mode off and did the factory reset from More => Settings => Device information and developer mode was still off after the factory reset. Turned developer mode back on and did the factory reset from More => Settings => Device information => Developer options.

When I restarted, the KLC wanted to connect to WiFi and then downloaded the 4.41.23145 update, installed it and restarted. After the restart, it connected to my computer over USB. At that point, there were 3 directories on the root of the exposed storage. When I opened Kobo eReader.conf, not only was EnableDebugServices not present, the [DeveloperSettings] header it lives under was not present. After finishing the setup, developer mode was off until I did a search for devmodeon at which point the header and entry were created. NickelMenu did not survive the reset.

Just for the heck of it, I then copied the directories from the Kobo exposed partition to a local directory, did a full reformat of the exposed partition and copied the directories back. I use this procedure when creating a disk image since the partition is not formatted during the reset. This led to one person finding books and other oddments that were showing as deleted in a couple of the disk images but were recoverable when he was playing with some tools from his computer forensics course. The format and copy back also leads to much smaller images since the untouched formatted area is highly compressible. I then did the first level factory reset, came back to the language select screen and went through the setup again.

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Just tested on a Kobo Libra Colour. Turned developer mode off and did the factory reset from More => Settings => Device information and developer mode was still off after the factory reset. Turned developer mode back on and did the factory reset from More => Settings => Device information => Developer options.

When I restarted, the KLC wanted to connect to WiFi and then downloaded the 4.41.23145 update, installed it and restarted. After the restart, it connected to my computer over USB. At that point, there were 3 directories on the root of the exposed storage. When I opened Kobo eReader.conf, not only was EnableDebugServices not present, the [DeveloperSettings] header it lives under was not present. After finishing the setup, developer mode was off until I did a search for devmodeon at which point the header and entry were created. NickelMenu did not survive the reset.

Just for the heck of it, I then copied the directories from the Kobo exposed partition to a local directory, did a full reformat of the exposed partition and copied the directories back. I use this procedure when creating a disk image since the partition is not formatted during the reset. This led to one person finding books and other oddments that were showing as deleted in a couple of the disk images but were recoverable when he was playing with some tools from his computer forensics course. The format and copy back also leads to much smaller images since the untouched formatted area is highly compressible. I then did the first level factory reset, came back to the language select screen and went through the setup again.

Thank you so much, David, for such a detailed reply! I’m afraid some of it is flying right past my head, in terms of what is it suggested I should do.

I should try to copy the content of the Kobo folders from the device, then format it, copy back and try the steps again?

In terms of reset, yes, 100% certain that I’ve done it properly, as per steps you describe, both from the regular mode but also from the devmode, with the same result: it still start with those devmode texts at the top.
Would it help, give any clues, to look at this screen photo in the link at the end or this post showing the software version? I wonder what that “not for MP” means and if this version showed is the proper one.
I’m assuming that on Kobo Clara BW, there is no reimaging option available at all, no way to wipe clean the latest firmware installed?

For more background, I tinkered with devmode some months ago, around end of Feb, and at the time it was enough to just turn it off, but now that I’d like to sell the device, which I’m not using much since also getting a Libra, I cannot really sell it to someone who will see this strange start screen, even tho all other features seem to work as intended.

Perhaps I could contact/ask Kobo themselves about it?

Thank you again

Link to image

[DNSB]

Interesting.

Was this firmware from an automatic update or did you download it from somewhere? Unfortunately, you will have an issue reverting back from the 5.7.x firmware since it overwrites the recovery partition. Another item is that the serial number in that image does not start with N365 which is what the two Clara BWs I've seen had their serial numbers start with.

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Interesting.

Was this firmware from an automatic update or did you download it from somewhere? Unfortunately, you will have an issue reverting back from the 5.7.x firmware since it overwrites the recovery partition. Another item is that the serial number in that image does not start with N365 which is what the two Clara BWs I've seen had their serial numbers start with.

Thank you. Actually, after even more trial and error yesterday, I’ve changed the mode thing from “prod” to “prodref” and this finally got rid of those pesky messages/codes, even after reset

[DNSB]

Out of curiosity, where did you purchase the Clara BW?

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Out of curiosity, where did you purchase the Clara BW?

eBay (Germany)

And yes, some things were odd about it, like it does not have the usual text on the back, it shows Kobo only, instead of Kobo Clara BW. Initially I’d thought its imported from another region like CA, but not I think its maybe some test model

https://i.ibb.co/s9FJSzfL/IMG-7292.jpg

[Quoth]

UK
CA

^^^ That is the probably now defunct post-Brexit UK-GB approvals scheme to replace CE system.

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by Quoth

UK
CA

^^^ That is the probably now defunct post-Brexit UK-GB approvals scheme to replace CE system.

Oh…I see. You’re right…UK Conformity Assessed , not UK Canada 😅

The seller I got it from did mention it was newish, just used for performing test/reviews only, so got me thinking it could be some prototype supplied (for free?) by Kobo?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by laubz83

Oh…I see. You’re right…UK Conformity Assessed , not UK Canada 😅

The seller I got it from did mention it was newish, just used for performing test/reviews only, so got me thinking it could be some prototype supplied (for free?) by Kobo?

I'd be highly tempted to get in touch with the seller and request a refund...

[laubz83]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I'd be highly tempted to get in touch with the seller and request a refund...

Well, it was many months ago, the device was in pristine condition visually and did work fine, except this booting into devmode that occurs upon resetting (it was not like that when I bought it).
I guess I’ll just keep it as an extra, or if I do decide to sell it, it will be as-is and with a hefty discount

[Marek]

Originally Posted by laubz83

Thank you so much, David, for such a detailed reply! I’m afraid some of it is flying right past my head, in terms of what is it suggested I should do.

I should try to copy the content of the Kobo folders from the device, then format it, copy back and try the steps again?

In terms of reset, yes, 100% certain that I’ve done it properly, as per steps you describe, both from the regular mode but also from the devmode, with the same result: it still start with those devmode texts at the top.
Would it help, give any clues, to look at this screen photo in the link at the end or this post showing the software version? I wonder what that “not for MP” means and if this version showed is the proper one.
I’m assuming that on Kobo Clara BW, there is no reimaging option available at all, no way to wipe clean the latest firmware installed?

For more background, I tinkered with devmode some months ago, around end of Feb, and at the time it was enough to just turn it off, but now that I’d like to sell the device, which I’m not using much since also getting a Libra, I cannot really sell it to someone who will see this strange start screen, even tho all other features seem to work as intended.

Perhaps I could contact/ask Kobo themselves about it?

Thank you again

Link to image

From the serial number this is a tolino device (T... instead of N....) from the rest of this thread i assume its a tolino test device before they got the new design for the case? if you want you can completely change it into a kobo by using stuff mentioned here https://github.com/notmarek/KoboTolinoFindings you can even change the S/N if you really want

[JSWolf]

It looks like the Tolino Vision 6 was also discontinued.