Help diagnose a Libra 2?

Kobotomised · Today, 10:13 AM

Hi folks, this is my first time working on a Libra 2. It's physically in excellent condition, but it's stuck like this. I can see the firmware update logo and the homepage overlaid. There is a black line but there is no physical damage apparent to the screen.

I've plugged it in to a 45w charger for a couple of hours, no reaction.

When plugged into a Windows PC, I get the USB connection noise but nothing mounts.

Holding the power button, or the power+lower page turn button (as pictured) for 5-10 seconds results in the white LED lighting up for a second and then going out.

Holding the power+upper page button for 10-15 seconds turns on the LED for about 25 seconds, it then blinks once and goes out.

No reaction at all from the screen to anything I have done so far.

I opened it and everything looks to be as it should be. The waterproofing is in place, it's clean and there's no physical damage I can see, or evidence of water or dirt.

I carefully extracted the microSD card. When inserted in a card reader, it does not show the Kobo Reader partition. I did a straight duplication of it with WinImage and got an apparent "good" image that does have the partition - however with that card in, there's no difference in behaviour.

I also tried to download the latest firmware update from pgaskin's site and extracted it to the .kobo folder - still nothing has changed.

Any ideas what component has failed or how I can test further?

Thanks

JSWolf · Today, 10:40 AM

It looks like the screen controller may be shot.

Kobotomised · Today, 10:43 AM

Motherboard replacement, then? Or is it part of the screen?

JSWolf · Today, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kobotomised

Motherboard replacement, then? Or is it part of the screen?

Motherboard replacement. It's a chip on the MB.

One thing you can try before doing a MB replacement is to see if maybe the SD card needs replacement. In the feedback forum is a thread to ask for PMs to be enabled. Also, there's a thread in the Kobo forum to ask for a firmware image. So you try that first.

Kobotomised · Today, 11:47 AM

Cheers Jon - I do seem to have a working image but I'm only guessing. I'll head off and do that

Highroller · Today, 12:17 PM

Sounds like the internal microSD might be corrupted. Even if you cloned it, sometimes the image is already damaged. I’d try flashing a clean Libra 2 image from MobileRead onto a fresh card

Today, 10:13 AM	#1
Kobotomised Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2025 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Help diagnose a Libra 2? Hi folks, this is my first time working on a Libra 2. It's physically in excellent condition, but it's stuck like this. I can see the firmware update logo and the homepage overlaid. There is a black line but there is no physical damage apparent to the screen. I've plugged it in to a 45w charger for a couple of hours, no reaction. When plugged into a Windows PC, I get the USB connection noise but nothing mounts. Holding the power button, or the power+lower page turn button (as pictured) for 5-10 seconds results in the white LED lighting up for a second and then going out. Holding the power+upper page button for 10-15 seconds turns on the LED for about 25 seconds, it then blinks once and goes out. No reaction at all from the screen to anything I have done so far. I opened it and everything looks to be as it should be. The waterproofing is in place, it's clean and there's no physical damage I can see, or evidence of water or dirt. I carefully extracted the microSD card. When inserted in a card reader, it does not show the Kobo Reader partition. I did a straight duplication of it with WinImage and got an apparent "good" image that does have the partition - however with that card in, there's no difference in behaviour. I also tried to download the latest firmware update from pgaskin's site and extracted it to the .kobo folder - still nothing has changed. Any ideas what component has failed or how I can test further? Thanks Attached Thumbnails

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Today, 10:40 AM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,171 Karma: 148951761 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	It looks like the screen controller may be shot.

Today, 10:43 AM	#3
Kobotomised Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2025 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Motherboard replacement, then? Or is it part of the screen?

Today, 11:47 AM	#5
Kobotomised Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2025 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Cheers Jon - I do seem to have a working image but I'm only guessing. I'll head off and do that

Today, 12:17 PM	#6
Highroller Zealot Posts: 146 Karma: 338 Join Date: Nov 2004 Device: Ebookwise 1150, Jetbook Lite, Slick Er-701	Sounds like the internal microSD might be corrupted. Even if you cloned it, sometimes the image is already damaged. I’d try flashing a clean Libra 2 image from MobileRead onto a fresh card

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