Suggested recovery procedure after failed upgrade

[DNSB]

Since quite a few people appear to be having issues with the recent Kobo firmware update and their Kobo N236 Aura Edition 2 devices, here is a suggested procedure for recovering when booting your Kobo stalls on the 3 dots screen.

Edit: While this procedure is specific to the Kobo N236 Aura Edition 2, several people have reported that it worked for recovering their Kobo ereaders after a failed firmware update. Basically, follow the first steps and then follow the manual factory reset for your device instead of the one for the N236 in this message.

• Ensure the USB/power cable is plugged in either to a computer or a wall charger.
• Holding power button until the LEDs go off and the screen stops updating (power off)
• Release power button
• Follow steps for a manual factory reset: Manual reset your Kobo Aura Edition 2 also copied below:

Before you start:

• Charge your eReader for at least 1 hour.
• Make sure you have access to a Wi Fi connection.

1. Connect your eReader to a power source by doing one of the following:

• Turn on your computer and connect an USB power cord to your computer first, and then your eReader.
• Plug the wall charger (not included) to a power outlet, and then connect your eReader to the wall charger.

1. Press and hold the power button until the power light on the top-right corner of your eReader turns off. You'll see a 'Powered off' screen when your eReader is turned off. If you don't see 'Powered off', hold the power button for 20+ seconds and release it.
2. Release the power button.
3. Press and hold the power button on your eReader for 30 seconds.
4. Wait for the Restore screen to appear.
5. Release the power button.

Your eReader screen will turn black and begin the restoring process. After the restoring process finishes, follow the onscreen instructions to set up your eReader. You'll need access to an active Wi Fi or internet connection to complete setup. You can also use the Kobo Desktop app to set up your eReader using your computer.

[User568]

Hii, I have a question. The factory reset seems to have fixed the stall on the 3 dots screen. Only, when trying to connect to any internet connection, I get the pop up:

Hotspot detected
it looks like the netwerk you have selected is a public hotspot. Would you like to continue?

After pressing 'continue' I end up with:
OneStore silver Release 5361 5361 rakuten-kobo release/d-250904e833a55091513ba4ff43382c6ce009fe7cbc488501_H D_OneStore 2025-09-04 10:48:15 (Manual Build) Placeholder 1.0.0.0

Connecting without WiFi also does not seem to be working, as the computer does not detect the ereader when connected. And the Kobo Desktop app is no longer available in my area.
How do I solve this?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by User568

Hii, I have a question. The factory reset seems to have fixed the stall on the 3 dots screen. Only, when trying to connect to any internet connection, I get the pop up:

Hotspot detected
it looks like the netwerk you have selected is a public hotspot. Would you like to continue?

After pressing 'continue' I end up with:
OneStore silver Release 5361 5361 rakuten-kobo release/d-250904e833a55091513ba4ff43382c6ce009fe7cbc488501_H D_OneStore 2025-09-04 10:48:15 (Manual Build) Placeholder 1.0.0.0

The suggestion for this would be to add IgnoreCaptivePortal=true under the [FeatureSettings] header in Kobo eReader.conf.

Originally Posted by User568

Connecting without WiFi also does not seem to be working, as the computer does not detect the ereader when connected. And the Kobo Desktop app is no longer available in my area.
How do I solve this?

If your computer can not detect the ereader connected over a USB cable, the Kobo Desktop app is a non-starter. Have you tried different USB ports and cables? If you are using Windows, have you checked to see if your Kobo is in Device Manager with a error indicator? Again, under Windows, you may want to try Nirsoft's USBDeview. If using MacOS or Linux, you'll need to search for answers.

[Alexis Reading]

DNSB: after updating, my screen indeed turns black. So I don't mean the backlight turns off, I mean the e-ink becomes fully dark. After half an hour, I give up on that. Should I wait longer? How long?

Originally Posted by User568

Hii, I have a question. The factory reset seems to have fixed the stall on the 3 dots screen. Only, when trying to connect to any internet connection, I get the pop up:

Hotspot detected
it looks like the netwerk you have selected is a public hotspot. Would you like to continue?

After pressing 'continue' I end up with:
OneStore silver Release 5361 5361 rakuten-kobo release/d-250904e833a55091513ba4ff43382c6ce009fe7cbc488501_H D_OneStore 2025-09-04 10:48:15 (Manual Build) Placeholder 1.0.0.0

The reason for this is likely that security certificates for HTTPS from last decade are no longer valid.

Connecting without WiFi also does not seem to be working, as the computer does not detect the ereader when connected.

When the Kobo setup starts after factory reset, select that you don't have WiFi. If the Kobo is already plugged into a computer, disconnect the USB cable and plug it back in. It should now be detected as a drive.

If anyone needs it, here's an alternative to the IgnoreCaptivePortal trick that DNSB suggested: plug the Kobo in a computer, open the .kobo directory, open a terminal, now enter

sqlite3 KoboReader.sqlite

(you need to have sqlite3 installed)

Enter

INSERT INTO user(UserID,UserKey) VALUES('1','');

Press ctrl+d. Eject the Kobo drive.

And the Kobo Desktop app is no longer available in my area.
How do I solve this?

Here is a direct link for the Kobo Desktop app for Windows: https://cdn.kobo.com/downloads/deskt.../kobosetup.exe

For Apple: https://cdn.kobo.com/downloads/deskt.../kobosetup.dmg (note that the link in Kobo's FAQ is actually broken due to an excess quotation mark)

To find this link yourself, you must navigate to the page for their web reader, scroll down, expand a question about the desktop app (e.g. "Je cherche l'application Kobo Desktop. Où puis-je la trouver?") and follow the download link from there.

When you asked the procedure was actually different and it indeed said the app was no longer available in your area. Kobo changed their website since then.