Kobo Firmware Access and Early Access Program - Page 6

viviena · 07-02-2010, 07:34 AM

I'm having the same problem as PeterT -- the Kobo upgrade program running on Vista 64bit can't detect the Kobo in upgrade mode, even though I'm certain the Kobo is in the required mode. Same error in the Device Manager (though I haven't delved into the Event Viewer logs). Vista seems to ask for device drivers yet can't find any.

Also, I had a problem on Win7 64bit with an early stage of the Kobo upgrade program not being able to eject the ereader. I don't believe there were any processes tying it up, but I don't have the technical know-how to confirm this. (I did close all windows and programs that may have been accessing the Kobo's drive in some way, as well as do the obvious such as Remove Hardware Safely, etc.) After multiple times, I managed to get through to the other stages of the upgrade process by pulling out the USB cable juuuust before the upgrade program finished downloading. In the end, glorious success.

I realise that Win7 is an odd beast and probably the problem is my computer, but I hope there's some sort of solution for the Vista issue. I think I was lucky with my Win7 machine, and I really dread having to use the WinXP 32bit computer for future firmware upgrades.

Solicitous · 07-02-2010, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrBig

Anyone have any idea what I should do with this then? I'm probably outside of my return/exchange period.

Not a Kobo owner here but might be able to help.

You mentioned in an earlier post the update getting confused between your Kobo and your 1.5TB drive. Now I assume your Kobo worked flawlessly with your computer prior to the upgrade? What I would do (if not tried already) is reinstate your 1.5TB drive, REBOOT your computer, then plug in the Kobo.

Orochi · 07-02-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by viviena

I'm having the same problem as PeterH -- the Kobo upgrade program running on Vista 64bit can't detect the Kobo in upgrade mode, even though I'm certain the Kobo is in the required mode......

I'm also having the same problem in Vista. Tried about 10 times before I finally gave up. Not sure what I'm going to do now.

JBlyth · 07-02-2010, 11:22 AM

I had no problems with the upgrade with my laptop with Win7 and 64 bit.

Perhaps for those with weird issues, ensure that there are no other USB drives of any type attached during the upgrade????

And note - you will need a SMALL paper clip to do the reset. A large one doesn't seem to fit too well, and you will need to push it all the way in. There seems to be a double resistance to the reset switch push.

It is good to see the EPUBS are justified. It seems the margins are a little too big, which wastes a lot of page space, but I can always fix that with CALIBRE.

The only change I had to make to the KOBO was to reset the Time Zone, but that may be because I didn't wait for the "official" download e-mail, but took it off a thread.

Cheers
John in Sunny Carnarvon - Western Australia

DaveisTaken · 07-02-2010, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyall

firmware update didn't work for me. my kobo lies dead.

I am a tech guy; I am not afraid of terminal etc. if someone could send me what this SD card is supposed to have on it, I can try making my own "boot disc"... however, awaiting kobo response to my support request while the reader lies dead and unable to boot.

be extremely cautious, folks, while performing firmware update... having no reader sucks.

Same!

I just bought it today, pugged it in to my mac, went through the restarting thing and instead of the three buttons putting into restore mode, the Kobo just rebooted and now only boots with 3 squares!

I've done the click button at the back trick but it just restarts with 3 squares.

If it's still dead tomorrow, I'm taking it back to the shop for another one!

luqmaninbmore · 07-02-2010, 12:30 PM

An update. Various types of reset did not work. Putting it back into update mode did not work. I was able to transfer a book via BT from my computer. It is on the 160 mb partition. Any ideas?

Zac · 07-02-2010, 12:39 PM

I had to turn off Norton Anti-virus to have the self extracting file to run.

Once that was done everything worked well.

Make sure you do not turn off or unplug your Kobo until told to do so....it can take quite awhile for the firmware to be flashed. I didn`t time it but it seemed like 5 minutes and I thought it was hung.

I left it and finally the message came up that it was completed.

jonnybraga · 07-02-2010, 01:56 PM

My upgrade went well with a Win 7.....

but i gotta say that i didn't like it a bit!

They've created a feature that is useless... the possibility to lock the buttons for 15 min.
Who the hell needs to lock the button for 15 min? I could see it if it was for 1...2 hours... even a day or two... but if i'm gonna stop my reading for 15 min or less, chances are I'm gonna leave my Kobo on a desk... safe and sound... I'm not gonna put it in a bag, where the buttons can be pressed.....

Another thing is that when it's off, i don't see my book's cover... that was something really cool about Kobo... and what's astonishing to me is that THEY KNEW we loved it.... and now it's gone...

At least I hope they fixed the battery problems and that we will get closer to the 8.000 page turns... and I like the fact that they fixed the font rescaling problem... although it didn't bother me... I got pretty good fixing it myself...

Bottom line is... i'm still waiting for a GOOD firmware... VERY disappointed...

Vidfreaky · 07-02-2010, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnybraga

Another thing is that when it's off, i don't see my book's cover... that was something really cool about Kobo... and what's astonishing to me is that THEY KNEW we loved it.... and now it's gone...

I can see the cover on mine when it's turned off. Maybe it's the particular book you're reading?

jonnybraga · 07-02-2010, 02:21 PM

when it's on sleeping mode, for 15 min, it shows the cover...

when it's off, it shows the Kobo logo and it says "Powered off - press power to start"

This has been discussed here already...

StealthyScribe · 07-02-2010, 03:15 PM

Absolutely ridiculous...

I too get as far as the device being in upgrade mode, then plug it back into my computer. I get a popup saying to install a new driver device, when I do that, the F drive goes away and the software doesn't detect the device being plugged in. I've been on the phone with Kobo three times and no one knows what to do. The last woman said it's a problem with my computer and that there was nothing they could do to help. One woman told me to reset the device, which I did, then re-sync it with the desktop app, and that once that was done I'd have the new firmware...well she was wrong. I'm stuck where I am with no way of upgrading, unless I take it to Chapters next week to do it. The one guy did say that if I did that I'd get a $10 gift card, which is a nice gesture, but it would still be nice to be able to do it myself.

luqmaninbmore · 07-02-2010, 05:09 PM

The device freezes instead of shutting down. This means that I have to either keep using it to prevent it from shutting down after it enters sleep mode or constantly carry around a paper clip to reset it. Annoying. Why do we have to have an SD card mailed to us? Every other vendor (Pocketbook, Bookeen, Astak, Interread, etc.) that uses the EB-600 hardware is able to distribute firmware upgrades in a neat binary which can be transfered to an SD card and then used to upgrade the device. Why can't Kobo do this? The upgrade process itself was incredibly byzantine compared to upgrading my Kindle or my Pocketbook 360. I like the device: it appears to be the best made EB600 model I've come across and balances nicely in the hand. I am having serious remorse at having upgraded the thing instead of simply using calibre to modify my epubs to improve the font size. I could have probably figured out how to get the synch with the desktop client working and I would have the cool book-cover shutdown display. Oh wells. I may just have to go back to my trusty Pocketbook 360.

Luqman

s2welee · 07-02-2010, 05:15 PM

Flawless upgrade. Windows 7 Ultimate. This makes the reader what it should have been from the start and makes it at least as good as my Sony Pocket, if not better. All my books resize and look good. Well done guys.

RedRoverJ · 07-02-2010, 05:40 PM

Upgraded just fine using win7 home premium. No issues with the update at all. Thanks Kobo team for your hard work.

I am a little confused though. I understand that the Kobo will power down after 15 minutes in sleep mode, but if I leave a book open will it go into sleep mode after 15 minutes or something? Does that mean if I leave a book open and walk away for 31 minutes, it will be powered off when I get back? If so, I really don't like that. It should drop into sleep mode, to conserve battery, after 15 minutes and then stay there indefinitely unless I explicitly turn it off. That would ensure that if I walk away for half an hour, or six hours, I can tap the power button and resume exactly where I left off.

Anyway, that is my only beef. Overall I am very happy with the firmware update. Great job fixing the bugs and making the interface a little nicer.

jonahemery · 07-02-2010, 06:14 PM

Installed just fine. I like the improvements, but the whole automatic power down may take some getting used to. You can read my review and commentary on the update here
http://wp.me/sUC82-kobo14

07-02-2010, 07:34 AM	#76
viviena Evangelist Posts: 412 Karma: 520610 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canberra, Australia Device: Currently Kobo Clara HD and Aura One, iPad	I'm having the same problem as PeterT -- the Kobo upgrade program running on Vista 64bit can't detect the Kobo in upgrade mode, even though I'm certain the Kobo is in the required mode. Same error in the Device Manager (though I haven't delved into the Event Viewer logs). Vista seems to ask for device drivers yet can't find any. Also, I had a problem on Win7 64bit with an early stage of the Kobo upgrade program not being able to eject the ereader. I don't believe there were any processes tying it up, but I don't have the technical know-how to confirm this. (I did close all windows and programs that may have been accessing the Kobo's drive in some way, as well as do the obvious such as Remove Hardware Safely, etc.) After multiple times, I managed to get through to the other stages of the upgrade process by pulling out the USB cable juuuust before the upgrade program finished downloading. In the end, glorious success. I realise that Win7 is an odd beast and probably the problem is my computer, but I hope there's some sort of solution for the Vista issue. I think I was lucky with my Win7 machine, and I really dread having to use the WinXP 32bit computer for future firmware upgrades. Last edited by viviena; 07-02-2010 at 11:04 AM. Reason: clarification

07-02-2010, 11:22 AM	#79
JBlyth Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 126 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Carnarvon - Western Australia Device: Kobo, Kobo Touch, Ipaq 214, HTC WildFire Android	Worked for me with Win 7 64 bit... I had no problems with the upgrade with my laptop with Win7 and 64 bit. Perhaps for those with weird issues, ensure that there are no other USB drives of any type attached during the upgrade???? And note - you will need a SMALL paper clip to do the reset. A large one doesn't seem to fit too well, and you will need to push it all the way in. There seems to be a double resistance to the reset switch push. It is good to see the EPUBS are justified. It seems the margins are a little too big, which wastes a lot of page space, but I can always fix that with CALIBRE. The only change I had to make to the KOBO was to reset the Time Zone, but that may be because I didn't wait for the "official" download e-mail, but took it off a thread. Cheers John in Sunny Carnarvon - Western Australia

07-02-2010, 12:39 PM	#82
Zac Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kobo	Norton Antivirus I had to turn off Norton Anti-virus to have the self extracting file to run. Once that was done everything worked well. Make sure you do not turn off or unplug your Kobo until told to do so....it can take quite awhile for the firmware to be flashed. I didn`t time it but it seemed like 5 minutes and I thought it was hung. I left it and finally the message came up that it was completed.

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07-02-2010, 12:30 PM	#81
luqmaninbmore Da'i Posts: 1,144 Karma: 1217499 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Baltimore Device: Toshiba Thrive, Kobo Touch, Kindle 1, Aluratek Libre, T-Mobile Comet	An update. Various types of reset did not work. Putting it back into update mode did not work. I was able to transfer a book via BT from my computer. It is on the 160 mb partition. Any ideas?

07-02-2010, 01:56 PM	#83
jonnybraga Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo	My upgrade went well with a Win 7..... but i gotta say that i didn't like it a bit! They've created a feature that is useless... the possibility to lock the buttons for 15 min. Who the hell needs to lock the button for 15 min? I could see it if it was for 1...2 hours... even a day or two... but if i'm gonna stop my reading for 15 min or less, chances are I'm gonna leave my Kobo on a desk... safe and sound... I'm not gonna put it in a bag, where the buttons can be pressed..... Another thing is that when it's off, i don't see my book's cover... that was something really cool about Kobo... and what's astonishing to me is that THEY KNEW we loved it.... and now it's gone... At least I hope they fixed the battery problems and that we will get closer to the 8.000 page turns... and I like the fact that they fixed the font rescaling problem... although it didn't bother me... I got pretty good fixing it myself... Bottom line is... i'm still waiting for a GOOD firmware... VERY disappointed...

07-02-2010, 02:21 PM	#85
jonnybraga Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo	when it's on sleeping mode, for 15 min, it shows the cover... when it's off, it shows the Kobo logo and it says "Powered off - press power to start" This has been discussed here already...

07-02-2010, 03:15 PM	#86
StealthyScribe Feverish Posts: 70 Karma: 42 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Alberta Device: Black Kobo	Absolutely ridiculous... I too get as far as the device being in upgrade mode, then plug it back into my computer. I get a popup saying to install a new driver device, when I do that, the F drive goes away and the software doesn't detect the device being plugged in. I've been on the phone with Kobo three times and no one knows what to do. The last woman said it's a problem with my computer and that there was nothing they could do to help. One woman told me to reset the device, which I did, then re-sync it with the desktop app, and that once that was done I'd have the new firmware...well she was wrong. I'm stuck where I am with no way of upgrading, unless I take it to Chapters next week to do it. The one guy did say that if I did that I'd get a $10 gift card, which is a nice gesture, but it would still be nice to be able to do it myself.

07-02-2010, 05:09 PM	#87
luqmaninbmore Da'i Posts: 1,144 Karma: 1217499 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Baltimore Device: Toshiba Thrive, Kobo Touch, Kindle 1, Aluratek Libre, T-Mobile Comet	The device freezes instead of shutting down. This means that I have to either keep using it to prevent it from shutting down after it enters sleep mode or constantly carry around a paper clip to reset it. Annoying. Why do we have to have an SD card mailed to us? Every other vendor (Pocketbook, Bookeen, Astak, Interread, etc.) that uses the EB-600 hardware is able to distribute firmware upgrades in a neat binary which can be transfered to an SD card and then used to upgrade the device. Why can't Kobo do this? The upgrade process itself was incredibly byzantine compared to upgrading my Kindle or my Pocketbook 360. I like the device: it appears to be the best made EB600 model I've come across and balances nicely in the hand. I am having serious remorse at having upgraded the thing instead of simply using calibre to modify my epubs to improve the font size. I could have probably figured out how to get the synch with the desktop client working and I would have the cool book-cover shutdown display. Oh wells. I may just have to go back to my trusty Pocketbook 360. Luqman

07-02-2010, 05:15 PM	#88
s2welee Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo, Sony Reader Pocket	Flawless upgrade. Windows 7 Ultimate. This makes the reader what it should have been from the start and makes it at least as good as my Sony Pocket, if not better. All my books resize and look good. Well done guys.

07-02-2010, 05:40 PM	#89
RedRoverJ Zealot Posts: 125 Karma: 314 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada, Eh! Device: Kobo	Upgraded just fine using win7 home premium. No issues with the update at all. Thanks Kobo team for your hard work. I am a little confused though. I understand that the Kobo will power down after 15 minutes in sleep mode, but if I leave a book open will it go into sleep mode after 15 minutes or something? Does that mean if I leave a book open and walk away for 31 minutes, it will be powered off when I get back? If so, I really don't like that. It should drop into sleep mode, to conserve battery, after 15 minutes and then stay there indefinitely unless I explicitly turn it off. That would ensure that if I walk away for half an hour, or six hours, I can tap the power button and resume exactly where I left off. Anyway, that is my only beef. Overall I am very happy with the firmware update. Great job fixing the bugs and making the interface a little nicer.

07-02-2010, 06:14 PM	#90
jonahemery Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Fredericton, NB Device: Kindle 3G	Installed just fine. I like the improvements, but the whole automatic power down may take some getting used to. You can read my review and commentary on the update here http://wp.me/sUC82-kobo14

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