Clara Kobo/iOS issues - Hotspot doesn’t connect, neither does Files.

[DJDarren]

I got my Clara HD a few days ago after having a Kindle for 18 months, so I’m still working out the differences between the two. On the whole, the Kobo feels vastly better than the Kindle, but I’m damned if I can get it to connect to my iPhone’s hotspot. I’ve looked it up and seen people suggesting that the name shouldn’t have special characters, that the password should be ten characters long, but nothing has worked. The indicator on my phone goes blue for a few moments, then the Kobo fails to connect.

Also, I’m led to believe that you drop books on to the Kobo by hooking it up to iPhone/iPad using the USB connector. I have one, so tried it, but it won’t show in Files. Half the time it won’t even charge via this method, which indicates that it’s not connecting at all. It connects to my PC and Mac just fine, so I’m assuming it’s an iOS/iPadOS thing. But it’s kinda frustrating because it worked fine on my Kindle (even if transferring the books over was never terribly successful).

Does anyone have any advice on these issues? Other than to just not bother...

[JSWolf]

One thing to try is to make sure the firmware is up-to-date with 4.26.1670.

[DJDarren]

Yeah, that’s what it’s running...

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DJDarren

I got my Clara HD a few days ago after having a Kindle for 18 months, so I’m still working out the differences between the two. On the whole, the Kobo feels vastly better than the Kindle, but I’m damned if I can get it to connect to my iPhone’s hotspot. I’ve looked it up and seen people suggesting that the name shouldn’t have special characters, that the password should be ten characters long, but nothing has worked. The indicator on my phone goes blue for a few moments, then the Kobo fails to connect.

I have never tried with an iOS device, but, I do connect through my Android phone with no issues. I don't know of any reason for not using non-special character, other than the nuisance of entering the name and password.

One thing the device does when connecting to WiFi is to check access to a web page. This is http://www.kobo.com/buildinfo.xml. If it cannot fetch that successfully, it will drop the WiFi connection. But, recent firmware should be prompting if it cannot connect and ask if you want to connect anyway. If that isn't happening, you can try adding the following to the config file:

[FeatureSettings]
IgnoreCaptivePortal=true

This will tell the firmware to ignore the results of the check and stay connected.

Also, I’m led to believe that you drop books on to the Kobo by hooking it up to iPhone/iPad using the USB connector. I have one, so tried it, but it won’t show in Files. Half the time it won’t even charge via this method, which indicates that it’s not connecting at all. It connects to my PC and Mac just fine, so I’m assuming it’s an iOS/iPadOS thing. But it’s kinda frustrating because it worked fine on my Kindle (even if transferring the books over was never terribly successful).

There has been some discussion on using an OTG adapter with a phone or tablet. Neither my phone or iPad support it, so I haven't been able to do it. I think people have gotten it to work, but, I do not remember if anything particular was needed. Searching the forum should find the threads discussing it.

[salamanderjuice]

Do you have an iPhone 12? I don't think the Clara HD supports 5GHz Wifi and I'm pretty sure at least the iPhone 12 will make it's hotspot be 5GHz instead of 2.4GHz by default.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Do you have an iPhone 12? I don't think the Clara HD supports 5GHz Wifi and I'm pretty sure at least the iPhone 12 will make it's hotspot be 5GHz instead of 2.4GHz by default.

I had a look and if you don't have an iPhone 12, you are stuck with a 5Ghz hotspot. This is one of those there's no reason all the iPhones running iOS 14 cannot be allowed to switch to a 2.4Ghz hotspot other then Apple wanting to sell more iPhone 12s.

[PeterT]

It actually looks like there is a "Maximize Compatibility" button in the Apple hotspot to allow a 2.4Ghz network

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by PeterT

It actually looks like there is a "Maximize Compatibility" button in the Apple hotspot to allow a 2.4Ghz network

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

But that's only available on the iPhone 12. My iPhone SE 2020 does not have this.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I had a look and if you don't have an iPhone 12, you are stuck with a 5Ghz hotspot.

" Apple’s newest iPhone 12 models support Personal Hotspot connectivity to guest devices over 5GHz, which provides faster transfer speeds. Previous iPhone models supported Personal Hotspots, but only via 2.4GHz Wi-Fi transfer speeds. [...] Historically, all iPhones have created Personal Hotspot connections over 2.4GHz networks, which are supported by the widest range of devices out there."

https://in.mashable.com/tech/17942/a...rsonal-hotspot

[davidfor]

Of course, as the @DJDarren said it was working with a Kindle, unless they have also bought a new phone, that implies the phones hot-spot supports 2.4GHz. Or are there Kindles with 5GHz WiFi. He also said, "The indicator on my phone goes blue for a few moments", which suggests the device and the phone are seeing each other.

[DJDarren]

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

My phone is a XR running iOS 14.5, which has no option to switch between 2.4 and 5GHz, it just is what it is. I’ll add that to the config file though, once I work out how to do that...

[DJDarren]

Originally Posted by davidfor

There has been some discussion on using an OTG adapter with a phone or tablet. Neither my phone or iPad support it, so I haven't been able to do it. I think people have gotten it to work, but, I do not remember if anything particular was needed. Searching the forum should find the threads discussing it.

I have searched, but have so far come up with nothing that helps. What do you mean by OTG adapter? I have the official Apple adapter, the one that allows for charging as well as data, but more often than not the Kobo won’t even charge, let alone show up in Files. On one occasion it showed the “Connected to computer” screen, but didn’t do anything else.

[JSWolf]

I tried my iPhone SE 2020 and I was able to connect my H2O.

[DJDarren]

Does this suggest that there may be something wrong with the Kobo? I hope not, because I got it as a replacement for a Kindle that kept doing weird stuff...

[DJDarren]

Originally Posted by davidfor

One thing the device does when connecting to WiFi is to check access to a web page. This is http://www.kobo.com/buildinfo.xml. If it cannot fetch that successfully, it will drop the WiFi connection. But, recent firmware should be prompting if it cannot connect and ask if you want to connect anyway. If that isn't happening, you can try adding the following to the config file:

[FeatureSettings]
IgnoreCaptivePortal=true

This will tell the firmware to ignore the results of the check and stay connected.

This worked perfectly, thanks!