Kobo Aura One reformat

[Maida]

I had some trouble with the Aura One.
Is is possible to reformat the internal disk and then to reset the reader? Or do I brick it when reformatting?

Thanks
Maida

[davidfor]

You probably just want to do a factory reset. This will put the device back to the out-of-the-factory state. The methods are listed on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kob...Aura_Edition_2.

Depending on what the problem actually is, that might be overkill.

If there is a problem with the database, you can sign out of the Kobo account through the settings. This will clear all the Kobo info, but not the sideloaded books. The device will reboot and take you through the setup process.

If you just want to remove a bunch of sideloaded books, you can just delete them when connected to the PC and eject. The device will update the internal database to remove these books.

If you simply delete all the files on the book partition and eject, the device will detect this and take you through the setup.

If you really think there is a problem with the books partition, you can format it and when you eject you will be taken through the setup. But, if this is the case, it is probably better to do a factory reset.

[Maida]

Thanks, davodfor, I'll try them one by one.
Finally, I had to reformat the SD card (after having backed up the reader using CCC) and restore the backup.
Now, there are no longer error messages, but it takes half an eternity for the reader to be recognized by the computer and by Calibre.

[descartes]

davidfor, regarding a factory reset: you mention that doing so will put the device back to the out-of-the-box factory state - do you know if that will include the firmware version as well? I'm having an issue with my Kobo Aura One using calibre 3.35 since updating to 4.10.11655.

Thanks in advance.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by descartes

davidfor, regarding a factory reset: you mention that doing so will put the device back to the out-of-the-box factory state - do you know if that will include the firmware version as well?

Yes. The firmware will revert to the original factory fw version. Based on the notes I made when I first got my KA1, original factory firmware was 3.20.6894. After initial set-up the fw upgraded to 4.0.7523.

Originally Posted by descartes

I'm having an issue with my Kobo Aura One using calibre 3.35 since updating to 4.10.11655.

If you want help with this you're going to need to provide more a few more clues.

[descartes]

jackie_w, Thank you for the prompt reply; however, I'm now thinking that a factory reset may not help resolve my issue.

Here are the details:

Kobo Aura ONE Limited Edition was purchased direct from Rakuten Kobo on 3/2/18 and registered via Windows 7 desktop application when received. At that time wi-fi was disabled since I only use calibre to load books. Two days ago I connected the Kobo via the Kobo desktop application and it automatically updated the firmware to version 4.10.11655 (I do not know what the previous version was).

Now calibre is giving me an error message:

calibre, version 3.35.0
WARNING: Failed: Kobo database version unsupported - See details

Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.
Device database version: 149.
Device firmware version: (4, 10, 11655)

Not sure what to do.

Thanks for listening.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by descartes

Now calibre is giving me an error message:

calibre, version 3.35.0
WARNING: Failed: Kobo database version unsupported - See details

Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.
Device database version: 149.
Device firmware version: (4, 10, 11655)

Not sure what to do.

The clue's in the error message See blue bolded bit, it's perfectly safe.

The problem should go away on its own with the next calibre release but I'm not sure whether that will be this weekend or next.

[descartes]

jackie_w - Yes, I thought about doing that. I guess my hesitation was seeing that the Kobo's firmware was released on 29 Aug and calibre 3.35 on 07 Dec. I just presumed calibre would have reconciled any issue with the firmware version by now - or there would have been more folks commenting about it - so I thought maybe I had some other issue brewing. I'm willing to wait to see what the next calibre update does.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by descartes

jackie_w - Yes, I thought about doing that. I guess my hesitation was seeing that the Kobo's firmware was released on 29 Aug and calibre 3.35 on 07 Dec. I just presumed calibre would have reconciled any issue with the firmware version by now - or there would have been more folks commenting about it - so I thought maybe I had some other issue brewing. I'm willing to wait to see what the next calibre update does.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice.

davidfor would have the definitive explanation on this one. The firmware releases have been a bit weird recently. Up until last week there have only been upgrades for mark6/7 devices since about July.

4.12.12111 has finally brought all devices back in line. I think that's the update included in the next calibre.

As you say, I'm not sure why you would be having a problem with 4.10.11655 which dates back to end of August. I always have my calibre Kobo driver's "Attempt to support newer firmware" option checked so I wouldn't have noticed a problem at the time.

[descartes]

That's very interesting info. I'm not versed at all on all the powerful options calibre offers so understandably I didn't know about the "support newer firmware" option. I'll definitely consider doing that on a go-forward basis.

One last question: the error message says if the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option is checked, doing so may require a factory reset be performed. If I check that option, will it ask me if I want to proceed with a factory reset prior to doing so (in other words, give me an opportunity to cancel the factory reset if I choose)?

Thanks again.

[descartes]

jackie_w - well, I figured if Columbus could take a chance, so could I.

I selected the support newer firmware option and things appear, for the moment, to be working!

Thanks!

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by descartes

jackie_w - well, I figured if Columbus could take a chance, so could I.

I selected the support newer firmware option and things appear, for the moment, to be working!

That's the spirit! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This calibre driver setting has never caused me any problems, but I suppose there's always a first time

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by descartes

jackie_w - Yes, I thought about doing that. I guess my hesitation was seeing that the Kobo's firmware was released on 29 Aug and calibre 3.35 on 07 Dec. I just presumed calibre would have reconciled any issue with the firmware version by now - or there would have been more folks commenting about it - so I thought maybe I had some other issue brewing. I'm willing to wait to see what the next calibre update does.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and advice.

Based on the message from calibre, you had upgraded the Kobo desktop application but not the device. Or you upgraded the device to 4.12.12111 and then backed out to 4.10.11655 without doing a reset.

The reason for this is in the last two lines:

Device database version: 149.
Device firmware version: (4, 10, 11655)

Database version 149 is from firmware 4.12.12111 or the latest desktop application. The desktop application will update the database if it thinks it is necessary, but, it should also have updated the firmware.

The KoboTouch driver checks both. This is probably overly cautious, but, when there is something that changes and breaks the interaction, then it won't seem so. The change to support these versions will be in the next release of calibre. That should come out today. In the meantime, it is safe to use the option mentioned above.

[descartes]

davidfor - When I connected my Kobo reader to the desktop computer and then launched the Kobo desktop application, a dialog box appeared telling me that there was a newer version of the Kobo desktop app with no other option than to install it. After installation, I reconnected my Kobo reader and the desktop app automatically when into sync mode. After, when I checked under Settings on the Kobo reader, it said version 4.10.11655. Maybe I could have done something else? Not sure.

So I did update to calibre 3.36 today. I'm wondering, should I reconnect to the desktop app to see if it updates the reader to version 4.12.12111?

Thanks in advance.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by descartes

davidfor - When I connected my Kobo reader to the desktop computer and then launched the Kobo desktop application, a dialog box appeared telling me that there was a newer version of the Kobo desktop app with no other option than to install it. After installation, I reconnected my Kobo reader and the desktop app automatically when into sync mode. After, when I checked under Settings on the Kobo reader, it said version 4.10.11655. Maybe I could have done something else? Not sure.

So I did update to calibre 3.36 today. I'm wondering, should I reconnect to the desktop app to see if it updates the reader to version 4.12.12111?

That is pretty much what I expected. But, I would also have expected that it would update the device. Kobo appear to be making 4.12.12111 available to all affiliates, so connecting again probably will update it.