Clara Upgrading SD Card Memory Issues

[Cootey]

I'm trying to replace the 8GB SD Card in my Clara with a SanDisk Extreme 128GB SD Card. Opening up the Clara and swapping cards was easy, but I've run into two issues that I'm sure somebody has already encountered before, but my searching so far hasn't revealed the magical forum post.

I'm using a Mac. Yes, I know many of you will say, "Ah, I see what your problem is." Haha in advance. I used "dd if=/dev/diskx of=copy-image-on-harddrive.dmg" to clone the Clara SD card. Then I used "dd if=copy-image-on-harddrive.dmg of=/dev/diskx" onto the newer 128GB SD card.

Problem 1: dd faithfully cloned my original 8GB card onto my 128GB, turning it into an 8GB card. I can't adjust the partition size (the MBR needs to be converted to GUID for the Mac, which is a destructive process). I can't find a solution that doesn't involve reformatting the card, which I can do fine, but it doesn't help me upgrade my Clara. I must be using the wrong keywords. Is there a post on this forum that covers this type of issue? Also, if I can fix this on my rPi, please let me know how. I'll have to find a USB MicroSD card reader to use since the rPi is using that slot for the boot drive.

Problem 2: The new card, once installed, initially starts the Clara in the very same state I was in on the original card, but then problems crop up. Any solution that involves rebooting dumps me into the boot loop. Technically, this shouldn't happen since the new SD card is an exact clone (albeit not formatted to full capacity).

Thanks!

[salamanderjuice]

On Mac this may be tricky and I can't think of a way to do it either if disk utility can't. You can do it really easily on Linux with Gparted. If you have an Intel Mac it might be easier to just download a Ubuntu Live CD and finish the job there.

Edit: missed the part about the Pi. You can use gparted or GNU parted if through command line to do it on the Pi.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

On Mac this may be tricky and I can't think of a way to do it either if disk utility can't. You can do it really easily on Linux with Gparted. If you have an Intel Mac it might be easier to just download a Ubuntu Live CD and finish the job there.

Edit: missed the part about the Pi. You can use gparted or GNU parted if through command line to do it on the Pi.

I’ve used Gparted before, so perhaps I shall invest in a USB card reader. Will adjusting the partition fix the boot loop?


Update: The problem with Gparted is that the kobo partition is in fat32, which can’t be resized. Formatting the volume to exfat didn’t fix things either. Once unmounted, the only thing I can do is move the partition, but I am not allowed to resize it.

I suppose I can reformat the entire disk to wipe the partition table and use dd to clone the Linux partitions onto the 128GB SD card, then rsync the backup card to the third partition?

Is it really supposed to be this complicated?



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[rmnelson]

I was able to clone my Clara 8GB drive to a 32GB drive which works perfectly using the "Magic Memory Upgrade". This mod works entirely on the Kobo and is totally computer OS agnostic. Use your computer to sideload the file into the .kobo folder on your device, and everything else is done solely on the Kobo. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a computer whiz and I was able to do this mod on my Clara and my brother's Clara without any trouble. When it was done I put the 8GB SD into the box the Clara came in and haven't touched it since. I found that the easiest way to do it was to remove the back cover before starting the process since it is easy to press the power button by mistake while you are prying the cover off. No dd, no resizing, no Disk Utility. Good luck!

I used the first method of doing the mod. The forum post has two alternatives and for awhile I didn't realize there was a third method which was at the top of the first post. The Clara doesn't have an external SD slot, so Alternative 2 is out, and my Clara came with an 8GB SD so Alternative 1 wouldn't work. I spent a fair amount of time not understanding that there is a 3rd way that is not listed as an alternative. I'm a slow freight, but eventually I understood and it all worked in just a few minutes.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=261578

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I’ve used Gparted before, so perhaps I shall invest in a USB card reader. Will adjusting the partition fix the boot loop?


Update: The problem with Gparted is that the kobo partition is in fat32, which can’t be resized. Formatting the volume to exfat didn’t fix things either. Once unmounted, the only thing I can do is move the partition, but I am not allowed to resize it.

I suppose I can reformat the entire disk to wipe the partition table and use dd to clone the Linux partitions onto the 128GB SD card, then rsync the backup card to the third partition?

Is it really supposed to be this complicated?

Don't try and resize the FAT32 partition in the MAC. Put the new card into the Clara HD and check that it works. Then use the Magic Memory Upgrade Mod to resize the partition. One of the options in that just resizes the partitions. It is a lot easier that arguing with the various resizing tools elsewhere.

[Cootey]

Unfortunately, I wandered off and fixed it myself without seeing rmnelson & davidfor's helpful suggestions. Since I will likely be helping my friend upgrade his Clara, I'll definitely be looking into Magic Memory Upgrade Mod.

What I ended up doing was the following:

1. I cloned the original SD card to a disk image using dd.
2. I cloned the disk image back to the new SD card.
3. This turned my 128GB SD card into a 8GB card, matching the original card's size.
4. I discovered that the advice to use Gparted was incomplete. Fat32 cannot be resized. That meant I had to reformat the third partition to be Linux EXT4 so that it could be resized. I ended up installing Gnome Disk Utility, now called Disks, which could format, manage, AND repartition. Reformated to EXT4, resized the partition, reformatted back to Fat32, and voilà! I now had two Linux system partitions and a giant 128ish GB partition for ebooks. Except that this process destroyed all the data on the large partition.
5. Back on my Mac, I used rsync to restore the data to the now expanded partition.
6. Installed the new SD card into my Clara. Experienced the boot loop of death for a bit, got things running, but then experienced frequent crashes. Then I installed the dev tools on the Clara and Factory reset the Clara back to the Stone Age.
7. Rebooted. Reinstalled. Reconfigured. Restored side loaded books.
8. Did a happy dance.
9. Learned there was this thing called Magic Memory Upgrade Mod that would have saved me a headache. And time. I cried internally.

Please do not follow my directions. LOL

At least I'm up and running. I definitely will check out Magic Memory for any other updates I do. My friend doesn't have my patience or delight with geeky detours.

[Cootey]

My method ended up being unstable. I experienced infrequent crashes, but there were enough of them to let me know something was wrong.

I'm trying the Magic Memory Upgrade Mod. I'm on my second attempt. The first attempt froze on this step (A progress bar appears. ~~~ Data is being loaded into RAM. This might take a while. ~~~) for four hours. I got the Clara to reboot to the install on the original SD card, but my second attempt is turning out the same.

How long is this RAM loading stage? Did I abort too soon? Should the Clara screen be frozen on the progress bar?


And since I have the other expanded SD card on hand still, what reasons might cause random crashes on a new SD card in a Kobo? Maybe this isn't an install problem at all. I should state, however, that the original SD card had no crashes. I just don't know enough about this process to reason what could be amiss. Thanks for your input.

[davidfor]

I haven't used the Magic Memory Upgrade Mod to actually upgrade the SD card. I don't know if that works with recent firmware and devices. I have only do the partition resize. From memory, it is fairly quick. But, the largest card I have tried it with is a the 32GB card I have in my Glo HD.

Did you do a factory reset after using the image? It shouldn't be needed, but people have reported some problems after restoring an image. The factory reset seems to fix them. But, it needs to be the full one that actually restores the factory firmware.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I haven't used the Magic Memory Upgrade Mod to actually upgrade the SD card. I don't know if that works with recent firmware and devices. I have only do the partition resize. From memory, it is fairly quick. But, the largest card I have tried it with is a the 32GB card I have in my Glo HD.

Did you do a factory reset after using the image? It shouldn't be needed, but people have reported some problems after restoring an image. The factory reset seems to fix them. But, it needs to be the full one that actually restores the factory firmware.

I did factory reset after my home-brewed attempt with a SanDisk 128GB SD card. That *seemed* to fix things for a short time, but for intermittent crashes. So I put the original Clara SD card back in.

I've tried three times to get Magic Memory Upgrade Mod to work, the last time after a factory reset that restored the firmware on the original SD card. No change. It hangs each time on the progress bar section. In the thread mentioned above, frostshutz says that stage should only be a few minutes. The progress bar stops if something's gone wrong.

I can pop in the 128GB card again. It sorta works except for the crashing.

Or I could clone the original card onto the 128GB card again. That would give me a perfect copy, except for being 8GB instead of 128GB. Then I could try the resize tool in that thread? I've got nothing but time to lose.

I should mention that the process fails on the step before the cards are swapped. Card size isn't the issue. The script is hanging while data is being loaded into RAM. Perhaps it is as you suggest and that Magic Memory Upgrade Mod doesn't work with recent firmware or devices. The spattering of comments since 2019 on the last page refer to older models.

My question is, how have other people been doing this with their Claras? Even non-techies have claimed to do it. What instructions did they follow that made this so easy for them?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I did factory reset after my home-brewed attempt with a SanDisk 128GB SD card. That *seemed* to fix things for a short time, but for intermittent crashes. So I put the original Clara SD card back in.

I've tried three times to get Magic Memory Upgrade Mod to work, the last time after a factory reset that restored the firmware on the original SD card. No change. It hangs each time on the progress bar section. In the thread mentioned above, frostshutz says that stage should only be a few minutes. The progress bar stops if something's gone wrong.

I can pop in the 128GB card again. It sorta works except for the crashing.

Or I could clone the original card onto the 128GB card again. That would give me a perfect copy, except for being 8GB instead of 128GB. Then I could try the resize tool in that thread? I've got nothing but time to lose.

I should mention that the process fails on the step before the cards are swapped. Card size isn't the issue. The script is hanging while data is being loaded into RAM. Perhaps it is as you suggest and that Magic Memory Upgrade Mod doesn't work with recent firmware or devices. The spattering of comments since 2019 on the last page refer to older models.

My question is, how have other people been doing this with their Claras? Even non-techies have claimed to do it. What instructions did they follow that made this so easy for them?

When people ask how to restore an image to fix a device, I point to Memory Upgrade Mod Guide. I expect that most are writing the supplied image to the card using Windows and an image writing tool. Most are probably using the original card. I suspect that a lot of those using larger cards are not bothering to resize the book partition. But, that is based on how few people ask how to do it.

I have done it a few times over the years. Mostly, I do as I said above, Windows with an image writing too. The last couple of times I did it, nothing I had would resize the partition, and I couldn't be bothered to boot to Linux. That's when I tried the partition resize from the Magic Memory Upgrade Mod with no problems.

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by davidfor

But, that is based on how few people ask how to do it.

They may have already seen how to do this, many instructions mention MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Аlternatives for Maс

[Cootey]

I was writing this up as you two posted your replies. Thank you for pitching in and trying to help. You both make good points.

Here's how I fixed things on my Mac:

1. According to this post, Magic Memory Upgrade Mod doesn't work with firmware above 4.11 (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=278), so that would explain why Kobo Clara HD running firmware 4.26.16704 is stalling when copying data to RAM.

2. I took a look at my homebrewed 128GB SD card on my Mac and discovered that my rPi had formatted the data partition as Windows_FAT_32, not DOS_FAT_32. Some say that Fat32 is Fat32, but they are wrong. DOS_FAT_32 is 0x0B in a Master Boot Record partition map, and Windows_FAT_32 is 0x0C, which enables logical block addressing. I'm not an expert, so I have no idea what those hexadecimal values signify, but I know that if the Kobo is expecting one thing and you give it another, there will be some problems.

3. Here's how I solved the problem. There is no way to alter the drive format without destroying the data, so I typed "sudo rsync -av /Volumes/KOBOeReader/ ~/Desktop/KOBOBackup/" into the Terminal. This created the backup folder on my Desktop with all the contents of the Kobo's visible data partition. (The two Linux partitions are hidden, and we don't need to worry about them with this tutorial).

4. Once the backup was complete, I opened Disk Utility and erased the KOBOeReader drive with MS-DOS Fat formatting.

5. Next, it was time to restore the data. I typed "sudo rsync -av ~/Desktop/KOBOBackup/ /Volumes/KOBOeReader/" into Terminal. Make sure you get those ending / marks, especially on the backup. Otherwise, you'll create a new folder called KOBOBackup on the root of KOBOeReader.

6. I ejected the SD card and (making sure the Clara was off) plugged it into my Clara. Then I turned it on. Voilà! I'm back in business.

Since the original poster of Memory Upgrade Mod Guide (With Pictures) (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=209122) never got around to adding Mac/Unix/Linus directions, I wonder if people would be interested in a cleaned up version of what I have done. It's possible that somebody already explained how to do this on a Mac, but I never found it in all my poking around.

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by Cootey

1. According to this post, Magic Memory Upgrade Mod doesn't work with firmware above 4.11 (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=278), so that would explain why Kobo Clara HD running firmware 4.26.16704 is stalling when copying data to RAM.

In order to prove this statement, you can try downgrading firmware and try the mod. If it works, you are right; if it hangs again, you are wrong.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Semwize

In order to prove this statement, you can try downgrading firmware and try the mod. If it works, you are right; if it hangs again, you are wrong.

I'm probably not going to do that now that I've got it working.