Aura H2O Have I lost it?

[cheshyre]

Have a Kobo Aura H2O, and the USB port is a bit wonky.
When I plug it into the PC, the connecction sometimes drops unexpectedly.
That, I understand, is normal.

Calibre wasn't recognizing my ereader, so I went to the command-line
Tried to open G:\.kobo\KoboReader.sqlite and got a system message

The file or directory \.kobo\KoboReader.sqlite-wal is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the Chkdsk utility.

I thought the flaky connection might be causing problems reading the filesystem, so copied the database to my hard drive, ran PRAGMA integrity_check and .recover into a new file.
Tried to copy the repaired file back to my Kobo and got the same errors.
Gave up for the night and powered off my Kobo.

Powered off, Kobo showed the cover of the last book I was reading. When I next powered it on, however, the screen flickered and then gave me initial language selection, like an initialization setup.
To avoid overwriting anything, I didn't make a selection and powered it off again. The screen was all black (no book cover) and simply says "Powered Off" in white letters.

I've tried plugging it in again, and the computer doesn't seem to register it at all. (I use a USBLogView utility that shows every plug & unplug event).

Anybody ever see anything like this?
Do you think it's recoverable?
Is there any way to connect it to the PC to see whether the rest of my files are still on there? If it's just having a problem reading KoboReader.sqlite, I've got a good copy on my harddrive.
Or, should I just write it all off, reinitialize, and run some disk repair utilities?

PS: I don't have access to a soldering iron; any other makeshift ways of improving USB connectivity?

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance

[enigma90]

Faulty USB cable?

[cheshyre]

I'd been trying multiple cables and the various computer ports until I found the most reliable one.

[MGlitch]

If you have a good copy of the database then you don’t lose much of anything if you wipe the kobo out. Though I’m not sure you have a good copy despite what you’re being told, the behavior after you copied it back doesn’t support it being a good restore point.

Will it turn on now, and if so what does it show? Picking a language won’t give you any issues, if it asks you to login then something went wrong with the copied database and resetting is your best bet.

Ultimately it sounds like your device has some points of hardware failure, possibly multiple. It could just be the USB port, or the SD card has gone bad or both. But you’ll need to see if you can get it running again before that can be determined. Both can be fixed though you’d need some tools and a good image for the sd card there should be a post for the H2O on the forums for getting that image.

[John F]

Originally Posted by cheshyre

Have a Kobo Aura H2O, and the USB port is a bit wonky.
When I plug it into the PC, the connecction sometimes drops unexpectedly.
That, I understand, is normal.

...

That is not normal.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by John F

That is not normal.

It is normal if the USB if port is damaged. And I assume that @cheshyre has a reason other than the port dropping for calling the port wonky. Plus, my Glo HD does not like my main laptop. It will connect, but, drops when stress is put on the link. I have tried it on other computers with no issues.

@cheshyre: From what you said, it is possible that when you copied the backup to the device it was corrupted. But, unless the device prompted you do do a factory reset, you won't lose the books from the device. The database will be reset, which means the reading status, collections and annotations will be lost. But, once you sign in, the sideloaded books will be imported again.

You cannot access the card while the device is not running. If it is the original Aura H2O, you can open the device and take the card out to test it. That will break the waterproofing.

[John F]

Originally Posted by cheshyre

Have a Kobo Aura H2O, and the USB port is a bit wonky.
When I plug it into the PC, the connecction sometimes drops unexpectedly.
That, I understand, is normal.

...

Originally Posted by John F

That is not normal.

Originally Posted by davidfor

It is normal if the USB if port is damaged. And I assume that @cheshyre has a reason other than the port dropping for calling the port wonky. Plus, my Glo HD does not like my main laptop. It will connect, but, drops when stress is put on the link. I have tried it on other computers with no issues.

...

Having a wonky USB port on a Kobo is not normal. Having wonky USB behavior when using a Kobo shouldn't be normal (although it is a known issue for Kobos with a direct connection on some PCs/ports).

Having wonky USB behavior if the USB port is damaged is to be expected/normal.

IMO.

[PHughes]

Have you tried cleaning the port? Get some electrical contact cleaner, get one without any lube, spray the port, then plug and unplug the cable a number of times. Before doing so, blow out the port to remove any lint.

I have never had a usb port fail on any device, despite heavy use, but I have had them give bad connections due to being dirty. Cleaning has fixed them.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by PHughes

I have never had a usb port fail on any device, despite heavy use, but I have had them give bad connections due to being dirty. Cleaning has fixed them.

Oh, it's easy. Just bend it around a bit with a plug in it or jiggle it until the solder connections fatigue and the port is loose. Then see how well it works.

The bending is hard to fix, because sometimes it lifts pads off the circuit board. But if the solder joints are just fatigued, sometimes you can take the whole thing apart and reflow it, but that's a lot of hard very technical work.

[PHughes]

Originally Posted by compurandom

Oh, it's easy. Just bend it around a bit with a plug in it or jiggle it until the solder connections fatigue and the port is loose. Then see how well it works.

The bending is hard to fix, because sometimes it lifts pads off the circuit board. But if the solder joints are just fatigued, sometimes you can take the whole thing apart and reflow it, but that's a lot of hard very technical work.

Of course, but the point is, many failures are due to a dirty port, and not damage. All my devices see extensive travel, and rough use, but I do take care to support the plug as I remove it. I have fixed many people's ports over the years. I grew up in a TV repair shop, and have worked on many electrical devices over the years, including troubleshooting and repairing laptops. The way I fixed the vast majority of ports, is simply by cleaning them.