Touch Kobo Touch Factory Restore Bug - Or Is It!!

[Marky 'H']

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING WILL RESTORE YOUR DEVICE TO FACTORY DEFAULT AND WIPE ALL YOUR DATA

SO ONLY DO THIS IF YOU WANT TO SEE A HORRIBLE BUG IN THE KOBO SOFTWARE/HARDWARE

I’M NOT SURE IF YOU CAN RESTORE THE SOFTWARE VERSION YOU ARE RUNNING AS THE KOBO SOFTWARE SEEMS TO FORCE YOU TO LOAD ONLY THE LATEST, SO IF YOU ARE RUNNING 1.9.16 YOU MAY HAVE TO INSTALL 1.9.17 (OR THE LATEST) AFTER YOU DO THE FOLLOWING.

AGAIN IT WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE COMPLETELY. THIS IS NOWHERE NEAR THE INSTRUCTIONS KOBO GIVE FOR A FACTORY RESET!

I found this by mistake and lost all my content, my device came with software 1.9.11 loaded from new, I’m not sure if any other versions have this issue of if it’s a hardware thing. The following is so easy to do by mistake as the Kobo touch only has two buttons, the home and power button.

1. Have software 1.9.11 or 1.9.17 loaded
2. Power off the device
3. Plug into a USB charger (or PC)
4. Press and release the “Home” button
5. Power on the device

At this point it will, without warning, do a factory restore and wipe all you content, settings etc.

I'm not sure about key press timings as with 1.9.11 it seems it will not always work. But it always works with 1.9.17.

I did this purely by mistake as, not having had my device for very long, and being an iPad/iPhone user, I naturally pressed the “Home” button after plugging it into the USB lead to wake it up. Then realising my error I powered on the device – just a quick swipe of the I was very stunned to watch the device saying “Restoring…” It only happens if it’s plugged into a USB for charging.

I have replicated this issue time and time again (Yep I’m sad!!). My problem is, as it’s so easy to do this, if I’m on holiday and make the same mistake while charging it, I’ll having nothing to read. (OK I’ll take a backup on SD card). However, that’s not really the point, it is? The point is, that it is amazing that a piece of kit can have such a magnificent hardware or software fault that it can be inadvertently wiped by a couple of simple key presses.

Has anyone else seen this issue? Or is my device faulty? Anyone brave enough to try it to see if the same happens? I’m really interested to know whether it’s my device, or a wider problem.

Many thanks
Marky H


UPDATE:

Now I've posted this message I can see "Similar Threads" have shown.

Just to clarify, when I do this key combination at no point I’m I holding both buttons in, I press the home button, release it then immediately switch on the device via the power button with the same finger. If I leave a longer time between button presses then nothing happens.

It’s still far too easy to do.