Kobo Aura not charging?

cleverbee · 04-07-2018, 10:24 AM

Hey all,

I just bought a Kobo Aura (edition 1 I believe) a few weeks ago and now am experiencing an issue with it. Last night, I found it at the screen that says "Please plug in your ereader to charge". No problem, except it is not recognizing that it is being plugged in. I have tried different cables, different ports (wall/computer), resetting, etc. but it isn't responding to anything and still stays on that screen. Is there anything else I can do to troubleshoot it?

Thanks!

rudy138 · 04-07-2018, 11:32 AM

You should be the 3rd person on this forum with this issue (that I've been able to find so far). Here's my story. I had a similar issue with a Kobo Touch 2.0 I got used off of eBay. It arrived just 3 days ago, and out of the box, it was so low on battery (4%) it wouldn't proceed with setup, so I connected the cable, and the "Please charge.." screen comes on. Fine, didn't think too much about it, until realising that after an hour of charging, unplugging didn't remove that screen, and I had to press and hold the power button for 20-30secs before that screen went off and the device restarted. It now had enough power to actually complete setup and updates (no option was given not to update), and when it reached the home screen, it showed a warning that my battery was low and that it needed charging, so I connected it again, and saw the "Please charge.." screen again. Left it for 7 hours, and then unplugged and repeated the press and hold and restart, and it still said my battery was low. After reading lots of posts, I liked the idea one forummer had, of using a 9V battery to kind of jumpstart. But I didn't have a 9V, so I took the cover off anyway, pulled out the battery's connector to the motherboard, reconnected it, and when I restarted, surprise surprise, I suddenly had 97% battery! So the battery does charge, and (I know since then), that it does hold a decent charge too. However, until now, the cable cannot be connected without the "Please charge.." screen coming on, which means I won't be able to hook it up to the computer, or use it while charging, and I suppose the next long charge, I might have to take off the cover and disconnect/reconnect the battery from the motherboard.

Factory reset didn't work - did it 3 times. Reset from the small pinhole button didn't work either. Most other solutions were not possible as nothing could be done with the unit once cable was connected.

Of course, I raised a return request which was agreed to immediately by the seller, and money was refunded in full just 3 hours ago. The seller will not be taking the unit back (postage from Malaysia back to the US would costed the same as the used unit), so I am planning to proceed with another plan, which is to reload the image on the SD card. Not sure if this would do any good - have not been able to ascertain for sure whether firmware files are stored on SD card or onboard somewhere, but it seems it might be on the SD card. If it is corrupt data somewhere, or a bad firmware update, then it will be good again and I would have gotten an almost free ereader (excluding of course my last 3 days spent so focused on trying to fix it, and my lost productivity as a home-based entrepreneur!).

JSWolf · 04-07-2018, 12:03 PM

Rudy, it could still be that the battery is flaky and the Reader is reading that the battery is low. You may need a new battery to get it working again.

geek1011 · 04-07-2018, 11:39 PM

How long have you left it plugged in for? Sometimes, if the battery is completely dead, it can take a while before it actually turns on.

Also, have you tested your charger with another device to make sure it works?

rudy138 · 04-08-2018, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Rudy, it could still be that the battery is flaky and the Reader is reading that the battery is low. You may need a new battery to get it working again.

That's also a possibility. Will source for a battery with the right dimensions, as I don't think they're too pricey. Seems the Touch 2.0 wasn't a very popular reader, judging from the dearth of mention in this forum!

rudy138 · 04-09-2018, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Rudy, it could still be that the battery is flaky and the Reader is reading that the battery is low. You may need a new battery to get it working again.

Update. So I did manage to do a restore of a disk image, and the "please charge.." screen still shows up upon connecting cable, so the only things remaining are battery replacement or just some hardware failure somewhere. Unlike iPhone batteries which are available cheap from China, the (potentially) suitable batteries for KT 2.0 are all from the US, and including shipping, are almost half the price of this used unit, too much a risk for me if it turns out not to work (damn exchange rate!). Will probably get another unit from a reputable local ereader seller instead.

bop · 04-14-2020, 09:57 AM

Hi,

I am having a similar issue as the author of this thread. I have a Kobo Aura First Edition. Bought it in 2014. Had been using it on and off until about 6 months ago. It has been sitting on the shelf since then.
Now I have the infamous "Please charge your ebook" screen. Then I read a lot on mobileread and left it on charge for like 5 hours. Tried all the reset methods (hard, soft etc) no go.

Opened the case took out the battery and measured the voltage on it. It read 3.7 then I left it on charge an hour more and the battery read 3.75 this time. Finally I left it overnight now the battery reads 4V! I guess it should not be the battery.

When I switch it on the orange power led blinks bright and after 7 sec or so dims a bit for like 3 sec and stops. During this time no usb connection or even serial connection is possible. Serial port vcc reads 5V for 2 sec and goes down to zero.

Since this model has no removable SD card I cannot reflash a fresh firmware either.

Ran out of ideas here.

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thank you.

bop · 04-15-2020, 03:18 AM

SOLVED: I got it solved by flashing a kobo aura h2o image to an sd card (thanks to davidfor)

If you power on holding the light button it would boot from external sdcard. I did exactly that and boom it came back. It would still show my books though.
This did not fix the problem of course. But then I tried to update to the latest version using sync and it jumped into original recovery somehow and factory reset my ebook. Now the ebook works as usual.

04-07-2018, 10:24 AM	#1
cleverbee Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Kobo Aura	Kobo Aura not charging? Hey all, I just bought a Kobo Aura (edition 1 I believe) a few weeks ago and now am experiencing an issue with it. Last night, I found it at the screen that says "Please plug in your ereader to charge". No problem, except it is not recognizing that it is being plugged in. I have tried different cables, different ports (wall/computer), resetting, etc. but it isn't responding to anything and still stays on that screen. Is there anything else I can do to troubleshoot it? Thanks!

04-14-2020, 09:57 AM	#7
bop Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: kobo aura (1st edition)	Yet another "Please charge" screen Hi, I am having a similar issue as the author of this thread. I have a Kobo Aura First Edition. Bought it in 2014. Had been using it on and off until about 6 months ago. It has been sitting on the shelf since then. Now I have the infamous "Please charge your ebook" screen. Then I read a lot on mobileread and left it on charge for like 5 hours. Tried all the reset methods (hard, soft etc) no go. Opened the case took out the battery and measured the voltage on it. It read 3.7 then I left it on charge an hour more and the battery read 3.75 this time. Finally I left it overnight now the battery reads 4V! I guess it should not be the battery. When I switch it on the orange power led blinks bright and after 7 sec or so dims a bit for like 3 sec and stops. During this time no usb connection or even serial connection is possible. Serial port vcc reads 5V for 2 sec and goes down to zero. Since this model has no removable SD card I cannot reflash a fresh firmware either. Ran out of ideas here. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you.

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04-07-2018, 11:32 AM	#2
rudy138 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Penang, Malaysia Device: Kobo Aura Edition 2, Kobo Touch 2.0	You should be the 3rd person on this forum with this issue (that I've been able to find so far). Here's my story. I had a similar issue with a Kobo Touch 2.0 I got used off of eBay. It arrived just 3 days ago, and out of the box, it was so low on battery (4%) it wouldn't proceed with setup, so I connected the cable, and the "Please charge.." screen comes on. Fine, didn't think too much about it, until realising that after an hour of charging, unplugging didn't remove that screen, and I had to press and hold the power button for 20-30secs before that screen went off and the device restarted. It now had enough power to actually complete setup and updates (no option was given not to update), and when it reached the home screen, it showed a warning that my battery was low and that it needed charging, so I connected it again, and saw the "Please charge.." screen again. Left it for 7 hours, and then unplugged and repeated the press and hold and restart, and it still said my battery was low. After reading lots of posts, I liked the idea one forummer had, of using a 9V battery to kind of jumpstart. But I didn't have a 9V, so I took the cover off anyway, pulled out the battery's connector to the motherboard, reconnected it, and when I restarted, surprise surprise, I suddenly had 97% battery! So the battery does charge, and (I know since then), that it does hold a decent charge too. However, until now, the cable cannot be connected without the "Please charge.." screen coming on, which means I won't be able to hook it up to the computer, or use it while charging, and I suppose the next long charge, I might have to take off the cover and disconnect/reconnect the battery from the motherboard. Factory reset didn't work - did it 3 times. Reset from the small pinhole button didn't work either. Most other solutions were not possible as nothing could be done with the unit once cable was connected. Of course, I raised a return request which was agreed to immediately by the seller, and money was refunded in full just 3 hours ago. The seller will not be taking the unit back (postage from Malaysia back to the US would costed the same as the used unit), so I am planning to proceed with another plan, which is to reload the image on the SD card. Not sure if this would do any good - have not been able to ascertain for sure whether firmware files are stored on SD card or onboard somewhere, but it seems it might be on the SD card. If it is corrupt data somewhere, or a bad firmware update, then it will be good again and I would have gotten an almost free ereader (excluding of course my last 3 days spent so focused on trying to fix it, and my lost productivity as a home-based entrepreneur!).

04-07-2018, 12:03 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,976 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Rudy, it could still be that the battery is flaky and the Reader is reading that the battery is low. You may need a new battery to get it working again.

04-07-2018, 11:39 PM	#4
geek1011 Wizard Posts: 2,735 Karma: 6990705 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Mini, Aura Edition 2 v1, Clara HD	How long have you left it plugged in for? Sometimes, if the battery is completely dead, it can take a while before it actually turns on. Also, have you tested your charger with another device to make sure it works?

04-15-2020, 03:18 AM	#8
bop Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2020 Device: kobo aura (1st edition)	SOLVED: I got it solved by flashing a kobo aura h2o image to an sd card (thanks to davidfor) If you power on holding the light button it would boot from external sdcard. I did exactly that and boom it came back. It would still show my books though. This did not fix the problem of course. But then I tried to update to the latest version using sync and it jumped into original recovery somehow and factory reset my ebook. Now the ebook works as usual.

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