Glo HD Sudden battery drain

mathil · 07-07-2018, 12:01 PM

Hey everyone,

I've been experiencing severe battery drain with my Glo HD for the past two days. It's quite sudden, and it doesn't only happen when reading: as an example, yesterday I plugged it into the power outlet, disconnected it when it was done charging (took a longer time than usual, as well), connected it to Calibre for a few minutes and when I disconnected it it was suddenly down to 64%. I thought it depended on me updating to the latest released firmware (ver. 4.9.11311), but I went back to 4.8.11073 and that didn't fix it. Today I did a hard reset, restored my books and my database, left it plugged for several hours to charge and it started happening again.

I'm not sure what I should be doing now. Is someone else experiencing battery drain with firmware 4.9.11311? I also thought it could be the database's fault (it's quite big, around 200mb), but I checked it with Kobo Utilities and it wasn't corrupted.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

Edit: I should mention that AutoSync is also, and has always been disabled.

Semwize · 07-07-2018, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathil

I did a hard reset, restored my books and my database

Do not restore immediately, download a couple of books and see how it will.

I have FW 4.9.11311 There are no problems with the discharge of the battery.

mathil · 07-07-2018, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Semwize

Do not restore immediately, download a couple of books and see how it will.

I have FW 4.9.11311 There are no problems with the discharge of the battery.

Thanks, I'll try and do that later. I've done another reset in the meantime (I was planning on keeping to 4.8.11073 to make sure that it's not the firmware, but you reassured me), and I noticed that when it turned on after the usual reset procedures the battery showed as fully charged instead of half. So I don't think it's due to battery failure.
I also run a check with Sigil on all of the books that I uploaded to the device in the past week via Calibre, but no error was reported.

Semwize · 07-07-2018, 01:32 PM

The FW 4.9.11311 has another problem «For epubs, the initial display is shifted up so that there is virtually no top margin», I myself think to return to on 4.8.11073, because it annoys

mathil · 07-07-2018, 03:42 PM

@Semwize, fortunately I don't read EPUBs but only sideloaded KePubs, so the bug doesn't affect me, but I can imagine how annoying it must be :/

Anyway, I have an update: it's definitely not the database. Everything was fine until I started reloading my books on the device, so I have to assume it's something there.
I'll try and check the latest books I uploaded on the device to see if it's something there that may be causing the problem. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do that? I used Sigil's "check ePub" feature before.

DNSB · 07-07-2018, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathil

@Semwize, fortunately I don't read EPUBs but only sideloaded KePubs, so the bug doesn't affect me, but I can imagine how annoying it must be :/

Anyway, I have an update: it's definitely not the database. Everything was fine until I started reloading my books on the device, so I have to assume it's something there.
I'll try and check the latest books I uploaded on the device to see if it's something there that may be causing the problem. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do that? I used Sigil's "check ePub" feature before.

Do you have the FlightCrew and epubcheck plugins installed in Sigil? The F7/Wellformed EPUB check is not the greatest tool. You might also want to try the check in calibre's editor (the beetle looking icon) which does a decent job of finding errors.

mathil · 07-08-2018, 06:30 PM

@DNSB, thanks! I downloaded those plugins, I will definitely start using them from now on.

However, I think something different might be at play here.
After I reset the reader for the last time and downloaded a few of my books from my Kobo account, I tried opening one of these -- before even connecting it to the computer and everything -- and my ereader shut off on its own on the book's cover page. The result is that my Glo HD turned off with the cover image showing as a negative image. Turned it on and tried another book from my Kobo account, same thing.
Something I hadn't mentioned before is that last week, before the battery drain stuff happened, I tried opening one of the books I'd had on my ereader for at least a month (a .kepub sideloaded from Calibre) and the exact same thing happened. Glo HD turned off automatically on the cover image, which was left on the screen as a negative. At the time I thought the ebook must have been malformed, so I did a epub-->epub conversion in Calibre, then resent it to the device, and I was then able to read the book: I didn't give it much thought. But this doesn't seem to be coincidental.

Could it be due to a corruption in the microSD, is this plausible? Has this happened to somebody else before?

mathil · 07-09-2018, 07:22 AM

It's starting to feel as if I'm speaking into the abyss

but there's nothing to do. I left it charging for several hours plugged to the wall outlet this morning after formatting the microSD card on my computer and reloading davidfor's Glo HD image on it. If I try using it while it's still plugged on, the books open normally. If I try doing that when it's not plugged, even if the battery is at 100%, the ereader turns off as soon as a book opens, leaving the 'negative' imprint of it on the screen. It also turned off once while downloading the dictionaries from Kobo, and once as I was simply trying to navigate to 'My Books'. It's unusable. I have to guess the battery is failing in some way, but I'll try contacting Kobo's customer service. In the meantime, any suggestion is welcome, and thanks for the help so far.

compurandom · 07-09-2018, 07:45 AM

I've been seeing occasional sudden battery drain, I think there are multiple firmware bugs that can cause this. My feeling is that occasionally you get a run away background job and the battery drain is rapid until you power cycle the device.

Once I triggered this by doing a failed search in a PDF. A firmware update may have fixed this as it hasn't reoccured.

Quite frequently if I leave wifi on, it gets stuck in an update cycle, forever trying to do something. Sometimes turning off wifi for a while fixes this, but sometimes it keeps trying to update even with wifi off. Turning off wifi and then rebooting usually fixes this and it doesn't come back right away when the wifi is turned back on.

mathil · 07-09-2018, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by compurandom

I've been seeing occasional sudden battery drain, I think there are multiple firmware bugs that can cause this. My feeling is that occasionally you get a run away background job and the battery drain is rapid until you power cycle the device.

Once I triggered this by doing a failed search in a PDF. A firmware update may have fixed this as it hasn't reoccured.

Quite frequently if I leave wifi on, it gets stuck in an update cycle, forever trying to do something. Sometimes turning off wifi for a while fixes this, but sometimes it keeps trying to update even with wifi off. Turning off wifi and then rebooting usually fixes this and it doesn't come back right away when the wifi is turned back on.

Thank you for your input. I don't think this applies to me, as I've power cycled my device several times, even did more than one hard reset. I've ordered a new battery and I hope that will fix it. I was hoping on keeping my Glo for several years at least

Lima7 · 07-19-2018, 09:46 AM

Hey!
Im having the exact same problems on my brand new H2O.
I used the warranty to get a brand new one.
Same story.
Im quite annoyed. I've had a Kobo aura for years and that never happened. So I'm not sure what to do here. I might be exchanging my h2O for a Clara HD. Kobo has no clue what the problem is. They have offered a new one, but it's already my second one in a row. I suspect the problem might be coming from an ePub too....

mathil · 07-19-2018, 10:13 AM

I wrote you in your other post earlier today. In my case, the battery had died. The warranty had expired, so I bought a new one and installed it myself. It works fine now, on the latest firmware (4.9 etc. I'm on my phone now, can't check). If your device was replaced and you still have the same problem, there is a high likelihood that it's due to something you are doing, and changing device wouldn't help.
I saw davidfor asking you for info in the thread you opened today - if you haven't done it yet, reply to his questions and someone might be able to help you. There are too many reasons why this could be happening - and yes, a sideloaded epub *could* be one, but it's not certain.

Lima7 · 07-19-2018, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathil

I wrote you in your other post earlier today. In my case, the battery had died. The warranty had expired, so I bought a new one and installed it myself. It works fine now, on the latest firmware (4.9 etc. I'm on my phone now, can't check). If your device was replaced and you still have the same problem, there is a high likelihood that it's due to something you are doing, and changing device wouldn't help.
I saw davidfor asking you for info in the thread you opened today - if you haven't done it yet, reply to his questions and someone might be able to help you. There are too many reasons why this could be happening - and yes, a sideloaded epub *could* be one, but it's not certain.

I did answer his questions.

07-07-2018, 12:01 PM	#1
mathil Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 287725 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Europe Device: Kobo Aura H2O/Glo HD/Libra 2, Kindle PW3/PW5	Sudden battery drain Hey everyone, I've been experiencing severe battery drain with my Glo HD for the past two days. It's quite sudden, and it doesn't only happen when reading: as an example, yesterday I plugged it into the power outlet, disconnected it when it was done charging (took a longer time than usual, as well), connected it to Calibre for a few minutes and when I disconnected it it was suddenly down to 64%. I thought it depended on me updating to the latest released firmware (ver. 4.9.11311), but I went back to 4.8.11073 and that didn't fix it. Today I did a hard reset, restored my books and my database, left it plugged for several hours to charge and it started happening again. I'm not sure what I should be doing now. Is someone else experiencing battery drain with firmware 4.9.11311? I also thought it could be the database's fault (it's quite big, around 200mb), but I checked it with Kobo Utilities and it wasn't corrupted. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance Edit: I should mention that AutoSync is also, and has always been disabled. Last edited by mathil; 07-07-2018 at 12:08 PM. Reason: spelling

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Sudden massive battery drain on new PW3	bz9993	Kindle Developer's Corner	13	06-21-2018 07:41 PM
Sudden immense battery drain during sleep i86ML	Skfir	Onyx Boox	3	07-31-2016 02:50 PM
Aura HD Sudden extreme battery drain?	Filmbrain	Kobo Reader	11	06-13-2016 02:36 AM
kindle d graphite sudden battery discharge - help	man1337	Amazon Kindle	0	04-13-2014 05:41 AM
Sudden Battery Energy Drop	sirmaru	Kindle Fire	7	03-12-2012 03:13 PM

07-07-2018, 01:32 PM	#4
Semwize Guru Posts: 873 Karma: 252902 Join Date: Jun 2016 Device: Kobo	The FW 4.9.11311 has another problem «For epubs, the initial display is shifted up so that there is virtually no top margin», I myself think to return to on 4.8.11073, because it annoys

07-07-2018, 03:42 PM	#5
mathil Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 287725 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Europe Device: Kobo Aura H2O/Glo HD/Libra 2, Kindle PW3/PW5	@Semwize, fortunately I don't read EPUBs but only sideloaded KePubs, so the bug doesn't affect me, but I can imagine how annoying it must be :/ Anyway, I have an update: it's definitely not the database. Everything was fine until I started reloading my books on the device, so I have to assume it's something there. I'll try and check the latest books I uploaded on the device to see if it's something there that may be causing the problem. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to do that? I used Sigil's "check ePub" feature before.

07-08-2018, 06:30 PM	#7
mathil Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 287725 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Europe Device: Kobo Aura H2O/Glo HD/Libra 2, Kindle PW3/PW5	@DNSB, thanks! I downloaded those plugins, I will definitely start using them from now on. However, I think something different might be at play here. After I reset the reader for the last time and downloaded a few of my books from my Kobo account, I tried opening one of these -- before even connecting it to the computer and everything -- and my ereader shut off on its own on the book's cover page. The result is that my Glo HD turned off with the cover image showing as a negative image. Turned it on and tried another book from my Kobo account, same thing. Something I hadn't mentioned before is that last week, before the battery drain stuff happened, I tried opening one of the books I'd had on my ereader for at least a month (a .kepub sideloaded from Calibre) and the exact same thing happened. Glo HD turned off automatically on the cover image, which was left on the screen as a negative. At the time I thought the ebook must have been malformed, so I did a epub-->epub conversion in Calibre, then resent it to the device, and I was then able to read the book: I didn't give it much thought. But this doesn't seem to be coincidental. Could it be due to a corruption in the microSD, is this plausible? Has this happened to somebody else before?

07-09-2018, 07:22 AM	#8
mathil Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 287725 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Europe Device: Kobo Aura H2O/Glo HD/Libra 2, Kindle PW3/PW5	It's starting to feel as if I'm speaking into the abyss but there's nothing to do. I left it charging for several hours plugged to the wall outlet this morning after formatting the microSD card on my computer and reloading davidfor's Glo HD image on it. If I try using it while it's still plugged on, the books open normally. If I try doing that when it's not plugged, even if the battery is at 100%, the ereader turns off as soon as a book opens, leaving the 'negative' imprint of it on the screen. It also turned off once while downloading the dictionaries from Kobo, and once as I was simply trying to navigate to 'My Books'. It's unusable. I have to guess the battery is failing in some way, but I'll try contacting Kobo's customer service. In the meantime, any suggestion is welcome, and thanks for the help so far.

07-09-2018, 07:45 AM	#9
compurandom Guru Posts: 919 Karma: 417282 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: kobo aura h2o, kobo forma	I've been seeing occasional sudden battery drain, I think there are multiple firmware bugs that can cause this. My feeling is that occasionally you get a run away background job and the battery drain is rapid until you power cycle the device. Once I triggered this by doing a failed search in a PDF. A firmware update may have fixed this as it hasn't reoccured. Quite frequently if I leave wifi on, it gets stuck in an update cycle, forever trying to do something. Sometimes turning off wifi for a while fixes this, but sometimes it keeps trying to update even with wifi off. Turning off wifi and then rebooting usually fixes this and it doesn't come back right away when the wifi is turned back on.

07-19-2018, 09:46 AM	#11
Lima7 Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 90986 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: Aura	Hey! Im having the exact same problems on my brand new H2O. I used the warranty to get a brand new one. Same story. Im quite annoyed. I've had a Kobo aura for years and that never happened. So I'm not sure what to do here. I might be exchanging my h2O for a Clara HD. Kobo has no clue what the problem is. They have offered a new one, but it's already my second one in a row. I suspect the problem might be coming from an ePub too....

07-19-2018, 10:13 AM	#12
mathil Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 287725 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Europe Device: Kobo Aura H2O/Glo HD/Libra 2, Kindle PW3/PW5	I wrote you in your other post earlier today. In my case, the battery had died. The warranty had expired, so I bought a new one and installed it myself. It works fine now, on the latest firmware (4.9 etc. I'm on my phone now, can't check). If your device was replaced and you still have the same problem, there is a high likelihood that it's due to something you are doing, and changing device wouldn't help. I saw davidfor asking you for info in the thread you opened today - if you haven't done it yet, reply to his questions and someone might be able to help you. There are too many reasons why this could be happening - and yes, a sideloaded epub could be one, but it's not certain.