Glo Memory Upgrade Mod Guide (With Pictures)

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by tigran

Btw, does anyone know if the image contains any info about the device's serial number? I.e. can I boot an image prepared for one AuraHD on a different (but identical model) Aura HD? I am asking because I want to run the firmware 3.8.0 but the latest is already 3.11.0, so if I let the new device do all that registration etc then it will download and install 3.11.0. Is there any way to avoid installing the latest firmware? (I can't remember if it was possible to cancel out of it somehow...)

The serial number is at offset 0x200 in the image. The letters "SN-" are the followed by 13 digits for the serial number. The images I have, have these set to all zeros. There is a later occurrence, but I think that is the version file and is rewritten each time the device is started.

As to using another serial number, it probably doesn't matter. I have supplied the different images quite a few times. It is rare that anyone asks about the serial number, so I assume most of them are still all zeroes.

UPDATE: I think it was possible to downgrade, i.e. I should be able to go back to 3.8.0 manually AFTER auto-upgrading to 3.11.0... I'll verify it on the broken device now.

It is not necessarily safe to downgrade without a factory reset. Do the factory reset and use the desktop application to do the setup. Then put whatever firmware files you want onto the device before disconnecting.

[Ken Maltby]

You can do a factory update without having to authenticate with the Kobo server, but you would not be able use the sync features, no loss if you do not have several Kobo ereaders and do not read the same book on all of them, at the same time - And - cannot remember your place in the book you are reading.

If you just want to read your ebooks and do not want to use any of the sync features then you can use your Kobo device without registering. [This is what I have done all along. My memory may not be the greatest anymore but even I can find my place in a book I am reading on multiple devices. Sync is not of much use if you read a book from a single device.]

1. The tool you need.


2. I agree with David that you should do a "factory reset" before this kind of change in firmware.

3. After the reset it will ask if you want to register using WiFi or your computer - connect your USB cable and select computer. This should let you use the sqlitebrowser File>Open database function to find the "KoboReader.sqlite" file in the .kobo folder of your device.

4. Tshering's original description of the procedure:

"there are several explanations at this forum. I cannot find them myself right now. Anyway, in order to initialize the reader without registering you can add a new line to the "user" table of the database. Fill in any fitting values. Depending on your reset firmware version, the number of values varies.
Example for FW 1.9.12:

Code:
INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0");Example for FW 2.5.0:

Code:
INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0", "0","false")

I think you use the SQLite Database Browser. Right? Open the database file "KoboReader.sqlite". Select "Browse Data" and choose the table "user". Look at line 1 and try to establish whether the values of one of the two examples might fit or whether you have to make some modifications. I guess the second example might be correct for the Mini. Choose Execute SQL, enter the command "INSERT INTO user VALUES ..." and press "Execute query".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tshering"

For my user for AuraHD 3.1.1:

INSERT INTO user VALUES ("0", "0", "0", "0", "0", "0","false","false","false")

You can just paste the above string into the "SQL string:" box in the "Execute SQL" tab.
Then click on the "Execute query" button.

5. After you have a zeroed out user and have saved the file, just restart your device and you should be good to go.

Luck;
Ken

Also an old post: Accessible Internal uSD card or this mod

[tigran]

Thank you, davidfor and Ken. But I think the description "very easy" cannot stand in the same sentence (or the same Universe even) with the process of removing the front bezel on Kobo Aura HD. I think those who managed to remove it and put it back without 100% destroying IR functionality (btw I believe they ALL must have degraded it between 10%-30% in terms of surface area, without even noticing) are very very lucky.

So, the tricky part is to cut out that area _without_ removing the front bezel. I am still preparing (mentally and physically, having rested now --- the hands must be very sturdy when holding that damn soldering gun for this operation, having done as davidfor and you have suggested to put 3.8.0 firmware on my new Kobo Aura HD (i.e. via desktop app on Windows 7 --- luckily I have one of my laptops running this windows thingy

UPDATE: From this and previous posts (and my general attitude) you must have guessed that I am one of those of whom they say in Russian "руки растут не из того места" --- "hands grow in the wrong place" --- indeed, I am not a "DIY" guy, but at the same time I strive for perfection (AuraHD with less than 64GB internal memory is other than perfect) and hence all my troubles...

[Cesco]

I think those who managed to remove it and put it back without 100% destroying IR functionality

I am one of those....

[tigran]

Cesco, then you should be happy, not angry --- you are both lucky and obviously very good at DIY. To me this is a big deal, not to be undertaken without some trepidation

[Cesco]

However I have to admit that you're right!

[tigran]

HAPPY END REPORT: I have done it! Yes, I now have a perfect Kobo Aura HD with 64GB of internal memory (now I may be tempted to try a 128GB card in it --- if I find them somewhere cheap enough

Now, I have the following question: has anyone seen the motherboard layout of Kobo H20? I.e. is the internal microsd card located in the same position as on Kobo Aura HD? I want to know if I can do the same upgrade on an H20 as well.

[WS64]

Originally Posted by tigran

I now have a perfect Kobo Aura HD with 64GB of internal memory

Just curious, it's not really important, but does Nickel work with that?
I ask cause my Aura's 64GB external card does not work with Nickel, it always tells me to format the card to FAT32 (which it is already).
No problem with Koreader though.

[tigran]

Interesting, I never get that message. Yes, Nickel works fine, no complaints and even shows the storage space in the Settings/Device information tab correctly.

Ah, maybe because I am using 3.8.0 firmware and your firmware is a different version? I.e. maybe they fixed the problem you describe in a later firmware...

One curious thing I discovered is this: you should ALWAYS go through Factory Reset after installing a newly cloned card. I don't know why --- maybe the FAT32 label "KOBOEREADER" is not close enough to the desired value of "KOBOeReader" (mkfs.vfat doesn't support case-sensitive labels, so I can't create it)? If you use your own FAT32 filesystem (as opposed to what the device creates) then you will run into some problems, like false "disk errors" (they are not real, as I've verified the whole card with badblocks and previously with h2testw). But if you let the device format the data filesystem then everything works fine. But I have no explanation for this strangeness.

[Frenzie]

Originally Posted by tigran

Now, I have the following question: has anyone seen the motherboard layout of Kobo H20? I.e. is the internal microsd card located in the same position as on Kobo Aura HD? I want to know if I can do the same upgrade on an H20 as well.

Yes, here are some (fish-eyed, kinda blurry) pictures of H2O bezel removal:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ufm26kyh7w...bezel.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/972vq2fsvl...moved.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pmbm84ido8...Board.jpg?dl=0

(via https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=13)

I think that looks like a microSD slot in the top left, which given your earlier pictures suggests a similar location.

[tigran]

Thank you, Frenzie. Adventure continues --- I've just ordered Kobo Aura H2O --- going to collect it in 5 minutes now

But I see that the case is much thinner and so the back cover would be almost touching the motherboard. Therefore, it would be a lot more dangerous to "operate" on it with the soldering gun --- perhaps I'll leave it as is (4GB + 32GB is not bad after all), at least until such time that I discover some way to cut plastic without a soldering gun. Maybe a razor sharp stanley knife could do the job... Any ideas for the safest way to cut through plastic would be appreciated.

[JSWolf]

You cut the H2O and you do a number of bad things. You lose it being waterproof and you lose any warranty.

Don't do it.

[tigran]

JSWolf, yes, thank you for your advice. I decided that for now I will NOT cut H2O. Not because I care for its waterproof or warranty, but because the back cover is too close to the motherboard to risk approaching it with a soldering gun and I have no other way of cutting it.

So, I suppose 4GB + 32GB external should be sufficient for now.

But still it was not a waste of effort to turn my Kobo AuraHD into a 96GB (64GB + 32GB external) monster --- now I have put all the manuscript facsimiles and early printed editions into my "active collection" as well. This filled about 56GB already... Previously they were in the "archive mode" together with over 2T of other precious books which I would love to share with mankind freely, if not for the wicked temporary limitation called "copyright law" (at least until the dawn of the Age of Light which will do away with all human greediness and, in particular, this "copyright" nonsense)

[tigran]

I couldn't resist the temptation and upgraded Kobo H2O to 64GB internal memory. Everything seems to be working fine. So, now both my Kobo Aura HD and H2O have 64GB internal memory. Paradise!

Oh, I forgot to mention how I did it. Although I discovered what is probably the perfect tool for the job (a "hole saw" --- a cylindrical drill bit which can cut a hole), that would mean buying it tomorrow morning. And I can't postpone till tomorrow morning what can be done today. So, I remembered that on one of the Linux conferences they gave me as a gift a Letherman pocket multi-purpose knife and its blade was very sharp and made of very hard steel. So, I used this knife to cut through the plastic on Kobo Aura H2O relatively painlessly. Seriously, it only took me about 5 minutes! If even I can do it, anyone can do it...

[Frenzie]

Originally Posted by tigran

Although I discovered what is probably the perfect tool for the job (a "hole saw" --- a cylindrical drill bit which can cut a hole), that would mean buying it tomorrow morning.

You're telling me you don't have a hole saw collection?

Here are my bimetal ones:


I also have a few in cheaper carbon steel. But I'll keep the modding for a (much) later date.