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Old 02-17-2013, 10:49 AM   #1
Mrs_Often
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Finding out an easier way to know what firmware to install

So, when manually up or downgrading the firmware, how to know if you need the Glo or the Touch firmware for your Kobo Touch? There's currently an elaborate way to find out through a factory reset and file size comparisons (see here; thanks DNSB). But, there must be an easier way. Maybe even as easy as a serial number?

Would people who know which firmware version their Touch needs care to share some information?

My info:

1. I use the Touch firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 326
4. model: N905 (next to µUSB socket)
5. SN: KG31B1500609E (in settings/Device info; or see below)

Some helpful steps to help you find your info, taken from here; thanks Peakcrew.

For Windows users
Spoiler:

How to get this info without Calibre on Windows (thanks to murg for this):

1) plug the Touch into the USB cable and connect.
2) bring up the Device Manager
2a) Windows 7 : Start/Control Panel/Device Manager
2b) Windows XP : Start/Control Panel/System/<one one of the tabs> (this is from memory)
3) under Disk Drives, find Kobo eReader USB Device
4) right click on this and select Properties.
5) select Details tab.
6) change Property dropdown to Device Instance Path
7) the value contains the Revision
8) change Property dropdown to Parent
9) the value contains the PID
10) note that you also get the Touch's serial number

device instance path: USBSTOR\DISK&VEN_KOBO&PROD_EREADER&REV_YYYY\KG1111111111B&0
parent: USB\VID_2237&PID_XXXX\KG1111111111B

Alternatives steps:
3) the Touch will also show up under Universal Serial Bus Controllers as USB Mass Storage Device.
Note: There may be more than one USB Mass Storage Device.
6) change Property dropdown to Hardware IDs
7) the value contains the PID and revision
skip 8) 9) and 10)

Hardware Ids: USB\VID_2237&PID_XXXX&REV_YYYY

With Calibre (thanks to davidfor for this):

1. Open Calibre.

2. In the top bar, click on Preferences.

3. Click on Miscellaneous (middle of the bottom row).

4. On the screen that comes up, locate the "Debug device detection" button, but don't press it yet. Connect the KT with a usb cable, and then allow it to connect to the computer.

5. Now, timing is a bit tricky. If you have autorun turned on, click the Debug button just after the box (or boxes if you have an SD card) have opened. If not, probably counting slowly to five would do it.

6. What you should see is a box that says "Getting debug information, please wait ...", and then produces a list of all the usb devices connected to your computer. Run down the list until you find "Looking for devices..." The line below will look like:
u'usb\\vid_2237&pid_XXXX&rev_YYYY' (italics will be numbers)

Followed by:
Detected possible device KoboTouch

The device ID/version are the two four-digit numbers after "pid" (those in italics above).

If you are Windows user, and don't have Calibre, please see murg's post (#6) below.


For Mac users
Spoiler:

(thanks to Mrs_Often for this):

Make sure your Kobo Touch is attached to your Mac, and mounted on the Desktop.
1. Click on the apple to the top left of the menu bar
- Click "About this Mac" at the top of the menu that opened
2. A small window with superficial information about your Mac will open
- Click the button down the bottom that says "More info…"
3. Skip this step if you're on 10.6.x, for 10.7.x and later:
- Hit the "System Report…" button on the bottom left
4. A larger window with detailed information is now open
- In the left column, click "USB" under "Hardware"
- In the top frame of the window, you'll see the USB Device Tree. From that tree, find and click "eReader" or "Kobo" or whatever yours is named by your Mac.
- In the bottom frame of the window, you'll see all sorts of information about your Kobo Touch
- Behind "Product ID" you'll see something like 0x4163. The four digits after the x is what you want, plus:
- Behind "Version" you'll see something like 3.26. This is the second number you want, without the decimal point, so in my case: 326.


For Linux users:
Spoiler:

(Thanks to RJCroy for this):

1) Open a terminal
2) type the command 'lsusb -v'

This will give details of all the USB devices connected. One will be the Kobo. It will look something like:

Bus 002 Device 005: ID 2237:4163 Kobo Inc.
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x2237 Kobo Inc.
idProduct 0x4163 [This is the device ID]
bcdDevice 3.26 [This is the version number]




-----------------------------



PRELIMINARY FINDINGS – need more data to confirm

- SN = KG31: Touch firmware
- SN = KG32: Touch firmware (uncertain)
- SN = N905B: Touch firmware
- SN = N905C: Touch firmware (uncertain)
- SN = N905J: Glo firmware
- SN = N905K: Glo firmware


Warning! SN = beginning of serial number, not to be confused with model number, which all start with N905

Last edited by Mrs_Often; 02-28-2013 at 02:50 AM.
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Old 02-17-2013, 11:59 AM   #2
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I would like to share an idea, even it is only slightly related to the topic. One could change in the rcS file the usb file all "KoboRoot.tgz" to "xKoboRoot.tgz". This would prevent installing the firmware as long as one does not rename the file "KoboRoot.tgz" in the .kobo folder to "xKoboRoot.tgz". Therefore, the user can decide whether to install a new FW, or make some changes to the files before installing, provided one has access to a computer. If one saves copies of the files one also has them ready for future downgrades.

Last edited by tshering; 02-19-2013 at 07:07 AM.
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Old 02-17-2013, 12:53 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs_Often View Post
So, when manually up or downgrading the firmware, how to know if you need the Glo or the Touch firmware for your Kobo Touch? There's currently an elaborate way to find out through a factory reset and file size comparisons (see here; thanks DNSB). But, there must be an easier way. Maybe even as easy as a serial number?

Would people who know which firmware version their Touch needs care to share some information?



My info:

1. I use the Touch firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 326
4. model: N905 (next to µUSB socket)
5. SN: KG31BXXXXXXXE (in settings/Device info; or see below)

Cos I know which version I now have - thanks Mrs O


1. I use the Touch firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 0110
4. model: N905
5. SN: N905BXXXXXXX7

Last edited by Willa; 02-27-2013 at 07:50 AM.
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Old 02-17-2013, 01:31 PM   #4
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I was sure we had tried this before....
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Old 02-17-2013, 02:50 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterT View Post
I was sure we had tried this before....
That was only model numbers (if we're talking about the same thing).
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Old 02-24-2013, 10:03 AM   #6
boh!
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My girlfriend Touch:

1. I use the Glo firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 0110
4. model: N905C
5. SN: N905JXXXXXXX6

Last edited by boh!; 03-12-2013 at 05:14 AM.
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Old 02-26-2013, 12:46 PM   #7
boh!
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My Father Touch:

1. I use the Glo firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 0110
4. model: N905C
5. SN: N905KXXXXXXX8



My Mother Touch:

1. I use the Glo firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 0110
4. model: N905C
5. SN: N905JXXXXXXX6

Last edited by boh!; 03-12-2013 at 05:15 AM.
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Old 02-26-2013, 02:09 PM   #8
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1. I use the Touch firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 326
4 Model: N905
5. SN: KG3162900594A

It might be wise to add Vendor ID to the list, as there could be different firmware for different vendors (mine is: 2237)

Not sure if this is of any use either, but rev is 326, and version, as seen via Desktop app is 2.4.0, unsure if there is any correlation between these in relation to firmware being used.

Also, though I've included it, and I'm fairly sure it's not of much real use for people to use for nefarious purposes, I'm still a little leery about posting serial numbers, but that's just me
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Old 02-26-2013, 03:08 PM   #9
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Thanks boh! and thanks Sharkus.

Sharkus, where did you get the vendor number?
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Old 02-26-2013, 08:41 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharkus View Post
It might be wise to add Vendor ID to the list, as there could be different firmware for different vendors (mine is: 2237)
If there is a different vendor ID in use, nobody is using calibre with it. The driver only has 0x2237.

And just to be explicit about what the driver is looking for:

Code:
VENDOR_ID   = [0x2237]
GLO_PRODUCT_ID   = [0x4173]
MINI_PRODUCT_ID  = [0x4183]
TOUCH_PRODUCT_ID = [0x4163]
PRODUCT_ID = GLO_PRODUCT_ID + MINI_PRODUCT_ID + TOUCH_PRODUCT_ID
BCD        = [0x0110, 0x0326]
That is from updates I am working on. The current driver has the product ids in one list. The BCD is what is seen as the "rev id" elsewhere.

Quote:

Not sure if this is of any use either, but rev is 326, and version, as seen via Desktop app is 2.4.0, unsure if there is any correlation between these in relation to firmware being used.
I always thought these ids where set in the hardware. But, I suppose they could be changed by the firmware. But, it is the id that is most likely to correlate to whether the Touch uses the same firmware package as the Glo, or the Touch specific version.

My details:

1. I use the Touch firmware
2. PID: 4163
3. rev: 326
4 Model: N905
5. SN: KG319xxxxxxxxB
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Old 02-26-2013, 08:51 PM   #11
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Sharkus, where did you get the vendor number?
Your instructions in the first post retrieve it. It is the number after "VID".
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Old 02-27-2013, 04:16 AM   #12
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Aaaah the VID, of course. Thanks, and thanks for your details
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Old 02-27-2013, 05:23 AM   #13
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It looks like devices with SN starting with KG31 and/or a rev of 326 use the Touch firmware; and devices with SN starting with N905 and/or a rev of 110 use the Glo firmware... but Willa's details mess that theory up.

However, there were Touches with rev 110 in Sept 2012 before the firmware split... but even then there were discrepancies between 326 and 110. Aaah there were also N905 SNs here and here in Sept 2012... But early ones, N905B just like Willa's. All boh!'s "new" Touches have N905x with x= later letters, J, K.

So, where would the cutoff be? I found a N905C, that uses Touch firmware here but it's a bit ambiguous (is it model # or SN?) The same person confirmed here that it was the SN, but that post is confusing as I'm talking about model numbers and clsdclsd is talking about SN.

There's a first N905J SN here, and it was very modern at the time. Even had a "special" firmware version just like here which davidfor suspected was only for specific hardware... Oooh we're getting somewhere! I sent the person in question (Syber) a PM to confirm whether he uses the Glo firmware. Another N905J with the "special" firmware here. I think this means the firmware split occurred at firmware version 2.1.1.

There's a SN KG32 here, but from Apil 2012 so I'm assuming an "old" Touch.



PRELIMINARY FINDINGS – need more data to confirm

- SN = KG31: Touch firmware
- SN = KG32: Touch firmware (uncertain)
- SN = N905B: Touch firmware
- SN = N905C: Touch firmware (uncertain)
- SN = N905J: Glo firmware
- SN = N905K: Glo firmware


Warning! SN = beginning of serial number, not to be confused with model number, which all start with N905

Last edited by Mrs_Often; 02-27-2013 at 05:27 AM.
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Old 02-27-2013, 07:53 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Mrs_Often View Post
Willa's details mess that theory up.




Warning! SN = beginning of serial number, not to be confused with model number, which all start with N905
I noticed that my SN and my model number started with the same digits and double checked those before posting - just to be different/awkward . . again!
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Old 02-27-2013, 08:58 AM   #15
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I noticed that my SN and my model number started with the same digits and double checked those before posting - just to be different/awkward . . again!
Oh Willa you're such a nuisance!
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