Can I downgrade my original Kobo firmware?

Vivian · 08-15-2011, 01:49 PM

The most recent upgrade, which I think came out in Jan. 2011, provided a dictionary and some other new features. All very well and good, seemingly, but now my Kobo crawls. The page turns are still fine, but booting up takes an age, to the point where I turn it on and then go do something else. Book and chapter loads are also much slower, I am certain. After living with this for several months, I am starting to think nostalgically of the earlier firmware (which I believe was 1.8.2?) A dictionary is nice, but I hardly use it so it's not worth suffering slower load times. The ability to plug in the Kobo for recharging and have the option to read it is, again, a nice feature, but one I never use, so also not worth suffering slower load times.

Can I downgrade my current firmware from the latest, whatever number that is, to 1.8.2? I have tried the factory reset and that does not do it. It deletes your added books and resets date, time, etc., but the new features are still there, hence the new firmware.

If downgrading proves impossible, then I am interested in any suggestions for coaxing better performance out of this sucker. Thanks.

The Terminator · 08-15-2011, 08:24 PM

Somethings not working right, have you tried doing a reset? (Push a paper clip into the hole in the back cover). If that doesn't work maybe try a factory reset (Keep in mind you will lose your bookmarks, and maybe have to re-load the books back onto the Kobo.)

If that doesn't work I'd call or open a ticket with Kobo CS

Pookeysgirl · 08-16-2011, 04:56 PM

My Kobo is super slow too. I only have 3 books on it. I've reset it and even re-installed the firmware to no avail. My battery drains itself within a week and it's off all the time. Every time I pick it up to read a book to the kids I have to re-charge it first. I don't think there's anything you're going to be able to do to make it faster and I'm sure you're past your warranty? Try calling CS like Terminator suggests but I don't think they'll be much help.

Vivian · 08-19-2011, 10:23 AM

I agree, Pookeysgirl, I don't think CS will be much help. They're not going to tell me how to uninstall firmware. They wouldn't want me to do that. I suppose it won't hurt to try the paperclip thing.

Tried the paperclip, it made no difference. To give figures, boot time is about half a minute. Book load time is: about 10 seconds to bring up the page and another 10 to paginate. Changing text size is similar.

Pookeysgirl · 08-19-2011, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivian

I agree, Pookeysgirl, I don't think CS will be much help. They're not going to tell me how to uninstall firmware. They wouldn't want me to do that. I suppose it won't hurt to try the paperclip thing.

Tried the paperclip, it made no difference. To give figures, boot time is about half a minute. Book load time is: about 10 seconds to bring up the page and another 10 to paginate. Changing text size is similar.

Your Kobo is faster than mine

Boot time 1 minute, book loading takes another 30-45 seconds. I have no sympathy for you now

The Terminator · 08-19-2011, 12:20 PM

Well the boot time is fairly normal, all the Kobo's I've seen take about 30 sec. ten seconds to load a book isn't bad either, how long does it take to flip the page? About 1 sec is normal.

Vivian · 08-26-2011, 01:26 PM

OMG PookeysGirl, that sucks. Have you tried calling CS? Especially about the battery draining. The oldest Kobo is only 1 year and 3 months old; the battery should not be kaput already.

Terminator, I think it's a couple of seconds to flip a page, but it always has been. I'm happy as long as the pages flip no slower than I can flip a physical page with my hand. But as for the other load times, I'm sure they were faster before the last firmware update. And I have tested my Kobo's load time against my friend's, which is one of the newer models with WiFi. Hers loads a good 10 seconds faster.

Has nobody else found that the firmware update slowed things down? If that is so, I will shut up and stop complaining.

mwlcarter · 10-21-2011, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

My Kobo is super slow too. I only have 3 books on it. I've reset it and even re-installed the firmware to no avail. My battery drains itself within a week and it's off all the time. Every time I pick it up to read a book to the kids I have to re-charge it first. I don't think there's anything you're going to be able to do to make it faster and I'm sure you're past your warranty? Try calling CS like Terminator suggests but I don't think they'll be much help.

My Kobo (original model, preordered when they first came out) also drains the battery ridiculously. Every time I go to read, the battery's dead. It completely sucks.

I'm currently browsing the forums here trying to find what the current firmware verison is (why isn't that a sticky?) in hopes of a fix. I'm running 1.8.3.

Failing that, I'll have to change the setting so that instead of just sleeping, it shuts down completely after 30 minutes (why isn't this user configurable?). Of course, that sucks almost as bad, 'cause by the time you wait for it to boot every time you pick it up to read, you've lost interest and are moving on to something else.

08-15-2011, 01:49 PM	#1
Vivian Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 752 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fredericton, NB Device: Kobo 1	Can I downgrade my original Kobo firmware? The most recent upgrade, which I think came out in Jan. 2011, provided a dictionary and some other new features. All very well and good, seemingly, but now my Kobo crawls. The page turns are still fine, but booting up takes an age, to the point where I turn it on and then go do something else. Book and chapter loads are also much slower, I am certain. After living with this for several months, I am starting to think nostalgically of the earlier firmware (which I believe was 1.8.2?) A dictionary is nice, but I hardly use it so it's not worth suffering slower load times. The ability to plug in the Kobo for recharging and have the option to read it is, again, a nice feature, but one I never use, so also not worth suffering slower load times. Can I downgrade my current firmware from the latest, whatever number that is, to 1.8.2? I have tried the factory reset and that does not do it. It deletes your added books and resets date, time, etc., but the new features are still there, hence the new firmware. If downgrading proves impossible, then I am interested in any suggestions for coaxing better performance out of this sucker. Thanks.

08-19-2011, 10:23 AM	#4
Vivian Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 752 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fredericton, NB Device: Kobo 1	I agree, Pookeysgirl, I don't think CS will be much help. They're not going to tell me how to uninstall firmware. They wouldn't want me to do that. I suppose it won't hurt to try the paperclip thing. Tried the paperclip, it made no difference. To give figures, boot time is about half a minute. Book load time is: about 10 seconds to bring up the page and another 10 to paginate. Changing text size is similar. Last edited by Vivian; 08-19-2011 at 10:27 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Original Kobo Firmware 1.8.2 Released	JCKobo	Kobo Reader	91	08-20-2012 03:44 PM
New Firmware 1.8 for Original Kobo is here!	andyberry	Kobo Reader	149	04-01-2011 01:15 PM
Does the new New Firmware 1.8 for Original Kobo contains an English dictionary ?	Greenhat	Kobo Reader	11	12-15-2010 08:40 PM
Firmware Update for Original Kobo	dashto	Kobo Reader	2	11-26-2010 01:28 PM
Question for original kobo (with original firmware) users	timlegge	Kobo Reader	2	11-23-2010 09:47 PM

08-15-2011, 08:24 PM	#2
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	Somethings not working right, have you tried doing a reset? (Push a paper clip into the hole in the back cover). If that doesn't work maybe try a factory reset (Keep in mind you will lose your bookmarks, and maybe have to re-load the books back onto the Kobo.) If that doesn't work I'd call or open a ticket with Kobo CS

08-16-2011, 04:56 PM	#3
Pookeysgirl Wizard Posts: 1,705 Karma: 12696746 Join Date: May 2010 Device: K3, Kobo Mini	My Kobo is super slow too. I only have 3 books on it. I've reset it and even re-installed the firmware to no avail. My battery drains itself within a week and it's off all the time. Every time I pick it up to read a book to the kids I have to re-charge it first. I don't think there's anything you're going to be able to do to make it faster and I'm sure you're past your warranty? Try calling CS like Terminator suggests but I don't think they'll be much help.

08-19-2011, 12:20 PM	#6
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	Well the boot time is fairly normal, all the Kobo's I've seen take about 30 sec. ten seconds to load a book isn't bad either, how long does it take to flip the page? About 1 sec is normal.

08-26-2011, 01:26 PM	#7
Vivian Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 752 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fredericton, NB Device: Kobo 1	OMG PookeysGirl, that sucks. Have you tried calling CS? Especially about the battery draining. The oldest Kobo is only 1 year and 3 months old; the battery should not be kaput already. Terminator, I think it's a couple of seconds to flip a page, but it always has been. I'm happy as long as the pages flip no slower than I can flip a physical page with my hand. But as for the other load times, I'm sure they were faster before the last firmware update. And I have tested my Kobo's load time against my friend's, which is one of the newer models with WiFi. Hers loads a good 10 seconds faster. Has nobody else found that the firmware update slowed things down? If that is so, I will shut up and stop complaining.

Advert

Advert