Changing countries (and stores) with Kobo

toolio · 08-01-2013, 10:53 AM

Hi all,

I am hoping someone with experience trying this can help.

Is it possible to buy a Kobo in Canada and set it up to use another account and retail partner in another country? In this case, the country is Brazil.
I bought a Kobo at an exhorbitant price in Brazil for my wife a few months ago, and it has stopped working. Rather than deal with any kind of Brazilian customer support (always a gut-wrenching experience) it would be easier to buy another in Canada and bring it back to Brazil. I am in Canada at the moment.
However, Kobo operates in partnership with Livraria Cultura in Brazil, which is the only seller of Kobo and operates the Kobo online store for portuguese-language books. My wife already has an account there for her now-broken Kobo.
My question is, should there be any problem setting up a Canadian-bought Kobo Touch to work with that partner in Brasil? And if anyone has done it for Brazil or any country that has a partner operating with Kobo, can you advise me how you did it?
(Note, this is different from trying to use a Canadian Kobo account and store in Brazil, which I do successfully for myself because read more English books than portuguese books).
Thanks.

Ken Maltby · 08-01-2013, 11:30 AM

Until someone who has the experience you mentioned, and knows what they are talking about, comes along, I would guess that one way it might work would be to clone the internal uSD card in your wife's Touch. I also would expect that the "Account" page in "Settings" would be a way to "Sign out" of any account on the device and when you setup the Canadian bought device in Brazil with your wife's account data it should be what you are asking for.

Also, depending on what's wrong with the wife's Touch, a clone of your Canadian bought device's internal uSD card might fix that one as well.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122
Has the tools and instructions for doing the cloning.

Luck;
ken

samhy · 08-01-2013, 12:03 PM

I think it's the account used during the set-up process that tells the device which store (country) to use. In your case, the account country and the IP country will match, so you should everything should work just fine.
If I'm not mistaken, the devices are the same whatever the country they come from. Some have affiliate files, like yours or mine, but I don't think that means there is a geo-restriction somewhere.

About a year ago, someone bought a Kobo in Japan to use in England or the USA. I don't remember very well, but I think you'll find plenty of information if you look out for it.

toolio · 08-01-2013, 01:24 PM

Thanks for the info so far. I think cloning is out of the question. My wife`s first Kobo is dead. It won't charge and won't turn on. There is no working power light. Etc. I have tried all suggestions on this forum to revive it, without success.

taming · 08-01-2013, 06:04 PM

If you have Kobo desktop, and do a factory reset and then do the setup, it should work and hook you up through Livraria Cultura. This is how it worked in the distant past when folks were well and truly screwed up in Oz over similar issues. Things may have changed.

paola · 08-02-2013, 05:33 AM

can confirm it should work: I bought a Mini in the UK as a present to a relative in Italy. I'd say what matters is the account. In the worst case scenario you may have to modify the .ini file on the device, which is a text file (which some people have done to do the opposite of you, i.e. put an affiliate different from that in their country to get rid of publicity, etc).

toolio · 08-02-2013, 12:57 PM

Thanks, all, for the advice. Sounds like I should be fine. Once I give it a try (I won't be back in Brazil for a month or so) I'll post my results here.

samhy · 08-02-2013, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhy

About a year ago, someone bought a Kobo in Japan to use in England or the USA. I don't remember very well, but I think you'll find plenty of information if you look out for it.

I found the thread. What will be of interest to you starts at the post #52

toolio · 08-06-2013, 10:06 AM

An update on my experience so far. I bought the Kobo in Canada and tried to set it up with my wife's Livraria Cultura account in Brazil. I choose portuguese as the language and eventually during setup I discovered that if I enter a non-existent Kobo email address it then asks me if I want to use the Livraria Cultura login instead. That sounded promising. The problem is, it does not accept the account (or password, not sure which). It just keeps rejecting it (even though I can use the account and password to sign in on a PC from Canada.) So I decided to log in to my wife's Livraria Cultura account on the Kobo desktop program on my PC and transfer previous purchases to the Kobo via USB cable. That worked just fine, so at least her previous purchased books from Brazil are now on the device. However, it continues to offer promotions and suggested books in English from the Kobo site, not Livraria Cultura.
I realize that perhaps this will all change when I get back to Brazil and login with a Brazil IP address (or not). I will try it there in a few weeks, and if things remain the same will do a factory reset and start the process again from Brazil. But at least I know I can relatively easily transfer purchases from the Brazil store.

DNSB · 08-06-2013, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolio

However, it continues to offer promotions and suggested books in English from the Kobo site, not Livraria Cultura.
I realize that perhaps this will all change when I get back to Brazil and login with a Brazil IP address (or not). I will try it there in a few weeks, and if things remain the same will do a factory reset and start the process again from Brazil. But at least I know I can relatively easily transfer purchases from the Brazil store.

You might want to look in the .kobo directory at the affiliate.conf file. It probably still says something like affiliate=Kobo or affiliate=KoboIndigo. I'm not sure what the entry in the file for Livraria Cultura affilition would be though affiliate=LivrariaCultura might be something to try.

Regards,
David

paola · 08-06-2013, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolio

An update on my experience so far. I bought the Kobo in Canada and tried to set it up with my wife's Livraria Cultura account in Brazil. I choose portuguese as the language and eventually during setup I discovered that if I enter a non-existent Kobo email address it then asks me if I want to use the Livraria Cultura login instead. That sounded promising. The problem is, it does not accept the account (or password, not sure which). It just keeps rejecting it (even though I can use the account and password to sign in on a PC from Canada.) So I decided to log in to my wife's Livraria Cultura account on the Kobo desktop program on my PC and transfer previous purchases to the Kobo via USB cable. That worked just fine, so at least her previous purchased books from Brazil are now on the device. However, it continues to offer promotions and suggested books in English from the Kobo site, not Livraria Cultura.
I realize that perhaps this will all change when I get back to Brazil and login with a Brazil IP address (or not). I will try it there in a few weeks, and if things remain the same will do a factory reset and start the process again from Brazil. But at least I know I can relatively easily transfer purchases from the Brazil store.

there is a file "affilitate.conf" in the .kobo directory of the device. It is a text file, so you can open it, and check its content. On mine I have

Quote:

affiliate=whsmith

so i presume on yours you will want

Quote:

affiliate=livrariacultura

, though they could have a shorter name for it. anyhow no harm checking what you have there, as it appears to make a difference. For instance, if memory serves me well people with "fnac" would get ads, and to get rid of that you can just put "affiliate=kobo". Just wondering whether in your case this is what is causing the issue.

Uschiekid · 08-06-2013, 03:13 PM

I'm pretty sure based on someone's experiences in japan, it will change as soon as you are using a brazil IP.

paola · 08-06-2013, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uschiekid

I'm pretty sure based on someone's experiences in japan, it will change as soon as you are using a brazil IP.

ah, I take my suggestion back then, as apparently LivrariaCultura as an affiliation adds their own logo, see here

samhy · 08-11-2013, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uschiekid

I'm pretty sure based on someone's experiences in japan, it will change as soon as you are using a brazil IP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by samhy

I found the thread. What will be of interest to you starts at the post #52

I agree with Uschiekid. It seems like what is explained in the post #52.

toolio · 10-04-2013, 01:13 PM

I have now answered my own question, after returning to Brasil. In case it helps anybody, here is what I discovered. I have no idea whether this applies to those who might try to do the same with Kobo affiliates in other countries. (By the way, after my posts above I started over again from scratch because the first Kobo I tried to set up in Canada had to be returned because of a defect. So the instructions below can be considered to be conducted from a freshly purchased Kobo.)

1) It is best to perform the initial setup of the Kobo using the Kobo app on the PC, already linked to and signed into Livraria Cultura, while in Brasil. Efforts to do the same thing outside of Brasil were not as successful. Efforts to set up using only the Kobo via wifi were not successful.

2) Once this is done (in Brasil) the option of setting up in Portuguese will be available. You are then given a choice on the Kobo of signing into the Livraria Cultura Kobo service in Brasil or the regular Kobo English service. After the initial signin it is then possible to disconnect the Kobo and access your Livraria Cultura account and download any books you have previously purchased there via wifi on the Kobo.

3) My attempts to do the same thing in Canada produced the same two alternatives for signing in, but when outside of Brasil the Livraria Cultura login was not accepted. This indicates to me the Kobo was looking for a Brasilian IP. An attempt to circumvent this with a VPN while in Canada failed.

4) It does not seem to be a good idea to do the initial setup without first connecting to the desktop app and signing in to Livraria Cultura. The Livraria Cultura login option is presented, but never seems to work. The connection to the desktop program, already logged into Livraria Cultura, seems to be an integral part of the process.

4) When this process is finished, the Kobo screen is not identical to a Kobo purchased in Brasil, which displays a Livraria Cultura logo. However, aside from this (which is obviously not necessary) it seems to work fine.

My wife, for whom the Kobo was intended, is now happily reading her Portuguese language books from Livraria Cultura in Brasil, without having to side load anything. As my initial post noted, her Brasil-bought Kobo bit the dust and we wanted to buy a replacement in Canada, where they cost less than half the price in Brasil.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

08-01-2013, 10:53 AM	#1
toolio Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 870 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Brazil Device: Sony Reader/IPAQ 210/Ipod Touch	Changing countries (and stores) with Kobo Hi all, I am hoping someone with experience trying this can help. Is it possible to buy a Kobo in Canada and set it up to use another account and retail partner in another country? In this case, the country is Brazil. I bought a Kobo at an exhorbitant price in Brazil for my wife a few months ago, and it has stopped working. Rather than deal with any kind of Brazilian customer support (always a gut-wrenching experience) it would be easier to buy another in Canada and bring it back to Brazil. I am in Canada at the moment. However, Kobo operates in partnership with Livraria Cultura in Brazil, which is the only seller of Kobo and operates the Kobo online store for portuguese-language books. My wife already has an account there for her now-broken Kobo. My question is, should there be any problem setting up a Canadian-bought Kobo Touch to work with that partner in Brasil? And if anyone has done it for Brazil or any country that has a partner operating with Kobo, can you advise me how you did it? (Note, this is different from trying to use a Canadian Kobo account and store in Brazil, which I do successfully for myself because read more English books than portuguese books). Thanks.

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08-01-2013, 11:30 AM	#2
Ken Maltby Wizard Posts: 4,466 Karma: 6900052 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The Heart of Texas Device: Boox Note2, AuraHD, PDA,	Until someone who has the experience you mentioned, and knows what they are talking about, comes along, I would guess that one way it might work would be to clone the internal uSD card in your wife's Touch. I also would expect that the "Account" page in "Settings" would be a way to "Sign out" of any account on the device and when you setup the Canadian bought device in Brazil with your wife's account data it should be what you are asking for. Also, depending on what's wrong with the wife's Touch, a clone of your Canadian bought device's internal uSD card might fix that one as well. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=209122 Has the tools and instructions for doing the cloning. Luck; ken

08-01-2013, 12:03 PM	#3
samhy Wizard Posts: 1,821 Karma: 9503859 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: France Device: (Sony (J) PRS 650), Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo HD (broken), Kobo Clara BW	I think it's the account used during the set-up process that tells the device which store (country) to use. In your case, the account country and the IP country will match, so you should everything should work just fine. If I'm not mistaken, the devices are the same whatever the country they come from. Some have affiliate files, like yours or mine, but I don't think that means there is a geo-restriction somewhere. About a year ago, someone bought a Kobo in Japan to use in England or the USA. I don't remember very well, but I think you'll find plenty of information if you look out for it.

08-01-2013, 01:24 PM	#4
toolio Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 870 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Brazil Device: Sony Reader/IPAQ 210/Ipod Touch	Thanks for the info so far. I think cloning is out of the question. My wife`s first Kobo is dead. It won't charge and won't turn on. There is no working power light. Etc. I have tried all suggestions on this forum to revive it, without success.

08-01-2013, 06:04 PM	#5
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	If you have Kobo desktop, and do a factory reset and then do the setup, it should work and hook you up through Livraria Cultura. This is how it worked in the distant past when folks were well and truly screwed up in Oz over similar issues. Things may have changed.

08-02-2013, 05:33 AM	#6
paola Wizard Posts: 2,840 Karma: 5843878 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK Device: Pocketbook Pro 903, (beloved Pocketbook 360 RIP), Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura	can confirm it should work: I bought a Mini in the UK as a present to a relative in Italy. I'd say what matters is the account. In the worst case scenario you may have to modify the .ini file on the device, which is a text file (which some people have done to do the opposite of you, i.e. put an affiliate different from that in their country to get rid of publicity, etc).

08-02-2013, 12:57 PM	#7
toolio Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 870 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Brazil Device: Sony Reader/IPAQ 210/Ipod Touch	Thanks, all, for the advice. Sounds like I should be fine. Once I give it a try (I won't be back in Brazil for a month or so) I'll post my results here.

08-06-2013, 10:06 AM	#9
toolio Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 870 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Brazil Device: Sony Reader/IPAQ 210/Ipod Touch	An update on my experience so far. I bought the Kobo in Canada and tried to set it up with my wife's Livraria Cultura account in Brazil. I choose portuguese as the language and eventually during setup I discovered that if I enter a non-existent Kobo email address it then asks me if I want to use the Livraria Cultura login instead. That sounded promising. The problem is, it does not accept the account (or password, not sure which). It just keeps rejecting it (even though I can use the account and password to sign in on a PC from Canada.) So I decided to log in to my wife's Livraria Cultura account on the Kobo desktop program on my PC and transfer previous purchases to the Kobo via USB cable. That worked just fine, so at least her previous purchased books from Brazil are now on the device. However, it continues to offer promotions and suggested books in English from the Kobo site, not Livraria Cultura. I realize that perhaps this will all change when I get back to Brazil and login with a Brazil IP address (or not). I will try it there in a few weeks, and if things remain the same will do a factory reset and start the process again from Brazil. But at least I know I can relatively easily transfer purchases from the Brazil store.

08-06-2013, 03:13 PM	#12
Uschiekid Tenrec Posts: 724 Karma: 1076988 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: Kobo Aura One, Kobo Glo	I'm pretty sure based on someone's experiences in japan, it will change as soon as you are using a brazil IP.

10-04-2013, 01:13 PM	#15
toolio Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 870 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Brazil Device: Sony Reader/IPAQ 210/Ipod Touch	I have now answered my own question, after returning to Brasil. In case it helps anybody, here is what I discovered. I have no idea whether this applies to those who might try to do the same with Kobo affiliates in other countries. (By the way, after my posts above I started over again from scratch because the first Kobo I tried to set up in Canada had to be returned because of a defect. So the instructions below can be considered to be conducted from a freshly purchased Kobo.) 1) It is best to perform the initial setup of the Kobo using the Kobo app on the PC, already linked to and signed into Livraria Cultura, while in Brasil. Efforts to do the same thing outside of Brasil were not as successful. Efforts to set up using only the Kobo via wifi were not successful. 2) Once this is done (in Brasil) the option of setting up in Portuguese will be available. You are then given a choice on the Kobo of signing into the Livraria Cultura Kobo service in Brasil or the regular Kobo English service. After the initial signin it is then possible to disconnect the Kobo and access your Livraria Cultura account and download any books you have previously purchased there via wifi on the Kobo. 3) My attempts to do the same thing in Canada produced the same two alternatives for signing in, but when outside of Brasil the Livraria Cultura login was not accepted. This indicates to me the Kobo was looking for a Brasilian IP. An attempt to circumvent this with a VPN while in Canada failed. 4) It does not seem to be a good idea to do the initial setup without first connecting to the desktop app and signing in to Livraria Cultura. The Livraria Cultura login option is presented, but never seems to work. The connection to the desktop program, already logged into Livraria Cultura, seems to be an integral part of the process. 4) When this process is finished, the Kobo screen is not identical to a Kobo purchased in Brasil, which displays a Livraria Cultura logo. However, aside from this (which is obviously not necessary) it seems to work fine. My wife, for whom the Kobo was intended, is now happily reading her Portuguese language books from Livraria Cultura in Brasil, without having to side load anything. As my initial post noted, her Brasil-bought Kobo bit the dust and we wanted to buy a replacement in Canada, where they cost less than half the price in Brasil. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

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