Bricked Glo HD - advice sought

[janguv]

Hi all,

Yet another brick thread, alas.

Problem: Device only white screens. If I hold the power button, the red LED behind it will light for a few seconds, go off, and eventually the screen will flash black quickly twice. That's the only response I can get out of it, and the paperclip-sized reset button appears to do nothing.

Cause: I have been running KSM and Koreader alongside the stock nickel. I don't usually connect internet to it, but recently decided I wanted to sync on nickel, so connected. When completing the sync, a dialog box said it needed to upgrade in order for it to work.

So I went ahead, and it rebooted into KSM. I was then given the option of a partial or a full upgrade. I didn't know what was best, but I went for partial. At that point, it went into quite a strange flashing screen with a rotating arrow. I hadn't seen it before. I left it for a while, but with no change, I force-powered-down the device. I know that's a schoolboy error.

Anyway, that's how I got to where I am now.

What I've tried: I've plugged it into my Mac, but not showing up, either having pressed the power or not. It was on ~88% when all this happened, so I don't think low battery is an issue right now.

Is it possible to reflash stock firmware/image onto the SD inside, without opening the device up? What are my options?

[janguv]

Further - apologies if this is in the wrong section, given I've hacked the device. Wasn't sure of right place to post.

[davidfor]

Have you done a factory reset? If not, follow the last set of instructions on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Glo_HD.

If that doesn't work, you can restore an image to the internal SD card, but you have to open to device and mount the card directly in a PC. I can supply the image if needed.

[janguv]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Have you done a factory reset? If not, follow the last set of instructions on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Glo_HD.

If that doesn't work, you can restore an image to the internal SD card, but you have to open to device and mount the card directly in a PC. I can supply the image if needed.

Thanks for the details.

Yes – I should have said. I've tried every kind of reset, including the tapping option, to no avail.

I'd be very grateful if you could send through the SD image, thanks. Also, where is the most reliable information here for opening up the device? Thanks in advance if you can help me out!

[davidfor]

PM sent.

For instructions, I usually point at Memory Upgrade Mod Guide. That has how to open a Glo, not the Glo HD. It has been discussed here, but it's not something I've needed to do yet, so I'm not sure.

[janguv]

Originally Posted by davidfor

PM sent.

For instructions, I usually point at Memory Upgrade Mod Guide. That has how to open a Glo, not the Glo HD. It has been discussed here, but it's not something I've needed to do yet, so I'm not sure.

Thanks for the PM - received. And for the guide. I'll check it out, and have a search around here if I come unstuck.

[Abulafi]

Hi, could someone please give me some advice about how to rescue muy glo hd? I connected it to muy pc to load some books and when I disconnected it froze con the connected message. Of course I had expelled it properly. After that I tried a soft restart and the screen went blank. After that I tried the paperclip reset, and when I did the tapping method the screen went black with the restoring message. Since then it hasn't changed. Pc doesn't recognise it, charged it for hours but remains the same.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Abulafi

Hi, could someone please give me some advice about how to rescue muy glo hd? I connected it to muy pc to load some books and when I disconnected it froze con the connected message. Of course I had expelled it properly. After that I tried a soft restart and the screen went blank. After that I tried the paperclip reset, and when I did the tapping method the screen went black with the restoring message. Since then it hasn't changed. Pc doesn't recognise it, charged it for hours but remains the same.

The ways to do a factory reset are listed on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Glo_HD. It sounds like you have tried them. But, for the last one, powering off first is key.

The screen isn't changing, but, does the power light come on when you turn it on? If so, what does it do? Flash, stay on, or something else?

The probably solution, is to restore an image to the internal SD card. That means opening the device. If you do, then you can try unplugging the battery and reseating the SD card before anything else. The card shouldn't move, but, checking this is easy. Otherwise, I have sent you a PM with the link the image. Instructions for using it are in Memory Upgrade Mod Guide. They are for the Glo, but the basic steps and tools are the same.