Mini Factory Reset Bricked Kobo Mini N705

[stoikoviro]

Hi,
My Kobo Mini N705 was working, until I decided to do a factory reset, which turned out to be a dumb move for me -- now it's totally not working. When I slide the power button, it just lights the power LED and nothing on screen -- all white.

I also performed a hard reset using the reset button behind the device but that did not help either.

Kobo mini is still supported as per their website so I tried to get in touch with Kobo support and all they can do is do a factory reset again (which is the one I did). In the end, this is what they told me -- "due to the fact that this is one of our first releases this devices doesn't accept the update anymore. Unfortunately If you already made the reset there's nothing else we can do."

Guys, if there is any chance you know how to fix this, please.. I need your help.

Thank you!

[geek1011]

I don't think what Kobo support said is 100% correct, as from what I understand, it's just logging into a Kobo account which causes issues.

I think you've run into the same issue I had a few years ago when resetting my Kobo Mini. I still am not completely sure of the cause, but restoring a SD card image (ask davidfor) should fix it.

Before you restore the SD image, can you create one first, and upload the first 1GB and PM it to me (if you want to)? I'm interested in seeing if I can figure out why this happens.

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by geek1011

Before you restore the SD image, can you create one first, and upload the first 1GB and PM it to me (if you want to)? I'm interested in seeing if I can figure out why this happens.

Specifically, do you mean create an image of my damaged SD image? I have the SD card with me but I'm totally ignorant on how to make an image but I'll do some research on how to do it.

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by stoikoviro

Specifically, do you mean create an image of my damaged SD image? I have the SD card with me but I'm totally ignorant on how to make an image but I'll do some research on how to do it.

The same way you write it: either Win32DiskImager from Windows, Disk Utility from macOS, or udisks/dd on Linux.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by stoikoviro

Specifically, do you mean create an image of my damaged SD image? I have the SD card with me but I'm totally ignorant on how to make an image but I'll do some research on how to do it.

You can look at Memory Upgrade Mod Guide for the basic details. And, I went to send you a PM with the link to an image for the Mini, but, you don't have PMs enabled. The option to enable Private Messaging is in the "Edit Options" of the control panel. If this isn't there, it has to be added somehow. You can try posting in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=319819 to ask it to be enabled, or contact a moderator.

And the Mini is no longer supported. Kobo stopped the support in February last year. They sent emails out and there was a fair bit of discussion about it here. They released one final firmware version so that it could still connect to the internet and download books from Kobo. There is an issue if you do a factory reset, but, not what you are seeing. When you get it going you will need to do the setup using the Kobo desktop application or by manually installing the update.

Also, looking at your first post, it doesn't sound like you have actually tried a manual factory reset. The pinhole doesn't do this, it just forces a restart. Try the last method on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Mini.

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by geek1011

The same way you write it: either Win32DiskImager from Windows, Disk Utility from macOS, or udisks/dd on Linux.

Got it. Thanks Done (using Disk Utility), will PM the image to you.

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You can look at Memory Upgrade Mod Guide for the basic details. And, I went to send you a PM with the link to an image for the Mini, but, you don't have PMs enabled. The option to enable Private Messaging is in the "Edit Options" of the control panel. If this isn't there, it has to be added somehow. You can try posting in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=319819 to ask it to be enabled, or contact a moderator.

And the Mini is no longer supported. Kobo stopped the support in February last year. They sent emails out and there was a fair bit of discussion about it here. They released one final firmware version so that it could still connect to the internet and download books from Kobo. There is an issue if you do a factory reset, but, not what you are seeing. When you get it going you will need to do the setup using the Kobo desktop application or by manually installing the update.

Also, looking at your first post, it doesn't sound like you have actually tried a manual factory reset. The pinhole doesn't do this, it just forces a restart. Try the last method on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Mini.

Thanks Davidfor
I requested for PM access already from the Admins of MobileRead.
Meanwhile, I'll try the reset instructions on the link you gave me. Thank you so much for the help

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by stoikoviro

Got it. Thanks Done (using Disk Utility), will PM the image to you.

Thanks. You'll want to restore a SD image from davidfor in the same way with Disk Utility (after taking note of your serial number so you can put it back afterwards).

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by geek1011

Thanks. You'll want to restore a SD image from davidfor in the same way with Disk Utility (after taking note of your serial number so you can put it back afterwards).

Thanks for the reminder.

Still waiting for my PM access, need Admins to grant it first because it turns at that newbies like me are not granted the PM facility by default. Will share it as soon as I have access.

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Also, looking at your first post, it doesn't sound like you have actually tried a manual factory reset. The pinhole doesn't do this, it just forces a restart. Try the last method on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kobo_Reset:_Mini.

@Davidfor,
Wow your guidance helped! I followed your instructions -- the 3rd reset option and the Kobo seems to be reviving now. It's no longer just a blank screen. Now, it progressed to the Restoring screen, then it reached the point where we need to connect it via USB to a computer to set it up. But -- I've hit a snag, the Kobo and the Mac don't seem to connect, even after trying 3 USB cables and 2 computers. Kobo Desktop app keeps saying "Please plug in your eReader" but it is plugged alright. The Kobo is displaying "Connected and charging" when I have it plugged into the computer.

Any ideas?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by stoikoviro

@Davidfor,
Wow your guidance helped! I followed your instructions -- the 3rd reset option and the Kobo seems to be reviving now. It's no longer just a blank screen. Now, it progressed to the Restoring screen, then it reached the point where we need to connect it via USB to a computer to set it up. But -- I've hit a snag, the Kobo and the Mac don't seem to connect, even after trying 3 USB cables and 2 computers. Kobo Desktop app keeps saying "Please plug in your eReader" but it is plugged alright. The Kobo is displaying "Connected and charging" when I have it plugged into the computer.

Any ideas?

That started good, but not so with the connection. Changing cables, ports and computers are the usual first suggestions for USB connection problems. Then rebooting everything.

Can you see the device using the OS? As the Kobo desktop says "Please plug in your eReader", it suggests the device is being seen, but not properly. Maybe it is being mounted read-only. You should check what the OS has done. If it is mounted or there are errors from it about the device.

[stoikoviro]

Originally Posted by davidfor

That started good, but not so with the connection. Changing cables, ports and computers are the usual first suggestions for USB connection problems. Then rebooting everything.

Can you see the device using the OS? As the Kobo desktop says "Please plug in your eReader", it suggests the device is being seen, but not properly. Maybe it is being mounted read-only. You should check what the OS has done. If it is mounted or there are errors from it about the device.

I've been trying several combinations but no luck so far.

• 6 USB cables, 1 USB hub - all not recognized, (the Kindle and my smartphones are detectable using these cables).
• 2 macs, Catalina and Mojave -- Not recognized
• 1 Windows PC (Windows7) -- there is at least an attempt to try to recognize it but with blocker issues, the message shown is "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it..."

One observation though, the Kobo does display "Connected and charging" at the top of its screen, whenever I try to attach it to one of the USB ports of all the computers mentioned. But the 3 OS do not seem to recognize the Kobo.

[geek1011]

You might just have to install a SSH server, use it to transfer files, and plug/unplug or type "sh -c 'sleep 2; echo usb plug add >> /tmp/nickel-hardware-status; for t in 6 8 20; do sleep $t; echo usb plug remove >> /tmp/nickel-hardware-status; done' &" (this can be significantly improved to wait for the mount if you want) to import the files.