Glo Could someone share a Kobo Glo disk image with me?

[Rooballoo]

Hi All,

DNSB kindly sent me a disk image for the Kobo Glo N613, but it's not functional due to the fact that it's not already pre-activated (as in the account) and it also cannot be activated because it's too old for Kobo's server to accept activation for, so I can't get past the setup screen. I was able to use SQlite3 in command prompt to bypass activation and add fake credentials in order to get it up and working again, but this disk image is full of problems. Features are missing, the device cannot power off or sleep (it just reboots) and it does not remember the page I was reading, instead going back to page one every time I go back into the book. All of these things worked perfectly before I ever attempted to upgrade my device and lost the contents of the internal micro sd card and had to re-flash the disk image. And so I was wondering if anyone could share a working image with me?

[PeterT]

I hate to say this but you are beating a dead horse here. The images supplied by DNSB and originally davidfor have been used by many people with no issues.

I think you have to accept the fact that your device has developed a hardware issue.

[Rooballoo]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I hate to say this but you are beating a dead horse here. The images supplied by DNSB and originally davidfor have been used by many people with no issues.

I think you have to accept the fact that your device has developed a hardware issue.

What leads you to that conclusion so confidently? If that were true (hardware physically damaged) how do you think it's possible that these problems only appeared immediately after modifying the software and that some of the problems come and go, depending on what I do to the software?

If you know of cases where people have flashed that specific image file for the Kobo Glo recently (after Kobo stopped allowing it to connect to their server to be registered) and it worked fine, I would appreciate you showing me, because in my research it seems that Kobo's server just doesn't allow the setup of this specific device because it's too old. So how are those people you know of getting past the setup process?

[DNSB]

For what it may be worth, at least 5 people in the last couple of month have successfully used that image. Four of them went with the connect to USB, copy the latest firmware installer to the .kobo directory, safely eject and let their Glo update. After that, three people were able to use WiFi to register their devices while 1 person went with SideloadedMode=true in the Kobo eReader.conf file while connected to their computer. The fifth person connected to their computer over USB and used the Kobo Desktop app to register and update their Glo.

This information is from the thank you PMs that I have received.

[Rooballoo]

In case one day someone has the same problem and stumbles upon this thread, I solved it and have my Kobo Glo working again. Here's what I did:

1. I flashed the micro SD card with the file (Kobo_N613_Glo) provided by DNSB (thanks again!). This recovered my device to the point where the setup screen was working, but setup could not be performed because Kobo's server no longer allows this device, on this old image, to be activated.

2. I bypassed the setup screen by using Sqlite3 to modify the database and inject fake user credentials into that database, which allowed the device to boot up and function normally. ChatGPT helped me to do that. I have saved the modified database file with the modifications needed to bypass the setup page in case anyone ever needs it. It's just a matter of dragging and dropping it to overwrite the existing one in the .kobo directory. If you have the same problem I have and you need the file, PM me.

3. While copying that modified database file onto the Kobo Glo, I also copied the following firmware to the same .kobo folder: Firmware 3.5.0. That's one of only two firmware files that worked, out of the several that I tried. All of the others that I tried crashed the device during the update, giving dashed vertical lines and corrupting the micro SD card)

4. I safely unplugged the device from my PC and allowed it to update its firmware.

I now have a fully functional Kobo Glo.

I could not have done this without DNSB, who sent me the image, ChatGPT, which taught me how to use SQLite and modify the database, and PGASkin.net, which provided a large number of firmware versions for me to try until I found one that worked with my device.

PeterT - While I appreciate you taking time to share your opinion, I'm glad I did not take your advice and assertion that a hardware failure was the problem and that it was a matter of fact. It apparently wasn't, and the Glo lives on. This device has sentimental value to me and I'm really glad to have it working again. Thank you all.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rooballoo

In case one day someone has the same problem and stumbles upon this thread, I solved it and have my Kobo Glo working again. Here's what I did:

1. I flashed the micro SD card with the file (Kobo_N613_Glo) provided by DNSB (thanks again!). This recovered my device to the point where the setup screen was working, but setup could not be performed because Kobo's server no longer allows this device, on this old image, to be activated.

2. I bypassed the setup screen by using Sqlite3 to modify the database and inject fake user credentials into that database, which allowed the device to boot up and function normally. ChatGPT helped me to do that. I have saved the modified database file with the modifications needed to bypass the setup page in case anyone ever needs it. It's just a matter of dragging and dropping it to overwrite the existing one in the .kobo directory. If you have the same problem I have and you need the file, PM me.

3. While copying that modified database file onto the Kobo Glo, I also copied the following firmware to the same .kobo folder: Firmware 3.5.0. That's one of only two firmware files that worked, out of the several that I tried. All of the others that I tried crashed the device during the update, giving dashed vertical lines and corrupting the micro SD card)

4. I safely unplugged the device from my PC and allowed it to update its firmware.

I now have a fully functional Kobo Glo.

I could not have done this without DNSB, who sent me the image, ChatGPT, which taught me how to use SQLite and modify the database, and PGASkin.net, which provided a large number of firmware versions for me to try until I found one that worked with my device.

PeterT - While I appreciate you taking time to share your opinion, I'm glad I did not take your advice and assertion that a hardware failure was the problem and that it was a matter of fact. It apparently wasn't, and the Glo lives on. This device has sentimental value to me and I'm really glad to have it working again. Thank you all.

Now. here's the possible problem. There have been two or three firmware updates that blew out everything when the Kobo was fake registered. So depending on how old your firmware is, if you update to the current firmware, you could blow out everything have have to properly register.

In your case, it's best to manually update to the latest firmware and if you are still fake registered, log out and do a proper registration. Once updated, make an image of the MicroSD card and then if you ever need the image, it's updated enough to properly register.

[DNSB]

Good to hear that you got your Glo working again. If you haven't already done so, you might want to create an image of the current state to save as a starting point if/when you decide to try updating the firmware again. Basically, with that image and saving all the files on the exposed partition to your computer before the update, you will be able to restore your Glo to it's status prior to the firmware update