Firmware 4.38.23552

[DNSB]

Firmware Firmware 4.38.23552 has now been released for Kobo's older Bluetooth capable devices (Sage, Elipsa, Libra 2, Clara 2E & Elipsa 2E). Notably, for the first time in a while the new Kobo devices and older Kobo devices have the same build level.

My notes on the path to this update show:

• Added a Bluetooth icon to the status bar
• Turn on Bluetooth after waking up device from sleep to establish a quicker reconnection to BT devices
• Improvements to the update process to help prevent devices from getting stuck
• Updated certs
• Improvements to WiFi and Bluetooth stability
• Fixes for some upgrade guardrails
• Stability improvements
• Improvements to BT stability and reconnection on entering a book

[Sirtel]

I hope that bluetooth automatically turning on after sleep can be disabled.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I hope that bluetooth automatically turning on after sleep can be disabled.

Bluetooth will only turn on after sleep if it was on before sleep. So more of restoring the state prior to sleep and not Bluetooth being forced on when your Kobo wakes up. At least that is how it has behaved for me on my Sage and KLC for the last couple of weeks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Bluetooth will only turn on after sleep if it was on before sleep. So more of restoring the state prior to sleep and not Bluetooth being forced on when your Kobo wakes up. At least that is how it has behaved for me on my Sage and KLC for the last couple of weeks.

Thank you, that's all right then.

[Apollyon202]

Originally Posted by DNSB

• Improvements to the update process to help prevent devices from getting stuck

I'm curious how does this actually work.
And by the way, is this related to the previous update which bricked a lot of folks' devices?

[Quoth]

I may test BT keyboard to see does it now stay connected!

[JSWolf]

I'm not home now. But I'll check the patches when I get home. I get home on Friday.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Apollyon202

I'm curious how does this actually work.
And by the way, is this related to the previous update which bricked a lot of folks' devices?

Other than the Kobo Aura Edition 2 v1 & v2 and the Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2 v1 & v2, there weren't that many devices that were bricked. Those were the only devices for which the update rollout was rolled back. I'm going off the number of image file requests I've been seeing either in the thread or as private messages.

There appeared to be an issue with how the update logs were handled which caused issues on devices with multiple updates. I'm not sure what the new code does though I suspect it may truncate/delete older logs during the update process.

[Apollyon202]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Other than the Kobo Aura Edition 2 v1 & v2 and the Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2 v1 & v2, there weren't that many devices that were bricked. Those were the only devices for which the update rollout was rolled back. I'm going off the number of image file requests I've been seeing either in the thread or as private messages.

There appeared to be an issue with how the update logs were handled which caused issues on devices with multiple updates. I'm not sure what the new code does though I suspect it may truncate/delete older logs during the update process.

I’ve seen several posts over the past couple of months on Reddit from people saying their Libra 2 got stuck in a boot loop after they did nothing except apply the OTA update… There were even more posts when 23429 rolled out. I’m not ruling out human error, but it’s strange enough to make me paranoid about this firmware version.

I’ll still wait with 23552, at least until the patches can be applied for it.

[Sirtel]

My Libra 2 is several versions behind by now and I still see no reason to update, as I don't use Bluetooth. So it will stay on the version it has now for a while yet.

My Sage is on 4.34 and as it developed an annoying bug on later versions, I won't update it, unless Kobo releases something I really want. So far they haven't.

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

... as I don't use Bluetooth. So it will stay on the version it has now for a while yet.

I don't use BT either, but I just upgraded to get the other fixed goodies (certs anybody?). My KL2 still works, and even the previously installed NM is still operational.
That said, nobody forces you to upgrade. Its a personal decision

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

I don't use BT either, but I just upgraded to get the other fixed goodies (certs anybody?). My KL2 still works, and even the previously installed NM is still operational.
That said, nobody forces you to upgrade. Its a personal decision

What are the certs for? If for web browsing, I never do that on my eink devices. I never even connect them to wifi.

My Libra 2 is stable enough and it has currently no bugs needing fixing. I don't see anything else in the notes.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Apollyon202

I’ve seen several posts over the past couple of months on Reddit from people saying their Libra 2 got stuck in a boot loop after they did nothing except apply the OTA update… There were even more posts when 23429 rolled out. I’m not ruling out human error, but it’s strange enough to make me paranoid about this firmware version.

I’ll still wait with 23552, at least until the patches can be applied for it.

I've just tested the patches and most work. I'll post when I can.

[BlackDogWhite]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Notably, for the first time in a while the new Kobo devices and older Kobo devices have the same build level.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you but after a recent factory reset of my Libra Color the software is at 4.42.23296 (5/30/2025).

So I don't think the new/old devices are at the same build level???

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Apollyon202

I'm curious how does this actually work.
And by the way, is this related to the previous update which bricked a lot of folks' devices?

I don't know, but I did update my Sage successfully yesterday.

As for the previous update that was bricking some older devices, it installed successfully on my Aura One, Forma, and Sage devices, all three. Mind you, none of these three devices have had any alterations whatsoever to the Kobo standard UI.