Clara BW Database Corruption= Brick

[nanami]

Hi all. I think my Clara BW is toast. Calibre said that the database was corrupt. I was able to send books to it. But it didn’t show up in device view. Although I could read the books on the Clara.

FWIW, I use Calibre to eject. Then wait for the import to finish before disconnecting. The Clara BW’s last firmware update was June 2024.

So I did a manual reset. Then the standard Kobo wireless setup. (Thanks to @DNSB for the tip.)

Now the reader is unusable. Calibre sends books. They’re on the Kobo. (I checked Windows Explorer.) But nothing shows on the Clara.

I’m guessing it’s time for a new Kobo? Any advice on keeping a Clara BW alive?

Thanks a lot.

[JSWolf]

What you have to do is log out then log back in. That will create a fresh database.

[rashkae]

It does sound like you got a bad unit. But, before giving up on the Kobo, I would try setting up a new Kobo account, (or reset the kobo and put it in sideloaded mode.) just to rule out something going wrong with the cloud account sync being the cause of your problem.

But if it is, indeed, a faulty device, I don't think there is anything in particular you can do but take the same chances as everyone else. There's always going to be a certain percentage of devices that are bad, and Kobo's are not particularly robust to begin with.

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by nanami

I’m guessing it’s time for a new Kobo? Any advice on keeping a Clara BW alive?

https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/artic...-Kobo-Clara-BW

First of all, do this. It is premature to conclude that the Kobo reader is defective.
As far as I understand, your device boots up normally, so it may not be a malfunction.
If it doesn't help, then yes, replacement.

[JSWolf]

To log out of your Kobo account on a Kobo Clara BW, follow these step

1. Go to your Home screen.
2. Tap the More icon at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Accounts.
5. Under the Kobo heading, tap Sign out.
6. A confirmation screen will appear. Tap Sign out again to confirm.

Once signed out, the eReader will need to be set up again using a Wi-Fi connection or the Kobo Desktop app to log in.


A database corruption can happen with a perfectly working device. If could an improper eject. It could be the USB cable came out of the device before being ejected. It could be a problematic USB cable. Do the log out and log back in and that will recreate the database. After you've done this, setup Kobo Utilities in calibre to backup the database so if this ever happens, you can copy the last backed up database to your Kobo.

[TPadden]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To log out of your Kobo account on a Kobo Clara BW, follow these step [LIST=1][*]Go to your Home screen.

If you can do step 1; it may not be working properly but it isn't a brick.

Tom

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by TPadden

If you can do step 1; it may not be working properly but it isn't a brick.

Tom

If you read the first post, you'll notice it's indeed not a brick.

[nanami]

Thanks for the responses.

@JSWolf… The first thing I tried was a factory reset. (I should have mentioned included that.) I logged out of the account and set up the Clara over WiFi. But the reader behaved as before. I guess the fresh database was corrupt.

@Semwize… As I posted, I did a manual reset. I used the instructions you linked to. (With DNSB's tip)

@rashkae… Thanks for the suggestion. I did a second manual reset. I created a new Kobo account and set up the reader. Same result.

[nanami]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A database corruption can happen with a perfectly working device. If could an improper eject. It could be the USB cable came out of the device before being ejected. It could be a problematic USB cable. Do the log out and log back in and that will recreate the database. After you've done this, setup Kobo Utilities in calibre to backup the database so if this ever happens, you can copy the last backed up database to your Kobo.

Much appreciated.

[PeterT]

Now there is another reset type you can try. The reset from Developer mode.

Originally Posted by DNSB

You could try entering devmodeon in a search and then trying the factory reset from the Developer Options menu ( More => Settings =>Device information => Developer options ). This is the old factory reset reverting to factory firmware and wiping everything.

[TPadden]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

If you read the first post, you'll notice it's indeed not a brick.

If you read the thread title, you'll notice the first post is indeed thread hijack or drift.

Good news is it most likely can be made usable.

Tom

[nanami]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Now there is another reset type you can try. The reset from Developer mode.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.