Booting Android from external SD on Kobo Aura HD

Looking through http://phj.hu/auraHD/ for information about running Android on Aura HD I've stumbled
to the idea to run Android from the external SD. I started to investigate this matter and as a result I
was able to realize this idea. You won't even need to disassemble the device. Below is a short
instruction on how to run Android from the external card.

The first thing you need to download the SD card image with
Android: 2014-02-02_Android_Kobo_AuraHD.7z. Here is the updated
image: 014-02-28_Android_Kobo_Aura_HD.7z. Or here: https://www.dropbox.com
/s/uc187pmcnelk9yq/2014-02-28_Android_Kobo_Aura_HD.7z. To create a SD card from this image
you need Flash Drive Image Writer and at least 8GB miroSD card. You can use micro SD card up to
32GB, you only need to move the last two partitions to the end of the card and extend the first
partition. After you create the card you'll need to delete the folder .kobo from the created SD
card. (Only for the old (2014-02-02_Android_Kobo_AuraHD.7z) image).

Now you are ready to install the patch that lets you run Android from the external SD. First we create
a backup internal SD card. You need to install this patch (fix-udev-tgz.zip), otherwise the device won't
see the external card, which will be used to save the backup. Connect your device to your computer
through USB and unzip fix-udev-tgz.zip to the folder named .kobo which is located on the
device. Next you need to safely unmount and disconnect the device from the computer. Then the
device will be upgrading and rebooting. Creating a backup is a long process, it took me about 15
minutes. Now you have to download the main patch (dualboot-android-aurahd.zip). Connect your
device to your computer through USB and unzip dualboot-android-aurahd.zip to the folder
named .kobo which is located on the device. Next you need to safely unmount and disconnect the
device from the computer. Then the device will be upgrading and rebooting. During the upgrade will
be created backup, so be prepared for a long wait.

After the device will reboot you will be able to choose which system to boot. If you press the backlight
button when the device turns on then Android will boot from the external SD card which was created
earlier. If backlight button isn't pressed the standard firmware will boot from the internal SD.
Posted by Angor at 3:49 PM

Labels: Android, Kobo Aura HD

137 comments:

Angor February 7, 2014 at 1:16 PM

I've received requests from the owners Kobo Glo and Kobo Touch to make it possible to run
Android from the external SD on their devices. I made images of SD cards with Android and
patches for these devices. The installation procedure is identical to the procedure for Aura
HD, except that you need to take the appropriate files for your device.

For Kobo Glo:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15cfi8x6y996f3c/Android_Kobo_Glo.7z
https://www.dropbox.com/s/skrwilzkd0kex6g/fix-udev-tgz.zip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fryckao6nw0l5b/dualboot-android-glo-touch.zip

For Kobo Touch:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jdx2kh3576w4g0w/Android_Kobo_Touch.7z
https://www.dropbox.com/s/skrwilzkd0kex6g/fix-udev-tgz.zip
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7fryckao6nw0l5b/dualboot-android-glo-touch.zip

Reply

Replies

fred June 14, 2014 at 5:17 PM

Hello,

Can I use the Kobo Aura HD image on a Kobo Auro not HD ?

Thanks

Anonymous September 9, 2014 at 2:48 AM

If you have a Kobo Touch without internal SD card these instructions will brick your
device.

Reply
Angor February 7, 2014 at 2:01 PM

Reply

Anonymous February 9, 2014 at 7:50 PM

could u please reupload files...try 4shared.com or similar

i have a kobo aura hd...and wouldn't mind trying this out

Reply

Anonymous February 10, 2014 at 7:44 PM

Any chance of bricking my Kobo?

Reply

Replies

Angor February 10, 2014 at 10:33 PM

Tiny little. But you can open your device and restore internal SD from backup.

Reply

Unknown February 11, 2014 at 4:33 AM

If you still have your dual-boot ready, can you do me a favor? As I use my Kobo mainly for
reading, I am most interested in whether I could install (from Play Store) Aldiko or Mantano
app. The free versions are good enough.

Previously I had a rooted Sony T1 ereader running same Android, but Aldiko and Mantano
both aborted during installation. I don't want to go through the exercise and discover it's also
a futile experiment. :)

Thanks very much, my friend.

Reply

mrkamol February 11, 2014 at 1:02 PM

I did test but found wifi error. please advise.
Reply

Replies

Angor February 11, 2014 at 8:55 PM

Yes, on Aura HD wifi, USB, frontlight and cover sleep aren't working yet. I'm
working on it.

mrkamol February 11, 2014 at 9:29 PM

Thank you very much. You are the best.

Joy Jiang February 20, 2014 at 7:56 PM

Hi Angor, when can we expect to get complete useful rom for Aura HD ? I mean
wifi, USB are most important. Awaiting your early news !

Angor February 20, 2014 at 10:29 PM

Yes, you can. I've already done it. Wifi, USB and rotate tap zones are working now.
Patches and instructions are coming soon.

Anonymous February 22, 2014 at 4:37 PM

You are the best :) Thank you!

Joy Jiang March 1, 2014 at 6:49 PM

Angor You are amazing. I updated you latest rom. Wifi, frontlight, cover sleep, USB
are perfect. But it seems the battery percent and time can not update with net
correctly. And the wifi connection is steady enough. Anyway I'm very happy with
the current one. Expect to see further improved rom from you.

mrkamol March 1, 2014 at 7:00 PM

+1 you are the best.

 Reply

Javier Rived February 12, 2014 at 12:31 AM

Hi Angor,

first of all thanks for your effort.

I followed every step of your description, but at the end I only get white screen or native kobo
version.

Is there any specific combination of the turn on button and backlight, I've tried with more ore
less time, waited for blinking finishing, with both buttons hold, and so on.

Again thanks for your job and patience

Reply

Replies

Angor February 12, 2014 at 7:57 AM

What the Kobo version do you have? Aura HD, Glo or Touch?

Javier Rived February 13, 2014 at 12:47 AM

Sorry, I forgot to mention Aura HD

Angor February 15, 2014 at 12:29 PM

It's very strange. It looks like you have an incompatible hardware. Is it exactly Aura
HD, but not simple Aura? What model name is written on bottom face of your
device near the USB connector? I have "N204B" model.

Javier Rived February 16, 2014 at 12:17 AM

Yes it's same model, so let me review what I understood from your comments just
in case I misunderstood something:
I'm using microsd HC type 4 8GB, format FAT32.
With USB Duplicator Image I write image 2014-02-02_Android_Kobo_AuraHD on
micro SD.
I delete .kobo file and all its contents from SD card.
With MiniTool Partition I extend partition KOBO EXTSD of SD card from 5.5GB to
6.5GB (maximum)
I install card in Kobo reader while is switched off.
I switch on kobo reader and connect it to the PC (a message appears that can not
recognize micro SD) then unzip fix-udev-tgz.zip to the folder named .kobo of the
e-reader memory, after unpluging the e-read from the PC, updates&re-starts
quickly.
Again appears message error for micro SD then I connect e-read to the Pc and put
dualboot-android-aurahd.zip unzipped contents to the folder .kobo of the e-reader,
after unpluging the e-read from the PC, update takes looong time&re-starts.
Finally I tried several combinations but all I get when pushing backlight button is
white screen.
I checked that on external SD back up image was created.
I tried with & without extending partition but result is the same.
Any idea about what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks again for your time and work!

Angor February 16, 2014 at 12:41 AM

It seems the problem with SD card. Try to use another card and take 10 class
card.

Csaba Kovacs February 16, 2014 at 1:38 AM

Hi Angor!
First at all thanks for the incredible contribution!
I have an Aura HD and first was not able to start up android as well by simply
pushing the light button. But by pushing and let it go at an interval of ~1s it does
run up. Perhabs there is a capacitor involved so an impulse is needed at the right
time.

PansenSchim May 25, 2014 at 3:07 PM

@Javier RivedFebruary 16, 2014 at 12:17 AM

Solved: samen problem here: sd card warning

After you wrote your Android image to SD you need to change the order of
partitions on disc.
- Open your SD card with a partition manager
 (mini tool partition wizard in my case)
- Youll see: unlocated space/big partition/small part./small part./unlocted space
- Change order: unlocated sp./big partition/unlocated sp./small part./small part.
- Change value of big partition: merge big part. and unlocated space
- do it
- try again: Kobo should read the card without any warnings

Yvan Boeres July 14, 2014 at 11:06 PM

@PansenSchim: Hey, what am I doing wrong? I manage to change the order of

the partitions by moving them to the end of the card, but every time I extend the
big partition, the small parts disappear as soon as the big part is extended with the
smaller part of the unallocated space (the one with approx. 15 MB). If I however
extend the big partition only one time, the smaller unallocated space remains on
the card, so that I get following file structure: small unallocated space (approx. 15
MB), big partition (approx. 6,52 GB), small partition, small partition. I use an 8
GByte MicroSD-Card from Transcend and the same partitioner as you do (Mini
Tool partition wizard).

Reply

Anonymous February 14, 2014 at 11:35 AM

I have just purchased a Glo, and I'm a bit confused about a detail. When I add the files
above, and a backup is made, where does the backup go to? And what can I do with the
backup file? And is the backup file made a direct copy of the original backup so I can restore
the device 100% back to original state (ie. before copying those files across?)

Reply

Replies

Angor February 15, 2014 at 12:15 PM

"where does the backup go to?"

The backup file was written into the folder named ".KoboBackup", and the file
called "KoboFirmware.img".

"And what can I do with the backup file?"

You may do with this file all you want. You can remove this file or save it.

"And is the backup file made a direct copy of the original backup so I can restore
 the device 100% back to original state (ie. before copying those files across?)"
Yes. This file was made using Linux "dd" command. It was created on case if you
had bricked your device. In that case you would restore your device from this file.

Anonymous February 15, 2014 at 2:47 PM

Thanks for your reply.

So, I connected my Kobo Glo which is running Kobo version 3.1.1 to my USB
drive. Then I unzizipped fix-udev-tgz.zip (which conains 1 file - Koboroot.tgz) and I
placed the file KoboRoot.tgz into the .kobo directory and nothing has happened. I
disconnected my device, I rebooted my device. Nothing. Is something supposed to
appear on screen to tell me that something is happening?

Anonymous February 16, 2014 at 12:16 AM

Sorry, it does work. I didn't realise I had to press and HOLD the button at the top
while turning on the device.
Thanks so much!

Reply

Csaba Kovacs February 16, 2014 at 2:09 AM

Maybe it is a stupid question but how to turn on the backlight on Aura HD.
The button function seems to be overwritten to "Back" button.

Reply

Anonymous February 21, 2014 at 5:52 AM

but touch do not has the backlight button

Reply

Replies

Anonymous February 22, 2014 at 12:22 AM

I guess you use the home button instead but I don't get it working.

The led lights up blue -> white -> green -> off and the screen goes white. Then
 nothing happens but I guess it's on because I have to hold power for about 10 sec
(led lights green) and then press power shortly again without homebutton to get
back to "Kobo OS".

How to troubleshoot?

Anonymous February 22, 2014 at 3:37 AM

my kobo touch is n905-k-jp-b,maybe it is not suitable for this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jdx2kh3576w4g0w/Android_Kobo_Touch.7z

I try many times,and the light becomes blue-green-red,then nothing.

Reply

Spartacus February 23, 2014 at 1:49 PM

Hello Angor. I`m using Aura HD.

I followed your discription, but there is some question.
Is the first partion is KOBO external SD??? and the second and third is android data and
system???
And..... My Aura HD boot up with KOBO os but not android by light button + power button.
Please help me. thank you

Reply

clebio rocha February 26, 2014 at 9:05 PM

hello Angor! any new about the wifi and USB fix? i'm just waiting that patch to install on my
aura HD, also I wat to thank you for all you good work and good will to share you knowledge.

Reply

Damian February 27, 2014 at 7:57 AM

Before I try this on my Kobo Glo, will the frontlight still work in Android?

And will be I able to load in an e-reader like Moon Reader or Alkido?

Reply
 Replies

Angor February 27, 2014 at 9:56 AM

I have niether Kobo Glo nor Kobo Touch. I have Aura HD only. Any questions
about Glo and Touch had better ask here - http://www.mobileread.com/forums
/showthread.php?t=231681 or here - http://www.mobileread.com/forums
/showthread.php?t=225940

Damian February 27, 2014 at 6:42 PM

Thanks very much for your assistance and hard work to guide us. It's much
appreciated!

Reply

Anonymous February 27, 2014 at 12:04 PM

Hi Angor. A lot of thanks. Your work is awesome. I tested the patches uploaded by you in the
ebook.org. All is fine now, but there is a problem with apps reflowing text like coolredaer,
repligo reader or mantano reader. In lanscape mode there is a diagonal line cutting and
moving a little the text. With coolreader in lanscape mode with 270 degrees text looks fine but
tap zones are gone crazy and the Aura HD becomes unresponsive. I tested two times with
two different sdcards with same results.

Reply

Replies

Angor February 27, 2014 at 12:37 PM

You have to reapply the patch because I found some problems with the transition
to the suspend and resume mode.

Anonymous February 27, 2014 at 1:18 PM

Hi Angor. Patch reapplied. The problem with lanscape mode and text reflowed still
remains with coolreder, but is disappeared with ezpdf and with repligo. In coolreder
landscape mode 270 degrees is still unuseable because the tap zones are lost.
Maybe is a coolreader problem.Thanks again. Your work is really amazing.
 Reply

Anonymous March 2, 2014 at 12:11 AM

Hi guys.Is it something wrong with the SanDisk Ultra micro sd hc 1 32Gb class 10.My Aura
HD N204B doesn't recognize it.I've tried 4 times to run the android but in vain.Can sombody
confirm that this type of sd card won't work with Kobo?
Thanks.

Reply

AryA March 5, 2014 at 2:31 AM

Hi guys ...
I'm a little bit confused here ... in the description, it has been mentioned that we should delete
the .kobo folder from the SD card that we creat based on the image. I used the image for
Kobo Touch and there isn't any folder called ".kobo"! the only place that I have it, is on the
main memory of my device ... Would you mind helping me if I am making a mistake ...

Reply

Replies

Angor March 5, 2014 at 10:01 AM

This should have been done for the old image

(2014-02-02_Android_Kobo_AuraHD.7z).
You needn't do this for the new image (2014-02-28_Android_Kobo_Aura_HD.7z).

AryA March 5, 2014 at 9:04 PM

Thanks so much :-)

Reply

Anonymous March 5, 2014 at 5:43 PM

Great job! Very nice!

Thank you for sharing.
Could i get single boot image to exchange internal memory?

Reply

Anonymous March 10, 2014 at 5:07 PM

Is this possible with Aura? (Not HD) If not, why?

Reply

Replies

Anonymous March 14, 2014 at 5:19 AM

Aura do not have microSD slot

Anonymous April 12, 2014 at 8:29 PM

strange looking at their official website the Aura should have a microSD slot
https://www.kobo.com/koboaura#techspecs

Anonymous April 23, 2014 at 6:04 AM

I am also curious about the Aura 6" running android.

It seems that there is not an internal micro SD slot (like the hd) on the aura 6", only
the external slot.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/09/10/inside-kobo-aura/#.U1cfKvldWAs

This may have something to do with why we don't have an android port yet.

Reply

Anonymous March 14, 2014 at 5:23 AM

I can successfully boot into Android on Kobo Touch, but after connecting the USB cable, and
being prompted a few German questions, the device got into tolino mode in German and will
no longer go back to the android main page.
Restarting doesn't help either, I will have to refresh the SD card again. Hopefully this will not
happen everytime I connected to USB.

Reply

Replies

anniehind August 3, 2015 at 11:24 PM

how did you get it to open in Android? I have tried holding down the Home button
whilst powering up, but I ended up with a factory reset!!
Ta

Reply

Anonymous March 18, 2014 at 7:57 AM

I may have missed something. I just did the dual boot like you described and everything is in
Russian. Is this supposed to happen? I have no idea even where to go to find the settings to
configure wireless. Then I want to go to the marketplace or google play store and download a
couple of apps. I am completely stuck. Help.

Actually my power off screen that I just invoked looks like German "abbrechen" etc.

Reply

Replies

Angor March 19, 2014 at 1:53 PM

In "Application" select ""(Settings)->" "(Language &

keyboard)-" "(Select language)->English (United States)

Reply

Anonymous March 18, 2014 at 12:13 PM

Hi Angor,

Thanks a lot for all the hard work. I just have a question about the backup process. Does the
backup image go onto an external SD card? If so, does that mean I need two external cards
(one for the backup and one for the android image)?
Reply

Anonymous March 19, 2014 at 12:57 PM

Nevermind. I was reading the SD card as being nearly full, when it was actually nearly empty.
Thanks for the assist!!

Reply

Anonymous March 21, 2014 at 12:51 AM

Thanks for your work...I used well...

But I find some bug..
First clock not working..
Second battery indigate not working..
There are same time and same % booting moment..

Reply

Replies

Anonymous March 21, 2014 at 1:02 AM

And I can't use google market..error 921..

Ilya March 21, 2014 at 10:19 AM

I found that clearing the data in three apps - Google Play Services, Google Play
Store, and Downloads - helped to get the market app to work. Good luck :-)

Ilya March 21, 2014 at 10:22 AM

Can partially confirm. I was able to adjust the time to an accurate setting. However,
the battery does sometimes seem to be inaccurate (especially if it is charged while
in Android).

Ilya March 21, 2014 at 10:52 AM

Oops. In regard to time, can now confirm that it does not change from what it was
at the time of booting.
 gap April 7, 2014 at 9:25 PM

IIya's clearing of data allows me to get things from Google Play, although I wasn't
able to buy things that way (kept getting an error). I had to buy it via browser on
desktop, and then next time I used Google Play, it downloaded it for me.

Reply

Ilya March 21, 2014 at 10:17 AM

Hello Angor! I've been using your image with great success to expand the horizons of my
reading (allowing me to use lots of dictionaries not otherwise available on Kobo). Thank you
very much for your work! :-)

Question for you - is it possible to adjust the brightness to a low setting? For me, the frontlight
turns off completely when it is turned down (brightness between 0 and 13%). As a result, the
lowest brightness setting is much brighter than in the original Kobo firmware. Is it possible to
turn the brightness all the way down for nighttime reading?

Reply

Replies

gap April 7, 2014 at 9:23 PM

Confirming that brightness starts at 13%...

Reply

Anonymous March 22, 2014 at 6:28 PM

Hello, i'm french.

my kobo is a touch kobo.
When she create the backup during a few time and after she display restarting.
Now the tablette is brick on restart. the buton reset isn't foonctionnal.
can you help me please?

Reply

Replies

Anna B. May 11, 2014 at 12:06 AM

 Same Problem here, cant factory reset either, only get it to a steady blue light or a
blinking, or a green when charging, screen is frozen at 'restarting', and I cant
connect it to pc

Anna B. May 11, 2014 at 12:07 AM

so any advice as how to get the firmware back on?

Anonymous June 17, 2014 at 12:04 AM

Yep, same here. I suggest these instructions wont work with a Kobo Touch. If you
want to brick your kobo the instructions are top notch

Anonymous July 9, 2014 at 6:07 PM

Happened the same... Put your android SD back... then you can see the files from
USB. Either install another firmware...

Anonymous February 24, 2015 at 11:06 PM

I have the same problem! I try many times to do a hard reset with multiple
combinations of home and switch button without success.
My Kobo Touch is a brick!
Guys please don't try this tutorial is very dangerous if you have a main memory sd
encrusted into the device.

Reply

Anonymous March 31, 2014 at 9:27 PM

Hi Angro!!!
I found something interesting. Korea's e-book reader that supports the ICS.
Whether it can be applied to AURA HD wonder.

Here is the link

https://bitbucket.org/d3m3vilurr/crema-shine-root-image/src/1.5.10/images/

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/08/06/crema-shine-e-ink-android-tablet-launched-in-
south-korea-android-4-0-frontlight-more/#.UzmjnPl_t8E
Reply

Anonymous April 2, 2014 at 4:54 PM

A couple of questions:

What version of Android does this use? I think it is Gingerbread (2.3) but I want to be sure.
How has the Aura HD been for people as a whole? I hear some complaints about software
and firmware glitches and so-so reliability.
Finally, when I had a Nook Touch, people found at XDA that the SanDisk class 4 microSD
cards worked better for running a ROM than almost any class 10 card. I can't give you the
technical reasons, but I also found it to be true.

Reply

Replies

gap April 7, 2014 at 9:24 PM

So far, I love this setup. The only down-side is that the Kindle apk doesn't do eink
refresh (even the eink friendly kindle app I found on xda forums) .

Reply

Anonymous April 2, 2014 at 5:00 PM

Sorry, I meant a Nook Color, not a Nook Touch!

Reply

Anonymous April 6, 2014 at 11:13 PM

Hi, kobo touch hasn't the backlight button, what shall I do? I've tried pressing home button
while switching on the kobo but the led turns red (never happened before) and nothing else
happens and I have to reset it. If I press the home button and then I switch on the kobo (while
still pressing the home button) the led turns green (fixed, not flashing). Some advice?
Ps I bag your pardon for my english, is not my first language.

Reply
B April 10, 2014 at 7:13 PM

Hi Angor,

I'm using OSX Disk Utility to create the flash image on a 32G SanDisk Card. How should I
extend the partitions so that they are at the end of the card? I can't get the system to update
from the SD card.

Reply

Sam Stern April 11, 2014 at 5:07 PM

Hi Angor,

Thanks so much for this, it works quite well on my Kobo Aura HD! Is there a way to set the
rom so that it boots by default to Android and to boot to Kobo OS I would press the light key?

Reply

Barcsai Andrea April 16, 2014 at 1:17 AM

Hi Angor,

I did everything you wrote, but I can't turn the Aura HD with your rom. I have the same model
as you, and I have a sync on it yesterday. Can you tell me what could the problem is? I tried
to turn it on with many combinations of the light and turn button, but it does not work.

Thank you in advance,

Andrea

Reply

April 26, 2014 at 1:55 AM

Hello Angor, thanks for the awesome post.
I'm not familiar with this kind of stuff and tried to follow your instructions but I cannot even get
through the first step. It keeps saying an error occurs when I wrote the image file to the 8GB
class 4 micro SD card. Is it because the class is too low?
By the way, suppose one day I want to restore to the original setting. How do I use the
backup file to restore to the way it was?

Thanks you.

Reply
Colin G May 2, 2014 at 7:09 AM

Reply

Replies

Colin G May 2, 2014 at 12:24 PM

Colin G May 2, 2014 at 12:37 PM

(deleted because i found the answer i was after)

Reply

Scott May 3, 2014 at 3:49 AM

Hi Angor,
is there any way to change the date and time? This is very important for the program I am
running.

Thanks for this BTW!

Reply

Anonymous May 4, 2014 at 8:15 PM

Thank you very much :)

- kobo aura hd

Reply

Anael May 5, 2014 at 6:36 PM

It is possible to try it on kobo mini ? Thanks

Reply
 Replies

Anonymous November 16, 2014 at 4:27 PM

I would also like to try Andorid on Kobo Mini. Is it possible?

Reply

Alex Wolt May 6, 2014 at 3:27 AM

Kobo aura 6" have same spec as hd. So, could you make a port of android on it?

Reply

Replies

Anonymous October 29, 2014 at 2:06 PM

+1!

Reply

Anonymous May 7, 2014 at 5:16 AM

Hi Angor:
Thank you for excellent instructions.
I am preparing to upgrade my Kobo with Android.
Just 2 questions:
1. I will use 32 gb micro sd card, should I create partitions you mentioned or it is already
formatted and I just have to resize them?
2. In case of a problem where can I find backup to restore internal SD?
Thank you in advance,
Leo

Reply

Ed May 7, 2014 at 11:23 AM

Fantastic work! I have one request - how do I make it so that it boots android off the SD card
by default (no button pressed) and only boots Kobo OS when pushing the light button? I have
Kobo Glo. Thanks!
Reply

Anonymous May 11, 2014 at 2:50 PM

Hi Angor,
Can you make it for kobo aura 6"?
Thank you for your hard work.

Reply

Replies

Anonymous October 29, 2014 at 2:07 PM

Or please let us how we can make ourself... :(

Reply

Strach Isnuvannja May 11, 2014 at 10:46 PM

hi. I trying to instal Android long time)...to days))and now its working!! thanks wary match for
this options. ( My problem was instal image on sd . all go in way, wen I delete folder cobo
from sd card...i thing what was problem)) )
Thank a lot for your work!

Reply

Anonymous June 1, 2014 at 12:13 AM

Thanks for the great job! Everything works fine, but kobo rotate app. When opened, it shows
me a window with the button "Toggle screen orientation" which really changes it's orientation
until I press "back" or "home". Then screen returns to the vertical position, so finally I have no
idea how to stabilize it in landscape position. What should I do to make it working properly?

Reply

Anonymous June 10, 2014 at 9:32 PM

is there any persian/arabic support in this version?

because i heard that persian words will shown as separate letters....
if negative,is there any hope to add this feature in future?
Reply

fred June 15, 2014 at 2:48 AM

Any image for the Kobo aura 6" ?

Reply

fred June 15, 2014 at 12:04 PM

Or could you please indicate the modifications to apply on the aura hd image to adapt it to the
hd 6".
Thanks for your help !

Reply

Marco Bassi June 16, 2014 at 12:23 AM

I feel stupid: connecting my N204B to my computer via USB, I can't see anything else but the
books in the library. No way to gain control of the android section, no.kobo dir, no way to
unzip files in the reader.
What I'm missing?
Thank you

Reply

Replies

Marco Bassi June 16, 2014 at 12:54 AM

Really stupid: the file browser was hiding .name directories.

Sorry

Reply
Dan Law June 28, 2014 at 2:26 AM

Hello, how's the battery life goes with the full Android OS? Since it seems that the full Android
OS might be too heavy for the hardware itself. (Maybe?)

Reply

fano June 30, 2014 at 11:30 PM

Hello,
sadly Android installation failed on my Kobo Aura HD, I'm unsure if it doesn't recognize the
micro SD (the SD Reader is really bad build IMHO and it is probably defective) I have done
pass 2 but the third seems to not install anything... in any case the backup doesn't start and
the Kobo sometimes says that the SD is not formatted, other times does not see simply
nothing

So I'm asking to you:

1. How to see if the Kobo recognizes the SD with the original firmware
2. My SD is a Sandisk of 8 GB, do I have to buy another? What do you have used?
3. Kobo has closed the "hole" as Sony did and now it is impossible to install Android into this
questionable quality device[1], too?

I add this the SD image after being installed onto the card was strange at least seeing it with
"MiniTool Partition Wizard" I add this setup:

30 MB (empty) | 6.5 GB (Android? Fat32) | 128 MB (Android System - Ext4) | 500 MB

(Android - Ext4) | 1.0 GB (empty)

IMHO is the first 30 MB partition that gives problems sadly I have not found a working way to
merge with the first one or "Minitool" does not works or it is a Windows 8 problem... in the end
the best result I have obtained is an empty SD (destroyed partition table :-) )
The Kobo firmware is 3.1.1, thanks for your help.

[1]An e-reader that cannot format books correctly is garbage IMHO

Reply

fano July 6, 2014 at 6:43 PM

Nothing I've tried to reset in fabric state but nothing happens!

Simply the backup does not start, I'm on fw 3.3.0 probably they have fixed the hole, it is
possible to downgrade?
Thanks for your responses...
Reply

george noctrex July 10, 2014 at 7:27 PM

I too cannot install Android anymore from firmware 3.3.0.

Has anyone who upgraded found a way around?

Reply

Sam July 11, 2014 at 4:11 PM

Hi! I'm about to purchase a Kobo TOUCH and was wondering that as it doesn't have a
Backlight - what button do you press on the TOUCH to get it to Boot into Android?

Thanks for all the work you've done on this!

Reply

fano July 21, 2014 at 6:29 PM

In the end I installed Android and it works, it was an SD card issue! Apparently the Sandisk
SD was defective indeed now it is only of 8 MB... a new Sony solved the problem...

A question to Angor if he reads us yet, it is possible to add a sort of boot loader to choose
between Nickel, Android and maybe Linux firmware? I fear the light button could broke...

Reply

Merton V July 25, 2014 at 2:31 AM

Hi.
followed the steps for kobo touch, but now i'm stuck in the restarting screen after the
backup... backup seems successful though.

how do you recommend recovery?

Thanks!

Reply

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Reply

Colby September 20, 2014 at 5:56 AM

Hi Angor! Thanks for the excellent work. Combining the Kobo's epaper screen with Android's
capabilities is really the best of both worlds.

A question about the SD card: Is there a reason it has to be 8GB or larger? I followed your
instructions using a large card (which worked beautifully). But after the whole thing was done
I was looking at the card's contents - including the backup - and they seem like they would
have easily fit onto a 4GB card.

I am now in the process of trying to shrink the Kobo partition and move everything to a 4GB
card (I have those sitting around, unused in abundance) but haven't had any luck. The Kobo
won't boot from the external card. Still boots from the original card just fine.

Reply

Rachel Diaper September 23, 2014 at 9:23 PM

Please can you help I'm trying to write the Kobo Glo image onto sd card and keep getting an
error. I've tried 8GB and 32GB cards but no luck. Also sorry if you get this multiple times but
my browser keeps deleting the comment and I'm not sure if it's being sent. Thanks.

Reply
Anonymous September 23, 2014 at 11:34 PM

Fantastic ! really work on my aura hd ! Thanks!

Reply

Rod Landreth October 1, 2014 at 12:59 AM

Are you going to attempt to do this with the new Kobo Aura H2O?

Reply

Bern Na October 1, 2014 at 5:41 PM

my internet connection stops after 1 min. Strange how i am still connected to the network.
Tried turning it off and on and the same thing would happen. Any thought would be
appreciated. Thank you beforehand. Neo

Reply

paai October 13, 2014 at 2:32 PM

The fix-udev-tgz.zip that I downloaded is not recognized as zip-files but as text with very long
lines (as is 2014-02-28_Android_Kobo_Aura_HD.7z). None of the unzip programs in Linux or
Windows can do anything with them.

Also I don't understand what you are saying about the partitioning of the SD card. Should I
first create partitions with fdisk (if so, how many and how large) and then 'dd' the
2014-02-28_Android_Kobo_Aura_HD.7z to the last one?

As I am a Linux person, perhaps I do not understand the Windows idiom here :-)

Paai

Reply

Replies

Anonymous October 22, 2014 at 1:26 AM

@paai: do not right-click on the download link. open in browser and you should be
taken to a dropbox download page
 Reply

Anonymous October 24, 2014 at 1:02 AM

Any idea if this hack will work with Aura h20 now or in the future? Im thinking of buying one..

Reply

Anonymous October 25, 2014 at 4:48 AM

I would like to have arabic/persian language support. Is there a way to install that ?

Reply

paai October 29, 2014 at 2:15 PM

I got android up and running on the Kobe Aura HD. Thanks, Angor, whoever you are.

All in all it doesn't run half bad. OK, screen refresh is ugly (less so in Ereader programs).
Battery life is halved (but still it lasts two weeks or so).

On the other hand, I have a huge collection of books and scientific articles that I want to have
with me at all times. The Kobe system could not handle that very well and I got annoyed with
the long time needed for updates of the library. The Android system has a much better file
handling. I can just select a file in a filemanager, point any of the five Ereader programs to it
and Go!

Paai

Reply

Anonymous November 10, 2014 at 8:00 AM

I followed the instructions above and my Kobo Touch n905 (a yard sale find) got stuck on the
last screen, the rebooting part, and now seems bricked. Is there any way to unbrick it? I've
tried all of the reset combinations I've seen online: power + home, pin in back + home, power
alone). Or do I now have a fancy coaster?

Reply

rhys luciani December 11, 2014 at 7:45 PM

Reply

rhys luciani December 18, 2014 at 11:39 PM

Is there a way to turn off the green led light flashing at the top of the kobo touch

Reply

sarah stephan December 28, 2014 at 12:11 PM

hello brilliant software.

All Kobo glo and touch (with internal SD Card) do have an ttl port on the motherboard (google
for XC soar) so I soldered a gps chip to the board which is nicely recognized using the XC
soar software. Using the android surface on the kobo (touch or glo) I installed an app called
navigation be on road using open source maps, all of it freeware.
But here it is not possible to get the gps chip running. The android software does not see the
gps on the port ttymxc0.
Any ideas how to get the gps chip running. Imagin you can use your kobo as gps navigation,
great isnt it?
greetings

Reply

Anonymous January 8, 2015 at 2:53 AM

Hi Angor,

I just tried this on my touch and it doesn't seem to work. Used 16 and 32 gb cards just to
make sure. Just boots to Kobo native. I hold down the silver button while booting but nothing.
Tried different lengths of time too. Any advice?

Reply

Anonymous February 12, 2015 at 2:55 AM

Great work Angor!

I'm using "Smart launcher" since it provides a better ereader feeling (in my opinion) works
great for few apps.
Also, i'm using "root soft keys" instead of button savior.; it is fast and fancy, and more
important, it allows to be located anywhere in the screen, solving the problem that button
savior is difficult to activate when using at bottom of the screen.
Finally, i'm using naked browser which is fast (however, sometimes it refuses to reach the
browser navbar after it loads a page).

Now, there are 2 things that are really annoying and reduces functionality. If anybody found
how to solve them...
The first is howto to be able to use the notification bar: a minor annoyance is that it doesn't
update the battery status; however it is far more important to find how to display and action
on notifications since a lot of apps (including wifi html athentication) works only from.there.
Second is how to use a custom image for sleeping screen. One of the good things of eink is
that screen is useful even without battery and can also be lifesaver: map or address or bank
account number. The default german sleepscreen is funny but denies the advantages of an
ereader screen.

Reply

DrJD March 13, 2015 at 1:08 PM

Great job Dude...!

Its working like a charm on Kobo Touch. I can boot the device in Kobo OS when I slide the
power button, and I can boot in Android mode by pressing the home button and sliding the
power on. No problem faced.
Thanks and regards.

Reply

Anonymous April 5, 2015 at 2:04 AM

yeah exellent ! my kobo glo begins a new life :) thanks a lot

Reply

Anonymous May 2, 2015 at 6:25 PM

Is that Android version rooted/ can I ( at least try to) run root apps on it?

Reply

Michael July 16, 2015 at 10:01 AM

Hi Angor,
this is so great what you did. I would like to start doing my own modifications. Can you give
me a link to the sources of your uboot configuration and some hints? How did you achieve
getting uboot to react on the light switch? I would like to change that behaviour as my Aura
H2O does not have that switch. So I want to make it react on the presence of a bootable sd
card in the external slot. Any hints would be appreciated!
Cheers, Michael

Reply

Replies

Alessandro Ghio May 4, 2016 at 8:04 PM

Any success with the H2O?

christian b. May 13, 2016 at 10:57 AM

Hi Michael,

Got any luck modifying the Uboot to work on the Kobo H2O?

Reply

Unknown August 19, 2015 at 8:44 PM

Any chance of porting a newer Android over to Kobo?

Too many apps aren't working anymore with Android 2.2.

Reply

fan December 1, 2015 at 7:06 PM

Is there a possibility to put an Android version on the Kobo Glo HD?

Reply
Unknown December 27, 2015 at 12:05 PM
Hi!
I recently bought a Kobo Glo with firmware 3.19.5613 and it doesn't pick up the backup
udev.tgz or the dual boot. Is there a fix for this version, or in the making?

Thanks an awful lot!

Reply

FONTAINE Jean Baptiste June 18, 2016 at 12:38 PM

I have a kobo H2O too, and i don"t know if i can put Android on.
I hope it's possible.
Do you know something about it?

Reply

nmh July 24, 2016 at 3:28 AM

Hoping for a Kobo H20 fix as well.

Reply

Anonymous July 30, 2016 at 2:39 AM

I think they may work on Aura non-HD (6")as it uses the same firmware as Aura HD, however
there is a risk of bricking the device, as there is no internal SD card. One day maybe I will try,
when I don't care if I break it or not, any Aura with brave souls out there want to try?

Reply

Unknown August 10, 2016 at 12:05 PM

Hi. Will this android conversion work for KOBO Aura H2O?

Reply

Unknown August 10, 2016 at 12:06 PM

Hi. Will this android conversion work for KOBO Aura H2O?

Reply
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