Kobo Libra 2 - Skipping Setup; First Impressions

Kobo Libra 2

I didn’t feel like creating an account just to use the Kobo Libra 2 I picked up on sale, to replace my prematurely shattered Libra H2O. Fortunately, it was easy to find instructions on how to bypass that requirement:

1. Mount it.
2. Change to (on a Mac) /Volumes/KOBOeReader/.kobo/
3. sqlite3 KoboReader.sqlite

4. INSERT INTO user(UserID,UserKey) VALUES('1','');
5. .exit out of SQLite
   
6. Unmount the Kobo and disconnect it

That’s it. Easy. Now that that’s done, I copied over a bunch of ePubs and fired it up. I don’t have the H2O handy to compare the two, but my initial impressions:

• I was worried the “ridge” and button placement would be uncomfortable or awkward. So far, I don’t even notice them, they fit comfortably under my left thumb. (I went into the settings and inverted the buttons, so the top one (held with the buttons on the left) moves to the next page.)
• The screen (Carte 1200) does seem to be better, with higher contrast.
• Page turns seem faster than I remember on the H2O.

All in all, so far I’m glad I spent another $20 on top of what a “renewed” H2O would have run, to get the newer model. Now, back to reading! (I’ve been using an old iPad mini 2, but it’s not the same...) With a good, protective, cover.

Edit (2024.02.23): It locked up while reading. Completely unresponsive. Found the procedure to reset it: “Press and hold one of the page turn buttons. While holding the page turn button, press and hold the power button. Wait until the screen flashes and starts the reset process.” Easy.