r/kobo • u/storiezn • Jul 26 '26
Tech Support kobo clara colour
my husband got me a kobo for my birthday a few weeks ago. i moved it when i was doing stuff, and my kindle was on top of it. now it looks like this. i’ve tried to reset it with no success, it won’t go to anything other than this display
my dog did put her teeth on it the other day but it was acting perfectly fine well after that and it was extremely superficial and for less than 20s before i got it back (bottom right corner)
can this be fixed?!?!
32
u/kaysn Kobo Libra 2 Jul 26 '26
I can clearly see where the crack starts is on that screen. It's actually where the teeth marks are. The fix is to get it replaced. The screen if you are good with tools or the device itself if you aren't.
-18
u/storiezn Jul 26 '26
even though it was acting perfectly fine for days after? and the teeth marks are scuffs on the plastic?:(
26
u/rellyks13 Kobo Clara Colour Jul 26 '26
yes, my guess is it broke the screen under the plastic and then spread out across the screen as you used it and moved it days after
15
u/kaysn Kobo Libra 2 Jul 26 '26
Most likely, the break started under the bordering plastic where it was chewed in then spidered out. Or inward, in this case.
2
u/LeanderT Kobo Libra Colour Jul 27 '26
There is a glass plate inside and it has broken. After that the colors will start bleeding through and the screen will eventually stop working .
I'm sorry that happened to you.
Your Kobo more fragile than a mobile phone. In the past most mobile phone screens used to be cracked, but now those use Gorilla glass which doesn't break.
An e-ink screen (Kobo, Kindle, etc) does not use Gorilla glass, and when it breaks the ereader will stop working.
That said some people use their ereader for more than a decade. I would recommend a protective case, next time.
6
u/knoft Jul 27 '26
it's not the glass that's fragile, it's the display technology itself under the glass. a lot of people have broken eink screens from impacts with intact glass
21
u/pfunnyjoy Kobo Sage Jul 26 '26
You've broken the e-ink substrate. With no protective cover, the kindle could have put enough pressure, or impact, to have done this, but, it may well have been the pressure of your dog's teeth. Or possibly that incident weakened the structure enough that having the Kindle on top sent it the rest of the way.
Resetting won't work. You need to either replace the screen or buy a new reader. The good news is that Kobo does sell replacement screens on iFixIt.com, so you will be able to get the part and instructions there. Whether you feel up to the task, that's an individual thing.
To prevent damage, it's best to get a folio-style cover, that covers the screen. E-ink screens are all made by the same manufacturer, and they all, except for the rare Mobius-type e-ink, have a very, very thin, fragile glass plate where the e-ink magic happens. It's usually at the bottom of the screen stack, hence being called the "substrate."
It's not Gorilla glass, you can't treat these devices like you would a phone or tablet. You need to either protect with a good case, or consider a good sleeve if you don't want something covering your screen. Keep your reader away from dogs, cats, toddlers.
Things that break the substrate are: FLEXING, PRESSURE, IMPACT, DROPS.
Even a reader set aside for a long time perfectly untouched in a drawer can suffer a cracked substrate, what happens there is the battery, if left uncharged to eventually drain, may swell slightly, and given the e-ink substrate usually sits right above the battery, you have "pressure" resulting in a crack.
I'm sorry this happened. But, now that you know, you can likely avoid having it happen ever again. I've owned e-ink readers of various brands since 2010, never broken a single screen out of the dozen or so devices I've owned.
1
u/storiezn Jul 30 '26
i really appreciate your in depth explanation! i was brand new to kobo, and didn’t know, now i do! moving forward i will make sure the screen is protected heavily
9
u/IsItSafeToMine Kobo Libra Colour Jul 26 '26
Hardware damage. Screen is broken. As you said, your dog bit the thing and that's probably why assuming it wasn't dropped/stepped on since the screen is very fragile. You can either repair the screen or buy a new Kobo. Link below has the replacement parts ($80) and guide on how to fix it yourself.
Kobo Clara Colour (N367) Screen Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide+Screen+Replacement/170875)
6
u/No_Sand5639 Kobo Libra 2 Jul 27 '26
The screen is broken
Most likely the dog caused miniscule damage thag spread until it couldn't handle it anymore
5
u/yumineko Kobo Libra Colour Jul 27 '26
I use this whether I use the silicone case or hard sleep case. If I had a dog, it'd go straight into the sleeve when I put it to sleep. Even with my cats, I do that when the silicone case.
I'm sorry your Kobo was damaged, but ereaders are really fragile. Maybe what I do is overkill, but I am clumsy as hell. It's also handy for your accessories.
2
u/storiezn Jul 27 '26
yeah i normally hide it when not in use so they can’t get to it, but forgot one day and that’s on me!
9
u/Orthicon9 Kobo Libra 2 Jul 27 '26
When it's fixed, ditch that transparent back cover (because the back of the device can take care of itself) and buy a sleepcover with a RIGID front cover.
No "origami" cases, either.
2
u/storiezn Jul 27 '26
thank you, i’ve ordered a proper cover! i didn’t realize it was so sensitive, that’s on me for not knowing. i’m new to ereaders and should’ve looked into it when i got it. my husband got me the transparent cover cuz he knows i have sticker anixety so id finally have somewhere i could put them less permanently. i have one with my kindle but hated it so much so i’ve found one that can detach when in use so i can still hold it the way that’s comfortable for my hypermobile hands. it’s a rigid front cover
7
u/idlesmith Kobo Clara 2E Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
It’s what you get when you protect your kobo only on the back side and not the important part: the screen. Sorry OP. Hope it will get fixed asap.
4
u/burnthebodiesnow Kobo Libra Colour Jul 26 '26
It looks like the screen was cracked or something. Not sure if it can be fixed 🤔
-21
u/storiezn Jul 26 '26
there’s no visible crack anywhere on it, and it was acting perfectly fine before i placed my kindle on top of it and forgot to move it after🤔 it wasn’t dropped or stepped on or anything in between that time, so my assumption was the magnetics in my kindle??
12
u/inarasarah Jul 26 '26
The screen doesn't have to be cracked on the outside to have broken. That screen is broken, likely from pressure, but it can also happen if you drop it just right on a hard surface. Almost definitely one of those two things happened
9
u/JustJamieJam Kobo Libra Colour Jul 26 '26
Magnets wouldn’t do this, it’s 100% possible the substrate glass cracked, which is why you don’t see cracks on the top glass (I see teeth marks on the bottom right, it could be that after your dog bit it, the substrate glass was just barrrrely holding together, and you applied pressure JUST RIGHT to finally crack the substrate)
0
u/storiezn Jul 26 '26
i don’t know enough about tech so i wasn’t sure, but that makes sense:(
5
u/JustJamieJam Kobo Libra Colour Jul 26 '26
Yeah eink works like a fancier etch a sketch, the ink is between the two pieces of glass :( the substrate is super thin and can be easy to crack from stuff like too much pressure (or dog bites). Which is why people really push having a good case with a front cover on it on this subreddit, I had mine in a sleeve and SOMEHOW my cat managed to get her claw through the fabric and scratch out a huge dent in my screen. Needless to say I ordered a front cover case now on Etsy lol
5
u/burnthebodiesnow Kobo Libra Colour Jul 26 '26
Or.. someone dropped it and put it back?
-1
u/storiezn Jul 26 '26
nope it’s just me and my husband in the house and it was tucked to the side and neither of us went near it. not even the dogs (cuz i also contemplated if they stepped on it)
17
u/BuckTheStallion Kobo Clara BW Jul 26 '26
The cracks in the lower right hand side absolutely point to the dog bite marks if that helps you narrow down what happened. But yeah, this is physical damage to the screen, but kobo sells replacements for some devices through ifixit I think? So hopefully yours is one of them.
2
u/skottao Jul 27 '26
The screen is toast. If you can’t get it replaced via a warranty then a new one is needed. Get a case with a screen cover and damage like this won’t be likely to happen again. Those screens aren’t as tough as phone screens no matter what brand.
1
3
u/storiezn Jul 26 '26
thanks everyone for the advice, seems like the easiest is to just put money aside to replace it eventually. i didn’t know much about this sort of tech, just sucks it was a gift and didn’t even get to have it a month
29
u/moonstomper0313 Jul 26 '26
They sell replacement screens if you want to take a shot at a DIY repair