khm on Nostr: I now own a Kobo Clara BW. Here's the first thing you need to know: pick a language, ...

I now own a Kobo Clara BW. Here's the first thing you need to know: pick a language, connect to wifi, it will update itself. After that it will ask you to 'connect the device' which requires a Kobo account.

Instead of doing that, plug it into a computer, and when it pops up a little window, click 'Connect.'

On the computer go to the .kobo/Kobo directory on the device, and edit the file Kobo eReader.conf. In the [ApplicationPreferences] section, add a line likeSideLoadedMode=true



and save and exit the editor. Unmount the device from your computer, and hold the Clara BW's power button until the white LED flashes. Then press the power button again.

When it boots back up, you don't need to register or connect shit. Dump books on it and rock on.

I'm posting this because every single internet thing which talks about this leaves out two important facts:

1) If you edit that file before updating, or before you get to the QR code screen, it won't take.

2) Most of the online people access this mode by signing out of an existing account rather than activating it during first-run setup.