How to Bypass Kobo Wizard in Linux

This article is a copy from Curtis Gedak in the following reference.

Kobo eReaders can no longer be set up using the Kobo Desktop on GNU/Linux (see warning below). Fortunately there is a work around to get your Kobo eReader working without a Kobo Account.

If you have a kobo reader stuck in the setup wizard as it happen to me (wifi got broken) there is a quick setup you can do to bypass the initial setup wizard.

Notice: This procedure was done in a old Kobo ebook reader, and is not guarantee that it will work on newer versions, use at your own risk

Issue

Kobo ebook reader stuck on the initial setup phase. Wifi doesn’t work and plugging to a computer requires the windows software installed, which for linux users doesn’t not work.

Solution

Create a dummy user on the device to bypass the initial setup

Pre-Requisites

You need to install sqlitebrowser

Using the following code for Arch there should be a similar option Ubuntu or Fedora distributions

sudo pacman -S sqlitebrowser

Procedure

  1. Plug you ebook reader via usb

    • You can check the mount points you should see a /media/your-user-name/KOBOeReader device . Assuming this path as reference

  2. Connect with SLQliteBrowser

    sqlitebrowser /media/your-user-name/KOBOeReader/.kobo/KoboReader.sqlite

  3. Click on the Execute SQL tab and in the SQL string: section enter the following statement

    insert into USER
      (UserID, UserKey, UserDisplayName, UserEmail, ___DeviceID)
    values
      ("foo", "foo", "foo", "foo","foo");

  4. Save the changes

    • Save these changes by selecting the menu option: File -> Save Database or File -> Write Changes.

  5. Close the sqlitebrowser by selecting the menu option: File -> Exit.

  6. Safely unmount your Kobo eReader.

And voilá, your eReader should now boot up and display the QUICK TOUR screen

Reference