Kobo Forma Teardown
Duration: 45 minutes
Steps: 3 Steps
It looks like your Kobo Forma e-reader has decided to take a break from charging! After a little investigation, you found that the battery seems to be doing just fine, but the motherboard isn’t on the same page. It doesn’t think it’s charging, even when it is, and goes to sleep when you try to boot it up. There’s not much to fix inside, but you did discover a mysterious serial debugging port on the motherboard with pins labeled TX/RX/V and ground. Time to roll up your sleeves and dive in! If you need help, you can always schedule a repair.
Step 1
Heads up: the fingerplate is glued down pretty firmly, so take it slow and steady. Use some heat to soften the adhesive if it’s being stubborn—otherwise, it might come off in bits and pieces.
- Time to ditch the finger plate! Start at one corner and gently slip a spudger or flat blade underneath to pry it up. It’s glued along the entire edge and has clips at the bottom, so give that bottom edge a little wiggle to pop those clips free.
Tools Used
Step 2
- Once the fingerplate is off, slide a spudger under the bottom edge and gently pry the backplate away. It's held in place with tape all around and clips that pop off pretty easily. Pro tip: avoid shoving a metal screwdriver all the way in like I did—that could short the battery. There's some glue or lacquer coating, so be careful but don't stress!
Step 3
- The board is secured with some tiny screws (around #0 size?) and the battery is glued down with double-sided tape. When you try to peel it off, there's a good chance you'll poke through the foil wrap. Just be gentle and take your time!
