PRSCustomizer: Customize and personalize your PRS505 Reader [Archive] - Page 4

NigelS

10-01-2009, 02:08 PM

I have just taken delivery of a new PRS-300 to replace a PRS-505 which developed a fault. Already I miss the customisation afforded by this great package; particularly the ability to add your own reading font (the default font is just awful) and the clock display at the bottom of the screen - why, oh why would Sony build in a clock, force us to set it (in the Welcome setup) and then not allow us to display it!!

Is there *ANY* chance that the PRS Customizer would work with the PRS-300 or that a future version could be made to work with it?

Thanks
NigelS

JeffElkins

10-01-2009, 03:51 PM

Is there *ANY* chance that the PRS Customizer would work with the PRS-300 or that a future version could be made to work with it?

Thanks
NigelS

Odds are no.

1. I don't know if Igorsk has any plans to provide Universal Flasher for the 300. Sony has not provided a firmware updater for the 300 and I believe Igorsk needs this to proceed.

2. I don't own a 300 and have no current plans to purchase one.

3. Rumor says the new models firmware is encrypted anyway, so that puts the kabosh on making changes.

Sorry :(

Jeff

igorsk

10-02-2009, 05:39 AM

I don't exactly "need" a firmware updater, but I don't want to release anything unless there is one to unbrick device if things go wrong. The autorun on 300 is otherwise pretty similar to 505. The 600 however is a whole another kettle of fish...

JeffElkins

10-02-2009, 06:00 AM

TypeMRT

10-04-2009, 12:04 AM

I've tried using PRSCustomizer 1.04 with the SD card but it won't start Igorsk's Universal Flasher when inserted. My reader is firmware version 1.1.00.18040.
I have read through about 30 pages of this thread and tried following the instructions and copying all of the files and folders inside of the sdcard folder on the root directory of SD card. I even tried unzipping onto the card directly, but nothing is working. Anyone one have any ideas?
Thanks in advance. This forum has been a great help already in helping me decide to get my reader this week.

tweety

10-04-2009, 05:23 AM

Get another SD card.

I had an SD card that I formatted, but it still could not be read by the reader.

TP

JvdW

10-04-2009, 07:22 AM

Get another SD card.

I had an SD card that I formatted, but it still could not be read by the reader.

TP

Make sure that your SD cards are FAT formatted and not FAT32 or even NTFS.

Joop

orion2001

10-04-2009, 07:21 PM

Yup, you'll need another SD card. The first one I tried started the process, but it would be unable to make an image so I couldn't do the flash. Eventually I had to use another SD card that I had lying around.

sosuke

10-06-2009, 08:45 PM

orion2001

10-06-2009, 09:45 PM

I'm having issues with creating an image (5). I've tired two different SD cards, one SDHC (fat32) and one SD (fat), and both cause the reader to restart during the image creation. Does anyone have any idea what is causing this? I'm trying to flash the font with MS Gothic so I can get proper east-asian support. At first I tried to update all 3 fonts but that failed and actually produced a log file saying I ran out of room... going down to 1 font seems to let it get farther but not finish due to the reboot. Thanks.

All I can say is that it is probably the cards. One of my SD cards did the same thing...it would reboot during step 5. As a result I could never actually do the flash. When I switched to a Kingston SD card that I had in one of my cameras it worked fine. Also, AFAIK you need to use FAT. At least the SD card that I used was formatted as FAT.

igorsk

10-07-2009, 08:06 AM

No, FAT32 should work fine. Please try formatting with SD Formatter (http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/).

orion2001

10-07-2009, 11:18 AM

My bad. It did work with FAT on my card. I guess either should work fine.

sosuke

10-07-2009, 06:27 PM

No, FAT32 should work fine. Please try formatting with SD Formatter (http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/).

Tried SD Formatter with two different cards (one SD one SDHC)... Still reboots...

I'm pretty sure the font is the problem but I've tried two fonts now and neither works. MS Gothic and koichi gothic. Both are about 8megs... If I use the standard fonts I can create an image. Any ideas why the font won't work? I followed the font guide and I remember seeing a thread where someone said they got MS Gothic working. Of course that person never bothered to say what they did to get it working after they figured it out..

orion2001

10-07-2009, 06:44 PM

sosuke

10-07-2009, 07:55 PM

You could try PMing the person. Also, are these replacing the Serif or the Sans Serif font? If it is the latter then I think you also need to change more than just the Font Family name. I believe user "pepak" posted about this on the last page of the Custom Font flashing thread.

Last Activity: 10-21-2007 12:44 PM... I don't think he is around anymore.

Anyways I found a new font at http://ossipedia.ipa.go.jp/ipafont/ that is smaller and it worked for my initial test of making an image with just one font replaced. Haven't flashed it yet because I want to see if I can replace all 3 fonts.... and that test failed. Apparently there is a limit for size and I'm hitting it but I'm not sure what it is. I know that if you use MS Gothic for all 3 fonts (3x8megs) that PRSCustomerizer will bomb and actually write an error file letting you know it ran out of room. With this smaller font used 3 times or one big font used once (for the body text..) it just reboots and doesn't tell you why. Tried again with 2 fonts (left courier stock) it still reboots... I guess I'll have to live with just replacing the one font for now.

igorsk

10-07-2009, 07:55 PM

Tried SD Formatter with two different cards (one SD one SDHC)... Still reboots...

I'm pretty sure the font is the problem but I've tried two fonts now and neither works. MS Gothic and koichi gothic. Both are about 8megs... If I use the standard fonts I can create an image. Any ideas why the font won't work? I followed the font guide and I remember seeing a thread where someone said they got MS Gothic working. Of course that person never bothered to say what they did to get it working after they figured it out..
Your fonts are too big. The whole Fsk partition (which has to fit fonts + Sony UI and other supporting files) is a bit above 8 megs. It might be possible to repartition the flash and grow it at the cost of the user data partition but that's pretty advanced stuff and haven't been tested.
You can try this approach (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20644) instead.

sosuke

10-07-2009, 08:09 PM

Yeah I'll probably try that instead... I'm pretty sure I'm done with this method. It bricked when I tried to flash it.

Ok, my conclusion for anyone that wants japanese support. Use the chinese fonts from the other thread and use that method. I ended up going with the version that flashes and replaces tinyhttp so the fonts will always load. Works great.

dejure

10-08-2009, 02:47 PM

Hello,
I have a UK reader with 1.2.00.18050 on board. I'd like to read books in Russian, but I don't need to localize anything as I prefer English menus. Among all the options offered by PRSCustomizer, I selected UK 1.2 as firmware and Fonts: Unicode.

Run the script from the SD card, pressed #5 and got the following error:

error copying new files from
b:/files.505.1.2.00.18050/opt

Checked that folder. In fact, there's nothing else present in files.505.1.2.00.18050 folder but new fonts! Why are the fonts not being copied by the script? Have I done anything wrong while selecting options?

I didn't try downgrading to 1.1 just because I noticed that Russian books themselves already appear in Russian. Only the book titles are replaced with squares in the list of contents. That's why I decided to replace fonts only. Is downgrading the only solution?

Thank you beforehand,
Denis

gwynevans

10-08-2009, 03:21 PM

Shouldn't be - You should have a main.xml in files.505.1.2.00.18050/opt/sony/ebook/application/resources/, for instance, so check that's there on the SD card for a start...

dejure

10-08-2009, 03:40 PM

Thank you gwynevans for the quick reply.

I have formatted my SD card using Panasonic formatting utility (found a hint in one of the earlier posts) and copied files over again. The new flushing attempt was successful: no problem during creating image occured. Everything is OK after reboot (book titles now displayed correctly)

gwynevans

10-08-2009, 05:00 PM

Glad to hear it & welcome aboard, by the way!

peturv

10-11-2009, 05:07 PM

I have been looking through this forum for every possible solution to changing the language on my PRS-505, firmware 1.4.00.23260. It's in German but I would like to have the menu in English. I tried but failed with prscustomizer as it does not support my firmware. I have seen your recommendation to downgrade my version. I would like a version 1.2. But I want to know how to do that exactly and if I am losing anything by doing that. And the other thing, how do I make a backup of my firmware in case I need to go back. I tried to do that with the prscustomizer also but it didn't work. Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

pepak

10-12-2009, 12:20 AM

I would like a version 1.2.
Can't help you with 1.2. But AFAIK it doesn't have any extra features over 1.1 which I can help you with.

But I want to know how to do that exactly
The easiest solution is downloading my modified firmware 1.1 (http://www.pepak.net/files/mirror/prs505firmware-1.1.zip) - it is basically the same thing as the official firmware, only unzipped and with version info modified to allow reflash from any version (you can easily download the official firmware, unzip it and compare its files to my files to see the difference).

and if I am losing anything by doing that.
Date format.

And the other thing, how do I make a backup of my firmware in case I need to go back.
The updater that is used by PRS Customizer lets you create backups of your current firmware.

n7tzg

10-12-2009, 12:52 AM

Jeff,

I see that others have a similar issue with the customizer not working with our version of firmware(1.1.01.25200). I got my 505 from Staples online June of '09, and it seems to be the newest version of firmware here in the US. Are you going to modify the customizer to work with this firmware version, or is there something I can do on my end to preserve the firmware version but still customize my reader?

Thanks for all of your great work,

Rob

JeffElkins

10-12-2009, 05:54 AM

Are you going to modify the customizer to work with this firmware version, or is there something I can do on my end to preserve the firmware version but still customize my reader?

Rob

No updates until Igorsk's Universal Flasher is updated and Sony releases a new firmware update tool for the 505.

peturv

10-12-2009, 06:26 AM

pepak,

thanks for your suggestions. I will try this but before I do anything I want to back up my firmware first. When I tried to flash my reader I selected option 3 which is the backup, but I get the message that the firmware version is not supported. Since it does not support my firmware, I suppose that includes not backing it up?

pepak

10-12-2009, 07:31 AM

I don't know. Maybe. I know backup worked for me when I tried it with 1.0.

peturv

10-13-2009, 10:03 AM

pepak,

I downloaded your modified firmware and unzipped it. What do I do next? Do I put some files on the SD card to flash the reader? This is relavively safe isn't it, since I have not been able to back my firmware up?
I tried to look at your webpage for instructions but was quick to find out I did not understand much there :-)
Thanks for your help!

pepak

10-13-2009, 02:58 PM

Just connect the Reader, run PRS-505 Updater.exe and let it do its work. SD card is not needed for it.

Yes, it is reasonably safe - it is the latest downloadable official firmware, just its metadata got modified to allow flashing over any existing firmware (it's file eBookUpdater/assets/updaterAssets/PRSVersion.dat, in case you are curious).

peturv

10-13-2009, 04:09 PM

I tried to do that but it won't allow me to update because it detects that my reader is already up to date. Is there any way to go around that?

pepak

10-13-2009, 11:36 PM

Update the file I mentioned to an even higher version.

dejure

10-16-2009, 02:14 AM

I would like a version 1.2.
I guess I should have saved UK firmware (1.2) somewhere as I managed to backup my reader before getting it customized by PRSCustomizer. Just let me know if you're still looking for 1.2. I'm not sure though if Igorsk's Universal Flasher can restore the 1.2 firmware backup over the existing 1.4 version of your reader.

peturv

10-17-2009, 06:49 PM

pepak,
thank you very much for your help, it worked like a charm.

waterdance5

10-19-2009, 08:36 PM

I was able to flush my PRS-505 by following Valloric's guide. I looked for fonts that supported Polish characters, which I found in this thread http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11612&highlight=polish+font

Unfortunately I'm not having any luck getting the characters to display. I've tried flushing it to unicode, to user-supplied, prior and after changing fonts in all 3 font folders. I've tried overwriting fonts in Sony eBook Library and uploading with Calibre. Calibre shows the rtf document just fine where as eBook library does not, however, when file is uploaded to the Reader using either program I get strange characters.

The fonts that I'm using appear to be able to support Polish characters. Anyone has any suggestions? If it helps I bough my Reader here in States.

Valwit

10-21-2009, 03:03 PM

what fonts did you flAsh? what are the font names? what encoding do you have in the rtf? can you make and post a screenshot oh what characters are visible instead of the polish ones?

JeffElkins

10-21-2009, 04:52 PM

Just a comment.

This thread is dedicated to PRSCustomizer. As is, it's huge and hard to search through for info.

General 505 customization not related to the PRSCustomizer software program is off-topic and probably needs to be in its own thread.

I'm cc'ing the moderators for my message to see if they agree.

waterdance5

10-22-2009, 08:56 PM

Thank you I will re-post there along with suggested info/screenshot

church mouse

10-29-2009, 06:21 PM

Having successfully run the customizer on my original PRS 505 I have been trying to run it on a second 505 but with no success. I ran the Sony firmware update, ran the customizer exe, selected uniform font, UK 1.2, personal logo, standard icons and fonts, run the exe, copied the contents of the sd folder to an empty sd card (please note I have tried 2 sd cards including the one I successfully used on my orginal 505). When I run the flasher I select 5, it seems to go fine, I then run 6, which it says was successful. It reboots but absolutely nothing has changed - no personal logo, no uniform font, no clock at the base, zilch difference.

I have reinstalled the firmware, reformatted the sd cards, but each time after saying it has been successful I get no changes.

Any ideas as to what is happening?

JeffElkins

10-31-2009, 10:39 AM

The firmware selection dropdown tells PRSCustomizer which firmware is presently installed.

If you ran the US firmware updater you're running 1.1 USA, not 1.2 UK, unless you've subsequently flashed a UK firmware. Check the About screen to confirm.

Ekhtelion

11-01-2009, 03:52 PM

Hello everyone ; ).

Has anybody any idea what to do with somenthing that?

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8505/p1030434.jpg

I updated firmware to 1.1 and then applied customization (joystick forward, logo, polish language, font v3, contact info). I suppose that those vertical lines aren't normal : ). They appear only on main screen.

BTW. Is there any hack to mark book as read? I have plenty books on my PRS and I'm quite forgetfull about which of them I have read yet and which not.

JeffElkins

11-01-2009, 05:48 PM

Ekhtelion

11-03-2009, 01:49 PM

It worked! Thanks :).

It seems that custom logo must be a bit smaller than 210x70. I think that my custom graphic was 'touching' the border and it screw up everything.

Now I have some serious problem with bricked PRS :\ I tried almost everything that I was able to find here... and my guarantee had expired few months ago. Not good. :(

church mouse

11-06-2009, 02:35 AM

JeffElkins

11-07-2009, 10:11 PM

Correct - all sorted now. Many thanks.

Excellent. Thanks for reporting back.

jedavis1

11-13-2009, 07:11 AM

Have you looked at adding support for other PRS models after the 505? I bought a 600 and really miss my clock! :(

JeffElkins

11-13-2009, 12:15 PM

Have you looked at adding support for other PRS models after the 505? I bought a 600 and really miss my clock! :(

Not feasible at this time :(

1. I don't own a 600

2. AFAIK, the Universal Flasher hasn't been released for the device.

[SkA]

11-17-2009, 02:09 PM

I've been reading trough this forum and as a owner of a PRS-505 with the german firmware version 1.4.00.23260 I'm interested if there's a way to backup my current firmware and restore it in case I'd need to do so? I tried creating a "files.505.1.4.00.23260" folder on the SDCard thinking that PRSCustomier would make a backup there, but sadly I was mistaken.

Also, do I understand this correctly - I need to downgrade to the US firmware version 1.1 with the Sony updater, then use PRSCustomizer to get to UK firmware version 1.2.

In some other thread, somebody mentioned I can change the language on my 1.4 firmware by simply editing a file in the /opt folder, but since I can't find a way to access that file I'm presuming you can't really accomplish that at this point?

[SkA]

11-18-2009, 11:17 AM

Ok, silly me - I looked all over the card for the image backup, but not on the reader itself. :)

Mounted the cramfs image in linux, changed the file, now I just need to double check how to replace "sony/ebook/application/resources/scripts/main.xml" on my reader. :)

jedavis1

11-19-2009, 10:08 AM

Not feasible at this time :(

1. I don't own a 600

2. AFAIK, the Universal Flasher hasn't been released for the device.

I used this (http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.the-ebook.org%2Fforum%2Fviewforum.php%3Ff%3D23&sl=auto&tl=en) method to get the clock on the PRS600. I don't speak Russian, and the Google translation is a bit jibbery, but I notice that there seems to be 2 methods to flash the 600 and one of the posts mentions Igorsky... I just thought I would point this out incase you wanted to go somewhere with it and could make more out of it than I could. I flashed with the Russian executable (but used the English language selection) and so far I haven't noticed anything bad.

Hopefully you find this information useful.

Thanks for the great software. I loved it and it saved my bacon when I lost my 505. The Russian doesn't have a way to personalize it that I CAN TELL.

davotibarna

12-04-2009, 06:17 AM

Hi, I own a PRS-505, firmware: 1.1.00.18040. I think I've successfully flashed the device with PRSCustomizer 1.04 (Linux) with the next settings:
- firmware: 1.1USA
- language: English
- icon set: IconSet2
- fonts: unicode

I'd like to read Hungarian novels on the device. Some Hungarian characters are not part of the latin1 (ISO-8859-1) character set, but can only be found in latin2 (ISO-8859-2). Basically the device could not display those characters. The document I used to test is a utf8 encoded ebook generated by the last version of calibre.

Interestingly after the flashing displaying the author names and also the history is correct, but the text is not... getting question marks.

So, the very same text gets displayed correctly when it appears in the history, but wrong when the content is displayed.

I have a feeling this device has 2 font sets and I have replaced only the one which is less important to me.

What can I do? I'd highly appreciate any help.

Beny

12-04-2009, 09:23 PM

Hi Everyone,

PRS Customizer 1.04 worked perfectly for me.

Only thing is I noticed some artifacts when I switched to Iconset2. So I pulled out my handy dandy graphics editor and touched the file up.

I've attached it in case anyone else wants to use it.

I've also attached my own kBookAssets.png that has a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme to it, if anyone else wants to use it.

Keep up the great work,

This is a really useful piece of software!

Beny

JeffElkins

12-04-2009, 09:46 PM

VoFiWG

12-05-2009, 02:53 PM

;661069']
Mounted the cramfs image in linux, changed the file, now I just need to double check how to replace "sony/ebook/application/resources/scripts/main.xml" on my reader. :)

How did you get the cramfs of the german firmware?

EDIT: Solved. Got it. :)

davotibarna

12-07-2009, 03:15 AM

Please answer to my question posted at 12-04-2009, 08:17 AM (#800).

netseeker

12-07-2009, 04:20 AM

Please answer to my question posted at 12-04-2009, 08:17 AM (#800).
Do the mentioned eBooks contain embedded fonts maybe? LRF- and ePub files without embedded fonts should be displayed correctly after flashing the device with unicode fonts. Could you attach a sample please (as long as it's not copyrighted material)?

davotibarna

12-07-2009, 07:09 AM

I used Calibre to convert it from LIT to ePub. As far as I'm aware I kept the default settings. Calibre displays it correctly. Btw. I run Calibre on Ubuntu 9.10.
On the device turning pages is fast, I doubt fonts are embedded.
I opened up the ePub file (it's a zip. right?) but haven't found fonts in it.
It's a free ebook, I' attached both the original LIT and the converted ePub formats.

Again: the same content get displayed correctly in the history view, but when displaying the content I get question marks instead of the special characters.
:blink:

netseeker

12-07-2009, 07:51 AM

...
Again: the same content get displayed correctly in the history view, but when displaying the content I get question marks instead of the special characters.
:blink:
Ok, no fonts emebedded and the ePub-file is encoded correctly with UTF-8. I will check it on my Sony PRS-505 (flashed with unicode fonts) today in the evening. Either your device doesn't use the unicode fonts or the unicode fonts used by the PRSCustomizer are not really completely "unicode" (do not contain all unicode characters) ... We will see.

PS: Maybe somebody else is able to check it before evening...?

davotibarna

12-07-2009, 08:17 AM

I'm talking about these characters:
<O"> /xD5 <U0150> LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH DOUBLE ACUTE
<U"> /xDB <U0170> LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH DOUBLE ACUTE
<o"> /xF5 <U0151> LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH DOUBLE ACUTE
<u"> /xFB <U0171> LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DOUBLE ACUTE

You find them in this code chart:
http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf

Does the PRS-505 use different fonts to display the history and the content?

pepak

12-07-2009, 09:12 AM

Please answer to my question posted at 12-04-2009, 08:17 AM (#800).
As you wrote later, you used EPUB. The EPUB renderer uses its own fonts, not those updated by PRS Customiser.

pepak

12-07-2009, 09:14 AM

Again: the same content get displayed correctly in the history view, but when displaying the content I get question marks instead of the special characters.
:blink:
History view uses system font, which you updated.

EPUB books use EPUB fonts, which you didn't update (and it is not known how to update them).

Result: History view displays correctly, EPUB view does not.

Solution: Use LRF instead of EPUB. LRF uses system fonts.

netseeker

12-07-2009, 12:23 PM

EPUB books use EPUB fonts, which you didn't update (and it is not known how to update them).
:smack: You're right. Oh well, it seems i was a little bit too long away and have forgotten nearly everything.

Another solution would be to embed a custom unicode font into the ePub. But a ePub->LRF conversation seems to be the simpler solution.

davotibarna

12-07-2009, 02:36 PM

Thanks a lot! Indeed you're right pepak - it works perfectly when using the LRF format.

It's a bit weird. Why does the reader have format specific font? PRS-505 did not support epub with the 1st firmware. So a firmware upgrade came with epub support + new dedicated epub fonts? Any reason behind this?

pepak

12-07-2009, 02:43 PM

Presumably because EPUB support is developed by a different company who (speculation: due to a lack of communication) decided to use their own fonts.

noob

12-07-2009, 10:09 PM

I would really like to use the PRSCustomizer to get Chinese fonts on my PRS-505. I bought a PRS-505 a while back in the US, and my version of firmware is too new and not supported. Does anyone have any suggestions or a way to "downgrade" my firmware. My current firmware is 1.1.01.25200.

Help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Katosen

12-07-2009, 10:19 PM

I agree with noob here, I can't seem to find sufficient information on trying to customize my reader :(

Valwit

12-08-2009, 07:39 PM

go a few pages back in the thread, you can use the recovery option to flash the old firmware.

pepak

12-10-2009, 01:34 PM

JeffElkins

12-25-2009, 09:34 PM

Any chance of adding Books by Folder hack ( http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64510 ) to the PRS Customizer distribution? I have already described what needs to be done to implement it, all that remains is to update the official archive. If you feel you have way too much free time, you could add the new icons to the official iconsets, too :-)

Sorry for the delay in answering. For some reason, MR is not sending me notice of new replies to this topic in a timely manner.

I am very interested in the Books by Folder hack, and will be looking at it in the new year.

pthwaite

12-27-2009, 08:16 AM

JeffElkins

12-27-2009, 03:13 PM

Jeff,
Im trying to get back the UK firmware I had in my PRS-505. Your customizer readme says I can download the OPT-img file but I get a "file not found " error. Is it still available or has it vanished?

regards, Howard

I gave up trying to keep track of where the firmware(s) are stored. I don't offer them for download because they contain proprietary Sony software.

pthwaite

12-28-2009, 08:14 AM

Thanks Jeff, I have now managed to get back to the UK :) version at last with the help of these forums
Now I've backed up again!!!! I shall continue with my browsing by folders and hopefully fonts in the future.

Cheers

Tibor

01-25-2010, 04:12 AM

Hi JeffElkins,

what about including page index with counter of pages readed in prs-customizer? You said same time ago maybe you will include it.....

JeffElkins

01-25-2010, 10:41 AM

Hi JeffElkins,

what about including page index with counter of pages readed in prs-customizer? You said same time ago maybe you will include it.....

I'm hoping to release an update in the next month or so. Stay tuned :)

Valwit

01-25-2010, 07:43 PM

what i would really really love, hat would be an option to copy books memory <-> sd/ms

JeffElkins

01-25-2010, 08:37 PM

what i would really really love, hat would be an option to copy books memory <-> sd/ms

Noted, thanks.

JSWolf

02-05-2010, 01:29 AM

Noted, thanks.

But do a check if the book is part of a collection as you can brick the reader until you get it back to the computer. I did once delete a book that was part of a collection and when I accessed the collection, I bricked the reader until I was able to hook the 505 to the computer and sort out the problem.

JSWolf

02-05-2010, 01:30 AM

I'm hoping to release an update in the next month or so. Stay tuned :)

What is going to be in the update?

JeffElkins

02-05-2010, 08:53 AM

But do a check if the book is part of a collection as you can brick the reader until you get it back to the computer. I did once delete a book that was part of a collection and when I accessed the collection, I bricked the reader until I was able to hook the 505 to the computer and sort out the problem.

Ouch, thanks for the warning.

Valwit

02-05-2010, 09:25 PM

kimah

02-08-2010, 03:14 PM

Hello...while I have been lurking around here for quite some time this is my first post. I finally got up the courage to try the PRScustumizer after reading the entire thread on it and thinking I would ok.

I had firmware version 1.1.01.25200. which was not supported so I did option 7 to try and reload the firmware from sony to 1.1.00.18040. I followed all of the instructions on sony's site. My reader was fully charged. But now I have been stuck on "installing new software" for around 3 hours.

What do I do now? Shouldnt have messed around with it since I have never had any problems until now. And I was in the middle of a REALLY good book too.

thanks in advance for any help!!
K.

JeffElkins

02-08-2010, 05:16 PM

I had firmware version 1.1.01.25200. which was not supported so I did option 7 to try and reload the firmware from sony to 1.1.00.18040.

This is where you messed up.

First unbrick. Search this thread or the wiki for directions.

Use Sony's updater to put your firmware to US default. Porkupan's repackaging makes this much easier:

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/PRS-505%20Updater%201.1.00.18040%20Special.exe

Once you are at US default, everything should work OK.

kimah

02-09-2010, 10:40 AM

This is where you messed up.

First unbrick. Search this thread or the wiki for directions.

Use Sony's updater to put your firmware to US default. Porkupan's repackaging makes this much easier:

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/PRS-505%20Updater%201.1.00.18040%20Special.exe

Once you are at US default, everything should work OK.

:thanks:
Everything is working now! I was in pure panic mode. The custom logo I made cuts off my last name. So I will eventually need to go back and start over to correct that. But for now its just fine.

kimah

02-09-2010, 01:13 PM

sorry, another question. I have read through this thread trying to see how to re-do the personal logo. I just want to be certain I understand...I cant handle another evening like I had last night!!

I have made the changes I want to the personal logo and have it on my SD card. Do I just insert the card to the reader and reflash or do I have to start completely over with the firmware again?

Thank you for your patience

JeffElkins

02-09-2010, 01:41 PM

JSWolf

02-09-2010, 02:42 PM

did you copy or move the book?
I deleted the book. But because the collection could not find the book, it locked. So really, moving is not a good idea unless it also handles removing the book from the collection as well.

dwanthny

02-21-2010, 11:15 PM

I deleted the book. But because the collection could not find the book, it locked. So really, moving is not a good idea unless it also handles removing the book from the collection as well.

I just finished reading the Dresden Files. After I finished each book I just deleted the book from the collection. I was able to open the collection each time with no problem.

I am now down to only one book remaining in the collection. I think if I remove this last book I might run into what you are referring to, trying to open a collection with no books in it.

Heck with it I'm going to delete it. Now the collection says No book. When I click on the Dresden Files with no books in it I get a collection opened with no books in it.

For the record I am currently using PRS+

Oh well another Sony PRS-505 mystery. :)

Update: just to be sure I shut my reader down then started it back up. I then went back into the empty Dresden Files collection without error.

PaladinBL

03-01-2010, 02:01 PM

I hope that PRSCustomizer will give me possibility to see letters č-ć-š-đ-ž (serbian, croatian, bosnian latin letters) from windows-1250 and UTF-8 in EPUB books, because now I have these letters only in LRF, but in EPUB I get question mark instead. PRSCustomizer stated "Unicode fonts with Cyrillic/Eastern European Support" so I hope that will solve this problem. Can I expect that? Did I understand well what will that feature do?

But as I stated this (č-ć-š-đ-ž) are not cyrillic letters, they are latin.

I just want to see them in EPUB, like I see them in LRF. Is that what PRSCustomizer can do?

JeffElkins

03-01-2010, 02:09 PM

PaladinBL

03-01-2010, 02:38 PM

You'll have to try it out.

Probably will do :)
And if something gone wrong deinstalling PRSCustomizer is done by simple flash with offical 1.1.00.18040 firmware by executing his installer from windows while PRS-505 is connected via USB?

and wouldn't know Serbian from Montenegrin. Perhaps someone else can chime in...
There is no difference. Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montegrian are the same, it is the same language with very small differences, they all use č-ć-š-đ-ž latin letters. Only difference is that Serbian have also cyrillic version, they use latin and cyrillic. I am here interested in latin version.

And how LRF looks fine with all letters and EPUB don't? They don't use the same font in PRS-505?

JeffElkins

03-01-2010, 02:43 PM

Probably will do :)
And if something gone wrong deinstalling PRSCustomizer is done by simple flash with offical 1.1.00.18040 firmware by executing his installer from windows while PRS-505 is connected via USB?

Yes. For font advice look up Valloric: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28447

kartu

03-01-2010, 03:02 PM

Actually this is the right thread for epub fonts stuff, I think:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66102

And how LRF looks fine with all letters and EPUB don't? They don't use the same font in PRS-505?
They don't.

PaladinBL

03-01-2010, 03:17 PM

If I make some costumizations with PRSCustomizer and after that I want to make new customizations is it necessary to deinstall/flash or I can install new customizations over previous?

JeffElkins

03-01-2010, 03:33 PM

If I make some costumizations with PRSCustomizer and after that I want to make new customizations is it necessary to deinstall/flash or I can install new customizations over previous?

If you want added customizations, you reflash.

JSWolf

03-13-2010, 08:54 AM

By the way, I found a bug with PRSCustomizer. When you flash and get the clock, the page numbers are screwed up. For ePub you should be getting pages that look like 1, 2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, etc... But what we get are 1,2,2,3,4,5,5 etc...

Can this be fixed?

JeffElkins

03-13-2010, 08:59 AM

JSWolf

03-15-2010, 01:29 PM

I don't know, but I'll certainly look at it. Thanks for the report!

Your welcome. PRS+ had the same bug. But that's since been fixed.

Kore

05-02-2010, 10:58 AM

Is this software safe to use with a PRS-600?
Are the two firmware options PRS-505 only?

Thank you.

kartu

05-02-2010, 11:40 AM

Is this software safe to use with a PRS-600?
It doesn't work with prs 600.

JeffElkins

05-02-2010, 03:27 PM

Is this software safe to use with a PRS-600?
Are the two firmware options PRS-505 only?

Thank you.

Sorry, PRS-505 only.

dom58

06-12-2010, 12:29 PM

PRScustomizer worked well but name and contact details didn't appeared... tried twice but no way. What would have i done wrongly?

JeffElkins

06-12-2010, 12:35 PM

PRScustomizer worked well but name and contact details didn't appeared... tried twice but no way. What would have i done wrongly?

Check your "About" screen -- Settings->About from the top level menu.

dom58

06-13-2010, 12:33 AM

Thanks for your prompt reply... and sorry for my stupid question. I was expecting something different (ido not know why) and I did not read carefully the about page, my details are there!

JeffElkins

06-13-2010, 05:45 AM

Thanks for your prompt reply... and sorry for my stupid question. I was expecting something different (ido not know why) and I did not read carefully the about page, my details are there!

No problem :)

papa54

07-28-2010, 10:33 AM

Trouble with Hungarian Characters
________________________________________
Hi,

I'm a newborn owner and I need help. I'm from Hungary so I've got some troubles with Hungarian Fonts. I followed the Guide to Changing Fonts, tried trice, twice it bricked my Reader. I am worried that it will completely break down.

The only difference in my process was because of the necessity of Hungarian characters, that's why I've chosen FreeSerif from Free Fonts.

Could this type of Fonts cause such a bricking? Or there might be a bug in the Guide.

Thanks for your help in advance!

JeffElkins

07-29-2010, 11:52 AM

papa54

07-30-2010, 03:28 AM

Jeff--First of all thanks very much for posting this!!
I tried this Guide, but the Vera Fonts were not good for Hungarian Character.
I did everything as instructed, but with Free Serif Fonts.
Can this Problem bee solved with PRS+?
Thanks again!

Ronzzz

07-30-2010, 04:56 AM

JeffElkins

07-30-2010, 11:06 AM

JeffElkins

07-30-2010, 11:11 AM

Well, I finally decided to try the customizer. Now, I am stuck on "firmware update did not complete." I cant reset! I cant even turn my PRS 505 off! I guess the battery will eventually die!!! Any hope???

Search this thread for a link to the Sony Firmware Updater. That should restore your Reader.

Ronzzz

07-30-2010, 12:42 PM

Nothing works. Reset does nothing. Can not reboot! When I first flashed, the reset at least worked. Now, I am toast!! My first fears have come true!!!

JeffElkins

07-30-2010, 12:48 PM

Nothing works. Reset does nothing. Can not reboot! When I first flashed, the reset at least worked. Now, I am toast!! My first fears have come true!!!

The PRS505 is very hard to brick. Like I said, try the Sony Updater, read the section in the Mobileread WIKI on unbricking the device, search this thread for 'brick'.

Ronzzz

07-30-2010, 01:16 PM

Dont know how, but it finally rebooted! I quickly hooked up the USB. Now, the reader sez: Updating firmware now Maybe it takes longer than I imagine!!! Hmmm, I think I will leave it for a while; maybe it takes hours. . . . . Oh yeah, my computer sees the reader, but "error" displays where I normally see the reader!!!! Doesn't look good!!!

Ronzzz

07-30-2010, 01:23 PM

Nothing works. Reset does nothing. Can not reboot! When I first flashed, the reset at least worked. Now, I am toast!! My first fears have come true!!!

Ronzzz

07-30-2010, 02:14 PM

I am very to report that my reader is now alive. I downloaded firmware from Sony. So, at least, the gloom is gone. Still, I wish the customizer would have worked!!!!!!

JeffElkins

07-30-2010, 04:58 PM

I am very to report that my reader is now alive. I downloaded firmware from Sony. So, at least, the gloom is gone. Still, I wish the customizer would have worked!!!!!!

Sorry you had problems.

dwanthny

07-30-2010, 09:59 PM

I am very to report that my reader is now alive. I downloaded firmware from Sony. So, at least, the gloom is gone. Still, I wish the customizer would have worked!!!!!!

Customizer works fine but most all of the features and a whole lot more have been incorporated into PRS+ (http://code.google.com/p/prs-plus/) and it works great, the forum is here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64510&page=24).

Ragzilla

09-28-2010, 08:17 PM

Well, I finally decided to try the customizer. Now, I am stuck on "firmware update did not complete." I cant reset! I cant even turn my PRS 505 off! I guess the battery will eventually die!!! Any hope???

The same thing just happened to me. I managed to turn it off, then I plugged it into my computer. Now I am getting a "updating firmware now".

Does anyone know how long this takes? Or if it is even doing anything?

JeffElkins

09-28-2010, 08:25 PM

The same thing just happened to me. I managed to turn it off, then I plugged it into my computer. Now I am getting a "updating firmware now".

Does anyone know how long this takes? Or if it is even doing anything?

Less than 5 or 6 minutes. If you're stuck, I'd reflash with the Sony Updater and try again.

Ragzilla

09-28-2010, 08:49 PM

JeffElkins

09-28-2010, 08:57 PM

thanks for your prompt reply.
Does it matter which firmware I install? I see that a V1.8 is available. Can I use this one?

Do I install it the same way as Customizer? Put contents of file on blank SD card and install in reader?

Try this one:

http://projects.mobileread.com/reader/users/porkupan/PRS-505%20Updater%201.1.00.18040%20Special.exe

Assuming you're running Windows, download it and run it from your desktop. If you're using Mac or Linux, VMware works.

Ragzilla

09-28-2010, 08:59 PM

I recently switched to a Mac. Could this be a problem?

I will try the link.

JeffElkins

09-28-2010, 09:03 PM

I recently switched to a Mac. Could this be a problem?

I will try the link.

I use a Mac w/o problems.

Ragzilla

09-28-2010, 09:55 PM

I will try VMware

Ragzilla

09-28-2010, 10:10 PM

When I connect my reader to my laptop I get an "no name" icon. I open that and inside is a "protected" file. How do I add the firmware to the reader?

JeffElkins

09-28-2010, 11:43 PM

When I connect my reader to my laptop I get an "no name" icon. I open that and inside is a "protected" file. How do I add the firmware to the reader?

After you connected your laptop, did you run the .exe file you downloaded? That should do the trick.

Ragzilla

09-29-2010, 08:20 AM

After you connected your laptop, did you run the .exe file you downloaded? That should do the trick.

Good morning. I was not able to run it. The only one I could find from Sony was a PC version. It would not run on my Mac. I am going to look around today and see if I can try it with a PC.

Ragzilla

09-29-2010, 10:39 AM

After you connected your laptop, did you run the .exe file you downloaded? That should do the trick.

How do I run the program? Do I just hook up the reader and try to run the program? Can it be done from an SD card or does it have to be a PC?

JeffElkins

09-29-2010, 10:47 AM

How do I run the program? Do I just hook up the reader and try to run the program? Can it be done from an SD card or does it have to be a PC?

Yes. Hook up the reader and run the program. On a Mac you can run it using VMWare.

Copy the program to your Windows desktop.

Ragzilla

09-29-2010, 09:19 PM

JeffElkins

09-30-2010, 06:23 AM

It did not work. I am starting to get worried.

I reset the reader and attached it to the computer, ran the program, nothing.

At what point should I hook up the reader to the computer?
When it starts to flash?

Nothing? So you ran the program and nothing happened at all? Odd.

When I run the program I'm greeted with an opening screen: Pic1 (see attachment pic1.jpg). I agree to Sony's terms, if my reader is not connected I see Pic2a (see attachment pic2a.jpg) -- if my reader is connected I see Pic2b (see attachment pic2a.jpg)

As I said, this is a Windows program. Since you're on a Mac, hopefully you're using VMWare, Parallels, or another virtual environment to run it. If so, and you still see "nothing" when you click the file, try downloading another copy.

When I connect my reader to my laptop I get an "no name" icon. I open that and inside is a "protected" file.

You want to be here (see the quote above) when you start to flash your Reader.

Ragzilla

09-30-2010, 10:17 AM

I got to the point where I saw the second screen. I ran the program and nothing happened. I waited 10 mins.

I am not familiar with VMware. I was on the wife's laptop. Is there a specific VMware program that you can recommend?

I want to thank you again for your help. I am normally not this thick, but comps and programming are not my strong point.

pthwaite

09-30-2010, 10:20 AM

JeffElkins

09-30-2010, 10:47 AM

VMware is a "virtual PC environment" running on a MAC. If you have windows PC you can just run the .exe file else you need to run "Windows" on a MAC and usually that is run from a virtual machine such as Fusion or parallels, alternatively you could use Boot Camp.
Howard

If your wife's laptop is a Windows machine, you don't need VMware.

Try this:

Paperclip the reset button then quickly slide the power toggle.

When the screen goes blank, quickly connect the PC usb cable.

The Reader should reboot and show the USB connect in a minute or so.

Try the Sony Updater to reflash your Reader.

Ragzilla

09-30-2010, 12:15 PM

I was trying PRS-Updater 1.1.00.18040.exe. I noticed you had 1.6.00, could that make a difference?

I tried resetting and turning on real quick but now I seem to be stuck on the
"Reader Updating firmware now..."

JeffElkins

09-30-2010, 03:29 PM

Ragzilla

09-30-2010, 09:21 PM

Success! I hope. On the updater popup I got a loading bar. The current software version matches the new software version. And it says PRS-505 is up to date.

The reader is showing the USB icon and a ! inside a triangle.

I have a nervousness about disconnecting the reader. But here goes.

Ragzilla

09-30-2010, 11:07 PM

things are progressing. But not quite there. After reflashing I press #5, I get "image created successfully and can be flashed now". I then press #6 (flash the image), and I get "Flashing was successful. Rebooting" The reader restarts and it goes back to the "Run Script" page with the choices:
3:backup firmware
4:copy image from the card
5:make a new image
6:flash the image
7:switch to firmware update mode

Any ideas?

dwanthny

10-01-2010, 05:02 AM

Ragzilla

10-01-2010, 10:26 AM

JeffElkins

10-01-2010, 10:31 AM

Okay, things are working.

I have my reader back!!! That is the important thing.
I want to thank you all for your help.

I don't think all the customizer fully took tho. I am still seeing "reader" in the upper left corner, not the info I input.

Thanks again.

Yes it did. Look in Settings/About. Personal Logo is something else entirely. From message 1 of this thread:

* Personal logo.
=================
Did you know you could change your Reader's logo? (The black bar at the top of the screen that says "Reader.") You'll need access to a graphics editor, such as Photoshop or Gimp. In the directory prsfiles, you'll see two files: logo.png and kBookAssets.png. The logo.png file is a 210x70 file. Add your personalization details to this file, and paste it into the upper left corner of the kBookAssets.png file, covering the large text "Reader." Once you're done, you can select the "Replace logo" checkbox. After you flash and reboot, you should have a customized logo.

Ragzilla

10-01-2010, 10:32 AM

Ok, my fault. I misunderstood where my name would go. Please disregard.

tapf!

10-23-2010, 06:32 PM

Did i get it right, that Sony is not offering a Updater with the German 1.4 Firmware? So is it possible to back it up before flashing the US 1.1? I tried with PRSCustomizer, but it I get the "not supported firmware" when I run nr. 3

Best Regards,

Fabian

surquizu

10-24-2010, 05:43 AM

aurinko3112

12-22-2010, 06:23 AM

Hi, I have customised my sony prs-505. I have 1.2 UK versin. From fonts i chouse Unicode Becouse i am bulgarian i would like to read bulgarian books:)
From PRSCustamiser 1.04 I chose:
1.Personalized About Screen (Name,Telephone,Email)
2. Fonts: Unicode
3.Turn off right justification for BBeB books

Now in the menu I have book titles in bulgarian (cyrilic) but when i open the book i have only ???????????????????????? Did I miss someting.:smack: Tenks!

JeffElkins

12-22-2010, 04:42 PM

nullgraph

06-13-2011, 04:16 PM

Hello, I used PRSCustomizer for my PRS-505 with firmware US 1.1. In font, I chose Unicode because I want to read Vietnamese. After flashing successfully (I can see the clock, also the personalized info in About), I opened a Vietnamese epub but could only see some of the special characters (for example, "á" is missing). Thinking that maybe the unicode font generated by PRSCustomizer doesn't have the complete Vietnamese range, I followed the "*VERY* detailed guide on changing default Reader fonts" and changed the name of my Arial font (which I know works because my Calibre can read Vnese epub just fine) to Dutch801 Rm BT. I then flash my reader again with the new font replaced the default one, but don't see any improvement. I then decided that it might not be just this one font so changed all three default fonts as per the *VERY* detailed guide. A few bricks later (copy font name wrong, etc), and I managed to get the reader to understand all three fonts, the menu font even changed, but I open the book, and still see the same thing. A verbatim sample of it:

"Mô?t tha?ng sau, tôi ???t chân lên bê?n ca?ng"

where it should have been "Một tháng sau, tôi đặt chân lên bến cảng".

Just to be safe, I opened the font I created with FontCreator and checked that all the glyphs I wanted are present, and sure enough, they are all there.

I was also concerned that this particular book that I have may be broken (despite being able to read it in Calibre), so I got a different one, but still the same problem.

I initially thought this was a font problem because some of the letters are displayed, but at this point, I'm not so sure anymore. Any idea what it could be? TIA.

Mark Nord

06-14-2011, 01:31 AM

Hi, and welcome to MR nullgraph!

This thread and methode are very old and belongs to LRF/BBeB books.
The epub-renderer uses another set of fonts!

Go and search for pepaks font-hack, which enables the use of userstyle.css für epubs, or have a look at PRS+
HTH
Mark

JeffElkins

06-14-2011, 01:32 AM

PRSCustomizer is no longer under active development. I'm now using a different reader, since my 505 died. Sorry, I can't offer any help at all with advanced font issues. Hopefully, someone else can assist.

nullgraph

06-14-2011, 09:57 AM

Thanks for the quick reply, Mark and Jeff. Will try the suggestions.

jotran2003

07-20-2011, 08:09 AM

nullgraph
I've been reading vietnamese books on the prs-505 for a couple years. Even after using font hack I could never read epub books correctly.

I end up embedding fonts into epub file. I found this site - http://fontchu.com/- to be useful with lots of Vietnamese-compatible fonts.
Watch out for fonts with large file size - it does slow down page turning etc. The above site has good fonts with characters relevant to Vietnamese only thus keeping the file size down.

I used Windows character map to ensure that fonts file contains: ấ or ử i.e. multi-symbols over the letters.
I'm still trying to find the "best" font for my eyes :)