Touch Warning: do not install 2.1.1

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by scoobertron

For most people (at least in the uk), the kindle is the default ereader, which means that it wouldn't take much in the way of slip-ups from kobo to make it an easy choice for people to just go with the default.

A firmware update, whilst always producing a frisson of anxiety, should not come with the real fear that things will not work properly afterwards.

[mdclements]

Originally Posted by GvilleBridge

And in relation to the thread at http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=190333 I wonder if the Kobo folk, including beta-testers, have at least one of each production model ereader for testing firmware?

Yes we do.

[stewacide]

I'm disappointed 2.1.1 seems to include both the wrong-cover-on-sleep bug, and broken italics and diacritics in some fonts, both of which are glaring bugs in 2.0. Still, no complaints about the huge speedup.

[PeterT]

@Stewacide... Have you considered that maybe those are some of the reasons 2.1.1 was NOT released to us...

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

A firmware update, whilst always producing a frisson of anxiety, should not come with the real fear that things will not work properly afterwards.

I always have that fear when updating firmware, regardless of the device I'm updating. It always induces anxiety when a firmware update takes just a little longer than you were expecting.

[scoobertron]

Originally Posted by PeterT

@Stewacide... Have you considered that maybe those are some of the reasons 2.1.1 was NOT released to us...

You can't blame them for wanting to try it out though. The slow page turns were a major bugbear, and even if we roll back to an earlier firmware, you get a choice between the 'no top margin for epub' bug in .17 or the missed taps bug of .16.

This is part of the trepidation about upgrading. Based on past experience, some aspect of the reading experience will change for the worse, and the only question is whether it is something that you can live with.

[EldRick]

I'm with Scooberton. My Touch (before I returned it) was an early one, and even after a couple of firmware updates, it was still unacceptably buggy AFAIC.

Even if the testers at Kobo do have all the production versions to test with, they do not appear to be very good at identifying obvious bugs.

Or perhaps the issue is with the decision-makers who elect to release known-problematic versions because identified issues would take too long to fix and re-test.

One way or the other, it seems plain that there is a failure somewhere in the management chain.

[volpo]

I use it and am glad I did! Those slow page turns were a device killer for me. No fun being on a slow boil every time you try to read a book. 2.1.1 is so fast, at times I do not even notice that the page has changed. Cover bug etc. I can live with.

[murg]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

The only thing I might be tempted to call "busted" was the original 2.0.0 release that dramatically failed to install on some people's machines. Even then, the fact that it was only "some" could argue against any sensible use of the word anyway (though if I had gone through the endless square-dancing, I might have a different view!) Otherwise, I don't think we are dealing with more or worse bugs than any other e-reader.

I think the 1.9.17 release had the same problem.

[murg]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

I haven't had to deal with tech support (yet), but it seems to me that people compare Kobo - a relatively small outfit - with Kindle, with the might of Amazon behind them. This is unrealistic in my opinion, but then, as I am frequently told by people (including my wife) that I am the unrealistic one - I am an atypical user of technology that likes diagnosing and fixing (or working around) problems.

The fact that Kobo is a (relatively) small fish competing with the Amazon shark just means that Kobo has to be smarter about their products, service and process.

They have had a series of firmware updates that have failed out of the gate. Including a very public launch failure in Japan. They have fairly serious bugs being introduced into every release. It is taking at least three months now to get these bugs fixed. Kobo customer support has a reputation of not having a clue (Kobots, anyone?), at least not if you don't use one of the special (and secret) email addresses to complain to (Kobo Executive Care, anyone?).

I want Kobo to succeed. I like their hardware, and their software is ok, once you can get past the bugs. But they have to improve their game.

[Peakcrew]

Originally Posted by murg

The fact that Kobo is a (relatively) small fish competing with the Amazon shark just means that Kobo has to be smarter about their products, service and process.

They have had a series of firmware updates that have failed out of the gate. Including a very public launch failure in Japan. They have fairly serious bugs being introduced into every release. It is taking at least three months now to get these bugs fixed. Kobo customer support has a reputation of not having a clue (Kobots, anyone?), at least not if you don't use one of the special (and secret) email addresses to complain to (Kobo Executive Care, anyone?).

I want Kobo to succeed. I like their hardware, and their software is ok, once you can get past the bugs. But they have to improve their game.

I agree with every word. Perhaps the current delay is because they are sorting out all these problems to put in the systems it is apparent they need. (Yes, I am on the optimistic end of the spectrum.)

[murg]

Originally Posted by Peakcrew

I agree with every word. Perhaps the current delay is because they are sorting out all these problems to put in the systems it is apparent they need. (Yes, I am on the optimistic end of the spectrum.)

I think that A) they are keeping to a quarterly release schedule regardless, and B) they are going to release the firmware at the same time as the new devices.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by murg

I think that A) they are keeping to a quarterly release schedule regardless, and B) they are going to release the firmware at the same time as the new devices.

I hope not!

[Francois_C]

Originally Posted by davidfor

This isn't "unreleased beta software". It is is released for a certain environment. Up until yesterday, it was assumed to be only for the Japanese environment. But, apparently, it is being put on certain non-Japanese devices. My guess is that it is going on devices with a particular hardware level and that the Japanese got these first (...)

I suppose I was lucky if it was a matter of hardware: I installed it from a downloaded archive on my Kobo Touch purchased in France at the very beginning of this year, and it works really better than 2.0.
It works also on a Kobo Touch I purchased for my daughter one month ago, which never ran a firmware prior to 2.0 (I installed firmware 2.0 before I copied any book in order to avoid useless and space-wasting copies of the covers in the .kobo/images directory).
The French Dictionary is no longer the inept one included in 2.0, but a more comprehensive Larousse, and language detection now works.
I did not experience any crash since I use this firmware. Of course I'm looking forward to 2.1.2, as some bugs of 2.0 are still not corrected:
For instance, if you close a book you opened for the first time, the cover of the previous one appears as the device is put in sleep mode. If you light then put to sleep again, the right one appears. It will be reproduced any time you open another book, even if you have opened it before. So it is not caused by, say, a lack of copy of the cover at first. I think this is a programming thoughtlessness.

[Matth79]

Well, here's hoping the the public release deals with all the quantifiable bugs, though even a "safe for all" version of 2.1.1 would be about where 2.0 should have been, just cannot believe how 2.0 was ever allowed out of the door with (first release - bricking issues) and in general, some pretty gross regressions.
Correction, I CAN believe, as if it's anything like when I was betatesting a particular software, EVERY betatester was screaming that it wasn't ready, that the RC was not worthy of the name - they released anyway, and the inevitable gripestorm hit the forum, and TBH, a lot of their releases have been too little, too late, not great.