Going back to December Firmware Upgrade

[Robertb]

Dear All:

Several people have noted a desire to go back to the December Firmware Upgrade. It is presently NOT on www.theEZreader.com; but it is still up on: www.astak.com

Here is the problem in a nutshell. The March and April firmware upgrades added a much-requested Visible Clock. There was no second battery for this clock and it runs off the main battery. Therefore, it significantly shortens the battery charge life.

IF you shut off the device, then the clock does not run and needs to be reset. If you leave the device on, you do not need to reset the clock but you will get significantly less battery charge life.

That is the choice IF a clock is important to you! You can choose not to go with the clock. That would be the December Firmware Upgrade mentioned above.

I am always honest with you and this is what we have right now. We hope the factory can solve this choice in the future. But, right now, I recommend using the December Firmware Upgrade and I am sorry. At least you know where to find it: www.astak.com

[Acreo Aeneas]

Could it be possible to have the factory program a virtual on/off switch for the "visible clock"? That way for those of us who don't want the new visible clock (like me), we can switch it off and reclaim our battery life?

Also, when is the clock supposed to show up?

[jpt]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Could it be possible to have the factory program a virtual on/off switch for the "visible clock"? That way for those of us who don't want the new visible clock (like me), we can switch it off and reclaim our battery life?

Also, when is the clock supposed to show up?

I agree; a setting for it would be nice.

As for when it shows up -- it shows up in the status bar. If you're reading PDF or ePub books, the status bar only shows up when you hit Menu; other formats, like TXT, Mobipocket and HTML, have it displayed all the time.

Actually, that would be another useful feature -- the option to hide the status bar for Mobipocket, etc, books, and get an extra line of screen space. Any chance of this?

-- J.P.

[Acreo Aeneas]

Originally Posted by jpt

I agree; a setting for it would be nice.

As for when it shows up -- it shows up in the status bar. If you're reading PDF or ePub books, the status bar only shows up when you hit Menu; other formats, like TXT, Mobipocket and HTML, have it displayed all the time.

Actually, that would be another useful feature -- the option to hide the status bar for Mobipocket, etc, books, and get an extra line of screen space. Any chance of this?

-- J.P.

Ah, explains why I never saw the new "visible clock" feature. All the ebooks I read with the latest FW were ePUBs.

Out of curiosity, since this extra clock is running, is this possibly the cause of the battery drain problem?

[jpt]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Ah, explains why I never saw the new "visible clock" feature. All the ebooks I read with the latest FW were ePUBs.

Yeah; I just use Mobipocket. It might not have as many font sizes as ePub, but the three ones it has are well-picked, and I can change the font face on the fly. (Also, there aren't annoying page numbers on the right side of the page.)

-- J.P.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Acreo Aeneas

Ah, explains why I never saw the new "visible clock" feature. All the ebooks I read with the latest FW were ePUBs.

Out of curiosity, since this extra clock is running, is this possibly the cause of the battery drain problem?

If you have it, press Menu while reading an EPUB, to see it. Return to, return

[Solicitous]

I thought the December firmware was the first that allowed us to have a visible clock?

Could the apparent excessive battery usage because caused by the increase in the number of people using Coolreader? It does take more time and processing to open a book and navigate the menus. I am currently on the latest firmware reading epubs and have not noticed at all an excessive battery drain (I will be moving to FB2 exclusively once I find an efficient way OUTSIDE of Calibre to create FB2 files under Linux). FB2 Rocks!!

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Here is the problem in a nutshell. The March and April firmware upgrades added a much-requested Visible Clock. There was no second battery for this clock and it runs off the main battery. Therefore, it significantly shortens the battery charge life.

I can't agree with this. I am running firmware from lbook with this clock, and I have no battery drain problems. If the problem coincides with your versions of firmware that have the clock, either they implemented it poorly, or else it's purely coincidence.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jusmee

I can't agree with this. I am running firmware from lbook with this clock, and I have no battery drain problems. If the problem coincides with your versions of firmware that have the clock, either they implemented it poorly, or else it's purely coincidence.

Is your clock Visible?
My Lbook FW has a clock, but it is not visible (like the Astak Dec FW) and I have no Battery problems.
I read EPUB 99.9% of the time.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by jusmee

I can't agree with this. I am running firmware from lbook with this clock, and I have no battery drain problems. If the problem coincides with your versions of firmware that have the clock, either they implemented it poorly, or else it's purely coincidence.

I agree with jusmee
I have both a Hanlin V5(PocketPRO) and a Hanlin V3( 6" EZReader) running the Lbook firmware and both have excellent battery life. The clock display comes from the RTC (Real Time Clock) that is built into the ARM processor chip, and that RTC always runs, whether or not it is being displayed, since it is an integral part of the operating system. The power required by the RTC is in the microwatt region, so it has essentially no effect on battery life. The RTC is an integral part of the low power sleep system so battery consumption would be much worse if there were no RTC. Battery discharge problems arise when the firmware does not properly enter sleep mode when there are no active processes. Sleep mode should normally be entered within one or two seconds after any keypress. The Lbook firmware for V3 and V5, and the OpenInkpot firmware for the V3, all have visible clock displays and excellent battery life, so blaming the clock display for excessive battery consumption is just a "red herring".

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by theducks

Is your clock Visible?
My Lbook FW has a clock, but it is not visible (like the Astak Dec FW) and I have no Battery problems.
I read EPUB 99.9% of the time.

Makes no difference as it doesn't update except when you turn a page. Therefore, being visible uses zero power.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I thought the December firmware was the first that allowed us to have a visible clock?

Could the apparent excessive battery usage because caused by the increase in the number of people using Coolreader?

Displaying the clock, or even the status bar, is an option in CoolReader. Either or both can be turned off in the menu selections.

[booknut]

I only read fb2, use lbook firmware, and always have the clock on, and never had any battery drain problems up to firmware version 513 - all versions after that drained the battery...

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by booknut

I only read fb2, use lbook firmware, and always have the clock on, and never had any battery drain problems up to firmware version 513 - all versions after that drained the battery...

Same here. I think that *maybe* Buggins was using some of the Chinese firmware to base CoolReader builds after 513 on. Since I was reading Russian via Google Translate I am not entirely sure what his references to "Chinese" meant. He has seen plenty of complaints on the Russian forum about battery and USB issues concerning builds after 513, so I am hoping to see his response to that any day now.
In any case, I am pretty sure that Buggins will respond more accurately and rapidly than Jinke will concerning the Astak firmware.

[SmartyPants]

Originally Posted by booknut

I only read fb2, use lbook firmware, and always have the clock on, and never had any battery drain problems up to firmware version 513 - all versions after that drained the battery...

yep, same here. NO battery drain on any Astak firmware, or on any Lbook firmware up to 13 May.